A disclaimer: I love Google; it has become an integral part of my life.
But I don’t trust Google. Especially when it comes to AdWords.
The reason?
A bittersweet yet subtle mix of cunning and disinformation, fuelled by ignorance and trust.
The myth: Google and their advertisers have a perfectly symbiotic relationship.
Reality: Advertisers and Google have an overlap of shared goals. But the overlap is small.
At a push I could probably give 50+ examples of this, but you won’t thank me for it. So I’ll stick with one.
Let’s consider two companies, WOW and NOT, each of whom are bidding on the same keywords for a given phrase, and paying the same per click – $1.
The difference lies in what happens after the click.
When someone clicks on one of WOW’s ads, they tend to realise they’ve found what they’re looking for, and so their search is over.
When someone clicks on one of NOT’s ads, they tend to not find what they’re looking for, so go back to Google for more.
If Google place WOW’s ad in first place and NOT’s ad in second place, Google will usually get one click – a total revenue of $1.
If, however, Google place NOT’s ad in first place and WOW’s second, most people will click both ads – a total revenue of $2.
Good for WOW, not for NOT.
The beauty of this approach is that not only are Google making more money by putting NOT in the top slot, but NOT is probably quite happy to see their ad consistantly in first place.
Do you still think that you and Google have the same priorities?
