COIN72 - Lesson 6

Web Marketing for Dummies

Search, AdWords, AdSense, and Place

Google made search a business model, it is core to all their strategies, and how they deliver value to their users. Google has also built a model around purchasing and developing tools, and having the community build the content around those tools. The key topics for this lesson include search, sponsored sites, AdWords, AdSense, and place technology. Additionally, Google purchased DoubleClick, which is operated as a wholly owned subsidiary for ad management and ad serving technology.

Search

In the first decade of Google, everything was centered around search, as a foundation to AdWords and sponsored sites, two of the three key pillars to their advertising revenue. Back in the late 1990s, when banner ads were the primary method of Internet advertising, you'd often see a banner ad 'served' as a result of a specific search. Search is now the best method for determining 'interest' on the part of a user, from which a sponsored link, a sponsored site, or paid placement integrated into the search results.

Search portals including Yahoo!, Netscape, and later Infoseek, Alta Vista, and Excite, were pioneers in search before Google entered the scene in the late 1990s. Search remains one of the hottest areas of interest, primarily because of SEO (Search Engine Optimization), and the intrinsic value of organic search.

AdWords

AdWords is Google's primary advertising product and main source of revenue (2010). Google's total advertising revenues were USD$28 billion in 2010. AdWords can be configured as pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, cost-per-thousand (CPM) advertising, and site-targeted advertising for text, banner, and rich-media ads. The AdWords program includes local, national, and international distribution [Wikipedia]

Google's AdWords are described at http://adwords.google.com/ It is integral to Google Analytics from the perspective of effectiveness (click-through) as well as optimizing the keyword selection. A Google page to explore keyword selection is https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

AdSense

AdSense is an ad serving application run by Google Inc., similar to Amazon's highly effective affiliate network launched a decade ago. Website owners can enroll in this program to enable text, image, and video advertisements on their websites, with the target location of an ad based on contextual website content. Advertisements are administered by Google and generate revenue on either a per-click or per-impression basis. Contextual ads can be highly effective as they are served in an area of directed and casual Web browsing, reading, and product research related to shopping. From a newspaper perspective, targeting advertising based on contextual interest and on an auction or paid placement model is enticing. All parties, from content producer to ad broker to advertiser benefit in this model.

Place technology

Google uses it's highly effective maps service as a foundation for place advertising. In some respects it is the application of contextual and directed interest during the process of getting directions, or finding a featured business related to an address. Google maps, based on Google Earth and KML technology, allow for business and other geospatial information to be embedded into maps. Place and GPS technology is the foundation for mobile marketing in networked social technology, where presence is the contextual variable, and profile is the cross indicator for serving mobile ads.

 

Lab Activity

You'll engage in at least five activities this week to develop an understanding of how Google uses search, AdWords, AdSense, and Place technology to promote the goals of customers, as well as execute their business model. At Google, everything relates to search, to targeted placement, and the intersection of a directed goal with an opportunity. You'll navigate the suite of Google tools using similar or unrelated terms, and ideally more than once, paying strict attention to how the search results are delivered. You'll also explore the 'science' and technology behind each of the tools, which will prepare you for learning about page rank and SEO (Search Engine Optimization), Analytics, and Google Webmaster Tools (GWT).

As you use Google search, pay close attention to sponsored sites (above) and ads (to the right) of a search. Also look at the top 'hits' on the front page, and consider how paid placement might be involved. To get started with Google Place Search start by exploring Google Maps, and type in the name of a business, find the entry and look at the reviews for the business. Think about how a business can manage the posting of customer experience, for better or for worse. You can also do a standard search from Google, and find a featured business.

Resources

* click the link below to read this week's homework assignment *
Assignment 6

Copyright © 2010 - 2011 Robert D. Cormia - April 30, 2011