Sopio Elizbarashvili

CSB, BBA4, MK

Google Advertisement

Case Study Analysis

15.01.2011
Integrated Marketing
Communications
Discussion Questions:

Did it make sense for Google to begin experimenting with new

advertising formats— such as video advertisements, banner
advertisements, and so on—given the success of its current text-only
model?

Did it make sense for Google to begin moving into new advertising
channels, such as print, radio, and television?

Was it possible to merge these new advertising formats and channels

with Google’s business philosophy? If so, how?

What other steps, if any, should Google be taking to protect and grow
its core, online, text-based advertising business, anchored by its existing
AdWords and AdSense programs?

Introduction

Before I had read the case, I considered Google as the largest searching engine
of the world. For me, Google seemed a bit altruistic company, oriented on
organizing data for users without any charge. It was a bit hard for me to
completely decode where the revenues of such a big company came from. I
must admit that I have used Google search thousands of times, for different
purposes and have always perceived the word ads on the right side as the part
of Google search results, considering them as the best solutions for my
questions. With this confession, I wanted to say that the word ads are so
reasonably managed, that it does not create the expression of just the ad, but
even provides help for some situations. I think that this is what makes today’s
anti-ad community view commercials and not be irritated by the inadequate
context they contain. Here is when the main distinguishing feature of Google
silhouetted- the relevance.

Discussion

In my opinion it was quite reasonable at a first glance to start

experimenting with different kinds of ads, trying different mediums for ads
by Google after the miraculous success of introducing AdSense after the
also miraculous success of AdWords. There should have been the demand
for the diversity of ads from customers, or it may be caused by the need of
creativity that word ads do not offer. But choosing video or banner
advertisement to increase service portfolio was a bit unreasonable decision
from the creators of such a reasonable company for several reasons. First of
all they did not relatively comprehend their abilities against the
competitors in the new field- Yahoo and MSN were not the competitors for
Google any more. Nobody needed a Google Video web site when there was
Youtube to satisfy every need of every customer. The idea of Video
advertising was against almost all of their principles (such as simplicity,
reasonability, no distortion) and was ignoring the PODs of Google as an
Advertising company.
In case of banner ads, this decision appeared to be more reasonable than
the first one. Based on the fact that most Google users used Google toolbar,
the banner above the web site would be not that much annoying and would
not irritate potential customers. The search for banner would turn out only
Google banner advertising and would kick other players out of this
business. The decision made sense, but was unethical- it would lead the
banner advertising sink and Google would become industry monopolist. As
there is only little information about the banner ads in the case text and I
searched Google to find out more, but could not find any relevant
information. It appears that the banner ads are part of AdWords, and to get
more information I needed to sign up. But this shows that Google has
anticipated the banner advertising separately, as not to be the one and only
service provider according to its own results. I think this is what was
needed to be done- emphasize on Ethics.

As for printed ads, Google was still wrong – Google was fairly the owner
of the web-so why did they try to go offline? There is no precedent of the
web based company going offline and succeeding in such a strange way that
Google chose. In this case their aim was to create a new revenue stream for
newspapers, while producing more relevant ads for readers. The decision
did not have the impact they anticipated- people want Google on the web!
When the decision makers found out that the ad medium was not effective,
they closed downs this service, as well as many other ones, such as video
uploads, notebook, catalog search, dodgeball and Jaiku.
The criticism concerning Google Radio ads was the most strong as Google
ahs ever experienced. Google head of product management Susan Wojcicki
said the company would cease its program that allows advertisers to buy
broadcast radio spots through its Google Audio Ads platform and
concentrate instead on Internet radio advertising. As part of the move,
Google is laying off 40 people, she wrote. First of all the radio ads ignored
the fairness and the payment system needed to be changed as it was
impossible to find out how many people had listened the ads. So the
company had to continue searching some more measurable medium not to
completely ignore it’s business philosophy. Despite this all, Google
struggled to get radio stations in prime markets to install dMarc's system.
Radio groups never developed trust in Google. Google also struggled to
make radio advertisers comfortable with its system of choosing placements
based on demographics rather than stations. Radio ads by Google were
eliminated after one month of quitting newspaper based print ads.
Google Philosophy and Quotations:

"We have a mantra: don't be evil, which is to do the best things we know
how for our users, for our customers, for everyone. So I think if we were
known for that, it would be a wonderful thing." - Larry Page
"The ultimate search engine would basically understand everything in the
world, and it would always give you the right thing. And we're a long, long
ways from that." - Larry Page
"As we go forward, I hope we're going to continue to use technology to
make really big differences in how people live and work." - Sergey Brin
"Obviously everyone wants to be successful, but I want to be looked back
on as being very innovative, very trusted and ethical and ultimately making
a big difference in the world." - Sergey Brin > an extract from the Google
Philosophy Highlight.

Source:
http://retailindustry.about.com/od/topusretailcompanies/p/googleprofile.htm

According to these quotations above, the main emphasis of the Google

business philosophy is to be successful without harming anyone. This
means that their search is unbiased and their ads are secured from fake
clicks. This principle was violated several times while Google tried to
implement new ad types, experimented on new mediums and simply
tried to diversify the service portfolio. Their one more main point of the
philosophy is to do one thing really, really well- their different trials
ignore this one. According to their one more principle - “ Great just isn't
good enough”, Google decisions to try out different mediums fitted its
philosophy, as the great success of AdWords and AdSense didn’t mean
that it was all and they had to stop development in their advertising
activities. “Democracy on the web works” in my opinion is somehow
against “Do not do evil” principle, as their banner ads were harming
other companies, but were not against any low actually, it was just the
matter of ethics.

As for the future plans to make Google AdWords and AdSense more
effective and popular, I would recommend Google more sophisticated
control system against fake clicks, and in case of discovering such facts,
the recovery should be provided. According to the mantra of Google,
Great just isn’t good enough”, so they should try to be innovative and
offer augmentations for their core ad systems regularly. Google mainly
concentrates on placing advertisements on the sites that other people
affiliate. To promote affiliation intensity, Google should offer some
benefits, like bonus on the 1000th click or something of this kind. It
would be a good opportunity if Google tried to place ads on its own
products as well and promote their popularity by gaining benefits as
well. An example for this would be Google Maps, which has a great
unique opportunity to create web billboards on the streets people
search for, according to the cities or even more concrete locations
where the companies are placed, to maintain relevance and
reasonability of its ads. The billboards should have the form of AdWords
and stay simple, text based and laconic. The main thing Google should
maintain is its PODs, which appeared to be very important for the
success as proven by the examples of the experiments that have failed.
The core characteristics of this core services should not be changed
drastically, as it will cause lost brand awareness and people’s
perceptions of the company. As Google is perceived altruistic because of
its business philosophy and image, it should endure the flow of greater
requirements people have towards the site with patience.