Google – the ‘Democratic’ Multi Billion Dollar Ad Machine
In a recent article in BusinessWeek, reporter Robb Hoff provides a sweeping and well informed overview of the state of Internet advertising as in the hands of Google Inc.
Hoff identifies Google as “ground zero in a battle among traditional media and tech industry leaders and start-ups alike for the hearts and minds of the world’s consumers.1”
However, according to Hoff and some of his sources, Google’s detractors’ complaints sound a lot more like sour grapes than anything else. In the BusinessWeek article, Sun Microsystem’s CEO Jonathan Schwartz sees Google as a strong competitor offering the benefits of a truly competitive marketplace to Internet advertising producers and consumers.
With a market value of $US144 Billion and $US10.6 Billion in advertising revenues last year alone, it would seem that Google must be doing something right. Hoff reports that there is putative dissatisfaction among advertisers with the fact that Google’s ranking system and its hidden algorithms are based on user preference and search efficacy over privileging the highest paying advertiser.
What, however, would be the alternative? If a competitor offers a search system with rankings based on whatever advertiser pays the most – then it would seem that they instantly face a serious challenge from what may be an incipient commercial paradigm.
Google’s genius is not only in the implementation of a groundbreaking set of technologies that really work – really well – but also in communicating clearly to users the benefits of a ranking system that is demand and content-appropriateness based - not solely commercially driven. This simple concept is easy to grasp and yet exceedingly powerful.
It seems only logical that this democritisation of the leading search system in the world would appeal to Americans – and to others. Perhaps the real genius is in combining this idea of user influence and choice with commercial enterprise and benefits. It is very interesting that a ‘democratic principle’ applied in this way in the commercial sphere seems to very much enhance competitiveness.
With this philosophically and ideologically appealing formula in place and clearly working, wise advertisers will perhaps choose to compete based on the merits of their commercial offerings, and not sweat the abstract details of how the ranking system works. As Hoff reports in his article, Google is seriously interested in making it worthwhile engaging with them, with publishers of syndicated advertising paid $US 3 Billion last year.
Registering to publish Google’s syndicated Ads is not a difficult undertaking. It can all be done on-line.
References and Further Reading
1. Hoff, Robb. "Soft Soap on Hard Sell." BusinessWeek 2007.
2. Google Adwords and Adsense advertising syndication.
