Access and read the six articles linked below. https://mail.aol.com/webmail/getP
ID: 463542 • Letter: A
Question
Access and read the six articles linked below.
https://mail.aol.com/webmail/getPart?uid=40435060&partId=2&scope=STANDARD&saveAs=IMG_4199.PNG
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Watch the Google video via the link below.
http://www.viddler.com/embed/20b602dc/?f=1&autoplay=0&player=full&disablebranding=0
Answer the FOUR questions below.
1. Provide a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis of Google. Incorporate items from the articles as well as your own ideas.
2. Describe in DEPTH how Google's AdWords and AdSense works. Is this a good strategy? Explain.
3. Do you feel Google and Social Media in general are using tactics which are an invasion of your privacy? Use facts from the articles to support and explain your answer.
4. Discuss products that are appropriate (from an ETHICAL perspective) for online advertising. Next, discuss products that should not be advertised online. Explain.
Explanation / Answer
1- Provide a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis of Google. Incorporate items from the articles as well as your own ideas.
Strengths:
It is Google’s efficient and effective user friendly interface, and the output of impeccably accurate results, that makes the company the frontrunners of the global search engine market. The company constantly updates and upgrades its technology and search algorithms to produce the best results possible. In 2001, Google implemented image search capabilities, which has come to expand to include the capability of searching for videos, news data, documents, books, and many other forms of “rich data”. With the launch of Google Instant in 2010, a program that predicts a user’s search query based on what they are typing, Google further enhanced the efficiency of the user’s search experience. Their position as the leading global internet database is further reinforced by their ability to produce results in various languages, and output localized search results. Furthermore, the fact that Google’s employees are required to spend 20% of their time developing their own projects acts as a perpetual catalyst to innovation--which always keeps the company one step ahead of their competitors.
Weaknesses:
Google relies primarily on advertisements as the source of their revenue. The problem with this is that advertisers’ spending patterns reflect the overall economic conditions. Deprived economic conditions may cause advertisers to reduce their investments in their ads, which would result in adverse effects on the revenue that Google is pulling from their advertisers. Google has also failed in establishing themselves as a podium for social media. The struggle that Google has had in implementing a successful social media platform also threatens their ad revenue as more and more advertisers are buying their spots on social media sites.
Opportunities:
The Driverless Car (article on how it will affect real estate prices in major cities) has the opportunity to revolutionize the world
Nest, a company purchased for 3 billion not long ago, is developing "the internet of things." Connected devices in your home. You don't think that owning 80% of the Smartphone market might help out here do you?
Many robotics projects the public knows nothing about. They purchased Boston Dynamics as well other robotics companies last year. This will be HUGE I believe.
Other moons hot projects in their planning stages. You don't pay these super smart engineers for status quo right?
Threats:
Facebook- this the number one threat to Google because no one else has as much data/ potential to usurp them in search with as much time as people spend on the website. With Facebook Graph search coming, Facebook is enhancing the search capabilities of their website.
Apple is considering replacing Google as the default search engine in the iPhone, this, though expected by many, would have deleterious effect on Google's short term price.
Amazon- people going directly to the e-commerce vendor to BUY takes away from Google and their most lucrative searches.
Search will continue to be under attack. Yes, a company with hugely profitable business center is going to be attacked by the competition, that's the nature of capitalism.
Driverless cars never make it. As lucrative as it may be, there are a lot of hurdles to overcome. As I look forward, this would be an unhappy moment for shareholders.
2-Describe in DEPTH how Google's AdWords and AdSense work. Is this a good strategy? Explain
Google Adwords
Adwords is the platform you can use as an advertiser to show your ads on the Google Search Results Pages, partner websites or the Google Display network (websites that show Google Ads).
One of the main characteristics of Adwords is that you only pay when someone clicks on your ad (Pay per Click). When you create an account with Adwords, you can create your advertising campaigns, choose your ads and budget, decide where your want the ads to appear and Google will only charge you when someone clicks on the ads.
Adwords has become very successful not only because it generates a big part of Google’s income but also because PPC does offer a lot of benefits to businesses too.
In general, adwords is not difficult to use but if you don’t know how to use it correctly, you may end up losing a lot of money. In my PPC tips article you can learn how to avoid 7 common mistakes and make a better use of your budget.
When you register with Adwords you can create several campaigns and ads (grouped into ad groups) and each ad group can be targeted to a specific group of people. The system allows you to select for which keywords you want your ads to appear and also for which areas, times, days etc.
It is a very flexible platform with a number of options to create campaigns that are aligned with your overall digital marketing strategy and business objectives. The best way to learn how to use Adwords is to visit their official page but some things to have in mind are:
If I use Adwords, will my ad appear on the first position in Google Seeps?
No. This is the biggest misconception many people have about adwords. There is no guarantee that your ads will appear on the top positions of a page for a given query. Adwords ads in general appear above the organic search results and on the right hand side of the page (see screenshot below – highlighted areas).
Where exactly your ads will appear depends on many factors (competition, quality score of your ads, quality of landing page, bid amount and many more) but this is something you can control and tweak through the adwords dashboard. An experienced Adwords Certified professional can help you optimize your campaigns and achieve better results.
Do I pay a fee when my ads are shown?
No. Adwords is a Pay per Click (PPC) system which means that you only pay for clicks on your ads and not views.
Can I use both text and rich media ads (video, images) in my campaigns?
Yes, you can use rich media ads but these will be shown in the Google Display network (sites that participate as publishers in Adwords i.e. Adsense websites) and not in the Google SERPS. In Google search results only TEXT ads are shown.
Can I use Adwords for Local marketing?
Yes, you can use adwords to target users that are physically located in a particular area. For example if you have a barber shop in Boston, you can use Adwords to show your ads to people looking for a barber shop and are located within a radius of 30 miles from your business.
Google Adsense
Adsense is the platform you can use as a webmaster or blog owner (we call these a ‘publisher’) so that Google ads are shown in your website. When someone clicks on an ad that is shown on your website you will get paid a portion of what the Adwords advertiser pays.
For example:
Let’s assume that a skateboard manufacturer uses Adwords to promote their products and they pay $2 to Google every time someone clicks on their ads.
Let’s also assume that you have a website offering skateboarding tips and you also participate into the Adsense program i.e. you allow Google ads to be displayed on your website. When someone clicks on an ad from your website you will get paid $1,36 (68%) and Google will keep the $0.64.
The calculations above are only an example, there are many factors that play a role when both adwords and adsense decide how much each click is worth but what is certain is that for a click you (as a publisher) will get 68% and Google 32%.
I have explained in more details how Adsense works and how much you can make from Adsense but what is good to understand if you are a beginner to adwords and adsense is that Adwords is for advertisers who want to promote their products on the Internet and Adsense is for website owners who want to make money from their content.
Can I use Google Adsense and Google Adwords together?
Can I use adwords to promote my website so that more people will visit and click on my adsense ads and make money? NO. This used to be the case in the past but not anymore.
What some marketers did in the past was to run adwords ads to get traffic to a website and then aggressively place adsense ads on the page so that they get more clicks and make profit from the difference they paid for the adwords ads and what they received from Adsense.
This no longer works and should be avoided because:
Adwords has now more strict policies on what you can advertise on their platform. The system is mainly for businesses that sell real products and services online and not for affiliate or MFA (Made For Adsense) type of websites.
Adwords does not allow the landing page to have adsense. This means that while it’s ok to run adsense on your website and also use Adwords, the landing page (this is the first page visitors will see when they click an ad and enter your website), should not have adsense.
This is a very important rule that should not be violated in any way because you risk in losing both your adwords and adsense accounts and then you will be looking for adsense alternatives.
Adsense ads placement policies do not allow for aggressive placement of ads. It is recommended not to show more than 1 ad above the fold (that’s my recommendation and not the official adsense rules. You can read them here), and this will reduce the number of clicks your ads may receive thus reducing your earnings.
Do I have to use the same account for Adwords and Adsense?
That’s another difference between the two. You adwords and adsense account may use the same Google login but they are totally different and independent. For example you may end up losing your adwords account but still have access to adsense and the opposite.
Conclusion
Both adsense and adwords are great tools you can use to make money and also promote your products and services online. Adsense is the best option to monetize your content rich website and adwords is one of the most efficient ways to advertise your businesses to a well defined targeted audience.
3-Do you feel Google and Social Media in general are using tactics which are an invasion of your privacy? Use facts from the articles to support and explain your answer.
yes, search engines in general (not just Google), as well as Social Media platforms, use tactics that are an invasion of privacy. However, couldn’t all market research be considered somewhat an “invasion of privacy”? And data mining is merely a form of just that: market research. As Joel Stein, the author of the article entitled “Data Mining: How Companies Know Everything About You”, points out:“Taking your information without asking and then profiting from it isn’t new: it’s the idea behind the phone book, junk mail, and telemarketing”, and, according to the CEO of Bozo, a data mining company geared towards business executives, it is the “newness” of his industry that scares people, not the concept. Essentially, data mining is designed to help--both companies and consumers. Companies are able to directly target people with specific products or services tailored specifically to the individual, and consumers have less junk to filter through in order to find what they want--albeit, the junk is not eliminated. For example, after doing research on the economy in Costa Rica for my international business class, I was presented with ads for Costa Rican property listings and vacation opportunities for about two weeks--both (unfortunately) are not purchases I am interested (or, should I say, capable) of making. While the research collected by data mining may sometimes result in bad ads, they are undoubtedly a step up from messy pop-up ads, pesky telemarketers, and annoying junk mail. Plus, the results aren’t always bad: I often find myself appreciating the “Recommended for You” service provided by sites such as Amazon, especially when it comes to recommendations such as books for example. The company is able to predict my preferences based on my past purchases, and many (if not all) companies that operate online have adopted this model. The thing that freaks people out about the whole concept is the image of someone, or a group of people, “spying” on their personal lives. But, Stein says we should look at it like this: The fact of the matter is that data mining is an “algorithm designed to give [us] more useful, specific ads”, not some maniac or conspiring group of people preparing to infiltrate our lives, which, by the way, Stein supports are “not all that interesting”--and I could not agree more. If companies want to track my patterns on the internet to produce more useful results, I am happy to let them. There is no human on the other end learning about my life and judging me--and if there is, I have provided them with the information to judge by the information that I share online. Furthermore, Google, and many other search engines and social media.
4-Discuss products that are appropriate (from an ETHICAL perspective) for online advertising. Next, discuss products that should not be advertised online. Explain.
Online advertising
Product Listing Ads
Google features product listing ads near the top of the SERP. The ads are sectioned off to draw attention, and they include image and price which appeal to shoppers. The ads are pulled from a product feed. Setting up the feed and then tracking and optimizing the product listing ads can be complicated, but the improved performance of these ads over regular paid search is worth the effort. The Google feed can also be used on Amazon, if accepted into their store, and Bing plans to roll out Product Ads this summer. Mercent is a leader in this field and is integrated with the Web trends Ads platform, so you can automatically generate paid search campaigns from your product feed, including automatic inventory updates and bidding optimization for any KPI.
In-Market Display Ads
This is another Google beta that allows targeting of people researching or showing intent to purchase a product or service, based on their recent browsing history. These users are tagged as being part of an “In-Market” segment. Timing is one of the most important targeting methods for retailers, and display ad performance is improved when reaching shoppers that are in the act of shopping. Reach out to a Google rep for more info.
Dynamic Product Ads
Google now has a product called Dynamic Remarketing Ads that is available as a beta. The product syncs with your shopping feed in Google Merchant Center and retargets visitors with display ads that have been dynamically created based on the product names and images that the user visited. Contact a Google rep for more info. Criteo is an expert in the field of dynamic product ads, and they provide a great demo of how it works. Web trends also partners with Criteo through the Web trends Ads platform. We can sync Criteo campaigns for tracking and bid optimization. Dynamic Product Ads tend to have higher CTRs and conversion rates because of their increased ad relevance.
Search Retargeted Ads
These are image and/or text ads targeting users that have searched for a list of keywords that you’ve determined are relevant to your shoppers. Google offers this through a new beta called Search Companion Marketing. Search retargeting helps to reach audiences that you might not otherwise reach, and in a lot of instances you may be appearing on competitor or comparison sites, where the value of the impression will be greater. Similar to In-Market ads the timing of search retargeting catches people as they are showing intent to purchase by actively searching on relevant keywords.
Site Retargeted Ads
These are image and/or text ads targeting users who have previously visited your site and received a cookie on their web browser. Google calls it Remarketing. They offer a one tag solution that can be dropped in the header or footer of your entire website. You can then create remarketing lists for visitors that showed specific behavior on your site, such as an abandoned shopping cart. Ads can then be created to retarget this audience with a promotional offer, for example.
Insight
Know exactly which ads brought in the highest number of qualifying leads. Know how many impressions were served, where they were served, and when. Identify your optimal channels, ad copy, and ad locations. The metrics and analytics available with online advertising allow you to see the exact cost of acquiring and converting a customer. Advertising online provides you with endless insight allowing you to become a more effective marketer. Marketers went from having no data to more data than we know what to do with. This is a great problem to have.
Creative
Your ability to target goes beyond reaching the right customers. You can take this one step further and serve the creative that will best resonate with each target. There is a common misconception that online ads are of poor quality, when in fact digital advertising provides the opportunity to be highly engaging with video and other rich media. Using flash and in-banner video ads can increase brand recognition and highlight your competitive edge. Is one of your ads under-performing A/B test your copy, your image, your headline and serve ads that are as dynamic as the online space in which they are living. A well-designed banner ad can turn your digital campaign from good to great.
Targeting
Do you know the profile of your perfect customer? Online advertising gives you the ability to target and retarget the ideal prospects. Retargeting will serve ads based on prior engagement, enabling you to identify your ideal customer profile. Once you know what your customers look like, you will know just who to target and where to find all similar users online, making sure they too are being served your ads. When advertising online, you have the ability to target a population as specific as men, age 18-35, which searched for Giants tickets between the hours of 7-10 pm or as broad as men, age 18-35 ensuring your message is in front of the right people at the right time.
Brand Awareness
online advertising can be used to drive traffic to your site and build brand awareness. Effectively targeted campaigns can create brand influencers and reach complementary audiences. Use the endless online display space to be creative with rich media, establish your online presence, make an emotional connection, and get online consumers excited about whom you are and what you have to offer. Online enables brands to focus on their ideal audience and tailor messages that improve both recall and engagement.
Flexibility
Online advertising campaigns can be adjusted with a few clicks or keystrokes. You have the flexibility to respond to incoming data and make changes instantly. Similarly, you have the ability to pause campaigns or adjust your strategy in minutes. This flexibility allows you to stay in front of your customers– anticipate customer needs and adjust your ads before anyone even notices.
Scale
Demand-side platforms, more commonly referred to as DSPs, have centralized the buying of auction-based display media across multiple inventories and data suppliers online. Offline, you have to coordinate with multiple providers. As a marketer, DSPs allow you to scale your digital campaigns quickly and strategically, and you don’t even need an agency! Many digital marketers are turning to self-service providers to manage their campaigns– create your own ads, choose your spend, scale and optimize across your networks as you see fit. You can also use a full-service provider who will optimize, scale, and spend accordingly, but this often comes with a monthly minimum. Whichever service you choose, scaling your campaign has never been easier.
Reach
We’ve heard a lot of this lately — people are watching less live TV and turning to their computers for their favorite shows, music, and to access their news. As marketers, being effective requires staying in front of your customers; as it turns out, your customers are online, and so you should be too, and sooner rather than later! Moving online gives you access to a global audience, if you so desire and it means your ads can be working for you 24 hours a day. The options are practically limitless when it comes to your reach capabilities when you take your campaign online.
Engagement
Online advertising lets you know a customer’s exact level of engagement. You might have circulation and readership data for a print publication, but you can’t know how much time customers spent interacting with your ad, how much time they spent on your website, if they researched more of your products, and whether that ad led to conversions. An online presence gives you all of this valuable data and places you in a position to learn where your most engaged prospects live.
Cost
Digital channels are highly cost effective for marketers. Rates are typically set through a combination of ad size, ad location, performance, and demand. Considering the reach allotted via digital channels, moving your campaigns online is often much cheaper than more traditional offline channels like radio, television, or print. Furthermore, digital campaigns have greater transparency allowing you to adjust your cost easily based on performance. In the offline world, once you’ve paid for the space in a print publication or a spot on the radio, there’s no adjusting your investment after the fact
Online advertising is an essential element of anyone’s marketing mix. It provides you with numerous benefits, including lower costs, robust targeting, and valuable customer insights, that are not available through other advertising mediums. Your customers, competitors, and prospects are online — give them the attention they deserve, while getting more out of your budget.
Not be advertised online
Advertising funded media censors content: Media owners, writers and editors self censor so as not to offend the advertisers who fund their work. That is not fair. Citizens deserve to be informed of news events even when the content may be damaging to advertisers.
Advertising funded media is not democratic: A basic principle of democracy is that citizens should have equal access to power. Most of our mass media is Advertising Funded Media. This means that any individual or organization that is wealthy can have a super access to power. If you have the money you can make your voice heard in the mass media simply by buying advertising time or space. That is undemocratic.
Advertising funded media is a rip off: Citizens as consumers pay for the advertising every time they purchase a product or service. The cost of advertising is built into the price. That is only half of the rip off. Citizens pay again by having their time wasted while they wait for advertisements that are interrupting. For 2013 in Canada we are as a nation wasting $420 billion of our time in exchange for $40 billion worth of media. For 2013 as individuals on average we are each wasting $12, 000 of our time in exchange for $1, 140 worth of media. For more on the rip off: Big Rip Off.
Advertising funded media creates unfairness in the market place: A good thing about a market system is that it is supposed to promote progress. When new products or services are developed that are superior they should rise to the top and replace the inferior. Not though when we have advertising funded media. Established products and services with masses of capital behind them live on long past the time they should. Competition in the market has become a competition for quality of marketing hype instead of a competition for quality.
Advertising funded media drowns out citizen's free expression: How can an individual that has very limited capital voice an opinion to the greater society when that society is polluted with messages that are being repeated by machines that are exclusively controlled by the wealthy? Nice that we can say whatever we want almost and not have to worry about being imprisoned or tortured and executed but still not quite fair that there is nowhere near an equality of voice between the rich and the poor.