Google recently celebrated its 21st birthday and is the most used search engine on the planet. It has changed that way we look at the internet and diversified the way information is accessed by billions of internet users worldwide. It had brought internet to the fingertips of the present generation and it continues to grow every day. One of the most unique characteristics of Google maybe its name. Google has derived its very name by misspelling the word “googol,” which is a mathematical term for a 1 followed by 100 zeros. The name is intended to reflect the huge amount of information on the web. Other unique characteristics of Google are reflected in its corporate philosophy guidelines ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"mDUxVsbR","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Vise, 2007)","plainCitation":"(Vise, 2007)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":1017,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/EJC359M8"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/EJC359M8"],"itemData":{"id":1017,"type":"article-journal","title":"The google story","container-title":"Strategic Direction","volume":"23","issue":"10","author":[{"family":"Vise","given":"David"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2007"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Vise, 2007). The focus it places in the user is exemplary. It believes in making money without cutting corners and works towards improving the user experience at all costs. Google is known far and wide for its policies and even celebrated for its business and marketing strategy.
Google’s Philosophy about Advertising
Google has a unique philosophy with regard to most things that it chooses to put its name on. In terms of advertising, the Director of Product Management at Google, Richard Holden, says that to google, advertising should be as useful to the consumer as organic search results. Google aims to show its users the ads that it may need and caters to their interests, as opposed to simply showing them an ad because the owner paid for it. This philosophy translates into continuous improvement of its services on Google’s part, showcasing its strive to offer the very best to its users ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"D8EEtivI","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Graham, 2017)","plainCitation":"(Graham, 2017)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":1014,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/LHC5QJH7"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/LHC5QJH7"],"itemData":{"id":1014,"type":"article-journal","title":"Google and advertising: digital capitalism in the context of Post-Fordism, the reification of language, and the rise of fake news","container-title":"Palgrave Communications","page":"45","volume":"3","issue":"1","author":[{"family":"Graham","given":"Richard"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2017"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Graham, 2017).
Another aspect of Google which makes it the perfect search engine is the less of more is it's less is more philosophy with regard to advertising. According to Holden, Google’s aim is to feature fewer and curated ads that align with its users’ interested to be displayed at the right time and in the right manner. In an effort to accomplish this, Google has come up with a model that predicts the effectiveness of an ad and ensures that when, and if, the ad is displayed, how will the respective user/consumer react to the said advertisement. This ensures that the search engine improves its user experience by showing ads that they are most likely to click on and show just enough of them to keep from overwhelming the user with ads. This ensures that Google is able to generate a neat little revenue while maintaining a great user experience ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"1osefmaq","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Graham, 2017)","plainCitation":"(Graham, 2017)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":1014,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/LHC5QJH7"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/LHC5QJH7"],"itemData":{"id":1014,"type":"article-journal","title":"Google and advertising: digital capitalism in the context of Post-Fordism, the reification of language, and the rise of fake news","container-title":"Palgrave Communications","page":"45","volume":"3","issue":"1","author":[{"family":"Graham","given":"Richard"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2017"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Graham, 2017).
Ways to be Successful in Display Advertising
At present, Google dominates all the online search requests providers and receives more than 60% of the total advertising revenue being generated. Thus, for Google, there are four forms of online advertising that hold the most prevalence. These include search advertisement, display advertisement, classified ads, referrals, and email, which are responsible for cultivating 47%, 35%, 10%.7% and 1% of online advertising revenue respectively ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"YexX9S4f","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Goldfarb & Tucker, 2011)","plainCitation":"(Goldfarb & Tucker, 2011)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":1015,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/TQCLKEJA"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/TQCLKEJA"],"itemData":{"id":1015,"type":"article-journal","title":"Online display advertising: Targeting and obtrusiveness","container-title":"Marketing Science","page":"389-404","volume":"30","issue":"3","author":[{"family":"Goldfarb","given":"Avi"},{"family":"Tucker","given":"Catherine"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2011"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Goldfarb & Tucker, 2011).
Despite leading the chart, the fact remains that both Yahoo! and Microsoft’s MSN are leaders in terms of display advertising on their own associate websites such as Yahoo! Finance and MSN Money. In an effort to remedy that, Google purchased both YouTube and DoubleClick. Both websites use Adsense to place the consumer’s advertisement on display for the users on the basis of their needs and interests. YouTube does so by playing advertisement in the middle of a video, on display over a video, or beside the video. However, DoubleClick, an advertising exchange where ad agencies bid for the placement of ads on websites. This streamlines the process of ad placement and gives Google a chance to improve its standing in terms of display advertisement ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"CTYyxb0J","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Goldfarb & Tucker, 2011)","plainCitation":"(Goldfarb & Tucker, 2011)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":1015,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/TQCLKEJA"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/TQCLKEJA"],"itemData":{"id":1015,"type":"article-journal","title":"Online display advertising: Targeting and obtrusiveness","container-title":"Marketing Science","page":"389-404","volume":"30","issue":"3","author":[{"family":"Goldfarb","given":"Avi"},{"family":"Tucker","given":"Catherine"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2011"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Goldfarb & Tucker, 2011).
Future Recommendation
While Google is doing brilliantly in terms of its strategy with regard to advertisement and generating a fair amount of revenue, it is high time that it opens doors to new possibility to redirect more ad revenue it's way. One of the most effective ways it can use to do so would be to consider investing in other modes of revenue, some of which exist right under its nose. The SERP feature by Google can work as an excellent means to supplement more advertisement. SERP presents Google with a unique set of advantages to enable its growth and progress in a meaningful manner ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"pSzoTj5d","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Barry & Lardner, 2011; Talarico, 2019)","plainCitation":"(Barry & Lardner, 2011; Talarico, 2019)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":1018,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/6XXRQUZ8"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/6XXRQUZ8"],"itemData":{"id":1018,"type":"chapter","title":"A study of first click behaviour and user interaction on the Google SERP","container-title":"Information Systems Development","publisher":"Springer","page":"89-99","author":[{"family":"Barry","given":"Chris"},{"family":"Lardner","given":"Mark"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2011"]]}}},{"id":1016,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/5KTVHKTZ"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/5KTVHKTZ"],"itemData":{"id":1016,"type":"article-journal","title":"The ever‐evolving SERP: Writing for humans and algorithms","container-title":"Recruiting & Retaining Adult Learners","page":"1-3","volume":"21","issue":"6","author":[{"family":"Talarico","given":"Donna"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2019"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Barry & Lardner, 2011; Talarico, 2019).
One such example, where SERP can help Google generate more revenue is through the Google Flight Box. When an individual looks up a flight schedule through Google, Google redirects such users to the airline’s website from Google’s listing of available flights based on the search made. This way, the airline is able to generate revenue for itself while the well-placed ad moves a few Benjamin’s in Google’s pockets. The system was pretty neat, and it worked well for ages. However, Google decided to upgrade the system in a manner that not only made things easier for a seasoned traveler and upped its personal revenue at the same time. It updated the SERP feature to not only show the flights available to your search location, but it integrated the best pricing option, the best day to travel the number of hours it would take to get to your destination and even the choice of number of days of stays based on pricing that would be most economical for its users. That is not all, it also integrated a hotel booking option and a rental car service. This way, it is not only predicting the needs of its users but also showing the possibilities that the user never even considered in a neat little package. At the same time, it is generating revenue for a number of businesses and generating revenue for itself from a number of sources at the very same time ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"ax3Sed3G","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Oberstein, 2017)","plainCitation":"(Oberstein, 2017)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":1012,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/ARSZ24SA"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/ARSZ24SA"],"itemData":{"id":1012,"type":"webpage","title":"The Future of Google's Revenue Strategy","abstract":"Google recently upgraded and expanded two of its SERP features. Find out how these changes fit into Google’s master plan to bolster the search giant’s revenue.","URL":"https://www.rankranger.com/blog/future-google-revenue-strategy","language":"en","author":[{"family":"Oberstein","given":"Mordy"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2017",10,16]]},"accessed":{"date-parts":[["2019",9,27]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Oberstein, 2017).
This is a move in the right direction for Google. If Google is able to take advertisement away from the television industry and have complete autonomy over mobile telephone advertising, it will change the way people look at advertising altogether.
References
ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Barry, C., & Lardner, M. (2011). A study of first click behaviour and user interaction on the Google SERP. In Information Systems Development (pp. 89–99). Springer.
Goldfarb, A., & Tucker, C. (2011). Online display advertising: Targeting and obtrusiveness. Marketing Science, 30(3), 389–404.
Graham, R. (2017). Google and advertising: Digital capitalism in the context of Post-Fordism, the reification of language, and the rise of fake news. Palgrave Communications, 3(1), 45.
Oberstein, M. (2017, October 16). The Future of Google’s Revenue Strategy. Retrieved September 27, 2019, from https://www.rankranger.com/blog/future-google-revenue-strategy
Talarico, D. (2019). The ever‐evolving SERP: Writing for humans and algorithms. Recruiting & Retaining Adult Learners, 21(6), 1–3.
Vise, D. (2007). The google story. Strategic Direction, 23(10).
