The internet's influence on Advertising

[Koz]

Hi all, was just thinking on the influence of internet marketing...

No one can deny the effect the internet has had on the advertising industry in the last few years. While internet advertising has grown leaps and bounds ever since internet became more widely accessible, I doubt it will ever kill TV, radio or print advertising.

But the great advantage of internet is that a closer relationship between potential customer and advertiser can be formed. Advertisers can track where their customers are coming from (which SE or site) and which of those customers convert. This leads to the advertisers being able to find their exact target audience and catering for their specific needs. Think about it, a nationwide TV advert (and they can be expensive) for cat food goes on air… how many of those TV viewers are going to convert? But with easy to use SEO tools you can know exactly who does.

And this is where we come in…

With everyone realising the importance on online advertising, it’s gotten quite competitive. Whether we call ourselves SEOs or SEMs, it’s our job to get these websites and adverts seen… and seen by the right people. That’s what I love about this job… the new tactics, algorithms and clients. And each client has their own needs. Its never static.

Cheers, Koz

[Paz]

Great post Koz,

Yes for sure the growth of the internet has changed the way big online companies are branding themselves. It was't long ago that many massive corporations put up flash websites that took an eternity to download and used javascript that only worked if you were using Internet Explorer.

These days the big companies are much more internet savvy because of the massive amount of traffic they can get, which as you say the way they can follow it page by page throughout the site.

The other thing is that there are 1000s of companies going online every month and they're all hoping for traffic from the search engines and will pay someone to get them top rankings in Google.

For me search engine optimisation is about getting traffic by optimising a site for front page rankings. Search engine marketing includes SEO but also covers managing pay per click campaigns, banner advertisements etc. The advantage of getting search engine marketing clients is that their budget will likely be bigger :razz:

Lots of South African companies are going online and looking for internet sales too. There are more and more people offering SEO and SEM services, even in South Africa, but I think there will be plenty of work for everyone.

Cheers,
Paz.

[Chatmaster]

Great posts Koz and Paz

IMO, The internet has had a phenomenal impact in the marketing and advertising industry as a whole. The possibilities around profiling your customers, targeted promotions and proper retention techniques just make online marketing much more powerful. Large corporates start realizing this and send their advertising from radio, TV and printed advertising to their websites. The value of large customer databases and customer loyalty just tripled since the value of the Internet hit home. One can go on and on about the effects the internet has had. A very important topic, something that needs to be discussed more often and in more detail. :o

[dwainedino]

Google came into the industry with impressions and clicks and Google looks like its taking on the Big Players in the industry with by introducing Cost per Action offering.
In a statement Google stated that they always looking at ways to provide effective and useful features to advertisers, publishers and users, and they will therefore be testing the Cost per Action (CPA) model.
This is supposed to reduce click fraud, and they anticipate that most of the new signups for this would be advertisers that have succumbed to click fraud.
Also, they anticipate that advertisers that have existing CPA deals with other networks, and have an existing relationship with Google, will be eager to utilise this method of marketing.
Cost-per-action pricing, has been extensively used by affiliate marketers.
ValueClick's Commission Junction network, Rakuten's LinkShare and DoubleClick's Performics has been leaders in the industry and Google's entry into the market could threaten all of these players, including Snap.com who has been offering CPA for more than a year.
Google planning to follow in the footsteps of Microsoft, by cornering the advertising market?

[daniel]

I must say that i never expected Google to EVER make this move. I am trying to think if reasons that they would.

Their current ppc model is working great for them, not for the consumers. Prices are going up and everyone is fighting for that top spot. Some terms are now going for 56 Pounds per click. A companies margins need to be really high to be able to absorb this type of cost.

To date, CPA deals have only worked well in some industries with most CPA companies having a bad reputation. Some CPA networks have been know to advertise a " free gift" if you fill in the form.
Obvisouly the conversion rate for these types of leads are terrible, and hence the bad reputation.

I think the model can work, if Google can keep control and not prostitute the service out to its entire network. If it does, it could destroy the Google brand.

Anyway, what makes you think i dont like CPA networks !!!!!

D

[Chatmaster]

Well they always brag they have better conversion rates than any other marketing method. If that is the case, Cost per Action might work out well for them... They can certainly charge more! :)

Would be very interesting to see what commission structure they will offer if they do decide to open it up to their network.

[Blazingpie]

What i want to know is how they plan on keeping tabs on how many times the "goal" was achieved. I mean, would you allow them to monitor your sales? Potentially, fraud could swing from the clickers to the advertisers, where they tell Google that the clicks generated less sales than they actually did...

[Chatmaster]

Perhaps the sites that do wish to make use of this needs to make use of GBuy (http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB113918924045565647-jtBYW5A_4ZI6WZiwUaUJNSbVAQI_20070206.html)? That way Google knows exactly what worked and what not?