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Comparison Sites Killing Google?

February 15, 2009 //
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Ill be honest, the thought had never crossed my mind, after all, the financial comparison sites are some of the biggest spenders with Google and so contribute a large chunk to Google’s Adwords revenues each year.  But it was mentioned in a conversation the other day with Richard Gregory, Latitude’s Chief Operations Officer, and it actually adds up.

Car Insurance is one of Google’s biggest markets with the number 1 PPC position commanding CPC’s in excess of £10 and thousands of searches each month.  So you would think that these comparison sites, who at the time of writing hold 2 of the top 3 PPC positions, would be adding to, not taking away from, Google’s revenue growth targets.  But when you look at the trend for car insurance searches on Google over the past few years you will see a steady decline since mid 2006.

car-insurance-comparison-killing-google

And if you plot that against searches for the brand names of the major insurance comparison sites you can see that the growth in their search volume could be the cause of this.

car-insurance-comparison-sites-adwords

Prior to the emergence of comparison sites, if you wanted a quick an easy list of insurers online, what did you do?  You searched for car insurance on Google.  But with the amount of branding activity these sites do offline and the awareness it has generated, people are fully aware of the places they need ot go to compare car insurance offers and providers.  So they are now going direct to their site of choice, or performing a brand search for that site instead.  Therefore whilst the comparison sites are spending a large amount on Google Adwords, they are taking away a large chunk of its revenues from this market through their very presence.  And you have to say, as people look to save every penny in difficult times, this trend is only going to continue, and car insurance will become a less and less lucrative market for Google and they will have to find a replacement cash cow for the future.

Maybe this trend was a contributing factor to the decision to allow gambling advertiser on Adwords?  And this is their replacement revenue source, that is of course until someone finds an effective way of comparing odds on the leading gambling sites and we are back where we started!

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Categories Google

Privacy Issues Surrounding Google Latitude

February 11, 2009 //

It was predictable when Google’s latest gadget was announced.  I have to admit, it was my first thought, “what? You mean if I sign up to this people can find out where I am 24/7? No thanks!”  But then I performed a quick test and worked out it was all completely user controlled and if you wanted, you could just set your location away from where you actually were.  But now, the privacy police are on the case, criticising Google Latitude (no, nothing to do with my employer!) and suggesting it is a breach of personal privacy.

Of course Google just aren’t that stupid.  They will have made sure every possible permutation was considered before launching Google Latitude to the public and I am sure it is all covered in their terms and conditions.

The fact of the matter is that for somebody to be able to follow your location on Google Latitude they have to:
1.    Know your log in email address
2.    Ask to know your location and be accepted by you!
So if you are stupid enough to share your location with someone who you shouldn’t, is this Googles fault?

I do have one question for Mr.Google though on their latest product.  Where would they stand if the police (or some higher authority) suspected me of doing naughty things and wanted access to my Google Latitude account?  Would they hand it over? I suspect they would.  So whilst I find the new toy from Google interesting and will continue to use it for the time being, I would be shying away from doing so if I had anything to hide.

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Categories Google

Google’s Genius Solution to the YouTube Conundrum

January 25, 2009 //
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Google has announced its genius solution to conundrum of how to get a return on its $1.6bn purchase of YouTube in 2006.  They have decided that the current rate of £25,000 a day for homepage advertising on the video sharing site is too cheap! And so they are putting the daily advertising rate up by 28% to £35,000. Genius!  OK, so they are making the homepage advertising options a little more interesting with expandable videos and potential full homepage takeovers but really, is this the best Google come up with?

Homepage takeovers and sponsorships are going to be the last thing on brand advertisers minds in times when return on advertising spend is more critical than ever.  Surely a more innovative and flexible advertising solution would have been a better option and attracted a broader range of advertisers rather than the few who are willing to fork out £35,000 for a days advertising.

The success of the latest Facebook and MySpace solutions is built on the fact they are flexible and accessible to all.  There are thousands of businesses out there who are dying to tap into the social media masses and they now can, through the latest Facebook and MySpace platforms.  This will keep the two networks going in a time when large budget advertisers are tightening the purse strings.  Who is going to be buying a £35,000 homepage takeover on YouTube when times are tight?

Unfortunately Google have dropped the ball with this one for me, it wouldn’t surprise me if they were heading back to the drawing board in 6 months time due to a lack of uptake on their latest proposition.

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Categories Display Advertising, Google

Search Engines Feeling the Pinch

January 16, 2009 //
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Although much has been said about digital marketing and more so, search engine marketing, being recession proof and the one area of the marketing plan which is set to actually benefit from recession, recent news stories indicate that this may not be the case.  It appears that Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft, the three major players in the world of PPC, are battening down the hatches for a tough 2009 in search.

Yahoo!

Yahoo! announced this week that it is shutting down its content network, a move which was met with nothing more than a shrug by the search engine marketing community, but one which could signal that Yahoo! is looking to cut back on its less profitable areas.

Yahoo shuts down content match in the UK

Microsoft

Rumours are rife that Microsoft are set to announce job cuts in the next week, with some expected on the search side of the business.  This is unsurprising considering the disappointing growth of Live search and the perceived lack of focus in this area, perhaps they are set to rely on the Yahoo! workforce and are giving away something about the merger rumours!?!

Microsoft Job Cuts May Come Next Week

Google

Surprisingly it is Google that appear to be making the most cuts, with the announcement it is cutting 100 recruitment positions (1% of the company) and shutting down 3 engineering offices.  The staff on the engineering side will be given the option to relocate but you would think a large proportion of them will also end up redundant.

Google have also announced the removal of a number of their product offerings and the discontinuation of development of a number of others as they look to focus on the products that earn them direct revenues in these difficult times.  The affected Google products are:

•    Google Video
•    Google Catalogue Search
•    Google Notebook
•    Dodgeball
•    Jaiku
•    Google Mashup Editor

Google to lay off 100 recruitment staff

Google closes a number of products

So what does this say about the confidence of the three biggest suppliers of paid search advertising?  It could be seen as good business sense on their part, sorting the wheat from the chaff so to speak and focussing on profitability in tough economic times.  Moves like this however can only result in Google extending their lead in the race for search engine supremacy.  The optimist in me would like to see Yahoo! or Microsoft being aggressive in a  push steal market share in the downturn, but maybe they are both resigned to the fact the only way forward is to join forces.

2009 is set to be a tough year for us all; some will fall, while others will prosper at their expense.  At the moment it appears even the search engines are jockeying to be in the best position as it appears things are going to get worse before they get any better.

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Categories Search Engine Marketing

Google Timeframe Budgeting – To Make Sure You Spend Every Penny!

January 13, 2009 //

According to news reported last week on Search Engine Land Google is trialling a new budgeting option for Google Adwords to be known as timeframe.

Early reports indicate that, when selected, Google timeframe will automatically increase your Adwords daily budget if you are under spending against a budget allocate for a set timeframe.  How nice of Google!  They have invented an option to make sure you spend every last penny possible with them!  Doubtless this idea came from some senior member of the Google team looking at the total unspent budget allocations within the Adwords system.  Initial indications are unclear but I think you can be sure the system does not work the other way, reducing daily budgets when you are overspending against a monthly budget.  After all, if you budget runs out sooner, there’s a chance you will add more!

This new option will make little difference to the educated search marketer who should be using CPCs and not daily budgets to manage their campaigns (other than in exceptional circumstances) but it could mean that a lot of direct advertisers find very little left in their Google pot at the end of each month if they enable this new option.

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Categories Google
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