Google AdWords Could Lose Billions From Its Relevance Addiction!

What I am about to say may surprise you. If you’re an old guy or advertising/marketing gal, you’ll get my idea right away. In some ways, with all the power that Google has, it might actually be too focused. Of course, I totally understand your take on keeping everything relevant and specific. But you know what, I’m human and so are you and dear God, we’re not built that way. I like to be a bit selfless, not relevant at times, and when the good Lord is willing, maybe even spontaneous!

Okay, so this is where I’m going with all of this. Internet & Google, more specifically, has truly become the fourth medium, after newspaper, radio and television. There is no question there at all. While I totally appreciate Google’s attempt to keep everything focused and relevant on the search engine side, I actually miss the distractions on the ads side. You know, a billboard that catches your eye and suggests where you can have lunch. Checking out at Wal-Mart or any variety store, with its plethora of useless things to buy on impulse. And yes, we buy billions and billions of dollars worth of stuff on impulse every day.

Granted, I can still buy the specific items I see advertised through Google AdWords, but they’ve clearly taken all the spontaneous spirit out of my shopping experience. Something that the human condition has longed for for so long. God forbid grocery stores can completely attack you like that. It could work, and I’m sure he would actually. I just stopped by to get some dog food and as I approach the exit the only things there are dog treats, dog leashes, dog shampoo… you get my drift. When am I going to have that candy bar that I don’t need, but will really enjoy?

I spent 30 years in the media, in radio advertising to be more specific. And I can honestly tell you that if we set the price of a Weather Forecast sponsorship at $150.00 for 30 seconds of airtime, advertisers would line up to buy it. We do not restrict them by their actual product. It was by order of arrival. So McDonald’s would often bring you Weather, nothing relevant to weather at all, they just bought that place because it had the most listeners for the hour. He seems smart and directed to some extent.

We’ve gone from eating at home, to dining at a restaurant, to eating at a fast food joint, to today, to lunch in the car or on the skid, as I call it. What’s next, the food patch, and I’ll never have to go through here! Clearly, it’s getting too tight, don’t you think?

I truly believe that if McDonald’s or Wal-Mart or you and I want to advertise on Google, there shouldn’t be any restrictions. The price of your ad placement will ultimately determine who goes where. But let me decide if I want to be relevant or not!

Yahoo was the giant for many years, got fat I guess, and Google just came along and did it big. In my opinion, there is room here to move this giant called Google, and I think another giant like Yahoo could be the one to do it. Focused, objective and relevant… sure, let’s do all of that… but let’s also have some fun! Google’s system itself is a fantastic array of algorithms too complicated to understand correctly, but so are we, the people. A very complex variety of personalities, with needs and desires. A very daunting task to effectively marry the two of them.

I must admit that I am bothering to mention all of this because of my long career in the advertising game, and also because of my actual daily use of the Google search engine and also the Google AdWords program. I know this from experience, you are going to lose a lot of money with AdWords, unless you have done your homework or at least done some reading and use the right software to help you. Google doesn’t make it easy to advertise there, but there are ways to make things work.

You can love and hate Google for many reasons, but for success with AdWords, Keyword Elite is a great place to start. Sure, it might sound like some kind of shameless hype, but it will certainly save you countless hours on the research side and open new doors for you, as it actually suggests other powerful keywords to consider, that you wouldn’t have thought of. of. And you know what, if you really work at it, you might even get your ad to appear on a completely irrelevant page, taking me back to my original story of allowing myself to make some impulse purchases. If leveraging your time is important to you, I highly suggest the software route I mentioned.

So maybe the next time I’m on Google looking for my favorite vacation destination, I’ll come across your ad-selling widgets. It won’t be relevant or targeted to a specific audience, but it’s sure to bring a big smile to my face when I see that misplaced ad. Long live impulse buying and my right to choose what is relevant or not.