What if I told you that one of the best ways to advertise your business was for someone to stumble upon it while searching for something similar or in the same field? That is what Google and other search engines can provide through paid advertising, but I am just going to focus on Google as it is without a doubt the most used search engine on the internet as it has a market share of 74.8% on desktop and an 80.79% share on mobile (Net MarketShare).
Through the use of paid advertising, Google will push your ad towards the top of the results if it relates to the field that someone has typed into the search bar. This is known as Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). I conducted my own experiment just to see how common these advertisements pop up when searching for something. I searched for “paid search marketing” (below) in an attempt to gather information about the topic and see if there was anything in the news about this area. While I wasn’t actually looking to purchase any advertising, Google still recommended an advertisement. I personally don’t usually click on any of these advertisements when using Google as I generally have good idea of what I am exactly looking for but I can see how these ads might be helpful to some users.
SEO is not the only form of search engine advertising as another version is called ‘pay-per-click’ (PPC) advertising and I find is much more annoying. These PPC ads make up approximately a third of Google’s revenue and I can see why as they are on most websites you visit. I have provided another example (below) of how these PPC ads work and as you can see this screenshot was taken form The Age website. These ads are specifically tailored to what you search and what Google thinks you want to see. On the night of the 6thof May, I was searching for cars and even went on to the Holden website, just to see how much different types would be. This screenshot was taken on the 7thof May and as you can see the advertisement has popped up in PPC form. I don’t currently own a car and have not been searching for them recently, you’ll have to take my word, but since that was what I last searched up on Google, they thought it would be great to advertise it for me. PPC also leads into another topic that I have covered recently and that is ‘Big Data’.
Essentially Big Data keeps track of your recent searches on Google or even likes on Facebook then tailors specific ads to you based on those searches, hence why I received a Holden ad on The Age website. I have covered it more in depth in a few of my recent blog posts so you can check it out there.
What are your thoughts on Google advertising? Do you think it is beneficial, or do you even find it annoying and even a bit creepy? Would love to hear from you in the comment section.
Ian's Digital Marketing Blog 
Hey Ian, great post. I completely agree on the fact you focused just on google as it’s by far the biggest search engine and really does seem best to focus your SEO efforts towards google. I too can see how some advertisements when searching are relevant, I feel like I have clicked on a few in the past, probably just out of convenience and them being very relevant to what I was actually searching. An example I can think of is when i was looking for a specific dress, I searched the exact name of it, and it came up first as an ad for the iconic selling the dress. I clicked on it, and it was discounted which was a big win for me! So i guess in some instances they can be helpful.
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Thanks for the comment Molly! Yeah some advertisements are definitely relevant but others are just plain annoying. Maybe I’m in the minority that doesn’t use these search engine ads at all. Well I’m glad you were able to find the dress at a discounted price thanks to the SEO!
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Hey Ian, great post!
I liked how you linked big data to SEO, I’ve been thinking about how the two combine over the last week also.
I definitely take your word when you told the story about the Holden advertisement. It seems more and more common to receive targeted advertising based off previous google searches, conversations or even thoughts 🤔I personally think Google advertising is quite insightful and often convenient, however sometimes it does shock me how much Google has picked up on things I’m interested in…
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Thanks for the comment Claudia! Yeah well I find the PPC ads are definitely related to big data as you could be on a completely different website and then an ad for a previous search will show up. I also do think that Google’s advertising is quite insightful and I think this is the only way to go as people wouldn’t want ads about irrelevant products. It is very weird how Google can pick up on things I haven’t even typed into the search bar.
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Hi Ian, nice post.
I also wonder how these ads keep showing on my screen. Not only on google but facebook and other websites. Last time I searched for fishing information and now adv for fishing rod/items keep showing up when I’m online. Seem like SEO and PPC is somehow linked with each other and they track our search every time we use internet
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Thanks for the comment! Yeah both SEO and PPC are definitely linked with each other as Google keeps track of what you have searched and what your interests are on sites such as Facebook.
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Hey Ian, this was an interesting read! I have discussed a similar viewpoint in past blog posts of Google recommending ads based on past search history. It seems that SEO is also linked to this outcome! While the ads may be beneficial to some, I do find it somewhat intrusive seeing a third-party site display ads that are tailored to my frequent searches. I guess this is the reality with “big data”.
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Hey Jarryd, thanks for the comment! SEO and PPC ads seem to be everywhere whether we notice it or not! I agree that it is very intrusive that ads you see are tailored to your searches as it feels like you are being watched!
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