http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/southw...
Speaking of "high quality ads": The second Cheap-O-Air Ad is for flights to Southwest not on Southwest Airlines - Deceptive IMHO.
New banner ads push actual Google results to bottom 12% of the screen
71–80 of 142 posts
Re: New banner ads push actual Google results to bottom 12% of the screen
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
But if you're searching for Southwest Airlines then why do you want to get an ad for Southwest Airlines instead of just a neutral link to their homepage? I understand ads for terms like "cheap tickets", but why would I want an ad for the term "Southwest Airlines"?
why would I want an ad for the term "Southwest Airlines"? If it pushes southwestsucks.com or something similar off the first page of google results it has some value.
Here is another reason: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6608049
Re: New banner ads push actual Google results to bottom 12% of the screen
#73I'd seriously consider using the Bing search engine more with my chrome browser just to get in their statistics..
This ain't a big deal actually, it's a test to get more from their Adwords when people really search for the companies. But behold the future :( (investors, stocks, it will never be enough).
Re: New banner ads push actual Google results to bottom 12% of the screen
#74Earlier quoted context omitted.
Precisely. If Southwest's banner hit for "cheap airfare" or something similar, this would indeed be outrageous. But this just seems like useful (and sponsored) info being offered without needing to click-through. Somewhat sensationalist.
Consider an alternate universe where Southwest Airlines has a worse reputation due to a variety of bad practices they've engaged in. These banner ads have the potential for pushing many hits describing these practices further down the page, stifling the ability for organic results to properly reflect public opinion on a company.
As pointed out below, these images aren't "pushing" anything down anything. They are about the same height as the stuff they replaced.
http://searchengineland.com/figz/wp-content/seloads/2013/10/...
Re: New banner ads push actual Google results to bottom 12% of the screen
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
"why do you want to get an ad for Southwest Airlines" From what the example shows it's not so much an ad as a really quick way to visually see that when you click you will be going to the right place.[1] I mean visually it's probably quicker to see the big honking ad and airplane and focus and click than it is to read type. I'm guessing. User testing would prove or disprove this. (After all why do people use icons fo…
Yes, for the user it's probably easier this way. However, I find it a bit weird that Southwest is paying Google to display this banner. If it's just an enhancement for the user shouldn't that be offered by Google itself? I'm just a bit concerned that we're moving more and more to the point where your business can only be successful if you're paying Google. I'm not sure if it's fair to say that and I understand that G…
Look at southwest's front page and then look at Google presentation of their site map. Their own site is such a train wreck that I wouldn't be surprised to find out that conversion is superior if the user starts at Google instead of their own site.
Re: New banner ads push actual Google results to bottom 12% of the screen
#76Page and Brin themselves once pointed out the problems of accepting ads or paid placement, with some rather ironic examples: Furthermore, advertising income often provides an incentive to provide poor quality search results. For example, we noticed a major search engine would not return a large airline's homepage when the airline's name was given as a query. It so happened that the airline had placed an expensive ad,…
It can make sense to buy an ad even if you are the top result. It basically makes your top result take up twice as much room. More room = more clicks. It also pushes any competitor links creeping up below your top result from being above the scroll. And of course, with this new sell out mechanic, you get even more than double the space to shove out your competition.
Re: New banner ads push actual Google results to bottom 12% of the screen
#77I never understood why big companies waste money for keyword campaigns for their own brand, especially since they are going to show up first anyways. These banner ads provide branding opportunities so I understand this move.
Re: New banner ads push actual Google results to bottom 12% of the screen
#78I was worried when I saw this headline, and then very relieved when I saw what was actually going on. So long as Google only returns these sponsored ads for searches for the company name, I don't see this as being a problem at all, given the fact that many users are using the address bar integrated search in place of bookmarking or typing URLs. Where this would become a problem is if they start expanding this to sear…
I was under the impression that Southwest didn't let third party sites take reservations for them.
You get booked on them through code shares all the time, though, using other major airlines.
Re: New banner ads push actual Google results to bottom 12% of the screen
#79I am convinced they have monkeys for designers. WHY on earth would you allow "About 30,2000,000 results (0.25 seconds)" to take up space?! Are these guys insane? That's the most useless information on the page, and it's pushing the ads and search results further down.
Re: New banner ads push actual Google results to bottom 12% of the screen
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Apple SEC ruling" is a fairly specific keyword search whereas searching, blanketly, for a company name is not.
But maybe I'm thirsting to learn more about the juicy fruit. Do I get a page courtesy of Apple Inc too?
Then you should search for 'Apple fruit'. I'm sure it's orders of magnitude more likely that someone searching 'Apple' is looking for information related to the company than the fruit