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New banner ads push actual Google results to bottom 12% of the screen

arstechnica.com

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Re: New banner ads push actual Google results to bottom 12% of the screen

#121

Post by aw3c2 »

dzhiurgis wrote: post #86
svantana wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This worries me though. I use AdBlock and get really annoyed when using friends' machines without it. But the system won't work if too many people use AdBlock. So if more ads -> more adblock -> then what? My nightmare scenario is the spread of what already goes on on alot of less scrupulous sites: "we have detected that you are using AdBlock. Turn it off to view our content". It reminds me of the excellent dystopia-s…

I hate the fact that, after a while, AdBlock automatically checks "Allow some non-intrusive advertising" checkbox. And "some" means several hundred supporters.

Switch to Adblock Edge, it is a fork with no such black "feature".

Re: New banner ads push actual Google results to bottom 12% of the screen

#122

Post by vecter »

anon1385 wrote: post #31

Page 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,…

If people searching for Southwest Airlines on Google aren't ending up on the Southwest Airlines website without a huge great banner ad (despite it being ranked at the top of the results) then something is going badly wrong on the Google search results page.

Of course searching for "Southwest Airlines" will result in southwest.com being the first hit. The reason that Southwest buys its own banner is to prevent rival airlines from buying that same name.

Re: New banner ads push actual Google results to bottom 12% of the screen

#123

Post by klipt »

znowi wrote: post #109
anon1385 wrote: post #31

Page 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,…

What else can you expect from the Empire? Anakin was once a honest Jedi, too. But the evil forces of greed overpowered him :) Choose the path of the Jedi - use DDG! https://duckduckgo.com/

So if DuckDuckGo doesn't have ads ... how exactly do they pay their employees and run their servers? Charity?

Re: New banner ads push actual Google results to bottom 12% of the screen

#124

Post by Eye_of_Mordor »

I think you're misunderstanding - Google knows everything about you and only supplies your search result. The second result is something your really don't want and everything else is there to make you think there are other alternatives to what you really wanted, which was the first result.

Re: New banner ads push actual Google results to bottom 12% of the screen

#125

Post by charlesism »

"There will be no banner ads on the Google homepage ... Ever."

Eight years passed...

"There will be no banner ads on the Google homepage ... ever, excepting one large ad at the top of the page."

After that it did not seem strange when the pigs who were supervising the work of the farm all carried whips in their trotters.

Re: New banner ads push actual Google results to bottom 12% of the screen

#126

Post by [deleted] »

r0h1n wrote: post #111
Recoil42 wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>If people searching for Southwest Airlines on Google aren't ending up on the Southwest Airlines website without a huge great banner ad (despite it being ranked at the top of the results) then something is going badly wrong on the Google search results page. Or maybe they are, and this is simply an example of a branding bonus/partnership for big spenders. We have no idea what the economics are and why.

Many companies also spend serious money to buy the topmost text ad for searches on their own brands/URLs. Even when they're #1 organically. What branding benefit can there be in showing a text ad to a user who is already searching for your website?

[deleted]

Re: New banner ads push actual Google results to bottom 12% of the screen

#127

Post by _mulder_ »

rossriley wrote: post #116
Someone wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know little of that business, but isn't that just "if we buy that space, none of our competitors can have it"? Also, they could better point customers to special offers, etc.

Yes, in media buying, this is known as brand protection. It ensures that customers who already are searching for your brand and are therefore more likely to convert don't disappear off to a competitor. Hence ironically companies will often pay more per click for these results than on more unrelated keywords.

When this happens I like to play a little game. If I think the company has loads of money (Apple, Shell), I click the sponsored link and help fill the coffers at Google. Otherwise, I click the search result and save the poor struggling company some cents.

Re: New banner ads push actual Google results to bottom 12% of the screen

#129

Post by acro »

klipt wrote: post #123
znowi wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What else can you expect from the Empire? Anakin was once a honest Jedi, too. But the evil forces of greed overpowered him :) Choose the path of the Jedi - use DDG! https://duckduckgo.com/

So if DuckDuckGo doesn't have ads ... how exactly do they pay their employees and run their servers? Charity?

DuckDuckGo has ads.

https://dukgo.com/help/en_US/company/advertising-and-affilia...

Re: New banner ads push actual Google results to bottom 12% of the screen

#130

Post by josefresco »

spankalee wrote: post #87

Disclaimer: I'm a Googler I think this is a pretty disingenuous analysis of what's going on. It's obvious from the comparison to the [Virgin America] search that this is a bigger change that just adding a "banner ad". Notice that for [Virgin America] there are _two_ spots that bring you to virginamerical.com, the ad and the first organic result. This is redundant, wastes space, and probably is confusing to some users…

"I don't know why a company buys ads for navigational queries where it's already the top result, but they do, and I'd argue it's bad for users."

I preach to my local clients that they want to be in the "map pack", in the organic results AND on AdWords to get the full benefit from Google searches .. even "navigational" searches or searches where they are already #1.

One reason is easy to understand (consumers see your brand in not 1 but 3 places).

But the secondary reason is s direct result of Google favoring or placing paid ads above organic results. If you sell "blue widgets" and rank #1 organically for that term your competitors can still buy ads and rank above you because Google places those ads before the organic results.

Don't want people buying ads for searches where they are already #1? Reduce the prominence of your top ranking ads so that brands don't feel "forced" to do so just to stay competitive.

Giving people a shortcut around organic rankings and being surprised when brands then want to be in both places is kind of ridiculous.

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