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GM Says Facebook Ads Don't Work, Pulls $10 Million Account

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Re: GM Says Facebook Ads Don't Work, Pulls $10 Million Account

#131

Post by davvid »

vm wrote: post #107
malandrew wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Intent is huge. I've never been one to click on Google Ads except in real rare instances. Only once I observed my mom using Google did I realize the full value of intent and google ads while searching. She wanted to watch an episode of The Good Wife that she had missed so she searched in the Safari omnibar for "watch The Good Wife" and the first div under the search bar is an ad to some site that was not CBS that had…

Facebook has ads that people like your mother will think are from friends. If users can't tell the different between Google Ads and search terms (or between CBS and a random site), they're unlikely to distinguish between newsfeed updates from friends and paid ads. You're right that that's totally different from intent. But it's valuable for brands which spend billions [1] per year on exposure-focused ads, like produc…

If users can't tell the different between Google Ads and search terms (or between CBS and a random site), they're unlikely to distinguish between newsfeed updates from friends and paid ads

That's a big assumption to make. The bar is low for search results because they have no personality.

For friends -- we know our friends. They have a distinct personality. Ads disguised as messages from friends could have a negative effect because of this dissonance.

Re: GM Says Facebook Ads Don't Work, Pulls $10 Million Account

#133

Post by webwright »

cletus wrote: post #114

I've said this repeatedly: Facebook is a high-risk proposition, particularly as an investment (disclaimer: I work for Google). "Intent" as other commenters have noted is a big part of the story but it's not the only story. Search can broadly be broken up into at least two categories: 1. Navigational eg typing "b and h" into the browser; and 2. Informational eg "cheap flights to jamaica". I don't know what the make up…

"I've said this repeatedly: Facebook is a high-risk proposition, particularly as an investment (disclaimer: I work for Google). "Intent" as other commenters have noted is a big part of the story but it's not the only story."

As a Google employee, what do you think of Google as an investment? If you look forward 5+ years, everyone is doing much of their internetting via their phone (certainly some or all of that will be web vs. apps-- who knows?). Google gains some extra data with searches, like location. So "pizza" searches get a LOT more targeted. But many searches do not.

The rub is that Google has near-zero ad inventory on mobile. You can't show 6 adwords ads, you can show 1. Additionally, consumer's bar for tapping an ad is MUCH higher (given the relative speeds of mobile browsing). As searching moves mobile, how does Google's revenue shake out?

Re: GM Says Facebook Ads Don't Work, Pulls $10 Million Account

#134

Post by jusben1369 »

cletus wrote: post #114

I've said this repeatedly: Facebook is a high-risk proposition, particularly as an investment (disclaimer: I work for Google). "Intent" as other commenters have noted is a big part of the story but it's not the only story. Search can broadly be broken up into at least two categories: 1. Navigational eg typing "b and h" into the browser; and 2. Informational eg "cheap flights to jamaica". I don't know what the make up…

Is the problem with GM's ads or FB's platform? Ie - What's Ford, Toyota or Hyundai doing with their ad spend on FB? We might be jumping to conclusions a little too quickly here.

Re: GM Says Facebook Ads Don't Work, Pulls $10 Million Account

#135

Post by natrius »

waterlesscloud wrote: post #103
natrius wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For brand advertisers like GM, intent is supposed to matter less. The lack of intent was always a known factor, but I personally expected big brands to be comfortable with Facebook's lower click through rates. The fact that they're not is a huge red flag.

My immediate reaction to this is that "Behemoth old company has not yet learned to optimize its Facebook messaging".

I assure you that plenty of Facebook employee time was likely spent trying to optimize their campaigns. Ten million dollar clients don't learn; they're taught.

Re: GM Says Facebook Ads Don't Work, Pulls $10 Million Account

#136

Post by malandrew »

vm wrote: post #107
malandrew wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Intent is huge. I've never been one to click on Google Ads except in real rare instances. Only once I observed my mom using Google did I realize the full value of intent and google ads while searching. She wanted to watch an episode of The Good Wife that she had missed so she searched in the Safari omnibar for "watch The Good Wife" and the first div under the search bar is an ad to some site that was not CBS that had…

Facebook has ads that people like your mother will think are from friends. If users can't tell the different between Google Ads and search terms (or between CBS and a random site), they're unlikely to distinguish between newsfeed updates from friends and paid ads. You're right that that's totally different from intent. But it's valuable for brands which spend billions [1] per year on exposure-focused ads, like produc…

Can you link to some screenshots with examples of ads in the newsfeed that someone like my mother would confuse as being from a friend or family member?

I'm inclined to agree with davvid on his point about how personality isn't a distinguishing factor between Google Ads and Google Search Results.

On top of that, intent is was drives the conversion. Even if my mom were to inadvertently click on an ad in her newsfeed thinking it was from a family member, the content of the page she was redirected to would definitely let her know she had made a mistake and that the status update definitely wasn't from a friend or family member.

Re: GM Says Facebook Ads Don't Work, Pulls $10 Million Account

#137

Post by koglerjs »

bradgessler wrote: post #39
jacquesm wrote: post #16

When you're close to an IPO you are very vulnerable to hard-ball negotiation tactics. This could easily be the endgame of 'reduce our rates or else'.

... or Facebook ads don't work.

Which is somewhat tangential to the original point. Hard-ball tactics might _succeed_ because fb ads don't work.

Re: GM Says Facebook Ads Don't Work, Pulls $10 Million Account

#140

Post by drumdance »

kposehn wrote: post #128
anon808 wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"This is the same story as Google AdWords back in the day." Not really, adwords pretty much worked from day one, bid for placement was inspired by the goto.com paid search engine model which was minting money back in the 00s if I remember correctly.

It worked, but people still panned it. FB is the same way :-/

I don't remember anybody panning it. I'm probably an outlier[1], but do remember a friend of mine going from broke to making a good living off it through affiliate marketing within 3 months.

[1]Early on he quickly became one of Google's biggest customers, even working alone. He was invited to the first Google Zeitgest. These days he spends in the multiple tens of millions per year on Google.

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