New banner ads push actual Google results to bottom 12% of the screen • Hacker News Board

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

#41

Post by thetrb » Thu, Oct 24, 2013, 7:27 PM UTC

larrys wrote: post #21

thetrb wrote: post #16

Earlier 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 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 Google is a business that has to earn money, but there are some red flags showing up for me.

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

#42

Post by aresant » Thu, Oct 24, 2013, 7:31 PM UTC

There was an interesting earlier this year from EBAY showing that there was ZERO value to buying their own brand keywords from Google (when their organic keywords ranked high).

In fact spending money on their own brand keywords generated signifigant negative ROI (1).

So my guess is that this strategy from Google is designed to provide brands with a first step to generating actual value from Google search results.

I can see brands making these out-sized spends when able to provide their customers w/additional value like interactivity within the goog results, etc.

(1) http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/03/did-ebay-just-prove-that-paid/

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

#43

Post by stonemetal » Thu, Oct 24, 2013, 7:32 PM UTC

thetrb wrote: post #16

spindritf wrote: post #6

Someone searching for Southwest Airlines is probably looking for... Southwest Airlines. So the very first result is a useful one. With sections of the official website conveniently linked and a pretty picture on top. This sounds to me like a complete non-issue. If you don't like ads, install AdBlock. Of course if you need clicks for your website, carry on.

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.

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

#44

Post by muraiki » Thu, Oct 24, 2013, 7:32 PM UTC

Here's the best "malicious" reasoning behind this that I could come up with. Consider the following list of _hypothetical_ statements (as I have no research to back it up):

1. Users tend to ignore the small ads on the right (anecdote: I do)

2. Users do notice and click on search results beneath the top query, even when they originally intended to arrive at their exact branded query

3. Search results beneath the top result are for competitors

Solution: Put in huge "ad" to draw attention and also to knock competitors listings to the very bottom of the screen or off the fold completely

If 1-3 hold true, then I could see it making sense competitively to shove those other results down the page.

Edit: aresant pointed out a good article that could explain the intent. Yay! Also, it wasn't my intent to hate on Google, just a thought experiment.

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

#45

Post by wmeredith » Thu, Oct 24, 2013, 7:34 PM UTC

tedunangst wrote: post #27

spindritf wrote: post #6

Someone searching for Southwest Airlines is probably looking for... Southwest Airlines. So the very first result is a useful one. With sections of the official website conveniently linked and a pretty picture on top. This sounds to me like a complete non-issue. If you don't like ads, install AdBlock. Of course if you need clicks for your website, carry on.

Should Banana Republic be able to buy an enhanced search experience for people searching for "banana republic"?

Stuff like this was my concern, as well. What if my 3 year old and I are Googling "Apple" while we go through the alphabet? Or what if I'm looking for airlines that service the southwest? If I'm a teenager searching for Tesla as part of a school project, should a car brand get to own the majority of that initial experience? (Answer, yes, if the price is right for Google.)

This is Google selling out their initial vision (the little that's left of it) just a little bit more. Which is disappointing to me personally, but they certainly don't owe anyone anything. They can do with their SERPs as they please, just as I can do with my search queries what I please. They were so good for so long, but ask any SEO worth their salt what they think of Google. They'll tell you those days have been over for some years now.

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

#46

Post by killwhitey » Thu, Oct 24, 2013, 7:34 PM UTC

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,…

The main difference seems to be that today even getting the top organic search result doesn't provide enough clicks for advertisers, so they feel obliged to purchase ads for their own brand names even when they already rank first.

It should be noted that this instance is simply a test and should not be taken as an indication of how these ads will be purchased. While I'm sure there will be numerous advertisers who feel the need to have a large banner when their specific brand is searched for, I expect them to be in the minority. The real question is will I be seeing a banner for Southwest when I search for JetBlue.

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

#47

Post by Theodores » Thu, Oct 24, 2013, 7:42 PM UTC

If you look at this from a retailer perspective this completely makes sense. Important boss man at 'Acme Widgets' wants to type 'Acme Widgets' into Google and see something impressive, with some control over it. He can now pay for the advert with Google rather than pay a bunch of SEO clowns and 'web designers' that typically go over-clever with the homepage design rendering the top search results useless.

Important boss man also wants to get good results for 'acme blue widgets', 'tough widgets Alabama', 'naughty widgets' and whatever but only really cares about those secondary searches when someone else has told him to care about it. It is the main company name, in the search box that matters.

I think this is going to work well for all concerned and I don't share the cynicism most people seem to have about this.

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

#48

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Oct 24, 2013, 7:44 PM UTC

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,…

[deleted]

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

#49

Post by elwell » Thu, Oct 24, 2013, 7:47 PM UTC

I'm sure this makes DuckDuckGo happy.

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

#50

Post by toddmorey » Thu, Oct 24, 2013, 7:52 PM UTC

So SWA is a pretty specific example, but what about Apple? What about when you are searching for, well, information about apples? And can SWA ever own the term "Southwest"? When you think it out, it's not as cut and dry as it first seems.