For example, go to google.com and type in: "Squarespace". Squarespace has an ad at the top and then they are the first result. On the surface, this seems counter-intuitive because a user searching 'squarespace' would likely choose the organic link anyway. This is very common. Why do companies do this? Is it a defense mechanism so other competitors do not win ad placements right above their organic search result?
Ask HN: Why do companies buy ads when they are the top result in search?
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Re: Ask HN: Why do companies buy ads when they are the top result in search?
#2Yep. It's a defense mechanism.
Also prevents someone from buying an ad for Squarespace.co or some other domain for a phishing site, which could result in bad press from a """"hack"""" (note the use of quotes, it's not hacking.)
Re: Ask HN: Why do companies buy ads when they are the top result in search?
#3This study (http://searchengineland.com/google-research-even-if-you-rank...) is a bit old and possibly biased (since sponsored by Google) but when I worked in SEM the experience we had was the same which was the top organic position + the top paid position netted overall more traffic to our site than with just the organic position alone. The other considerations are:
1) Brand SEM terms are cheap - if you own the brand, especially something like Squarespace, your ad will have a high quality score and will thus pay a much lower CPC than a competitor trying to vie for eyeballs with your brand name as a keyword. This means that brand terms generally are pretty cheap to buy.
2) Real estate ownership - The more real estate on the page you own the more click share you will get. This will keep other organic listings from getting click share which may mean your competitors will get less traffic off of searches for you.
3) Control over message - Ads provide a high degree of creative control which means you can change the copy and also add on Ad Extensions like sitelinks, app download buttons, "click to call" buttons, etc. These are all things that are harder to control on your organic listing.
Re: Ask HN: Why do companies buy ads when they are the top result in search?
#4This study ( http://searchengineland.com/google-research-even-if-you-rank... ) is a bit old and possibly biased (since sponsored by Google) but when I worked in SEM the experience we had was the same which was the top organic position + the top paid position netted overall more traffic to our site than with just the organic position alone. The other considerations are: 1) Brand SEM terms are cheap - if you own the br…
Great explanation - I'll add two things.
1. If you're not there, someone else is. If Nike didn't buy brand terms, adidas would and would steal tons of customers.
2. Paid results (and other results like maps, shopping, etc) often push organic results below the fold so no one sees them. You need to be above the fold.
Re: Ask HN: Why do companies buy ads when they are the top result in search?
#5Yep. It's a defense mechanism. Also prevents someone from buying an ad for Squarespace.co or some other domain for a phishing site, which could result in bad press from a """"hack"""" (note the use of quotes, it's not hacking.)
This happened with torrenting sites and other free software. Top results were ads that charged people money.
Re: Ask HN: Why do companies buy ads when they are the top result in search?
#6Also if they're likely to choose the organic link anyway, there's less of a cost if it's a pay-per-click arrangement
Re: Ask HN: Why do companies buy ads when they are the top result in search?
#7As others have already explained, it is done to prevent competing services from achieving the number one spot for your search result.
There is a very cool and informative video from Google that shows what goes into bidding for and awarding the ads that are shown. I had truly encourage you watch this:
Re: Ask HN: Why do companies buy ads when they are the top result in search?
#8I attended a talk by Nordstrom's SEO team and one of their findings was people who click on the top ads spend more than people who click on non ads links. They seemed to think the paid search results might align closer to what the buyer was looking for.
That being said they were not 100% sure.
Re: Ask HN: Why do companies buy ads when they are the top result in search?
#9I attended a talk by Nordstrom's SEO team and one of their findings was people who click on the top ads spend more than people who click on non ads links. They seemed to think the paid search results might align closer to what the buyer was looking for. That being said they were not 100% sure.
people who click on the top ads spend more
Probably because they are less web savvy and less aware of the options they have.
Re: Ask HN: Why do companies buy ads when they are the top result in search?
#10Because if they don't their competitors will.