Searching Google
NEW YORK, May 15, 2008- Wunderman Goes One-on-One with the Most Dynamic Force in Advertising
[Editor Note: Google was the topic of last months NY-sponsored Curiosity Seminar]
Say Google and instantly you think of search. You don’t even need to be Wunderman New York’s Mark Taylor, the host of Wunderman’s Curiosity Sessions, to know that.
But as Lisa Green, Agency Relations Manager for Google, told the group of 50 attendees at the second Curiosity Session, Google has been “growing, changing and innovating,” and, today, stands as the world’s largest advertising network.
The media conglomerate Google has figured prominently in marketing headlines. WPP chief, Sir Martin Sorrell, has called Google the “frienemy,” in the wake of their acquisition last year of DoubleClick, citing regulatory issues, “which a number of media owners, publishers and competitors like Microsoft are very exercised about.”
Google is in the “connection business” and today boasts offerings that transcend Search Engine Marketing (SEM). A vast suite of tools comprising gadget ads, mobile, video and, yes, even offline media outlets such as TV, radio and print, are all imbued with distinct targeting and measurability tools.
Indeed, it’s those targeting and measurement capabilities that create a formidable combination for the relationship marketer. One unique example demonstrated for the assembled was Google’s ability to event trigger, e.g., ads for soup automatically ran on cold or rainy days.
The Hot Trends feature measures the increase in key words each day, generating a list that provides a look at the most frequently searched words, and served as another way to work with Google.
Google’s forays into social network sites, such as YouTube and MySpace, provide new outlets for agency and client alike, with increased creative and segmenting potential. Client ads can now be run alongside either user-generated or premium content. FeedBurner unlocks the potential to place interactive ads on blogs.
Of course, Google is best known as a search engine, providing natural and sponsored AdWords programs. Green pointed to Google’s ability to test text as one way to enhance search results. Web site performance and relevancy also were key to an ad moving to the top of the search results list.
Google stands squarely on the technological horizon, and has demonstrated its ability to understand--and anticipate—marketers’ needs for relevancy and measurability.
Watch for more in-depth looks at the people and players shaping our industry. Future sessions will include: Microsoft, Blast Radius, MySpace, Phorm, NuConomy and, by popular demand, a reprise of the Facebook session.