The Official Google Base Blog is reporting that integration of its AdWords solution with Base content is a reality. This obviously isn’t a surprise and was just a matter of time, but it should be an effective way to drive targeted traffic to listings and build greater awareness to Base.
According to Google blogger Shamim Samadi, “You simply write the ad creative and tell us how much you’re willing to spend and we’ll do the rest. We’ll automatically use the content from your Google Base item to target your ad to user queries, displaying your ads only when they are relevant. We’ll even geo-target your ads to the most appropriate location.”
By not giving an advertiser the power to choose their own keywords, Google is certainly opening itself up for some criticism. It’s no doubt more convenient for many advertisers to ‘just let Google do it,’ but a “Google Knows Best” label is also dangerous for the search giant. If non-relevant ads ever start showing up in Web results, the critics will have a field day.
Another issue is the impact this will have on search spam in Base results. This could go one of two ways: 1) More spam is created via keyword stuffing in return for more ad exposure, or 2) less spam is created as a result of users not wanting to spend money for poorly-targeted advertising. (Of course, most likely is both actions will happen.)
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May 14th, 2006 at 9:48 pm
It appears you can choose, or at least add, your own keywords from your AdWords account once the google base ad is created. It says, “This Ad Group is targeted automatically. Your ad will be shown on queries that pertain to the associated Google Base item. You can add keywords below but you have to edit your ad text through the item page on Google Base. Learn More.” And Learn More links to: https://adwords.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=36496&hl=en_US
Also, if you check “Include deleted items that were active in this date range” to view all keywords (including deleted), you’ll see an “AutomaticKeywords” keyword. I’m not sure why it’s marked as “Deleted” for me…
May 15th, 2006 at 2:52 pm
What Google seem to be doing here, is what the ad agency could do but probably don’t as Google don’t give them enough commission to do it for the customer, who in turn probably doesn’t get it well enough to pay the agency!
But, whilst Google may be leaving themselves open to criticism, they are only doing what an ad agency would be doing and making decisions on what they think is right. I reckon Google know what will work best for them, but will it really be best for the paying customer?