Page 290 - Introduction to Electronic Commerce and Social Commerce

276 9 Marketing and Advertising in E-Commerce

Figure 9.3 The process of Site
search engine optimization Build Your
Maintenance, Content
Reoptimize

Analyze Traffic
Conversation
(Success) Decide on
keywords

Optimize
Pages

Find Existing Add keywords
Ranking in Search to Content
Results

Submit to
Search Engine

Sponsored Ads (Paid Inclusion)
In addition to optimizing your Web pages so that they will Google AdWords
appear on the first page of the search results, you can buy AdWords is an advertising program for sponsored ads.
keyword ads to appear on the first page of the results. This is Whenever you use Google to search for something,
referred to as paid inclusion or sponsored ads. Your ads will you will notice URLs with colored backgrounds, titled
show up on the first page of the results, at the top of the page “sponsored links” on the right-hand side or on the top
or on the right side based on the amount you decide to spend. of the page. These include Google AdWords partici-
Google uses auctions (first page bids) to sell the best loca- pants. According to Google.com, these URLs are cre-
tions to advertisers. For how keywords work, see support. ated by advertisers who select a few key terms related
google.com/adwords/answer/1704371?hl=en. to their brands. They also choose how much they want
More tips for improving a site’s listing in various search to spend to “buy” these key terms (up to a daily dollar
engines can be found at searchenginewatch.com. limit). Google uses ranking algorithms to match the
advertisers’ selected key terms with the searchers’
search activities. Typically, if a searcher types in a
Google: The Online Advertising King selected keyword, a banner ad will appear in the spon-
sored links column. Then, if the searcher clicks on the
Google provides several methods of search engine advertis- ad (to go to the advertiser’s page), the sponsor vendor
ing to their clients, generating most of its billions of dollars is billed according to the agreed upon rate (payments
in revenue and profits from them. Google uses a behavioral are made from the prepaid budget). For details and
marketing algorithm to determine users’ interests while they success stories, see adwords.google.com. Google
search for information, and then targets (matches) advertise- AdWords is a “pay-per-click” type of advertising. You
ments to them. Google is continuously improving its match- pay only if people click on your ads. How it works:
ing algorithms (see Williams 2013). You create your ads and choose your keywords (you
Google’s major advertising platform is composed of two can also target your ads); when someone searches on
programs: Google’s AdWords and AdSense, and it can be Google using your keyword, your ad may appear next
supported by Google Analytics. to the search results; you gain more customers.
Since all advertisers like their ads to appear on the
Google’s Major Advertising Methods: first page of the search results, Google devised a bid-
AdWords and AdSense ding system that determines which ads are shown
where and how fees are calculated.
The mechanisms of how AdWords and AdSense work are Despite its success, AdWords by itself does not pro-
described below: vide the best one-to-one targeting. Better results may be