Does Google Have “House Advantage” When it Comes to AdWords?
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Written By Reprise Media | September 26, 2005 | Share This
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Last week PBS ran an article critiquing the Google AdWords system. It made a number of points, but the overall gist was that the Google ad server automatically favors ads with higher bids.
In other words, paying more money will always get you more clicks, regardless of relevancy. Author Robert Cringely goes on to suggest that the whole system is rigged so that Google has a “house advantage”, much like a Vegas casino.
While Cringely’s overall thesis is correct (that Google is far more profit-driven than their public image suggests), he obviously knows little about SEM.
Andrew Goodman makes this point a little more bluntly when he made the following comment in John Battelle’s blog:
“Cringely’s account is nonsense on stilts.”
Why? For starters, Cringely makes no mention of actual rank, which is most likely the major cause of the drop in volume of clicks. Dropping bids would in turn drop the average ad position, thereby giving the ad less visibility and ultimately, fewer clicks.
It’s easy for an outsider to see that the test was extremely shallow in both its conception and its presentation of the results. Look for more from us on this subject later this week.
Topics: Google |