iMedia Connection: Google Tip: 1st Position Isn't Worth It (Page 2 of 2)

iMedia Connection: Google Tip: 1st Position Isn't Worth It (Page 2 of 2)




What this tells me is that the days are gone when paying more for an ad's position could be justified by increased traffic. There is no longer any value in paying more than someone else to place your ad above theirs. Being positioned above another ad doesn't mean that you are more likely to be clicked than they are. People don't blindly click the top ads any more, every position has an equal chance of success. I think people now read the ads and decide which one to click on based on the text in the ad itself. I have no evidence to back this up, but it is anecdotally confirmed by people I've spoken to.

What this means is that the text in the ad is more important than the PPC price you're paying. My policy has always been that the ad heading should exactly match the search phrase the ad is placed against. If people are scanning a list of ads, it seems logical to me that any heading which contains the exact words they typed in will get their attention. I have no evidence that this is true, but I'm getting clickthrough rates way above average, so it works for me.

iMedia Connection: Google Tip: 1st Position Isn't Worth It

iMedia Connection: Google Tip: 1st Position Isn't Worth It: "There is no relationship between the position of an advertisement in the Google Ad listings and the chance of that ad being clicked on. Bidding more per visitor in order to get a higher position will not get you more visitors. The number one position in the listings is not the best position. No ad position is any better than any other. The factor which has the most bearing on your chance of being clicked on is the text in your ad, not the ad's position."

Hotelier’s 2007 Top Ten Internet Marketing Resolutions

Hospitality Net - Article
Hotelier’s 2007 Top Ten Internet Marketing Resolutions | By Max Starkov and Jason Price

4 January 2007



This year at least a third of all hotel bookings will be generated from the Internet (29% in 2006, 25% in 2005). Another third of all hotel bookings will be influenced by the Internet, but done offline (call center, walk-ins, group bookings, etc). By the end of 2010, over 45% of all hotel bookings will be completed online (Merrill Lynch). Are hoteliers taking full advantage of this dramatic channel shift?