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And if I’m not mistaken, the audience is now also a lot bigger, right? Would this not imply that this evens each other out? The therapist of the article could j

And if I’m not mistaken, the audience is now also a lot bigger, right? Would this not imply that this evens each other out? The therapist of the article could just maintain her bid price, not?

tyingq 6y ago
It's a weird market since there's only so many room for ads. Normally, you would add shelf space, Google doesn't do that.
- CydeWeys 6y ago
  Yeah but clearly the ads being bid up are worth it to someone, no? Is the issue that the limited supply is now being taken up by therapists charging more than her, i.e. those who can bear higher costs of advertising? And if so ... what exactly is the workable alternative? This is all just market forces. The cost of advertising and acquiring new business has been around for much longer than Google.
  - tssva 6y ago
    They aren't even being taken up by therapists charging more than her. They are being taken up by corporations providing online access to therapists for substantially less than she charges. The consumer is actually benefiting. She charges $250 a session. Lets say she sees 6 patients per day generating $1500 gross revenue a day. She spends $20 a day in ads which works out to around 1.3% of gross revenues spent on advertising. That is an extremely low amount spent on advertising. The US Small Business Administration recommendation for businesses with revenues less than $5 million per year is to spend 7-8% of gross revenues on marketing.
    - CydeWeys 6y ago
      That's a good point and thanks for doing the numbers. Maybe she just has unrealistic expectations of how much is normal to spend on advertising? It sounds like it. She should definitely be able to afford to spend more than a platform like BetterHelp, which is making a lot less per consultation than she is.
- bryanrasmussen 6y ago
  isn't adding shelf space analogous to adding more ads? I mean I haven't really kept track but I am always seeing complaints on HN about how many more ads there on google nowadays so they must add some shelf space.
- gowld 6y ago
  Google Search and Maps has unlimited shelf space, and it is free.
- stingraycharles 6y ago
  Aren’t “extra shelves” in case of Google second and third page of search results? Or is it an illusion that people actually view those pages?
  - tyingq 6y ago
    My understanding is that very few people go past the first page.
- pradn 6y ago
  It sorta does add shelf space. The number of ads show per keyword varies. A large proportion of searches get no ads, and some get a whole pageful.
gowld 6y ago
No, because the demand is same (or slightly modified by Covid), but supply is much larger because geography is not a constraint.

And if I’m not mistaken, the audience is now also a lot bigger, right? Would this not imply that this evens each other out? The therapist of the article could just maintain her bid price, not?

tyingq 6y ago

It's a weird market since there's only so many room for ads. Normally, you would add shelf space, Google doesn't do that.

CydeWeys 6y ago
Yeah but clearly the ads being bid up are worth it to someone, no? Is the issue that the limited supply is now being taken up by therapists charging more than her, i.e. those who can bear higher costs of advertising? And if so ... what exactly is the workable alternative? This is all just market forces. The cost of advertising and acquiring new business has been around for much longer than Google.
- tssva 6y ago
  They aren't even being taken up by therapists charging more than her. They are being taken up by corporations providing online access to therapists for substantially less than she charges. The consumer is actually benefiting. She charges $250 a session. Lets say she sees 6 patients per day generating $1500 gross revenue a day. She spends $20 a day in ads which works out to around 1.3% of gross revenues spent on advertising. That is an extremely low amount spent on advertising. The US Small Business Administration recommendation for businesses with revenues less than $5 million per year is to spend 7-8% of gross revenues on marketing.
  - CydeWeys 6y ago
    That's a good point and thanks for doing the numbers. Maybe she just has unrealistic expectations of how much is normal to spend on advertising? It sounds like it. She should definitely be able to afford to spend more than a platform like BetterHelp, which is making a lot less per consultation than she is.
bryanrasmussen 6y ago
isn't adding shelf space analogous to adding more ads? I mean I haven't really kept track but I am always seeing complaints on HN about how many more ads there on google nowadays so they must add some shelf space.
gowld 6y ago
Google Search and Maps has unlimited shelf space, and it is free.
stingraycharles 6y ago
Aren’t “extra shelves” in case of Google second and third page of search results? Or is it an illusion that people actually view those pages?
- tyingq 6y ago
  My understanding is that very few people go past the first page.
pradn 6y ago
It sorta does add shelf space. The number of ads show per keyword varies. A large proportion of searches get no ads, and some get a whole pageful.

gowld 6y ago

No, because the demand is same (or slightly modified by Covid), but supply is much larger because geography is not a constraint.