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It is worth pointing out that Google is internally very aware of this situation. They have attempted to do what is best for users on several high value searche

It is worth pointing out that Google is internally very aware of this situation. They have attempted to do what is best for users on several high value searches such as "Mortgage Refinance". At one point they had a fixed fee comparison widget, that would actually suggest banks with the lowest rates. Unfortunately all these attempts were killed, because it is so much more valuable to sell an ad to a shady comparison site, than to run a transparent one. I also don't think their business model is in any sort of crisis. Google gives people great search results consistently. It takes crazy logic to see good Google search results consistently everyday, and then not trust Google's results for a high value query.

diminish 13y ago
for some keywords search ads, are also a free service to users if you make a Copernican turn in your perception. the problem for end users for ads is the auction mechanism. it may seem that from quarter to quarter GOOG has to report better earnings and more ad placements seem to be an easy way to achieve increased revenue, albeit jeopardizing their main organic search experience. at my zombie startup, "Vadlue" (http://www.vadlue.com/node/en/contact http://www.vadlue.com/node/en/contact), we tried to strip ads out of search results and them searchable, browseable etc. maybe future lies in not making ads look more annoying by mixing them inside content, but making 'some content' behave like ads.
- bigiain 13y ago
  " … maybe future lies in not making ads look more annoying by mixing them inside content, but making 'some content' behave like ads." And so online advertising re-invents traditional media's "product placement". To paraphrase a comment upthread "Would you watch Game of Thrones, if The Freys had used Smith & Wesson branded crossbows to massacre the Starks? Or if The Lanisters only used AT&T brand carrier pigeons?"
AJ007 13y ago
My assumption & opinion is they know exactly what they are doing. I assume every decision has firm logic & metrics to back it up. However, the very nature of the marketplace is for advertisers to squeeze as much value out of the customer as possible in order to purchase higher visibility. I don't see it as a mistake or a flaw, it is just the end reality of a set of circumstances. What makes Google's marketplace uniquely challenging is the following: In the physical world, you can go to a store and make a pretty good judgement that the product being sold is real, it is high quality, the cashiers are happy, the (real) customers tell you they have shopped there for years. Online, everything becomes about human perception of data. It is easier to represent quality when there is none. It is easier to sell a customer one thing and extract a great deal of additional value from them. When that happens, the winner is the one with the most visibility (I think Americans can greatly relate this to US elections.) Are user reviews and testimonials the solution? Amazon is loaded with fake ones. Many companies exist already to help small business owners "tweak" Yelp reviews. Even when you put a real face behind a review, it can be gamed. A static review will always be quite different than judging something with all of your senses in person. Load your own site or app up with ads and see what happens to user retention. Prediction based on my own experience: it tanks. Google is in crises because their behavior tells me their revenue would drop immensely if the result pages had as many ads on them as they did 6 years ago. Google is in crises because the ad revenue is their life blood. They have a massive organization which must have this revenue stream to remain in business. There is a segment of the market that will click on and respond to bad ads over and over and over again. There is another segment that is more perceptive. There is a whole other segment that doesn't even know any of this has happened because they have used ad blockers for years! Google might be really good at avoiding the tipping point. I assume that right now they are balancing the flight to mobile with the drop in user retention from "too many ads." Or perhaps I am overestimating the impact of ads, and the real game for Google is making customers think they are just clicking on content. Some verticals pillage their customers. Many verticals do not, the arms race has not happened for them yet. That is a good thing for Google, and an even better thing for Google's users. Google can control what they do, however with every step they take in the "show more ads" direction, the opportunity for someone else gets that much bigger. As pointed out in the original article, in some result pages 90% of above the fold is ads. Would you watch Game of Thrones if it was 54 minutes of ads and 6 minutes of content? I wouldn't.
- boomzilla 13y ago
  I wonder when (if at all) the pendulum swings back and users actively avoid clicking on the ads so much that makes Google scales back the number of ads shown. It's essentially a race to bottom and no matter how big a margins the current winners can make, it's gotta get thinner and thinner everyday.
  - peanutz454 13y ago
    I've read in certain places that most users are not aware that the top few links are ads. With the new trend of usage of laptops increasing, a little shift of certain LCD screen on laptops changes the contrast of the advert background (very light pink) so much that it is impossible to determine that the first few links are ads. I think people will continue clicking on ad links without realizing that they are doing so.
helloworld99 13y ago
Google is in crisis because they need 2-3 times more ads than before to keep earnings growth. At some point everything will be ads, even page 2. Also many users do not know they are seeing ads, imagine if FTC cracked down on shady labeling? People do not like seeing that many ads and Google's revenue and reputation would go down the drain. >> It takes crazy logic to see good Google search results consistently everyday, and then not trust Google's results for a high value query. Why, maybe Google manipulates only the high earning keywords? There is no money on "Snowden leaks" Business owners should band and push another search engine. Google has some guy name Mat Cutts offering "do this and that and your ranking will improve from [update a-z]" but apparently these are lies by Google, Google is actively taking away traffic to send it to ads. Some site that paid $50 for a click, will have to get that money back, and you, the user, will pay for it.
- SteveGerencser 13y ago
  They are cracking down. Just a week or two ago a new statement from the FTC came out with new ad guidelines specifficly targeting search engines. http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2013/06/searchengine.shtm http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2013/06/searchengine.shtm

diminish 13y ago

for some keywords search ads, are also a free service to users if you make a Copernican turn in your perception. the problem for end users for ads is the auction mechanism. it may seem that from quarter to quarter GOOG has to report better earnings and more ad placements seem to be an easy way to achieve increased revenue, albeit jeopardizing their main organic search experience. at my zombie startup, "Vadlue" (http://www.vadlue.com/node/en/contact http://www.vadlue.com/node/en/contact), we tried to strip ads out of search results and them searchable, browseable etc. maybe future lies in not making ads look more annoying by mixing them inside content, but making 'some content' behave like ads.

bigiain 13y ago
" … maybe future lies in not making ads look more annoying by mixing them inside content, but making 'some content' behave like ads." And so online advertising re-invents traditional media's "product placement". To paraphrase a comment upthread "Would you watch Game of Thrones, if The Freys had used Smith & Wesson branded crossbows to massacre the Starks? Or if The Lanisters only used AT&T brand carrier pigeons?"

AJ007 13y ago

My assumption & opinion is they know exactly what they are doing. I assume every decision has firm logic & metrics to back it up. However, the very nature of the marketplace is for advertisers to squeeze as much value out of the customer as possible in order to purchase higher visibility. I don't see it as a mistake or a flaw, it is just the end reality of a set of circumstances. What makes Google's marketplace uniquely challenging is the following: In the physical world, you can go to a store and make a pretty good judgement that the product being sold is real, it is high quality, the cashiers are happy, the (real) customers tell you they have shopped there for years. Online, everything becomes about human perception of data. It is easier to represent quality when there is none. It is easier to sell a customer one thing and extract a great deal of additional value from them. When that happens, the winner is the one with the most visibility (I think Americans can greatly relate this to US elections.) Are user reviews and testimonials the solution? Amazon is loaded with fake ones. Many companies exist already to help small business owners "tweak" Yelp reviews. Even when you put a real face behind a review, it can be gamed. A static review will always be quite different than judging something with all of your senses in person. Load your own site or app up with ads and see what happens to user retention. Prediction based on my own experience: it tanks. Google is in crises because their behavior tells me their revenue would drop immensely if the result pages had as many ads on them as they did 6 years ago. Google is in crises because the ad revenue is their life blood. They have a massive organization which must have this revenue stream to remain in business. There is a segment of the market that will click on and respond to bad ads over and over and over again. There is another segment that is more perceptive. There is a whole other segment that doesn't even know any of this has happened because they have used ad blockers for years! Google might be really good at avoiding the tipping point. I assume that right now they are balancing the flight to mobile with the drop in user retention from "too many ads." Or perhaps I am overestimating the impact of ads, and the real game for Google is making customers think they are just clicking on content. Some verticals pillage their customers. Many verticals do not, the arms race has not happened for them yet. That is a good thing for Google, and an even better thing for Google's users. Google can control what they do, however with every step they take in the "show more ads" direction, the opportunity for someone else gets that much bigger. As pointed out in the original article, in some result pages 90% of above the fold is ads. Would you watch Game of Thrones if it was 54 minutes of ads and 6 minutes of content? I wouldn't.

boomzilla 13y ago
I wonder when (if at all) the pendulum swings back and users actively avoid clicking on the ads so much that makes Google scales back the number of ads shown. It's essentially a race to bottom and no matter how big a margins the current winners can make, it's gotta get thinner and thinner everyday.
- peanutz454 13y ago
  I've read in certain places that most users are not aware that the top few links are ads. With the new trend of usage of laptops increasing, a little shift of certain LCD screen on laptops changes the contrast of the advert background (very light pink) so much that it is impossible to determine that the first few links are ads. I think people will continue clicking on ad links without realizing that they are doing so.

helloworld99 13y ago

Google is in crisis because they need 2-3 times more ads than before to keep earnings growth. At some point everything will be ads, even page 2. Also many users do not know they are seeing ads, imagine if FTC cracked down on shady labeling? People do not like seeing that many ads and Google's revenue and reputation would go down the drain. >> It takes crazy logic to see good Google search results consistently everyday, and then not trust Google's results for a high value query. Why, maybe Google manipulates only the high earning keywords? There is no money on "Snowden leaks" Business owners should band and push another search engine. Google has some guy name Mat Cutts offering "do this and that and your ranking will improve from [update a-z]" but apparently these are lies by Google, Google is actively taking away traffic to send it to ads. Some site that paid $50 for a click, will have to get that money back, and you, the user, will pay for it.

SteveGerencser 13y ago
They are cracking down. Just a week or two ago a new statement from the FTC came out with new ad guidelines specifficly targeting search engines. http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2013/06/searchengine.shtm http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2013/06/searchengine.shtm