In the year 2000, Google set out to change the future of marketing forever with the launch of their ‘Self-Service Advertising Program’, formerly known as Google AdWords.

Co-founder of Google and CEO of its parent company Alphabet, Larry Page, revealed that AdWords would offer “the most technologically advanced features available.”

Furthermore, it would provide advertisers the ability to “quickly design a flexible program that best fits its online marketing goals and budget.”

Since then, Google Ads has gone on to become a vital part of many businesses and their success.  According to Statista, in 2018 the platform earned the multinational company more than $116 billion (USD) dollars.

[AdWords. Used with permission. William Iven]

How does Google Ads work?

Google Ads is a keyword driven platform that’s embedded within its search engine. This is achieved by dedicating the first three search results for advertisements to pages that match the relevant query. Put simply, Google Ads provides an advertising space above the list of “natural” search results.

What are the benefits of advertising on Google?

As a monopoly in the market, Google currently holds 90% of the search market and processes over 3 billion searches a day (from Business Insider).

Therefore, Google clearly offers an enormous opportunity for businesses to reach a wider audience. Additionally, AdWords allows organisations to tailor advertisements towards a desired set of demographics, locations or life events.

[Google Search. Used with permission. Charles Deluvio]

Another benefit of using Google Ads is the fact that it’s measurable and flexible. Using a pay-per-click (PPC) system, businesses can analyse how their expenditure on advertising is performing. In turn, this makes it easier to see what’s working and what isn’t.

For a deeper insight into Google Ads, I managed to speak with Alex Kutschukian, the Managing Director and Co-founder of the digital agency company, Red Herring Digital.

Check out the podcast below to learn how he grew his business and discover the techniques he used so you can do the same! 

[Tim Talks Podcast. Used with permission. Timothy Thorpe]

Looking forward, Google Ads is expected to grow in other areas of the company after recently announcing plans to drive traffic from Maps to local businesses. This will be achieved by offering the ability to highlight in-store promotions within the app itself.

However, I’m sure the future doesn’t stop there and it’s only a matter of time before Google will redefine the marketing industry again – only time will tell.

Tell me in the comments section below, how has using Google Ads benefited your business?

Timothy Thorpe is a Master of Marketing Communications student at the University of Melbourne. @timothythorpe47

[Featured Image: Google. Used with permission. Carlos Luna]