Good morning search marketers, did you notice the new icons?
After a few months of testing, Google started rolling out a new search bar with icons next to the various verticals for news, video, images, maps, shopping and more. "Who cares?" you might ask. Well, the icons add visual cues to catch users' attention, which could mean more traffic to those verticals. SEOs might not notice much of an impact, but image search, for one, is an area in which Google has been ramping up ad inventory.
Are advertisers generally, and SEMs specifically, addicted to volume? It's the one consistent complaint advertisers seem to have when talking about any advertising platform other than Google, Facebook and Amazon — there's not enough volume. Yet, according to a recent survey, marketers who are spending 43% of their ad budgets on the big three, the so-called "oligopoly," on average, want "alternatives." The report also found that "nearly two-thirds (66%) of brand marketers and agencies are extremely, very or moderately concerned about the oligopoly limiting their advertising options."
It's a topic that came up in conversations I had at SMX Advanced this month, too. Microsoft Advertising, LinkedIn, Reddit, Quora, Pinterest, Twitter, programmatic and direct publisher deals all provide alternative or supplemental channels. Yet, marketers are reluctant to invest time in these smaller networks because "the volume isn't there." There's no right or wrong answer, but perhaps there are pockets of opportunity worth exploring. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. Shoot me an email gmarvin@thirddoormedia.com or tweet me @ginnymarvin (DMs open).
Read on for an ads script Pro Tip from Dan Gilbert of Brainlabs and more.
Ginny Marvin
Editor-In-Chief
