Google Promoting the Hell Out of YouTube

YouTube is taking over the organic search results, and they are buying a ton of AdWords ads. Google doesn't even take the time to write relevant ads when promoting YouTube. Their second ranked ad for the word music doesn't even contain the word music.

Clearly with an ad so irrelevant they are not factoring in quality score into YouTube's ad position, or if they are they are paying themselves over $5 a click for the word music. How is a competing service to compete when they are forced to write relevant ads to be able to afford the click, and Google serves itself sloppy targeted broad reaching branded ads?

As Google arbitrages itself one vertical at a time the only businesses that are safe are:

  • those that get traffic AROUND Google

  • those that provide Google with the high quality content that Google is forced to rely on to keep spam out of their SERPs
  • those that Google does not have enough data or brand strength to compete with, or have some important offline component
  • those that are so small that Google doesn't want to compete
Published: May 5, 2007 by Aaron Wall in google

Comments

CK
May 6, 2007 - 1:10am

Interesting. I think many companies are still safe as I haven't heard of Google moving into the Wedding scene yet or the Bedding scene. lol

This is a perfect time to emphasis how important natural search is, and will become as we move forward past Web 2.0. This is also a great time to promote your eBook! ;)

mblair
May 6, 2007 - 2:56am

Wow -- that's amazing. Good catch. I'm surprised they are doing this in such an untargeted fashion as it makes their search results look spammier. I guess when they are promoting their own services they don't care quite as much about relevancy...

Antonio
May 6, 2007 - 1:06pm

It also beggets the question "what music can I find on youtube?", that is that is not pirated.

Could it be that G is promoting YT knowingly that most of the hits would be directed towards clips uploaded without the permission of the owners?

Brian
May 8, 2007 - 11:35pm

Own the field, set the rules.

Or put another way, "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

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