Search is an exciting and sometimes-mystifying part of the internet. It's also an essential ingredient of the interactive marketing pie. According to one projection by eMarketer, Paid Search alone will account for $6.7 billion of an estimated $15.6 billion that will be spent on interactive marketing in 2006. And the playing field seems to shift almost daily-- with one of the search companies announcing a new initiative, new technology or new acquisition.
In all this change, where should interactive marketers be focusing their attention? What new tools will enable marketers to increase visibility for their brands? How do you tell the difference between Google and Yahoo? Between MSN and Ask? And what about all those other search engines?
Over the next few months, we're going to look at what the top search engines are doing and how these actions affect marketing. And we're going to start with the biggest one, the elephant in the living room: Google.
Always a media darling, the last 18 months have found Google even more in the spotlight than usual, with intense news coverage of its every step -- including rising stock prices -- and even two major books about the company: John Battelle's "The Search: How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed Our Culture" and "The Google Story" by David Vise and Mark Malseed both came out in the fall 2005. The scrutiny is justified: Google is on the move.
And Google-centric innovations don't just come from Google itself. In addition to the tools discussed in the pages that follow, Google's many open APIs allow developers to create programs that interact directly with Google products, including AdWords, Blogger, Deskbar, Google Desktop, Earth, Froogle, Gmail, Google Homepage API, Groups, Maps, News, Search Appliance, Talk, Video and, of course, search.
One innovative example is how HBO is using Google Maps to promote the return of "The Sopranos" with a map of locations of fictitious events that have occurred during the series-- all to help viewers get ready for the show's March debut.
2005 was a big year for Google, and it's poised to continue growing in 2006.
We'll take a look at Google's capabilities and interactive marketing opportunities in:
Next: Search