Understand the relation between search engines and the internet as a whole.
Because the internet might not be what you think it is…
In the WORLD of search engine Advertising, your internet search life is very much different depending of where you live or where you are. Search engine have revolutionised the way we look for data, and the way we consume data.
However it’s fair to remember that what we can find through search engine merely represent a fraction of what actually exist on “the internet”. There’s is no accurate figures, but if we look at Google, it’s an estimation range between 2% and 5% of indexed content compared to anything else that might exist, but is not accessible by its engine. (ie. The Tennessean article)
breaking grounded ideas of the world of search advertising
And while we are breaking grounded ideas of the world of search advertising, Google is by no mean the hegemonic power we give it to be outside US and Europe. In China Baidu is the top engine, and Russia runs mostly on Yandex when it comes to Advertising. (It’s worth noting that Google Ads russian billing is a challenge in itself, and yandex advertising ranking process is WAY simpler than a complex system of quality score and algorithms).
Obviously Search engine are link to the geopolitical area and must obey to local policy on the content allowed to be indexed. In effect that slows the implementation of any one of the top player in other part of the world.
A world with different search engines and results.
You could also find some local legacy search engine still running across a country like in Czech.
If you work on a multi-national company which decide to expand to new market, it is necessary to take that reality into account.
The usual first step on a Digital marketing strategy will be to define an Advertising budget, understanding the split allocation between engines should be a strong consideration for the business growth.
But… there’s always a but…
Being an SEA manager In the WORLD of search engine Advertising, is half way between a web analyst, and a tech analyst constantly plugged on the Weather channel.
Some things escape statistics :
- National Administrations offices may use outdated hardware with an old search engine locked by default
- Default Search engine contract on certain browsers (Firefox) may switch every few year
- Search engine might be blocked by a cyber national umbrella
- Social media are funding themself on advertising with less regard for privacy data.
As such you find yourself with a puzzle that shift constantly in variables. That is why, starting a projet, it is important to define what are your goals.
- Visibility
- sales
- leads
- notoriety
- downloads
If you have a budget, and concrete goals, it will be easier to agree on a reliable plan including a mix of multiple platforms with specific Targets. Your Adviser will be there to help you implement and setup those accounts in a uniformed way. Target the audience you are interested in, with dedicated formats compatible with your business top KPI.