Google has an Achilles Heal - Will Their Competitors Notice?

Even though Google Revenues continue to soar, the hidden problem that may stifle growth and may even allow Yahoo or MSN to overtake the paid search market in the future lies in two critical phrases: Customer Support, and Customer Training

Approximately 40% of the small businesses we have surveyed have tried Adwords in the past and failed, and some of them have tried multiple times. In some markets the percentage is closer to 60%. Why? because the program was designed by Google engineers, and heavily favors companies with the type of resources that most small businesses do not have. Unlike MSN and Yahoo who have programs that are much simpler in terms of use for small business people, Google favors a technology driven solution that relies less on customer support, and expects users of their system to become more sophisticated.

The problem with this is that it is working quite well for professional internet marketers and search engine marketing companies employed by big corporations, but many small business people who are not web-savvy are by and large left out of the mix. This is unfortunate because this is a huge segment of potential income that is left "up for grabs" and may be scooped up by MSN and Yahoo who are developing simpler, easier systems with better customer support.

All the major search engines recognize this problem, and getting those "offline" advertisers online is a high priority for all of them, but so far there has not been great success. It is a knowledge and training gap, and neither Yahoo, MSN, or Google has so far been able to address it adequately.

Google's recent acquisition of urchin, a web analytics program illustrates the problem Google is trying to solve. Big Companies getting involved in paid search will still continue to drive big revenues, but the new internet is about verticals and niches, and Google simply isn't making the grade in terms of training their customers well enough.

Where do small business customers go after they "churn"? Many of them go back to what they were doing successfully before; email marketing, direct marketing, and call centers according to our study.

The next growth area will be hundreds of thousands of verticals, driven by small businesses exploiting areas and needs that the fortune 500 companies can not fill efficiently. The search engine company that gets the most advertisers on its side will win market share, and winning will require the ability to service everybody, not just the super sophisticated internet super geeks.

However, many private companies not sanctioned by Google, have sprung up in order to try to bridge the gap between the Google Adwords program and the ability to advertise efficiently on Google and achieve a high ROI. One such company is http://adwordstraining.org that offers free video training and free frequently updated information at http://marketingnewsblog.adwordstraining.org

Simple training videos are available on the site, as well as an advertiser self study course to get non-technical people up to speed with Google Adwords advertising.

Between Google's extensive training program of Google Professionals and private training by private companies, this knowledge gap may be bridged, and in the process a whole new industry of Google Adwords Marketing companies may be created, to facilitate the knowledge gap between Google and the advertisers that want to take advantage of the enormous advertising reach afforded by paid search.

But, this might not be enough for Google to keep its lead, as advertisers often follow the path of least resistance in getting their messages out, and they are the ones funding the growth of the search engine industry.

Where those advertisers ultimately go will determine the ultimate victor in the ever growing search engine wars, and the winner is by no means secure at this point.

Steve Blom
Founding Partner
InTouch Media Group

About the author:
Steve Blom is a founding partner of InTouch Media Group, a publicly traded company specializing in the online marketing field.

http://www.intouchmediagroup.com

---

Got Spiders?

Many internet marketers blow mountains of start-up cash on their... Read More

Search Engine Indexing - 3 Strategies Guaranteed to Skyrocket Your Success

In order to design a website that performs well with... Read More

Meta Tag Tactics - Give Your Website Traffic a Boost with the Meta Tag Basics

Getting your site noticed by the search engines and rewarded... Read More

60 Day Sandbox for Google & AskJeeves; MSN Indexes Quickest, Yahoo Next

Search engine listing delays have come to be called the... Read More

Google News - Just another article announcer?

In Google's recent battle towards becoming an international news center,... Read More

What is Your Sales Message?

So you built a website, you have a product, but... Read More

Search Engine Optimization that Works in the Long-Term

Search engines are constantly tweaking their ranking algorithms and when... Read More

5 Qualities to Look for in a Search Engine Optimization Program for Your Website

These days with millions of websites out there, you need... Read More

SEO: When Being Optimized Can Hurt

It's a marketing dream come true: A potential customer, looking... Read More

Getting Specific With Local Search Engine Optimization

Localized search engine optimization is often overlooked as an excellent... Read More

Smartpages - Legitimate SEO Or Spam?

Smartpages are highly optimized pages which draw stampeded of search... Read More

Maximising Google?s PageRank of Your Website to Maximise Traffic

Google uses PageRank to rank your pages. To maximize your... Read More

Is Page Not Found Making Google Tell The World Site Not Found?

Search Engines are hard to tame, that's for sure. But... Read More

When SEO Takes the Value out of a Website

Every webmaster would like to see his/her website to be... Read More

Spamglish; A Search Engine Comedy With A Language All Its Own

When the movie Spanglish hit the screens in 2004, it... Read More

Google Wireless - Search Away From Home

For so many web surfers, it's almost automatic to type... Read More

Introduction to Google Page Rank (PR)

For anyone looking to enhance their Google Page Rank (PR)... Read More

Promoting Home Business: Tips to Increase Web Site Sales

You've selected an appropriate Online Business Opportunity. That is not... Read More

Search Engine Optimization for Beginners

If you are confused about terms like "search engine optimization"... Read More

Give the Folks at Google What They Want

Recent developments on the Google front have web marketers and... Read More

Soliciting Search Engines

As your guide operator through the web, search engines are... Read More

Search Engine Optimization Tips For 2005 - Part Three

Welcome to part three of our series of articles on... Read More

Search Engine Optimization - A Must

As you surf the web take a look around at... Read More

Search Engine Optimization and Web Site Usability

Build a Web site and the people will come.Ha! If... Read More

Keyword Optimization - How To Achieve It

The most important thing you can do for your business... Read More

Banned By Google And Back Again

The date: 29th July 2005. The time: early morning. I... Read More

Is Reciprocal Linking Dead?

I just read an article at SitePro News that really... Read More

The Search Doesnt End at Your Homepage

In a recent report for a new client, I wrote:... Read More

Learn about the Google Search Engine Tools

Think you know everything about searching with Google? Think again.... Read More

Basic Search Engine Optimization For Dummies

OK, you published your site, now you just sit by... Read More

SEO Expert Guide - Sitewide Optimization (part 4/10)

In parts 1 and 2 you learnt how to develop... Read More

Search Engines Are Doomed to Fail

A very provocative title, isn't it? Based on the latest... Read More

Importance of Keywords in Links to Your Website

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a very complex process. It... Read More