Social Media Marketing News
Gold Star Series No.2: The Gold Star in Controversy |
27 November 2009 |
This Tuesday, we talked about Google’s latest strategy to give highlight to specially-designed paid ads with an exclusive Gold Star. While this could help users tell a nicely relevant website from an ordinary one, the extra yellow mark contradicts to the principles of Google Adwords in maintaining a fair platform for advertising publishers. Equally displayed together in the panel box of Google Adwords, this ‘featured ad’ will attract more attention than the non-featured one, interfering users’ perception of choosing the right ad to click. As Google has been following the policy of disallowing images placed near ads, the introduction of such feature comes as both a puzzle and a surprise.
Currently, advertisements are displayed according to the quality scores given by Google. Now with the newly added Gold Star, advertisers would be even more motivated to put efforts when launching the optimization of Paid Search Marketing. While some Adwords publishers might find this act hypocritical, fiercer competitions among Search Engine Optimization (SEO) agencies will be triggered as agencies fight for the ‘royal’ mark which could lead to higher clicks and more business opportunities.
The standard for calculating the quality scores and obtaining the Gold Star remains confidential to Google only. Speculations revolve around how far Google is launching this new feature for its own private interests. In the wake of the starry movement, will another special feature be coming on the way? Maybe, a PhotoAd?
Related Services:
- Pay-Per-Click Advertising
