The Battle of the Google Search Ads - Why Web Ads are the Future

I'm sure most of you heard about the $200 iPhone price cut that Apple announced yesterday and the sound of hundreds of thousands of early-adopters scream. Here's a look at the ensuing battle of the Google Search Ads that resulted from Apple's move. And why television and print advertising is a thing of the past.

Capitalizing on the frustration of the early adopters, Nokia was quick to launch the following advertisement for the search "iPhone price drop":

image from TechCrunch

Not to be outdone by Nokia, Apple launched their own counter-campaign:

image from Search Engine Land

But this is certainly not the first time we've seen saber-rattling like this. Remember when we first heard about John Chow getting dropped from Google Search results? Here's the ad that one competitor bought to capitalize on that:

What we see here is that increasingly and especially for tech-related companies, the web is becoming a more important vehicle for advertising than print or televised ads, and the reasons for this are simple. If Apple had advertised iPhone on television or in magazines with a price point of $599, they would either have to re-do that part of the television ad (far more costly) or wait for another issue of a magazine to come out before they could launch the new ads (and even then the old ads would stay).

With online advertising, and especially search advertising, the cost of production is incredibly small (comparatively), and the ads can be changed instantly to suit the current situation (and the older ads don't stick around), as we see from this example.

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Didn't You Hear..., September 7, 2007: “…DYH isn’t funny?” — Dear Apple, I am very sorry for the trouble that I have caused you. I didn?��Ǩ�Ѣt mean to tarnish your reputation, and I hope that you can find it in your core to forgive me. All I wanted was a few laughs, and nothing more. I didn?��Ǩ�Ѣt fully think through ...

Paul van Veenendaal, September 6, 2007

Reminds me of the Danish-Canadian Island dispute in Google Adwords back in 2005.

http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/img/050729-island.gif

Justin Spring, September 7, 2007

This is also a good example of how search marketing can be a tool for reacting to a public relations crisis. Apple handled the situation very well and through these ads, they were able to promote the POSITIVE outcome of the price cut and remind people that the majority of America will actually benefit from it.

Thanks for a great post.

merovingian, September 7, 2007

Actually, it wasn't Apple that posted the ad. It was this guy:

http://www.didntyouhear.com/2007/09/07/dyh-isnt-funny

You should correct your story before you start more trouble. Idiots.

uhpbfqtog rzyhlxsk, September 21, 2007

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computer-technik-blog, October 2, 2007

[...], so schildert pronetadvertising.com die ganze Geschichte. Eine witzige Aktion ist es allemal, denn[...]

John Stewart, December 28, 2007

Just asking: Who of the readers ever click on a "Adsense ad" or similar? Maybe once every while by mistake and then you run away from the landing page. I just wonder who are the naive Ad clickers? Are you or not ?

Bernd, February 24, 2008

Wirklich nicht schlecht, wen man bedenkt welchen nutzen man daraus ziehen kann.

let me hold you Bow Wow, February 25, 2008

Useful site. Thank you:-)

Bow Wow like u, February 25, 2008

Useful site. Thanks!

jaypicz, February 26, 2008

Useful site. Thank you!!!

jaypicz, February 26, 2008

Useful site. Thank you!!!

Jay Z brush your shoulders off, February 26, 2008

Useful site. Thank you!!

Internet Business Broker, 2 weeks, 6 days ago

Great example - of rapid response online marketing. It is still amazing how many offline experts still question the 'virtual' nature of the internet and its revenue generating power - I deal with it every day in my website business broker business! Changing adword campaigns on the fly to capitalize on buzz is a huge opportunity that captures real time conversions and spikes in revenues.