Believe it or not, Google AdWords is now 15 years old. Way back in October 2000, just 350 customers signed up to advertise with the search engine. That’s changed a little bit with over 1 million currently advertising via AdWords.
For the non online marketing obsessed, AdWords is Google’s paid search service. Advertisers pay on a cost-per-click basis to have their ads shown next to keyword search terms across Google sites.
The secret to the success of AdWords, it accounted for 90% of Google’s $18.7bn revenue in the last quarter, is the amazing control it gives you in targeting your adverts at your audience. If you want to put your ad in front of people who are searching for green hat stands, and you’re selling green hat stands, you can do it. It’s really accessible too and doesn’t have the barriers to entry that other advertising platforms has.
We also love it because it because the system provides rich data that can be used almost immediately to tweak your approach.
As with all birthdays, Google’s been doing some reminiscing and has provided us with a wealth of interesting facts:
- Nokia was the most searched for brand, Palm were number 4 (remember them?)
- Windows XP was the most searched for product (Windows, are they still a thing?)
- Napster was the most searched for MP3 provider (it ended badly for them!)
- Amazon was the biggest AdWords user in 2014
- The three most expensive keywords in 2015 so far are insurance, loans and mortgage
- Google reckon that business make an average of $2 in revenue for every $1 they spend on AdWords.
If you’re thinking about using it, or want to get the most out of it, give us a shout!