Google Ads & VolunTourism
My neighbors have a grandson named Anthony. I know this, in part, because his name is repeated in various shades of emotional expression on a regular basis. The challenge is trying to discover Anthony’s last name, for it changes seemingly from moment to moment sometimes.
There is Anthony “Sit Down.” There is Anthony “Stop It.” There is Anthony “Swim” (they have a pool). There is Anthony “Don’t.” There is Anthony “Jump.” There is Anthony “Shut UP!” You get the picture.
I believe something similar is happening in the “world according to Google” that seems to be unfolding around us. Do we know the “last names” of entities any more? And when I say last names here, I mean the “patronymic of its mission, goals, and objectives”? Or has the clamor for relevance via search engine optimization (SEO) so removed us from the proverbial roots of our authenticity that we have surrendered to the order of the day?
Over the last couple of years, I have taken two six-month spans (May 2008 – November 2008 and May 2009 – November 2009) to track Google Ads using the key word search – “voluntourism.” It has been an utterly fascinating exploration into a realm of vastly disparate approaches to marketing and promotional activity. I hope to publish the results of this exercise in Q2 2010. In the meantime, I will share a few observations.
Passive-Aggressive Approaches
There appear to be two types of marketing approaches – the passive type and the aggressive type. The passive type tends not to change the ad words that introduce an ad nor the ad copy that follows beneath the ad words. These ads can run for weeks, even months at a time, without any alterations to ad words or copy during that time span.
The aggressive type tends to have rotating ad words, usually three options, with alternating ad copy to reflect the shift in ad words. There is an occasional “middle-of-the-road” type. These entities may alternate between “Google-checkout” and no “Google-checkout,” for example. They may maintain ad words for a one-month period and then shift to new copy for the following month.
Newsmakers & Newshounds
I have also observed that some entities seem to “magically” show up with a Google Ad when their respective operations are mentioned in an article that has focused on voluntourism – either as part of a periodical/newspaper or online publication. Others have appeared even though the name of their operation is not mentioned in the article. Makes sense. Strategic. Follow the bouncing ball.
Nonprofits & For-Profits
I have hypothesized, since I haven’t confirmed this with Google yet regarding the entities I have observed specifically, that nonprofit organizations must get either a discount or free ads from Google. This is the only explanation, of which I can think at this point, to explain the overwhelming number of nonprofits that reside in the cherished “three-sponsors-yellow-box” at the top of the page. I would think this would become expensive after a while, yet nonprofits reside there, and in regular fashion.
For-profits, on the other hand, will occasionally appear in this cherished location, but usually reside in the side-bar amongst the collection of eight other entities represented. (Eight side-bar options has been the most regularly observed grouping style.) Or, they will sometimes appear in the “More Sponsored Links” section.
‘Ad Word’ Wording
I have observed what appear to be three schools of thought on the wording of Ad Words. First, some entities use the key word for which one is searching, in this case “voluntourism,” in generating the copy for their key Ad Word phrase. “Voluntourism trips,” “Voluntourism,” “Voluntourism with such-and-such entity,” “Voluntourism experts” as examples.
Other entities appear to be conveying a message of how they want to be perceived by potential voluntourists – these entities being connected to voluntourism yet maintaining anonymity from the term – as if to say, “We do something similar, but not that.” In this case, their Ad Words might be “volunteer vacations,” “volunteer trips,” “volunteer projects,” “volunteer travel,” as examples.
Finally, there are those entities which invite individuals to take action – “volunteer,” “voluntour,” as examples. Their message is very clear – “Just do it!”
Recent Change To Google’s ‘More Sponsored Links’
Most recently, Google eliminated the “more sponsored links” link that used to appear at the bottom of the right hand column of ‘Sponsored Links.’ Last year, at the height of voluntourism advertising, there were as many as 28 entities listed in this, what I call, ‘third-tier’ section. I do not have thoughts at this time as to how this change will affect overall ads pertaining to voluntourism. It certainly does make it difficult for lesser known entities to get exposure as they once could in this section simply because the top-tier and ‘Sponsored Links’ are regularly held by ‘familiar’ NGOs and companies.
Concluding Thoughts
I have thoroughly enjoyed watching the maturation of voluntourism messages and the use of Google Ad Words (GAWs) over the last couple of years. I have encountered more than 100 different entities utilizing GAWs within the ‘voluntourism-search-word’ context during this period. I look forward to sharing the results of this exercise in the months ahead.
For now, I will begin crunching numbers, pulling phrases, and compiling the data into a format which I hope will prove to be a valuable learning tool for all of us. Being able to compare ad phrases to what we know about the motivations of voluntourists from our 2008 Voluntourism Survey Report will also be an educational undertaking. Are voluntourism operators, for example, marketing their products and services in a manner that befits the motivations and expectations of would-be voluntourists? We’ll soon see.
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