Forum Moderators: Robert Charlton & goodroi
Unless you study this [webmasterworld.com] rather closely, it doesn't immediatly stand out as an AdWords based paying image based advertisement: jason bourne [google.com].
I had not seen something like that before with an Image. At first, I just thought it was a G-universal search thingo, but nope - a paying ad, with an image.
Background:
[webmasterworld.com...]
[webmasterworld.com...]
[webmasterworld.com...]
<added> screen shot link </added>
[google.co.uk...]
I see it also.
I am shocked, even though I knew this would come.
Wow!
Nice find Brett!
This is so different.
[google.co.uk ]
I think Google has now crossed the line towards shady business tactics. Boo!
They have teamed up with Universal to create a "Find Jason" challenge
[adweek.com ]
But I think they are using this exercise to test images in their top AdWords ads on a live audience.
Plus a link to the trailer is a great first result... win win...
Turns out NBC had a deal with Google in Feb 2006 with this exact type of ad.
I just ran search for all universal movies from 2006 until now and the The Bourne Ultimatum is the only one with an image ad.
I care b/c I don't want the serp's I use on a daily basis to be cluttered with image ads left and right. Pure, simple, clean design.
Maybe they could introduce an ad-free, paid-subscription version for users who don't like ads. How much are you willing to pay? :-)
It's an Ad, but there is no indication to the consumer that it is a paid link. And it's missing nofollow in the anchor tag. I wonder what Matt Cutts would have to say...
Does that matter though? SERPS are blocked in Google's own robots.txt, so no respectable search engine would find the link anyway.
Except that, if you have heard G and Y's pitch, they insist to ad buyers that ads enhance the search results with more relevant information. It's a win-win.
And, that's true. In the vertical magazine biz, we are careful about who we let buy an ad. The magazine's reputation rests on honorable ads. And, I think it is very, very true for Y and G and wantabes like Ask. The users have to like the ads. But, that can be done. You just have to be able to say no with people with money they want to give you.
Not easy. How people react to this will tell you a lot about how they view the world.
xs217.xs.to/xs217/07291/adwords-graphic-128.png
I'm still waiting for Google to do thumbnails natively, it would be a lovely option...
I agree that Google needs to tread carefully with such ads--as it probably will. (It's unlikely that display ads for "Herb's Herbal Viakra" will show up on on "erectile dysfunction" SERPs.)
I agree that Google needs to tread carefully with such ads--as it probably will. (It's unlikely that display ads for "Herb's Herbal Viakra" will show up on on "erectile dysfunction" SERPs.)
I agree, Europe. The troublesome temptation is going to be when a marketer sees that a movie or TV show appeals strongly to their demographic. Already we'll see already that Burger King or a McDonalds will have commercial tie-ins with a movie, and the fast food firms may want to be on the search result as well. G and Y are going to see that need, and they can offer that. Will they? Should they?
Then you get into health care products. I'm searching for something to help me sleep. I type in "trouble sleeping" and I get a Lunesta ad now. But, what if Lunesta wants to ofter a video, ya know, as a public service, about how to get to sleep and have it link to it displayed as our movie-makers did? Er, uh, <cough>, well now, hmmm...
I do think the example Brett posted (thanks Brett!) here should have been more clearly marked as an ad.
There's no ownership marked and the youtube account was created just 3 days ago.
Google has sold out. This perhaps marks when the shark was jumped.
ps. just try ranking above wikipedia on your own (in three days!)
[edited by: amznVibe at 4:52 pm (utc) on July 16, 2007]
It's an Ad, but there is no indication to the consumer that it is a paid link.
The ad is in the light blue area, it's not mixed in the usual SERPs at all!
Besides, if people can't read the title of the ad "Become an agent in the Ultimate Google Search for Bourne" and figure out it's a sales pitch, it's going to be a long weird trip.
Yeah, movies are sort of irrelevent truth wise but what happens when its a political ad or something that dives into personal/health or safety issues and people see videos that may be deceptively targeted to the keywords and no mention of them being sponsored it comes off more as propoganda than an ad.
Its hard to distinguish like a tv commercial or other adverts if its coming off as a feature of google and something that google is somewhat recommending.
its cool as a game like Trent Did with his album and halo does with theeir game releases, but if this is the standard moving forward i do so some potential "crossing the line issues" that could easily upset a large part of there demographics who supported them because they were fair and innovative.
The URL is not in the typical ad java.
It's not marked as a sponsored link.
It could be a display based ad, but I really don't think it's a PPC ad of any kind.
It looks like a result of what Google does for their corporate intranet search. They essentially highlight the most common results using the 'premium sponsored link' ad technology; but it's not actually sponsored.
This might be a way for them to collect data, try out some new results, etc. And it could be an ad - but it's not a PPC one.
But it's also very special case and I think if anything they're just researching the situation. They probably should have put in "sponsored" tho.
I can see that point. I sure wonder too; but, the blue background gives it away as an ad I think.
I finally clicked on the ad .... no wonder Jason can't be found. lol
Sorry, but
THE ULTIMATE SEARCH FOR BOURNE
cannot be undertaken with the Opera Browser.
Are we gonna see automobile ads with youtube videos attached soon when we check on the price of local cars?
For those that claim the blue background shows it's an ad, note how the official results tabulation just above it is in the same color.
I finally clicked on the ad .... no wonder Jason can't be found. lolSorry, but
THE ULTIMATE SEARCH FOR BOURNE
cannot be undertaken with the Opera Browser.
Interesting. I clicked on it in FF and also can't see it. I think it's the flash - I usually have flash disabled.
I'm still amazed at sites that don't do a flash detect to serve relevant content instead of giving me a blank screen and asking me to install software.
