Sunday, November 18, 2007

Do Search Engines Have Your Best Interest at Heart?

A question was recently presented to me about how marketers may have had search engines pitch to run online marketing campaigns directly instead of working with an Online Marketing Agency. I haven't had this problem prevalently, but I have learned by other search marketers that this does go on. Turn over your campaign to the engine directly? Are you kidding?

Well I have to say that there may be instances where this happens especially since I know it has been brought to my attention recently. Search Engines, in my opinion, are probably not the best to manage a client's campaign as they are all about the almighty dollar - if they can help a client spend more money with their engine the better off they are and we as marketers we cannot deny that this is taking place.

I would say that a search engine has much more to gain by your advertising with them as they stand to gain increased revenue. But can they ever really "assist" you with your campaign? They can leave you no trust for those who really know how to manage an online campaign. While they can attempt to "educate" clients as to best practices with regard to their campaigns it seems at times that they are educating clients to spend more money with them so the engine can come out ahead. I could be wrong but it seems that way at times.

I encountered an event directly with a prospect of mine who wanted to stick it out with Google because they felt that Google reps were giving them enough information to assist in the management of a campaign. To be honest, based on the way this campaign was developed I can honestly say it was not in their best interest. I have also been on the forefront of reaching out to Google teams for help and have received very vague answers.

In my opinion, it makes sense to work with those who do understand the ins and outs of Search Engine Marketing because more times than not they will have your best interest at heart since they stand to make more if they show you results in the end.

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