Search results

Google commands approximately 70 per cent of search market share worldwide, resulting in businesses investing heavily in search engine advertising on Google to target potential customers. Recently, Google changed the way in which content and ads were displayed on the search engine results page. This reshuffling of content and ads is expected to affect the advertisers who advertise on Google and/or use it to drive traffic to their websites. The purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of these changes on various stakeholders.

Data have been collected from various sources on the internet including blogs and discussion forums. Netnography has been used as it allows a detailed evaluation of the consumers’ needs, wants and choices in a virtual space.

The average cost-per-click for ads on the top positions is expected to increase. Advertisers whose ads usually occupy the lower positions would be adversely affected. To counter this, more emphasis should be placed on ad extensions and on product listing ads. In addition, organizations would benefit from increased efforts on search engine optimization.

A variety of coping strategies have been developed that can help marketers to successfully navigate through the change, including the use of ad extensions and the use of product listing ads.

This practice-focused paper offers guidelines for digital marketers to use sponsored search more effectively as part of their arsenal in light of some important changes recently made by Google. The potential of netnography as a research methodology has also been expanded by using it in a novel setting and in drawing up actionable insights.

This study aims to apply and test the effectiveness of message sidedness and conclusiveness in Google Ads advertising.

Four field experiments on Google Ad campaigns were conducted on the topics of energy and environment, the water–energy–food nexus, and a Higher-Ed program (at the national and local levels).

Two-sided search engine advertisements are more effective than one-sided advertisements in national campaigns but less effective in local campaigns. In national campaigns, conclusive search engine advertisements are more effective in increasing impressions and clicks, but inconclusive advertisements are more effective in increasing the click-through rate (CTR); in local campaigns, inconclusive advertisements are more effective when being one-sided, while conclusive advertisements are more effective when being two-sided. Overall, the two-sided and inconclusive advertisement generates the best results in a national campaign, but the one-sided and inconclusive advertisement generates the best results in a local campaign.

As the first to test sidedness and conclusiveness with Google Ads advertising, the paper provides theoretical and practical suggestions to search engine marketers by identifying the effective copywriting strategies, moderating factors and more measurements of effectiveness.

The purpose of this paper is to test the utility of regulatory focus theory principles in a real-world setting; specifically, Internet hosted text advertisements. Effect of compatibility of the ad text with the regulatory focus of the consumer was examined.

Advertisements were created using Google AdWords. Data were collected for the number of views and clicks each ad received. Effect of regulatory fit was measured using logistic regression.

Logistic regression analyses demonstrated that there was a strong main effect for keyword, such that users were almost six times as likely to click on a promotion advertisement as a prevention advertisement, as well as a main effect for compatibility, such that users were twice as likely to click on an advertisement with content that was consistent with their keyword. Finally, there was a strong interaction of these two variables, such that the effect of consistent advertisements was stronger for promotion searches than for prevention searches.

The effect of ad compatibility had medium to large effect sizes, suggesting that individuals’ state may have more influence on advertising response than do individuals’ traits (e.g. personality traits). Measurement of regulatory fit was limited by the constraints of Google AdWords.

The results of this study provide a possible framework for ad creation for Internet advertisers.

This paper is the first study to demonstrate the utility of regulatory focus theory in online advertising.

The purpose of this paper is to use social identity theory and the elaboration likelihood model to explore differences in consumer response to positive and negative online brand advertising based on the degree to which the consumer identifies with the brand featured in the ad. Dependent variables include attitude toward the ad, attitude toward the brand, willingness to share the ad and purchase intention.

This study uses a posttest-only, 2 (low consumer–brand identification v. high consumer–brand identification) × 2 (negative advertisement v. positive advertisement) between-subjects factorial design for two separate brands based on the pretest results.

Results show, in support of extant research, that consumer–brand identification enhances consumer perceptions of positive brand advertising. In addition, this research shows that consumer–brand identification also minimizes the potentially detrimental effects of negative advertisements on the dependent variables. Further, results suggest that those with a low consumer–brand identification are more likely to share negative online brand advertising.

Building consumer–brand identification among target consumers results in positive brand attitudes and behaviors while at the same time shielding brands from negative online attack advertising. However, consumers with weak consumer–brand identification can be influenced through peripheral cues in online ads. This research indicates that managers need to focus on strengthening consumer–brand identity with target audiences and closely monitor negative online sentiment.

This exploratory research extends current consumer–brand relationship scholarship and adds support for application of the elaboration likelihood model in an online environment. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to examine the role of consumer–brand identity and its role in explaining consumer responses to online display advertising.

The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize a model for sponsored search advertising by incorporating a number of factors which affect the performance of these ads.

The authors draw upon the professional experience and practitioner as well as academic literature to build and analyze the model. Propositions have been forwarded to delineate the various relationships at work in a sponsored search process.

The extant literature on this topic has so far been unable to provide a holistic overview. The paper offers propositions for explaining the role of various factors like the ad rank, branding, role of ad extensions and how impact of these factors may be sensitive to the device used for search.

This work is derived primarily from practice. It is hope that after due empirical validation, advertisers, users as well as search engines will benefit from this stream of research.

This is one of the first works to analyze a sponsored search ad at a micro level. It brings into focus one of the largely unexplored facets of sponsored search advertising.

This study aims to investigate the influence of Big Five Personality traits (i.e. openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism) on young consumers’ intentions to share branded viral video advertisements. Further, this study also demonstrates that the advertising appeal (informational versus emotional) used in the viral advertisement moderates the effects of specific personality traits on the sharing of viral ads.

A conceptual framework is proposed based on the Five-Factor Model of Personality (McCrae and John, 1992) and advertising effectiveness literature. Using experiments, responses from young consumers were collected and hypotheses were tested using hierarchical regression and ANOVA.

Results reveal that the two personality traits, extraversion and openness to experiences, are positively associated with consumers’ viral ad sharing intentions, whereas conscientiousness, agreeableness and neuroticism are not. Moreover, individuals scoring high on openness and extraversion prefer sharing branded viral ads containing informational appeal vis-ã-vis those containing emotional appeals.

Studies decoding the factors behind the success of viral advertisements have more often focussed on the ad content rather than on personality dimensions of the ad sharers. This study bridges this gap by investigating the influence of Big Five Personality traits on young consumers’ intention to forward viral ads, in interaction with ad appeal. Young consumers represent key audience segments consuming and sharing viral content online, and hence, it is important to have a deeper understanding of this market segment.