Page 11 - aruba-today-20201103

A11
business Tuesday 3 November 2020
Google ad costs, not its alleged monopoly, irks businesses

By JOYCE M. ROSENBERG
AP Business Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — When
asked about Google, Bry-
an Clayton voices a famil-
iar lament among small
business owners.
"You keep getting
squeezed further and fur-
ther down the search re-
sults page," says Clayton,
CEO of GreenPal, a com-
pany that operates an app
to help homeowners find
lawn care. "As a startup,
you don't have a million-
dollar advertising budget."
The Justice Department
sued Google on Oct. 20
for anticompetitive behav-
ior, saying the company's
dominance in online search
and advertising harms rivals
and consumers.
Owners such as Clay-
ton have a different
beef. What's unfair about
Google, they say, is the
way it gives the greatest In this Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018, file photo, a cursor moves over Google's search engine page, in Portland, Ore.
prominence in search re- Associated Press
sults to the companies that that's seen at the top of the this holiday season. He ex- says, "I think it's the cost of or $4 per click for ads.
spend the most on advertis- search result pages; the pects an already competi- doing business." But, Clayton says, "it's get-
ing. Companies covet the cost for the ads depends tive time of year to be even Huebert, whose company ting harder to advertise —
top spots in Google search on how often a computer more intense as more wine is based in Pittsburgh, sees the price keeps going up
results — the first page of user clicks on the ad and retailers seek customers Google as an important and up."
rankings, and the top of how much a company is over the internet due to the tool for small businesses Tommy Fang tried Google
subsequent pages. But if willing to pay per click. The coronavirus outbreak and because of its reach. And to advertise his year-old
too many companies vie more a company can pay, use Google advertising to when people begin a market research com-
for one of these spots, the the more likely it will get a make themselves more vis- search on Google, they're pany, but the cost far out-
cost can jump out of reach prized spot in search results. ible. "I don't think we'll run a already interested in a weighed the business he
for a small business, just like Google has different types single Google ad this year. I product or service; they hoped it would bring in.
the price for prime time TV of ads, and whether an ad suspect it will be well out of have what's known as high "We ran a couple of ads
commercials. appears locally or nation- our price range," says Asel- intent, a high likelihood and the economics just
Google controls about 90% ally can also affect pricing. stine, owner of Uncorked that they're going to make didn't work out for us," says
of global internet searches. So can the time of day an Ventures, based in El Cer- a purchase. And they're Fang, co-founder of New
The Justice Department ad appears. rito, California. more likely to buy than York-based Eureka Surveys.
sued Google Tuesday, al- There's also what's called If Aselstine can't afford someone who happens on The company runs a web-
leging it uses monopoly paid search, where com- Google, he has alter- an ad as they scroll through site where people can take
power in search to squelch panies bid on keywords to natives. Microsoft's Bing Facebook. part in surveys.
competition. Business own- get a higher ranking. For search engine, cheaper Aselstine says he'll adver- Fang is looking at other
ers' concerns about the example, a sporting goods but not as popular among tise on Facebook and In- possibilities, such as the
cost of advertising aren't store might bid on words computer users, is one. stagram if he can't afford advertising Apple sells for
directly related to the gov- like "baseball" and "hockey" Aselstine can also increase Google, although he's likely mobile devices. However,
ernment's lawsuit, although in hopes of landing higher his use of Google's unpaid to get more sales from peo- Fang's business, which in-
the company's dominance in search results and being search. Like the paid ver- ple who search on Google. volves finding participants
of the search market has more easily seen by cus- sion, he'd seek to use key- "Those people are more for corporate surveys, is
been alleged to be a fac- tomers looking for equip- words in his ads that pro- ready to buy that day," he focused on PCs, where he
tor in driving up the price ment for those sports. The spective customers are like- says. Clayton, the Green- says people prefer to an-
to buy ads in its vast digital problem businesses face ly to search for; depending Pal CEO, spends about swer survey questions.Yet
marketing network. is they can be outbid by on the words he chooses, $100,000 a year on Google some small businesses don't
But even if prices were low- companies with deeper he might get a good rank- advertising. That's a big flinch at the higher prices.
er than they are now, larg- pockets. So the sporting ing, although it will still fall number for a small compa- Advertising on Google
er companies with more goods store that can only below ads and paid listings. ny — GreenPal has 23 em- makes sense even for some
money to spend, in theory, afford to pay $2 a word R.J. Huebert, who buys ployees —but Clayton lists of Huebert's law firm clients
could always outbid small- can lose out to stores able Google ads on behalf of giants Angie's List and Ho- who often spend between
er businesses vying for the to pay $10. the law firms, manufactur- meAdviser among his com- $8 and $12 a click and as
prime advertising spots on Mark Aselstine has spent ers and a credit union that petitors that have much much as $35 because they
Google. as much as $30,000 a year are his clients, also sees bigger advertising budgets. can make the money back
Businesses have two main on Google advertising, but prices going up because GreenPal, based in Nash- from a single case.
ways of trying to get their he's not sure his wine gift of the competition among ville, Tennessee, and serv- But "it you're selling $5 socks,
listings high in Google rank- basket company will be advertisers, but the owner ing homeowners in most of it doesn't make sense to
ings. One is to buy an ad able to afford Google ads of HBT Digital Consulting the states, spends about $3 pay $35," he says.q