- 21
- Aug
Advertising and the NFL are fraternal twins. So, it is not surprising that the approaching start of the NFL season would draw our attention. The size of the audience, its shared interests, spending power and direct link between call and action are online-like in their effectiveness.
Here in the San Francisco Bay Area the new season has brought all things Raiders and 49ers to the fore. And though the battle between overall number one pick in the 2005 draft Alex Smith and journeyman (7 teams in 7 years) J.T. O’Sullivan has captured a lot of attention, I am drawn to the Raiders and their Quixotic search for proof of the team’s “Commitment to Excellence.”
Like any company seeking to gain notice in a consumer’s consciousness, the Raiders cannot attain “excellence” unless they achieve relevance. The season will tell if adding Russell, McFadden, Hall and Wilson to the mix will do the trick, but the draft picks and free agent signings have people paying attention. If the team performs, relevance will lead to revenue.
Relevance — and its link to revenue — also has people paying attention more to Google these days, too.
Look one way and you can see that the company has proven to be somewhat immune to the turbulence others feel during the current economic downturn. Long-time links between advertisers and even strong venues are being broken.
Look the other way and find that Google is being pressed in court to prove its commitment to relevance. These suits, three so far, claim that delivering ads to web pages that offer no content undermines the value of the pitch.
I guess it depends on the definition of “content.” Is content a story about big game hunting or is it enough that someone seek out www.biggamehunting.com to make the ads for guides and gear relevant? Google has long sought and will continue to strive to be the best source of the best answer to the question: “What do you want?”
Certainly its search expertise is atop the market, so it was no surprise when they launched AdSense for Domains three or four years ago. In this program, a web address sought by a user — whether a branded site or not — is seen as a window into the person’s interests. Google gave domain owners the opportunity to showcase relevant ads to the people who made the trip.
Historical credit does not always ensure future success (velcro is my favorite example). And the health of the economy, even when it improves, will continue to make advertisers adamant. The pressure will not abate on the algorithms, link relationships and key words that now approximate relevance. Ultimately, even Google will need to know. And the only way that can happen is to ask.
All the industry needs, just like the Raiders, is a commitment to relevance. Revenue and excellence are its trailing indicators.