A quick observation/reflection.
I was triggered again by the list of the 20 most expensive AdWords keywords.
A vast amount of companies uses Google AdWords (who?).
However, over the last few months I heard more and more companies complain about the high cost and low return on their AdWords spending. Even the companies that spend a lot of money on AdWords optimization and who are maniacal in tweaking AdWords performance.
Also, they seem to be fed up with Google calling the shots. With being locked-in in a Google system that in a way forces companies to spend more and more within the same Google-owned ecosystem.
Especially within travel and finance/banks, more and more marketeers seem to be looking for alternatives to the ever-lasting Google AdWords bidding wars.
And so they turn to social.
Not because of Google+ or any other Google social initiative, because they’re fed up with Google AdWords bidding wars and Google’s dominant position.
They start to explore the return on social media. They either shift funds from AdWords towards social, or start investing in social media campaign, social pilots, conversations or social business.
So, yes, Google stimulates social media (spending). But probably not the way they intended to …
