Google Tags – First Move Into Untraditional Advertising?
Google is one of the most popular and successful online advertising systems on earth. In the past they only offered traditional pricing models for ads (cost per click & cost per thousand impressions). In a first move towards un-traditional Google pricing they are offering a product called Google Tags. What these tags appear to be are upgrades to Google Places accounts. Traditionally all Google Places listings look pretty much the same. They show up in traditional search as well as on Google Maps searches. Google Tags seem to offer higher visibility to the Google Places listings. I would compare this best to old phone book listings. In the phone book if you want your listing in bold or in a square or whatever you pay a premium to do so. Google Places listings themselves are free but by adding a tag you can highlight important information you want a consumer to see about your business. The cost is a flat rate of $25 per month.
I personally think it’s an interesting product to offer. I don’t see it as super useful to most people but to businesses who depend on Google Places listings for their traffic it could very well be worth the investment. I know some affiliates use Google Places so this product might be an interesting one to know about. The big downside I see is that all the snakeoil local search & SEO salesman are going to come out and attack local businesses saying they can get them on Google for $100 per month FLAT RATE. They’ll just sell them a Tag and technically they won’t be lying. This should further confuse local mom and pop shops.
Have you tried Tags?
More info about Google Tags
Ad Hustler,
First, Happy Thanksgiving!
I have a few friends on the brick and mortar side of small business ownership. Because their ability to generate a new customer is typically about a 3 mile radius at maximum, Google places is a good start for them.
Some of them have already received these cold calls about enhanced Google listings. From what I’ve been told, it’s sold as part of a bundle where the “agency” will increase their visibility online and includes a simple website as well. It’s a quick upsell with a perceived value add that isn’t too much of a nick into their monthly revenue. There is a small setup fee and the maintenance is an ongoing monthly fee usually in the range of $99-$299.
It’s like “Set It and Forget It” for both parties.
Unfortunately, as you pointed out, the local shops are happy to trust and listen to the SEO “wizard”. Perhaps if the curtain was pulled back, it would be a different story. How would you pull that curtain back to help the local shops?
I agree with you about Google Places and how awesome they are because of how they could help traffic with your business.
Thanks For The Great Post,
Bradley Nordstrom
Hmm… the flat rate aspect of it all makes it a tad confusing to see Google get into. I think something like that could be great for one shop and terrible for another. It will be interesting to see how that all shakes out.