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Discussion Board Forum 3

Shannon Merchent

School of Business, Liberty University

BUSI 330: Principles of Marketing

Professor Ron Ballard

June 12, 2020

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Discussion Board Forum 3

When conducting a Google search, there are some results that appear before others. The

reasoning for this is because Google’s asks “questions” that are relevant to the search. Google

asks questions such as, “How many times does this page contain your key words?”, “Do the

words appear in the title?”, or “Does the page include synonyms for those words?”, etc. (Google,

2010). This is because Google takes the act of giving each user the right information very

seriously. To prioritize search results, Google uses these questions as well. These search results

also are tracked to see if they come from a credible source or something that would be

considered “spammy”, all from how many times the URL is used on other sites. With the

combination of the questions Google asks plus the decision of whether the site is credible or not,

this gives the users the most relevant information first and works its way down.

Google Ads, formerly known as AdWords, is an online tool to help advertisers, big or

small, to create ads for their products (Google, Inc.: The Right Ads at the Right Time, n.d.).

Google Ads is pretty much an easy, self-service option for advertisers all over the world to use to

reach their targeted audience. “…simply open an account with a credit card and have ads appear

within minutes” (Kerin & Hartley, 2020). This feature allows business of all sizes to put ads up

and compete on a completely even playing field. While Google Ads does require payment, it is

extremely easy for the advertisers to control the costs. Really the only way the advertiser gets

charged for the advertisement is if there is a definite that the consumer will go to the website.

This is what Google calls a cost-per-click model (Kerin & Hartley, 2020). This makes Google

Ads a very affordable and easy way for companies to advertise directly to their intended users.

Now, AdSense is a little bit different. AdSense provides a way for publishers to earn

money on their online content by matching ads to their sites based on the content and visitors
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("How AdSense works - AdSense Help", 2020). This means that as a website owner, they decide

where they want ads to appear on their site, advertisers then bid on those spaces, and the highest

paying one shows up on the site. Unlike Google Ads, AdSense is free. Google ends up paying

the website owner based upon user clicks.

Comparatively, Google Ads and AdSense are advertising options but are different in the

procedures that take place. Google Ads allows advertisers to pay for each click that drives

consumers to their site from Google. Usually this will end up in an immediate sale or future sale.

AdSense pays the website owners per click of the advertisements. In other words, both

advertising options ends up in revenue.

The increased concern of potential eavesdropping practices by “smart” devices is very

real in today’s world. According to Christi Olson, voice search is integrated in many mobile apps

and devices that are part of our everyday lives, at home and at work (Olson, 2016). This

essentially means that our mobile devices, apps, and other electronics are constantly collecting

data about the most private aspects of everyone’s lives, and even daily behavior patterns. This

can be a problem especially if identity thieves or hackers are listening in.

Preventative measures that could be taken by consumers is making sure that the

permissions you agree to when downloading apps or other things are set to have the microphone

and camera off. This at least helps combat the eavesdropping aspect. Also, be sure to do this with

Google, Siri, and Bixby. Ensure that your passwords are protected, have antivirus software, and

maybe even have a VPN on when surfing the web. Only the user can truly prevent these things

from happening and taking the steps to be more cautious will help tremendously in the long run.
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In Psalm 147:5 says, “Great is our Lord and might in power; His understanding has no

limit” (New International Version). This verse means that God is all-knowing, that He

understands everything, and is powerful beyond what we can even imagine. Honestly, the power

of human marvels like Google would not even be possible without the Lord. He gave us the gifts

of knowledge, of initiative, of intelligence to create something so intricate. Without Him, the

worlds inventions and wonders would not even exist. He is powerful and great because He chose

to give us these things to flourish and nothing on this Earth is out of His reach.
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References

Google. (2010). How Search Works [Video]. Retrieved 10 June 2020, from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNHR6IQJGZs&feature=youtu.be.

Google, Inc.: The Right Ads at the Right Time. [Video]. Retrieved 10 June 2020, from

https://www.viddler.com/embed/bf7fc9fa.

How AdSense works - AdSense Help. Support.google.com. (2020). Retrieved 10 June 2020, from

https://support.google.com/adsense/answer/6242051?hl=en.

Kerin, R., & Hartley, S. (2020). Marketing: The Core (8th ed., pp. 453-455). McGraw-Hill

Education.

Olson, C. (2016). Just say it: The future of search is voice and personal digital assistants.

Campaignlive.co.uk. Retrieved 10 June 2020, from

https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/just-say-it-future-search-voice-personal-digital-

assistants/1392459.