Before I start diving into the latest happenings with Google and how that might change accounting advertising, let me just say…A happy post-tax extension deadline to you!
You made it through, despite the inevitable emails I’m sure you received at 10:16pm on 10/14 from a handful of clients uploading a plethora of documents. Documents you have probably been asking for since April.
Also likely you: “Note to self, charge these people quadruple next time around…”
We’re now staring down EOY and all that means for our industry.
Some of your colleagues are running smooth operations and are sleeping soundly at night.
Others are sleeping like they’re starring in A Nightmare On Elm Street (see: poorly).
But you and your colleagues alike should be tracking with what I’m going to discuss in this note (as it has ramifications for accounting advertising in the digital world): Potential Antitrust Remedies By The DOJ To Google.
Lemony Snicket couldn’t have thought up the year Google has had so far.
In case you missed it, earlier this year Google’s entire search algorithm was leaked to the world. Here’s a great line from that article that sums it up:
SEOs typically occupy three camps:
- Everything Google tells SEOs is true and we should follow those words as our scripture (I call these people the Google Cheerleaders).
- Google is a liar, and you can’t trust anything Google says…
- Google sometimes tells the truth, but you need to test everything to see if you can find it…
I suspect many people will be changing their camp after this leak.
And if that wasn’t enough, Google’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day got worse.
Because there’s now a threat of a potential shakedown from the DOJ around Google’s monopoly on search. The DOJ’s “remedy” to the problem of Google’s vast control over search around the internet is to “end ‘Google’s control of distribution today’ and ensure ‘Google cannot control the distribution of tomorrow.’”
But what does all of this mean for digital accounting advertising and your business?
Well, it would mean a profound reorientation of where your leads’ eyeballs are going to go in the future. Where they’ll be sent when your accounting advertising campaign has done its job.
Right now, if you neglect ranking on Google, it is to your great detriment. They dominate search as a platform, including in our industry.
Yes, some people do check Bing and Yelp, and a small fraction use search engines like Duck Duck Go to protect their last vestiges of privacy.
But who are they kidding? Everyone uses Google to get information, research businesses, and find resources.
The latest turn of events drops a “what if” dam right in the middle of that wave.
What if Google’s iron fist of control cracked? What if the DOJ did enough to level the playing field and give all the Ducks out there a chance?
No one can say for sure who or what would emerge in its place, but we should ALL be curious and watching each emerging development. I don’t want to overstate it, but breaking up Google’s monopoly on search would be about as cataclysmic of a shift the internet has seen in quite some time.
Second, there is a line running parallel to busting up Google’s search monopoly: breaking their hold on digital advertising (accounting advertising for our purposes).
Cornering both the supply and demand sides lets Google keep $0.36 from every dollar spent on ad deals it brokers.
The ability to keep 36 percent from every dollar spent on ads that Google brokers is quite the haul. (I suppose the tech bros out west have to find a way to pay for their yachts and similar essentials.)
Because Google Advertising is more ubiquitous than you think, it’s safe to say that digital advertising is more diverse than online search is.
While Google and Meta presently have a firm hold on the top spot in the digital advertising world, that all might change with the case the DOJ is bringing forward.
But enough news and stats. Why does all of this matter to you?
Again, it’s about eyeballs. People go to Google organically via Google Search. They also click and engage on Google ads (in all their various forms) more than any other advertising platform in the world.
If this isn’t getting your attention then you are one of the (unfortunate) many in our industry that have never tapped into Google’s power.
But let’s assume you already understand how important this change would be. If you’re already aware of the consequential changes that could be coming, these are the three steps you should take…
Three Steps For The Post-Google DOJ Antitrust Arms Race
- Get a team ready to make pivots to tap into other search platforms that blossomed in the wake of the Google-slaying antitrust from the DOJ, should it go through.
- Get that same team ready to spring into action in the other digital advertising channels that would inevitably spring up as Google’s control in the advertising space gets curbed.
- Get an accounting advertising plan and strategy in place for nurturing those new leads (and the leads you already have), building a relationship with them, and winning their business.
I can promise you that my crew is one of those teams in the digital marketing world that is ready, and excited, for the change and volatility.
Wouldn’t it be nice if things stayed the same for all of us? Sure, but then digital marketing and advertising would cease to be what it is — a market of near constant change. Principles do remain the same, but the tactics are always changing.
We’ve ridden these waves before for our clients, and we’ll do it again, and again, and again.
You can try to navigate the change yourself, or get a team on your side to do it for you — to your very great advantage.
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