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Can Google Help AdLand?

By: Dwayne W. Waite Jr.

Google is the advertising giant in the room. From mastering online search to online advertising, Google is starting to throw its weight around the advertising community even more.

It may not be a bad thing.

Startup entrepreneurs and Silicon Valley advertising professionals have been clamoring for the advertising industry to adopt more "startup" qualities. Why not start with letting one of the more successful startups of our lifetimes help us do that?

Google started out small in the advertising world by launching a small online tool called Google AdWords. Now, AdWords is a multi-million dollar platform for the company, and is a part of the SEO toolbox for many marketing professionals. Google also started an online community known as Google Engage for Agencies, where Google Ad execs nurture relationships with agencies and marketers and teach them how to get the best out of the tool.

But it wasn't always a love story between Google and AdLand. Yes, the partnership started out a bit rocky. AdLand was turned off by how aggressive Google was when it came to its advertising solutions; even going so far as saying that many of the traditional methods couldn't touch the revolution of advertising that Google is unleashing.

Google saw. Google learned.

Google then launched Google Agency Edge, yet another online community that targets agencies and marketing folks. One can search through coursepacks about the basics of Search and SEO, social media engagement, and even the basics of mobile marketing.

Google saw that it had AdLand's attention. Now it wanted to knock it off its feet.

Google recently announced Google Insights, a playground for AdLand residents to see what research and insight tools Google offers that can help AdLand learn more about their online audiences' habits and trends, what people click on, what people search, why and where they are searching, and more importantly, why all of it matters.

Google Insights is robust. It's full of information from case studies to articles to demos using many of the tools (most free, some not) that Google provides to help add insight to any campaign, offline or online, you may be planning. Its Insight Finder is a wonderful tool to play around with, and the solutions are categorized by action, making it easier to find information.

Can Google help AdLand? The question, after going through all the information, seems rhetorical. The real question is, will AdLand use the help Google is offering?

Where's that insight?

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About the Author

Dwayne W. Waite Jr. is partner and principal at JDW: The Charlotte Agency, a marketing and advertising shop in Charlotte, NC. He enjoys consumer behavior, economics, and football.

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