Clearly Google is doing something right if they made $21 billion dollars last year in Ad revenue because of AdWords. The idea to sell bids in an auction was genius, and to only charge if the Ad was actually clicked on, even better. Google had originally intended to sell its products to gain revenue and for advertising to be only a small portion, but the invention of AdWords changed everything. But how do other business follow this model?
The idea to give great products for free and then only make money from advertising sales was revolutionary at the time, but is now becoming more common for online businesses-ie Facebook. Sites like Google and Facebook proved that there is a lot of money to be made by Ad revenue, but it is a risky business.
Most importantly you have to gain the loyalty of consumers and this is not an easy task. You have to be willing and able to create the best product out there for little to no immediate benefits. Once consumers trust the site and they began to rely on its information then the advertising dollars will begin to come. I am sure there are many sites out there who have tried this method and failed miserably.
User Friendly-The ability to navigate through all of Google’s products with ease also adds to its credibility. Most consumers are not concerned with the algorithms or math equations used to find the information, they just want results. Many sites go wrong in this area as well. If a user cannot navigate through the site with ease, they are less likely to return, and Advertisers are less likely to invest money.
If other organizations are going to adopt the Google business model the must be willing to take a risk because it is not a fail-safe system. Sites like Facebook have shown us that it is possible to give everything for free and make money solely off Ad dollars. But Facebook was around for a long time, and gained the trust of many users, before the money started coming in.
