Firm Management
Changing Up Your Ads Strategy as Google’s Control on Search Slips
While Google and Meta presently have a firm hold on the top spots in the digital advertising world, that all might change with the case the DOJ is bringing forward.
Nov. 07, 2024
By Christian Jones.
As you stare down EOY and all that means for the tax and accounting industry, you’re most likely in one of two boats:
- Running smooth operations and sleeping soundly at night.
- Sleeping like you’re starring in A Nightmare On Elm Street (see: poorly).
But, wherever you’re at, you should be tracking with what I’m going to discuss in this article (as it has ramifications for digital marketing for accountants and tax professionals): Potential Antitrust Remedies By The DOJ To Google.
Search
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 search and your accounting 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 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.
Advertising
Second, there is a line running parallel to busting up Google’s search monopoly: breaking their hold on digital advertising.
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% of 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.
Image Source: Quartr.
While Google and Meta presently have a firm hold on the top spots 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?
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 the tax and accounting 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 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.
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.
The key here is to ride these waves, and to keep on doing it again, and again, and again.
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Christian Jones is the Chief Executive Officer of TaxProMarketer (since March 2023). Christian’s search marketing strategy has helped set the standard within the tax and accounting industry, and as CEO he is committed to service innovation so that tax professionals and accountants get seen online. He teaches on a variety of topics in CPE webinar settings, at live events, and on other platforms in the industry. He was named a top presenter on CPA Academy for 2023 and the “Top 20 Under 40” by CPA Practice Advisor. He is also the host of The ProMarketer Podcast and led TaxProMarketer to its second year on the Inc 5000 list in 2024.
More from Christian here:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-jones-44b18346/
The ProMarketer Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-promarketer-podcast/id1518597006