Google Ads in the 2024 Reality - Part 1

This article might turn out longer than I initially planned, so I may split it into several parts. I will try to use as few technical terms as possible, but I apologize in advance that there will certainly be a few English terms, as I simply cannot force myself to use the Google Ads platform in Latvian.

Past vs. Present

As scary as it is for me to admit, I have been in digital marketing for nearly 15 years. During this time, I have worked in several marketing agencies, and the adventures have been many and varied. Although my current skill set is quite broad, I consider my specialty to be Google Ads in professional jargon.

I started working in this field when Google Ads was a fairly new and innovative marketing option that companies in Latvia and, of course, elsewhere in the world had already begun to adopt for some time. At that time, a very small fraction of companies had any deeper understanding of how things worked, and even then, questions arose about whether it worked at all and what the point of using Google Ads was.

I remember speaking at an LTRK seminar about 10 years ago, and answering that question was not easy because, at the time, my view was that Google Ads was not mandatory for every company and that each situation had to be looked at individually. I admit that might have sounded quite strange coming from a Google Ads specialist who, by default, should be "praising" the Google Ads service, but it goes against my principles, as I always try to provide my honest perspective, and at that time, that was it.

Why wasn't my opinion unanimous at the time? Quite simply, the world was a bit different, and we lived a bit differently. It seems like a small thing, just 10 years, but a person's lifestyle has changed very rapidly in recent years. The places where people spend time and look for information are changing. I must say that, unfortunately, a large part of our lives has moved to the internet. I was born in the early 80s and experienced the times when, to prepare a school report, you had to go to the library and find the necessary book. If we wanted to buy or sell something big in the family, we looked at classifieds in newspapers and magazines. Television played a huge role; most of the audience carefully followed "The Bold and the Beautiful" or watched the latest Mexican masterpiece, and TV advertising had immense power. The elderly ladies spending their days on benches outside apartment buildings knew best where to find the right sausage at the best price. Life was different; whether it was better, I won't venture to say, but it was definitely different.

Today, most information is searched for on Google. Newspapers, magazines, and even TV are slowly dying; it is much simpler and more convenient to find information on the internet, and no matter how you look at it, Google is the main source of information in Latvia.

Source - https://gs.statcounter.com/search-engine-market-share/all/latvia

Additional changes in consumer behavior were also driven by the Covid-19 crisis and its consequences. Suddenly, companies that had previously ignored or paid little attention to their visibility on the internet realized that a website is not just a business card, but is necessary to conduct any volume of business during a crisis. Consumers began spending more time online, made more purchases online, and wanted home delivery. When the crisis ended, consumer behavior did not change much because they had become accustomed to the convenience and have no intention of changing their habits even now, several years after the Covid crisis.

Therefore, now and in the near future, the internet will play a very large role in business efficiency. Whether it is Google Ads, social networks, good SEO rankings, or other opportunities, a company must be visible in the Latvian information space. You can have the best product or service in the world, but if it is not visible or findable in the online environment, then there is little point to it.

In my work, I quite regularly have to answer client questions like, "What and how should I do now if I want to grow my business?" In every situation, my answer and the proposed solution may be different, but Google Ads is one of those channels that can provide the fastest results. But there is one big "BUT" here before we move on. Unfortunately, I still encounter situations where entrepreneurs think that Google Ads is a magic wand that, when waved, will make money start coming in so fast that it will be hard to choose what to buy - a Ferrari or a Lamborghini. Yes, Google Ads can be a great tool that will help increase revenue, but it also has its costs and negative aspects.

How to explain what Google Ads is? Perhaps the simplest way: advertising on the Google search engine, where you pay for every click on your displayed ad. And here we come to one of the most important things: click costs, because that will be the main factor that will affect the overall profitability of your ad, and believe me, it is not an insignificant factor. More on that in the next article.