Comments on: The Display Game Changes: AdWords Adds Retargeting

By: Scott Pannier

Scott Pannier — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 16:14:51 +0000

It's very interesting indeed and of course it was only a matter of time for Google to have their own re-targeting product. What is scary is that Google already has so much data on users' behavior, referring URL's that took a consumer from google.com to the #1 organic listing for any search term. For that I think it will be hard for other "search retargeting" companies like AdRocket and Simpli.fi to have as much aggregate data as Google. And now search re-targeting and BT / re-marketing companies are all blending together (Audience Science, Fetchback, Permuto, Criteo, AppNexus, Dotami). There continues to be a bunch of clutter, but like everything else, I think the cream will rise to the top.

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 23:12:51 +0000

I think the announcement is good news for both advertisers and consumers alike. Sure, there may be a certain level of concern about privacy with retargeting, but once advertisers learn to manage their campaigns properly by using frequency caps so as not to bombard their audience, that concern will no longer be valid. Consumers benefit in the long run because they'll now be presented with discounts and promotions for products they're actually interested in and can use.

I think it's important to note, also, that retargeting isn't something new. The fact that Google is now implimenting it, however, only serves to validate this useful marketing tool and proves what other companies have been capitalizing on for a while now.

By: VJ

VJ — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 16:52:54 +0000

We all saw that coming. Is it the end for other retargeting startups? Probably not.

By: J. McFarland

J. McFarland — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 16:15:32 +0000

Nice analysis -- agree there are lots of winners with this announcement. Publishers will also be able to create inventory-extension packages by retargeting their own users off-site. For niche B2B pubs like AdExchanger, this could be huge.

Who stands to lose? Immediately, all of the low-end retargeting providers (many of whom were just booking the same buys on Google via the interface while it was in closed Beta anyway.) The bar on performance just got significantly raised, as now companies have an easy and viable in-house alternative.

When Google releases search query-retargeting, my bet is that it will be checkbox-simple. As in, "check this box to begin retargeting the keywords already in your AdWords account" and "check this box to retarget relevant keyword clusters, as you do with AdSense contextual targeting." That, too, will decimate a lot of the folks who are arbitraging the keyword retargeting space: Permuto, Magnetic, et al.