The Past, Present, and Future of Paid Search

ReThinc Advertising has provided digital marketing services to our clients for over 15 years. Founded in 2008, we came to be during the digital renaissance that saw traditional means of advertising supplanted by new, more advanced platforms that were driven by the internet.

No change was more pronounced than the demise of the Yellow Pages for what became paid search. Literally, there are adult consumers alive today who have no idea what the Yellow Pages were and how it was distributed.

For those of you under 30, the Yellow Pages was a voluminous printed book that was delivered to the doorstep of your home. In this book were alphabetical listings and ads for businesses of all types. If I remember correctly, simple listings were free and ads cost money. Ads varied in size and were priced much like the newspaper in column inches up to full pages and back covers.

The History Behind the Search Engine

Early paid search began to replace the Yellow Pages in the 1990s. The first adapting search platforms included Yahoo, Magellan, InfoSeek, and Excite.

As the millennium came to an end, advancements in technology propelled Yahoo and Microsoft to positions of leadership in the world of search. This also spelled the demise of the printed Yellow Pages whose production cost, user experience, and abilities were eclipsed by internet-driven search. The Yellow Pages tried and failed to create a digital version of themselves.

In the early 2000s, internet searches became more commonplace in American homes. Google (originally called BackRub by the two smart guys who founded it) came into the search business from the garage of a home in Palo Alto, California. Google improved search by using something they called PageRank, which, in simple terms measured the relevancy of a website to the search query. This led to BackRub being purchased by very smart venture capitalists and being renamed Googol which was subsequently mispelled to Google.

Google rapidly ascended to a market leader position in search as consumers switched to the internet to find goods and services. In fact, Google is so very ubiquitous that it is both a noun and a verb.

Why Search Engine Marketing is a Big Deal For Your Business

Today paid search is a $305 billion dollar industry. Over the years, that company with the weird name grew its market share to nearly 90% of all searches. Microsoft, Yahoo, and a smattering of other platforms were left to split what was left of a search engine pie. This has been the favorable market condition that Google has enjoyed for the better part of the last ten years.

Now in 2024, we have the Department of Justice pursuing legal action against Google. The government contends that Google has stifled competition to maintain its dominant position. Concurrently there have been reports that Google is losing market share, slipping to as low as 77% of the overall US market, and then other reports that it really hasn’t lost any market share whatsoever. The internet maintains that Google has retained its 90% market share and that nothing short of government action will loosen its reign on search. Just today, a federal judge ruled that Google must sell Chrome to lessen its dominant search monopoly. Don’t look for this to happen anytime soon as Google will undoubtedly appeal.

In other news, the incoming Trump administration has appointed Brendan Carr to head the FCC. Mr. Carr is known to be anti-big tech which may create more challenges for Google. That being said, I believe that the FCC is going to be more concerned with social media platforms, politically-biased algorithms, foreign election interference, and the negative social effects of SM usage over search issues.

Will Paid Search Look Different in the Future?

You can’t conceivably say no to this question. Especially in an industry that’s seen the level of change that marketing has over the past few decades. What that looks like will depend on the actions of the DOJ as well as the response by Google to adapt to ongoing regulatory pressure. AI and mobile advancements will most certainly continue to play a role in what transpires as will other unforeseen technologies that provide consumers with ease and relevancy for their search queries.

Consumers shouldn’t be faulted for using a superior search technology to locate the goods and services they seek. Google has filled the need admirably and in doing so, established itself as a needed service in our modern, internet-fueled life. Agencies and advertisers will need to keep their noses in the trades to keep track of any discernible changes that can negatively impact the results our clients expect.

As I’ve said before, paid search is not for the faint of heart. There are plenty of bad actors making false claims regarding rankings and search excellence that cut corners and end up costing customers. As self-serving as this may sound, I would strongly recommend that any business engaging in paid search seek out the assistance of an expert so as not to make Google even more money than they already have.

If you are engaging in a search campaign and have questions on what’s best for your brand, feel free to email me at ed.olsen@rethincadvertising.com or give me a call at 602.284.6722.