Frequently I see complaints about consumers being confused about who they are doing business with online. The culprits? Those companies that truly have the power to confuse consumers and to truly baffle even the most savvy of marketers – the Search Engine giants.
I am in the travel industry and although the complaints are often about online hotel sites, I also see this in other categories as well. It boils down to a fundamental lack of understanding about online retail and how many different retailers are authorized resellers of the same exact product. The price for that product isn’t always the same, although the hotel industry is really working on what is called “price parity”.
Also I
find that at the core of the consumer confusion is that consumers expect Google and Bing to always showcase the
vendor’s own website first and most prominently. Consumers need to
understand how these advertising giants work and that they are in
business to make money, selling positioning on the search results. The ads are always clearly marked as Ads on both Bing and Google.
Here are three of my most popular blogs on this topic:
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| Click image to read about Consumer Confusion |
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| Click image to read about Bing Search |
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| Click image to read about Google Search |