The Rise of Google

One of the issues was that no one could figure out how a search engine could made money, especially if, like Google, it refused to allow people to pay for inclusion (or placement) within it. Advertising was clearly one option, though Google wanted to exclude annoying pop-up or banner advertisements in order to maintain its reputation for clean design, user friendliness, and usability. The answer became the selling of text advertisements along the sides of the pages after Google had returned initial lists of search results. Earning a profit through advertising has become crucial for the survival of search engines, especially since the keywords used for a search can automatically determine which advertising a person views on his or her computer. A person's interests can be linked to specific advertisements—not pop-up, blinking, or “singing” banner ads that appear regardless of the search. These ads are tied to the subject that the user is searching, thereby targeting an audience. Search engines differ in whether they mix these results into the “natural” or “organic” results that appear as the answer to the user's query or whether they are discretely listed on the side or top as “sponsored” results, a phrase that turned out to be more profitable than calling them advertisements. The search engine receives a profit when the ad is clicked on, and the company targets people who may actually be looking for them. Some of the companies buy formulas that simply plug the search phrase into a sentence, producing results like “shop for discount cosmetics on eBay!” But as advertising and search technology iron out their formulas, what emerges is a way to advertise that is far more cost effective than television or direct mail advertising because it is targeted to the individual user.