Facebook vs. Google

 “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” is the adage we’ve all heard when it comes to making changes to something good just for the sake of change. In the case of advertising on Facebook and Google, both have seen what works and seem to mimic each other in their usability in many ways. There are a number of similarities between the two applications that are evident when a user begins using the respective services. Two areas that stand out are the similarities in handling money and transactions, while the other area has more to do with targeting and demographics.

                When a marketer wants to advertise on television, radio and other traditional offline media, there is a life-cycle to the process that takes time and money. The spot must be produced, the media must be placed and then the media runs and then it ends. There aren’t a lot of places within that cycle that can start and stop quickly or even be ignored altogether. The reality is the Internet—and Facebook and Google specifically-- have turned that model upside down. With these two Internet tools, marketers can begin a marketing campaign and stop on a dime. While there are some minimum thresholds to begin a campaign, the dollar values are incredibly low and aren’t really barriers to entry. Furthermore, if the media isn’t working it can be stopped immediately. That is absolutely not the case with offline media, where campaigns can be stopped, but certainly not immediately, as inventory has already been placed and will run until traffic departments can replace or pull the spots.

Additionally, there is the issue of demographics and targeting. Both of these firms realize that marketers really find targeting to be efficient and effective ways of focusing their marketing message on consumers that meet a certain set of criteria. This again is certainly a part of traditional offline media, but there aren’t any guarantees that every male 18-35 is watching ESPN or listening to urban radio. Facebook and Google can absolutely drill down to specific areas, passions and even zip codes. Having said that, there are some differences between these two behemoths and demographics is a good place to start.

As much as Google is able to create specific traffic funnels for certain consumers, it doesn’t know you and your personal interests as well as Facebook does. This reality is a function of Facebook’s usage of personal data and the valuable information you share about yourself on Facebook. For example, if you like hockey Facebook knows this because you have “liked” the NHL, your favorite hometown team and have shared articles about the sport. Google doesn’t have quite this access. They can see a pattern of your searches, but can’t drill down to ‘31 year old male who likes the Washington Capitals,’ like Facebook can. Additionally, it should be noted that the same technology that Google uses to power their searches is also what makes them more predictive than Facebook. Because of those aforementioned search patterns, Google can more accurately conceptualize where your likely to go and then can serve you ads via AdWords accordingly. The ability for both firms to succeed based on these definable and unique characteristics is profound and central to their growth.