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How Google Makes Money

It is going to be nothing surprising to learn that Google makes a lot of money, indeed. Google has fast become synonymous with any sort of online searching, so much so that Google has now officially become its own verb for online query-making. Naturally, this rise in reputation means that Google earns a substantial amount…
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It is going to be nothing surprising to learn that Google makes a lot of money, indeed. Google has fast become synonymous with any sort of online searching, so much so that Google has now officially become its own verb for online query-making.

Naturally, this rise in reputation means that Google earns a substantial amount of money: $31.9 billion, to be exact, in the fourth quarter of 2017 (which is roughly around £26.2 billion).

When asking how exactly Google makes money, it can be a confusing concept, particularly when you consider that Google is a free search engine offering many of its products completely free. How, then, does the search engine make money from providing a free browser with a free search box where you can type anything you like (for free)?

It would make sense that Google makes a small amount of cash from certain products, but the sheer amount of money based on 2017 findings alone signifies that Google is definitely doing something right when it comes to earning a return.

piggy bank
Photo by Fabian Blank on Unsplash

How Does Google Make Money 2017?

Google Products

Of course, Google has a wealth of products which can be used to generate income, and especially in recent years, Google has been pushing new products like its Home Speaker and the Google Play Store, all of which can make Google a substantial amount of cash.

Yet, when it comes to the most significant earner for Google, it is advertising which takes the gold medal.

Google’s Success with Advertising

A substantial amount of Google’s money is actually coming from the products which you use for free, through the use of advertising. Even when you use the Google search engine at no extra cost to yourself, Google is going to be making a bundle through advertisements integrated into the search engine, landing pages and more.

The Important Forms of Google Advertising

Google is split into three main categories of advertising success, which are listed below. These are the advertising methods you should know about.

screenshot of click intelligence google adwords

Google Ads

The most popular forms of advertisements when it comes to Google, these are the ads which appear at the top of a search engine page when you type any query into the Google search bar. You will always expect to see these advertisements when you are searching for something and browsing the results page.

This will usually be displayed as the top two or three listings, clearly displayed with the word ‘ad’ beside them and featured in a way differentiating themselves from the rest of the page. These Google Ads usually serve to draw your eye straight away.

Naturally, this is a coveted position for any business which wants its name to be at the top of the search engine results page.

If you’re looking for assistance with using Google ads and AdWords for your business, then you might want to look into a dedicated Google AdWords management service.

Google AdSense

This feature allows businesses to partner up with Google, in a joint effort to promote advertisements on their own websites. Companies can bid to be featured in advertisements, and when a relevant click gets made, Google will thereby receive the money and share a percentage of it with the business or website owner. Google, therefore, both makes a little extra money, as well as being able to promote its ads even further to a higher number of people.

Google AdMob

Working with the same process as AdSense, AdMob is instead tailored to applications rather than web pages. This means app developers can make extra money alongside Google, which expands its advertising market through a partnership with the applications in question.

Keyword Bidding

Search results will still rank in organic order underneath any ads displayed on the Google search page, through organic use of keywords. Nevertheless, it is still possible for a business to place a bid for a specific keyword applicable to their business. What then happens is that when an internet user clicks on the advert in question, the business pays Google the amount of the bid.

As you can imagine, this can earn some serious money for Google simply through clicking. If a specific keyword is clicked on a certain number of times during a month, it can easily rack up a significant return, especially for the more expensive bids and keywords.

To understand more about ads, bidding on keywords and how ads can help your keywords, you can speak with an AdWords management company.

How Does Google Advertising Garner Its Success?

Through its authority and reputation, Google is used by millions of users every single day. This means that Google easily has access to search terms, behaviours and information regarding individuals and their wants and needs. This makes it significantly easier for Google to better target its ads to those users, and gain more clicks and interest – and therefore, more money.

Its PPC advertising is hugely effective, meaning business owners and website runners only pay when their advertisement is clicked. Furthermore, Google’s tools and abilities for tracking ranking and success for said advertisements means it is a hugely successful operation for everyone involved, with a worldwide target market of users daily.

It Is not Going to Change Any Time Soon

Google is always going to be relevant, and advertisements are going to continue being necessary, too. Combined, Google has no plans in slowing down in the near future, only increasing its success, relevance, and prosperity when it comes to those advertisements. This means, as a business, ads and paid ads should alway

google search
Photo by Nathana Rebouças on Unsplash

s be within your radar and strategy plan, and an AdWords management agency can help with that.

Managing Your Own Ads

You can, of course, provide Google with more income while making some for yourself, too. Paid advertisement, like AdWords PPC management options, will be helpful for the SEO of your business and improving your business’s presence online. Get your business more easily noticed through using PPC and Google AdWords management with a trusted SEO company like Click Intelligence.

James Owen, Co-Founder & Head Of Search

James has been involved in SEO and digital marketing projects since 2007. James has led many SEO projects for well-known brands in Travel, Gaming and Retail such as Jackpotjoy, Marriott, Intercontinental Hotels, Hotels.com, Expedia, Betway, Gumtree, 888, Ax Paris, Ebyuer, Ebay, Hotels combined, Smyths toys, love honey and Pearson to name a few. James has also been a speaker at SEO and digital marketing conferences and events such as Brighton SEO.

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