Google and Amazon are the top two US companies with the highest search ad revenue share in 2019 with Google having as much as 73% and Amazon with 13%. Both these giants are no less than a goldmine for businesses and marketers. If you have to sell a product, these two are your best bet in terms of driving traffic and generating sales.
Google not only has a gigantic search ad revenue share but it is the biggest search engine in the world with 92.71% market share and one of the largest ad networks. According to eMarketer, while the search advertising market share of all the other companies in the US is declining (including Googles), Amazons share is increasing and is expected to surpass 16% by 2021 while Googles share will plunge to 70%.
Is Amazon becoming the new Google? Will Amazon become the top priority of advertisers in terms of search PPC?
Lets dig deep and see what data and trends tell us.
Google Ads vs. Amazon PPC
The business models of Google and Amazon are different. Google is a search engine while Amazon is an ecommerce giant. But what makes both platforms attractive for advertisers is their ad networks. Google Ads is the largest ad network that provides advertisers the opportunity to reach their target audience with search and display ads.
Amazon, on the other hand, offers an attractive PPC opportunity to merchants and advertisers who can run ads on Amazon. The users never leave Amazons platform, so the product has to be essentially listed in the marketplace. Does it limit Amazons ad network potential compared to Googles?
Over 50 percent of online retail spend in the US takes place in Amazon, giving the eCommerce giant unrivaled data on purchasing behavior. Adds Noam Cohen, CEO of Ad Maven, a dominant player in the ad-tech industry, By leveraging this data, which includes incredibly granular insights on over 100 million Prime subscribers worldwide, they could soon become the biggest advertiser in the world.
Amazon has created an ecosystem in which third-party sellers within their platform compete for relevancy and exposure. New research suggests that nearly half of all product searches in US now begin on Amazon. In a similar way in which companies invested billions to appear in relevant Google searches, the new battleground for Amazon’s sellers has shifted to search results within the eCommerce giant.”
This makes Amazon a perfect choice for merchants and manufacturers, especially when 46.7% of product search starts from Amazon and 34.6% from Google.
Similarities in Ad Networks
There are several similarities between the two companies and their ad networks such as:1.Ads are triggered by keyword2.Both the networks are based on cost per click3.Ads are optimized for conversions4.Ads are shown above the organic listings5.Ad rank is based on CPC and ad quality6.Auction bidding
Both the ad networks work in a similar way. If you have ever run an ad campaign with Google Ads, you wont have any issues running an ad campaign with Amazon. Its much easier and straight forward than Google Ads.
Key Differences
There are several differences that make these two ad networks unique. Lets start with the ad types.
Google offers a wide range of ad types including text, display, responsive, video, shopping ads, retargeted, and more. It has one of the richest ad format types among all the ad networks. There is hardly anything that it misses.
Amazon has limited ad types which include product ads, brand ads, and display ads. Third-party sellers have limited access to ad types so not all sellers can use all the ad formats.
One key difference between the two ad networks (that also related to ad types) is that Amazon never sends traffic to other sites. All the ads you can run on Amazon will promote an Amazon product, so the product has to be listed on Amazon. Google has no such restriction. It sends traffic to any URL as long as it meets their quality guidelines. This provides advertisers with a lot of flexibility.
Retargeting is another differentiator. Amazon doesnt support retargeting ads while Googles retargeted ads are pretty famous among advertisers.
Googles ad ranking system is based on CTR because it wants to deliver an exceptional user experience to its users. Amazons ad ranking is based on profitability. Ads that are most likely to result in a purchase will get preference because thats how Amazon makes money.Analytics is another differentiator. Google has powerful analytics that lets advertisers track behavioral, demographic, and other key data about their visitors. Amazon doesnt collect a lot of visitor data and the only that it collects is captured from Amazons website which includes purchase history, interests, and other behavioral data.
Amazon Has the Potential but it Wont be Easy to Beat Google
With all the differences and similarities, its evident that Amazon is growing rapidly and has a lot of potential. Its expanding and is all set to widen its reach. However, its hard for Amazon to become the new Google for its primary limitation of being an ecommerce marketplace.
Yes, Amazon could become the biggest ecommerce marketplace in the world and could beat Alibaba in China and Flipkart in India but as long as it remains an ecommerce platform, its hard for it to become the new Google.
Ecommerce is a big industry, but it isnt the only industry. Googles biggest advantage is that it is suitable for all types of businesses irrespective of their industry while Amazon works for retail, ecommerce, and businesses with physical products.
No matter what, advertisers will continue using Google as it lets them send traffic to their preferred URL. Amazon, despite its growth and increasing search ad revenue, will be the preference of Amazon sellers only. The ad networks and the reach of both networks is enormous.
As an advertiser, you should use both Amazon and Google ads to reach your target audience on both the platforms. If your product is listed on Amazon, you should use Amazon PPC along with Google Ads. If your product isnt listed on Amazon (or it cant be), use Google Ads.
Brian Wang is a prolific business-oriented writer of emerging and disruptive technologies. He is known for insightful articles that combine business and technical analysis that catches the attention of the general public and is also useful for those in the industries. He is the sole author and writer of nextbigfuture.com, the top online science blog. He is also involved in angel investing and raising funds for breakthrough technology startup companies.
He gave the recent keynote presentation at Monte Jade event with a talk entitled the Future for You. He gave an annual update on molecular nanotechnology at Singularity University on nanotechnology, gave a TEDX talk on energy, and advises USC ASTE 527 (advanced space projects program). He has been interviewed for radio, professional organizations. podcasts and corporate events. He was recently interviewed by the radio program Steel on Steel on satellites and high altitude balloons that will track all movement in many parts of the USA.
He fundraises for various high impact technology companies and has worked in computer technology, insurance, healthcare and with corporate finance.
He has substantial familiarity with a broad range of breakthrough technologies like age reversal and antiaging, quantum computers, artificial intelligence, ocean tech, agtech, nuclear fission, advanced nuclear fission, space propulsion, satellites, imaging, molecular nanotechnology, biotechnology, medicine, blockchain, crypto and many other areas.
