AdAge scored a delicious dish about what companies spent on advertising on Google based on an internal document the publication scored.
What makes this scrumptious is that ad spend by specific clients is a closely guarded secret, like any doctor-patient or attorney-client confidentiality protocols.
We’re simply not supposed to know how lavish or cheap brands are when it comes to dropping dollars online to spread whatever message they intend to convey.
Specifically, BP spent $3.6 million on search advertising in June after spending only $57,000 per month. Who can blame them?
Thanks to its massive, spreading oil spill in April, there hasn’t been a giant corporation so vilified since Enron (subject, of course).
Expedia spent $5.9 million in June, with Amazon nipping at its heels with $5.8 million. EBay spent some $4.2 million.
These companies all depend on word of mouth to drive their respective e-commerce engines. You’d expect them to spend oodles in search ads.
BP’s spend was pure damage control. I noted in June BP snapped up search keywords such as “BP” “Deepwater Horizon” and “oil spill” on Google, Bing and Yahoo.
That activity flush with the timeline of the document scored by AdAge, which noted:
“BP’s increase underscores how important Google has become for reputation management, and in the battle for public opinion. In the wake of the spill, Google was a natural first stop for people seeking information, and BP bought up dozens of keywords associated with the disaster such as “oil spill,” “leak,” “top kill” and “live feed” as it vied for clicks with news stories, images of oiled wildlife and plaintiff attorneys trolling for clients.“
Google: serving search and spin control for those who wish to purchase it.