Are You Playing Nintendo With An Atari Joystick?

MoreVisibility - February 12, 2007

Rules of the game have changed in Search Engine Marketing the same way video games have evolved.

For us, the Generation X’ers, Atari was a hot item and we found it difficult at the time to manage a joystick that had five options: up, down, right, left and eat Pac-man.

This hit me when I saw some kids playing with a Nintendo at a store recently. The new joysticks have about 7 different buttons and the kids don’t even look at the joystick! They only view the screen and they know exactly how to get ahead in the game. By the way, the videos are three-dimensional now.

When Yahoo! released their news about developing an auction environment similar to Google’s, I received worrisome calls from companies asking how they should manage their campaigns now.

Search Engine Marketing has become the “must have” Nintendo Wii phenomenon with the same sweet and sour taste of gaming. Many variables are at stake and scoring depends on how well you play.

Yes, it is no longer just about the bid. Throw that Atari joystick away and let’s take a look at other factors that need to be considered:

1- Landing Pages: “Hold the Wii Remote firmly and do not let go.” Where am I taking a prospect? Does it have a call to action? Or, am I losing my audience?
2- Click-Through-Rate: “Wii introduces a more active, more engaging, and more inviting game.” Am I making my message clear enough? Am I calling my targeted audience’s attention through the ad copy that shows up on the search result?
3- Optimization: “Give yourself plenty of room. You will probably move around while using the Wii Remote, so be careful that all areas that you might move into are clear.” Am I optimizing my campaign or changing it proactively?

Have a great time and please be sure to play safely.