In
a medium as fast as Online Advertising, getting results in a short time always
seems to be a good idea. But the question, which is often forgotten in the
rush, is “What techniques am I using to power my race to the successful
results?” The crazy competition in the online markets and higher managements,
that very often do not understand the natty-gritty of Online Advertising, turn
a blind eye to the pitfalls that wait in the path of Unethical Online
Advertising. The results are performance graphs of fast rises followed by
faster falls.
In
order to avoid a decay that is faster than the blooming, let us start with the first
fact of modern Online Advertising: “It is a conversation between the brand and
the consumer and not a one way announcement”. The platform of Online
Advertising has snatched away the trumpet from the advertisers and replaced it
with a communication device. The priorities have changed and it no longer works
just to shout, “I am the best” with the highest volume (well, everybody says
that, so what’s new about it?). The focus is to make the consumers and users
say, “You are the best”. Creating a strong brand value has become a top agenda
for Online Advertising Agencies. The way to do it is Online Reputation
Management. Unethical Online Advertising techniques,
when discovered, not only lead to penalties by the search engines but also lead
to the Online Reputation of the brand taking a hit. Google had made its
intentions amply clear when it introduced search results based on preferences. There
was a distinct leaning towards intention based search results rather than simple
keyword based results. Brands which carried on with unethical practices were
soon penalized. A recent case, where a top brand was penalized with lowering of
ranks for Unnatural Link Building showed that, no matter how big your brand is,
following unnatural means to attain quick success will land you in an
uncomfortable spot. The discomfort of the spot can be measured with the percentage
by which the shares of the brand drop once the unethical means are discovered.
