Of Google, Digital Cameras and Mesothelioma

I am currently reading this book called "The Google Story".. Its a very interesting read.. especially for entrepreneurs - is my opinion.


Here is something very interesting and revealing (if I may call that), that I came across in the book..where the Google Ad keyword auctioning was being described..

Ms. P is an executive who is a portfolio manager.. not of your sorts. She deals with search keywords and phrases rather than stocks and bonds, but nonetheless hoping to maximize her company's investment in online advertising. She juggled bids, for example, on the term "digital camera" and its plural, "digital cameras" - with the cost of a click on the second averaging $1.08 compared to about 75 cents for the first.

Now, guess the reason as to why this could have happened? The singular of the word being priced 25% lower than the plural?

The reason for the disparity, it turns out (as Ms. P says), was that customers who typed in the plural were more likely to end up as buyers. These sort of nuances were learned with experience and they separated the successful bidders from the rest of the crowd.

Brilliant isnt it? I just thought about what I would do.. If I wanted to find out how a DigiCam worked, I am more probable to type the singular, while if I were to buy a cam, I am more likely to type out the plural so that I can check out the variety and options!__________________

Another interesting snippet from the same book..

In Google's nonstop auction, the minimum bid for a search term was five cents. One of the most expensive search terms was "mesothelioma", a type of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. Top bids for the word hovered above $30 (!!) per click.

To put things in perspective - the digicams keyword sold at around $1 - Digicams is surely a very popular search term, a popular buy and it still sells at $1 while this vague, never-heard-before term sells at approximately 30 times that value!
Now, take a wild wild guess as to why that might be?

It turns out that these bids came from lawyers aggressively vying for the chance to land a lucrative client (and sue the company where (s)he worked for health violations at work places) :)

Very clever people!

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On an aside, I am going home today afty. Want to catch up with all my long lost school friends at my School Reunion in Tumkur. I studied in TVS School, Tumkur. Will get back with a couple of pictures!