This article was published on March 11, 2010

Google planning UK ads, but why bother?


Google planning UK ads, but why bother?

Google is following Bing by planning a major ad campaign in the UK, it appears.

Marketing Week reports that Google has invited a number of creative agencies in London to pitch ideas for a series of ads that will cover a number of themes around its search products.

The move follows the launch yesterday of Microsoft’s first UK TV ad for Bing. There’s no word as to whether Google will go down the TV route or opt for newspaper and billboard advertising as it did last year with its Chrome campaign.

The question is, does Google need to advertise its search capabilities? It does seem a little odd. As far-and-away the market leader in UK search, telling people to use Google is almost like reminding them to breathe. Given Bing’s ad campaign, this is likely to be more about reinforcing Google’s brand in the face of a more visible enemy.

Google recently ran its first TV ad in the USA during the Superbowl. At the time, CEO Eric Schmidt said “We didn’t set out to do a Super Bowl ad, or even a TV ad for search. Our goal was simply to create a series of short online videos about our products and our users, and how they interact. But we liked this video so much, and it’s had such a positive reaction on YouTube, that we decided to share it with a wider audience.

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