Yawning at Search Engine Super Bowl Ads

As the big game quickly approaches, even us online marketers get excited about the advertisements. It’s not like we are the only ones. There’s likely someone in every profession that at least quietly enjoys the barrage of advertising that goes on during the game.

Since people from all walks of life use the search engines, I thought it would be neat to see how the big advertisers are gearing up with their multi-channel approach before the game.

So, I thought, “What of the Super Bowl ads appearing in the paid listings of a major search engine as the kick off draws closer?” I took at look and had to yawn a bit; yet, I was intrigued to know whether these ads are working for the advertisers.

I had queried the one word search “SuperBowl” to see what would come up. While the top paid search engine ad promised me tickets, I was also enticed by another ad that promised me some “..trained psychiatrists bringing football medical factoids.” What the …? I didn’t click the ad.

Other gems were a site offering me hotels, and another that was selling what looked like some type of little known Asian-made soft drink.

One ad seemed to be offering religious/spiritual awakening. Through the Super Bowl?

A major newspaper brought me to their special Super Bowl section. I appreciated this as a fan. Go Peyton! I suppose this ad was put in place to get eyes on other ads. I hope the advertiser is seeing positive results on this particular keyword purchase.

I guess it isn’t fair to suggest that search engine Super Bowl (or SuperBowl as I spelled it) ads should be as glamorous as those on the television during game day. If the TV advertisers are set to pay $2,000,000 for thirty seconds of air time during the game, however, why not purchase paid ad space in the search engines to show the ads online before, during, and after the game.

Why not integrate the campaign into this channel and get additional mileage out of your expensively made television ads? After all, this is the dawn of the age of video online. Soon, perhaps, we’ll actually be watching the big game online anyway.