Google has done some great things. It’s probably not even debatable that their search engine is the traffic source with the highest conversion. We, Customwave, use Google as the primary traffic source for our clients. …..And it’s about that time when you’re feeling a “but” coming around the corner.
BUT, Google Tags has to be in the top 5 of colossal failures for the Mountain View, CA based juggernaut. I have flaws and make mistakes, but this is a massive “I told you so” for me. To me, this thing had “loser” stamped all over it.
Now that I’m done boosting my ego, I’ll offer some context for those not familiar with Google Tags.
Tags was basically an add-on for Google’s pay per click product, Adwords. The idea was that if you put a small yellow “tag” next to the website link with some promotion, or slogan, it’d boost the amount of clicks and possibly conversions of the campaign. The cost was a flat $25 a month. Not that bad of an idea right?
Well, here’s the two monumental flaws in the idea. #1, the mainstream, average small business owner thought Google Tags would get their website on the 1st page of Google. I don’t think Google intentionally marketed the “tags” to give people that idea, but tons of client I’ve talked to and heard about came to this conclusion. And no, the “tags” had absolutely no effect on rankings. Needless to say, the “tags” customers were none too happy the results they were hoping for didn’t pan out.
The second main problem is that the “tags” didn’t do what small businesses and Google was hoping for. Boosting clicks and conversion. The general consensus is that the “tags” were neutral. They didn’t help, nor hurt. Clearly not the type of value people are willing to pay money for.
The whole, people thinking “tags” would get them ranked on the first page, problem is what i foresaw. But if it did boost clicks and conversion, people would pay the money regardless. But when the #’s came in and didn’t change over the course of close to a year, Google rightfully decided to put an end to the product.
