subject: PPC Advertising - Four Alternatives to Google AdWords [print this page] PPC Advertising - Four Alternatives to Google AdWords
Google is not the only solution if you want to advertise via PPC (Pay Per Click). While it is true that Google AdWords is the industry leader in this field, Google's arbitary rules, high costs, lack of customer support and cavalier attitude towards advertisers has made a lot of people look at suitable alternatives.
One popular alternative that you may know of is Yahoo Search Engine Marketing. Yahoo, the second largest search engine in the world, offers somewhat cheaper prices for each click and is much more relaxed with the advertising and link formats. If you have been dissatisfied with Google, why not give Yahoo a shot?
Microsoft Search Advertising is another great alternative that will only grow in poularity as Microsoft's Bing search engine is taken up by more and more people. Bing has already eaten into the market share of Yahoo, so you can bet that Microsoft Search Advertising will give you stronger, and larger leads as time goes by. A great alternative to Google AdWords.
Yet another option is Facebook Ads. Facebook, by some calculations, is the largest site in the world with whopping 540 million members and over 500 billion pageviews a month. Millions of people log into Facebook every month (over 111 million Americans logged in last month) and the amount of traffic that you can channel is phenomenal. Facebook Ads also offer a lot more in terms of user engagement and is an ideal option for those who want to move out of the strict PPC mould of Google AdWords. Cost remains low due to the relative lack of competition.
MIVA is one more alternative, one that you may not have heard about. MIVA was founded in 1999 and has the same features as Google AdWords. While not among the big three (Yahoo, Bing, Google), MIVA is definitely one to keep an eye out for. Give it a shot if you want to try a flexible and cheap service.
