At todays keynote Tim Armstrong, President, Advertising and Commerce, North America, & Vice President – Google, spoke to Danny Sullivan about a variety of topics.
(Coverage of the SMX East conference will continue at Murdok Videos. Keep an eye on Murdok for more notes and videos from the event this week.)
Danny asks Tim about Google being too powerful. Tim tells Danny that back in 2000 when he started at Google the company had no market share and now Google has grown its business in general and is providing great results for its users. He says Google is trying to make things transparent for everyone and that Google is not an ecosystem.
On the Google-Yahoo ad deal Tim says that the Justice Department has asked for more time and all parties agree. Tim said,”Google has allowed all players to play evenly with advertising.”
Danny asks about A&A companies and Tim says that over time he believes they will be supportive of them. Tim said,” Respect of our end users is paramount.”
Tim says Google is not trying to set prices for its ads and it’s about quality and that can be attributed to its success.
Tim says that Google promises more transparency and it does not compete with ad agencies. He says the idea that Google is the enemy is outdated and that it helps companies grow.
Google would like to work with more agencies and “The good news for you (Danny) and the good news for me is that there are still many people that don’t really get search.” Tim says, “the number one thing that is holding us back is education.”
Tim says there is lots of opportunity still out that there and cites local as a definite opportunity. He also cites mobile and says Google is working to better optimize video.
Google is testing video with AdWords and is trying to figure out if video is more effective in the results.
On behavioral targeting Tim said,”Behavioral targeting is something we’ve been thinking about for a long time.”
Quality control is something that will continue at Google for a long time.
Murdok Video anchor Abby Johnson contributed to this report.
