ISEDJ

Abstract: Search marketing is the process of utilizing search engines to drive traffic to a Web site through both paid and unpaid efforts. One potential paid component of a search marketing strategy is the use of a pay-per-click (PPC) advertising campaign in which advertisers pay search engine hosts only when their advertisement is clicked. This paper describes a class exercise utilizing the Google Online Marketing Challenge (GOMC) to teach search marketing and PPC concepts. The GOMC is a global collegiate competition in which student teams utilize a $250 budget provided by Google to design, implement, and monitor a PPC campaign for an actual small business client. This paper argues that the GOMC is an effective exercise to teach search marketing and PPC terminology, skills, and techniques and demonstrates many of the characteristics present in authentic learning environments.

Keywords: pay-per-click advertising, search engines, search marketing, authentic learning

Download this article: ISEDJ - V12 N6 Page 46.pdf

Recommended Citation: Miko, J. (2014). The Google Online Marketing Challenge: Real Clients, Real Money, Real Ads and Authentic Learning . Information Systems Education Journal, 12(6) pp 46-58. http://isedj.org/2014-12/ ISSN: 1545-679X. (A preliminary version appears in The Proceedings of ISECON 2013)