Abstract
Web 2.0 provides the modern business makers with multiple opportunities to boost their popularity and income. Google AdSense is one of the programs that exist due to the introduction of Web 2.0. It is used by various businesses and may benefit a restaurant in a variety of ways if it is applied appropriately and used professionally.
Introduction
In the cotemporary world the technologies have successfully penetrated every sphere of people’s lives. The introduction of Web 2.0 has provided the marketers and business makers with a variety of opportunities to increase their income, strengthen brand image, promote their services or products, raise awareness and gain publicity.
Google AdSense, has appeared along with a variety of other networks and software types designed to engage the users into the active generation and exchange of content (UGC) and, at the same time, exploit the content generation as a profitable and creative way to build up a business.
AdSense is available to anyone, it can be used by the companies or separate individuals. In fact, Web 2.0 and the tools it provides are currently employed by a variety of businesses that realise that to remain at the top of their game and to outrun the competitors they are to innovate and adopt the latest trends (Kroenke, Gemino, & Tingling, 2013). Restaurant business is no exception, and just like any other kind of business it requires advertising, promotion, reputation, and publicity which can be achieved with the help tools such as AdSense.
This paper attempts to explain how AdSense can be beneficial for the restaurant business and help it gain more customers and create additional income. This topic was chosen because restaurant business (and food industry in general) is one of the most competitive spheres as it develops fast and is very busy. Tight competition within this industry requires the businesses to take responsible measures to remain more demanded than their rivals.
Research
Web 2.0 for Business
Discussing Web 2.0, Treese (2006) notices that the hype around the technologies and their use in business has a cyclic nature as it comes and goes over certain periods of time. The author describes Web 2.0 as another wave of the popularity of the technologies as a business tool that is characterised by interactivity and social networking as its main features (Treese, 2006).
Web 2.0 is a technology of opportunities that is extremely popular due to its flexibility and versatility. The services such as blogs, social networking, wikis, video and photo sharing platforms that initially were designed for communication between the independent individuals are now widely used for the interactions between the businesses and their clients (Solomon & Schrum, 2007).
The technology spending of Web 2.0 has been demonstrating rapid growth within the last decade, for instance between 2008 and 2013 it was projected to reach 4.6 billion dollars (Weil, 2008).
Google AdSense
The program called AdSense was first launched in 2003 by Google. This products serves for the online advertising and initially it included only text and image based commercial information, but over years the product has undergone multiple waves of evolution eventually turning into video and media based advertising (Google AdSense Turns Eight Today!, 2011).
This product has made a significant positive impact on a large number of online publishers providing them with enough income to pay bills or afford monthly rent. According to the statement of the Google’s vice president of product management Neil Mohan, “AdSense for content publishers paid out a 68% revenue share worldwide, meaning the company pays website owners 68% of the revenue advertisers spend on the site” (Hendric, 2010, para. 1).
The income split has been following these proportions ever since Ad Sense was first released. Basically, Google AdSense can be found anywhere in the internet in the form of online advertisements placed at the busiest content sharing websites. This allows the publishers to turn their content into revenue.
The income received through AdSense can be generated when the viewers click on the advertisement, or based on the created impression. Lawlor (2008) emphasises that AdSense just like all the other Web 2.0 tools can make a big positive difference for the companies in terms of profit and benefits when properly selected and applied judiciously.
Advantages of Google AdSense
AdSense for Personal Content Placement
AdSense can be employed by a restaurant for the placement of their advertisement at the websites with the highest user activity in order to promote their services and create better reputation and brand awareness. Moreover, AdSense is mobile-friendly which maximizes the number of users who are capable to bring profit to the owner of the advertisement (Google AdSense Turns Eight Today!, 2011). This way visiting various social networks the users will see the banners or interactive advertisements of the restaurant.
AdSense for Collaboration with other Businesses
AdSense program allows one increase the revenue of their website. Having a personal website is rather important for any restaurant to introduce their potential and regular customers with the menus, new items, discount programs, and services. A website will gain higher user traffic if it regularly posts new content and engages its clients into various interactions. A popular website will be an attractive place for the advertisements of other businesses through AdSense.
As a result, a restaurant will create a win-win situation placing content of other companies their customers might be interested in – this helps to earn money for advertising, and to increase the traffic on the website. Besides, Google pays a referral bonus to the publishers who bring in more clients (Google AdSense Turns Eight Today!, 2011).
Disadvantages of Google AdSense
Along with the benefits, Google AdSense carries some disadvantages. First of all, the level of income a user may gain from the program depends on the advertisement owners’ paying capacity and willingness to invest. In some cases, the revenue may be rather low (especially if a website is not visited by many people). Moreover, there is a payment threshold for AdSense users (100 dollars is the minimum amount of money that a user can withdraw), so one may have to wait a while to be able to receive their money earned via AdSense (Hendrik, 2010).
Secondly, becoming a participant of Google Adsense is now more difficult than before as Google modified the rules to follow the users carefully (Google AdSense Turns Eight Today!, 2011).
Finally, the publishers who employ AdSense often struggle with the program since Google does not provide any fast and interactive technical support for them (Google AdSense Turns Eight Today!, 2011).
It is also important to mention the aesthetic side of the question because the presence of multiple advertisements and banners on a website may be distracting and aesthetically displeasing to the users. Besides, it may negatively impact the design of a website since most advertisements employ bright colours and attractive pictures that may clash with the overall context or colour scheme of the host website.
Conclusion
The most beneficial ways to use AdSense for a restaurant include the placement of their own advertisements on other websites to attract new clients, and the placement of other businesses’ advertisements on their own website to earn additional income and facilitate a busier traffic. Preferably, the information of the other companies placed on the restaurant’s website should be interesting for the typical visitors and be adjusted to match the overall design of the website.
Reference List
Google AdSense Turns Eight Today! (2011).
Hendric, D. (2010). Google Details AdSense Split: SNL Kagan Media & Communications Report. Charlottesville, VA: SNL Financial LC.
Kroenke, D. M., Gemino, A., & Tingling, P. (2013). Experiencing MIS 3rd 1600 (3rd ed.). Toronto, Canada: Pearson.
Lawlor, M. (2008). Web 2.0 Means Business. Signal, 62(9), 65-68.
Solomon, G., & Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education.
Treese, W. (2006). Web 2.0. Networker, 10(2), 15.
Weil, N. (2008). Web 2.0 in Business: To understand the value, you have to try it for yourself. CIO, 21(16).