Facebook versus Google

Facebook and Google are both in the advertising business. They grab attention and interrupt it with paid-for messages. But Xmas search traffic shed some new light on the competition. Facebook traffic overtook Google on Xmas day only.

Traditionally there is a clear divide in advertising between 'direct response' and 'brand' advertising. Direct response is an insurance company saying 'call us now'. Whereas brand advertising is more emotive. It tends to aim to make you think or feel differently about something, rather than spend all its effort making you run to purchase immediately.

Google has the market for search advertising sewn up. This is direct response. You want a plumber, Google sends you to whichever plumber bid the most on 'plumber'.

No one has cracked the online brand advertising model. There is no standard format or model yet. Facebook looks closest. They have the attention. They just need to develop their 'pages' offering a bit and find a standard that the ad industry is happy with.

And this is why Xmas day traffic is significant. It's a day when people are not getting anything done. They're relaxing. They're in the same frame of mind that people are in when they're watching TV, the greatest brand advertising medium there ever was.

Watch out Google. The brand advertising market tends to be 10 times the size of the direct response.