Tuesday's TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2013 event had some interesting speakers, from app creators to eBay's CEO, but one of the more interesting things to listen to was the debate among Twitter, Facebook and Google.
The three companies each sent representatives to take the floor and, in a moderated discussion on ads and marketing, tried to convince the audience their model was better than their counterparts'.
Facebook, Twitter and Google all wanted to emphasize one thing: They're focusing on mobile, and they want you to know you can reach anyone you want through their services.
Facebook touted its "authentic cross-platform presence," Google underlined its transition to mobile and Twitter said it was "born on mobile," so it knows the platform best.
Looking to improve the effectiveness of advertising, Facebook's Gokul Rajaram said you should be able to run a campaign and see the tangible results regarding its impact. How did people react from seeing the ad; how did it affect their perception of the brand? This is the kind of research that Facebook wants to push over the next couple of years.
Twitter's Kevin Weil, though, was less kind to his competitor's approach to selling banner ad space. People don't really share banner ads over email or anything of the sort, he said, implying that no one cares about or notices them. On Twitter, though, users retweet promoted/sponsored tweets all the time. Engagement matters a lot, and Twitter users are extremely engaged.
Rajaram then countered for Facebook by saying that while engagement matters, studies show there's no correlation between clicks on an ad and purchases.
The audience laughed as Twitter vs. Facebook emerged before its eyes, and then Google's Neal Mohan threw his two cents in by saying there really is a strong correlation between conversions that come from clicks, and Google has had some success with that. Engagement can be a good proxy for what people are looking to do, which is move products off the shelves.
But Rajaram wasn't done. If you search for a product or brand on "any search engine," see an ad for the brand and click on it, should that click get all the credit for a potential purchase? he asked. You probably wouldn't have made the search if you weren't influenced or intrigued beforehand. Facebook believes there's a lot more value delivered through additional channels that isn't fairly accounted for.
As the time limit drew to a close, Mohan tried to find some middle ground. Some advertisers choose to attract clicks while others want to get their displays in front of eyeballs. "The advertiser has to choose what works best for their business," he said.
