Thursday, November 13, 2008

Hear from the Global Winners of the Google Online Marketing Challenge

You may know that earlier this year, Google launched the Google Online Marketing Challenge to encourage students around the world to get hands-on experience with AdWords and online marketing, with the chance to win a trip to Mountain View in the process. From Nigeria to Australia to Taiwan, 1600 student teams from 47 countries around the world took part in the first ever global online marketing competition. The standard of teams was very high and we're proud to announce our winners and finalists for 2008!



Global Winner
  • University of Western Australia - Aaron Balm, Lauren Bobridge, Amy Smith, Victor Tsen and Arina Usikov. Taught by Dr. Fang Liu.
Regional Winners
  • Australian Graduate School of Management - Sean Harpur, Daniel Jolly, Fiona Macrae, Danny Van Clief and Jason von Stieglitz. Taught by Dr. Julien Cayla.
  • Pennsylvania State University (US) - Caroline Furey, Joe Lewis, Matthew Maisel, Daehee Park and Tonya Podkuiko. Taught by Dr. Jim Jansen.
  • Universitat Bern (Switzerland) - Raphael Dick, Kilian Imboden, Kevin Meile and Gourav Verma. Taught by Prof. Thomas Myrach and Research Assistant, Natalie Jaggi.
Regional Finalists
  • National Kaohsiung University of Applied Sciences (Taiwan) - Shiu Chiau-Ya, Yang Huei-Chuen, Yeh Hui-Ling, Lin Jia-Wei, Wang Shin-Pei and He Tzung-Ting. Taught by Craig Chao.
  • National Taiwan University - Chu Chao-Yuan, Honggo Ng, Tseng Tzu-Yu, Lee Ta-Jen and Lin Wan-Ching. Taught by Chun-Yao Huang.
  • Boise State University (US) - Lisa Chipman, Trevor Herbst, Kasey Keller, Chris Mendonca and Lisa Mooers. Taught by Christoph Schneider.
  • James Madison University (US) - Ryan Farrell, Bethany Kent, Julia Marchetti, Renee Montmeny and Katelynn McGinnis. Taught by Theresa Flaherty.
  • The Wurzburg-Schweinfurt University of Applied Sciences (Germany) - Johannes Albert, Fabian Drescher, Christian Hoerner and Jochen Saal. Taught by Mario Fischer.
  • The College for Modern Business Studies (Hungary) - Péter Seres, Tamás Szabó, László Tóth and Anikó Vetési. Taught by Nebojsa Damjanovich.

Below is a guest blog entry by the Global Winners from the University of Western Australia who recently visited the Googleplex in Mountain View as part of their prize. For us at Google, it was immensely gratifying to meet these students and hear them speak of the enthusiasm and benefit they received from competing.

Remember - The Google Online Marketing Challenge is on again in 2009. To find out more visit the 2009 Challenge website at
www.google.com/onlinechallenge.
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The Google Online Marketing Challenge has had a major impact on us as students by not only expanding our knowledge of online search advertising but also by increasing our career prospects. As student marketers it was great to actually get hands-on experience in using an online advertising platform. We got to work with real money and a real business client in a real world situation. The challenge was definitely a refreshing change from the usual theoretical university assessments we've been given in the past.

The challenge gave us the opportunity to put into practice some of the marketing theories we've been learning about in our Advertising and Promotion unit. In addition the resource guides provided by Google and the Adwords help center taught us how to easily and effectively advertise on Google's search and its content network. The knowledge and skills that we picked up will definitely help us in the future, especially at a time when more and more people are using the Internet.

And you don't even have to be studying marketing to benefit from taking this challenge. One day you may be starting your own business, and the skills you picked up through this challenge can be used to help promote your business on one of the world's largest online advertising networks. Also you could easily promote your charity, club or organization using the experience you gained from taking this challenge.

Besides the valuable experience we have all picked up, the challenge has helped increased our career prospects, especially with Google. One of our team members is actually in talks with Google for a job in London. Another one of our team members is currently in part-time employment with a Search Engine Marketing firm as a consequence of the challenge. Taking part in the challenge is definitely a great thing to add to your resume.

As global winners our prize was a trip to the Google headquarters in Mountain View. While we were there we received a tour of the Googleplex, found out what it was like to work there, met the Googlers who worked on the challenge and got plenty of Google's renowned free food and drinks! In addition we each received an awesome Macbook Pro. There are many cool prizes to win, so sign up for 2009 and who knows you and your team may be flying to the Google headquarters in 2009.

Before we sign off we would like to share a tip for everyone taking part in the 2009 challenge. It is highly recommended that you follow the guidelines, read it thoroughly and try to satisfy as much of the requirements as possible. The guides will help you structure your campaign correctly and give you a good understanding of what the judges expect from you. Apart from the resource guides, make sure to use the Adwords help center and other Adwords online resources. Just Google it!

Thank you and best of luck to everyone!

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[NFGB] Link - from Google Student Blog
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