Google’s Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) are not all about how much money you are willing to spend as an advertiser. Besides the Cost Per Click (CPC), there are several components factored into the ranking of advertisers’ sites on Google. Many large Online Travel Agencies such as Orbitz, Expedia, and Travelocity have huge online marketing budgets that allow them to simply ‘buy’ top rankings within the SERPs. Many times these OTA’s are willing to pay extremely high CPCs to maintain a certain position.

What can advertisers with smaller budgets do to compete? First a recap of what factors Google considers when determining rank. (more…)