Contact: Robbie Ward
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Mississippi State students are participants in an international Internet marketing competition organized by Google Inc., the online search engine corporation.
Members of the university's Internet marketing classes are among more than 20,000 from 61 countries involved in Google's Online Marketing Challenge. The MSU students are matched in different groups to help Mississippi companies create a visible online presence.
Associate professor Robert Moore said students in both of the Internet marketing classes he teaches will divide into 14 groups, with each assigned to work with a small- to medium-sized business to increase their Internet presence. The competition is designed to provide essential learning experiences that can apply in real-world business applications after graduation.
"These students will tell future employers about the online ad campaign they actually developed and managed," the faculty member in marketing, quantitative analysis and business law explained. "Not many undergraduates anywhere in the country can make that statement."
Moore said the MSU teams are working with businesses in Boonville, DeKalb, Kosciusko, Louisville, Natchez, Starkville, Tupelo, and Wiggins.
The Google challenge begins with teams of three-to-six receiving a $200 online advertising budget from the privately held business founded in 1998 by two Stanford University students.
The MSU students are assigned to companies who have existing Web sites, but are not using Google's AdWorks marketing campaign. After creating an AdWorks account and structuring a complete marketing campaign, each team will compete against others over a three-week period.
Competition officials will judge each team based on how well the advertising campaign matches objectives of the business and the number of visitors to the Web site. In July, leaders at the Mountain View, Calif.-based company will announce the winning team after an international team of judges has selected the best marketing plan.
NEWS EDITORS/DIRECTORS: For more information, contact Dr. Moore at 662-325-8648 or rmoore@cobilan.msstate.edu.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.