Advertising: Web War Warms Up

Papa John's online offer

In 2001 Papa John's was the first pizza chain to create online ordering capabilities. But now the war is really warming up. QSR Magazine reports that in contrast restaurants and franchise chains are slowly funneling more ad dollars to the web. But according to search engine provider Google, pizza chains remain the leader bar none when it comes to advertising on the web.

"We've been working with the big three pizza companies over the last three to four years to develop online ordering, and it has become a significant sales engine for them," says Sam Sebastian, director of local and business-to-business markets at search engine giant Google. "It's such a competitive space."

Online ordering typically accounts for anywhere from five to 20 percent of a national pizza chain's business, Sebastian says. To entice customers to use their service over that of the competition, chains are turning to online search advertising, banner and click-through ads placed on Web sites, and social media sites such as YouTube, Facebook, and MySpace.

Read full story at QSR Magazine