When my company was featured by Google in the Maine Economic Impact Report, I traveled to Mountain View, CA, and met Google staff. This was an incredible experience, but one conversation really stood out. Whitney Cox was one of the event hosts, and I distinctly remember her running up to me at the mixer and asking, "Are you the lobster delivery guy?!" I chuckled and said yes.
She immediately told me about the history of AdWords, currently Google Ads, and how the first-ever PPC click on AdWords was by a lobster home delivery company. I was shocked. She said, "You have to come meet the advertising director!" Of course, I agreed. He explained to me that a lobster delivery company was the first to experiment with the AdWords pilot program.
I knew right away that it was my friend, Russ Turner, who had done this. He was a pioneer who founded Maine Lobster Direct in 1995. Russ was known for being ahead of his time with his business concept and for having the foresight to recognize the value of AdWords in its early stages. His vision of selling lobsters online was revolutionary and paved the way for businesses like mine. Although I competed with Maine Lobster Direct for many years, I must acknowledge the important role their company played in our niche industry's history.
When Google launched AdWords in 2000, few could have predicted that an online lobster delivery company would be the very first to dive into this state-of-the-art advertising platform. This unexpected pairing of high-tech advertising and a niche seafood business demonstrated the true potential of AdWords to help even small, specialized companies make a splash on the global stage.
In its early days, AdWords introduced a groundbreaking concept: pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, where companies only paid when users clicked on their ads. This model leveled the playing field, giving small businesses a chance to compete directly with industry giants by reaching potential customers actively searching for their products. This leap of faith by Russ set the tone for AdWords as a service that could benefit businesses across diverse industries.
It wasn’t long before other businesses, from local shops to multinational corporations, recognized the value of Google’s advertising platform. Still, Maine Lobster Direct holds a unique place in AdWords history. By embracing digital innovation early on, they effectively turned search results into a digital storefront, allowing fresh lobster to reach dinner tables far and wide—a feat previously limited to larger, more established seafood distributors.
In 2002, Google transformed AdWords further by introducing the keyword auction system, enabling businesses to bid on specific search terms. This change spurred an entirely new era of digital marketing. Yet, it all began with a single seafood company’s vision of delivering quality lobster coast-to-coast and the belief that digital tools could redefine what was possible for a small business.
Read the full google blog here.
