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EMU creates program to help nonprofits with Web exposure through Google

The next time you visit the sponsored links portion of the Google(TM) search engine, you may be helping an Eastern Michigan University student complete an assignment while supporting an area non-profit organization.

GOOGLE SQUAD: Bud Gibson, professor of computer
information systems, helps student teams find Google
AdWords advertising for Ypsilanti-area nonprofits.
The goal is to increase the nonprofits' visibility on the
Web. Pictured with Gibson are (above from left)
junior Kendra Webb of Grand Rapids, senior Marcell
Morris of Brighton, and senior Lori Pashukewich of
Plymouth.

Eastern Michigan University and Google Inc. have partnered to create a program in which EMU College of Business students are helping selected, local non-profit organizations improve their Web recognition via Google Grants(TM). Google Grants provides free Google AdWords(TM) advertising to 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations to help them reach their online constituents.

"With the Google partnership, we've been able to develop a one-of-a-kind course offering." said Bud Gibson, professor of business at EMU. "Students have a unique opportunity to learn how search engine advertising increases traffic to their business and how they can capitalize on that traffic."

"This project is the perfect example of what we are trying to achieve in the College of Business," said David Mielke, dean of EMU's College of Business. "It combines the applied focus of our education, the preparation of our students to be very competitive in the job market with skills that meet the needs of today's markets and to provide support for the broader community, such as our not-for-profits, and to be actively partnering with companies."