Combining banner ad buys and ppc

Is there a boost worth the price?

[tedster]

I'm being told that running a banner ad on a big search engine at the same time that a PPC buy is running there will boost clicks on the PPC ad. The idea is that the banner gives branding to the company, even for the user who is "banner ad blind". Then when the PPC listing is spotted, that "instant branding" helps draw the click.

Anyone have any experience here?

I can see that there might be "some" improvement in clicks - but could it possibly be enough to give acceptable ROI compared to PPC alone?

[1Lit]

Are you talking about Kanoodle? Considering that you only pay IF somebody clicks on the banner that goes with your keyword listing, it might be worth adding a banner with a prominent URL/logo. If a surfer doesn't click on your banner or associated search result, you'll get free branding :)

[tedster]

Thanks for the Kanoodle idea - this source was talking about adding pay per impression banners on some search engines that already run Overture ads, but the Kanoodle route sounds interesting..

[Hawkgirl]

Tedster, this does work. However, it doesn't work with all keywords, so you're going to need the ability to do some analysis to make sure you're getting a decent ROI. Most places will let you shut down the banners for various keywords.

:)

It starts getting fun when you've got "regular" listings (unpaid), some paid inclusion listings (e.g., Ink), some sponsored listings (e.g., Google) and banners, all popping up in the same space. You'll cannibalize traffic from one source to another and back again, depending on the prevailing winds.