Adwords: Content vs Search

While the ROI on search ads is good, content is lousy.

[CritterNYC]

I hadn't actually done a whole lot of Adwords campaigns since the addition of the content side, but now I've inherited a badly performing one for a client. I reworked it to be more specific and things have shot up. My ROI for search is now acceptable. But the ROI for content served ads is zilch. The Cost Per Click is double what it is for search and the Click Through Rate is 1/6th that of search. In short, the content ads are completely useless and, obviously, a bad investment for my client.

My question to others is, are you seeing similar results? How has your search vs content CTR and CPC been for ads you have placed? Is it possible that most people experience far worse results from content ads vs search but don't realize they can disable the content side?

Looking forward to everyone's thoughts.

Regards,
John

[CritterNYC]

No thoughts from anyone?

[Never_again]

Subject well covered in this thread:
[webmasterworld.com ]

[bostonseo]

I have not had success with content ads; you are not alone.

[croky]

My content ads have more success than my search ads. Slightly larger conversion and much higher amount of clicks.

[markus007]

For me conversion is the same between content and search. But with content ads i get a insane amount of free branding.

[andla]

Hi!

I have disabled content network on all my campaigns. I suspect this is the reason why clicks are flooding in without any sale compared to when I first started and got a sale under 50 clicks. I recently got 200 clicks with no sale.

Do you think this is worse for niched campaigns?

Sincerely
Andla

[skibum]

I've seen content do better than search in one campaign. When setting up an account, the first thing we do is turn off the content. Its usually just not worth the risk of burning through cash on traffic that doesn't convert.

[karsin]

But I think it is a way to "brand" your ads in content search initially for a week or 2 , for example you doing an ad on cd player, he clicked on the content site, no sale. but the end user may come to browser and type to your site directly 2nd time, your site cookie will capture it, so it may end up a sale. provided your cookie is long enough. just a little of my opinion, do you think so?

[andla]

I think that when using only search engine people are searching for a specific item and for that reason you will not waste clicks on people that don't know really what they want.

Sincerely
Andla

[europeforvisitors]

I think that when using only search engine people are searching for a specific item and for that reason you will not waste clicks on people that don't know really what they want.

The real value of content ads is the ability to reach users who:

1) Are searching for product reviews or other background information before they buy; or...

2) Are in the habit of clicking on organic search results instead of AdWords when they're looking at SERPs.

If you limit your advertising to SERPs, then you're going to reach only a small portion of the "prospect pool."