Even though I had a substantial part of the morning running on both, I've already seen an approximate doubling of CTR. I imagine that by the end of the day it will be 3X.
I will be looking to see what the effect is on conversion rate. As my experience (for the products I am advertising, at least) has been that conversion rate follows CTR, I imagine I will be shutting off Search Network for good.
Never did have any luck with Content Network. I turned it back on for a day the other day as an experiment. In one adgroup that gets close to 10% conversion on Search + Search Network, I got 4000 impressions with no clicks. Well, at least there's not a fraud issue there... In the cases where I did get clicks, they were more costly than the search clicks.
So how much lower are your total clicks looking without the search network?
Probably about half. Less, actually, because it ran till mid-morning on both.
Will report tomorrow on conversions. I don't get my conversion data until the next morning.
I'm going to let it run on Search only all day tomorrow (Friday) before making a decision.
Most of my conversions come from the content network, so it really depends on the market.
Wish I could get somebody who says most of their conversion come from content network to say what they are advertising. :)
I usually get good conversions off the Content Network.
The site in question is pro-bono, providing free multimedia.
Rgds
Damon
i work for a Google adwords managemnt company, and one of the first things we do, is take clients off of contant networking and search if they have a low budget!, they are untagted trash! we have only ever seen one client how gets any convertions off of content networking. as soon as we take them off content, there CTR goes through the roof, allowing us to bid more effecitvly provdingthem with a better ROI, even if convertions stay the same, they are saving money on there Advertising!
Content Network's CTR has no effect on anything, so by taking off content network you aren't actually able to bid "more effecitvly" at all. Remember, with the new seperate bids for content it's a source of very cheap traffic.
As for search network, I guess I'd never thought about taking it off. I suppose it depends on what you're advertising whether or not it works, same as on content.
Wish I could get somebody who says most of their conversion come from content network to say what they are advertising. :)
Lol. If I gave that away, there'd be way too much competition! I love everybody thinking the content network doesn't work for anybody, because it keeps my bids low and my profits high. :)
Ditto...
I go and look where all the whining is coming from and see if there's a non-obvious opportunity there! B^>
Rgds
Damon
In light of this it was an easy decision to dump the Search Partner network.
I usually get good conversions off the Content Network.The site in question is pro-bono, providing free multimedia.
Makes sense. I can see where it could work for advertisers looking to build a user base for a content site, as opposed to directly selling a product.
My campaigns are targeted at the buyer who is looking for the product I am selling, and wants to buy it right now. I do every thing I can to pre-qualify buyers. For example, I know that I do not have the lowest price. So, I use "best price", "cheap", "cheapest", etc as negative keywords. I make it clear in the ads that I am offering the product for immediate and convenient purchase, and not just information about the product.
I don't suggest that they come in, take their shoes off, and think about it. On the other hand, for what you are doing, that may well be the BEST strategy.
There are a lot of product reviews on the landing page, which I have no control over. My feeling is that Content Network viewers are a lot more likely to gravitate to the reviews than to the buy button.
Putting myself into the head of the viewer, the search engine user is looking for a product that they want to buy now. At minimum, I know that they are proactively seeking-out my product. I know that they TYPED IN my keywords. I have less knowledge of the motivation of the Content Network viewer. Sure, there is some nearby text that is relevant. But what was going through the viewer's mind at the time? Why were they at that web site. I have a pretty good idea what was going through the search user's mind.
I realize that's a generalization, and there certainly are Content Network sites where people are wanting to buy.
It's important to distinguish that Search matching is based on keywords that the user actually typed. Content matching is based on content of the page they are viewing. Oh, imagine the shennigans if Search matching was based on the text in natural search results!
I think that this strategy is appropriate and works well for my product, as borne-out by conversion ratio - 20% to as much as 30% pre-holiday, and 10% now.
It's a low-priced product, though, and I can't afford to pay higher rates than I am paying now. My experience on Content Network has been that the clicks have cost MORE. When I get them, they cost more. When I lower bids, I don't get any impressions.
I imagine I am probably bidding against people selling higher-priced products that have no relation to my product. When you are dealing with ads triggered by text on a page that you can only guess the content of, that seems likely. I know exactly what triggered my ads. I know what words my viewer typed.
Will report tomorrow on conversions.
Here are the results:
Jan 4, Search + Search Network, clicks "n" conversion rate 5%
Jan 5, Search Only, clicks "n/2", conversion rate 11%
About the same number of orders on Jan 5 as on Jan 4.
Easy decision!
I was getting: zip, ziltch, nada, bupkis from Search Network.
Why should I pay for twice the clicks to get the same number of sales?
YMMV.
I have two adgroups that have historically done very well. They both advertise the same product. One adgroup uses keywords associated with the name of the product. The other one uses keywords associated with the type of product. I make sure that the top line goes with the keywords. The copy is pretty catchy, and I've noticed at least one competitor trying to mimmic my copy.
For the two adgroups...
yesterday, Search + Search Network, full day:
6/157 3.8%, 16/89 17.9%
Sanity check: I'm going to turn Search Network back on for this one campaign only. (Fortunately, these adgroups are in their own campaign.) Let's see how long it take me to drop out of the blue box...
today, Search only through 1:30PM:
9/67 13.4%, 11/53 20.7%
But here's what else is different. Yesterday, I was having a lot of difficulty getting impressions on Google Search. Most of the time, another advertiser with generic, non-targeted text was getting the slot. (Popular affiliate program, only one ad allowed.)
Today, I'm at the top of the blue box on both of these. The competitor with the generic text is nowhere to be seen. Now, MAYBE they just shut their campaign off, but I doubt it. There are plenty more similar competitors.
Search + Search Network = essentially no exposures on Google
Search Only = Top of blue box.
The only thing I changed was to shut off Search Network.
Not sure what to make of this.
Sanity check: I am going to turn Search Network back on for this one campaign only. (Fortunately, these two adgroups are in their own campaign.) Let's see if or how long it takes to drop out of the blue box...
Putting myself into the head of the viewer, the search engine user is looking for a product that they want to buy now. At minimum, I know that they are proactively seeking-out my product. I know that they TYPED IN my keywords. I have less knowledge of the motivation of the Content Network viewer. Sure, there is some nearby text that is relevant. But what was going through the viewer's mind at the time? Why were they at that web site. I have a pretty good idea what was going through the search user's mind.
Excellent description of the mindset of a searcher. I was nodding and "ah-ha"-ing while reading this.
I was away most of the day, so I don't know how long it took Search Network to drag me down in Google Search. but it took at least a couple of hours, as I checked before I left, and it was about 2 hours after I'd turned Searcfh Network back on.
On some keywords, my ad is not only out of the blue box, but gone, replaced by Mr. Generic Ad Text. On some other keywords, I'm out of the box on the right. I have to assume that over time I will slip back all the way, and Mr. Generic will take over there.
(Affiliate rules dictate that only one of us will be displayed.)
Well, well, well. It's faster going back the other way. I turned Search Network back off, just 5 minutes ago, when I started writing this post. I just knocked out Mr. Generic. Not in the blue box, but how much you wanna bet I'm back in the blue box by morning?
Here's what I think is going on: keyword performance stats are influenced by Google Search only. But AD performance stats are influenced by both Google Search and Search Network. (Dunno about Content Network?) If you do more poorly in Search Network than in Google Search, turning on Search Network is going to drag down your position in Google Search.
If you are an affiliate with competition, this could cause a big problem - no exposures on Google Search. since I'mn an affiliate of the top company in it's field, with super branding, (they are normally the top organic search result for my keywords) I pretty much have to maintain top position, or else another affiliate ad is going to be displayed.
It's a vicious cycle, as you are eventually going to drop down in position enough that you're no longer going to get even Search Network.
If you have an extrodinary CTR (like my 20%) that is probably much higher than needed to maintain top position on Google Search, perhaps you could "surf" by turning on Search Network until you drop, then turn it off and let it go back up again. The fact that it seems to take longer to drop out than to get back in might make this practical. But what a pain, and sure shouldn't be necessary!
This campaign ran at the top of the blue box throughout the entire holiday season. I guess it had enough stored-up karma to keep it displayed after Christmas until the past couple of days.
As I type, I just went back to the top of the blue box. Took maybe 10 minutes after I turned off Search Network. #2 has to be happy, because I just dragged him into the box with me. He was on the right before.
A Google rep once gave me a rundown of the relative importance of performance stats: first, keywords. Second, ads. Finally, account. She said "don't assume that account performance counts for much."
This may not affect non-affiliates that much. It would more likely just cause them to drop down in position from where they would be otherwise. That is, if you do more poorly in Search Network than in search, that might drag you down a notch or two.
If you are an affiliate, it can make the difference between being displayed or not in Google Search. Plus, losing out on the blue box with it's high CTR. In my case, I have found it also gives me a high conversion rate, I think because I have targeted buyers who are searching for a specific product, so they are not just clicking around willy-nilly.
Putting myself into the head of the viewer, the search engine user is looking for a product that they want to buy now. At minimum, I know that they are proactively seeking-out my product. I know that they TYPED IN my keywords. I have less knowledge of the motivation of the Content Network viewer. Sure, there is some nearby text that is relevant. But what was going through the viewer's mind at the time? Why were they at that web site. I have a pretty good idea what was going through the search user's mind.
there is a way to "get into the viewer's mind" on the content network - ad text. a searcher that searches for "buy blue widget" is probably interested in buying a blue widget. on the content network your blue widget ad will likely be displayed on a blue widget page, but you can differentiate between those interested in researching blue widgets and those interested in buying them with your ad text. if your ad clearly states that you are selling blue widgets, then a self-selecting group of people will be likely to click on that ad. sure, the CTR will be lower than on search, but CTR on content isn't factored into anything so it doesn't matter.
sorry to state the obvious, but if you are not getting positive ROI on the content network, then you should turn it off, or tweak your ad text/keywords. but there is nothing about the essence of the content network that prevents positive ROI. i am sure that there are niches that are overpriced etc. but this is not something about the nature of the content network.
have less knowledge of the motivation of the Content Network viewer. Sure, there is some nearby text that is relevant. But what was going through the viewer's mind at the time? Why were they at that web site. I have a pretty good idea what was going through the search user's mind.
Do you? What was going through the search user's mind? If he searched for "Widgetco WC-1 digital camera," was he searching for a review because he was curious about the camera? Or was he searching for a place to buy it? Is he a hot lead or just a lukewarm looker?
Let's look at a hypothetical scenario involving the content network:
Loren and Lorna, a retired orthodontist and his wife in Coral Gables, Florida, have recently learned about Croesus Cruises and are wondering if they should drop $10,000+ for a 10-day Croesus itinerary in the Mediterranean instead of cruising with Seabourn, the luxury line they've tried in the past.
They search Google for "Croesus Cruises Mediterannean" and click on a cruise review. (They might click on an AdWord, too, but only because they're searching for information--they aren't yet ready to buy.)
They read the cruise review, which convinces them that a Croesus Cruise in the Mediterranean is the greatest thing since unsliced focaccia. The cruise-review page has AdSense ads for travel agents who offer Croesus Cruise discounts and various other pitches. If Loren and Lorna click on one of those ads, it's not to get general information (they already have that). No; at this point they're ready to buy, or at least to request a price quote. In short, they're much hotter prospects than they would have been if they'd simply clicked on an AdWord on a search page.
Obviously, not all content-network sites are like the cruise site that I've just described, and not all content-network users are like Loren and Lorna. That's why testing was invented (that, and the fact that assumptions aren't always correct).
Since you can't turn off the Google network, you could really only test lower pricing on the search network, but it might be worth a try.
