- It appears Content Targeting can add revenue to a profitable and well structured campaign
- highly targeted AdGroups/Ad copy
- use of negative matching
- In the past it appears people were running a duplicate campaign to reduce their bids for Content targeting, but due to the bidding enhancement, this would seem to no longer be necessary?
I would be grateful if anyone has any best practice comments or tips to add?
I've included the relevant (but possibly out of date) previous posts I've found below for your interest and reference. I've also included info from Google in my second post below.
Many thanks,
Steven
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[webmasterworld.com...]
Google Adwords Now Allows Separate Content Targeting Pricing
10:11 am on Nov. 17, 2005
This is probably the most significant move of the year. Google now allows separate content targeting pricing. This will most definitely expand the amount of ROI positive traffic that we will receive from Google next year!
Vinny Lingham
The feature was rolled out to some advertisers yesterday.
What publishers are saying. [webmasterworld.com...]
What advertisers are saying.
[webmasterworld.com...]
arran.
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[webmasterworld.com...]
How to ensure really bad results with content targeting: select a long list of general and unrelated keywords, which show an ad that is not truly targeted to any of them.
How to maximize your chances for really good results with content targeting: create highly focused Ad Groups which are about the same thing as the sort of content pages on which you'd like your ads to show. Specifically, use a highly targeted list of keywords that are all about one product or service, which then show a crisply written ad about exactly that same thing.
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[webmasterworld.com...]
I run a few AdWords campaigns, for 1 of them I spend about $75k a month. I had always had content targeting turned off. This was for 2 reasons.
1. It completely dilutes your CTR stats on the user interface. Since one gets about 10 times as many content impressions as search, your CTR ends up looking extremely low, even though your search CTR might in fact be quite good. CTR is EVERYTHING in AdWords, if I am having trouble identifying the performance of my many creatives content targeting is going to be turned off, period.
2. content targeting provides you with lower quality traffic. Now Google can say whatever they want, but I have seen many sites with AdSense on them and wow, the things these webmasters try to get away with...amazing. The quality of traffic IS lower in general, there is no arguing that. On search, people are ACTIVELY searching for exactly what you are offering. You can't get any more targeted than that. So yes, you are paying a premium for content targeting, and getting lower quality traffic. Doesn't seem to make much sense now does it?
NB:>>> Now having said that, here is what I believe the purpose of content targeting is. I believe it is for those advertisers who have simply exhausted the amount of traffic they can receive from search, and still want/need more traffic. I was getting 10k clicks per day from search and couldn't really think of any new keywords that would increase traffic, so I decided to go ahead and try out content targeting. Now the only way I even COULD enable that option is if I knew how well all of my ads were doing. Like I said it dilutes your CTR so if you don't have a solid understanding of your performance you will be flying blind. Enabling content targeting increased my revenues by 20%. I consider the CTR and CPC of content targeting to be irrelevant. The only thing that matters at this point is increasing net profits.
NB:>>> To sum it up, the mindset is this: You have reached your maximum number of clicks with search. You have a very good understanding of the performance of your campaign (by watching it for weeks). But you want more clicks. This is when you enable content targeting. You IGNORE the CTR/CPC of the content stats. Focus only on revenue. Does it go up? Do net profits go up? If yes, then it doesn't matter that you are paying a premium for lower quality traffic. The purpose of content targeting is to allow you to increase revenues by just that much more. It was never designed to compete with search, that just isn't possible. If Google would explain it this way people would not have a bad opinion of it(not that the average user necessarily does).
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First, you can run reports of search stats only for ads, so you can see the ad's CTR with content match excluded. So even if you can't see the ads search CTR in the CP, you can see it in the reports.
Secondly, it really depends on the industry. I have some accounts that content match works great for.
I have others where there are a lot of news articles for, and I end up paying more for people looking for more news on the subject and not wanting to buy - which makes my ROI quite negative for content match for those accounts.
content match does not always get more impressions than search. There are accounts that have content on, and while they might get 10k impressions/day from search, they get less than 100 impressions a day from content.
There are industries where there aren't many content type sites for, and those that exist, don't run AdSense.
Of course, there is the flipside where I get double the content clicks as the search ones - with a great ROI.
I agree that the bottom line is ROI and not CTR rates when it comes to content matching - thats why your content match CTR doesn't play into the positionign formula - G did a smart move with that.
I think many accounts can get a positive ROI with content match, but its something they need to watch closely - as it won't work for everyone.
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I don't know if anyone has ever said content ads were completely useless. For my sites, I've always estimated (i.e taken a mighty SWAG) their effectiveness at 40% of search ads.
NB:>>> For my higher priced keywords, I run mirror campaigns where I setup the campaign exactly the same as a current search-only one, but I add in content targetting and lower the max CPC.
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You CAN run a separate campaign for content Seraches only with lowers bids (sorta) if you plan it right.
Duplicate your ad groups into another campaign. For that campaign select "content and google searches only" and make sure that the bids are LOWER than your 'Search Campaign'. So for google searches the terms will show the ads and be counted by your "search campaign" (due to the higher bids) and the result will be a 'content only campaign'
We have been doing it for some time now and it is great.
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In my mirror campaigns, I still get search ads. In fact, I get more search ads than content ads. So, true the stats are muddled, but its the clicks I care about.
If I end up buying more search clicks at a lower price than I was willing to pay, I will not complain.
We get *very* few search impressions in our 'content only' campaign. Something like 1% of all impressions. According to G if a keyword is in more than one campaign or adgroup the one with the higher max CPC should take precidence.
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ddog wrote:
content targeting provides you with lower quality traffic. Now Google can say whatever they want, but I have seen many sites with AdSense on them and wow, the things these webmasters try to get away with...amazing. The quality of traffic IS lower in general, there is no arguing that.
I suspect the quality varies quite a bit by topic and keywords. Obvious money keywords are going to appear on innumerable "sites of opportunity" that have been created only to generate revenues with AdSense, but ads for other keywords may turn up only on relevant niche content sites that can generate high-quality leads.
Of course, if Google were to let advertisers opt in or out of specific sites (or if it were to offer an "AdSense Select" program with editor-approved content sites), there might be greater acceptance of content ads by advertisers.
On search, people are ACTIVELY searching for exactly what you are offering. You can't get any more targeted than that. So yes, you are paying a premium for content targeting, and getting lower quality traffic. Doesn't seem to make much sense now does it?
Actually, it does. Your local appliance or carpet dealer buys Yellow Pages ads to attract people who are searching for appliances or carpets at any given moment, but it also runs ads in newspapers and other "content" media to stimulate demand and to reach prospects who don't search the Yellow Pages when they go shopping.
Now having said that, here is what I believe the purpose of content targeting is. I believe it is for those advertisers who have simply exhausted the amount of traffic they can receive from search, and still want/need more traffic.
Bingo. This seems to be a point that many online advertisers fail to grasp, although (as suggested in my comments above) it's taken for granted in the offline business world where search (the Yellow Pages) is just one component in an advertising and marketing strategy.
Enabling content targeting increased my revenues by 20%. I consider the CTR and CPC of content targeting to be irrelevant. The only thing that matters at this point is increasing net profits.
That's a great testimonial, IMHO. As you say, Google has done a poor job of communicating this. They should hire you to write their promotional materials for content ads!
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[webmasterworld.com...]
As an advertiser, when site/page selection became available I began to start testing/using the content network in greater amounts. I was able to refine my ROI and trim out a large portion of advertising on the "low quality" content sites. When you ask if site targeting has ruined the content network, "I" say just the opposite.
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If my CTR's are quite lower on the content targeting impressions, should I dissable it?
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Do be aware that the CTR for content targeting impressions and clicks is not considered as part of the CTR that determines if keywords will remain running, or be disabled.
So low CTR for content Targeted ads is not automatically a reason to 'disable' it.
AWA
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[webmasterworld.com...]
Okay I started a new campaign last week. I am getting 95% of my clicks from the content targeting segment - with only a .2% CTR. (2.8% at Google)
The average cost for the clicks on the content side is approximately 50% of the cost per click from Google.
On the content sites my average position is 1.2 while on Google it is 4.6.
I am thinking about decreasing my bids so that my bids on the content sites will be even less, and hopefully increase the ROI. But this may come at the expense of fewer visitors.
So have any of your Adwords gurus ever tested this kind of thing? Just thought I would ask before I start tweaking.....
Burke
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Yes. I have successfully tweaked ads so I spend less CPC and receive the same number of click throughs. My advice, move your bid down very slowly and incrementally to find the point where you are happy with the new ROI vesus volume of traffic. I recommend moving your bid down 1-5¢ per day.
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Robino - Yesterday 4-25-04 I had 121,000 impressions total with 35 keywords.
Why do you ask?
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So why not make seperate campaigns for content vs search?
On one campaign, enable content targeting, bid lower than your other campaign so your ads aren't seen on search sites, and find the ROI for content targeting.
Then on the other campaign, have content targeting off, bid higher than your first campaign, and optimize your search ROI.
I agree with eWhisper. Gives you two knobs to control two different things, instead of just one knob to control two different things.
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[google.com...]
Effective Ads & Keywords for Content Distribution The AdWords targeting system displays relevant ads on our content partners' websites. Well-written ads are well-targeted ads: our system can more easily determine the meaning and intention of clearly written copy. Writing clear and effective ad text is essential to your success both on content and search distribution with AdWords.
Some tips to help maximize the success of your ads:
•Create specific ad text that clearly explains your product or service and its benefits. Always be more specific, not less.
•Create unique, highly-targeted Ad Groups for each product you want to sell and for each market that you want to reach. Include only closely-related lists of keywords in the same Ad Group, and place keywords for other products and services in new Ad Groups. This will allow you to create unique ads for each product or market you want to reach, and we can then place these ads with a greater degree of accuracy on our content partner sites.
•Track the performance of Ad Groups closely. If particular keywords are not performing, refine or delete these terms. For more details on tracking performance, see our Reports lesson.
•Create image ads to promote particular products. Images have the potential to draw attention better than text, so we encourage you to take advantage of the opportunity to display image ads on sites that allow them. Remember that image ads only appear on content distribution, not on search distribution or on Google properties.
NB:>>>>> Negative keywords are an important part of successful AdWords advertising. Negative keywords limit ads from appearing on pages that aren't relevant to your particular product or service. This helps you avoid having your ad appear in places you don't want, and accruing unwanted clicks and impressions.
For example, let's say that our system determines that a particular webpage is about 'mp3 players and files'. If an advertiser sells mp3 files, but not players, they might not want to appear on this webpage. By including 'mp3 players' as a negative keyword, advertisers can prevent their ad from appearing on this webpage.
Here's another good use of negative keywords: suppose that you want to advertise weight-loss products. You might use the negative keywords 'anorexia' and 'bulimia' to avoid having your ads appear next to articles or websites dedicated to unhealthy weight loss methods. Or, if you're using AdWords for corporate branding goals, you might use the negative keyword 'lawsuit' to avoid having your ads show next to negative press about your company.
For more details on implementing negative keywords, please see the Keyword Matching lesson.
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Google Content Network
Examples - Content NetworkBack to Top
Web Content
Our content network consists of thousands of websites, ranging from small niche sites to massive web portals. Using our contextual targeting technology, we can match your ads to web pages that closely align with the keywords and topics you have specified. By closely matching ads and websites, you can be assured that your message is being delivered to an interested and appropriate audience.
For example, if your business relates to motorcycle accessories, your keywords and ad text will be matched to similar content. This would include sites with accessory reviews, articles, and commentary. If you have specified a particular model of motorcycle, we'll also match your ads to pages about that motorcycle. Users who are visiting these pages have an established interest in the subject, increasing your chances of reaching targeted, high-conversion customers.
Gmail
The content network also includes distribution through Gmail, Google's web-based email program. The AdWords system analyzes the content of emails viewed within the Gmail interface, and matches ads to this content. Emails about upcoming vacations may, for example, display advertisements for local attractions, lodging, or businesses.
Newsletters
In addition to web pages, Google AdWords can appear in email newsletters. Acceptable newsletters are limited to opt-in only, ensuring that your ads will only appear in quality newsletters. With email newsletters, your audience can be very highly targeted - not only are the ads carefully matched to the content of the email, but the readers have also demonstrated high interest in the topic by subscribing to the letter. This eliminates users who are simply browsing through, and provides you with a receptive and interested audience.
[google.com...]
Common Questions« Previous Topic Next Topic »
Objective: Learn to handle typical questions about displaying and tracking ads on the Google Network. Be able to determine where AdWords ads appear across the Web, evaluate the performance of contextual ads, and accurately target ads by language and region on the Google Network.
Can I See Where My Ads Appear?Back to Top
The AdWords system places ads automatically on relevant sites in the growing Google Network. As sites are updated and added and other advertisers' ad campaigns change, the potential places your ads can appear will also change. Therefore, there is no definitive list of places your ad will be shown.
However, you can see always the particular sites from which your ad accrued clicks by viewing the web logs of your server. These logs are accessible by your webmaster or website administrator, and provide a detailed listing of the websites on which your ad was clicked. You can use this information to refine your ad targeting, or to determine which websites are performing best for you.
Also, AdWords offers site-targeted campaigns, which allow advertisers to select the individual sites where their ads appear.
Does contextual targeting affect the performance or ranking of my ads?Back to Top
We evaluate your ad's performance on a case-by-case basis for each site your ad appears on. This means that the performance of your keyword-targeted ads on a content site does not affect the ranking of your ads on Google in any way. Clicks from contextual targeting usually mean additional qualified leads for you at no risk to the performance of your campaign.
We do require that your individual keywords maintain a high enough Quality Score and maximum cost-per-click (CPC) in order to ensure your advertising is as effective as possible for you and our users.
Even though overall CTR on the content network may be lower, the leads generated can be very valuable. Take, for example, a stock reporting page showing Google ads related to investment advice. A user may visit this page five times a day to review the status of his or her stocks, but not click on the ads that appear, thus generating many impressions and a low CTR. However, when the stock performance begins to change, the user may need investment advice, and click on an appropriate ad with the intention of purchasing services.
The best measure of the value of clicks on both search and content ads is how often each click results in a sale or other desired outcome. Tracking performance is an important part of creating a successful campaign, and will be covered in depth in the lesson on ROI & Conversions .
Should I Write Different Ads For Search and Content?Back to Top
It is not necessary to write unique ads for search and content properties. Google's technology matches ads to relevant themes and monitors the performance of all ads on content pages. Effective text ads that are matched to relevant content will draw clicks wherever they appear.
Advertisers wishing to send a unique message to content sites may wish to consider using image ads. These ads appear only on participating sites in the content network, and are available in a variety of formats. Our system analyzes a number of factors on both the ad and web page to determine which ads are the most likely to perform well, and displays the most appropriate image or text ad.
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[adwords.blogspot.com...]
So what are the latest content targeting innovations?
During the last year we have launched new features that have made the program even better:
•Smart Pricing automatically discounts the amount you pay for the clicks received from content sites based on the likelihood that the click will convert.
•Also, the Site Exclusion tool will allow you to prevent your ads from being served on the sites that you pre-select. You can add these sites to the Site Exclusion Tool in the same manner that you would add keyword negatives.
Our content network provides a really exciting opportunity for additional coverage. To get the most out of it, it's just important to understand how it works and then use it to your advantage.
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