The use of capitals in domains in Google ads

A good or bad thing?

[TheVisitor]

I've looked for a thread on this, but can't find a specific one.

I was wondering - which is better looking, specifically in a sponsored Google listing:

www.greenwidgetshop.com or
www.GreenWidgetShop.com?

Are capitals a definite no-no, or does it depend upon the wording, the length of the domain name and readability? I think capitals make for easy reading - but I also think there's a danger of them looking 'cheap' or 'tacky'.

[edited by: TheVisitor at 12:35 pm (utc) on Aug. 5, 2004]

[eWhisper]

I'm a fan of using capitals for many sites (not all of them, but many). I think it helps to highlight the site's name, and if anything, even if they don't click on the ad, it's easy to remember and associate at a later date.

[buckworks]

I usually prefer lower case but with some domains capitals make a definite difference in readability. So, it depends ....

Test it both ways and see what happens. Set up some paired ads where the only difference is whether you use capitals in the domain name, then let them run for a while. If there's any significant difference in CTR, you'll know what to do!

If there's no discernible effect on user response, just do whatever you like best.

[kodaks]

I use capitals on my site URL for adswords a lot of times. There is nothing in the guidelines that says you can't.

[cline]

In the very early days Adwords prohibited capitalizing in the domain names. When they dropped the prohibition, I did A/B testing to determine whether the caps increased CTR.

They do. Not all the time or by much, but enough that I always cap now.

[TheVisitor]

I could run a little experiment and let you all know how it goes if you like

[bwelford]

cline, thanks for that confirmation. I always did capitalization since I judged that it would help the visitor. It's good to hear something that seems to work the way it should.

[GuitarZan]

Hey,

I always Capitalize URL's too. I definitely makes them stand out more.

C.K.

[buckworks]

I could run a little experiment and let you all know how it goes if you like

That would be great!

[TheVisitor]

OK - I'll let you know how I get on