display URI in ad

[tonynoriega]

go with the www. or without www. ?

i was thinking go without www. becuase its essentially wasted characters..

concensus?

[smallcompany]

Test can only prove what works better, if there is any difference at all.
I would put that under "each case has its own rules".

Build two ads with identical text, but with different display URLs. See what happens...

[buckworks]

I prefer to go without the www. for reasons of conciseness, and my own testing indicates that the ads I create get more clicks when the www. is not there. However, a Google rep told me just yesterday that their data indicates the opposite, that users click more often when it IS there.

So test it both ways and see how YOUR target users respond to YOUR ads.

[AdWordsAdvisor]

So test it both ways and see how YOUR target users respond to YOUR ads.

This is really excellent advice, I think - for this and and a great many other similar questions that might be asked along the same lines.

I can't remember if this is in the recent active 'best tips' thread - but it should be. ;)

Test. Learn. Adjust. Test. Learn. Adjust. Have a frosty beverage of your choice. Test...

AWA

[smb2009]

Echoing the sentiments above, it *really* does depend on your audience and your ad.

Does Google/adwords offer some kind of A/B testing or am I confusing it with their website optimizer thing?

[LucidSW]

I routinely don't use the www.

Querying my client database, across many verticals, both search and content, poor client ads and mine (clients tend to use the www.), I get these CTR figures:

With: 0.78%
Without: 0.86%

So that's a difference of 9% more without. This data is over 5 million clicks. But I've noticed that in some niches, the reverse can be true. So, to repeat others, test and find out.

Now here's the strange part. On the content network, the CTR is higher WITH the www. by 53% (0.32% to 0.49%).

I also have a flag on many ads which tells me if I or the client created the ad. Client ads do better for some reason with the www by about 10% while mine do better without by about 21%. So go figure.

[arieng]

I don't use the www on my main site, but that is because my main site redirects www to non-www. I think it is most important to be consistent with your site handles the www.