We've had Banner Blindness. Does anybody else think that "Adwords Blindness" is setting in amongst Google's frequent users?
It depends what I'm searching for. If I'm look for information then I ignore adwords, since I know they'll try and sell me something. But if I'm looking for something commercial, I tend to use adwords quite a bit.
I think that because Google have made them very separate from traditional results, I don't feel as malevolent towards them as I do some types of ads. When I see all but unmarked 'partner sites' I get the feeling someone is trying to dupe me, so I won't click. With Adwords, it seems more honest somehow.
In terms of google, I would argue, however, that users are becoming *un*conditioned away from the idea that the little boxes on the right are non-relevant/intrusive ads. In fact, they are finally realizing that the ads are germain (relevant) to the search. This phenomina is unique to google itself and is not yet apparant, notwithstanding widespread.
CTRs will continue to increase with adwords, as more relevant page 1 SERP options are presented to the searcher. This trend is not and will not be indicative of non-search related ad serving, however. [why the boxes were done in the first place was inexplicable and cost G considerable click revenue. only G could actually change user behavior (predispositions), however, and G did have a very fine line to walk in terms of free (non-pfi) serps and exploding per click ad revenue]. I would of loved to be a fly on the wall during those meetings. I would of argued strongly against the boxes. This *un*conditioning is a long and costly process.
"Seventy six percent of marketing executives that used search engine marketing rate it as more successful than banner-style advertising and 64% plan on increasing their spending," said Jupiter Research [businesswire.com] analyst Gary Stein
I agree with Chicago and hannamyluv, users understand that adwords are very relevant. It's disturbing how a well written adword can outperform the natural serp.
As long as people keep doing things like stuffing their title tags with "keyword-keyword, keyword-phrase," instead of something enticingly clickable, adwords is going to keep on whooping the natural results.
Adwords is designed to be completely different, and they are a core part of the page utility - not an "add-on".
When i go to a SERP i have already shown my interest in a topic. Its far more targeted than almost all other advertising on the web. I may click on an adword if it seems it will solve my problem. I'm far less likely to want to "bonk the monkey".
With AdWords, you know that site is active, it's currently spending money, I think comercial sites benefit from PPC and AdWords as users know that site is currently working.
We achieve consistent click throughs of between 30% and 50% for well targeted groups of phrases with good ad creative. This would imply that those visitors are 'shopping' from the Adwords links, not from the main search results. Oh, and that CTR is being achieved with minimum bid.
Of course, 30-50% CTR is not the norm for everything we do. As always, its a matter of finding a niche and exploiting it.
Col
I guess it all depends on your market, the content of your site and the products you are selling. IMHO there are too many variables involved to say one way or the other which method is best.
I am thinking of trying Adwords, just to see if sales increase or remain the same.
I think you will see the opposite of blindness. I think you will see people start activly looking at the adwordsa when they are shopping for something. I know that in the past, if I was looking to buy something and used a search engine, I would be frustrated by the mix of info and commercial sites since it isn't always apparent if a site sells or is just giving info on certain products. Now I know that if there is an adword, that person sells what I am looking for. I don't even bother with the SERP.
Pure Music to my ears.
I have started doing the same thing if I am looking to buy a product/service, straight over to the ADS.
banner blindness problem was that 95% was untargetted, eg: Car advertisements on a site visited by kids :)
Shak
Are you in a highly competitive market or is your ad the only one that appears?
The best I've had an ad preform over the course of a month (with more than 7 competitors) is 15% - and not sure if I've ever broken 25% for a month with 0 competitors.
Adword blindness will only happen if those that did the media planning/buying turn their attention to this "new" way of spending their clients money without understanding the way in which things are served up.
I very rarely click on SERP's listings now, regardless of whether it's info or sales, if the ad is well written it stands out far better than Untitled Document does. If you want to see a good example of that type "the matrix phone" into Google.
The number one SERP is a redirect and aptly named Untitled Document and of the 3 ads shown to me (your experience may be different) 2 are inappropriate and the one that isn't is an affiliate, so if that was what you searched for you'd be disappointed on all counts.
The adword advertisers have used poor technique in implementing their ads, giving the searcher a bad experience, and the owner of the number 1 SERP's is using a spammy technique to take you to their site (with a pop-up to boot).
I think people will see what they will see, new people buy computers every day, some will even click on banners and pop ups.
The ad group in question has delivered >1600 visitors in 2 months @ an average CPC of £0.05, with an avg pos of 1.3. The ad group has a small number of highly relevant key phrases for a well known high street retailer's web site.
Most phrases incorporate the shop name, or common variants of it, with loose, strict and phrase matched versions of the key phrases being used.
The 30-50% CTR days happen round holiday weekends, but the average for the 2 months the ad has been running is 18.4%.
There are individual phrases that have delivered >66% CTR over the whole of the campaign. These are typically marginal phrases that each pick up a click or 2 each day, but there are enough of them to boost the ratings of the whole ad group.
As I said in my earlier posts, the CTR we see with this ad group is an exception rather than the rule.
If you'd like further information, send me a sticky.
Col
Best one so far is 35% CTR 395 clicks, 1097 impr, CPC .05 pos 1.1.
Worst is 90 clicks out of 90,000 impr.
- Ash
