Should you buy search ads for your brand keywords?
I confess, as a search engine optimizer, I used to think that buying ads for one’s own brand name was a complete waste of money. After all, all companies should rank in top slots for their own brand name(s), if they’re doing their SEO right, and if you’re ranking tops then people will be able to find you if they’re looking for you. As such, I thought that buying ads for your own name was just paying for clicks that should rightly come to you anyway.
But over time, I’ve heard other experts stating that their research shows that having ad presence for brands along with natural search ranking appears to enhance overall click through rates in a synergistic manner. And, with greater experience, I’ve seen a number of cases when companies really should be buying their own brand name keywords for ads!
I see that George Michie over at the Rimm-Kaufman Group criticized a recent Microsoft study claiming that some advertisers are wasting money by buying their own brands in paid search ads — and I think George was right to criticize this. Read on and I’ll elaborate…
Popularity: 15% [?]
Possible Related Posts
Posted by Chris Silver Smith of Netconcepts on 08/24/2007 | Permalink | 
Email
| 
Print
Trackback | Comments (1) | Comments RSS |
Filed under: Advertising, Monetization of Search, Paid Search, brand namesAtlas-Study, brand names, brand-ppc, brand-search, Microsoft-Ads, Paid Search, paid-vs-natural, Pay-Per-Click, ppc
7 Habits of Highly Effective PPC Advertisers
I just saw this great article on “Seven Habits Of Highly Effective Pay-Per-Click Advertisers” by John Ellis, who does search marketing for Gaylord Entertainment, and I thought it was worth highlighting.
Some of the tips include:
- Â Control spending by adjusting bid amounts, not daily spend budget
- Â Conversion matters, not click-through rate (CTR)
- Â Avoid bidding up for top position
…and more. I think there’s some great stuff here - both for paid search newbies as well as veterans.
Popularity: 10% [?]
Possible Related Posts
Posted by Chris Silver Smith of Netconcepts on 05/31/2007 | Permalink | Email
| Print
Trackback | Comments (0) | Comments RSS |
Filed under: Monetization of Search, Paid SearchPaid Search, Pay-Per-Click, ppc, PPC-Tips, Search-Engine-Marketing
Superpages to Factor CTR into Ad Rankings
I noticed that Greg Sterling just reported over at Search Engine Land that Idearc Media’s Superpages is going to begin factoring in ad click-through-rates into the measures used for ranking ads on the vast networks of sites where Superpages content appears. I was aware of this plan prior to my departure from Superpages, and I think it’s one of the cooler things my old teammates are developing.
Naturally, this follows other major ad networks who do similar things. Google, for instance, has begun using quality scores to decide ad rankings and the pricing of the ads.
Popularity: 14% [?]
Possible Related Posts
Posted by Chris Silver Smith of Netconcepts on 04/26/2007 | Permalink | Email
| Print
Trackback | Comments (0) | Comments RSS |
Filed under: Advertising, Paid Search, Yellow PagesAd-Rankings, Advertising, CTR, idearc, Idearc-Media, Pay-Per-Click, ppc, superpages, Superpages.com
Get some free clicks
Not playing in PPC yet? Then here is some free cash (well, credits) to get you started…
- $200 credit at Live Search (MSN). Code is DM-2-1106
- $75 credit at Yahoo. Code is US1522
- $50 credit at Ask.com. Code is SESCHI06
- $300 credit at LookSmart. Code is SESCHQ4
Now go forth and craft some great search ads!
Popularity: 7% [?]
Possible Related Posts
Posted by Stephan Spencer of Netconcepts on 12/23/2006 | Permalink | Email
| Print
Trackback | Comments (1) | Comments RSS |
Filed under: Paid Searchppc
Click Fraud Costs Estimated at over $800M
In Report: Advertisers Cut Spending, Blame Google and Yahoo for Click Fraud, a new report states that advertisers wasted over $800 million last year on phony clicks.
Some points of interest:
- “The Internet advertising market is expected to be worth about $15.6 billion in 2006, up from about $10 billion in 2005.”
- “Google is expected to capture about 25% of that market, compared to Yahoo’s expected 20%, according to research firm eMarketer.”
- PPC therefore is valued at around $7-8 billion this year.
- “15% is estimated as fraudulent”
- “37% of advertisers are reducing their PPC activity”
I predict that this fraud perception will fuel advertisers increasing reliance on natural search, where click fraud is not incentivized.
Will click fraud be the catalyst that finally causes retailers to more equally allocate their spending between PPC (pay per click) and NSO (natural search optimization)? So, for example, shift from $1MM/yr PPC and $150k on NSO, to more like $1MM/yr PPC and $1MM/yr NSO?
As PPC gets more expensive, the act of click fraud gets more costly, and that bad apple must begin to spoil the bucket at some point - not completely I’m sure, but probably enough to cause advertisers to rethink allocation and importance of NSO.
Popularity: 7% [?]
Possible Related Posts
Posted by Stephan Spencer of Netconcepts on 07/10/2006 | Permalink | Email
| Print
Trackback | Comments (0) | Comments RSS |
Filed under: Paid Searchclick-fraud, Paid Search, ppc
The Keyword Index Is Out: $1.39, On Avg.
Interestinghttp://battellemedia.com/archives/002496.phpFathom’s quarterly index is out, and prices “eased� a bit (3%). Average keyword price is $1.39. From the release:
Popularity: 6% [?]
Possible Related Posts
Posted by Brian Klais of BSK on 04/21/2006 | Permalink | Email
| Print
Trackback | Comments (0) | Comments RSS |
Filed under: Keyword Research, Paid Searchaverage-bid-amounts, Keyword Research, Keyword-Index, ppc
