This document provides an overview of pay-per-click advertising beyond Google Adwords. It discusses rising costs of search advertising due to increased competition and Google's focus on revenue over user experience. Alternatives to Adwords are explored, including Bing, social networks like Facebook, and emerging technologies like real-time bidding ad exchanges. Ten tips are provided for improving PPC campaigns, such as retargeting, testing, and integrating different channels. The challenges of mobile monetization and importance of native advertising are also covered.
1. Steven Kent | Director | Protea Digital
www.proteadigital.com
Search Exchange
29 July 2013
PPC Beyond Adwords
2. Overview
Google, Online Adverting Market and User Interests
Current Alternatives
Mobile
Ten Tips
Q&A
2
3. Protea Digital
Founded 2009
Based in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Digital Marketing for Medium-Sized Businesses
Mainly PPC, also social and content development
Clients in ecommerce, software, finance, education and
non-profit
3
4. Why is Search So Key?
“What are you searching for?”
4
The power of intent:
It works.
5. Biggest problem: Rising Costs
Why?
More competition.
Great for Google, but not for small and medium-sized
businesses
5
7. 5 most expensive words in Adwords
1. Insurance
2. Loans
3. Mortgage
4. Attorney
5. Credit
Source: http://www.wordstream.com/articles/most-expensive-keywords
7
8. Is it a monopoly?
Percentage of Search in the United States
66%
Source: http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2275863/Google-Bing-Both-Win-More-Search-Market-Share
8
9. The Network Effect
The audience continues to
be there because Google
continue to invest.
Other search engines don’t
have the revenue to buy the
technology or the brand.
You buy ads on Google
because that’s where the
audience is.
9
10. Interests of Google v. Advertisers
However:
SMBs are the enterprises of
the future -
So, is Google ‘eating its own
young’?
Like any business, make as
much revenue as possible.
But, they have the monopoly
power to do so.
> This means: they can charge
as much as possible.
So CPC has risen. This is fine for
enterprise…
But what about SMBs? (92%
spend less than $10k p.m.)
Crowded out
10
12. Case Study: Keyword Creep
Client:
Online fair-trade clothes retailer
Broad match is defined by Google as:
” a keyword trigger to show whenever
someone searches for that phrase…or
related searches, and other relevant
variations”
Keyword:
fair trade clothing
Keyword Stream
Examples:
clothing show nyc
ethical shoes
popel tree
free trade clothing
12
13. Case Study: Enhanced Campaigns
Are enhanced campaigns just a way to raise revenue?
Client Example:
luxury sheet ecommerce only retailer.
Did costs go up?
13
14. Case Study: Enhanced Campaigns
No difference in before vs.
after enhanced campaign
cost.
14
15. Controversial – other examples
Broader and broader matching
Lots of low quality sites in GDN
Enhanced Campaigns
Starting to have own content (e.g.
calculator, weather, timer)
Google + results above Twitter
Privacy – cookies etc
15
16. You’re not all bad, Google….
Large market made accessible
Technology is amazing
They do innovate
16
17. What do to?
Better run campaigns
Go beyond using Bing and Facebook
Search “v1.9” – retargeting, ad exchanges
Test, Test, Test (real estate has location, we have testing)
Integrate with other channels – social (e.g. Facebook
Ads) and content (e.g. push users to an article or
whitepaper)
17
19. Leading Other Search Engine: Bing
Working on it:
Estimated $5 billion per year
Ballmer: “I’m going to
[explicative] kill Google”
Qi Lu – “Sleep is for the lazy”
DuckDuckGo.com
18% - June 2013
15% - 2012
14% - 2011
Source:
http://beta.fool.com/robertbaillieul/2013/07
/25/why-bing-will-keep-gaining-market-
share/41112/
19
20. A dark horse:
20
“We believe the odds of __________
developing a search engine in the next
five years are 70%”
-Leading industry analyst, Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray
23. Speaking of Facebook
20%
of divorce fillings in the U.S. now contain the word ‘Facebook’
Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/facebook-relationship-
status/story?id=16406245#.UCR5yGyoGic
23
24. PPC Ads - Not Search….Yet
Facebook
Search ‘social graph’
They’ve said ‘not web search’…
Assertion: But surely they want the web
to be Facebook + your friend’s
preferences.
24
25. PPC Ads - Not Search….Yet
Twitter
You can now advertise by search
keyword
Twitter retargeting just been made
available
25
28. Social Signals Layer
Social Signals – what do my friends think is the most relevant
answer to my search?
User intent
Web Results
28
29. Convergence
The future
Follow friends on
Google
Searching on
Facebook
‘Search Engine’ -> Both Search and social <- ‘Social Network’
29
Google Facebook
30. Walled Gardens – The Four Horseman
Facebook
30
Google Apple Amazon
32. PPC v1.9 – Trading intent information
Real-Time-Bidding Ad Exchanges
32
Almost like a stock exchange for buyer intention.
33. The Mobile Monetization Challenge
Simply that the screen is
smaller.
So people are harder to
advertise to .
Some say the solution is
‘native advertising’
i.e. ads that are the
‘same’ as content
E.g. Buzzfeed
Ads are same look and
feel as editorial content
33
35. Top Ten Tips from the Trenches
6. Use content on your site and
PPC together
7. Landing pages matter (where
ever visitors come come from)
8. Use native advertising
9. Use PLAs
10. Remember conversions, not
just clicks
1. Improve your Adwords with
daily management (don’t
‘spray and pray’)
2. Test, Test, Test
3. Retargeting everywhere (eg.
FBX)
4. Google has search
retargeting
5. Mobile is not for everyone,
and that is ok (though
especially good for local)
35
36. Q & A - Thank you
Feel free to contact me:
Steven Kent – spkent@proteadigital.com
www.stevenkent.co
Twitter - @stevekent21
www.proteadigital.com/resources
36