It’s worth noting that the research was carried out before the July deadline, but it transpires that the largest proportion of both agency (43%) and in-house (56%) respondents still weren’t sure what impact Enhanced Campaigns would have on paid search campaigns.

However for those that did have an opinion on the matter, a higher proportion of both companies (29%) and agencies (35%) thought that the change will have a positive effect on their paid search marketing.

Do you think ‘Enhanced Campaigns’ will have a positive impact on your/your clients’ paid search marketing?

Respondents were also given the chance to expand on their answers and give reasons for why they felt Enhanced Campaigns would have a positive or negative impact.

Positive opinions from the agency respondents included easy management, simplifying and streamlining campaigns. The overwhelming reason for agencies to answer that Enhanced Campaigns would not have a positive impact was, like for companies, the lack of ability to segment devices, especially not being able to run mobile-only campaigns.

Specific examples include:

  • “[This] does not allow us to set up separate campaigns for devices which is fundamental to our strategy and targeting – this is a very bad move!”
  • “Segmenting mobile/tablet/desktop visits has enabled us to achieve efficiencies in our campaigns which we fear may be lost with the roll out of enhanced campaigns.”
  • “‘Enhanced’?? No, dumbed down. Yes, you will have fewer campaigns, but this actually lessens intelligence gained from analytics.”
  • “Mobile campaigns are already standalone with a defined bid strategy across key terms. Consolidating this feels a backward step right now bearing in mind we have context as part of the strategy. ROI will no doubt be affected.”

Econsultancy’s Crunch – Data, Analytics and the Rise of the Marketing Geek, takes place on October 10 at Truman Brewery, London. Crunch is the event for the analysts, strategists and boffins who turns raw numbers into insight, then revenue. This event is one of five that make up our Festival of Marketing.