E-consultancy interview: Google and Overture on contextual PPC advertising

At a recent roundtable on Search Engine Marketing, quite a few questions came up around pay-per-click (PPC) ads being served in the context of web page content rather than search.

So we've asked some of those questions to Overture (whose product for this is called ContentMatch) and Google (who have AdSense).

Following are the questions and the replies we got. If you've got comments / questions to add, then fire away, and we'll see if we can't get more information as required...

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>> Question 1.
Is it true that click through rates and subsequent conversion rates are lower for PPC ads served in the context of web page content rather than search?

# Kate Burns, UK MD of AdSales, Google:
The CTR for AdSense depends on the site, so we are not able to give specific numbers. I think comparing search and content CTRs is like comparing apples to oranges. However, the beauty of our system is that advertisers only pay when readers click. When content readers click – the important metric is the profitability of those clicks.

# Karen Salamon, Marketing Director, Overture:
Not at all. When Overture collected data during testing of Content Match, a number of advertisers reported that their traffic converted at least as well as other PPC traffic.

Its also worth considering contextual advertising from a wider perspective, and in comparison to online advertising in general. For example, a lead from someone clicking on a targeted PPC ad in the context of a web page is likely to convert much better than someone clicking on a generic banner ad.

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>> Question 2.
Is there evidence to suggest that there is brand impact, positive or negative, to having your PPC ads served in relation to another site’s content rather than as part of search results?

# Kate Burns, UK MD of AdSales, Google:
By being opted-in to the Google Network (search and content sites), advertisers reach over 70% of active U.K. Internet users. Additionally, they have access to high-quality, brand sites, like Lycos, The Times, the Economist, and The Daily Telegraph sites.

We’ve found that some of the best converting sites are the small, niche properties that we sign up through our online program. These niche sites convert well because don’t have as many ads displayed per page, they have focused content, and just by being there, the reader has pre-qualified himself as a prospect.

# Karen Salamon, Marketing Director, Overture:
Feedback from advertisers has been positive and most are pleased that they are associating their brand with highly-regarded Websites, through contextual advertising.

Web users also seem to respond well to Content Match links - with Guardian Unlimited (an Overture partner) reporting plenty of positive feeback from its users. The links allow Guardian Unlimited's editorial team to add extra depth to their articles - for example, a reader can read an article about Paris, get enthused and then be able to instantly do something about it by clicking on a related link next to the article. Highly relevant links are important to offer Guardian Unlimited's users the best online experience.

Looking at the brand value of paid search in general, Nielsen indicates that appearing in both algorithmic and paid search not only increases traffic to your site, it also minimises the risk of losing prospects to your competition. When companies appear in both paid search listings and algorithmic listings, the average click-through increase is 51%.

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>> Question 3.
Is there any evidence to suggest that such contextual advertising works better for some than others?

# Kate Burns, UK MD of AdSales, Google:
We have worked with a large sample set of our advertisers, SEOs and a senior economist from UC Berkeley, to gather data comparing conversions between search ads and content ads. Based on our research we have seen that typically CTRs are lower with content ads, however we have seen that on average search and content ads convert on par.

We have case studies available of advertisers that are experiencing good performance through their content targeted ad campaigns. Case study example:

Impact Engine – marketing services company
- Conversion rates between search and content are equivalent
- Content ads are delivering a much higher value customer:
Average revenue of a search lead: ~$75/month
Average revenue of a content lead: ~$270/month

It is equally important to compare content performance to other vehicles on the Internet (banners, sponsorships) instead of using search ROI as the yardstick. If the conversions an advertiser gets from content are profitable, then they should be using it.

# Karen Salamon, Marketing Director, Overture:
Its not about what you're selling, but the environment you're selling it in. So, the more relevant the content, the more likely a user is to click on the link. For example, a travel article or product review, where the advertising can directly link to the content.

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>> Question 4.
What do you know about how users perceive PPC ads served alongside content they’re looking at as opposed to search results?

# Kate Burns, UK MD of AdSales, Google:
(see reply above)

# Karen Salamon, Marketing Director, Overture:
Its all about relevancy. If the title and description of a contextual ad describes a compelling offer, relevant to the content on the web page then a user clicking on the ad is likely to result in a good conversion.

Our editorial team leads the mapping process to relate keywords to content on the page - a process that is constantly reviewed to ensure relevancy. This hand-mapping process is more likely to result in more relevant and therefore higher-converting leads for advertisers than dynamic mapping.

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>> Question 5.
How would you suggest combining contextual PPC advertising with search PPC advertising?

# Kate Burns, UK MD of AdSales, Google:
We recommend all advertisers participate in the Google Network because many advertisers find it to be an important source of additional sales revenue.

# Karen Salamon, Marketing Director, Overture:
Both of these forms of advertising operate on the same Pay Per Click basis, the difference being that users are not in an active search mode with contextual advertising. For this reason, we feel its important to give advertisers the opportunity to manage contextual campaigns in a separately-bidded marketplace so that they can transparently compare conversion rates and allocate budget accordingly.

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>> Question 6.
And finally… any tips for how the copy of ads for contextual PPC advertising should be written, as opposed to for search ads?

# Kate Burns, UK MD of AdSales, Google:
Creating effective ads that bring you sales on search and content pages is easy. There are a few steps you can take to ensure that your ads are bringing you the highest possible return on your advertising investment on Google search and content pages.

- Optimize your campaigns as you would for search advertising.
Search ads are typically good predictors of contextual advertising performance. This means that the better your ads perform on search pages, the more successful they are likely to be on content sites. For more information on optimizing your AdWords campaign, please visit the following URL: https://adwords.google.com/select/tips.html

- Implement Google conversion tracking.
Conversion tracking allows you to see the number of sales that you are receiving from your advertising campaign, both on search and content pages. Reviewing your total number of conversions and the value of these conversions can help you determine if you should increase your budget or further optimize your ad groups to receive more targeted visitors. For more information on Google conversion tracking, please visit https://adwords.google.com/select/faq/conversions.html.

- Review your ad ranking.
Keep in mind that most content sites only display two, three, or four contextual ads per page. As a result, you must select a maximum cost-per-click that allows your ad to rank in these top positions if you are to take advantage of the additional qualified clicks from content pages. Look at the average position of your ads on the Campaign management page and adjust this position as necessary (by improving your clickthrough rate or adjusting your maximum CPC) to ensure that you are receiving as many profitable leads as possible.

Contextual advertising provides you additional targeted visitors at a cost you set. However, because the performance of your ads on content pages does not affect their performance on search, a lower number of clicks or clickthrough rate on contextual advertising will not adversely affect your campaigns.

# Karen Salamon, Marketing Director, Overture:
Although Content Match and Pay-For-Performance listings can be managed in separately-bidded marketplaces, the copy is exactly the same, therefore making it easy to manage for the advertiser. The same top tips apply for both contextual and search ads:

- make sure your search term, title, description and Web site are directly relevant to each other
- always include the search term in either your title or description (ideally in both)
- use deeplinking, ie. ensure you give a direct URL to the relevant content
- avoid superlatives or language that is too 'salesy' and be honest and factual

It is interesting that Google remarks on the performance of content-targeted ads in relation to search ads aslike "comparing apples and oranges".

If this is the case, then surely the more acidic apples, should be sold seperately from the more zesty oranges? If I buy an apple in Sainsburys, I don't expect to have to buy oranges.