Test your brand search ads before you pay for more clicks
Updated: Oct 11
Some ads buy clicks that you will get anyway.
The study. Economists at eBay and UC Berkeley stopped eBay's paid search ads for the word "eBay" on Yahoo and Microsoft search. Then they ran a large test on ads for other words in random US regions.
The finding. When the brand ads stopped, 99.5% of the lost paid clicks came back through the free search results. For other words, the ads changed the buying of new and rare users, but they did little for regular users.
Why it matters. Search ads look very good in most reports. The report counts every sale after an ad click. But many of those people knew the brand and would buy anyway. A report cannot show what happens without the ad. Only a test can show that.
The takeaway. Turn off some of your brand search ads in a test region or for a test period. Compare the total sales, not only the paid clicks.
Want to read more?
Subscribe to plaintalkbusiness.com to keep reading this exclusive post.
