David Szetela is the owner and CEO of FMB Media and shares his knowledge of PPC in this evolving digital age.
Pay-Per-Click Definitions To Know
In the past, Google made suggestions for PPC that were based solely on what keywords were used in the ad and paid little attention to the context. Today, that has greatly changed.
Here are a couple of definitions to keep in mind.
Artificial Intelligence – Software that performs tasks that normally require human intelligence. A good example would be the speech recognition software used by Alexa and Siri.
Machine Learning – Software that automatically modifies itself over time, based on “experience.” A great example is when Netflix adjusts its recommendation engine depending on what movies you have rented in the past (title, genre, era, etc.).
AI & Machine Learning Examples in PPC
- Automated Bid Management – Setting your account to automatically make bids or stop them depending upon the situation.
- Attribution Models – An attribution model is a rule/group of rules which outlines how credit for conversions/purchases is assigned to touchpoints (aka “clicks”).
- Ad Rotation Settings – How often you want an ad to rotate with another ad.
There are many opportunities to do well with PPC, especially with the new AdWords ad manager.
What Is the Future of AI and Machine Learning
The following are examples of some AI and machine learning tools that are currently being tested or are relatively new.
Google Optimize – Google’s latest website testing and experimentation platform.
Google Attribution – Pulls in data from Google Analytics and AdWords to give a better overall idea of what touchpoints are converting and when.
Smart Bidding Contextual Signals – Machine learning based on device, location, next location, weekday, time of day, re-marketing list, ad characteristics, interface language, browser, operating system, demographics, search query and search network partner.
Adwords Automated Bidding Options
Maximize Clicks – Can specify maximum CPC; if you do not specify, Google will set a VERY high max click.
Target Search Page Location – Top or anywhere on the search page; specify max CPC.
Target Outranking Share – To show my ad at the top of the page as much as possible. It does not always have to be the first position. For example, you could use this if you know ahead of time your competitors are spending large amounts of money to be in first.
You can also specify to always appear in certain positions relative to someone else’s ad. You can only regulate the amount of time (ex: I only want to appear above this ad 50% of the time).
What happens when two competitors are using the same mechanism? Whichever ad has the better quality score will get the better ad position.
Adwords Smart Bidding Options
Target CPA
- Fantastic for lead generation accounts (get as many conversions as you can, at or below a target price). If something is more likely to turn into a conversion, the CPC will be raised (conversion probability is calculated using thousands of pieces of data such as time of day, country, category of product, etc.).
Target Return On Ad Spend (ROAS)
- Get as many conversions as possible but be sure ROAS is as close to my goals as possible. It is best when the range of accounts is relatively wide.
Enhanced CPC (eCPC)
- Before the change, the max bid price was 30%. After the change, the max bid price increase is unlimited. This means that the max CPCs can be incredibly high due to this option.
Target Maximum Conversions
- This is the most recent option. It is identical to target max clicks. It gives the maximum number of conversions and spends whatever you need to do that.
BE WARNED: There is no data in a new campaign, so be careful if Google makes suggestions to turn on higher ad spending at the beginning of your new campaign.
Automatic Display Targeting
- Automatically turned on when you create a new display campaign
- Two flavors: conservative and aggressive
- Conservative: shows ads on more sites that are related to target context or audience
- Aggressive: shows ads to more people based on the likelihood of converting. Requires a MINIMUM of 15 conversions per month.
Coming Soon To BingAds For Bid Strategy
- Enhanced CPC: Adjust my bid to get more conversions
- Location: Enhanced CPC
Attribution AI is Now Available (for Google AdWords)
Attribution acknowledges that more than one paid action might occur in a conversion chain of events. It is in AdWords now and allows automated bidding using attribution models based on a number of “touchpoints.”
Tools – Attribution – Attribution Modeling
Data driven – Uses the popularity of a click path (what set of clicks lead to a conversion/sale) to calculate the value of keywords used in an ad. This is not available yet to everyone but only to those with enough data to get an accurate read.
Last click – The very last action gets all the credit.
First click – First action gets all the credit.
Linear – Even distribution of credit over time.
Time decay – Clicks that occurred closer to the actual conversion are awarded more credit than other clicks along the same click path. Uses a 7-day half-life credit distribution model (for example, a click that occurred eight days before the actual conversion is only awarded 1/2 as much credit as whatever credit was received by the click that occurred one day before the conversion).
Position based – Awards 40% of the credit to both the ad that was clicked first and the ad that was clicked last (plus the keyword involved) while the other clicks along the click path that led to the conversion/sale are awarded 20% of the credit.
Question from the Audience About PPC and Automation
Q: At one point will automation eliminate the need for micro-managing bids?
A: That time is now(ish). It may be another year or so before it truly gets to that point.
Final Thoughts from David Szetela
“I am very leery about trying to get the most clicks at the beginning since I want to get the most for my money. One tactic is to adjust your target CPA 15%, wait to see the results, and then adjust it again.” Contact information for David Szetela: david@fmbmedia.com.
