{"id":113173,"date":"2016-01-06T13:31:00","date_gmt":"2016-01-06T18:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dacgroup.com\/ppc-in-2015-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly\/"},"modified":"2024-12-21T05:54:38","modified_gmt":"2024-12-21T10:54:38","slug":"ppc-in-2015-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dacgroup.com\/en-gb\/insights\/blog\/paid-media\/ppc-in-2015-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly\/","title":{"rendered":"PPC in 2015: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was a year of big changes in the world of digital paid media, some good, some bad, and some downright ugly.<\/p>\n

With a fresh year spread out before us it\u2019s always worth reflecting back on those changes to discover how we can improve and optimise paid advertising on the road ahead. So with that in mind, we caught up with the Ambergreen Paid Media team to find out what they thought were the most important changes of PPC in 2015.<\/p>\n

THE GOOD<\/strong><\/h5>\n

AdWords for Video<\/em><\/p>\n

Google video ads finally migrated into the main AdWords UI, solving the major headache of needing to flip back and forth between the different interfaces. Coupled with this update is the enhanced ability to filter all campaigns by type so search, display or video can be viewed and analysed faster. It may seem like a minor update, but being able to see little details like total AdWords spend and conversion counts at-a-glance just makes life a lot easier, especially on well-organised accounts.<\/p>\n

Google introduces Smart Goals<\/em><\/p>\n

With Smart Goals, Google analyses the top 5% of traffic from your AdWords account to your site and uses this as a threshold to set \u201csmart goals\u201d for your account.<\/p>\n

Success metrics are based on Session duration, Pages per session, Location, Device and Browser. After a visitor meets this custom formula they are counted as a conversion.<\/p>\n

Although some articles talk about using smart goals as a replacement for your other on-page conversions, they should never be used as a substitute. Instead, they can be used as an additional goal to optimise towards which may improve the overall conversion rate of your main site goals, be it enquiries, newsletter sign-ups, or something else.<\/p>\n

Of course, we have always had the ability to create custom segments of traffic and optimise accordingly, but Smart Goals automate a lot of the legwork.<\/p>\n

Structured Snippet Extensions\"Callouts<\/em><\/p>\n

Structured snippet extensions were released and these enable advertisers to push out even more text about their offerings. Similar to callouts, these messages highlight key features or services but in a more structured way. Eye-catching and helping to differentiate your offering, structured snippets are a quick and easy win for the time-crunched PPC manager.<\/p>\n

Google has also introduced new automatic variants around key events such as Black Friday to make management much easier (no staying up until midnight to switch off a campaign), so keep your eyes peeled for further opportunities to keep your messages current.<\/p>\n

A busy year for Bing<\/em><\/p>\n

Universal Event Tracking, image extensions, native ads (currently US only), RLSAs, shopping ads\u2026 It has been a busy and exciting year for Bing, it seems that the \u201cugly guy\u201d of the search engines is becoming more attractive.<\/p>\n

There are even some features that aren\u2019t yet available in Google AdWords (e.g. image extensions, bid modifiers for demographic data in Search). Combine these with strong partnerships (e.g. Yahoo) and we could be Binging a lot more frequently in the coming years.<\/p>\n

Instagram Ads move to Facebook Power Editor<\/em><\/p>\n

Paid social is on the rise, most recently with the ability to develop Instagram ads from within Facebook’s Power Editor, thereby empowering advertisers with all of the robust targeting features of Facebook with the extended reach offered by Instagram.<\/p>\n

Search Retargeting becomes easier<\/em><\/p>\n

Although there are a few limitations \u2013 like demographic data use restriction in order to ensure privacy protection \u2013 the use of Analytics lists saves you time (one less code snippet to install on your website!). More importantly, it expands the reach of your Retargeting List for Search Ads (RLSA) campaigns to a whole new batch of users already familiar with your brand. Previous visitors are the most likely candidates to buy from you when they see your ad searching for relevant terms, so RSLA campaigns are an important advertising tactic. Really Like to See you Again!<\/p>\n

\u200bTHE BAD<\/strong><\/h5>\n

AdWords\u2019 new report editor<\/em><\/p>\n

AdWords released a new report editor to a lot of fanfare and general acclaim. The thing is, it’s not really all it’s cracked up to be. Ultimately it hasn’t been adopted very widely as many advertisers still prefer the reporting tools that they know and feel comfortable with. While some of the data visualisations of the new reporting editor are nice, it’s hardly revolutionary.\"AdWords<\/p>\n

LinkedIn\u2019s Lead Accelerator<\/em><\/p>\n

Lead accelerator from LinkedIn has been released and looks very appealing. The remarketing function is a particular draw and all in all it seems like a great way to grow B2B clients. However, it requires a really big investment and commitment, meaning the barrier to entry is too high for many businesses who would like to try it out.<\/p>\n

Openness of Platforms & Providers<\/em><\/p>\n

There\u2019s nothing new here but it\u2019s still disappointing the amount of key insights and data some third party providers on some channels (programmatic, retargeting…) are willing to share both during and after campaigns have finished.<\/p>\n

\n \n
\n
\n

\n Stay Forward <\/h2>\n

\n Get exclusive insights into digital
media's top-trending topics delivered
directly to your inbox. <\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n

\n
\n
\n
\n \n