PPC - Pay Per Click Management

Ever wondered if Google Search Partners option is worth it or not? Most marketers likely turn it off after reading and evaluating some of the most advanced Google Adwords guides out there. But these authors rarely take into account what your market is. So are you missing out on cheaper clicks and opportunities or are you doing the right thing and saving money and CTR?

Lets break it down for those who aren’t really aware of this option. Google Search Partners is a network of partners that allow Google to show ads within their search results. Some of these partners are i.e Ask.com and Aol.com. As a PPC manager you are given the option to choose these search partners if you like when setting up a campaign.

Now, there is a lot of discussion about this function and if it’s anything to bet your money on or not. Lets first kill a few myths about it.

 

Does Google Search Partners affect my Quality Score?

No. The Search Partners doesn’t affect your Quality Score with Google if anything it has an effect on the Search Partners Quality Score.

 

Does Google Search Partners affect my overall campaign CTR?

No. The same thing applies here. Having Search Partners enabled doesn’t affect your advertising in Google Search.

 

Reasons to use Google Search Partners

There are times when Google Search Partners could benefit your campaigns and bottom-line earnings. I’ve read and studied a lot of professional PPC marketers and a majority of them advice against Google Search Partners. Luckily for my clients I couldn’t resist the feature and tried it.

What I’ve learned is that it’s only effective in the B2C (Business to Customer) market. Since using Search Partners not only gives you a lower CPC it also provides you with a different market of opportunities. If you are marketing a non-technical pretty straight forward campaign you shouldn’t have a hard time succeeding using Google Search Partners.
The smart way of thinking here is that you reach even further then Google but with their Pay-Per-Click platform and all those familiar features that comes with it.

Segment by Network

After running your campaigns for a test you can then sort your networks by segmentation in the Google Adwords interface. This function helps you find out which networks that has provided you with the most beneficial “bang for the buck”. As always in our line of work we know that more data equals more knowledge and better targeting. This is definitely the case here as well.

 

Don’t let your guard down

The problem that most managers will suffer from is the junk traffic that some of these partners provide. I’m not going to mention a certain provider here but I’m simply going to say that certain providers should be kept on a tight leash 24/7. Especially in high competitive markets like health, diets, loans and insurance etc. Remember to track your conversions through out the networks to gather as much information as possible.

If your account is in need of new thinking to increase targeted traffic you should really start looking into this. There is lower costs, lighter competition and a lot of times good targeted traffic that converts well. Stick to your strategy but don’t be afraid of testing something new once in awhile.

This guest post was written by Anton Ornberg, Co-founder of IMNorth.com, a Digital Marketing Agency that combines clever marketing with deep technical knowledge.