Enhanced Campaigns a new approach to mobile search campaigns

Transcription

1 Enhanced Campaigns a new approach to mobile search campaigns VIEWPOINTS March 2013

2 Enhanced Campaigns a new approach to mobile search campaigns Corey Kahn 1

3 Contents 3 Introduction to the change 3 What has changed? 3 What hasn t changed? 4 How does it work and what does it look like? 5 When is this happening? 5 How will the change benefit advertisers? 6 What are some of the challenges? 6 What action should be taken? 7 What changes should you expect? 2

4 Introduction to the change In February 2013, Google announced the launch of Enhanced Campaigns, which will be the most significant change to AdWords in years. Currently, it is possible within the Google interface to build a campaign targeted only to mobile, where a specific mobile ad and mobile landing page is served. Likewise, it is possible to target tablet and separately target desktop. The change from device-targeted campaigns to Enhanced campaigns will allow the advertiser to target multiple devices in a single campaign while putting context at the center. This means that both keywords and ad copy exist in a single campaign yet still have device, location, or time of day bids and messaging. It will have implications for all Google advertisers in the way that campaigns are set up, targeted, and measured. The single campaign set up will allow advertisers to bid up or down depending on context. E.g., $1 max bid for desktop/tablet searches for hotel Las Vegas, and 300% increase in bid ($4) for anyone searching hotel Las Vegas while on a mobile device in Las Vegas. The maximum increase/decrease to bids is 300%. For Paid Search campaigns, the option to target based on device, handset, operating system and network will officially be withdrawn by end of June 2013, while campaigns on GDN, In-App and YouTube will retain the functionality in light of creative designed to be device-specific. What has changed? Previously it was possible to create separate campaigns within the Google interface to target desktop, tablet, and mobile searches. With Enhanced Campaigns, it is not possible to separate the three devices. Desktop and tablet targeting options will no longer be separated. Google s justification is that desktop and tablet usage is now synonymous, with the majority of usage being laptop/tablet interchangeably. It will be possible to opt out of mobile targeting by having a negative bid for mobile searches, but it won t be possible to opt out of desktop/tablet. What hasn t changed? The default option previously was to opt in to desktop, tablet and mobile targeting in all new campaigns. It will continue to be the case that the default option is to opt in to all targeting options. These changes will not apply to Google Display Network (GDN), In-App and YouTube. 3

5 How does it work and what does it look like? Viewpoints Enhanced Campaigns 1. The ability to set mobile-specific bids will be removed, but users will be able to make bid adjustments at campaign level in a stackable way. The bidding method is based on adjusting the device specific targeting by a percentage of the default desktop bid. For example, users can increase the focus on mobile by adjusting bids up to an increase of 300% (or reducing the focus by applying a 100% decrease). 2. Advertisers will be still able to opt out of targeting mobile by applying a minus 100% stacked bid for mobile in comparison to the desktop bid. This will prevent ads showing on mobile. 3. The ability to target specific mobile devices and carriers will be removed (only remaining for Google Display Network, YouTube and In-App adverts). 4. Users will be able to control ad extensions by ad group (including sitelinks and location extensions). 5. Users will be able to use ad scheduling for sitelinks. Another potential use would be to further segment audience based on time. Sitelinks will change in character limits too (from 35 to 25 characters), with the approval process being at the individual level. With this comes the long awaited granular reporting at sitelink level. 4

6 6. Users will be able to make bid changes by geography based on a stacked multiplier (like mobile, this is a simple plus or minus percentage; between minus 100% and plus 300%) Enhanced Campaigns also promote smarter ads and customized offers. Advertisers can now show the right ad, site link, app or extension based on user context and device capabilities with greater ease. For example, users can show an offer ad to people searching near a high street store via their mobile device during opening hours. After opening hours this can revert to promoting online offers. When is this happening? Announcement: Google Enhanced Campaigns were announced on February 6, 2013 Roll-out: Immediate. Any new campaigns created from now will automatically be created as Enhanced Campaigns but users will be able to opt out and continue using the old legacy set up until June 30, Support: Google is offering support with migration planning for big advertisers (multiple MCC, multi-markets, hundreds or thousands campaigns), which will start from the end of February 2013 Deadline: By June 30, 2013, all campaigns (existing and new) will be moved to Enhanced mode. How will the change benefit advertisers? It will be significantly easier, particularly for smaller advertisers, to scale the targeting of multiple devices with custom messaging by consolidating in a single campaign. Previously, this was only possible with separate campaigns per device, which was cumbersome and labor intensive, but did guarantee proper targeting. The algorithm will now determine what ad and links to show based on each individual query per device. This will particularly have positive impact on brick and mortar advertisers where you may want to show mobile ads with custom messaging only during open store hours but have a standard message on desktop. This will all now be possible in a single campaign. 5

7 Advertisers that focus on driving calls or app downloads on mobile will see major enhancements to targeting and reporting. These types of goals and tactics have been elusive for some marketers but will now be fully supported in AdWords. As web design moves towards Responsive Design, this campaign structure change moves advertising targeting in the same direction allowing a seamless experience for the customer regardless of device, time, etc. Quality score: According to Google, existing active campaigns and/or paused campaigns, which migrate from legacy mode to enhanced mode, will see no loss of historical data and/or Quality Score. What are some of the challenges? Desktop and Tablet will now be grouped together, removing the ability to bid and message differently to those devices. While the experience between tablet and desktop search has become more similar, we often see that conversion rates continue to differ. By grouping them together, CPC s on tablet will rise as all advertisers will be opted in and the ability to measure and optimize ROI by device will be diminished. Bid management for mobile will be altered to focus on a multiplier of desktop bids as opposed to a hard bid number. This is likely to lead to an increase in CPCs on mobile. There will be a need to "game" the system to create Mobile only or Desktop/Tablet only with bid multipliers and "preferred" ad selection; doesn't 100% guarantee that a mobile ad couldn't show on desktop or vice versa, although, we expect Google to not allow a poor user experience. For campaigns that target all devices and also have a mobile specific landing page, URLs are managed on the ad level. Google has essentially moved away from telling advertisers that a mobile optimized landing page is necessary to successfully run mobile campaigns. In the situation of a mobile page, tracking would need to be revised with third party tools (Dart, Marin, Kenshoo) that apply tracking at the keyword level. What action should be taken? We are beginning to test Enhanced Campaigns straight away where available to test the impact of the changes. Many campaigns will need to be restructured and optimization tactics for bids and copy that were previously done will need to be revisited. We also expect to hear additional enhancements or revisions from Google as feedback is gathered. Third party tools with API access are being updated to incorporate the changes into the UIs: DoubleClick for Search (DS3): integration of Google Enhanced campaigns currently under development and to be fully supported by February 23,

8 Marin: development is currently underway and integration will happen gradually as the Google API is updated. Marin Software anticipates a short period whereby the platform does not support all the new features. Initial key features will be available by early March 2013 with full integration anticipated by the end of May. Kenshoo: in an official statement on February 7, 2013, Kenshoo announced strategic alignment and stated that they are working closely together as Google updates its AdWords API to ensure their platform reflects the changes by March 31. What changes should you expect? Between now and June 30, your campaigns will be restructured and the new enhanced campaigns switch over will take place. Your search team will inform you when the change has taken place. By June 30, (dependent on when your campaigns are switched over) you will cease to see tablet broken out in reporting. Mobile CPCs will begin to rise between now and June 30, and we forecast they will continue to rise through to the end of the year as advertisings test the new enhanced campaigns structure. Your search team will keep you informed of the increases and any other impact they are seeing, and will provide budget proposals for mobile where significant changes are required to meet strategic goals in the channel. 7

9 Enhanced Campaigns Written by Corey Kahn Published by For the latest industry news, trends and happenings, follow us on Twitter For more information, please contact: Rachel Serton