Detailed explanation of Google search ads display formats!

There are generally three types of Google ads: search ads, image display ads, and Gmail ads. Today, Kbao will introduce to you these three forms of advertising display, that is, how users see your ads.

1. Search Advertising

Search ads are ads generated when people are looking for information. Users actively search, and this trigger mechanism is the most effective form of advertising for sellers to find potential customers. Most export sellers will choose to run search ads on the most famous advertising platform - Google.

Let’s take a closer look at how search ads on Google are displayed.

The above picture takes the example of searching the keyword vacuum furnace in Google. The search results with the "Ad" logo are search ads. The type on the right with pictures, text and prices is a shopping ad (shopping ads are another form of advertising, which I will just briefly mention here. It requires that each product has a fixed price and a direct purchasing channel).

The main body of a search ad consists of three parts: title, display URL (not necessarily the actual URL), and description, as shown in the following figure:

On the desktop, there are up to 7 ad slots on a search results page, 4 above the natural results and 3 below. But in fact, Google determines the threshold for displaying ads based on the user intent and historical clicks of each search term. For example, if you search for a keyword with obvious purchase intent or a keyword with a high click-through rate for previous ads, there will likely be 4-7 ads. However, if you search for a keyword with unclear purchase intent or a keyword with a low click-through rate for previous ads, there will likely be no ads above the natural results, or even no ads on the entire page.

So when you are screening keywords, you might as well refer to your competitors’ keyword performance. For example, with the data analysis tool shown below, you can use it to search for your competitor’s keywords and find out various data such as their search volume and CPC bids, so as to comprehensively consider the pros and cons of the keyword and then evaluate it against your own keywords.

The display format of search ads on mobile devices is a little different.

We can see that due to the screen size of mobile phones, advertisements take up the entire screen from left to right, which means that mobile advertisements can get more attention from users. In fact, the ranking calculation method for mobile ads (and natural results) also takes into account mobile websites on the basis of the desktop version. That is to say, if a website has a mobile website or is mobile-adaptive, it can get a better ranking and a better quality score in mobile search results.

Some of Kbao’s seller friends often encounter the following problems when doing Google search advertising . Today we are talking about its display mechanism, so we might as well sort it out together, hoping to help more friends.

Q: How are Google ads ranked?

A: This is calculated based on Ad Rank and Quality Score. Ad Rank is a numerical value that is used to determine your ad's position (where on the page your ad appears) and whether your ad will appear at all. Ad Rank is calculated based on your bid amount, the components of Quality Score (estimated clickthrough rate, ad relevance, and landing page experience), and the estimated impact of ad extensions and other ad formats.

The factors that affect quality score are:

1. Your ad's expected clickthrough rate is based on your ad's history of clicks and impressions (adjusted for factors such as ad position, ad extensions, and other formats that may have influenced your ad's chances of being seen if someone clicked it previously).

2. Relevance of ads to searches: The ad text should be highly relevant to the user's search so that users are interested and click on the ad.

3. Landing page quality: the relevance, transparency, and ease of browsing of the webpage. Once users click in, the navigation, page layout, and other aspects of the landing page are the core factors that attract users to take subsequent actions.

Q: Why can't I see the ad I placed?

A: First, the user may not meet the targeting criteria. When setting up ads, you need to target your audience's region, language, and time periods. Second, the account may not have enough budget or ranking. For example, the keywords set in the account can be displayed 1,000 times a day, but the set budget only allows 100 displays. In this way, the advertisement cannot get all the display opportunities. Another situation is that the keyword bid set in the account is too low and the quality score is too low, which may also cause the advertisement not to be displayed.

Q: How are keyword bids calculated? What will happen if you lower the bid?

A: Each keyword allows you to freely set a maximum CPC bid, and the actual CPC will usually be lower than the set maximum CPC because with the AdWords auction, the most you need to pay is the minimum cost required to maintain your ad rank and any ad formats (such as sitelinks) that appear with your ad - that is, it is OK to be slightly higher than the ads behind you.

The CPC will of course decrease as you lower your maximum CPC bid, but lowering your bid is not necessarily a reasonable goal, because lowering your bid may also be accompanied by lower rankings, and lower impressions and click-through rates.

Q：What rank will my ad get? Why can’t it rank above the natural results?

A: In principle, as long as your bid is high enough, your ad will be ranked first. But in addition to the reference bid, Google also takes into account the quality of the ad and the actual needs of searchers. If Google believes that your ad quality is not high, or believes that users who search for this keyword do not like to see or click on ads, then your ad will most likely not be ranked above the natural results, or even displayed on the page.

Q: Why can other people’s ads display so much content?

A: In addition to the three basic elements displayed in search ads - title, display URL, and description, the rest of the content displayed in the ad is all ad extensions. Every seller can add ad extensions, but whether the ad extensions are displayed depends on your ad ranking and ad click-through rate. If the ad extensions make your ad click-through rate higher than your ad ranking should be, Google will temporarily hide your ad extensions.

2. Image display ads

As shown in the figure below, on the computer side, the image marked "Ad" in the right column is Google display ads. They will be distributed on various pages of various websites in the form of images of various sizes, but the premise is that there are Google ad spaces on these websites (this requires the website to sign an affiliate agreement with Google).

The image display ads on mobile phones are not placed on the sidebar like on desktop computers, but at the bottom of the page.

3. Gmail Ads

Gmail ads are displayed on the computer side. They will appear above the email and be marked with a yellow "Ad" or "Advertisement".

The picture below shows how Gmail ads appear on a mobile phone. Compared to a computer, there is one less ad, but because of its excellent location, it usually gets more attention.

Today, I will talk to you about the display formats of Google search ads, image display ads, and Gmail ads, and list the common problems that sellers encounter when doing search ads. Each of them is very classic. Have you learned all the display strategies of Google ads now? Save it now so you can use it as a guide next time you place an ad on Google!

Author: K Bao

Source: Hugo.com