September 29, 2008
Google Adwords
2 Comments
Following on from my last post about the restrictions on using niche phrases in Google Adwords, I’ve had an interesting discussion with a Google rep. In a nutshell, the problem is that Adwords won’t allow adverts to be visible when people type what it considers to be particularly niche phrases. So, if I wanted ‘red widgets with blue spots’ as a phrase to trigger an advert in Google Sponsored Link results, then the Google system would likely tell me that:
The keyword phrase that you have entered has a low search volume and is not showing any of your ads.
In an ideal world it should really be my choice as an advertiser whether I have an advert appear when a certain phrase is typed, but Google is, apparently, God and so I have to do as I’m told. Back to the Google rep …
One of the reasons that the Adwords system won’t allow numerous types of (what it considers to be) niche phrases to trigger adverts is that it would be open to abuse by organisations that have the money/resources to abuse the system. Using widgets as the example, a company could set up numerous weird variations of phrases such as:
- widgets for midgets
- red widgets for churches
- blue widgets with green stripes
- etc.
…. with the sole purpose of attracting clicks from anyone who happened to type those phrases. Those clicks, because the phrases would be so niche, would be really cheap, and the company would become a regular fixture in the Sponsored Links regardless of what variations people typed on a theme. This would basically mean that the searcher could be pulled into clicking on an advert that may not actually deliver what they were looking for, which would be a negative experience for the searcher and so make them less likely to click on Sponsored Links in the future (which is a negative for Google).
While I fully understand that Google doesn’t want people to take advantage of the system by creating thousands of niche phrases that don’t result in a positive customer experience, is the answer really to penalise advertisers to the level they currently are? To take an example, if an IT support company wants to advertise under phrases such as:
- Maidstone PC experts
- Computer support companies Maidstone
- Maidstone PC consultants
… because they can help people with IT problems in the Maidstone area, then surely they should be able to do so? But no, because the Google system considers such phrases are ‘too niche’ then they’re penalised and instead are faced with advertising using more generic phrases that end up costing a lot more.
The big issue here is that surely the Google system can tell the difference between a major abuser of the system trying to capitalise on cheap clicks, and an advertiser with a limited budget and what is quite obviously a sensible campaign setup?
The answer, unfortunately, is that it’s a lot easier, and more profitable, for Google to stop companies from using niche keyword phrases, than to apply more thinking to the issue and start to understand that smaller companies won’t be able to afford the ever-increasing click costs for certain types of phrases and so will go elsewhere. When that happens, the Sponsored Links will become purely a directory of those companies that have the deepest pockets and the smaller advertisers (which make up a huge number when their buying power is combined) will have found other ways to advertise their products and services.
September 18, 2008
Google Adwords
1 Comment
Going back in time, if a Google Adwords advertiser wanted to have a certain phrase within their PPC campaign and to trigger adverts, that was easily possible.
If you wanted to have “purple widgets with red spots” as a phrase then that was fine – as long as the CTR was considered to be good enough. This, in my view, was a fair system.
Fast forward a few years and the ability to use niche keyword phrases is rapidly disappearing and advertisers often find that, having set up a keyword phrase, that the Google system won’t allow their adverts to enter the auction. Let’s look at why that may be, starting with Google’s explanation …
According to Google sources I’ve spoken to, if I wanted to have a particular phrase in a campaign and the Google system considered that low numbers of people would type that phrase, then the advert wouldn’t be allowed to appear. The reason given for this was that if the Google system allowed people to have numerous niche phrases in their campaigns, that it would clog up servers and reduce the response time when people search within Google.
That, to say the least, is laughable. Let’s look at it another way …
If people were allowed to use niche keyword phrases in PPC then they wouldn’t need to compete aggressively against other advertisers who are using more generic phrases. So, if I wanted “purple widgets with red spots” but there were advertisers promoting themselves under just “purple widgets” then if the playing field was level I’d be able to have an advert that differentiated my purple widgets with red spots from the other adverts that just promote plain old purple widgets.
However, if Google allowed my advert to be visible when people typed “purple widgets with red spots” then I’d be highly likely to get cheaper clicks than the other advertisers because my advert would be so specific, my CTR strong, and my website landing page would also have relevant content. This would mean that I’d get the click whereas the advertiser prepared to pay more for ‘purple widgets’ clicks wouldn’t do. That would appear to be perfectly fair and fits in with both what an advertiser and a searcher would want.
But it would appear that Google don’t see this as good business. After all, if you could stop people from having adverts visible only when niche phrases are typed then that would create more people having to compete for the more generic phrases. So, if there were 10 companies wanting to promote their purple widgets of various specifications then they could all be limited to just using the phrase ‘purple widgets’ if Google doesn’t allow them to be more specific. This then means that, as companies do, they start to compete against each other for dominance in the search results when ‘purple widgets’ is typed, which of course means that they play a constant game of click cost raising leapfrog. Ultimately, the only winner is Google.
In my view, the path that Google is taking is fundamentally flawed. Yes, it may make short-term financial sense to force advertisers down a path that means they have to compete against each other for a smaller range of phrases that are allowed to trigger advert. But the end result will be small businesses who can’t afford to pay those levels of click costs and so they’ll take their advertising budgets elsewhere.
Above all else, what it should also come down to is advertiser choice. If, for example, I want to have an advert display when people type “purple widgets with red spots” then surely that’s my right as an advertiser? I fully accept that I wouldn’t get many clicks and I also accept that I’d still have to offer higher click cost allowances because the generic ‘purple widgets’ advertisers would still appear if people type my phrase. However, if if I’ve got a reasonable advert positioning (i.e. I’m offering a good budget and good cost per click) then whenever someone types “purple widgets with red spots” then I’m much more likely to gain the click than the other adverts around me. The clicks may be really low in numbers but what I’m after is quality of clicks and I’d apply this to other parts of the PPC campaign (e.g. “brown widgets with yellow spots”) so that I end up with lots of clicks of relatively small numbers for numerous different phrases.
Unfortunately, as things stand though, the Google system appears to be blocking those advertisers who innovate and do exactly what they should be doing, which is to create keyword phrases that link in tightly to the advert text and also the website. Longer-term, Google will find that the small business market (who, after all, got it where it is today) will desert them because of the increasing costs per click and the inability to innovate through niche keyword phrases.
