Paid Search

Close Variant Match Type: Time to Benchmark is Now!

Suzy Sandberg Digital Marketing General, Holiday Online Retail, Online Retail Marketing, Paid Search , , , , , , ,

close-variant-match-typeWith the recent announcement that at the end of September Google will remove the ability for search marketers to opt out of close variant matching for exact and phrase keywords, there is less than a month away to benchmark the impact of this change before it is gone for good.

When Google first implemented the close variant match type feature in 2012, which enables search queries that contain plurals, abbreviations and misspellings to trigger exact match or phrase match ads, 80% of search advertisers began using it (granted, using it by default since they have to manually opt out to disable it).  Continue reading →

Real-Time Marketing: How to Leverage a Sudden Surge in Impressions

Suzy Sandberg Back to School Marketing, Digital Marketing General, Holiday Online Retail, Online Retail Marketing, Paid Search, Social Display , , , , , , , , ,

Real time marketing leverages a surge in impressionsOne of the hottest trends in digital right now is real-time marketing.   The goal of real-time marketing is to leverage an abberationally high level of impressions in order to yield sales.

We are in the midst of one of those moments in which back-to-school searches and social impressions are at their peak for the year.  By now, most retailers for whom back to school matters have already built strategies and are executing against them in an attempt to win the highest impression share possible on key terms.  Other important retail events that drive huge impression volume throughout the year are Continue reading →

The Role of Non-Brand Text Ads in an Evolving SERP

Suzy Sandberg Digital Marketing General, Holiday Online Retail, Mobile Marketing, Online Retail Marketing, Paid Search , , , , , , , ,

Non-brand paid search text ads are decliningThe Google SERP now presents three types of formats when someone searches for a product:  Organic, PLAs, and Non-Brand Text Ads.  These same three options have existed for a few years, but the PLAs used to be buried below the fold and were called Product Search (and Froogle, a really long time ago).

All search marketers know that visibility drives volume, and with PLAs now showing at the top of the page and non-brand text pushed below the fold, clicks to the image-friendly PLAs have soared; whereas, clicks to non-brand text ads are on the decline.  Continue reading →