Google Ads
Google Ads’ campaigns are a primary traffic and sales channel for many ecommerce businesses. Our vast library of Google Ads’ articles addresses setup, tag management, Google Shopping, structured data, automated bidding, and more.
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Google Ads
Understanding ‘Explanations’ in Google Ads
July 26, 2020 • Robert Brady
You may have noticed blue, hyperlinked performance stats recently in your Google Ads interface. This is a new feature called "explanations." In this post, I’ll explain explanations and how they can improve results.
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Google Ads
3 Ways to Scale Ecommerce with Data
July 9, 2020 • Anna Kayfitz
Scaling an ecommerce business requires insights into the market, consumers, and products. In this post, I'll address each aspect and how data can help.
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Google Ads
The Anatomy of a Text Ad
June 30, 2020 • Matthew Umbro
Google and Microsoft advertisers have had to rethink quality copy with the format of expanded text ads and responsive search ads. But the principles of the copy are the same for all pay-per-click ads: include the searcher's query, the product's value propositions, and a clear call-to-action.
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Google Ads
Guide to Google Ads Automated Bidding Options
June 4, 2020 • Matthew Umbro
Automated bids in Google Ads remove control from advertisers and rely on Google's algorithm for cost and performance. Google can set automated bids by the query, ad creative, apps, browser, language, operating system, and search partner. Plus, automated bidding utilizes first- and third-party data and other signals not available to advertisers directly.
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Google Ads
Don’t Drop Google Shopping Ads Despite the Free Listings
May 7, 2020 • Matthew Umbro
In a surprise, Google announced on April 21 that a portion of listings on the Google Shopping tab would be free. Google had required sellers to create a Merchant Center account and run Shopping Ads through Google Ads. Henceforth, sellers with Shopping listings will still need a Merchant Center account but not Google Ads.
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Google Ads
Google Brings Back Free Shopping Listings
April 30, 2020 • Jill Kocher Brown
This week, after a 12-year hiatus, Google reintroduced free listings to the shopping tab of search result pages. These free listings potentially fill a need that has been festering for years, enabling more ecommerce sites to compete in shopping searches.
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Google Ads
How to Use Competitors’ Names in Google Ads
April 20, 2020 • Robert Brady
A hotly debated topic in paid search marketing is bidding on competitors' names and phrases. The considerations go beyond legalities. Whether to do it, and how, is what I'll address in this post.
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Google Ads
In Google Ads, Balance Automated Bids with User Control
April 8, 2020 • Matthew Umbro
In "3 Handy Google Ads Scripts to Automate Tasks," I addressed methods to expedite pay-per-click management. But, in my experience, advertisers should cautiously embrace Google's push to automate campaigns. The key is to find the right balance of automation and user control.
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Google Ads
Performance Marketing in the Coronavirus Downturn
March 25, 2020 • Armando Roggio
Even in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, ecommerce merchants should optimize advertising campaigns. That includes performance marketing, which is online promotions that cost the advertiser only when a potential customer takes some action, such as clicking a pay-per-click ad or starting a chat on Facebook Messenger.
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Google Ads
Assessing All Google Ad Extensions for 2020 (and a Couple from Microsoft)
March 3, 2020 • Matthew Umbro
Extensions complement text ads on search engines by providing helpful info for consumers and occupying more space in search results. Nonetheless, advertisers often underutilize extensions, in my experience. In this post, I’ll explain all Google ad extensions and a couple that are Microsoft-only.
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Google Ads
Google to Show Shopping Ads in Gmail
February 12, 2020 • Robert Brady
I received an email a few days ago from Google, stating that Shopping ads would appear in Gmail starting the week of March 4. What will this look like? What action(s) should merchants take? I'll dig deeper in this post.
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Google Ads
3 New Google Ads Image Formats Could Help Merchants
February 4, 2020 • Matthew Umbro
Ads on Google have historically been mostly text. But the trend is changing. Google now offers three image-based ad formats in beta. All could help ecommerce merchants.
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Google Ads
My 3 Favorite Google Ads’ Filters
January 22, 2020 • Robert Brady
Filters in Google Ads save time. They can be applied to virtually any reporting column. Instead of scrolling through row after row of data, we could apply filters to show only the most important info.
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Google Ads
Using Google’s Dynamic Ads to Personalize, Drive Conversions
January 6, 2020 • Matthew Umbro
Merchants strive to make their Google Ads stand out. They may use value-adds and credibility factors to differentiate from competitors. But the dynamic component of ad copy is typically a better option.
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Google Ads
How SEM Agencies Help Ecommerce Businesses
December 19, 2019 • Armando Roggio
Search engine marketing is an important sales driver for the ecommerce industry. But as an online business grows or faces new competitive challenges, it may need outside marketing expertise. What follows are several good reasons to consider an SEM agency.
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Google Ads
Google Ads Now Includes Location Extensions Automatically
December 8, 2019 • Robert Brady
If you have not connected your Google Ads account to a Google My Business location, Google will now link them if it detects a shared domain and country. Once linked, Google will show location extensions in your Google Ads unless you opt out.
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Google Ads
3 Handy Google Ads Scripts to Automate Tasks
November 25, 2019 • Matthew Umbro
I am not usually a proponent of automating paid search campaigns. But one aspect of automation that I've found helpful is Google Ads scripts. In this post, I'll address three that are especially useful.
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Google Ads
Using Audiences in Google Search Campaigns
October 25, 2019 • Matthew Umbro
Google Ads announced this month two new enhancements for search campaigns: affinity audiences and in-market audiences for seasonal events. The release follows Google’s push for advertisers to layer audiences on their search campaigns.
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Google Ads
Learning from Google’s Responsive Ad Units
October 8, 2019 • Robert Brady
Google's responsive ads are among the easiest ways to leverage machine learning to improve performance. So let’s look at what we can learn from the machines.
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Google Ads
Do Responsive Search Ads Improve Performance?
October 1, 2019 • Matthew Umbro
The principal benefit of responsive search ads is efficiency. Advertisers can input many messages, and the platform (Google or Bing) will find the winning combinations. The drawbacks are a loss of control and transparency.
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Google Ads
Google Ads Expands Keyword Variant Matching, Again
September 9, 2019 • Robert Brady
Over the past couple of years, Google Ads has expanded the use of close keyword variants from misspellings and plurals to implied words and paraphrases. Now, Google has again expanded the use of close variants.
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Google Ads
Understanding Google Ads’ New Conversion Action Sets
September 2, 2019 • Matthew Umbro
Google Ads' advertisers use conversion tracking for keywords and ad copy. A "conversion" could be a sale or a visitor filling out the contact-us form. Conversion action sets allow advertisers to establish conversion priorities and optimize accordingly.
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Google Ads
How Google Collects Data to Personalize Ads
May 23, 2019 • Robert Brady
Google does most of its tracking through a user's account. If you’re logged in on your phone or browser, Google is accumulating a lot of data. And it's willing to show you. To see what Google believes you’re interested in, navigate to Ad Settings.
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Google Ads
Comparing SEO to PPC
May 3, 2019 • Jill Kocher Brown
Search engine optimization is different than pay-per-click advertising. While they share the goal of driving searchers to a website, you can’t expect the immediate results in SEO that paid search often produces. Likewise, approaching PPC with an SEO orientation misses opportunities.
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Google Ads
Google Ads Keyword Planner Gets an Upgrade
April 11, 2019 • Robert Brady
The other day I went to the Keyword Planner in Google Ads. I was greeted by a lightbox message that stated, “A Better Keyword Planner.” The box said six "key features" were improved. Here's my take on the changes.
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Google Ads
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Merchant Voice
How Google Shopping has affected my ecommerce site
April 1, 2019 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth
It’s been more than six months since I started advertising on Google Shopping. It has greatly improved my revenue, as well as traffic to my site. In this post, I'll recap the metrics.
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Google Ads
Boost Google Ads’ Quality Score for PPC Success
March 14, 2019 • Armando Roggio
Google Ads' quality score is a bid multiplier that can make purchasing ads on the popular pay-per-click advertising platform less expensive. A high quality score is also a strong indicator of PPC success, so boosting an ad's quality score could lead to more interactions and sales.
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Google Ads
Google Shopping Campaigns Could See 10 Percent More Impressions
March 12, 2019 • Robert Brady
A recent change by Google Ads could increase impressions by 3 to 10 percent for advertisers that use Shopping campaigns but opt out of the Search Partners network. Here’s what you need to know.
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Google Ads
How to Structure Google Ads Text Campaigns for Ecommerce
March 11, 2019 • Armando Roggio
Text-based, pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is a fundamental part of promoting an ecommerce business. These seemingly simple ads can appear higher on a search results page than organic listings and they can target potential customers actively seeking the products your business sells.
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Google Ads
Say Goodbye to ‘Average Position’ Metric in Google Ads
February 27, 2019 • Robert Brady
Last year Google Ads finally transitioned all advertisers to its new interface. There were many changes. One was that "Average Position" no longer appeared in a column by default. And now Google has made it official.
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