Every day, approximately 3.5 billion searches are performed on Google. And each search is an opportunity to raise awareness of your brand among a larger user base. This translates to increased leads, conversions, and ultimately, sales.
This is where Google Ads comes in. Google Ads is a paid online advertising platform offered by Google. Initially called Google AdWords, the search engine company rebranded the service as Google Ads in 2018. Its operation is quite simple: when users search for a keyword, they get results for their query on a search. These results may include a paid advertisement that has targeted that keyword. But how exactly does Google Ads work to attract new customers? The answer is coming right up.
How do Google Ads work?
Google Ads operates on a pay -per-click (PPC) model. Advertisers target a specific keyword on Google and bid on that keyword, competing with other advertisers also targeting that keyword. The bids you make are "maximum bids," meaning the maximum you're willing to pay for an ad. It's similar to an auction.
For example, if your maximum bid is $4 and Google determines your cost per click to be $2, you get the ad placement! If it determines the cost per click to be greater than $4, you do not get the ad placement.
You can also set a maximum daily budget for your ad. You will never spend more than a specific amount per day on that ad. This allows you to have a better idea of the budget to allocate to your advertising campaign digital.
Marketers have three options for their bids:
- Cost per click (CPC): The amount you pay when a user clicks on your ad.
- Cost per mille (CPM): How much you pay for 1000 ad impressions.
- Cost per engagement (CPE): How much you pay when a user performs a specific action on your ad (signing up to a list, watching a video, etc.).
Google then takes the bid amount and associates it with an evaluation of your ad called a “quality score”.
The score ranges from 1 to 10, with 10 being the best score. The higher your score, the better your ranking and the less you'll have to spend to convert your ads. Your Quality Score, combined with your bid amount, determines your ad's position on the search results page.
The different types of Google advertising campaigns
Google offers different types of campaigns that you can use:
- Research campaign
- Poster campaign
- Purchasing campaign
- Video campaign
- App campaign
Let's now examine each type of campaign to see how they work and which ones you should choose.
Research campaign
Search campaign ads appear as text ads on the search results page for the keyword. These are probably the ads you're most familiar with. They appear on the search results page with the black "Ad" symbol next to the URL.
The buying campaign
A shopping campaign allows you to promote your products in a much more visual way. These ads can appear as images on the search results page and in Google Shopping.
If you have a physical product, Google Shopping ads can help you get leads by showcasing your product directly to customers.
Display Campaign
The Google Display Network leverages Google's vast network of partner websites to show your ad on various websites across the internet. There are several ways your ad can appear. First, your ad can appear on third-party websites. You can also have a video ad appear as a pre-roll before YouTube videos.
Google also allows you to advertise on its Gmail platform: Gmail Advertising
Finally, you can have your ad appear in third-party apps on the Google App Network: Google App Network Ads
Video campaign
These are advertisements that appear at the front of YouTube videos in the form of pre-rolls.
Google offers the option to choose specific video ads, rather than more general advertising on the Display Network.
This is perfect if you have a great video ad idea that you want to test.
ads campaign come in various forms. There are video ads skippable
App campaign
Like video ads, app ads are also included in the Display Network but can be used for targeted campaigns.
In this case, you don't design each individual app ad. Instead, they take your text and assets, such as photos, and deliver the ad for you. The algorithm tests different combinations of assets and most often uses the one that yields the best results.
Now that you have a general idea of what Google Ads is, could this platform be right for your business ? Most likely, yes. Because in 2013, 1.5 million businesses generated $111 billion in revenue using Google's search and advertising tools. Why not yours? Advertising on Google can be extremely beneficial for any business with a solid strategy. And what's the best strategy? That's a story for another time, which we'll cover in a future article.
