Google Ads
AdWords has evolved into Google's main source of revenue, contributing to Google's total advertising revenues of USD $95.4 billion in 2017. AdWords offers services under a pay-per-click (PPC) pricing model. Although an advanced bidding strategy can be used to automatically reach a predefined cost-per-acquisition (CPA), this should not be confused with a true CPA pricing model.
The AdWords program includes local, national, and international distribution. Google's text advertisements are short, consisting of two headlines with a maximum of 30 characters each, a description with a maximum of 80 characters, and a display URL of 40 characters.These are called Adwords expanded text Ads. These mimic what the average search result looks like on Google. Image ads can be one of the several different standardized sizes as designated by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). In May 2016, Google announced its reformatting of ads to help consumers and advertisers succeed in a mobile-first world. The new format, called Expanded Text Ads, allows for 23% more text. This new format is available on both the Google Search Network and the Google Display network. It features two headlines with 30 characters each, replacing the standard of a single headline with 30 characters. The display URL has been replaced with two 15 character paths, not including the root domain.
Sales and support for Google's AdWords division in the United States is based in Mountain View, California, with major secondary offices in Hyderabad, Dublin, Singapore, Ann Arbor and New York City. The third-largest US facility is the Googleplex,[8] Google's headquarters, which is located in Mountain View, California. Google AdWords engineering is based at the Googleplex, with major secondary offices in Los Angeles and New York.
As of June 2018, Google derives 86% of its total revenues from trading advertising inventory through AdWords, DoubleClick AdExchange, and DoubleClick Bid Manager, among others.
History
Former logo of the service
Google launched AdWords in 2000. At first, AdWords advertisers paid for the service monthly, and Google would set up and manage their campaign. To accommodate small businesses and those who wanted to manage their own campaigns, Google soon introduced the AdWords self-service portal. In 2005, Google started a campaign management service called Jumpstart.
In 2005, Google launched the Google Advertising Professional (GAP) Program to certify individuals and companies who completed AdWords training and passed an exam.[citation needed]
In 2008, Google launched the Google Online Marketing Challenge,an in-class academic exercise for tertiary students.[12] Over 8,000 students from 47 countries participated in the challenge in 2008, over 10,000 students from 58 countries took part in 2009, about 12,000 students in 2010, and almost 15,000 students from 70 countries in 2011. The Challenge runs annually, roughly from January to June.
In April 2013, Google announced plans to add enhanced campaigns for AdWords to aid with campaign management catered to multiple-device users. The enhanced campaigns were described as aiming to include advanced reports about users. This move has been controversial among advertisers.
In July 2016, Google unveiled "Showcase Shopping" ads. With this format, retailers can choose to have a series of images appear in search results related to various search queries and keywords.
In October 2017, Google revised AdWords daily budget caps, which were previously set at a maximum of 120% of preset daily budgets, to a maximum of 200%. This change was rolled out on the same day it was announced, prompting criticism from paid search professionals, though Google later clarified that this change would affect only short-term campaigns of less than 30 days, and that for campaigns running more than 30 days, overage charges would be refunded.
On June 27, 2018, Google announced a rebranding of Google AdWords to become Google Ads as of July 24, 2018. In addition to the full range of advertising capabilities on Google.com and across other Google's properties, partner sites and apps, the new Google Ads will offer Smart Campaigns for small businesses who don’t have the time or resources to manage complex digital advertising campaigns.
Features and services
IP address exclusion
In addition to controlling ad placements through targeting audiences based on location and language usage, ad placements can be refined with Internet Protocol (IP) address exclusion. This feature enables advertisers to exclude specified IP address ranges if they do not want their ads to appear there. Advertisers can exclude up to 500 IP addresses per campaign.
AdWords Express
Main article: Google Adwords Express
Google AdWords Express is a feature aimed at small businesses that attempts to reduce the difficulty of managing ad campaigns by automatically managing keywords and ad placement. AdWords Express was previously known as Google Boost.
AdWords Express also supports small businesses that do not have a website by allowing them to direct customers to their Google Place page.
Google Partners
Google Partners, originally known as Google AdWords Certification Program or Google AdWords Certification, is a Google AdWords partner certification program. To become AdWords certified, clients need to pass the AdWords Fundamentals exam and one of the other Advanced AdWords exams such as Search Advertising, Display Advertising, Video Advertising, Shopping Advertising, and Mobile Advertising. As of January 16, 2018, certification exams moved from Google Partners to Google Academy for Ads.
It replaced Google Advertising Professionals in April 2010, with updates ranging from amended criteria for entries and changes to the exam requirements. The program continues to certify consultants to help the increasing number of Google AdWords clients with AdWords campaigns. The program contains one fundamental exam and five advanced exams.
In order to be individually qualified, a person must pass the program exams. The AdWords qualifications received vary based on which advance exams the individual passes. Google Partners must continue with their best practices by engaging with ongoing professional development. One accredited individual must be certified (two individuals for Google Premier Partners) and a minimum spend threshold of US$10,000 over 90 days must be maintained, with a higher spend threshold for Google Premier Partners.
Placement-targeted advertisements (formerly Site-Targeted Advertisements)
In 2003 Google introduced site-targeted advertising. Using the AdWords control panel, advertisers can enter keywords, domain names, topics, and demographic targeting preferences. Based on this, Google places ads on relevant sites within the content network. If domain names are targeted, Google also provides a list of related sites for placement. Advertisers bid on a cost-per-impression (CPI) or cost-per-click (CPC) basis for site targeting.
With placement targeting, it is possible for an ad to take up an entire ad block instead of splitting the ad into two to four ads. This leads to higher ad visibility for the advertiser.
The minimum cost-per-thousand impressions bid for placement-targeted campaigns is 25 cents. There is no minimum CPC bid.
Remarketing
Remarketing is an AdWords feature that allows marketers to show advertisements to users that have previously visited their website. This feature also allows marketers to create different audience lists based on the behaviors of website visitors in order to serve relevant ads to these segmented audiences. Remarketing Lists for Search (RLSA) via Google Analytics became available in Google AdWords in early June 2015, allowing for the use of standard GA remarketing lists to plan traditional text search ads.
A more advanced subtype of remarketing is dynamic remarketing through which advertisers can show past visitors the specific products or services they viewed to further customize the ad experience. This subtype is especially used by e-commerce websites that foster a diverse range of products and services and need to have their remarketing messages relevant to users.[citation needed]
While remarketing is a mainstream practice, it remains to be perceived as an intrusive one to many users as they might feel annoyingly stalked all over the internet. So, it is recommended for AdWords advertisers to dive deep into optimization practices such as frequency capping so that their remarketing efforts won't backfire and build customer dissatisfaction and distress instead of brand awareness and sales.
Ad Extensions
Ad extensions allow advertisers to show extra information with their ads, such as a business address, phone number, or web page links. Ad extensions are created to improve ad visibility and attract clicks. They appear with the Search Network, above search results, and at time on the Display Network.
AdWords shows extensions when it calculates that the extensions will improve the advertiser's campaign performance, or when an ad is ranked high enough for it to appear.
Manual extensions
App extensions - Allow advertisers to provide a link below the ad text directing users to a mobile or tablet app.
Call extensions - Allow advertisers to include a clickable phone number in their ads.
Location Extensions - Allow advertisers to show their business address, phone number, and map marker.
Review extensions - Allow advertisers to showcase positive, third-party reviews from reputable sources.
Sitelinks extensions - Allow advertisers to add additional links below their ads.
Callout extensions - Allow advertisers to add additional descriptive text.
Structured Snippet Extensions - Allow advertisers to add up to two predefined headers (product or service) like brands or degrees.
Price Extensions - Allow advertisers to display prices for products or services.
Click-To-Message Extensions - Allows advertisers to connect with advertisers via SMS apps.[28]
Promotion Extensions - Allow advertisers to highlight sales and promotions that a business has to offer.
Automated Extensions
Adwords creates and displays automated extensions when the system predicts they will improve performance. Automated extensions include:
Consumer Ratings
Seller Ratings
Previous Visits
Dynamic Sitelink Extensions
Dynamic Structured Snippets
Google Click-to-Call
Google Click-to-Call was a service provided by Google which allowed users to call advertisers straight from Google search results pages. Users entered their phone numbers and Google would connect the call to the advertiser. Google paid for the calling charges. The service was discontinued in 2007.[29] For some time, similar click-to-call functionality was available for results in Google Maps. In the Froyo release of Google's Android operating system, certain advertisements included a very similar functionality. In iOS, phone numbers are automatically recognized as such. Web developers can also provide direct links to the Phone application, providing similar functionality.
Google now offers a mobile click-to-call function which allows searchers to call a business directly rather than going to their website.
Google Adwords Customer Match
Due to the influence of brand messaging on consumer purchasing habits, Google expanded Adwords to include a Customer Match service. Customer Match allows advertisers to show ads to customers based on data they share with Google, as well as allowing advertisers to bid and create ads tailored to customers.
