Matt Cutts says you can’t buy it, and we certainly want to honor Google’s TOS. Can we just be the first to say #WTF are you teasing us? SRSLY? G giveth and G taketh away, and we’re buying Google psychographic page post amplication ads while we can. You may want to as well 🙂
Before you get too excited, keep in mind the discussions regarding Google abandoning G+:
What Would Happen If Google Really Killed G+? – Danny Sullivan
Google Is Reportedly Set To Carve Up Its Failed Social Network Google+Â -Â Lisa Eadicicco
However, if things remain how they are, we’ve got a whole different ball game ahead of us.
SRSLY, what a month for AdWords PPC heads! Over the coming month, AdWords will integrate additional automated bidding, reporting and testing bells and whistles into the UI. AdWords blew out TrueView InSearch ads in favor of the InDisplay ads (really just semantics) then cranked out Engagement Lightbox video ads. Universal Analytics FINALLY supports site remarketing capabilities in full, which means building comprehensive cross-device user lists.
#OohShiny
Engagement ads, recently rolled out to all company pages with over 1k followers, allow companies a dramatic ability to amplify G+ interactions across the Google Display Network for users with high-speed connections. Beyond obvious benefits, these ads pose serious SEO implications. We’ve been talking about paid organic in social in and across channels for years, now the new social is AdWords.
The G-mashup is deeper than a new social ad unit that builds community and amplifies engagement and a hot method to aid organic ranking. Social signals are now available for purchase from the very search engine companies continually strive to gain organic lift from.
Keep in mind companies need to have 1k or more followers to be eligible for Engagement ads. Marketers take heed, now more than ever it is imperative to build company +Profiles in order to harness the suite of social amplification ad units.
Following is a screenshot of initial results from an Engagement campaign we are running. Notice those solid GDN CTRs.
You may be saying to yourself, those are similar CTRs to Facebook news feed and Twitter ads. The difference is that these ads hail from Google Display Network. Other image display ad units in these same ad spots see half the CTR, if they’re good. The reach and engagement you can get at that CTR and impression volume can move the needle, and fast while maintaining precision.
Below is one of the ad units as well as a preview of what it would look like in the wild.
+Post Ad
3 Video Lightbox
Here is what the below unit would look like in the wild.
The ads have access to all targeting amenities in GDN, from affinities, in-market and household income to remarketing, topics/interests, display keywords, demographics and countless mash-ups there of.
Stay tuned. Over the coming weeks, we’ll be publishing our thoughts on how these changes will most likely impact marketers.
© Tomasz Bidermann – Fotolia