Every year, retailers and ad managers eye the calendar. They watch, they wait, and they plan months in advance for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. It’s a lot like the digital ad version of the Super Bowl for brands. In many industries, verticals, and specific companies, they operate at break-even (or even at a loss) through the year. The sales [...]

Working in different verticals will quickly teach you something about cost per click: it varies wildly.A CPC for a pair of sneakers will be in a totally different ballpark than searches for exterminator services, for example.In general, if what’s being advertised doesn’t cost much, the average CPC is lower.It’s really a function of economics for retailers and services: each sale [...]

Google has announced enhancements to their Smart Bidding algorithm, focused on more reporting insights and predictive features. The announcement comes on the heels of a blog post the day before encouraging advertisers to use Smart Bidding with Broad Match.Smart Bidding consists of several automated bid strategies that allow Google to manage bidding in real-time, based on account data and account [...]

Once upon a time, a conversion in PPC was simple.It meant someone completed an action you wanted – which usually meant a sale.As marketing grew more sophisticated and measurement capabilities evolved though, the term “conversion” got more complex and nuanced.How Have Conversions Changed?Instead of tracking one particular conversion, nowadays marketers focus on many desired user actions.These “micro-conversions” let marketers know [...]

Reddit has announced new options for greater advertiser control over where their ads show, in concert with their objectives and targeting goals. Rolling out today in ad accounts, Inventory Types give advertisers three levels to choose from.The announcement comes on the heels of a bumpy year for content standards on other platforms. Others like Facebook and YouTube publicly struggled with [...]

Confused about the difference between remarketing and retargeting?You aren’t alone!These terms are used interchangeably these days.But are they the same?Technically they aren’t!Remarketing and retargeting have similar goals.But there are also important differences you need to understand.Remarketing and retargeting differ in strategy – and who you are able to reach.Remarketing & Retargeting: Similar, But DifferentAdvertising managers spend a lot of time [...]

Google streamlined its audience options for Display, Discovery, Gmail and YouTube campaigns in an update announced this week. Previously, advertisers could set up audiences to be “custom intent” and “custom affinity.”These are now simply called “custom audiences.” They are set up in the Audiences section at the Campaign or Ad Group level.These audience types can also be set up in [...]

After auditing hundreds of Google Ads accounts over the years, I often see sneaky areas that can be a goldmine for tightening up results.An account audit often helps find where some revenue might be escaping.It can also reveal some costs that might be sneaking right by and impacting the bottom line.There are a million ways to audit an account and [...]

Facebook has announced a new initiative around the number of ads that can be shown by Pages based on their spend size.This new enforcement on ad limits will begin rolling out in February of next year, and continue through the summer.Why Limit Volume?Facebook is stressing more ad volume doesn’t mean better performance.Adding more of anything to Facebook creates the need [...]

Following suit with Amazon’s move, advertisers in the UK, Turkey, and Austria are going to feel the impact of the UK’s new Digital Service Tax (DST). The additional cost will be passed directly through to advertisers.The fees will kick in starting November 1. Advertisers running ads in Austria and Turkey will have a 5% tax, and advertisers in the UK [...]