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PPC Demographics…. Mystified
May 08, 2007
I quite frequently run across strange ‘anomalies’ where a particular client will do well at one search engine and poorly at another. The obvious question is why? The obvious answer is …………well, there is no obvious answer but let me share the thought process with you.
It goes something like this……
Me: Why in world is ABC doing better at Google than they are at Yahoo?
Myself: Maybe it’s the different technical aspects to the PPC campaigns…..
Me: Hmmmm, that’s a good idea but I don’t think that’s it. I mean they both have a title, they both allow 70 characters, and they both try to rank based on quality issues.
Myself: Ok, so your saying technically there is no difference?
Me: Well…….there is a difference, just not a vast chasm.
Myself: So we can use the same campaign at both places?
Me: Not exactly, its okay to start with similar ones. They have to be fed to the engines in separate ways, but other than that……
Myself: So how does this help me with the why?
Me: I’m just trying to think the process through to identify or eliminate things.
Myself: Ah, okay. So what’s the next ‘step in the process’
Me: Well, the next step is the ‘creative’ side of things, you know, what the ad’s actually say.
Myself: Hmmmmmm that sounds logical. You’re saying that the ‘audience’ could be different at Yahoo than it is at Google?
Me: Exactly! Not only that, but the market share could differ from industry to industry based on demographic as well.
Myself: Wow! Why do you think that?
Me: Just observations at this point. I mean there really isn’t hard data to support this that I’ve run across. The closest I’ve come are market share reports for keywords.
Myself: That sounds like a start. What have you ‘noticed’ about the different engines?
Me: Well, now remember this is only speculative but……….Google seems to have more of the ‘business crowd’. The more high dollar value the item/search, the more success they seem to have at Google. Yahoo seems to be more of the non-business crowd with lower dollar value search items. Now I have seen high ticket items do well on Yahoo, but they tend be community based like, the racing community, or the hiking community, or the camping community. {DISCLAIMER: THESE ARE PURELY FICTIONAL COMMUNITIES}
Myself: Ahhhh, so by community you mean a group of people who share the same interests?
Me: Exactly. I would go further and say that they like to only go to one place to do things online. I.e. they probably use Yahoo mail, search the web through Yahoo, and connect with others through Yahoo.
Myself: That’s a pretty interesting theory. Seems to make sense though. You’ve failed to mention MSN though.
Me: Who? Oh yeah, MSN. Well, as of press time they are trying to make a splash by purchasing Yahoo but that would add how much market share to Yahoo’s 20-30%? About 5% by my [unscientific] estimate. MSN Paid Search seems to well if you’re targeting people who never change the browser after they buy it from Best Buy, Fry’s, and (Insert Big Box Store Name Here).
Myself: Isn’t that kind of harsh?
Me: Not really, when people ask me about what I do, most of them still aren’t aware that there are actually paid ad’s in search results.
Myself: Seriously!?!?!
Me: Yeah, it’s true, but that discussion is for another day – suffice to say that it’s important to think outside the ‘bubble’ of SEO when considering our audience and what our clients are trying to get the word out on.
That last sentence is important enough to repeat: It’s important to think outside the ‘bubble’ of SEO when considering our audience and what our clients are trying to get the word out on. In the same way that TV runs the Captain Crunch commercials on Saturday morning and not during the football game, it’s vitally important to be cognizant of our audience and where they are ‘at’ on the Internet.
see all posts by Brent Sharp
posted by Brent Sharp at May 8, 2007 11:28 AM
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