How DuckDuckGo (and Microsoft) benefit from Google’s sprawling advertising business
Smaller search engines are able to monetize their results with Google’s advertiser base to reach searchers on those properties with as few obstacles as possible.
Contributor
Andy Taylor's latest articles
2020 Google paid search trends that have nothing to do with the pandemic
With close variant taking the place of broad match, limiting keywords isn't enough for keeping query-to-keyword matches tight.
The importance of valuing latent orders to successful Amazon Sponsored Products management
Advertisers must consider the lag time between ad click and conversion as well as historic performance around key days to estimate shift.
The importance of building brand awareness through Amazon advertising
Marketers should be looking at the brand-building potential across both display and search ads because Amazon is not just about direct response anymore.
Paid search trends to watch for the 2019 holiday shopping season
Google Shopping will likely be the star of retail, and Maps will play a larger role for retailers with physical stores, but Amazon is poised to play the Grinch.
With loss of Yahoo and image search, Google Shopping search partner traffic nosedives
While it is a small fraction of Shopping traffic, the partner network can help advertisers currently excluding this traffic to grow moving forward, particularly in a competitive Q4 holiday season.
Be smart, advertisers. Here’s how to approach rising Google brand CPC
While we are at the mercy of Google’s auction systems in determining CPC, we can install safeguards to ensure increases are controlled.
Google is right; click-through and conversion rates kinda don’t matter
Say what? Turns out you may be focusing on the wrong things if you're fixated on click-through and conversion rates. Here are a number of reasons why.
The Google expanded text ad CTR lift that never was
Contributor Andy Taylor shares his take on Google's expanded text ads (ETAs), drawing comparisons to the new responsive search ad (RSA) format.
The status of Google’s presence in Google Shopping Auctions
Google has long been visible in these auctions, not only through Express but also Play and Store. Contributor Andy Taylor evaluates its presence and assesses how it's changed over time.
Look Ma, no keywords! Phrase-free AdWords campaigns are here
Contributor Andy Taylor discusses Google's new Local Search Ads Experiment in AdWords, which uses address and location categories in lieu of keywords to trigger relevant local results.
Phrase, broad, or broad match modifier: After exact, what’s the next best match type?
Contributor Andy Taylor answers by sharing research that shows deploying multiple match types produces little difference between phrase and broad match options.
Is holiday paid search more competitive in 2017 than 2016?
Columnist Andy Taylor explores year-over-year Auction Insights data from AdWords, revealing insights into this year's holiday paid search landscape.
Amazon Prime Day’s surprising effects on Google AdWords performance
Columnist Andy Taylor dives into Merkle advertiser performance data to explore the impact of Amazon's recent Prime Day sale.
Early performance results from Google’s update to close variants
What impact has Google's latest update to close variants had on paid search performance? Columnist Andy Taylor reviews the data.
How to compare paid search and organic search without sounding foolish
Which search channel is better: paid or organic? Columnist Andy Taylor argues that there is no simple answer to this question, despite what some practitioners may want to believe.
What your paid search KPI says about you
Every advertiser measures success based on key performance indicators (KPIs) that they deem relevant. Columnist Andy Taylor asks, What do your chosen KPIs say about your priorities?
Google Maps ad traffic steadily growing
Columnist Andy Taylor of Merkle shares data on the growth of ad traffic from Google Maps, including conversion rate and CPC data by device.
Google’s location tracking is better now than ever before
Columnist Andy Taylor notes that Google has improved its ability to track search traffic at the ZIP code level, which is good news for advertisers who employ granular geographic targeting.
When should advertisers consider pausing Google Local Inventory Ads?
Retailers that sell online and in-store need to balance where to send users in their paid search efforts. Columnist Andy Taylor explores when advertisers might want to rely on local inventory versus regular product listing ads.
Three well-meaning paid search optimizations that might kill performance
That recent adjustment to your paid search campaign seemed like a good idea at the time, but now you're seeing a drop in performance. How could this happen? Columnist Andy Taylor notes some common issues that arise from well-intended optimization choices.
The limitations of Facebook’s anti-discrimination policy and others like it
Facebook recently removed "Ethnic Affinities" targeting on its ad platform, but contributor Andy Taylor notes that this update only addresses the most immediate and obvious ways discrimination based on ethnicity can be perpetrated.
What Google’s recent RLSA updates mean for advertisers
Columnist Andy Taylor discusses the impact of two recent changes to Remarketing List for Search Ads announced at SMX East 2016 -- expanded RLSA membership duration and cross-device retargeting.
The biggest Google ad updates are also the quietest
Advertisers have seen many big updates from Google over the past year, but columnist Andy Taylor makes the case that the most impactful updates may well have been the least publicized.
Getting to the bottom of Google expanded text ad CTR and CPC
Google has rolled out expanded text ads to all advertisers, so how does this new ad format compare to standard text ads? Columnist Andy Taylor shares some data from a recent Merkle study.
Three of the most important data segmentations for any Google paid search analysis
Wondering how to make sense of your AdWords accounts? Columnist Andy Taylor discusses how to segment your paid search data for meaningful insights.
Why retailers shouldn’t overreact to the voice search revolution
Columnist Andy Taylor of Merkle|RKG shares data and provides insight into how voice search is impacting retailers.
Well played, Google: Advertisers (finally) get more device bidding controls
The most widely disparaged aspect of Advanced Campaigns is eliminated at last. Contributor Andy Taylor extols the change, explains what it means for marketers and makes a couple of suggestions for further improvement.
First-page minimum bids continue to rise in wake of Google desktop SERP changes
Columnist Andy Taylor discusses AdWords bidding trends following Google's move to eliminate right-rail ads and show four top-of-page ads for some queries.
How New & Existing Customers Interact With Your Paid Search Ads Differently
Columnist Andy Taylor shares data from Merkle|RKG that illustrates how users behave when clicking on ads and how they evaluate ad choices on a SERP.
Google Search Partner Network: Friend Or Foe?
To include search partners or not to include search partners? That is the question for many AdWords advertisers. To help answer this question, columnist Andy Taylor shares data on search partner ad performance.
RLSA Vs. Customer Match In AdWords: Similar But Different
How does AdWords' new Customer Match product compare to Remarketing Lists for Search Ads (RLSA)? Columnist Andy Taylor explores.
Google’s Efforts To Monetize Mobile Pay Off, But Sites See A Hit To Organic Visits
Columnist Andy Taylor discusses how recent changes Google has made to its mobile SERP layouts are impacting mobile ad spend.