The Conversion Optimiser is multi-dimensional bid management.
| Simple Bid Management | Multi-dimensional Bid Management |
|---|---|
| Varies bids by keyword only | Considers many other factors that indicate the value of a click (user location, match quality, user query, content site, etc.) |
| No other factors taken into account | Optimises performance in real time based on the specific characteristics of each auction |
| Examples: manual bid management, third party bid management | Opportunity to achieve much better performance |
For example, Tim sells custom surfboards online.
Over the past year, Tim has been excited about how many sales Google AdWords has driven to his business. During that time, he used both the Search and Content Networks to bring qualified traffic to his site. Now that Tim has a solid account foundation set, he is looking for ways to improve performance. After a little research, he decides that Google’s Conversion Optimiser is the best way to improve campaign performance while saving him time. Having successfully activated the Conversion Optimiser feature, Tim allows several days to pass before analysing performance and making adjustments. When he finally checks his campaigns’ performance, he is happy to see that his average CPA has gone down by almost 5%. However, Tim remembers reading that it was a good practice to test out several max CPA levels, in order to find the level that maximises profit. He decides to experiment by raising his max CPA by £10, which leads to several more conversions at almost the same average CPA.
Here are two broad match keywords from Tim’s account:
Simple Bid Management
Before installing Conversion Optimiser, Tim chose different bids for each of these keywords, but used the same bid for all the clicks on each keyword. Simple bid management misses out on opportunities to differentiate between clicks.
Multi-dimensional Bidding
Now that the Conversion Optimiser is installed, it is able to analyse past performance data and begin to optimise based on many more factors. In Tim’s case, two major areas for improvement Conversion Optimiser identifies are: user location and strong performing broad match queries.
Candice sells new and vintage film posters online. She has been using contextual targeting to reach potential customers while they spend time on film blogs, read online entertainment magazines and chat with fellow film buffs on cinema discussion boards. The Content Network has brought a lot of sales to her shop, but after looking at her key performance metrics, she thinks there is still room for improvement.
Candice decides to use the Conversion Optimiser. Setting up the feature is quick and easy; she starts with the recommended maximum CPA bid, which helps to ensure a smooth transition. She then fills in some basic information and then lets Conversion Optimiser do the rest. A few weeks later, Candice checks her campaign’s performance and is delighted to see that her average CPA has dropped by several pounds and her conversion rate has improved by over 0.5%! How did Conversion Optimiser accomplish this?
In order to improve Candice’s Content campaign performance, Conversion Optimiser examined the campaign’s historical and current performance. Here are three sample websites where Candice’s ads appeared on the Content Network: