The Dawn of Paid Search Without Keywords
We've seen dramatic departures in every step of how you advertise on Google. These changes underlie some of the key trends that will shape paid search this year.
We've seen dramatic departures in every step of how you advertise on Google. These changes underlie some of the key trends that will shape paid search this year.
This will be a pivotal year for paid search advertising. Trends set into motion last year — new ad formats, an emphasis on display, a local PPC push — are on a collision course with the new complexity in advertising and the maturation of online marketing.
This year will fundamentally change how we think about and buy access to prospects, namely keywords. It is the dawn of paid search without keywords.
Changes from 2010: Universal Paid Search
For years, Google’s search results were dominated by the “10 blue links” — simple headlines, descriptions, and URLs to entice and satisfy searchers. Until it wasn’t. Universal search wove in images, video, and real-time updates.
For most of its history, too, AdWords been presented in a text format even as the search results morphed into a multimedia experience. The result is that attention was pulled towards organic results at the expense of ads.
Google countered that trend with their big push for universal paid search in 2010. It was, perhaps, the most radical evolution to the paid search results since the introduction of Quality Score. Consider the changes:
Of those changes, Google Product Listing Ads and Google Boost offer the best glimpse into the future of paid search without keywords. They’re notable for dramatic departures in every step of how you advertise on Google:
These changes underlie some of the key trends that will shape paid search in 2011.
Trends that Will Shape Paid Search in 2011
For Google to continue their pace of growth, they need two things:
As ad formats and advertising choices multiply, so does complexity. The third barrier to incremental growth is bringing new advertisers into the market and generating add-on revenue from existing advertisers. That requires reducing barriers to entry and scale.
The solution to both of these problems was laid out in part in Nick Fox’s keynote at Search Engine Strategies in 2009. His vision of search in five years is already here today. My prediction is that paid search without keywords will become even more prominent in 2011.
The Dawn of Paid Search Without Keywords
As search marketers, we’re used to buying based on intent as expressed in the search query. We do that primarily through keywords paired with match types and bids.
In paid search without keywords, intent is just one of five ways we’ll target prospects:
We’re seeing this already today in various forms, such as Product Listing ads and buying on the Display Network. Kevin Lee offers a compelling vision of how real-time bidding could further expand the way we buy paid search.
How We’ll Advertise on Google
The difference between how we buy paid search today and buying without keywords is fundamentally about subtraction instead of addition.
Think of a paid search account today. We target a niche and then gradually add other targets that define the total potential universe. We’re adding pieces to make a whole.
To consider the other side, let’s take the example of Product Listing Ads. We don’t choose when our ads show up. Google does.
But we can set limits of what we’re willing to pay, effective preventing products from potentially showing up. We’re starting with a whole and subtracting out pieces.
Remarketing offers a model for how this process will work.
In paid search without keywords, we’ll start wider and have to be vigilant about segmenting and excluding. We’ll also have to start dealing with a sophisticated competitor: Google.
Google as Competitor
There is something of a quirk in how new keyword-less features are being added, that presents a new dynamic in the auction. In some cases, these new tools offer a choice between managing the advertising (or at least the bidding) ourselves or giving full control to Google, as is the case with CPA pricing for Product Listing Ads.
That creates a hybrid auction where some advertisers are controlling bids, while Google changes the bids of others while deciding whether both are eligible/relevant to appear. In effect, you’re placing your bidding wits against Google’s.
It remains unclear what controls these new ad formats will include, what degree of reporting and the impact to traditional text ads, which will also compete for space and attention.
What’s Coming Next in Paid Search without Keywords?
It wouldn’t be a good predictions article unless I put my neck on the line with some solid ideas about what 2011 will hold for paid search marketers.
Two things are especially likely:
What This Means for Advertisers and Agencies
No one but Google knows what’s coming. But, it’s clear that everyone needs to get comfortable with audience based buying, starting first with retargeting.
The skills and tools to understand, target, and bid on various audiences exist today. Now there’s an increased urgency to dig into them.
On a final note, I specifically resisted the link bait urge to title this post “the death of keywords,” because they aren’t going anywhere. AdWords is too critical to Google’s bottom line to disrupt that revenue until new ad formats and monetization models are proven and well adopted.
One thing is certain, though: the future of paid search without keywords is coming in a big way in 2011.