Search Advertising
Pay per click search advertising focusses at sponsored listings available within search engine result pages.
Sponsored links are displayed alongside natural search results and are displayed in prominent positions within a SERP. A PPC ad that has the most competitive package in terms of ad quality and maximum keyword bid amount is awarded position #1.
Sponsored SERP Listings - Visual Representation
A visual representation is the best way of illustrating where pay per click ads are displayed. Screen-shots of major search engine SERPs are presented below. The SERP areas captured witin the blue boxes represent PPC sponsored listings. Position #1 being occupied by the most competitive PPC ad for a particular search query. There are usually 6-10 PPC ad entries within the 1st results page.
Google Sponsored SERP Links - Click Image To Zoom
Yahoo! Sponsored SERP Links - Click Image To Zoom
MSN Sponsored SERP Links - Click Image To Zoom
We have explained where the most competitive pay per click ad will be presented and briefly explained the criteria used to determine PPC ad position within search engine results pages. Let's now look a little deeper into these elements that determine PPC rankings:
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Maximum Cost Per Click Bid Amount (CPC)
This is different to PPC campaign budget. After a targeted list of keywords have been agreed upon, we need to assign the maximum amount you are willing to pay if your ad attracts a click. This is done for each and every keyword.
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Keyword & Adgroup Quality Score
To avoid PPC systems being monopolised by the largest purses, leading search engines have included a quality factor in ranking competing ads. The quality factor is a measure of the relationships between keywords, ad text and landing page content. The focus is not only on avoiding monopolisation but to award advertisers that offer a good user experience to a search engine user.
Each of the above factors are combined to produce a Rank Number which is then compared to the ranking numbers of all competing pay per click ads. The highest ranking number is awarded with Postion #1 within the search engine results page. Each subsequent ad will be postioned (ranked) according to their respective rank number postioning.
Industry-leading search engine have also partnered up with alternative search engines to provide greater advertisers with greater reach through a single management platform.
