As we’ve been talking to online retailers, it’s become clear that Google’s Conversion Optimizer has really improved in the last six months. Cost per Acquisition (CPA) bidding has gained traction in recent years with most major search management platforms offering bidding tied to conversions instead of clicks. So Google, having the largest search advertising data set from which to make decisions on optimization, optimizes AdWords campaigns towards an SEM’s CPA goal at the ad group level. For free. Sounds great, right?
The Catch?
There may be some obstacles to a full implementation of Google Conversion Optimizer, like volume of conversions: right now Google can run Conversion Optimizer from 15 conversions/month per campaign, but the more conversion data, the merrier! The only place this might break down is with high-price tag, low-query volume products.
Your ad group structure could be an obstacle, too, like John Lee pointed out on Search Engine Watch: “If your ad group structure is a mess (e.g., you have too many keywords in each ad group), Conversion Optimizer might not work well for you”. Fortunately, Adchemy has been working with online retailers to structure and expand search advertising campaigns to keep tightly-themed ad groups that will work well within Google Conversion Optimizer.
