If you're trying to push a specific product or service, you've probably thought about using Google Ads. But have you ever wondered where your Ads will appear or how you know whether you're getting value for money?
To understand where your Ads are likely to appear, you first need to know about the different types of Ads that are available. These are:
- Search
- Display
- Shopping; and
- Video
This article will aim to highlight how each of these works and where you'll see your Ads.
The Search Network
This is arguably the most popular form of advertising on Google, because of the high level of traffic and how highly targeted the Ads are.
The Search Network includes the Ads that appear above and below the search results when you use Google to find anything. This works through advertisers bidding on keywords. These keywords are related to your business, products, services, and anything else you can think of. When the keyword is searched for, the Ad is triggered.
The beauty of this type of advertising is that if people are likely to search for your product or service online, it will probably work for you.
As well as showing in the search results, you can also reach traffic through Google Search Partners.
What are Google Search Partners? Google Search Partners are other websites which allow ads to be shown on them, such as directories and large websites with search functionalities. However, Google doesn't produce a full list of their Search Partners, so there's no way of knowing exactly where your Ads will be shown.
The Display Network
This works in a completely different way from the Search Network and may provide a better option for some industries.
When you use the Display Network, your Ad is shown on websites that have opted in to publish Ads for Google. Currently, it is claimed that there are over a million published websites and apps.
Display Ads work in a completely different way from Search Ads, and if you try to approach it using the same techniques, it's highly likely that your campaign won't be successful.
Users who are browsing websites that Ads may be displayed on aren't necessarily looking for your product or service, so it can be harder to drive engagement from them. For this reason, you may need to re-think your advertising funnel to capture these users.
Another good way of using the Display Network is to re-market to people who have already previously visited your website. This allows you to target people who have previously shown an interest in your website and are, therefore, more likely to convert.
If you still don't feel as though Display Network is the way for you, you can use it as a way of increasing your brand awareness.
The Shopping Network
If you run an e-commerce business, the shopping network could be the right way of advertising for you.
If you want to use the Shopping Network, your Ads will appear in the Google Shopping results and the Search results.
If you are advertising your products in this way, there are two main advantages over just using the Search Network:
- People can see an image of the product
- The price of the product
These Ads can be more targeted to the user because they are looking for specific products and are able to select the price point that appeals to them.
The Video Network
When you select to use the Video Network, you are given a number of options to target users:
- Appearing in YouTube search results
- YouTube Videos, including channel pages and the YouTube homepage
- Video Partners on the Display Network
At its core, YouTube can be seen in a similar way to Google, with the exception that you're searching for videos rather than websites. However, there are some very specific targeting options that can really narrow down the users you're targeting:
- Age
- Gender
- Parental status
- Household income
- Marital status
- Education
- Home ownership status
- And many more
On top of targeting in this way, you can still use keywords, topics, and even placements and YouTube channels.
The one drawback, however, is the need to create high-quality videos. This can get expensive, which means that for smaller businesses, this might not be an option.
Summing Up
Hopefully, this has answered any questions based on where Ads will appear on Google. Once you know where you want to appear, you can start advertising and seeing your conversions hopefully increase.
If you would like more information on how we can help you with advertising on Google, don't hesitate to get in touch today.
