Paid Search Relationships:

It’s Complicated

Elizabeth Marsten

CommerceHub

Image Source: iStock

@ebkendo

• Senior Director, E-Commerce Growth Services

• Seattle, WA• 10 years in the search industry• PPC, Social, SEO, Analytics, Content• Speaker: SMX Adv/East/West, Mozcon,

Searchfest, State of Search, HeroCon• Author: Lynda.com, All in One Web

Marketing for Dummies• And…

@ebkendo

Mommy

Image Source: @ebkendo

NORTH AMERICA’S LARGEST RETAILERS,

MARKETPLACES AND SEARCH ENGINES

DEMAND GENERATION

ASSORTMENT EXPANSIONWAREHOUSES, STORES, DROP-SHIPPERS,

BRAND MANUFACTURERS

DELIVERYNATIONAL CARRIERS, REGIONAL

CARRIERS, LOCAL CARRIERS

One Connection

Supply Solutions

Increase product offering and grow

revenue through “virtual inventory”

Integrate with any trading partner

or order fulfillment source

Maintain branding and complete

control over fulfillment process

Demand Solutions

Profitably acquire new customers

through search, social and

marketplace channels

Push product catalog to channels

where consumers seek new

products

Manage and optimize digital

advertising spend across channels

Delivery Solutions

Optimize consumer shipping through

real-time decisions on cost-effective

delivery methods that meet the

consumer’s delivery date

Extend the reach of rapid delivery

programs by geographically

distributing inventory to partner 3PLs

Our Story Today: Not Friends

Google Amazon Facebook

Competition is High, But Thriving

• At least online and thanks to mobile

• Mobile advertising was 84% of total ad revenue for Facebook*

• CPC is down Q4 2016 (Google)**

• But number of paid clicks is up 43%

• Brick and mortar and retail stores are shrinking***

• Macy’s closing about 15% of their locations

• Sears, Kmart, CVS expected to close locations as well

*https://techcrunch.com/2017/02/01/facebook-q4-2016-earnings/

**http://www.businessinsider.com/alphabet-reports-q4-2016-earnings-2017-1

***http://www.businessinsider.com/stores-closing-macys-kohls-walmart-sears-2016-12

Is There Room for Anyone Else?

Pinterest Polyvore

Bing Ads Connexity

There is so much crossover…don’t think about it by channel

Product Search

& Discovery

Product

Promotion

Product

Ownership

Images: iStock

Search & Discovery

Image Source: iStock

GTIN Requirement on Google – Why?

• Ad spend efficiency and user experience improvements

• Knowing exactly which product is which

• Competition from marketplaces and Facebook

• Leaving “ownership” of the customer and the experience to

retailers and brands who want it

Personalization to Make it Sticky

Google knows my favorite color is blue and my clothing and shoe sizes.

They just haven’t used it against me yet…Image: Google Shopping

The New Exact (Actual) Match Keyword?

Shopping Insights tool - ability to serve very specific versions of PLAs?

Image: Google Shopping Insights

Searches Start in Amazon

It’s estimated half of people start their online shopping search in Amazon.Data/Image Source: Business Insider

Discovery Shopping

The initial activity or reason for the site/platform/app is not to

search or sell but to discover and be inspired.

Image: iStock

Polyvore - Owned by Yahoo

• Polyvore is…

• A social / commerce site

• 84% female users

• 70% female users of

whom 50% of are under

34 (“Millenials”)

• A high AOV channel for

luxury apparel retailers

• 3 million sets created

every monthImage/Data Source: Polyvore

Pinterest – The Up and Comer

• 2 billion+ monthly “idea

searches”*

• 40% of new Pinterest users are

men**

• 93% of Pinners used Pinterest to

plan for or make purchases***

• 72% of Pinners have seen

something on Pinterest & made

a purchase offline

https://blog.pinterest.com/en/2-billion-monthly-idea-searches-and-counting*https://business.pinterest.com/en/blog/how-pinterest-drives-purchases-online-and***https://www.internetretailer.com/2016/10/17/40-new-pinterest-users-are-men**

Connexity & Social Influencers

Highly Curated Editorial Content

• Engaging with social

agencies and influencers

• A “marketplace” connecting

retailers and influencers

• YouTube, Pinterest, Twitter,

Instagram, Messaging

Image Source: Connexity

Product Promotion

Purchases on Google

A Product Listing Ads enhancement on mobile.

https://adwords.googleblog.com/2015/07/winning-shopping-micro-moments.html

Purchases on Google

• Still running on a % of eligible traffic across Android and iOS

• Only certain products (at your control) show the buy button

• Learned that everything before the buy button is what leads to

it being used or not

• Built a huge infrastructure, 150k+ active retailers and 500m

products to understand a shopper’s intent

UGG – 50% increase in conversion rates on mobile PLAs with POG and a 25% decrease in cost per conversion.

https://adwords.googleblog.com/2016/05/ways-to-be-useful-for-mobile-shoppers.html

Sponsored Products on Amazon

Image Source: Amazon

• Ads that stay on Amazon.com

• Surface up products that aren’t easily found or are new

• Have to win the Buy Box to display

Sponsored Products on Amazon

Image Source: Amazon

• Keyword based (automatic and manual)

• Double dip cost model – CPC and product category % fee

with Amazon if the product sells

• Very similar to a simple Google AdWords

• Potential to take keywords from Sponsored from search and

vice versa – especially when doing dynamic search ads on

Google

• Using (most often) ACos/ROAS

Walmart & eBay are Buying PLAs for Marketplace Sellers

Image Source: Google

And now Amazon is too

Image Source: Google

So What Does That Do to the SERP?

Enter Facebook

*https://techcrunch.com/2017/02/01/facebook-q4-2016-earnings/

Now What:

• Company utility is based on daily active

users

• Per FB, slowing growth in Q4 2016 due to

available inventory to show ads*

• Expanding ads to Messenger, Instagram

Stories, Audience Network

• Revenue up 51% YoY for Q4 2016 *

Dynamic Product Ads

Source: CommerceHub

Image: Facebook

CH – What we’ve seen:

• Average monthly performance

• Return on Ad Spend: up to 1,200%

• Product Catalog Size: up to 1,000

Products

• Added Dynamic Ads for Broad

Audiences

• Conversion rate is high, volume lower

than search, it is remarketing after all

Enter Pinterest

• Added visual search (Lens

tool)

• Added visually similar results

• Updated their feed to be

more like Google and do bulk

operations for promoted

pins

Image: Business Insiderhttp://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-use-pinterest-visual-search-2016-6

Pinterest – Shopping & Search Campaigns

• Limited to direct partners

that run campaigns

through Kenshoo

• 97% of search terms on

Pinterest are unbranded

Image Source: Pinteresthttps://https://business.pinterest.com/sites/business/files/a_new_take_on_search_0.pdf

Polyvore – Plus, Sponsored

Image Source: Polyvore

Product Ownership

Google Manufacturer Center

• Alternative images can be added

• Reported increase conversion rate

• Bosch, 4% lift

• Will not override PLA product titles

• Fill in missing information or clarify like

“cordless” or weight

Image Source: Google

Curated from multiple sources

and specifically pulled in

Google Manufacturer Center – Best Practices

Image Source: CommerceHub

Google Manufacturer Center

Image Source: CommerceHub

• Prescriptive action items in the UI

• Action items pertain to Google and

your business in general

• It’s free to submit

• Why would a brand or manufacturer

want to enroll in this program?

eBay Structured Data

Image Source: eBay

Who is the Seller of Record?

Image Source: iStock

So What?

• Competition increasing in Google Shopping

• Especially in home goods, furnishings, electronics

• Google is expanding where Product Listing Ads show

• Local/maps, Google Now, Knowledge Panel

• Facebook is expanding where ads show

• Enhancements to dynamic ads

• Messenger, marketplace

Now What?

• Expect to diversify your budget…

• New ways of discovering your catalog or new ad types

• 80/20 rule applies to your product assortment

• Exclusives. Demand is a powerful thing.

• Product data quality – own what is yours

Thank You!

Image Source: @ebkendo