Search and Shopping campaigns, most commonly deployed on Google Ads and known as Paid Search, are the cornerstone and popular work-horses of the paid advertising world. They are the go-to campaign types for the vast majority of advertisers who wish to put their product or service in-front of someone who is searching for it with paid ads.
Search campaigns are most commonly used for lead generation, whereas Shopping is exclusively for ecommerce retailers of physical goods. Search or Shopping campaigns are usually paired with Remarketing campaigns in order to catch both immediate and longer-term value.
The main advantage that paid search has over other PPC campaign types is that it most often has immediate purchasing or decision-making intent with the traffic it generates, since a user has actively searched for the product or service.
We understand how to connect your business with real-time online demand for your product or service. Paid search is in our company’s DNA – literally! At WSI Paid Search, as a paid search agency we have an incredible depth of experience with this foundational element of paid advertising.
Book a free, no-obligation paid advertising audit or consultation with our paid search experts today.
Did you know you can target your search or shopping ads not just based on keywords, but on the additional following targeting layers, too?
Paid search is no longer just about keywords. It’s about matching your keywords to your target persona at the right moment. Just imagine if you were a B2B solar panel company, exclusively servicing the construction industry. No-one searches, ‘solar panels for construction company’, so instead you can bid on ‘solar company’ as a much broader and popular keyword, but ensure with B2B detailed demographic targeting that only those who search for this phrase AND work in the construction industry see your ad.
Fun fact: Google Ads used to be known as AdWords until 2018. The old branding was literally about ads and words in relation to paid search campaigns, whereas now, the ‘words’, referring to keywords, are almost secondary to the additional detailed targeting layers available to you. Hence – Google rebranded to reflect this by dropping ‘word’ from it’s name!
Are Google Shopping and Google PLA’s the same thing?
Yes. Google used to all what are now known as Shopping Ads, Product Listing Ads (PLAs).
Where to Search Ads show up?
In the top 1-4 listings of search engine results above organic listings, and, at 3 listings the bottom of search engine results underneath the organic listings.
Where do Shopping Ads show up?
At the very top of Google search results, with product images, titles, reviews and pricing.
Can I do both Search and Shopping Ads?
Yes, if you’re an ecommerce retailer. You’ll probably look to Shopping Ads for your highest ROI and volume of sales, but may choose to run complementary Search ads to fill gaps that Shopping doesn’t catch, or, simply to double-down and dominate results for your products.
