In the world of digital advertising, few tools have had as profound an impact as Google’s Pay-Per-Click (PPC) marketing.
The evolution of Google PPC marketing is an interesting one. From its humble beginnings to its current status as the biggest PPC platform in the world, this article will guide you through the incredible transformation of Google PPC marketing.
What is PPC Marketing?
PPC (pay-per-click) marketing is a form of digital advertising where an advertiser pays a fee each time one of their ads is clicked on search results. Essentially, you’re paying for targeted visits to your website, landing page or app.
PPC ads, especially Google PPC, can be made up of text, images, videos or a combination of all three. Google Ads aren’t limited to Google search results either; they can appear on websites, social media platforms and more.
Search engine advertising (or paid search) is one of the most popular forms of PPC. Search engine advertising allows advertisers to bid for an ad in a search engine’s sponsored links when someone performs a search related to a service they offer. For example, if we bid on the keyword “Google PPC services Brisbane”, our page for PPC management may appear on the search results page.
Google Ads, the biggest PPC platform in the world, has an average return on investment of 200%. This means you typically get two dollars back for every dollar you spend.
How PPC works in Google Ads
How do you set up and utilise Google Ads PPC to increase your leads and conversions?
When advertisers create an ad for their business, they choose a set of keywords to target and place a bid on each. So, if you bid on the keyword “PPC management Brisbane”, you’re telling Google you want your ad/webpage/website to appear for searches that match or are related to PPC management in Brisbane.
However, just because you bid for an ad doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get it. So, what happens next?
Google uses a set of formulas and an auction-style process to decide which ads get to appear for any one search. If your ad is entered into the auction, it will give you a Quality Score from one to 10 based on how relevant your ad is to the keyword, your expected click-through rate and landing page quality.
Once your Quality Score has been determined, the system will multiply it by your maximum bid to determine your Ad Rank. The ads with the highest Ad Rank scores are the ones that show at the top of Google Search results.
What Are The Benefits of Google PPC Marketing?
Now that you know what Google PPC marketing is and how it works, what are some benefits?
You’re in control of your budget
Whether you’re a small business or a large corporation, when you utilise Google Ads, you control your budget. This means that you will never spend more than your maximum bid, and you can also change your budget whenever it suits you.
You can compete even if your website doesn’t rank
One of the many benefits of Google PPC marketing is that even if your website isn’t ranking well SEO-wise, you can still promote your company and see great results.
If you have the budget or bid for low-priced keywords, your website/webpage will likely be at the top of ad results, driving more traffic to your website and leading to more conversions and sales.
High return on investment
As mentioned above, Google Ads is the biggest PPC platform in the world, with an average return on investment of 200%.
Seeing results from Google Ads doesn’t happen overnight. To find a campaign that works for you, you have to continually test and track campaigns in the beginning.
However, once you’ve found a campaign that works for you and gives you a good return on investment, focus your efforts and budget on that area.
How Google PPC Marketing Has Changed Over The Years
What once was a small advertising platform is now the most prominent advertising system in the world, used by 80% of businesses worldwide.
Google AdWords was launched on the 23rd of October, 2000, and was the first ever self-service online advertising platform.
New beginnings: 2000-2001
When initial testing was successful in 1999, Google Adwords was launched in October 2000. Initially, Google AdWords was a pay-per-impression platform that only showed on the right-hand side of search results.
When Google AdWords was first launched, users signed up on a self-serve basis and set how much they would pay per thousand impressions (or times the ad showed). Whoever was bidding the most money would appear higher up on the page.
In its first year, Google AdWords had returned over 70 million dollars, making it an instant success and drawing countless businesses to it.
Relevance-based rewards: 2002
Two years after launching, Google AdWords was getting even more popular.
With such high demand, Google introduced pay-per-click advertising and rewarding ad positions based on relevance and bid value.
Introduction of the display network: 2005
Only five years after its inception, Google added site-targeted ads to its list of advertising options, commonly known as the display network.
This new functionality allowed users to show ads on websites that were signed up for the Google Adsense program of their choice.
In the same year, conversion tracking was introduced. This was a significant benefit for advertisers as they could finally track which keywords, ads and campaigns were responsible for leads and conversions.
Introduction of Dynamic Search Ads: 2011
As Google AdWords continued to grow, so did its types of ads and demographic segmentation abilities, including the introduction of the Google Content Network.
In October 2011, Dynamic Search Ads was released. This new type of ad used web-crawling technology and Google’s knowledge of website inventory to generate an ad and a destination URL automatically.
Removal of sidebar ads: 2016
In 2016, Google decided to remove Google Ads from the right side of search results, which was one of the first moves toward a better mobile experience.
The ads would now appear as the first four search results, and changed the colour of the ads from yellow to green, making them nearly impossible to identify.
Google Ads replaces Google AdWords: 2018
In 2018, Google officially changed the name of Google AdWords to Google Ads, which also came with a new logo and design.
Covid-led changes: 2020
When the worldwide pandemic hit in 2020, Google knew that it had to make some adjustments to Google Ads.
In April 2020, Google announced new measures to stop bad running ads that took advantage of people’s Covid fears. A task force was assembled to detect and remove dangerous ads.
In May 2020, Google added the option for local inventory ad users to show that their products could be picked up curbside, which was a great way for merchants to continue trading in a world where personal contact wasn’t encouraged.
Performance Max becomes free: 2021
In November 2021, Google launched Performance Max campaigns, which use machine learning to optimise bids and placements to drive conversions.
After strong beta performance, Google made this tool free for all Google Ads customers.
Google PPC Marketing with Anchor Digital
Although many businesses and companies have succeeded with Google Ads since its inception 23 years ago, many people still find it challenging to navigate.
If you’d like to see an increase in leads and conversions but aren’t sure how to use Google Ads, hire a Google Ads agency, such as Anchor Digital, to do the work for you.
Our Google PPC services involve creating, testing and monitoring Google Ads campaigns to increase conversions, brand awareness and leads.
If you’d like to learn more about how we can help your business thrive on Google Search results, contact the team at Anchor today.
We look forward to helping your business succeed and grow.
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