The Marketing Architects Nerd Alert: How Effective is Paid Search?
Jan 9, 2025
Elena and Rob dive into an intriguing eBay experiment that challenges the effectiveness of paid search ads. They uncover that many brand-keyword ads target customers who would have found the site organically. Surprisingly, non-branded keywords can even result in negative ROI. The hosts discuss how frequent buyers react to these ads and why established brands may need to reassess their strategies. Plus, they share humorous takes on the differences between clicking on paid and organic search results, setting the stage for deeper insights.
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Clicking on Ads
- Rob Demars avoids clicking paid search ads out of courtesy to marketers.
- He only clicks them if he dislikes a brand and wants to cost them money.
Marketers Avoid Ads
- Elena Jasper also avoids clicking sponsored ads to avoid costing the advertiser money.
- She admits to clicking them for brands she dislikes.
Paid Search Effectiveness
- Paid search ads comprise a large portion of digital ad spend, but their effectiveness is questioned.
- eBay conducted a large-scale experiment to determine the real impact of these ads.