Questions about Adwords Display network.

[MarieHaynes]

I am starting up an Adwords campaign that is set to run in the Display (content) network only.  In the past I have meshed search and content together, but after reading Brad Geddes book I see that I need to separate them.

I can't see my quality score for my keywords - it just has a dash in place of QS.  Is this normal?

Additionally, I can't see how much I am paying per keyword.

I only have one text ad and it is still pending approval.  I have several image ads that have so far had a good CTR.

I'm assuming that I can't see QS because my text ad is not running yet.  But, if this is the case, then how do you optimize your campaign for image ads?  I'm currently paying about 45 cents per click.  (Previously when I had a poorly optimized quickly thrown together campaign I was paying twice that), but I believe that I could get this down significantly.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

You guys rock!

[ChristianMaund-Anderson]

I would like to add to this discussion that although you may not see Quality Score on the Display side, it doesn't mean that it is not a factor for Display. However Quality Score on the Display Network is different than QS for Search.

[DavidKonigsberg]

This is not always the case it depends on ctr and price per click - you should experiment both ways to see what works best for you.

-Also if you are running on the content network be sure to negative out the sites you don't want to show up for or use placements (you can also not show on parked pages, below the fold , Adult sites etc)

[MarieHaynes]

Interesting...I'm going to look into this!

[kchandler]

I would highly suggest using CPM (cost per thousand impression) pricing structure for your content network campaigns. You can get a lot more bang for your buck than paying per click.

For example lets assume you get 1000 impressions with only a 3% CTR. This means you have around 30 clicks for $0.45 a piece, which means your total cost is $13.50.

If you would have instead setup your campaign to bid $1.50 per/thousand impressions you could have saved $12 dollars. Then taking it another step further, what if you have a CTR of 5%? you still only pay the $1.50 even though you are receiving more clicks.

As you can tell these are just made up figures and I understand each case is different, but i would definitely suggest looking into it.  From my experience i have never paid more than $1.50 per thousand impressions (and that was for the keyword "stimulus reimbursement" during the health care reform bill craziness).

[SEM-Freak]

If your campaigns mirror your search campaigns, use what you are learning from search with regards to keyword negatives to influence the management of the content campaign. Also take a look at the "Networks" tab - so you can better control the campaign.

[Cyle]

Geoff is correct; Adwords analyzes your ad group's keyword list when matching your keyword-targeted ads to the display network, thus no Keyword QS for Display.  You will want to make sure that your keywords that you are using for Display are very related to each other and you are only using about 5 - 15 keywords per ad group, this will help to make sure your ads are appearing on relevant sites.  If you are new to PPC I would highly recommend David Szetela book PPC an hour a Day. http://www.amazon.com/Pay-Click-Search-Engine-Marketing/dp/0470488670

This will walk you through all the current best strategies from the basics of setting up campaigns to more aggressive bid strategies.  He also has another book that focus just on the best practices for Display advertising: http://www.amazon.com/Customers-Now-Profiting-Content-Based-Advertising/dp/1440170991/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264017599&sr=8-2

These are some great resources to have in your toolbox to refer back to when you run into questions.

Good Luck

[MarieHaynes]

Interesting...so can such a campaign be optimized so that you pay less per click?  Or is it all about overall CTR?

[SEM-Freak]

With the display network, Adwords analyzes your ad group's entire keyword list when matching your keyword-targeted ad to a Display Network page. This means the keyword doesn't get attributed QS or clicks.