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We Have No Idea If Online Ads Work

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Re: We Have No Idea If Online Ads Work

#31

Post by rfergie »

droopyEyelids wrote: post #20
omonra wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The point of the article is that the sale would happen regardless of the ad. Ie showing an ad on Google to someone who types 'Ebay' in the search string is a waste of money - since Ebay shows up as the first natural result anyways.

However, this leads to the other flaw in the argument, where eBay has been the company most famous for abusing Google's ads, and using them in a completely nonsensical way. http://www.searchenginejournal.com/how-not-to-run-a-ppc-camp... I'm sure you've noticed that a search for any noun called forth an ad for eBay. You're enticed to "buy Dog Vomit on eBay" when your dog is sick. And then, even if it was something eBa…

It is very unfortunate that the extremely interesting ebay study is being ignored by the SEM community because ebay has some bad adverts.

The methodology and findings should be something that advertisers look at and learn from (i.e. that traditional methods of tracking do not always do a good job of showing value) but instead people just like to point fingers and call names

Re: We Have No Idea If Online Ads Work

#33

Post by paulgb »

omonra wrote: post #18
raverbashing wrote: post #15

The premise of the article is naive at best You can use web analytics to measure a conversion rate from ads. Hence user clicks ad -> sales happens (in the best cases). That's Internet Ads 101 In fact, with online ads the "if it works" part is much more measurable than for other medias "Last year, a group of economists working with eBay’s internal research lab issued a massive experimental study with a simple, startli…

The point of the article is that the sale would happen regardless of the ad. Ie showing an ad on Google to someone who types 'Ebay' in the search string is a waste of money - since Ebay shows up as the first natural result anyways.

It's worth noting that display advertisers can and do account for this by running a control group that sees public service announcements instead of the ads they'd normally run.

Re: We Have No Idea If Online Ads Work

#34

Post by mcfunley »

raverbashing wrote: post #15

The premise of the article is naive at best You can use web analytics to measure a conversion rate from ads. Hence user clicks ad -> sales happens (in the best cases). That's Internet Ads 101 In fact, with online ads the "if it works" part is much more measurable than for other medias "Last year, a group of economists working with eBay’s internal research lab issued a massive experimental study with a simple, startli…

Exactly right. If search ads don't work for this kind of activity, we only know that because online ads allow measurement. If your takeaway from the article is that you should go back to buying billboard space instead, you're an idiot.

Search ads DO work for plenty of use cases for less-omnipresent companies. And they would probably start working a lot better if the Amazons and Ebays stopped bidding.

Re: We Have No Idea If Online Ads Work

#35

Post by baddox »

hawkharris wrote: post #12

This reminds me of a fascinating article in The New Yorker called "Twilight of the Brands." [0] The author's basic argument is that brands have historically filled an information gap. Before the Internet, when consumers didn't have tons of on-demand info about products, brands were a compass that pointed them in the right direction. If the last Sylvania TV you bought worked well, you might buy another one without hun…

I wouldn't think that the role of brands would be declining for products that are not very differentiable in a blind test.

Re: We Have No Idea If Online Ads Work

#36

Post by mcfunley »

djim wrote: post #3

this seems to be based on a study done by ebay, who had an atrocious ppc campaign. it was run by monkeys. really no wonder they didn't achieve any good or predictable results. http://www.searchenginejournal.com/how-not-to-run-a-ppc-camp...

To be fair, for all these people know the examples of insane ebay ads are the experimental control. Probably not, but maybe.

Re: We Have No Idea If Online Ads Work

#37

Post by michh »

unclebucknasty wrote: post #27
michh wrote: post #19

I remember reading the tobacco industry was actually secretly grateful when the EU banned them from advertising. As I remember it, they were in a stale-mate. The market was pretty much divided up. Most people were loyal to their brand and that was that. Despite that, they were spending a massive amount of money on advertising even though their market shares remained unchanged. The reason was that if one of them stopp…

Interesting. I understand if you don't want to name your company, but can you share the niche?

Cell plans and phones, but I suspect it's a plague in more markets than just ours.

Re: We Have No Idea If Online Ads Work

#38

Post by davemel37 »

There are media productivity companies, like MarketShare that cost a boat load but accurately track every possible interaction with an ad and brand to see what actually works.

If you use a company like this and a DMP (data management platform) you can track ads and measure on a scale this article doesn't seem to even know exists...

It might cost you a few million to close the feedback loop accurately but there are companies that can correlate an unclicked banner impression to an in store offline purchase...

Re: We Have No Idea If Online Ads Work

#40

Post by baddox »

josu wrote: post #23
hawkharris wrote: post #12

This reminds me of a fascinating article in The New Yorker called "Twilight of the Brands." [0] The author's basic argument is that brands have historically filled an information gap. Before the Internet, when consumers didn't have tons of on-demand info about products, brands were a compass that pointed them in the right direction. If the last Sylvania TV you bought worked well, you might buy another one without hun…

I understand the point he is making, and I agree that the importance of advertising is declining. However, I wouldn't be able to explain Samsung's success without looking at advertising.

How about economy of scale in manufacturing, and (mostly) competent design and engineering teams?
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