Creating Compelling Ads August 8, 2006 Case Studies

Table of Contents Testing Methodology Study 1: Title and Description Testing Study 2: Display URL Testing Study 3: Content Match Testing Study 4: Automated Testing

Select Ad Group(s) to test within Google: Start with Ad Groups containing a strong ROI and low CTR Find out the industry average CTR from the engines Make sure keywords are related to one another Keywords and ads should link to the same URL/landing page At a minimum, each creative should get at least 50,000 impressions or 500 clicks during the test period Duration The duration of the test depends on the amount of time it takes each creative to attain the minimum number of clicks or impressions mentioned above For high volume sites, the test period should run for at least 2 weeks to account for sales cycles and weekly and daily trends Creative Testing Methodology

Test Phase Create 4-6 new creatives with different message types (e.g. product guarantees, price points, free shipping, etc.) Place unique tracking on each creative so both conversion and CTR can be tracked Disable “Google optimizer” (Google will no longer give more impressions to the creative that has the higher CTR) Continue test for at least 2 weeks or until each creative receives the minimum number of clicks or impressions required Creative Testing Methodology (continued)

Analysis Phase Did one creative outperform the rest? If so, begin running only the winning creative on Google and extend the findings to other engines No clear winners? Create new iterations on the tested themes or develop new themes altogether Begin another round of testing Creative Testing Methodology (continued) Ad success is not determined solely by CTR, but a combination of CTR and conversion Remember:

Study 1: Title and Description Testing While AD1 does not have the best CTR, it is considered the winner as its conversion is significantly higher than the other ads While AD3 has the highest CTR, it did not bring in any sales during the test period. This could suggest the landing page is not what customers were expecting Key Findings Sample keywords: home décor, garden décor, home accents

Using a sub-directory name in the URL outperformed Ad1 in both CTR and Conversion Users were drawn more to the additional use of the term “irons” Key Findings Study 2: Display URL Testing Sample keywords: golf irons, golf club irons

Key Findings Study 2: Display URL Testing (continued) Again, using a sub-directory name in the display URL outperformed Ad1 in both CTR and Conversion Users were drawn more to the additional use of the term “components” Sample keywords: golf components, golf club components

Study 3: Content Match Testing Sample keywords: wheels, rims, car wheels Key Findings Ad2 significantly outpaced Ad1 in terms of CTR and displayed a very similar conversion Given that the ads are showing up in content match, users were much more attracted to ads that showed the keywords they were reading about in the articles Utilizing the brand name did not register with clients *The actual brand name was used as opposed to the word “brand”

Study 4: Automated Testing (Better PPC) Key Findings Easily able to test 54 different sets of creative simultaneously A ‘Large/Big Selection’ was important to searchers as it showed up in 2 of the most effective ads  Not able to optimize based on conversion. However, once the top 4-6 highest CTR ads are determined, they can be tested using the methodology outlined throughout this presentation *The actual brand name was used as opposed to the word “brand”

Thank You! Darren Kuhn Group Account Director Resolution Media ext. 17