Have you ever heard of the Google ad auction? Every time a user searches and your ad qualifies for their search engine results page (SERP), there is a lightning-fast auction that occurs so Google decides which ad appears first in the sponsored section.

Understanding how the auction works can help your ads perform better than your competitors. In such a highly competitive digital marketplace, any advantage you can find helps you succeed. While Charley Grey emphasizes the importance of SEO on your website, we also emphasize the importance of advertising on Google.

How Does Auction Work in Google Ads?

When the user searches for something, Google runs through its massive database to find all the potential matches for the query. Picture thousands of people shouting at a live auction trying to get their bid in on the desired item. That is what happens in a digital format with Google ad auction.

What factors get considered in placement? Google looks at three elements for ad auctions.

1. Bid Amount

When you take out a Google ad, you tell the platform how much you’ll pay to win placement. Even though you might state you’ll pay $2.00, the final cost is often lower. How much you’ll need to bid to win placement depends upon factors such as how popular the search term is and how much other users put into their bid profiles.

2. Quality Score

Google also studies your ad and sees how well it matches the intent of the user. Are you linking to content that answers the question? Is the ad relevant to the user? If the person searches for baseball bats and you have an ad linking to an article about the animal, it isn’t relevant to the intent.

3. Extensions

Knowing who your user is and what is most helpful to them pays off when it comes to Google ad auctions. Take the time to map out your markets and segment your users. About 95% of annual product launches fail because of poor segmentation.

Google ad auctions look at extension inputs. If the person is doing a local search and is likely to need a telephone number, it might find yours, but only if you’ve added it. You can also link to pages on your site that provide additional information for potential searchers.

Using extensions correctly can help you win an auction at a lower price point.

How well you play the game of inputting all the information Google looks at can determine how well you do in a Google ad auction and how much you ultimately pay out in advertising fees compared to your return on investment.

How to Use Auction Insights?

Want to further improve your ads to win the Google ad auction game? Auction Insights is a brilliant tool because it lets you compare your ad performance against other advertisers competing for the same placement in SERPs. Here are some tips for using Auction Insights.

1. Know the Categories

You can compare ads across six different categories, including:

    • Impression share
    • Outranking share
    • Overlap rate
    • Top of page rate
    • Position above rate
    • Absolute top of page rate

You can sort by keywords, ad groups, or campaigns. Google lets you look at the time period and device, as well.

2. Find the Insights Dashboard

Finding the Insights dashboard isn’t too complicated. Sign in to your Google Ads account and go to the ad or campaign and click on the check box next to it. Click on the button labeled “Auction Insights. You’ll arrive at your reports, where you can sort, search and filter.

3. Tweak Your Efforts

Take notes on where you’re performing well. Repeat any successful efforts. What worked well in that particular campaign to help you rank higher?

Also, look at ads that aren’t performing well. Go to a new Google search bar tab and input the keywords. Which ads do rank for that search phrase? How can you tweak yours to improve performance? Combining insights and your own research, you’ll soon hit first-page results.

4. Increase Your Bid

If you want to rank No.1 for ad position, you should consider increasing your bid. While you never want to bid more than you can afford, you are competing with others trying to rank for the same keywords.

Just because you say you’ll pay $4.00 per click doesn’t mean you will. In fact, if the next highest bid is $2.00, you will likely only pay $2.01 for the auction. Crunch the numbers and see what you can afford and bid as high as makes sense per click. You can always go in and readjust your numbers at any time.

Research Is Key

If you want to do well at the Google ad auctions game, you must pay attention to the little things. Where are you sending people and does it align with the keywords you want to rank for? How well are you using extensions? How are other people bidding on items and should you up your amounts?

The more information you have and the better you know your customers, the easier it will be to rank for the best keywords to help you make the most revenue.

Charley Grey Can Increase Your Online Marketing

When the digital marketing space becomes too overwhelming for you and your business, contact Charley Grey! Our managed website subscriptions not only help your business rank on the first page of search results but also help you grow your business. Google ads are just one of the many tools we use. So, let’s chat about the other ways we can help your small business.