Use search ads whenever possible. If you must use display ads, make sure to only pay by CPC (cost per click) because there’s no way to even know if users saw a display ad.

1. Search Kicks
Display in
Effectiveness
Dr. Augustine Fou @acfou
http://linkedin.com/in/augustinefou
Marketing Science Consulting Group, Inc.

2. If users can’t see the ads...
“about half are never in view”
“quality problem in long-tail content
sites”
… no wonder click rates suck.
April 13, 2012 2

3. If users don’t look...
Source: Banner Blindness
“The ads to the right are only noticed by 23%
of the respondents, and they spend only half a
second on the ads.” Source: Mashable 12/29/2011
… even “branding” doesn’t happen.
April 13, 2012 3

4. Facebook robs advertisers...
2012
1
2011
2
2010 3
4
5
6
7
4 8
Source: Facebook Display Ads | go-Digital Blog
9
…by increasing number of ads per pageview.
April 11, 2012 4

5. Why is search so much better?
Display Ads Search Ads
Ads next to content Ads based on what the
the user wants to user is looking for
read – email, scores, (keyword) at the exact
news, content, etc. moment in time.
April 13, 2012 5

6. Search CTR is always better
Search CTR: 0.19%
Display CTR: 0.05%
Search CTR: 0.25%
Display CTR: 0.03%
Search CTR: 0.13%
Display CTR: 0.07%
Search CTR: 0.24%
Display CTR: 0.07%
Source: Search versus Display | go-Digital Blog
April 13, 2012 6

7. Search CTR is always better
• Local Search CTR is more than 10x better than Local Display
• Secondary-Action for search is more than 7x better than display
Source: xAd, Feb 2012
April 13, 2012 7

8. Visitors from search…
Visitors from paid online advertising mostly “bounce” (leave immediately)
and didn’t stay long enough to do anything (15 seconds)
Visitors from search stayed the longest, viewed the most pages, and had the
lowest bounce rate
Source: Google Analytics Sample CPG client
… are way more valuable.
April 13, 2012 8

9. Search is more efficient...
Pay for impressions
Pay for clicks
… pay only for results (clicks).
April 13, 2012 9

10. From Display to Search
1996 2000 2004 2008 2011
$267 million $8.2 billion $9.6 billion $23 billion $31 billion
100% banner ads
40% display 40% search 45% search 47% search
31% sponsorships 39% display 33% display 35% display
10% classifieds 18% other 14% other 17% other
Source: IAB March 1997 Source: IAB April 2001 Source: IAB April 2005 Source: IAB March 2009 Source: IAB March 2009
http://bit.ly/JKwCJ1 http://bit.ly/MA9FIh http://bit.ly/LlB6zY http://bit.ly/LuiZhD http://bit.ly/JK2lIu
crossover
April 13, 2012 10

11. From CPM to CPC
Advertisers are
getting smarter;
they only want
to pay when
they get the
click, not just
for the
impressions any
more.
Source: PwC/IAB April 2011
July 31, 2012 11

12. CPM-based Ad Revenue
Display Ads
AOL (AOL) Yahoo (YHOO)
July 31, 2012 12

13. CPC-based Ad Revenue
Search Ads
Baidu (BIDU)
Google (GOOG)
July 31, 2012 13

14. So what?
“Use search ads whenever possible. If you must
use display ads, make sure to only pay by CPC
(cost per click) because there’s no way to even
know if users saw a display ad.”
- Dr. Augustine Fou
Display Ads Search Ads
April 13, 2012 14

15. Dr. Augustine Fou – Chief Digital Strategist
Dr. Augustine Fou is an industry-recognized thought leader in
digital strategy, search and social media marketing and former
Group Chief Digital Officer of Omnicom's Healthcare
Consultancy Group. Dr. Fou has over 16 years of management
consulting and digital strategy consulting experience, advising
CMOs, marketing executives, and global brands. He pioneered
the application of the Unified Marketing™ framework to
optimize marketing across both traditional and digital
channels and tactics.
FORMER CHIEF DIGITAL OFFICER, HCG (OMNICOM)
MCKINSEY CONSULTANT
CLIENT SIDE / AGENCY SIDE EXPERIENCE
PROFESSOR AND COLUMNIST
ENTREPRENEUR / SMALL BUSINESS OWNER
PHD MATERIALS SCIENCE (MIT '95) AT AGE 23
ClickZ Articles: http://www.slideshare.net/augustinefou
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/augustinefou
April 13, 2012 15
acfou@mktsci.com