By Ciaran Murphy on 15 Apr 2013
Following on from our recent video blog on Remarketing, we are now going to look at some other efficient uses of the Google Display Network. The Display Network is made up of millions of websites that host banner and text ads. Placements are achieved through a real time bidding platform and advertisers have maximum control over the placements. Advertisers decide how much they want to bid for a placement and how much they are willing to spend for a day.
Critically, advertisers have the opportunity to target their audience based on the content of the website or the audience’s past browsing history. Advertisers need no longer “blind buy” placements and be left wondering exactly what audience is seeing their ads. Plus, through the use of real time bidding platforms you can see exactly how many times your ad was seen, clicked on and if you have conversion tracking enabled how many times a purchase was made or a lead achieved.
To see how effective targeting on the display network can be, you should visit the Ads Settings and see what interests Google has attributed to you. This will explain why you have seen ads closely related to your interests around the internet. For example, each day I log into my Gmail account I see ads such as: 
I am getting married and my browsing history contains multiple instances of wedding research. Additionally, many of my emails contain references to weddings. Absolute Limo’s have specifically targeted me for my interest in weddings as they know I am more likely to enquire about a wedding limo then someone who has not been browsing wedding related content. This is a straightforward example of how targeted the display network can be. If you have visited the preference manager you will have seen that your sex and age are also estimated. This means that ads can be demographic targeted as well as interest.
To continue with the wedding example, if you were selling wedding dresses you could refine your target to females only, thus excluding males whose interests would contain weddings but who would not need to see ads for wedding dresses. We have utilised the above advanced targeting methods within some of our own campaigns. For example, we have a client who provide a service for the elderly. We understood that this service was likely a family decision discussed through email and researched online. We created a campaign targeting Gmail users who had an interest in elderly care. So when families discussed the issue in email we showed them targeted ads on the issue they were discussing. This campaign was extremely successful and had a conversion rate, that is an enquiry, far greater than traditional display campaigns. In fact, the conversion rate matched that of a Search campaign where users are actively seeking for your service.
Google's Display Network is vast and the opportunities can sometimes overwhelm. But with advanced targeting methods, such as interest targeting, it is possible to utilise the display network to reach the right audience at the right time. Interested to hear what the digital advertising and the Google Display Network can do for you? Why not get in touch with us and we can talk you through your options!
- Ciaran
