By Alan Coleman on 5 Mar 2014
What are Google Engagement Ads?
At the end of 2013 Google released several exciting new ad formats which were collectively called Engagement Ads. These ads run on the Google Display Network and fit in standard display units. However, when users ‘engage’ with them they then expand to a larger format after a two-second hover delay. Google claims that the hover delay eliminates accidental expansions.
The sophisticated targeting features available to normal GDN campaigns can also be applied to Engagement Ads. In addition, these ads can also be targeted to a specific remarketing audience.
The pricing model is based on a cost-per-engagement, where the advertiser only pays when the user engages with the ad. In other words, following the two second delay.
How have they performed for our clients?
As soon as a new AdWords feature is released, there’s a scramble in our office to be the first to apply it to an existing client account. Ed was the quickest off the mark, but we now have several clients running Google Engagement ads. We’re huge fans of video as an ad format, so we immediately went for the hover-to-play and lightbox engagement ad formats. These formats allow us to use a client's video within the ad.
We’re feeling really positive about them so far. Engagement rates are higher than we anticipated, given that it is essentially a display form of advertising. We’re recording engagement rates of up to 6% in some cases. We’ve used them as remarketing and display ads. The highest engagement rates were recorded in interest targeted display campaigns.
We’re also really impressed with how cost effective these campaigns are. Cost per engagements are as low as €0.06 on some cases.
Should I use Google Engagement Ads?
If you want to drive awareness of your brand, product or service, then engagement ads are a no-brainer. This is particularly true if you have access to great video content.
Engagement ads will not drive a direct response, but you might notice an incremental increase in searches for your brand if you’re running a paid search campaign.
Since they’re so cost effective, look so great and since it’s likely that none of your competitors are using them yet - there’s a strong case experimenting with engagement ads irrespective of the overall goal of your campaign.
Watch Out For...
Remember, with engagement ads, you pay per engagement. Not clicks. However, within Google AdWords, engagements are reported as display clicks. Don’t assume that all these clicks represent traffic to your website. Double check this via Google Analytics.
Is this the end of the standard banner ad?
I really hope so. It feels like new, exciting display ad formats are in short supply and it’s disappointing that we’ve had to tolerate such low quality banner ads for so long. Engagement ads aren’t all about trying to capture a click. They’re about giving a user a compelling reason to engage with your brand…as a search marketer I feel slightly dirty saying that, but it’s true.
