Following the “Periodic Table of SEO” session at SMX Advanced today, was the Mad Scientists of Paid Search session.
SMX’s description of the session says, “Our mad scientists emerge from their PPC labs, where they’ve been assembling keywords words, bidding strategies and other assorted parts into monster PPC campaigns. Attend this session to see how they’ve successfully enhanced paid search performance with rigorous testing and trial and error. Their creations are abnormally effective!”
The speakers list was as follows:
Moderator: Matt Van Wagner, President, Find Me Faster (@mvanwagner)
Q&A Moderator: Joseph Kerschbaum, Vice President of Client Services, Clix Marketing (@joekerschbaum)
Speakers:
Michael Behrens, SVP eMarketing, WebMetro (@MichaelBehrens)
Benny Blum, Director, Strategy & Analytics, eSearchVision (@bennyblum)
Ryan Hutchings, Director, Online Marketing, VacationRoost
Matthew Mierzejewski, Vice President of PPC, RKG
As usual, attendees tweeted their own takeaways and highlights from the panel. Here’s the best of what was said:
Follow @iamjohn 
John McCarthy
@iamjohn @webmetro google has multiple options to map KWDS #sem #smx #11b
Follow @MartinSEM 
Martin SEM
@MartinSEM Tip: Use longer keyword (match length) ** Adgroup + Use keyword with highest ad-rank (Quality x Bid) #SMX #11b
Follow @iamjohn John McCarthy
@iamjohn @webmetro is now showing multiple mappings how queries are being mapped to different keywords #11b
Follow @blakedenman 
Blake Denman
@blakedenman Queries triggering more than one kw results in chaotic account behavior, data integrity, and accuracy of modeling & bidding #smx #11B
Follow @iamjohn John McCarthy
@iamjohn @webmeto mapping problems occur at both campaign and ad group levels #11b
Follow @blakedenman Blake Denman
@blakedenman On average multi-mapping happens 10% across accounts #smx #11B
Follow @leuk 
Kim Engels
@leuk Match Type length Seems to be the Most over ridden rule #smx #11B
Follow @MartinSEM Martin SEM
@MartinSEM Force matching through negative keywords & choose match types carefully #smx #11b
Follow @EBurgau 
Ellie
@EBurgau 1 query can trigger multiple keywords across adgroups & campaigns, making account control difficult! #smx #11b
Follow @r_bruss 
Ryan Bruss
@r_bruss #smx #11b if you have multiple ads per ad group and rotate evenly, multiple matching keywords is expected behavior
Follow @blakedenman Blake Denman
@blakedenman Take back control by force matching through negative keywords #smx #11B
Follow @jordanlebaron 
Jordan LeBaron
@jordanlebaron @dan_patterson I’m digging the literal rubbing of shoulders of fellow search marketers #smx #11b
Follow @MartinSEM Martin SEM
@MartinSEM You know your business better than Google does (enough said) 🙂 #SMX #11b
Follow @blakedenman Blake Denman
@blakedenman Cross serving on a query is a frequent issue. #smx #11B
Follow @MartinSEM Martin SEM
@MartinSEM Use the Google Ad Preview Tool to identify which adgroup/campaign your keywords are matched too. **it’s not always accurate though #SMX #11b
Follow @leuk Kim Engels
@leuk Solution for wrong matching: insert thousands of negatives 🙁 #11B #smx
Follow @GaryLHenderson 
Gary Henderson
@GaryLHenderson Have a VERY large negative keyword list to force #Google to respect your ad groups and campaigns. #SMX #11B
Follow @blakedenman Blake Denman
@blakedenman #AdWords will “interpret on your behalf” to show what they believe the most relevant keyword regardless of your account structure #smx #11B
Follow @emilyevjohnson 
Emily E. Johnson
@emilyevjohnson I’m appreciating the sarcasm of speaker #2 #smx #11b
Follow @MartinSEM Martin SEM
@MartinSEM It’s not a bug, it’s a feature (said Google) 🙂 #SMX #11b
Follow @EPowerMarketing 
E-Power Marketing
@EPowerMarketing Just because your ad is showing doesn’t mean it’s showing for what you want! -E #SMX #11B
Follow @MartinSEM Martin SEM
@MartinSEM In most cases there is weak correlation between Quality Score and Conversion Rate #SMX #11b
Follow @syantien 
Sho Shimoda
@syantien Matthew Mierzejewski from RKG. #SMX #11B bottom ads, bottom ads higher CRT, no difference in CVR. well, at least it brings more volume?
Follow @MartinSEM Martin SEM
@MartinSEM Root of Google’s CPC decline (it’s not Mobile) it’s Brand Queries & PLA’s #SMX #11B
Follow @syantien Sho Shimoda
@syantien CPC 11% down, because mobile traffic has double (at lower CPC) on last qt. #SMX #11B
Follow @jd711 
Jon
@jd711 Avoid Adwords Adrank trumping your match types by granular structures with EXTENSIVE negatives #smx #11b
Follow @dbeltramini 
David Beltramini
@dbeltramini RKG’s says they have seen a 51% increae in Brand query clicks and an 85% decline in CPC #smx #11b
Follow @MartinSEM Martin SEM
@MartinSEM Mobile: Lower engagement, less likely to convert #SMX #11b
Follow @MartinSEM Martin SEM
@MartinSEM Tablet: High PPV for impulse and DR / Ecom, High bounce rate for service / software #SMX #11b
Follow @jd711 Jon
@jd711 Purchase intent and engagement varies across devices. @bennyblum #smx #11b Bid strategy should reflect this!
Follow @rpboots 
Ryan Boots
@rpboots I’ll be interested to hear if any Google reps respond officially to some of what was said today #smx #11b
Follow @atalley 
Ashley Rhodes
@atalley Google rolled out new matching behavior because the system was already doing it..? Interesting thought from the scientists #smx #11B
Follow @MartinSEM Martin SEM
@MartinSEM Question: Best practice. To group Broad Match keywords with Exact Match – or not? Should we isolate kw’s based on search demand? #smx #11b
Follow @MartinSEM Martin SEM
@MartinSEM @rpboots I’m sure they will, but I wouldn’t expect “helpful” answers.They are all great politicians. #smx #11b
Follow @ashleybarton3 
Ashley Barton
@ashleybarton3 Google incorrectly matches 10% of your queries due to not following their own processes #SMX #11b
Microsoft wrote a blog post about the session on its adCenter blog, including a list of tips for “taking back control”:
- Use negative keywords
- Force matching through negatives
- Conducive account structure
- Tightly themed ad groups
- Maximize ad group match length rule
- Easier negative implementation
- Choose match types carefully
- Phrase OR Broad (almost duplicate) ?
- Broad OR Broad Match Modified ?
- Remove duplicates/ambiguous
- Maintain campaign budgets
These were from Michael Behrens’ presentation. Check out their post for a more complete recap.
Image: Aqua Teen Hunger Force (via YouTube)