Sloppy SEM or Algorythmic Anarchy
Is it me, or has there been some really sloppy SEM on display recently?
Searching for "Vacation Packages" (for a client--I aint going anywhere), I came across this ad:
[For RSS readers:]
Vacation Packages - Travelocity
Book your TotalTrip on Travelocity. Book your hotel, flight and more for one low price.
clickserve.dartsearch.net
Now you and I know that the URL is just doubleclick's tracking redirect for Travelocity, but to the average searcher, the ad looks like it has the wrong URL, like it belongs to an affiliate or--maybe--like Travelocity got bought out. In any case, it's bad branding.
All our research, and common sense, dictate that display URL is one of the most important factors in determining clickthrough and conversion rates.
On the day after SES, when I noticed that yet another SEM firm was bidding on "Did-it", I did a quick check to see who was bidding on other firm's names. Looking for Perfomics, I found this:
amod title
amod desc1
amod desc2
www.performics.com
Again, you and I know that it's just a hiccup from an automated PPC feed. But to a potential customer, its tragic. The bottom line is that every SEM, mine included, needs to implement a layer of human quality control and management. Algorythmic bid management tools work great and are neccessary for creating ads from numerous products, enacting bid changes based on marketing metrics and creating unique tracking URLs. But people should be implementing everything into the engines, or at least checking everything as in goes in.
A press ad or a television commercial would never be released with such signifacnt errors. Pay Per Click ads shouldn't be either.
If we're being paid to be experts, we need to look like experts.
Searching for "Vacation Packages" (for a client--I aint going anywhere), I came across this ad:
[For RSS readers:]
Vacation Packages - Travelocity
Book your TotalTrip on Travelocity. Book your hotel, flight and more for one low price.
clickserve.dartsearch.net
Now you and I know that the URL is just doubleclick's tracking redirect for Travelocity, but to the average searcher, the ad looks like it has the wrong URL, like it belongs to an affiliate or--maybe--like Travelocity got bought out. In any case, it's bad branding.
All our research, and common sense, dictate that display URL is one of the most important factors in determining clickthrough and conversion rates.
On the day after SES, when I noticed that yet another SEM firm was bidding on "Did-it", I did a quick check to see who was bidding on other firm's names. Looking for Perfomics, I found this:
amod title
amod desc1
amod desc2
www.performics.com
Again, you and I know that it's just a hiccup from an automated PPC feed. But to a potential customer, its tragic. The bottom line is that every SEM, mine included, needs to implement a layer of human quality control and management. Algorythmic bid management tools work great and are neccessary for creating ads from numerous products, enacting bid changes based on marketing metrics and creating unique tracking URLs. But people should be implementing everything into the engines, or at least checking everything as in goes in.
A press ad or a television commercial would never be released with such signifacnt errors. Pay Per Click ads shouldn't be either.
If we're being paid to be experts, we need to look like experts.
For more information about Sloppy SEM or Algorythmic Anarchy, see these resources:
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