Pay Per Click (or PPC advertising) is a form of paid digital marketing where advertisers pay a fee each time their ad is clicked. The term PPC can apply to paid ads on social media networks, like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. However, today we’ll focus on Google Adwords which helps your ads stand out to search engine users, displaying them at the top and right-hand side of Google’s search engines. We’ll also explore Google Display Network which displays your ads on relevant websites your customers and prospects land on.

We’ll take a look at the benefits of both services to help you decide the best fit for you business and the best way to reach your target audience.

Search Network – This is the most common targeting option. The Search Network consists of google.com and Google’s Search Partners such as aol.com, amazon.com, and many more. The Search Network is primarily keyword based advertising. In other words, searchers type in queries for which ads are shown.

Display Network – This network consists of millions of sites that agree to show Google text, image, and video ads. These ads are shown within the site’s content and don’t utilize traditional keyword based targeting, but rather audiences and demographics. For example, a user may visit a blog that speaks to the history of coffee tables. Even though the user isn’t necessarily in a buying mode, the content is relevant to coffee tables. The user may or may not click the ad, but is ultimately now aware of the brand.

Search Network with Display Opt-In – This targeting option is a combination of both networks. In the new Google Ads experience this replaced Search Network with Display Select. Now you’ll create a regular Search Network campaign and opt-in to the Display Network. The caveat is that Google determines when and where ads may perform best, taking control away from the advertiser. The preferred option is to break out campaigns by network, but Search with Display Opt-In is worth testing.

Shopping: Product Listing Ads – PLAs are shown on Google and Microsoft. After submitting a product feed to Google Merchant Center, Shopping campaigns can be created in Google Ads. Advertisers create product groups to which they can bid on various feed attributes. These attributes include:

Brand

Category

Condition

Item ID

Product Type

Custom Attributes

PPC targeting is extremely granular, going down to the zip code level. Advertisers have many options to ensure that their ads show only in desired locations. The example below showcases a campaign only targeting Iowa.