When you’re setting up a pay-per-click campaign you have many choices on where and how you’d like your ads to appear. Many people (due to budget limitations) opt-out of Google’s content network (these are sites which have agreed to display Google Ads). However, research is showing that this could be a mistake. The numbers are in and apparently the content network tends to deliver better results than the search results. Take a look at this article from AdAge:
In a study Google conducted last year, ads in its content network, which reaches about 80% of internet users in the U.S., was more cost-effective for advertisers than search. Among advertisers that use both, the cost of reaching a consumer who ultimately clicks on an ad cost 2.6% less on Google’s content network than in Google’s search results.
Google came up with the data by following 25,000 advertisers representing 1 billion clicks and 70 million click-through conversions for 12 months ending in November 2008. In total, 51.6% of Google advertisers got better returns from the content network than search. Search still drove the majority of total clicks, but nearly 20% of all clicks came from ads on the content network among advertisers included in Google’s study, proving that it too can be an important driver of leads and sales for marketers. (Of course, a click is just a click and doesn’t necessarily mean a consumer took the action an advertiser wanted, be it to fill out a survey or buy a product.)
The AdWords blog has the full white paper for download.