Google AdWords: Learning Center

Objective: Get a clear picture of the Google Network. Learn about the specific benefits of the Google Network, and see why ad distribution is important to success.

While search results pages are an important part of finding information on the web, they make up a very small fraction (around 5%) of all pages viewed on the Internet. Purchase decisions are made all over the web: on shopping comparison sites, professional interest pages, hobby sites, targeted newsletters, and other properties. Distributing ads on the Google Network provides a cost-effective way to reach customers on the remaining 95% of the web.

The Google Network is made up of thousands of content and search sites displaying targeted Google ads. These sites include major web portals and search sites, as well as sites that are enrolled in the Google AdSense program.

In an advertiser's account, the Google Network is divided into a search network and a content network. Advertisers can choose to show their ads on either or both of these networks, in addition to showing on Google.com search results pages. By default, all campaigns are opted-in to showing on the entire Google Network - advertisers can opt out of either or both networks, but their ads always appear on Google.com search results pages.

Opting into the Google Network doesn't cost anything
The Google Network includes both pay-per-click and pay-per-impression cost models
You may choose to run either or both text ads and image ads on the content network
Ad formats may vary slightly among Google Network sites. Google automatically formats your ads for you
Ad distribution options are set at the campaign level

The Google Network includes America Online, HowStuffWorks, Ask.com (US and UK), T-Online (Europe), News Interactive (Australia), Tencent (China), and thousands of others worldwide.

Ads whose campaigns are opted into Google's search network can appear on the search results pages of our high-quality partners. These partners include search sites as well as shopping comparison engines. Ads are targeted to users' search queries so that your ad appears only if a user searches for information related to your campaign's keywords.

Only keyword-targeted ads can appear on the search network. Advertisers cannot use site targeting to select individual search network sites. In addition, image ads are reserved for the content network; they won't appear on search network sites. Text ad formatting can vary slightly from site to site, which is automatically adjusted by our system.

Google's content network comprises thousands of web sites, from small niche sites to giant web portals. You can choose to have your ads contextually targeted to these sites, or you can hand-pick a number of sites and run your ad on a pay-per-impression basis using site targeting. In addition, the content network accepts either text or image ads.

Contextual targeting : Our ad serving system reads and understands the content and context of a web page, and relates this information to your campaign's keywords. Your ads will be served only to pages whose content closely matches your keywords, so that you're provided with a targeted audience with an established interest in your message.

Site targeting : If you'd prefer to reach a wider audience from a broader range of content sites, you may choose to take advantage of Google's site targeting. Site targeting allows you to hand-pick any number of sites on which to run your ads. Instead of matching keywords to content, you're targeting a specific audience for your message. By setting a cost per 1000 impressions (CPM) bid, you control how much you pay per impression.

Site targeted ads can be either text or image ads. Text ads that are served through site targeting are expanded to take up the entire ad unit on the publisher's page, so that you can control the message for your audience.

Google offers advertisers the ability to display targeted image ads to participating sites within the content network. Image ads are a high-impact way of delivering your message. They're available in a number of banner, skyscraper, and rectangle formats.

Image ads can be contextually targeted, allowing Google's technology to match your keywords to page content and context, or they can be site-targeted to a select group of desired sites. The cost type for image ads depends on the targeting selection – contextual ads are pay-per-click, while site-targeted ads follow a pay-per-impression model.

Because contextually targeted ads on our content network sometimes return lower conversion numbers than ads on Google.com search results pages, clicks from the content network use "smart pricing" adjustments. Google's smart pricing technology automatically lowers the cost of content clicks based on the referring site, to maximize the return on investment for advertisers.

If our data shows that clicks from a particular content page are less likely to return results, our system automatically reduces the price the advertiser pays for those clicks. The AdWords system takes the work out of CPC bidding, helping to ensure strong return on investment no matter where your ads appear. Smart pricing adjustments are automatically reflected in the average CPC for content targeting shown in the Campaign Management interface.

For example, let’s say you advertise digital cameras. Your ad appears on two different pages – one that reviews digital cameras and another that offers photography tips. Since users are more likely to click on your ad beside digital camera reviews (and thus convert into more sales), Google doesn’t discount these ads. However, Google determines that clicks from the page of photography tips convert into sales less frequently and therefore charges you less per click.