The launch of Google Instant has been linked to a 9% rise in search engine marketing impressions for Google’s AdWords platform, reports the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB).
According to research by Marin Software, the two weeks since the launch of Instant saw revenue from AdWords increase by some 1.96%. This was due to an increase in click-through rates (CTR) for PPC search ads of around 5.63%.
Marin also claims that it has helped advertisers get more value for their money, with the average cost-per-click rate dropping by 3.47%. However speaking on The Register, Marin senior product marketing manager Gargan Kanwar admits that this could be inaccurate – there is no data available on whether the rise in CTR was followed by a rise in worthwhile user actions.
“We don’t know how conversions changed during this time,” said Kanwar. “One hypothesis is that most advertisers…did not increase their daily budget even though click volumes were going up. This created a scenario where advertisers depleted their budgets faster than normal.”
He says that his data does show though that Google Instant lead to an increase in impressions for “exact” or “phrase” ad campaigns, and speculates that this may be because Instant increases the number of impressions for shorter keywords or phrases.
“Google instant was seen as a big gamble for Google when the company announced it, but it’s proved to be a positive change for the industry,” said Matt Lawson, vice president of marketing for Marin Software in the company’s press release.
