Commentary

Will Native Ads Turn Google.com Into An Ecommerce Site?

It will become natural for consumers to click on native ads in organic search results, per Dave Schwartz, GM of product ads at Datapop -- especially on Google as the engine steps up its position to standardize product listing ads (PLAs) and becomes the next ecommerce marketplace similar to Amazon, eBay, and Sears. It has been obvious that paid-search ads eventually will combine with the native ad format and PLAs to create a hybrid type ad.

Search on "diamond earring" on Google.com and you'll find a more native ad looking product listing ad. Schwartz believes that PLAs are native by nature, but many consumers don't realize it when they click on them. Behind that click, an advertiser pays either a cost per acquisition (CPA) or cost per click (CPC) against the merchandise they market. "As Google evolves into an ecommerce marketplace through PLAs and Google Shopping, it will become natural for consumers to click on these native ads or product listings on Google," he said.

About one year after Google launched PLAs just prior to the holidays, Datapop released some facts from its internal data on about 50 major retailers that participate in Google PLA on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

It turns out that many retailers spent about 20% of their entire November PLA budgets on Black Friday. PLA spending rose 5% higher on Cyber Monday. Online revenue through PLAs rose higher on Cyber Monday than Black Friday -- between 10% and 15%. CPCs rose 5% higher on Black Friday.

As Schwartz points out, the Datapop data reveals how shoppers and marketers leverage Google differently during different phases of the holiday shopping season.

Among Datapop clients, electronics retailers had much better metrics for sales and return on investments Black Friday. The company, however, saw a reverse trend in Home & Garden and Apparel categories, where conversion rates and ROI were about 25% higher on Cyber Monday.

Average order values were considerably lower on Cyber Monday vs. Black Friday as consumers realized that electronics deals were scarce. Ads with Merchant Promotions drove an average increase of 10% in CTR compared with standard PLA ads, according to Schwartz.

Tune in Tuesday morning to the MediaPost Search Insider Summit live from Utah, to watch Blessin Lam lead a panel of experts on native advertising.

1 comment about "Will Native Ads Turn Google.com Into An Ecommerce Site?".
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  1. Anni Paul from BoscoSystems, December 12, 2013 at 2:41 a.m.

    This is a really silly proposition. Google will NOT become dominated by ads because of the rush to native. I'm willing to bet we'll see FEWER ads. Don't forget, native ads - when well done - are informative pieces with a long shelf life. One quality native piece is worth an abundance of display ads that fail to engage or interest. Relevance is key here. It has everything to do with quality, not quantity. And because of this added emphasis on relevance and targeting, mobile ads are being more warmly embraced by consumers. We're certainly not going to turn back now. Great read from Airpush on this subject - http://www.airpush.com/how-consumers-are-driving-a-new-acceptance-of-mobile-advertising/

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Laurie Sullivan is a writer and editor for MediaPost. You can reach Laurie at lauriesullivan@gmail.com.