The overwhelming majority of Google searches are not consumers looking to buy. I think I’m so embedded in search engine land I tend to forget this, but the reality is that 85% of searches on Google bear no relation to consumers buying products. 

They are a mixture of people using Google for information and navigation – such as “facebook login”, or “Rick Stein’s Pad Thai recipe” and only 10% are commercial investigation. 

The part that everyone wants though, people actually looking like they’ve have credit card in hand is only 5%

The reality is that there is a limit to the availability of peak demand searches in Google ads and this sits parallel alongside Google’s enthusiasm for selling inventory which sits firmly in the 10% consideration process, but also the 85% of non-shopping queries. 

 

Every retailer, lead generator, and ecommerce brand is fighting over the same relatively small subset of searches where people are actively evaluating products or ready to buy.

But where do you strike a balance? I know plenty of advertisers who would have a fit over a search terms report if it contained queries that would rightly belong in the 10% of commercial investigation. 

They’d say that it wasn’t traffic with intent and we shouldn’t appear in the consideration process, but the same retailers also want to scale and continually increase their share of the 5%. 

But if everyone is chasing the same bottom-of-funnel searches, where do tomorrow’s conversions come from?

I accept that Google hasn’t monetised its entire inventory, but I think as marketers, there is a vast swath of inventory being sold via the magic of Pmax and AI search that advertisers really just don’t want. 

YouTube is still one of the fastest growing advertising platforms, but I think any agency or advertiser will see that the increase is most likely attributed to Pmax placements, not active behavior by advertisers seeking these placements out. 

Advertisers need to be on their guard and question whether Google is doing what they have asked or if they’re paying for ad inventory which falls from the 15% of commercial searches which are relevant or beneficial, nevermind the magical 5% everyone wants. 

 

If you’re concerned that you are spending money on ad inventory that won’t convert ( and I guarantee you are!) contact us for a  free audit today