Kyle Sulerud - October 24, 2019Get to know what Google Search Partners are and whether they’re good for your business.
First, a definition: Google Search Partners are other websites (other than Google.com) who show Google Search Ads on their websites.
When you’re setting up a Google campaign, there is an option to check a little box. That box is going to determine whether your ads show on the Google search partner network or not.
There’s been a lot of discussion about this over the years. I see a lot of campaigns where people just turn this off. I know there were some very popular books many years ago bearing the advice to TURN OFF THE GOOGLE SEARCH PARTNER NETWORK.
But I actually don’t follow that method.
I don’t think it’s a good idea to just write it off and immediately turn off the Search Partner Network.
Here’s why:
Google Search Partners are other websites who show Google search ads on their websites. If someone is searching for something on a partner website, there is a possibility for your advertisement to show. When it comes to figuring out whether it’s a good idea to include the Search Partners or not, we need to know who search partner websites are.
There are some very big websites who partner with Google and show Google Search Ads :
1) Amazon.com
On this website, Google Partner Ads are shown at the bottom of the page. If someone searches for a certain product, they scroll all the way through Amazon. Now imagine, if they didn’t find something they wanted to look at, that’s where they see Google search ads at the bottom. If your ad is there, you get considered by a possible buyer.
2) eBay and Walmart
These are also big websites that you should consider if you are selling a product or into e-commerce. These are usually good websites for you to show your ad on. Especially considering where the ad is placed. Imagine: they’ve already searched Amazon and they didn’t find what they wanted, now they are looking for other options. This is a prime time to show your ad to someone and hopefully, you can solve their problem.
3) Yelp.com
If you’re on Yelp, you will also see ads, but not ones for products. It’s a great place to show your ad if you provide a service, as someone is likely going to be on Yelp because they want to hire a local service business.
How and Why Google Search Partner Ads work:
Google Search Partner Ads usually work because there are high-quality websites that run these ads very well.
You can track the progress of these in your campaign by segmenting out the data in your dashboard (regular Google Search results vs. Search Partner Ads results).
Usually, you’ll have a lower conversion rate with Google Search Partner traffic than you do with regular Google Traffic. However, the cost per click on Google Search Partners is lower which also means you’re not paying as much for the traffic. It’s okay if it doesn’t convert as well, because ultimately, what usually happens is you pay about the same per conversion as you’re paying with Google.com traffic.
Sometimes you pay a little less which is great, and sometimes you pay more. If that’s the case, you have to decide if it’s it’s still worth it for you to run your ads on the Search Partner Network. Even if you’re paying a little more, you might still be making a good return (ROI) on those ads. If the ad spend is too high, you can always turn the search partner traffic off: just go back to your campaign settings, uncheck the box, and your ads will stop running on these Google Search Partner sites.
What’s the bottom line?
I still recommend starting with the Search Partner Network turned ON. Just keep an eye on it, and turn it off only when you need to. Another thing to keep in mind is that you will not get a ton of traffic from the search partner network. The majority of the budget is not going to go to the search partner networks. But if it allows you to get more leads and more sales, why turn it off, right? Keep it on even if it’s just a small percentage of your leads and sales.