AdWords 101: Targeting the right customers (Part 2 of 2)

We hope you enjoyed the first half of our lesson on targeting. Today, in the second half of the lesson, we'd like to tell you a little bit more about targeting the search and content networks and explain the difference between keyword- and site-targeted campaigns.

Search? Content? Or both?
When you sign up for an AdWords account, your ads will automatically show on Google.com, as well as across the Google Network, which consists of both search and content partners. Displaying your ads on the search network means that, in addition to showing your ad on Google.com, your ad may be shown on other Google properties such as Froogle, or on a partner's search site such as AOL when a user types your keyword into his or her search box.

Ads on the content network are displayed when the content of a page is relevant to the keywords that you have chosen in a given Ad Group, so you want to ensure that each Ad Group revolves around a single theme. For example, your ad from an Ad Group with keywords relating to coffee makers may show up on a product review site that discusses coffee and coffee brewing tools. These ads are considered contextually-relevant, that is, they fit with the general context of the page on which they appear. Ads opted into the content network may appear on Google properties such as Google Groups or Gmail, or on our many partner websites. And, the content network supports ads in additional formats such as image ads or animated image ads.

Where should you choose to run your ads? The choice is up to you. If your ads show across the entire Google Ad Network, you can reach more U.S. Internet users than with any other web property or ad network.* So, if you're looking to expand your customer base, the Google Network provides you with an easy way to reach out to users who are looking for your product. To view or edit your current network preferences, go to Edit Campaign Settings, and check the appropriate boxes under Networks.

Keyword- or site-targeted?
To give you even more control over your ads on the content network, AdWords allows you to choose whether you want to target your campaign using keywords, or by targeting specific sites. Keyword targeting is probably the type of campaign you are most familiar with—choose your list of keywords, and your ads appear either when searchers type one of those keywords on Google.com or the search network, or on contextually-relevant pages within the content network. With site targeting, you can not only choose specific sites where you want to show your ads, but also take advantage of additional targeting options such as site sections or demographic site selection. Again, site targeting is available only for sites in the content network. For more details on site targeting, check out one of our previous posts on this topic.

Homework: to review and learn more about the two targeting options discussed today, be sure to catch up on some of these valuable lessons and resources.

Learning Center
Ad Distribution
Site Targeting

Help Center – FAQ
Google Network Overview
About the Content Network
Site Targeting Overview

Previous Inside AdWords posts
Search / Content networks
- Showing ads on Google properties
- Tracking search and content clicks separately
- A fireside chat on content targeting
- Introducing content bids
- 6 tips to optimize for the content network
- Advertising outside of the (text) box

Site Targeting
- Introduction
- CPM pricing
- Site Sections
- Demographic site selection

Well, there you have it: all the ways that AdWords allows you to home in and target customers wherever and however you want, be it by location, language, distribution channel or criteria. Until next time, we wish you much success in trying out all these targeting options.

*Source: Custom analysis conducted for Google by comScore Networks, November 2005

Posted by Vivian, Inside AdWords crew