While Google Auction Insights has been around for some time, have you been leveraging this information at a strategic level to outperform your competitors? If not, you could be missing out on some important data that can help you make more informed decisions about your ad spend.
In this post, we’ll take a look at what Auction Insights is, how it can be used to inform your bidding strategy and some best practices for using this tool effectively.
What is Auction Insights?
Google Auction Insights is a report that shows how often your ads are appearing in Google Search results, as well as how often they are being clicked on. This information can be helpful in understanding your place in the auction landscape and making adjustments to your bidding strategy accordingly. This information is necessary to understand what opportunities you can use to make your campaigns as successful and even more so than your competitors.
To access Auction Insights, simply go to the “Reports” tab in your Google Ads account and select “Auction Insights” from the list of available report types.
Once you’re in the report, you’ll see a number of different metrics that can be used to inform your bidding strategy. These include:
Impression share: This metric shows you what percentage of Google Search impressions your ads are receiving. If you’re not appearing in as many auctions as you’d like, this is likely due to a low impression share. There are a number of reasons why this might be the case, but it’s important to diagnose the issue so that you can make the necessary changes to improve your performance.
Average position: This metric shows you where your ads are appearing on the search results page, on average. A lower average position indicates that your ads are appearing further down on the page, which can impact your click-through rate (CTR) and, ultimately, your conversion rate.
Overlap rate: This metric shows you how often your ads are appearing in the same auction as a competitor’s ad. A high overlap rate is not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s something to be aware of so that you can adjust your bidding accordingly.
Position above rate: This metric shows you how often your ad is appearing in the top position on the search results page. A high position above the rate is generally indicative of strong performance, as users are more likely to see and click on ads that are placed in this prime real estate.
Top of page rate: This metric shows you how often your ad is appearing on the first page of the search results. A high top-of-page rate is also generally indicative of strong performance, as users are more likely to see and click on ads that are placed on the first page.
Outranking Share: This metric shows you how often your ad is appearing above a competitor’s ad. A high outranking share is generally indicative of strong performance, as users are more likely to see and click on ads that are placed in a higher position.
How to Use Auction Insights to Improve Your Bidding Strategy
Now that we’ve covered what Auction Insights are and some of the key metrics that you’ll find in the report, let’s take a look at how you can use this information to inform your bidding strategy.
There are a number of different factors that can impact your performance in the auction, but one of the most important is your impression share. As we mentioned earlier, your impression share is the percentage of Google Search impressions that your ads are receiving.
If you’re not appearing in as many auctions as you’d like, there are a number of potential reasons why this might be the case:
Your bid is too low: If your bid is too low, it’s likely that you’re not appearing in as many auctions as you’d like. To fix this, you’ll need to increase your bid so that you have a better chance of being included in the auction.
Your quality score is low: Another potential reason why you might have a low impression share is if your quality score is low. Quality score is a metric that Google uses to measure the quality and relevance of your ads, and it can have a big impact on your performance in the auction. If your quality score is low, you’ll likely need to make some changes to your ad copy and landing pages to improve your chances of appearing in the auction.
You’re not targeting the right keywords: Finally, another potential reason for a low impression share is if you’re not targeting the right keywords. If you’re not targeting relevant keywords, you’re not going to appear in as many auctions as you’d like. To fix this, you’ll need to do some keyword research and make sure that you’re targeting keywords that are relevant to your business.
Once you’ve diagnosed the issue, you can take the necessary steps to improve your performance in the auction.
Conclusion
Auction Insights is a valuable tool that can help you understand your performance in the Google Search Auction. By understanding your metrics, you can make the necessary changes to improve your chances of appearing in the auction. Ultimately, this will help you drive more traffic to your website and improve your bottom line.
If you’re not sure how to interpret your Auction Insights report, or if you need help improving your performance in the auction, we can help you understand your report and take the necessary steps to improve your chances of appearing in the auction. Contact us today to learn more about our services and how we can help you grow your business.