A Google white paper: Content Network performance trends

Many of our advertisers show their AdWords ads on the Google content network to reach potential customers as they spend time across the web.

How effective is the Content Network for these advertisers? We wanted to find out, so we looked at performance metrics for advertisers who show their ads on both the Google search and content networks.

Our findings, captured in the white paper, CPA Performance Trends On the Google Content Network, show that ads on the Content Network are likely to be as cost-effective as ads on the search network. In fact, we found that the median advertiser showing their ads on both the search and content networks has a cost-per-acquisition (CPA) that's about 2% lower on the Content Network than on search pages, with the Content Network driving close to 20% of their total conversions.

In the analysis, we looked at thousands of AdWords campaigns and many geographic regions. We also analyzed how conversion rates improve for advertisers using campaign management tools such as the Conversion Optimizer and site exclusion.

These findings show there's a substantial opportunity for advertisers who complement their search marketing campaigns with ads on the Content Network. To learn more about advertising effectively on the Google Content Network, we recommend you review our Content Network optimization tips.

You can read the full white paper here. We hope it helps shed light on the potential to meet your performance goals when advertising on the Google Content Network.

Posted by Emel Mutlu, Inside AdWords crew