choose your words carefully: retail edition
DESCRIPTION
How does word choice affect ad quality in retail PPC ads? Bing Ads dives into a study to uncover the truth.TRANSCRIPT
Choose your words carefully: Retail editionHow word choice can make or break pay-per-click search ads
Black Frid
ay
Bran
d
Cele
brity
Clo
thin
g
Cyb
er M
onday
{KeyW
ord
}
Dom
ain
Food
Free
Free S
hip
pin
g
Furn
iture
Gift(s)
New
Num
ber
Officia
l Site
Pro
duct
Pro
motio
n
Purch
ase
Quality
Reso
urce
Service
Style
/Kin
d
Valu
e
Venue
Web
Oth
er W
ord
s
Black Friday
Brand
Celebrity
Clothing
Cyber Monday
{KeyWord}
Domain
Food
Free
Free Shipping
Furniture
Gift(s)
New
Number
Official Site
Product
Promotion
Purchase
Quality
Resource
Service
Style/Kind
Value
Venue
Web
Other Words
Somewhere in here there are winning word combos for retail search ads. (There are also losers.)
The researchers at Bing Ads recently tackled a couple of big questions about performance for PPC retail ads.
What combinations of words in the title and description get the highest Ad Quality ranking?*
*Ad Quality is a calculation which factors in both the clickability (the likelihood of an ad being clicked, agnostic of position) of the ad and other indicators of ad quality. Ads with better ad quality not only have a better CTR, they get rewarded with better ad ranking and lower CPCs than other ads with lower ad quality.
Does this change depending on what device the audience is using?
Microsoft Confidential
We analyzed
96,000 ads running on the Yahoo Bing Network.
These ads generated 254 million impressions.
1 ad on the Yahoo Bing Network reaches
163 million searchers
5.6 billion monthly searches on Yahoo Bing Network
Microsoft Confidential
We limited our study to
November, 2012 to have the richest data to work with.
Then we broke the massive retail vertical into 7 categories.
FLOWERS / CANDY /
GIFTS
07HOME AND
GARDEN06
APPAREL AND ACCESSORIES
01
CONSUMER ELECTRONICS
02
DEPARTMENT STORES
03
TOYS AND HOBBIES
04
MASS MERCHANTS
05
RETAILVERTICAL
CATEGORIES
The phrases and/or words we analyzed had to appear in ads from at least 5 advertisers.
We analyzed more than 20 of the most commonly used words/phrases.
We analyzed word choice and clickabilityacross devices: PC, mobile and tablet.
Some words of caution…
Microsoft Confidential
What works really well for one category may perform poorly for another. This even applies to general words like “new”.
There is no prescriptive set of ad copy that will generate the same results across devices. People use different devices for different things – they don’t look for the same info on their PC as they do on their phone.
Across the board, in every category, you’ll
get a significant lift (18% or more!) in clicks if you add Sitelinks to your ad.
Microsoft Confidential
Black Frid
ay
Bran
d
Cele
brity
Clo
thin
g
Cyb
er M
onday
{KeyW
ord
}
Dom
ain
Food
Free
Free S
hip
pin
g
Furn
iture
Gift(s)
New
Num
ber
Officia
l Site
Pro
duct
Pro
motio
n
Purch
ase
Quality
Reso
urce
Service
Style
/Kin
d
Valu
e
Venue
Web
Oth
er W
ord
s
Black Friday
Brand
Celebrity
Clothing
Cyber Monday
{KeyWord}
Domain
Food
Free
Free Shipping
Furniture
Gift(s)
New
Number
Official Site
Product
Promotion
Purchase
Quality
Resource
Service
Style/Kind
Value
Venue
Web
Other Words
Here’s how to read a heatmapA
d T
itle
Great Bad No DataGood Ad Description
Our study results show that a retail ad with a celebrity in the title and a product name in the description has high Ad Quality.
Black Frid
ay
Bran
d
Cele
brity
Clo
thin
g
Cyb
er M
onday
{KeyW
ord
}
Dom
ain
Food
Free
Free S
hip
pin
g
Furn
iture
Gift(s)
New
Num
ber
Officia
l Site
Pro
duct
Pro
motio
n
Purch
ase
Quality
Reso
urce
Service
Style
/Kin
d
Valu
e
Venue
Web
Oth
er W
ord
s
Black Friday
Brand
Celebrity
Clothing
Cyber Monday
{KeyWord}
Domain
Food
Free
Free Shipping
Furniture
Gift(s)
New
Number
Official Site
Product
Promotion
Purchase
Quality
Resource
Service
Style/Kind
Value
Venue
Web
Other Words
Apparel and Accessories
Great Poor Insufficient dataGood Ad Description
Ad
Title
PC
TITLE DESCRIPTION
Brand Call to action
Size New
Price/pricing Now
Size Brand
Size Official site
Size Fashion
Free shipping Official site
Free Official site
Official site Official site
Brand [Huge/wide/great] selection
Top word combos for Apparel and Accessories
Insights for Apparel and Accessories
Ad quality is less compelling on PCs when phrases including “holiday” are used in the title and description.
Mobile and Tablet ad copy indexed high with “official site” in the title combined with “online” in the description.
Mobile
TITLE DESCRIPTION
Brand Call to action
Official site Online
% off Size
% off Now
Brand Online
Promotion Gifts
Fashion Promotion
No variable [Huge/wide/great] selection
New Purchase
New Product
Top word combos for Apparel and Accessories
Tablet
TITLE DESCRIPTION
Official site Call to action
Official site Online
Brand Call to action
Brand Online
Style/kind Online
Style/kind Call to action
Free shipping Official site
Gifts Style/kind
Style/kind New
Gifts % off
Consumer Electronics
Black
Friday
Bran
d
Call to
A
ction
Cele
brity
Cyb
er
Monday
Free
Free
Ship
pin
g
Gift
In-S
tore
Picku
p
New
Now
Official
Site
Onlin
e
Price
/ Pricin
g
Pro
duct
Pro
mo
Purch
ase
Quality
Reso
urce
Service
Style
/ Kin
d
Valu
e
Oth
er
Word
s
Black Friday
Brand
Call to Action
Celebrity
Cyber Monday
Free Shipping
Gift
New
Now
Official Site
Online
Price/ Pricing
Product
Promotion
Purchase
Quality
Resource
Service
Style/ Kind
Other WordsA
d T
itle
Great Poor Insufficient dataGood Ad Description
Top word combos for Consumer Electronics
Insights for Consumer Electronics
People search for electronics primarily by the brand of item they’re looking for – so ads that include the brand name in the title with “Cyber Monday” in the description were very clickable. This is also true for tablets, but not for mobile.
On mobile, ads with “purchase” in the title and “Cyber Monday” in the description
were hottest.
PC
TITLE DESCRIPTION
Cyber Monday Quality
Brand Cyber Monday
New Promotion
Cyber Monday Promotion
No variable In-store pickup
New Cyber Monday
Brand In-store pickup
Online Quality
Promotion Cyber Monday
New In-store pickup
Mobile
TITLE DESCRIPTION
No variable Cyber Monday
Purchase Cyber Monday
Price/pricing Product
Brand Resource
Price/pricing Free shipping
Resource Free shipping
Product Service
Resource Service
Brand Price/pricing
Price/pricing Quality
Tablet
TITLE DESCRIPTION
Promotion Cyber Monday
Cyber Monday Promotion
Brand Cyber Monday
Cyber Monday Quality
Product Cyber Monday
No variable In-store pickup
Official site Product
Purchase No variable
Brand In-store pickup
Cyber Monday Product
Top word combos for Consumer Electronics
Department StoresA
d T
itle
Black
Friday
Bran
d
Cele
brity
Clo
thin
g
Cyb
er
Monday
{KeyW
ord
}
Dom
ain
Food
Free
Free
Ship
pin
g
Furn
iture
Gift(s)
New
Num
ber
Officia
l Site
Pro
duct
Pro
motio
n
Purch
ase
Quality
Reso
urce
Service
Style
/Kin
d
Valu
e
Venue
Web
Oth
er
Word
s
Black Friday
Brand
Celebrity
Clothing
Cyber Monday
{KeyWord}
Domain
Food
Free
Free Shipping
Furniture
Gift(s)
New
Number
Official Site
Product
Promotion
Purchase
Quality
Resource
Service
Style/Kind
Value
Venue
Web
Other Words
Great Poor Insufficient dataGood Ad Description
Top word combos for Department Stores
Insights for Department Stores
For ads running on PCs, “service”, “quality” and “free shipping” indexed lower in quality in the ad title, but added value if used in the ad description.
On mobile, the phone number in the ad title offered the greatest clickability emphasizing the importance of understanding the user’s intent relative to the device being used.
PC
TITLE DESCRIPTION
Black Friday Product
Celebrity Product
Value Resource
Value Number
DKI Black Friday
Black Friday Store
Celebrity Store
Brand Furniture
Brand Celebrity
Clothing Cyber Monday
Mobile
TITLE DESCRIPTION
Number Purchase
Number Promotion
Number Number
Black Friday Store
Number Style/kind
Product DKI
Brand New
Number Brand
Resource Service
Brand Clothing
Tablet
TITLE DESCRIPTION
Black Friday Store
Celebrity Store
Brand Furniture
Purchase Resource
Clothing Number
Clothing Purchase
Product DKI
Purchase Brand
Style/kind Store
Brand Celebrity
Top word combos for Department Stores
Toys and HobbiesA
d T
itle
% O
ff
Black
Friday
Bran
d
Call to
A
ction
Free
Free
Ship
pin
g
Holid
ay
New
Now
Official S
ite
Onlin
e
Ord
ers
Pro
duct
Pro
motio
n
Purch
ase
Purch
ase
Quality
Service
Service
Style
/Kin
d
Oth
er
Word
s
% Off
Black Friday
Call to Action
Free
Free Shipping
Holiday
New
Now
Official Site
Online
Product
Promotion
Purchase
Quality
Service
Style/Kind
Other Words
Great Poor Insufficient dataGood Ad Description
Top word combos for Toys and Hobbies
Insights for Toys and Hobbies
Ads running on PCs with the word “now” in the ad title indexed very poorly; but put that same word in the ad description and it drives CTR.
“Official site” in the mobile and tablet ad titles are extremely valuable when paired with brand names.
PC
Title Description
Black Friday Purchase
Call to action Promotion
Black Friday Call to action
No variable Official site
Quality Promotion
Purchase Black Friday
Call to action Style/kind
Black Friday Promotion
Promotion % off
Promotion Service
Mobile
TITLE DESCRIPTION
New Call to action
Product Purchase
Official site Brand
Official site Now
Promotion Black Friday
Product Brand
Product Now
Promotion Brand
Official site Service
Style/kind Service
Tablet
TITLE DESCRIPTION
Official site Brand
Official site Now
Official site New
Free shipping Free
Service Free
Service Free shipping
Service Service
Free shipping Service
Free Service
Free Free shipping
Top word combos for Toys and Hobbies
Mass MerchantsA
d T
itle
% O
ff
Bra
nd
Call to
A
ction
Cele
brity
Clo
thin
g
Co
nd
ition
{KeyW
ord
}
Fo
rm
Fre
e
Fre
e
Sh
ipp
ing
No
w
Ord
ers
{Para
m}
Price
Po
int
Pro
du
ct
Pro
mo
tion
Pu
rchase
Qu
ality
Qu
estio
n
Reso
urce
Serv
ice
Sp
ort
Sty
le/K
ind
Valu
e
Oth
er
Wo
rds
% Off
Brand
Call to Action
Celebrity
Clothing
Condition
{KeyWord}
Form
Free
Free Shipping
Official Site
{Param}
Price Point
Product
Promotion
Purchase
Quality
Resource
Service
Sport
Style/Kind
Value
Other words
Great Poor Insufficient dataGood Ad Description
Top word combos for Mass Merchants
Insights for Mass Merchants
Ad clickability is lower on PCs when phrases including “holiday” are in the title and description (represented here by “promotion”).
“Official site” and “clothing” used together have highest clickability when used on tablet ad copy.
PC
Title Description
Official site Clothing
Style/kind Clothing
Purchase Price point
Condition Promotion
Condition Purchase
Mobile
TITLE DESCRIPTION
Official site Clothing
Style/kind Clothing
Purchase Style/kind
Official site Style/kind
Style/kind Style/kind
Tablet
TITLE DESCRIPTION
Official site Clothing
Style/kind Clothing
Official site Style/kind
Purchase Param insertion
Purchase % Off
Top word combos for Mass Merchants
Home and GardenA
d T
itle
% O
ff
Bla
ck
Frid
ay
Bra
nd
Cyb
er
Mo
nd
ay
Fo
od
Fre
e
Sh
ipp
ing
Fu
rnitu
re
Gift
Gift(s)
Ho
liday
No
w
Officia
l Site
Pro
du
ct
Pro
mo
tion
Pu
rchase
Qu
ality
Reso
urce
Serv
ice
Size
Sty
le/K
ind
Valu
e
Ven
ue
Web
Oth
er
Wo
rds
% Off
Black Friday
Brand
Cyber Monday
Food
Free Shipping
Furniture
Gift
Gift(s)
Holiday
Now
Official Site
Product
Promo
Purchase
Quality
Resource
Service
Size
Style/Kind
Value
Venue
Web
Other Words
Great Poor Insufficient dataGood Ad Description
Top word combos for Home and Garden
Insights for Home and Garden
Across all devices, “venue” (i.e. home, party, garden) pairings yielded significantly high clickability.
The combination of “venue” with “purchase” on mobile ad copy is the least frequently used but highest indexing.
PC
TITLE DESCRIPTION
Venue Now
Venue Free shipping
Venue Service
Venue Brand
Venue Purchase
Top word combos for Home and Garden
Mobile
TITLE DESCRIPTION
Venue Purchase
Venue Product
Venue Style/kind
Promotion Web
Resource Now
Tablet
TITLE DESCRIPTION
Venue Free shipping
Venue Service
Venue Brand
Venue Value
Venue Product
Flowers / Candy / GiftsA
d T
itle
% O
ff
Bra
nd
Call to
A
ction
Clo
thin
g
Cre
ate
{KeyW
ord
}
Fo
od
Fre
e
Fre
e
Sh
ipp
ing
Gift(s)
Ho
liday
No
w
On
line
Price
Pro
du
ct
Pro
fessio
n
Pro
mo
tion
Pu
rchase
Qu
ality
Serv
ice
Sty
le/K
ind
Valu
e
Web
Oth
er
Wo
rds
% Off
Brand
Call to Action
Clothing
Create
{KeyWord}
Food
Free
Free Shipping
Gift(s)
Holiday
Now
Online
Price
Product
Profession
Promotion
Purchase
Quality
Service
Style/Kind
Value
Web
Other Words
Great Poor Insufficient dataGood Ad Description
Top word combos for Flowers / Candy / Gifts
Insights for Flowers / Candy / Gifts
“Gift(s)” pairings yields significantly high clickability when used on tablet, but not other devices.
“Call to action” paired with “now” yields ad clickabilityabove and beyond other PC pairings but is used less frequently.
PC
TITLE DESCRIPTION
Call to action Now
Promotion NoVar
Service Gift(s)
DKI Create
NoVar Value
Top word combos for Flowers / Candy / Gifts
Mobile
TITLE DESCRIPTION
Product Food
Product Quality
Product Gift(s)
Style/kind Product
Gift(s) Product
Tablet
TITLE DESCRIPTION
Gift(s) Now
Gift(s) Product
Gift(s) Value
Gift(s) Brand
DKI Value
Before you pour this awesome info into your search ads, consider
three important things:
ONE Test. Then test again. Test some more.
Testing is critical to understanding your ad copy performance across devices, categories and time periods.
TWO Use ad extensions like location, call, and Sitelinks.
Understand the value of Sitelink lift and the impact it could have on an entire account. Implement and spread to all your ads.
THREE Scale your execution to all your ads.
Develop a framework for understanding the clickability of your ads and executing top performers on a large scale.
Details on word choice
Due to the large number of ads analyzed and the significant number of words/phrases surfaced, phrases and words analyzed were sometimes bucketed.
“Promotion” includes words such as “sales”, “low prices”, “deals”
“Product” includes a specific product in the sub-vertical, such as
“Clothes, Swimwear, Shoes, Watches” for Apparel and Accessories
sub-vertical.
Others could be synonyms or same intent, e.g. “brand” includes all
major brands in the sub-vertical
Most buckets mirror the variation of the phrase itself, e.g. plurals,
different tense, etc.