• About Us
  • Contributors
  • Guides
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Write for The SEM Post
  • Submit a tip or contact us!
  • Newsletters

The SEM Post

Latest News About SEO, SEM, PPC & Search Engines

  • Google
  • SEO
  • Mobile
  • Local
  • Bing
  • Pay Per Click
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • State of the Industry
You are here: Home / Google / Google AdWords Quietly Launches Display Select Only Campaigns

Google AdWords Quietly Launches Display Select Only Campaigns

August 13, 2014 at 5:00 am PST By Susan Waldes

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google+
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
  • WhatsApp
  • Evernote
  • SMS

display select onlyIn November 2013, Google announced a new campaign type “Search Network with Display Select”. These are primarily search campaigns but include highly relevant keyword/contextual targeted (more stringently targeted than regular keyword/contextual targeting) impressions on GDN.

Small advertisers have seen some promising results with the campaign type, but adoption in enterprise level accounts, where splitting search and GDN spend is critical to tracking, is low. Even Google suggested that if you use “Search Only” and “Display Only”, that you keep your campaigns as they are.

Display Select Only is Coming

Starting in late July, Google began rolling out “Display Select” only campaigns to a small number of accounts. Eventually, this campaign type will be available in all accounts. This will allow larger advertisers to test the new targeting without muddying their search campaigns with GDN data. In fact, some larger advertisers may already be unknowingly testing this campaign type.

Are You Using Search Companion Marketing Campaigns?

While larger advertisers had low adoption of “Search with Display Select” campaigns, they have had high adoption of Search Companion (SCM) campaigns. The Search Companion campaign type was one of those eternal not-so-secret Adwords betas. Info has been posted on the Adwords community forum as well as on multiple highly-regarded industry blogs. Because of the beta status, implementation has required a Google rep to “flip the switch” so this campaign type is largely used by larger spenders with dedicated reps.

SCM = Display Select Only

So what’s the connection? When the Search Companion beta was released in 2012, the targeting was analogous to “search retargeting” in the traditional display world. A user searches on google.com (or another property where Google was able to capture the search via url parameters) for “mortgage loans”, you use the keyword “mortgage loans” in your SCM campaigns and you are able to target the user on GDN with text and image display ads, after their search, knowing that they are “in market” for a mortgage loan.

That is no longer true. In fact, Search Companion campaigns have not actually been using “search retargeting” for 11 months. Instead, Search Companion beta campaigns, since September of 2013, have been targeting the more stringent adherence to keyword/contextual targeting that is now known as “Display Select” (standalone without the “Search Network” ) and soon will be available in all accounts as a new campaign type.

Surprised?

Surprised? I was too but then I gave it some thought and it all makes sense.

First, I did notice that over the last year, my Search Companion campaign’s placement reports were full of suspiciously topical sites. I found it odd that so many people were consumed with “auto insurance” and “ecommerce software” to the degree that they recently searched for it AND almost exclusively consume GDN content on the same topic.

Also, I asked a Google rep when this shift was made and they pointed me to the September change to secure searching for all users. If search queries are not being passed via urls, even within Google’s own ecosystem, how could Search Companion campaigns be targeting recent searches?

It’s The Performance That Counts

So, if you wish you could test Display Select but couldn’t combine search and GDN budgets, you will now be able to test this campaign type. However, if you’ve been running Search Companion campaigns over the last 11 months, then you already tested Display Select only campaigns. I am one of those that have been using Search Companion quite a bit over the last year. I feel a bit bristled at not being told that they were not in fact “search companion” campaigns for some time, but ultimately it’s the data that matters, and the data is pretty great. Here’s some data from one of my accounts:

SCM_campaigns

With CTRs 3x+ normal keyword contextual targeting and conversion rates 4x, I have to welcome the fact that we will be able to create this type of campaign (whether it’s called Search Companion or Display Select) on the fly, in any account, large or small.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google+
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
  • WhatsApp
  • Evernote
  • SMS
The following two tabs change content below.
  • Bio
  • Latest Posts
My Twitter profileMy LinkedIn profile

Susan Waldes

SVP Client Services at Five Mill Marketing
Susan Waldes has worked in the search engine marketing industry since 1999; she joined Five Mill Marketing as SVP of Client Services in April 2014 after serving as Director of Client Services at 3Q Digital Susan has handled strategy for a multitude of high-profile eCommerce, Lead generation and start-up acquisition clients at her recent firms as well as in previous roles at ROI Revolution, Rockett Interactive and as an independent SEM consultant. Susan has a BFA from Savannah College of Art and Design. Susan has contributed insights about SEM and client relationships many highly regarded outlets including Search Engine Land, Certified Knowledge and Search Engine Watch. She has spoken on SEM, advanced retargeting practices and Enhanced Campaigns at several SMX conferences, Digital East and Leadscon.
My Twitter profileMy LinkedIn profile

Latest posts by Susan Waldes (see all)

  • Upgraded Adwords Reporting Rolling Out to Accounts - April 17, 2015
  • View-Through Conversions For GDN Text Ads Rolling Out? - February 10, 2015
  • Less Editorial Delays: AdWords Releasing “Upgraded URLs” - February 6, 2015
  • Display Select GDN Keyword Targeting Spotted in Google AdWords Accounts - December 5, 2014
  • Shared Business Data: Data Feeds Come to Adwords Ads - September 23, 2014

Filed Under: Google, Pay Per Click

Sign up for our newsletter


Comments

  1. Eduardo Sobral Guilherme says

    August 16, 2014 at 6:30 pm

    Thank you for this information Susan. With all the focus and buzz about Adwords removal of choice in Close variants of exact matches this piece of golden information almost flew over the radar of most PPC marketers.

Trackbacks

  1. SearchCap: Microsoft Catapult, Google HTTPS Factors & Bing Conversational Search says:
    August 13, 2014 at 2:02 pm

    […] Google AdWords Quietly Launches Display Select Only Campaigns, The SEM Post […]

Founder & Editor

Jennifer Slegg (2052)

Sign up for our daily news recap & weekly newsletter.


Follow us online

  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Linkedin
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Latest News

2022 Update for Google Quality Rater Guidelines – Big YMYL Updates

We finally have the first Google Quality Rater Guidelines update of 2022, and like usual, it is … [Read More...]

Recent Posts

  • 2022 Update for Google Quality Rater Guidelines – Big YMYL Updates
  • Google Quality Rater Guidelines: The Low Quality 2021 Update
  • Rethinking Affiliate Sites With Google’s Product Review Update
  • New Google Quality Rater Guidelines, Update Adds Emphasis on Needs Met
  • Google Updates Experiment Statistics for Quality Raters
  • Analyzing “How Google Search Works” Changes from Google
  • Google Quality Rater Guidelines Update: New Introduction, Rater Bias & Political Affiliations
  • Google Updates Quality Rater Guidelines: Reputation for News Sites; Video Content Updates; Quality for Information Sites
  • Google Makes Major Changes to NoFollow, Adds Sponsored & UGC Tags
  • Google Updates Quality Rater Guidelines Targeting E-A-T, Page Quality & Interstitials

Categories

  • Affiliate Marketing
  • Amazon
  • Apple
  • Bing
  • Branding
  • Browsers
  • Chrome
  • Content Marketing
  • Design
  • Domains
  • DuckDuckGo
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Firefox
  • Foursquare
  • Google
    • Analytics
    • Google RankBrain
    • Quality Rater's Guidelines
  • History of Search
  • Industry Spotlight
  • Instagram
  • Internet Explorer
  • Links
  • Local
  • Mobile
  • Native Advertising
  • Other Search Engines
  • Pay Per Click
  • Pinterest
  • Publishers
  • Security
  • SEO
  • Snapchat
  • Social Media
  • State of the Industry
  • The SEM Post
  • Tools
  • Twitter
  • Uncategorized
  • User Experience
  • Video Marketing
  • Week in Review
  • Whitepapers
  • Wordpress
  • Yahoo
  • Yelp
  • YouTube
June 2025
MTWTFSS
« Aug  
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
30 

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries RSS
  • Comments RSS
  • WordPress.org

Copyright © 2025 · News Pro Theme On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in