Advertiser Guide: Working with third-party partners Introduction to online advertising and AdWords

AdWords is Google’s advertising product that shows your ads to people searching for products or services similar to yours on Google or its partner sites. Advertising with AdWords allows you to reach new customers when they are searching for the same types of products or services that you offer. Depending on the type of campaign you are running, you can choose to be charged for clicks, impressions, or conversions.

Once your ads are live, we provide performance data so that the third-party partner working on your behalf can track what’s working and what’s not. AdWords is a highly reliable product. It allows you to fully understand the return on your advertising investment and for your third-party partner to make adjustments to optimize for the best possible return.

In addition to the Google Search Network, you can also advertise on Google’s network of partner sites (where you may see the “Ads by Google” message), including YouTube. You can also use other ad formats on this network, such as image ads and video ads.

Google and third-party partners

We believe AdWords can help your business succeed. However, you may not have the time or resources to create and maintain a successful AdWords account. Or maybe you just want some expert help.

That’s where our third-party partners come in. There are many different types of third parties, from large advertising agencies and yellow pages publishers to one-person web consultants. To help you choose a third-party partner, we’ve developed our Partner Programs. Third parties who participate in these programs place badges on your website. They also have taken and passed certification exams. The two badges you’ll likely see most often are the AdWords Certified Partner and the AdWords Authorized Reseller badges. To view the badges and learn more about our Partner Programs, visit www.google.com/adwords/partnerprograms .

To verify whether a company is certified under our Partner Programs, click on the badge on the company’s website. If they are certified, you will be directed to the company’s profile page on Google.com.

How to work with third-party partners

AdWords third-party partners can save you and your business significant time and energy. For the best results, we recommend that you stay informed about your advertising campaigns, be involved in decision-making, keep up with the pace of your campaigns, and leave the time-consuming work to your partner.

Third-party partners often charge a fee in addition to your advertising costs. However, remember that they provide a valuable service to you by managing your AdWords campaigns, providing reports, answering questions, optimizing your campaigns, and more. We think it’s important to be aware of the total cost of advertising on AdWords, including the fees your third-party partner charges. Use this amount to determine your return on investment (ROI).

Here are five quick tips to help you be a savvy customer:

1. Be selective When choosing a third-party partner, look for companies that have the Certified Partner or Authorized Reseller badge. You can use Google Partner Search to verify that a company is certified or to search for a certified partner. When making your selection, make sure that the contract with the partner is set for a certain term and that it is a good fit for you. There are other criteria that will help you choose the right third-party partner:

• Has the third-party partner worked with businesses in your niche before?

• Has it worked with businesses with similar budgets or audiences to yours?

• What other services can they offer in addition to AdWords to help grow your business?

2. Choose a partner It can be tempting to split your budget between multiple third-party partners and see which one delivers the best results. It’s fine to do this, as long as you test each partner one at a time. Since Google doesn’t display multiple ads from a business on a search results page, it can be difficult to test multiple third-party partners at once.

3. Educate yourself While it can take time to master the advanced AdWords knowledge, it doesn’t take much to learn the basics. To learn more, read the “AdWords basics” section below or visit the AdWords Help Center at support.google.com/adwords . Understanding AdWords will help you make more informed decisions about your third-party partner.

4. Trust your experience If you’re working with a company that has managed hundreds of AdWords accounts, they likely have expertise in AdWords. If they tell you that certain industries have always cost more to advertise online, or that certain keywords won’t work for your business, they’re probably speaking from experience.

5. Evaluate your performance Unless you’re focused on branding, the most important thing about AdWords is the return on your advertising investment. In other words, the number of new customers coming through the door. So take some time each month to measure how much you’re investing and the results that investment is delivering.

Things to watch out for

We believe it’s important for you to have a smooth AdWords experience. If you’re not, please let us know. Be sure to work with your third-party partner to troubleshoot any issues before reaching out to us.

Many third parties have earned our trust by acting in the best interests of their advertisers. There are third parties that don’t. Here are some activities you should watch out for and report to us:

• Not sharing AdWords campaign cost and performance information: At a minimum, you have the right to know the clicks, impressions, and cost of your AdWords ads.

• Guaranteed ad placement on a specific ad channel or in a specific location: It’s not possible to guarantee a specific ad position on Google.com search results pages. AdWords ad position is determined by auction and changes dynamically with each new search. It’s normal for some third parties to charge you only when they achieve the ad position you want, but those that guarantee a specific position (e.g. top position every time someone searches for your keyword) are misleading in how AdWords works.

• Claiming to be from Google: Ask for their name and have them email you from the Google.com email address. If you’re still not sure, forward the email to the address above.

• Forcing or intimidating you into signing a contract: Only you can remove your business from the natural or organic search results on Google.com.

• Deceptive pricing: The agency may not use the correct advertising budget you agreed upon. Be sure to get a copy of your written contract.

• Claiming that AdWords will affect your organic or natural ranking: AdWords ads have no impact on your organic or natural ranking in search results. These two are completely separate from each other.

AdWords basics

• Keywords: These are words or phrases that you choose. When people search for those words on Google, your ad may appear next to or above the search results.

• Clicks: The number of times your ad was clicked. Impressions: The number of times your ad was viewed.

• Clickthrough Rate (CTR): The number of clicks divided by the number of impressions, expressed as a percentage. A good CTR can improve your average position.

• Average Position: The average position an ad appears in when triggered. An average position between 1-8 usually indicates that your ad appeared on the first page of search results.

• Cost: The total amount you spent on AdWords.

• Conversion: An action that results from your ad, such as a call, lead, or sale. This is often a useful metric for measuring the success of your ads.

Disclaimer: While we can’t respond to your email specifically, rest assured that we will review your comments and take appropriate action if necessary. If you have a question about your AdWords account and need assistance, you can visit our Help Center at http://support.google.com/adwords/.