Consider the pros and cons of applying Google ads vs. Amazon ads to your business, and see what works best in your favor!
In the context of digital marketing, one of the most popular and practical approaches to improve your business performance is running an ad campaign. To accompany this trend, many tech giants now provide their own paid content services, with Google Ads and Amazon Ads standing out as the most distinctive.
So, what are the pros and cons of these two platforms? Which one is best suited for your Amazon business? Let’s find out in this article.
If you want to take a shortcut, don’t hesitate to seek help from either a Google Ads agency or Amazon marketing agency and learn about their processes.
What Are The Differences Between Google Ads vs. Amazon Ads?
Common ad types
Google Ads has the four most popular types for digital marketers, including search ads, shopping ads, display ads and video ads.
- Search ads: this is paid content that appears in the search result if the user types in the bidding keyword. A search ad usually includes a website link, a short description of the landing page and sometimes contact information (phone number, email address, etc.).
- Shopping ads: this is a detailed description of a product, with clear illustrations and a direct link to the selling page.
- Display ads: This ad features a third-party website in the Google Display Network, including more than two million participants.
- Video ads: this feature is exclusive to Youtube and interjected in between the videos.
Amazon Ads also has four content formats available for service, including sponsored products, sponsored brands, sponsored display and DSP.
- Sponsored products: information about the product will appear at the top of the search result landing page when an Amazon user types in the box.
- Sponsored brand: an entire horizontal space in the search result interface will be dedicated to a single brand, with several key products, a logo and a short description.
- Sponsored display: this allows Amazon sellers to advertise their products both on and off Amazon, depending on where potential customers surf the Net.
- DSP: the working mechanisms of DSP ads are similar to those of sponsored display. However, DSP expands its availability and can be applied for businesses that are not Amazon-based.
Bidding process
Google Ads determines the winner of each ad auction through its Ad Rank. Ad Rank will take all factors of your ad — from ad relevance and target audience’s information to expected clickthrough rate and your bid amount — into account, then give out a number. The higher your Ad Rank score, the more likely your ads appear when users type in the keyword.
Amazon Ads model in its bidding process is less quality-centered and more money-centered. The system used is called “second price auction,” stating that the auction’s winner is the one having to pay slightly more than the second-highest bid.
For example, you and several competitors bid on the keyword “ping pong table.” Your bid is $3 per click, closely followed by a $2 bid. Then you are required to pay roughly around $2.01 for the ad placement, essentially earning the right to show your ads.
However, to qualify for the bidding process, your ads must meet the basic criteria of Amazon Ads, including the right keywords and a certain level of relevance.
Target audience
Google is the world’s most used search engine, with data from virtually all of its users. Therefore, Google Ads can provide businesses with access to their unlimited resources, with insights such as hobbies and interests, device, gender, location, age and more. From there, you can adjust your ad campaign’s target audience down to the tiniest details and increase the clickthrough and conversion rate.
Amazon is the world’s biggest online shopping platform, but its customer database is further behind Google’s. However, retailers using Amazon Ads can tap in various users from different websites within the Amazon display network when using the DSP. The three other types of Amazon ads are limited to Amazon’s buyers only.
Targeting process
While Google Ads and Amazon Ads are keyword-based when distributing paid content, there are a few differences in how these two navigate their procedures.
First off, not only can Amazon Ads target keywords, but it can also advertise based on specific products. It means you can prepare content featuring your listings or categories, and Amazon Ads will present your ads when a user clicks on a similar product. Google Ads, on the other hand, only uses keywords to arrange its ads.
Secondly, if Amazon retailers use the sponsored products feature, they can take advantage of the auto-targeting. No more worries about bidding keywords, as the platform itself will automatically match your ads with the most relevant searches. Again, Google Ads lags with its manual targeting capacity.
Conversion tracking
Google Ads has an elaborate tracking system that enables business owners to gather insights of the converted consumers and other actions. Whether your audience subscribes to your website, signs up for follow-up emails, creates an account, or puts an item in the cart, Google Ads can monitor and report the exact number.
Keeping track of the conversions on Amazon Ads is much simpler, as most ads only lead to purchases. Thus, digital marketers can pinpoint the conversion rate as well as the ad revenue.
Which One Should You Choose For Your Business?
Google Ads and Amazon Ads both have their merits and downsides, and it is hard to find a one-size-fits-all choice for you. You need to determine the characteristics of your ad campaigns and see what suits your business.
If you sell products directly on Amazon, then using Amazon Ads is highly recommended. You can visit this website for further information.
If your business does not tie closely with Amazon Ads, consider outsourcing to a Google Ads agency and take their advice.
Conclusion
Despite the key differences between Google Ads and Amazon Ads, they are undoubtedly the two most effective digital ad solutions. So, explore what they have to offer and choose one accordingly.