The Funnel

Our roundup of the most important PPC news this week.

PPC News Roundup is a weekly roundup of all news related to the major PPC and digital advertising platforms. Published on Fridays, “PPC News Roundup” will help you stay up-to-date on all the important PPC ads news you need to know.

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Amazon Ads News

A new eMarketer study released this week revealed that Amazon's share of the search ad market in the United States is rapidly being eaten off by Amazon. According to the study, by 2021 Amazon is expected to capture 15.9% of the US search market, while Google's will contract to 70.5%.

While Amazon's share is still a far cry away from Google's, it is still twice as much as the closest competitor, Microsoft. The overall search market continues to expand as marketers switch budgets from traditional media outlets like print and television to digital media.

This year, Amazon will rake in $11 billion in advertising revenue, the majority of which will be from ads in search results pages, such as sponsored brands and sponsored products.

Growing prime memberships are what is fueling Amazon's search growth. People with a prime membership will tend to search on Amazom first for a product to take advantage of the free shipping costs, before moving to look elsewhere.

In fact, according to eMarketer, the majority of product searches now begin on Amazon. Amazon's search business is set to grow 30% in 2019, with revenues hitting $7.09 billion.

A major reason that advertising on Amazon is attractive to marketers is the location where people are in the funnel who search on Amazon.

Costumers who search on Amazon have strong-purchase intent and are more often than not ready to make a purchase. Whereas people who use Google use it more as a means of gathering information.

While, Amazon is capturing the majority of headlines, it's not the only major retailer that is growing. Walmart, Target, eBay and Pinterest are also growing at the expense of Google.

This huge increase in search ads has prompted controversy as well. On Thursday, Bloomberg reported that Amazon charged companies as much as $2 million for placements on its annual holiday toy list. The list recommends 100 gift options for children, such as a Lego set of a plane from the Avengers to voice-activated Monopoly.

Amazon categorizes its list as 'curated' by experts who reviewed over 1,700 entries. In reality, the company hides the millions of dollars in sponsorship money companies paid to be considered on the list.

The high price makes it nearly impossible for any small business owners to be considered for the list.

In other Amazon-related news:

Amazon Sellers Are Using Facebook Chatbots To Cheat Their Way To Good Reviews

Facebook ads touting free products are actually fake review programs commissioned by Amazon sellers.

How advertising rates vary by category on Amazon

A thorough understanding of search terms for Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands from a volume and margin perspective is needed to bid to value effectively on Amazon.

Facebook Ads News

Facebook Ads in Search Results Rolling Out to More Advertisers

Ads in Facebook search results have been available to select advertisers since last December. This past June, Facebook quietly rolled out the search results ad placement to more businesses.

Facebook Introduces New Custom Templates for Stories Ads

Facebook is introducing new templates which make it easier for marketers to create custom stories ads across Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram.

How A Massive Facebook Scam Siphoned Millions Of Dollars From Unsuspecting Boomers

How a company was built on the subscription trap using Facebook and how it fell apart.

Facebook testing ads in Groups tab

Facebook is trying out ad placements it the Groups tab where users can view content from all the Groups they belong to.

Advertisers on Why WhatsApp’s Status Is a Good Testing Ground for Ads

Ads on WhatsApp are expected to appear sometime in 2020.

Google Ads News

Google Ads debuts ‘conversions by time’ reporting

The new columns report conversions on the days they occur instead of by ad click date.

Google Ads Introduces 2 New Ways to Target Users in Google Search

Google Ads is rolling out two new ways to reach your target audiences in Google Search. Over the coming weeks, Google Ads will be launching affinity audiences and seasonal event segments for in-market audiences.

More States Exempted in Google Policy Gambling Ads Changes

Google has revealed plans to increase the online ads coverage of sports betting and casinos, opening the sluice gates for such marketing tools in more states across the United States.

Microsoft Ads News

Microsoft wants to challenge Amazon and Google's dominance of search

Microsoft has increased its product offerings for brands and retailers since it rebranded its ad platform in April. One new product is Sponsored Products.

Snapchat Ads News

Snapchat goes after retailers, DTC brands with new dynamic ads

Snap has announced Dynamic Ads that will help it to better attract ad dollars from retail, e-commerce and other direct-to-consumer brands, a group that thrives on Instagram.

TikTok Ads News

How Fast-Growing TikTok Does and Doesn't Compete Against Instagram and Snapchat

TikTok's short-length video platform has become quite popular with younger consumers. But it isn't exactly a substitute for services such as Instagram and Snapchat Stories.

Twitter Ads News

Politicians aren’t ‘entirely’ above the rules, Twitter says

Twitter has released a clarification of its policies regarding how tweets from politicians are treated on its platform.

YouTube Ads News

YouTube Expands Access to AR 'Try-On' Ad Feature

After first launching its augmented reality 'Beauty Try-On' ad format with selected partners back in June, YouTube has this week announced that it's expanding the pool of brands who'll be able to access the function, while it's also adding the AR ads to its Masthead ad placement options, making them easier to find for users.

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