Now that Amazon Text Ads are obsolete and the holiday shopping season is just weeks away, PPC marketers need to regroup and consider alternative platforms for their ad campaigns.
Just two months ago I wrote an article for Search Engine Watch titled, Amazon Text Ads: To Do or Not To Do? This post is now a shining example of just how things move fast in the digital marketing industry, as Amazon Text Ads have already been rendered obsolete.
At least this time it’s not because six other features and a newly skinned UI have been launched. Instead, it’s for a less progressive purpose - it's the closure of a program that hardly came to be. So if you were on Amazon Product Ads and were counting on Text Ads to compensate for the void created by the untimely, pre-holiday shopping season sunset of this advertising type - sorry, you’re out of luck.
Amazon has decided to focus on advertising types in which the transaction takes place on the Amazon domain. In other words, you shall never leave the site - at least for now.
With holiday season rapidly approaching and time continuously ticking away, what’s a marketer to do (besides throwing more money at Google)?
Here's my hit list of alternatives to consider.
1. Bing Shopping Campaigns
Seriously, if you haven’t done the upgrade yet, do it at least a week before Black Friday. I recently shared my transition best practices on Search Engine Watch, and I am still consistently seeing good numbers for accounts that make the transition. Stop leaving money on the table here.
2. Yahoo Gemini
IgnitionOne's Digital Marketing Report: Q3 2015 confirmed something I've always suspected – there has been a "wait and see" attitude towards launching on Yahoo Gemini. According to (Read more...) IgnitionOne, there is volume out there that is not being captured by Google or Bing - it is ripe and ready for the taking.
Based on Yahoo’s recent expansion into mobile traffic and native advertising, common sense alone can tell you that there are unique users out there. Therefore, it would behoove you make sure your campaigns get in front of them.
3. eBay Commerce Network / Shopping.com
If you’ve been considering eBay Commerce Network or are already doing product feeds, now is the time to make your move. In terms of volume, it’s not crushing Bing or Yahoo by any means, but it has been a consistent performer all year, in terms of return on ad spend. It also has far less volatility in bid and budget management.
4. adMarketplace
It was recently announced that adMarketplace is partnering with Bing Ads to show Bing Ads units across their network of properties - which is great news. I’ve worked with adMarketplace in the past, both in the managed and self-service areas. Though it was not announced how soon ads from Bing Ads would start serving in the adMarketplace network, if you want to get a head start now to gain greater control, I highly recommend checking it out. Its network of publishers are of a solid quality, easy to manage, and are more affordable on a cost-per-click basis than a lot of the other networks.
Conclusion
Though time is of the essence, with a little strategic thought, you can still change things up and get your campaigns going before the rush of the online holiday shopping season really kicks into high gear. Hopefully this puts some cheer back into your Q4 planning.
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