Google Ads Auction Insights Explained for App Marketers
Marketers are faced with many challenges, one of which is the Google Ads auction. Fortunately, Auction Insights can provide you with valuable data on how your ad campaigns are performing in comparison to competitors.
Knowing how to use Google Ads Auction Insights can give you a competitive edge over others in your industry, with information about how your ads perform, how often they are shown, and the number of clicks they receive. Using this information, you can identify areas where you may be falling behind and opportunities for improvement. When it comes to performance marketing, understanding ‘behind-the-auction’ dynamics is important.
However, it’s important to note that improving ROI isn’t solely dependent on Google Ads Auction Insights. It involves understanding the entirety of your marketing strategy, optimizing your product/landing pages, improving ad copy, refining your targeting, and much more. It’s just one piece of the puzzle. This is why we believe in a holistic marketing approach, covering the full customer journey.
In this article, we will explore how to use Google Ads Auction, the importance of Insights, and how to access and leverage the data.
Contents
So, what is Auction Insights on Google?
The Auction Insights report provides a comparative analysis of your performance against other advertisers participating in the same auctions. This crucial data can guide strategic choices about bid management and budget allocation, highlighting areas of success and identifying potential opportunities for performance enhancement.
The Auction Insights report is available for Search, Shopping, and Performance Max campaigns.
Understanding the Google Ads Auction
There are many ways to advertise online, and many brands opt for Google Ads. However, unlike other forms of digital marketing where you can simply pay for the services and post your ad, Google uses Ads Auction to determine who gets to appear at the top of the search results.
The auction system is designed to give advertisers an equal chance to appear high on the search engine results page (SERP). It’s based on five factors:
- Your bid
- The quality of your ads
- The expected impact of your ad
- Your Ad Rank
- The context of your ad
When you want to advertise on Google, you need to bid on the relevant keywords where you want to appear. Keyword bidding is, therefore, a crucial component of Google advertising, so it’s vital to find keywords with a high likelihood of conversion. Here you can use tools such as Ahrefs, Semrush or even Google’s own ‘Keyword Planner’
Meanwhile, your Quality Score is a metric that Google uses to evaluate the quality and relevance of an ad and the linked landing page. A higher Quality Score results in a better ad position and more clicks. Your Quality Score and keyword bid are used to calculate your Ad Rank.
Learn More: App Marketing Agency
For app marketers, the Google Ads Auction process is vital. Let’s say you have a fitness-based app that offers training programs for people who want to work out at home. The keywords you want to target are things like “fitness apps” and “workout videos.” Using the Google Ads Manager, you can set a bid for each keyword, indicating how much you are willing to pay each time someone clicks on your ad.
Google Ads will evaluate your ad quality, combining this with your bid to make a Quality Score. With this information, it places your ad in a determined position on the SERP, and then charges you per click.
The app market is competitive, but a good bid can place you above your competitors in the SERP.
Google Ads Auction Insights
The Auction Insights report is a powerful tool at your disposal. Provided by Google, this report gives advertisers valuable insights into their ad performance compared to competitors.
The Insights Report includes detailed information on how your ads are performing in the auction process, including how often they appear at the top of the SERP, the share of impressions they receive, and how often they are clicked.
Below is a screenshot showing the Auction Insights overview page, with relevant information for each campaign.
Armed with this information, marketers can compare their results with those of their competitors to assess their position in the market. Then, you can optimize your ad campaigns and make educated decisions about how to market your business.
Auction Insights can show you:
- Impression Share: The number of impressions you received divided by the estimated number of impressions you were eligible to receive, based on Quality Scores and targeting settings.
- Overlap Rate: How often a competitor received an impression at the same time you did.
- Outranking Share: How often your ad ranked higher than another advertiser’s ad, or showed when theirs didn’t.
- Position Above Rate: How often the competitor’s ad was shown above yours.
- Top of Page Rage: How often your ad was shown at the top of the page above unpaid search results.
- Absolute Top-of-Page Rate: How often your ad was shown at the top of the page above the organic search results.
Here’s an example of each metric as seen in the Auction Insights:
How to Access Auction Insights in Google Ads
Accessing Auction Insights is very simple. Follow these simple steps to get started:
- Sign into your Google Ads account.
- Click the Campaigns, Keywords, or Ad Groups page menu. You can choose depending on what you want to create a report for.
- Select a specific campaign, keyword, or ad group by checking the box next to the relevant items. You can also run a report for ‘all’ options.
- Click Auction Insights.
- You will now view the report or download it as a CSV or PDF.
Analyzing Auction Insights for App Marketers
App marketers can leverage Google Ads Auction Insights to improve their marketing strategies. Firstly, you must understand how to interpret the metrics provided in the Insights report. Pay close attention to all of the metrics provided to get a full picture of how your ads are performing. For example, if you are rarely ranking above your competitors for certain keywords, then it might be best to focus your marketing efforts elsewhere.
You can use these metrics to identify strengths and weaknesses in your campaign. If you have a high Impression Share and Top of Page Rate, but a low Average Position, you may need to increase your bid to outrank your competitors. Identifying these areas of weakness and adjusting your strategy is the best way to build an ad campaign that works over time.
You can also use Google Ads Auction Insights to gain information about your competitors. Google Ads Manager lets you view a report for your competitors, too, so you can see which keywords they are ranking for and how they are performing. With these insights, you can learn where it’s possible to compete and adjust your bids accordingly.
This also works conversely. If you have a low Impression Share, you can increase your bid to try and compete, but if you have a very high Impression Share, you might be able to reduce your bid and still maintain your ad position, reducing CPC while improving ROI.
Learn More: What is Media Mix Modeling?
Summing Up
Understanding Google Ads Auction Insights and how to analyze the metrics is essential for app marketers that want to stay ahead of their competitors. The report is a valuable tool at your disposal to see how your ad campaigns are performing and where it’s best to focus your marketing efforts. Plus, it gives you critical insights into your competitors.
Ultimately, understanding the Google Ads Auction Insights report is the best way to improve ad performance, increase visibility, and boost ROI.