This is a friendly reminder, if you haven’t already checked out Google’s View-Through Conversions on the Content Network, you should and soon!  I know the tool was announced in the beginning of October but just in case you haven’t had a chance to play around with it see my overview and tips/tricks below.

Definition:

Google’s View-Through Conversions measures the number of online conversions that happened within 30 days after a user saw, but did not click, a display ad on one of the sites an advertiser’s content ad is on.

Particulars:

• Not compatible with Google Analytics goals, need to have conversion tracking.
• Reporting not available for text ads on content network.

Benefits:

• More info on the value of your display ads.
• Better optimized targeted sites and campaigns.
• If you’re running other display ad campaigns you will be able to compare performance easier.

Tips:

• If a certain placement has a high number of view-through conversions, increase the CPC for that particular placement.
• If you have a placement with zero clicks (with a decent amount of impressions) and zero view-through conversions, double check the placement.  Does it relate to your campaign/ad group/company?  As advertisers we want to make sure we are spending our $$ in the most targeted way.  If the placement doesn’t make sense, pause it and consider adding it as a negative placement.
• If you are testing your creative messaging/image sizes, here is another metric to use to measure performance.

Next Steps:

Now that you have a solid understanding of Google’s new feature, are you going to use it for your daily management and reporting? (If you want an A+, the answer is YES!)  Determine the best way to include this new feature into your reports and management.  If one of your major goals is to keep CPA at a certain limit, are you including view-through conversions into that calculation?

Personally, this tool has been the biggest help in determining what placements I should be targeting and determining the appropriate CPC for the placement.  How has the tool helped you better manage your display ads on the Content Network?