Have you seen popups in your AdWords Search account that recommend enabling a campaign setting called “Search Network with Display Select”? Clicking on “Learn More” provides a compelling business case as to why this switch will be profitable for you.
Should you take Google’s advice and make the switch? We advise against it.
Display Network and Search advertising are completely different. They require totally different approaches including different bids, budgets and ads. Even Google, in its certification training for AdWords, recommends setting up separate campaigns for Search and Display.
The Display Network can be effective. In fact, in certain situations, it can generate leads more cost-effectively than Search. But not when it’s run from within the same Campaign.
In the 10+ years that we’ve managed AdWords accounts, a lot of the money we’ve seen wasted prior to our arrival was caused by targeting both Search and Display in the same Campaign by default. Do not make this mistake.
Google recently added Enhanced CPC bidding as an option on the Display Network, which automatically adjusts your bids in individual sites based on conversion rates. We view this as a positive move and recommend it for AdWords accounts that want to use the Display Network and where there is sufficient conversion volume to qualify. Of course, you must have AdWords conversion tracking in place, but you’ve already done that, right?
To take advantage of Enhanced CPC bidding in the Display Network, you don’t need to use Search Network with Display Select in a hybrid campaign as Google is suggesting. You can and should use it within a dedicated Display Network campaign, as shown below.
