Choose your words carefully: Retail editionHow word choice can make or break pay-per-click search ads

Black Frid

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Cele

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Cyb

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onday

{KeyW

ord

}

Dom

ain

Food

Free

Free S

hip

pin

g

Furn

iture

Gift(s)

New

Num

ber

Officia

l Site

Pro

duct

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Black Friday

Brand

Celebrity

Clothing

Cyber Monday

{KeyWord}

Domain

Food

Free

Free Shipping

Furniture

Gift(s)

New

Number

Official Site

Product

Promotion

Purchase

Quality

Resource

Service

Style/Kind

Value

Venue

Web

Other Words

Somewhere in here there are winning word combos for retail search ads. (There are also losers.)

The researchers at Bing Ads recently tackled a couple of big questions about performance for PPC retail ads.

What combinations of words in the title and description get the highest Ad Quality ranking?*

*Ad Quality is a calculation which factors in both the clickability (the likelihood of an ad being clicked, agnostic of position) of the ad and other indicators of ad quality. Ads with better ad quality not only have a better CTR, they get rewarded with better ad ranking and lower CPCs than other ads with lower ad quality.

Does this change depending on what device the audience is using?

Microsoft Confidential

We analyzed

96,000 ads running on the Yahoo Bing Network.

These ads generated 254 million impressions.

1 ad on the Yahoo Bing Network reaches

163 million searchers

5.6 billion monthly searches on Yahoo Bing Network

Microsoft Confidential

We limited our study to

November, 2012 to have the richest data to work with.

Then we broke the massive retail vertical into 7 categories.

FLOWERS / CANDY /

GIFTS

07HOME AND

GARDEN06

APPAREL AND ACCESSORIES

01

CONSUMER ELECTRONICS

02

DEPARTMENT STORES

03

TOYS AND HOBBIES

04

MASS MERCHANTS

05

RETAILVERTICAL

CATEGORIES

The phrases and/or words we analyzed had to appear in ads from at least 5 advertisers.

We analyzed more than 20 of the most commonly used words/phrases.

We analyzed word choice and clickabilityacross devices: PC, mobile and tablet.

Some words of caution…

Microsoft Confidential

What works really well for one category may perform poorly for another. This even applies to general words like “new”.

There is no prescriptive set of ad copy that will generate the same results across devices. People use different devices for different things – they don’t look for the same info on their PC as they do on their phone.

Across the board, in every category, you’ll

get a significant lift (18% or more!) in clicks if you add Sitelinks to your ad.

Microsoft Confidential

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ay

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brity

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thin

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Cyb

er M

onday

{KeyW

ord

}

Dom

ain

Food

Free

Free S

hip

pin

g

Furn

iture

Gift(s)

New

Num

ber

Officia

l Site

Pro

duct

Pro

motio

n

Purch

ase

Quality

Reso

urce

Service

Style

/Kin

d

Valu

e

Venue

Web

Oth

er W

ord

s

Black Friday

Brand

Celebrity

Clothing

Cyber Monday

{KeyWord}

Domain

Food

Free

Free Shipping

Furniture

Gift(s)

New

Number

Official Site

Product

Promotion

Purchase

Quality

Resource

Service

Style/Kind

Value

Venue

Web

Other Words

Here’s how to read a heatmapA

d T

itle

Great Bad No DataGood Ad Description

Our study results show that a retail ad with a celebrity in the title and a product name in the description has high Ad Quality.

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Cele

brity

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Cyb

er M

onday

{KeyW

ord

}

Dom

ain

Food

Free

Free S

hip

pin

g

Furn

iture

Gift(s)

New

Num

ber

Officia

l Site

Pro

duct

Pro

motio

n

Purch

ase

Quality

Reso

urce

Service

Style

/Kin

d

Valu

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Venue

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Oth

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ord

s

Black Friday

Brand

Celebrity

Clothing

Cyber Monday

{KeyWord}

Domain

Food

Free

Free Shipping

Furniture

Gift(s)

New

Number

Official Site

Product

Promotion

Purchase

Quality

Resource

Service

Style/Kind

Value

Venue

Web

Other Words

Apparel and Accessories

Great Poor Insufficient dataGood Ad Description

Ad

Title

PC

TITLE DESCRIPTION

Brand Call to action

Size New

Price/pricing Now

Size Brand

Size Official site

Size Fashion

Free shipping Official site

Free Official site

Official site Official site

Brand [Huge/wide/great] selection

Top word combos for Apparel and Accessories

Insights for Apparel and Accessories

Ad quality is less compelling on PCs when phrases including “holiday” are used in the title and description.

Mobile and Tablet ad copy indexed high with “official site” in the title combined with “online” in the description.

Mobile

TITLE DESCRIPTION

Brand Call to action

Official site Online

% off Size

% off Now

Brand Online

Promotion Gifts

Fashion Promotion

No variable [Huge/wide/great] selection

New Purchase

New Product

Top word combos for Apparel and Accessories

Tablet

TITLE DESCRIPTION

Official site Call to action

Official site Online

Brand Call to action

Brand Online

Style/kind Online

Style/kind Call to action

Free shipping Official site

Gifts Style/kind

Style/kind New

Gifts % off

Consumer Electronics

Black

Friday

Bran

d

Call to

A

ction

Cele

brity

Cyb

er

Monday

Free

Free

Ship

pin

g

Gift

In-S

tore

Picku

p

New

Now

Official

Site

Onlin

e

Price

/ Pricin

g

Pro

duct

Pro

mo

Purch

ase

Quality

Reso

urce

Service

Style

/ Kin

d

Valu

e

Oth

er

Word

s

Black Friday

Brand

Call to Action

Celebrity

Cyber Monday

Free Shipping

Gift

New

Now

Official Site

Online

Price/ Pricing

Product

Promotion

Purchase

Quality

Resource

Service

Style/ Kind

Other WordsA

d T

itle

Great Poor Insufficient dataGood Ad Description

Top word combos for Consumer Electronics

Insights for Consumer Electronics

People search for electronics primarily by the brand of item they’re looking for – so ads that include the brand name in the title with “Cyber Monday” in the description were very clickable. This is also true for tablets, but not for mobile.

On mobile, ads with “purchase” in the title and “Cyber Monday” in the description

were hottest.

PC

TITLE DESCRIPTION

Cyber Monday Quality

Brand Cyber Monday

New Promotion

Cyber Monday Promotion

No variable In-store pickup

New Cyber Monday

Brand In-store pickup

Online Quality

Promotion Cyber Monday

New In-store pickup

Mobile

TITLE DESCRIPTION

No variable Cyber Monday

Purchase Cyber Monday

Price/pricing Product

Brand Resource

Price/pricing Free shipping

Resource Free shipping

Product Service

Resource Service

Brand Price/pricing

Price/pricing Quality

Tablet

TITLE DESCRIPTION

Promotion Cyber Monday

Cyber Monday Promotion

Brand Cyber Monday

Cyber Monday Quality

Product Cyber Monday

No variable In-store pickup

Official site Product

Purchase No variable

Brand In-store pickup

Cyber Monday Product

Top word combos for Consumer Electronics

Department StoresA

d T

itle

Black

Friday

Bran

d

Cele

brity

Clo

thin

g

Cyb

er

Monday

{KeyW

ord

}

Dom

ain

Food

Free

Free

Ship

pin

g

Furn

iture

Gift(s)

New

Num

ber

Officia

l Site

Pro

duct

Pro

motio

n

Purch

ase

Quality

Reso

urce

Service

Style

/Kin

d

Valu

e

Venue

Web

Oth

er

Word

s

Black Friday

Brand

Celebrity

Clothing

Cyber Monday

{KeyWord}

Domain

Food

Free

Free Shipping

Furniture

Gift(s)

New

Number

Official Site

Product

Promotion

Purchase

Quality

Resource

Service

Style/Kind

Value

Venue

Web

Other Words

Great Poor Insufficient dataGood Ad Description

Top word combos for Department Stores

Insights for Department Stores

For ads running on PCs, “service”, “quality” and “free shipping” indexed lower in quality in the ad title, but added value if used in the ad description.

On mobile, the phone number in the ad title offered the greatest clickability emphasizing the importance of understanding the user’s intent relative to the device being used.

PC

TITLE DESCRIPTION

Black Friday Product

Celebrity Product

Value Resource

Value Number

DKI Black Friday

Black Friday Store

Celebrity Store

Brand Furniture

Brand Celebrity

Clothing Cyber Monday

Mobile

TITLE DESCRIPTION

Number Purchase

Number Promotion

Number Number

Black Friday Store

Number Style/kind

Product DKI

Brand New

Number Brand

Resource Service

Brand Clothing

Tablet

TITLE DESCRIPTION

Black Friday Store

Celebrity Store

Brand Furniture

Purchase Resource

Clothing Number

Clothing Purchase

Product DKI

Purchase Brand

Style/kind Store

Brand Celebrity

Top word combos for Department Stores

Toys and HobbiesA

d T

itle

% O

ff

Black

Friday

Bran

d

Call to

A

ction

Free

Free

Ship

pin

g

Holid

ay

New

Now

Official S

ite

Onlin

e

Ord

ers

Pro

duct

Pro

motio

n

Purch

ase

Purch

ase

Quality

Service

Service

Style

/Kin

d

Oth

er

Word

s

% Off

Black Friday

Call to Action

Free

Free Shipping

Holiday

New

Now

Official Site

Online

Product

Promotion

Purchase

Quality

Service

Style/Kind

Other Words

Great Poor Insufficient dataGood Ad Description

Top word combos for Toys and Hobbies

Insights for Toys and Hobbies

Ads running on PCs with the word “now” in the ad title indexed very poorly; but put that same word in the ad description and it drives CTR.

“Official site” in the mobile and tablet ad titles are extremely valuable when paired with brand names.

PC

Title Description

Black Friday Purchase

Call to action Promotion

Black Friday Call to action

No variable Official site

Quality Promotion

Purchase Black Friday

Call to action Style/kind

Black Friday Promotion

Promotion % off

Promotion Service

Mobile

TITLE DESCRIPTION

New Call to action

Product Purchase

Official site Brand

Official site Now

Promotion Black Friday

Product Brand

Product Now

Promotion Brand

Official site Service

Style/kind Service

Tablet

TITLE DESCRIPTION

Official site Brand

Official site Now

Official site New

Free shipping Free

Service Free

Service Free shipping

Service Service

Free shipping Service

Free Service

Free Free shipping

Top word combos for Toys and Hobbies

Mass MerchantsA

d T

itle

% O

ff

Bra

nd

Call to

A

ction

Cele

brity

Clo

thin

g

Co

nd

ition

{KeyW

ord

}

Fo

rm

Fre

e

Fre

e

Sh

ipp

ing

No

w

Ord

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{Para

m}

Price

Po

int

Pro

du

ct

Pro

mo

tion

Pu

rchase

Qu

ality

Qu

estio

n

Reso

urce

Serv

ice

Sp

ort

Sty

le/K

ind

Valu

e

Oth

er

Wo

rds

% Off

Brand

Call to Action

Celebrity

Clothing

Condition

{KeyWord}

Form

Free

Free Shipping

Official Site

{Param}

Price Point

Product

Promotion

Purchase

Quality

Resource

Service

Sport

Style/Kind

Value

Other words

Great Poor Insufficient dataGood Ad Description

Top word combos for Mass Merchants

Insights for Mass Merchants

Ad clickability is lower on PCs when phrases including “holiday” are in the title and description (represented here by “promotion”).

“Official site” and “clothing” used together have highest clickability when used on tablet ad copy.

PC

Title Description

Official site Clothing

Style/kind Clothing

Purchase Price point

Condition Promotion

Condition Purchase

Mobile

TITLE DESCRIPTION

Official site Clothing

Style/kind Clothing

Purchase Style/kind

Official site Style/kind

Style/kind Style/kind

Tablet

TITLE DESCRIPTION

Official site Clothing

Style/kind Clothing

Official site Style/kind

Purchase Param insertion

Purchase % Off

Top word combos for Mass Merchants

Home and GardenA

d T

itle

% O

ff

Bla

ck

Frid

ay

Bra

nd

Cyb

er

Mo

nd

ay

Fo

od

Fre

e

Sh

ipp

ing

Fu

rnitu

re

Gift

Gift(s)

Ho

liday

No

w

Officia

l Site

Pro

du

ct

Pro

mo

tion

Pu

rchase

Qu

ality

Reso

urce

Serv

ice

Size

Sty

le/K

ind

Valu

e

Ven

ue

Web

Oth

er

Wo

rds

% Off

Black Friday

Brand

Cyber Monday

Food

Free Shipping

Furniture

Gift

Gift(s)

Holiday

Now

Official Site

Product

Promo

Purchase

Quality

Resource

Service

Size

Style/Kind

Value

Venue

Web

Other Words

Great Poor Insufficient dataGood Ad Description

Top word combos for Home and Garden

Insights for Home and Garden

Across all devices, “venue” (i.e. home, party, garden) pairings yielded significantly high clickability.

The combination of “venue” with “purchase” on mobile ad copy is the least frequently used but highest indexing.

PC

TITLE DESCRIPTION

Venue Now

Venue Free shipping

Venue Service

Venue Brand

Venue Purchase

Top word combos for Home and Garden

Mobile

TITLE DESCRIPTION

Venue Purchase

Venue Product

Venue Style/kind

Promotion Web

Resource Now

Tablet

TITLE DESCRIPTION

Venue Free shipping

Venue Service

Venue Brand

Venue Value

Venue Product

Flowers / Candy / GiftsA

d T

itle

% O

ff

Bra

nd

Call to

A

ction

Clo

thin

g

Cre

ate

{KeyW

ord

}

Fo

od

Fre

e

Fre

e

Sh

ipp

ing

Gift(s)

Ho

liday

No

w

On

line

Price

Pro

du

ct

Pro

fessio

n

Pro

mo

tion

Pu

rchase

Qu

ality

Serv

ice

Sty

le/K

ind

Valu

e

Web

Oth

er

Wo

rds

% Off

Brand

Call to Action

Clothing

Create

{KeyWord}

Food

Free

Free Shipping

Gift(s)

Holiday

Now

Online

Price

Product

Profession

Promotion

Purchase

Quality

Service

Style/Kind

Value

Web

Other Words

Great Poor Insufficient dataGood Ad Description

Top word combos for Flowers / Candy / Gifts

Insights for Flowers / Candy / Gifts

“Gift(s)” pairings yields significantly high clickability when used on tablet, but not other devices.

“Call to action” paired with “now” yields ad clickabilityabove and beyond other PC pairings but is used less frequently.

PC

TITLE DESCRIPTION

Call to action Now

Promotion NoVar

Service Gift(s)

DKI Create

NoVar Value

Top word combos for Flowers / Candy / Gifts

Mobile

TITLE DESCRIPTION

Product Food

Product Quality

Product Gift(s)

Style/kind Product

Gift(s) Product

Tablet

TITLE DESCRIPTION

Gift(s) Now

Gift(s) Product

Gift(s) Value

Gift(s) Brand

DKI Value

Before you pour this awesome info into your search ads, consider

three important things:

ONE Test. Then test again. Test some more.

Testing is critical to understanding your ad copy performance across devices, categories and time periods.

TWO Use ad extensions like location, call, and Sitelinks.

Understand the value of Sitelink lift and the impact it could have on an entire account. Implement and spread to all your ads.

THREE Scale your execution to all your ads.

Develop a framework for understanding the clickability of your ads and executing top performers on a large scale.

Details on word choice

Due to the large number of ads analyzed and the significant number of words/phrases surfaced, phrases and words analyzed were sometimes bucketed.

“Promotion” includes words such as “sales”, “low prices”, “deals”

“Product” includes a specific product in the sub-vertical, such as

“Clothes, Swimwear, Shoes, Watches” for Apparel and Accessories

sub-vertical.

Others could be synonyms or same intent, e.g. “brand” includes all

major brands in the sub-vertical

Most buckets mirror the variation of the phrase itself, e.g. plurals,

different tense, etc.