What is Product Listing Ads?
Product Listing Ads are also known as PLAs. They are online advertisements that appear on the top of the relevant search results. These ads display products with images, prices, review stars, etc. Product Listing Ads work on the basis of Cost per Click (CPC). CPC model works as follows, only if these ads are clicked by any user do you need to make payments. So, the advertisers set a certain amount and they need to for the ads when it is clicked by the user.
The companies/advertisers invest in these product listing ads through a search engine like Google. Google is the most widely used search engine, they provide services like PLAs. These ads not only appear in the search results of Google but also on its partner website like YouTube.
“Advertisement is the price you pay for having unremarkable product or service”
__John Edson
For Example, when you Google the word “feather earrings” the search results show relevant ads at the top of the page. These ads will have the image of the product (image of feather earring), below that the name of the product (like Blueberry Gold Toned Feather Earring), the cost (250 Rs), the brand. These are Product listing ads a.k.a. PLAs
How does PLA work?
Product Listing Advertisements are of Cost per management basis. The companies/PLA service providers work with Google. The companies/advertisers have to submit the product image, product type, size, and brand to the Google Merchant Center. Next, they set up their campaigns in ad words. Product Listing Ads appear based on ad groups. Google analyzes the relevance of PLAs with the ad words based on this set of criteria
- Google Product Category
- Product Image
- Product Type
- Cost/Price
- Size
- Color
- Availability
- Brand
Google then determines which set of search queries are relevant to the PLA and based on that ads are displayed on the Google Merchant Center. After that relevant ad words are assigned for campaigns.
Google also allows some additional features which will help in enhancing the PLAs to attract users.
Like Product ratings, where a 5-star rating system is displayed on the ad. Nowadays digital ads have become commonplace to look for reviews. Having a good rating for your product from other customers can really boost sales. Ratings have a higher chance of getting the user to click on ads. Another feature is the Special offer which is free of cost, where the ads can have special offer links to their PLAs.
What are the advantages of using PLAs?
Product Listing Ads may appear as natural as possible in your search result. However, they are more visually appealing.
- It is an image-based ad embedded with other details that make them stand out from text ads. It is eye-catching and draws more users.
- There is no competition like it happens with SEO.
- It places positions your brand right in front of the users as it usually appears at the top of your search results.
- There is no doubt that these ads are extremely effective and widely used by big name brands as well as small brands/ local brands. It is placed along with the famous brands which will make your brand appear “big” for users.
How to increase your ROI (Return of Investment) with PLAs?
- If PLAs have brought more users and increased sales for your brand. Then it is necessary to expand your investment. If you continue to increase your spending limit, it will bear more profits. Limiting your expenses on PLAs after a productive result is equal to reducing the sales growth.
- It is important to keep your website presentable and user-friendly. If these PLAs are leading to your website then it is important that users should be engaged. If Google detects that many users are quitting the website too early without making any purchases. Then Google will stop putting up ads.
PLAs are one of the most effective marketing strategies. It is one of the easiest and fastest methods to drive more traffic to your website. It is a cost-effective scheme to place the brand in the power position. Google is the best platform to advertise your brand and PLAs are extensively used by both popular brands and small brands.
