Exploring Pay-Per-Click Advertising Engines
There are three main types of pay-per-click advertising engines to select from:
- Keywords
- Product
- Service
With keyword pay-per-click advertising engines, you will have to place a bid on the specific keywords or phrases that you think are relevant to your business. When the web surfer keys in specific keywords or phrases within the search engine, a list of advertisers will be brought up alongside the “natural” search engine results. These ads are shown in order by the highest bidder. Therefore, if you willing to pay more than other businesses for this keyword, your ad will be listed on top.
The keyword/phrase method of pay-per-click advertising is considered to be at the center of Pay Per Click advertising. As such, determining the best words to bid on is a very serious process that cannot be taken lightly. For this reason, many businesses choose to hire the help of a professional when it comes to selecting the right keywords and phrases. In addition, there are a number of software applications available that can help businesses select the right words.
With product pay-per-click advertising, the engine allows advertisers to supply feeds to their product databases. Then, when a user searches for a particular product, links to applicable businesses are also brought up. As with keyword pay-per-click advertising, your placement on these listings will depend upon the price you are willing to pay for each click. At the same time, the web surfer can sort through these ads according to the price of the product. This type of advertising is also called a price comparison engine or a product comparison engine.
Service pay-per-click engines are very similar to product pay-per-click engines in that they allow the business owner to provide feeds to the database. Therefore, when a web surfer searches for a particular service, a list of links of advertisers listed in the database is displayed. As with all forms of pay-per-click, the advertisers that pay the most per click receive the highest ranking. But, web surfers once again have the option so sort the results according to price or by other preferences. Some product pay-per-click engines also offer service space. In addition, some service pay-per-click engines focus on just one type of specific field.