1

Search Engine and Display Marketing: Data Challenges

Rahul NimArchitect, Efficient Frontier

2

Agenda

• What is Online Performance Marketing?– How is it done?– How is performance measured?

• What constitutes performance data?• How is it collected?• What are the issues in data collection and

analysis?• What is the future of online marketing?

3

Overview

Advertiser

Customer

TVPrintOther

SearchDisplay

Content

Analytics and Tracking Services

Content Sites

Search and Content Ad Campaigns

Content AdsSearch Ads

4

Display Overview

Advertiser

Customer

Analytics and Tracking Services

Display Sites

Display Ad Campaigns

Display Ads

Ad Networks

5

Performance Marketing and Information

• Companies need to get the most out of their marketing dollars.

• How do we measure the performance of those dollars?– Broadcast Media (Traditional, but mind the future)– Direct Marketing– Ad Networks– Search Engines– Social Networks and Mobile

Profit = Revenue - CostPerformance = Profit/Cost

6

Marketing on Search Engines and Ad Networks

• How do Search Engines make money?– Organic Search Results– Paid Search Results, PPC/CPC model– Content Ads

• How do Ad Networks make money?– Premium inventory– Biddable inventory, CPM model

7

Organic and Paid Search Examples

8

Paid Search Concepts

• Advertiser Accounts• Campaigns• Ad Groups• Ads• Keywords

9

Search Marketing Optimization

• SEO– Landing Page Optimization– Best practices

• SEM– Optimally bidding on keywords– Designing effective ads

10

Performance Indicators (SEM)

• Impressions• Clicks• Conversions

11

Collecting Performance Data: Pixel-Based Tracking

Click Data

Bat.jpg1. Click

3. Redirect

Cricketbats.com

4. Product Page5. Purchase

Transaction

Conversion Data

6. Thank You Page

7. Pixel Request 8. Log Conversion

Redirect/Pixel server

…

2. Log Click

12

Performance Data Elements

• Browsers and Cookies, Unique IDs for events• Tracking URLs• What goes into the cookies– Tracking information: relating events to ads

• Click and Impression data from search engines and Networks

• Conversion data from web servers

13

Tracking Elements

• Installed Ad URLurl=http://pixel2002.everesttech.net/2002/rq/3/s_3aa8e5aa1261d038a0fe6ff010d01ed9_2671584663_{keyword}_{creative}/url%3Dhttp%253A//www.vitaminshoppe.com/store/en/index.jsp%253FsourceType%253Dps%2526source%253Dgo%2526adGroup%253DVitamin%2526keyword%253Dvitamins%2526cm_mmc%253DPaid%252520Search-_-Google-_-Vitamin-_-vitamins

• Click (generated) URLs http://www.google.com/aclk?sa=L&ai=CHdAMUkv7S8H-Mpisnwevg7Ac64yWyQGj4YqVCt6g7AQIABACKANQyeOVuwJgye7thsijoBnIAQGqBBxP0HFcOLaERWbapnR_ZsmWw6q-L_64wP2v93j-&sig=AGiWqtw1di18T6otSuXIM6tGzpvtXwmTqg&adurl=http://pixel2002.everesttech.net/2002/rq/3/s_3aa8e5aa1261d038a0fe6ff010d01ed9_2671584663_cheap+shoes_creative101/url%3Dhttp%253A//www.vitaminshoppe.com/store/en/index.jsp%253FsourceType%253Dps%2526source%253Dgo%2526adGroup%253DVitamin%2526keyword%253Dvitamins%2526cm_mmc%253DPaid%252520Search-_-Google-_-Vitamin-_-vitamins

14

Collecting and Using Performance Data

• Build– Data generated and collected in-house from Web

Servers– Analyzed internally

• Buy– Tracking service from providers like Omniture, Google

Analytics, Dart– Analytics providers like Core Metrics, Google

Analytics– Combined like Efficient Frontier, Kenshoo

15

Collecting Performance Data: Mechanisms

• Collecting data for self– First Party Cookies– Setting up web servers to log events

• Collecting for clients (as a service provider)– HTTP redirect mechanism– Tracking info– Third party cookies– Javascript

16

Issues

• Data quality– Detecting Duplicates– Detecting Click Fraud

• Scalability– In collecting the data– In modeling– Redirecting– Example architectures

17

Performance Management in Display Networks

• Similarities to SEM– Clicks and Conversions

• Differences from SEM (and challenges)– Impressions– Campaign structures– Analysis and modeling– Real-Time Bidding (RTB)

18

So what should you do as a CMO?

• People are spending increasing amounts of time on the internet– $6.3 Billion spent in Q4’09

• Develop an effective online marketing strategy– Budget for Online Advertising

• Get ready for Online Video

19

…And as a CIO (from data perspective)?

• Engage with service providers (Buy)– Evaluate Quality of Services– Evaluate future readiness

• As service providers– More data• Social graph data for segmentation• Online video• Display impressions

– (Real-time) Biddable media slots

20

References

• SEM: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine_marketing• Online advertising revenues:

http://www.iab.net/insights_research/947883/adrevenuereport

• Cookies: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_cookie• Generating unique IDs for events:

http://httpd.apache.org/docs/1.3/mod/mod_unique_id.html• Tracking URLs:

http://help.yahoo.com/l/au/yahoo/ysm/sps/start/overview_trackurl.html

• Click Fraud: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Click_fraud