How to choose the most effective advertising platform?

Modern entrepreneurs actively use the network to promote their products and services around the world. Refusing the long processes of SEO optimization of the site, they often resort to the use of paid web advertising. However, they face the question: where exactly should they promote? If we consider only the two main players in the field of contextual advertising, then the choice is between Yandex.Direct and Google Ads. Considering that not all entrepreneurs have enough funds and time to use both platforms simultaneously, the choice becomes especially relevant.

Placing paid advertising on both Google and Yandex can attract the attention of many “hot” leads to the company. However, before launching an advertising campaign, it is necessary to carefully study the common features and key differences between contextual advertising on Google and Yandex.

Common features of Google Ads and Yandex.Direct:

Both platforms allow you to quickly raise your website in search results, providing it with high visibility among potential customers interested in the products or services offered. Google contextual advertising and Yandex can appear both at the top of search results and on partner sites, increasing the likelihood that users will notice your ad, click on it, and perform a target action, such as a purchase.

However, despite the apparent simplicity of these systems, there are several pitfalls:

1. Cost of contextual advertising: The cost of contextual advertising can be significant, especially in highly competitive environments. Large-scale advertising campaigns can become expensive.
   
2. The need for proper ad setup: The effectiveness of the campaign directly depends on the correct setting of advertisements in the account. High-quality settings affect the reach, effectiveness and overall costs of promotion.

It is important to consider that both services are constantly evolving, offering new opportunities and tools for advertisers. Therefore, before choosing a platform, you should also familiarize yourself with the latest updates and functionality of each service in order to use their potential in your advertising strategy as effectively as possible.

Effective use of contextual advertising services requires not only creating an attractive ad, choosing display parameters and payment format in the advertising account, but also constant analysis of the results. Within the campaign, keywords, targeting, remarketing are configured, a budget forecast and other options are used. Advertising setup is generally similar, including audience parameters, targeting, click rates and other aspects.

Let's look at the general and various aspects of managing Yandex and Google advertising accounts.

What do these tools have in common?

Both services provide several types of campaigns to run. Contextual ads and affiliate network advertising are the most common options. Contextual ads appear in search results, above or below organic results, while affiliate network advertising expands your reach to millions of sites, including thematic resources with an interested audience and available clicks. Other campaign types include:

1. Advertising by product feed for e-commerce: smart banners in Yandex and product campaigns in Google.
   
2. Campaigns for mobile app installs and in-app conversions.
   
3. Video advertising format on YouTube from Google.
   
4. Coverage campaigns on the main page or on Yandex services.

However, despite similar opportunities, there are differences in the approaches to advertising on both platforms. Advertising is a paid service, and the final cost depends on a number of factors, such as the level of competition, display strategy, payment model and other parameters taken into account by each of the systems.

It is important to note that both Yandex and Google are constantly improving their services, offering new features and tools for advertisers. Therefore, it is important to stay up to date with the latest updates and functionality of each service in order to use their potential in your advertising strategy as effectively as possible.

Differences between Google AdWords and Yandex.Direct

The differences between Google AdWords and Yandex.Direct in terms of ad shares provide interesting options for businesses, especially when it comes to target audience and conversion. The general consensus is that these two leading contextual advertising services share spheres of influence: Google AdWords targets the global market, while Yandex.Direct focuses primarily on Russian audiences. However, depending on the nature of the business, the ad audiences may overlap and mix. The main questions to consider when choosing between them concern the location of the target audience, reach, and expected number of clicks.

When considering the conversion in the B2C segment, as a rule, on high-quality web resources it fluctuates from 1% to 4%. This share largely depends on the characteristics of the product, the level of competition and other factors. In the B2B segment, the conversion is usually lower. For example, if your goal is to conclude at least 10 deals per month, and assuming a conversion of 2%, you will need to attract at least 500 clicks during this period.

Therefore, it is important to determine which search engine is driving more conversions: Yandex or Google. This is especially true if you decide to advertise on only one of the platforms. According to statistics, Google drives more conversions, with a share of just over 60%, compared to Yandex, which occupies 37% of the market.

While there has long been a trend toward increasing the number of users from Google, the influence of this platform may change due to the introduction of a law on pre-installation of Russian software on devices. Starting from July 1, 2020, this law applies to smartphones distributed in Russia and will be further expanded to tablets, computers, and smart set-top boxes. For example, Samsung began reinstalling Yandex programs on its devices by default on March 31 of this year.

Thus, the question of what is more effective - Yandex.Direct or Google AdWords, should be considered in the context of a specific situation. Perhaps your target audience prefers Yandex, despite global coverage data that favors Google. It is important to remember that a transition to your site does not guarantee conversion. The main thing is that the audience is interested, and the landing page is high-quality, which in turn will increase the likelihood of the user performing the target action.

Selecting the right keywords

Selecting the right keywords is an important step when launching an advertising campaign, and contextual advertising platforms such as Yandex.Direct and Google Ads provide various tools for setting them up. Let's look at the differences in approaches to managing keywords on these two popular services.

Google Ads, by default, uses a broad match type. This means that an ad can be displayed for different phrase forms, which requires the advertiser to consider all possible variations. This is especially important to avoid irrelevant ad impressions.

Yandex.Direct uses special operators instead of match types. These operators allow you to specify the form of words, their number in the query, order and other parameters. This provides a more flexible approach to setting up keywords.

Google Ads also has operators, but now it uses phrase match instead of the broad match modifier "+". This means that the phrase is not limited to just the words that make up the phrase.

Before launching an ad campaign, it is important to understand the operators and match types on both platforms. These features allow you to more accurately target the audience that is looking for your product or service.

An important aspect is the use of negative keywords, which cut off unwanted audiences. Both services, Yandex.Direct and Google Ads, allow you to add negative keywords both at the campaign and ad group level, and at the keyword level. However, Yandex.Direct provides the ability to set negative keywords directly at the keyword level, which can be useful for more precise targeting.

Before choosing keywords, it is recommended to conduct research and assess their popularity, level of competition, and the projected rate per impression or click. In Google Ads, the Keyword Planner tool is designed for this purpose, which is located in the Tools - Planning menu. This tool allows you to more effectively determine your strategy for selecting keywords.

Thus, the selection and management of key queries in advertising campaigns on Yandex.Direct and Google Ads require careful analysis and the use of available tools to maximize the effectiveness of advertising.

Setting up geolocation targeting

Setting up geolocation targeting in contextual advertising is becoming an integral element of the strategy of many businesses working in both Yandex.Direct and Google AdWords. This method provides the ability to direct advertising impressions to specific regions, which is especially important for local businesses and local companies.

The ability to target advertising to specific areas or parts of a city is not only a cost-saving measure, but also a way to attract the audience that the advertiser is most interested in. This is especially true in highly competitive industries, where effective targeting is key to a successful campaign.

In Google Ads, advertisers can specify a radius of up to 500 meters, which allows them to reach specific parts of the city and attract the attention of potential customers. For example, for a small coffee shop, this means that the ad will be visible to freelancers living in the surrounding areas, thus creating unique opportunities to attract new customers.

In Yandex.Direct, using the Yandex.Audience tool, there is an even more precise option to customize advertising by geolocation - down to the house level. This option is suitable, for example, for companies located inside specific shopping centers or residential complexes, allowing them to most effectively convey the advertising message to their target audience.

Thus, using geolocation targeting in advertising campaigns is a powerful tool for businesses that helps not only save resources, but also attract the audience that has the greatest potential for conversion. These opportunities open up new prospects for local businesses and ensure high efficiency of advertising efforts.

Advertising budget

Budgeting in the context of advertising campaigns is one of the important stages, and its comparison between Google Ads and Yandex.Direct is a key moment in the development of advertising strategies. Let's look at the cost forecasting tools and learn how they are used in each of these platforms.

To forecast the budget in Yandex.Direct, use the “Budget forecast” function, which is available in the advertising account menu through the “Tools” section. A similar tool in Google Ads is called “Keyword Planner” and can be found in the “Tools and settings” section on the AdWords main page.

Forecasting tools help you determine in advance the expected costs and reach of impressions for your current keywords and geographic settings, giving advertisers the information they need to manage their budgets more effectively.

It is impossible to make a clear conclusion about where it is cheaper to place advertising - in Yandex or Google. Both services provide forecasting tools, but they are focused on approximate values. It is recommended to make calculations for your own contextual advertising in both platforms to determine where you can achieve the necessary coverage or number of clicks with an optimal budget.

Yandex and Google offer different display strategies in their contextual advertising platforms, allowing advertisers to choose the appropriate option depending on their goals and preferences.

Yandex.direct:

Yandex.Direct offers 8 automatic and 3 manual strategies. Automatic strategies allow the system to independently optimize ad placement depending on the campaign goals, be it increasing clicks, saving the budget, or increasing conversions. With manual strategies, advertisers can influence display parameters during the campaign by adjusting the block, position, placement time, bids, and other settings. For additional automation of bid management, third-party tools such as bid managers can be used.

Google Ads:

Google Ads offers a variety of strategies, including automatic, flexible, and additional automated rules and scripts. Automatic strategies allow the system to select blocks and placements based on a specified daily budget and bid per click. The advertiser has the ability to manually adjust the display time. When using other methods, the advertiser can specify the block for placement, and the remaining parameters will be adjusted automatically.

Both services provide advertisers with extensive flexibility to customize and optimize display strategies to meet the unique requirements and goals of each advertising campaign.

Thus, determining where it is cheaper to promote - in Google Ads or Yandex.Direct, depends on the chosen strategies and individual parameters of each campaign. Advertisers are provided with various tools and strategies, and the right decision must be made taking into account the unique needs and goals of each advertiser.

Interface

The interface is a key aspect of successfully launching contextual advertising in Google and Yandex. Understanding the capabilities of these tools allows you to use their functionality as efficiently as possible, which leads to more accurate and cost-effective work of advertising campaigns.

Google Ads:

When you log into your Google Ads account, you’ll find an overview dashboard with key statistics for all your current campaigns. Key metrics like clicks, impressions, average cost per click, and total cost are presented here. The dashboard is flexible and customizable: you can edit it to suit your preferences or use filters to focus on specific metrics like CTR.

However, for businesses, it is often not the overall indicators that are more important, but the specific values of key transactions, income and return on investment in advertising. It is for such cases that the ROMI center end-to-end analytics connectors are useful, which allow you to integrate data from online and offline sources directly into the Google Ads report.

From the main page of the account, you can easily go to work with campaigns, search ads or GDN ads. The main menu is located on the left, and an auxiliary menu is also provided, which provides convenient and quick access to the necessary sections without unnecessary intermediate steps.

Yandex.direct:

Since the beginning of 2019, Yandex.Direct has improved the personal account interface, providing users with more convenient access to information. Now the start screen displays a list of campaigns with brief descriptions of their parameters. Navigation is carried out using the top and side menus, providing users with an additional level of convenience and efficiency. The yellow “Add” button allows you to easily create campaigns, groups, ads and add keywords.

Other significant points include:

1. Recommendations: Provide advice on how to improve the effectiveness of advertising, becoming available after statistics have been accumulated.
2. Library: contains settings for retargeting, audiences, feeds, creatives for smart banners, turbo pages, mobile applications and negative phrases.
3. Tools: Includes key campaign parameters, budget forecast, keyword selection and API.
4. Information: Provides helpful tips, support contacts, case studies and a learning center.

Google Ads vs Yandex.Direct:

Determining which interface is preferable – Google Ads or Yandex.Direct – is often only possible through personal experience. Advertisers can get used to a particular system, which can make switching difficult. Some prefer to use standard functions and find them easily in any menu. Experimenting with creating and setting up ads in both systems can help make a more informed decision.

Additional system options:

1. Filter for ineffective sites: Google Ads provides a filter for the Display Network (GDN), but sometimes requires pre-loading the filter before launching a campaign. Yandex.Direct allows you to disable sites in the YAN that did not lead to conversions, providing a more flexible approach.
2. Ad Formats: Both services support a variety of formats, such as text, image, text and image, rich media, and video ads. Experimenting with the same ad in both systems can reveal subtleties that affect campaign results.
3. Selecting specific sites for impressions: Google Ads provides the option to select specific sites in the Display Network, while in Yandex.Direct this can be done by setting the domain of the desired web resource as a keyword. The results may be similar, but the approaches are different.

Efficiency and Analysis in Yandex.Direct and Google Ads: The Superiority of End-to-End Analytics

After a successful launch of an advertising campaign, an important step is to analyze its effectiveness. Monitoring key indicators such as views, clicks, and conversions will help determine further steps to improve results. The question is: where is it more effective to analyze data - in Yandex.Direct or Google Ads?

Both platforms are equipped with a built-in analytics system that provides basic information about the campaign. However, to obtain more in-depth statistics and valuable recommendations for improving KPIs, it is recommended to use end-to-end analytics tools. Such services integrate directly with Google or Yandex, providing data collection in a convenient interface. One of the popular examples of such analytics is ROMI center.

The main differences in the analytical tools of AdWords and Direct are related to the names, connection algorithms and end-to-end analytics connectors. AdWords uses the Google Analytics system, while Direct integrates with Yandex.Metrica. Both built-in web analytics systems provide comprehensive information on advertising campaign costs.

It is difficult to predict in advance how effectively a campaign will work on each platform. The audiences of Yandex and Google have become almost identical, and rates and pricing work in a similar way. In general, you can expect similar results when launching contextual advertising in Yandex.Direct and Google Ads. However, nuances can only appear during experiments, and the use of integrated analytical solutions can be the key to optimizing results.

Conclusion: Comparison of Yandex.Direct and Google ads for optimal advertising partnership

Analyzing Yandex.Direct and Google Ads, it becomes clear that determining the best of them is not an easy task. If the budget allows, it is recommended to conduct small test campaigns in both systems. This approach will allow you to objectively evaluate the effectiveness of each of them, taking into account the specifics of a particular business, region and time.

Advertising settings may differ in Yandex.Direct and Google Ads, but both systems are constantly being improved, striving to keep up with each other. Perhaps the choice between them depends on geolocation - for example, on the need to cover a certain radius or building. Also, if you have thematic partner sites, their presence may affect the choice between KMS and YAN.

If you prefer to start with one system, it is recommended to launch advertising in Yandex. Since users of this search engine often visit from desktops, it is easier to attract them with advertising. Search in Yandex can also help in assessing the demand for your product or service.

Google Ads can certainly provide more traffic and lower CPCs. However, due to the focus on YouTube and mobile web, Google audiences bring fewer conversions. Ineffective GDN sites can create additional difficulties for entrepreneurs.

Regardless of the choice, SEO website optimization campaigns plays a key role. Once the results are in, using end-to-end analytics will help you perfect your ads. Careful analysis and continuous improvement are the keys to a successful advertising strategy.