The Search Monitor Blog

It’s that time of the year when millions of people around the world decide to motivate themselves, dust off their sweatpants and get back to the gym. So this year we wanted to see if the data is reflecting a shift from more ‘at-home’ workouts to people heading back to the gym in-person. Is there a growing confidence to get back to public gyms as lockdown measures ease in the United States?

Using The Search Monitors Lighthouse™ data*, we pulled SERP Share data as well as ad spend and competitive data to discover the detail.

SuperBowl Sunday is almost upon us and with that, a flurry of large wagers will be placed on who will be victorious in Los Angeles after the final whistle has been blown. Experts predict this could be the biggest Super Bowl ever for online betting. No one knows whether the Rams or Bengals will win. But one thing we can be sure of – sports betting companies will all win big.

Sports betting is becoming big business in the United States. It is currently live and legal in 30 states plus Washington DC. Now that legal betting is expanding from online websites to mobile apps, the market is set to expand even more rapidly in the years to come. Just look at the money spent on sports betting in June 2018 vs. October 2021:

In the Spring of 2021, Google and Bing announced a new ad format—Vehicle Listing Ads (VLAs). These feed-based product ads (similar to Product Listing Ads for retail) allow automotive dealerships to expand their reach and conversions. By simply uploading their inventory (make, model, year, etc.) their listings will be served up on Google and Bing search results and give the buyer a better search result and jumping off point.

They also give automotive marketers the ability to own more of the SERP—every advertiser’s dream come true. And, as we have learned with every industry, the more data available around competition and ad performance, the better decisions marketers are able to make, if they can access it.

Q4 2021 looks set to be the most important and eagerly anticipated trading quarters in modern history. Following the restrictions on business due to the global pandemic that has resulted in thousands of brands disappearing from malls around the world, the retail stakes have never been higher. Research conducted by DigitalCommerce360 predicts ‘U.S. consumer spending online to grow 12.1% year over year this 2021 holiday season’, further underlying a renewed consumer confidence and perhaps, a return to the good times.

However, competition for customers online is reaching new heights. Data from Statista for 2020 showed that over 800,000 businesses launched in the US alone. A high number for sure, but in fact it accounts for just 10.7% of the world’s start ups last year. In a marketplace with no borders and boundaries competition comes from everywhere and anywhere.

‘No-Brainer’

Geo-targeting ads is a ‘no-brainer’ for search marketers. It makes sense to tailor your ad copy, offer, and landing page for the user’s location. The ability to see how your marketing partners and search competitors behave by zip code, city, country, and even language give incredible insights into what is happening in the market, and the ability to adapt your strategy accordingly. But geo-targeting has other, often-overlooked applications in the world of search marketing.

Unexpected Benefits

Not only does it make your offer more compelling to the customer, but also conveys the feeling that this company understands me and the things I care about. Seeing a localized ad that ties in with local knowledge and cultural aspects I care about, means I am more likely to have a feel-good factor about the brand and their willingness to connect with me. This ‘customer-centric’ approach to marketing is not new, it’s been utilized in marketing for a long time, but in modern, scalable digital marketing has sometimes been lost in the day-to-day grind for more clicks and conversions. So not only can Geo-targeting your products and offers help secure more customers, it can also give additional softer marketing benefits that cannot be overlooked.

COMPANY BACKGROUND

Europcar is a French car rental company operating in 140 countries throughout Europe, North America, Western Asia, and Africa.

CHALLENGE

Europcar competitors and partners were bidding on their trademark and branded keywords. Having campaigns in multiple countries and trying to monitor was an endless task that wasn’t producing the results they were looking for.

The Search Monitor announces new enhancements for Product Listing Ads to help support the needs of Retail Marketers in Paid Search

Orlando, FL – October 18, 2021 –

The Search Monitor announces new enhancements and added features for Product Listing Ads

Orlando, FL – September 28, 2021 – The Search Monitor announced today that it has released new and enhanced Product Listing Ads features. These exciting enhancements to The Search Monitor’s PLA Insights gives advertisers access to the most precise and comprehensive data available, resulting in the ability to make more effective campaign decisions and better compete in the online marketplace.

The Search Monitor announces support for Vehicle Listing Ads on Google and Bing

Orlando, FL – August 20, 2021 – The Search Monitor announced today that it has added support for Vehicle Listing Ads on Google and Bing. This exciting addition to The Search Monitor’s SEM and PLA Insights gives automotive advertisers unprecedented access to the data they need to compete effectively in the online marketplace.

Once you detect unwelcome competition, what can you do about it from a legal standpoint?

We won’t bore you with case law here, but you should be aware of a few basic principles and how the law views brand bidding.