View-Through Conversions For GDN Text Ads Rolling Out?

Monday morning (2/9) while going through a round of statistics checks on my accounts, I noticed something odd. I had launched some remarketing campaigns the previous Friday in one client account and they were showing view-through conversions .

So why is it odd? Because I had only launched this campaigns with text ads, this client is developing banners, but they are not ready yet. I checked the ads tab to make sure nothing was out of order. Sure enough, view through conversions are being reported in this account on text ads.

I promptly checked some other accounts. Out of the 4 I checked, I found view-through conversions being tracked on 2 and 2 exhibiting no view throughs on text ads. Thinking I may have missed an announcement or update, I checked the help center, which still indicates that view-through conversions are only tracked on image and rich media ads.

I can’t find any other documentation on this. Given that I’m seeing this in two accounts, my assumption is that a roll-out is in process to all accounts (rather than a bug of some sort). Hopefully if that is that case, it will come with at least an announcement. Advertisers that value their view-through conversions will see pretty dramatic jumps in the numbers.

The bigger question is, “Do text ad view-throughs actually have real value?” I am  probably in the minority among SEM’s in thinking banner ad view-throughs DO have value (though rarely a value of “1”) but I’m unsure about GDN text ads. Text ads have a lower chance of being actually “noticed” when an impression is served. They are subdued; they require attention and “reading” to actually contribute to a purchase path.

On the other hand, AdWords has been serving many text ads recently in “banner-like” units which certainly stand-out more than traditional text ads on a content page. They are larger, more eye-catching and usually independent of other ad messaging, whereas the traditional GDN text ads often come in stacks of 2-4 ad slots.

What do you think? Are you seeing view-through conversions on your GDN text ads? Do you think this is a legitimate metric for AdWords to incorporate into view-through conversion tracking?

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Susan Waldes

SVP Client Services at Five Mill Marketing

Susan Waldes has worked in the search engine marketing industry since 1999; she joined Five Mill Marketing as SVP of Client Services in April 2014 after serving as Director of Client Services at 3Q Digital Susan has handled strategy for a multitude of high-profile eCommerce, Lead generation and start-up acquisition clients at her recent firms as well as in previous roles at ROI Revolution, Rockett Interactive and as an independent SEM consultant. Susan has a BFA from Savannah College of Art and Design. Susan has contributed insights about SEM and client relationships many highly regarded outlets including Search Engine Land, Certified Knowledge and Search Engine Watch. She has spoken on SEM, advanced retargeting practices and Enhanced Campaigns at several SMX conferences, Digital East and Leadscon.

Latest posts by Susan Waldes (see all)

• Upgraded Adwords Reporting Rolling Out to Accounts - April 17, 2015
• View-Through Conversions For GDN Text Ads Rolling Out? - February 10, 2015
• Less Editorial Delays: AdWords Releasing “Upgraded URLs” - February 6, 2015
• Display Select GDN Keyword Targeting Spotted in Google AdWords Accounts - December 5, 2014
• Shared Business Data: Data Feeds Come to Adwords Ads - September 23, 2014