Assuming your business offers a valuable product or service, the most difficult part of managing an online presence is driving targeted traffic. With the rapid growth of the Internet, obtaining traffic has never been easier, you simply choose your store, hand over your cash and they send you targeted traffic.
Traffic shop? What the hell are you talking about Tom?
I’m talking about:
- Google Display Network
- Bing Ads
- Yahoo Gemini
- Facebook Ads Manager
These are all traffic stores where you purchase traffic through ad and campaign creation. When you’re buying groceries or a new coffee table, you’ll go to the store that offers the best value for money, service and product range.
Which of the 4 traffic stores above provides the best value for money, service and range?
Here’s an overview of each if you’ve yet to pick your go-to store.
Google Display Network
Google dominates the search engine market with 82% market share and is the first point of call for consumers researching products online:
Source: Stat Counter
Google has a universal demographic and allows you to target prospects based on keywords, retargeting, offers the ability to serve ads on partner websites and primarily focuses on text and banner ads. Today it’s used by millions of businesses to promote, competition can be high, the platform difficult to setup complex campaigns and is known for banning AdWords accounts regularly for breaching their rules.
Google pros:
- Largest audience network in the world (ads also shown on YouTube)
- Advanced targeting options
- Can target all devices
Google cons:
- Very competitive
- Spending can get expensive depending on season (Christmas, Black Friday)
- CTR varies depending on the display network used
Facebook Ads Manager
With more than 1.4 billion active users and more than 40% of Americans using Facebook everyday, you will find your ideal customer here. With an almost equal male to female ratio, the typical Facebook user in the United States tends to be around 25-34 years of age, with interests in consumer products, media, sports and leisure:
Facebook is the world’s biggest social media network, has the second biggest audience network and unique ad units that cannot be matched by Google, Yahoo or Bing. Facebook Power Editor now works with Instagram and they just began testing Facebook Atlas which is set to change the way businesses advertise online.
Facebook pros:
- 1.4 billion active users
- Bespoke ad-units that cannot be found at any other store
- Advanced marketing and research tools tools (Audience Insights) you can use for free
Facebook cons:
- Ads limited only to Facebook
- Users more likely to suffer from ad fatigue
- Users can comment and leave negative comments on your ads
Bing Ads
Bing Ads is one of Google’s biggest competitors at this moment in time. Bing doesn’t have the audience size of Google or as complex ad features, but you can find studies all over the Web stating that Bing Ads yield better CTR and higher ad positions than Google for less spend:
Source: Info Trust
One of the reasons for this is because Bing Ads is less competitive allowing businesses with sound PPC knowledge to really take full advantage of their network.
Bing pros:
- Offers a better click-through rate than Google
- Less competition
- Can display ads on Bing and Yahoo partner sites
Bing cons:
- Smaller audience
- No revenue tracking system at this moment
- Marketing features not as complex as Google or Facebook
Yahoo Gemini
Yahoo Gemini is the new kid on the block and the dark horse in this 4-way race. Gemini is a much more simple and streamlined advertising network. You don’t get any of the bells and whistles as you do with the other 3 stores, nor can you retarget prospects or create custom audiences.
However, Yahoo Gemini offers native advertising that the others have yet to implement, ideal if you want your ads to look less like ads and more like content. Gemini was launched earlier in the year and has little competition compared to the other 3.
Yahoo Gemini pros:
- Can place native ads
- Ads typically perform better than Bing and Google (report here)
Yahoo Gemini cons:
- Lack of targeting features
- No option for retargeting
- No third-party partners to increase audience reach
Where should you do your traffic shopping?
As is often the case with comparison articles, there is never a clear winner. Online marketing is not black and white with the top businesses using every tool they can get their hands on.
If you have a limited budget or don’t have enough time to run multiple campaigns on various platforms, start with Facebook and either Google, Bing Ads or Yahoo Gemini. Google, Bing and Yahoo are very similar in a lot of regards whereas Facebook offers unique ad types and can aid other parts of your overall strategy better (social media, branding, etc).
Facebook is a social media platform, while the other 3 are search engine platforms.
Summary
To find the best traffic store for your business, test them all and measure the results. Each platform is unique and the more time you spend using it the better your ads will perform.
Don’t make the mistake of overloading yourself by using all 4 platform simultaneously if you don’t have the time or budget, it will only hinder your progress.
Which is your go to traffic store, or have I missed one you think is better than the 4 above?
Nick Bridges
Latest posts by Nick Bridges (see all)
- Facebook Releases 8 New Standard Events - November 14, 2018
- Facebook Pixel Changes 2018 - October 11, 2018
- Writing Compelling Ad Headlines that People Will Click - September 12, 2016
