October 23rd, 2009

Bid Simulator

As always, Google are constantly introducing new features to the Adwords experience to make it simpler for both the advertiser, and ultimately, the customer typing in the search query.
 
Recently, a new feature was launched on Adwords known as the Bid Simulator.
 
The bid simulator effectively takes some of the guess work out of Cost Per Click bidding, by estimating the number of clicks and impressions you could have received from your advertisement, if you had implemented a different maximum Cost Per Click bid.
 
Generally, when you increase your maximum CPC bid for keywords, you are able to generate more clicks to your site; whether this is through your new bid qualifying you to appear higher up the sponsored links section of the main results page, or because your higher bid qualifies your ad to appear in a new, more expensive auction.
 
Do these additional links come at a cost that is still profitable?
 
To make this decision, you need to compare your expected value per click to your incremental CPC.