Internet Marketing Services

• Display your ads on websites across Google content networks using keywords
• Select specific websites where you can advertise through placement advertising

But as an advertiser you don’t have choice to choose specific websites within search partners’ category. The problems are

• Your ads might be showing up on websites you don’t want to show
• Wasting advertising dollars
• Poor conversion rate and Poor ROI

Further Google actually shows your ads on “parked domains” and “error pages” which Google terms as “Special Category”. Click here to read more “Special Categories”. There are a few ways to determine how your ads are performing on search partners and whether it’s worth to allow your ads to run on search partners and specifically on “parked domains” and “error pages”.

If you are already running your ads on Google search partners, then this is not for you.

Step 1: Log in to your Adwords account and Select “Networks” tab. Here you will be able to see how your campaigns are performing on search partners.

Search Partners Performance Overview

Step 2: Determine if showing your ads on search partners is profitable and helping you achieve your campaign marketing objectives. If its not, then go to the campaigns settings and opt out of search partners. Else go to the reporting section of your account.

Step 3: Select “Placement performance” report, go to “advanced settings” and make sure to also select “special category”. Selecting this option allows you to see the data related “parked domains” and “error pages” on your report.

Adwords Placement Performance Report

Step 4: Run the report and analyze for which keywords your ads were show on “parked domains” and “error pages”. Determine if your keywords are performing well. Please note currently Google shows the actual url of the “parked domains” while it doesn’t show the actual urls of the “error pages”. The particular section looks like the following on the report:

Adwords Placement Performance Report Data

Step 5: If you determine your ads are performing well on search partners but not on parked domains and error pages, then go to “Opportunities” tab and select “more tools”. Select “Site and Category Exclusion” from Tools. It will look something like this.

Adwords Site and Category Exclusion

Step 6: Select the campaign you don’t want to show up on “parked domains” and “error pages”. Go to “Page Type” tab. It will look like the following:

Adwords Site and Category Exclusion

Step 7: select the “parked domains” and “error pages” category and save.

Now you have just taken another step to optimize your PPC campaigns to achieve your marketing objectives. Its not always a bad choice to run your ads on “parked domains” and “error pages”. It all comes to down to whether you are getting more clicks, conversions and sales advertising on “parked domains” and “error pages” or not.

Pitstop Media offers ROI based internet marketing services. If you need help with PPC management or PPC optimization please contact us for a free, no obligation quote. We’ve helped companies reduce their paid advertising cost by as much as 48% and increase AdWords conversion rates by as much as 410%. See our internet marketing case studies.