Marketers are always seeking the most effective ways to boost their business visibility on Google, and for years, paid searches dominated the strategy. However, a shift is underway. According to a recent survey by eMarketer, 7 out of 10 marketers now report greater success with Google’s Product Listing Ads (PLAs) over traditional paid search ads. One colleague, fresh from optimizing campaigns for online bookies UK, shared how PLAs’ visual appeal and precise targeting mirrored the dynamic ad strategies she used to drive clicks in the betting sector. This insight underscores why PLAs are gaining traction, offering marketers a powerful tool to capture attention and drive conversions in an increasingly competitive digital landscape.
Nearly 7 out of 10 marketers say PLAs perform slightly better, and 1 out of 4 say it is significantly better than Google’s paid search ads. While this shift is not agreed upon across the board, it is significant enough that 62% of marketers are shifting some of their marketing budget from paid search ads to PLAs.
However, 29% are taking money from their offline marketing efforts and moving it to PLAs.
While PLAs continue to grow in popularity, it is unlikely that they will replace paid search ads entirely. In fact, data gathered by PLAs is likely to be utilized to create cross-platform campaigns and to improve the focus of paid search ads.