Integrating Google Analytics 360 with Search Ads 360: Part 2

This is part 2 of a two part series on integrating Google Analytics 360 with Search Ads 360) (previously known as Google DoubleClick Search), as part of the Google Marketing Platform enterprise suite of products.

In part 1 of this series, we provide an overview of the benefits and reporting capabilities of integrating Google Analytics 360 with Google Search Ads 360 (previously known as Google DoubleClick Search).

In part 2, we provide tips and tricks for interpreting and using the Search Ads 360 (previously known as Google DoubleClick Search) reports in GA 360, as part of the Google Marketing Platform enterprise suite of products.

In Review: What is Search Ads 360?

Search Ads 360 (previously known as DoubleClick Search), a search management platform, allows agencies and marketers to efficiently manage search management campaigns across multiple engines and media channels. Benefits of SA360 include streamlined workflow and powerful reporting features. Buyers can efficiently run campaigns while campaign performance is improved with automated bidding. Search Ads 360 native integration with Google Marketing Platform, previously known as the DoubleClick Digital Marketing platform (DDM), means buyers can manage and track digital campaigns across a single platform, providing rich, cross-channel buying, reporting and attribution.

With Search Ads 360:

1. You no longer need to manage your ads and keywords on each search engine, making it easier to analyze your ad/keyword performance across engines.

2. You have the automated bidding power of Search Ads 360 bid strategies.

3. Increase your Return on Investment (ROI) for search marketing  by saving time, reducing complexity, and have the ability to make better decisions.

How to navigate to the Search Ads 360 reports in the GA 360 interface

How to Interpret and Use the Search Ads 360 Reports in Google Analytics 360: Tips and Tricks:

1. 1. To see both clicks/impressions/CTR and session-level engagement metrics such as bounce rate, pages/session and goals only tracked in GA 360, you can compare the key Search Ads 360 advertisers, engine accounts used, campaigns, ad groups or keywords across all paid search tools. This can allow you to optimize paid search around user engagement metrics and not just against acquisition and site visits.

   2. You can understand which campaigns drive registrations or completed purchases, and the size/impact of orders by toggling different conversions created, ecommerce or goals. This allows you to see the performance of your paid search activity against different KPIs. See below:

      

       

   3. You can see how campaigns trend over time by toggling the date range comparison. See below:

      

       

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      You can see trends in different metrics over time beyond clicks/impressions/cost/CTR etc. by toggling the metric selector for the trend line analysis. See below: 

       

      

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      You can investigate individual rows in the table or isolate only high performing or low performing campaigns by filtering the table report by putting thresholds for minimum conversions or engagement metrics. For example, you can add a filter to only show the campaigns or search engines that drive at least 100 transactions for a given time period to invest more into OR that drive less than 100 transactions to potentially invest less spend and/or optimize. See below:

       

       

Pro Tip: Using the question mark symbol over any metric (“?”) in the reports provides a definition and more information. For a complete list of metrics and dimensions from Search Ads 360 available in GA 360 after the integration, please see here.

Note: Search Ads 360 can either use Google Analytics goals/ecommerce tracking or will require Floodlight conversion tags to be implemented on the site for conversion tracking to be able to see the conversion and ROAS metrics explained in this article. Want to learn more? Check out our webinar on Becoming Data-Driven with Google Marketing Platform!

How to Interpret this Report + Insights that can be Obtained

By toggling the “Clicks” tab in this report, you’ll be able to compare GA metrics side-by-side SA360 metrics. The definitions of these metrics are explained below:

1. Sessions - from a SA360 campaign, how many browsing visits occurred on the website

2. SA360 impressions - in a search engine managed by SA360, how many times an ad is seen offsite

3. SA360 clicks - in a search engine managed by SA360, how many times an ad is clicked offsite navigating users to the site. This will never match “Sessions” because they are calculated differently. More information here (similar to Adwords clicks vs GA sessions).

4. SA360 cost - per SA360 campaign, how much spend was used

5. SA360 CTR - click through rate for campaign (average across all ads per campaign)

6. SA360 CPC - cost per click of SA360 ad

7. SA360 RPC - return-per-click. This new metric is unlocked with the integration and is calculated by taking the total ecommerce revenue from SA360 last-non-direct click sessions divided by total SA360 ad clicks. It shows how much revenue was earned from each click of a SA360 ad on average. This is key to determine top and worst performing keywords driving orders/performance.

8. SA360 ROAS - return-per-ad-spend. This new metric is unlocked with the integration and is calculated by taking the total ecommerce revenue from SA360 last-non-direct click sessions divided by total SA360 ad spend. It shows the percentage of earned revenue as compared to cost or spend and is critical for measuring which campaigns drive the best return and most value.

According to logic you set, advanced segments allow you to use the SA360 dimensions and metrics to group users or sessions together and allow you to also apply GA data for more targeted insights. See advanced segments in action for more context and analysis below.

For more context in most table reports, you can apply SA360 dimensions/attributes as secondary dimensions. Example below as shown in the Device Category report. This shows what device types users have when engaging on a SA360 ad (note that “(not set)” means the session did not come from a SA360 ad):

Now that you know the tips and tricks for using Search Ads 360 reports in Google Analytics 360, check out the rest of our series on:

• Integrating Google Analytics 360 with Search Ads 360: Part 1
• Integrating Google Display & Video 360 (previously known as DoubleClick Bid Manager) with Google Analytics 360: Part 1
• Integrating Google Display & Video 360 (previously konwn as DoubleClick Bid Manager) with Google Analytics 360: Part 2

Whether you’ve been using the Google Marketing Platform enterprise suite of products to execute and manage your digital strategy for years, or are just beginning to plan a Google Marketing Platform implementation, this Becoming Data-Driven with Search Ads 360 by Google webinar recap will give you all the tools you need to become a data-centric user of Search Ads 360 as part of the Google Marketing Platform enterprise suite of products.