Keyword Buying Process on GOOG, YHOO & BIDU

Comparing the process of buying keywords on Google US, Yahoo! US, Baidu China, and Google China; we find some interesting insights:

- Baidu has a roughly $400 USD minimum upfront account setup; Google and Yahoo! have no minimum and no upfront account setup
- Unlike Google and Yahoo!, Baidu does not use ad relevancy (you can purchase the first sponsored listing; competitor bids are public)
- Google AdWords China is identical to AdWords US
- Google and Yahoo! keyword buying processes are very similar, but quality control measures could be better at Google

While Google, Yahoo!, and Baidu all offer simple online interfaces for users to engage in keyword bidding, Google's interface seems to have the fullest features to optimize the search experience for end users and advertisers.

To set up a paid search campaign, neither Google nor Yahoo require the user to create an account until the user has entered in her list of desired ad locations, keywords, and bids. The user can then activate the account by entering a credit card; there is no minimum ad spend amount on Google or Yahoo! In contrast, Baidu requires the user to establish an account before beginning any keyword bidding. Baidu also requires the user to commit to a minimum 2,400 RMB spend (about $380) to activate the account. While this requirement helps Baidu to promote spending and potentially increase average revenue per customer once the user is committed to Baidu, it may limit participation of long tail advertisers with whom Google has had success.

Both Google and Yahoo apply a quality score to assess the relevancy of your ads to the keywords associated with it. The quality score of a user's ad along with her bid price determine the ultimate paid position of the ad. An ad with high relevancy may be positioned higher than a competing ad with a higher keyword bid price and lower relevancy. Competitor bids are never disclosed directly on Google or Yahoo. Baidu, on the other hand, does not apply a quality score to paid search ads; the highest bidder gets the best placement, regardless of the relevancy of the ad. Baidu also discloses the bids of the highest three bidders for a desired keyword, showing competitors the bid price to own top paid position.

The interface of Google China's version of Adwords performs identically to Adwords US, including payment. Google China accepts many credit cards for payment; however, credit cards are less prevalent in China than in the U.S. and other developed countries. Baidu accepts only local Chinese credit cards, but has established relationships with many Chinese banks to facilitate non credit card payment, which may ease the keyword buying process for local Chinese Baidu paid search customers.

The user experience for setting up search marketing accounts and buying keywords on Yahoo is very similar to that on Google. Google does incorporate some quality and protection measures that Yahoo does not. Google's system automatically flags keywords such as Pharmacy or Gambling and requires the buyer to be registered with an appropriate online bureau for the vertical. Google also flags and disallows direct calls to action in a search ad, such as "Click Here," and instead requires the buyer to enter more information about their website. Finally, when the keyword buyer is entering his search ad, Google scans her site and suggests relevant keywords based on the site scan. Although these are minor differences, they exemplify Google's focus on quality of the product for the end search consumer and advertiser.

The General Keyword Bidding Process:

Step 1 - Get Going
Google and Yahoo! start with simple interfaces to start a search marketing campaign; neither requires a initial account or credit card set up to begin bidding on search keywords. Baidu requires an account to be set up before keywords can be bid upon. As you start, Yahoo! offers to upsell its services to create your keyword campaign for for $199; Google and Baidu do not offer this service.

Step 2 - Geographic Targeting
Google and Yahoo! allow users to specify specific geographic locations to be targeted. The region could be a state, DMA, city, zip range, etc. Targeting is done through a combination of IP address and/or geographic location entered in search query. Local maps display and highlight the targeted region. Baidu offered no geographic targeting measures.

Step 3 - Create Your Ad
Ad creation on all of the 3 search engines is very simple. To create the ad, the user enters the URL to his site, the headline link, and a description link. Google actually scans the user's website and recommends keywords based on the scanned content.

Step 4 - Choose Your Keywords
All 3 search engines offer plenty of help upselling keyword buyers with additional keyword suggestions based on their entries. Users can enter one or many keywords in a single campaign depending on how the user would like her ad displayed for a given keyword.

Step 5 - Bid
In terms of bidding ease and direction, Google seems to do the best job. Google guides users to appropriate bid levels based on desired rankings, without explicitly stating other current bids (like Baidu). Google offers the user insight into projected position of a keyword/bid combination including an estimate of clicks per day. Yahoo! offers projected performance on the entire campaign, rather than specific keyword/bid combinations. Baidu, on the other hand, does not apply a quality score to paid search ads; the highest bidder gets the best placement, regardless of the relevancy of the ad. Baidu also discloses the bids of the highest three bidders for a desired keyword, showing competitors the bid price to own top paid position.

Step 6 - Activate
The final step in the process for all 3 search engines is to enter payment information and begin serving ads.