As discussed in an
introduction post,
Microsoft adLab showcases some of the innovative tools and technologies our researchers are helping to build, providing advertisers and publishers with the very best ways to connect with consumers.
The new
Entity Analysis tool includes data for both the English and French language. Simply put the algorithm breaks down complex user queries into separate entities making it easier for the delivery engine to serve the most relevant ad.
The site's examples give you an idea how a query can be broken out into separate words or phrases that make an entity. Applied to adCenter, this should mean an ad for a house builder that specialises in installing “gates” would no longer phrase match to “Bill Gates”, meaning a more relevant set of results on the search page, and a potential increase in click-through rate for the advertiser.
The
Detecting Commercial Intention tool is a favourite of mine, as it helps determine whether a user’s query is meant to result in a sale or transaction of some sort, or whether they are simply looking for information or gathering data to inform an action at a later stage in the buying cycle.
Results for the American football team “seattle seahawks” show a low commercial query probability as it’s most likely the user is looking for information on the team, maybe the latest scores or line up, but they’re certainly not looking to purchase anything.....yet.
Conversely the commercial intent of “seattle seahawks shirt” is high as it’s product-orientated and the user is obviously looking for shirts related to the team.
This tool is very useful for determining the kind of ad copy you could write for these two very different queries.
For “seattle seahawks” you might write copy that is somewhat informational – “Find the latest team news and scores and check out our online merchandise store.” With this copy are catering for the information-gathering nature of the query, but also letting the user know there is a store on your site should they be looking to purchase souvenirs too.
The “seattle seahawks shirt” ad copy should be more of a commercial nature – “Buy Seattle Seahawks shirts in all sizes securely online. Free shipping!” The users is obviously looking to buy a shirt, so make sure your ad tells them what and how they can purchase one from you.
For more on how to write great ad copy, check out our Creative Services Team’s archive of posts here:
Ad Copy Best Practice
Next time we’ll look at some of adLab’s forecasting tools.
Cheers
Mel – adCenter Community team