PPCChat | Making The PPC Industry Better in 2023

Posted February 8th, 2023 by Amita & filed under PPCChat.

Greetings Readers! PPC experts expressed their views on the PPC industry in 2023 during this week’s discussion which was hosted by Julie F Bacchini. Is there anything positive or negative about the PPC industry according to experts, what kind of change would they wish to see in PPC industry were some of the questions discussed during the session.

Q1: If you had to describe the “state of the PPC industry” in 2023, how would you describe it?

I think in terms of ad spend/economic stability it’s oddly healthier than I’d expect. People are nervous but still spending. In terms of people – lots of folks seem really on edge, but I think that’s mostly just a cyclical thing. @gilgildner

Absolute frenzy. It’s always changing and bow everyone is crazy about AI. I’m like “can we please all take a chill pill and focus on the basics please”? @BorisBeceric

Hey gang! – Hectic is definitely the word. It’s never been as important to stay on the ball with everything. From privacy changes to product updates, whilst exciting, there’s literally blat loads to stay on top of. @PPC_Fraser

Expensive! Cost per lead has increased exponentially across multiple industries. @BRAVOMedia1

From our end here in the UK, the industry is BUSY. People want to test new things – thankfully. We almost can’t keep up with how much they want to do. @TheMarketingAnu

I think we are in a phase of great change. Between Apple’s ATT, Covid and the appetite for privacy regulation heating up, a lot of “how it’s been” is no longer how it is or how it will be. And the pace of change within platforms has been FAST. @NeptuneMoon

I feel the PPC industry is still growing and it is overall healthy. The one portion creating waves is the instability those in the industry are feeling due to questions around Chat GPT’s place in the entire PPC atmosphere. @digitalceo5

I am walking into 2023 more optimistic about Search (as a channel) than I have been the last few years. It’s still valuable to people and I think it’s here to stay for a long time. PPC is a diff story as Google continues to push for more control w/ less reported data. @PPCKirk

Feel like the industry has always been one of constant change but it seems ramped up over the past 6-18 months. It’s a double-edged sword in it creates a fast pace always learning environment but can become tedious & more tiring to keep up with & keep driving results. @selley2134

Pinball Machine. Lots of noise, things move fast and it can be hard to maintain momentum. Plus all the flashing lights (ChatGPT) are making it hard to sleep. @duanebrown

As ‘fast paced’ and ‘ever changing’ are its ever been! Those job descriptions weren’t lying! @marketingsoph

In a word? Cacophony I was reading a fiction yesterday & this felt oddly familiar (paraphrased obvi): “I took a deep breath, a tide of fatigue & confusion washed over me. I missed the easy rhythm, the comforting monotony of my life as a [PPC Marketer pre-2020].” @timmhalloran

I also think that ‘hectic’ and ‘rapidly changing’ are the words that best describe PPC now. @DianaAlinaAldea

Like others have said, I think PPC is in a state of change. Privacy regulations are impacting. strategies/tactics, control is being taken away from advertisers, and platforms are leaning even more heavily into automation. We’re having to learn new ways to get results. @adclarke10

In 2023 there will be changes. The church/state division of organic and paid will erode. Google is making big bets on Buy on Google. AI will make search much more personal.@tonyzara

Sorry late, but I would say we are at the precipice of a shift in how we do things in the next few years. There is so much change happening right now. It is both exciting and a little nerve-racking. @lchasse

A continued focus on AI/Machine Learning & less granular control. @BrettBodofsky

The State of the PPC industry in 2023 makes me think of boiling spaghetti. Not sure what to make of it, tastes good with the right sauce, gets really boring when overcooked. @soanders

A blackbox that may get put into an actual dumpster that is on fire. @JonKagan

Q2: What is something that you think is really positive about the PPC industry and/or the work that we do?

The power with which a good PPC campaign can have upon a company’s sales. It’s so satisfying to have a client’s business do materially better because of our work. The wealth trickles down, companies thrive, I love seeing it! @gilgildner

The fact that you can still bring good results for brands, in spite of all the changes occurring. A good PPC specialist knows how to ride well all these changes and become even better with time. @DianaAlinaAldea

The positive side of PPC for me is that we can get a placement at the top of the search while waiting for SEO. PPC is the fast pace to the top in search SEO is the process of getting to the top in the search. @BRAVOMedia1

Mentioned it a few weeks back but my appreciation for Bing has gone way up. Also noticed that the platform uses GA-style annotations on performance data in the platform. So a simple but genuine time saver. @PPC_Fraser

Helping brands hit that magical place of “putting the right message in front of the right person at the right time” is still thrilling! @NeptuneMoon

The work we do employs other people. If we do our jobs, we are driving leads and revenue for companies. This allows salespeople, customer service, product developers, and operations to have jobs, feed families, and enjoy life. @lchasse

I will never get tired of saying – THIS #PPCChat community. We are at the most interesting and most evolving stage of PPC (in my career tenure anyway) and we are so generous with the information & knowledge we have. regarding the work – FAR from boring! @TheMarketingAnu

I think the changes/restrictions on what we can see have forced us to be more creative and much better with data than we were 2- 3 years ago. @selley2134

Completely agree. That buzz when everything you’ve done all comes together and works out for your client. @marketingsoph

Beyond getting to work remotely. We get to help businesses grow and build stronger foundations. @duanebrown

I get to work with cool people and brands/agencies of all shapes & sizes. Also (most importantly) it’s a great industry and everyone shares freely. The best. @BorisBeceric

I think there are a ton of great experts that help their clients think about their business in new ways. Seeing PPC experts working with clients to create positive feedback loops is amazing! @tonyzara

PPC is still a great way to grow revenue, sales, etc, and it’s a nice feeling when clients start to see real results on their end (especially small businesses!). I also think that the people/community are a great part of being in this industry. @adclarke10

The fact that there are still numerous companies able to utilize PPC to drive significant positive performance for their business. PPC can still be used to help reach business objectives. @BrettBodofsky

For me, it’s constant learning. It makes it difficult (although not impossible), to stagnate. Every day there’s always something else you can dig into and explore and see how it could benefit a client/strategy. @timmhalloran

We can still help small businesses and make a difference, it’s getting harder, but it’s still possible. Helping a smaller brand to grow and seeing their enthusiasm and happiness is worth everything. @AlfredSimon

We are the only form of reactive digital media, meaning people come to us with the highest intent of all advertising. @JonKagan

Q3: What is something that you think is negative or worrisome about the PPC industry and/or the work that we do?

We’re revenue-adjacent to clients. That means when things get tight you start to see people make reactive mistakes. When folks are under financial pressure they start to do some weird things. PPC folks and clients alike. @gilgildner

Less transparency for advertisers. Less data can lead to poorer decisions. And it’s sad it’s out of our control. @DianaAlinaAldea

One negative I see refers back to the speed everything moves. If people become married to the “keyword-centric” way of handling ppc they will be scrambling as everything evolves. @digitalceo5

Having less control over variables which historically proven not to work/have poor performance. Leaving it in the hands of the machine. @BrettBodofsky

The can of worms I’m expecting from this question. @PPC_Fraser

One other is my concern with Google taking levers/controls away from us and keeping everything automated. @digitalceo5

I have been through several bad business cycles, so I’m not worried about any of that. I know what to do. But… There is a reckoning coming about customer data. And we are often not on the right side of how we are using data we are collecting. @NeptuneMoon

The focus on hacks / short-term solutions. High ROAS, ChatGPT, the gurus. Hard to separate the good from the bad if you don’t know which questions to ask. @BorisBeceric

The continued changes and BS from the platforms in the guise of privacy (they don’t care about privacy) that impact small businesses and low-budget accounts far greater. @selley2134

Having to rely on big tech companies is a little worrisome for me. You can diversify platforms to an extent, but we’re still subject to w/e happens at Google, Meta, etc. I’m also not a huge fan of Zuck/Elon, but it’d be irresponsible at work to ignore their companies. @adclarke10

Losing control (platform decisions, privacy, country-specific rules and regulations…). Just something we have to accept and do our best to make work for us. @marketingsoph

The negatives would probably be the lack of transparency by advertising platforms. The other is going to be privacy issues. Oh and GA4, my brands are really struggling w/using it. Both of these things are going to have a pretty substantial impact on brands. @lchasse

Concerns about the future of PPC perhaps ChatGPT doing it? @BRAVOMedia1

Lack of insights is worrying, especially for smaller accounts. Testing RSA’s or assets in a small account is going to be a huge challenge (it is already). Same goes for the shift in automation. It works great in bigger accounts, but small players will suffer. @AlfredSimon

The lack of transparency on campaign performance is worrying. And it is getting darker. We take their word on it being a fair auction. Why are we also being kept in the dark on placements, keywords, and positions? @soanders

The longer I am in it and the more experienced I become, the more I realize that important things like logic, transparency, and history are going out the window. @JonKagan

Q4: What kind of change would you like to see happen in the PPC industry in 2023?

Marketing is a small world…PPC is even smaller! Treating folks with respect is critical for long-term success. I would love for folks to listen to each other, stop being insecure, realize we’re all in the same game…and for Google to listen to us. @gilgildner

Wishful thinking, but I’d like to see a real threat for Google. Someone forcing them to up their game and not just force change upon advertisers. @BorisBeceric

More visibility on the PMax data, improvements in the GA4 UI, and account managers of the ad platforms that really care about an account and aren’t only revenue-oriented – less push from their side on what doesn’t seem to fit/work for a brand. @DianaAlinaAldea

Well, as long as we are wishing… More platform transparency Less of people tweeting about their “crazy success” with no context More voices being heard – written and speaking Real conversations about responsible and ethical use of consumer data. @NeptuneMoon

Julie, you don’t ask small questions do you? Platform wishes would be Apple to disrupt the market, Microsoft with the new AI push Google to be better and maybe connect LinkedIn to Microsoft’s advertising tool. For the community, just keep being good to each other. @lchasse

Forever screaming for platforms to think about Lead Gen accounts more. And also for them to start developing some more innovative Lead Gen-focused features. @marketingsoph

As a user, I have seen Google get worse. I think the time is prime for someone make a push, as others have said. I think us as marketers would love to follow and put clients money on a more trustworthy platform. @selley2134

On a broad level, I’d like to see the platforms cater to B2B advertisers more than just ecom/B2C. A more specific change I’d also love to see is CTR and/or conversion data for RSA headlines & descriptions (and I’ll keep beating that drum until we get somewhere lol) @adclarke10

Greater support which is genuinely human. Google’s support teams (especially Dublin!) Used to be massively beneficial. This level of support made our job easier and meant more money for the platforms. I miss those days. @PPC_Fraser

Offline editor for Facebook! @timmhalloran

More transparency in reporting. Open those databases! @soanders

I would say setting realistic expectations with yourself & your clients. Last year, this led me to go under knives, a deadly experience so I would definitely say people who talk about the right or metrics that are realistic. Rest of the things #ppcchat will manage. @1tagupta

Call me regressive, but I want to go back to platform transparency, and advertiser control of what triggers an ad. #MakeExactMatchExactAgain @JonKagan

PPCChat Participants