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Apple Search Ads Adds Bid Suggestions

November 13th, 2018

Apple Search Ads Adds Bid Suggestions
David Quinn

by David Quinn

VP of Strategy & Partnerships at Gummicube, Inc.

Apple Search Ads (ASA) is an excellent marketing tool for getting an app to the top of search results for relevant keywords, as well as a useful feature for App Store Optimization. However, developers often wonder how much they should bid – if they spend too much, any sales the ads generate won’t provide enough profit, but if they bid too little, their apps won’t appear enough either. As such, Apple has added bid suggestions to Search Ads, so developers can get a better idea of how much they should bid.

Bidding on Search Ads

When app developers set up a Search Ads campaign, they can choose a maximum cost-per-tap bid. Developers only pay when a user taps on the ad, so they do not pay for ads no one clicks on. As the ads are bid on, developers will not necessarily pay the maximum amount, just slightly more than their nearest competitor does. While Apple does provide suggestions for determining a maximum bid on their Pricing Overview, the new Suggested Bids is a step forward, automatically providing advice on a range developers should bid at.

Suggested Bids

With the Suggested Bid Range, Apple Search Ads now provides developers with a price range designed to optimize their chances of winning an ad bid. This feature is not available for every single keyword in an Ad Group, but it does provide useful bid range suggestions on some keywords where Apple is able to determine and provide an assessment of a low or high bid range. While it is a suggestion, following the guidance should help optimize success and returns. When developers look at the keywords they’re bidding on, they can see how each of their bids fall within the suggested ranges. Bids within that range are marked with a green line to indicate a strong bid, while those below are marked with a yellow or red one for being unlikely to win the ad space.

What this Means for Developers

Developers now have a useful tool for determining how much they can bid on their Search Ads campaigns. While individual budgets must be taken into account, the Suggested Bid Range can help companies and developers map out their Search Ads expenses to optimize returns. For instance, if a developer has been spending the same amount on all their keywords, but hasn’t been seeing returns on one of them, this new feature can identify what they should be bidding on that specific keyword. They can then reallocate the amount they bid on each keyword accordingly, ensuring that more is put towards the one they need to improve a focus on without taking away money that another keyword needs. Keeping the Search Ads expenses within the suggested ranges can both help optimize Search Ads success and manage individual keyword expenses, so it’s not to be overlooked. While it is just a suggestion and a vague range, it’s got enough room for developers to determine how much they want to spend while still remaining within the suggested range. Remember, Search Ads is an important part of App Store Optimization. ASO is essential for determining not only what keywords you should target but also building relevancy for those keywords to improve your Search Ads results. Search Ads in turn can improve an ASO strategy by helping identify new keywords and improving organic visibility. You can’t have one without the other, and with the new bid suggestions, it’s now even easier to have a cost-effective Search Ads campaign.

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