Amazon Prime Day’s surprising effects on Google AdWords performance
Columnist Andy Taylor dives into Merkle advertiser performance data to explore the impact of Amazon's recent Prime Day...
Andy Taylor
Andy Taylor is Associate Director of Research at Merkle, responsible for analyzing trends across the digital marketing spectrum for best practices and industry commentary. A primary contributor to the Merkle Blog, Dossier, and quarterly Digital Marketing Report, he speaks frequently at industry conferences and events. Prior to digital marketing, Andy worked as an event organizer for a political campaign and dabbled in freelance writing. A graduate of the University of Virginia with a degree in Economics, he likes to spend his free time watching documentaries and selling homemade ice cream sandwiches at farmer's markets with his wife.
Early performance results from Google’s update to close variants
What impact has Google's latest update to close variants had on paid search performance? Columnist Andy Taylor reviews the...
How to compare paid search and organic search without sounding foolish
Which search channel is better: paid or organic? Columnist Andy Taylor argues that there is no simple answer to this question, despite what some...
What your paid search KPI says about you
Every advertiser measures success based on key performance indicators (KPIs) that they deem relevant. Columnist Andy Taylor asks, What do your chosen...
Google Maps ad traffic steadily growing
Columnist Andy Taylor of Merkle shares data on the growth of ad traffic from Google Maps, including conversion rate and CPC data by...
Google’s location tracking is better now than ever before
Columnist Andy Taylor notes that Google has improved its ability to track search traffic at the ZIP code level, which is good news for advertisers...
When should advertisers consider pausing Google Local Inventory Ads?
Retailers that sell online and in-store need to balance where to send users in their paid search efforts. Columnist Andy Taylor explores when...
Three well-meaning paid search optimizations that might kill performance
That recent adjustment to your paid search campaign seemed like a good idea at the time, but now you're seeing a drop in performance. How could this...
Google’s shaky pitch for why advertisers should let Dynamic Search Ads handle queries
The AdWords Help documentation recommends that advertisers not add top-performing queries from Dynamic Search Ads (DSAs) as keywords. Columnist Andy...
What Google’s recent RLSA updates mean for advertisers
Columnist Andy Taylor discusses the impact of two recent changes to Remarketing List for Search Ads announced at SMX East 2016 -- expanded RLSA...
The biggest Google ad updates are also the quietest
Advertisers have seen many big updates from Google over the past year, but columnist Andy Taylor makes the case that the most impactful updates may...
Getting to the bottom of Google expanded text ad CTR and CPC
Google has rolled out expanded text ads to all advertisers, so how does this new ad format compare to standard text ads? Columnist Andy Taylor shares...
Three of the most important data segmentations for any Google paid search analysis
Wondering how to make sense of your AdWords accounts? Columnist Andy Taylor discusses how to segment your paid search data for meaningful...
Why retailers shouldn’t overreact to the voice search revolution
Columnist Andy Taylor of Merkle|RKG shares data and provides insight into how voice search is impacting retailers....
Well played, Google: Advertisers (finally) get more device bidding controls
The most widely disparaged aspect of Advanced Campaigns is eliminated at last. Contributor Andy Taylor extols the change, explains what it means for...
Google Shopping ads so hot right now: the meteoric rise of PLAs
For retailers, Product Listing Ads are the height of fashion! Columnist Andy Taylor explores the growth of this ad format and discusses how search...
First-page minimum bids continue to rise in wake of Google desktop SERP changes
Columnist Andy Taylor discusses AdWords bidding trends following Google's move to eliminate right-rail ads and show four top-of-page ads for some...
How New & Existing Customers Interact With Your Paid Search Ads Differently
Columnist Andy Taylor shares data from Merkle|RKG that illustrates how users behave when clicking on ads and how they evaluate ad choices on a...
Google Search Partner Network: Friend Or Foe?
To include search partners or not to include search partners? That is the question for many AdWords advertisers. To help answer this question,...
RLSA Vs. Customer Match In AdWords: Similar But Different
How does AdWords' new Customer Match product compare to Remarketing Lists for Search Ads (RLSA)? Columnist Andy Taylor...
