Clients often ask us which would be more effective for their business: contextual advertising in the Google Ads system (Adwords, Google Advertising) or Yandex Direct. Of course, it’s difficult to predict in advance; it all depends on your niche and the region of display. The best way to find out where advertising is more effective is to conduct a test in both systems and rely solely on the numbers.
ORDER contextual advertising setup
Google Ads
As for the question of which system is better, a comparative analysis can be conducted. Today we will examine the objective reasons for choosing between Yandex Direct and Google Ads (Adwords) by contextual advertising specialists. Both systems have their advantages and disadvantages.
So, which is better, Yandex Direct or Google Ads (Adwords, Google Advertising)?
For Business
Cost
Google is more popular in the CIS countries, which allows attracting more target visitors to your site. But the downside is greater competition and, as a result, a higher cost per click (not in all niches).
Yandex is not far behind Google in popularity in Russia, so it is important to test the click price in both Google Ads and Yandex Direct.
As a conclusion – test both systems. If you need less traffic and want to save money, Yandex Direct is more preferable. If you have a large business, you can’t do without Google Ads.
Target Audience
When it comes to where your potential customers are, the answer is – both here and there. You need to test which system has more people who need your products or services. Or which system currently works better due to its ad display algorithm.
However, more precise targeting in the search network is possible with Yandex Direct due to its flexible keyword system. And when it comes to display advertising, Google looks more interesting.
Convenience
Preferences vary, but if you want to set up advertising for your business on your own, it’s easier with Google Ads. Many processes can be automated (sacrificing quality), and Google Ads tools make it easier to manage already created ads.
For Specialists
Geotargeting
In Yandex Direct, displays are configured for specific countries, regions, and cities. In Google, in addition to this, there is also a setting for displays within a radius from a given point on the map (relevant for advertising cafes, bars, car washes, etc.). And there are more cities in Google, so the targeting is more precise.
Devices
In Google, you can selectively set up ads to show on specific user devices: PC, tablet, mobile phone. In Yandex, you can create a mobile ad, but you can’t yet separate smartphones and tablets.
Socio-demographic targeting
Google allows you to limit displays by gender, age, and interests. All this allows for fine-tuned advertising, ensuring that your ads are shown to the most targeted audience. Yandex does not yet have this capability.
Clarifications, quick links, contacts
Regarding extensions that increase the visibility of your ad, the situation is quite interesting. If clarifications and quick links can be added in both services, then with contacts, things are a bit more complicated. Google Ads (Adwords) allows you to add a phone number and an address separately. However, with the address, it’s not so simple because you need to register in another service – Google My Business, which complicates the task a bit.
In Yandex, you are offered to add your organization directly into the system, which in turn will immediately appear in the Yandex.Business database, which is convenient. The entire registration procedure is quite quick.
Management and editing
Both Google Ads (Adwords, Google Advertising) and Yandex Direct allow for bulk editing of ads, changing bids, and much more. But Google Ads (Adwords) wins in terms of speed. To stop an ad, you just need to pause it, while in Yandex Direct, this procedure involves reloading the page. However, Yandex is constantly developing, and currently, the speed of this process is quite acceptable.
Budget forecasting
Here Yandex Direct looks more preferable, as it shows the approximate cost per click and allows you to easily choose the display position and set bids for all ad groups depending on the display strategy. It should be noted that the budget forecast may change with the start of displays (often in favor of reducing the cost per click), as the initial forecast is made without taking into account your CTR statistics. A similar function is available in Google Ads (Adwords), but for the Russian-speaking segment, it is less convenient (just our opinion), and the accuracy leaves much to be desired.
Keyword selection
For keyword selection, Google provides its service – Keyword Planner. Yandex has Wordstat. In our opinion, Wordstat is much more convenient. Why? Because it is presented as a separate service, it’s easy to enter, specify the display region, and find information. Moreover, the service provides synonym words in another column, which can also contain useful queries.
In Google, synonyms and other queries are mixed, which is not always convenient. It should also be noted that Wordstat’s operation speed is much higher than Google’s Keyword Planner. However, Google allows you to export the resulting queries in CSV format, while in Wordstat you have to copy the queries manually. Of course, this is not so important if you use a query collection automation system like KeyCollector.
Tools
Separately, I would like to mention the other tools of the two advertising services. And here, Yandex Direct is the clear leader. The main stars here are two tools. The first is the Video Constructor, which only requires you to upload a few photos of your products and it will create a beautiful video ad. You can choose any template for this. Yes, there are many such services on the internet, often paid. But here everything is ready, without leaving the cash register. The second service, take a deep breath, is the site builder. It is called Turbo Page Builder in the service. This tool allows you to create a site based on a template. Even if you have no idea how to create sites, a schoolchild can handle it. Aha. It’s like built-in Tilda or Wix. Only free.
What can Google boast of in terms of bright tools? Maybe the convenient addition of rules and scripts for ad campaigns. They allow you to automate campaign management.
Statistics
In general, reports and statistics are convenient both in Google Ads (Adwords, Google Advertising) and in Direct. The main thing is the ability to use them. If you have also connected Google Analytics or Yandex Metrica on the site, you will have enough tools for full control of your campaign.
Audience
So, we come to the main question, where is the audience bigger? There is no definite answer; the number constantly changes, but we will name approximate numbers. Users from Ukraine prefer Google, 65%, versus 33% for Yandex (data up to 2017). Whereas in Russia, the situation is the opposite, with Yandex at 45% and Google at 51%. Of course, the numbers may vary in different regions.
Budget
But before drawing definite conclusions – Google Ads (Adwords, Google Advertising) or Direct based on the audience, you need to know one more thing. The higher the audience of the search engine, the more advertisers there are, which means more competition. We know that the cost per click is formed on the auction principle: whoever pays more gets shown higher (of course, this is a simplification, we remember the quality score of the ad).
That’s why it’s often the case that in Ukraine, showing in Yandex is very profitable, as there are enough users of this system for the needs of small and medium businesses, and the cost per click can be 2-4 times lower. For Russia, a similar situation is possible regarding advertising in Google Ads (Adwords, Google Advertising). Of course, much also depends on your niche.
ORDER contextual advertising setup
Google Ads (Adwords) / Yandex Direct
So, we have analyzed the main criteria for evaluating the services and answered the question of which is better: Google Ads (Adwords, Google Advertising) or Yandex Direct. There is still a lot to talk about, but it is better to try. From our side, we can say that both services are good in their own way, and in practice, they are very convenient to manage. Test your niche and make a conclusion on where advertising is more profitable for you, and proceed from there.