Election special - Which parties are using Google PPC to bid on competitor keywords?

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With Google Pay Per Click, it's possible to bid on competitor brand keywords. Which political parties are doing this?

Keyword = 'libdem'

Nobody is bidding for this keyword.

Keyword = 'conservative'

There are 4 sponsored ads:

• the Conservatives with a link to their manifesto. They are also bidding for the keyword 'manifesto' and their ad appears for 'Libdems manifesto' & 'Labour manifesto'
• a spoof campaign from Marmite asking people to vote for their 'love' or 'hate' parties
• Google linking to an analysis of election related search stats
• Channel 4 linking to their 'Alternative Election Night' special featuring David Mitchell & Jimmy Carr

Keyword = 'labour'

• the Conservatives linking to their YouTube video ' Labour have failed'
• a site encouraging people to vote for a hung parliament to get electoral reform
• William Hill linking to betting on the election

Key learning

• the Conservatives are the only one of the three main parties in England who are using Google PPC to attract and convert voters by bidding for relevant competitor keywords
• some other businesses like William Hill, Channel 4 & Marmite are bidding for some party keywords (but not all) which seems odd, unless they have data that supports only Labour voters bet!
• would you like your ads to appear when prospects search for competitor products?
• what keywords might these prospects use when they are searching?

Published 30th April, 2010

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