This month, a report has been released by Acquisio (PDF) that argues machine learning algorithms can dramatically improve paid-search marketing performance vs. accounts that don’t use them. Acquisio calls their suite of machine learning tools “Acquisio Turing.” This suite is named after the British computer scientist Alan Turing.
Thousands of campaigns were looked at by Acquisio over the course of two years, and compared results from machine learning-supported accounts with those utilizing machine learning. Acquisio concluded, “Across all business types and budget sizes globally, the accounts using Acquisio’s machine learning technology are outcompeting those that aren’t, giving advertisers an advantage.” This was very true at low level budget levels.
Over 30,000 accounts were analyzed and compared in the report.
According to Acquisio, just over a third of its customers manage small or local accounts, such as media publishers that provide SEM to small business advertisers, and “just over 50 percent our client base is made up of marketing organizations servicing local markets, with a large portion of them focusing on the automotive market.”
Around 60 percent of the customers serve North America. The rest of the customers and accounts are distributed across regions, with a larger concentration in Australia.
Acquisio reports that machine-learning accounts saw improved metrics across the board, including higher conversions, lower CPCs and and higher click-throughs:
- Conversions increased by 71 percent on average
- CPCs decreased by 7 percent on average
- Clicks increased by 15 percent on average
- 64 percent of accounts saw a lower CPA
These accounts were better t achieving “budget attainment” (which is when the reach their target spend levels) vs. accounts not utilizing machine learning optimization.
The company said that machine learning-supported accounts even experienced lower churn on the platform than those not using machine learning. This was especially true for accounts operating at least than $500 per month. “Businesses with the lowest spend actually had the highest success in terms of lifetime value,” the report states.