Which Is Better – ‘Google Search’ or ‘Search Partners’?

By Jordan • December 7th, 2009

When running a Google AdWords ‘Search’ campaign, you are automatically opted into their ‘Search Partner’ network.

I have tried and failed to find a definitive list of just who these ‘Search Partners’ are.

It does say on the Official Google AdWords help that :-

“Our global Search Network includes Google Maps, Google Product Search and Google Groups along with entities such as Virgin Media and Amazon.com.”

Another major one is AOL.

But, should you opt out of the search partner network?

From what I have seen so far, there is usually very little difference in conversion value/cost.

In a few cases I have seen, the Search Partner network has been working significantly better than Google Search – but this is not all that useful to know, as you can’t opt out of ‘Google Search’ and stay opted in to ‘Search Partners’ !

Here is one example which has had a *lot* of conversions over a period of time:-

But as always, this may vary for different campaigns, so don’t just take my word for it, but keep an eye on your Adwords reports and make adjustments as necessary.