Google is currently testing a new site targeting tool that allows advertisers to run banner ads throughout its content network. Currently only a select group of advertisers are able to test this tool, but it looks promising and may be worth investigating once it is rolled out to all advertisers. The content network consists of sites where advertisements are displayed alongside copy relevant to the advertiser’s keywords. NYTimes.com is an example of such a site. All merchants can currently run the standard Google text ads within the content network or opt to not to participate in the content network at all.

Unique to this new offering is that Google allows advertisers to designate on which third-party web sites their ads will appear, whether it's large partner sites like America Online or smaller sites that use AdSense. This addresses a longstanding complaint by advertisers who want greater control as to which sites will carry their ads, specifically wishing to more accurately target some publishers while specifically wishing to exclude others. For example, you can choose to have your content distributed on the New York Times website while excluding auto-generated sites with marginal value and content. In a throwback to the late 1990's, this offering is especially unique in that it allows advertisers to bid in terms of CPM (cost per 1,000 ad impressions) instead of the now very familiar CPC/PPC model. They do this, however, with a modern twist. Google's approach brings auctions and bidding to CPM advertising. This is great for advertisers because it reverses the traditional role of letting the publisher or content site provider set the price of the advertisements and instead empowers the advertisers. This raises fear among publishers that they might not get as high a price as they might have otherwise received but it is great news for advertisers and e-commerce merchants looking to advertise at more competitive rates.

The major difference between CPM advertising and CPC advertising is that CPM advertising means that the advertiser is paying for the number of impressions his ad receives as opposed to the CPC model where he only pay for clicks on those impressions. The primary purpose for CPM advertising as opposed to CPC advertising is to increase brand awareness. This is especially useful for marketers who want an ad that is always displayed, regardless of the click-through-rate. CTR is a significant factor in determining whether your ad is shown with AdWords. It can also be an especially cost-effective method for you to generate CPC leads if you have well designed ads that provide for a high CTR on your banner ads, because you're only paying on a CPM basis. This allows you to potentially get more clicks for the same price as CPC ads. Other major advantages of CPM advertising are for those e-commerce merchants launching new products, the types of products that aren't likely to come up in either natural or paid search results because nobody knows what the product is. A perfect example of that might be a toy manufacturer who has created a unique new toy that probably would take the world by storm, assuming anyone actually knew what it was and could search for it by name. For those types of advertisers, CPM advertising can be a great way to build product or brand awareness.

To get started with this, one must have banner ads ready. Then, according to Google, advertisers select the sites where they'd like their ad to appear, and set a maximum CPM rate that applies for all those sites. The minimum CPM bid for all ads is $2.00. CPM ads are then ranked for display according to their maximum CPM, competing with other CPM ads and with keyword-targeted CPC ads. A CPM ad occupies the entire ad space where normally 4-5 AdWords ads would have been.

This puts Google squarely into direct competition with Yahoo in selling both banner ads as well as CPC ads. Yahoo also has several changes in store and plans to offer CPC-based banner ads on its network of sites, as opposed to partner sites as well. Rumor has it that MSN is preparing a similar offering.

As an e-commerce merchant who is always seeking new places to advertise and to build your brand, consider advertising with these CPM-based banner ads on the Google network once it is available. As always, it is advisable to keep your eye on your ROI and conversions by adding the tracking code that you can get from your AdWords account settings area to your shopping cart's checkout page. Knowing what advertising is working for you is critical to the success of your online store's growth.

You can read more about the Google CPM program from the Google website here and here

eMarketer.com recently released a study showing how advertisers are marketing online. As an e-commerce merchant looking for new ways to market, you might want to consider how the competition is going about their online marketing campaigns.

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