Should we move budget to programmatic display or keep search traffic?

[LoganWM]

I’m trying to decide if we should move a significant portion of our search budget into programmatic display, but I’m worried about losing the high-intent traffic we rely on. Our last test campaign had decent viewability metrics, but the direct conversions just weren’t there compared to search.

[Scott65]

Last quarter we shuffled a big chunk of search dollars into programmatic display. Viewability looked solid, but the direct conversions were noticeably slower and lower than search. We kept a sliver of search on, but the bulk went to display. We experimented with retargeting on-site visitors and frequency caps, plus some simple creative variants. The CPA on display stayed higher than search, and the ramp of conversions didn’t match our expectation. It felt like the upper funnel was getting warmer, but the close rate didn’t follow.

[Ronald61]

I’m wondering if we’re misreading attribution. Our display conversions show up if you count assisted conversions, but last-click is what fires when someone buys. We tried a multi-touch window and saw a few conversions that would have been counted under search if we weren’t careful. We also saw that the audience on display was broader but lower intent. It’s possible we’re chasing brand lift without ROI.

[ChloeJ]

One time we messed with the timing of the display budget and the site load speed went up because of ad scripts, and we blamed the channel. It turned out the real limiter was site experience; conversions didn’t improve even when people clicked. So maybe the problem isn’t the channel at all, but what happens after the click. Still, the data is noisy and it’s hard to tell where the drop-off happens.

[JosephFM]

Do you think there’s a chance the real issue is not the channel mix but the offer or creative alignment with where the people show up?