37 AdWords Secrets blog

Take a look at the example below… notice the ‘TM’ symbol?

I’m always seeking new and effective ways to boost CTR in AdWords. Today I have a new technique I’ve been testing recently using symbols in Google ads.

You might want to try this in your own campaigns and see what happens.

You’re familiar with the ‘R’ letter with the circle around it (indicating Registered Trade Mark) as well as the ‘TM’ symbol see all around us… on billboards, TV and magazines, right?

But did you know you can sometimes use these symbols in your OWN Google AdWords campaigns… to good effect?

Which symbols can be used in Google ads… and do they actually result in an increased CTR?

Here are more examples of Google ads I have made using this technique;

After testing a series of identical ads (with and without these special symbols) in the ‘real world’ against my competitors (in a very competitive market), it’s clear to me that using trademark symbols in Google ads (where appropriate) definitely attracts more attention for your ads, because…

Ads WITH these Symbols WIN (in terms of CTR) Most of the Time…

This likely works because it attracts the eye of the viewer over similar ads… which may be using the same terms. In cases such as these, small points of differences can be significant. Also, use of a ‘TM’ or ‘R’ symbol can perhaps give your ad more ‘authority.’

So if you are advertising a product or service that is trademarked (does not necessarily have to be your product) it is likely worth testing these symbols in your own ads. Now, are there…

Legal Issues..or Not..?

All I can say is Google allows you to do this and has never banned any ad I have used this technique in. What’s more, assuming you have the trademark owner’s permission to use their trademark in your ads, it’s hard to see why they would object to the use of a trademark symbol (after all, many owners actually REQUIRE these symbols to be used in print advertising!)

Now, how do you actually place these symbols into your ad text?

One of the easiest ways is to use Microsoft Word to insert the symbol into a Word document… then just copy it from Word and paste it into the ad you’re editing in your AdWords control panel.

This definitely works for the ‘R’ symbol. For the ‘TM’ symbol the same thing will likely work using Word, or, you can go to this page here;

http://www.google.com/permissions/guidelines.html

… and simply copy and paste the ‘TM’ symbol you’ll find there from that page and copy it into your ad. This also works well.

I suggest you give these ’symbol’ techniques a try (remember that CTR is only one measure of success – check your conversion rate also) and please get back to me with your results (perhaps you can come up with other symbols that are allowed too).
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