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A
Anonymous
August 13, 2013
Question

Google - Organic vs PPC

  • August 13, 2013
  • 5 replies
  • 1927 views
Hi,

Based on a few tests I did, I have found that

- when "Original Referrer' contains 'http://www.google.com/url?', it's a lead that came through Google Organic search.
- when "Original Referrer" contains 'http://www.google.com/aclk?', it's a lead that came through Google PPC

However, I am finding that a lot of my leads have a referrer that start with 'http://www.google.com/search?'. I am tempted to think that these are leads that came in through organic search, however, anyone know a sure answer for this?

Thanks for your response!

Kashmira Bakshi

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5 replies

A
Anonymous
August 14, 2013
In Google AdWords accounts, if auto-tagging is enabled (on by default), Google will append a unique "gclid=" parameter on your destination URLs at run-time that you will see in the referrer URL.  The gclid parameter enables data sharing between Google Analytics and Google AdWords.  You can use the presence of this parameter to distinctly identify your PPC traffic from Google's adnet.  Everything else is organic search.  Also, the referrer URL for display ads should start with "http://googleads".
    Michelle_Tizian
    Michelle_Tizian
    Level 10
    August 14, 2013
    I did notice that most of our new leads in our PPC program the "Original Referrer" contains 'http://www.google.com/aclk?.
    A
    Anonymous
    March 17, 2014
    @Michelle - We're seeing the same thing on our end. Were you able to find a solution that allowed you to capture your tracking string rather than the Google redirect url (http://www.google.com/aclk)?
    Michelle_Tizian
    Michelle_Tizian
    Level 10
    March 17, 2014
    Hi Harvey,

    No, we actually discontinued our PPC program because we're not getting good quality leads. We instead are putting more of our money on LinkedIn advertising, and enhanced parts of our website for trial subscriptions, and also lead caputure using our newsfeed freemium model.  The last 2 items are the items that are working for us. 
    A
    Anonymous
    March 17, 2014
    Thanks for the response Michelle. I'm still holding out hope that there's a solution to this, or at least some sort of workaround until Marketo rolls out their AdWords integration (which doesn't look like it's happening any time soon).
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