Free Excel Spreadsheet for PPC Text Ad Testing for Statistical Significance

by on August 9, 2010 in testing, text ads, Videos

In this video I explain how to use an excel spreadsheet for determining statistical significance for PPC ad testing. I have included a free download of the spreadsheet as well as links to the resources used to create the spreadsheet.

I used the ClickEquations blog for some inspiration and the Marketing Experiments blog, a Data Mining book, and statistically-inclined friend for some help.

Tags: , ,

About Chad Summerhill

View all posts by Chad Summerhill →

21 Responses to “Free Excel Spreadsheet for PPC Text Ad Testing for Statistical Significance”

  1. Craig Danuloff August 10, 2010 at 12:25 pm #

    Great work Chadd – this is extremely useful. There are far too many paid search text ad decisions made on incomplete data. I’m sure your tool will help people to make smarter decisions.

    Reply
    • Chad Summerhill August 11, 2010 at 11:00 am #

      Thanks Craig, I’m glad you find it useful.

      Reply
  2. Natasha August 17, 2010 at 2:56 pm #

    Hi Chad: Thanks for posting this. Just a quick question. I am trying to understand the formula for calculating “Needed difference”. Can you kindly explain how have you calculated that and what is the significance of this. I am trying to build a model to perform ad copy testing and finding out the statistically significant ad copies and their text. Thanks and I look forward for your reply.

    Reply
    • Chad Summerhill August 17, 2010 at 3:34 pm #

      Sorry Natasha, but I had a friend help me understand the math–I just built the spreadsheet.

      I would recommend using the resources that I link to in the blog post, they do explain the math involved much better than I could.

      Reply
  3. Natasha August 17, 2010 at 3:41 pm #

    Thanks Chad. But could you help me in understanding the significance of “Needed difference”? Does it mean that for the challenger ad to reach close to winner, it need to increase its CTR by the difference percentage? And if actual difference is greater than needed difference, it means we have a clear winner?
    Thanks again

    Reply
    • Chad Summerhill August 17, 2010 at 3:50 pm #

      Yes, if the actual difference is greater than the needed difference you have a winner for the chosen confidence level.

      Hope this helps.

      Reply
      • Natasha August 31, 2010 at 2:03 pm #

        Hi Chad:
        I am still working with your excel and is quite helpful but 1 problem I am getting is, that the SEDP cell returns an error if the number os negative. Do you have any resoltuion for that?

        Reply
        • Chad Summerhill August 31, 2010 at 2:47 pm #

          What number is negative?

          Reply
  4. Mike September 2, 2010 at 4:56 pm #

    This is exactly what I was looking for thanks! Do you think it would work for display advertising in addition to PPC?

    Reply
    • Chad Summerhill September 2, 2010 at 5:03 pm #

      Hi Mike, thanks for stopping by. Yes it will work for testing display ads as well.

      Reply
  5. Wouter de Jong November 14, 2010 at 1:26 pm #

    Thanks! This is very usefull.

    Reply

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. Tweets that mention Free Excel Spreadsheet for PPC Text Ad Testing for Statistical Significance | Prospecting -- Topsy.com - August 9, 2010

    [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by WordStream and Tom Demers, Chad Summerhill. Chad Summerhill said: Free Excel Spreadsheet for PPC Text Ad Testing for Statistical Significance http://goo.gl/fb/Q5v2q [...]

  2. Google AdWords: Copy Testing - September 2, 2010

    [...] calculator) over the original champion.There is also a free Excel download for determining statistically significant PPC text ad winners that solves for CTR, CVR, or Imp-to-Conv.Considerations When Using Multiple ControlsThere is [...]

  3. Ad Text Optimization – What to Test (and When)? | Search Engine Journal - December 9, 2010

    [...] you’re wondering about the math behind statistical validity, Chad Summerhill has an outstanding ad text validity spreadsheet that will help you pick a winner and be confident that your test is statistically [...]

  4. The Best PPC Blogs – The Definitive List of Pay-Per Click Blogs - February 2, 2011

    [...] PPC Text Ad Testing for Statistical Significance [...]

  5. Visualizing your Ad Test Results to Boost Confidence | Certified Knowledge - February 15, 2011

    [...] finding this resource, I created a spreadsheet method for ad testing with confidence (95% to be exact).  I guess I wasn’t the only one who could use a little [...]

  6. Automating The Ad Test Visualization Tool | Certified Knowledge - March 1, 2011

    [...] also referenced another spreadsheet created by the author that determined ad test statistical validity based upon confidence & expected performance. This was an important factor, and allowed us to [...]

  7. Ad Text Optimization with the Pros: A Q and A with Chad Summerhill - April 7, 2011

    [...] of our favorite such posts was his post on ad testing for statistical significance in which he offers up a great spreadsheet to help determine the validity of an ad text [...]

  8. PPC Chat Streamcap - Pay Per Click Text Ad Writing for AdWords and adCenter | The PPC Blog by Matthew Umbro - May 13, 2011

    [...] use the statistical relevance spreadsheet shared at SMX West this year. – Pamela Lund [...]

  9. SEM Strategy - October 17, 2011

    [...] testing tools” into Google.  Chad Summerhill has a simple and easy to understand calculator at http://www.chadsummerhill.com/ppc-text-ad-test-statistical-validity/ and even has a video that explains how his tester [...]
  10. PPC Task Optimization- Heroview | PPC Hero - January 30, 2012

    [...] Let data help you make decisions. For ad rotation, you can use a stastical validation tool (http://www.chadsummerhill.com/ppc-text-ad-test-statistical-validity/) to determine if you can pause an ad test. For bid changes, make sure that the lookback period is [...]

Leave a Reply