Connexity Introduces New Targeted CPC Bidding and Consolidates with PriceGrabber. So, What Does All This Mean?
Connexity, Inc. (you know, the company once known as Shopzilla … and Bizrate) has acquired PriceGrabber.com and Become.com over the past year, making it the second-largest retail lead generator behind Google (according to the folks at Connexity).
This CSE consolidation lays the groundwork for a unified Connexity platform, which users should begin to see by the end of October.
The Connexity bidding platform will continue to exist and use their Single Rate Smart Pricing, but a new bidding option, called Targeted CPC will soon be introduced.
Single Rate Smart Pricing
Introduced in 2013, Single Rate Smart Pricing was an update to the original “Smart Pricing” bidding. According to Connexity, Single Rate Smart Pricing gives you the greatest exposure to inventory throughout their network. With Single Rate bids, you set a maximum bid of $4 or more, and Connexity’s Smart Pricing system adjusts the CPC down based on the quality of the lead. The CPC amounts paid will be adjusted based on traffic quality and the number of total conversions for all merchants listing that product. This means for poor selling products bids could be as low as $.01, and for better selling products the CPC rates will be higher, but never exceed the bid amount.
Targeted CPC Pricing
Connexity’s New Targeted CPC will allow merchants to bid below the Single Rate. Merchants can place bids in any amount between $0.05 and $1.25. Connexity’s Smart Pricing system adjusts bids by traffic quality and will either raise your Target CPC bid by a max of 30% or lower your CPC as low as $0.01. The higher you set your Targeted CPC bid, the more likely you’ll receive a higher volume of leads. With Target CPCs you can bid with confidence knowing that your offer CPC will never increase more than 30%. You can still leverage Smart Pricing, as this is an additional bidding option.
How Should You Prepare For The Changes Coming To Connexity?
First and foremost let’s talk about feeds. If you have a Connexity feed, make sure that your PriceGrabber products are included in your feed. That way you won’t have to worry about your volume of leads. Connexity is also allowing you to use your PriceGrabber feed in place of your Connexity feed.
If, however, you’ve never worked/advertised with Connexity, you must create an account, which you can do here: Connexity.com.
Shopper Survey
Another change will occur with PriceGrabber’s Shopper Survey. This survey will be migrated to the Connexity Bizrate Insights platform on Oct. 1. If you currently take part in the program, don’t worry. Nothing will change on your end.
ROI Tracker
One of the other actions you’ll want to take is to remove your PriceGrabber ROI Tracker and install the Connexity ROI Tracker. If at this moment, you have both codes installed on your site, it’s imperative that you remove the PriceGrabber code, or else your performance will not be tracked correctly.
To get insight into changes with bidding, we recommend you download Connexity’s Pricing FAQ. However, here’s a breakdown of some things you should know:
Subcategory Bid (mandatory):
Enter a subcategory bid in Connexity Business Services bidding tool for every subcategory in which you have products using one of 2 options:
- Single Rate CPC
Bid $4 or higher, knowing that with Smart Pricing your billable CPC will be materially lower. Click here to see the avg. CPC by category for the last three quarters. Single Rate CPC bidding guarantees the maximum exposure to traffic volume - Targeted CPC
Bid $0.05 – $1.25. Your billable CPC will never be more than 30% above your bid. If you don’t enter a subcategory bid, it will default to $4
Product Level Bid (optional):
Provides the flexibility for a product bid different from the subcategory bid.
- You can place bids at the Single Rate CPC or Targeted CPC (or a combination of both) but keep in mind only Single Rate bids will guarantee access to maximum traffic volume
- Bidding tool will accept bids $4 or higher for Single Rate and $0.05 -$1.25 for Targeted CPC
Feed bids:
- $0.00 bids in the feed will be billed at your subcategory bid rate
- Bids between $0.01 and $0.04 will be pushed to $0.05
- Bids of $1.26 to $3.99 will be read at the Single Rate of $4 and be smart priced down
Can I Continue To Bid At $0.00 Or $0.01?
NO – the minimum bid is now $0.05. Offers set at a $0 bid or with no bid will be assigned your Subcategory Bid or the Single Rate of $4 if no Subcategory Bid has been entered. If you do not wish to drive full traffic you must place a Target CPC Bid at the subcategory or product level. Items bid below $.05 in your data feed will be assigned the minimum bid of $0.05.
Account Management
The Connexity and PriceGrabber Account Management teams have merged. That means that, in order to ensure that you have just one manager, you may find someone new to turn to as your assigned representative. Once logged into your Connexity Dashboard, if you have an assigned account manager, they will be list ed in the bottom left of the dashboard screen. See the example to the right –>
When Will All Of This Take Place?
By September 18 you’ll be able to begin to migrate your PriceGrabber account to Connexity.
By September 30 all zero bids will be increased to subcategory bids. Zero bids will continue to be honored from 9/18 to 9/30.
On October 30 the PriceGrabber platform will officially be retired.
Get Help With This Change With OperationROI
While Connexity is certainly excited about this latest acquisition, this could serve to provide you with unwanted headaches. To make sure your migration goes slowly, and that you make the most out of this new, consolidated platform, contact OperationROI. We’ll help you optimize your account to ensure that by the end of October you’re in a position to excel with Connexity.
Call us at 1-888-277-5429 or by filling out our contact form to learn more.
