What is the latest buzz surrounding RSOC? RSOC has been the latest game changing feature disrupting the world of search.
If you are a website owner, content publisher, affiliate marketer, or media buyer, chances are that you’ve heard of RSOC and understand its popularity and superior features relative to its predecessor.
This article explains everything about RSOC, including how it works, how to monetize, RSOC conversion funnels, policies and implementation procedures, requirements, benefits, best RSOC search feed providers, and best practices.
What is RSOC?
RSOC stands for Related Search for Content and is a contextual navigation unit by Google that displays search terms related to the content of the page. The appearance of the search feature can be fully customized and natively displayed and wrapped around content without being intrusive to the user’s search experience. When the user clicks on a related search term, the user is directed to a search results page within the webpage offering a rich and organic user search experience.
RSOC encourages visitors to stay engaged with the content and explore related content to achieve the user’s search objective. It also allows the user to interact with search ads and advertiser’s content.
How Does RSOC Arbitrage Work?
RSOC search arbitrage occurs when the revenue generated from the user clicking the sponsored ad within the RSOC search unit is greater than the cost incurred when purchasing traffic to the content page. Website traffic to the content pages with RSOC search units can be organically driven or acquired from other sources. Purchased traffic should be monitored for quality and performance and comply with ad platform policies.
Types of RSOC Click and Conversion Funnels
A 1 click or 1 step conversion funnel is typical for a RSOC related search unit. The RSOC search feed is natively embedded within the content on the webpage, prelander or landing page. After the user clicks on the RSOC search unit, the user is directed to a search results page with sponsored ads and relevant content. When the user clicks on the sponsored ad, the user is then directed to the advertiser.
How to Monetize RSOC
Obtain a RSOC search feed from a qualified and reputable search feed provider. Either deploy related search units on your content page or obtain relevant content pages with RSOC from the feed provider. Related search terms should appear on the content or landing page which allows you to monetize RSOC search traffic.
Important RSOC Metrics
Its important to track the performance of RSOC. Here are key metrics involved when monitoring RSOC performance.
- RSOC Funnel Requests: Count of requests to display RSOC (even if ads are not rendered on the page)
- RSOC Funnel Impressions: Count of requests to display RSOC (content displayed to the user)
- RSOC Funnel Clicks: User clicks on a non-ad unit and some action was triggered (example: user clicks on a RSOC keyword and is directed to a search results landing page)
- RSOC Funnel RPM: Estimated revenue generated from the funnel / Funnel impressions) * 1000
Best RSOC Search Feed Providers
There are several providers that offer RSOC search feeds to monetize RSOC traffic. Select RSOC search feed providers based on their reputation within the search industry, history for paying on-time, and level of high responsiveness. Here are the best providers of RSOC search feeds.
- SearchFeed360
- System1
- Other RSOC search feed providers..
What are the Requirements, Policies and Conditions of Implementing RSOC?
Compliance of ad platform policies and requirements are necessary to promote a positive and healthy ad environment. Before implementation of the RSOC search feed on content or landing pages, make sure to comply with the following:
- If purchasing traffic to the content or landing pages, the “ad creative text” should be passed with the ‘referrerAdCreative’ parameter in the related search request
- RSOC ASQ (Alternative Search Queries) triggers search results on the search engine results page. RSOC related search ASQs should be labeled “Related Searches” or some similar designation approved by Google and the RSOC search feed provider.
- No more than 2 RSOC search units per page
- RSOC search feed should not be used on pages without any content, with deceptive content with claims that cannot be fulfilled, or minimal content that doesn’t provide any value
- Avoid violating any search engines policies, applicable laws, or third party rights including but not limited to custom search ads policies, publishers policies, and content policies
What are the Benefits of RSOC?
Less Funnel Click. Unlike traditional search feed placements, because RSOC is integrated on the content or landing page, the user only needs to click once before landing on the search results page. This allows for fewer steps and clicks prior to conversion and less conversion friction.
Incremental Revenue. RSOC is designed to maximize content and search monetization. RSOC can potentially yield higher revenue and earnings per click based on the native look and feel and content-to-ad relevancy promoting a higher desire to explore relevant content and engage with search ads. More money can be earned by driving more traffic to the search pages.
Increased Site Engagement. RSOC can help increase site engagement including site traffic, pageviews, and ad impressions. Visitor Average Time on Page and Bounce Rate will both be positive because the user not only engages with the desired content but also with relevant content and ads that match their original intent
Relevant Search Ads. Sponsored search ads become highly relevant and increasingly accurate to provide the intended or desired outcome in a high quality manner for the user
Better User Search Experience. RSOC can be customized to natively integrate with the existing look and feel of a search page minimizing content viewing disruption and promoting a high quality user experience.
What are RSOC Best Practices?
- Place RSOC search ad units in a prominent location on the content or landing page to improve performance
- Ensure sufficient amount of textual content for RSOC to generated relevant keywords and topics associated with the content
- Allow sufficient time after RSOC implementation for RSOC’s algorithm to optimize keywords and performance
- Add language parameters to RSOC to show related search terms in the language of your choice
- It’s optional to pass your own search terms with the ‘terms’ parameters to show more relevant keyword or search terms that align with the user’s search intent.
Conclusion
RSOC is an effective way to monetize existing or purchased traffic across multiple traffic channels including organic, social, native, display, push ads, and more. RSOC search arbitrage is an opportunity to generate revenue from purchasing and driving traffic from other sources to RSOC landing pages. Due to one less click in the conversion funnel, RSOC search feed monetization can potentially yield higher earnings per click (EPC) and lower the cost per click (CPC). It is important to comply with policies and guidelines and monitor metrics and performance to evaluate the quality of the related search units on the content pages. Users are encouraged to explore relevant content topics and engage with RSOC sponsored ads providing a win-win scenario for all parties in the search and ad ecosystem including advertisers, search engines, search feed providers, content publishers, marketers, and media buyers in affiliate marketing.