Paid search
Paid search bids on Keywords that state intent and runs only while the first transaction’s margin exceeds its cost per first transaction.
Paid search bids on Keywords that state intent, such as a competitor’s name or the word “pricing”. It runs only while the first transaction’s margin exceeds the cost of winning it.
Ratings
| Dimension | Rating | Reads |
|---|---|---|
| Scalability | 4 of 5 | high: higher grows further with spend or automation |
| Cost | 4 of 5 | high: lower costs less per Customer |
| Latency | 1 of 5 | very low: lower answers sooner |
Budget
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Tier | $100 |
| Minimum effective budget | $100 a month |
| Monthly spend | Yields |
|---|---|
| $100 | An exact-match test on Bing that reads intent within weeks. |
| $1,000 | Competitor and high-intent terms on Google Search, 100 to 300 clicks. |
| $10,000 | Several Keyword groups with brand defense, as cost per click rises with volume. |
How it runs
A $100 exact-match test on Bing reads intent before Google Search spend opens. Each Campaign launch and each raise waits the ad-spend delay window; a pause never waits.
When cost per first transaction exceeds first-transaction margin for two weeks, the payback gate pauses the Play.
Processes
Runs as Experimentation, accountable to the Marketing Team.
Also sold as a Service: Demand generation.
Fits
| Fits | Value |
|---|---|
| Family | demand |
| Shelf | Seed: finds the first Customers (Launch) |
| Moves | Acquisition payback |
| Motions | b2b, b2c |
| Venues | Google Search, Bing |
| States | Live, Repeatable, Scale |
Loop
| Step | Value |
|---|---|
| Hypothesis | Bidding only on Keywords that state intent keeps acquisition payback inside 30 days. |
| Measure | Acquisition payback over 30d, at least 50 observations |
| Learn | The learn step reads the Readout, records Evidence and a Decision, and drafts the next Variant. |
Example
A Startup selling a scheduling app to dental offices bids on four exact terms at $1,000 a month. The terms bring 210 clicks and nine paying offices at $62 each, under the $90 first-month margin, so the budget renews.