How long does it take before changes in my campaigns are live?
The moment you make a change to your campaign (e.g. increase your bid or add a new keyword) it will take approximately 10 minutes for the sponsored products tool to implement the change. Have you added a new product range on bol? Then it can take up to 72 hours before you can find these products in your sponsored products account. Often faster though!

Why don’t my articles get displayed when I bid on competitor’s branded keywords?
It is not possible to be visible on keywords with competitors brand names. If you have these keywords in your campaign you will notice that you get no impressions.

Is it possible that I will perform less well if my campaign budget has run out?
When your budget runs out, the sponsored products tool automatically pauses all your campaigns. As soon as there is new budget in your account, the campaigns will be activated again. It may take a few days before your campaigns run as before. This is because the algorithm needs to find the right match between articles, keywords and bid. So make sure you always keep enough budget to keep your campaigns running.

Is it possible to set time intervals when I want to advertise or not?
Yes you can! If you use a third party through the Advertising API, like Pacvue for example. Want to know more about the Advertising API? Click here. If you do not use third party tooling, then it is not possible for example to only be active in the evening or to divide your budget equally over the day.

Is sponsored products also profitable for cheap articles with little margin?
It can certainly be profitable to advertise on cheap articles with low margins. It is important to keep a close eye on the click price. It is best to set your target ACoS lower in a campaign with an automatic bidding strategy and to bid low in a campaign with a manual bidding strategy. This way you get the most clicks from your budget!

How does bol.com’s algorithm work?
Sponsored products works as a booster to the organic performance of your articles. The algorithm of sponsored products is built on 3 important variables: impressions, sales and reviews.

What does the metric ‘Average Winning Bid’ mean?
The average winning bid shows the average bid of all advertisers who won an auction in a specific category over your selected time period. It gives the advertiser a good idea of the price paid for similar ads.

I would like to get as many impressions as possible for my articles, the ACoS doesn’t matter, how do I do this in my settings?
Good that you are using the system for this! It is true that by using sponsored products you stimulate customer visits and these are also very important for your organic position. For maximum visibility, you can set your target ACoS to 50% for an automatic campaign and for a manual campaign it is important to set your bid high enough. You can also use the average winning bid for this. In addition, it is obviously important that there is sufficient budget available in the campaign to be visible throughout the day.

Is it better to create a campaign with as many categories as possible or a campaign per category?
We recommend creating a campaign per category. This is because sponsored products looks at the keywords that are interesting for the articles in the campaign. To create as much grip and overview as possible, it is advisable to create a campaign per category so you can easily analyze the campaigns.

How are conversions measured for my ads?
Sponsored products has an attribution model of 14 days post click. This means that a conversion is still attributed to the click when:

• After clicking on a sponsored products, the consumer buys that item from you within 14 days
• After clicking on a sponsored product, the consumer buys an article from the same campaign from you within 14 days
• After clicking on a sponsored product, the consumer buys an article from the same category from you within 14 days

The total ‘sales’ that you see in the campaign dashboard are always the realised sales. So it could be that the number of conversions * sales prices of the items in the campaign differs from the total ‘sales’ of the campaign.

Can my campaigns compete with each other?
If you are advertising multiple items on the same keywords it is indeed true that they are competing with each other since they are competing for the same ad slots. However, you will not see this reflected in the click price. It is not the case that your click price is competing with each other so that you will lose more money for one click. But consider carefully which articles you want to show when someone searches for an article in the category where you are active!

I would like to learn more about sponsored products, how do I do that?
Very well! We have several tools that can help you learn even more. Are you just starting out or do you want to learn more tricks? Then sign up for our webinars, you can choose from Basic or Advanced. Would you like more explanation and depth? Then follow our e-learnings: Basic or Advanced. This way you will become a real pro! Do you still have questions when you get started? Then come to one of our Live Q&A Chats where our specialists will answer all your questions. Stay tuned and keep an eye on our events calendar. Good Luck!

Sponsored products: higher positions

In short
Sales partners are evaluated on bol.com’s platform on a variety of parameters including the quality of the items they sell, the service they provide, the completeness of the product information, their delivery times and prices. This determines whether they get the ‘buy button’ and subsequently what position they get when a customer enters a certain search term. Sales partners can also purchase advertising to make their items with a ‘buy button’ more visible. Such items are then labelled ‘sponsored’ and are therefore placed higher on platform listings. This makes it easier for sales partners to draw attention to their items. In the past, the first two search results were not sponsored, but these will be from Monday, 4th of July. The conditions for sales partners are unchanged: they must meet the quality requirements to be placed in the ‘buy block’.

What will change for me as a sales partner when I advertise?
On all listing pages on bol.com where sponsored items are currently shown, we will raise positions 3 and 4 to positions 1 and 2.

What will change for me as a sales partner if I do not advertise?
There will be no changes for sales partners who do not advertise. They remain visible with their product range. If they were at position 1 they will now be visible at position 3.

When will this happen?
This new service commences on Monday, 4th of July 2022.

Will Advertising via bol.com become more expensive?
The advertising mechanism remains the same. Sales partners pay an amount per click, depending on product popularity and the number of advertisers in a category. Thanks to the improved visibility it will be more attractive to advertise.

I am already using sponsored products and am in position 3 or 4. What is the impact for me?
Good news! You can now be shown even higher in the listing. This is great for your visibility. If customers consider your product relevant, more clicks will follow. Your campaign spend and/or CPC may increase as a result, so it is wise to keep an eye on the budget you have made available. Our tip is to use automatic campaigns, so the algorithm can optimise to your set ACoS.

Can I sponsor my article if I am already on first page non-sponsored?
Previously, it was not possible to advertise if you were already on first page non-sponsored. Now it is possible! For example, are you now on position 5? Then you can advertise with your article. However, no duplicate positions will be shown on the platform. But we make sure that you are always visible on the highest position. So, is your sponsored position better than your non-sponsored position? Then we will only show the sponsored position.

Would you like to know more about these changes or the answer to your question isn’t here, please contact Supplier Service.