G2 Ads Clicks is a subscription-free, pay-per-click (PPC) offering that enables you to capture buyer interest across G2, Capterra, Software Advice, and GetApp via referral links and sponsored listings.
To access G2 Ads Clicks (Clicks), go to my.G2, then select Advertising > Campaigns.
G2 does not support “pay for placement.” Activating Clicks has no impact on your product’s organic ranking on category pages or inclusion in G2 Market Reports.
Basics of G2 Ads Clicks
New Clicks campaigns are placed across G2 marketplaces (G2, Capterra, Software Advice, and GetApp) automatically, with no option to opt out of individual marketplaces.
If you have a campaign that predates this placement across all four marketplaces, you can opt in or out of the marketplaces your campaign isn't already part of: G2, or Capterra, Software Advice, and GetApp.
Organic clicks
Clicks can generate organic traffic from your product profile and your category page listing, based on your selected configuration. See Product profile and Category page below.
Product profile
Clicks can generate traffic from your product profile as part of your overall campaign distribution.
Depending on your plan and configuration, this section of your product profile may display a lead capture experience or a call-to-action (CTA) that directs buyers to your selected destination URL.
Clicks from your product profile are included in your analytics and appear as a distinct click source.
Category page
G2 adds a configurable CTA to your category page listing.
Sponsored clicks
Clicks enables you to opt in to sponsored placements based on the topics you select. These placements can appear across G2 marketplaces: G2, Capterra, Software Advice, and GetApp.
Topics are a targeting mechanism that determines where your ads appear based on user intent, rather than mapping to specific pages.
On G2, ads can appear across many different areas of the site where that intent is present, including, but not limited to, category, alternative, and discussion pages.
On Capterra, Software Advice, and GetApp, sponsored ads appear at the top of category pages. Your position relative to other advertisers depends on your bid: a higher bid means a higher spot.
During implementation, you can select the topics you want to target for your ads.
If your product is on an annual subscription, you can purchase G2 Paid Promotions, which provides a guaranteed buyout of a portion of the traffic to select pages on G2. Paid Promotions is exclusive to G2 and doesn't apply on Capterra, Software Advice, or GetApp. Clicks sponsored listings are shown to the remaining available traffic if there is unpurchased Paid Promotions inventory.
Pricing
Cost per click details are shown as part of the campaign creation wizard when you set up Clicks.
Country Prices and Filters
G2 charges different PPC prices per country. You can view and adjust your bid by category and location, including country-level pricing differences, from the Bidding Management tab.
Billing
Clicks is billed monthly and your payment method will be charged automatically on the 2nd of the following month. To access your invoices, go to my.G2, then select Payments > Invoices.
Clicks requires a minimum monthly budget of $500.
G2 accepts the following credit card payment processors:
Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, JCB, Diners, UnionPay
Payments are processed by a third party. To ensure PCI DSS compliance, G2 has completed a PCI Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ), which can be provided upon request.
Optimize your listing description
After you set up your product listing, you can drive more conversions by optimizing your product description. For more information, refer to the Product Information documentation.
Implementation
To set up Clicks:
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Go to my.G2, then navigate to Advertising > Campaigns.
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Select Create Campaign.
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On the General step, enter a Campaign name and select the Products you want to advertise.
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On the Targeting step:
- Under Topics, select the topics you want to target for each product. G2 pre-selects recommended topics, which you can adjust here or anytime in Campaign Settings.
- (Optional) Under Competitors, select competitors to target. This doesn't affect placement. It only helps G2 generate better recommendations for your campaign.
- Under Countries, select the countries to target. Your selection applies to all topics and competitors selected above.
- Under Campaign Reach, Expand to all G2 Properties is selected and can't be turned off. Your campaign is placed across G2, Capterra, Software Advice, and GetApp automatically. (Optional) Turn on Audience Expansion to reach more buyers through related topics, competitors, and buyer activity.
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On the Budget step, select one of the suggested monthly budget tiers, or enter a custom amount. Each tier shows estimated impressions, clicks, leads, and cost per lead based on your Targeting selections.
Budget estimates are powered by G2's bidding engine, which optimizes your spend for performance and allocates bids throughout the month automatically. Estimated volumes may vary due to market dynamics.
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On the Landing Pages step, add a default landing page URL for each product, and optionally customize destination URLs by topic. You can add language-specific landing pages later, once your campaign is active. For more information, refer to Customizing destination URLs.
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On the Billing step, (optional) enter your billing information, then enter your credit card information and select I Accept to accept G2's Click-To-Buy Agreement.
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Select Activate Campaign.
To track conversions from your campaigns, refer to the Tracking conversions with G2 Ads Clicks section.
Customizing destination URLs
After activation, you can customize the destination URL by product, topic, and language, or upload destination URLs in bulk. CTA text isn't configurable and always reads "Visit Website."
To customize a destination URL:
- Go to Advertising > Campaigns.
- Select the gear icon next to the campaign, then select Campaign Settings.
- Select Landing Pages.
- Add a Default Landing Page URL. You must add a default landing page before you can make category- or language-specific customizations.
- Select a Product, Topic, and Language, then select Custom Landing Page and enter a URL.
To customize destination URLs in bulk, select Download Template to get a CSV with the available fields, then select Upload File once you've filled it in.
You can add UTM parameters directly to the URL for tracking.
For subscription customers, you can configure organic listing destination URLs by navigating to Product profile > Product Information > CTA settings.
Reporting
Tracking conversions with G2 Ads Clicks
Use Clicks conversion tracking to measure actions that occur after a user clicks your ad, such as a form submission or sign-up. Conversion data appears in the Click Report Table once tracking is set up.
To set up conversion tracking:
- Go to Advertising > Conversion Tracking Setup.
- Under Choose Installation Method, select Google Tag Manager or Manual.
- Install the Universal Script by adding it once to every page of your website, in the
<head>section. This script identifies visitors who arrive from your campaigns so their on-site activity can be attributed to a conversion.
View analytics
The Performance page provides a high-level view of your campaign's status, spend, and click performance.
To track the performance of a campaign, go to my.G2, then select Advertising > Performance. Then select the campaign from the dropdown at the top of the page.
Click Report Table
The Click Report Table shows click performance by category. You can customize which columns appear, including Avg. CPC, Avg. Position, Impressions, Clicks, CTR, and Click Share.
Click data isn't final until your monthly invoice is issued. G2 conducts a final review of clicks at month-end, so your invoice may reflect fewer clicks than earlier reports showed.
Trend Analysis
The Trend Analysis tab shows your selected metrics over time, as a chart or a table. Filter by product, channel, location, category, and date range, and choose which metrics to plot, such as Conversion Rate % and Total Spend $.
Turn on Industry avg. to compare your trend against the category average.
Bidding Management
The Bidding Management tab lists your bid for each category and location you're targeting, along with estimated clicks, cost, leads, and cost per lead (CPL), plus your actual month-to-date cost, clicks, conversions, and CPL.
Select a bid to see a bid forecast, including a quality score and the minimum bid for that category and location.
Click Share
Click Share shows the percentage of available clicks your campaign won compared to other advertisers, as a measure of your competitive standing within your targeted topics. It appears as its own metric tile and as a column in the Click Report Table on the Performance page.
If a user clicks links in different locations or clicks your links multiple times within a 12-hour interval, G2 records these as duplicate clicks and you will not be charged. Clicks from logged-in profile admins are recorded as test clicks and are not charged.
Pausing or cancelling your campaign
You may pause your Clicks campaign at any time. To pause your campaign:
- Go to Advertising > Campaigns.
- Select the gear icon next to the campaign, then select Campaign Settings.
- Select General > Pause Campaign.
Pausing temporarily stops your campaign and allows you to resume without reconfiguration.
If your campaign stays paused for more than 90 days, G2 cancels it. You can restart a cancelled campaign at any time.
After your campaign is paused or cancelled, your website links are removed from G2 pages. Any preexisting unpaid clicks are billed during the next invoice cycle.