• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, October 18, 2016

Even the use of the term "Cyber Monday," which creates one of the most popular paid-search keyword groups around the holidays, requires timing.

AdGooroo published research around the Cyber Monday keyword group analyzing the timing of when ads run. The research aims to determine when U.S. Google desktop text ads related to Cyber Monday are most effective during the holidays. The research examines ad spend by advertisers, but does not track conversions.

Looking back at 2015, the Kantar Media company found that during the week of Nov. 22 through 28, which included the Thanksgiving-Black Friday weekend, advertisers spent the most -- $2.2 million -- on keywords related to Cyber Monday. In the fourth quarter of 2015, and 86% of the $5.8 million total spent on the keyword group occurred in the four weeks leading up to Cyber Monday, but it doesn't necessarily mean this week is the most effective.

Paid-search ad spend on the 70 Cyber Monday keywords in the fourth quarter of 2015 breaks down as follows, according to AdGooroo. From Nov. 1, through 7, advertisers spend $397,000 on Cyber Monday-related keyword groups. From Nov. 8 through 14 that total rose to $900,000. From Nov. 15 through 21, the amount jumped to $1.5 million, and from Nov. 22 through 28, the total rose to $2.2 million. Advertisers backed off during Nov. 29 through Dec. 5, which is when investments fell to $800,000. 

The majority of paid-search spend on Cyber Monday keywords during the fourth quarter of 2015 fell into the top two terms: "cyber monday 2015" and "cyber monday deals." These keyword terms generated nearly $2.7 million and $2.2 million, respectively, during the quarter in the U.S. on desktop on google.com.

The keyword terms ranking No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 saw a significant drop. AdGooroo estimates that the term "cyber Monday" generated $473,000 in spend; followed by "best cyber monday deals," $213,000; and "cyber monday sales" at $186,000, respectively.

The remaining 15 in the top 20 for the Cyber Monday keyword terms in 2015 in aggregate totaled $117,000, with an average spend of $7,800 per keyword.