{"id":744347,"date":"2026-08-18T17:22:02","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T14:22:02","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2026-08-18T17:22:02","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T14:22:02","slug":"the-113000-paid-search-test-how-much-traffic-did-organic-replace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-113000-paid-search-test-how-much-traffic-did-organic-replace\/","title":{"rendered":"The $113,000 paid search test: How much traffic did organic replace?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_89 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6af5d33bbab5c\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6af5d33bbab5c\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-113000-paid-search-test-how-much-traffic-did-organic-replace\/#Paid_search_looked_valuable_in_the_channel_report_A_13-week_test_revealed_how_much_of_that_value_the_business_actually_needed_to_buy\" >Paid search looked valuable in the channel report. A 13-week test revealed how much of that value the business actually needed to buy.<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-113000-paid-search-test-how-much-traffic-did-organic-replace\/#Experiment_Were_they_spending_113K_buying_customers_or_buying_our_own_clicks\" >Experiment: Were they spending $113K buying customers or buying our own clicks?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-113000-paid-search-test-how-much-traffic-did-organic-replace\/#The_questions_that_make_paid_search_hard_to_turn_off\" >The questions that make paid search hard to turn off<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-113000-paid-search-test-how-much-traffic-did-organic-replace\/#Putting_paid_and_organic_in_one_spreadsheet\" >Putting paid and organic in one spreadsheet\u00a0<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-113000-paid-search-test-how-much-traffic-did-organic-replace\/#The_impact_89_defense_11_offense\" >The impact: 89% defense, 11% offense<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-113000-paid-search-test-how-much-traffic-did-organic-replace\/#Then_the_company_turned_off_paid_%E2%80%94_and_organic_moved_in\" >Then, the company turned off paid \u2014 and organic moved in<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-113000-paid-search-test-how-much-traffic-did-organic-replace\/#Clicks_came_back_faster_than_the_money\" >Clicks came back faster than the money<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-113000-paid-search-test-how-much-traffic-did-organic-replace\/#What_I_learned_Revenue_isnt_profit\" >What I learned: Revenue isn\u2019t profit<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-5' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-5'><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-5' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-5'><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-5' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-5'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-113000-paid-search-test-how-much-traffic-did-organic-replace\/#Topics_on_this_page\" >Topics on this page<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"subhead\" itemprop=\"alternativeHeadline\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Paid_search_looked_valuable_in_the_channel_report_A_13-week_test_revealed_how_much_of_that_value_the_business_actually_needed_to_buy\"><\/span>Paid search looked valuable in the channel report. A 13-week test revealed how much of that value the business actually needed to buy.<br \/>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"bialty-container\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I turned off $113,000 a month in paid search. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thirteen weeks later, 65% of the paid-attributed revenue had been recaptured through organic and direct, and the analysis showed that nearly nine out of 10 dollars in the branded campaign I studied had been defending clicks organic was already positioned to win.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Every performance marketer has the same recurring nightmare.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You turn off paid search. Traffic goes rogue. Revenue goes full \u201cThelma &amp; Louise\u201d and drives off a cliff. Then, during Monday\u2019s leadership meeting, someone asks (very calmly, which is somehow worse) what you thought would h<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>en.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So paid stays on. Forever.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It becomes the unwanted houseguest eating everything in your fridge with no indication of finding an apartment. I wanted to know if it deserved to be there.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-experiment-were-they-spending-113k-buying-customers-or-buying-our-own-clicks\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Experiment_Were_they_spending_113K_buying_customers_or_buying_our_own_clicks\"><\/span>Experiment: Were they spending $113K buying customers or buying our own clicks?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I was asked to answer this question:\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">How much of our paid search budget was bringing in customers they wouldn\u2019t have reached otherwise, and how much was paying Google for clicks our organic listings were already winning?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This was what I wanted to test by turning it off.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A company paused branded paid search across four of its largest markets: the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By the end of the month, most non-brand paid search had been paused, too. Branded search never came back.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before the pause, the company was spending $106,000 to $119,000 per month across branded search, non-brand search, Shopping, and Performance Max, so I\u2019ll say $113,000 per month on average.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Dig deeper: Paid search click share doubles as organic clicks fall: Study<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<div style=\"background: radial-gradient(circle at 30% 40%, rgba(184, 111, 255, 0.15), rgba(0, 169, 255, 0.15) 40%, #CDE8FD 70%); padding: 30px; width: 100%; max-width: 802px; color: #000000 !important; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; margin: 25px 0 30px 0; border-radius: 8px; box-shadow: 0 2px 4px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); position: relative; box-sizing: border-box;\">\n<div style=\"width: 100%; max-width: 100%; margin-bottom: 20px; text-align: left; padding-right: 20px; box-sizing: border-box;\">\n<div id=\"semrush-one-headline\" class=\"headline-responsive\" style=\"font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 30px; font-weight: normal; margin: 0; color: #000000 !important; line-height: 1.2;\">\n        Be the brand <span style=\"background: linear-gradient(90deg, #D56EFE 0%, #068EF8 51%); -webkit-background-clip: text; -webkit-text-fill-color: transparent; background-clip: text;\">customers find first<\/span>.\n      <\/div>\n<p id=\"semrush-one-subhead\" style=\"font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 25px; margin: 12px 0 0 0; color: #000000 !important;\">\n        Track, grow, and measure your visibility across Google, AI search, <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social<\/a>, local, and every channel that influences buying decisions.\n      <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-bottom: 15px;\">\n      <span id=\"semrush-one-cta\" style=\"display: inline-block; background-color: #FF642D; color: white; height: 44px; border: none; border-radius: 5px; cursor: pointer; font-size: 16px; padding: 0 24px; font-weight: bold; white-space: nowrap; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: 44px;\">Start your free trial<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<style>\n  @media (max-width: 768px) {\n    .headline-responsive {\n      font-size: 30px !important;\n      line-height: 1.3 !important;\n    }\n  }\n<\/style>\n<h2 id=\"h-the-questions-that-make-paid-search-hard-to-turn-off\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_questions_that_make_paid_search_hard_to_turn_off\"><\/span>The questions that make paid search hard to turn off<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There\u2019s always a \u201c<strong>but what if<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>What if the ad at the top of the page makes someone trust the brand a little more? <\/li>\n<li>What if seeing paid and organic together gives us more real estate on the SERP? <\/li>\n<li>What if competitors start bidding on our name? <\/li>\n<li>What if turning paid off doesn\u2019t move the click downstairs to organic but makes the click disappear entirely?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is the paid search halo.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And unlike Bigfoot, there\u2019s some evidence it exists.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Google studied more than 400 advertisers that paused search campaigns and found that, on average,<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/research.google\/pubs\/incremental-clicks-impact-of-search-advertising\/\"> 89% of ad clicks were incremental<\/a>. Organic search didn\u2019t magically pick up most of the traffic when the ads went away.<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/research.google\/pubs\/impact-of-ranking-of-organic-search-results-on-the-incrementality-of-search-ads\/\"> Google\u2019s follow-up research<\/a> also found that incrementality changes depending on whether an organic result appears and where it ranks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Which sounds like a fairly compelling reason to leave the credit card where it is.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Except there\u2019s another famous experiment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/cepr.org\/voxeu\/columns\/experiment-estimate-effectiveness-branded-search-ads\">eBay turned off branded paid search<\/a> and found that almost all of the missing paid clicks and attributed sales were immediately<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2013\/mar\/13\/google-keyword-advertising-wastes-money-ebay\"> captured by organic search<\/a>. For a household-name brand with strong organic visibility, the ads were intercepting customers who already knew where they were going.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So which one is right? Annoyingly: both.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Paid search can create incremental traffic. It can also charge you admission for customers who were already standing in line.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The only way to know which one you\u2019re buying is to measure it. So I did.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I wanted to know what our halo cost and whether there was anything underneath it.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-putting-paid-and-organic-in-one-spreadsheet-nbsp\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Putting_paid_and_organic_in_one_spreadsheet\"><\/span>Putting paid and organic in one spreadsheet\u00a0<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I brought every Google Ads search term and its associated spend together with every matching Search Console query and its organic clicks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then I matched them keyword by keyword across the same period to understand what the company was paying for.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I sorted each query into one of three categories:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Cannibalized:<\/strong> The company paid for a click organic was already positioned to win.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Dependent:<\/strong> Organic performance benefited from paid support and declined when the ads disappeared.<\/li>\n<li>Incremental:\u00a0Paid search reached a customer that organic search couldn\u2019t have captured.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then I ran one of the company\u2019s branded campaigns through the model.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Dig deeper: How to prevent PPC from cannibalizing your SEO efforts<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><!-- START INLINE FORM --><\/p>\n<p><!-- END INLINE FORM --><\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-cyan-bluish-gray-color has-css-opacity has-cyan-bluish-gray-background-color has-background\">\n<p><!-- START INLINE FORM --><\/p>\n<p><!-- END INLINE FORM --><\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-cyan-bluish-gray-color has-css-opacity has-cyan-bluish-gray-background-color has-background\">\n<h2 id=\"h-the-impact-89-defense-11-offense\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_impact_89_defense_11_offense\"><\/span>The impact: 89% defense, 11% offense<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On queries where paid and organic overlapped, organic was already winning 71% of clicks, even with the ads running.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Of the $36,129 spent in the branded campaign I analyzed, only $3,945, or 10.9%, appeared to buy clicks organic couldn\u2019t have captured.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The other $32,184?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Brand defense.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nearly nine out of every 10 dollars were going toward traffic the company was already positioned to receive.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Turns out, a lot of our \u201cpaid acquisition\u201d was organic traffic with a cover charge.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\">\n<table class=\"has-fixed-layout\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Metric<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Result<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Branded spend<\/td>\n<td>$36,129<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Organic share of overlapping clicks<\/td>\n<td>71%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Incremental spend<\/td>\n<td>$3,945<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Incremental share<\/td>\n<td>10.9%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Brand-defense spend<\/td>\n<td>$32,184<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Brand-defense share<\/td>\n<td>89.1%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Annualized incremental spend<\/td>\n<td>~$15,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Annualized cannibalized spend<\/td>\n<td>~$128,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n<h2 id=\"h-then-the-company-turned-off-paid-and-organic-moved-in\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Then_the_company_turned_off_paid_%E2%80%94_and_organic_moved_in\"><\/span>Then, the company turned off paid \u2014 and organic moved in<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Six weeks after the pause, organic search began doing what I hoped it would do: reaching over and collecting some of the clicks paid search used to purchase.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And once the full revenue data became available, the story became much easier to quantify.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Organic revenue increased $18,000 to $28,000 per month over the pre-pause baseline.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Direct revenue initially increased by about $14,000 per month. By week 13 and beyond, the direct revenue lift had climbed to roughly $54,000 per month.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Combined organic and direct revenue recaptured 30% of the paid-attributed revenue within six weeks. By week 13, recapture had reached 65%.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All while spending nothing to acquire those visits through paid search.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\">\n<table class=\"has-fixed-layout\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Time after pause<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Organic revenue change\/month<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Direct revenue change\/month<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Recapture<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Weeks 1-6<\/td>\n<td>+$17,800<\/td>\n<td>+$14,500<\/td>\n<td>30%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Weeks 7-12<\/td>\n<td>+$28,100<\/td>\n<td>+$14,100<\/td>\n<td>39%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Weeks 13+<\/td>\n<td>+$15,800<\/td>\n<td>+$54,000<\/td>\n<td>65%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Comparing the paid-on period with the later paid-off period, organic clicks increased across several of the company\u2019s most commercially valuable product terms.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\">\n<table class=\"has-fixed-layout\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Query type<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Paid on<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Paid off<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Change<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Core product term<\/td>\n<td>5,144<\/td>\n<td>5,858<\/td>\n<td><strong>+14%<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Premium product term<\/td>\n<td>638<\/td>\n<td>990<\/td>\n<td><strong>+55%<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Product variant<\/td>\n<td>228<\/td>\n<td>402<\/td>\n<td><strong>+76%<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Category plural<\/td>\n<td>315<\/td>\n<td>444<\/td>\n<td><strong>+41%<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Product variant<\/td>\n<td>206<\/td>\n<td>289<\/td>\n<td><strong>+40%<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Brand + category<\/td>\n<td>265<\/td>\n<td>352<\/td>\n<td><strong>+33%<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Entry-level product<\/td>\n<td>433<\/td>\n<td>490<\/td>\n<td><strong>+13%<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Across every commercial query shown here, organic clicks went up after paid went away.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-clicks-came-back-faster-than-the-money\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Clicks_came_back_faster_than_the_money\"><\/span>Clicks came back faster than the money<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Paid and organic are two doors leading into the same room. Shut one, and customers don\u2019t necessarily go home. Plenty of them use the other door.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The catch is that they don\u2019t all buy at the same rate. Paid traffic converted at about 2.9%. Organic converted closer to 2.3%.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So the clicks came back faster than the revenue did.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Did organic replace paid?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Not perfectly. But far more of it than the original attribution ever suggested.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Dig deeper: How SEO and PPC build trust across search: Case study<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<div style=\"background: radial-gradient(circle at 30% 40%, rgba(184, 111, 255, 0.15), rgba(0, 169, 255, 0.15) 40%, #CDE8FD 70%); padding: 30px; width: 100%; max-width: 802px; color: #000000 !important; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; margin: 25px 0 30px 0; border-radius: 8px; box-shadow: 0 2px 4px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); position: relative; box-sizing: border-box;\">\n<div style=\"width: 100%; max-width: 100%; margin-bottom: 20px; text-align: left; padding-right: 20px; box-sizing: border-box;\">\n<div id=\"semrush-one-headline\" class=\"headline-responsive\" style=\"font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 30px; font-weight: normal; margin: 0; color: #000000 !important; line-height: 1.2;\">\n        Own the conversation <span style=\"background: linear-gradient(90deg, #D56EFE 0%, #068EF8 51%); -webkit-background-clip: text; -webkit-text-fill-color: transparent; background-clip: text;\">before your competitors<\/span>.\n      <\/div>\n<p id=\"semrush-one-subhead\" style=\"font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 25px; margin: 12px 0 0 0; color: #000000 !important;\">\n        See where your brand appears, where it doesn\u2019t, and exactly how to win more visibility across search, AI, local, social, and every channel that matters.\n      <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-bottom: 15px;\">\n      <span id=\"semrush-one-cta\" style=\"display: inline-block; background-color: #FF642D; color: white; height: 44px; border: none; border-radius: 5px; cursor: pointer; font-size: 16px; padding: 0 24px; font-weight: bold; white-space: nowrap; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: 44px;\">Start your free trial<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<style>\n  @media (max-width: 768px) {\n    .headline-responsive {\n      font-size: 30px !important;\n      line-height: 1.3 !important;\n    }\n  }\n<\/style>\n<h2 id=\"h-what-i-learned-revenue-isn-t-profit\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_I_learned_Revenue_isnt_profit\"><\/span>What I learned: Revenue isn\u2019t profit<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is usually where case studies start polishing the numbers until everyone involved looks brilliant. I won\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Top-line revenue fell roughly $30,000 to $40,000 per month from the pre-pause baseline.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That happened. But after accounting for media spend that was no longer going to Google, the working estimate put net P&amp;L roughly $5,000 to $20,000 per month higher.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That may sound contradictory. It isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Did the company sell slightly less? Yes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Did the business potentially make more money? Also yes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And that may be the most important thing this experiment uncovered.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Channel dashboards are good at telling you what revenue an ad touched.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They\u2019re less good at telling you whether you needed to buy the touch in the first place.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The company had been spending six figures a month on paid search. In the branded campaign I analyzed, 89% of the spend was defense rather than incremental acquisition.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Six weeks after paid went dark, organic and direct had recaptured 30% of the lost paid-attributed revenue.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By week 13, they\u2019d recaptured 65%. That doesn\u2019t mean branded paid search is bad.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Competitors exist. SERPs change. Organic can\u2019t capture every click. And in this experiment, paid traffic converted better.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It means you should know what you\u2019re paying for. \u201cWe\u2019ve always run branded search\u201d isn\u2019t a strategy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Measure the halo. Price the defense. Give organic enough time to show you what it can carry.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And above all, don\u2019t confuse less attributed revenue with a worse business.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This company turned off the money. The customers kept coming.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They just stopped paying Google to introduce them to people who were already looking.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ttd-topics-display\">\n<div class=\"ttd-topics-content\">\n<h5><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Topics_on_this_page\"><\/span>Topics on this page<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h5>\n<div class=\"ttd-topics-links\">Search engine marketingGoogleGoogle AdsSearch engine optimizationArtificial intelligenceAustraliaCanadaEBayGoogle Search ConsoleMarketing mix modelingPay-per-clickReturn on investmentUnited KingdomUnited States<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ttd-topics-show-extra-button\">+10 more<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMN63nwsw68G3Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" >Technology<\/a><\/span> category.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/paid-search-test-organic-traffic-485023\" target=\"_blank\" >Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Paid search looked valuable in the channel report. A 13-week test revealed how much of that value the business actually needed to buy. I turned off $113,000 a month in paid search. Thirteen weeks later, 65% of the paid-attributed revenue had been recaptured through organic and direct, and the analysis showed that nearly nine out&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-744347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/744347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=744347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/744347\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=744347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=744347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=744347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}