Can ad campaigns cannibalize organic results? PPC and SEO cannibalization

Imagine a snake eating its own tail - the symbolic Ouroboros. While often associated with rebirth and infinity, in the context of digital marketing, this phenomenon can signify something much less positive. Content cannibalization, both in organic results and in combination with advertising campaigns, operates on a similar principle: instead of reinforcing each other, different elements of the strategy begin to compete, weakening the overall effectiveness of the actions.

Are our paid ads taking away traffic that could have reached the page organically, completely free of charge? Or perhaps organic results are being pushed into the background by an aggressively conducted advertising campaign? In this article, we will look at this phenomenon, explain why it happens, and show how to prevent "eating your own tail" in search engines to build a harmonious and effective marketing strategy.

Cannibalization in online marketing - what is it?

We've touched on the phenomenon of content cannibalization several times on our blog, so let's briefly recap what it entails. Cannibalization occurs when multiple pages within the same website compete for rankings in search engine results for the same or very similar keywords. Instead of strengthening their visibility, the website divides its potential across several results, often leading to a decline in the rankings of all competing pages. In practice, this means that Google has difficulty unambiguously determining which page best answers a given user query.

Imagine an online store that sells sports shoes. If the website contains separate pages with similar content, such as "Men's running shoes," "Running shoes for men," and "Men's shoes for the gym," all of these pages may try to rank for the phrase "men's sports shoes." As a result:

None of these pages will achieve a high ranking because the search engine treats them as competitors.

Potential users will find the results less attractive or confusing, which will decrease click-through rates.

In the context of the relationship between organic and paid results (e.g., Google Ads), cannibalization can occur when advertising campaigns direct users to pages that already perform well in organic search results. For example:

If a website ranks first in organic search results for the phrase "men's athletic shoes," and at the same time an advertising campaign for this phrase displays a paid result above the organic one, there is a risk that the user will click on the ad instead of the organic result.

Even though the user visits the site, it costs the website owner additional budget, which would not be necessary if the click had occurred on the organic result.

How can advertising campaigns cannibalize organic search results?

Ad cannibalization occurs when paid advertising campaigns compete with a website's organic search results for user attention in SERPs. In such a situation, users who could have clicked on an organic search result instead choose the paid ad result. This mechanism is based on several factors:

Ad position in SERPs - ads are displayed at the very top of the results page, often above organic results, making them the first choice for the user, even if the organic content is also attractive.

Targeting the same keywords - when paid ads target the same phrases that bring organic traffic, there is a greater risk that clicks will be "taken over" by ads.

Similarity of landing pages - if ads lead to the same pages that users would visit from organic results, the cannibalization effect becomes more pronounced.

Consequences of ad cannibalization

Increased cost of acquiring traffic: When users click on ads instead of organic results, the website owner incurs additional costs for each click, even though the same user could have reached the site for free through an organic result. This specifically leads to: increased spending on Google Ads and a decreased return on investment (ROI) in marketing activities.
Difficulty in assessing the effectiveness of SEO efforts: Cannibalization makes it difficult to assess how well SEO efforts are performing. When paid ads dominate over organic results, organic traffic may be artificially suppressed, leading to incorrect conclusions about the effectiveness of the SEO strategy.
Negative impact on SEO and SEM strategy: In the long term, cannibalization can disrupt priorities in SEO and SEM strategies because the advertising budget is inefficiently allocated to keywords that generate natural traffic, and SEO loses importance in the company, leading to neglect of activities that are more profitable in the long run.
Loss of credibility in the eyes of users: Users, seeing repeated links leading to the same website (ad and organic result), may perceive this as an overly aggressive marketing strategy, which will negatively impact the perception of the brand.

Let's assume an online bookstore is running an advertising campaign for the keyword "children's books." The company's website is also ranked first in the organic search results for the same phrase. If the ad is displayed at the top of the page, then:

A user who could have clicked on the organic result clicks on the ad, generating a cost for the company.

The website owner pays for a click despite the availability of free organic traffic.

Organic results lose visibility, which reduces their click-through rate (CTR) and long-term value in SEO.

How to avoid or minimize the damage caused by cannibalization?

Keyword and advertising strategy audit

The first step to reducing cannibalization between advertising campaigns and organic search results is to conduct a detailed audit of keywords and the current advertising and SEO strategy.

Excluding key phrases that generate high organic traffic - we need to identify keywords that already bring stable and valuable organic traffic and consider excluding them from advertising campaigns. For example: if the phrase "funny gift mug" generates a lot of organic traffic, it can be added to the exclusion list in Google Ads (negative keywords).

Analyzing the overlap of organic and paid results - we can use tools such as Google Search Console to see what queries ads are directed to and what phrases generate organic traffic. We need to look for phrases that occur in both channels to avoid duplicating efforts.

Segmentation of the advertising strategy

The next step is to tailor advertising campaigns to keywords and phrases that do not directly compete with organic results.

Targeting ads to keywords other than those dominating organic results - instead of targeting phrases with high organic visibility, let's focus on long-tail phrases or those with a low share of organic traffic. For example: if the phrase "men's athletic shoes" is highly visible in organic results, ads can already target more precise phrases, such as "men's gym shoes."

Prioritizing campaigns for phrases with low organic visibility - the advertising budget should be directed towards phrases that are important for the business but currently do not generate significant organic traffic. In this way, ads complement the SEO strategy, rather than competing with it.

Testing and optimization

Testing and continuous optimization are key elements in preventing cannibalization.

Testing negative keywords - we add phrases that generate organic traffic to the exclusion list in advertising campaigns and monitor how this affects the results of both channels. Example: we exclude phrases that are in the top 3 organic results to see if ads still bring valuable traffic.

Monitoring the impact of campaigns on organic and paid traffic - we use Google Analytics reports to track changes in organic and paid traffic after making changes. We analyze CTR, CPC, conversion, and ROI indicators to find optimal solutions.

A hybrid approach

In the long run, the best solution is to integrate SEO and SEM strategies into one cohesive marketing plan.

Integration of SEO and SEM activities - we must ensure that the teams responsible for SEO and SEM work together to achieve common business goals. We therefore define key performance indicators (KPIs) for both SEO and SEM activities, such as total traffic, customer acquisition cost (CAC), and ROI.

Using advertising to support SEO - it is worth using ads to temporarily increase visibility for phrases that SEO is just starting to optimize. Ads can also be helpful in testing new phrases before they are implemented in the SEO strategy.

Let's assume a company is conducting SEO for the keyword "analytics training" and achieving good organic results. At the same time, they are planning an advertising campaign on Google Ads. How to prevent cannibalization?

We conduct an audit: we check the organic visibility of the phrase and the traffic it generates.
We exclude phrases: we add "analytics training" to the exclusion list in the advertising campaign.
We focus ads on long-tail phrases: we target ads on more detailed phrases, such as "professional online analytics training".
We monitor results: we check if organic traffic is increasing and ad performance remains at a good level.

Article summary

Keyword cannibalization is a silent thief of marketing campaign efficiency. The key to solving this problem lies in the wise management of campaigns that do not compete with organic results but complement them. A precise audit, appropriate keyword exclusions, and collaboration between SEO and SEM are ways to stop "eating your own tail" and start building a cohesive strategy where every element works for the benefit of the entire system.

➡️ Read also: Should you advertise on branded keywords?

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Jan Wojciechowski

Content Marketing Specialist

Content Marketing Specialist with several years of experience. Studied Marketing and Management on the University of Warsaw. In his work he tries to combine his writing skills, content knowledge and passion for new technologies. Privately he likes to do sports, read books and illustrate them.