Below is a screenshot from a display network campaign that was running for about 16 hours. All the default setting were in place, meaning that ads were set to optimize instead of rotate.
So unless Google is omniscient (and the algorithm may be approaching that level) I’m pretty sure they should have showed the other ad at least a little bit before making that determination. Has anyone else seen this?
If you haven’t seen it yet, just run a Google search. Most likely you’ll see the new light purple background on the ads directly above organic results. It looks like this:
Subtle, isn’t it? On my monitor it’s so subtle that I didn’t see it at first glance. However, after sliding Firefox over onto my laptop screen I saw it more clearly. Rimm-Kaufman actually got the following quote direct from Google:
“Starting today and ramping up to 100% globally by the end of this week, we’ll be changing the background color for ads that appear above the search results on Google.com as well as our local domains. The ads, which currently have a pale yellow background, will change to have a pale purple background. This change is part of the ‘look and feel’ update to our color palette and logo that we made back in May of this year to keep the Google results page looking fresh and modern. This is purely an aesthetic change to our ads and won’t have any impact on the way we target or serve advertisements on Google.com.”
Look and feel? Here’s why I think they did it?
Don’t forget that Google makes billions of dollars in advertising revenue EVERY MONTH! Even the smallest change can have a huge impact on their bottom line and they test a lot. Based on what I see, this helps the top ads blend into the organic results. That means more people, even ad-averse people, will click on search ads, thus padding Google’s pockets.
As a PPC advertiser I like it a lot. Accounts with high QS will get rewarded even further by showing above organic results and getting an even higher CTR. For companies in competitive spaces (where high bids are also needed to hit the top 3) it sucks. They’ll have to work that much harder to make their PPC work.
But make no mistake, even though Google says this is “purely an aesthetic change”, I’m sure that dollars and cents made a difference.
Google announced the feature back in May and today the Rimm-Kaufman Group is announcing that broad match modifiers are now available to all US customers. So what’s the big deal?
Ever since AdWords went to expanded broad match (that’s Google-speak for “we’ll show you ad if we feel it is within 100 miles of being relevant to a search”) advertisers have been adding using more phrase match, exact match and negative keywords to avoid less qualified impressions and clicks. Frankly, experts have been bitching about this since it was pushed system wide. Of the 13 Deadly Sins of PPC, I rank it #3. Broad match modifiers is Google’s response to all the complaints.
This visual should help explain, but basically you add a plus sign to let Google know which word(s) are required.
Basically, if you add a plus sign in front of every word you can revert to the basic broad match. While most most beginner/intermediate users will go this route, advanced users will continue to test and optimize to find the best combination. I hate on broad match plenty, but Google has a lot of data and may help you discover profitable keywords you might have missed.
AdWords is famous for saying that you can reach millions of potential customers in just 5 minutes. They have taken every step possible to make signing up easy. Now, they appear to have taken it even further:
As you can see, Google is actually giving you a phone number for a free consultation and offering to set up your first campaign for you, FREE!
Google is somewhat famous for not having good customer support. Sure their products are free, but if you needed help good luck actually getting a person on the phone (unless you had an account rep, which translated to “if you spend enough money”). Now they are volunteering to talk to you and even lend a hand?
This is all about the money. AdWords is the engine that drives Google’s profit. Google obviously is looking for some more revenue, so they will help advertisers set up new accounts. Pretty simple.
My only concern is the quality. I have gotten quite a few campaign and ad groups from Google reps and I haven’t been impressed with the results. They group the keywords tightly (good) and use the keywords in the ad copy (also good) but they don’t usually do enough research to write compelling ad copy. You get cookie cutter ads that get decent CTR and send generic traffic to your homepage. Not a real recipe for success.
Has anyone out there took them up on this deal? How did it go?
Have you seen an AdWords ad that looked like this, with the links across the bottom?
This is an example of Sitelinks, and as of June 24th, all AdWords advertisers can use them. But in typical Google style, they’ve buried the feature so that most basic users won’t find the option. Therefore, I have put together this step-by-step guide:
For now Google claims that sitelinks will only show for “the single top-ranked ad for a given user search” (but lower position ads also have been seen with sitelinks too). So make sure and take the time to add these valuable little guys to you campaigns, but remember that the links should be relevant for the entire campaign.
While Google has been called out recently to release ad and campaign QS data, they have been taking steps to make other data more easily obtained in AdWords.
I was a big fan when the Search Query Report functionality was moved into the interface. Not only did it make obtaining the information so much easier, it made it easier to act on that data by adding new keywords, new match types and negative keywords.
Google is continuing to build on that success by moving even more reporting functionality into the interface. A recent post from Inside AdWords blog details the changes, which includes the ability to “segment your data by things like keyword match type and day of week, and email and schedule downloads of the data you want to share.”
If you haven’t been using reports, don’t blame Google, because they’re making it easier all the time.
“She’s a goner.”
“Time of death?”
“Monday, April 26th, 2010 at 3:01 AM.”
And thus was the end of the Google AdWords Professionals (GAP) program.
Before the body was even cold, Google already had their new bride at the altar; Google AdWords Certification. According to the post on the Official AdWords Blog “the new program provides agencies and their employees with more up-to-date, comprehensive, strategy-focused training and certification on the latest tools and best practices for managing AdWords accounts.” Here are the highlights:
And here is what I think of them:
What have been your thoughts/impressions on the new Google Certification Program?
News Flash: To get better CTR and conversion rates, your PPC ads need to be relevant to the search term and the user intent.
Okay, so that’s not really news so much as it is common sense. But before you dismiss this post, consider the following PPC ads for the search term “Food Inc DVD” (which is obviously a very specific product name):
As you can see, Barnes & Noble and eBay hit the nail on the head. My exact term is in the headline and therefore bolded. eBay even takes the extra step and puts the search term in the ad copy to reinforce the relevance of their ad. However, look at our friends from DealOz.com. They may brag about their 70% off DVDs and free coupons, but I don’t even know if they have Food Inc. (in their defense, all three ads go to a search results/product page for Food Inc.)
Our eBay and Barnes & Noble ads weren’t written with my exact search term in them. They use DKI to insert my term. For those of you not familiar with the syntax, in AdWords you simply put {KeyWord:Default Copy} into your ad and AdWords will automatically put the exact search term into your ad (as long as it fits the character limits). Instant relevancy, but be careful. Make sure to monitor your negative keywords or you could end up with an embarrassing faux pas like this:
Last time I checked Target didn’t sell infant body parts and they definitely didn’t qualify as furniture.
Every PPC campaign has a handful of top-performing keywords. You know, the 20% of your keywords that deliver 80% of the results. Take these keywords and place them in very tightly themed ad groups (like 2 or 3 keywords/ad group). Then right static ads using the keywords directly. This will ensure relevancy and allow you to put 2 or 3 relevant mentions in the ad (headline, ad copy, even the display URL). With a highly relevant ad, you can then work on your landing page to make sure you’ve established a strong chain of relevancy.
Conversion rate optimization and PPC wizard. If I'm not out playing ultimate frisbee or golf you may find me hiking, skiing or mountain biking. [Read More …]