Important Google AdWords Quality Score Updates
Here is an important update from Inside AdWords (Google).
It looks like they are changing the Quality Score importance in a big way. They are adding new reporting data with Quality Score information like "Great, OK, or Poor".
Next week they are launching improvements to the Quality score algorithm that sets minimum bids. What you are going to see is an increase in the minimum bids on low performing keywords, and who knows what else.
Expect to see higher costs come out of those keywords. For high performing keywords, the minimum bids may decrease.
Make sure your landing pages are tip-top, with relevant, direct content related to your keywords. That should help the Quality score.
At Google, one of our most important goals has always been to deliver high quality ads that provide value to our users. In August of 2005 we improved our quality evaluation with the introduction of the Quality Score, which sets minimum bids for your keywords. Since then, we've updated you on the inclusion of landing page quality into the Quality Score, and subsequent improvements to the landing page algorithm. Now, Avichal from the Ads Quality team, has an update on upcoming changes to the system.
As you may have heard us say before, we believe that ads provide valuable information when they are highly relevant and targeted to a user's query. In order to serve high quality ads to our users, we use the Quality Score to set minimum bids for keywords based on keyword clickthrough rate (CTR), ad text relevance, the historical performance of the keyword on Google, and the user experience on the ad's landing page. Keywords with a higher Quality Score are rewarded with a lower minimum bid, so it costs less for those ads to be eligible for display. Low quality keywords receive higher minimum bids, often making them inactive for search because their maximum CPC does not meet the minimum bid. In addition, since we also consider quality when we rank ads, higher quality ads benefit from higher placement on the page and a lower cost-per-click on average. So, high quality ads are not only more relevant for your potential customers, but can also help you improve your ROI by lowering your advertising costs.
We're constantly working on ways to improve our Quality Score evaluation and provide you with more information about the Quality Score for your keywords. Over the next week, we'll be releasing two changes focusing on transparency and quality, which I've outlined below:
Transparency - Later this week, we're releasing an optional Quality Score column that shows the minimum bid for all of the keywords within an ad group as well as a Great, OK, or Poor quality label for your keyword. You can select this column by clicking 'Customize Columns' in one of your ad groups (selecting this will also automatically populate the column for all other ad groups within that campaign). Use the quality label to get a quick overview of the quality of your keywords, or look at the minimum bid for a granular understanding of your Quality Score. Remember, the lower the minimum bid is for a keyword, the higher the Quality Score, and vice versa.
Quality - Next week, we're launching improvements to the Quality Score algorithm that sets minimum bids for keywords in order to improve the quality of ads that we serve to our users. These changes should make it easier for high quality ads to enter the auction while also discouraging low quality ads. First, we're improving the way that we set minimum bids for keywords where we have limited data. For example, if the system does not have any data on a keyword, we'll try to assign that keyword a lower initial minimum bid until we have enough data to make a more accurate assessment of the Quality Score for that keyword in your account. Second, we're improving the Quality Score algorithm to make it more accurate in predicting the quality of all ads. This will improve the overall quality of ads that we serve by lowering minimum bids for high quality ads and raising minimum bids for low quality ads. We expect that the higher minimum bids for low quality ads will reduce the number of low quality ads we show to our users.
So, what does this mean for you? As a result of this update, you may notice that the minimum bids increase for some of your keywords and decrease for others. To better understand the impact of this change, we suggest that you implement the Quality Score column. This will allow you to better monitor whether your minimum bids increase or decrease based on our changes. If you find that the minimum bids for any of your keywords increase, making your keyword inactive for search, please consider optimizing your campaign instead of raising your maximum CPC to the minimum bid. We recommend changes such as choosing a keyword that is more specific to the product or service that you offer or editing your ad text to make it more relevant to the keyword before you simply raise your minimum bid. By improving your quality we hope to provide the highest quality ads to our users while also providing you with the highest quality leads to maintain great ROI.
Stay tuned to the blog over the next few days as we'll post again to answer any questions that you may have.
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Posted By Inside AdWords crew to Inside AdWords at 2/14/2007 02:58:00 PM
Technorati Tags: Google, AdWords, PPC, Advertising, Online Marketing, Marketing, Bids, Ironvine
eBay Valentine’s Day Special Promotion
eBay is saying Happy Valentines Day to it's advertisers by giving them 50% off auction-style listings today only (February 14, 2007).
This promotion is only running for auctions that start today, so get your items listed!
For all the eBay shoppers out there, have a look at the eBay-PayPal Coupon Code / Promo Code Center post. You might be able to use some of those PayPal promotion codes to save a bit of money on your eBay shopping!
Technorati Tags: eBay, Promo, Promo Codes, Marketing, Auction, Advertising, Online Marketing, Valentines Day, Sale, PayPal, Ironvine
Quick Google AdWords Posts & Updates
A few new posts over at Inside AdWords, covering a new beta CPC Site Targeting program and a review of Google Checkout.
Here is a quick summary of the 2 posts. (Removing the mundane parts and leaving the actual news worthy bits, for full info read the official post at Inside AdWords.)
Last June, Product Manager Eric Lange answered a number of our questions about Google Checkout. Today, we caught up with him again. Here's what we learned:
Can you give us a quick overview of Google Checkout?
[...]
You mentioned the shopping cart badge on AdWords ads - why are you using that?
[...]
You've been testing different badges. Any updates to report?
Yes, we're constantly testing different badge images to see what provides the best experience for shoppers. Recently we updated the image of the badge from a shopping cart to a Checkout button because we find the new design helps people find convenient and secure places to shop more easily.
Where should advertisers go to learn more about Checkout?
Advertisers can take a closer look on the Google Checkout homepage.
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Posted By Inside AdWords crew to Inside AdWords
And the new beta program for CPC Site Targeted Ads.
Emel M., from the content network team, has information about a new beta for advertisers interested in cost-per-click site-targeted campaigns:
Site targeting is a feature that allows advertisers to choose individual sites in the content network where they want their ads to appear. Currently, advertisers using site targeting place bids on a cost-per-thousand impressions (CPM) basis. In March, we plan to begin testing a new site targeting feature to increase the flexibility and control advertisers have with site-targeted campaigns: cost-per-click (CPC) bidding.
CPC bidding has often been requested by advertisers who would like to utilize site targeting, but are not comfortable bidding on a CPM basis. Here are two examples of how CPC bidding can enhance your site targeting experience:
- Increased flexibility. Select the content network sites you want your ads to appear on and choose the bidding option that fits your needs. If clicks are your goal, try CPC bidding so you pay only when you get the result you want.
- Full control. Create new CPC site-targeted campaigns, or switch your existing campaigns between CPC and CPM at any time. As always, you retain full control over your budgets and bids.
If you're an AdWords advertiser located in the US and are interested in participating in the CPC site targeting beta, please fill out this short web form: http://services.google.com/ads_inquiry/cpc_sitetargeting. Please note that we are only able to select a limited number of advertisers from all that apply. If you're selected as a beta participant, we will contact you within the next couple of weeks.
To learn more about site targeting, click here.
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Posted By Inside AdWords crew to Inside AdWords
Technorati Tags: Google, Google Adwords, AdWords, PPC, Paid Search, Search, Marketing, Search Marketing, Ironvine
Yahoo Pipes
Yahoo Pipes is a cool tool that I have been look at over the last couple weeks.
It basically mashes up RSS feeds and combines them to allow you to work with the data however you want, from reading news to programming, flickr, and video.
Here is a link to an example:
http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/AHaR2Y242xGwcHpiZFUMqA/?text=ironvine&num=2&_run=1&=Run+Pipe
Big link, but you can create your own and manage it differently.
I think it has some great programming value and web design value for adding content and such to a site. Fresh content daily from multiple resources to give to your readers! SEO Heaven.
Take a look into it, there is clearly possibility and value you can use to optimize a site and stay on top of technology.
Technorati Tags: Yahoo Pipes, Yahoo, Web Design, Programming, Ironvine
Google Rumors and Yahoo Woes
Google AdWords Rumor
I hear that Google AdWords has an upcoming release with changes to the way the bid estimator functions. The new bid estimator will include data about how many clicks you will receive or how many you will miss based on your bid and position??
This could be a very helpful tool if it is accurate (right not the bid estimator generally isn't even close, which is why they are working on it). It could help you find high volume keywords that perform well, or be able to filter out high cost/high traffic keywords from your campaigns to minimize spend.
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Yahoo Panama Woes
Still being frustrated with the current interface, tools, editorial and performance of the new Yahoo Panama.
The traffic seems to be there but it just seems to not convert on the same increase as the traffic. The new ranking model seems to have higher bid costs as well from what I have seen overall.
Yahoo's interface is certainly "Flashy" (excuse the pun) but it is lacking in very many tools to actually manage the account. Basically if you want to change anything you have to change it one at a time, with multiple clicks involved. If you have huge campaigns, say 100,000+ keywords, it makes the management task difficult to say the least.
Hopefully they will release a tool like AdWords Editor soon...
The editorial process has been the topic of several posts already in the past couple weeks, so I wont go into to much detail. There hasn't been a lot of change, the errors and messages it kicks back from the large number of keywords that get rejected are pretty vague. There are some bugs in it as well, including no "Edit" button to be able to correct the keyword on several that I have gone in to try and correct manually.
Work around that seems to help: cut and paste the list from the editorial rejections, then submit another bulk upload with those keywords. Apparently the second time it goes through it seems to process more of them. Very labor intensive way of doing it I admit, but when you compare it to going in one at a time, you do save a few minutes if you have more than 25 to do.
Sharpen up those Excel skills, =VLOOKUP is your friend.
Technorati Tags: Google, Yahoo, YSM, AdWords, PPC, Blog, Search Marketing, Paid Search, Online Marketing, Ironvine
Your Smiling Face at Google AdWords
From the Inside AdWords blog, it looks like they are growing the team and moving to a bigger building. They must be doing something right!
They want to honor their advertisers for the success by posting your pictures in their new building, which I think is a neat idea.
The AdWords Operations team (that's the team that supports AdWords advertisers) just keeps growing, and they will soon be moving house to accommodate their larger size. As part of the move, they're asking for advertiser photos to decorate their new building. Kerry C. from the AdWords Operations team is here to tell us more:
The AdWords Operations team will soon be moving, and we want to decorate our new building with photos of our advertisers as a way of recognizing that we owe our success to you. We'll be showing the photos in the new building because seeing your faces inspires us and reminds us that we're here to help make our advertisers more successful.
If you want to share your photo, visit this page for all the details. Along with your photo, we ask that you include your name, your customer ID number (so we can match you up with your account), your business name, and a description of the photo. High resolution images, greater than 5 megapixels, are best. We'd also love it if you could include a paragraph describing your business and how you are using AdWords. If we use your photo we'll also send you a small thank you gift. Thanks for helping to make our offices a happier, smilier place.
We're also hoping to share some of these stories and photos on the Inside AdWords blog. If you're interested in this possibility, include a note when you send your photo in. We're really looking forward to seeing your photos. Thanks for sharing!
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Posted By Inside AdWords crew to Inside AdWords at 2/08/2007 04:59:00 PM
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I wonder if they are going to post pictures of the pictures in the new building as well. Would be nice to see what they do with it.
MSN adCenter Downtime
MSN is also having some scheduled downtime this weekend, for quite a bit longer than Google AdWords planned downtime.
I wonder if we are going to be getting any of the new features I mentioned a week or two in a post.
Microsoft adCenter will undergo scheduled maintenance for up to 24 hours starting at 9:00 AM Pacific Standard Time, Saturday, February 10. During this period you will not be able to access adCenter to make changes. Your keywords and ads will remain live and continue to run.
Technorati Tags: MSN, Microsoft, Microsoft adCenter, adCenter, PPC, Paid Search, Search Marketing, Ironvine
3 New GoDaddy Promo Codes
Here are 3 great promo codes to help get your new domain name!
Check out our main GoDaddy Promo Codes page for more non-expiring sales!
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LIFE1: Get 6.95$ .COM registration at GoDaddy Includes Renewals & Transfers!
If you have more codes please share them as well. Feel free to comment about GoDaddy.com Hosting Plans or codes below.
Technorati Tags: GoDaddy, Domain, URL, Domain Name, Promo, Promotion Code, Promo Codes, Coupons, Domain Sale, Ironvine
ChannelAdvisor in ClickZ News
ClickZ wrote up a nice article about ChannelAdvisor's new SearchAdvisor tool.
These are a few of the highlights.
ChannelAdvisor has launched a tool to let online retailers manage multiple paid search campaigns from one interface. The software, called SearchAdvisor, provides e-tailers a more efficient means to manage, optimize and measure complex campaigns running on various search engines.
The tool, designed with the specific needs of Web retailers in mind, can integrate campaigns with a vendor's inventory and deactivate keywords that would trigger out-of-stock items. Additionally, it's able to make margin-based bids based on actual product costs.
They also highlighted EvoGear as an example of the self-serve tool.
SearchAdvisor is a powerful tool that can manage many different channels and platforms at once.
The tool in its current form is meant for search power-users; but Scot Wingo, CEO and president of ChannelAdvisor, hopes SearchAdvisor will eventually be adopted among search amateurs much as eBay appealed to beginning sellers. He added the tool generally relies on templated ads that are auto-generated.
Technorati Tags: ClickZ, Tech News, ChannelAdvisor, SearchAdvisor, PPC, Paid Search, Online Marketing, Marketing, Ironvine
Google AdWords Downtime
Google AdWords has some scheduled downtime this Saturday, Feb 10, 2007.
Here's a quick heads up from our tech team:
On Saturday, February 10th, the AdWords system will be unavailable from approximately 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. PST due to system maintenance. While you won't be able to log into your accounts during this time, your campaigns will continue to run as usual. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Technorati Tags: Google, AdWords, PPC, Paid Search, SEM, AdWords Blog, Ironvine
Yahoo Search Builder Updates
Here is a little note that was sent to me about some enhancements for the Yahoo! Search Builder. This is similar to the custom search page you can create with Google AdSense, but you are able to refine it a bit more and have more site specific functionality.
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Yahoo! has launched enhancements to the Yahoo! Search Builder, further allowing Webmasters and publishers the ability to build and customize their own search engine.
Based on feedback from the community, enhancements include a ‘super narrow’ search box option that will fit most two column blog templates, and a new design to the Search Builder home page, with a section called “Featured Search Builder Sites” that will highlight cool sites and clever implementations of Yahoo! Search Builder.
Additional details can be found on the Yahoo! Search Blog or by visiting the Search Builder homepage at http://builder.search.yahoo.com. If you have any questions or would like to speak with a Yahoo! Spokesperson, please let me know.
Regards,
Fleishman Hillard for Yahoo! Inc.
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Not sure if Fleishman Hillard is just sending out the communication, or if they are part of the Search Builder program, but thats who sent out the note.
Technorati Tags: Yahoo, Yahoo Search Builder, Search, Web Design, Web Development, Website, Custom Search, Fleishman Hillard, Ironvine
ChannelAdvisor’s New SearchAdvisor Solution
Big news for all those online retailers who want a solution to manage their online marketing in a broad way with one single service. If that is what you are looking for, take a look at ChannelAdvisor's new SearchAdvisor.
Big news from ChannelAdvisor today for eTailers that want to cost-effectively manage and scale their paid search campaigns without adding costly resources or sacrificing ROI targets. Today we are launching our new SearchAdvisor product after a lot of kick-*** work from our engineers over the last few weeks.
They have essentially taken our cool in-house search platform, sprinkled some pixie dust on it and turned it into the single solution to manage keywords on a product or sales margin basis for Google, Yahoo!, MSN and Ask.com (yes, all of them), allowing you to know which keywords drive the most profit…and which keywords fail to drive a profit.
What does SearchAdvisor do for online retailers? Lots of great things:
- Integrated Campaign Management
Use a single interface to create, manage and analyze paid search campaigns.- Search Marketing Analytics
Robust reporting that allows you to optimize campaigns based on the profitability of individual keywords enabling you to view campaign performance by order, products sold or revenue generated.- Bulk Campaign Upload
Define your search marketing campaigns and keywords, then launch your paid search marketing efforts to all supported engines with a single click.- Automated Bid Management
Create and manage bidding rules that automatically adjust your bid strategies based on performance, eliminating the daily workload which allows you to focus on your overall success.- Multi-Channel Reporting
Integrate and track all of your multi-channel performance including paid search, natural search and comparison shopping engines from a single application allowing you to maximize your time and profitability.- Landing Page Optimization
View the performance and compare landing pages based on combined revenue, expense, conversion rates and profitability across all channels.If creating, analyzing and optimizing multiple campaigns on multiple search engines or evaluating and acting on per-term profitability is giving you headaches, SearchAdvisor may just be that silver bullet you’re looking for.
Technorati Tags: ChannelAdvisor, SearchAdvisor, Google, Yahoo, MSN, Ask, Search Marketing, CSE, Comparison Shopping, eBay, Paid Search, Ironvine
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