Recent Features in Google AdWords
Pause your keywords, sites and ad creatives
Have you ever needed to pause certain ads and keywords when your inventory was low? Or have you ever wished you could temporarily stop serving image ads on certain sites during the weekdays? Now you can pause and unpause keywords (for keyword-targeted campaigns), sites site-targeted campaigns), and ads.
The image below describes in the shortest way how this feature works. You basically check the affected ads or keywords you want and then pause or resume them.
Technorati Tags: Google, AdWords, Marketing, PPC, Online Marketing, Ironvine
Google AdWords Pay-Per-Action Q&A
The new Google AdWords Pay-per-Action is in beta but has conjured up quite a bit of discussion about whether the pay-per-action model will be an efficient and effective way of marketing online.
Today Inside AdWords posted a Q&A with some of the questions that have popped up about the Pay-per-action ads and marketing.
If you are interested in trying out this new model you can sign up on the AdSense referrals beta site.
Last week, we announced the launch of our pay-per-action beta test for selected US advertisers. Since that post went live, we've received a number of questions -- and wanted to answer the most popular ones (paraphrased for brevity) in a quick follow up post:
Do pay-per-action ads show on Google.com or on sites in the search network?
No. Pay-per-action ads are not eligible to show on Google.com or in the Google search network. They're only eligible to display in the Google content network.
I am an advertiser using My Client Center (MCC) and am interested in the pay-per-action beta test for my clients, as well as for my own business. What are my sign up options?
We're only adding individual AdWords accounts to the beta test, so if you are an advertiser managing multiple accounts with an MCC, you can add the individual accounts that you believe will benefit from pay-per-action, including your own.
Is it possible to set a cost-per-action (CPA) value (i.e. the amount I'd like to pay for a specific action) as a percentage of the amount of the purchase rather than as a fixed amount per purchase?
We don't currently offer the option to set a CPA value as a percentage. The cost-per-action value must be a fixed amount.
I am also an AdSense publisher and would like to participate in this test. How can I sign up?
Please visit the AdSense referrals beta site, on which you'll find a 'Sign Up' link.
I am not a US advertiser, and wonder when pay-per-action will be available in my country?
Although we plan to extend the pay-per-action beta test to advertisers outside of the US in the future, we don’t currently have a date for when this option may become available in other countries.
Although I am not a US advertiser, my campaigns do target US customers. Can I participate in the beta?
At this time, we're only accepting advertisers who have a billing address located in the United States.Want to learn more? Please take a look at our frequently asked questions regarding the pay-per-action beta.
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Posted By Inside AdWords crew to Inside AdWords at 3/29/2007 01:35:00 PM
Technorati Tags: Google, Google AdWords, AdWords, Pay per action, Online Marketing, Search Marketing, PPC, PPA, Ironvine, Beta
Tech Talk
I was reading a bit today about communication between marketers and clients, as well as between marketers, directors, and management. There are so many times where mis-communication happens that can seriously affect the production as a whole, while the skills and techniques may be implemented perfectly.
It is extremely important that the language used between parties be the same. I don't mean a language like English but the understanding of what is being said. What you want ultimately is a document or some sort of common reference where people can look and have a clear understanding of what is happening.
Unfortunately even with such a set plan it may not work yet. There may need to be some "education" necessary to explain details or processes even in a general way.
With all this it is extremely important for things to run right with correct communication and expressions of what needs to get accomplished at the end of the day.
Technorati Tags: SEO, SEM, Search MArketing, Marketing, PPC, Paid Search, Ironvine, Business
ChannelAdvisor Catalyst Wrap Up
As we announced back in January and February, the ChannelAdvisor Catalyst conference happened last week. I have heard exciting things from the people here that went. While I was unable to attend this year's ChannelAdvisor Catalyst due to my being away here is a wrap up from Scot Wingo posted on his eBay Strategies blog site. I look forward to being their next year!
Catalyst wrap-up.
We had a great time this week hosting over 400 customers, partners and merchants at our Catalyst conference. On the eBay side, we had lots of content:1. Bill Cobb (eBay) came and gave everyone an update on eBay. This was covered in AuctionBytes here.
2. We announced a partnership with Overstock to enable sellers to sell there for the first time. (note this is not overstock auctions). Announcement is here and auctionbytes coverage is here.
3. In my talk I covered some of the opportunities in challenges in the rapidly expanding world of online ecommerce channels. Auctionbytes coverage is here and you can download the slides here (Download Catalyst_SW_ecomm_trends.pdf)
Additional ebay content was covered in the Fraud panel (Rob Chestnut came but was very sick - Rob we hope you are feeling better!), the Wall Street Panel and if you count shopping.com, the Comparison Shopping Engine Panel.
It was great seeing all of our customers, partners and friends at the conference and everyone at ChannelAdvisor came back fired up about our new offerings.
Technorati Tags: ChannelAdvisor, Catalyst, eBay, Online Marketing, Seller, Auction, Ironvine
Back From Vacation
Hello Everyone!
I am now back from my extended vacation. Thank you for your patience during my time off. You should start getting daily updates once again during the week starting today.
As a special treat for my return here is a special deal you can get to save 20% on a .COM domain name at GoDaddy!
gdm0312: Get a 6.95$ .COM registration at GoDaddy -- Expires 4/9/07
You can find more working 2007 GoDaddy Promo Codes at our special page.
Technorati Tags: GoDaddy, Promo Codes, Coupon, Coupons, Domain Name, Sale, Ironvine
Top 10 Favorite Features of AdWords Editor
Now that Google has released AdWords Editor 3.0 for Mac, they are pushing out some top features that have been used and developed to try and help AdWords users and administrators migrate the bulk of their usage to AdWords Editor instead of the online interface.
If you don't have an API developed and you use AdWords for more than a minor account, you should be using AdWords Editor.
AdWords Editor is great to perform large changes, or broad and bulk updates. The only complaint I have is the difficulty to do imports/exports to anything but AdWords Editors proprietary format. However it is the only way to do a bulk campaign download via a .csv file.
Have you wondered how to make the most of AdWords Editor? Or, if you haven't used the desktop application, are you interested in learning about its most popular features?
Annie Hsu from the AdWords Editor team spoke with users and compiled a list of the top ten reasons they love this campaign management application:
Whether you're just learning about AdWords Editor now or you've been with us since the beginning, we hope you'll find the following list of favorite features useful.
10. Find duplicate keywords in your account with just two clicks of your mouse.
9. Copy or cut and paste between ad groups, campaigns, or even across accounts.
8. Make bulk changes to destination URLs using the Add/Update Multiple tools or Advanced URL Changes.
7. If you need to edit your keywords or ads in a spreadsheet, copy the items to edit from the data view and paste them into a spreadsheet. Make your changes, then paste the contents of the spreadsheet directly into the appropriate Add/Update Multiple tool.
6. Undelete and activate previously deleted text ads.
5. Search your account quickly. Perform simple word searches, or do an Advanced Search to find items that meet the multiple criteria that you specify.
4. Easily find and edit bids, destination URLs, and text for ads, keywords, or sites.
3. Submit multiple exception requests at once.
2. Automatically organize your keywords into ad groups based on common themes.
1. Save a snapshot of your account for archiving or for sharing. Later, you can import the archive file to restore your prior account settings.
The AdWords Editor folks are always interested in hearing your feedback, so email them at adwordseditor@google.com if you have any comments or suggestions. If you haven't already downloaded AdWords Editor, you can get started now.
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Posted By Inside AdWords crew to Inside AdWords at 3/26/2007 12:20:00 PM
Technorati Tags: Google, AdWords, AdWords Editor, Search Marketing, Paid Search, PPC, Online Marketing, Ironvine
Microsoft adCenter Content Ads Pilot
Microsoft is rolling out its new content ad pilot program to adCenter advertisers. Some advertisers maybe be automatically upgraded to the new program which is similar to Yahoo's Publisher Network or Google's AdSense programs.
Microsoft is touting that they have an audience of over 96 million unique visitors a month and 81% of whom purchased online in the last 6 months (based on Jan 2006 figures???). Honestly this seems pretty high to me.
Included in the new pilot program are also all the new beta features of the adCenter beta site. These features include the ability to import other online advertising campaigns, make bulk updates to keywords, perform full text search, and save favorites, all of which are huge upgrades to the adCenter system (which is lacking in management ability to say the least).
The main thing to watch for is the email letting you know that your account has been upgraded (sent to account managers when the change happens). At this point you need to decide if you want to turn content ads off (I would recommend this if you have a budget) or create separate content-only/search-only ad groups. Not sure I understand how they apply this since you can only use a keyword once per campaign...
The other big thing to note is that content bids are the same as search bids by default. Please go in and change the content bids lower than your search bids unless you are after something specific. You can set both search and content bids for your ad groups.
You can read the official release on the adCenter blog.
Technorati Tags: MSN, Microsoft, adCenter, Microsoft adCenter, PPC, Paid Search, Search MArketing, Managed Search, Contextual, Content Ads, Content, Ironvine
AdWords Editor 3.0 for Mac
It's a happy day for all those Mac advertisers out there. You finally have the new version of Google AdWords Editor Mac (3.0) available for download.
This release includes all the new features that the PC users got a couple weeks ago.
Happy Mac'ing!
AdWords Editor 3.0 for Mac is now available and includes all the new features released a few weeks ago for Windows, such as the ability to add site-targeted campaigns, edit a different account while posting changes, and pause or resume keywords, ads, and sites. New and existing users can download version 3.0 from the AdWords Editor website.
For users upgrading to 3.0 (Windows or Mac), here's a helpful tip from Igor T., one of the AdWords Editor engineers:
To avoid losing any unposted changes when upgrading to the next version of AdWords Editor, export an archive of your account. After you've completed the upgrade, re-download your account, import the archive file, and find your account information intact, including any unposted changes and comments.
For a full list of features, check out the release notes.
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Posted By Inside AdWords crew to Inside AdWords at 3/12/2007 04:23:00 PM
Technorati Tags: Google, AdWords, Google AdWords, PPC, Mac, Online Marketing, Search Marketing, Search, Ironvine
Daylight Savings Time
Just a reminder to everyone that daylight savings time began yesterday, March 11th at 2:00am.
Remember to set your clocks forward 1 hour if you live in the proper time zones.
Hope you are not late to work today!
Cheers~
Weekly Google AdWords Update
Here is the Google AdWords weekly update all rolled up. Looks like there has been some exciting things happening while I was away.
REACH & FREQUENCY VIA REPORT CENTER
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This week, we launched Reach and Frequency metrics within Report Center that show how many people saw an advertiser's ads and how many times they saw them over a certain period of time.
• Reach and frequency data will be available at the site, Ad Group, and campaign levels for CPM site targeted campaigns starting after January 1, 2007.
• Reports are available for daily, weekly, and monthly time periods, as well as the cumulative daily stats (summary). At the site level, only weekly reports are available.
• Reach and frequency statistics are calculated using an IP-based estimation method as opposed to a cookie-based approach favored by some other companies.
PERSONALIZED HOMEPAGE – NEW FEATURES
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The Personalized Homepage team recently launched a few nice features to help users set up their pages and discover new content:
(1) "Magic" Tabs -- If you click "Add a tab" on your Personalized Homepage, you'll be prompted to enter a tab name. You'll also be given the option to have default content selected for you based on the name you've typed. A few particularly good examples: "Astronomy" "Travel" "Japan." This feature is implemented algorithmically based on community data.
(2) Item-to-item recommendations -- If you click the drop down arrow on one of your module headers, there will be a link "You might also like..." Clicking this gives item-to-item recommendations. This is also generated based on community data and is similar to Amazon's "Users you liked this also liked ..." feature.
(3) Ratings and Reviews -- The Personalized Homepage content directory now includes ratings and reviews. You can read reviews and comment on gadgets by clicking the gadget thumbnail in the directory. A gadget will receive a rating after more than two people have rated it
PLUS BOX: GOOGLE FINANCE LAUNCH
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We will soon launch Plus Box results for Google Finance content, which allows users to click and see additional finance-related information provided within web search results. For example, type [general electric] and click on the Plus Box to expand for more information.
ADWORDS EDITOR 3.0 NOW AVAILABLE FOR MAC
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AdWords Editor 3.0 is now available for Mac. Like the Windows version, AdWords Editor 3.0 for Mac now includes the ability to add/edit site-targeted campaigns, add/edit negative sites for keyword and site targeted campaigns, edit another account while posting in the background, and pause/resume ads, keywords, and sites.
INVALID CLICK ANNOUNCEMENT
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Last week, we announced Google's overall invalid clicks numbers on the Inside blog to provide you and your advertisers with more transparency into this subject. As you may receive questions from clients regarding this post, we want to make you aware of it.
With this update, we're letting you know that although the percentage of invalid clicks fluctuates, on average, it has remained less than 10% of all clicks. However, please note that this rate is an average across our entire system and is not indicative of the percentage of invalid clicks that have been detected and filtered out of an individual advertiser's account. To find this number, you should run an invalid clicks report.
In addition, we're announcing the percentage of clicks that are not pro-actively detected by our systems, but are instead credited for reactively. These undetected cases of invalid clicks constitute less than 0.02% of all clicks. In other words, for every ten thousand clicks on Google AdWords ads, fewer than two are reactively detected cases of possible click fraud. This proportion has stayed within this range every quarter since we launched AdWords, even as the issue of click fraud achieved more widespread media attention. In the cases of reactively detected invalid clicks, a refund or credit is provided to the advertiser, and we utilize the discovery as a feedback mechanism to improve our proactive detection systems.
Please take some time to read through the post at http://adwords.blogspot.com/2007/02/invalid-clicks-googles-overall-numbers.html
My Absense!
I'm sure you have noticed there has been nothing happening here for the last week or so, which is highly unusual due to the fact that I got married March 3rd and have been on part 1 of my honeymoon.
I will be here today and tomorrow then leaving for part 2. I will be back officially on the 26th with the regular routine.
Hopefully I will have internet access during the next week and will be able to post a few things.
Thanks for your understanding!
Technorati Tags: Ironvine