Category: Pay-Per-Click
The Tortoise Didn't Win the AdWords Quality Score Race
Posted by on March 21, 2008 at 08:12 AM
As we set sail into the future of PPC marketing, there is a new determinate of AdWords quality score seen on the horizon. Google has confirmed that a landing page's load time will aid in determining a quality score.
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Paid Search: Follow The Money - Oneupweb's Newest White Paper
Posted by adam on March 10, 2008 at 07:58 AM
Oneupweb's new white paper details the growth of Paid Search Marketing and its impact on marketing budgets, compares the major PPC outlets, examines why Paid Search should be a part of an integrated marketing plan, and much more.
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Google's Automatic Matching - Money Grab or Useful PPC Tool?
Posted by mike k on February 29, 2008 at 08:05 AM
Earlier this week Google sent out notice to a select group of AdWords advertisers that they had been selected to participate in an upcoming beta for a feature called Automatic Matching. We'll explore the specifics.
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The Google-ization of Yahoo! Continues
Posted by vern on February 28, 2008 at 07:54 AM
Yahoo! announces a change in its minimum bid policy for sponsored search keywords. We look at the pros and cons of the new policy.
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Oneupweb Launches new Paid Search Survival Guide
Posted by alex on February 21, 2008 at 08:51 AM
The new Oneupweb Paid Search Survival Guide helps online marketers become more familiar with the language and the real "need to know" information before starting a PPC campaign.
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CALL 1-800-GOOOGLE TODAY!!!!!!!
Posted by on February 19, 2008 at 09:10 AM
Google has rolled out, on a limited basis, video ads within AdWords search results. As always happens when a new feature is rolled out, there has been backlash. It is easy to get upset or frustrated or annoyed, but, really, let's take the measured approach.
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Google: Vote No on Political Attack Ads!
Posted by leah on February 08, 2008 at 11:16 AM
Being free from the He Said, She Said of political advertising is a breath of fresh air, but at what cost? Should Google Adwords set such restrictions when it can ultimately lead to serious gray areas?
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Running Successful PPC Campaigns: Attracting The Right Click
Posted by on February 05, 2008 at 08:16 AM
Creating and refining successful PPC campaigns requires the ability to think and act like the average web surfer. It requires taking time to understand your ideal customer as well as the wrong visitor. It's worth the effort to figure out how to attract the former and dissuade the latter.
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"It's All Relevant" - Revisited
Posted by vern on February 04, 2008 at 09:41 AM
The old saying that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link certainly applies to paid search initiatives. We examine a few examples of irrelevant PPC ads to help identify how to maximize relevancy along the paid search chain.
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Google's Quality Score Failures
Posted by adam on January 16, 2008 at 08:54 AM
How much has the introduction of landing page quality score improved the user experience of Google's paid search network? We explore a couple sites that don't appear to be making the grade.
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Paid Search Marketing Price Fixing
Posted by dave on January 09, 2008 at 02:09 PM
Can search marketers keep the big 3 search engines from raising pay-per-click prices? Today we explore the notion of paid search marketing price fixing.
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The Beginning of the End
Posted by vern on December 17, 2007 at 04:26 PM
The end of the online holiday shopping season is coming. Learn how two paid search marketing factors can impact the end of the online Christmas season.
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Google's Online Marketing Challenge
Posted by on December 14, 2007 at 11:53 AM
Previously here, we've criticized the lack of education related to Search Engine Marketing. There are myriad reasons that this is the case, of course, including the relative newness (still) of the industry, its constantly-evolving strategies, and the unending stream of new technology. This doesn't translate well to the world of 80-dollar textbooks. So Google has done what Google does - they've taken this matter into their own ever-expanding hands. Announced yesterday, the Google Online Marketing Challenge will have the dual effect of introducing students to paid search marketing and, down the line, adding a thin layer to Google's already well-lined...
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PPC Automation: Robots vs Humans
Posted by drew on December 12, 2007 at 02:21 PM
There is buzz in the PPC industry that automation is more effective than having an individual manage your paid search campaigns. But automations can lead to one very big downside: lack of personalized management.
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Online Shopping | Baby It's Cold Outside!
Posted by on December 03, 2007 at 05:13 PM
Online shopping has gotten a lot of buzz lately so I decided it would be fun to see how the average 45-year-old Joe would handle an online shopping assignment. So, I gave my husband, Rick, a project: Find something that will enable my 80-year-old mom to enjoy email To make it a little more interesting, I also gave him three rules: No branded terms Must use Google Must choose from PPC ads And so it commenced: I once heard of a machine that enabled non-computer users to enjoy email. Finding something like this was Rick's assignment: "I'm going to BestBuy,"...
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E-Commerce PPC Campaign Metrics
Posted by adam on November 12, 2007 at 02:37 PM
The cornerstone of every highly successful e-commerce PPC campaign is maintaining synchronization between the PPC campaign components. See a real-world example of how mistakes can affect your PPC performance.
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Grinch Lives In Shopping Comparison Engines
Posted by vern on October 30, 2007 at 03:25 PM
Three shopping engines notified us that they are raising their rates by up to 25% for the holiday shopping season. This practice discriminates against smaller advertisers who have limited marketing budgets.
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Halo 3, Facebook & Live Search – Is Microsoft Winning the PR Battle Against Google?
Posted by vern on September 27, 2007 at 04:54 PM
Is it just me or does it seem that business and tech news has been "all Microsoft, all the time" lately. The release of Halo 3 created a firestorm of press coverage. It’s being hailed as the biggest entertainment release in history, besting the debut of Spiderman 3. Add to that the stir created by the expected investment in Facebook and the just announced TV networking device for Windows Media Center. Sure, the GM strike, especially here in Michigan, grabbed a few headlines. But, labor negotiations can’t compete with the juicy tech buzz that Microsoft has created. I almost feel...
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The Content Network: A Poor Man's Portal to Social Networks
Posted by on September 11, 2007 at 01:39 PM
My mother always told me, "When I was your age, we didn't have 100 channels on our television or Super Nintendos to play Tecmo Bowl all night instead of doing your homework. Stop playing Marble Madness on the Tandy 1000 and let's watch In Living Color." Where have the good ol' days gone, you ask? We have consumed them. We indulge ourselves in the newest music, movies, websites and technologies at a dizzying rate and then discard all of it for what is even newer; the newest of these crazes being social networks. Every day, there are new articles depicting...
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Google Campaign Optimizer No Substitute for Experience
Posted by on August 29, 2007 at 09:59 AM
Google rolls out its Campaign Optimizer tool to help fine-tune AdWords campaigns. But is this PPC management tool helping or hindering?
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Bad SEM/PPC Advice: Keyword Insertion Creates High Quality Ads
Posted by adam on August 22, 2007 at 04:38 PM
Thinking that keywords are the only piece of PPC strategy that qualifies your audience is a thought every SEM professional should forget. Discover the downfalls of dynamic keyword insertion.
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Branded Keywords are SEM-sational!
Posted by on August 21, 2007 at 10:56 AM
Search engine marketers should never underestimate the value of a well-written PPC ad and the way that paid and organic listings work together.
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Cats, Big Dogs & PPC Management
Posted by Christopher on August 10, 2007 at 03:56 PM
I've worked with a number of clients who have approached us, dejected, with the feeling there's not a level playing field online, especially when it comes to paid search marketing. Let's say you own and operate a fairly large, but regionial, personal electronics chain. Three or four stores. You're facing a ton of competition from big boxes, so you want to expand to sell your products on a national level, to free yourself from the constraints of geography. The way to make this happen is via online marketing. But, dang, there's a whole lot of competition online too. Look at...
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New AdWords Reporting – Crucial Keyword Tool
Posted by on August 02, 2007 at 12:12 PM
Google announced this week it has a new reporting tool in the AdWords toolbox. The new AdWords Search Query Performance report displays search queries typed into Google and the ads that were presented for each query. From this, an AdWords marketer can find out all sorts of good info like impressions, clicks, and CTR. Google touts its new tool as valuable because it will help give “insight into how users find and react to your ads” and will help in the following four areas: Select the correct match type Add new keywords Identify and delete existing keywords See how effectively...
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PPC Marketers vs. the Death of Creativity
Posted by vern on July 31, 2007 at 12:32 PM
The AMC network has a new show, Mad Men, that showcases life in the Madison Avenue ad agencies of the late 50's and early 60's. This was the center of the universe for marketing innovation and advertising creativity. I was able to catch the first episode of Mad Men and was instantly taken back to the days of chain smoking in the office and the three martini lunch. (How anyone could be productive in that environment after 1pm is beyond me.) What really struck a chord was how Creativity, the light bulb over your head idea-making, determined success or failure....
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In Search of Local PPC Advertisers
Posted by on July 05, 2007 at 04:13 PM
This weekend marks the start of the 81st National Cherry Festival here in Traverse City, Michigan. When asked about the Air Show times I typed the query “National Cherry Festival” into Google to find out the details. Imagine my surprise when I saw zero sponsored sites! What if visitors want information on restaurants in TC? What if they want some of that amazing cherry pie from the little pie shop but can’t remember the shop’s name? Wouldn’t it make sense for local advertisers to open a Google AdWords account and create a campaign targeted towards the festival? It can happen...
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Hot Viral Tactics & PPC Keyword Leverage
Posted by drew on July 03, 2007 at 10:39 AM
Happy Independence Eve! With the central summer celebration about to start, I thought I would search out summer-themed keywords that PPC marketers are bidding on. And what summer-specific keyword is more appropriate to start with than 'hot dog'? This search should produce some simple results. One would hope that several large hot dog companies would be advertising on Google with ads leading to viral landing pages and engaging content. Turn off the grill - this is definitely not the case. Only one of the four paid search results actually talks about hot dogs and it's about a steak dog, not...
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PPC's Ying and Yang
Posted by adam on June 14, 2007 at 10:58 AM
Recently I was reading an article in Business Week entitled, At 3M, A Struggle Between Efficiency And Creativity. This article written by Brian Hindo examines reasons for 3M’s lack of creativeness in recent years. When I dug deeper into his discussion of the company's struggle to balance the efficiencies created by programs like Six Sigma and ISO 9001 standards with the freedoms and intangibles needed for creativeness, I started to notice how managing PPC campaigns is eerily similar. ?What? For PPC professionals, it’s absolutely necessary to have analytics, goals, and a well thought out action plan to track and measure...
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There's More to Ad Quality Than Clickthrough Rate
Posted by on June 12, 2007 at 10:23 AM
One of the easiest, most-common ways to assess the success of a consumer paid search campaign is by looking at Clickthrough Rate. Clicks over impressions. A simple percentage, and seemingly a sure way to confirm whether you’re using effective ads. The ways to improve that CTR are also pretty commonly known. It’s well-documented that using a targeted keyword list, and repeating those keywords specifically in your ad text will drive clicks. It’s known that you’ll bring more visitors to your client’s site by using active verbs to encourage the user. And, if need be, increasing your bid is often a...
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Negative Keywords Produce Positive Returns
Posted by drew on June 08, 2007 at 04:02 PM
Online search traffic continues to grow exponentially. With more traffic comes a wider range of search terms as well. For a PPC marketer, this is a blessing and a curse. I like having more customers to advertise to, but I can't read the minds of search engine users. Some searchers use the most odd-ball keyword phrases and still click on my ads. Maybe I'm just that alluring. I can't express how important it is to utilize negative keywords in a PPC campaign. For those unfamiliar with negative keywords, these are special keywords used to eliminate searches that a PPC advertiser...
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Pull Out the Roadblocks, Google!
Posted by on May 31, 2007 at 01:11 PM
A few weeks ago, in its typical form, Google surreptitiously rolled out a new feature in AdWords. In the "Create Report" screen, users now have the option to add a column labeled "Impression Share" to campaign and account level reports. AdWords Help defines impression share as "the percentage of impressions where your ads were shown out of the total available impressions in the market you were targeting." Like a child on Christmas morning, I simply had to play with this new toy and see what it could do. I started running reports on various different campaigns & accounts to see...
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Paid Search Satisfies Needs, Wants & More
Posted by on May 23, 2007 at 02:57 PM
To tell you the truth, I never paid much attention to the “Sponsored Links” section of SERPs before becoming a PPC marketer. However, I’ve since realized the importance of their existence. To fully embrace paid ads, I have decided to put Google to the test and run three searches on items that I want, just to see how Sponsored Links appeal to me as a consumer. Scenario 1: I like Eastern art, Japanese specifically, but anything from Oriental to Buddhist will enhance my shelves. I don’t want “art”, as in paintings or photos, as my walls are filled to the...
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Blink. Wink. Cha-Ching
Posted by on May 16, 2007 at 10:16 AM
As you write your next pay per click advertisement think about this. That ad will be judged by two powerful forms of intelligence…Human and Engine. In his very popular book “Blink”, Malcolm Gladwell (author of “The Tipping Point”) analyzes first impressions. Those split-second decisions we make and impressions we get “in the blink of an eye” To quote Mr. Gladwell “It's thinking—it’s just thinking that moves a little faster and operates a little more mysteriously than the kind of deliberate, conscious decision-making that we usually associate with ‘thinking.’” Thinking that “operates a little more mysteriously” than typical decision-making? That phrase...
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Has TiVo Impacted Paid Search?
Posted by on May 09, 2007 at 09:07 AM
I love TiVo. I hate TV commercials. I understand the need for them, based on the traditional model for corporate advertising, but they truly get in the way of a fully enjoyable television experience. I’m not alone. Many people are jumping on the TiVo bandwagon. Not only is this digital video recorder REALLY easy to use, but we can use it to skip past those annoying interruptions during our favorite television programs. Of course I tune in to the Super Bowl each year, like so many others, to see what new and creative ads they’ll have to entertain me this...
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PPC Ad Copy: Q1s and Homeruns
Posted by drew on May 03, 2007 at 02:16 PM
Q1 just wrapped up and earnings are in. The MLB season is moving into full swing as well. They may be unrelated, but in my boolean-oriented mind they come to mean one thing: Summer is here. I don't care what your calenders or thermometers say. Right now, my feet are wearing sandals and my brain says it is Summer. While I may jump the gun every year, most people at this time are definitely thinking Spring and possibly getting ready for Summer. In the PPC world, that means ad copy adjustment. It is common practice to freshen up your copy...
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Paid Search: A Salesman’s Guide to Click Hunting
Posted by on April 23, 2007 at 09:26 AM
Each day I grow more enamored with the Paid Search Marketing business. I never imagined spending the day concocting new and creative ways of trapping… clicks. Clicks? It’s up there with searching for truth or fishing for compliments. What a business! Coming from the carny-esque life of retail sales, this “click hunting” challenge presents the need for a completely different frame of mind. However, this new mode of thinking is somewhat congruent to the one I established in the masochistic magical business of retail sales. Here is a short list of connections that can help bridge the jump from Salesman...
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AdCenter Announces Improvements, Search Engine Marketers Yawn
Posted by on April 16, 2007 at 11:16 AM
In relatively quiet fashion, it was announced last week that Microsoft AdCenter plans to roll out a new interface in the next four to six weeks. The list of improvements seems nice but the reaction has been, to say the least, muted. In spending some admittedly brief time in the AdCenter beta site, it seems that the improvements are for the better. Among the highlights are improved navigation between ad groups, the ability to easily export data from most screens, and, it seems, the ability to use the ‘Back’ button in my browser. The biggest and best news about the...
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PPC Marketing Speculations
Posted by drew on April 03, 2007 at 01:40 PM
I haven't written on a good internet rumor in a while. While some marketers are applauding the efforts of Yahoo with Panama, others are speculating that a MSN purchase of ad-technology firm DoubleClick is just the first step in going all-out and purchasing Yahoo as well. Whoa, think about that. The combination of two such search engines is just what Google needs in a competitor. Yahoo is still the most popular website in the U.S. and MSN has the financial backing to fund further development of technologies that could rival Google. Throw in a dash of advanced ad-serving technology like...
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Another Day – Another Online Marketing Cost Metric
Posted by on March 29, 2007 at 01:14 PM
Yesterday my colleague, Erin, wrote about Google’s test of a “cost per action” pricing model for content network advertising. Here’s hoping that this test gains a little more traction than the ill-fated “click-to-call” beta. (Sure, I’ll pay $80 for the chance to sell my $15 widget. Thank you, um, NO!) While Google’s efforts of late are all fine and good for folks hawking widgets right from their e-commerce website, I’d like to take it one step further for those of us in the online lead generation biz. With an offline conversion model, typically the only online “action” that occurs is...
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My Wish List for Panama 2.0
Posted by vern on March 01, 2007 at 07:59 AM
Now that we've all had some experience with the new Yahoo Panama system it's time to look ahead to Panama 2.0. The account organization à la Google is a nice first step as are many other new features. But let’s talk quantum leaps in interface design and functionality to catapult Yahoo to the top of the search engine heap. First on my list is dayparting. "Dayparting? That's not a quantum leap! It's been around forever!" you say. It does seem like Google has offered this feature since the 20th century. C'mon Yahoo, this capability should be added to Panama ASAP....
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Online Window Shopping
Posted by on February 27, 2007 at 01:33 PM
As a self-proclaimed shopaholic, it seems only natural for me to pursue shopping engines as an online marketing channel for my clients. Shopping search engines are a great tool for tapping into a widely visited outlet that is generally less expensive than paid advertising on the main search engines. They are also wonderful for consumers looking for the best online deals, buying guides and consumer reviews. Shopping search engines are sometimes overlooked by search marketers, because it’s easy for consumers to compare prices among retailers; however, they also deliver prospective clients to you who are ready to buy. Searchers using...
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AdWords Quality Scoring Upgrade
Posted by drew on February 15, 2007 at 11:45 AM
Google announced this week that it will release a new ad quality algorithm before the end of the month, along with a few associated features. With the existing algorithm, Google never really gives AdWords advertisers a grade for taking the test; only the effects of taking it. The existing ad quality algorithm can be compared to a high school guidance counselor who gives you a test to take and the next day tells you to be a heavy machines operator. Additional explanation not included. Why heavy machines operator? You never know why. With this update, advertisers still won't know exactly...
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C.P.L. for Dummies
Posted by on January 30, 2007 at 01:56 PM
Raise your hand if you know how much you’re willing to pay for a lead through pay per click advertising, or any other marketing channel for that matter. (If you raised your hand, take that same hand and give yourself a hearty pat on the back. You, my friend, are awesome!) For those of you who didn’t raise your hand, listen up! Online lead generation is one of the fastest growing trends in online marketing. Organizations of every size whose final sales process & closing happen both on and offline are turning to the web as a great source of...
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Keyword Inflation. . . Is It a Bad Thing?
Posted by on January 29, 2007 at 02:18 PM
Advertisers and marketers are abuzz about dreaded keyword inflation, also called cost-per-click (CPC) inflation. More advertisers are entering the paid search market and those that are already in are spending more on their campaigns. According to TNS Internet, advertising will increase by 13.4% in 2007 while traditional media ad spending will decline in some channels such as newspaper (- .9%) and spot TV (-2.8%). eMarketer predicts an increase of 18.9% in ad spending in 2007 and a 22.1% increase in 2008. The increase in spending can cause inflation. Keyword inflation can also be caused by other factors. Chris Sherman of...
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Vertical vs. Horizontal Search
Posted by vern on January 05, 2007 at 01:36 PM
There seems to be an increase in the press about vertical search engines recently. And calls to my office from vertical sales reps are on the rise. "Highly targeted, extremely relevant, cost effective" are phrases used in practically every sales pitch. But when you get right down to measuring effectiveness by ROI, conversion rates and traffic levels, how do they stack up against the horizontal engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN? We've been testing paid placements with a number of verticals for some time and results have been mixed. As recently as 9 months ago, choices were pretty limited in...
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Panama! (Yahoo, not Van Halen)
Posted by tim on January 03, 2007 at 11:16 AM
With the New Year, come lots of changes. There are all of the obvious ones, resolutions, best intentions, people that will diet, exercise, get organized, clean up the clutter. Yeah, all that stuff falls apart by the end of January at the latest. No, the big change I'm paying attention to out of the gate this year is going on at Yahoo. The now very long awaited change to Yahoo Search Marketing (the artist formerly known as Overture) is in full swing. There are target dates announced, accounts have been transitioning and soon all the accounts will be on the...
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Flood Meets Web Shopping
Posted by on November 24, 2006 at 10:19 AM
One year ago my family met with disaster. We arrived home from a Thanksgiving holiday trip to find a pipe had burst on the second floor. I could hear the water before I turned on the lights. Waterfalls flowed down the walls; the bathroom ceiling had caved in and water sprayed in every direction hitting all four walls, ceiling and floor at the same time. It was raining on my living room couch, piano, and my mother’s hand-painted artwork. My newly-installed hickory floors were warping in three inches of water. My cedar walls were black with oils that seep from...
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A Whole New Reason to Say Yippee!
Posted by on October 31, 2006 at 02:17 PM
So, I popped into my local, independent bookstore this weekend in search of something to occupy my evenings now that the sun sets at 5:30 PM in northern Michigan. Just inside the door I was greeted (read: stunned) by a head shot of a well-weathered Suzanne Sommers. Evidently the actress of Three's Company fame has published a new book. Well this got me to thinking: "What ever happened to Joyce DeWitt, the actress who played zany roommate Janet Wood in the late-70s / early-80s sitcom?" According to my research, Ms. DeWitt most recently reprised the role of Gypsy Rose Lee,...
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Search Arbitarge = Naked Greed
Posted by vern on October 23, 2006 at 05:07 PM
There a have been a number of recent articles examining the positive and negative effects of search arbitrage. The practice, the search marketing version of bait-and-switch, is a testament to the greed that abounds online. Email spam and its ugly cousin search arbitrage are reprehensible practices meant to line the pockets of their practitioners with no consideration of the consequences. The typical search arbitrage experience manifests itself when a click on a PPC ad lands the searcher on a page of more PPC ads. What purpose does that serve other than to make a "publisher" a quick buck? Absolutely none!...
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Escape from Yahoo! Advertising
Posted by drew on October 16, 2006 at 09:23 AM
Actually, you can't do that. Now that Yahoo! has rolled out their new Mobile Sponsored Search service, they can reach out and touch you wherever you may be in the world. Or can they? Keeping Up With the Mobile Times I don't have a fancy cell phone. When I bought it more than two years ago, it supposedly had web capabilities. I think they expected me to stretch my imagination a little when I attempted to access the net, as the web services were lacking quite a bit. What it lacked in the web, it made up in reception. This...
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Paid Search Accountability
Posted by chris on September 29, 2006 at 12:03 PM
Let me ask you this: would you pay your telephone bill if at the end of the month the bill just contained a total number of calls along with the amount due? I didn't think so! You would want to be able to verify that the bill consisted of calls you made at the times you made them to the number you called. So why can't the paid engines do the same? They are charging based on clicks but don't want to divulge the IP address, user-agent, and time that clicked on a given ad. Having this information would allow...
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Blizzard Warning!
Posted by vern on September 28, 2006 at 04:59 PM
With winter fast approaching and hockey season underway I've been waxing nostalgic for the backyard ice rink my brothers and I constructed every winter. Mind you, this was no ordinary backyard rink. Where I grew up, in the Keewenaw Peninsula of Michigan, a total snowfall for a single winter could top 400". Just clearing the snow off the ice was a full time job. But our efforts didn't end there. We erected light poles, built our own nets from 2x4's and chicken wire and remodeled an out-of-commission outhouse for a penalty box. We added side and end boards (just to...
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MSN and Facebook
Posted by tim on September 08, 2006 at 04:12 PM
You'd think Microsoft has the cash to buy a break. In the world of social networking sites, Facebook is one of the bigger destinations on the web, especially for college students. After having fallen on its "face" this week though, Facebook is going to have a hard time keeping its users around and socializing. A host of new "features" that were released have gotten users up in arms. To the point they are organizing petitions and planning protests. What has all of this got to do with MSN? Well, just prior to a feature enhancement blowing up in their faces,...
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A Coalition of the Unwilling
Posted by tim on August 03, 2006 at 04:18 PM
There’s been recent news about Google, Yahoo!, and MSN joining a coalition that also includes the IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau) and the Media Rating Council in order to standardize the definitions of click fraud. At first read, this seems like big and welcome news in the search marketing industry. And it is. It’s about time anyway. Google and Yahoo! especially have known that click fraud has long been one of the major concerns for anyone who’s dabbled in pay-per-click for any significant time or with any real money. The fraud has been around almost as long at PPC itself (younger...
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Code Name: Project Panama
Posted by on July 21, 2006 at 04:17 PM
If you haven't heard yet, Yahoo! has announced it is holding off updates to its paid search advertising platform. For those of you that are new to Paid Search, you might be scratching your head asking Project Panama, new platform, Yahoo!? What? Well, never fear. I will give a brief rundown of what was supposed to happen, when, and why it isn't now. What: Project Panama (aka Google-clone) Essentially, Yahoo! Search Marketing plans to become more Google-like in nature. Yahoo's new "easy-to-use" ad control panel would allow for some of the following: Ad testing, allowing different variations of ads to...
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Helpful Advice to Pay-Per-Click Engines
Posted by chris on June 30, 2006 at 08:30 AM
Listen up pay-per-click engines, PICK A REPORT FORMAT AND STICK TO IT! As I write this I am rewriting the code that I wrote two weeks ago to parse a certain ppc engines report format. Why am I doing this you might ask? Well it turns out that the report format of the moment is completely and totally different then last weeks format. We aren't talking about small changes that I could have accounted for with a regex here or a regex there, we're talking wholesale brand spankin' new format! How hard is it to export some spend data in...
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Google Calling: Click-to-Call & the Future of Paid Search
Posted by admin on June 19, 2006 at 10:26 AM
You may notice a new icon while cruising the Google search results this summer. Once again, Google will be testing a Click-to-Call feature. Expected to be in place by the end of June, the Click-to-Call phone icon will appear to the right of select paid search results. The phone icon indicates that the searcher can speak directly to the business indicated in the ad. Here's how it works: when a searcher clicks the phone icon they will be asked to type in their phone number. Then the searcher clicks 'connect' and Google calls the number they provided. Once the searcher...
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Yahoo! Sponsored Search Mirroring Google AdWords?
Posted by admin on June 06, 2006 at 09:44 AM
Yahoo!'s Sponsored Search platform is getting a makeover, a makeover that should allow paid search advertisers to utilize features currently offered in Google AdWords. The makeover isn't scheduled to launch until this fall, but it already seems to be slowing down Yahoo!'s advertiser interface; I won't get into that now though. With Google holding the title of reigning champ of search engines, it's no surprise that other search engines are trying to chip away at Google's share of the pie. But is Yahoo! going as far as mirroring the reigning champ's search platform? You be the judge. According to a...
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Microsoft adCenter - Foxes Need Not Apply
Posted by on May 24, 2006 at 12:13 PM
I've been excited about the opportunities that exist with the much anticipated release of Microsoft adCenter and recently got a chance to take the reins for the first time. My initial idea behind this post was to share my adCenter paid search marketing experience, however that didn't happen. In fact, I didn't get much past the main login page before becoming frustrated. What lead to my frustration you ask? Allow me to explain. Around here, the majority of us use Firefox as our primary web browser, as do many people in the tech industry. Naturally I opened up adCenter in...
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Google Adwords Gets Find & Replace Tool
Posted by admin on May 10, 2006 at 11:22 AM
Every time I start pondering a blog topic for StraightUpSearch a feeling of venomous backlash comes over me; all I can think of are the many things the search engines get wrong and should improve upon for Paid Search Marketers. But today is going to be different - I have made a conscious decision to be positive and to discuss one of my favorite Google AdWords features. It seems like new features and tools are popping up in Google Adwords on a regular basis. Although they are not all perfect, you've gotta give credit to Google; they are definitely not...
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Relevant Search Results Deserve Relevant Content
Posted by on April 25, 2006 at 11:08 AM
After performing a recent search online, I started to realize one of my major pet peeves with the Internet, search engines and especially those advertising online: the relevancy of advertisements and the content for which they lead us to. Working on the sponsored search pay-per-click side of search engine marketing, I run into this type of situation all too often. A user performs a search for a specific item, "buy sky blue widget", to fit their application and the search engine serves up all sponsored ads relevant to the users search criteria. From here the user selects the number 1...
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A Common Language for Online Advertisers
Posted by admin on April 12, 2006 at 09:49 AM
Coming from a background of more traditional media, I was used to everything being called the same thing. What do I mean by this? For starters, a :30 commercial is a :30 commercial whether you advertise on ABC or CNN. A 2 column by 4 column print advertisement was exactly that, no matter which newspaper I wanted to advertise in. The bottom line here, we all used the same terminology. While becoming familiar with the world of search engine marketing, specifically PPC, I quickly discovered that the major search engines have their own terminology. Why is this? On Google I...
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Taking Candy from a Baby
Posted by admin on March 28, 2006 at 09:16 AM
The new Starter Edition of Google AdWords offers a solution to advertisers who don't have the time or the money to spend on creating an effective PPC campaign... Right? Or, is it just another way for Google to maintain their leadership? I think the Starter Edition can be compared to taking candy form a baby... it’s easy to do, but in the end all that is left is one disappointed baby. The Starter Edition of AdWords allows an advertiser to set up an account with ONE ad, a list of keywords and a monthly budget, no CPC... but don't worry...
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Landing Pages, Sales & A Life-sized Green Moose
Posted by on March 22, 2006 at 01:41 PM
In sales, everyone knows it's a lot easier to call a potential client from a pre-qualified lead, rather than making a cold call. With landing pages, the only people viewing your page are pre-qualified leads. That mom who searched for a "life sized stuffed green moose" for her son's birthday ended up on your stuffed animal landing page. The toy company that paid for the landing page is crossing its fingers, hoping that this mom will click the "buy now" button to graciously add a life-sized moose to the shopping cart. It's not green, but it will do. She clicks...
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Defining Paid Search Networks
Posted by admin on March 16, 2006 at 10:59 AM
Reading any of the major search engines' explanations of their paid search networks and where they will display ads is at minimum misleading. The leeway given is vast and the statements made are vague. I feel for any new advertiser getting started with pay-per-click advertising without the help of an agency or at least an analytics tool. The potential to increase site traffic and boost conversions is definitely there, but when the most basic segment of the paid search advertising system is not clearly defined by the search engines, it's a bit frightening. The question is simple, "Where will the...
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Why won’t Google comply with the U.S. Department of Justice’s subpoena, and what does this move mean for online advertisers?
Posted by on January 27, 2006 at 08:58 AM
There has been a lot of speculation regarding the reasons Google refuses to hand over a week’s worth of Internet search queries, from a list of 1 million random web addresses to the Department of Justice (DOJ). The government is working to build a case for the need of the Child Online Protection Act (COPA), which was shot down in 2002 for its broad scope. The DOJ needs to show how the COPA can protect minors, while maintaining the rights of adults to view pornography on the internet. The DOJ first subpoenaed Google, among other search engines, a year ago,...
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Search Engine As Web Browser - A Double Edged Sword?
Posted by vern on January 20, 2006 at 09:29 AM
Nielsen/NetRatings recently reported that 43% of online searchers use their search box like an address bar to navigate the internet. Most often a searcher will enter a brand name such as eBay or K-mart and the like to navigate to those sites. It’s an interesting short cut that's becoming standard operating procedure for many. Ken Cassar, chief analyst at Neilsen/NetRatings, states that "the search engine is the focal point of the online experience for Internet users." This is further evidence that search is being wound ever tighter into the fabric of life online. That’s great news for SEO's, the search...
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Prepare Now for Yahoo! Paid Listing Changes
Posted by on December 29, 2005 at 12:55 PM
When it comes to the recent news of the new look coming to Yahoo! Search Marketing, heed the words of the ancient proverb: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. For those of you who haven't yet heard about the upcoming changes scheduled to go live January 18th, Yahoo! plans to display shorter descriptions for the Sponsored Search listings, 70 characters to be exact. How Googlesque. At least for the time being Yahoo! is stating that the listings will be shortened to 70 characters, but according to a post from YahooSarah at the SearchEngineWatch forum, "Over time,...
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Landing Pages Should Be More Like Mariano Rivera
Posted by vern on November 21, 2005 at 04:00 PM
I’m not much of a baseball fan but I do appreciate excellent performance. Rivera is a relief pitcher or for the NY Yankees. In the late innings of a ball game, when preserving a win is on the line, Mariano goes to work as one of the top-ranked “closers” in baseball. A good PPC strategy includes landing pages designed to preserve the win – to close the sale. I recently had a conversation with a client who wanted to use an existing page from his web site as a landing page. As Kristie discussed a few days ago, website home...
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Going Home (Page) For The Holidays?
Posted by on November 11, 2005 at 10:17 AM
So you have the clicks, but do you give them what they want? A great paid search campaign can only get you so as far, what’s important is what a user finds once they pull back the curtain. Whether you’re managing your own PPC strategy or have a SEM vendor managing things for you, it’s important that just as much attention is paid to your landing pages as to the campaign itself. You’ve already won half the battle when your ad appears after a search and it’s so compelling that the searcher clicks, but then what? Regardless of whether you’re...
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An Advanced PPC Strategy? Hmm…
Posted by on September 27, 2005 at 02:55 PM
Be leery; be very leery of the Paid Search Blockade Strategy (free registration required) proposed by Shimon Sandler on MediaPost’s Search Insider. According to Sandler, the blockade strategy is “an advanced pay-per-click (PPC) strategy of occupying the top three or more spots in search engines, essentially blocking out your competition.” He continues to explain the strategy detailing how an advertiser must open three separate accounts (if you want to block out your competition from the top three spots) on Google with three logins and three different URLs, otherwise he claims it will be “obvious to everyone what you’re up to.”...
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What Are You Looking At?
Posted by tim on May 02, 2005 at 02:43 PM
I'm not against drinking the Kool-Aid, I'm just not sure what flavor they're serving. With Google's new foray into impression advertising, I have to wonder if the motivation is anything other than filling the bottom line. There is a lot of speculation as to why Google did this. Personally, I believe it has to do with reaching out to some of the more 'traditional' marketing and advertising agencies that are out there. These firms are much more accustomed to media buys in scale. It's much more difficult for them to get into the idea of paying per keyword. In the...
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Courts and Click Fraud
Posted by tim on April 19, 2005 at 02:12 PM
The story isn't new, but I've been away for a while and I wanted to comment on this. On the topic of the click fraud lawsuit. An interesting situation and one that I'll be watching closely. It's a shame really that it's come to this. My biggest concern is that this will lead to even more walls going up between the engines and advertisers (depending of course, on how this all shakes out). In my experience, the engines are very protective of their processes. "Don't look at the man behind the curtain" and all that fun stuff. I realize they...
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More on Click Fraud
Posted by tim on March 03, 2005 at 10:34 AM
It may be coincidence, it might have something to do with the Search Engine Strategies conference in New York right now, but whatever it may be, click fraud is still a very hot topic (and me thinks it's becoming a bit of a sore subject as well). Here are just a few more recent mentions of click fraud. I've covered the topic pretty well, but I just want to share some other view points on this. Other Shoe on Keyword Prices, Clickfraud - from John Batelle's Searchblog Click Fraud Experts: Marketers Need More Info From Search Engines - at MediaPost...
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Impression Fraud, I Dub Thee Keyword Hijacking!
Posted by tim on February 15, 2005 at 09:37 AM
Last month, in writing about click fraud, I had briefly touched on the idea of 'Impression Fraud'. At the time, there had been very little talk of it, and even through today, we haven't really seen any evidence that leads us to believe any of our clients have been a victim of this attack. It comes as no surprise though, that this tactic is already picking up speed and gaining attention. Several sources, beginning early this month, have been talking about this. The tag being applied is 'Keyword Hijacking'. Bots are being written to take advantage of primarily Google AdWords...
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...And the Falling Costs of Paid Search
Posted by tim on February 04, 2005 at 10:00 AM
A few weeks ago we were clued in to a report from Fathom Online about the rising costs of PPC bid prices through November and December. I wondered then, as I'm sure many others did, whether or not much of that could be attributed to the holiday season. I certainly wasn't going on out a limb with that one. Fathom has compiled a new report looking at bidding for January (as reported by MediaPost). It comes as no great surprise that there has been a dip. Now I'm not sure prices are "crashing" across the board, but there are certainly...
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The Scourge of Click Fraud - Part III
Posted by tim on January 26, 2005 at 09:33 AM
Stopping Click Fraud It's important for agencies to take an active role in looking for and defending against click fraud. Granted, in an overall marketing/media mix, search may only be a minor percentage of the total budget, but isn't it still imperative to maximize a client's spend? Aside from protecting and maximizing money though, you've also got to protect the brand for your clients. Often times, especially with big brands, a search campaign can often be about visibility and brand reinforcement. If you have to bring paid campaigns down because of click fraud, your whole strategy is shot. Being aware...
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The Scourge of Click Fraud - Part II
Posted by tim on January 19, 2005 at 04:01 PM
With all the recent attention, and since I promised earlier, I thought it was a good time to get into some of the different types of click fraud that appear on PPC campaigns. Spikes One of the most primitive and obvious methods show up as huge spikes in traffic. As long as a campaign is managed in a consistent manner, it will likely develop some predictable patterns. You'll get an idea of how much traffic you've got coming and the trick then is to improve conversions. With a spike, you'll see a huge surge in traffic, generally on a single...
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The Scourge of Click Fraud!
Posted by tim on January 19, 2005 at 08:58 AM
Click fraud has been, and continues to be, an extremely hot topic for search marketing and Internet advertising. Recently, Pete Lerma did an article on the subject of click fraud for ClickZ. Lerma is a principal at Click Here (the Interactive Marketing division of Richard Group). I think what stands out most is the shroud of mystery and misunderstanding that hangs over click fraud. Mainstream press, namely Newsweek, have also started to talk about click fraud. This is obviously garnering a lot of attention and it should. I'm not about to dismiss click fraud. It's a serious issue. We've seen...
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