Google Partners Blog: March 2010

Google Ad Innovations: Where ads are going next

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

If you're a regular reader of the blog, in the last year you've seen Google's advertising tools move in some exciting directions. We've introduced more data-driven and efficient campaign management with the new AdWords interface, easier account optimization with the Opportunities tab, and new ad formats like Ad Sitelinks and Product Extensions, to name a few.
But where is advertising with Google headed next? Which new tools, formats and features will make it possible for you to communicate with your customers in more meaningful, creative ways?
We've started a new project, Google Ad Innovations, to answer that very question. Google Ad Innovations is a website where you can explore Google's latest advertising technologies, watch short video demos to learn more, and try out select new tools.
The technologies we'll highlight on Google Ad Innovations are at various stages of development, from early tests to fully released features. Here are a few of the new releases you'll find on Ad Innovations right now:

Remarketing -- a way to show your ads to users who have previously visited your website as they browse sites across the Google Content Network
AdWords Search Funnels -- a set of reports that help you understand the Google.com search ad click and impression behavior leading up to a conversion
Location Extensions with multiple addresses -- an ad format which displays a list of nearby store locations when your customers are performing local searches
Click-to-Call Extensions -- an ad format that let mobile phone users call you directly from your ads
Analytics Intelligence -- a Google Analytics feature that automatically identifies significant changes in your site traffic

Although there's a lot to look at on Ad Innovations, we want it to be more than a show and tell site. Every Ad Innovations page will have a feedback link: if you see a feature that can be improved, or if you think we've hit on a valuable new idea, let us know! The comments and suggestions you leave while using Google Ad Innovations will go directly to the Google team working on the feature.
So, if you want to stay on the cutting edge of advertising products, visit Google Ad Innovations — we’ll regularly add new tools and features to the site, and we can't wait to hear what you think!
Posted by Devin Sandoz, Product Marketing Manager

New best practices to find more customers on the Content Network

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Our previous post in the Content Network Optimization University series covered the basics of setting up and launching a good campaign on the Google Content Network for your clients.
Today we will cover more advanced optimization strategies. We've compiled these by observing best practices from the most successful advertisers on the network. Whether you're new to the Content Network or have been using it for a while, you can get better results from your campaigns.
The best practices are structured along 3 key phases of a campaign -

Build Effective campaigns
Optimize for better results
Expand your campaign for more traffic

Build Effective campaigns
Taking time up front to set up your clients' campaigns correctly goes a long way in getting higher quality traffic to their sites. Let’s recap the top strategies.

Separate search and content network campaigns: Setting up a separate campaign just for the Content Network will will give you more control over daily budgets, ad groups, keywords and bids. Watch this demo on campaign setup.
Create many, tightly themed ad group: AdWords can target your ads more precisely by building multiple ad groups, each with a small tightly-themed set of 5 to 20 keywords. Watch this demo on ad group setup and this demo on keyword selection.
Copy your best performing text ads from search campaigns: For initial setup, it is best to use the text ads with the highest click-through rates from the clients' search campaigns. Watch this demo on ad text best practices.
Setup same starting CPC bid as search campaigns: We recommend starting with the same maximum CPC bid as the search campaign ad groups you set up for your clients. Once AdWords has collected enough data, our smart pricing technology will automatically optimize bids on Content Network to give your clients more profitable clicks. Watch this demo on bidding tactics.
Set up AdWords Conversion Tracking on your clients' sites: Install Conversion Tracking on clients' websites to measure sales and leads (conversions) they get from each ad group and placement. Watch this demo to learn how conversion tracking works on the Content Nework.

Optimize for better results
It is important to monitor clients' campaigns' performance and consistently optimize individual elements. Before making significant changes (e.g. changing bids, excluding high volume sites, pausing ad groups), wait until enough click or conversion data has accrued; we recommend 5+ conversions or 100+ clicks per site

Expand campaign for more traffic
To get additional traffic and boost sales from your campaign, we recommend using a Content keyword expansion strategy.

Use the Wonder Wheel tool for ad group ideas: You can use Wonder Wheel on Google Search to brainstorm new ad group themes and keyword ideas. When you search for any topic on Google.com, Wonder Wheel will generate up to eight related topics for you to consider.
Create new ad groups to reach additional parts of the network: Each topic in Wonder Wheel represents a possible ad group theme for a campaign. Simply click on any of the topics to see other searches and themes related to it. Also, any closely related topics that are less relevant to your product, are great candidates for a negative keyword lists. Watch this demo to learn how to use this strategy.
Expand your keywords set to get more traffic: Once you have finalized ad group themes, use the AdWords Keyword Tool to get keyword ideas. Enter an ad group theme description or keyword under the "Descriptive words or phrases " tab. Select the 5 to 10 most frequently searched keywords and save them to your client's ad group. This will help to ensure that the list stays highly relevant to the ad group theme.

You can find all the latest videos and updates on our YouTube channel.Posted by Aman Govil, Product Marketing Manager

Now available: Reach the right audience through remarketing

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Imagine your client is a travel company, and they're trying to excite users about deals to tropical Caribbean destinations. Users may come to the website, browse the offers and think about booking a trip, but decide that the deal is still not cheap enough. Then, they continue to browse the web. If your client later decides to offer discounted deals to the Carribean, how do they reach users who have already expressed interest in traveling there?
To help you to do this, this week we're rolling out a new feature called remarketing. Any AdWords advertiser can use remarketing to reach users as they’re browsing the web on sites within the Google Content Network. Remarketing is a simple way to connect with users, based on their past interactions with your clients' websites.
We began trialing remarketing last March as part of our interest-based advertising beta. We’ve received a tremendous response from the hundreds of advertisers who’ve been using it in recent months, across all industries - including automotive, retail, local and finance. We’ve seen that remarketing has worked well for many different kinds of advertisers - whether they’re looking to boost brand awareness, or drive clicks and sales, and whether they use display or text ads. For example, if you support search advertising clients, you can use remarketing to create an integrated campaign strategy for them. After driving traffic to their sites with search ads, you can then remarket to the users who reach their sites by showing them tailored ads on sites throughout the Google Content Network.
You can easily set up and create a remarketing campaign for clients through the new “Audiences” tab in AdWords. A remarketing campaign allows you to take advantage of the same features and reports you can use today in AdWords - it’s really just a new way to reach the best audience for your clients' ads.

(click for full size image)
Here’s an example of how it works. Let’s say your client is a basketball team with tickets to sell. You can put a piece of code on the tickets page on the client's website, which will let you later show relevant ticket ads (such as last minute discounts) to everyone who has visited that page, as they subsequently browse sites in the Google Content Network. In addition to your own site, you can also remarket to users who visited your YouTube brand channel or clicked your YouTube homepage ad.
You can also run a number of remarketing campaigns at the same time. For example, you could promote discount game tickets to users who’ve previously visited your client's tickets page, advertise VIP hospitality packages to users who clicked on his “How to get to the arena” page, and advertise a sale on team merchandise to users who’ve previously visited his YouTube brand channel.
Remarketing is a great way for businesses to reach users who are likely to be highly receptive to their ads and special offers. For example, Intercontinental Hotels Group has used remarketing to reach potential customers who have visited one of their hotel websites:

Ad by InterContinental Hotels Group using remarketing to offer incentive to users(click for full size image)
It helps advertisers and websites get higher returns. It also means more relevant and useful ads for users, and more opportunities to receive special offers and discounts that may be of interest.
As we announced when we launched interest-based advertising, we want to put users in control of the ads they see, so anyone can opt out of remarketing by using the Ads Preferences Manager. Our remarketing product complies with industry standards developed by self-regulatory groups such as the NAI and IAB and IAB UK.
To get started with a remarketing campaign, visit the AdWords Help Center. Posted by Aitan Weinberg, Product Manager

New Analytics reports - AdWords Search Funnels

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Over the next few weeks, a new set of reports called AdWords Search Funnels (beta) will be made available in your clients' AdWords accounts.
This set of reports describes the Google.com search ad click and impression behavior leading up to a conversion. They provide data on how "upper-funnel" keywords behave on the conversion path prior to the last ad click. In addition to a Top Conversions report, Search Funnels consists of 7 reports including Assisted Conversions, First and Last Click Analysis, Time Lag, and Path Length. The information in these reports will give you even more insight into the ads customers interact with before converting on clients' sites so you can make even more informed decisions about the keywords, ad groups and campaigns in their AdWords accounts.
Take a look at this video giving an overview of the new reports:

(click here to view video)
Note: Over the next few weeks, the Search Funnels beta will be rolled out gradually to all accounts. They are available only in your AdWords account and not in Google Analytics. They are activated when you have AdWords Conversion Tracking running or if you've imported goals or transactions from Analytics into AdWords, and will only show data for keywords that show up in at least one conversion path. Search Funnel data is currently limited to search ads showing on Google.com, and for ad impressions and clicks within 30 days of the conversion.
For additional information, please visit the Inside AdWords Blog.Posted by Jeff Gillis, Product Marketing Manager

Upcoming webinar - Exploring the recession's impact on marketing spend

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Many firms decide to cut their advertising and marketing spend during recessions; the most recent recession was no different.
Please join us for an upcoming webinar from Google and The Wharton School, partners on the Fast.Forward. initiative. Prof. David Reibstein, Marketing at The Wharton School, will discuss lessons learned from this difficult economic period and how those lessons impact and influence current and future marketing decisions.
Topics:

Should marketers spend more or less as we move out of the recession?
Should marketers change their budget allocations? If so, how?
How are CMO’s dealing with the new budget parameters and what do CFO’s think of this change?
How is the bottom line being impacted?

What: Exploring the Recession's Impact on Advertising & Marketing Spending: CMO / CFO Perspectives When: March 26, 2010, 10amPST / 12pmCST / 1pmESTRegister at: www.tinyurl.com/march26webinar2010
For more perspectives on the changing face of marketing, visit the Fast.Forward. channel on YouTube.Posted by Sofia Buschmann, Marketing Manager

30 days until AdWords API v13 sunset

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

For those of you who use the AdWords API, we wanted to remind you that on April 22, just 30 days from today, most v13 services will be turned off. Visit the AdWords API blog to learn more about what's changing and how to migrate your application to the new AdWords API. Posted by Jason Shafton, Product Marketing Manager

SES Takes Manhattan

Thursday, March 18, 2010

The Search Engine Strategies conference will come to Manhattan later this month, from March 22-26, 2010, and Google will be there.
We'll be on panels and will be delivering trainings on topics ranging from AdWords and Analytics to Online Video, B2B search marketing and innovations in search. In addition, Analytics Evangelist Avinash Kaushik will be the keynote speaker, on March 24th, presenting new approaches to search analytics.
Our booth will be staffed with experts on products including Google AdWords and Analytics, DoubleClick and Webmaster Tools. We'll also be delivering a mobile ads presentation at the Expo Hall theater, which is free for all SES attendees.
Still need to buy a pass? Use 20GOOG and save 20%.
See you in the Big Apple!Posted by Amanda Matuk, Events Team

DoubleClick, Google Content Network and YouTube at OMMA Global

Monday, March 15, 2010

This week OMMA Global takes over the San Francisco Marriott Marquis, and Google will be there. Here's an overview of what's in store.
On March 17th, get a complete view of the art and science of rich media advertising from Google's resident rich media experts, Peter Crofut and Chip Scovic.
Next day listen to Neal Mohan, Vice President of Product Management, deliver his keynote presentation on opportunities in online display advertising. He'll cover changes in the display ecosystem, and how everyone can embrace these changes and achieve their goals. If you miss his keynote, be sure to catch the panel right after on Online Advertising - Rapid Recovery or Recession 2.0?, or the late morning session Connect with the Google Content Network with Jason Miller, Group Product Manager, Google Content Network.
Later in the day, Baljeet Singh, Senior Product Manager, Video Monetization will participate in the panel Can Online Video Reach Scale for Clients Budgets in 2010? Hear what he, and other experts, have to say about definition, scale and measurement when it comes to online video.
Our DoubleClick, YouTube and Google Content Network teams will also be at the Trade Show to let you know what's new and to answer your product questions.
Interested in attending? Register here, and if you’re a MediaPost member, your full-conference pass is FREE. You can also sign up for private networking sessions here. Use the code OGSF20 for a 20% discount.Posted by Sally Cole, Marketing Manager

Going Mobile in 2010 - Part Two, Carrier & Device Targeting

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

In part two of our series on mobile ads best practices, we'll focus on carrier and device targeting.
We recently launched the ability to target specific carriers and devices on mobile devices with full Internet browsers. How can this benefit you and your clients?
1. Match the AppOne of the new assets of device targeting is the new automatic device targeting for applications. Now, when you are advertising an application for Android-based phones or iPhones, the ad will automatically display a "Download" link instead of a URL.

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To use this feature, include either 'itunes.apple.com/' or 'market.android.com/' followed by the app name in the ad's visible URL, and it will automatically display as 'Download iPhone App' or 'Download Android App.'
Let's say your clients sell both and iPhone and Android application. You can now set up three campaigns, one only targeting iPhones with language specific to that application and phone, one targeting Android-based phones with language specific to those users, and a third targeting all mobile devices to drive more general traffic to your clients' websites.
2. Device or Carrier specific languageWith Device and Carrier targeting, you can now speak to clients' potential customers even more specifically in the ad text. Does the client sell ringtones? Target mobile carriers in separate campaigns and mention the customer's phone or cell phone carrier in the ad text. Does the client sell mobile accessories? Set up campaigns focused on specific mobile devices in separate campaigns and mention the phone the customer has in the ad text.

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Note: If you want to target Blackberry users, you will have to set up a WAP mobile ad within your account. While there is no way to specifically target Blackberry phones right now, you can reach those users through a mobile specific ad type. Find out more about how WAP ads differ from mobile ads for Internet-capable devices.
For more mobile tips and resources, visit the Google Mobile Ads site, as well as the Go Mobile! Series on the Inside AdWords Blog, and check back in a few weeks for more mobile tips to help your clients. Posted by Stevie Degroff, Agency Team

Going Mobile in 2010 - Part One, Optimizing Mobile Campaigns

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

With more mobile devices with full Internet browsers hitting the market and marketers wondering how to best connect with consumers on their phones, we wanted to give you a few targeting best practices for targeting high end mobile devices.. Today we'll be giving you a few tips for optimizing mobile campaigns.
While both mobile and desktop search campaigns use similar best practices, the way we search and browse the web on our mobile phones is slightly different than on our computers. Separating mobile and desktop campaigns and optimizing for performance on each platform will drive greater success for your clients intigrated marketing strategies.
1. Reporting & TrackingUse Device and Click Type reporting to figure out exactly what is and is not working in your mobile search campaigns. Just like with desktop search, you can (and should) bid according to what is sending traffic to your site and what converts best. Pulling out high performing keywords and placing them into a separate mobile campaign can help drive additional traffic in a growing market.

(Example data. Click here to view image)

This holds true for placements and the mobile content network as well. When running a Placement Performance Report for mobile phones, take special note of the Ad Sense for Mobile Apps category of placements (they will show up as adsenseformobileapps.com in the report). You can drill down to the specific URL and gain insight into what apps you should continue to target and which ones you should exclude.

2. Keywords & Ad Text

Searches on Internet-capable mobile devices average around 2.9 words (and only 2.4 on WAP phones). When expanding desktop search campaigns to mobile and/or adding new keywords to your mobile campaigns, keep in mind how people search on their phones. While desktop campaigns may benefit from "long tail", 4- to 5- word keyword phrases, you may want to consider shorter, more general, and location specific searches for mobile phones.

For example, a college student in Boston may search for "Pizza near Union Square in Boston" from their dorm room, but would only search "Boston Pizza" from their mobile phones.

3. Take advantage of what's mobile

In the past few months we've launched several mobile specific ad formats like click-to-download, click-to-call, and mobile coupons in the Local Business Center. Think about what unique advantages and messaging a mobile campaign allows and reach your customers at every point of their day.

For more mobile tips and resources, visit the Google Mobile Ads site, as well as the Go Mobile! Series on the Inside AdWords Blog.

In addition, check back next week for the next installment of 'Going Mobile in 2010.'

Posted by Stevie Degroff, Agency Team

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