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How to Automate AdWords Ad Creation & Landing Page Checks

May 16, 2013 at 9:05am ET by Frederick Vallaeys

Automating AdWords as much as possible is every advertiser’s dream, especially when dealing with the massive accounts we see in enterprise-level SEM. This article provides a few examples of how we at Top Tier Marketing have automated some of the more laborious tasks of running AdWords. Hopefully, these examples will give you some ideas for your own accounts. There’s even a full script that should work by simply copying it into your own account toward the end of this post. Automate AdWords Ad Creation From Your Catalog [caption id="attachment_158965" align="alignright" width="212"] F [...]

5 Keys To Success In Search Retargeting

May 15, 2013 at 9:15am ET by James Moore

When search retargeting was new a few years ago, marketers everywhere were excited about the concept. As a new audience acquisition solution, the ability to tie an advertising campaign back to a specific data set that declared a user’s intent, this was a refreshing breakthrough. At the time, of course, few online marketers even understood search retargeting, let alone used it. Yet, as word of its power spread, more and more users adopted it until there was a stampede of ad networks and DSPs eager to include search retargeting among their offerings. There’s nothing new about this. It� [...]

Last Year’s Top 3 U.S. Search Marketing Agencies Continue To Lead In 2013 Report

May 3, 2013 at 12:12pm ET by Amy Gesenhues

Every year, Ad Age ranks the top performing U.S. search marketing agencies based on the previous year's U.S. and worldwide revenue. This year, the top three agencies held their 2012 report rankings, with iCrossing, 360i and iProspect coming in at No. 1, 2, and 3 on the list of largest U.S. search marketing agencies. 360i was responsible for the fast-thinking Oreo tweet during the blackout at this year's Superbowl. The agency also received a Facebook Studio Award for an Oreo social media marketing campaign. iCrossing recently received a Shorty Award for their Maker's Mark #CocktailParty2012 [...]

Relax, The Search Industry Is Doing Just Fine

May 2, 2013 at 9:24am ET by Mark Ballard

For enterprise SEM practitioners looking to set budgets or otherwise anticipate their needs in the space for the months and years ahead, it's been a particularly difficult time to get a read on how the industry is really trending. Conflicting data and opinions abound; new threats to the hegemony of search, real or just perceived, continue to spring up; and, there are times when all of us may wonder just how much the numbers are actually changing and whether we should be concerned. Case in point: comScore recently showed U.S. core searches increasing 11% year-over-year to hit an all-time [...]

Data: The Digital Common Denominator

May 1, 2013 at 9:00am ET by Lionel White

In April 2013, the IAB released a report that revealed double-digit growth for both search and display. Additionally, within digital, video was named the fastest-growing sector, reaching $2.3 billion. I spoke with three industry experts in display, search and video to gain deeper insights into how and why search, display and video will continue to show a positive curve. Display: Audience Buying In Prime Time When it comes to display, it’s obvious that the driving force behind its growth is data. Gerry Bavaro, Chief Strategy Officer of Resolution Media, says, “Audience-based planni [...]

A Good Start For Paid Search In 2013

Apr 25, 2013 at 9:40am ET by Josh Dreller

It's April, which means that spring is here and the first quarter of 2013 is in the books! The birds are chirping, the flowers are blooming, and the ads are clicking. Aren't the landing pages pretty at this time of year? At Kenshoo, we sit on some massive data sets that we share each quarter in our Global Search Advertising Trends reports. You can download the full Q1 2013 report here; but, let's dive in and look at some of the highlights. Note: In the report, you can read about our methodology to see how we arrived at these numbers, so I won't go into that here. Just know that our [...]

Study: What Actual Marketers Feel About Retargeting, FBX & More

Apr 24, 2013 at 8:40am ET by Dax Hamman

I have very strong opinions about retargeting, as regular readers will know! Marketers seem to be on a crazy high these days, obsessed with the idea that their path to success is to spend more on site retargeting and keep finding ways to increase their audience pool or boost frequency caps to obscene levels. More spend is better? Garbage! Smarter spending is better. Over the last two years, I have discussed why marketers should cut their site retargeting budget, how programmatic marketing executions can change retargeting forever and, in a recent iMedia article, why retargeting is fund [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEM | Search & Display | Search Ads

Report: Bing Ads Gains Market Share In Q1

Apr 18, 2013 at 8:45am ET by Ginny Marvin

Efforts by Bing Ads to increase click volumes and gain market share from Google appear to be paying off, according to a report by The Search Agency. The Search Agency's Quarterly State of Paid Search, released today, shows Bing's share of spend rose 3.6% year-over-year to 21%. The market share grab comes after four consecutive quarters of a relatively stable split between Google and Bing. Bing spend rose 42% driven by a 7.4% increase in CPC year-over-year and a 46% increase in CTR year-over-year. Google’s spend increased 17.1% year-over-year. Bing’s clicks increased both year- [...]

Study: U.K. Mobile Search Survey Reveals U.K. Consumers In Less Of A Hurry To Make Purchases Than U.S. Mobile Users

Apr 11, 2013 at 2:27pm ET by Amy Gesenhues

Mobile-location based advertising network xAd joined forces with mobile call measurement provider Telmetrics to release their first U.K. Mobile Path-to-Purchase study, focusing on U.K. mobile search behavior. Conducted by Nielsen, the online study, surveyed 1,500 U.K. smartphone and tablet users to measure consumer search activity on mobile devices. While price comparisons and reviews were the leading mobile research activities in the U.K., users performing restaurant and automotive searches on smartphones were most often looking for location or local contact information. According t [...]

Mobile Growth Highlights Importance Of Comprehensive Local Strategy

Apr 1, 2013 at 11:44am ET by Natalie Wuchenich

This week, the Local Search Association is releasing our “Local Mobile Search Study,” which overviews the evolving mobile environment in the U.S. and the growing role of smartphones, tablets and other connected devices in the local search experience. The 2013 study, which features 2012 data compiled from several comScore digital and mobile metrics databases, demonstrates a significant shift in how consumers are accessing the Internet and emphasizes the importance of local businesses embracing mobile platforms as yet another venue to reach consumers. Rise Of Connected Devices Provides [...]

Bing Ads Redesigns Hub For Ad Manager Resources

Apr 1, 2013 at 10:10am ET by Ginny Marvin

Bing Ads has launched a redesign of its search advertising site. The site is designed to provide a single access point for content and resources about Bing Ads and search advertising on the Yahoo! Bing Network. It consolidates materials from the Bing Ads Community site, the Bing Ads search advertising support center and the help files found within the Bing Ads platform itself. The Bing Ads blog, forum and training materials as well as vertical insights (which covers the finance, health & fitness, home & garden and travel industries) and tool downloads like Bing Ads Editor are [...]

Report: PPC Tablet Spending Up 112%, Smartphones Up 113%

Mar 28, 2013 at 3:48pm ET by Ginny Marvin

The new IgnitionOne Digital Marketing Report for Q1 finds that overall paid search spend in the U.S. was flat for the quarter, while mobile and tablet growth remained strong. Tablet spending rose 112% and smartphone spending jumped 113%. The study suggests that the growth in tablet and mobile is coming from a reallocation from existing budgets for Desktop/PC ads, rather than net new spend. While the gap is smaller than when the report last looked in Q3 2012, the report found a clear differentiat [...]

CPC Decline Ends: Rising 7% In Q1 Due To Mobile & PLAs [Covario]

Mar 28, 2013 at 2:07pm ET by Ginny Marvin

We may have seen the end of CPC stagnation. Covario's Global Paid Search Spend Analysis for Q1, released today, suggests that the cost-per-click trends of the last six quarters have reversed with CPC prices rising 7% from the previous quarter and 23% year-over-year. Overall paid search spend grew 9% quarter-over-quarter and 33% year-over-year. The following chart shows global paid search activity for Q1 ‘13: Google CPCs Rise 39% Year-Over-Year The study suggests that rising CPCs on Google a [...]

Google Says No To Phone Numbers In PPC Ads, Forcing The Use Of Call Extensions

Mar 22, 2013 at 11:48am ET by Ginny Marvin

You may have missed Google’s quiet and brief announcement that starting in April, AdWords ads with phone numbers in the text will be disapproved. Advertisers who want to display phone numbers will have to use the call extensions feature instead. Google states in the announcement, “We are making this change to foster a safer, more consistent user experience across desktop, tablet, and mobile devices.” As others have stated, what this change really does is allow Google to charge for mobile ad engagements as part of its transition to enhanced campaigns. With call extensions, advertise [...]

Enhanced Campaigns: Product Listing Ads Now On Smartphones

Mar 13, 2013 at 11:02am ET by Ginny Marvin

Google has announced on its Commerce blog that product listing ads (PLAs) are now showing on smartphones in all markets that currently serve PLAs. To be eligble to run on smartphones, product listing ad campaigns must be upgraded to enhanced. Below are two screenshots of how the ads are appearing: [...]

Enhanced Campaigns: Offer Extensions & Location Targeting Explained

Mar 6, 2013 at 5:47pm ET by Ginny Marvin

Google released more details on its Mobile Ads Blog today about offer extensions and location targeting tools available in the new enhanced campaigns. Location Targeting With Better Reporting One of the main features of enhanced campaigns is that advertisers can target multiple locations within one campaign and adjust bids based on a multiple of the default location bid. The reporting tools now make it easier to see what location targets triggered your ads and where your users were when they saw your ads. This is handy. Say you've set your campaign Location Options to the def [...]

The Real Reason Why Google Is Dropping The Tablet vs. Desktop Distinction? It’s The User Context, Stupid!

Feb 28, 2013 at 1:32pm ET by Larry Kim

There’s been some grumbling among PPC marketers over the last few weeks about a few specific changes in Enhanced Campaigns – in particular, the loss of tablet vs. desktop segmentation, which was previously a best practice for mobile advertising strategy. One of my well-respected colleagues put it bluntly: Now, if you’ll forgive my attention-grabbing headline (based on 'It's the Economy, Stupid'), I’m definitely not actually calling anyone stupid – and, you can certainly see by the volume of re-tweets and favorites, it’s clearly a widely-shared view. However, I recently had th [...]

Bing Ads Updates Pro Accreditation Training; Exam Is Now Free

Feb 12, 2013 at 1:46pm ET by Ginny Marvin

Bing has announced updates to its Bing Ads Accredited Professional Program for search marketers looking to get certified as “Pro Bingers”. Among the changes, Bing transitioned the training segments from video based to text based content. Users can now view the training on the Bing Ads website or print out the training materials, a frequent customer request according to a Bing spokesperson. The number of training sections increased from 25 to 29 to provide more in-depth content. Users can share the trainings via Facebook, Twitter, and email with the new social media bar. The co [...]

The Big AdWords Update: Enhanced Campaigns Puts The Focus On Mobile

Feb 6, 2013 at 3:00pm ET by Ginny Marvin

“If we were going to build AdWords today, what would it look like?” That’s the question Google’s Nick Fox, VP of Product Management, and his team began asking last year. The result is AdWords enhanced campaigns, a major update announced today that is designed to simplify campaign management across multiple devices, and to increase adoption rates of mobile advertising among small and medium sized businesses. PPC managers have become accustomed to the time-consuming workarounds needed to target ads by device type and location by cloning campaigns and managing granular settings and bid [...]

Adwords For Video Gets Reporting Enhancements

Jan 31, 2013 at 2:29pm ET by Ginny Marvin

Google has added three new measurement features to the AdWords for video reporting interface. The enhancements are designed to make reporting more goal-oriented and to make it easier to compare campaign performance across platforms and other forms of media. Reach & Frequency Reach and frequency metrics, including Average Impression Frequency and Average View Frequency, have been added to the interface to give you more insight into how many unique viewers have seen your ad and the average number of times they’ve seen it. It's now easier to tell if your ads are getting enough im [...]

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