Google has announced an update to the algorithm that powers traffic estimates in AdWords’ Traffic Estimator, Keyword Tool and on the Keywords tab. The intention is that advertisers will have access to better numbers on estimated clicks, cost and ad position. Traffic estimates help advertisers get a sense of whether potential keywords are appropriate for […]
In a regulatory filing this afternoon, Google disclosed that it was taking a $500 million charge in the first quarter, apparently to potentially settle charges related to a Department of Justice investigation of the company. Google didn’t elaborate, saying only that the probe was “into the use of Google advertising by certain advertisers.” The Wall […]
Former Senator and likely Republican Presidential candidate Rick Santorum hasn’t yet figured out what to do about his “Google Problem” — a negative listing orchestrated by gay syndicated sex columnist Dan Savage, which results in the association of Santorum’s name with anal sex. And the search issue is getting attention from that much-watched political “fake […]
Google’s YouTube today announced plans to add around 3,000 movies for on-demand rental on its service, effectively declaring its intention to compete with Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu. While YouTube has largely been known for quirky independent fare, the new content will include well-known flicks from major studios, including classics like Caddyshack and new releases like […]
Google’s four-year streak as the world’s most powerful brand has come to an end — not through any fault of its own, by instead due to the tremendous growth of Apple’s brand value. That’s according to Millward Brown Optimor’s top 100 BrandZ annual rankings. The research company found Google’s brand value to have slipped just […]
Google is rolling out version 9 of its AdWords Editor software, a free desktop client for managing AdWords campaigns. The new release is said to enable users to manage campaigns over multiple accounts more efficiently. It also adds handling of new ad features, such as Ad Sitelinks and the targeting of mobile devices. AdWords Editor […]
At a time when competitor Google is focusing intensely on mobile and local, Microsoft’s Bing is sharing plans for ad products that would go toward evening the score between the two biggest search players in the U.S. The company will introduce radius targeting for search ads, allowing advertisers to choose a specific five to 100 […]
Haven’t used AdWords in a while? Here’s $100. Spend it all in one place — your AdWords account. That’s the gist of a new Google effort to reactivate AdWords users who’ve let their accounts grow dormant. The company reached out to these users yesterday with a plea, “We’re sorry to see that you’ve stopped advertising […]
Google seems to be testing a new variation on AdWords display, showing the landing page domain name at the end of the headline, after a short vertical line. The apparent experiment appeared in the top three ads in the center of the page on Google.com, but isn’t showing up for most users. The variation was […]
If you’re going to advertise on AdWords, you’d better be safeguarding users’ personal and financial information on the landing site. So say new policy guidelines released today by Google. The new global requirements for all AdWords advertisers govern sites that request payment, financial or personal information from visitors. They will take effect May 17. If […]
Google has launched Shopping, aka Product Search, in four new countries today — The Netherlands, Spain, Italy and Australia. The company has also launched Merchant Center in Australia. Users of Google search in these countries will now see Shopping results on their main search results page, and can refine by clicking a Shopping tab on […]
In yet another sign that search marketing on Yahoo has moved elsewhere, the company is shutting down its Search Marketing Blog at the end of the month. Traffic will be redirected to the company’s Advertising Blog. The move is another small step away from search for Yahoo, begun in earnest when the company announced its […]
After getting many advertisers hooked on reports on phone calls originating from their AdWords ads, Google will begin charging $1.00 for calls completed using the unique number it provisions, but solely when the call originates from someone using a computer who dials the number themselves from a phone. When the call is from a mobile […]
Last week’s Yahoo earnings report showed another decline in search revenues for the once-strong search player, and it’s blaming the latest figures on the Microsoft relationship. Is this right? What could they do better to attract marketers, and more of their dollars, to the search alliance? I reached out to a few folks who live […]
Google is now showing Instant Previews — small thumbnails that show when a user mouses over an ad — for all search ads, presumably helping to qualify consumers before they actually click-through on an ad. The feature has been in testing for at least a week or so. The company is touting the new functionality […]
How badly does Yahoo want to skip ahead to the forefront of media and social check-ins? Badly enough to spend a reported $20 to $30 million to buy TV check-in service IntoNow, which launched its iPhone-based service just 12 weeks ago. IntoNow’s main “secret sauce” is the proprietary “Soundprint” technology that recognizes television shows by […]
Google has released the latest version of Analytics to all users, introducing a completely redesigned interface, multiple customizable dashboards, event goals, more powerful custom reports, and a search term cloud visualization. When users log into Google Analytics, they can access version 5 by clicking on “New Version” at the top right of the page. (Toggling […]
Groupon’s purchase of Pelago, the parent company of Whrrl, offers an interesting glimpse into what the local daily deals powerhouse might be up to next. With the acquisition, which was for an undisclosed amount, Groupon gets a team that’s been focused on consumer check-ins at local businesses and offering relevant suggestions — similar to the […]
Poor landing page quality scores have been a bit of a mystery for marketers using Google AdWords. A 1/10 score could mean the landing page was poor, by Google’s standards, or it could mean that it, or the site as a whole, somehow violated the company’s policies. Today, the company has introduced changes to help […]
Amazon.com outspent all other search marketers in the fourth quarter of last year in the U.S., dropping $51 million and dwarfing the rest of the field, according to research covering paid search on Google from Kantar Media’s new syndicated service. The WPP Group company says AT&T was the next-biggest spender, laying out $27 million. Interestingly, […]
IAC, the parent of Ask.com, the Daily Beast and Citysearch, today announced it has amended and extended its distribution agreement with Google through March 31, 2016. The deal, which involves the distribution of AdWords ads and other search-related services to IAC sites, was originally scheduled to expire at the end of 2012. Though IAC didn’t […]
U.S. search spending was up 17% in the first quarter of 2011 as compared to the same period in 2010, according to analysis of client activity by search marketing agency Efficient Frontier. The agency attributes the growth primarily to a strong quarter in the retail and finance sectors. Click volume and impressions were up year-over-year, […]
Google has announced it will be retiring AdWords position preference, which automatically sets bids to achieve a certain position on the page, in early May. The company is seeking to dissuade advertisers from putting an emphasis on the position of their ads. Yesterday, the company posted an analysis from chief economist Hal Varian that concluded […]
Smaller search marketers tired of navigating AdWords’ online FAQs are getting a key new tool today: Google’s phone number. The company says it’s responding to advertiser demand by supplementing online and e-mail support with phone support for U.S. and Canadian advertisers at 1-866-2Google. While larger advertisers and agencies have long had the ability to contact […]
It’s difficult to gauge the potential impact of Google’s new +1 initiative on marketers because of one somewhat mysterious factor: consumer behavior. When compared to Facebook, with its “Like” button, Google likely has relatively few users who’ve bothered to set up profiles. And, if a consumer doesn’t have a profile, using +1 isn’t an option […]
The signals used for Gmail’s priority inbox will soon be employed to tailor advertising in the app to more match users’ interests. The company says it will also be testing offers and coupons from local businesses in Gmail. The system will use Gmail user’s habits — whether they read messages quickly or mark them as […]
Google has announced additional targeting capabilities for ads appearing on its Display Network, allowing advertisers to choose categories, rather than keywords, to trigger their ad’s appearance. Given AdWords’ genesis as a search-oriented advertising system, keywords have always been the main mechanism for targeting ads, though additional refinements and options have long been available. Now, Google […]
Google has introduced a new version of AdSense aimed at making ads more relevant on search-oriented sites like a travel search engine, a job search site, or a product search site. AdSense Custom Search Ads are targeted based upon the keyword terms searched upon by the site’s users — the same keywords that the site […]
Facebook is testing new ad targeting options that display creative beside content that is contextually relevant, similarly to Google’s AdSense but with one important difference — ads would be targeted in real time as conversations are happening on the social network. Irina Slutsky reported the test in AdAge earlier this week. Facebook confirmed to me […]
Google has announced a new version of AdWords called Media Ads, aimed initially at marketers of major motion pictures with new releases. It will allow them to embed the trailer into their ad, and have it automatically come up first when someone searches for the title, or some variation of it. When someone clicks, Google […]
The European Advocate General is recommending that the Court of Justice of the European Union rule against retailer Marks & Spencer for bidding on the trademarked terms of Interflora, the flower delivery network company. If the Court of Justice acts on the findings, it could effectively spell the end of bidding on competitors’ trademarks in […]
Google is now providing new reporting for its AdWords Campaign Experiments (ACE), which allow advertisers to test keyword, bids, placements and other variables. The new report allows advertisers to see ACE metrics side-by-side with their regular campaigns. Previously, one had to download reports and do analysis in a spreadsheet. The results also show whether differences […]
Google has modified the way its location targeting controls function on AdWords to give advertisers more control over who sees their ads. Most importantly, advertisers can now distinguish between people that signal a location as part of their search query, and others that search from an IP address or GPS location in the area. For […]
DoubleClick today is unveiling DoubleClick for Search version 3, only the third major update in the campaign management tool’s five year history. According to the product’s manager, the move signals the Google division’s renewed commitment to the tool, which ties search in with the core display DoubleClick for Advertisers product. “We talk to customers a […]
Those “Ads by Google” and “i” labels on AdSense ads will soon be replaced by an “AdChoices” triangle icon and label, as Google moves to comply with an industry initiative from the Self-Regulatory Program for Online Behavioral Advertising. It will be the single largest roll-out of the “AdChoices” label to date, giving significant momentum to […]
Google has implemented changes to Google Partner Search — the index where advertisers can find certified agencies to manage their AdWords campaigns — to make it easier for the two parties to get in contact. The company has now added the ability for advertisers to fill out a form on the agencies’ profile page on […]
A website builder and SEO firm has been held liable in federal court in a case in which it was accused of enabling the sale of counterfeit goods. Bright Builders faces a $770,000 fine for damages in the judgment, handed down in U.S. District Court in South Carolina last week, while its client was only […]
Google is making good on promises it made to speed its AdSense code, rolling out an overhaul aimed at relieving the drag on publishers’ Web pages. The company estimates that its helping pages load faster by a half a second or more, when, previously, Google acknowledged that its code could delay page loads by 12 […]
Of the 24 percent of Americans who get most of their political news from the Internet, 20 percent cite Yahoo.com as their main source of news, and Google comes in next at 13 percent. Only CNN.com, at 22 percent, came in higher than the two search-centric destinations in the latest study from the Pew Research […]
Counterfeiters seem to love Google AdWords — the company shut down 50,000 AdWords accounts selling counterfeit goods in the last six months of 2010 alone. But some counterfeiters are still on the loose, raising the ire of Google’s advertisers who are selling legitimate versions of the same products. In response to the problem, Google has […]