To those arguing that Google has been steadily dumbing-down AdWords and taking controls away, the company is responding with what it’s calling Tools for the Power User. The first tool to come out of the box are ad customizers, designed to help advertisers optimize ad creatives at scale. Ad customizers are a set of parameters […]
Google announced on the Webmaster blog that they’ve updated the Google Webmaster Tools API to bring it up to par with other Google APIs. Google has revamped how you authenticate for apps or web-services and it also gives you access to some of the main features of Webmaster Tools. Specific features within the new API […]
Google announced it has retired its Web Search API this morning, recommending developers use the Custom Search API in its place. [blockquote cite=”Google Developers Blog”]On November 1, 2010, we announced the deprecation of the Web Search API. As our policy at the time, we supported the API for a three year period (and beyond), but […]
Aiming to make its search results more “developer friendly,” Bing says it has streamlined API, code and non-alphanumeric queries, made software download searches safer and added instant answers to the top of search results for Microsoft-related technology queries. Using a side-by-side comparison against Google search results for a “c# hashtag example” query, Bing illustrated how […]
Bing announced on the Bing Maps Developer blog that they have rolled out better rendering and styling improvements to their map imagery. They added a new gradient coloring for land areas that adjusts the brightness to your zoom level. The new gradient helps improve the contrast, making streets and other features more visible, says Microsoft. […]
Agencies or advertisers that have invoice billing enabled and use Bing Ads Insertion Orders can now create and approve IOs online rather than having to rely on email or fax. This has been a top request among agencies, in particular. Insertion orders can be created either by the customer or a Bing Ads account manager. […]
Today, Bing Ads released new interface updates and features for location targeting. Radius targeting is now more granular and available in kilometers as well as miles. You can set radius targeting in 1 mile or 1 kilometer increments, up to 500 miles or 800 kilometers. Previously targeting was limited to 5 or 10 miles and […]
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) Foursquare will soon be charging a small number of partners to use its Venue Database. Recently Microsoft and Foursquare agreed to a $15 million investment/licensing deal that brings Foursquare content to Bing search results and Windows Mobile. According to the WSJ article: The New York startup is […]
Today, Google introduced a new version of the API that allows retailers to manage product feed content programmatically, as opposed to through manual updates to Google Merchant Center. It’s the first version update of the API since Google first launched it in 2010, before Google Shopping became a paid platform. Version 2 of the Content […]
The Bing Ads team has added a new Geo Location report that offers more detail on the type of targeting methods used in serving your ads. The report is available under the list of Targeting reports via the Bing Ads API and the web UI. Aptly named, the “Geo location (New version)” report includes two […]
After a beta period that started in March, earlier this week, Google rolled out scripts for AdWords MCC accounts to all users. AdWords scripts can be used to automate account maintenance, changes and reporting. The ability to use scripts in MCC (My Client Center) accounts means users can now get the benefits of automation across […]
Microsoft wants to get the word out to Bing Ads Editor users be sure to update to the latest version of Big Ads Editor. As of today, users with versions Bing Ads Editor older than 10.2 will not be able to use the Google AdWords Import function. Today, Google retired an underlying API that powers […]
Just about anyone who has imported a campaign from Google AdWords or uploaded a new keyword set into Bing Ads has experienced the “duplicate keyword” error that occurs when two keywords in an ad group have subtle differences like hyphens or accents. That’s because Bing Ads removes extra characters from keywords in a process called […]
Google has launched the API for the new Google Shopping Campaign type for managing product listing ads (PLAs). The API is available to agencies and third-party platforms to facilitate large-scale implementations. Google Shopping Campaigns came out of beta last month and are available globally. The new campaign type is meant to make the process of […]
Expect Labs, which is behind the MindMeld consumer application, has announced a new developer API. The new API brings the company’s “anticipatory computing” platform to third parties in the cloud. Use of the API is free. Expect Labs is trying to get it “out there” and see how developers deploy the company’s technology on their applications. As a […]
Along with news that a new release of Bing Ads Editor is imminent, today the Bing Ads team announced an upcoming update to the conflict resolution workflow designed to simplify the campaign conflict review process. Campaign conflicts can arise when multiple people are managing an account across various platforms – Web UI, editors, third-party tools […]
A beta version of RadioSearchEngine.com launched this week after more than a year in development. According to its creator Michael Robertson, the site is the world’s first radio search engine, “There are other directories of A-Z lists of radio stations, but this is the first search engine where any song or artist can be located […]
Last week, users began seeing prompts to set up Microsoft account log-ins for their Bing Ads accounts. Some users expressed consternation about the changes and log-in errors they were experiencing when trying to postpone the new process. Today, to mitigate customer angst and make the process as seamless as possible, the Bing Ads team posted […]
Microsoft rolled out version 9 of the Bing Ads API for developers to start using immediately. The API will include the following additions to functionality: Bulk upload and download methods for campaign management which utilize comma separated values (CSV) and tab separated values (TSV) as the data interchange formats. These data formats are identical to the formats that will be […]
It looks like Chrome’s New Tab Page (NTP) may be available to everyone soon. While an experimental version was launched last December to a small selection of users, Chrome announced yesterday that they are continuing to test the new feature, and extending the number of beta users. In their continued quest to speed up search […]
Google has updated the process for setting up AdWords Test Accounts. Test accounts are used by developers to execute AdWords API requests without serving ads or affecting actual account performance. Starting today, instead of having to complete a web form application for account approval, developers can now create an MCC (my client center) test account […]
Late last year, many Raven Tools users were surprised to find that Search Engine ranking data had been removed. Under pressure from Google, Raven yanked the SERP data and focused the tool on helping SEOs and Internet Marketers with analytics tools. Well, Raven users that have missed the tracking data can now rejoice, as rank […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the Web. From Search Engine Land: New Google Maps App Gives Users More Search Functionality & Navigation Features Google announced today the release of a new Google Maps app for Android devices, with iPhone and iPad versions […]
Today Microsoft launched Bing Ads Developer Center, a resource hub for developers working with Bing Ads. The Bing Ads Developer Center features API information, code samples, feature updates, tutorials and documentation and a revamped developer forums. Developers can get a single user developer token within seconds, as opposed to weeks, from the Account […]
A couple of new features are coming to Bing Ads location extensions, which launched launched in March of last year. The features will start rolling out over the coming weeks. Starting today, new detailed reporting is available along with added functionality for setting up location extensions. A new Click to Directions link will appear every time an […]
Google announced that ad group-level mobile bid adjustments will start rolling out today and continue over the next couple of weeks in the Web UI. The added feature went live in the AdWords API last week. Like the elusive Keyword Planner that is rolling out now, ad group mobile bid adjustments are only available in […]
The roll-out has begun. Earlier this month Google said it would be adding ad group-level mobile bid adjustments to enhanced campaigns. As of yesterday, ad group mobile bid adjustments are available through the AdWords API. The new feature is accessible from all current versions of the API with the new AdGroupBidModifierService. Google has updated the […]
Bing Ads announced it is working on adding a Search Terms Report to make mining search query data more accessible from within the Web UI. Currently in the Web UI, search query data is only available under the Reports section. With the update, search terms reporting will be available in-line on the Keywords tab. Here’s […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the Web. From Search Engine Land: SMX Advanced Agenda Posted – Register Now & Save with Early Bird Rates! Join the most accomplished search marketers in the world at SMX Advanced, June 11-12 in Seattle. Check out […]
Today Bing Ads announced on its Developer blog that they plan to roll out Product Ads in the U.S. sometime early this summer. The ad unit follows AdWords Product Listing Ads format with thumbnail image, merchant information, price and optional promotional text included in the ad. Bing says they are testing the Product Ads format […]
Google’s antitrust case in the US concluded in January, much to the dismay of companies that had been agitating for tough action by the FTC. It was seen as a near total victory for Google. Rivals quickly turned their attention to Europe in the hope that, unencumbered by some of the legal issues that inhibited US regulators, it […]
As part of its antitrust settlement with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in January, Google agreed to allow ad campaigns to be exported to third party ad networks using its API. Here’s what Google said in a blog post at the time of the settlement earlier this year: Advertisers can already export their ad […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the Web. From Search Engine Land: No, Google Hasn’t Released Unannounced Penguin UpdatesThe last time Google has confirmed a refresh or update to the Penguin algorithm was back in October 2012 with the 3rd Penguin update. The […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the Web. From Search Engine Land: Search Engines More Trusted Than Social Media For News & Information [Study] When it comes to getting general news and information, consumers worldwide put as much trust in search engines as […]
Toward the end of 2012, I read an interesting article theorizing that Google will be crawling APIs instead of mobile websites in the future. API means Application Programming Interface which allows software, including websites and mobile apps, to provide direct integration based on functions permitted by the API. Websites and mobile apps use APIs predominantly to share content […]
Bit.ly announced a new set of APIs named Social Data APIs. The new APIs allow you to search for top stories in real time over the Bit.ly URL network. You can quickly see the top URLs and stories for any specific query right now, in real time. The three types of functions include: (1) True […]
Much is already known about the contours of the likely antitrust settlement between Google and the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The terms of the settlement were previously “leaked” (intentionally or otherwise) a couple of weeks ago and critics quickly berated the FTC as having “rolled over.” Broadly speaking, the rumors were that Google would […]
While there has been lots of talk about a Google crackdown on developer access to the AdWords API, there have been few details about what the disputed issues may be — and why they’re coming up now, with tools-makers like Raven and SEOmoz that have had access to the API for years. Now, Raven Tools, […]
In the last couple of weeks, two well-known search tool providers — Raven and SEOmoz — have had their access to the AdWords API revoked, with little public explanation, as was reported by Kahena Digital Marketing. But Google denies that this is a “crackdown” or widespread enforcement activity, saying it’s all in a day’s work […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Hijacking Google Search Results With Duplicate Content Dan Petrovic has explained how he hijacked a few pages in Google to show his copied version over the original version of the page. […]