MSN has launched a new ad preview tool for Bing.com. This tool allows you to see if your ads are showing without affecting the real search results, which is great news for advertisers as many were having trouble previewing their ads in results. So what exactly does this tool show you? (more…)
Ok folks, so Google Adwords has now introduced some interesting new interface features which include custom alerts, filter options and spreadsheet editing. SEM posted a great article on these new features and discussed their functions. Adwords users can now set up alerts for cost, average CPC, CTR, Average Position and Number of Clicks and Impressions. In addition to the ability to set up alerts, PPC marketers can now filter keyword reports based on factors such as impressions, cost and CTR. (more…)
There are plenty of blog posts and webinars out there to educate the search advertising agency industry… to a certain extent. This week DragonSearch gained access to AgencyLand, an online resource center created by Google to educate the industry on not just AdWords but Google advertising across the board. I personally had never heard of AgencyLand prior to the email I received from our Google representative and it’s doubtful I’m alone in this unawareness. According to a somewhat old article (we’re talking Internet time here) from Rupal Parkeh at Advertising Age, AgencyLand is only in beta for select agencies. Although DragonSearch just received its AgencyLand credentials, the content I’ve viewed so far is informative for all aspects of the industry even though it mainly revolves around Google products. (more…)
Welcome PPC specialists, advertisers, enthusiasts, and blog readers. Each week, DragonSearch will be posting the PPC Buzz, a collection of hot topics around the PPC world that can aid in optimization, change the PPC game, or simply be interesting. So without further ado, let’s get to the PPC Buzz of the week!
As we reported in our blog post Yahoo and Microsoft Agreement – It’s Impact on PPC, Microhoo as it’s being called will change the face of the paid search arena in the near future. With Bing’s search engine market share increasing and the integration of Yahoo paid search into Microsoft adCenter occurring in a little over a year, InhouseSEM.com has prepared 5 PPC Strategies to Prepare for Microhoo, which you can read here. There is no doubt these strategies can get you started in easing the inevitable transition of your Yahoo Sponsored Search campaigns into adCenter. I especially favor the idea of starting to pull Yahoo reports ASAP so you can gauge how the transition will affect your adCenter performance. I’m sure plenty more questions will arise once more information is known about exactly what will be occurring in this transition, but until then you should begin following these 5 basic strategies.
Nearly every pay per click advertiser knows YouTube is owned by Google and thus within the “search partners” category of the typical AdWords account. In addition, YouTube offers a pay-per-click program specifically designed to promote your videos which is ironically called Promoted Videos. YouTube PPC is very similar to how a Google AdWords ad group is set up, with the advertiser centering the promotion around a central idea or theme, creating an ad, selecting paid keywords to trigger that ad, and so forth.
So when you’re optimizing your AdWords campaigns and keywords, your YouTube PPC data is right at your fingertips. The only problem I have found with this so far is that although the YouTube pay per click data is displayed, edits cannot be made without going into your YouTube account.
As said, YouTube PPC works the same way as AdWords/Sponsored Links. When a user visits YouTube and searches for something, for example “energy vitamins”, a section on the right side of the page displays Promoted Videos that are utilizing this phrase as a paid keyword. An example is displayed below:
If the user clicks on one of these Promoted Videos, they are then taken to the specific video’s page.
In the PPC business you learn something new every day. Whether that new knowledge just rolled off the production floor or has been out there some time with you just finding out about it now, every tool and piece of data can ultimately help a client.
Something that has likely been around for awhile is the “Days to Purchase” report in the Ecommerce section of Google Analytics. I first heard about this report the other day while listening to a webinar discussion lead by Analytics guru Avinash Kaushik and have become fascinated by its potential ever since. (more…)
