Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Google and Niche Services
Google and Niche Services: "Google continues to end projects, the most recent one being AdWords for Print. The blog post that explains the decision shows the big picture at Google:"
Friday, January 16, 2009
Microsoft and their missed opportunities With paid search.
Microsoft Bid to Beat Google Builds on a History of Misses from the Wall Street Journal has a very detailed look at some of the mistakes Microsoft made early on in the paid search space. The piece goes through the failure of Microsoft’s original Keyword ad platform, named bCentral Keywords, which was discontinued in early 2000. It then discusses the fact that they did not purchase Overture, which Yahoo acquired in 2003. Followed by the failed attempts at buying Yahoo this past year.
we all know Microsoft has made many mistakes in the past with search opportunities. But the most interesting pieces of the article is that Ballmer still wants the deal with Yahoo. It is also very interesting to see that Microsoft’s new search ad platform, adCenter, was code named “Moonshot.” Many advertisers love the feature set within adCenter, so the technology is not the reason adCenter is not competing. As Andrew Goodman notes, it is about market share. Advertisers go where the customers are and the customers are at Google, not Microsoft.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Google is testing new AdWords budget option
Google have been offering selected clients a new AdWords budgeting option called "Timeframe". This allows advertisers to choose a monthly budgeting option which allocates budgets across a calendar month according to traffic demands. The monthly budgeting option has only been made available to selected advertisers during a beta testing period.
Most advertisers would be familiar with how daily budgets work, where a set spending limit is applied each day. One of the shortfalls of this approach means that on lower traffic days, you might have some unused budget leftover that could have been used on higher traffic days.
Monthly budgeting eliminates this issue by automatically adjusting your budget each day to match traffic demands. From the AdWords Help Center:
With a monthly budget, Google will adjust your budget automatically each day to meet traffic demand while still respecting your budget for the calendar month. If you've seen this on your AdWords account, let us know what you think!
Friday, January 09, 2009
Google Releases Top Tactics for difficult Times
As we continue to hear news about an economic recession, the good folks at Google have decided to help you out.
They have recently announced the release of the "Top Tactics for Tough Times" centered around making the most of Google Adwords.
Here are the Google AdWords experts' top recommendations for making the most out of Adwords.
1. Focus your ads on low prices and savings.
2. Use value-related keywords
3. Make sure your ad groups are targeted and relevant
4. Do not waste money on irrelevant clicks
5. Make it easy for customers to buy
6. Focus your money on your high performers.
The article goes into more details on these points, so if you would like to read more, then check it out here.
http://www.google.com/adwords/tactics2008/
Thursday, January 01, 2009
Friday, December 26, 2008
Predictions for 2009
Each year, the blogosphere is flooded with predictions for the next. It’s time to look into 2009 for one of the most exciting, and unpredictable, companies in existence — Google.
Google Apps will continue to gain momentum in the Enterprise
The longer the economy stays bad, the more attractive Google Apps begins to look for businesses that currently license Microsoft products. It costs an incredible amount of money to legally run things like Microsoft Exchange and Office in-house. Google’s Enterprise business will grow at Microsoft’s expense this coming year.
Google Chrome makes deal with OEM’s, and snags a significant chunk of the browser market
It would be almost impossible for Google to dethrone Internet Explorer in 2009 (or even Firefox for that matter). Google will, however, make a deal with OEM’s to have Google Chrome installed, and set as the “default” browser on new computers. If this happens, it will have a significant impact on Chrome usage in 2009. We could see Google snag as much as 10 to 15 percent of the browser market in the coming year.
GOOG will gain some of the ground it lost on wall street
Overall, this was a terrible year for Google — just as it was with almost every other company because of the economy. As investors become more comfortable with Google’s dominant position, and the need for companies to keep their online marketing budgets relatively static, the share price should close in the green for 2009 (but of course, if I could accurately predict this type of thing, I’d probably be on a beach somewhere, so take it with a grain of salt).
Each year, the blogosphere is flooded with predictions for the next. It’s time to look into 2009 for one of the most exciting, and unpredictable, companies in existence — Google.
Google Apps will continue to gain momentum in the Enterprise
The longer the economy stays bad, the more attractive Google Apps begins to look for businesses that currently license Microsoft products. It costs an incredible amount of money to legally run things like Microsoft Exchange and Office in-house. Google’s Enterprise business will grow at Microsoft’s expense this coming year.
Google Chrome makes deal with OEM’s, and snags a significant chunk of the browser market
It would be almost impossible for Google to dethrone Internet Explorer in 2009 (or even Firefox for that matter). Google will, however, make a deal with OEM’s to have Google Chrome installed, and set as the “default” browser on new computers. If this happens, it will have a significant impact on Chrome usage in 2009. We could see Google snag as much as 10 to 15 percent of the browser market in the coming year.
GOOG will gain some of the ground it lost on wall street
Overall, this was a terrible year for Google — just as it was with almost every other company because of the economy. As investors become more comfortable with Google’s dominant position, and the need for companies to keep their online marketing budgets relatively static, the share price should close in the green for 2009 (but of course, if I could accurately predict this type of thing, I’d probably be on a beach somewhere, so take it with a grain of salt).
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Monday, December 08, 2008
A New Redesign of Google Reader
Google Reader has just launched a major redesign to its interface, addressing many of the top concerns of users of the popular RSS reader.
In addition to simply looking way more clean and inviting, Google has introduced more collapsible navigation options, a new section for friends, additional feed bundles, and perhaps most welcoming to power users: the option to hide those intimidating unread items counts, which can quickly swell to hundreds or the dreaded “1,000+” when one spends more than a few hours away from the service.
The “hide” options are handled on a per subscription basis, creating a lot of flexibility in terms of deciding how overwhelmed you want to feel inside of Google Reader. When there are new items to see, the links will still be bold, but the number will not show.
The Google Reader team has a full explanation of the changes available on their blog.
Google Reader has just launched a major redesign to its interface, addressing many of the top concerns of users of the popular RSS reader.
In addition to simply looking way more clean and inviting, Google has introduced more collapsible navigation options, a new section for friends, additional feed bundles, and perhaps most welcoming to power users: the option to hide those intimidating unread items counts, which can quickly swell to hundreds or the dreaded “1,000+” when one spends more than a few hours away from the service.
The “hide” options are handled on a per subscription basis, creating a lot of flexibility in terms of deciding how overwhelmed you want to feel inside of Google Reader. When there are new items to see, the links will still be bold, but the number will not show.
The Google Reader team has a full explanation of the changes available on their blog.
Monday, December 01, 2008
Google’s New PPC Keyword Tool
The tool helps AdWords advertisers identify new keyword opportunities that aren’t currently being used in their AdWords ad campaigns.
Based on the URL and initial keywords you enter, the Search-Based Keyword Tool generates keyword and landing page ideas that are relevant and specific to your website. I’ve only been playing around with it for a few days, but it’s already helped me pinpoint some keywords I’ve been overlooking in our PPC campaigns.
Two lists of keywords are generated when you enter your details. The first one is a list of keywords related to your page, meaning keywords that Google has extracted from your page copy. The second list relates to the specific search words and phrases that you entered in the search field.
For each list, the tool displays the following:
The average amount of traffic a search term receives each month on Google.com (and other Google search properties, such as google.co.uk)
The approximate amount of competition you face for ad placement on these queries
A suggested bid amount for the keyword/s that may place your ad in the top three spots of the page
The frequency with which an ad for your website appeared for a given query
The frequency with which your ad appeared in the first page of search results for a given query
The page on your website that best matched the keyword suggestion (if applicable)
The tool is better than prior versions of both the Yahoo Keyword Selector Tool and the Google AdWords Keyword Tool, for two major reasons:
1) The bid suggestions give you an instant ballpark cost of adding keywords to your campaign based on actual competitor bids and you can pick, choose and export the ones you like into an Excel spreadsheet from the main report area. This time-saving functionality has been sorely missing from other PPC keyword tools.
2) By displaying the pages on your site that best match the search queries, the tool helps you choose the best landing pages for your ads without tiresome allocation by hand.
The tool helps AdWords advertisers identify new keyword opportunities that aren’t currently being used in their AdWords ad campaigns.
Based on the URL and initial keywords you enter, the Search-Based Keyword Tool generates keyword and landing page ideas that are relevant and specific to your website. I’ve only been playing around with it for a few days, but it’s already helped me pinpoint some keywords I’ve been overlooking in our PPC campaigns.
Two lists of keywords are generated when you enter your details. The first one is a list of keywords related to your page, meaning keywords that Google has extracted from your page copy. The second list relates to the specific search words and phrases that you entered in the search field.
For each list, the tool displays the following:
The average amount of traffic a search term receives each month on Google.com (and other Google search properties, such as google.co.uk)
The approximate amount of competition you face for ad placement on these queries
A suggested bid amount for the keyword/s that may place your ad in the top three spots of the page
The frequency with which an ad for your website appeared for a given query
The frequency with which your ad appeared in the first page of search results for a given query
The page on your website that best matched the keyword suggestion (if applicable)
The tool is better than prior versions of both the Yahoo Keyword Selector Tool and the Google AdWords Keyword Tool, for two major reasons:
1) The bid suggestions give you an instant ballpark cost of adding keywords to your campaign based on actual competitor bids and you can pick, choose and export the ones you like into an Excel spreadsheet from the main report area. This time-saving functionality has been sorely missing from other PPC keyword tools.
2) By displaying the pages on your site that best match the search queries, the tool helps you choose the best landing pages for your ads without tiresome allocation by hand.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Linkedins Search Platform
Suggestive Search - When you type into the search box, a list of suggested names from your contacts pops up. You can select one of the names without having to type in the whole thing. I think this might come in handy when you're having a hard time remembering a name. Maybe you remember the first letter or the first name, but the rest of it just isn't coming to you - this can help.
Streamlined Search Results - LinkedIn changed the design to make it easier to scan the results. They also added photos. Results can be sorted by relevance, which includes the social graph, or by relationship, relationship + recommendations, and keyword.
Customizable Views Users can determine what info they want returned in their search results. Just click the "Views" drop down menu (next to the "Sort" drop down menu at the top of the results). You can decide whether you want to view headlines, photos, locations and more of the people returned in a search.
Take Action Straight from the Search Results When you mouse over a result, you'll notice links that let you take action. You can send InMail, get introduced (through a common contact), or add that person to your network.
Modify Your Search On the right hand side of the results, you'll notice a form where you can type in additional information to narrow your search down and pinpoint it to more exact specifications. You can search by name, job title, company location, and school.
Save Your Search If you want to return to the results, you can save your search. This is a good idea if you've modified your search or customized your view.
Suggestive Search - When you type into the search box, a list of suggested names from your contacts pops up. You can select one of the names without having to type in the whole thing. I think this might come in handy when you're having a hard time remembering a name. Maybe you remember the first letter or the first name, but the rest of it just isn't coming to you - this can help.
Streamlined Search Results - LinkedIn changed the design to make it easier to scan the results. They also added photos. Results can be sorted by relevance, which includes the social graph, or by relationship, relationship + recommendations, and keyword.
Customizable Views Users can determine what info they want returned in their search results. Just click the "Views" drop down menu (next to the "Sort" drop down menu at the top of the results). You can decide whether you want to view headlines, photos, locations and more of the people returned in a search.
Take Action Straight from the Search Results When you mouse over a result, you'll notice links that let you take action. You can send InMail, get introduced (through a common contact), or add that person to your network.
Modify Your Search On the right hand side of the results, you'll notice a form where you can type in additional information to narrow your search down and pinpoint it to more exact specifications. You can search by name, job title, company location, and school.
Save Your Search If you want to return to the results, you can save your search. This is a good idea if you've modified your search or customized your view.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Google SearchWiki 101: An Illustrated Guide
Google SearchWiki 101: An Illustrated Guide
A new feature that allows you to move and comment on search results — has been out for less than a day, and it’s amazing to see how much confusion (as well as commentary) there is already developing. So below, some clarification on how it works, opportunities search marketers should consider, some privacy issues and ideas for improving it.
It allows you to move a listing higher in the search results, or move a listing lower in the results or delete a listing altogether. You can also comment about search results you see, and others can view your comments.
A new feature that allows you to move and comment on search results — has been out for less than a day, and it’s amazing to see how much confusion (as well as commentary) there is already developing. So below, some clarification on how it works, opportunities search marketers should consider, some privacy issues and ideas for improving it.
It allows you to move a listing higher in the search results, or move a listing lower in the results or delete a listing altogether. You can also comment about search results you see, and others can view your comments.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Google’s Relase New Search-Based Keyword Tool and Tells You What Keywords You’re Missing.
Google released a new keyword tool tonight, named the Search-Based Keyword Tool. This tool goes beyond what the other Google tools provide and tells you what keywords you are currently missing out on based on search query data from your site’s content.
Beyond the advertisers point of view, you can use this as a nice competitive analysis tool. You can see data about which keywords are relevant to any site on the Internet — so, if you are getting into a new line of business and want keyword data, just plug in the site’s domain and click go.
Google released a new keyword tool tonight, named the Search-Based Keyword Tool. This tool goes beyond what the other Google tools provide and tells you what keywords you are currently missing out on based on search query data from your site’s content.
Beyond the advertisers point of view, you can use this as a nice competitive analysis tool. You can see data about which keywords are relevant to any site on the Internet — so, if you are getting into a new line of business and want keyword data, just plug in the site’s domain and click go.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
On Demand indexing
Now you can ensure your new pages or updated content is indexed by Google with 24 hours.
Well Google's new on-demand indexing service offers site owners just that. Via your Google Webmaster area, you can request that Google index new pages or content on your site - which will be scheduled for indexing within 24 hours.
The catch: The service is only available to site owners who use Google Site Search.
It makes sense that if you're using Google Site Search on your website, you want to be confident that all your content is available. On-demand indexing has been created to ensure Google Site Search users have confidence that searchers will find all their newest content.
Anyone with a website can take advantage of on-demand indexing by signing up to Google Site Search, even if you don't plan on using the search facility. Find out more about Google Site Search
Now you can ensure your new pages or updated content is indexed by Google with 24 hours.
Well Google's new on-demand indexing service offers site owners just that. Via your Google Webmaster area, you can request that Google index new pages or content on your site - which will be scheduled for indexing within 24 hours.
The catch: The service is only available to site owners who use Google Site Search.
It makes sense that if you're using Google Site Search on your website, you want to be confident that all your content is available. On-demand indexing has been created to ensure Google Site Search users have confidence that searchers will find all their newest content.
Anyone with a website can take advantage of on-demand indexing by signing up to Google Site Search, even if you don't plan on using the search facility. Find out more about Google Site Search
Google AdPlanner now for everyone.
Google Ad Planner is available to anyone with a Google account, and the system has been given some useful improvements.
So what is Google Ad Planner? According to the original release post back in June, Ad Planner is:-
"a research and media planning tool that connects advertisers and publishers. When using Google Ad Planner, simply enter demographics and sites associated with your target audience, and the tool will return information about sites (both on and off the Google content network) that your audience is likely to visit."
There are three key enhancements to the service:
1. Improved Audience Definitions:
Define your audience by likeliness to search using particular keywords and drill down by state / metro geographical levels.
2. New Site Ranking Methods
Rank sites based their likelihood to attract your desired audience, the sites’ popularity or a mix of both.
3. Interactive Media Plan Analysis
A new interactive bubble chart allows you to compare sites in your media plan by demographics, frequency, traffic, and unique visitors.
If you're looking to expand your campaign, or checking that you're maximizing your potential coverage, this could be a very handy tool. It's especially useful that Ad Planner includes sites outside Google's content network which means you get a healthy view of the available online ad inventory.
Google Ad Planner is available to anyone with a Google account, and the system has been given some useful improvements.
So what is Google Ad Planner? According to the original release post back in June, Ad Planner is:-
"a research and media planning tool that connects advertisers and publishers. When using Google Ad Planner, simply enter demographics and sites associated with your target audience, and the tool will return information about sites (both on and off the Google content network) that your audience is likely to visit."
There are three key enhancements to the service:
1. Improved Audience Definitions:
Define your audience by likeliness to search using particular keywords and drill down by state / metro geographical levels.
2. New Site Ranking Methods
Rank sites based their likelihood to attract your desired audience, the sites’ popularity or a mix of both.
3. Interactive Media Plan Analysis
A new interactive bubble chart allows you to compare sites in your media plan by demographics, frequency, traffic, and unique visitors.
If you're looking to expand your campaign, or checking that you're maximizing your potential coverage, this could be a very handy tool. It's especially useful that Ad Planner includes sites outside Google's content network which means you get a healthy view of the available online ad inventory.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Google Updates Site Search
Google has introduced some new functionality to its Site Search product, which allows customers to search within your own site. The feature that everyone is talking about is the ability to add pages on-demand to be indexed by site search, so customers have access to these new pages as soon as they're ready.
In this world, that is full of all kinds of hustle and bustle, people demand speed! It was the game of yesterday years, when people used to wait for hours to get the things done. Now everything is instant! Google has made everything look so simple for us. Everything is available at our fingertips.
Google is there to answer our questions, it is there to provide us with minute directions and no matter what. You name it, and it has it!
On-Demand Indexing ensures that site visitors have access to a site's freshest content, and that businesses have the flexibility to share news, product releases and promotions as they happen.
According to the Google Press Center
"With On-Demand Indexing:
• Site owners get an "Index Now" button to quickly and easily update their site search results with new and updated content.
• New pages are searchable within hours " taking no longer than a day to appear within site search results.
Google Site Search, our cloud-based search solution for business, helps thousands of organizations harness the power of Google.com, and fully customize search to suit their website. Along with the greater control of On-Demand Indexing, site owners get the same ease of use and fast results of Google Site Search, including:
• Set up that takes minutes and results returned in less than a second
• The ability to promote new or certain types of pages at the top of results
• Full customization controls over the look and feel of search
• A range of options for phone and email support"
Google has introduced some new functionality to its Site Search product, which allows customers to search within your own site. The feature that everyone is talking about is the ability to add pages on-demand to be indexed by site search, so customers have access to these new pages as soon as they're ready.
In this world, that is full of all kinds of hustle and bustle, people demand speed! It was the game of yesterday years, when people used to wait for hours to get the things done. Now everything is instant! Google has made everything look so simple for us. Everything is available at our fingertips.
Google is there to answer our questions, it is there to provide us with minute directions and no matter what. You name it, and it has it!
On-Demand Indexing ensures that site visitors have access to a site's freshest content, and that businesses have the flexibility to share news, product releases and promotions as they happen.
According to the Google Press Center
"With On-Demand Indexing:
• Site owners get an "Index Now" button to quickly and easily update their site search results with new and updated content.
• New pages are searchable within hours " taking no longer than a day to appear within site search results.
Google Site Search, our cloud-based search solution for business, helps thousands of organizations harness the power of Google.com, and fully customize search to suit their website. Along with the greater control of On-Demand Indexing, site owners get the same ease of use and fast results of Google Site Search, including:
• Set up that takes minutes and results returned in less than a second
• The ability to promote new or certain types of pages at the top of results
• Full customization controls over the look and feel of search
• A range of options for phone and email support"
Thursday, November 13, 2008
SEO Starter Guide from Google
Google is getting into the SEO consulting business. Well, not quite. But, Google is now formally offering an “SEO Starter Guide” with practical advice for webmasters about improving search engine visibility and increasing traffic to a web site.
It is a 22-page PDF announced today on the Webmaster Central blog. This is the same guide Google uses internally for its own sites (YouTube, etc.).
The guide is well written and geared toward webmasters and business owners who need a basic training in SEO. Topics covered include:
• Page Titles
• Description Meta Tag
• URL Structure
• Site Navigation
• Creating Quality Content
• Anchor Text
• Heading Tags (H1s, H2s, etc.)
• Image Optimization
• Robots.txt
• Rel=”nofollow”
• Website Promotion
• Webmaster Tools
• Analytics
• More Resources
How to use the rel=”nofollow” attribute on individual links. Many in the SEO industry have thought this attribute is a red flag, something that tells Google that a professional SEO has been tweaking the page, and not something that an average webmaster would even know about. That’s clearly not the case anymore; rel=”nofollow” is more mainstream now thanks to a full page of explanation in this SEO guide.
Google is getting into the SEO consulting business. Well, not quite. But, Google is now formally offering an “SEO Starter Guide” with practical advice for webmasters about improving search engine visibility and increasing traffic to a web site.
It is a 22-page PDF announced today on the Webmaster Central blog. This is the same guide Google uses internally for its own sites (YouTube, etc.).
The guide is well written and geared toward webmasters and business owners who need a basic training in SEO. Topics covered include:
• Page Titles
• Description Meta Tag
• URL Structure
• Site Navigation
• Creating Quality Content
• Anchor Text
• Heading Tags (H1s, H2s, etc.)
• Image Optimization
• Robots.txt
• Rel=”nofollow”
• Website Promotion
• Webmaster Tools
• Analytics
• More Resources
How to use the rel=”nofollow” attribute on individual links. Many in the SEO industry have thought this attribute is a red flag, something that tells Google that a professional SEO has been tweaking the page, and not something that an average webmaster would even know about. That’s clearly not the case anymore; rel=”nofollow” is more mainstream now thanks to a full page of explanation in this SEO guide.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Google adding new tools to Gmail
Google is introducing new tools that will convert its free email service into a video and audio channel for people who want to see and hear each other while they communicate.
Activating the features, introduced on Tuesday, will require a free piece of software as well as a Webcam, which are becoming more commonplace as computer manufacturers embed video equipment into laptops.
Once the additional software is installed, Gmail users will be given the option to see and hear each other without leaving the email application.
The video feature will work only if all the participants have Gmail accounts. It's supposed to be compatible with computers running the Windows operating system or Apple's Mac computers.
Google also modified Google Reader, a popular tool for setting up Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds from favorite websites, to feature automatic translation of content into users' chosen languages.
An RSS feed can be set up using Google Reader, for example, to pull articles from a Turkish blog or website, and the content can be automatically translated into English or any of the other nearly 20 languages available.
Google has been adding more bells and whistles to Gmail as part of its effort to gain ground on the longtime leaders in free email, Yahoo and Microsoft.
Google is introducing new tools that will convert its free email service into a video and audio channel for people who want to see and hear each other while they communicate.
Activating the features, introduced on Tuesday, will require a free piece of software as well as a Webcam, which are becoming more commonplace as computer manufacturers embed video equipment into laptops.
Once the additional software is installed, Gmail users will be given the option to see and hear each other without leaving the email application.
The video feature will work only if all the participants have Gmail accounts. It's supposed to be compatible with computers running the Windows operating system or Apple's Mac computers.
Google also modified Google Reader, a popular tool for setting up Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds from favorite websites, to feature automatic translation of content into users' chosen languages.
An RSS feed can be set up using Google Reader, for example, to pull articles from a Turkish blog or website, and the content can be automatically translated into English or any of the other nearly 20 languages available.
Google has been adding more bells and whistles to Gmail as part of its effort to gain ground on the longtime leaders in free email, Yahoo and Microsoft.
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