November 13, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Google Ad Sitelinks

Last week, Google announced the launch of a new product called Ad Sitelinks, which is not available for all advertisers yet.  This is usually how they release new products, commencing a preliminary run with a select few advertisers before the product is even widely discussed.  Then they start expanding the reach more and more before it is eventually available to all advertisers through their normal AdWords interface.

This new product allows your AdWords paid search ads to include more links that can go deeper into your content, beyond your landing page.  It would look like the example above.

Advertisers may add up to ten links, although Google will only display up to four.  Google thus recommends that advertisers list their most important links first.

To employ this new feature, it is not necessary to write new ads.  Instead, Google will simply add these new Sitelinks to your current ads.  If you are eligible to participate, you will see the option in your Campaign Settings.  Right after the demographic and language targeting, you should see a section called Networks, Devices, and Extensions.  Within this section there are a few options, one of which being to edit your Ad Extensions.  If you do not see this edit option, then this is likely not available to you yet.

Ad Sitelinks Edit Option

This could prove to be very helpful for some advertisers, allowing more options to consumers.  Google recommends taking advantage of this during the holidays as an easy way to update seasonal promotions.

Filed Under: Featured, Paid Search Tagged With: Ads, google, Paid Search, Pay per click, ppc
May 29, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Google Trademark Update

I wanted to add an update to a past blog post I wrote, Trademark Infringement in PPC.  Last week, Google updated their trademark policy in the US.  More ads will be allowed to use trademarks in their ad text with these new criteria.

This change will be mostly helpful to AdWords advertisers that are resellers or informational sites.  You can now use a trademark in your ad text if you are using the term in a descriptive way, reselling the trademarked product, selling components for the trademarked product, or providing non-competitive information on the trademark.  Your landing page will have to back this up, too.

If you are advertising your site on Google AdWords for any of these reasons, and have run into problems with declined ads in the past because of trademark policies, you should edit your ads now.  You can resubmit these ads with the trademark terms and they could start running as soon as June 15.  This is only the US, but pertains to both the Search and Content networks.

This is a big change for Google, as this has been a problem that many advertisers have run into the past.  Fortunately, I think this should allow for the proper sites to use trademarked terms appropriately, without their use being abused.

Photo courtesy of gurms.

Filed Under: Featured, Life, Paid Search, Social Media Tagged With: Ads, Google AdWords, Paid Search, Pay per click, ppc
March 12, 2009 By 2 Comments

A Social Media Fallacy

For the past two years, the Internet has been buzzing with talks of social media.  It really is a wonderful means to keep in touch, meet new people, and learn about new topics.  In fact, a recent Nielsen Online news release, social networks are being used more frequently then traditional email sources.

With social sites growing so rapidly, advertisers are all grabbing for a piece of the pie in the hopes of reaching this new emerging audience.

The problem?  No one really cares.

A recent survey from the Participatory Marketing Network shows some interesting result.

Though an overwhelming majority (84%) of Millennial Internet users notice ads on social networks, only 19% find them relevant, and 36% claim they never click on them.

You can’t just through money at ads on social networks and think you’ll see an instant jump in conversions and ROI; ads are only part of the solution.  In order to see the true value in social networks, you have to actually participate.

You need a fan page or company profile in the networks, as well.  These pages need to offer unique and relevant content for the audience; and it never hurts to offer an incentive.  More than having the profiles and pages, you need to tell people you exist.  Advertise that you are in social spaces, talk to people as they contact you, and make sure you let people know their voice is heard.

The same survey from the Participatory Marketing Network showed that about half of people are quite willing to befriend brands.  It also showed that you need to offer some sort of incentive to get people to be your brand’s friend.

Some 62% of Millennials admitted they’ve visited a brand or fan page on a social network and nearly half (48%) actually joined.

The survey found Millennials join a brand group or fan page for the following reasons:

  • Getting news or product updates (67%)
  • Having access to promotions (64%)
  • Viewing or downloading music or videos (41%)
  • Submitting opinions (36%)
  • Connecting with other consumers (33%)

I know it sounds like a lot of work, and it is.  It should be.  Social media is more about the conversation and conversations take time to have.  This is not meant to discourage anyone from dabbling in social media; it’s meant to help you set realistic goals.  If you’re not willing to give the social networks more time than it takes you to placement target them in Google, the members of these online communities will not give you the time that you want of them.

Filed Under: Featured, Social Media Tagged With: Ads, Paid Search, Social Media
February 26, 2009 By 1 Comment

Ad Creativity Within Limits

One thing I enjoy doing here at SageRock is writing Paid Search ads for the engines.  I find it challenging at times, which makes me more determined.  Writing ads isn’t like writing for me, it’s more like taking bits and pieces of information, then moving and configuring them.  I find this easier than writing.  This is probably why I am much more active in writing tweets rather than blog posts.  It’s different to write a line or two rather than well-thought out paragraphs.  These couple of lines must be well-thought out as well, but it’s a different process altogether for me.

How do I convey the message that this brand, this product, and this price are all the best ever within just 70 characters?  How do I grab a user’s attention with a title that is just 25 characters?  Sometimes it’s like a puzzle for me.  I take this information that typically focuses on the brand, features, benefits, and, sometimes, price.  Then I blend the bits and pieces together to form tidy little lines that send a clear and cohesive message that perform marketing miracles.

You also need to consider what keywords will be relating to this ad in the account.  The more relevant the ad is to the keyword, the better chance you have of ranking well for that keyword.  This is usually made easier if you break your Campaigns down into very specific Ad Groups allowing you to better target your ads.  Plus, keywords used to conduct a search will appear in bold font in your ad, highlighting its relevance to the user.  Relevancy is key here.  You want to rank well and you want to make sure you are what the user is looking for.  If you’re not, users with absolutely no interest in your products, services, or company will click on your ad, deplete your budget, and ultimately reduce your ROI.

Sometimes you may have to cut your message short to fit within the search engine ad limits, but it is usually possible to get the main points across.  This will capture the necessary people and then hopefully bring them to a landing page that can discuss in more detail all the pretty things you offer.

Photo “Pen and Paper” by Kristian D.

Filed Under: Featured, Paid Search Tagged With: Ads, creative ppc ads, Paid Search, web marketing