Search Engines | PPC Ian

Google Local Maps Pushing Down Paid Ads

Posted by: Ian Comments: 4 comments so far

Feb. 03

Check out the screenshot below of the Google search results for the ever competitive query, “auto insurance”. At the top of the right rail, you’ll see a map. If you click the title of the map (“Map for auto insurance”), you get taken to a local results page that includes local brokers. If you’re a local broker, this could be a great way to get more business. However, if you’re a paid search advertiser and show up on the right rail, this means lower CTRs.

The map pushes all ads on the right rail down. At the end of the day, this means it’s more important than ever to show up in the top yellow bar. Otherwise, your ad will get a significantly lower CTRs. Google is supposed to normalize CTRs for position for purposes of quality score, but I wonder if they are factoring in this new map feature. The lower CTRs of right rail advertisers could be a vicious cycle if Google is not taking this new map feature into account.

My advice: Work on your CTRs, landing pages, and overall account structure/efficiency to make sure you show up in that top yellow bar! It’s becoming more important than ever to avoid the right rail, if possible, and show up in the yellow bar.

Screenshot of Google search results © Google

Posted in: Search Engines | Tags: adwords, google maps | Comments: 4 comments so far, join the discussion!

Uncover Hidden Tricks With Google Instant

Posted by: Ian Comments: 10 comments so far

Jan. 21

It’s the weekend so it’s time to relax. It’s time to have a little fun and stop taking things so seriously. In that light, I wanted to share some really cool “hidden tricks” today with Google Instant. Some of my team members actually shared these with me on Friday and I was so excited about it. I absolutely can’t get enough of Google’s humor. For SEM geeks, like myself, this stuff is too funny.

Below, you will see two screenshots. The first is the search engine results on Google when I type in “askew”. As you can see, Google Instant technology actually makes the page go askew for the word askew, how cool is that!

The second screenshot shows the search results for the search term “do a barrel roll”. This one is so crazy, you just have to see it for yourself. Type in “do a barrel roll” on Google Instant and the entire page does a barrel roll. Obviously, my screenshot is just a moment in time during the barrel roll process.

Bring these into work on Monday and you’ll be the hero of your SEM team. Do you know any hidden tricks with Google Instant? There just have to be more. I have not yet taken the time to search for other Google tricks, but definitely looking forward to uncovering more of them!

Screenshots in this post © Google search results

Posted in: Search Engines | Tags: askew, do a barrel roll | Comments: 10 comments so far, join the discussion!

Capture Email Addresses With Google AdWords

Posted by: Ian Comments: 7 comments so far

Dec. 27

I’m a huge fan of Google AdWords ad extensions. What are ad extensions? They are new ways of customizing your AdWords ads to greatly improve your overall CTR and interaction with searchers. Basically, Google is challenging the traditional paid search ad format with new, special extensions that make your ads more interesting and interactive than ever before. Different ad extensions make sense in different verticals. Some of my favorite examples from the finance vertical include Call Extensions and Sitelinks. In the retail vertical, you may quite familiar with seller review extensions.

Recently, I noticed another cool ad extension that’s still in beta testing, email lead capture extensions (check out the screenshot below). For many verticals, the money truly is in the email list. This is never more true than in the “daily deals” vertical. When I search for “sf deals”, I found a neat ad by Pinchit that allows me to sign up for their email deals without ever leaving Google AdWords! If you make a lot of money from your email list, I highly recommend asking your AdWords rep about this extension. If you’re in a vertical that is not as reliant on your email list, I highly recommend testing the other extensions, you will not be disappointed. Great work Google, please keep the cool ad extensions coming.

Posted in: Search Engines | Tags: ad extensions, adwords | Comments: 7 comments so far, join the discussion!

Yahoo! Rich Ads Are Back

Posted by: Ian Comments: Be the first person to comment

Dec. 20

If you were a big advertiser on Yahoo! back in the Panama days (before the Yahoo!/Microsoft Search Alliance), you may remember rich ads in search. What are rich ads? They are basically an awesome way to make your brand/trademark ads stand out. I’m talking about adding an image (or even video) to your brand keywords. I’m talking about including sitelinks in your ad. I’m talking about adding a zip code box to your ad so your users can start filling out your form right from the ad itself! When it comes to rich ads, it’s all about customization.

Rich Ads Are Now Powered By adCenter

When the Yahoo!/Microsoft Search Alliance came around, Yahoo! rich ads disappeared. It made sense. adCenter became the platform of choice and adCenter did not support rich ads at the time. Yahoo! Panama was the only platform in our industry offering this capability. However, both Yahoo! and Microsoft promised that rich ads would be back, and they now are!

Capitalize On Your Brand Name Traffic

Check out the screenshot below. You can see Rosetta Stone’s rich ad (screenshot taken today). In this particular rich ad, Rosetta Stone is leveraging an image and also sitelinks. There’s no doubt that they are enjoying a higher click through rate and increased brand awareness. Also, they are preventing other advertisers from showing up in the top yellow bar. Rich ads take up a lot of space so when rich ads deliver they will occupy the entire top bar.

Enjoy Rich Ads On Both Yahoo! and Bing

I’m super excited about rich ads (more so than ever before) because they now display on both Yahoo! and Bing thanks to the Search Alliance. Moreover, the process for uploading rich ads (and the overall bidding framework) is more simplistic and scalable than ever before. If you’re a large advertiser on adCenter, you just have to reach out to your Yahoo! reps about rich ads. You won’t be disappointed and it could turn out to be one of your big successes of 2012!

Want to learn more about the Yahoo!/Microsoft Search Alliance and my perspective on the transition from Panama? You’ll want to check out my Search Alliance Case Study which is now live on Yahoo!’s advertising portal.

Posted in: Search Engines | Tags: adcenter, yahoo | Comments: Be the first person to comment!

Favicons Are Important For Online Marketing

Posted by: Ian Comments: 2 comments so far

Dec. 07

I just got a brand new favicon for PPC Ian and I’m quite excited about it. Check out the URL bar above. You can see that there’s a little 16×16 image with the mouse pointer clicking the target. My favicon also displays in the browser tab window and the toolbar bookmarks (check out the first screenshot below and you can see what I’m talking about). In short, favicons are a really cool graphical addition to any site and can add a lot of brand value.

Here’s where it gets really cool. Check out the second screenshot below, the Yahoo! paid search results for the brand name “Progressive”. As you can see, Progressive’s favicon shows up right in their paid ad. This is something Yahoo! has been doing for a while, and I really like it! If you’re running PPC campaigns on Yahoo! (via adCenter) and your brand name drives a lot of traffic, you definitely need a favicon. Right now, favicons only display on Yahoo! for brand searches, but they can really help your CTR if your brand name drives a lot of traffic.

I was able to get two favicons (for PPC Ian and IJL Productions) for $50, with multiple revisions. It was totally easy to outsource the project on Elance and get great quality work. Especially for your large websites, I recommend getting your own favicons today. Once they are ready, simply upload your favicon.ico file to your website’s root directory and you’re good to go.