Just received email alert from Google AdWords today that will affect advertisers using PPC (pay per click) ads targeting mobile users. Basically, they’ll now be making phone numbers included in actual ad text clickable:

Dear AdWords Advertiser,

If you currently have a phone number in your ad text or have plans to start adding your phone number in an ad, this is an important notice that in the coming weeks, we will be launching a new enhancement to AdWords ads that will impact charges on clicks to these numbers.

To help our mobile users connect more easily with advertisers, all non-clickable phone numbers displayed in AdWords ad text will be automatically converted into a Click-to-call number.  Currently when advertisers enter a phone number directly into their ad text instead of using Call Extensions, the phone number is not clickable and will not generate a call. This can be a frustrating experience for mobile users who attempt to initiate a call to this phone number.

The new Click-to-call enhancement ensures that all phone numbers shown in AdWords ads are clickable and allows users to easily place calls from their mobile device. If your ad text includes a phone number, you will begin to receive clicks and calls on this number once the enhancement is enabled in your account. As with phone calls placed via a Call Extension, you will be charged for clicks on your phone number that result in a call.

Please note that AdWords policy does not allow for phone numbers to be inserted into ad headlines. As with all Click-to-call ads, advertisers will be charged when a user either clicks on the headline or the phone number listed in the ad. Please see below for additional information regarding this change.

Which phone number shows?

If you are currently using both Call Extensions and a phone number in your ad creative, only the newly clickable phone number in your ad creative will show. This is designed to help reduce user confusion from seeing two potentially different numbers.  If you would like your Call Extension number to display, simply delete all phone numbers from your existing ad text by following these steps. You’ll also receive an additional line of ad text displaying your phone number if the Call Extension is used.

Measuring results

You’ll be able to review how many calls you receive on the clickable phone number listed in your ad text for each campaign, ad group, keyword and ad on the “Campaigns” tab in your AdWords account. Just select the “Click-type” option under the “Segment” drop down and view your report.  Please note that since these are not calls generated from a Call Extension, they will not be reported in the Extensions tab reports.

Recommendations for featuring a phone number

You can simply leave your phone number in your ad text and benefit from this change which will automatically make your phone numbers clickable and enable users to call you. However, to get the most value from click-to-call, we recommend that you remove your phone number from your ad creative and create a Call Extension with your phone number directly.  This has several benefits. With a manually created Call Extension your number will appear as an additional line of ad text which frees up space in your ad creative for other promotion. In addition, when you create a Call Extension, your phone number appears on a separate line in the ad, and you’re able to take advantage of other powerful enhancements such as Vanity Numbers, Call-only and Call Metrics reporting.

Just got this alert today:

Dear AdWords Advertiser,

We are writing to let you know that there will be changes to “directions” clicks in ads with location extensions that will impact your AdWords campaigns on both desktops and mobile devices. We’ve observed that location extensions with “directions” are beneficial to users and lead to more interactions with the ad. In January, we launched a report in AdWords to help you measure these useful interactions.

Over the next few weeks, you’ll begin to see performance metrics for  “directions” alongside metrics for clicks and phone calls. We’ll also begin to charge for “directions” clicks in the same manner as a click on your ad’s headline. If your campaign has a high number of “directions” clicks, this indicates that your customers are interacting with your ads to get directions to your business.

What are “directions”?

“Directions” is a feature of location extensions that enables customers to map the quickest route from where they are located to a business they want to visit.

Where will I see the performance metrics for “directions” clicks?

You can see the number of directions clicks in the same place as your other click metrics (selectSegment, then Click type from your summary tables). You can review the performance of “direction” clicks to determine if they are helping you meet your marketing goals.

How will “directions” appear in ads on desktop and mobile devices?

For AdWords campaigns with location extensions enabled, a “directions” link will be eligible to appear in the ad and on sponsored map bubbles in Google Map on desktops.

On mobile search ads, a “Get directions in Google Maps?” pop-up will appear when the user clicks on the expandable map. Clicking on “OK” in the pop-up allows users to access directions and will be charged.

On Google Maps for Mobile on Android, a “Directions” icon button is available after a user clicks on the sponsored maps bubble.

On Google Maps for Mobile  for iPhone, “Directions to here” appears in the Sponsored Link detail page which is accessed after clicking on the sponsored maps bubble.

How will I be charged for “directions” clicks?

Over the next few weeks, “directions” clicks will be charged the same as a click on your ad’s headline. In general, “direction” clicks are a small proportion of the ad clicks, and we do not anticipate this change will have a significant impact on your account’s total cost.

Where can I see past performance of “directions” clicks?

For a report, select the Free clicks view within the Dimensions tab of your AdWords account. If you don’t see the Dimensions tab in your account, click the arrow button next to the existing tabs above your performance table, and select Free clicks in the dropdown menu.

Do I need to take any action?

You are not required to take any specific action. However, we encourage you to view the “direction” clicks report to understand how this change benefits from your location extension ads.

I do not want to pay for “directions” clicks. How can I opt out?

You can do this by removing location extensions associated with your campaign. However, location extensions provide valuable information to your customers about your local business, so we encourage you to carefully analyze your campaign performance before doing so.

We’re committed to the success of your local business and encourage you to learn more about location extensions and directions in ads by visiting our Help Center.

Sincerely,

The Google AdWords Team

AdWords Insider Blog announced a new ad rotation option that will allow conversion and ROI driven advertisers very happy. Per  Google:

It’s about time! I’m one of those that has found ads with higher CTRs (click through rates) generally yield lower CVRs (conversion rates) and ads with lowest CTRs yield higher CVRs.  So, this new feature is a welcome addition and I’m looking forward to testing it out.

As per the blog, you must be opted into Conversion Optimizer. And remember to keep a close eye on this, especially if web development makes changes to the site. If the conversion code is comprised or implemented incorrectly, Conversion Optimizer can bring your campaign to a grinding halt!

Official email received from adCenter today:

We are writing to alert you to some pending changes to the trademark policy within the Microsoft Advertising adCenter Intellectual Property Guidelines. Starting March 3, 2011, adCenter will no longer review trademark keyword complaints. However, adCenter will continue to investigate brand owner complaints related to trademark use in ad text.

We want to make it easier for you to manage your search advertising campaigns. By aligning the adCenter trademark policy with the current industry standard, we hope to help simplify your marketing efforts across the various online advertising programs. Please take a moment to review our updated trademark policy in the Intellectual Property Guidelines so that you may prepare for this change. If you have questions or need further assistance, please contact our support teams.

Thank you for using adCenter.

Sincerely,

The Microsoft Advertising adCenter team

If there’s anything people love to share with family and friends or even strangers, it’s photos. Whether it’s a pic of the awesome kalua pig nacho’s at Hapa J’s down the street, or photos of the amazing sunsets I’ve witnessed whilst sipping Mai Thai’s at Wind & Sea at the harbor, I’m ALWAYS posting pics of what I’m eating, doing or finding at locations where I check-in.

In yet another move to dominate the local ad market, yesterday’s Google Lat Long Blog announced the addition of an “Upload a photo” link in the Photos & Videos section of Google Place pages. A logical move following up Hotpot, Google’s recommendation engine for Places a few month back, and the improved photo viewing feature before that.

According to Google blog:

“Photos that comply with our review guidelines will be available in Place page results for that particular business for you and any other potential customers to see. Users will also be able to explore these photos in search results across Google, Google Maps and Google Earth.”

It’s of course a great social media move on Google’s part – I now have one more place to visually share why I love the places I check-in at or review! And I’m assuming we’ll soon see Google Places check-ins as well?

My biggest concern from the business owner side of things is lack of control over uploaded images. Restaurants wouldn’t want photos that show a fly or hair in their food or drink, or inappropriate and even false images associated with their business. Hopefully some editing capabilities will be released soon to help business owners manage which photos are ultimately available for public viewing.

One of my favorite reports has always been the Ad report that details which keywords are converting for which ads. Consider this: You see an ad yielding a very low conversion rate compared to others in the ad group. Your first instinct may be to pause that ad. However, if you review how ads are performing in relation to each keyword in that ad group, you might just find the ad performs exceptionally well for a specific keyword.

This report is especially helpful when reorganizing keywords into new ad groups. It’s important to carry over your best performing ads to your newly created ad groups, and this report helps to ensure you do just that.

Here’s how to run the report:

1) Navigate to the Ads tab of your desired Campaign or Ad Group
2) Click on the “Columns” button (above the graph and below the Keywords tab)
3) Select the columns you want populated in your report (e.g. clicks, cost, conversions, etc.) and click Save.
4) Click the download report icon, which is  a black downward pointing arrow located below the Keywords tab
5) You should now see the green Download and Schedule report box.
6) Click “+ Add Segment” link.
7) A drop down menu appears where you can select Keyword / Placement
8) Click “Create” and download the spreadsheet.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy adCenter has a bulk-editing tool like Desktop, but it’s never been as robust as Google’s AdWords Editor. That being said, they finally made one upgrade I’d been wishing for, especially since the Yahoo-Bing transition. adCenter Desktop users are now able to target traffic to the entire Yahoo and Bing entire network, only Yahoo and Bing sites or only Yahoo and Bing search partners.

Per the adCenter Blog:

Enhanced Search Network Distribution. Exercise more control over where your search ads display with the ability to select your search ad network distribution at the ad group level. Choose between the entire Bing and Yahoo! search network, only Bing and Yahoo! search syndicated partners, or only Bing and Yahoo! sites.

Very excited about this, although I don’t see the call metrics option under my Phone Extensions yet. Definitely a sign that pay-per-call must be around the corner for AdWords campaigns. I’m assuming they’ll report calls generated at keyword level, along with conversion data, which would be pretty sweet!

Inside AdWords alert:

“Today we’re announcing that AdWords call metrics is available for more advertisers, making it easier than ever to measure the phone calls that AdWords generates for your business. Using the technology behind Google Voice, call metrics assigns your campaign a unique phone number which is automatically inserted into your ad on both desktop and high-end mobile devices, where the number is clickable.

When a user calls the number in your ad, the call is automatically routed to your business, and AdWords notes that this call took place. Then, when you look at your AdWords reports, you’ll see the number of calls generated by each campaign, call duration, and in the near future, caller area code. You’ll still only pay for clicks on your ads, but we intend to charge for call metrics in the future.

Once you know where your calls are coming from, you can refine your marketing strategy to make sure you’re getting the most out of your ads. For example, you could test different ad text variations to see which results in the most calls or reallocate budget to campaigns that truly bring you the highest ROI.

Currently, call metrics is only available to a limited number of US advertisers. We plan to make the feature available to more advertisers in the coming months. To find out if call metrics is available in your account and to learn more about the feature, visit Google Ad Innovations.”

As others are reporting, I’ve seen some higher CPCs for certain clients but will have to continue to monitor to see how/if/when it actually levels out. Bing has always delivered higher conversions, so that will be interesting to monitor as well.

Great timing for the transition too – higher CPCs just in time for busy holiday season!

Per Yahoo’s transition blog:

Your adCenter account is the only one that you will now need to manage your search advertising on Yahoo! Search and Bing

Today is a momentous day for us, as Yahoo! has completed the process of moving search ad serving for Yahoo! to the Microsoft Advertising adCenter platform in the U.S. and Canada. Additionally, this marks the completion of the transition of advertisers’ Yahoo! Search Marketing accounts to adCenter.

adCenter advertisers now have access to 163 million unique searchers and 33.8% of U.S. search queries (source: comScore Core Search (custom) August 2010) on Yahoo! Search, Bing and partner sites, with the convenience of one account.

Here are some important points for our advertisers to remember:

Managing adCenter accounts

• Going forward, your adCenter account is the only one that you will need to manage your search advertising on Yahoo! Search and Bing.
• Please make sure that your adCenter budget is large enough to cover your estimated clicks from both search engines.
• Monitor your adCenter results frequently, and be prepared to make adjustments to maintain your ROI, as there may be some initial variability while Yahoo! Search Marketing advertisers are integrated into adCenter.
• Beginning tomorrow, all Yahoo! Search Marketing accounts will change to a read-only state. This means that you can no longer make changes to your Yahoo! Search Marketing account or use it to manage your ads and campaigns; you will need to use your adCenter account to advertise on Yahoo! Search, Bing and our partner sites. Click charges will no longer accrue in your Yahoo! account.
• Your Yahoo! accounts will be accessible for the next five months via the same log-in you have used previously, so that you may view historical data from the past 13 months. You do not need to take any action to close your Yahoo! account(s).

It seems forever ago that Microsoft and Yahoo! closed the deal that would enable Bing to power Yahoo’s organic and paid search results. Earlier this week, the Search Alliance announced that Bing will start powering Yahoo organic this week. The next part of the transition is paid search results. Once this transition is complete, advertisers will be managing Bing and Yahoo accounts via Microsoft adCenter only.

If you currently structure and manage your paid search campaigns differently across each engine, you’ll want to consider preparing for the migration now by importing your Yahoo or AdWords account to adCenter. Since I believe most advertisers generally have a larger and more frequently managed and optimized AdWords account, I’m providing instructions for importing AdWords to adCenter.

Export AdWords via Adwords Editor:  If you don’t have AdWords Editor, you can download it here. Make sure to follow step #2 instructions for downloading your account once you have installed Editor.

1) Go to File and select Open Account. Click “Add Account” button from the box that pops up and enter your AdWords login and password then click OK.

2) Once account has been downloaded you’re then ready to export. Go back to File and select “Export Spreadsheet (CSV)”. From here you have four options for exporting. I would suggest Export Whole Account, unless you are certain there are specific Campaigns/Ad Groups you do not want to export, in which case you can choose the “Export Selected Campaigns and Ad Groups” option.

3) Once you’ve exported the file, you may choose to open file and make edits to any tracking URLs you have in place. For example, if you use Google Analytics and want to track Bing paid traffic, you’d append UTM parameters at the ad and keyword level.

Import to Microsoft adCenter: You can import your AdWords file quickly and easily via the Campaigns tab of the adCenter online platform by following these adCenter help steps:

1) Click the Campaigns tab.
2) Click Import campaigns.
3) On the File upload page, do the following:

a. In the Time zone drop-down list, select the time zone you want to use for your imported campaigns.
b. In the Language and market drop-down list, select the language your ads are written in and the market (A set of websites that is typically defined by a geographical region, but can be accessed by everyone regardless of where they are located.) you want them distributed through.
c. Click Browse, select the file you want to import, and then click Open.
d. Click Continue.

4) On the Confirm matching page, use the drop-down lists to adjust any adCenter column headings to match the column headings in your import file, and then click Continue.

5) On the Compatibility check page, select Fix issues and import, and then click Continue.

6) On the Resolve issues page, do the following:

a. Fix any compatibility issues shown on the Campaign, Ad groups, Ads, and Keywords tabs.
b. Optional: To review or adjust the time zone and campaign monthly budget, click All, click the Campaign tab, and then adjust the settings as needed.
c. Optional: To set targeting for any new campaigns you are importing, click All, click the Targeting tab, and then adjust the settings as needed.
d. Click Continue.

7) On the Review page, do the following:

a. Optional: To pause all imported campaigns, click Pause campaigns.
b. Click Continue to import your data into adCenter.

8) On the Summary page, verify that your campaigns, ad groups, ads, and keywords were imported.

Note: Once you’ve uploaded Adwords to adCenter, you may choose to use adCenter desktop to make additional specific or bulk edits. For example, ensuring that all Ad Groups are Search only (not Content), adjusting bids, etc.