Got this email alert today:

“As many of you know, we started the Go Mobile! series of posts on the Inside AdWords blog to give you an easy way to keep up with the world of mobile advertising.

The mobile industry has really evolved since the start of the series: mobile is becoming a core part of many marketing campaigns and publishers are developing mobile-specific content across the web and in applications across mobile operating systems. We’re even more excited about the prospects for driving further innovation in mobile now that AdMob has joined the Google Mobile Ads team.

With this in mind, we created a dedicated blog for those of you specifically interested in mobile advertising and mobile monetization. The Google Mobile Ads Blog is a place where advertisers and publishers can find the latest news, product updates, tips, and account management resources from the Google Mobile Ads team.

Of course we’ll continue to post major Google Mobile Ads announcements on the Inside AdWords blog, but be sure to visit the official Google Mobile Ads Blog for all of your mobile-specific updates.

Mobile has come a long way in a short period of time and we can’t wait to see what’s next.”

I was considering making Google AdWords match types the topic of my next blog post. However, SearchEngineLand recently posted a great recap here so I figure I’ll just share that with you instead!

The article also includes a blurb about the recently announced broad match modifier, which gives advertisers (in Canada and the UK only right now) greater control. Per Google, “Each word preceded by a + must appear in the user’s search exactly or as a close variant. Close variants include misspellings, singular/plural forms, abbreviations and acronyms, and stemming variations (like floor and flooring). Synonyms (like “quick” and “fast”) and related searches (like “flowers” and “tulips”) are not considered close variants.”

Looking forward to the US release of that one soon!

For an official Google AdWords explanation of the various match types, read their help section here.

And while you’re setting match types in AdWords, remember to review your keyword structure too. Account structure and keyword grouping are very important factors in building effective and profitable PPC (pay per click) campaigns with high Quality Scores. You can read more about keyword grouping in my recent blog, “Are You a Keyword Groupie?“

As most internet marketers should certainly know by now, Yahoo Search Marketing and Microsoft AdCenter (online console for managing ads on Bing.com) finalized their “search alliance” in late 2009. The Search Alliance partnership site outlines how the two engines will work together here. The most important take away is that the Yahoo! console you’ve grown to know and love (ha!) will go away, and you will manage both Yahoo! and Bing via Microsoft AdCenter only.

It’s still months away, but there are things you can do now to prepare for the merge. First, open an adCenter account and import existing AdWords or Yahoo! account. Importing to adCenter now will give you enough time to familiarize yourself with the adCenter online console and desktop tool so there’s less of a learning curve when the merge actually happens.

Download AdWords Editor tool

Download Microsoft adCenter’s Desktop tool

Without  these desktop tools, the export/import work becomes extremely tedious because of adCenter’s cumbersome online console. These free, time-saving desktop applications make managing your PPC (pay per click) account quick and easy. The tools allow advertisers to copy and/or move ad groups, keywords and ads, and also allow for bulk changes and mass updates to keywords, text and image ads, bids and more. I find AdWords Editor is easier to use, and especially like thier duplicate keyword finder, keyword grouping and find & replace tools.

IMPORTING TO ADCENTER:

First, you must export a current account (in this example I’m using AdWords). To export whole account (to CSV) from AdWords, follow these instructions. NOTE: make sure you first “Get Recent Changes” to ensure you are downloading most current version of account.

Then, login to adCenter, click on the Campaigns tab and select “Import Campaigns” from the More drop-down menu (above the Monthly budget column). Follow the steps for finding and importing the file and once you see the “Your file imported successfully” confirmation you’ll have a few more steps to take before activating the campaign(s). (If you run into problems with the import, you can follow this second export option provided by adCenter online)

Next, open adCenter desktop and Download Changes (button at top left). This should download your recent adCenter import to your desktop tool so you can make some necessary changes like:

* adding negative keywords (which do not get imported)
*adjusting geo-targeted locations
*setting budget
*making bids adjustments
*changing ad and/or keyword destination tracking URLs

Finally, once you’ve completed and uploaded the changes (via green Sync Changes button at top  left of desktop tool), the final step is change ad groups from “Draft” status to “Active”. Go back into online console and click the campaign name to go to Ad Group view. Here you’ll see all ad groups with status listed as Draft. You will need to select all ad groups then click Submit (button above start date column), which should change status to “Active”.

Of course, if you aren’t yet familiar enough with the desktop tools, or just don’t have the time to learn them, you also have the option of contacting adCenter and requesting QuickLaunch or Performance Improvement help here. This will put you in touch with an adCenter rep who can either walk you though the import process or else take your CSV export and complete the upload for you.

I believe the most important preparation you can do at this point is to stay informed via Search Alliance page, which has links to each engine’s “transition center”, but mainly familiarizing yourself with adCenter’s online interface and desktop tool.

Relevancy is everything when it comes to Google AdWords. Per Google, “The AdWords system is designed to match our users’ needs as closely as possible to relevant ads. This ensures a positive user experience so that users click on AdWords ads more often, while maintaining the advertising value the program provides to our advertisers.”

Since inception, Google AdWords has introduced several updates to their algorithm to ensure they deliver the highest quality ads to the right audience. One of the most important  measures implemented was Quality Score, which ultimately determines how much you pay per click and how your ads are ranked in the search engine results. Read Google’s help section for detailed description of Quality Score as well as how it’s measured for Search vs Content network.

Account structure and keyword grouping are very important factors in building effective and profitable PPC (pay per click) campaigns with high Quality Scores. Gone are the days when advertisers could throw thousands of keywords into a single ad group. Now, in order to achieve high Quality Scores, advertisers must group their keywords into tightly themed and well-organized groups with highly targeted ads.  Create as many small, highly themed ad groups as necessary. Depending on the account, I aim for groups with no more than 50 to 100 keywords, but smaller groups of 20 or less are often more ideal for certain websites.

The idea or process of categorizing keywords into themed groups may seem daunting. But never fear, there are tools to help make your job easier. If you aren’t sure where to begin the process, try Google AdWords Editor’s free Keyword Grouper tool. Find instructions for how to use the simple feature in AdWords Editor help section. You can also research other free and/or paid tools by Googling “keyword grouping tools”.

NOTE: When moving keywords into smaller, more tightly themed ad groups, they don’t lose their history. However, sometimes the AdWords system does need a few days or longer to “reacclimate” recently moved keywords with the ads and landing page in their new ad group. Generally you’ll find a handful of keywords in any ad group generate the most clicks, leads and/or orders. I would strongly advise leaving your best performing keyword in its existing ad group, so as to not hinder volume. Instead, move all other lower volume keywords into new ad groups. My Google reps have advised this as well.

More relevant keyword groups can result in higher click through rates and lower minimum bids – so get in there and reorganize and optimize! And remember, optimization isn’t a one time thing – you must constantly monitor Quality Score and performance metrics for new areas in need of further optimization.

Google has been busy the last month, releasing new AdWords features on a regular basis. The latest, AdWords reports viewable in Google Analytics.

Per a recent Inside AdWords post, with helpful accompanying video:

The new AdWords reports in Google Analytics give you more insight into what happens after the click. For example, suppose you wanted to see if potential customers searching for your exact matched keywords were more engaged with your site’s content than those who were searching on broader terms. Using the new reports, you can view all the visits from clicks on exact matched ads for any keyword, ad group, or campaign in your account. You can also see how many pages that group visited and the average time spent on site. If you use the funnel reports in Google Analytics, you can even see the specific step where visitors tend to drop off when trying to make a purchase.

It’s not available for all advertisers yet, and I haven’t seen it for my clients – but I’m excited for the additional reporting features!

I see a new reporting feature announcement under the AdWords reporting tab this morning. It says I can now access saved campaign reports directly via campaign tab.

Per Google:

“To make it easier for you to analyze your account’s performance, we’re adding more advanced reporting options, previously only accessible through the Report Center, to the Campaigns tab. With these changes, you can manage your campaigns and analyze their performance all in one place.

If you have these reports saved in the Report Center, they’ll be copied to the Control Panel and Library, a new area on the Campaigns tab where you can access all your reports and more.”

At this time,  only Campaign Reports are available – nothing at Ad Group or Keyword level.

Read more about it at AdWords Help Center.

Yes, yet another shining example of Google’s goal to “pair well-targeted ads with our powerfully relevant search results” and to reward and promote the most effective and well-targeted ads in their system to help maintain the value of an AdWords ad to both advertisers and users (you can read it for yourself right here)

I googled sacroiliac joint surgeon and this ad showed up on first page…

Nuff said…

Announced in Fall of 2009, Ad Sitelinks is a new feature that lets you include additional links to deeper content within your Google text ad. Per Google’s blog here:

“Rather than sending all users to the same landing page, Ad Sitelinks will display up to 4 additional Destination URLs on your search-based text ad for users to choose from. By providing users with more options, you can create richer, more relevant ads that improve the value of your brand terms and other targeted keywords.”

They use Priceline as an example:

Ad Sitelinks, which I don’t believe to be available for all advertisers just yet, can be found under the Ad Extension section of your Campaign settings. The many benefits for AdWords advertisers include ability to:

1) Show FIVE links in your ad, instead of one

2) Promote specials offers (e.g. holiday promos, free shipping, 10% off first purchase, etc.), increase awareness of and/or push new products, etc.

3) Potentially control additional ad real estate in the results pages, a great advantage if you’re in a highly competitive vertical

See Chris Zaharias comment in this Rimm-Kaufman blog, which includes links to a few case studies showing how advertisers actually increased their CTR via Sitelinks.

NOTE: Not all ads qualify to display Sitelinks in results and you can read more about Google’s “quality criteria” here.

TRACKING:

My Google rep forwarded me a detailed guide for tracking each ad sitelink separately, which I’ve summarized below:

To track each sitelink separately you will want to append an identifying query parameter to the destination URL of the sitelink. As an example, if my current landing page URL is http://www.ppc-buyers.com/ppc, then I would append URLs as follows:

Sitelink 1: Get Free Quote – http://www.ppc-buyers.com/quote?sitelink=quote
Sitelink 2: Our Services – http://www.ppc-buyers.com/quote?sitelink=services
Sitelink 3: PPC Packages – http://www.ppc-buyers.com/quote?sitelink=packages
Sitelink 4: Landing Page Optimization – http://www.ppc-buyers.com/quote?sitelink=landingpages

Tagging your links will result in your landing page URL’s being recorded with the additional sitelink parameter, which means you can view stats in Google Analytics. It will appear as a separate entry in your Top Content reports and you will also be able to view stats in the AdWords section of the Traffic Sources section in Analytics.

Google made some recent search improvements, detailed further in their blog  here:

I wanted to highlight a few I found of interest:

1) Search Suggest: Google boldfaced the suggestions that show up in the search box, as seen below. This allows you to more quickly review all suggestions and easily select how you want to navigate from there.

NOTE: Google placed “Google Search” and “I’m Feeling Lucky” at the bottom of the search suggestion box as well.
2) Local Search: As per Google’s blog:

“Whether you’re looking for info close to home or while you’re traveling, it’s now easier to find things to do in the cities you’re searching for on Google. Now when you search for a city name, we’ll show you popular query refinements for places in those cities. We’ve found that people like to explore several places during a trip, so when we show one point of interest, we’ll also show you related points of interest. For instance, if you’re looking for food or a place to stay, you’ll also see some of the top category and neighborhood refinements to help you choose a place. This new feature will be rolling out over the next couple days for 200 U.S. cities, and in the coming weeks we’ll expand coverage to more cities internationally.”

I tried for San Clemente and Dana Point, but didn’t see example until I tried more popular location, like Laguna Beach below. I don’t see it via Google search app yet though, which is where it would be most useful for me:

Even though branded keywords are an important part of overall PPC strategy, advertisers are often unsure or else completely against buying them. The age old question put forth is “Why by my own trademarked terms if I’m already showing up in the number one position in free, organic listings?”

While the argument may seem logical, there are some very sound reasons for buying your brand’s keywords:

1) Own and protect your brand: Search engines allow competitors and/or affiliates to bid on virtually any trademarked term. Some advertisers consider it “unethical”, but the reality is that it’s common practice. So, why not own it yourself, rather than letting your competitors and affiliates own that ad real estate in order to either a) push their own product/service as an alternative or worse, b) use false or misleading ads to confuse your potential customers.

I’ve always been an advocate of controlling your brand image and marketing message. PPC ads are perfect for this because you can change and test messaging on the fly, and even use “”Official Site” in ads so as to make clear your ad will lead that user to the actual site they were searching.

2) Improve your quality scores: Bidding on your branded keywords may also help improve Quality Scores, as suggested by Dave Davis here – “…always bid (and bid high) on your company or brand name. You will get a massive boost in historical CTR because 70%+ of the time, your ad is what searchers are looking for. You will pay pennies per click and decrease the normalized Quality Score and historical account CTR of any competitors bidding on your brand or company name!”

3) Overall revenue may be higher: Countless studies show increased clicks and conversions when companies owned both top PPC and organic listings for their brand:

From Enquiro Research in partnership with Ipsos Mori:
“When a brand name is the top result in both natural and paid search results, 83% of consumers looking to buy would consider a purchase. Without paid search, however, the same brand name as the top result in organic search only obtains 73% purchase consideration”

From Omniture study:
“Our client was thrilled to learn that conversions across all search engines were higher by 22.98 percent when the brand name keyword ads were present. Better yet, revenue per visitor was higher by nearly 21.94 percent when the ads were present.”

From NYU Stern study:
“Click-through rates, conversion rates and total revenues are higher when both paid and organic listings are present simultaneously than when paid search ads are absent.”

Of course, as with everything else PPC, you have to decide what’s best for YOUR brand, as every company is different. The only way you know how buying branded PPC affects your bottom line is to test it for yourself. Pause your branded PPC campaign and/or ad group for set time frame, then closely monitor traffic and conversions to see if you experience considerable dip in traffic or loss in revenue.

NOTE: You as an advertiser can file a Google AdWords trademark complaint letter specifically advising Google that you do not want other advertisers using your trademark in their ad. However, this does NOT mean advertisers must stop buying your trademark. You would probably need your lawyer to send a cease and desist directly to the company because the search engines clearly state they do not police this on their advertiser’s behalf.

Read the Google AdWords trademark policy, and here’s the link to file trademark complaint letter.