If you transitioned your accounts from Yahoo! to Bing without making edits, your ads might not be showing to potential customers. This is because Microsoft and Yahoo! do not view keywords in the same way. Michael Mostert of adCenter Blog has written a post on what you need to know about keyword normalization to avoid missing out on traffic. Since adCenter treats each keyword as a separate entity, targeting the singular form of a keyword does not mean you will show when users search for the plural form of that keyword. Read Mostert’s post and review your keywords to make sure your ads will show for all relevant searches.
John Lee discusses the importance of Google Product Extension Ads in the Clix Marketing blog, and he goes through the steps necessary to implement it. Many of Google’s products and services can be linked together and prove advantageous to the advertiser, but because of this many of the possible connections may be overlooked. Google Product Extension Ads display photos of your products under the Google ads in the SERPs, giving a much-needed image in addition to your ad. This not only takes up much more room on the SERP itself, but it helps to appeal to the visual-minded consumer. Take a look!
An increasing number of reports are showing that advertisers’ target audiences spend more and more time online, so why are Internet ads so unmemorable? This is the question SearchEngineBlog’s Scott Brinker offers an answer to in his article The Creative Revolution 2.0. Brinker notes that even the most successful online ads (such as those featured in Forbes’ list of Best-Ever Social Media Campaigns) disappear in the sheer number of online ads that fail to gather the sustained attention of a worldwide audience. Yet he doesn’t think this problem is unsolvable. His prescription? Utilize continuous online experiences, focus on individual targeted interactions and embrace the connectivity of viewers. If advertisers take on this challenge, they may be able to bridge the untapped potential of Internet advertising – a gap with a $50 billion prize on the other side.
An interesting story unfolded this past week concerning a bully using negative online reviews about his business to improve his Google search results. The business owner’s story made it to the New York Times, and Google wasn’t far behind with their official response. According to Greg Jarboe’s article on Search Engine Watch, Google responded to the issue by quickly forming a team to address the loophole in the Google algorithm. By December 1, Google changed the way it ranks search results to prevent this bad practice.
I bet that when you thought about the presents Santa and his elves would bring you this year, you probably didn’t think one of those gifts would be from Google. Well, Google IS getting you a present this holiday season: they’re expanding product listing ads for all advertisers! Greg Habermann with SearchEngineWatch gives some important key point to remember with these product ads (should you choose to accept this mission). He also provides some great resources to help you better understand these ads, as well as step-by-step instructions for how to set them up. As a PPCer, this post is a great gift to give yourself this holiday season.
