Not Done Yet: Four Ways To Squeeze Performance Out Of ‘Mature’ Paid Search Accounts
Even if you’ve tuned and optimized a search advertising account for good performance, there are tactics you can use to drive incremental gains. In this point, I’ll suggest several ways to improve the performance of “mature” PPC accounts.
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SEMPO Invites Search Marketers To Take Its Annual Industry Survey
SEMPO, the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization, has launched its sixth annual “State of Search Engine Marketing” survey. Search marketing professionals — either in-house or at an agency — are welcome to participate, and you don’t need to be a SEMPO member.
The study will project planned spending across the industry for search, advertising, and [...]
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Microsoft’s Q4 Good, Bing’s Not So Much
Microsoft saw Windows 7 carry them to a strong fourth quarter last year—but its Online Services division (home of Bing) didn’t see a boost, according to the official reports. Microsoft emphasized Bing’s growth and the fact that their search advertising somewhat offset other losses, but the division still operated for a loss.
Microsoft reported $17.3B in revenue ($0.60/share), including a deferral of $1.7B on the Windows 7 release. They were expected to hit $17.9B ($0.59/share). For the quarter, the Online Services division saw $581M in revenue (down 5% YOY), and an operating loss of $466M (a 46% increase over last year).
Microsoft emphasized the gain in search market share and search advertising revenue. Much of the division’s losses ($29M, a 14% YOY loss) came from the Access department, Microsoft’s ISP and subscriptions to online paid services. Online advertising also saw a decline ($11M, a 2% YOY loss) but Microsoft claimed that, without the Access numbers, the Online Services division was inline with industry losses for online advertising. The losses came from display, but search’s increase wasn’t enough to counteract those losses completely.
Naturally, Microsoft closes the disappointing report with a note of (what they hope will be) good news:
On December 4, 2009, we entered into a definitive 10-year agreement with Yahoo! Inc. (“Yahoo”) whereby Microsoft will provide the exclusive algorithmic and paid search platform for Yahoo websites. We believe this agreement will allow us over time to improve the effectiveness and increase the value of our search offering through greater scale in search queries and an expanded and more competitive search and advertising marketplace. The transaction is subject to regulatory review; we expect to close the transaction in fiscal year 2010.
What do you think? Will the deal with Yahoo—where Yahoo’s display advertising and Bing’s search (and search advertising?) will run for both sites—improve both their fortunes?
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AdWords Adds Targeting for Mobiles with Full Browsers
While Google has been trying long and hard to corner the mobile search market as much as it has the landline one, they still have a lot to learn about mobile search advertising. Just yesterday, they added the option for AdWords advertisers to target only mobile users with full browsers, such as the iPhone and Android offer.
Advertisers will also be able to segment by specific phones and phone OSes, so if they’re selling a product specific to a single type of device, they won’t waste money on clicks from other device owners.
They’re also adding a feature to automatically segment your ads if you’re running a campaign for an application. Apps for iPhones, for example, need only include the URL for the Apple Store followed by the app’s name in the visible URL for the ad. Then, instead of a display URL showing on the ad, users will see a download link. This will also work for Android apps.
AdWords will also add the ability to segment by phone carrier in the US and Canada, so if you have a special deal with one of the carriers, or are otherwise affiliated with them (or not), you can further target your audience.
In all, more narrow targeting is usually a good thing. This allows advertisers to only show ads to potential buyers, and not waste money on clicks from people who couldn’t buy or use their products. It also removes irrelevant ads from users’ displays. It will mean a few more clicks when setting up a campaign, and possibly more work in dividing up ads into ad groups, but in all, this should help advertisers and users.
What do you think? Will you use this targeting? Will you be happy to see it on your phone?
A Brief History Of Paid Search Advertising
If you’re just getting started with paid search, it’s helpful to know a bit of history of how pay-per-click advertising got started and why it has become such a major factor in the success of online marketers.
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Google Gets 75% Of Paid Search Clicks & Dollars: Report
Three of every four paid search clicks happen on Google, and 75 cents of every paid search dollar is spent on Google. That’s according to the latest quarterly report from Efficient Frontier, a search advertising agency that manages more than $750 million in annual digital spending annually. The stats cover Q4 of 2009, and show [...]
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Yahoo Adds Feature to Import Google Adwords Campaigns
I just scanned the last six posts here at MP and they all have the Google logo attached to them. What’s strange about this story is that while Yahoo is announcing an improvement in their paid search offering it still relates to Google. As for bing? Where are you? The company that is having their search platform replaced by you is making more noise.
So what has Yahoo done? It has created an easy way for users of the Yahoo paid search platform to import data from their Google Adwords campaigns. In other words, Yahoo is saying “We know how much you use Google Adwords so just ‘copy and paste’ it to us and spend with us. Please!” MediaPost reports on this and let’s us hear Yahoo’s version.
Despite the agreement with Microsoft to power the search engine’s backend infrastructure, Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo continues to invest in advertising and consumer search tools. This time the company is releasing Network Distribution, and Import Campaigns.
David Pann, vice president and general manager of Yahoo Search Advertising, tells Online Media Daily that Yahoo’s investment in targeting tools provides another option for advertisers to reach consumers — an alternative to Google AdWords. So the hope is that these tools will end up in Microsoft’s search platform and adCenter.
Boy, if that doesn’t sound like someone who has simply decided to bow to the superiority of Google’s offering and settle for the crumbs from its table. By saying that Yahoo’s Search Advertising provides another option (read: something other than Google AdWords) it sounds like Mr. Pann is trying to remind people that “Hey, we do paid search advertising too!”
While this is all well and good one has to wonder what the impact will be for Yahoo if any. The following example provided from the article tells the tale much better than I can.
One of the biggest complaints from advertisers has been the tedious process of importing online campaigns into more than one search platform. Each engine relies on different types of files and formats. Many advertisers such as Brad Butler, chief operating officer at Asadart Ecommerce Specialty Shops, begin their campaigns on Google, simply because AdWords has been easier to understand and use.
“Nice idea, but at the end of the day I want results,” were the first words out of Butler’s mouth after hearing about the new features.
Butler runs several online stores. “It’s like putting lipstick on a pig,” he says. “It’s a good idea, but I remember talking to my rep about it a few years ago. Hey, guys, you’re three years late to the party.”
I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer but I can smell a “So what?!” response from a mile away. How about we let Mr. Butler put it in even clearer business English, the one that involves dollar signs.
Butler’s Yahoo account reps used to import AdWords files for him. The rep would come back a week later after completing the job. It just took too long, he says. That’s one reason that last year, Butler spent about $50,000 with Yahoo, compared with $1.2 million with Google.
I have to guess that Mr. Butler won’t be moving a lot of that spend over to Yahoo but that’s just me. Well, while I am glad that at least someone else is trying to do something in the search space I hope that there might be a little more innovation and less playing catch up in the future.
Search advertisers weigh in on this and just how much you use other paid search options outside of Google. The world needs to see if there is a pulse on the industry outside of the Googleplex.
PPC Academy: New Column From Search Engine Land
Our newest Search Engine Land column, PPC Academy, launches today. PPC Academy is a comprehensive, one-year search advertising course from beginning to end. Starting with the basics, PPC Academy progressively explores all of the varied facets of paid search, and the tactics needed to succeed and become an advanced paid search marketer. PPC Academy [...]
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Protect Your Brand From Dead Affiliate Links
Direct linking is the practice where an affiliate buys paid search advertising using your URL as the display URL in an ad, yet actually linking from the ad to the affiliate’s own landing page. These links will often go through multiple levels of redirects before finally landing on your web site. The redirects may [...]
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A Roundup Of 2009’s Best Search Advertising Books
The world of paid search has evolved from “all you need is five minutes and a credit card” to a complex ecosystem with lots of moving parts that and obstacles that can cause serious damage for the unwary. In this second in a series of search marketing book reviews, I look at some of the [...]
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