AdWords Editor Error Message
It looks like AdWords Editor was doing that ‘pretending to touch type fast’ thing they do in the movies when they created this crash report for me.
Edited: March 2nd, 2010
Analytics / AdWords Goal & Transaction Integration
It’s been a long time coming, but Google have now stepped a little further towards integrating the stats from Google Analytics into Google AdWords.
We’ve been able to see how much we spend on PPC, and what campaigns, ad groups, and keywords provide traffic which converts for a while now. This is great, but it would be so much easier if you could amend your campaigns based on this information straight away, rather than switching between two interfaces.
I can’t have been the only one thinking this, because, from today, users are invited to link thier conversion information from Google Analytics to Google AdWords so that they can see their pre-defined goals and e-commerce data within AdWords. As it takes 24 hours to update, I have not yet had the pleasure of seeing how the data is represented, but I’m looking forward to tomorrow to see how user friendly this new feature is.
I’m also looking forward to seeing how it works with Conversion Optimizer.
For more info on this, check out the Google AdWords blog.
Edited: July 2nd, 2009
Big Chip Award Winners
Last week, the company I work for, PushON won the Big Chip Award for ‘Best Use of Search’ – the event is the most prestigious digital award ceremony in the North West, and is judged by experts within the industry. The category we entered, ‘Best Use of Search’ encompasses both Pay Per Click and Organic Search Engine Marketing.
It was for a project very close to my heart – The Little Greene Paint Company. I’ve worked on this account from the beginning, and we’ve worked closely with their web development team to implement changes which give them the best possible chance to rank in search engines, and also convert the traffic they receive into sales.
I’m happy to say, that since we entered the competition – a number of significant further improvements have been made – for example, the launch of The Little Greene Blog, improvements to their paint finish listings, and a development which is soon to launch – a tagging system for paint colours which helps people find related paint colours, types of colours or styles (helping users find what they want both from search engines & when they are on the site).
I feel that this year, we got the groundwork right, and I’m looking forward to the progress over the next year, where we can work on some exciting and engaging projects which will help push the brand forward online.
Edited: July 2nd, 2009
Google Launch Interest-Based Advertising
It looks like Google are updating their AdWords/AdSense model to take into account behaviour and personal preferences of their users.
It is astonishing when you look at how much data Google has, and in real terms, this will affect at least 80% of people in the UK (whether they know it’s happening or not!).
Anyone who uses the Google search engine for a start, but then there are the other properties that the big G owns – meaning anyone who uses iGoogle, Google Docs, Gmail, Blogger, Feedburner, etc will also be affected.
Google says that this new Interest-based advertising will allow advertisers to display ads based on a user’s previous interactions with them, such as visits to advertiser website and also to reach users based on their interests (e.g. “marketing”).
It looks like this will apply to the content network (i.e. anyone who displays Google AdSense on their website), but I’m sure they will be using it for search.
So… other than privacy, can you see any other issues that you would be concerned about here?
Well, what if you share a PC, and are buying a present for your spouse, or you have an ‘adult interest’. Your partner notices the adverts are a bit more risky than normal, and she now knows what you plan on getting for her birthday.
On the other hand, and the reason I am happy that this privacy nightmare is coming into place -
- As a user, I get more relevant adverts shown to me
- As a marketer, I waste less money
Fingers crossed, Google isn’t evil…
Edited: March 13th, 2009
Yahoo buys Right Media Ad Exchange
In a move that follows Google’s announcement that they have bought DoubleClick, Yahoo, have just announced that they have bought Right Media.DoubleClick operates in a similar way to Right Media which co-ordinates advertisers, publishers and ad networks. 
Right Media will operate as an independent division of Yahoo. I’ll be interested to see how this pans out for Yahoo and Google, and whether Google will be taking a different line to Yahoo and integrating DoubleClick offerings with their current tools. It is worth noting that Google Analytics (formally Urchin) is still disparate from AdWords reports.
For more information on this story, or background information check out The Register, Democracy on the online ad, Right Media Blog or Right Media.
Edited: May 1st, 2007
Google buys Doubleclick – Looks like good news for small online companies
Doubleclick is a global digital marketing company that offers ad serving, rich media, video, search and affiliate marketing.
Google has a wide audience, and offers self service options to companies of all sizes. This has been great for smaller businesses who may not have the budget to cover account management and setup fees that are often in place for Online Advertising Publishers.
It will be interesting to see what self service tools Google will make available, and if this move makes rich media and interactive advertising more accessible to smaller companies. Targetting and tracking tools are also expected to be enhanced.
Online advertising has consistently seen growth year on year, this aquisition will undoubtably contribute to further growth.
Edited: April 16th, 2007