Google revamped location targeting in Adwords !

Google announced that it has connected location targeting in AdWords to Google Maps to provide more info about locations, make relevant location suggestions and improve accuracy in targeting.

The improvements include an easier way to discover locations, a new "reach number" column to show the number of users seen on Google properties, increased the location target limits from 300 to 10,000, and a new Polygon targeting migration tool.

Google says it will use the “limited reach” label to indicate locations where it isn’t able to associate users with a selected location based on IP. Google says it will primarily use user intent data for targeting in these instances.

When an advertiser targets a radius, it’ll show “locations within this target”.

Finally, Google is getting rid of polygon targeting. It will be supported only through the end of the year. Google recommends using the “Target a Radius” feature instead.

Google introduced new report for publisher !

Google previously allowed multiple Google-certified ad networks (third party networks) to serve inventory into its AdSense display network. The search engine has now announced new reports that allow you (the publisher) to view earnings by ad network.

These third-party networks in AdSense are supported by DoubleClick Ad Exchange, and even more networks can take part in the auction to help the publishers earn more! The system allows the publishers to even block by network via the AdSense interface.

As Google said, “With today’s new report, you’ll be able to see a breakdown of impressions, clicks, and earnings by Google-certified ad network. To view this report, log in to your account and visit the Performance reports tab. Click ‘Ad networks’ in the side navigation to see which networks served ads on your pages and how they performed. When comparing the performance of different ad networks, bear in mind that some metrics like RPM can be affected by networks targeting certain value impressions. ”

Google also said that the data available will only go back as far as September 27, 2011.

Google introduced ‘AdWords Premier SMB Partner Program’ !

Google launched its new 'AdWords Premier SMB Partner Program'. This vendor referral program has been designed for the small business advertisers who want to invest in AdWords. The small businesses will be referred to a list of companies that have been a part of Google's 'authorized reseller' program.

The idea behind becoming a SMB partner is that it will allow the company’s customer base to expand and deliver better, more direct and reportable results to the advertisers. Since only a chosen few highly qualified companies become Premier SMB Partners, that is why becoming a partner will help companies stand apart from the crowd.

The minimum criteria that you need to fulfill to be able to sign up for the program:

• Large existing customer base of small / medium sized businesses
• Tele / field sales force with the ability to sell Google’s advertising products
• Commitment to provide phone and/or email customer support to their advertiser base
• Existing operational infrastructure (billing, reporting, etc) to service thousands of customers

Google says that to become Premier Partner, the companies will have to undergo scrutiny (that includes training and testing) by Google. Also Google will instruct and supervise their product and sales positioning.

Google dropping support for Internet Explorer 6 within AdWords !

Google has announced that it’s dropping support for Internet Explorer 6 within AdWords. This applies to the AdWords dashboard, not the ads themselves, these will continue to run on IE6 for the foreseeable future.

"By the end of this year, advertisers accessing the AdWords web interface will be required to use Internet Explorer 7 or 8, or any other compatible browser to log in into their account," Lauren Barbato, from the Inside AdWords crew, announced.

"If you are still accessing AdWords with Internet Explorer 6, you’ll see a notice in your account encouraging you to upgrade as soon as possible," she said.

Specifically, starting with 2012, the AdWords interface will only run on Firefox 3 and above, Safari 3 or later, Internet Explorer 7 and Google Chrome of course. But Google recommends even newer versions, Firefox 3.6, Safari 4 or IE8, for best results.

Google's New Mobile Ad Features !

 

In a recent blog post, Google took the opportunity to both recap their existing mobile ad features and unveil a few new tricks.

Google’s new mobile ad opportunities include:

• Mobile-friendly ad "circulars” that let users send special offers and ad details from their desktop to their mobile device.
• The option for advertisers to send users to deep links inside an installed app.
• Additionally, the store's proximity to the user's current position (communicated via Location Extensions) will now be a ranking factor in the display of ads.

 "Ad Circulars" for Desktop/Mobile Interplay

Google is now experimenting with "Ad Circulars" that show users a mobile-optimized set of deals, offers, or featured products. Users will see this ad whether they're on mobile or desktop devices; those who access these "circulars" via desktop will be able to quickly send the promotion to their Smartphone.

Best Buy and Macy’s have been testing this format. It's anticipated that Google Ad Circulars will be available to the public by the holiday shopping season.

 Proximity as a Ranking Factor

When mobile searchers share their physical location, ads from the closest stores will now surface. This happens through a new ranking factor: physical proximity. The closer your store, the more likely you are to rank higher – meaning that searchers will see the closest options while stores will be efficiently targeting the users most likely to actually show up.

Advertisers will need to use Location Extensions to communicate their physical location to Google.

There are plenty of new mobile tools for advertisers of every ilk. The current and evolving mobile platform is smart, rich, exciting, and certainly opens up new opportunities.

Google revamped keyword tool !

Google’s Keyword Ranking tool changed.  Instead of the traditional bars to display competitiveness, Google is now using text as the description.

Up until recently, this tool used small green bars to display the competitiveness of keywords. The more green in the bar, the more competitive the term was:

Now the Google tool is only showing text based descriptions of competitiveness – Low, Medium or High:

For any of those that regularly use this competition metric the new competitive labeling is as follows:

• Low – Competitiveness number under .33
• Medium – Competitiveness number between .33 and .66
• High – Competitiveness number over .67

It should be known that the competitiveness score is directly related to AdWords, not organic search.  Google defines the metric as:

 

“This column shows the number of advertiser’s worldwide bidding on each keyword relative to all keywords across Google. The shaded bar represents a general low-to-high quantitative guide to help you determine how competitive ad placement is for a particular keyword.”

Google said: SEO as a whole is not spam!

Head of Google's anti spam squad Matt Cutt said “We don’t consider SEO to be spam,"

And now the Google's new definition of SEO- "SEO is a valid way to help people find what they’re looking for via search engines."

All this and much more on search engine optimization techniques was stated by Matt Cutts in a video posted on Webmaster Help's YouTube Channel.

Matt, however, did speak about the unethical SEOs in the market, as in the black hat SEOs that are spamming the web. But SEO as a whole is not spam, and there are plenty of professional search marketers out there that work within the set lines, and do not spam.

Here is the Video

Google AdWords introduced Bid-Per-Call !

Google has announced the ability for advertisers to bid for phone calls, in addition to bidding for clicks, for Google search ads on computers and tablets.

Currently, only advertisers maximum CPC bid for phone calls factor into ad rank. With bid-for-calls, these bids can also factor into ad rank as well. Higher ranked ads surface higher in search results, and can therefore generate more phone calls (and clicks, too).

For background, bid-to-call ads work in AdWords by assigning and placing a toll-free forwarding number next to an advertiser’s ad text on Google search pages. When a user sees an ad and calls the number, AdWords registers the call and forwards it to your business. 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.

Users will also access detailed call reporting right in AdWords, which includes summaries of completed calls, phone-through rate, and phone call costs. You can also see details for each call, including call time, duration, caller area code, and more.

For now, bid-per-call is available only in the US and UK. Click-to-call ads are a growing ad format for Google. In fact, Click-to-Call ads are now driving millions of calls per week.

Another win for Google in the courts!

Not one, but three plaintiffs–all marketers–wanted Google to eradicate its practice of allowing trademarks to link to search ads. If you haven’t experienced this, sometimes when you search for a particular company its rival appears in the results.

According to the MediaPost article, U.S. Magistrate Charles Everingham in the Eastern District of Texas had the following to say in regards to whether the plantiffs’ allegations were capable of class wide resolution:

“Even if the court were to conclude that Google’s policy results in initial interest confusion with regard to, for example, FPX’s or Rodney Hamilton’s trademark, that does not necessarily mean that Google’s policy results in initial interest confusion with regard to the other putative class members’ trademarks,” Everingham wrote.

The records from 2004 onward go to show Google on top in every major lawsuit contesting the policy.

 

Google Makes Proximity an Ad Ranking Factor!

In a recent blog post, Google announced that the store's proximity to the user's current position (communicated via Location Extensions) will now be a ranking factor in the display of ads.

When mobile searchers share their physical location, ads from the closest stores will now surface.

This happens through a new ranking factor: physical proximity. The closer your store, the more likely you are to rank higher – meaning that searchers will see the closest options while stores will target the users most likely to actually show up.

Advertisers will need to use Location Extensions to communicate their physical location to Google.