Bug in Google keyward tool!

The Google Adwords Keyword Tool seemed to have a bug of sorts, as was noted by SEO Consult’s blog and other SEOs too, leading to discussions starting a week earlier on AdWords help forums too.

The problem was that the tool was reporting ZERO volume for a large number of keywords, when using the Exact Match match type.

Google also acknowledged the issue, as has been quoted, “We’re aware of a potential issue that is affecting the keyword tool in AdWords, and are working hard to fix it.” A random selection of keywords were reporting zero for volume and mostly head and middle tail were affected at both global and local volumes.

Google organised the first ever Engage event for agencies in the UK!

On Friday, 25th November, Google organised the first ever Engage event for agencies in the UK. Their objective for this event was to help agencies help small businesses advertise online. This post summarises key topics covered at the event.

Google highlights three important aspects that currently characterise the Web scenario:

1. The number of online users are growing
2. The number of mobile phone subscribers will double in a few years
3. The amount of digital information exchanged worldwide is destined to see a huge growth too.

During the event, Google representatives spoke in detail about these 3 aspects, and how developing countries are reacting to changes.

The UK is believed to benefit from this growth. The Internet contributes to 7% of the UK’s GDP, with a growth of over 10% each year (this, of course pales in comparison to Chinese growth levels, which are massive!)

The Internet levels the playing field, representing a great benefit for SMEs, which can now effectively compete with big players.

Online shopping trend!

Retail sales on Black Friday broke records this year.

According to NRF estimates, reported in the Wall Street Journal, “consumers spent an average of $398.62 on Black Friday weekend, up 9.1% from last year. Of that, $150.53, or 38%, came from online sales.” ShopperTrak, which monitors in-store visits, said that retail sales rose by almost 7 over last year to about $11.4 billion on Friday.

IBM reported a marked increase in mobile shopping:

• Mobile traffic increased to 14.3 percent  . . . compared to 5.6 percent in 2010
• Sales on mobile devices surged to 9.8 percent from 3.2 percent year over year
• Mobile shopping was led by Apple, with the iPhone and iPad ranking one and two for consumers shopping on mobile devices . . . Android came in third at 4.1 percent.
• Shoppers using the iPad led to more retail purchases more often per visit than other mobile devices with conversion rates reaching 4.6 percent compared to 2.8 percent for overall mobile devices

As just as US consumers are increasingly agnostic about shopping online and in stores, they also increasingly access the internet and shop on mobile devices as part of their non-linear purchase process.

Google Adwords brought record ROI for Kempinski !

Kempinski Hotels S.A. is a luxury hotel group. Kempinski Hotels, the trading name for Kempinski Hotels S.A., is an independent Swiss delisted S.A., which is involved in a number of luxury hotel and hospitality related businesses, including conference, catering and hotel supplies.

Kempinski has driven forward its digital strategy with a partnership with Google Adwords, resulting in a 14:1 ROI and an increase in website revenues to 7% of total revenues.

The Google Adwords online distribution and marketing tool was used to integrate pay-per-click into Kempinki’s overall marketing strategy and support its other online marketing initiatives.

Following the recorded ROI, Kempinski has tripled the amount of advertising budget spent online and 80% now goes directly to Google AdWords.

Kempinski manager digital strategy Alexander Noak explained: “Performance of the other forms of marketing is not measurable to the same degree as AdWords. Administering them is much more complicated.

“Also, they are not so flexible; once the message is out it cannot be altered, while AdWords is adaptable at any time.”

Noak added: “AdWords is simply more efficient, more user friendly, more innovative and more customizable. Even with low budgets, a high ROI can be achieved.”

Google + brings Community Guides for Organizations !

In a recent blog post Steve Grove, head of community partnerships at Google, stated that "we want to help more organizations, politicians, artists, celebrities, athletes, media companies and nonprofits use Google+ to share and interact with each other – and with Google+ users."

Google is doing so by educating organizations on the effective use of the platform. The six core community guides (one each for celebs, media, nonprofits, politics, sports, and universities) highlight examples, tactics, and further learning resources; each has resources customized to the category.

 

Product ads tend to have a better click through rate!

If you’re a Google Adwords advertiser or have searched for products in Google, you would notice there are more product ads now displayed in paid search. This applies to both the top positioned ads as well as the first 2 to 3 positions on the right hand side of Googles search. Product ads are key because they tend to have a better CTR (click through rate) than regular text ads.

What’s great about the improved product ads in Googles paid search is that now you can grab a top position and not have to be the only advertiser (well this is good for those who are on a budget) bidding for top position because the product ads are from different advertisers, not just one. Again, product ads tend to have a better click through rate which will get you more traffic if you opt in to product ads!

Google+ Pages showing up in Places search results!

It seems Google is moving steadily ahead with its plan to integrate all its services with Google+. The latest integration being Google+ Pages showing up in Places search results.  As reported by Mike Blumenthal of Blumenthals.com posted about what was showing up in Google’s local results.

When they keyed “transmission servicing lexington ky” in the search box, the results showed regular and familiar Google Places listings, but there was something additional too. There was a Google Plus Page icon right next to one Places search result.

Clicking on the icon, the user is redirected to a search result page displaying only Google+ page. And if you click on the listing, then you are taken to the Page owners personal account and not their Google+ page.

If indeed Google+ Pages have been integrated with Places, then it is the right opportunity for businesses to create and highlight their Google+ presence, as well as keep it updates with the latest information and offers.

Boost Conversions by ‘Retargeting !

Retargeting — which is also referred to as remarketing — is the practice of exposing potential customers to either a greater frequency of online ads or to more specific online ads after that shoppers has already interacted with a store.

Google AdWords, the most recognizable name in PPC advertising, offers retargeting. Marketers set up a specific audience group, place a bit of custom code on their sites, and aim ads or ad groups at potential customers based on their on-site behavior.

Using behavioral retargeting to aim online display and pay-per-click advertisements at shoppers already familiar with a brand or some particular products could significantly boost sales conversions, with some estimates suggesting that retargeted consumers are 70 percent more likely to make a purchase.

Retargeting tends to work better when the marketer had more or better information about the audience.

Most merchants that already use search-engine PPC ads will find that they already have retargeting available to them. And there are also some retargeting-specific services that can help a retailer get started.

Spotlight section on Google News may contain stories that your Google + friends and Gmail contacts have +1′ed !

The Google News Blog announced that the Spotlight section on Google News may contain stories that your Google + friends and Gmail contacts have +1′ed.

If you are logged in while using Google News and your friends or contacts have used the Google +1 button to like the stories in your Spotlight section, that information will show up in the Spotlight section near the article. It will even let you click on the name of your friend/contact to see their social profile on Google.

Google said "Starting today, the Spotlight section will sometimes include articles that your Gmail contacts and people in your Google+ circles have publicly +1’d. You can see their profile pictures and click through to their Google+ profiles, just like on Social Search. And of course you can +1 the stories too, expressing your opinion and optionally sharing with your circles."

Link Google+ Business Page With AdWords Campaign!

Google+ has been in the news since its launch, and especially with the rate at which it has grown. It had 10 million users within a few days, and even on an invite-only basis, it collected 25 million users, and the number of users shot up to 50 million in a couple of days of the network going public.

Brands and businesses were waiting for Google+ to open its doors to them, and Google+ did that in the first week of November, when it launched business pages. Like Facebook and Twitter, brands and businesses can now use Google+ to connect with their followers and build on their brand.

Google AdWords has released a new feature called Social Extensions, which integrates your AdWords campaign to Goolge+ page. They have given a detailed step-by-step guide to adding social extensions to your ads.

Google believes that this move will help the advertisers to “build a larger collection of social recommendations”.

This Ad integration feature will be available to you only if you create and verify your Google+ page. You can connect your AdWords campaign and your Google+ page quite simply via the AdWords account.