1. Based on search history, in what month does consumer demand for pretzels peak?
2. Search adds how much (in $) to the world’s GDP?
3. In 2011, what percent of people dreamed and brainstormed about their next vacation?
4. What percent of the daily queries on Google.com have never been seen before?
These are just a few of the questions that can be answered on the new Think Insights with Google, our information and resource hub for marketers. The site is fresh out of beta and sports a playful new look, helpful tools, more studies, the latest trends and exciting videos. We invite you to visit the site, take a look around and see what’s new.
If you only have a few minutes to spare, try playing with our new Real Time Insights Finder tool. With just a few clicks you can spot emerging trends and gain valuable consumer insights, all in real time. For example, the most popular video in common among males 25-34 in Italy and the U.S. is the Official Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 game trailer.
Use Think Insights as a one-stop shop for consumer trends, marketing insights and industry research that is forward-thinking and rooted in data. We look forward to hearing your feedback and working to make your Think Insights experience as useful as possible.
AdWords Editor version 9.7.1 is now available for Windows and Mac. This new version includes performance improvements and several new options for editing and targeting your campaigns. A few highlights:
Faster downloading for large accounts, and faster cut, copy, and paste (including drag-and-drop).
A new tool for changing the capitalization of selected text in one step.
More AdWords settings available within AdWords Editor, including advanced location settings, user interest category targeting, and Wifi traffic targeting.
If you're already using AdWords Editor, you'll be prompted to upgrade automatically. If you're not already using AdWords Editor, you can visit our website and click "Download AdWords Editor." To learn more about AdWords Editor, visit our Help Center.
Today we are happy to announce the launch of our new AdWords Help Center for opted in U.S. users. Based on your feedback we redesigned the Help Center to make it much easier for you to find the information for which you're searching.
Here are some of the changes we've made:
1. Simplified navigation: More easily navigate to the right content using the new menu at the top of each page.
You can also opt out at any time by selecting “Go back to the old look” in the bottom right corner.
We're rolling the changes out gradually, starting with about 60 of the most important topics. Stay tuned for more updates, as well as the global roll out, over the new few quarters.
Do you like the new Help Center? We'd like to hear what you think. Once you've opted-in to the new Help Center, just click the "Send Feedback" link in the lower right corner of any Help Center page.
You can also follow a thread in the Forum if you have something to share with the users in the AdWords Community.
Based on advertiser requests, we will soon offer ad group level impression share metrics for the Search and Display Networks. Once released, you can use ad group impression share data to, for example, better identify high performing ad groups that aren't capturing the majority of available impressions.
In the next few weeks, you will see three new columns that can be added to your ad groups tab:
Impr. Share: the percentage of impressions you received divided by the estimated number of impressions you were eligible to receive.
Lost IS (Rank): the share of impressions lost due to your Ad Rank. Note that Lost IS (rank) will not be shown if you were at or near your budget for part or all of a given day (a.k.a. were “budget constrained”) during the date range being examined.
Exact Match IS: (Search Network only) the percentage of impressions you received for searches that exactly matched your keyword divided by the estimated number of exact match impressions you were eligible to receive.
In addition to providing more detailed metrics, we are also planning to update our algorithms to provide more accurate campaign impression share metrics. As a result, there are some important changes you should be aware of:
Refined campaign-level statistics: Since we are improving our algorithms, we will update all campaign-level impression share metrics back to May 2011. As a result, you will no longer be able to see campaign-level historical impression share metrics before May 2011. If you wish to preserve a record of the pre-May 2011 campaign impression share data, you will need to download a report before January 30, 2012.
Once-a-day updates: In order to calculate your impression share metrics with a greater degree of accuracy, we will update all impression share metrics once per day (approximately noon Pacific Time [GTM-8]). As a result, the impression share data that you see will not reflect impression share for the current day, and may not include the previous day's impression share as well (depending on what time of the day you run your report).
These changes will begin to roll out to all advertisers globally on January 30, 2012, so look out for them in your account soon. Once these changes are live, you’ll be able to find more detailed information in the AdWords Help Center.
Since introducing Dynamic Search Ads in beta in October, we’ve seen questions from around the web asking about real-world performance and recommendations for implementation. Today we’re grateful to share the perspectives of Matt Mierzewski and Jen Syverud at RKG, an online marketing services firm with B2B and B2C clients ranging from startups to the Fortune 500 (details about RKG below).
Here’s a short video followed by Q&A. RKG has further offered to answer any other questions you might have about their experience with Dynamic Search Ads over on their blog.
Q. What’s your strategy for using Dynamic Search Ads with your clients today?
We think of Dynamic Search Ads as an advertiser-specific broad match type. Here, instead of allowing Google to match searches related to your keywords, you're allowing them to match searches related to your website.
For advertisers without automated pay-per-click inventory-based management solutions, Dynamic Search Ads can help identify products that are new or re-emerging. The system is tremendous in keeping up with changes to inventory in real time. For example, a product line may have been suspended for years, but quietly (without the search marketing team's knowledge) appears back on the website. In this case, keywords for the product line would still be paused until the marketing team is made aware, but Dynamic Search Ads are able to catch the change immediately, create ads, and generate orders. As another example, for advertisers frequently offering clearance products, Dynamic Search Ads are similarly able to offer ads while these limited quantity items are in-stock. In both examples, Dynamic Search Ads act as a safety net for advertisers wishing to advertise on dynamic products and/or inventories.
Q. What were your main concerns with Dynamic Search Ads and how have you addressed them?
One initial concern was that Dynamic Search Ads would cannibalize existing traffic, siphoning it away from active keyword campaigns. What we found was that the vast majority of Dynamic Search Ads traffic was complementary to our campaigns. Another concern was that we would have little to no control over what keywords Google was able to match on. However, Google has provided a great deal of controls within the Dynamic Search Ads product to ensure that the matching queries are relevant to the advertiser.
Q. What does your typical implementation of Dynamic Search Ads look like?
Implementation strategies will vary. In general, however, it is wise to consider pages that the advertiser wishes to exclude, as well as any known keyword negatives within the accounts, and add those from day one. From there, segmenting pages into campaigns or ad groups based on product margin, conversion rates, and so forth will allow for custom max CPC bids and maximum ROI.
Q. What best practices would you suggest for using Dynamic Search Ads?
Through restrictive targeting, exclusions and negatives, tight budgets and close monitoring, Dynamic Search Ads can be made very low risk and the results you see should be encouraging. For conservative advertisers, start by targeting only product level pages in your best converting categories.
A higher-level strategy is to add a site-wide target at a conservative bid with appropriate exclusions, and then layer on additional, more finely targeted ad groups and copy with bids corresponding to their expected performance. This approach is similar to the best practices for running Product Listing Ads and ensures wide coverage, but with a preference towards better quality traffic.
Use the power-tools that Google has made available in both targeting specific pages, while excluding other pages and search queries.
Q. How is Dynamic Search Ads doing with respect to matching relevant queries and landing pages?
With Dynamic Search Ads we can see every search that triggers a dynamic ad, the headline generated, the landing page selected, and, of course, performance stats. The searches that we’ve seen targeted are absolutely relevant to the website content -- it’s the only place Google is able to generate its targeting information from. If the system is matching to any query that the advertiser does not care to be matched on to meet their performance goals, it is very easy to restrict that traffic by URL or Keyword level negatives.
Q. What kind of results are you seeing with Dynamic Search Ads across your clients? Which is it working best for?
We’ve seen Dynamic Search Ads incremental sales impact range from 0.5% to 12%, so it’s important to note that individual account results may vary. The product is compatible with our tracking and reporting systems which makes it easy to measure performance and do head-to-head comparisons with our existing keyword-based campaigns.
Dynamic Search Ads work best for advertisers that have an extensive product offering and well developed web pages for Google to index and match relevant content to.
Q. What do you focus on when optimizing Dynamic Search Ads?
Like other AdWords campaigns, proper campaign management and optimizations are a necessity. Just like broad match, the Dynamic Search Ads product is most successful with carefully selected negative keywords, pages and categories of the website that do not perform optimally, and/or are not goal-oriented. Also similar to broad match, advertisers should monitor queries that produce conversions, and add them back as keywords to other AdWords campaigns.
Q. To what degree do you think Dynamic Search Ads are cannibalizing organic search traffic?
We haven’t seen evidence of cannibalization. But we’ll continue to evaluate performance and, if needed, make adjustments.
Q. Would you recommend Dynamic Search Ads for novice-to-intermediate or intermediate-to-advanced advertisers?
RKG would recommend Dynamic Search Ads for intermediate-to-advanced advertisers. Because it necessitates ongoing management, and is best utilized as a complement to robust keyword campaigns, it’s not likely to be a good fit for novice advertisers. Additionally, as previously mentioned, the richer the site content, number of pages, and breadth of product offering, the more fruitful Dynamic Search Ads will be. Naturally, these characteristics lend themselves to more established and sophisticated campaigns and advertisers.
About RKG
Founded in 2003, RKG is a data-driven digital agency that combines savvy marketers with sophisticated technology to deliver unrivaled results for over 180 clients in paid search marketing, search engine optimization, multichannel attribution management, display advertising and comparison shopping management. Long recognized as the thought leader in search marketing, RKG clients range from start-ups to the Fortune-500, and include both B2C and B2B direct marketers in retail, travel, finance and education. RKG is an independent, privately held agency with offices in Charlottesville, VA, Bend, OR and Boston, MA.
With the theme of Valentine's Day on our mind, we're sharing tips on how to spice up your AdWords text ads, courtesy of the AdWords Help Center.
Start by taking a moment to consider what you want to do with your ad. Then use the six guidelines below to create an ad that's accurate, to-the-point, and engaging.
Highlight what makes your business, product, or offer unique
Include prices, promotions, and exclusives
Tell your customers what they can do
Include at least one of your keywords in your ad text
Now that you've optimized your text ads, consider creating a video ad. Follow the steps mentioned in the Tips for creating effective video ads article.
With many Americans spending as much time online as watching TV, media-savvy advertisers are turning to creative new formats to attract attention and customers. We recently surveyed more than 1,600 Americans aged 18-45 and got some interesting insights into TrueView Video Ads, the family of YouTube ad formats that give viewers choice and control over which advertisers' messages they want to see and when.
Some of the best findings from our study include:
8 of 10 viewers preferred TrueView to standard in-stream ads
9 of 10 viewers thought TrueView created a better viewing environment
8 of 10 viewers thought the skip button was very clear
Only 1 viewer in 10 always skips ads
Other results give insight into how advertisers can make their TrueView ads even more effective so that viewers watch, not skip, their ads. Based on the research, here are some of the best ways to make your TrueView ads stickier:
Make great ads that people want to watch and that spark their curiosity.
Viewers have the option to skip a TrueView in-stream ad after five seconds, so piquing their interest quickly is important. By far the most popular survey response from people who chose to watch an ad was this one: “I was curious to see what the ad was for.” Attention-grabbing openers and humor also keep people watching.
Include branding in those first seconds.
TrueView advertisers pay only when people actually watch their ads. They’re buying real value, not paying per impression. So, insert your logo or brand name in the first five seconds—which cost you nothing if the viewer doesn’t keep watching. Enjoy those free impressions!
Include new, different information in your TrueView ad if it’s been airing on TV.
In our study, we found that seeing ads on TV affected whether viewers later skipped those same ads on YouTube. To keep them engaged across multiple screens, be sure to provide new product information in the TrueView ad messaging and make it personally relevant to the viewer. Check out this case study from HGTV for great ideas on tweaking and optimizing your TrueView ad.
To read full details of the study and get more tips about creating effective TrueView ads, visit Think Insights.
Posted by Christina Park, Product Marketing Manager, Think with Google
For the past three years the AdWords Help Forum has been a place where advertisers from all walks of life could come together and exchange ideas, advice and stories with other AdWords advertisers. It's really awe-inspiring to see people helping people and it's all thanks to your support and enthusiasm. Over the years we've been collecting your comments about the Help Forum and decided it was time for a change. We strive to make our users happy with the best possible products we can provide, from our advertising products, to our search products, to our social products. That's why we're excited to announce today that we're upgrading the AdWords Help Forum to a new platform that we're calling the AdWords Community.
Our new AdWords Community website is live now! Check out our new look and functionality.
New improvements with our website include:
1. Easy Navigation: The main AdWords Community page has an easy navigation bar divided into four main sections:
Discuss: In this section you can engage with other advertisers. Depending on the topic, choose a category board and post your question, or follow up on an existing discussion.
AdWords Wiki: Here you can find helpful AdWords articles written by other users who share their experience on AdWords account management and optimization, sitelinks, account structure, and many more topics.
About Community: Want to know more about this community? Here you can meet the Top Contributors and AdWords Community Team, read our posting guidelines, and learn how to advance in levels.
Resources: Still not sure if you have the right answer? Check out our other Google resources to learn even more about AdWords.
2. Contact Google: The AdWords Community is here for you, as is our Google Support team. Click the Contact Google button in the upper right corner if you want to get in touch with us directly.
3. Online Now: Wondering who else is posting now? On the left hand side you can see all users who are currently online. Check out their profiles, read their posts and give stars to every good answer!
Being part of our community has never been more fun! When visiting the new community for the first time, you need to register with your Google Account and create a username. When creating a username, we advise to use the same one as the one you used in the AdWords Help Forum. There are two restrictions when choosing it. First, the length cannot be longer than 15 characters. Second, the username cannot contain spaces. Once you register as a member, you have the option to create your own profile and start sharing your questions and ideas about AdWords with other users.
The new AdWords Community website will be now available in English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian languages.
Are you interested in connecting with your customers in new ways? Join our live webinar on Tuesday, February 28th at 10am EST (3pm GMT) to learn more about how you can bring your business and your customers closer together using Google+.
Key topics that'll be covered in the presentation by Google+ experts include:
Setting up a Google+ Page for your business
Best practices and great example cases for using Google+
Promoting your Google+ Page
Improving the performance of your online marketing with +1
SMX West kicks off in San Jose, CA on Tuesday, February 28th, and Google will be there. We’ll have presenters covering both paid and organic search topics. Here are some highlights for our AdWords blog readers:
Day one, 2/28/12 - Customized search results and customer-friendly mobile sites
Product Management Director Jack Menzel will speak in a two-part series called "Getting Personal," which will discuss how social, geographical and search signals are used to deliver better search results for users. In addition, Senior Product Marketing Manager Masha Fisch will be part of a session on how to create effective mobile landing pages.
Day two, 2/29/12 - A keynote and a session with DoubleClick Search
Day two kicks off with a keynote from Susan Wojcicki, SVP Advertising. She'll sit down with SMX West co-chairs Danny Sullivan and Chris Sherman to discuss the growth of search advertising, integrating search into your overall marketing strategy and a peek at upcoming Google product releases. Later in the day, join DoubleClick Search to hear about magic moments in search and to learn how you can use this product to manage your large search campaigns more efficiently.
Hear from Dai Pham on the Mobile Ads team, who will speak in a session on how to play in the exploding mobile ads universe. Later, stop into the "Ask the Paid Search Reps" Q&A Forum and ask Product Manager Tarun Jain your burning Google paid search ads questions.
A complete event agenda is available here. Still need to register? Enter discount code smx10doubleclick (case sensitive) and save 10%.
