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Advertising trademark keywords in URL:

Written by seg @ 1:32 AM permanent link on Saturday, May 30, 2009 | Post a Comment | 0 comments

There are reports that Google is slapping bad quality score for domains that contains trademark names. One of my friend tried to advertise with a keyword Google in its domain name. For a week the campaign was fine but everything changed 2nd week all the ads stopped showing up because of bad quality score. It looks Google is catching on advertisers who might be advertising with trademark names in their domain name. I feel this is a bit harsh it is fair enough to stop sites for advertising trademark keywords but not the best to stop them from using domain names with keywords that are trademarked.

Say for example you might be selling Nike shoes. And your domain might be nikeshoesforsale.com. I don't see anything wrong with a domain like that going in for advertising. Users like to buy from domains like that since its very much relevant to the query performed by the users. So I request Google to remove any restrictions on advertising with domain names that might contain names that are trademarked.

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Is it possible to block individual domains in search network?

Written by seg @ 12:06 AM permanent link on Tuesday, May 26, 2009 | Post a Comment | 2 comments

That has been the question of the ages. I'd love to know if there is a way that I may have missed.
Many search referrals that I see look good, ISP home pages, legit search portals, but I've also seen 'search partners' that are --- well, no content except a Google search box! I can't accept that humans visit these pages for any legit reason.
Now, some time back I put Google search boxes at the bottom of some of my sites. I thought it might please the Google G-ds and give my sites extra credibility. However, they've never generated enough revenue to make them worthwhile. In fact, they come off as I have reason to update the pages.
I am assuming that I only earn from a search through them if the searcher clicks an Adwords ad, If that is accurate, that may explain why the box gets a reasonable amount of use, but scant $$$ on my legitimate sites.
If the above assumption is true, that should tell you that some former MFA types are abusing that box.
Surely it is not a technical impossibility to implement a feature that would allow me to 'pick my partners' or similar.
I'm sure many would love to hear an answer on this. It's a tough choice to sacrifice the AOL's and cable/DSL home pages that many of my customers see when they launch their browsers just to avoid these gamers.
I already had to dump Search for my higher dollar campaigns and I saw income shoot up. Similar to the way I dumped Content completely early on after seeing my logs.

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Microsoft Adcenter update:

Written by seg @ 6:23 AM permanent link on Monday, May 25, 2009 | Post a Comment | 1 comments

Campaign Management update:
The adCenter Spring Upgrade is complete, and this is the first in a couple of posts about the new features you'll see. This one covers campaign management updates in adCenter online. Be sure to check out the other Spring Upgrade feature reviews: Account Management Updates, adCenter Desktop (Beta) Updates, and Content Ads Updates (U.S. Only).
Better Targeting Options
First off, a change to your targeting options. Now you can apply customer targeting and incremental bids for your entire campaign with new campaign-level targeting, and then further refine targeting at the ad group level. (Note: Your ad group-level targeting settings will override those at the campaign level.) This is a feature we've seen requested from our community customers please let us know what you think in our discussion forum.
Greater Bidding Flexibility
We're introducing an improvement to adCenter bid management as well. Now you can set default keyword bids for your ad groups, and use nondefault bids to override the default when you prefer. Setting default bids for all keywords reduces the complexity of bidding individually and also makes it faster when adding new keywords. You can use the nondefault bid to override the default on high performing keywords or, in the case of seasonal keywords, return to the default once the season ends. If you have both search ads and content ads (U.S. only), you can set separate default bids for each.
Note: The nondefault bid overrides the default bid in your ad group. Nondefault bids are clearly displayed in bold in your keyword table for easy reference.
Improved Keyword Research Tools
With the Spring Upgrade you'll also find improved keyword tools on the Research tab. These can help you build a more effective keyword list and, as a result, help boost your campaign performance. Now you can:
Use new filters to refine your list of suggested keywords. View performance and demographic data by keyword. Add selected keywords to your negative keyword list. Bid on keywords and review estimated performance data. Review keywords and bids and add them to an ad group.
Here are a couple of updates to help you manage campaign and ad group settings more easily.
A new Targeting settings page enables you to easily set all of your targeting and incremental bid options within one place.
A new Exclusion settings page lets you specify exclusions at the campaign and ad group levels.
Customizable campaign data tables: Your campaign, ad group, ad, and keyword tables are updated with a new look and feel, including the option to hide columns you don't use, similar to Microsoft Office Excel.
To view our Feature Guide and Video Tutorials and learn how to use these new features, visit our Whats New in adCenter page in the Microsoft Advertising Learning Center (U.S.) or the U.K. What's New Page.
Account Management Updates
With the adCenter Spring Upgrade, there are several account management updates to help you maintain your accounts more efficiently; we'll cover these in this post. To read our other Spring Upgrade feature reviews, check out Campaign Management Updates, adCenter Desktop (Beta) Updates, and Content Ads Updates (U.S. Only).
Use Windows Live ID to Sign In to adCenter
Now you can sign in to adCenter by using your Windows Live ID. If you are already signed in to another online program with your Windows Live ID Hotmail, for example you can easily sign in to adCenter without reentering your credentials. And if you're an adCenter Admin, you can also invite new adCenter account users to access your account by using their Windows Live ID.
New Home Page and Alerts
In adCenter you'll find a new Home tab that takes you quickly to your home page. Here our new Alerts, Whats new, and FAQ areas help keep you informed about whats happening with your account and with adCenter in general.
Alerts: Displays messages specific to your user role and adCenter account. Whats new: Keeps you informed about new features and announcements. FAQ: Links you to popular Help topics and information.

Account Settings
We've improved the My Settings page, so now you can more easily create and manage your personal information, marketing preferences, and alert settings all in one place.
And in the Alert settings section, you can select the severity of the alerts you want to receive within four alert types: account, billing, campaigns, and general.

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Better Search query performance reports from Adwords

Written by seg @ 2:34 AM permanent link on Friday, May 22, 2009 | Post a Comment | 0 comments

It had been long waiting from Google. I was expecting them to improve the ability to report on the performance of the query in Adwords campaign. The report which used to be there was not exactly i was looking for. Now Google has come up with an expanded search query performance report with smaller details on how the ads of triggered when a user inputs a query.

Before Google used to group queries and not all keywords used to trigger ads it was visible in search performance report. Now after the improvement we can see all queries that resulted in a click where the user has not blocked their referral URL. Its very good to have full referral URLs showing up now we know where people have actually come and which keywords they used exactly. Before the results were vague we cannot easily figure out how people actually come to our website. One problem now we need to cope up with a long list of keywords even if the clicks on them are in single digits.
How to run a Search Query Performance report:
1. Sign in to your Adwords account at https://adwords.google.com.

2. Click the 'Reports' tab at the top of the page.

3. Click 'Create Report.'

4. Select 'Search Query Performance' as your Report Type and then choose your ad types from the appropriate check-boxes for ad variations (text ads, image ads, video ads, etc.).

5. ettings - View: Select a viewing option from the drop-down menu (summary data, or daily, day of week, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly metrics).

6. Settings - Date range: Select the date range for your report. Choose a time span (i.e. 'Last seven days,' 'This month,' etc.) by clicking on the pull-down menu. For 'Summary,' 'Daily,' 'Weekly,' or 'Day of week' views, you can use clickable calendars to select specific report dates. Just click on the date fields and the calendars will appear.
Please note that search query data is only available from May 2, 2007, and onward.

7. Settings - Campaigns and ad groups: Choose 'All' or hand-pick campaigns and/or ad groups you want included in your report.

8. Advanced Settings - Columns: Click 'Add or Remove Columns' then use the check-boxes to customize the data you want included in your report. The report column display bar will change as you add or remove selections so you can see how your columns will appear. The 'Search query,' and 'Search query match type' columns reflect the details associated with your search query performance. Column options specific to the different ad variations will also appear in this section.

9. Advanced Settings - Filters: Click 'Filter Your Results' and select up to four filters, assigning them parameters or values for screening your data. Add filters by clicking 'Add another restriction.' Delete them by clicking 'Remove.'

10. Templates, Scheduling and Email - Report name: Enter a unique name for your report. Check the box to 'Save this as a new report template' if you'll want to re-use the settings you've established.

11. Templates, Scheduling and Email - Scheduling: To run this report on a regular basis, check the box to 'Schedule this report to run automatically:' then use the drop-down menu to select your frequency (daily, every Monday, or on the first day of every month).

12. Templates, Scheduling and Email - Email: Check the box to receive an email notification for your newly created report and provide the email address(es) to which the notification should be sent. For multiple recipients, separate each email address with a comma. To receive the report via email, check the box for 'with report attached as' and select your preferred report format (.csv for Excel, .csv, .tsv, .xml., or .html) from the drop-down menu.

13. Click 'Create Report' and your report will run.

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Adsense ads not showing up in Ubuntu / Linux

Written by seg @ 2:45 AM permanent link on Thursday, May 21, 2009 | Post a Comment | 1 comments

I have seen this lot lately. Adsense ads are not showing up in Linux / Ubuntu operating system. I feel this problem has been there for a long time. Is Google adsense ignoring adsense users? I feel Google team is probably thinking Linux users are not going to click and buy anything from adsense ads. I can feel this is a reasonable reason from Google to ignore ads being served for Linux users but still I feel they might lose a lot of revenue.
A member of Google groups says
" For some reason I get the following ad on my site when I am running Linux with the latest version of adobe flash:

However when I switch to Windows I see the following (which I believe should have been the ad seen on Linux):


I have seen this same issue on other sites as well which seems to indicate to me it's a adsense/flash problem rather than something specific to me. I have verified that this occurs with Ubuntu and Fedora (two different versions of Linux) and also to other Linux users as well.

This has been happening for about a month or so for me, just a fresh install of Fedora or Ubuntu and a install of adobe flash will cause this."
Google employee's reply:
Thanks for bringing this to our attention. This issue is isolated to Linux users, and our engineers are looking into it.


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Opt out of doubleclick cookie - Google Adwords / Adsense

Written by seg @ 11:18 PM permanent link on Thursday, May 14, 2009 | Post a Comment | 0 comments

Cookies are the most irritating spy wares that you will come across. They get stored in your computer without your knowledge and later end up spying your activities even If you don't to be spyed. The concept of cookies itself is shady and I recommend to stay away from spy cookies. Google Adwords and adsense uses double click cookie on client websites. A cookie is stored when someone tries to visit some web page by clicking Google ads. Most of the websites never give opt out option for cookies. But Google is offering complete opt out of double click cookie that it uses to spy on personal user activity.

To opt out go to the following URL:

https://www.google.com/ads/
preferences/plugin/


Save your opt-out preference permanently

With this browser plugin you can permanently opt out of the double click cookie, which is an advertising cookie that Google uses.

The plugin lets you keep your opt-out status for this browser even when you clear all cookies.

Opt out

Opt out if you prefer ads not to be based on the interest categories above.

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

When you opt out, Google disables this cookie and no longer associates interest categories with your browser.

Your cookie

Google stores the following information in a cookie to associate your ads preferences with the browser you are currently using:

It stores information in following format:

id=800001d75248712||t=124223888
0|et=730|cs=6t8vafyn

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Features I would like to see with new Beta UI in Adwords:

Written by seg @ 12:36 AM permanent link on | Post a Comment | 0 comments

  • To be faster!
  • Fit to screen, scrolling left and right constantly is frustrating.

Scrolling just to find the filter button or logout is just not the Google way!
Some of these columns can be squeezed up.
  • Is the show and hide deleted items disappeared? Please bring this back.
  • Apparently has time zone issues that need fixing.
  • Personally feel that the default layout to be more like the original as not to be such a shock, ie. Hide the left navigation, sort Campaign list by name.. let users change it to fit them.
  • Ability to filter out deleted items. I cant filter out delete keywords from the compaign view.

I was attempting to work with ad scheduling in the new interface, and the hover pages (such as ad scheduling or adding placements) are quite difficult to work with. In the old interface, I can see most of these pages without an issue. In the new UI, working with either of these options is very difficult as now you have a lot more vertical scrolling, and can't see an entire week (for ad scheduling) in one view.

I'm having weird problems with site exclusions on the automatic placements. When I exclude some sites, it doesn't update the screen correctly, and seem to exclude sites I hadnt ticked.

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Trouble with yahoo search marketing:

Written by seg @ 9:07 PM permanent link on Tuesday, May 12, 2009 | Post a Comment | 1 comments

First let me say that I've been using Google Adwords almost exclusively since I started into the world of PPC, however I did try out the Yahoo program a year or so ago. I wasn't impressed with the setup so I abandoned it. I decided to give it a try again and guess what...they still don't have their shit together at Yahoo. This is what I don't like about their program vs. Google.

1. Campaigns take FOREVER to kick in. I thought Google took a while, but it took 24 hours before I saw any of my ads appearing on the Yahoo network. This just kills you when you have a hot idea that you want to get going on, then you have to wait a day or more and your inspiration fades.

2. Editorial Reviews - If you create an ad copy that for some reason doesn't jive with some Yahoo algorithm, your ad goes to Editorial Review, and the waiting game begins again. I've had half a dozen ads sitting in ER now for days...wonder if they'll ever be reviewed. At least Google get around to them in 24 hours or so.

3. Reporting - As far as I can tell, Yahoo only updates the reporting stats once a day. How the hell can I figure out if a campaign, ad or even keyword is effective if I have to wait until the next morning to see statistics?

4. Help - Getting a response from a Yahoo rep is nearly impossible.

If anyone has any tips to get around these issues...I'd love to hear them. I'd rather pay more per click and have a reliable system that gets ads showing and working in a timely manner.

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Rescuecom vs Google adwords competitive name bidding:

Written by seg @ 11:03 PM permanent link on Sunday, May 10, 2009 | Post a Comment | 0 comments

On April 3rd, 2008, the Second Circuit is scheduled to hear oral argument in Rescuecom v. Google (docket no. 06-4881-cv), which is another step in litigation over whether the sale of keywords is actionable under the Lanham Act. Last year, Google, Inc. and American Blind & Wallpaper Factory, Inc. settled Google's Northern District of California suit (docket no. 5:03-cv-05340-JF) in which Google sought a declaratory judgment that Google's sale of American Blind's trademarks as keywords was not trademark infringement. This commentary by Joseph N. Welch II examines the state of the law following the American Blind settlement and discusses the impact of the favorable settlement for Google. Mr. Welch writes:

Details of the document:


BACKGROUND

5 As this appeal follows the grant of a motion to dismiss, we must take as true the facts

6 alleged in the Complaint and draw all reasonable inferences in favor of Rescuecom. Lentell v.

7 Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., 396 F.3d 161, 165 (2d Cir. 2005). Rescuecom is a national computer

8 service franchising company that offers on-site computer services and sales. Rescuecom

9 conducts a substantial amount of business over the Internet and receives between 17,000 to

10 30,000 visitors to its website each month. It also advertises over the Internet, using many web-


11 based services, including those offered by Google. Since 1998, "Rescuecom" has been a

12 registered federal trademark, and there is no dispute as to its validity.

13 Google operates a popular Internet search engine, which users access by visiting
www.google.com. Using Google's website, a person searching for the website of a particular 14

15 entity in trade (or simply for information about it) can enter that entity's name or trademark into

16 Google's search engine and launch a search. Google's proprietary system responds to such a

17 search request in two ways. First, Google provides a list of links to websites, ordered in what


18 Google deems to be of descending relevance to the user's search terms based on its proprietary

19 algorithms. Google's search engine assists the public not only in obtaining information about a

20 provider, but also in purchasing products and services. If a prospective purchaser, looking for

21 goods or services of a particular provider, enters the providers trademark as a search term on
06-4881-cv
Rescuecom v. Google
4
1 Google's website and clicks to activate a search, within seconds, the Google search engine will

2 provide on the searcher's computer screen a link to the webpage maintained by that provider (as

3 well as a host of other links to sites that Google's program determines to be relevant to the search

4 term entered). By clicking on the link of the provider, the searcher will be directed to the

5 provider's website, where the searcher can obtain information supplied by the provider about its

6 products and services and can perhaps also make purchases from the provider by placing orders.

7 The second way Google responds to a search request is by showing context-based

8 advertising. When a searcher uses Google's search engine by submitting a search term, Google

9 may place advertisements on the user's screen. Google will do so if an advertiser, having


10 determined that its ad is likely to be of interest to a searcher who enters the particular term, has

11 purchased from Google the placement of its ad on the screen of the searcher who entered that

12 search term. What Google places on the searcher's screen is more than simply an advertisement.

13 It is also a link to the advertiser's website, so that in response to such an ad, if the searcher clicks

14 on the link, he will open the advertiser's website, which offers not only additional information

15 about the advertiser, but also perhaps the option to purchase the goods and services of the

16 advertiser over the Internet. Google uses at least two programs to offer such context-based links:

17 AdWords and Keyword Suggestion Tool.

18 AdWords is Google's program through which advertisers purchase terms (or keywords).
19 When entered as a search term, the keyword triggers the appearance of the advertiser's ad and

20 link. An advertiser's purchase of a particular term causes the advertiser's ad and link to be

21 displayed on the user's screen whenever a searcher launches a Google search based on the
06-4881-cv
Rescuecom v. Google
Although we generally refer to a single advertiser, there is no limit on the number of 1
advertisers who can purchase a particular keyword to trigger the appearance of their ads.
5
1 purchased search term. Advertisers pay Google based on the number of times Internet users 1

2 "click" on the advertisement, so as to link to the advertiser's website. For example, using

3 Google's AdWords, Company Y, a company engaged in the business of furnace repair, can

4 cause Google to display its advertisement and link whenever a user of Google launches a search
5 based on the search term, "furnace repair." Company Y can also cause its ad and link to appear

6 whenever a user searches for the term "Company X," a competitor of Company Y in the furnace

7 repair business. Thus, whenever a searcher interested in purchasing furnace repair services from

8 Company X launches a search of the term X (Company Xs trademark), an ad and link would

9 appear on the searcher's screen, inviting the searcher to the furnace repair services of X's

10 competitor, Company Y. And if the searcher clicked on Company Y's link, Company Y's

11 website would open on the searcher's screen, and the searcher might be able to order or purchase

12 Company Y's furnace repair services.

13 In addition to Adwords, Google also employs Keyword Suggestion Tool, a program that
14 recommends keywords to advertisers to be purchased. The program is designed to improve the
15 effectiveness of advertising by helping advertisers identify keywords related to their area of
16 commerce, resulting in the placement of their ads before users who are likely to be responsive to
17 it. Thus, continuing the example given above, if Company Y employed Google's Keyword
18 Suggestion Tool, the Tool might suggest to Company Y that it purchase not only the term
19 "furnace repair" but also the term "X," its competitor's brand name and trademark, so that Y's ad
06-4881-cv
Rescuecom v. Google
6
1 would appear on the screen of a searcher who searched Company X's trademark, seeking
2 Company X's website.
3 Once an advertiser buys a particular keyword, Google links the keyword to that
4 advertiser's advertisement. The advertisements consist of a combination of content and a link to
5 the advertiser's webpage. Google displays these advertisements on the search result page either
6 in the right margin or in a horizontal band immediately above the column of relevance-based
7 search results. These advertisements are generally associated with a label, which says
8 "sponsored link." Rescuecom alleges, however, that a user might easily be misled to believe that
9 the advertisements which appear on the screen are in fact part of the relevance-based search
10 result and that the appearance of a competitor's ad and link in response to a searcher's search for
11 Rescuecom is likely to cause trademark confusion as to affiliation, origin, sponsorship, or
12 approval of service. This can occur, according to the Complaint, because Google fails to label
13 the ads in a manner which would clearly identify them as purchased ads rather than search
14 results. The Complaint alleges that when the sponsored links appear in a horizontal bar at the top
15 of the search results, they may appear to the searcher to be the first, and therefore the most
16 relevant, entries responding to the search, as opposed to paid advertisements.
17 Google's objective in its AdWords and Keyword Suggestion Tool programs is to sell
18 keywords to advertisers. Rescuecom alleges that Google makes 97% of its revenue from selling
19 advertisements through its AdWords program. Google therefore has an economic incentive to
20 increase the number of advertisements and links that appear for every term entered into its search
21 engine.
06-4881-cv
Rescuecom v. Google
7
1 Many of Rescuecom's competitors advertise on the Internet. Through its Keyword
2 Suggestion Tool, Google has recommended the Rescuecom trademark to Rescuecom's
3 competitors as a search term to be purchased. Rescuecom's competitors, some responding to
4 Google's recommendation, have purchased Rescuecom's trademark as a keyword in Google's
5 AdWords program, so that whenever a user launches a search for the term "Rescuecom," seeking
6 to be connected to Rescuecom's website, the competitors' advertisement and link will appear on
7 the searcher's screen. This practice allegedly allows Rescuecom's competitors to deceive and
8 divert users searching for Rescuecom's website. According to Rescuecom's allegations, when a
9 Google user launches a search for the term "Rescuecom" because the searcher wishes to purchase
10 Rescuecom's services, links to websites of its competitors will appear on the searcher's screen in
11 a manner likely to cause the searcher to believe mistakenly that a competitor's advertisement
12 (and website link) is sponsored by, endorsed by, approved by, or affiliated with Rescuecom.
13 The District Court granted Google's 12(b)(6) motion and dismissed Rescuecom's claims.
14 The court believed that our 1-800 decision compels the conclusion that Googles allegedly
15 infringing activity does not involve use of Rescuecom's mark in commerce, which is an essential
16 element of an action under the Lanham Act. The district court explained its decision saying that
17 even if Google employed Rescuecom's mark in a manner likely to cause confusion or deceive
18 searchers into believing that competitors are affiliated with Rescuecom and its mark, so that they
19 believe the services of Rescuecom's competitors are those of Rescuecom, Google's actions are
20 not a "use in commerce" under the Lanham Act because the competitor's advertisements
21 triggered by Google's programs did not exhibit Rescuecom's trademark. The court rejected the
06-4881-cv
Rescuecom v. Google
1 argument that Google "used" Rescuecom's mark in recommending and selling it as a keyword to
2 trigger competitor's advertisements because the court read 1-800 to compel the conclusion that
3 this was an internal use and therefore cannot be a "use in commerce" under the Lanham Act.

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New adwords interface too complicated:

Written by seg @ 11:51 PM permanent link on Sunday, May 3, 2009 | Post a Comment | 0 comments

Don't know what is your impression but mine is that the new Google Adwords interface really sucks.

It's too complicated, and makes my system go slow. Nothing compared to the old one.
It was simple, clear, and just pure text.

Few features Google has introduced in new beta interface:
  • "Performance graphs: Spot trends over time with custom graphs on every campaign management page.
  • Insight across ad groups: Focus on the high-impact areas of your account with new roll-up tabs on every page. You can see and edit keywords, placements or ads from all ad groups on a single tab.
  • In-line editing: Want to change a keyword or bid? Click on it and make changes in-line instead of loading a separate page.

  • Easier content network management: Improve content network performance through a new Networks tab. Look at statistics for the placements where your ads have appeared, and then take action by setting unique bids or excluding placements directly from the report."

source :

https://www.google.com/adwords/
newinterface/

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