Search & Content Network statistics

Search and content network performance always differed from the past. Terms like clickthrough and conversion rates are not always compared between the content and search network, since the approach used to browse content by users have always been different from those searching for a particular information.

The approach used to analyse search network statistics may not be the same as content network statistics. Also, optimization strategies used for search network are different, most of the times from content network.

In order to make the optimization process easy, for better clarity and improved performance, Google made a small change to the campaign and ad group summary pages to give better clarity in evaluating search and content network statistics separately.

The Statistics drop down menu on to the top right corner, will allow the advertiser to select the options provided to check the statistics according to the requirement. The options are as follows:

• All(Search+Content)
• Search
• Content
• Summary

Geographic Performance Report

Google AdWords has now added new report to other existing reports like: Ad Group Performance, Account Performance etc in the report centre. This report will help you to understand the geographic distribution of your impressions, clicks, and conversions down to the ad group level.

“Geographic Performance report” provides data to the advertisers from where clicks are coming from. Advertisers can analyze the locations to be targeted that received more clicks etc. Once the data is on hand, advertisers can use location targeting with any campaign to only show ads to users in certain geographic locations.

The report includes the following columns:

• Country/Territory
• Region
• Metro
• Town/City

Therefore, this report can be a great asset for advertisers to target the right locations for potential audience.

Google & NBC Universal Partnership

Google is venturing into television advertising and it announced a strategic partnership with NBC Universal.

This partnership will allow Google to sell ads across all days and times on selected cable networks of NBCU. Google advertisers will be allowed to place their ads on CNBC, Sci-Fi Network, MSNBC, Oxygen, Sleuth and Chiller starting in early 2009. Once, this initial phase will hit success then the partnership would be extended to other areas of NBC Universal properties.

Google is all set to help small companies too that are already using online advertising tools and advertising with Google and have not yet tried television ads. Google advertisers are predicted to get greater returns on the dollars spent and NBC Universal will be making good earning of about $6 billion a year through the allotted slots for Google advertisements on NBC networks.

This partnership will allow advertisers to buy advertising time through Google on prime channels like Sci Fi which has a reach of 1.4 million viewers. Other advertisers with lesser budget can buy advertising time in other cable channels that are less popular.


Impact of Google TV ads on online advertising:

The affect of Google TV ads on online advertising cannot be predicted as of now.

Google Chrome

Google announced beta version of a new open source web browser called Google Chrome. Google Chrome is a browser that combines a simple design with sophisticated technology and new architecture to make the web faster, safer, and easier.

Google Chrome and AdWords:

Google Chrome will not have any impact on advertiser’s AdWords campaigns.

Google Chrome uses the same open source rendering engine as Apple's Safari browser (WebKit), so landing pages and sites should appear in Google Chrome as they do in Apple Safari. The way users interact with ads should be similar as well.

Features:

• One unified box for all browsing needs.

• New tab page will show visual sampling of most visited sites, search engines, bookmarked pages and closed tabs.

• Application shortcuts can help you to directly load your favorite online application without opening the browser.

• Customizing tabs according to the user’s choice like: dragging the tab to create new window, gather multiple tabs to make a single window, etc.

• Crash control feature in the browser allows other tabs to run properly in spite of one tab (application) crashes down.

• Choose incognito mode for private browsing.

• It warns, if user is about to visit malware or otherwise unsafe website.

• Easy and flexible bookmarking .

• The user can pick up all the bookmarks and passwords from the existing browser to Google Chrome.

• Simpler downloads and the status of the download will be shown at the bottom of the current window.

Download the browser at the download page: Google Chrome

Quality Score Updates

The following are few improvements in "Quality Score":

• A more accurate Quality Score: Google is replacing static per-keyword Quality Scores with a mechanism that will evaluate an ad's quality each time it matches a search query. This system of AdWords will help Google to determine whether an ad should be displayed or not based on accuracy, specificity and up-to-date performance information. This will result in showing more relevant ads more than less relevant ones. Therefore, the user can view more relevant ads and the advertiser can receive more leads.



• Keywords will now no longer be marked as 'inactive for search': This system will now no longer mark your keywords as 'inactive for search'. All keywords in accounts will now have the chance to show ads on both Google web search and search network. However, at the same time, the previously marked keywords are not likely to drive good traffic as the new system of per query quality score along with bid may not be good enough to drive high traffic.



• 'Minimum bid' will be replaced by 'First page bid': Due to the new system, related to quality score, minimum bid will no longer be shown, instead, First page bid will be shown. As first page bid is an estimate of bid that would take your ad to the first page on search results on Google web search. This bid has replaced minimum bid as the minimum bid, could hardly help the advertiser to get the placement that was always desired.

In short, Google will determine eligibility of a keyword to trigger an ad dynamically, based on factors such as location, the specific query, and other relevance factors, instead, of one static quality score and minimum bid.

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Posted at: PPC Blog