Internet Marketing Blog

In recent weeks we have had two client accounts on AdWords “hijacked.” Someone was able to discover or hack the passwords for two different email logins, presumably either by inadvertent disclosure or use of weak / easy-to-guess passwords. Campaigns were created that targeted keywords related to screen savers and loans, and the ads took users [...]

If you’re running a national SEM campaign, it may be desirable to exclude all local queries so that you can optimize the ad language for non-geographic queries and users. To target specific locales, you could setup additional campaigns that are better optimized for those sets of keywords. The best way to exclude location-based queries is [...]

Microsoft recently notified adCenter advertisers by email that the Microsoft Content Ads Beta would be “available” to all advertisers on August 29. By default, your ads will be shown on the existing search campaign and the new content network. To quote the letter: On August 29, you don’t have to make any changes and your [...]

The 10,000 lb. gorilla is getting heavier. So says a recent report by comScore. Google sites (www.google.com, www.aol.com, etc.) increased their market share in December to 47.3%, compared to 28.5% for Yahoo and 10.5% for Microsoft. The numbers themselves aren’t as important as the trends: Google continues to grow, Yahoo grew more percentage-wise and thus [...]

Rumor has it that Microsoft has bought DeepMetrix, a web analytics firm that competes with ClickTracks, WebTrends, etc. No press release at the moment that I’m writing this, but this post in Threadwatch suggests that it will be rolled into MSN adCenter.

Michael Schwarz recently gave a Google Tech Talk on the bidding systems used by Google AdWords, Yahoo Sponsored Search, and other PPC programs that utilize “Generalized Second Price” (GSP) auctions. The presentation provides a very interesting analysis of bidding strategies and stability of the GSP system, comparing it to others that in some cases are [...]

The Marketing Experiments Blog recently posted the results of a click fraud study. The study itself is interesting but somewhat inconclusive due to its short duration and limited scope. However, they make some excellent suggestions for preventing or at least reducing click fraud, some of which include: Watch for significant variations in ad campaign performance. [...]

You think you’re paying a lot? A recent post on CyberWyre identifies some of the most expensive terms upon which to bid in AdWords. Not surprisingly, “mesothelioma lawyers” tops the list at over $50 per click. AdWords’ use of CTR in calculating bid position means that most advertisers aren’t paying this much. Top position on [...]

High Click-Through-Rate (CTR) is a good indication that people find your ad compelling. AdWords even rewards higher CTR by letting you bid less for the same position than someone who has a less effective ad. So the name of the game is maximizing CTR, right? These are real statistics for a 24-day period of a [...]

I have to say that I’m impressed with the pace of change at MSN’s adCenter, although they did drop one of my campaigns in a recent update. I’m even more impressed in that they called me to see how things were going. Try to get Google or Yahoo! on the phone. (Or try to get [...]