The Web Authority
Monday, March 26
Google AdWords Pay For Action Invitation
Want to try out Google AdWord's new pay for action program? Here's a link to sign up for the beta testing.
You can select to pay when you get a lead, a sale, or some particular action on your website. You pay what you want for the action. Remember this only applies to certain websites in the content network.
Pay for action may be just right for you. We are testing it with a mortgage company and will let you know what happens. ¶ 3/26/2007 06:52:00 AM 0 Comments
You can select to pay when you get a lead, a sale, or some particular action on your website. You pay what you want for the action. Remember this only applies to certain websites in the content network.
Pay for action may be just right for you. We are testing it with a mortgage company and will let you know what happens. ¶ 3/26/2007 06:52:00 AM 0 Comments
Friday, March 23
MySpace vs. FaceBook, the Face-Off
Hi, my name is Chris and I am going to post to Web-World Watch for a few days. Nancy is my Mom and she has asked me to write about some of the cool things on the Web that I really like. So here's my face off between Facebook and MySpace.
MySpace has been the leading personal info site for about two years now and they finally have some competition.
This new site, FaceBook, is another site that has recently started to be noticed by people. It is also a personal info site for the things that MySpace used to be used for such as dating, friends, networking and serious relationships.
FaceBook seems to be aimed towards an older crowd since it doesn’t have the same layout features that MySpace has. Some of the features that I like about My Space are as the background layouts, being able to put songs on your page to reflect the kind of music you like, and many other things that drew kids and teenagers into MySpace.
Although MySpace was originally created to help underground music artists to become noticed. It was quickly picked up by single persons as a means of expression and group communication as well as even the high school crowd.
Now many people are making two accounts one for MySpace and one for FaceBook just to keep up with all their friends. Some people like Facebook better because not everyone was into the flash appearance of MySpace and just wanted a simple page to reveal things about themselves for others to know and to meet new people.
Personally I like MySpace better. I like the ability to customize my layout, get music, and backgrounds. I find Facebook too sterile and not interactive enough. But hey that is just my personal preference. ¶ 3/23/2007 05:05:00 PM 0 Comments
MySpace has been the leading personal info site for about two years now and they finally have some competition.
This new site, FaceBook, is another site that has recently started to be noticed by people. It is also a personal info site for the things that MySpace used to be used for such as dating, friends, networking and serious relationships.
FaceBook seems to be aimed towards an older crowd since it doesn’t have the same layout features that MySpace has. Some of the features that I like about My Space are as the background layouts, being able to put songs on your page to reflect the kind of music you like, and many other things that drew kids and teenagers into MySpace.
Although MySpace was originally created to help underground music artists to become noticed. It was quickly picked up by single persons as a means of expression and group communication as well as even the high school crowd.
Now many people are making two accounts one for MySpace and one for FaceBook just to keep up with all their friends. Some people like Facebook better because not everyone was into the flash appearance of MySpace and just wanted a simple page to reveal things about themselves for others to know and to meet new people.
Personally I like MySpace better. I like the ability to customize my layout, get music, and backgrounds. I find Facebook too sterile and not interactive enough. But hey that is just my personal preference. ¶ 3/23/2007 05:05:00 PM 0 Comments
Google Audio Ads Sign Up
Wow, I have a client who has Google Audio ads enabled in their account, and I have just reviewed the interface. If you ever wanted to try radio advertising, now is the time! First click the link in our post title to sign up with Google to have the audio ad tab turned on in your Google AdWords account.
I am impressed with the features, ease of use, audio marketplace, and surprised at how little it actually costs to advertise on the radio.
I think that this will not only be good for radio, but really good for advertisers that are looking to move their message onto radio.
There is one caveat, you can do your own set up, but my impression was if you have the money to have a specialized consultant help you make the right radio station and pricing choices within the Google control panel, you may have better results. I have been working with a client Ken Kohl who is just that, a radio expert. I know that the first client that I have who wants Google Audio ads, I will send to Ken.
This is a new ad format that I think will revolutionize Google and marketing on the Web. Print, web, digital, and television are all converging into one new mass marketplace!
I am impressed with the features, ease of use, audio marketplace, and surprised at how little it actually costs to advertise on the radio.
I think that this will not only be good for radio, but really good for advertisers that are looking to move their message onto radio.
There is one caveat, you can do your own set up, but my impression was if you have the money to have a specialized consultant help you make the right radio station and pricing choices within the Google control panel, you may have better results. I have been working with a client Ken Kohl who is just that, a radio expert. I know that the first client that I have who wants Google Audio ads, I will send to Ken.
This is a new ad format that I think will revolutionize Google and marketing on the Web. Print, web, digital, and television are all converging into one new mass marketplace!
Labels: Google Audio Ads
¶ 3/23/2007 12:15:00 PM 1 Comments
Wednesday, March 21
Why Kids and Young Adults Love MySpace
Why do people love MySpace so much ? First off it's and easy way to keep in touch with your friends and relatives leaving them comments and posting pictures of the things you do with your friends and family too keep others updated without the hastle of written letters and even e-mail.
Some of the pluses that make MySpace one of the better personal sites is the capability to customize it with your own look for the background and post your favorite song on your page for all to hear. ¶ 3/21/2007 05:46:00 PM 0 Comments
Some of the pluses that make MySpace one of the better personal sites is the capability to customize it with your own look for the background and post your favorite song on your page for all to hear. ¶ 3/21/2007 05:46:00 PM 0 Comments
Tuesday, March 20
MSN adCenter Load Tool
Looking for an easy way to upload your other pay per click programs into Microsoft adCenter? There is a new way. For $30 you can pay the Microsoft staff to do your load for you.
The only catch is your daily budget must be over $30 in clicks per day to qualify. The upload tool has been broken in adCenter, but now there is an alternative to inputting this information in by yourself. ¶ 3/20/2007 08:32:00 PM 0 Comments
The only catch is your daily budget must be over $30 in clicks per day to qualify. The upload tool has been broken in adCenter, but now there is an alternative to inputting this information in by yourself. ¶ 3/20/2007 08:32:00 PM 0 Comments
Google and Pay Per Action
Pay Per Action is coming to the content network and will be a huge boon for mortgage and real estate professionals if only Google can make it work.
Pay per action is where the Google AdWords advertiser only pays when an action is completed not when someone clicks on their ad. The advertiser determines a set payout for the action. When the action is completed the publisher in the Google AdSense network makes the fee.
Pay per action is available only as beta testing in the US for certain advertisers and for certain publishers, but I see this as a real opportunity for mortgage brokers, real estate agents, and marketeers of rather obscure products that have not hit the market yet.
For real estate agents and mortgage brokers, many would be glad to pay $15 for someone actually completing their online form for more information versus paying $5 to $18 per click for looky-loos.
It will be interesting how Google will play this out in the AdWords arena in the months to come. Stay tuned, pay per action may be part of your new marketing plan. ¶ 3/20/2007 02:11:00 PM 0 Comments
Pay per action is where the Google AdWords advertiser only pays when an action is completed not when someone clicks on their ad. The advertiser determines a set payout for the action. When the action is completed the publisher in the Google AdSense network makes the fee.
Pay per action is available only as beta testing in the US for certain advertisers and for certain publishers, but I see this as a real opportunity for mortgage brokers, real estate agents, and marketeers of rather obscure products that have not hit the market yet.
For real estate agents and mortgage brokers, many would be glad to pay $15 for someone actually completing their online form for more information versus paying $5 to $18 per click for looky-loos.
It will be interesting how Google will play this out in the AdWords arena in the months to come. Stay tuned, pay per action may be part of your new marketing plan. ¶ 3/20/2007 02:11:00 PM 0 Comments
Monday, March 12
Google TV Ads
Click our post title and you can read this article about Google moving into TV. Well I for one am filing this under "not going to happen". Remember click to call, Google Radio? Well there was a big ballyhoo about click to call when it was first announced. Then only a few people got into the beta.
We had one client in the click to call and it was a miserable failure. We were paying $1.50 for text ad clicks. To show our ads in click to call we had to escalate our CPC to over $10 and that is where our clicks when we got them came in. We had so few clicks and so few impressions, that we turned off the program.
Remember Google Radio, that one is still in a state of flux. Lots of talk, much posturing, and no action. And now we have talk of Google TV. Well, don't hold your breath on that one either I say.
We had one client in the click to call and it was a miserable failure. We were paying $1.50 for text ad clicks. To show our ads in click to call we had to escalate our CPC to over $10 and that is where our clicks when we got them came in. We had so few clicks and so few impressions, that we turned off the program.
Remember Google Radio, that one is still in a state of flux. Lots of talk, much posturing, and no action. And now we have talk of Google TV. Well, don't hold your breath on that one either I say.
Labels: Google News
¶ 3/12/2007 07:23:00 AM 0 Comments
Saturday, March 10
Google Local or Google Maps
A great way to get free advertising exposure is to register your site in your hometown with Google Maps. Use this link to read about the new features that Google has added to their local interface.
Now you can add a photo, more information, and even properly position your map marker if it is wrong. However your listing only shows in your local area. You can not fool Google and try to show your listings in another location. Google will snail mail you a postcard with a PIN to verify your correct location for your listing. But it is still great exposure.
Not only do you get free advertising, but in some local searches on www.Google.com, your listing and map image will even appear above all of the organic listings regardless of where your real site placement is when a reader does a local query. That is reason alone for making sure that you are listed in Google Local!
Now you can add a photo, more information, and even properly position your map marker if it is wrong. However your listing only shows in your local area. You can not fool Google and try to show your listings in another location. Google will snail mail you a postcard with a PIN to verify your correct location for your listing. But it is still great exposure.
Not only do you get free advertising, but in some local searches on www.Google.com, your listing and map image will even appear above all of the organic listings regardless of where your real site placement is when a reader does a local query. That is reason alone for making sure that you are listed in Google Local!
Labels: Google Maps
¶ 3/10/2007 07:43:00 AM 0 Comments
Thursday, March 8
AdWords Keyword Tool Under Revision
Years ago, the keyword tool in Google AdWords actually was okay. Then Google decided to sanitize it maybe afraid of legal implications and they introduced these silly green bars showing search amounts. This effectively made the tool ineffective. We've limped along with this "new" tool for months now.
Just today in one of the forums I saw a link, click my post title and you can see the image too. This resource is seeing figures - as in the old days - next to their keyword research.
I don't see it in my accounts yet or using the online keyword tool, but maybe this means that I will soon. I am hopeful as the way the keyword tool is now, it is good for identifying other possible words, but to try to isolate top performing or hot words, it is woefully pathetic.
While I'm on my rant, I will mention how bogus the estimate click cost is using this same keyword tool. Here is a specific example, reverse mortgage California. The tool three days ago said that a click cost of $7.22 would get the advertiser in the top three positions. Well guess what, the auction bid for my client is now at $14 and the last measly click came in at $11.89 and it was in position 10. The keyword tool needs some serious adjustment. I tell clients not to trust the cost per click figures there, they are way low and do not reflect the current marketing mix that they will be competing with to get their ads to show and for current click cost expectations. ¶ 3/08/2007 05:41:00 PM 0 Comments
Just today in one of the forums I saw a link, click my post title and you can see the image too. This resource is seeing figures - as in the old days - next to their keyword research.
I don't see it in my accounts yet or using the online keyword tool, but maybe this means that I will soon. I am hopeful as the way the keyword tool is now, it is good for identifying other possible words, but to try to isolate top performing or hot words, it is woefully pathetic.
While I'm on my rant, I will mention how bogus the estimate click cost is using this same keyword tool. Here is a specific example, reverse mortgage California. The tool three days ago said that a click cost of $7.22 would get the advertiser in the top three positions. Well guess what, the auction bid for my client is now at $14 and the last measly click came in at $11.89 and it was in position 10. The keyword tool needs some serious adjustment. I tell clients not to trust the cost per click figures there, they are way low and do not reflect the current marketing mix that they will be competing with to get their ads to show and for current click cost expectations. ¶ 3/08/2007 05:41:00 PM 0 Comments
Wednesday, March 7
Yacking About Click Fraud
Are you sick of it yet in the professionals forums; all the yacking about click fraud. I for one have simply accepted that some degree of click fraud is just part of the online business landscape. Do I believe that click fraud is rampant - no. Is it .02% like Google claims that it is? No, I think that the .02% number is bogus and Google should really be more forthcoming over the figures that they really believe.
Personally, from the accounts that I manage, and sites that I webmaster, I have not seen in the log files huge volumes of traffic that I would have ever considered fraudulent. That being said, what I have seen, I believe the truth on click fraud is somewhere between 5 to 10% of all clicks are fakes. I consider this simply a cost of doing business. I am not worried by the numbers and feel that the benefits that my own business and the businesses of my clients receives far out weighs the minor problems in regard to click fraud.
I still believe however that Google, Yahoo, and MSN should still invest heavily in proprietary tools to weed out bad clicks, but does all this mean that I am moving my budget dollars out of the pay for performance arena. No, not me, I am really able to get a bang for my buck there and even with a 5 to 10% possible fraud figure the returns for my business and for my clients have been tremendous.
I guess the bottom line is that click fraud exists, accept it, pressure the engines to address it, and then shut up about it and move on. I for one am sick of the incessant yacking and redux about it.
Personally, from the accounts that I manage, and sites that I webmaster, I have not seen in the log files huge volumes of traffic that I would have ever considered fraudulent. That being said, what I have seen, I believe the truth on click fraud is somewhere between 5 to 10% of all clicks are fakes. I consider this simply a cost of doing business. I am not worried by the numbers and feel that the benefits that my own business and the businesses of my clients receives far out weighs the minor problems in regard to click fraud.
I still believe however that Google, Yahoo, and MSN should still invest heavily in proprietary tools to weed out bad clicks, but does all this mean that I am moving my budget dollars out of the pay for performance arena. No, not me, I am really able to get a bang for my buck there and even with a 5 to 10% possible fraud figure the returns for my business and for my clients have been tremendous.
I guess the bottom line is that click fraud exists, accept it, pressure the engines to address it, and then shut up about it and move on. I for one am sick of the incessant yacking and redux about it.
Labels: Click Fraud
¶ 3/07/2007 04:18:00 PM 0 Comments
Tuesday, March 6
February Trends
I thought that I would write today about February's business. I have found that for most businesses that we work with, February was very flat. Not only were results depressed in Google AdWords, but sales and traffic for many customers were lacking for February.
I have had a number of clients express concern about February and if we had not seen the broader trend, I may have been concerned, but February just seems to have been a poor month for nearly everyone.
Here's to hoping that March will be better! ¶ 3/06/2007 09:02:00 AM 0 Comments
I have had a number of clients express concern about February and if we had not seen the broader trend, I may have been concerned, but February just seems to have been a poor month for nearly everyone.
Here's to hoping that March will be better! ¶ 3/06/2007 09:02:00 AM 0 Comments
Monday, March 5
March's Newsletter is Out
I've just posted our March newsletter. In this issue I review Adobe's Acrobat Connect and Microsoft's SyncToy. Additionally I've made a handy updated keyboard shortcut that you can print out and slide under your keyboard.
I think that you'll find the reviews interesting and helpful. ¶ 3/05/2007 03:06:00 PM 0 Comments
I think that you'll find the reviews interesting and helpful. ¶ 3/05/2007 03:06:00 PM 0 Comments
