March 31, 2009

Yield Software Launches Search Marketing Suite

Last week, I had the pleasure of speaking with the guys from Yield Software about their brand spankin' new search marketing software that they're launching today. It's called the Yield Web Marketing Suite and it automates several tedious search marketing tasks into one.

There are 3 components to the suite:

• SEO - The software will scan your web page, run library of best practices, monitor what's happening with search engines, and offer analysis. But don't expect any sketchy recommendations. It's only white hat here, folks.
• Paid Search - Yield offers automated bid management for the big three search engines: Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft. You can view all of your campaigns in a single place. The software also offers keyword optimization.
• Landing Page Optimization - You can use Yield to help create multivariate experiments. If it sounds intimidating, don't freak out - there are step by step instructions to help. You can also have it automatically display the most successful version to increase conversions.

Yield offers month-to-month contracts that start at $129. The software is web-based so you don't have to worry about downloading or installation.

Best part? You can try it free for 30 days. The Yield team gave me a demo and the software looks slick and user-friendly. What do you think of Yield's Web Marketing Suite? Demo the software and then head back here and give your review in the comments.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 11:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

January 23, 2009

SEW Experts: Google Conversion Optimizer: The Best-Kept Secret in PPC?

Google quietly added Conversion Optimizer to every advertiser's AdWords account a few months ago. In a nutshell, it regulates keyword-level bids, promising to deliver as many conversions as possible, at or below a cost-per-conversion you specify. In today's paid search column, "Google Conversion Optimizer: The Best-Kept Secret in PPC?," David Szetela describes the benefits of using an automated bid management, available for free and using Google's proprietary data.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

January 5, 2009

SEW Experts: Search Ad Quality Score 101, Part 1

It's been about two years since Google and Yahoo implemented their quality score algorithms. Instead of giving the top ad spot to the highest bidder, search engines now take the perceived quality of the ad's landing page into account. In today's SEM 101 column, "Search Ad Quality Score 101, Part 1," Ron Jones takes a closer look at what affects the quality score.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 24, 2008

SEW Experts: The Organic and Paid Balancing Act

As SERP listings and functionality changes, there are still two types of listings that have weathered the storm and are still attainable for marketers: traditional organic listings and paid search listings. In today's SEM agency issues column, "The Organic and Paid Balancing Act," William Flaiz explains that by making sure your site stays above the fold in these two outlets, you can maximize your controllable visibility.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 13, 2008

SEW Experts: Reading the Tea Leaves: Interpreting Keyword Reports

Once enough data has accumulated, it's important to run reports and take action based on the data. In today's Profitable PPC column, "Reading the Tea Leaves: Interpreting Keyword Reports," David Szetela shows you what all those numbers mean, and how to make adjustments to improve PPC campaign performance.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 6, 2008

SEW Experts: Judging PPC Performance: Focus on Conversions, Part 2

Should you delete or pause under-performing keywords - or simply adjust their bid prices? In today's search advertising column, "Judging PPC Performance: Focus on Conversions, Part 2," David Szetela notes that the answer will vary by advertiser, but one thing is constant: decisions about keyword and ad performance should mainly depend on conversion performance.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 29, 2008

SEW Experts: Judging PPC Performance: Focus on Conversions

Knowing how and when to make decisions about your PPC campaign's keyword and ad performance can make or break your campaign. In today's Profitable PPC column, "Judging PPC Performance: Focus on Conversions," David Szetela reminds you that almost every action you take to improve your PPC ad campaign should be based on conversion data.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 22, 2008

SEW Experts: PPC Bidding Strategies: Prudence vs. Aggressiveness

When it comes to PPC bids, should you start low and build up? Or start high and come down? As with many things, the right strategy for your company depends on your situation and objectives. In today's search advertising column, "PPC Bidding Strategies: Prudence vs. Aggressiveness," David Szetela outlines the benefits and drawbacks of each type of strategy.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 15, 2008

SEW Experts: Show Me the Money: Bidding for Profitability

How much should you bid? How do you know if your PPC campaign is working? Setting ad group bid prices at the beginning of a campaign is one of the more challenging tasks for many PPC advertisers. In today's search advertising column, "Show Me the Money: Bidding for Profitability," David Szetela shows that the answers are a snap, once you know the fundamentals.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

August 4, 2008

SEW Experts: Awesome Ad Groups: Small is Good

Trying to fit all your keywords in one ad group is not going to get you the results you want. In today's search advertising column, "Awesome Ad Groups: Small is Good," David Szetela shows you how to get those double-digit click-through rates with small, tightly-themed ad groups.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 14, 2008

SEW Experts: Creating PPC Campaigns: the 'Live or Die' Settings

Think you know the right way to set up a new PPC campaign? In today's search advertising column, "Creating PPC Campaigns: the 'Live or Die' Settings ," David Szetela shows you how to pay close attention to the details many advertisers miss, which can position you for success and help you avoid common pitfalls.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 15, 2008

SEW Experts: Search Engine Marketing on the Efficient Frontier - Part 2

Mention the word "algorithm" and media buyers and online marketers flee for cover. But the list of SEM firms and technology providers that offer proprietary technology with sophisticated algorithms is growing. In today's Search Engine WarGames column, "Search Engine Marketing on the Efficient Frontier - Part 2," Kevin Heisler shows that while algorithms are not online marketing's silver bullet, they are pushing traditional ad agencies and some interactive agencies in the right direction.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink

December 18, 2007

SEW Experts: Search Marketing on the Efficient Frontier

Microsoft bought Avenue A | Razorfish and Atlas Search. Google, buying Performics. Where does that leave Efficient Frontier? In today's Search Engine WarGames column, "Search Marketing on the Efficient Frontier," Kevin Heisler gets an update on the search marketing management platform.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink

November 21, 2007

BidHero Brings Analytics to PPC Bid Management

Bid management for PPC campaigns has become more complicated with the introduction of "quality scores" by the major ad platforms, including Google, Yahoo and Microsoft. BidHero, a new bid management tool from Lyris, addresses the changes through its integration with Lyris' ClickTracks Web Analytics product. In today's SearchDay, "Lyris Intros BidHero Campaign Management Tool," we look at BidHero, along with the larger Lyris HQ portfolio it is a part of.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 11:39 AM | Permalink

October 10, 2007

Are Your Media Efforts Making a Mess of Your PPC Campaigns?

Your paid search campaigns do not exist in a vacuum. A PPC campaign is affected by other, non-search media efforts. A consistent focus on coordinating your paid search with other media efforts can yield great dividends for a savvy marketer.

How difficult that will be depends on the complexity of your non-search media plan. In today's SearchDay, Is Your Paid Search Campaign Part of a Mix or a Mess?, Impaqt's Pat Stroh gives you a quick quiz to determine your MESS, or Media Energizing Search Score.

Your MESS score depends on the amount and complexity of your historical data; your ability to handle the data complexity with analytical specialists; the extent to which your organization is oriented toward learning and testing; and the extent to which an opportunity exists for better results.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 1:25 PM | Permalink

September 17, 2007

SEW Experts: Search Marketers Stock in Trade? Not Trading Stocks.

In today's Search Ads column, "Search Marketers Stock in Trade? Not Trading Stocks.," Matt Spiegel discusses why portfolio management no longer strikes fear into the hearts of search marketers. Find out why changing bids doesn't make the marketer.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink

September 13, 2007

The Benefits Centralized SEM Management in Large Organizations

What would you need to do to convince the necessary people in your large organization that a unified, integrated approach to paid search marketing will have a stronger financial impact if centrally managed? And, once you have built a consensus, what would you have to do to get the plan moving?

AOL's VP of SEO/SEM answers those questions in today's SearchDay, "Laying the Foundation for Paid Search Success in Large Organizations."

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 11:31 AM | Permalink

August 27, 2007

SEW Experts: Tips for Being a Great PPC Client

In today's Search Ads column, "Tips for Being a Great PPC Client," Tony Wright tells you what it takes to be a great PPC client, getting the most out of the client-agency relationship.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink

August 20, 2007

SEW Experts: The Long Tail Is Dead -- Long Live the Long Tail

In today's Search Ads column, "The Long Tail Is Dead -- Long Live the Long Tail," Tony Wright has some tips for playing the long tail in today's SEM market, given that search is not the well-kept secret it once was, and targeting the long tail is becoming harder to do.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink

July 30, 2007

SEW Experts: PR Pros Make Great Search Marketers

In today's Search Ads column, "PR Pros Make Great Search Marketers," Tony Wright tells you why public relations pros make the best search marketers and wants to convince more of them to participate in "The Search."

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink

July 25, 2007

SEW Experts: Taking Your PPC Campaigns Beyond the Majors

In today's By the Numbers column, "Taking Your PPC Campaigns Beyond the Majors," Eric Enge shows you why you might want to broaden your horizons beyond Google, Yahoo and Microsoft with your PPC campaigns.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink

July 9, 2007

SEW Experts: The Beginning of the Fragmentation of Search

In today's Search Ads column, "The Beginning of the Fragmentation of Search," Tony Wright ponders the evolution of search marketing from its heady first years to the competitive situation today. Can this be the beginning of the fragmentation of search?

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:01 AM | Permalink

July 2, 2007

SEW Experts: Zen and the Art of Paid Search Maintenance

In today's Search Ads column, "Zen and the Art of Paid Search Maintenance," Tony Wright shows that discipline is the key to achieving paid search enlightenment – aka success. He provides tips for implementing some regular processes to ensure top performance from your paid search campaigns.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink

June 26, 2007

How Do You React to a Media Blitz?

Ups and downs in search activity and success metrics are often related to activity in other media channels, such as TV, radio, print, and online. One common finding is that as media activity increases, impressions and clicks go up as well. Does that mean that we should up our search budgets and add keywords during an external media blitz? Not always.

In today's SearchDay, "Coordinating Search with External Media: Can Less Be More?," Impaqt's VP of analysis & decision support Pat Stroh explains that lowering your bids may actually be a better plan. Doing so could increase conversions and ROI.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 4:53 PM | Permalink

June 18, 2007

SEW Experts: The Five Characteristics of Highly Effective PPC Specialists

In today's Search Ads column, "The Five Characteristics of Highly Effective PPC Specialists ," Tony Wright has come up with five characteristics of successful PPC specialists. As anyone in the search marketing industry can tell you, talent is scarce. If you can find one with all these traits, hire him/her on the spot.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:10 AM | Permalink

June 11, 2007

SEW Experts: Five Tips for Hiring a Paid Search Agency

In today's Search Ads column, "Five Tips for Hiring a Paid Search Agency," Tony Wright gives his list of the five most important questions to ask vendors when looking for someone to manage your PPC campaigns.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 10:39 AM | Permalink

June 4, 2007

Portfolio Based Bid Management vs. Keyword Based

Latest in my interview series was a fascinating chat with Anil Kamath, the CTO of Efficient Frontier. I have long been a fan of using bid management solutions to increase the ROI on PPC campaigns.

What Anil and I talked about is how a portfolio based approach provides better results than the classic approach of measuring and acting on the ROI on a keyword by keyword basis. Our conversation went into detail on how a rules based keyword based approach is limited, and why a portfolio based approach is better.

One of the biggest problems with trying to measure results on a keyword by keyword level is that most likely only a small percentage of the keywords in your campaign will ever have enough data for a bid management tool to draw a conclusion. For example, if you have 2000 keywords in your campaign, odds are that the great majority of these are terms focused on the long tail.

To illustrate, if you have a 2% conversion rate on your PPC campaign, and if you need at least 10 conversions for a rules based approach to work, then you need 500 clicks per keyword before a valid decision can be made. In large campaigns, many of your keywords may not get 500 clicks in a year, and you just don't want to wait that long to get results from your bid management tool.

Posted by at 11:11 AM | Permalink

SEW Experts: Setting Campaign Goals and Metrics for Success

In today's Search Ads column, "Setting Campaign Goals and Metrics for Success," Tony Wright explains the importance of setting initial metrics for success, especially for those new to search.

I can't imagine what it's like for the vast majority of small business owners who decide to put their toe in the search engine marketing pool without a lifeguard like an agency or a consultant with expertise.

The term “sink or swim” comes to mind. And judging from what I've seen in the small business landscape, far too many small businesses immediately sink and then get out of the pool forever. This is a shame, as the rewards of a successful search marketing campaign are great.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 7:01 AM | Permalink

February 8, 2007

New Search Ad Management Tools Launched

Two new search ad management platforms launched this week. One, from ChannelAdvisor, focuses on the needs of online retailers. The other, from iProspect, takes channels that were previously optimized in isolation and now manages them as a whole.

ChannelAdvisor has launched a new search advertising management tool that lets online retailers manage multiple paid search campaigns from one interface. According to ClickZ News, the SearchAdvisor product consolidates all bidding, optimization and ad template considerations into a single interface, for campaigns on Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, and Ask.com.

SearchAdvisor allows marketers to manage keywords on a product or sales margin basis, upload campaigns in bulk, track landing page performance and get multi-channel reports. Campaigns on each engine are managed independently, based on the marketer's goals for each. This will often result in different bid prices based on the relative profitability of Google vs. Yahoo.

From iProspect, the latest update to the iSEBA bidding engine now optimizes a client's spend across multiple shopping engine feeds and Yahoo's Search Submit Pro paid inclusion program. While each of these channels, as well as paid search and contextual ads, could previously be optimized on their own, the change now is that these first two channels can now be managed across all channels. Eventually, other channels will be added into the global optimization service.

"We've taken this functionality, what's happening in the algorithm, and can now apply it to anything. It's now an asset management platform," said John Tawadros, VP of client services and technology at iProspect. "We're rolling out with paid inclusion and shopping feeds, but it can be used to optimize anything -- banners, ContentMatch, NexTag or anything else."

The technology optimizes the overall paid inclusion/shopping engine budget across multiple feeds, monitors the results, and automatically turns individual listings within each feed on and off based on their effectiveness at achieving the desired campaign objective relative to all the other listings in all of the feeds. In this way, more budget resources are automatically allocated to listings that produce superior search engine marketing results.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 11:05 PM | Permalink

December 11, 2006

Microsoft Files Patent for DVR Ad Server

Microsoft is adding to its pile of patents with one for an ad serving method for DVRs. How this will work should be interesting as most DVR users take advantage of the speed through the ads ability.

Daily Tech details the patent filing with diagrams and an explanation of placing ads where the show indicates appropriate. This method allows the ads to be kept current and could be the next way used to provide ads in recorded format.

Posted by Frank Watson at 11:48 PM | Permalink

June 22, 2006

New Search Patents: June 22, 2006 - Google File System, Microsoft Blocks, and Yahoo Autonotifications

Google patents the Google File System, Microsoft claims a Functional Object Model for mobile devices, and Yahoo! (Overture) describes an autonotification process to inform advertisers of when a certain condition has been met concerning one of their ads.

Google

The authors of a paper on the Google File System (pdf) are listed as the inventors of this patent filing. Another similarity between the two documents is that both cite mostly the same reference documents. The patent and paper appear to cover much of the same ground. This looks like the patent for the Google File System.

Leasing scheme for data-modifying operations Invented by Sanjay Ghemawat, Howard Gobioff, and Shun-Tak Leung Assigned to Google US Patent 7,065,618 Granted on June 20, 2006 Filed on June 30, 2003

Abstract

A system may facilitate performance of a data-modifying operation in a file network that includes multiple servers that store replicas of data. One of the servers may serve as a primary replica for one of the replicas of data and at least one other one of the servers may serve as at least one secondary replica for the replica of data. The system may send data associated with the data-modifying operation to the primary replica and the at least one secondary replica based on a network topology and independently send a data-modifying control signal that requests execution of the data-modifying operation using the data associated with the data-modifying operation to the primary replica and the at least one secondary replica.

Microsoft

When presenting a web page on a mobile device, it's sometimes best not to display the whole page. But trying to decide which parts to show, and which not to display can be difficult. More information is sometimes needed about the web page.

Microsoft has been experimenting with ways to identify what different parts of a web page do based upon the layout and functions of parts of pages, and a paper from Microsoft that has seen some popularity recently on this type of analysis has been one on Block-level Link Analysis (pdf).

It wasn't a surprise to see Wei-Ying Ma's name on this patent application, as one of the authors of that paper, and an earlier paper on VIPS: a Vision-based Page Segmentation Algorithm.

Another Wei-Ying Ma paper on that topic is Efficient Browsing of Web Search Results on Mobile Devices Based on Block Importance Model (pdf). It cites a function based analysis like the one described in this patent, and points to a document that explains some of the concepts - Function-Based Object Model Towards Website Adaptation (pdf). The other inventor listed in this patent, Jin-Lin Chen, is one of the authors of that paper. Taking a look at those papers may make understanding this patent easier.

Segmenting and indexing web pages using function-based object models Invented by Jin-Lin Chen and Wei-Ying Ma Assigned to Microsoft US Patent 7,065,707 Granted on June 20, 2006 Filed on June 24, 2002

Abstract

By understanding a website author's intention through an analysis of the function of a website, website content can be adapted for presentation or rendering in a manner that more closely appreciates and respects the function behind the website. A website's function is analyzed so that its content can be adapted to different client environments. A function-based object model (FOM) identifies objects associated with a website, and analyzes those objects in terms of their functions. Desktop oriented websites are adapted for mobile devices based on the FOM and on a mobile control intermediary language. While the FOM attempts to understand a website author's intention based on functional analysis of web content, the mobile control intermediary language enables the author to create web content that can be presented in various mobile devices by processing the objects, by extracting forms from the objects, and by generating a file in the mobile control intermediary language for each form.

Yahoo

This patent describes an autonotification system, enabling automated messages to be sent to an advertiser regarding their paid search listings when certain pre-defined conditions are met. Here are the areas those conditions listed in the patent encompass:

1. Position: related to the position of a listing,
2. Cost: related to the accumulated costs for some listings,
3. Account-balance: related to the funds remaining in advertiser's account (e.g., to pay for listings that are clicked on),
4. Impressions: the number of impressions received by some listings,
5. Clicks: the number of clicks received by some listings,
6. CTR: the click through rate of some listings,
7. CPC-too-high: if the cost per click (CPC) of a listing can be reduced without impacting its rank,
8. Average CPC too high: the average CPC, the total cost divided by the total clicks, is higher than some threshold,
9. Rank-CPC: related to the CPC for a given rank and term.

Automatic advertiser notification for a system for providing place and price protection in a search result list generated by a computer network search engine Invented by Narinder Pal Singh, Scott W. Snell, Douglas T. Huffman, Darren J. Davis, Thomas A. Soulanille, and Dominic Dough-Ming Cheung. Assigned to Overture Services, Inc. US Patent 7,065,500 Granted on June 20, 2006 Filed on September 26, 2001

Abstract

A notification method in a computer database system includes receiving a notification instruction from an owner associated with a search listing stored in the computer database system, monitoring conditions specified by the notification instruction for the search listing, and sending a notification to the owner upon detection of a changed condition of the search listing.

My usual reminder about patents: Some of the processes and technology described in patents are created in house, and some are developed with the assistance of contractors and partners. A percentage are never developed in a tangible manner, but may serve as a way to attempt to exclude others from using the technology, or even to possibly mislead competitors into exploring an area that they might not have an interest in (sometimes skepticism is good.)

There are times when a Google or Yahoo acquires a company to gain access to the intellectual property of that company, or the intellectual prowess and expertise of that company's employees. And sometimes patents are just purchased.

Want to comment or discuss? Visit our Search Technology & Relevancy area of the Search Engine Watch Forums.

Posted by Bill Slawski at 3:41 AM | Permalink

January 24, 2006

The Challenges of Marketing in the Search Tail

The search tail, the group of queries that are relatively unique, offer major opportunities for savvy search marketers, but effectively taking advantage of the search tail takes some work. In today's SearchDay article, Marketing in the Search Tail: Is the Pain Worth the Gain?, guest writer Patricia Hursh reports on a recent Search Engine Strategies conference session that examined the challenges of marketing in the search tail.

A longer version of this story for Search Engine Watch members explains how to use search engine matching technologies to play in the search tail, how to find search tail keywords, how to benchmark and analyze the effectiveness of various keyword combinations, and more. Click here to learn more about becoming a member.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 10:07 AM | Permalink

January 23, 2006

How to Handle Yahoo's Shorter Ad Descriptions

Last week, shorter ads descriptions came to Yahoo as Danny points out in this post. To assist with the change, Kevin Lee's column on the Clickz site: Strategies for Yahoo's Shorter Descriptions, offers some suggestions and tactics for SEM's on how to handle the new ad lengths.

Here are a few key points, in my view, from Kevin's column:

+ Don't simply clone your Google ads to Yahoo. Why? Any changes result in the ads going back through Yahoo!'s dreaded editorial process. So first, evaluate if the truncated ads continue to communicate your advertising message appropriately. Many advertisers write their descriptions in an inverted pyramid format, so truncation may not be a big deal because the meat of the message is in the first few words.

+ Yahoo and Google campaign structures are "likely very different." Though you may rely on Google campaigns running on broad or phrase match, Yahoo! creative and keyword lists may need to go much deeper. In addition, unless you really want the highest possible volume of clicks from a listing, your ad creative may be better served with a clear message about the product or service you provide. In Google, less-than-compelling ad creative is penalized with a lower quality score. That results in a lower position or more expensive campaign.

Finally: Another reason to keep Yahoo! titles at the maximum length is that often, additional length allows you to more effectively communicate your value to potential customers. On the other hand, you may have already created compact ad titles that communicate with the same level of clarity as longer ones do. Google and MSN forced many of us to become experts at compact communication.

Much more in Kevin's excellent column.

Posted by Gary Price at 12:52 PM | Permalink

October 4, 2005

Mastering Google AdWords

Google likes everyone to believe that using AdWords is a snap, requiring no more than five minutes and a credit card to get going. Seasoned search marketers know otherwise, understanding that creating a sponsored link is just one small aspect of managing a successful AdWords campaign.

Now we've got an excellent guide to AdWords written by Andrew Goodman, who's both an expert with the program on behalf of his search marketing clients, but also an astute and acerbic observer of Google's business practices. His new book gives us a concentrated dose of experience and insights that make a fascinating and highly valuable read. I've got a review of Andrew's new book in today's SearchDay article, Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Google AdWords.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 10:00 AM | Permalink

September 30, 2005

Google Plans AdWords Commercial Developer Program

Google will soon be offering enhanced access to its AdWords API, along with membership in a newly formed AdWords Developer Council, to commercial developers who have pushed up against the limits of the existing program.

Google has provided free access to its AdWords API since January. It's most often used by AdWords customers who handle multiple accounts, such as agencies and search marketing firms. API access allows developers to extend AdWords functionality to do things such as automatically generating keywords, ad text or custom reports, or integrate with other databases, such as inventory control systems.

The catch has always been that Google limits the use of this API according to a quota that's assigned based on the number of clients you manage and your total account spend. Use your quota for the month and your access is shut off until the beginning of the next month.

The new Commercial Developer Program is intended to address the needs of developers who exceed their monthly quotas. For an additional fee, developers will be able to increase their monthly quotas, and will also be provided with priority level developer support. They will also become members of the AdWords Developer Council, a group created to share best practices and meet regularly with Google engineers involved in the AdWords program.

Developers will be able to sign up for the new program in December, and the program will go live in January. Google isn't publicly disclosing the pricing structure of the new developer program, a practice it says is common.

For more information on the Google AdWords API, see the AdWords API FAQ.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 6:00 PM | Permalink

September 5, 2005

Looking At ClickTrack's BidHero

Over at Search Engine Guide, BidHero Brings Bid Management to the Masses from Jennifer Laycock a new, low-cost bid management tool called BidHero now out from long-time web analytics vendor ClickTracks.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 2:09 PM | Permalink

April 22, 2005

Portfolio Approach To SEM

Building and Managing an SEM Campaign, Portfolio Style from Kevin Lee at ClickZ looks at why you might treat the terms you're after as a "portfolio" of terms that all help average each other out, in the end. Some may be big winners; you might have some losers, but life is easier without having to get to granular. Sound great? Kevin goes through some questions to ask to decide if it's suitable to you.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 11:31 AM | Permalink

February 24, 2005

The Art of Forecasting Paid Search Budgets

Budgeting a paid search campaign can be challenging. First, you need to decide which terms to bid on, and then how aggressively you want to bid to maintain a desired position. Do you need to be #1 for all of your terms? Studies suggest that top rankings are important, but the evidence isn't conclusive. And bidding on lower cost terms in the "search tail" may actually lead to higher ROI in some cases.

In today's SearchDay article, Forecasting Paid Search Traffic, guest writer Heather Lloyd-Martin covers a recent Search Engine Strategies panel where a group of experts offered advice and tips on how best to optimize a paid search campaign, to get maximum results regardless of the size of your budget.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 9:28 AM | Permalink

February 22, 2005

New Guide To PPC Search Listings

If you're looking for another site dedicated to paid search, you might give Pay Per Click Universe a whirl. Up for a few months now, it gives you a rundown on what it considers the top ten paid listing services, with the ability to read through some reader reviews. There's a nice list of bid management tools, a section on local paid search, some articles on paid search and more. See also our Pay Per Click Search Engines (CPC/PPC) page that lists some similar long-standing resources.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 2:18 PM | Permalink

November 9, 2004

Capping Your Overture & Google Daily Ad Budgets

Kevin Lee at ClickZ compares and contrasts setting up daily ad spend limits on Google & Overture in Daily Budget Caps Versus Active Management. He also argues that budget caps, while easy to set, aren't the best way to get the most value out of your campaign. Instead, some manual review and prioritization may reduce spend and increase sales.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 12:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 23, 2004

Tips On Budgeting For Paid Search

How can anyone budget for paid search, when there are so many things that seem unpredictable. It can't be done. Well, Kevin Ryan doesn't like the word "can't" and offers some tips on how to budget for the seemingly impossible. From iMedia Connection: Can You Forecast Search?

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 6:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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