google

Google recently announced a major update to their display URL policy in AdSense ads in an effort to further incorporate landing page quality to their bid and CTR algorithm which determines what position your ad appears and how relevant the keyword that you are buying is to your landing page.

What do I need to know about the updated display URL policy?

Based on feedback from both our advertisers and users, and consistent with our efforts to present relevant results, we’ll no longer allow certain exceptions to our display URL policy. These include, but aren’t limited to, redirects and vanity URLs. In line with our existing policy, we’ll continue to require that your ad’s display URL matches its destination URL (the URL of your landing page). This policy will be strictly enforced for new ads, regardless of previous exceptions. For more details about the current display URL policy, please visit https://adwords.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=47173

.

Here are some other important aspects of the policy you may want to keep in mind:

Tracking URLs – Your ads will be approved if the URL of your landing page domain matches that of your display URL domain.

For example, the following would be acceptable:
• Display URL: www.google.com/adwords
• Destination URL: www.trackingurl.com/google123
• Landing page URL: www.google.com

However, this example would be unacceptable:
• Display URL: www.google.com/adwords
• Destination URL: www.trackingurl.com/google123
• Landing page URL: www.trackingurl.com

Sub-Domains

The use of sub-domains and additional text within the display will continue to be acceptable, provided the top-level domain matches the URL of your landing page.
For example, the display URLs below would be acceptable for the landing page URL of http://sub.google.com/miscellaneous, as the top-level domains match:
• sub.google.com
• google.com/extratext
• www.google.com/extratext

Quality Score

Note that changing your display URL may affect your ad’s Quality Score and ad position.

Keyword URLs

Keyword URLs are considered your destination URL (the URL of your landing page); your ad’s display URL must match its destination URL.

Next Steps

While no immediate action will be taken on existing ads, we encourage you to make the necessary changes to all ads within your account. This will ensure that your ads run without being disrupted by future disapprovals related to this policy enforcement. Visit https://adwords.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=6272 for step-by-step instructions for editing your display URL.

Share This

I qualified last week and am now an AdWords Professional and our company, Add Three, is now an AdWords Qualified Company!

Those of you who are managing AdWords media campaigns should seriously look into the AdWords qualification. The training program offers a plethora of information, some of it will even be information that is new to you! The training program is 9 sections long, encompassing everything from initial signup all the way to the developer API. To become certified, you must meet some prerequisites:

• pass the test with 75% or greater within the 1h 30min test window
• have an account in good standing for t least 90 days 
• for an individual, manage a 90 day ad spend of $1,000 or $100,000 in the US (this varies by country) 

As an AdWords Professional Google will offer you access to the My Client Center, API access, the Qualified Individual/Company designation, and some other miscellaneous perks.

Learn more about the program at the Google AdWords Professional page.

Google has recently made a change to its display URL policy on it’s paid search ads. Google claims this has always been its policy however it has seldom been enforced. The new rules will require a ad’s display URL to match the destination URL. So for example: a display url of www.somewebsite.com must land the user who clicks on the ads to the somewebsite.com website.

Advertisers are still allowed to send users to either a subdomain foo.somewebsite.com or a subdirectory somewebsite.com/foo/foo.html. Google claims this policy is in effect to minimize any surprise or confusion on the surfers behalf if they land on a website not listed in the display url.

For now all ads currently running will not be disapproved unless a complaint is filed or Google is notified about the directly. However all new advertisers or new ad placements will need to comply to these new restrictions.

Share This

Google is constantly experimenting with new features aimed at improving your search experience. They have recently created the Google Experimental Search page which allows you to try out some of the new features. You can experience search results in exciting new ways. Here are a few of the features they recently added:

• Alternate views for search results (See results on a timeline, map, or in context of other information types.)
• Keyword Suggestions
• Keyboard Shortcuts
• Left-hand Search Navigation
• Right-hand Contextual Search Navigation

Join any of the listed experiments and you’ll be able to see that feature whenever you do a Google search. I have been wondering why they haven’t just included some of the Google suggests features that the Google toolbar has on the main Google search. I like when it completes the searches with keywords that I am most likely to use and pulls from my search history as well.

Share This

Why would Google be wasting their time trying to block the Microsoft / Yahoo deal? We as consumers need another search solution and another good PPC search option other then Google. Google has been buying up companies left and right and there hasn’t be any issues with that. I was really excited about this news since I have been a little dissappointed with both providers lately. Microsoft needs more search volume and Yahoo needs more eyeballs for their portal.

It has been interesting seeing both portals grow over the past 5 or so years with two different strategies. Yahoo has opted to buy companies like Flickr, Blue Lithium, del.icio.us, Overture, Musicmatch and other websites that offer complimentary services that Yahoo decided not to build. MSN instead decided to partner with sites to offer products and services like CitySearch for City Guides, Match.com for Dating & Personals and Career Builder for their Jobs channel. MSN recently purchased aQuantive, Inc. for $6 billion to extend their ad network with Atlas, DrivePM and the Avenue A / Razorfish ad agency. They were already pretty aligned with aQuantive using them to serve up ads on their performance network. I hope that the Microsoft / Yahoo deal goes through as it will streamline a ton of inefficiencies that both Yahoo and Microsoft have had in Advertising. Yahoo has been a weak publisher to deal with on the display media side of things and MSN has been weak in the search side of the biz.

By ANDREW ROSS SORKIN AND MIGUEL HELFT THE NEW YORK TIMES

Standing between a marriage of Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo may be the technology giant that has continually outsmarted them: Google.

· What would stay, what would go if Yahoo takes Microsoft’s offer?
In an unusually aggressive effort to prevent Microsoft from moving forward with its $44.6 billion hostile bid for Yahoo, Google emerged over the weekend with plans to play the role of spoiler.

Publicly, Google came out against the deal, contending in a statement that the pairing, proposed by Microsoft on Friday in the form of a hostile offer, would pose potential threats to competition that need to be examined by policymakers around the world.

Privately, Google went much further. Its chief executive, Eric Schmidt, placed a call to Yahoo’s chief, Jerry Yang, offering the company’s help in fending off Microsoft, possibly in the form of a partnership between the companies, people briefed on the call said.

Yahoo declined to comment Sunday. Microsoft said, as it did Friday when it made the bid, that the merger would lead to more, not less, competition.

“The combination of Microsoft and Yahoo will create a more competitive marketplace by establishing a compelling No. 2 competitor for Internet search and online advertising,” Brad Smith, Microsoft’s general counsel, said in a statement. “The alternative scenarios only lead to less competition on the Internet.”

Share This