When I say “true, mobile-friendly website,” I don’t mean your regular website viewed on a smartphone, but actually optimized for the mobile user experience. Two-thirds of smartphone users performed shopping functions (including purchases, product comparisons, coupon searches, taking product pictures or retail location searches) in the month of September. (Another interesting statistic from this study is that 56% of people were in their home when purchasing, when they most likely had access to a desktop or laptop computer.)

Here’s why having a mobile optimized site so important (these statistics are from the 2011 Harris Interactive Mobile Transactions Survey, released in March of 2011): 63 percent of all online adults said that if they encountered a problem conducting a mobile transaction, they would be less likely to purchase from that company by any other purchase means. That means, if a potential customer’s mobile experience doesn’t work, you have lost them, not just for now but the future too. And four out of five of those that have had a problem will share it with others, either via in-person conversations or via a blog, Twitter, Facebook or other social media. Talk about viral marketing gone bad.

And from Compuware “What Users Want From Mobile”, 50% of users won’t return to a site where they’ve had difficulty and 40% have turned to a competitor’s site after a bad mobile experience. So not only is a bad mobile experience hurting a company now and in the future, but it’s actually beneficial to their competitors!

Mobile websites matter and that only will increase in the future. If you don’t have one, get one and sooner, rather than later. You can go to Google’s website www.howtogomo.com to see how your site stacks up, view best practices and some really compelling case studies.

You can see the full report here, on the comScore Inc’s website.

Google Analytics and the Device segment in Google AdWords reports on mobile traffic to a website, and that number is increasing for all my clients, no matter the type.  Also to note, in most cases, the bounce rate is significantly higher than desktop devices and the conversion rate is lower, which are not the statistics anyone wants.

You might be thinking that I’m only talking about BtoC or ecommerce sites, but that’s not the case. More and more business people are doing initial research on companies from their smartphones – maybe while sitting in a meeting or while at the airport.

When they get to your site, what’s their experience like? In a February 2011 Harris Interactive Mobile Transactions Survey, 4 out 5 users experienced a problem on a mobile website, and 85% of users expect the mobile experience to be better or equal to using a laptop or desktop experience.  How does your site stack up?

- Is your site easy to read or is the text so small that the user has to pinch, expand and scroll?
- Is the search function easy to access?
- Is your phone number clearly shown?
- Does your site load quickly (less than 5 seconds)?
- Do you have flash content on your home page that doesn’t work on certain mobile devices?

That’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to a mobile experience. What’s the call to action on your website (making a purchase, filling out a lead form, calling your company, downloading a PDF)? How does that translate on a mobile device – can it even be done? I’m seeing significantly lower conversion rates for my clients on mobile devices, most likely meaning that the visitor couldn’t complete the action. Experience also has larger ramifications for a company: based on research from the Harris Interactive Study, 63% of online adults surveyed said that if they experienced an issue on a mobile website, they would be less likely to buy from that same company, even through a different purchase channel. And these statistics, from Compuware “What Users Want From Mobile” are even more staggering:

- 57% of users would not recommend a business with a bad mobile site
- 40% of users have turned to a competitor’s site after a bad mobile experience

Ouch. That’s bad news for a whole lot of companies out there. From a PPC standpoint, I actually stopped advertising to mobile devices on Google AdWords and MSN adCenter for some of my clients not seeing productive results due to their mobile user experience. Can you make your mobile results shine above your competition?

Google offers a pretty good tool to test how your site looks and operates on mobile devices.  They also offer mobile site best practices, as well as case studies on other companies, including some pretty impressive before/after shots.

Make 2012 the year of your mobile friendly site. Your customers and bottom line will thank you.

On December 4, 2011, Microsoft hit the tech community with an exciting announcement that Xbox Live will now support voice searches on the MSN/Yahoo search engine www.Bing.com.  Consumers who own an Xbox 360 have recently seen a software update for their gaming console.  Additionally, those who also enjoy the Microsoft Kinect accessory will now be able to take advantage of the Kinect voice recognition capabilities to perform spoken searches on Bing through their Xbox 360 console.  According to Microsoft, this new feature is the next step in the evolution of television and entertainment.  They are hoping to be the frontrunners of this new era of entertainment by bringing games, movies, television shows, music, sports and the internet together in one place.

So what does this mean for the 87.7% of global online advertisers who are NOT advertising on Bing?  It means that they might want to think about allocating some of their PPC budget to Bing.  Migrating Google AdWords accounts to the MSN/Yahoo! platform can be a tricky task because the platforms tend to not play nicely together.  There are many nuances that make straight Google to Bing migration difficult for people who don’t do it regularly.  So, if this is something you are interested in doing with your AdWords campaigns, please consult a professional before you attempt it yourself.

It will be interesting to see how this Bing voice search functionality will evolve.  I am excited to see whether Bing will allow advertisers to build voice search PPC campaigns or whether voice search data can be analyzed separate for traditional type and click data.  There are so many possibilities and so much potential for this new functionality.  I can’t wait to see what the future brings.  Only time will tell – so stay tuned!

How does this have the potential to affect the PPC advertising efforts you have in place for your business?  Google believes that adding Social Extensions can potentially improve the ad performance for PPC advertisers.  According to Google (via Harris Interactive, June 2010), recommendations from friends and family impact the purchasing decisions of 71% of shoppers.  The AdWords ads for current campaigns that do not have Social Extensions enabled only show the +1 recommendations for the specific landing page of the ad.  Once Social Extensions are enabled in your Google AdWords campaign, potential customers will be able to see all of the +1 recommendations that your brand has received and make their purchasing decisions accordingly.

Now that they are able to show more highly targeted and personalized ads, how will advertisers be able to study the performance data of this new feature and gauge whether or not it is working for them?  Of course Google has an answer for that!  Google has enabled a new +1 annotation AdWords reporting segment for any campaign, ad group, keyword or ad.  This new segment allows advertisers to view performance metrics by three categories.  The first performance segment category is impressions with personal annotations.  A personal annotation means that a personal contact of the searcher has +1’d your brand (your webpage, Google+ Page, organic search result or PPC ad).  The next performance segment is impressions with basic annotations.  Basic annotations are impressions that included an anonymous count of people who have +1’d your brand.  The third, and final, performance segment is for impressions without social annotations.  While both personal and basic annotations make your ad socially relevant, viewers that see people they actually know and trust +1ing something they are interested in purchasing will, in theory, be more likely to purchase said product.

If you are a PPC advertiser interested in making your brand more socially relevant, then you have some homework to do.  First, set up the Google+ Page for your business here.  Setting up your Google+ Page will not only allow you to get closer to your customers, but will allow you to create your business’s identity on Google+.  Next, you will need to use your Google+ Page URL to enable Social Extensions from the Ad Extensions tab in your AdWords campaigns.  Finally, after you have let the data accrue for a bit, use the +1 annotation reporting segment to see how the +1 features are affecting the performance of your advertising efforts.

Here at JumpFly we are very excited to see how these new Google+ enhancements will affect our clients ROI.  We expect nothing less than big things from the ever evolving Google!

Introducing Google Trusted Stores

Earlier this month Google announced the launch of their latest commerce innovation which they have aptly named Google Trusted Stores.  According to Google, Trusted Stores is “a new pilot program that helps shoppers identify online merchants that offer a great shopping experience.”  Sites that meet certain Google criteria can receive a Google Trusted Store badge to be added to their site.  So, how does this affect online shoppers and advertisers?

We all know that the amount of purchases being made online increases year after year, but research has shown that online shoppers are wary about purchasing from sites that they are unfamiliar with.  With identity theft and phishing attempts on the rise, shoppers want to know whether or not the site they wish to purchase from is safe and trustworthy.  They want to know that their payment information is secure and will not be compromised during the transaction process.  They want to know that when they pay for their goods, that they will receive them in a timely manner in the condition they expect.  Trusted Stores is Google’s answer to help alleviate these fears without customers having to do their own detective work on the store they wish to purchase from.

A huge benefit to this program is that when a customer makes a purchase from a Google Trusted Store, they are asked whether or not they would like FREE purchase protection from Google.  This purchase protection is optional, but a powerful reassurance to online shoppers.  It is basically free insurance for shoppers that the product that they ordered will arrive in a timely manner, in the promised condition and that they will be billed the agreed upon amount.  If these conditions are not met, Google’s purchase protection will cover the entire purchase amount, including tax and shipping.  It is good to note, however, that shoppers must report any issues either 30 days after delivery or 60 days after order placement, whichever is earlier.

Not only is this innovation beneficial and helpful for purchasers, but it’s great for merchants as well.  As a merchant, it is extremely important to have FAQ, About Us and Review/Testimonial pages on your site, but are potential customers supposed to blindly believe everything they read on the internet?  Shoppers are wary, especially since unscrupulous businesses have been known to do or say anything to close the deal.  Google Trusted Sites offers shoppers an objective, third party recommendation that should help allay their fears.  When a shopper hovers over the badge that is placed on the site, they see Google’s grades for the shipping and service of the particular store.  The higher the grade, the more trusted and secure the shopping experience should be.

If you are a merchant, you are probably wondering how you become a Google Trusted Store.  While the pilot program is currently limited, Google assures us that they will be expanding the Trusted Store program in the coming months.  You can find out more information from Google here.  It definitely can’t hurt to fill out the application and keep your fingers crossed that when the program opens up, your company site will be chosen.  So, why not apply for the opportunity to show potential customers that your store is a great place to shop?

For example:  Imagine that I sell blue widgets online.  I have conversion tracking installed and it is working very well.  My average cost-per-conversion is $10.48 but I would like to try to get it under $8 in order to increase my ROI.  Using the Top vs.  Side segment, I can see that when my ads appear in the top three positions, my cost-per-conversion is $7.45 with an average CPC of $0.14 and a conversion rate of 1.93%.  However, when my ads appear on the side, my cost-per-conversion is $13.51 with an average cost-per-click (CPC) of $0.12 and a conversion rate of 0.85%.  In this example, the ads that show in the top positions are clearly performing better than the ones showing on the side.  This data shows me that I need to make sure that my ads are always seen at the top of the page, but how do I do that?

Enter Google’s Top of page bid estimate metric.  This new feature from Google AdWords gives an approximation of what your CPC bid needs to be in order for your ad to consistently appear in the top positions above the organic search results.  Google is quick to point out, however, that setting your bids higher than the top of page bid estimate does NOT guarantee top ad position and that Quality Score is still a factor.  To see your top of page bid estimates, log into your Google AdWords account and choose the Keywords tab.  Click on the Columns button, then on Customize Columns.  From there you can choose from Attributes (where the Est. top page bid button can be checked), Performance and Conversions criteria.  Click on save and see your extra column appear.  Now you know exactly how you need to be bidding to keep your ads in the coveted top positions.

Thank you Google for bringing us yet another update that allows us to better manage Google AdWords accounts for our clients.  We love when new innovations come along and allow us to be more proactive, productive and efficient for our clients – especially when it also helps us optimize.  Keep the new metric improvements coming; we love data!

Why is this so great you ask?  Well, I begin my keyword research with root words and descriptive words.  For example, let’s say I am building a new campaign for a company that sells colored hanging file folders.  They have 20 different colors of folders and they can be called hanging file(s), hanging folder(s) or hanging file folder(s).  To begin the keyword research for this project, I would use an excel formula to create every possible variation of each color with each root word (yellow hanging file, yellow hanging files, yellow hanging folder, yellow hanging folders, hanging file yellow, hanging files yellow, hanging folder yellow, hanging folders yellow, etc.).  With 20 colors and 4 root words, this would give me a list of 160 possible search terms to research using Google’s Keyword Tool.  With the old tool I would need to paste the first 100 words in, star the ones with advertiser competition and/or search traffic, then paste the remaining 60 words and do the same thing.  With the new tool I can paste the entire list in one easy step – which is great!

Once I have several hundred keywords starred in the Keyword Tool, there is a “More like these” option which allows me to search for terms that are similar to the ones I have already chosen to star.  In the previous version of Google’s Keyword Tool I would only get search results for the first 100 keywords that I had starred, which was an inconvenience.  I would have to download the list, break it down into groups of 100 keywords and perform multiple searches again and again to get potentially great keyword suggestions for my new account.  With the new version, as long as my starred keywords do not exceed 2500, the Keyword Tool will provide me similar search terms for all of my starred keywords.  Hooray!

Another update to the tool that is worth noting is the “Group by” feature.  By default the Keyword Tool is set to “Group by None” but if you click on the dropdown, you can choose “Similarity to search terms” and the most pertinent words (keywords that include search terms) will show up grouped together below the search terms, but above the related keyword suggestions.  This is great for weeding through the hundreds of irrelevant keywords that the Keyword Tool often provides.

All in all, the Google Keyword Tool is getting better each and every time there is an update.  I am excited to see how it will progress through the rest of this year and beyond.  Keep up the good work Google!

RESPONSE RATE BENCHMARKS

2010 Distribution of Impressions by Creative Type:

Flash – 54%
Image – 28%
Rich Media
- in-Page/Non-Video – 10%
- in-Page/Video – 3%
- Expandable/Video – 3%
- Expandable/Non-Video – 2%

CTR by Creative Size:

Google provides detailed information regarding the performance of all ad sizes, but there is no one ad size or type that seems to be superior to all others.  However, as may be expected, the larger sized ads do tend to see a slightly higher click-through-rate (CTR).

CTR by Creative Type:

Flash Ads – 0.09%
Image Ads – 0.09%
Rich Media
- in-Page/Non-Video – 0.11%
- in-Page/Video – 0.08%
- Expandable/Video – 0.09%
- Expandable/Non-Video – 0.09%

Based on reviewing CTRs alone, it appears there is no need for advertisers to spend a lot of money on fancy, interactive flash or rich media ads (for example, ads that expand when users click or roll over and there are extensive possibilities for interactive content, such as HD video or even the ability to click to make a phone call).  However, there is more to this story.

RICH MEDIA BENCHMARKS

When reviewing ad performance, CTRs alone do not tell the entire story.  Ultimately, an ad’s cost-per-conversion is the most important variable in determining success, but Google does not provide that information.  It is important to note that rich media formats introduce another variable that needs to be considered, and this is called the Interaction Rate.  According to DoubleClick, an interaction is uniquely counted only once per impression and is captured when the user does one or more of the following:

- Mouses over the ad for 1 continuous second
- Clicks an Exit link
- Makes the ad display in Full Screen mode
- Expands the ad

Though not all of these actions may appear thrilling, they do represent some form of interaction with advertiser ads.  Rich media ads receive Interaction Rates over 2% on the GDN.  Though this number may sound low, it is staggering compared to a 0.09% CTR.  So even though rich media ads tend to receive the same CTRs as other ad formats, each rich media ad clicked on also generates about 22 additional interactions.  In fact, larger half page rich media ads saw interaction rates over 3.5% in 2010.  Interaction does not necessarily result in conversions, but it certainly helps ensure users are at least seeing your message.

The GDN has proven to be a valuable marketplace for many advertisers.  Are you taking advantage?

JumpFly is proud to launch The PPC PULSE, a free monthly newsletter that focuses on the most relevant pay-per-click (PPC) news and events. Follow what’s going on at Google AdWords, Microsoft adCenter, Yahoo, Facebook and more.

Hundreds of PPC related news articles come out every day, making it challenging to keep up with the rapidly evolving PPC industry.  JumpFly’s qualified team of certified professionals is dedicated entirely to PPC and therefore keeps up with the most recent and relevant industry changes every day.  Now the most relevant information is being shared with all who are interested via The PPC PULSE.

Sign up now and have the latest PPC news emailed to you every month.  It’s a great way to keep up with the industry without spending countless hours sifting through all the most recent news. Follow what the professionals in the PPC industry are paying attention to in The PPC PULSE, where each PPC newsletter provides brief summaries of recent PPC related events along with links to more information.

JumpFly takes newsletter subscribers’ privacy very seriously.  Email addresses will be used only for the purpose of The PPC PULSE.  Subscriber information will not be shared, sold or used for any other purpose. Please review our Privacy Policy for more information.  Users can also unsubscribe at any time.  Enjoy your copy of the inaugural PPC PULSE today.

More about JumpFly:

JumpFly professionally develops, implements and manages Google AdWords and Microsoft adCenter PPC advertising accounts. Proper setup and management of these powerful programs will likely make the difference between an advertiser’s success or failure. JumpFly’s full-service solution enables clients to focus on their core business while attaining the best possible results from their search engine marketing campaigns. JumpFly is a Google AdWords Certified Partner and Microsoft adExcellence Member. JumpFly assists more than 300 clients, offers a money-back-guarantee and has an A+ rating from the BBB.

Now, more than ever, taking full advantage of the display URL at Google AdWords can be of tremendous value.  It lets users know where they would be going if they click on the ads and also acts as a valuable advertising line.  For example, a florist with the URL flowershop.com could use a display URL like www.flowershop.com/Free-Shipping.  Any reputable PPC Management company should always try to maximize their clients’ ads’ effectiveness and taking advantage of the display URL should be part of that effort.

Furthermore, this new layout for ads is the same for both natural and paid listings.  At Google, the paid ads, particularly the top ads, blend in fairly well with the natural listings.  The new Google AdWords report that enables top vs. side segmentation often highlights significantly higher CTRs received by ads in those top positions.  It certainly behooves Google to have users click on their paid listings, which may be part of the impetus behind these recent changes.

One concern I have heard about this strategy is regarding the creation of a display URL for a web page that does not really exist; The danger here is if someone were to copy the “invented” display URL into another browser and then receive an error message instead of the desired website.   Though I am sure this is rare, I do suspect that it happens, which is why I suggest adding a simple piece of code to your website that will redirect users searching for any non-existing pages to your homepage.  That is exactly what I did for our website at JumpFly.

Finally, the Google AdWords display URL stands out with its green font, drawing users’ eyes to it. This is not a line that should be neglected.  If you didn’t already, it’s time to respect the Google AdWords display URL.

In order for users to be able to take full advantage of the +1 feature, they must be logged into their Google account and have an active Google Profile.  If they are not sure whether they have a Google Profile, Google will prompt them to create one if they try to +1 something without it.  The new +1 platform is very intuitive and linked to all things Google.   Users’ Gmail and Google Talk contacts will all be added to their social connections, as well as people they follow on Google Reader and Google Buzz.  Google users should be aware that if they +1 a site or an ad, their social connections will be able to see that if they stumble upon the same site or advertisement.  This may lead people to re-think +1ing anything unsavory that grandma or grandpa may not approve of.

While the idea is very similar to Facebook’s “Like” buttons, Google+ and the +1 button have a far greater potential reach than Facebook, with both searchers and advertisers.  The +1 button will be viewable when users are searching on Google.com, but it is currently unavailable on search partners, mobile search or the Google Display Network.  Google has assured us that advertisers will not be charged when users +1 their ads or sites, only actual clicks will be charged, so no change there.

Overall, I expect that Google’s new +1 could be extremely beneficial for paid search marketers.  Consumers have been looking to their peers for recommendations since the beginning of time and +1 allows word of mouth marketing to flourish without speaking an actual word.  These personal recommendations from trusted sources should result in better CTR’s and ROI for advertisers.  Once again, only time will tell if the Google+ Project and the new +1’s will take away part of Facebook’s social media empire.  Stay tuned!

Google made this update to description line 1 placement after performing tests and coming to the conclusion that it not only improves the user experience by providing searchers with more, relevant information easily and rapidly, but also improves the performance of the ad for the advertiser.  After doing some A/B ad testing with and without the punctuation at the end of description line 1, JumpFly’s account managers have seen the clickthrough rates (CTR) of the new ads with punctuation at the end of description line 1 skyrocket over the old ones without punctuation.  So much so that the JumpFly pay-per-click management teams now make sure that description line 1 ends in punctuation as often as possible.

Another change that Google recently announced is that top position ads will now be showing the display URL domain in the headline.  This update to how ads are displayed will allow Google searchers to be able to see and identify what site they will be taken to after they click on the ad and will help them decide whether or not they want to go to that site.  For AdWords advertisers, this is another huge change that is going to be great for them, especially for branding.  With the display URL being more prominent in the headline and still being shown in the display URL, your company name and web address exposure is doubled.  Sounds good to us!

Now, the question is:  How will Google AdWords decide whether to show the display URL or description line 1 after the headline?  Well, according to Google, BOTH can be displayed as long as the resulting headline is sixty-eight characters or less.  Imagine having a sixty-eight character, attention grabbing headline.  The amount of information you can get to potential customers in bold, blue text is unheard of and something all advertisers should try to capitalize on.

These changes to how Google AdWords ads are displayed are hugely important for advertisers.  In order to capitalize on them, you might want to call a professional PPC Management company like JumpFly.  We know the ins and outs of Google AdWords and we love implementing new, innovative ideas for our clients.

A recent Mashable article by Christina Warren points out that, “Google might still be the leading search engine in the U.S. by a large margin, but over the last six months, searches powered by Microsoft Bing are increasing at an impressive rate.”

The latest data from Experian Hitwise indicates that Google supplied 64% of searches in the U.S. in March, 2011 while Bing-powered search, which includes both Yahoo and Bing.com, accounted for 30% of U.S. searches.  Just 6 months ago, Experian Hitwise reported that Google controlled 72% of the U.S. search market while Bing powered search accounted for 23%. In the past six months, Bing’s market share in the U.S. increased fairly significantly to 30%.  Additionally, Hitwise reported that Bing and Yahoo achieved the highest success rates during the month, meaning that for both search engines, more than 80% of searches executed resulted in a visit to a website while Google’s rate was about 66%.  I am not suggesting that Bing powered searches will overtake Google anytime soon, or ever, but it does appear to be evolving as a potentially serious threat to Google’s search empire.

Perhaps Google has taken its eye off the ball by getting distracted with so many other initiatives?  For example, just last week Google invested $168 million into BrightSource Solar Project.  This sounds like a great cause, which I applaud, but does co-founder and new-CEO again Larry Page have the experience, time & knowledge to guide a company that has branched out into so many things?  There has to be consequences.  Perhaps Google search is getting somewhat neglected, which would not be a wise move since just about all of Google’s revenue is generated by their search ads.

In Google’s defense, they have been launching many new search related initiatives and they have greatly improved Google search and the Google AdWords advertising platform.  The AdWords platform has evolved quite a bit over the past year and now provides a suite of valuable new tools for advertisers.  Additionally, Bing recently launched an $80 million ad campaign that seems to be working.

Google faces threats from multiple fronts as social media continues to emerge as a popular and potentially valuable platform for advertising.  According to Nielsen Web Traffic, Facebook has about 135 million U.S. users compared to 152 million that use Google.  However Facebook’s users stay on Facebook 3 times longer than users stay on Google.  What happens when Facebook develops their own search that integrates all of their valuable social info?  Hmmm???  Google is certainly aware of the threat and has even tried to combat it with social media efforts of its own, but so far with little success.  Google’s recent launch of the +1 feature is an example of a social media initiative.  As Google gets increasingly larger, can they remain nimble enough to successfully evolve with the rapidly changing search environment?  Only time will tell.

Per Google’s blog on +1, “to recommend something, all you have to do is click +1 on a webpage or ad you find useful. These +1’s will then start appearing in Google’s search results… Say, for example, you’re planning a winter trip to Tahoe, Calif. When you do a search, you may now see a +1 from your slalom-skiing aunt next to the result for a lodge in the area. Or if you’re looking for a new pasta recipe, we’ll show you +1’s from your culinary genius college roommate. And even if none of your friends are baristas or caffeine addicts, we may still show you how many people across the web have +1’d your local coffee shop.”

From an advertiser’s perspective, it certainly appears that it would be a benefit to have people recommend their website and have the +1 displayed next to their ads.  A light +1 actually appears next to all ads and results, but the ones that have been +1′d appear in a dark blue, drawing more attention. It will be interesting to see how this social media experiment evolves. This foray into social media has my attention because of its potential impact on PPC. Below are some Google AdWords related questions, and the answers we received directly from Google.

Will the +1 button affect my clickthrough rate (CTR) or conversion rates?

Each campaign performs differently, so we can’t predict how your clickthrough rate will change for individual campaigns. However, we believe that including the +1 button on ads will increase the overall CTR of campaigns as personalized annotations increase user engagement.

Will the +1 button impact how you determine quality score?

No, this does not change how we determine your ad’s relevance of quality. As always, we look at your ad’s performance relative to that of other ads for the same query, position, and UI treatment.

Should I change my ads or landing pages?

No, there is no need to change the copy or landing pages of your campaigns. We’re adding +1 buttons to ads and search results on Google.com in English. Simple, compelling ads directing to a relevant landing page will continue to perform best.

Where can I see how many +1s my ads are receiving?

Currently reporting is not available. However, soon you will be able to see how many +1s your search campaigns are getting on the Dimensions tab in AdWords.

Why can I not see +1 buttons on my ads?

Only signed-in Google users will see +1 buttons on ads and organic search results on Google.com in English. Also, +1 buttons are not available on Internet Explorer 7 and earlier versions of Internet Explorer.

While Google has been increasingly incorporating social media elements into search over the years, +1 integration appears to be a giant step closer towards achieving meaningful social media/ search integration. Google continues to evolve and social media is proving to have an important role in its development. The +1 feature is rolling out slowly, but keep your eyes posted as you will likely see it soon. If you can’t wait to start seeing +1’s,  you can opt-in to the launch by visiting their experimental search site.

Recently, the FTC has been urging the Web industry to come up with tracking protection from online advertisers.  Similar to the “Do Not Call” list that the public can put themselves on to avoid telemarketing, people will soon be able to opt out from having advertisers track their web surfing with a “Do Not Track” function in their browser.

My question is:  Do internet users really want to opt out?  According to the Los Angeles Times, 67% of internet users are opposed to targeted advertising – in my opinion this is a shocking statistic!  I would much rather see advertisements that are of direct interest to me as opposed to random ads that have little or no relevance to my life.

Of course, there are those annoying advertisers who do not restrict the amount of times that you see their ads and appear to be web stalkers.  Instead of promoting a “Do Not Track” browser, does it make more sense to just promote an easy one-click way to clear your cookies and cache?

So what effect would a “Do Not Track” browser have on the pay-per-click (PPC) advertising industry?  It is possible that it would be detrimental to many aspects.  Google AdWords Remarketing, conversion tracking as well as analytics to name a few will no longer be completely reliable tools for advertisers to accurately measure the success of their campaigns.

However, I believe it will have less of an impact than people are speculating.  The “Do Not Track” browser option seems similar to the launch of Google Instant which caused quite the uproar in the PPC industry at first, but seems to have fizzled out with little damage.  For the average, every day user, I believe it will go unnoticed and the PPC industry will see little to no effect.

It will be interesting to see the reality of the “Do Not Track” browser once it is implemented.  But as for myself, I happily agree to be a focused target of PPC advertisement.