After testing out Google Instant, the first question we had here at JumpFly was: “How will this affect the Pay Per Click(PPC) Marketing for our clients?”  With ads showing up before the entire search term was typed out, we were curious about the effect this would have on the number of impressions and click-through-rate (CTR) of our ads.  So we dug a little deeper and found out some details that may help explain Google Instant’s impact on PPC a little bit.

There are three different situations that Google Instant counts impressions:.

1.  Any click on the page – If the user begins to type a search query and then clicks anywhere on the page, an impression is counted.  This includes clicking on a search result, a sponsored link, spelling correction or a related search.

2.  Search selection – If the user clicks the Search button, presses Enter or clicks on one of the predicted queries, an impression is counted.

3.  ‘Three second rule’ – If the user stops typing and the search results are displayed for at least three seconds, an impression is counted.

That being said, we must anticipate that Google Instant will increase the amount of impressions received by the keywords in our accounts.  Hopefully this increase of potentially frivolous impressions will not have the negative impact on CTR that we would expect.  As we have talked about before, a poor CTR can be a detriment to Google AdWords Quality Score forcing advertisers to increase their maximum cost-per-click (CPC) in order to be seen in higher positions in the search results.

Only time will tell how Google Instant will impact the Google AdWords accounts of the hundreds of thousands of businesses who advertise their goods and services on Google.com.  Hopefully Google Instant will be a good thing, providing timelier search results to users and more qualified clicks to advertisers.  Fingers crossed – Google, please don’t disappoint!

Google allows AdWords customers to advertise on trademarked terms in the U.S. & research indicates that U.S. courts have so far agreed that it is not illegal to advertise on competitor names, as long as the message is not misleading. However, the rapid adoption of the Internet as a tool to find products and services has resulted in trademark law getting challenged and changed on a regular basis, so there is still uncertainty in this area.

I would like to start out by making it very clear that I am not a lawyer. However, per Jeffrey A. Babener, who is an attorney with Babener & Associates, “Generally, a seller or imitator may use a competitor’s trademark when advertising the seller’s product so long as the competitor’s trademark is used in a truthful way, such that its use is not likely to create confusion in the consumers’ mind as to the source of the product being sold”

“Over the years, many different legal theories have been used by competitors in an attempt to stop the use of their name or product … Actions have been brought for disparagement, trade libel, defamation, trademark infringement, unfair competition and misappropriation of a name. The successful cases have, for the most part, involved false advertising and unfair competition through the misrepresentation of one’s product, causing consumer confusion… A seller may be held liable for unfair competition under federal and state laws where the seller misrepresents either the seller’s, or the competitor’s products. ”

Some U.S. courts have upheld that advertising on a competitor’s name is legal.  For example, In J.G. Wentworth SSC Ltd v. Settlement Funding LLC, 2007 WL 30115 (E.D. Pa. Jan. 4, 2007), the court granted summary judgment to the advertisers based on the lack of evidence of consumer confusion. There are other examples as well.

Businesses can partially protect themselves by trademarking their name so competitors cannot use their name in ad copy, but again, this process does not prevent competitors from using trademarked terms to advertise on. Advertisers can click here to review AdWords Trademark policy detail and access their Trademark Complaint Form.

Interestingly, when it comes to advertising on a competitor name, large companies basically have the ability to bully smaller companies into submission, and here is why. If Business A is upset about Business B’s decision to advertise on Business A’s name, Business A can then have their lawyers issue Business B a Cease & Desist Letter. If Business B decides not to listen, they may then be setting themselves up for potential litigation. I am trying to simplify something rather complex, but the bottom line is that even if Business B has done nothing illegal, they may still find themselves in a position where they have to defend themselves. The cruel reality of litigation is that it can easily cost $100,000 in legal fees. Furthermore, a company cannot defend itself as an individual can, so a lawyer must be hired to defend a business (with certain exceptions that might apply to small claims court). Again, I am not a lawyer, but this is my understanding.

In the end, it appears that advertising on competitor names is legal and usually OK to do. If a competitor is upset, they will usually have their lawyers provide a Cease & Desist Letter, at which time you may want to comply with their request as litigation is incredibly costly. It must be understood that advertising on competitor names has the potential to result in unforeseen grief, litigation & legal fees, so it is important to understand your risk.

At JumpFly, we leave the choice of advertising on competitor names to the client. For those that have done this, it has often proven valuable and provided a very favorable ROI. However, this action can certainly lead to grief if a competitor is infuriated and willing to try and litigate, even if they would likely lose. So if you choose to go down this path, it must be done carefully & without confusing potential customers. Sadly, businesses advertising on competitor names that find themselves in litigation will likely find that even a victory in court still results in defeat in the pocket book.

In my humble opinion, one of Twitters best features is the fact that it helps businesses connect with their customers on a personal level.  Customers can use Twitter as a platform to inform a company about their experiences with that company’s products or services, whether good or bad.  This one-on-one customer interaction should ultimately help businesses provide a better customer experience to the people who have to power to make their companies successful.  Twitter also allows businesses to keep people informed on industry happenings, tips, tricks and so much more.

So, JumpFly has bitten the bullet and has joined the Twitterverse!  We may not have gathered as many followers as Kanye West (@KanyeWest), but we hope to be able to provide interesting and relevant content to our Twitter followers.  JumpFly has been ranked as TopSEO’s #1 PPC Management Company for the last two years and now it is time to share our wealth of information with our tweeps.  We hope to build our twibe of followers by providing useful, inspirational, interesting and compelling information about Pay-Per-Click Advertising on Google, Yahoo and MSN’s Bing.

If you are on Twitter, please take a moment to follow @JumpFly – we are confident that you will find our content relevant and informational.  Hopefully we will become Twitter’s PPC Management Authority.  Stay tuned to see what we have to offer!

When working on Microsoft adCenter Desktop, have you ever attempted to “Sync” your account after adding new keywords to a campaign, only to receive an error that there are duplicates in the account?

I receive this error quite often, but in my case, it is not a matter of adding two of the exact same keyword. Often times, it is because I am trying to enter two forms of the same keyword that the Microsoft system has “Normalized”.

Normalization is the process by which Microsoft adCenter removes extraneous characters from user queries. An automatic scan finds and removes duplicate forms from the search query to help minimize redundant content.

For example, let’s say you are trying to add the following keywords in your account:

“jump fly”

jump & fly

jump fly/

jump-fly

jump’s fly

the jump fly

Each form of the keyword ‘jump fly’ above will be normalized to be read by the system as ‘jump fly’.

After attempting to sync your account with these new keywords, you will get an error message telling you that you are trying to create duplicate keywords, even though visually the keywords are very different.

Don’t get frustrated, here’s the explanation from MSN.  If you are looking for the latest release notes on what changes have been made to the adCenter Desktop tool, you can find that here.

As always, if you need assistance with Bing PPC Campaign Management, contact a qualified professional at JumpFly.

How can I show my Google AdWords ads with Seller Ratings Extensions?

Here is what we found out: Only certain ads are eligible to appear with the new Seller Ratings Extensions and none of the current account settings need to be changed in order to be eligible.  Once a Google AdWords advertiser meets the criteria listed below, the distribution of their ads with the Seller Ratings Extensions is automatic.  This means that the ads are automatically opted in to showing seller ratings with the ads on Google Product Search.

Here are the criteria:

* Advertiser’s campaign must be opted in to Google search.

* Advertiser’s campaign must be targeted to the United States ONLY.

* Advertiser’s business must have at least 30 unique reviews and a rating of four stars or higher on Google Product Search.

* Advertisers do NOT have to have a Google Merchant Center account to be eligible to have their ads shown with the Seller Ratings Extensions.

* Advertisers will only be charged if the headline of the ad is clicked on.  Clicks on the review link are free.

While this is a wonderful extension to Google’s ever growing list of product extensions designed to help merchants provide their potential customers with highly targeted and relevant information when searching, some merchants may not be too keen on the idea.  To opt out of this extension, the merchant will need to complete a form requesting that Google disable the Seller Rating Extensions in their ads.  Google does not recommend this as the Seller Rating Extensions “is likely to increase the amount of qualified traffic” to their website from their ads.

Personally, I think this is a marvelous addition to Google arsenal of Ad Extensions.  With the internet FULL of sites like Yelp, Ripoff Report, Consumer Reports, Trip Advisor, Epinions, etc. it’s blatantly obvious that reviews and ratings matter to the average consumer.  This is Google’s way of inching one step closer to the ideal, perfectly targeted and extremely relevant PPC ad. If you think that your business could benefit from a professional PPC Management Company, please feel free to contact Jumpfly.  PPC is all we do.

Google Docs allows me to create and upload documents, spreadsheets, drawings and forms from my desktop, then share them with others, who can also update them. (Go to www.docs.google.com to get started.)
I’ve used it with clients to collaborate on ideas, or to send keywords or ad text. But lately I’ve been using it with my PPC clients to stay current with stock levels. They can update the file when something goes out of stock or comes back into stock and I can make the corresponding changes to their accounts.

Here’s some of the top reasons I like Google Docs so much:

* I can protect it so only the people I invite to access the document can see it. And I can also make it read only.
* It’s real-time.  I can actual see changes being made if I’m in the document at the same time someone is changing something.  No syncing necessary!  No emailing.  No updating the file to make sure you have the most current information.
* I can change my notification settings, so that if someone makes a change, I’ll get an email. Even nicer is that I can be notified for any change, or just changes to a specific sheet, and I can have them emailed immediately or in a daily digest. (This is my favorite)
* It automatically saves. I love the fact that I don’t lose my changes.
* It’s free!

Google Docs is making my job faster and easier, saves my clients money because they are not advertising on something that’s out of stock, gets them more business by making sure I’m advertising something they want to sell, and doesn’t cost me or JumpFly a cent.

Sitelinks allows advertisers to place additional links underneath their existing text ads.  Instead of sending users to the default landing page, Google Ad Sitelinks will display up to 4 additional Destination URLs which allows potential customers to choose where on your site they would like to visit.  This gives users more control and allows them to get where they want much quicker than having to navigate from the home page to the specific section of your site they wish to visit.

In order to have access to this type of enhancement, your ads must meet a certain high quality threshold.  If your account qualifies, you will find this special feature under your Campaign Settings tab under the “Networks, devices, and extensions” header.  If enabled, you will have an option to click Edit next to the Ad Extensions section.  From there, you will be prompted to add up to 10 specific Destination URLs with custom link text.   Depending on the term searched by users, Google will decide which links are most appropriate to be shown and they will be displayed underneath your current ad copy.

Google Sitelinks are becoming increasingly popular with advertisers interested in both driving sales to their website and branding their company.  According to Google, companies need to have “extremely high” quality scores and top positioning to be considered for Google Sitelinks.  This is Google’s way of assuring that the true cream of the search query will rise to the top and attract the most attention to the Sitelinks feature.

In the days of fierce Internet competition, Google Sitelinks has become increasingly attractive to advertisers who need to protect themselves against retailers or competitor attempting to outbid them for the pay-per-click auction of their brand’s keywords.  The only drawback that I can see is that searchers will more often click on the sponsored link instead of the advertiser’s organic listing.  Good for Google, maybe not so good for the advertiser.

This is yet another reason to have a professional PPC Management Company in place to see whether using Google Sitelinks is profitable for your company.

So, how else does Twitter plan on making a profit?  Answer:  PAID SEARCH

Twitter recently announced that it is planning to launch its own online advertising program this year which will resemble the Google AdWords PPC platform.  According to reports, these future Twitter ads will use the same 140 (or fewer) character parameters as users Tweets.  Ad results will be tied directly to Twitter users’ searches and will not appear unsolicited in their Tweet Stream – which is critical.  The fact that Twitter will not show unsolicited ads to their users is greatly appreciated by this Twitter user.  There is already enough “spam” in most Tweet Streams, adding advertisements to the mix would be enough to drive some users crazy.

Although the proposed Twitter advertising platform will be similar to Google AdWords, it will also have one major difference.  Instead of offering Twitter advertising direct to advertisers, they will be targeting ad agencies and buyers.  This is just one more reason to take you online advertising business to the next level and use a professional PPC Management Company like JumpFly.

For Example:  JumpFly would like to advertise their blog to bring in new readers.  Before this display URL policy change, JumpFly would have been able to use the display URL www.JumpFly.com/Blog (or something similar if desired).  However, after this policy change is implemented, the example display URL would need to be www.Blog.Jumpfly.com.

Going forward, ads that do not include the additional information in the display URLs will be disapproved during the AdWords ad review process.  Google AdWords advertisers will be notified via e-mail that their ads require editing before they can go live and a suggested display URL will be provided.  Google is also encouraging AdWords advertisers to proactively adjust all ads that might be affected by this change.

This Google AdWords display URL policy change is understandable and conducive to the smooth user experience that Google prides itself on providing.  Advertisers not currently utilizing the services of a PPC Account Management company will need to go through the campaigns in their AdWords accounts to make sure their ads are compliant with this new display URL policy change. 

The Google AdWords display URL is a potentially valuable tool that is unused or underused by many pay-per-click (PPC) advertisers. Don’t make the mistake of neglecting this valuable piece of online advertising real estate. It can partially act as an additional advertising line if used wisely.

This is an exciting development for pay-per-click (PPC) advertising because these click-to-call actions are extremely relevant leads and should be frequently converted into customers.  When searches are performed on high-end mobile devices with full HTML browsers (iPhones, Android, Palm WebOS), Google AdWords will communicate with the user’s mobile GPS to determine geographic location of the search.  With this information, Google is able to show the phone numbers and business addresses for the closest advertisers which will appear in a fifth line of ad text.  This is an extremely convenient development for people who use the mobile browsing capabilities on their phones.

This is not only exciting for potential customers, but for advertisers as well.  Advertisers will be charged the exact same way they are charged for clicks to their website and will not incur additional charges for receiving a call from a click.  Who doesn’t want more highly targeted, relevant traffic for the same price, right?

In order to make Google AdWords Mobile Ads appear with a location-specific click-to-call phone number, advertisers need to make sure their Google AdWords Campaigns are targeting all mobile devices with full HTML browsers.  Phone numbers and business addresses must also be added in the locations section of the Campaign settings.

To learn more about implementing click-to-call Google AdWords Mobile Ads, contact a qualified PPC Management Company.

While the Google AdMob acquisition could potentially allow Google and their PPC advertising division, Google AdWords, to become an even more dominant one-stop-shop for advertisers, this deal could also eventually lead to higher prices for advertising space.  We all took Economics in high school or college and we all know that anti-trust laws were put into place for a reason – to stop monopolies from forming.  However, on the opposite side, I haven’t seen anything newsworthy about Yahoo! or MSN (Bing) attempting to break into the mobile advertising sector to offering this service to their advertisers.  Why should Google be essentially punished for being innovative, thinking outside the box and wanting to make its shareholders AND advertising customers more profits?

While I completely and wholeheartedly believe in the spirit of free enterprise and competition and I do believe that the FTC should have some concerns about this, the issue that I am most concerned about regarding this proposed Google AdMob acquisition is privacy.  First of all, you should know that I am a Google Fanatic;  I personally use Gmail, Voice, Wave, Docs, iGoogle, Reader, Friend Connect, Mobile, Picasa, Talk, Checkout, etc and I a love each and every one of them in their own way.  That being said, my main concern is that if Google is allowed to acquire AdMob they will have access to entirely too much of my personal information.  Will every webpage I visit from my Droid be logged?  Will every song that I favorite be remembered?  Will the locations that I travel to using my GPS be saved?  Will the information I send via text messaging be scanned and analyzed?

In order to serve their searchers relevant ads, Google already gathers a tremendous amount of user data.  This data combined with AdMobs mobile behavioral, demographic, contextual and geographical targeting would give Google a TREMENDOUS amount of user information.  Having all of this personal information saved somewhere in Google-land will allow Google to serve me with more relevant advertising, but it makes me uncomfortable.  All I can do is hope that Google will not take unfair advantage of this potential information goldmine.

Only time will tell how this Google AdMob acquisition situation will play out.  One thing is for sure though:  Having a professional PPC Management Company in place during these tumultuous advertising times is KEY.

Picture this:  You are not running a pay-per-click (PPC) advertising campaign, but relying only on SEO to bring business to your site.  A potential customer searches your business name on Google because they are interested in buying your product.  In the search results, they see a live feed containing information from a disgruntled customer who was unhappy with your product and/or customer service.  This dissuades your potential customer and they decide to buy the product you are selling somewhere else.  FAIL. Google real-time search certainly didn’t do this advertiser any favors.

Don’t fear – there are benefits to having a pay-per-click campaign in place during this time of SEO doubt.  First of all, your PPC ads will frequently show up higher than the Google real-time search feed so potential customers will see them before they have an opportunity to view the live feed.  Second, the sponsored search results are typically viewed as trustworthy. This means that your message as a PPC advertiser will be stronger and likely displayed higher on the page than a random post from an anonymous Twitter user. Furthermore, the Google real-time search information will be constantly changing, while your PPC exposure can be controlled. Contact a qualified PPC Management Company for a free consultation.

In light of this new uncertainty in the SEO industry, marketers will likely race to get the top natural positions in order to appear above the real-time search feed.  During this fierce competition for the top natural position using SEO; it appears that NOW might be the perfect opportunity to invest more of your marketing budget in your PPC advertising efforts in order to gain control of your online presence.

URL Changes Impact PPC Advertising

Twice in the last month I’ve had clients change their website URLs without telling me (and one of the other PPC account managers here had it happen to them just yesterday). I either find it because PPC ads start getting declined at Google AdWords or Yahoo, or conversions drop off, or something happens that I go snooping around to check.

There’s very little that’s worse than clicking on a PPC ad and seeing “Server Error: 404 – File or directory not found.” And it’s so easy to prevent it.

If you are changing your URLs, please, at the very least, do a 404 error redirect to your home page or site map. Another better option is to create a Custom 404 page.  Or better yet, do a redirect to the correct new page, so a searcher lands on what they expect to see.

A 404 error redirect will send a person right on to your homepage instead of landing on the dreaded stock 404 page. A custom redirect can even communicate more information like a “personal” message and how they can solve it (By the way, having a custom 404 Error page is a good practice, regardless if you change your URLs or not. In fact, I previously wrote a blog called “404 Errors – Save Those Clicks” ). And the best way of all is redirecting each old URL to the new, correct URL, so that the searcher doesn’t even know there was anything wrong.

And of course, please let your PPC Management Company know – preferably BEFORE the change happens. If we have access to the new site mapping, we can have your change-over ads ready to go when the site change happens. Or at least know that it’s happening so we can fix everything fast instead of spending money on wasted PPC advertising clicks.

make sure that your Pay-Per Click (PPC) advertising budget is not on the chopping block first.  PPC advertising is unique in that, when set up and maintained properly; it provides solid data about the ROI it generates.  The back end analytics and reporting systems available through Google AdWords allows you to see where your money is being spent and what truly works to provide your business with the highest ROI possible.  Why spend valuable marketing dollars on unproven advertising mediums when search engine marketing can be easily tracked and measured?

Due to the highly competitive nature of the Google AdWords, Yahoo! Search Marketing and Bing (Microsoft adCenter) marketplaces, developing and maintaining a strong and effective PPC campaign has become increasingly difficult for the average business owner.  Platforms and features are changing on a weekly basis. Since most are busy expanding their client base and servicing current customers, learning the proper way to build and manage an effective PPC campaign can be low on the priority list.  The Pay-Per-Click Advertising options for business owners are minimal: either hire an in-house online marketing employee or outsource to an expert.  As I am sure you are aware, the costs associated with hiring an employee are substantial and get higher and higher each year.  Between insurance benefits, 401k/IRA contributions, Social Security payments, taxes, salary PLUS your marketing budget – outsourcing your PPC advertising is likely the most cost-effective option. Furthermore, a qualified PPC Management company will ensure that your online advertising dollars are spent wisely.

JumpFly keeps up with the latest innovations and technological advances that the PPC industry provides.  JumpFly is an award winning PPC Management Company.  While they haven’t won quite as many awards as Taylor Swift did at the CMA’s last night, they are working on it! 

So now I ask you this question:  Why not put an industry expert to work for you to see what they can do to increase your ROI and bring qualified traffic to your site?

A note about why you might not want to only use Google Analytics to report revenue: Google Analytics attributes a conversion to “last touch” while Google AdWords and Yahoo Sponsored Search attribute it to “first touch.” What that means is if someone came to your website on a Monday through a paid ad, and didn’t buy anything, then returned a week later (either through a bookmark and manually typing in your URL) and bought something, Google Analytics would count that conversion as a Direct referral (the last way they came to your site), while AdWords and Sponsored Search would attribute it to PPC (the first way they came to your site).

It’s not a big deal when the vast majority of your visitors order on their first visit, but becomes a big deal when a large percentage of them don’t. I have several clients where over 50% of their visitors don’t buy on that first visit, which makes PPC look like it doesn’t perform that well. Once you factor in those “first touch” conversions, PPC certainly is a much more important piece of the marketing puzzle.

So back to how you track revenue in Yahoo Sponsored Search… I have to give Yahoo credit – they beat Google on this by including revenue right in the normal screens you use to manage your Yahoo Sponsored Search campaigns. Google only reports revenue on their actual reports, which makes it more of a pain to manage; Not impossible, just not as easy to analyze and then make quick changes.

To track Yahoo Sponsored Search revenue, you’ll just need to add one more tiny bit of code to your conversion tracking. Replace where I have ORDER.SUBTOTAL with your dynamically generated Order Subtotal field into this line of your Yahoo Sponsored Search Analytics code (You can also do Order Total, but I recommend doing the Subtotal which excludes tax and shipping, for a more accurate picture of your revenue.):

window.ysm_customData.conversion = “transId=,currency=,amount=ORDER.SUBTOTAL“;

That’s it. Pretty simple and pretty powerful. Now you can actually see what kind of revenue your Yahoo Sponsored Search campaigns are actually generating, and then make better informed decisions about where your PPC advertising dollars should be spent.

A note on this: I attempted to do it for a client that uses a Volusion cart and processes credit cards offline (meaning they don’t actually process the credit card at the time of order, but do it manually at a later time), but this won’t work for them. I’m guessing that this will hold true for any shopping cart; if you don’t process credit cards in real-time, it won’t work. In fact, for this client, it also prevented the number of conversions from tracking.

One last note: Unfortunately, MSN AdCenter does not have the same functionality. Here’s hoping they get that solved before they take over supplying Yahoo’s paid ads.

If you need help getting Yahoo Sponsored Search Revenue Tracking implemented and/or analyzed, contact a reputable PPC management company for assistance.