Google Adwords Mastery » New features http://googleadwordsmastery.com Gaining competitive advantage through Google Adwords Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:33:02 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Embedded format now available for Ad Sitelinks http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/ATHs/~3/QvbUISRMGSA/embedded-format-now-available-for-ad.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/ATHs/~3/QvbUISRMGSA/embedded-format-now-available-for-ad.html#comments Tue, 07 Jun 2011 20:01:00 +0000 Geoff Alexander more queries and more devices. We’ve also enhanced Ad Sitelinks with smart serving to automatically show your highest-performing Sitelinks more frequently. Today we’re introducing a new feature of Ad Sitelinks, embedded sitelinks, that makes it even easier to integrate targeted links within your ads.

With the embedded format of Ad Sitelinks, there are no additional lines appended to your text ad. Instead, text in your ad that exactly matches one or more of the sitelinks in your campaign will automatically be linked to that sitelink’s destination URL. With embedded sitelinks, potential customers can pick the part of your ad that applies directly to their current interests and visit the most specific page for that topic.


For example, if you sell home goods, your ad may mention that you sell appliances, furniture, and flatware. If you have separate sitelinks set up for the words “appliances,” “furniture,” and “flatware,” those words would be hyperlinked in your ad text, leading potential customers to a page for the specific part of the ad that drew their interest. We believe that these targeted destination URLs may encourage more users to click on your ad and make it easier for them to find what they’re searching for when they arrive on your site.

To show with embedded sitelinks, your campaign must be enabled for Ad Sitelinks. Also, your ad must appear above the search results, and part of your ad text must exactly match one or more of your Ad Sitelinks. Additionally, embedded sitelinks will only show for ads that don’t meet one or more of the requirements for one- or two-line Ad Sitelinks.

Embedded sitelinks are now available to AdWords users globally, excluding China, Japan and Korea. To learn more about Ad Sitelinks and the new embedded sitelinks feature, you can visit the AdWords Help Center.

Posted by Dan Friedman, Inside AdWords crew
]]> http://googleadwordsmastery.com/index.php/2011/06/embedded-format-now-available-for-ad-sitelinks/feed/ 0 Add +1 to help your ads stand out http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/ATHs/~3/gTP49HhFsOM/add-1-to-help-your-ads-stand-out_01.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/ATHs/~3/gTP49HhFsOM/add-1-to-help-your-ads-stand-out_01.html#comments Wed, 01 Jun 2011 17:11:00 +0000 Geoff Alexander
That’s why we introduced the +1 button on Google search in March. +1 annotations show your customers which pages people they trust have found and enjoyed first, making it easier to find content they’re likely to care about.

Since we announced +1, we’ve gotten requests from Google search users and advertisers alike for +1 buttons in more places than just search results. That’s why today we’re making the +1 button available to sites across the web. Sometimes you want to recommend a web page after you’ve visited it. After all, how do you know you want to suggest that great hotel deal in Madrid if you haven’t checked it out yet?

We’ve partnered with a few sites where you'll see +1 buttons over the coming days:
Partner LogosAddThisMashableHuffington PostRotten TomatoesNordstromO'ReillyReutersWashington PostBest BuyTechCrunchBloomberg
You'll also start to see +1 buttons on other Google properties such as Android Market, Blogger, Product Search and YouTube.

Adding +1 buttons to your pages is a great way to help your ads stand out on Google. By giving your visitors more chances to +1 your pages, your search ads and organic results might appear with +1 annotations more often. This could lead to more--and better qualified--traffic to your site.


To get started, visit the +1 button tool on Google Webmaster Central, where you’ll configure small snippets of JavaScript to add to the pages where you want +1 buttons to appear. You can pick from a few different button sizes and styles, so choose the +1 button that best matches your site’s layout.

When a user clicks +1, that +1 applies to the URL of the page they’re on. There are some easy ways to ensure your +1s apply as often as possible to the pages appearing in Google search results.

To stay current on updates to the +1 button large and small, please subscribe to the Google Publisher Button Announce Group. For advanced tips and tricks, check our Google Code site. For information about how the +1 button affects your search ads, check out the AdWords Help Center.

If your site primarily caters to users outside of the US and Canada, you can install the +1 button code now; the +1 button is already supported in 44 languages. However, keep in mind that +1 annotations currently only appear for English search results on Google.com. We’re working on releasing +1 to other domains in the future.

If you have customers who love your content (and we bet you do), encourage them to spread the word! Add the +1 button to help your ads stand out with a personal recommendation right at the moment of decision, on Google search.


Posted by Nathania Lozada, Inside AdWords crew
]]> http://googleadwordsmastery.com/index.php/2011/06/add-1-to-help-your-ads-stand-out/feed/ 0 Location targeting updates in AdWords http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/ATHs/~3/nJ8wrjIwELo/location-targeting-updates-in-adwords.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/ATHs/~3/nJ8wrjIwELo/location-targeting-updates-in-adwords.html#comments Tue, 24 May 2011 16:00:00 +0000 Geoff Alexander specific locations, such as cities, regions, or countries. For example, to reach users looking for rental cars in San Francisco, a car rental company could target a campaign to San Francisco and include only San Francisco-specific discounts in the ads.

In February, we launched city targeting in an additional 17 countries, and our goal is to make location targeting more accurate, easier to use, and more flexible. As part of planning for future improvements, we’re making several changes to our AdWords location targeting capabilities. These changes will start occurring after July 8, 2011, and include:

Changes to existing available locations: Due to changes in real-world geography or the existence of duplicate or overlapping location targets, we’re removing certain location targets in countries such as Japan, Denmark, Spain, and the Netherlands, among others. For example, in 2010, six provinces were abolished in Finland, and while you’ll no longer be able to target these provinces, you can continue targeting cities in Finland. You won’t be able to target these provinces in AdWords, but you’ll be able to continue targeting cities in Finland. After the changes take effect, you won't be able to add the locations that are listed here to new campaigns. If you're currently targeting any of these locations in your existing campaigns, you should migrate them to the recommended targets in the list. Otherwise, we'll migrate them automatically. Please review the list carefully since some of these changes will result in migration to larger locations.

Sunset of custom shapes (multi-point or polygon targets): You’ll no longer be able to add multi-point targets in AdWords. You’ll still be able to view and delete existing shapes in your current campaigns, and we’ll continue to use them until the end of 2011. After that, all polygon targets that are still present in your AdWords campaigns will be migrated to available locations such as a nearby city or a map point with a radius. We encourage you to replace your polygon targets with these alternatives or we’ll migrate them automatically at end of 2011.

Removal of ‘Show address in the ad’ feature: In some countries, you currently have the option to show an address with your ads by checking the “Allow address to show in my ad” option for campaigns that target an area around a map point. This option will no longer be available. If you want to display your business address or phone number, you’ll need to use AdWords location extensions.

If you’re using these features with the AdWords API, check out the AdWords API Blog for more information on the changes being made.

These changes will take place after July 8, 2011. We recommend that you adjust the location targeting settings of your campaigns immediately with the available alternatives.


Posted by Nathania Lozada, Inside AdWords crew
]]> http://googleadwordsmastery.com/index.php/2011/05/location-targeting-updates-in-adwords/feed/ 0 Comparison Ads now a part of the new Google Advisor http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/ATHs/~3/mwaXGrXWtnw/comparison-ads-now-part-of-new-google.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/ATHs/~3/mwaXGrXWtnw/comparison-ads-now-part-of-new-google.html#comments Thu, 19 May 2011 18:16:00 +0000 Geoff Alexander launched our initial test of AdWords Comparison Ads for Mortgages. With Comparison Ads, we provided a way for you, our advertisers, to create more relevant and targeted offers for users searching on Google.com. For example, using Comparison Ads, a lender can enter offers for users with specific credit ratings, loan amounts, ZIP codes, and more.

Since our initial mortgages launch, we’ve expanded into a number of additional financial areas, including credit cards, checking and savings accounts, and certificates of deposit. We’ve also seen some great recognition of the value that Comparison Ads provides. For example, according to a study done by Leads360, an industry leader in lead management software, mortgage leads from AdWords Comparison Ads converted at a higher rate than from any other source.

Today, we’re excited to announce the launch of Google Advisor, our new user-friendly interface for comparison offers, including AdWords Comparison Ads. Google Advisor is a consumer destination site that helps to guide users through various financial decisions by making it even easier to find and compare relevant offers from qualified financial institutions.

Google Advisor contains offers that come from our Comparison Ads advertisers as well as other sources across the web. By aggregating the most relevant offers and making it easy for users to filter and compare them side-by-side, Google Advisor aims to make financial research faster and easier.

To learn more about Google Advisor, you can read the Official Google Blog post or watch the video below.

At this time, AdWords Comparison Ads remains available only to a limited number of advertisers. Over time, we hope to increase the availability of Comparison Ads to additional advertisers. You can find more information about AdWords Comparison Ads in our Help Center.



Posted by Dan Friedman, Inside AdWords crew
]]> http://googleadwordsmastery.com/index.php/2011/05/comparison-ads-now-a-part-of-the-new-google-advisor/feed/ 0 Introducing new ways to reach your customers on tablets http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/ATHs/~3/0lEt4AE699w/introducing-new-ways-to-reach-your.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/ATHs/~3/0lEt4AE699w/introducing-new-ways-to-reach-your.html#comments Tue, 10 May 2011 17:08:00 +0000 Geoff Alexander 165 million tablets expected to ship over the next two years, tablets are becoming a popular device with engaged, tech-savvy consumers. So we’re pleased to announce that we’re developing new targeting options to help you better connect with this audience. To give you greater control over your AdWords ads, we’re changing the way you can target tablet devices.

In the next couple of weeks, the “Networks and Devices” section of your Settings tab within your AdWords account will include a new targeting option titled “Tablets with full browsers.” While you’ve been able to specifically target Apple iPad devices in the past, the new capability will enable you to easily target your ads to the entire tablet device category. In addition, you'll be able to select more precisely the types of devices and operating systems on which your AdWords ads will show. For example, to display your ads on the Apple iPad, you’ll be able to choose “Tablets with full browsers” as your device targeting setting and “iOS” as your operating system setting. Tablet targeting will be available initially for Apple devices only, but we'll expand ad serving to other specific devices in the near future.

Once this capability is available in your account, your ads will automatically start running on tablet devices and no further action will be necessary on your part. If your campaigns were specifically targeting Apple iPad devices, you may notice an increase in impressions and costs as we include more tablets in our ad serving options. If you don't want your ads to appear on tablet devices, you’ll be able to specify this preference in your device targeting settings by following these step-by-step instructions.

For now, only standard text and image ads can be shown on tablet devices. So please make sure your landing page renders properly on tablet devices, as our system will automatically limit your ads from running on tablet devices if we detect that users will be led to a landing page containing a significant amount of Flash or other content that will not render properly. To learn more, please visit this Help Center article.

We’re constantly working to provide our advertisers with new targeting capabilities for their AdWords campaigns. We hope that these targeting options will enable you to successfully connect with your customers across a variety of devices and platforms.



Posted by Nathania Lozada, Inside AdWords crew
]]> http://googleadwordsmastery.com/index.php/2011/05/introducing-new-ways-to-reach-your-customers-on-tablets/feed/ 0 Instant Previews for Ads http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/ATHs/~3/a3vlWOJbo7E/instant-previews-for-ads.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/ATHs/~3/a3vlWOJbo7E/instant-previews-for-ads.html#comments Mon, 25 Apr 2011 22:53:00 +0000 Geoff Alexander Instant Previews. Instant Previews provides a graphic overview of a search result and highlights the most relevant sections, making finding the right page as quick and easy as flipping through a magazine.

Now, we’re bringing the same benefit to ads with Instant Previews for Ads. Starting today, the Instant Previews icon will appear next to ads on Google.com allowing users to preview the ad’s landing page. With Instant Previews, your customers are able to quickly preview a page to see if its content matches what they’re searching for.


By allowing potential customers to preview your site before they arrive, Instant Previews helps you get even more highly-qualified traffic to your site. Even better, Instant Preview clicks are free of charge -- you’re only charged if a user clicks through to your actual landing page.

Instant Previews for Ads is rolling out to US users today and will be rolling out internationally over the coming weeks. To learn more, you can visit our help center.

Posted by Dan Friedman, Inside AdWords crew
]]> http://googleadwordsmastery.com/index.php/2011/04/instant-previews-for-ads/feed/ 0 Introducing free phone support for AdWords advertisers http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/ATHs/~3/0_tEVZgLLqw/introducing-free-phone-support-for.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/ATHs/~3/0_tEVZgLLqw/introducing-free-phone-support-for.html#comments Tue, 05 Apr 2011 16:00:00 +0000 Geoff Alexander
We’re adding phone support for a simple reason: you asked for it! You told us that while you appreciate online resources like our AdWords Help Center, you also want the option to get live, expert support when you need it. We heard you, and got to work assembling a team of AdWords experts to answer your calls.

The new phone option is one of many tools that can help you succeed with AdWords—and (most importantly!) find even more customers. You can also email us, or learn from other advertisers in the AdWords Help Forum. Our AdWords Online Classroom offers free online courses on a wide variety of AdWords topics, from the basics to great tips to take your account to the next level.

To speak to one of our specialists, give us a call at 1-866-2-Google between Monday-Friday, 9am-8pm Eastern Time. This number is for current AdWords advertisers only, so please make sure you have your customer ID ready. We look forward to speaking to you and learning more about your business.

We will roll phone support out to international advertisers in the coming months.


Posted by Francoise Brougher, VP, Global Advertising and Product Operations
]]> http://googleadwordsmastery.com/index.php/2011/04/introducing-free-phone-support-for-adwords-advertisers/feed/ 0 Media Ads Joins the New Ad Formats Family http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/ATHs/~3/yDuWW91oglA/media-ads-joins-new-ad-formats-family.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/ATHs/~3/yDuWW91oglA/media-ads-joins-new-ad-formats-family.html#comments Thu, 24 Mar 2011 18:56:00 +0000 Geoff Alexander AdWords New Ad Formats Initiative to bring more relevant ads to Google.com. Since then, we’ve launched over a dozen new ad formats, and tested many more. Our new ad formats are designed to make sure that you’re able to reach potential customers with the right information, in the format they want. That’s why we’re proud to introduce our latest format, Media Ads.

Media Ads is a new ad model that introduces new ways to target, pay for, and experience video ads on Google.com. Unlike Video Extensions, which simply attaches a video player to your existing AdWords ads, Media Ads is an entirely standalone format designed to put your videos front and center.

To start, Media Ads isn’t targeted like typical AdWords ads on Google.com. With Media Ads, you don’t pick any keywords -- the targeting is completely automated. When someone enters a search on Google.com that our algorithms determine is directly related to your movie title (most commonly the title and variations on it), we automatically display your Media Ad at the top of the search results page. Our research shows that when someone searches for a movie title on Google.com, they’re most commonly looking for a trailer. With Media Ads, we’re able to help you ensure that those users find exactly what they’re looking for.

The second thing that’s unique about Media Ads is the way you pay. Unlike typical AdWords ads on Google.com, you don’t enter any bids for Media Ads. Instead, clicks on Media Ads are charged at a flat rate. This simplified pricing model makes it easier to budget for your Media Ads campaign and to know exactly how much an interaction is going to cost.

Lastly, and most exciting, Media Ads changes the way that you experience video on Google.com. Unlike Video Extensions, which uses an in-line video player to show videos on Google.com, Media Ads introduces a new Lightbox media player. When someone plays your video either by clicking the thumbnail or the “watch” link, the Lightbox player expands to the center of the screen and dims the rest of the page around it. The experience is meant to put the viewer’s full attention on the video and to create a much more theater-like experience.


Media Ads is still in limited release to major motion picture studios promoting new release features. Over time, we plan to offer Media Ads to more advertisers in more industries to help them promote their videos on Google.com.

Posted by Dan Friedman, Inside AdWords Crew
]]> http://googleadwordsmastery.com/index.php/2011/03/media-ads-joins-the-new-ad-formats-family/feed/ 0 Dig deeper into call metrics with new detailed call reports http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/ATHs/~3/3EpKov5vlsA/dig-deeper-into-call-metrics-with-new.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/ATHs/~3/3EpKov5vlsA/dig-deeper-into-call-metrics-with-new.html#comments Wed, 02 Mar 2011 00:34:00 +0000 Geoff Alexander
Back in November, we announced call metrics, a new AdWords feature that lets you generate and measure phone calls directly from your ads.

Since then, we've heard from many of you that while it's useful to see the number of calls generated by each campaign, you'd also like to view details about individual calls.

Today we’re happy to announce new detailed call reports that show you specific metrics about each individual call that your campaign has received since call metrics was enabled, including:
  • Call start time
  • Call end time
  • Call duration
  • Call status (missed or received)
  • Caller area code

To view detailed reports about each call, you’ll need to first enable the Dimensions tab in your account. Click here for instructions. Once you’ve enabled the Dimensions tab, click View and select Call metrics calls to open the detailed call report.


While detailed call reports let you dive deeper into the individual calls you’ve received, you’ll still be able to view aggregated call reports for each campaign on the Campaigns tab. These metrics include total number of calls, received calls, missed calls, total call duration, and average call duration.

Note that call metrics is only available to a limited number of US advertisers. To learn more about call metrics or request the feature in your account, visit Google Ad Innovations.

Posted by Lisa Shieh, Inside AdWords crew
]]> http://googleadwordsmastery.com/index.php/2011/03/dig-deeper-into-call-metrics-with-new-detailed-call-reports/feed/ 0 Ad Preview and Diagnosis: Together at Last http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/ATHs/~3/GVqOk_8N17M/ad-preview-and-diagnosis-together-at.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/ATHs/~3/GVqOk_8N17M/ad-preview-and-diagnosis-together-at.html#comments Mon, 28 Feb 2011 22:33:00 +0000 Geoff Alexander Ad Preview Tool that integrates ad diagnosis: instead of simply showing you a preview of the search results for a given keyword, the tool now also tells you if your ad is showing for that search. If not, you can see the reason why.

Now that you can preview and diagnose your ads in a single location, we’re retiring the separate Ads Diagnostic Tool and directing you to the Preview Tool instead. We’ll consolidate names too; you’ll see a single Ad Preview & Diagnosis tool under your account’s Reporting and Tools tab in the future.

Over the last several months, we’ve also worked to integrate diagnosis options directly into your Campaigns tab. If you’ve been using the Ads Diagnostic Tool option to diagnose many keywords at once, don’t worry -- you can find it without leaving your Keywords tab! Just click “Diagnose keywords...” under the “More actions” menu to get integrated diagnosis results directly on the page:


To interpret the distribution of results more quickly, click the “Filter results” link, then “Show diagnostic status” in the filter panel that opens. This will open additional filter options that are specific to the results returned by a diagnosis. Here, we’ve used filters to focus only on keywords that aren’t triggering ads due to budget, bid, or Quality Score issues:

With filters, it’s easy to focus on a specific set of issues and then make the necessary changes to get ads back up and running!

You can find more information on the integrated keyword diagnosis feature in our announcement from last summer, or visit our Help Center for additional details.

Posted by Dan Friedman, Inside AdWords crew
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