Google recently released a new version of its interface that allows advertisers to now see stats split by Google vs. Search Partners (AOL, Ask, Google Product Search, Earthlink, Shopping.com, etc) vs. Content. Until now, advertisers have had visibility to the Content aspect, but not to the Search Partners.

Why is this helpful? For this particular client below, for example, I was able to see that the traffic driven from the Search Partners is converting at a much greater cost per conversion when compared to the traffic driven from Google itself. Armed with this new knowledge, I’ve turned off the Search Partners for this client and am focusing efforts primarily on Google.com:

Some advertisers ponder whether Google Adwords is shooting themselves in the foot by providing this level of visibility. In my opinion, no they are not. AdWords ongoing commitment to providing advanced levels of reporting, such as Search Query Performance reports and Placement Performance reports for example (which the other PPC engines do not currently provide), has yet to cause our clients to spend less with Google.

I mean, sure, the Search Query Performance reports provided us with some startling insights into the pitfalls of Broad Match, resulting in us tightening up our match type strategies and applying more negative keywords in our account. And, yes, Placement Performance reports have shed light on underperforming sites within the Content Network, resulting in us setting up more Site Exclusions. And yes, now we are even excluding Search Partners in this instance highlighted above.

But do these exclusions mean that we are ultimately going to spend less each month with Google? No way! We’re not going to spend less, we’re just going to spend smarter - by shifting funds to better performing keywords, better performing Content sites and better performing distribution channels within AdWords, in turn increasing our clients’ ROI.

In fact, I’d strongly argue that in the long-run the added visibility that these reporting enhancements provide will actually result in many advertisers spending more with AdWords. Why? Because, Increasing ROI = Increased Justification for More Search Budget.

Kudos once again, Google! As far as I’m concerned, this is brilliant and your feet are quite safe (as if you were concerned). Much thanks for providing this level of transparency and accountability, and for giving advertisers the tools we need to manage PPC intelligently.

In the past couple of years, Closed Loop Marketing has had more and more companies contact us who were actually already running pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns - some managing in-house, some outsourcing to other agencies. So if they were already active in PPC, then why were they contacting CLM? Because by-and-large, these companies were quite disappointed in their PPC campaigns, with results ranging from mediocre to downright dismal, and they were searching for SEM guidance.

CLM was hired to audit and essentially ‘make over’ these accounts, and the results across-the-board have far surpassed even our expectations. At the Web Builder 2.0 conference last week in Las Vegas, I had the pleasure of speaking to this at a session called Extreme Makeover: SEM Edition. In this session, I shared the common pitfalls that we see companies fall into time and time again, the strategies that CLM applies to successfully remedy these common PPC-killers and the final outcomes of our clients’ Extreme SEM Makeovers. In that same spirit, CLM has created ‘SEM for ROI - Top 10 SEM Inspection Checklist’. This checklist represents what we consider some of the most impactful elements to critique first within your PPC campaigns to find areas for improvement.

#1

Download a Search Query Performance Report from Google AdWords (note that such a report is not available in Yahoo or MSN - only Google). Mine this for more keywords to add, as well as more negative keywords to add.

#2

Calculate your ROI from Broad, Phrase and Exact matched iterations of your keywords to determine profitability for each and adjust your match type strategy accordingly. This can parsed from the Search Query Performance report.

#3

Download a Placement Performance Report from Google AdWords (this report is not available in Yahoo or MSN). Use this to identify which Content Network Sites are not converting well, and set up site exclusions accordingly.

(Read the full article…)

Let me share with you how one PPC advertiser achieved…

• An ROI increase from 77% to 323%
• A conversion rate increase from 6.15% to 8.39%
• A CTR increase from 6% to 8%

…solely through match type testing and refinement.

But first some background… (Read the full article…)

As I’m sure many of you already know, Google made a much-appreciated change to their Keyword Tool last week. Now, Google’s keyword tool provides actual search volume numbers, as opposed to the green bars you’ve seen in the past that represented low, average or high search volume.

One of our first questions upon hearing this news, was whether the search volume reported out by Google was based on the exact keyword or based on the volume for the keyword plus all of its Phrase and Broad Match iterations.

As it turns out, the tool allows you to pull search volume for all 3 of Google’s match types. For example, we entered ‘kids cell phones’ into the tool and searched it 3 separate times, each time changing the pull-down for match types. The data Google provided:

What a great feature!

Also important to note, is that the stats reported are based on the number of searches performed in Google and the Google Search Network only. Therefore, the 4,400 approximate searches you see above for the exact keyword ‘kids cell phones’ does not include the number of searches performed in other engines such as Yahoo or MSN.

The ability to pull search volume by match type is a unique feature that makes a very helpful addition to Google’s already-robust suite of tools for search engine marketers!

Universal Search has created quite the stir in the SEO community throughout 2007. Many companies that had enjoyed living on Page 1 of Google for quite some time began seeing their precious high rankings slip down or entirely off the page as videos, images, blog posts, news stories and the like began to take over significant parcels of organic real estate.

In this continuing quest for the ideal search results layout, it seems Google is once again experimenting with its blended results - though for once, organic listings are not taking the hit…

This time around the latest blended search tweaking and testing actually has an effect on the PPC community. Over the past month, Google Product results have randomly appeared in the right hand column where PPC Sponsored Listings normally reside. Some examples:

The impact if Google should decide to keep their Product listings in this right hand column position?

• Fewer PPC ads making it onto Page 1, as they are pushed farther down to make room for Product results
• Even lower click-through rates for the right hand PPC ads
• More fight for PPC positions 1-3 above the organic results
• Potential bid inflation due to the increased demand for less PPC real estate

So for all paid search managers out there who have secretly snickered a bit over the mad SEO scramble this year, I suppose we had better sit up and start taking note! In fact, while I have only caught the occasional Product results sneaking in there, Google Blogoscoped and ValleyWag have reported instances of video even showing up in prime PPC real estate.

Next up? Product images in PPC territory? Product reviews? Product blog posts? Whatever may be on the horizon for blended search it is certainly a topic that all search engine marketers, both on the organic and the paid side, should continue to keep a close eye on in 2008.