| [G] 10 of our favorite AdWords innovations from 2010 Posted: 25 Dec 2010 11:34 AM PST As 2010 comes to a close, we've been reflecting on the ways that AdWords and online advertising as a whole have evolved over the past year. From the launch of new search ad formats on Google.com to Search Funnel reports that illustrate search behavior leading up to a sale, 2010 saw a number of new developments that we hope have made AdWords an even more powerful and effective way to reach your customers. Here are 10 of our favorite new ad innovations from 2010: - AdWords Campaign Experiments: Experiment with bid, keyword, ad group and placement changes, then measure how they impact your campaign performance.
- Search Funnels: Understand the Google.com search ad click and impression behavior leading up to a conversion.
- Product Ads: Highlight your most relevant products with pictures and prices directly on the search results page with Product Listing Ads and Product Extensions.
 Product Listing Ads  Product Extensions - AdWords Call Metrics: Include a Google Voice phone number in ads that appear on Google.com, and measure the number of phone calls generated by your AdWords campaigns.
 Call Metrics - Click-to-call Phone Extensions: Make it easier for potential customers to reach you by including a clickable phone number in ads that appear on mobile phones with full Internet browsers.
 Click-to-call phone extensions - Display Campaign Optimizer: Save time and increase conversions on the Google Display Network with this new automatic bidding and targeting tool.
- Enhanced CPC: A bidding option that automatically adjusts the Max CPC bids that you've set based on the likelihood that your ad will convert, leading to more conversions and higher profit.
- Broad Match Modifier: A keyword match type giving you more potential traffic than phrase match with comparable ROI.
- AdWords Automated Rules: Save time by scheduling automatic changes to your AdWords account based on criteria that you specify.
- Remarketing: Show your ads to users who've previously visited your website as they browse sites across the Google Display Network.
You'll always find the latest features at Google Ad Innovations, a place to explore new Google advertising technologies, watch short video demos, and try out select new tools. We have even more in store for 2011 and look forward to sharing these innovations with you soon! Posted by Dan Friedman, Inside AdWords crew  |
| [G] There's still time to meet your 2010 resolution to become Google AdWords certified Posted: 25 Dec 2010 11:34 AM PST Long lines at the shops got you down? Dreading yet another ugly sweater party or family cookie exchange? Kicking yourself for not becoming Google AdWords certified in 2010? No need to fret, there's still plenty of time left in the year. To become Google AdWords certified, you'll need to pass the Google Advertising Fundamentals Exam and one of the three advanced exams (Search Advertising, Reporting and Analysis, or Display). You can register for exams here, and take them from the comfort of your own office or home -- the perfect activity to do while sitting in front of a cozy fire waiting for mysterious, magical home invaders to bring you gifts. As a bonus, you'll be able to give your company the holiday gift of another certified individual to add to its profile page! We've made it easy for you to prepare for the exams. The AdWords Learning Center offers text lessons (some with interactive modules) for each topic on the exam, which you can review at your own pace. In addition, if you can't quite squeeze in training this year, we have numerous AdWords Seminars for Success in early 2011 in a number of major cities throughout the US. For more information, please visit the Google AdWords Certification Program homepage. Posted by Nathania Lozada, Inside AdWords crew  |
| [G] Take a Survey, Win a Blogger shirt, Be Fashionable Posted: 25 Dec 2010 07:59 AM PST Our ears are always open to your feedback, whether it's a request for a new feature you'd like to see, a suggested improvement to the latest release from Draft, or input during a usability study. In that spirit, we're hoping that you'll once again help us out us by taking a quick survey about our existing monetization features. And to make it a little more fun, we'll be sending out a handful of shiny new Blogger T-shirts to a lucky bunch of survey-filler-outers (chosen at random of course!). Thanks for the help in advance! And for those who don't win a shirt, keep an eye out for other ways to get your hands on one in the future.  |
| [G] Blogger Dubbed the Most Reliable Blogging Service on the Web Posted: 25 Dec 2010 07:59 AM PST Posted by The Blogger Team 'Tis the season to be jolly, and we certainly have reason to celebrate after the folks at Royal Pingdom conducted an independent study of blogging services on the Web and found that Blogger was without question the most reliable. In fact, Blogger was the only service of all those tested that delivered 100% uptime. You can read the full article here. Our favorite quote: "Since Blogger was the only service with zero downtime overall, we skipped the chart here. We hope you don't mind. It simply wouldn't have been very interesting." When it comes to reliability, we certainly like being uninteresting!  |
