Googland

[G] Getting to know you at AdSense In Your City: Boston
[G] Making our new building home
[G] Increase ROI & Conversions with Enhanced CPC
[G] Get started with mobile advertising with a new online course

[G] Getting to know you at AdSense In Your City: Boston

Posted: 16 Aug 2010 09:12 PM PDT

Inside AdSense: Getting to know you at AdSense In Your City: Boston

Last week I was given the opportunity to attend the Boston AdSense In Your City event. Though Boston technically isn't my city (I'm a New Yorker by birth) I can see why so many of our fabulous publishers call it home.

Despite our varied interests (ranging from hot sauce to sheepdogs, ab workouts to online video games), every single person in that room was connected by their intense passion for their site's subject, experience with AdSense, and desire to learn more.

We covered a lot in a single afternoon, and the Googlers learned a lot about your needs and concerns. Whether it was a feature request for the new user interface, a question about what Analytics report to check to help maximize ROI, a clarification about how to leverage DoubleClick for Publishers Small Business, or an optimization tip for the group, I was thrilled to see such lively discussion and engaged participation.

My favorite part of the day was getting some one-on-one time with a few publishers during the cocktail reception and individual optimization sessions. Regardless of site content or amount of product experience, everyone I spoke to shared a similar story: the money earned from AdSense has allowed them to spend more time doing the things they love. Some had more time to build great content for their users, others to quit their day job and blog about their favorite hobby. I was lucky enough to speak to two publishers who shared that AdSense not only allowed them to spend more time with their families, but even to put their kids through college.

Though Boston was the last stop of the AdSense In Your City roadshows, we hope to come visit more of you in the coming months. We've looked at all of the comments left so far, and will be sure to ask all of you before we decide where to go next. Make sure you're opted in to receive special offers via email so we can invite you to events like this, and hopefully AdSense will get to see you in your city very soon!

Posted by Katrina Kurnit - Inside AdSense Team

URL: http://adsense.blogspot.com/2010/08/getting-to-know-you-at-adsense-in-your.html

[G] Making our new building home

Posted: 16 Aug 2010 07:15 PM PDT

Google LatLong: Making our new building home

This past June, our Geo team finally outgrew our space, so it was time to move to a larger building on campus. To make sure our new building really felt like a home away from home, some of us got involved in the design planning and made it our mission to surprise everyone with a unique, inviting and very Googley new place to work.

We gave the new building a quintessentially Geo feel by putting map-themed artwork in the lobby and halls. We also decided to make quirky, fun places like the "Moon room," complete with the Earth rising on the wall, moon rocks to nap on, crater-laden carpet and twinkling stars above.

Then we added a Liquid Galaxy for Googlers and visitors to explore Google Earth on eight stunning LCD panels. Given that it's right next to the café, we recommend that you use the Liquid Galaxy before eating, because swooping and zooming around in Google Earth in an immersive panorama can get a little intense.

Despite all of these geographic references, we heard that the new building's layout had everyone confused! After plastering the walls with building floor plans and "You are here" stickers, we decided on two more creative solutions. First, we designed two "hiking trail" style sign posts for each floor so that folks could quickly find meeting rooms, which we named after famous explorers!

Second, we devised a contest for teams to design "road signs" to hang above their cubes, notifying visitors and lost team members where to find them. Teams had a couple weeks to craft and submit their design for a little friendly competition. While all the signs were being printed and hung, we encouraged everyone in the building to vote for their favorite signs. My personal favorite is the double-sided one created by the Google Earth team.

Photos courtesy of Brian Kiley.

Now, after seeing all the fun signs hanging throughout the building, teams that didn't participate in the contest are rallying for a second round of sign design. All in all, the dust has settled, and everyone seems quite happy with our new digs.

Posted by Tai Kuncio, Administrative Assistant

URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2010/08/making-our-new-building-home.html

[G] Increase ROI & Conversions with Enhanced CPC

Posted: 16 Aug 2010 03:52 PM PDT

Inside AdWords: Increase ROI & Conversions with Enhanced CPC

We're excited to announce the launch of Enhanced CPC, a new automated bidding feature that can help you improve your ROI on your campaigns with manual bidding. Enhanced CPC uses your campaign's historical conversion tracking data to automatically adjust your Max CPC bid based on the likelihood that your ad will convert. As a result, you should receive more conversions while maintaining or reducing your overall CPA and hopefully spend less time managing your Max CPC bids.

How does it work?

Let's walk through an example. Jeff sells model airplane kits and has enabled Enhanced CPC for a campaign that contains the following keywords, each with a Max CPC bid set to $0.30: model airplane, model airplane kits, and build model airplanes. When a user searches for 'model airplane kits,' the AdWords system recognizes that this term has converted well for Jeff in the past, and therefore increases the Max CPC bid to $0.32 for this specific auction. If the likelihood of a conversion is very high, Enhanced CPC can bid up to 30% above the Max CPC. This means that the most that Jeff will be charged for a click is $0.39.

On the other hand, when a user searches on a term that has not converted well in the past, e.g. 'model airplane,' the AdWords system will lower the Max CPC bid for this specific auction to $0.20. By adjusting bids based on Jeff's conversion data, the AdWords system ultimately helps him increase sales while maintaining or decreasing his average cost per conversion.

(click to watch on YouTube)

Enhanced CPC has the unique ability to consider a number of factors when predicting the likelihood of a conversion. A few examples of what Enhanced CPC is able to do include:

Adjust your bid depending on how well a particular search or display network partner site in the Google network has converted for you in the past
Recognize when specific words within a keyword (e.g. 'kits') convert well and adjust your bid when users search on variations of these terms (e.g. 'model airplane kits for children')
Detect attributes such as the user's location, language settings, browser, and operating system and analyze how these attributes may impact the likelihood of your ad converting

How to get started

To use Enhanced CPC, you'll need to first enable Conversion Tracking for your campaigns. Conversion Tracking not only allows you to take advantage of ROI-boosting features like Enhanced CPC but also provides you with valuable insight into how frequently your ads convert into sales and how much you're paying for these conversions.

If you're already using Conversion Tracking, getting started is easy. Simply navigate to the 'Bidding and Budgeting' section of the settings tab for your campaign, and select the checkbox under 'Enhanced CPC.'

(click to view full size image)

Please note that campaigns using Enhanced CPC cannot currently be modified using AdWords Editor. We're working to ensure compatibility in the near future. If you're choosing between Enhanced CPC and Conversion Optimizer as your method for boosting ROI, please read this FAQ for more information on how these tools differ.

Visit the Google Ad Innovations site to learn more about Enhanced CPC.

Posted by Dan Friedman, Inside AdWords crew

URL: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2010/08/increase-roi-conversions-with-enhanced.html

[G] Get started with mobile advertising with a new online course

Posted: 16 Aug 2010 02:43 PM PDT

Inside AdWords: Get started with mobile advertising with a new online course

We've just added a new course to the AdWords Online Classroom all about mobile advertising and how you can start using it to reach more customers.

Did you know that there are now 4 billion mobile phone owners globally? Half of all new internet connections come from mobile devices, and by 2014 it's reported that there will be more mobile internet users than desktop internet users.* We offer a number of innovative ad formats to help you reach mobile users looking for products and services.

This course is suitable for anyone who'd like to learn more about mobile advertising and how to easily set up your AdWords account to target more users on mobile devices.

Click on the country flag most appropriate to you to watch this course now!