With the onset of globalization, the importance of advertising in the international space is becoming increasingly apparent. In a recent article by Search Engine Land, linguist Andy Atkins-Kruger discusses several tips to help international marketers achieve success with pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, which I’ve summarized below.

While it’s nearly impossible to predict the future of the ever changing web, many experts are expecting that combining social and search will be the next big trend.  Google has already established itself as the pioneer in this field by combining Google Search and Google+; however, Google isn’t the only web giant interested in bringing the two tactics together.  It is rumored that Facebook is developing a search engine that combines a user’s location and friends’ interests to provide search query results.

A marketing analytics company called RevTrax just completed a two year study on the effect of PPC advertising on consumer in-store spending.  The study analyzed the purchase habits of consumers referred by pay-per-click ads to e-commerce sites. RevTrax used landing pages with coupons that featured a unique barcode to track the information.  The bar code information was then able to track the consumers’ buying cycles and show conversions.

Among the multiple new features launched by Google+ over the past month, branded business pages and new location targeting applications are two of the more interesting for those of us in the marketing realm.

With branded pages you can do many of the same things as with a personal Google+ page. The first thing to do is to secure your business name and start building your page. Vanity URLs, such as those available with Facebook, are not currently part of the Google+ offering, so ensuring that you use an accurate name is vital to claim and verify your brand. Make sure that your page represents your brand and its values, while making it interesting and user-friendly. Using videos and images is a great way to keep people engaged and encourage interaction.

By Natalie Kleopfer, Account Coordinator

Looking to enhance your local and mobile advertising efforts? Learn how Google’s new updates can help.

On October 19th, Google unveiled several new mobile ad features and formats that will have a significant impact on pay-per-click (PPC) advertisers. Here’s a rundown of some of the key changes:

The distance between a user and an advertiser’s business is now factored into mobile search ad rankings. Local already accounts for 40% of mobile searches and the addition of proximity as a scoring factor will only cause that percentage to rise. Search Engine Land suggests that marketers start using  Location Extensions, a feature in AdWords that allows the addition of dynamic addresses to ads. While previous ads only allowed description lines and a URL, Location Extensions lets companies include their  names, addresses and phone numbers, too. This, combined with the new proximity factor, will help businesses drive more mobile traffic at a lower cost.

Another new Google feature is custom search advertisements for apps. Google will now place relevant ads in searchable mobile apps. If a user has an app that lets them search for a local movie theater, he or she will now see relevant movie theater and film advertising within the app.

Circulars, a new Google advertising format, is not restricted to mobile. Here’s how the new format works: When a user clicks on a search or display ad, he is directed to another ad featuring pictures and relevant products or offers. If the ad is viewed on a desktop computer, the user can email it to his mobile device. He can then take it to the business location to redeem the offers. This format is currently being tested with retailers Best Buy and Macy’s.

For more information about Google’s new offerings, visit the Google Mobile Ads Blog.