Image Credit: Barrera Search Marketing

Google recently updated its Display Network settings within the AdWords interface to report performance information at the keyword level, rather than at the AdGroup level as it did previously. Performance information includes everything from the number of clicks and impressions a keyword receives to the number of conversions it generates, and at which display position it performs best. For advertisers, this means optimization for keyword-targeted Contextual campaigns will be far more granular.

The Google pay-per-click (PPC) advertising model as we know it is changing. Google has started working on a number of new ad models that are designed to offer inventive ways for advertisers to connect with Google users. The three new ad models aim to make it easier and more effective for businesses to communicate with potential customers.  All three models are currently in a limited release stage, but will debut for a wider audience soon. Watch more about the ads here and read on for a brief overview of the new models.

Comparison Ad
The AdWords Comparison Ads model lets users easily compare multiple relevant offers at once.  For businesses, it provides a new, sophisticated cost-per-lead format that is designed to deliver higher quality leads by allowing users to sort and compare a variety of offers. Mortgage loan and credit card industries in certain countries are the only sectors currently involved, but more viewers and advertisers will gain access as the program is developed.

Product Listing Ad
The new Product Listing Ads are search ads that include product and merchant information without needing extra keywords or ad text, allowing businesses to easily promote their entire product line.  Items relevant to the user’s search will be shown along with price, image and name, all pulled from the associated Google Merchant Center account. The fee will be on a cost-per-action (CPA) basis, which requires payment only when a user clicks on an ad and completes a purchase and involves a much lower risk than PPC payment options. Watch more here.

Media Ad
Finally, Media Ads are a truly unique way for a business to target and pay for video ads on Google. Targeting is entirely automated, eliminating the need to select keywords. Google’s algorithms determine when to display the ad when someone starts a search, at which point they will automatically display the most relevant Media Ad at the top of the page. When clicked on, the ad will expand and the rest of the screen will dim, ensuring the user’s full attention is on the video. Bidding is not required as payment is based on a flat rate, simplifying the budgeting process for businesses.

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.

By Rosemary Dempsey, Senior Storyteller

Plan to target tablet users better than ever with your pay-per-click (PPC) advertising campaigns.

Tablet targeting is now available to all Google AdWords advertisers. So, now you can better control how you reach the growing number of tablet users. (165 million tablets are expected to ship over the next two years!)

In your AdWords account, find the “Tablets with full browsers” option under the “Networks and devices” section of the Settings tab. In the past, advertisers found the Apple iPad option under “Mobile devices,” but now tablets have their own category with additional options. For example, to reach iPad users, you’d choose “Tablets with full browsers” and then select “iOS.” Other OS options include Android and webOS.

Be aware that with the launch, your ads will automatically start running on tablets. If you don’t want your ads to appear on tablets, you must change your settings.

Insider tip: our Google rep has recommended replicating campaigns to target tablets and manage budgets separately. We can expect to see higher click-through rates (CTRs) and generally lower cost-per-clicks (CPCs) from implementing this type of campaign.

We’ll be watching analytics accounts to note any rises in traffic percentages from tablet users!

Learn more from this Google blog.

By Annie Hay, Marketing Associate

In another attempt to foray into the social networking cybersphere, Google announced the introduction of its newest feature: the +1″button.

We don’t want to accuse Google of attempting to +1 Facebook again, but it is hard not to. In the same way that we have been unscrupulously liking each other’s posts, liking each other’s companies, and well, liking each other all over the social sphere in general, we can now really prove our affection with the Google +1.

In a way strikingly similar to the Facebook “Like” button, the Google +1 allows us to click a little icon next to our search results and give it our stamp of approval, therefore recommending it to friends and anyone we have allowed to be our Gmail chat pals.  Unlike the fiasco that was Buzz, this social attempt seems set up for a bit more success—and the “+1″-ing possibilities are endless:

Delicious chocolate chip cookie recipe? +1.

Site for the super cool hotel you stayed at off the highway somewhere between Omaha and another corn field? +1.

That great PPC ad you clicked on that took you to an even greater page, that then offered you that cool product, that you then purchased? +1!!

Yeah, you see where we are going with this.