Catching up on a week of new stuff from the GOOG.
Google and DISH Network may be teaming up for a TV search.
AdWords released a new feature for advertising on the Google Content Network that filters out below-the-fold inventory.
Google Webmaster Tools now offers Fetch as Googlebot Mobile and the ability for page owners to claim their Sidewiki entry.
Google Public Data Explorer is a new Labs application.
Google Maps served up three updates:
- A new imagery update was released for Maps and Earth. It includes new imagery for areas affected by the Chile earthquake.
Prepare to be green with envy.
I’m entirely jealous of Allison Schwam. She’s the Senior Search Analyst at Backcountry, an outdoor sporting goods operation. Allison guest posted over at the Inside AdWords blog about how in between ski runs down fresh powder, she keeps an eye on her AdWords campaigns.
She gets up at 7am, eats breakfast and checks her AdWords account. If her goals on target, she emails her boss to inform of her plans to go hit the white powder – and I do mean snow.
Her boss is ok with this.
Expansion of feature allows national phone numbers irregardless of user location.
When AdWords brought Click-to-Call to mobile ads a month ago, the idea was to enable local businesses to reach searchers on-the-go. Now, the feature is being extended to national advertisers who wish to use a primary number.
For example, let’s say you’re searching for a car rental and an ad from a national chain pops up in your mobile search. Perhaps they want to funnel all calls through a single number. Now, they can do so with Click-to-Call mobile ads in AdWords.
The new toolbar aids with viewing data.
AdWords has been providing more and more data over the past few months, which lends itself to needing ways to view that data. One such way is a brand spankin’ new toolbar under the Campaigns tab.
The new toolbar allows you to filter and segment data for easy access to insights on what’s going on in your AdWords campaigns. Here’s a screenshot from the Inside AdWords blog:
So many Google updates. So little time.
It was another overachieving week for Google. In addition to launching their own quasi-social network and acquiring Aardvark, they were busy pushing out a bunch of updates to existing products and sharing new data. And yes, even Buzz has received its first round of updates.
Without further ado….
AdWords is now offering up Bid Ideas in the Opportunities Tab. Bid ideas are based on bid simulator data.
Google AdSense explains how they treat keywords from referral search engines as content on publisher websites in order to serve up relevant ads.
New restrictions go into place at the end of the month.
Selling prescription drugs online is big business. And where there’s lots of money, there’s usually people wanting to engage in nefarious practices. That’s why there are restrictions placed on pharmaceutical ads which appear in search engines.
Google is updating their policy for pharmacies wishing to market their products via AdWords. Here’s what you need to know:
- Google will only accept ads from pharmacies accredited by the National Association Boards of Pharmacy VIPPS program, and from online pharmacies in Canada that are accredited by the Canadian International Pharmacy Association (CIPA).
Google AdWords has launched a new site where you can get training on their paid search platform. For FREE.
There are “on demand” courses, which you can view anytime (registration required). Or you can sign up for various webinars, which AdWords conducts on a regular basis.
The free training site is easy to navigate. Simply click here to get started on the North American training site or here for UK and Ireland.
If you have an AdWords campaign set up to reach searchers using Google’s mobile search, you’ve got a new feature to enhance your efforts. Google is enabling click-to-call phone numbers in the ads that appear on mobile web browsers.
Smartphones allow users to click on phone numbers and a call is automatically generated. If a smartphone user is searching for a local pizza place on their mobile device, then they can now simply click on the phone number and order up their favorite pie.
If search ads for mobile search on full internet browsers is part of your overall search campaign, you’ll be glad to know that Google AdWords is providing additional targeting for those ads.
Now, you can target via device and carrier. Just want to target iPhone users? There’s a target for that. Right now, it looks like you can only target Android, iPhone/iPod Touch, and Palm Web/OS devices.
For carriers, you can target various telcos in the U.S. and Canada. In the U.S., you can target Verizon, Spring, Nextel, T-mobile, AT&T, Metro PCS and Cricket. In Canada, you can target Rogers, Telus, and Bell Canada.
If you are running an AdWords campaign for a website on a shared domains, then you’ll want to be aware of a new policy for displaying those URLs in your ads. From now on, the ad must show more clearly the destination a user will be heading to should they click on your ad.
Let’s say you have a blog at Blogspot. Perhaps you sell your handmade goods on there and you want to drive traffic. Your ad now needs to show the Blogspot name in the URL, like this:
exampleblogname.blogspot.com
instead of just
blogspot.com
