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AdWords New Feature: Video Ads

May 23, 2006

Google has just announced a new feature, AdWords Video Ads.

These ads will use the same formats as the current image ads, which means, prepare your designer for some serious work. Creating videos in so many sizes can be a bit of work.

While Google initially confirms it will use the same guidelines as image ads, slight variations like:

Will the initial image be able to look like an image?
Will the image allow a ‘click based’ call to action to watch the image?
Will the ‘click charge’ be watching the video, or clicking through to the website?
Will the ‘CPM’ charge be the page view, or the video being played?

There are quite a few pricing variations available, and without full knowledge of the system being announced, some of these questions can dramatically change the success of the new ad format.

Finally, unlike some intrusive advertising, users will have complete control. When a page loads, only a static image will be visible; the video will not start playing until the user initiates it. He or she will be able to advance the video, pause it, adjust the volume or click through to the advertiser’s site

This is quite interesting. It follows Google’s philosophy of giving the user control. However, that just magnifies the above questions. From an advertiser standpoint, of course, you’d want the image to start playing upon loading if you are paying on a CPM basis. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the bid auction pricing.

Overall, a good offering on the surface. The intent is there. Now, we’ll wait and see how well it is executed.

Written by Brad Geddes aka eWhisper · Filed Under Blog, Google AdWords | Leave a Comment

MSN Ignoring Robots.txt Files

May 13, 2006

Is MSN ignoring robots.txt files?

Here’s a screenshot from the MSN search for ‘Marissa Meyer’:

Here’s a screenshot of Google.ca’s robots.txt file:

Seems there’s a discrepancy between Google’s robots.txt file disallowing search results to be indexed and MSN having indexed the Google file: www.google.ca/search?q=marissa+meyer+google.

Might be time to start checking MSN results to make sure certain files aren’t being indexed.

Written by Brad Geddes aka eWhisper · Filed Under Blog, Search Engines | Leave a Comment

Info on YSMs New Interface & Features

May 10, 2006

FYI - Can’t share most of my info about the new product, however, I can show mass emails that Yahoo sent out about their new YSM update.

The New Sponsored Search is Coming

Better Ways to Connect with Customers Will Make Your Advertising More Effective

You’ve told us your needs and we’ve listened. A completely redesigned search marketing platform is on its way, full of advanced, easy-to-use features that will help you better connect with Yahoo!’s vast and valuable audience.

As part of creating these enhancements, we met with advertisers of all sizes to hear first-hand the things they liked and didn’t like about Sponsored Search. We extensively reviewed all parts of our service, including the design, features and tools. The result of these efforts is the new Sponsored Search, which will make its debut this Fall.

Powerful New Features
The new features that will make advertising with Yahoo! better and more effective include:

Easy-to-Use Control Panel
A completely redesigned, easy-to-navigate control panel will help you see what’s working and what’s not–at the level of detail you choose–so you can take action and get even better results.

Fast Ad Activation
Most new ads will go online within minutes, allowing you to connect with customers quickly, and easily make changes to your ads whenever you need to.

Ad Testing
Easily test multiple versions of an ad to find the message that works best for your customers and provides the greatest return on your advertising investment. You can then choose to shift impressions to the ad that performs best.

Geo-Targeting
Display your ads broadly or narrow your geographic distribution to better target your customers, customize your ads and control your costs.

Campaign Budgeting, Forecasting and Scheduling
Create, budget and schedule individual advertising campaigns for greater control over your advertising strategy and spending. Review forecasts of your potential clicks based on your bids and budget and see how many clicks you’re leaving to your competitors.

Visibility
Understand how well your ads are performing relative to your competitors with the new Quality Index displayed for each ad. You’ll also see the bid range necessary for premium placement at the top of the search results page.

Easy-to-Use Control Panel
A completely redesigned, easy-to-navigate control panel will help you see what’s working and what’s not–at the level of detail you choose–so you can take action and get even better results.

Thoroughly Tested and Reviewed by Your Peers
These new features have been rigorously tested by your fellow advertisers and refined over time to ensure that we delivered a service that successfully addresses the obstacles you currently face. Judging by the overwhelmingly positive feedback we’ve received, we are confident that the new Sponsored Search not only clears away those obstacles, but offers new and better ways to manage your account.

Frequent and Detailed Communication with You
Beginning next month, we’ll begin to provide you with much more detailed information about all of the upcoming enhancements. To make your transition as smooth and easy as possible, we will provide:

A series of emails with tips on how best to prepare your account

In-depth articles on our new features in the advertiser newsletter

A new Yahoo! Search Marketing blog–a community forum for tips, news and your comments, as well as the inside scoop from our own staff, to help you be more successful

A dedicated toll-free phone number that will be available to you during your transition period, for any questions or concerns you may have

This is just the first step. After all advertisers have successfully transitioned to the new Sponsored Search, we plan to quickly introduce many more innovative products, features and tools that will give you even more ways to connect with customers.

As always, thank you for doing business with us. We look forward to delivering the new Sponsored Search to you later this year.

Written by Brad Geddes aka eWhisper · Filed Under Yahoo Search Marketing | Leave a Comment

Video Game Advertising Speculation

May 10, 2006

I recently setup my xBox 360 to connect to the live service so I can see how Microsoft is using the xBox to combine users to MSN Spaces and bring the community together via both the living room (via xBox) and online (via computer) and how it will develop and act based upon services, advertising, and the total gaming experience.

I must admit, I was amazed at how easy the connection service was. I used wireless hardware to connect the xBox to my internet connection and it was a very smooth process. (After going through half a dozen routers, changing the WEP services, etc to connect TiVo via wireless, I was expecting a fight - but I didn’t get one). Immediately, it wanted to connect via a passport, which I supplied an extra one I have for certain purposes, and the connection process was amazing smooth. It pulled in my Microsoft Passport data and there was very little for me todo. Within 5 minutes I had connected a wireless router, connected to the web, connected to my Passport, and could access xBox extras and services. (Why isn’t the web this smooth?).

As I’m seeing how easy it is to download new content, upgrade games, receive automatic downloads, the advertising aspect of this really hit me. It’s very feasible to code objects, billboards, etc in to games and leave them as ‘generic’ or ‘default’ messages for those not connected to the web.

For those connected, it then becomes possible to skin these objects based upon the current advertiser base. Take for instance a bottle (Splinter Cell comes to mind as a Coke can was an integral part of the game for causing distractions). The bottle could be ‘bought’ by an ad company as the game’s generic fallback icon. However, when one is connected to the web, it’s suddenly very feasible that the bottle could be ’skinned’ based upon the current advertiser landscape, one’s demographic (MS has your passport data), one’s geography (Based upon IP address), and possibly search history or other web based components.

The same goes for in-game billboards. Imagine launching a new product and instead of buying 10k banner ads, one buys 10k ‘in-game’ billboards. The purpose of these is branding, association with a product, name recognition, etc - not direct ROI measurable sales. This opens up many possibilities to subsidize game manufacturers, change console interactions, give away certain games purely for the ad distribution, etc.

It is worth nothing that Microsoft announced at SAS they are acquiring Massive. Massive is one of the leaders in putting ads in video games and has several well established relationships with game publishers already. It will be interesting to see how they incorporate Massive in the the xBox live environment, their own published titles, and if they give their video game makers any special bonuses for incorporating Massive into video games.

Personalization is coming in search, with web based consoles, user subscriptions, billing information, gender information, location information, gaming preference, etc - serving ads based on some very interesting demographic and geographic targeting becomes quite viable, and even connected so a message can be delivered via the web and gaming console in a complimentary way.

This really hasn’t been talked about mainstream, it’s considered niche advertising, but when one compares the amount of time the average person spends on the web (not including playing games) vs how much time they spend looking at games (consoles, computer, and web), there is a huge opportunity that’s not being fully exploited, and it’s coming.

The question is, will you notice it?

Good advertising is part of the landscape, it blends in, it delivers a message, the user isn’t distracted.

Bad advertising can ruin a consoles reputation.

I would guess that in-game ads start off very conservative and very blended into the game to preserve the game’s integrity (remember, someone did shell out $49 for that video game), however, the branding and deliverability options through gaming integration will become quite amazing.

Something to keep an eye on, do you notice the video game ads?

Written by Brad Geddes aka eWhisper · Filed Under Blog, eWhisper's Notebook | 1 Comment

Wichita State Usability News

May 10, 2006

Some interesting news on usability, especially as it relates to fonts from Wichita State.

Links:
Main Site
Font Comparison, which size and type are ‘best’?

The last article has some very interesting data as it relates to prettiness, readability, and perception of a site based upon the fonts.

Here’s the conclusion if you’re too lazy to read the entire doc:

Several observations can be made regarding the examined font types. First, no significant differences in reading efficiency were detected between the font types at any size. There were, however, significant differences in reading time. Generally, Times and Arial were read faster than Courier, Schoolbook, and Georgia. Fonts at the 12-point size were read faster than fonts at the 10-point size. In addition, a font type x size interaction was found for the perception of font legibility. In general, however, Arial, Courier, and Georgia were perceived as the most legible.

For font attractiveness, Georgia was perceived as being more attractive than Arial, Courier, and Comic, while Times was perceived as more attractive than Courier. This contrasts with participants’ general preference for a particular font type. Overall, Verdana was the most preferred font, while Times was the least preferred. Thus it seems that the Georgia and Times serif fonts are considered more attractive, but they are generally less preferred. Of the fonts studied, Verdana appears to be the best overall font choice. Besides being the most preferred, it was read fairly quickly and was perceived as being legible.

As with all studies that examine reading performance, caution should be made in generalizing these outcomes to other font types. Many factors should be taken into account, such as individual text characteristics, the text size, the line and character spacing, the computer settings, as well as the user characteristics.

Written by Brad Geddes aka eWhisper · Filed Under eWhisper's Notebook | Leave a Comment

WSJ Outs Google’s Domain Parking

May 2, 2006

For those familiar with Google’s AdWords program, opting out of domain parking (or at least setting a different bid) is one of the most requested features.

First, let’s take a look at Google’s Domain Park Program:

AdSense for domains allows domain name registrars and large domain name holders to unlock the value in their parked page inventory. AdSense for domains delivers targeted, conceptually related keywords and advertisements to parked domain name pages by using Google’s semantic technology to “understand” the meaning of each domain name. Powering over 3 million domain names, AdSense for domains is the industry’s leading parked page service.

Source

While these ads seem to be contextually relevant, they are actually classified under ’search partners’ for purposes of AdWords. So, instead of matching ads to content, Google’s seems to be assuming that when someone types in a misspelling or parked domain name, that they are actually searching for a product.

Unfortunately, the mindset of someone searching vs reading a webpage vs randomly typing in a domain name is very different. And hence, advertisers see domain park convert very different from the other two user mindsets.

Based upon AdWords settings, if out opts out of domain parking (search partners), they also opt out of very good distribution like local.google.com, froogle, and the major - AOL.

However, the most common reason I see people opt out of the search network isn’t AOL’s conversion rate, it’s domain parking.

If these domains were part of the contextual network, one could easily block these sites with Google’s exclusion tool. However, Google seems resistant to that idea, and hence, more sophisticated advertisers sometimes realize it’s a necessary evil to opt out of AOL because domain parking isn’t converting for them, and sends a lot of traffic.

If you’re looking for domain parking in your log files, keep an eye out for anything related to sedo, oingo, or domainpark. There are more, however, oingo seems to be the most common referrer that sends traffic from domain parking.

It’s long been a hidden secret that Google rarely talks about. However, the WSJ recently published a very good article about domaining, hopefully, bringing this aspect of traffic more into the mainstream mind consciousness.

WSJ Article.

Written by Brad Geddes aka eWhisper · Filed Under Blog, Google AdWords | Leave a Comment

Google AdWords New Feature: Choose Your Time Zone - Change Wisely

May 2, 2006

Google has announced a new feature, one that allows you to change the time zone in your AdWords reporting. However, there are a few important pieces of information to consider before changing your account settings.

First, let’s examine what Google has to say:

Currently, all AdWords accounts are set to Pacific Time. However, in the coming weeks you?ll see a message in your account inviting you to set your account’s local time zone. This means your entire account, including all ad serving, reporting, and billing, will be calculated and managed according to the time zone of your choice.

It?s important to note that your account time zone can be set only once, so please choose wisely! Also, if you don’t select a different time zone, your account will remain on Pacific Time.

Source: AdWords Blog

Your Options:

Set the time zone to your server:

This will create a scenario where it will be easier to audit your server logs and compare it to charged AdWords traffic. As all the major search engines are on the west coast (MSN, Google, Yahoo), this seems to make sense on the surface. However, if Google introduces features such as day parting, click to call during business hours, etc, then you’ll be doing a lot of math to ensure you’re targeting the correct hours.

An easier fix if you are on a dedicated server is to change your server settings to your own time zone (or a time zone equal to your paid traffic source). Also, if you ever switch hosts, then the work of coordinating these time stamps is now incorrect. Remember, its a permanent AdWords setting, so use cautiously.

Agencies: Set all the advertiser time zones to your time zone

If you do hosting, manage reports for many different companies, have a custom tracking system, etc, this seems to be a logical choice as you can now evaluate traffic as it relates to your management systems. However, the disadvantages are the same as above. Just because it makes agency life easier, doesn’t mean its in the advertiser’s best interest.

Set the time zone to the local business time

If Google introduces new features like day parting, then you can coordinate your AdWords account with the hours your business is open.
If AdWords introduces click to call, then you can easily manage the campaign so that it only runs when your business is open.

This seems to be a feature no one considers in the pay per click market unless they have experience with Ingenio on AOL or other pay per call systems.

In most of the pay per call scenarios, a call isn’t charged until the call time breaks 10-18 seconds. However, with answering machines, late night call centers, etc - its easy for someone to break this barrier when leaving a message. As pay per call’s purpose is to connect a live potential customer with a live service agent, one only wants to pay in scenarios where this occurred.

Ingenio currently has settings where the ad is only shown during business hours. One would speculate that with Yahoo and Google experimenting in this arena, they would introduce similar features for local businesses so they can take full advantage of this offering.

Conclusion

Unless you have a strong reason to change this setting right now - I’d suggest waiting. Google is always rolling out new features, and this one is setting up future offerings. It might be best for most companies to wait until those future offerings arise before changing a settings that’s currently marked as permanent.

Written by Brad Geddes aka eWhisper · Filed Under Blog, Google AdWords | Leave a Comment