(Cross-posted on the Official Google Blog and the Inside AdWords Blog ) As the advertising industry has grown and evolved, so too has our relationship with advertising agencies. These companies, from SEMs to the largest traditional agencies, play a critical role in the continued success of Google, our advertisers and our industry — so we spend a lot of time talking to agencies about how we can make it easier for them to work with us and our advertisers. We’ve had a lot of great feedback from agencies and today we’re announcing changes designed to offer them better training and more rigorous certification in AdWords proficiency, and to lower costs for those who help advertisers get the most out of AdWords. We’re also making it easier for advertisers to find certified agency partners to work with them on digital advertising. Here’s an overview of what’s changing today. Raising the bar for Google AdWords Certification We're retiring our long-standing Google Advertising Professionals (GAP) program and replacing it with a new Google AdWords Certification program for those managing AdWords accounts on behalf of advertisers. The new program provides agencies and their employees with more up-to-date, comprehensive, strategy-focused training and certification on the latest tools and best practices for managing AdWords accounts, including: New training materials to help agencies better understand recent changes in search marketing and AdWords functionality, available via webinar series, learning center, or on-site training at Google More challenging certification exams to test practical application of knowledge and best practices (rather than simple recall of knowledge) Advanced-level exams to highlight competency in search, display, reporting and analysis A redesigned Certified Partner badge, which includes a “Click to Verify” element so advertisers can view the partner’s profile page for additional information. For more information on the AdWords Certification Program or to create an account, visit the Google Certification program site and help center . Helping advertisers find Google Certified Partners Google Certified Partners can opt in to Google Partner Search , an online, searchable directory that helps advertisers identify Certified Partners that meet their criteria. Small and medium-sized advertisers who haven’t previously used an agency have told us that evaluating potential partners can be a daunting task, so we think Google Partner Search will be especially valuable for them. To show up in advertiser searches through Google Partner Search, agencies must opt in and fill in details about their core attributes and capabilities. Searches can be filtered by location, agency experience within a particular budget range, the types of services provided and the industry verticals an agency serves. Advertisers can then evaluate the list of Certified Partners that meet their criteria and contact the partners who seem best suited to their needs. To learn more about Google Partner Search, visit the Help center . Introducing preferred AdWords API pricing The Google AdWords API allows developers to build applications that interact directly with the AdWords platform. Agencies and developers of search engine marketing tools use these applications to manage large AdWords campaigns more efficiently and creatively. Today, we’re announcing preferred AdWords API pricing. This gives qualified Google AdWords Certified Partners who manage client AdWords accounts free use of the AdWords API based on managed client spend . To apply, agencies must have an active agency profile page and remain compliant with the AdWords API terms and conditions. We’ll evaluate applications for preferred AdWords API pricing based on the criteria listed here . We hope preferred AdWords API pricing will encourage agencies and developers to experiment with new strategies, expand the functionality of their tools, and build more comprehensive client campaigns without worrying about increased costs. You can learn more about preferred pricing and how to apply at the preferred AdWords API pricing site . We’re looking forward to receiving feedback on all of these initiatives and to continuing to improve our partnership with agencies. Posted by, Penry Price, Vice President, Global Agency Development
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A new approach to how we work with advertising agencies
Lady Gaga isn't the only one creating a ruckus about " Telephones " these days. Google and Compete are excited to share their latest research findings on cell phone and smart phone shoppers. With so many choices, how do consumers make wireless telephone purchase decisions? How do they shop online, and how can marketers effectively command their attention? For answers to these questions and more, join Compete's Mobile & Wireless expert, Danielle Nohe, and Google Tech Industry Account Planners, Megan Runser and Marl Gatchalian, on Tuesday, April 20th, at 2pm EST/11am PST, for ThinkTech: Wireless 2.0 Shopper. Specifically, we'll cover: How to reach and influence the consumer within this competitive marketplace Strategies that drive new customer acquisition The role Search plays in the wireless research process, from query to purchase Date: Tuesday, April 20th 11amPST / 1pmCST / 2pmEST Register here Posted by Megan Runser, Google Tech Team
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Upcoming webinar: Wireless 2.0 shopper
Our previous post in the Content Network Optimization University series covered the basics of setting up and launching a good campaign on the Google Content Network for your clients. Today we will cover more advanced optimization strategies. We've compiled these by observing best practices from the most successful advertisers on the network. Whether you're new to the Content Network or have been using it for a while, you can get better results from your campaigns. The best practices are structured along 3 key phases of a campaign - Build Effective campaigns Optimize for better results Expand your campaign for more traffic Build Effective campaigns Taking time up front to set up your clients' campaigns correctly goes a long way in getting higher quality traffic to their sites. Let’s recap the top strategies. Separate search and content network campaigns: Setting up a separate campaign just for the Content Network will will give you more control over daily budgets, ad groups, keywords and bids. Watch this demo on campaign setup. Create many, tightly themed ad group: AdWords can target your ads more precisely by building multiple ad groups, each with a small tightly-themed set of 5 to 20 keywords. Watch this demo on ad group setup and this demo on keyword selection . Copy your best performing text ads from search campaigns: For initial setup, it is best to use the text ads with the highest click-through rates from the clients' search campaigns. Watch this demo on ad text best practices. Setup same starting CPC bid as search campaigns: We recommend starting with the same maximum CPC bid as the search campaign ad groups you set up for your clients. Once AdWords has collected enough data, our smart pricing technology will automatically optimize bids on Content Network to give your clients more profitable clicks. Watch this demo on bidding tactics . Set up AdWords Conversion Tracking on your clients' sites: Install Conversion Tracking on clients' websites to measure sales and leads (conversions) they get from each ad group and placement. Watch this demo to learn how conversion tracking works on the Content Nework. Optimize for better results It is important to monitor clients' campaigns' performance and consistently optimize individual elements. Before making significant changes (e.g. changing bids, excluding high volume sites, pausing ad groups), wait until enough click or conversion data has accrued; we recommend 5+ conversions or 100+ clicks per site Exclude poor-performing sites: Get more qualified traffic and boost conversions by excluding sites that perform poorly for a campaign, based on number of clicks, average CPC and particularly conversions. Focus keywords and exclude less relevant keywords: Add more keywords that describe the clients' products and ad group themes in greater detail. Also, add negative keywords to fix cases of incorrect targeting caused by synonyms and similar, but less relevant keywords. Watch this demo on refining campaigns . Adjust bids to manage costs: Change bids for ad groups or individual sites based on conversion rate, average CPC and cost-per-acquisition (CPA) to meet clients' performance goals. Bid higher for better performing sites to get more traffic, and lower bids for lower performers. Use Conversion Optimizer to manage CPA: Google Conversion Optimizer is a fee tool that automatically manages bids at the site level to reach a maximum CPA bid, which is the amount a client is willing to pay for a conversion (such as a purchase or signup). Watch this video on how to use Conversion Optimizer . Expand campaign for more traffic To get additional traffic and boost sales from your campaign, we recommend using a Content keyword expansion strategy. Use the Wonder Wheel tool for ad group ideas: You can use Wonder Wheel on Google Search to brainstorm new ad group themes and keyword ideas. When you search for any topic on Google.com, Wonder Wheel will generate up to eight related topics for you to consider. Create new ad groups to reach additional parts of the network: Each topic in Wonder Wheel represents a possible ad group theme for a campaign. Simply click on any of the topics to see other searches and themes related to it. Also, any closely related topics that are less relevant to your product, are great candidates for a negative keyword lists. Watch this demo to learn how to use this strategy . Expand your keywords set to get more traffic: Once you have finalized ad group themes, use the AdWords Keyword Tool to get keyword ideas. Enter an ad group theme description or keyword under the "Descriptive words or phrases " tab. Select the 5 to 10 most frequently searched keywords and save them to your client's ad group. This will help to ensure that the list stays highly relevant to the ad group theme. You can find all the latest videos and updates on our YouTube channel . Posted by Aman Govil, Product Marketing Manager
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New best practices to find more customers on the Content Network
Many firms decide to cut their advertising and marketing spend during recessions; the most recent recession was no different. Please join us for an upcoming webinar from Google and The Wharton School, partners on the Fast.Forward. initiative. Prof. David Reibstein, Marketing at The Wharton School, will discuss lessons learned from this difficult economic period and how those lessons impact and influence current and future marketing decisions. Topics: Should marketers spend more or less as we move out of the recession? Should marketers change their budget allocations? If so, how? How are CMO’s dealing with the new budget parameters and what do CFO’s think of this change? How is the bottom line being impacted? What : Exploring the Recession's Impact on Advertising & Marketing Spending: CMO / CFO Perspectives When : March 26, 2010, 10amPST / 12pmCST / 1pmEST Register at : www.tinyurl.com/march26webinar2010 For more perspectives on the changing face of marketing, visit the Fast.Forward. channel on YouTube. Posted by Sofia Buschmann, Marketing Manager
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Upcoming webinar - Exploring the recession's impact on marketing spend
The Internet is going mobile. Every week, tens of millions of people search on Google from their mobile phones and generate hundreds of millions of searches. They're looking for the best local sushi restaurant or a coupon for the store they're standing in front of. Mobile devices allow consumers to have a more personalized online experience, and with mobile ads, you can reach consumers while they're on-the-go. Please join Google for an upcoming webinar about what we're seeing in the mobile ads space and how to think about incorporating mobile into your marketing strategy. Specifically, we'll cover how you can: Understand mobile trends and what they mean for your business Drive consumer action online and in the store Optimize your strategies for the mobile platform Date and Time: March 2, 2010 at 11:00am PST / 1:00pm CST / 2:00pm EST Register here Posted by Leslie Hernandez, B2B Marketing
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We're thinking mobile, are you?