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We'll be at SMX East in New York City from October 4-6, 2010. Our booth (number 325!) will include representatives from Google AdWords, AdSense and Analytics, Mobile Ads, TV, YouTube and Webmaster Tools. In addition, we have speakers in 9 sessions or workshops, including: Othar Hannson , Senior Staff Software Engineer, on "Google Instant’s Impact On SEO & User Behavior" Jeremy Hylton , Software Engineer, on the panel "The Real Time & Social Search Landscape" Jesse Haines , Group Marketing Manager, Google Mobile Ads, on the panel "Mobile Search Ads" Baris Gultekin , Group Product Manager, Google AdWords, on "Google's Keyword Research Tools" Be sure to enter the discount code smx10google to save 10% on the cost of your event pass. Posted by Amanda Matuk, Events Team

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If you can make it there...you can see us at booth 325

Did you know that a user spends an average of just eight seconds on a website before deciding whether to stick around (Marketing Sherpa)? If you’re an e-commerce site, this means you have to be faster than Usain Bolt - the world record-holder for the 100m dash. Next week, find out how Google can help you capitalize on those eight seconds and improve your online shopping experience. Visit the Google Commerce Search team at Shop.org’s Annual Summit , held in Dallas, Texas from September 27 - 29. If your organization plans to attend the show, be sure to visit Google in Booth #120 and attend the Big Ideas session Wednesday at 12:45 PM featuring Nitin Mangtani of Google Enterprise, who will be speaking about search insights for today’s e-commerce technology. The Google Commerce Search team will be joined by Product Search, AdWords, and the Google Affiliate Network. We can’t wait to show you the many different ways we can help your business. Posted by Guillaume De Zwirek, Google Commerce Search team

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Speed check: Visit us at Shop.org to test your e-commerce site

Every week we’ll be providing a brief update on the latest Google product and feature updates relevant to our agency partners. To see past updates, look for the “ This Week in Product Updates ” label. When my husband and I adopted our two cats, Rambo and Chuck Norris , I half-jokingly gave him Cats for Dummies to help him with the adjustment. Little did I know that he would read it cover-to-cover, and implement the training tactics exactly as instructed. What resulted, though, was nothing short of a miracle - cats that don’t scratch furniture. You may ask, “Why are you telling me this?” Because, Google just released a “for Dummies” guide , and if a “for Dummies” guide works for cats, it can surely work for conversions. In addition, be sure to check out the updates on monthly charging limits for unchanged budgets, a new CPG whitepaper and Google Display Network campaign, and Google Earth’s new website. Tips of the week Check out the new " Improving Online Conversions for Dummies Guide ," which explains how to make sure clients' ads appear for searches most likely to convert to sales. Next, visit the YouTube Video Tool Box channel for tips and tricks for creating, improving and running video ads. Search Monthly charging limits for unchanged budgets: Last week we introduced a monthly charging limit for campaigns automatically calculated based on daily budget, and will be rolling it out over the next several weeks. For the complete update, visit the Inside AdWords Blog . To learn more about this change, please see our FAQs on the monthly charging limit and on what happens when you change your budget . Global roll-out of AdWords Campaign Experiments: We're pleased to announce that AdWords Campaign Experiments (ACE) has begun rolling out globally, and is now supported in the AdWords API. Visit the Inside AdWords Blog for the full announcement, as well as the AdWords API Blog for a complete update on AdWords API v201008. Display Expandable templates now available in Display Ad Builder: We launched four new expandable templates in Display Ad Builder that allow you and your clients to show off more offers and product information. For more information on Display Ad Builder, visit the Google Display Network site , and click here to watch a demo. WATCH THIS SPACE: We're pleased to share the launch of a new campaign called " WATCH THIS SPACE ," which talks about our vision for display advertising. Visit the Official Google Blog to hear what Neal Mohan, VP of Product Management, has to say about how we're simplifying display advertising, delivering better performance, and opening the display ecosystem. In addition, check out the campaign's website to learn more about what's happening in display advertising at Google and what's to come. TV Broadcast your business through TV for All contest: We're pleased to announce the second annual TV for All contest , where small & medium businesses have the opportunity to win $25,000 in national advertising with Google TV Ads and online video partner sites, including YouTube. The full announcement can be found here , and contest rules are at www.youtube.com/tvforall . Reporting & Analytics Changes to reporting in My Client Center: For My Client Center users, we're introducing a new interface for the Client Reports tab. Visit the Help Center for a complete list of updates, and the Inside AdWords Blog for additional details on migrating to the new interface. Industry Resources Just released - CPG whitepaper on digital shopper marketing : Google's CPG Marketing team shared the release of a sponsored white paper titled "Clicking Through the Path to Purchase: Best Practices in Digital Shopper Marketing," authored by the In-Store Marketing Institute and in co-sponsorship with the digital shopper agency Catapult. The comprehensive report summarizes the rise of digital and examines various strategies like online couponing, search, social media, product reviews, mobile and more. A copy of the whitepaper is available here for download. New posts from our friends in Google Retail: Our friends over at the Google Retail Blog released 2 posts this week with valuable data for agencies working with retail clients. First, see what role search plays is researching purchases. Then, learn what the buzz is about for group buying sites. In other news Take a “Trip” to Earth: Have you been traveling lately? To say, someplace like Earth? If not swing by because we’ve recently released Google Earth v5.2 , and moved it to a brand new website all its own. The new digs include images, tours, tutorials and more. And, if you are en route, check on the 3D globe from your mobile phone . This Week in Efficiency: Love the auto completion of texting? Google Scribe brings this timesaver to documents. Based on what you’ve already typed, Google Scribe provides related word or phrase completion suggestions. What’s more, the suggestions also indicate correct or popular phrases to use. Interested in getting in on this keystroke saver? Download the Google Scribe Extension and find out how to activate the feature here . Posted by Katie Wasilenko, Agency Team

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This Week in Product Updates, September 22, 2010

Editor's Note: Yesterday's post by guest blogger Ben Patterson of DashGo showed how the creativity of Weezer, combined with the power of YouTube, resulted in a successful album launch (with great traffic for rising artists to boot). Ben also provided details on the reach of this campaign, which he shares with us below: From a media perspective, DashGo is 100% focused on what is typically called "digital marketing" but I prefer to just call "marketing." The web is where opinions and decisions are made today - especially for content. Reality TV isn't a success until it's "gone viral." Movie studios blame or applaud Twitter for opening weekend box office. Today you have to find an audience, they no longer find you. YouTube and the community of YouTubers offered my client, Weezer, an indie rock band, that opportunity. Last week, Weezer launched their new album, Hurley. In addition to an untold number of news articles, the YouTube videos with Weezer got over 5 million video views within the first 24 hours. I believe that we were successful because Weezer was willing to step outside a comfort zone and that opened up their music to millions of people. Tracking trends on Twitter and Facebook showed thousands of mentions and tens of thousands of hits to the new Weezer.com. Best of all, the new album Hurley hit the top 10 on iTunes charts and #1 on Amazon MP3. To see the full story, please visit yesterday's post or the Official YouTube Blog . Posted by Serena Satyasai, Marketing Manager

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Update to yesterday's post, "Behind the scenes of Weezer's new album launch"

Editor’s Note: Today’s guest blogger is Ben Patterson. Ben is the founder of DashGo , Inc. a digital marketing and distribution platform servicing music, video and podcast content. Clients include Weezer , This American Life and Delicious Vinyl . Last week Weezer launched its new album, Hurley, with the YouTube community. This has been cross-posted from the Official YouTube Blog . It all started at VidCon . VidCon is an event I attended this past July. My company, DashGo , markets, distributes and manages catalogs for indie labels and bands, and the vast majority of our content is audio. VidCon was eye-opening: an army of YouTube content creators--some meeting for the first time following years of online sharing and collaboration--pumped energy into the room. In panel discussions, everyone credited their success to two entities: YouTube and other YouTube users. One of my clients is Weezer, an alternative-rock band known for hits, including “ Buddy Holly ,” “ Beverly Hills ” and “ Pork & Beans .” Weezer's always been a fan of innovation and collaboration and is no stranger to YouTube. Back in 2008, Weezer went on a Hootenanny tour, inviting fans to perform alongside them with whatever instruments they could play. Rivers Cuomo, lead singer, co-wrote a song with hundreds of YouTube content creators in a project called " Let's Write a Sawng ." And, of course, Weezer invited a number of YouTube content creators to appear in their own "Pork and Beans" video, a video viewed over 20 million times. Weezer was getting ready to launch their new album, Hurley. Our concept for the band this time was simple. Instead of inviting YouTube content creators to invade a Weezer video, we’d flip the tables. Rather than make our own video a needle in the haystack we decided to build a whole stack of needles. First we all asked our friends and co-workers about their favorite YouTube content creators. We asked fans on Twitter and Facebook who they liked on YouTube. Then I sent an email to the dozens of recommended YouTube content creators letting them know Weezer was interested in participating in their programs. Acting, performance, interview, make-up, comedy--whatever they wanted Weezer to do, Weezer was game. The response was overwhelming, especially considering I sent the request out six days before shooting was to begin. Two weeks later, the shooting was done and each YouTube partner prepared his or her own video. Weezer wouldn't see anything until the videos went live on 9/14. We were amazed by the range of creativity. The Gregory Brothers AutoTuned Weezer's "Memories." Weezer got to cover StSanders' "Kiss Shreds,” a band favorite, and the Magic Hugs guys brought them back to their days as a brand new band . Four of the videos made it into the Top 20 chart within 24 hours. We were also featured on YouTube’s Music Tuesday showcase. Weezer reached more than 10 million folks if you count the aggregate number of subscribers of the participating content creators. That's more than triple the ratings of most late night talk shows. Ray William Johnson alone gets more viewers per episode than Comedy Central's Tosh.0. And best of all, the new album Hurley hit the top 10 on iTunes charts and #1 on Amazon MP3. Of course, none of this would be possible without all of the content creators who invited Weezer into their channels. A huge thanks to them and their fans for letting Weezer into your house for the day. And we thought you’d enjoy this outtake: Posted by Serena Satyasai, Marketing Manager, who recently watched “ I spanked Weezer .”

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Behind the scenes of Weezer’s new album launch