paid search | Internet Marketing Blog

Google's not so secret weapon in selling the Nexus One: Search dominance

When it comes to selling smartphones, it pays to be the king of search. Google jumped directly into the smartphone seas this week with the launch of the Nexus One. One of the first things the search giant did (besides open an online store to sell the phone) was put a big ad for the phone on its homepage.

That's prime real estate, especially considering that the pristine page is generally ad free. But Google has other tricks when it comes to search that could be more dubious. Like manipulating search results and blocking advertising on its trademarks.

by Meghan Keane 07 January 2010 21:57pm 8 comments

What would a Tory government mean for SEO?

Although it’s by no means a sealed deal, it’s very possible that in the 2010 election, the government will change and the Conservatives will lead the country. What might that mean for our industry?

by Kevin Gibbons 14 December 2009 10:30am 7 comments

Paid search and online lead generation: can they exist together?

Can paid search and online lead generation co-exist in the same marketing plan, or do advertisers buying leads just end up cannibalising their own own search efforts?

As online lead generation starts to establish itself as a separate discipline in online marketing and an increasing number of advertisers start to see the benefits of paying for leads on a CPL basis, marketers will have to start making some decisions to allocate sufficient budgets to their online lead generation campaigns.

For many lead products, paid search is still one of the most important ways to generate premium leads. This raises a few interesting issues for advertisers running paid search campaigns at the same time as buying in third party leads on a CPL basis. Can the two really exist together in the same marketing plan?

by Justin Rees 09 December 2009 10:57am 3 comments

MicroHoo: Does 1+1 really equal 3?

There are two things that make a search engine successful: quantity of traffic and the quantity of advertisers competing for the top spots and pushing up CPC’s. Currently, there is a great deal of industry speculation, which claims that, if Microsoft and Yahoo’s deal goes ahead, it could create a true competitor to Google in the search and advertising market. But is this really the case?

Yes, their traffic will be added together, but will they see higher CPCs through attracting more advertisers?

by Ed Stevenson 05 October 2009 14:18pm 0 comments

Why you need relevant PPC landing pages

A good landing page is one that reinforces ‘conversion intent’ by providing enough information to persuade customers to convert, but most importantly it has to be relevant to the paid ad that the user has just clicked on.

When shoppers enter a very specific phrase, such as a make and model number of a product, it suggests a clear intention to purchase, and so the landing page has to send the searcher straight to the product page and make it easy to complete the purchase.

by Graham Charlton 29 September 2009 16:04pm 10 comments

Boost your quality score with these simple tips

There are many elements of an effective paid search campaign. While much of the discussion often centers on bidding, there is an equally important component: quality score.

Quality score was introduced by search engines looking to receive maximum yield from advertising. By understanding the search engines’ approach, search marketers can take steps to improve their ROI, independent of their bidding strategy.

by Ed Stevenson 25 August 2009 11:01am 8 comments

Paid search spending is not going down

According to a recent post from Heather Hopkins at Hitwise, the share of search traffic coming from paid listings is decreasing at the expense of organic traffic.

The stats highlight a 26% decline in the share of paid clicks, but is paid search really falling? Let’s take a closer look...

by Ed Stevenson 23 July 2009 12:00pm 3 comments

Case Study: How a small business more than doubled leads with local paid search

bedco stair lift wheelchair Think senior citizens aren't using the Web to research and buy products? Tim Pelton did. Tim is a sales manager for Bedco Mobility, a company that sells and services products such as wheelchair stair lifts in the Baltimore/Washington DC corridor. For close to 100 years, Bedco advertised in local newspapers and yellow pages.

But calls and leads were dropping precipitously.

Bedco has a website, but never attempted online marketing because the thinking at the company was that senior citizens just plain weren't online. Wrong. The 70-75 year old age bracket is one of the fastest-growing segments of the online population, according to the Pew Center for the Internet and American Life. In 2005, 25 percent of them used the Internet. Last year, 45 percent went online. Older surfers use the Web primarily for searches for things such as health information, e-mail, and buying products.

by Rebecca Lieb 21 July 2009 22:05pm 7 comments

Dealing with Google’s new trademark policy

Google recently announced it would allow limited use of trademarks in the text of some search ads in the US, even if the trademark owner objects.

While previously brand owners could specify which retailers or affiliates were able to reference their trademarked brand name, any advertiser who sells a brand on its website can nowuse that brand name in the text of their Google ads.

Google’s Trademark policy change in the US is likely to impact a wide range of advertisers, brand owners, competitors, and affiliates. However, it is the brand owners who should be particularly vigilant of the new ramifications.

by Ed Stevenson 22 June 2009 15:10pm 2 comments

Taking your US search campaign to Europe

There are a number of common pit traps that American companies risk falling into as they start to push their search marketing campaigns out into Europe.

by Andrew Girdwood 18 March 2009 12:30pm 3 comments