Kantar estimates big firms spent over $1bn on AdWords up to September
Kantar Media, a WPP subsidiary, has released esimates that suggest a handful of big companies collectively spent well over $1bn buying Google AdWords ads up to September of this year.
Leading the pack is IAC/InterActive Corp., which has spent just short of $175m this year according to the firm's estimates, while Amazon and AT&T both spent upwards of nine figures.
Twitter launches self-serve ads
Twitter's strategy around monetization can be summed up in three words: "take it slow."
Thanks to hundreds of millions of dollars in funding, Twitter has been able to do something many digital media upstarts can't: explore new ad models at what often seems like a snail's pace, working primarily with a select number of brand advertisers and agencies.
How did Google AdWords algorithm changes impact campaigns?
Just over a month ago, Google announced the global roll-out of an update to the AdWords algorithm, which increased the value of landing page relevancy and worth when determining Quality Score.
Google predicted that the changes would alter keyword Quality Scores and ad positions for some campaigns. However, the company claimed that most brands would not see a significant change in overall performance.
How dirty is your PPC?
A well managed Google's AdWords campaign does a great job in delivering relevant traffic to your site.
However, if you leave AdWords alone to judge what is 'relevant' for your products or services you may uncover some surprising results.
We have compiled a list of frightening and sometimes comical examples from real campaigns.
Overcomplicating your AdWords account
In many ways, effective Adwords account management is a balancing act. Whether you’re trying to balance sales volumes with the cost per sale or trying to write a compelling advert whilst trying to stand out from your competitors, you’re often pulled in opposite directions.
I am often approached to appraise accounts for advertisers, and one of the most common problems that I see is also perhaps one of the most understandable, it’s the result of failing to find the balance between relevancy and optimisability.
Brand bidding on Adwords is ok, rules EU in Interflora vs M&S case
On the way into the office today I noticed a bunch of tweets along the lines of 'Interflora wins EU PPC case vs M&S'.
I have just read the ruling in full, and I don’t interpret it as a win at all, but there are some key takeaways that you need to be aware of if your brand is involved in bidding on competitor trademarks.
Will $50 in ad credits make small businesses like Facebook?
With more than 750m users, Facebook is the world's largest social network. So it's no surprise that marketers have flocked to the Facebook in an effort to reach consumers online.
But Facebook's COO, Sheryl Sandberg, knows that multinational brands and Madison Avenue ad agencies aren't necessarily the most lucrative group of 'marketers' her company can court.
Is Google getting hip to customer service?
Google is one of the world's largest advertising companies as measured by revenue, but it's also one of the world's largest as measured by number of customers.
The fact that Google serves millions of advertisers annually is both a blessing and a curse. While having a huge customer base helps minimize the risk that the company's cash cow will suddenly die, it also makes providing quality customer support a very challenging task.
After all, Google's customer base is as diverse as it is big, and its advertiser tools can be as confusing to newbies as they are powerful to AdWords veterans.
Only 6% of UK advertisers fully invested in Facebook ads: report
Thanks to an audience consisting of more than 750m users, Facebook has grown into an online advertising powerhouse despite the fact that, for many advertisers, the efficacy of advertising on the site is still something of a question mark.
But even though major brands have flocked to the world's biggest social network, and the company's ads are now a billion-dollar business, a recent survey indicates that a very small percentage of advertisers is actually "fully on board" with Facebook ads.
Should marketers pay attention to Google+?
Is the third time the charm? Google is certainly hoping so following the beta launch of its latest attempt at building a social network, Google+.
And that hope may not be entirely misplaced. Many of those who have Google+ accounts have positive things to say about the search behemoth's social network.
Perhaps that's because Google has learned from its mistakes, or because it may have been heavily 'inspired' by Facebook.
