Articles in reverse chronological order:
Life without Google’s right rail: 12 strategic implications for marketers
Google made major news last week when it confirmed that it was eliminating right rail (sidebar) ad slots for queries with a high … read more
How do Facebook’s ads drive search traffic?
How do Facebook’s ads drive search traffic?
How Google’s AMP accelerates content marketing
What is the purpose of Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) initiative? How will this new publishing system influence content marketing efforts?
What content marketers need to know about RankBrain and SEO
Google’s RankBrain and Hummingbird will take the context of search queries into more consideration when calculating rank. How will this impact your content marketing strategy?
Online-to-offline attribution in the mobile age
It’s important to know the value of all your marketing touchpoints because the data loss is far greater than you could imagine.
Measurement and attribution top challenges for getting mobile right
The explosion of mobile has made tracking and targeting consumers across devices increasingly challenging for marketers.
The missing 98 percent: why offline attribution matters
Using data to measure offline behavior is essential to closing the huge gap between display media and sales.
Bridging the digital and the physical
To optimize campaign strategy, these retail and e-tail brands use innovative tactics that blur the line between online and offline realms, thus enhancing the user experience.
Search and social media: a look at current trends in digital storytelling
How can advertisers use search and social media to effectively communicate brand narratives? These current trends in storytelling can optimize your digital marketing strategy.
The dawn of sustainable ad practices
It’s no surprise that users want a fluid navigation while online, but certain ad formats have hindered this. Based our knowledge of what doesn’t work, how can we define sustainable digital advertising?
Welcome to the next generation of rank tracking
To keep up with the progressive evolution of the search engine ecosystem, selecting an efficient SEO rank tracking platform is essential.
How Urgent Are Your Important Tasks?
Using the Eisenhower Decision Matrix as a model for productivity, you can learn how to better budget time and organize resources in order to execute effective digital campaigns.
Does Your Brand Need a Human in the Loop?
Using mascots in ads is a classic tactic, and the advent of digital marketing has only enhanced these iconic personalities on social media. Can this help or hurt brand authenticity?
Desktops and Banners Still Rule the Ad Marketplace
These observations are based on data collected via AppNexus’ advertising index for Q2 2015. Use these insights to make informed inferences about the future of digital marketing.
Rise Of the Authenticators
What can digital marketers do to guarantee their ads reach humans, as opposed to fraudulent bots hijacking human identities and consequently profiting from publishers and advertisers?
The New Media Meritocracy
Google created a meritocracy that calls for a holistic strategy encompassing everything from your logo to your keywords, giving you an edge across all media: paid, earned and owned.
Fifty Shades of Grey Hat: The SEO Experts Weigh In
This columnist spoke to search experts about various Grey Hat SEO tactics, which are often indistinguishable from the Black Hat SEO tactics that can get your site banned from Google.
Intelligent Content Recycling
Many marketers use recycled content to keep consumers happy. But there’s a plenty of wrong ways to do “content recycling.”
5 Ways to Keep Your Brand on Their Minds
Visibility and increased brand recognition is a marathon, not a sprint. To stay on consumers’ minds, it’s key to keep the pressure on through things like blogs, social and sales outreach.
Beyond YouTube: Alternate Video Venues
While YouTube is the dominant platform when it comes to video SEO, the video offerings on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Snapchat shouldn’t be ignored.
Seven Reasons to Make Direct Mail Part of Your Digital Marketing Plan
As the world becomes increasingly more digital, postal direct mail stands out, both for the novelty factor and because it comes without digital pitfalls like viewability and bots.
5 Ways to Maximize ROI With Custom Audiences
The cookie era is ending and marketers need to jump on board with custom audience targeting. Here are five ways to maximize your ROI with this strategy.
Let’s Not Be Nostalgic for the ‘Mad Men’ Era
While “Mad Men” the TV show is great, advertising in today’s time is in a much better place than it was back in the 1960s.
Mobilegeddon: Estimating the Impact
On April 21 Google’s mobile-friendly algorithm will take effect. Here’s a look at the estimated impact across several different industries.
How to Write an Article That Moves People on Social Media
These three tips will help you connect with your audience on social media. Are you putting these guidelines to use?
Fighting Content Oblivion
In order to secure the long-term success of your content marketing, you need to think about and plan for what happens after an article is published.
5 Templates for Successful Social Web Content
These five ways to formulate content can help you generate social engagement among your readers, which in turn can earn links and boost SEO.
Everybody’s Publishing Content – But Is Anybody Tracking It?
Content marketing has the ability to truly transform a business, but marketers need to be tracking the successes and failures in order to see what works and what needs improvement.
“Show Me the Content Marketing ROI!â€
Content marketing is more and more important in the marketing world, but some still don’t know how to prove its return on investment.
Use the Hub-and-Spoke Model to Reduce Content Risk
Putting all your eggs in one social media basket can be risky in this age when the rules of the game can change so quickly. The hub-and-spoke model allows marketers to be flexible – read on to find out how.
Fighting Content Oblivion
In order to secure the long-term success of your content marketing, you need to think about and plan for what happens after an article is published.
5 Templates for Successful Social Web Content
These five ways to formulate content can help you generate social engagement among your readers, which in turn can earn links and boost SEO.
Everybody’s Publishing Content – But Is Anybody Tracking It?
Content marketing has the ability to truly transform a business, but marketers need to be tracking the successes and failures in order to see what works and what needs improvement.
“Show Me the Content Marketing ROI!â€
Content marketing is more and more important in the marketing world, but some still don’t know how to prove its return on investment.
Use the Hub-and-Spoke Model to Reduce Content Risk
Putting all your eggs in one social media basket can be risky in this age when the rules of the game can change so quickly. The hub-and-spoke model allows marketers to be flexible – read on to find out how.
Does Your Content Connect?
While it’s not easy to create content that connects with consumers, it is possible. Here are three tips to help you achieve desirable results.
How (and Whether) to Respond to an RFP
When on the hunt for a long-term strategic marketing partner, it’s important to know how best to go about looking for someone to join your team.
4 Ways to Ramp Up Mid-Funnel Content Creation
Many marketers think to focus on attracting leads with content like blog posts and social media messages, but what about content for consumers who have already opted into your messaging in some way?
Fake Profiles Are Killing LinkedIn’s Value
It’s time for social networks to require users to authenticate their identities, and LinkedIn should take the lead.
5 Ways to Make B2B Content Less Boring
Just because your industry may not be the most “exciting” one out there doesn’t mean you can’t produce engaging, interesting content.
Is Blogging an Outdated Content Marketing Tactic?
There is a shift happening away from long-form blog articles in favor of social media postings. But is this really the best strategy?
Using the “Yearbook†Approach to Content Marketing
A “Yearbook Approach” piece of content marketing elevates the status of the subject, therefore giving it a high likelihood of being shared among their network.
5 Techniques for Fighting Writer’s Block
Even the best writers battle writer’s block from time to time, and when you’re writing about a niche subject, coming up with new ideas can be hard. Here are five tips for how to get the ideas flowing.
SlideShare Pro Features Go Free
The availability of premium SlideShare features means marketers can now incorporate SlideShare presentations into their marketing plan. Here are some tips for how to use the software effectively.
Is LinkedIn’s New Publisher Platform Worth Testing?
The new LinkedIn long-form publishing platform is now available for general LinkedIn members to use. Is it worth posting your content marketing pieces on LinkedIn first?
Creativity and Connection
While automation technology can do many things, for now humans are the source of the most creativity. But what is the future of creativity in the digital marketing industry?
Emotional Contagion and Content Marketing
Emotionally driven marketing can increase shares and engagement better than neutral content. So whether you create positive, shocking, scary, or helpful content, use it to bring out an emotional response in your consumers.
Content Syndication and Guest Blogging
Syndicating your content to a third-party site or guest blogging for a respected publication can be a boost for your business. Here’s a deeper look at the benefits, and potential drawbacks, of this strategy.
Tapping the Power of Arguments
If you – or your firm – has a strong point of view, there’s no better way to brand yourself as a leader than to throw down the gauntlet. While cultivating and curating arguments isn’t for everybody, it can break through the clutter better than any other form of discourse.
Google Shopping Replaces Old-School PLA Management
Don’t drag your feet on upgrading to Google Shopping Campaigns. Once you’ve upgraded to the new system, you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it sooner.
Estimating the Importance of Google’s Conversion Estimator
Google’s Conversion Estimator for AdWords gives marketers a better way to understand the way conversions happen in the multi-device, multi-screen marketing environment.
Agencies Need to Liberate Search From Its “Tactical†Silo
Search marketing is undeniably complicated. The good news is that there are some agencies that have not only mastered the details but are prepared to fully embrace search’s strategic importance in driving all marketing success today.
5 Signs You Should Give Up on PPC Search
While pay-per-click (PPC) search can be effective for some, here are five factors you should consider when deciding to invest your time and budget elsewhere.
A Tale of Two Cookies
Although many marketers rely heavily on cookies, they aren’t always the best way to measure and manage campaigns. But what will replace the cookie in the marketing ecosystem?
Display Media Bots? (5 Ways to Double Down on Search)
Here are five great ways to deploy budgets to PPC search that are currently allocated to display advertising and may be victim to the bot impression and click traffic.
Yahoo Gemini (Plus 6 Reasons Your Mobile Strategy Matters)
As Yahoo prepares to launch its Gemini platform, marketers must take the time to revisit their mobile advertising and marketing strategy. Here are six initiatives and strategies to take your business to the next level.
6 Reasons Why Search Clicks Are Undervalued
Although many think that paid and organic search clicks have been overvalued, the truth is that much of the value of search marketing – and search clicks – isn’t acknowledged at all by most marketers.
5 Reasons the Unified Dashboard Will Fail
Many in the marketing ecosystem have pondered the value and inevitability of the unified marketing dashboard, but here are five obstacles that could be the most challenging to its adoption and success.
Budget Allocation Within and Across PPC, SEO, and Content
Put in place a process to understand how hard each form of marketing is working for you, how much it costs to ramp up that form of marketing, and how each form can change the behavior of your clients.
White, Grey & Black Hat PPC/SEO Reviews Manipulation
There are White Hat and Black Hat ways of getting reviews and of skewing these reviews in your favor; decide which kind of method you’ll use.
PPC for B2B on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook
As we move into social media, the additional targeting options available within LinkedIn and Facebook can provide benefits that search marketing alone can’t deliver.
Five Advanced Geo-Advertising Tips for Paid Search Marketers
Take a look at five areas you may not be thinking of when it comes to using geo-targeting and geographic variables within your paid search campaigns.
Five Ways To Get Creative in Paid Search Campaigns
Relevance and creativity must extend through the entire consumer lifecycle, from the impression to the sale. It begins with targeting but includes ad message and even landing page creativity.
Top 10 PLA Tips for the Holidays (and Beyond)
PLAs have to potential to make or break your holiday season; with Black Friday and Cyber Monday around the corner, PLA problems and opportunities should be addressed immediately. Columnist Kevin Lee offers 10 tips to help your PLAs perform better over the holidays and beyond.
#SESCHI: In the Trenches with Big Data and Converged Media
According to buzz at SES Chicago, marketers are moving toward a more holistic way of thinking about media, marketing and devices.
Five Strategy Changes To Help You Cope with Google’s Ad Rank Change
What should marketers be looking at in the wake of Google’s AdWords Ad Rank algorithm update? Columnist Kevin Lee shares 5 tips for advertisers looking to optimize and stay current.
Google Organic & Paid Search Changes Call for Rethinking Search Marketing Strategy
Recent changes in organic and paid search marketing call for adjustments in your strategy. See what’s changed and what you can do to stay ahead of the game.
5 PPC Reputation Management Tips (Including Twitter)
For short-term crisis situations, PPC search can be a great tool for both pushing down negative elements in a SERP and facilitating distribution of a positive or balanced marketing message.
10 Conversion Events You Should Be Tracking
These behaviors or touch points might have significant value to your business and yet are often not counted at all when it comes to paid search campaigns.
Search Observations From the South of France
New adopters of paid search will be able to use highly template-driven, SEO-friendly content management systems and set up social media presences, integrated with websites, at lower costs.
LinkedIn’s Sponsored Updates Are Now Self-Serve
If you are a B2B marketer then LinkedIn advertising is probably worth looking into, especially if you’ve laid the appropriate foundation for success.
5 Ways to Break Your Campaign Out of an SEM Rut
It’s time you change the way you think about your campaign and start evaluating online media KPIs and how well your KPIs really fit your business.
Breaking Out of Last-Click Attribution Toward the Holistic Marketing Mix
Here are some steps that you can take in order to invest in your campaign to turn it into a true search engine marketing campaign as opposed to a demand-harvesting machine.
5 AdWords/adCenter Spring Cleaning Tips
Regardless of what other reasons you have to dig into your AdWords account, here are some spring cleaning tips that will serve you well (plus a tip for Google Image Extensions).
Video CPE Ads in the SERP?
Video ads in the SERP may be the perfect catalyst to bring the brand dollars into the SERP, but what metrics would get marketers most excited?
As the Buy Funnel Evolves, Here Are 4 SEM Metrics You Should Consider
If you’re not factoring in SEM’s ability to generate awareness and influence eventual purchase behavior, your chances of gaining access to branding budgets is slim.
Rethinking Mobile Search in Light of New Data From Google/Nielsen and Pew
Mobile search is clearly having a very disruptive impact on brick-and-mortar retailers, and yet these same retailers are under-investing in mobile because the proof is hard to come by.
Four Paid Search Takeaways From #SESNY
Convergence, mobile search, big data, and attribution were some of the hottest topics at SES New York.
6 Ways to Survive a PPC Budget Sequestration
Cut back on keywords, cut smartphone spend, and make sure you have your engine mix right if you want to please the bean counters and avoid a slice in your PPC budget.
5 Ways You Pay More for Google Clicks
A look at Google Enhanced Campaigns’ influence on CPC inflation and other factors causing click prices to rise.
Google Enhanced Campaigns and Bid Vectors: Switch Now or Later?
Why you should set up a new campaign to start learning and experimenting with the new Enhanced Campaigns system.
5 Reasons Search Marketers Should Watch the Regulatory Landscape
The results of recent investigations into our industry will have a direct or indirect impact on our strategies and tactics.
Facebook Graph Search Taps People Power
If the new Facebook search functionality takes off, you may have to maintain a completely different set of keywords and strategies for Bing because of its Facebook integration.
12 PPC Resolutions for 2013
As CPCs rise, as the traffic mix becomes more “mobile,” and as new Ad Extensions are rolled out across Bing and Google AdWords, you may find it helpful to heed some 2013 PPC search advertising resolutions.
5 Reasons SEM Agencies Should Do Social and SEO
The evolution of social media advertising and earned social media has several factors that make the expertise of the SEM and SEO agency and team relevant to social media.
Google’s PLA Ads: Bid Price vs. Product Price vs. Image
Evaluating the impact that changes in image or product price might have on the success of the ad.
4 Ways to Disaster-Proof Your SEM Campaigns
There’s no longer an excuse for failing to prepare for unforeseen changes to your campaigns, because you rely on the online marketing ecosystem to deliver immediate sales, leads, and brand lift.
6 Reasons Search Clicks Rock!
It may not be as sexy as the new stuff to everyone, but we know and understand the elegance and power SEM holds.
5 Reasons to Google+ and Socialize for PPC
Don’t let the power of Google+, combined with the Social Extensions, fall into the hands of your competition without taking advantage yourself.
5 SEM Assets You Aren’t (but Should Be) Using
Are you fully leveraging all your SEM, social media, and online targeting assets?
5 Reasons to Double Your Search Budget
When you dig into the SEMPO State of Search 2012 study and overlay it with some of the changes going on in the ecosystem today, you may find that you can build a strong case to double your overall search and social budget, including PPC search, PPC social, SEO, and earned media social.
6 SES San Francisco Key Takeaways
Big data and business optimization versus campaign optimization and quality content.
Can Marissa Find the Signal @ Yahoo?
Yahoo should be investing in the kinds of products and ad opportunities that rely on the strongest data signal that advertisers want.
PPC Bid Management for Branding
Are you not taking the brand impact of search into account?
4 Ways to Prepare for Google’s Paid Inclusion Hybrid
And why a transition to paid inclusion was a good idea for Google and is also potentially good for shoppers.
5 Reasons to Invest in Content for PPC and SEO
Great content doesn’t only empower SEO and social media, it can also empower your paid search campaign.
5 Reasons SEM Pros Should Run Facebook Advertising
The elements of Facebook advertising that make you, as a seasoned SEM professional, a great fit to manage Facebook PPC advertising.
Google AdWords Video Launches, Facebook Misses Q1
Keeping track of changes in search and social.
Goodbye Keywords? Google Gets Semantic
If Google and Bing get good at semantic search, we may actually see a shift back to natural language search queries.
Does LinkedIn Have an Invalid Click Problem?
Just like with PPC search, you have to be aware of the issues of click quality on your social platforms.
9 Reasons to Outsource PPC Search Marketing
Is search marketing a core competency at your company? It may not be.
Google’s Screenwise Research Business
Google’s launch of Screenwise may signal a move to go into the research business. Should comScore and Nielsen be worried?
Solving the Mystery of Google’s Q4 CPC Drop
An in-depth look at what happened with Google’s drop in average CPC in the last quarter of 2011.
Google+, Yang Out @ Yahoo, and PIPA/SOPA
If you thought things were stabilizing in the world of search and online marketing, think again.
Can Scott Thompson Reclaim Yahoo’s Glory?
Yahoo’s fate as a search engine is important to marketers for these two reasons.
How to Run Profitable Tablet-Focused PPC Search Campaigns
The ubiquity of connectivity increases our opportunities as marketers to reach our target audience. Are you taking advantage of this?
Manage Your PPC Search the Steve Jobs Way
Six things you can “tweak” in a paid search campaign.
5 Reasons PPC Search Beats PPC Social
Is social media fatigue setting in?
7 Best Practices for Using Google’s Bid-Per-Call in AdWords
Are mobile search-initiated calls important to your business? Consider this new offering.
Google+ and +1
Google is trying to out-Facebook Facebook, using the power of the SERP and Display Network advertising.
Google Zeitgeist, Like TED, Focuses on Big Picture
Five trends touched on at the Zeitgeist conference that will have a significant impact on SEM.
Yahoo – Bartz – Ramsey, + AOL + Microsoft on Display
What does an upcoming strategic partnership between three mega providers of display mean for you as a PPC search advertiser?
Search Wars: Microsoft and Yahoo Transition Europe Organic SERPS
Q&A with the Bing-Yahoo team about conversions, social integration, and more.
Facebook Advertising vs. Advertising Facebook
What is the real value of a “like” and how much energy should you devote to getting “liked”?
The FTC, Regulation, and Google
How advertisers might benefit from improved transparency and bidding policy clarity.
‘Pure Plays’ vs. Omni Channel in AdWords/adCenter
It’s time for the majority of multi-channel retailers to understand how consumers shop, and take stock of their true missed opportunities.
PPC Search Bid Management: Humans vs. Machines
Machines can have their place in almost any size campaign, but an algorithm is only as good as the human driving the machine.
6 Ways to Tune Campaigns Running in Google’s AdSense/Display Network
If you are tapping the additional inventory opportunities within the Display Network, you may want to consider giving your account a tune-up.
Death of the Google Tag
What prompted Google to “retire” Google Tag and how will this affect your advertising campaign?
SEMPO Shows Facebook and Mobile as Key Growth Areas for PPC
A look at the 2011 SEMPO State of Search Marketing Report.
Using Search Marketing to Stay Out of Bankruptcy
Three fatal retailer errors in search marketing and how to avoid them.
Beyond Attribution: Harvesting Demand With PPC Search
Your attribution model may be missing key information. Consider these scenarios.
Paid Links Revisited: JCPenney – A Disaster or Success?
Should you decide to buy links, do so with an understanding of the risks.
Google’s Session-Based Broad Match Clicks: Boon or Bane?
Are broad clicks an opportunity to broaden the reach of your search campaign, or would you rather there be an option to opt out of them?
Google’s Keyword Tool Goes Mobile
Make sure your site is mobile-friendly and consider modifying both your expectations of success and your specific success metrics for your mobile campaign.
If Tracking Is Outlawed, Only Outlaws Will Have Tracking
The profound impact the FTC’s privacy and do-not-track initiatives could have on your PPC campaigns.
Google AdWords Rules
And 10 other reasons to revisit your search campaign.
Prediction: PPC Search Version 3.0, Real-Time Bidding
Real-time bidding of PPC search ads is great for all three participants of the online ecosystem: the searcher, the engine, and the advertiser. And this could be where we are in three years.
Five Google AdWords Quality Score Tips
Strive for the very best Quality Score with ad group structure, ad creative, CTR-enhancing tweaks, geo-personalization, and separate content network campaigns.
Google Tags, Paid Search Meets SEO
Google Tags can be an important part of an overall paid search campaign. Don’t let your competition beat you to the punch.
Debunking Long-Tail PPC Search (The Google Instant Connection)
When exploring the long tail in either keywords or other targeting options, take a scientific and rational approach and use your head.
The Paid Search ‘Core Competency’ Myth
Want to fully in-source paid search? First, consider these factors.
Yahoo-Bing Integration: The Transition Checklist
Have you opened a new adCenter account yet? Here’s why you need to get started ASAP.
Becoming a PPC Search Superhero
The best ways to present campaign results to upper management, get additional budget allocated to your campaigns, and get promoted by being seen as indispensible.
PPC Lead Gen: Focusing on Quality
All leads have different value profiles and predicted profitability. Here are eight variables you can control.
Search Clicks, Once Removed
Paid search is expensive traffic, so sometimes you have to look to Web properties a click or two away from the original SERP.
Preparing For ‘MicroHoo’
Search marketers should start preparing now for the Yahoo/Microsoft merger. Ensure that your transition plan has these important elements.
Keywords and Quality Score: Tales From the Trenches
It’s time to take off your SEO hat when thinking about landing pages for PPC search.
SEM Is Dead – Long Live ’Find’ and ’Influence’ Marketing
With real-time, video, social network, and shopping searches now part of the mix, marketers must expand their strategies to encompass the broader ecosystem.
Retargeting: A Scam or ROI Harvester?
Marketers can end up overpaying for retargeted inventory, all the while thinking they’re getting a great deal. Here’s how to avoid that trap.
Google’s SEM Agency Epiphany
Google’s new certification program and changes in API fees are good for advertisers, but Google’s partner directory is in need of additional work.
Attribution or Media Mix Models for Search Marketing?
Should we forget attribution modeling and embrace econometric media mix models? Here’s a look at which you should start focusing on.
Search Engine Marketing vs. Search Marketing
Shouldn’t we broaden the definition of search marketing to include all forms of marketing, media, and advertising that capture consumers who have expressed search intent?
Top 10 PPC Campaign Mistakes
Failure to get the basics of a campaign right will reduce your Quality Score and prevent you from engaging in the level of tuning required to rev up your campaign.
Alice in the Land of Missed PPC Advertising Opportunity
The Internet is not a fantasy world where the rules of marketing don’t apply. Online marketing and paid search play a far greater role in sales than you think.
Ballmer on Search: The Vision vs. Reality
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s view on the future of Bing and getting into the search game.
SEM Rock Stars: Transforming the Industry
A look at the veterans of search engine marketing who served on the SEMPO board of directors and the current slate of nominees.
Google’s Budget Guzzling Engine
Online advertisers are the gas that feeds Google’s revenue engine, and in 2009 Google proved just how much of a gas guzzler it is.
When Will CMO Heads Roll?
Marketers can’t ignore SEM and online media any longer and therefore budgets are shifting. Here are six patterns that emerge prior to large budget shifts.
Mobile Search: Google’s Loss Leader or Savvy Investment?
A look at Google’s AdMob acquisition and what it means for brand marketers experimenting with mobile advertising.
Google Picks Fights in OS, Apps, and Phones: What’s Next?
Google’s Chrome operating system is seen by many as a high risk move, but one with a potential for significant opportunity.
Top 10 Campaign Optimization Checklist
Here is a checklist of best practices that all search marketers should go through to make sure they aren’t wasting money or missing an opportunity.
Using Paid Search for Organic Optimization
Paid search can play an important role in testing and improving organic search results. Here’s how.
The Google Wave (of Ad Releases)
A look at the important Google ‘wave’ you should be keeping an eye on this year.
Data Challenges for Small PPC Campaigns
Some tips for finding statistically valid sample data at every level of your campaign.
How to Get More Sales per SEM Dollar
The choice is yours: get a firm handle on search marketing now, or wait till later. Which do you think will be more cost-effective?
How to Replace Yahoo Paid Inclusion/Paid Placement
Six approaches to moving past paid inclusion and improving your site.
Taking Advantage of Google’s Local Business Listings
For search marketers, measuring profitability and response in Local Listings will require a bit of a change in mindset from what they might currently be doing.
Flavors of Search Retargeting: Google AdEx, Yahoo, and Beyond
Consider these three approaches to retarget search ads.
Google’s View-Through Metrics, Social Media, and Compulsive Clickers
The view-through rate offers a great way to see how different media types respond “beyond the click” by interacting with a site or brand.
Relevance Signals for PPC Search
Failure to be relevant can have devastating consequences in paid search.
Let the Buyer Beware with Search Retargeting
If you are integrating display media into your search campaign, here are some factors to consider.
Why Search Engine Traffic Sources Matter
Keywords and traffic source both impact a search marketing campaign’s success, yet most marketers and agencies focus almost exclusively on the keywords.
When Did Google Become the Bad Guy?
Seven reasons for marketers’ love-hate relationship with Google.
Allocating Budgets for SEM and Display
Five tips for deciding how much budge to allocate to both search media and online display media.
Ten Reasons You’ll Soon Spend 25% More On Search
Improved relevance, improved ad campaigns, and other factors will make search advertising more expensive in the coming 12 months.
Who’s Your Search Marketing General Contractor?
It’s time to rethink how you decided on the optimal vendor relationships for your company.
How Google’s Caffeine Will Impact PPC
Like a hurricane, Google’s latest algorithmic change will prove itself able to do damage.
PPC Search Ads: Guilty Until Proven Innocent?
If your ads are deemed guilty of having a poor Quality Score, you risk either having to overpay cost-per-clicks to remain in the search engine results page or face banishment.
Yahoo and Microsoft: The Deal for Search Advertisers
A long-awaited deal includes some surprises and unanswered questions.
Search Marketing’s Changing Algorithms
The new hot area of search and content is instant gratification. Will consumers expect the same level of instant gratification on advertisers’ landing pages?
Trademark Policies: Google and Beyond
What Google’s new trademark advertising and bidding policies mean for online advertisers and marketers.
Prepare Your Paid Search for the Google OS
Chrome OS may be a year away, but marketers should start thinking now about how to use it to leverage their PPC campaigns.
Microsoft’s Bing Launch: The Advertiser View
The search engine is a work in progress, but its consumer and business focus is good for advertisers.
Microsoft Lawsuit Targets Advertiser Click Fraud
Competitive click fraud perpetrators beware.
Display Search Retargeting Wish List, Part 2
Behavioral retargeting of individuals who use search — to show the most relevant ad — is a huge opportunity in search marketing. Yet there’s room for improvement. Last in a series.
Display Search Retargeting Wish List, Part 1
Behavioral retargeting of individuals who use search — to show the most relevant ad — is a huge opportunity in search marketing. Yet there’s room for improvement. First in a series.
Changes to Google’s and Microsoft’s Ad Interfaces
Search engine ad management consoles get facelifts. Learn what’s new.
Bridging the SEM Knowledge Gap
Six approaches to staying on top of the swiftly changing developments in search engine marketing.
Credit For “The Last Click†and Attribution
Even though only one click can be the last touch point, this may not relieve you of the legal obligation to pay more than one vendor.
Analyzing the Google Content Network
The Google Content Network can work for advertisers, though not nearly as well as a recent Google publication would have you believe.
View From the Trenches: Search-Style Media Convergence
Contextual targeting, behavioral display networks, and affiliate marketing companies embrace “search” and performance marketing.
New Research: Paid Search Builds Branding
Google/MetrixLab research provides support for increasing paid search budgets.
What’s the State of Your Paid Search Campaign?
When you finish reorganizing, tuning, and optimizing your Google account, Yahoo and Microsoft are logical next steps.
The Quandaries of Local Search and Vertical Directories
Each vertical directory has its own business model and way of charging you for a listing, profile page, or participation. A look at five pricing models.
Your Search Campaign Needs Two Brains
Technology to automate search campaigns can bring double-digit efficiency gains. But don’t leave out the human touch.
Avoiding the ‘Winner’s Curse’ of Paid Search
A winning bid in paid search controls your likely position and the odds that your improved visibility will get the click. You could still end up a big loser.
Thinking Beyond the Shopping Cart
Four options for collecting conversion data to help optimize paid search campaigns.
Measuring Exit Clicks
Exit clicks should be a success metric for some businesses. Here are some examples.
Conversion Data: How Much Is Too Much?
Marketers can benefit from evaluating whether these additional data fields in their conversion data might be useful for building both better models and even influencing real-time bidding.
Provide Benefits That Resonate in Your Ad Copy
A look at incentives and promotional language to improve your click-through rate.
Will Search Grow Again or Contract?
Growth could hinge on whether marketers with large offline and premium display budgets start to measure search more holistically.
Classifying Brand and Generic Keywords
Why marketers should take time to classify their keywords into buckets along the continuum from brand to generic.
Scale or ROI? The PPC Search Conundrum
Too many senior managers fail to understand how Google and auction-driven media marketplaces work. And that could spell trouble.
A Tale of Two Search Marketers
As search query volumes decline, big spenders and tightwads in search engine marketing may start acting more alike.
Yahoo’s CEO Choice Reveals the Engine’s Current Thinking
Why the search giant might have selected Carol Bartz as CEO.
Stimulate Your 2009 Strategy With Questions
Want to think strategically about budgeting and resource allocation, and help shape the paid and organic SEO ecosystem? Take this survey.
Learn How to Say No to Dumb Ideas
Being a “yes man” can be dangerous to your career.
SEM Is Really Scary to Businesses
Confusion and misinformation about SEM abound. What we need to clear up.
Setting Up Campaigns in Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft
Back to basics: A look at the fundamentals of paid search operations.
SES Chicago: Speakers Speak Out, Part 2
During economic weakness, how should marketers ensure they get appropriate search budgets even if overall marketing budgets are shrinking? SEM experts weigh in.
SES Chicago: Speakers Speak Out
What major changes do search engine marketers want to see from the PPC search engines next year?
Google’s Ever-Evolving Quality Score
The changes make the formula a little more fair to everyone.
Where’s the Creativity in SEM?
Don’t be a PPC drone. Here are four ways that search marketers can use the right side of their brains.
Organic Search Results vs. PPC: The Black Hat Wars
In paid search, the exact opposite occurs: marketers are rewarded for enhancing relevancy — not degrading it. That’s not the case with SEO.
Organic Search Results vs. PPC: The Relevance Wars
For local searches, do paid listings provide more relevant results than SEO? First of a two-part series.
The Biggest Problem of the Google-Yahoo Deal
If an advertiser submits a bid on both Yahoo Panama and Google, will the higher-priced Google ad preempt the one on Yahoo? Last in a series.
Is the Google-Yahoo Deal Good for Marketers?
Looking at the dollars and cents behind Yahoo’s deal to publish ads sold by Google. First of a two-part series.
Google’s Evolving Algorithm
Google updated its Quality Score system again this week.
Using Search To Reach Influencers and Passionistas
Why you need to design search campaigns differently for influencers than for other customers.
Don’t Sell to Visitors From Corporate HQ
There’s no better time to use a microsite to pump up your conversion rates.
Learn How to Say No to Dumb Ideas
Being a “yes man” can be dangerous to your career.
Trust: The Backbone of Consumer Satisfaction
Microsoft plans to increase transparency in keyword and media auctions. Will Google follow?
Analyzing the Perils of Government Regulation
Are marketers prepared for new laws and enforcement actions?
Reputation, PPC Search, and SEO: Harmony or Discord
What a bidet manufacturer and a home appliance merchant do not have in common.
Pennywise, Pound Foolish in Paid Search
How to calculate if a higher-paid agency is more effective than a less-paid one.
Ten Ways to Waste Your PPC Budget
Search marketing works great during a recession or during boom times. Make sure you are using your budget wisely.
The Publisher Opportunity in Search and Contextual, Part 1
Properly executed, a keyword-targeted traffic-building campaign can turn a marketing expense into a cash machine. Part one of a series.
CPM Auctions and Google’s CPA Network
Why don’t search engines run their paid placement auctions as CPM auctions? And why is Google’s AdWords CPA being phased out?
Google Trends, Ad Planner, and Site Affinity
Where does Google get the data for Google Trends or Ad Planner? Here’s one theory.
SEM Implications of the Yahoo-Google Pact
How exactly will the Yahoo system decide whether to run advertising from Google, Yahoo Panama, or an alternate source, such as Microsoft?
The Internet Sales Tax Time Bomb
Will the law treat Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft as affiliates?
Are Search and Affiliate Marketing Budget Cuts Irrational?
By accounting for these expenses as a commission — instead of a sales and marketing cost — some marketers may be committing marketing suicide.
Google AdSense: Tips for Success
How working in the Google content network differs from working in a search campaign.
Google Content: New Strategies and Options
What marketers need to know about Google’s AdSense for content. First of a two-part series.
A Strong Appetite for Behavioral Search Targeting
Whatever cool behavioral targeting options roll out will likely come from Yahoo or Microsoft — not Google.
The Yahoo-Microsoft Saga
Why Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s letter to Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang may go down in history as one of the best-crafted business letters ever.
SERP Position: Myth vs. Reality
What the Holy Grail of relevance means to search marketing.
Google, Yahoo Search News Mashup in Earnings Season
Google’s Quality Score change, Microsoft-Yahoo deadline approaches, whither Performics and Avenue A, and other search engine marketing news.
Are SEM Agency Fees Too Low?
Are you shortchanging your campaign, along with your SEM agency?
Branding as a Direct Response PPC Search Byproduct
Why branding and direct response initiatives aren’t separate disciplines.
Is Organic Search Enough?
Pulling PPC ads after achieving high organic search position may be a very bad idea.
Recession: PPC Threat or Opportunity?
Prepare for some short-term testing pain to weather longer-term economic pain that may be headed your way.
It’s the PPC Search Economy, Stupid!
While the economy is volatile, search marketing looks promising. But is it recession proof?
GoogleClick: Death of the Third-Party Ad Server?
Companies with large on- and offline budgets have concerns about conversion data being used to influence both pricing and future changes to the auction marketplaces.
Search’s Impact on Brand Metrics
Search will no longer be a marketing methodology and media opportunity existing in a silo.
Affiliate PPC Brand Bidding: Right For You?
Eleven questions to weight before working with performance-based media buying relationships.
PPC Search: Create, Influence, Capture, and Harvest Demand
Why search marketers must be aware of the overall consumer response ecosystem.
Vote Now for the Future of Search
What the board election at SEMPO means to your company, campaign, and career.
Google Bashes Microsoft’s Yahoo Bid
What Yahoo’s sale would mean to PPC marketers and digital marketing teams.
Nonprofits, Google Grants, and Search
If you have a desire to use your valuable knowledge and skills to help nonprofits, you have several choices.
Moving Beyond Campaign Efficiency to Campaign Effectiveness
To thrive in any economic climate, combine efficiency with strategic testing to obtain effectiveness. Here are three places to start.
The Publisher Opportunity in Search and Contextual, Part 2
Calculate how to buy the very best traffic in a keyword campaign.
The Publisher Opportunity in Search and Contextual, Part 1
Properly executed, a keyword-targeted traffic-building campaign can turn a marketing expense into a cash machine. Part one of a series.
2007 PPC Search Retrospective
Plus, a look at “GoogleClick.”
Two Search Budgets for One Business?
All this brand vs. direct response search advertising craziness must stop!
PPC, Backwards and Forwards
In paid search, past performance isn’t a true indicator of future results. Three ways to improve your chances of winning.
Top 10 Reasons to Double Your Search Budget for ’08
Increase your search budget before rivals collectively kick your butt, take market share, or poach your most valuable customers.
Information Is a Competitive Advantage
The evolution of SERPs and the search industry.
It’s 10 p.m. Do You Know Where Your Brand Is?
Brand marketers fear their brands’ ads running with a rough crowd. Are their fears exaggerated?