Exciting New Ideas at Google Adwords
Let me start this post by stating that there is absolutely no corroborating evidence to either support nor deny the existence of the following features due to be released to a Google Adwords interface near you. That being said, a recent Google visit has raised eyebrows around the Eclipseo office. Exciting new features due to become available to Adwords advertisers may have you scratching your head, while others are being released in part due to competitive pressure. The message is simple – don’t expect Google to sit idly by waiting to lose their dominant search market share.
Account Statement Credit Transparency
This is good news for everyone. Although it is still unlikely that Google will provide line items on credits issued to Adwords advertisers, it’s a step in the right direction. At least acknowledging that complaints are properly dealt with is somewhat soothing.
Expansion of “Other Unique Queries”
Google’s Search Query Report is a gem, but the only thing that it lacks is a drill-down into other long-tail keywords that might be entered by searchers. It currently reports the number of less popular searches by grouping them into a category pegged, “Other Unique Queries”. I’ll bet more than a few long-tail keywords are lurking in those groups.
Demographics Targeting
Targeting user demographics was introduced long time ago by Microsoft adCenter. To be the leader in online search, Google more or less has to introduce this feature to remain competitive. If Microsoft is able to miraculously increase their search traffic (and that’s a big IF), they could potentially become a serious threat to Google Adwords.
You might be thinking, Google Adwords with demographics targeting – cool, right? Yes, indeed it is, but it raises another important question: where, oh where do they get the demographics data?
Target-Based CPC
Leave it to a web developer to read between the lines on this one. I’m not exactly sure where in far left field my boy was hit by the baseball, but it must have permanent effects…
“Google’s talked a lot about offline print and television ads and how they only charge for the percentage of the viewing population that falls into your targeted demographic based on sample analysis. As an extension to demographics targeting, any traffic that is later discovered to be outside of your ‘demo-targeted’ specification will not cost you anything.”
Far-fetched? Yeah, I thought so too.
CPC-Based Site Targeted Content Campaigns
Of all the rumors mentioned in this post, this one seems the most likely to launch first. After quantifying successful return on investment for specific placements on sites within a content network campaign, the next logical step is to formulate a site-targeted content campaign, right?
Not necessarily. You see, site-targeted campaigns run on a CPM model (cost per thousand impressions), whereas content network campaigns run on a CPC model (cost per click). Translating content network ads to site-targeted ads can be challenging because average cost per click can skyrocket with popular sites. Depending on your business model, you may not want to spend $10 per click in a CPM model when a similar content placement only cost you a tenth of that.
The solution? CPC-based site targeted content campaigns. It’s pay-per-click gone site-targeted. It’s a good thing, and I hope it sees the light of day soon.
Conclusion
So with that, our speculation and feasibility discussion comes to a close. After reading this post, what feature request would you most look forward to seeing in Adwords?
