PPC-Advice.com

2007 PPC-Advice.com Year in Review

Although I’ve only been blogging for the last few months I have had a keen interest in the industry for years, and have noticed many of the larger players step up their game in 2007.  The progress made in empowering advertisers and search marketers this past year has been astounding, whether accomplished with overhaul or small incremental changes.

Google makes big changes in Adwords

The majority of the changes in Google Adwords could not have been possible without their dedication to opening and maintaining the lines of communication with larger partners and end users.  Although some of their programs and tools were problematic, all of their development issues were well worth the trouble to increase transparency and confidence in the machine that is Google.

Here is a list of some of the more significant changes Google Adwords has made in the following year:

• Google releases two important reports within Adwords, the search query report that illustrates actual user keywords triggering an advertisers ads, and the content placement report that illustrates where on the content network an advertisers ads are displayed.
  Importance:  Astounding (5/5).
• Google introduces CPC-based (versus CPM-based) “placement targeted” campaigns, replacing their older and less transparent “content placement” campaign type.  With pay-per-click bidding rules, the advertiser has the power to choose their maximum cost per click, thereby eliminating the uncertainty in costs related to advertising on big name sites such as CNN.com, Facebook, MySpace, etc.
  Importance: Big News (4/5)
• Adwords algorithm changes had minimal impact on my of my customers, but likely did have a significant effect on Google’s bottom line.
  Importance: Mediocre (3/5)

Yahoo floods Panama

Talking about changes, we would be remiss to include Yahoo’s forklift upgrade to their Search Marketing platform.  Dubbed ‘Panama’, Yahoo basically rewrote their entire program and relaunched it in 2007.  It included many missing features from previous iterations of Overture, but really lacked innovation to compete with Adwords and Adcenter.

• Panama released.  Many have touted the new features and functionality within Panama as innovative, but let’s call a spade a spade.  They haven’t done much to rival the functionality of Adwords, or even Adcenter for that matter.
  Importance: Mediocre (3/5)
• Yahoo has increased advertising properties in the past year, much to every advertiser’s pleasure.  With the introduction of a program to rival Adsense (on a qualification basis), they may be poised to overtake Adwords’ content network by promoting quality placements over quantity of placements.
  Importance: Big News (4/5)

Microsoft Adcenter

Microsoft’s PPC platform has done little to innovate in 2007, as their program has not really changed all that much - which is fine.  Their product has always been significant from an evolutionary standpoint because they entered the market behind both Google and Yahoo, but made a big splash with innovative features such as gender and demographic targeting.  Microsoft’s strides have come from a PR standpoint, with several key acquisitions and strategic partnerships that could enable them to break out in 2008.

• Acquiring a stake in Facebook is important for Microsoft, because until now their network partnerships have been minimal.  If they are able to make a stand to push Google and Yahoo out of Facebook, they could be poised for a big 2008.
  Importance: Astounding (5/5)
• Customer service took center stage in 2007, with strategic managers at Microsoft getting in touch with larger advertisers through various channels.  Their persistence and attention to detail should be applauded because their efforts far exceed Yahoo, and may in fact rival Google (albeit on a smaller scale).
  Importance: Mediocre (3/5)

Once again I’d like to extend my thanks to those of you that have made my blog the success that it is.  I wish all my readers and silent contributors a Happy and Prosperous New Year!  2008 is looking good already!

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