The announcement came via the Google AdWords blogspot which details the key benefits presented by their Dynamic Search Ads.  The premise of Google’s latest online advertisement tool is to link relevant searches conducted by users, to an advertisement that is dynamically generated by Google in response to a query, taking the key terms and creating a headline that stands above text which is taken from the appropriate landing page of your website.  Clever stuff.

The service is linked to existing, managed Google AdWords strategies, and runs without precluding established campaigns; the Dynamic Search Ads service will work in conjunction with Google’s traditional online advertising platforms:

“The ad enters the auction and competes normally — but we’ll hold it back for any search where you also have an eligible keyword-targeted ad. So you get additive results from broader exposure for more of your in-stock inventory, without disrupting your existing keyword campaigns.”

The system is aimed at large enterprises operating via the web, and is specifically focused towards online retailers with a constantly changing stock inventory.  Taking an advertisers template Google’s Dynamic Ad platform will generate the relevant ad copy by drawing on information made available on a retailers website.  Similarly to Google’s AdWords express, created for smaller businesses advertising locally, Google eliminates the need to select reams of keywords, instead ads are automatically displayed in response to searches that Google identifies as relevant.

The development of a contemporaneous advertising product was inspired by the volume of unique searches that Google sees each day, as the Director of AdWords Product Management Baris Gultekin explains:

“Each day, 16% of searches that occur, Google has never seen before. So even well-managed AdWords campaigns containing thousands of keywords can miss relevant searches, experience delays getting ads written for new products, or get out of sync with what’s actually available on your web site.  That’s not great for advertisers. It’s also not great for end users, who appreciate relevant ads linked to landing pages with in-stock items that perfectly match what they’re searching for.”

The development of the latest Google AdWords tool comes as ‘up-starters’ within the industry introduce new SEO platforms, Google has responded with an array of sophisticated ad devices for online marketing, maintaining it’s dominance in the optimisation stakes.

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The new functionality will allow AdWords users to optimise the positioning of their ads, in order for them to appear consistently in the listings above relevant search results, for new or existing campaigns.  The recently implemented metric complements the changes made by Google in the introduction of their “Top vs. Side” reporting mechanism, that indicates how ads that appear on top of the search results perform in comparison to those published at the side of SERPs.  As Google’s Hal Varian explains: “this distinction is important, since, on average, ads that appear above the search results tend to get substantially more clicks than ads that appear on the right-hand side”.

These two changes to the AdWords portfolio will provide key indicators for marketers managing their online advertising and search engine optimization campaigns.  By providing access to data that will allow users to conduct a more detailed analysis, and make distinctions between the location of an advertisement on Google’s SERPs, compared with the click through rate, and ultimately the number of conversions.  The changes will also give brand advertisers a better understanding of how critical ‘brand terms’ are impacting on the position of their ad campaigns above search result listings.

The most recent metric will give AdWords users the opportunity to maximise budgets and achieve more click throughs by positioning advertisements in the best possible location, according to Andrew Truing’s Inside AdWords blog post, where the announcement was made:

“This information helps you better optimise your search campaigns by more deeply examining the relationship between your ads’ locations and their clicks and conversions. On average, ads that appear above the search results tend to get substantially more clicks than ads that appear on the side.  Using this information in conjunction with the new top of page bid estimates can give you greater insight with which to plan your bidding strategy.”

Although the metric will enable users to spend their budgets more sagaciously on ad campaigns, Truing does point out that merely relying on one reporting mechanism to provide adequate data for maximising the success and optimisation of your ad is not advisable:

“While the top of page bid estimates can help guide your bid planning, bidding higher than the top of page bid estimate will not guarantee a top ad position.  Ad position will still depend on Quality Score, your CPC bid, your budget and account settings, and user and competing advertiser behavior.”

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Previously part of the Motorola group, before the company split earlier this year to form two divisions; Motorola Mobility is responsible for developing and manufacturing mobile phones, while Motorola Solutions looks after a broader commercial customer base and central government contracts.  The acquisition has been identified by many as a move by Google to establish themselves as a dominant competitor in the mobile and tablet market; with Motorola currently holding over 17,000 patents, with 7,500 pending; more than those held by Microsoft and Apple combined.

The details of the acquisition were announced by Google’s chief executive Larry Page via the Google blog, giving details of Google and Motorola’s relationship in what Page called “Motorola Mobility’s total commitment to Android” and the search engine giant’s motivation when it came to making the $12.5 billion investment:

“Today, more than 150 million Android devices have been activated worldwide—with over 550,000 devices now lit up every day—through a network of about 39 manufacturers and 231 carriers in 123 countries. Given Android’s phenomenal success, we are always looking for new ways to supercharge the Android ecosystem”.

In partnering with Motorola, Google has opened up the potential to predominate in not only online advertising, ISP and OS sectors, but also in the manufacture of mobile devices; enabling Google to cover the spectrum of key, lucrative markets that have demonstrated massive growth globally in recent years, as Page goes on to explain in his blog post: “We believe that their [Motorola’s] mobile business is on an upward trajectory and poised for explosive growth”.

In this all encompassing approach, Google will be even better placed to target content advertising and services for their users, integrating their web-based products and mobile operating systems with a hardware solution to complement their existing portfolio; further augmenting the strength of their core product Google AdWords, with the establishment of an already globally recognised brand within the hardware market space.  This combined with the recent launch of the Google+ social networking site, indicates that Google has all bases covered across the spectrum of technology and online advertising services.

Google has, however, made it clear at this early stage, that the move to partner with Motorola will have no bearing on their commitment when it comes to making the world’s information “universally accessible and useful”, with plans to support other hardware vendors that make Android an available platform across their range of mobile devices:

“This acquisition will not change our commitment to run Android as an open platform.  Motorola will remain a licensee of Android and Android will remain open.”

The world will be eagerly anticipating the result of the Google and Motorola partnership, with no real contenders stepping up to overthrow the dominant force of the Apple iPad, there is the potential for the development of a product that opens up the current, closed mobile tablet market, in Europe and across the Globe.

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In his April blog post, Varian stressed the importance of understanding the two variants that can be applied to the general term ‘ad position’, and how incorrectly interpreting this expression can lead to a general misrepresentation of the data being analysed: “on average, ads that appear above the search results tend to get substantially more clicks than ads that appear on the right-hand side”.  Varian goes on to explain that the distinction between the two positions where an ad can feature on Google’s listings, must be identified correctly, in order to maximise the efficiency of Google AdWords campaigns:

“The ‘page position’ refers to the location on the page, such as ‘top ad 2’ or ‘right-hand side ad 1’. The ‘auction position’ is the rank of the ad in the auction that determines the order of the ads on the page.  The critical point is that the reported average position metric is based on auction position, not page position.  This means that an ad in auction position 1 will always be the first ad shown on the page, but it can occur in two possible page positions: as the first ad above the search results or as the first ad on the right-hand side when there are no ads above the search results.”

In response to the discrepancies highlighted by Varian earlier this year, the team at Google AdWords has implemented a ‘Top vs Side’ segment that monitors the performance of ads by differentiating between the resulting auction positions; recognising this as a distinct metric from the more general term ‘page position’.  As the team at AdWords explain in their recent post detailing the changes that have been implemented, and providing an overview on the impact when using the Google AdWords dashboard to monitor the success of an ad featured in sponsored links, with the updated average position metrics: “you can better optimize your search campaigns by more deeply examining the relationship between your ads’ locations and their clicks and conversions”.

This update gives Google AdWords users more control over monitoring the best position to place their ad, as well as providing the opportunity to identify the response to their campaigns or products online: “brand advertisers can now get better visibility into when and where their critical brand terms are triggering ads above search results”.  The update is one of a range of new functionalities incorporated in the Google AdWords dashboard; a tool that is under constant development, with feedback from users providing a pivotal dialogue; giving the team at AdWords the information they need to evolve and develop their portfolio of products in response to the changes that users want.

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Via the Google AdWords blog, a YouTube video providing the keynote speech in full, demonstrates how the future, as Google sees it, of display advertising is to progress:

New technologies in display advertising are resulting in better user experiences, better advertiser results and incredible growth for the industry. We’re investing significantly to help improve display advertising for advertisers, publishers and users [...] where people connect and respond to display ads in ways we’ve never seen before.”

In his keynote speech Mohan identified online advertising as the second largest advertising platform, conceding first place to television.  This provides an insight into the exponential growth of the online advertising market, overtaking other mediums such as radio and print; display advertising makes up an incredible 40% of this space, and according to Google, is growing by 25% year on year.

As well as highlighting the impact that online advertising is having on the way people engage with their customers, Mohan also identified Google’s key strategies in the continued development of this area, by providing users and businesses with targeting, optimization and monitoring tools, to measure the success of campaigns; with specific focus on the Google AdWords platform, helping businesses boost website traffic and sales.  The adoption of these resources, for many organisations, has lead to revenue increases of up to three times what they were before using Google AdWords.

In his keynote speech Mohan claims that until now, businesses have been guilty of forgetting who they are trying to reach with their campaigns, and often users are “an afterthought” in their design and implementation.  According to research conducted by Google relating to the emotional responses of people to online campaigns, contrary to other similar studies, Google found that users actually preferred other mediums for advertising, with display ads coming behind more traditional approaches such as printed formats.  Mohan drew on these findings to convey his, and Google’s focus; to make online advertising unanimously the most popular platform for users to engage with businesses and their products, through sight, sound and interactivity:

“I think it’s imperative that we improve the advocacy of these ads in terms of making an emotional connection with users, making them user focused, making them a lot more relevant, interactive and truly engaging for users”.

The impact that these new approaches will have upon the advertising industry, as it evolves to meet the demands of the consumer, and the ever increasing volume of advertisements competing for the attention of their target audience, remains to be seen; but investment by Google into researching this field, and the results they have already found and published, provides compelling evidence about the power that user control will have over the way a message is conveyed to them by advertisers in the future.

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“With more than 165 million tablets expected to ship over the next two years, tablets are becoming a popular device with engaged, tech-savvy consumers. So we’re pleased to announce that we’re developing new targeting options to help you better connect with this audience. To give you greater control over your AdWords ads, we’re changing the way you can target tablet devices.”

Although initially users will only be able to target Apple devices, other vendors mobile devices will be added to the portfolio of products available to advertisers over the coming months: “Tablet targeting will be available initially for Apple devices only, but we’ll expand ad serving to other specific devices in the near future”.

Advertising via the tablet market has proved to be a lucrative step for many businesses, with a report published in CBS News Business claiming that newspapers and magazines are getting up to 5 times the amount for advertisements placed in iPad applications, testament to the exposure that an advert published on an iPad app is likely to receive.  Google’s inclusion of Apple products in the first instance demonstrates their dominance in the tablet arena, but plans are underway to include additional options for other vendors and operating systems:

“While you’ve been able to specifically target Apple iPad devices in the past, the new capability will enable you to easily target your ads to the entire tablet device category. In addition, you’ll be able to select more precisely the types of devices and operating systems on which your AdWords ads will show. For example, to display your ads on the Apple iPad, you’ll be able to choose “Tablets with full browsers” as your device targeting setting and “iOS” as your operating system setting.”

Existing services available to AdWords subscribers have opened up the network of mobile Internet users as a target market for businesses using Google mobile ads tools, providing the ability to publish text, display and rich media advertisements on mobile phones using a variety of platforms including: mobile search pages, websites, applications and even YouTube for mobile. With Smartphones providing new opportunities for generating revenue through targeted campaigns, the tablet market has further enhanced the possibilities available to businesses, and with the ever increasing volume of tablet sales, the market is a lucrative one; for both hardware manufacturers and advertisers.

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Words on websites will now be monitored, to the extent that Tweets posted on Twitter and Facebook profiles can be watched to ensure that firms do not give out misleading information. The new legislation can be applied to any communication which constitutes a form of marketing, even if the words are not presented as an actual advert online. Prior to the ruling, the ASA only had jurisdiction over published adverts which were paid for on the web.

The changes to the law have come about as a result of the fact that the ASA have received almost five thousand complaints about wording on websites which contravene basic marketing standards since 2008, and yet as they were not related to paid adverts, the governing authority were powerless to take any action to remove them from the public view.

The chief executive of the ASA, Guy Parker commented: “These are claims that are very similar to the claims that [the public] are used to seeing in adverts that appear in media like TV, radio, posters and print. The new powers will help to tackle a growing number of complaints about the way companies sell themselves on the web. Extending the UK advertising code to non paid-for statements means that these, like paid-for adverts, must not harm, mislead or offend.”

However, Vincent-Wayne Mitchell, the professor of consumer marketing at London’s Cass Business School, has commented: “I could have an advert up on the internet for a week or for an hour, cause widespread confusion, get sales from that, and then withdraw it. The only punishment that the ASA has is withdrawal, but I can have that as part of my own marketing strategy.”

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As a result of recent UK legislation, Google Adwords is no longer able to accept advertisements which offer personal loans and credit cards which refer to APR rates, credit values and special offers that do not comply with UK rulings on the transparency of financial services offered online. Google have stated: “If an ad text promotes the rate of interest and/or cost of the credit, the landing page must show the following information presented in a clear and concise manner:

Contact details of the company (name and address) The words ‘Representative example’ prominently displayed next to the information below “Representative example” has to include the interest rate (fixed, variable or both) Any Total Cost of Credit (TCC) charges – details of any fees or charges included Total amount of credit Representative APR value”

In addition, there is a new ruling relating to unauthorised health products which prohibits the sale of pharmaceuticals and supplements which have not been regulated by the relevant government bodies. The rules apply to all global organisations which provide products relating to healthcare including vitamins, drugs and supplements. The new ruling has been made as a result of the promotion of so called ‘Miracle Cures’ online, particularly in Hong Kong, where companies advertise the availability of unregulated substances.

Adverts are no longer able to promote cures for ailments including obesity, hair loss and erectile dysfunction if they have not been proven to work and passed by their country’s regulatory authorities. This new rule for Adwords has been passed in line with legal requirements, and Google will be sending updated versions of their policy to all advertisers who will be affected by the new ruling.

Organisations which use PPC can check the status of Adwords updates and changes to legislation by visiting the Google Adwords site.

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The analysis has concluded that a single print reader is worth four times as much to a service provider as any online reader when it comes to responding to advertising. Despite the fact that printed media costs more to produce and distribute than online services, it seems that marketers are better off using their marketing spend on printed vehicles when it comes to attracting the attention of potential customers.

A Deloitte report also backs up the research by Enders Analysis. The report focussed upon collating data from over two thousand people, asking the respondents to name the most effective advertising vehicles for getting them to make purchasing decisions. While television came out on top of the poll, with over half of respondents naming it as being the most effective, newspapers ran a close second, with magazines and radio taking up the next popularity spots.

The people surveyed named online advertising as being just three percent effective, with iPhone advertisements gaining just one percent of the votes. It seems that despite the efficiency of online advertising, people are not yet ready to be swayed when it comes to making purchasing decisions based upon web advertising. In this digital age, the customer base for each industry is still much more likely to respond to marketing which comes in a printed format, as it is more trusted to promote reliable services and products.

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The goals service in the opportunity tab supports customers in setting three differentiations for their AdWords. They enable users to choose to either maintain or decrease the cost of their service, so that people can find ideas that will support a reduction in price for the service or maintain their current expenditure.

In addition, there is the option for people to increase the amount of traffic which they generate by searching from a list of innovations to enhance their service (for different levels of cost), and also balance cost over traffic, by reviewing a mix of ideas that are aimed at either increasing traffic or decreasing costs.

Although the new goal-setting service is a limited release option, it promises to be a success with AdWord customers. Seller rating extensions make it easier for potential customers to identify service providers when they’re searching on Google, by attaching merchant star ratings to AdWords ads. The ratings enable people to find merchants that are highly recommended by other shoppers.

Google customers who have an online store with a high product rating and over thirty reviews, will automatically get seller ratings alongside their adverts. They will only be charged if someone clicks the headline of the advert.

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The search engine leader started last year by allowing the advertising of certain beers and  followed that up recently by relaxing the regulations on hard liquors like whisky and tequila. Adwords have however, stopped short of fully lifting the ban – they’ve just fudged it slightly. So, if you’re a purveyor of hard alcohol online what can and can’t you do?

Well basically it amounts to this. You cannot ‘directly promote the sale of hard alcahol,’ however, you are allowed to promote it as part of a recipe. You may also create adverts, ‘with the sole purpose of branding.’

Still confused? I don’t blame you. Okay, what I think they mean by branding is this, anything that doesn’t directly offer the sale of alcohol. Stuff that promotes the product as a concept or promotes its flavour/image is fine i.e., Describing something’s ‘cool crisp taste,’ or ‘earthy flavour,’ s perfectly okay, blatantly stating ‘Cheap Vodka available $6.99 a litre!’ isn’t.

Basically you need to get creative. Have a look at other adverts to get a better idea of what you can get away with.

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This idea is taken further with the monthly option. When you have your budget set to monthly the budget is adjusted dynamically every day, allowing more money to be spent on the busier days. Adwords still stays within the set budget for the month, it simply concentrates resources where they are most needed. For example, if you get a lot of clicks on the weekend and very few during the week then Adwords will make sure that most of the budget is concentrated on the weekend.

Of course it means that Adwords makes more money, but it’s not like you’ll be spending money you hadn’t budgeted for. To me it seems like a good idea, I hope it comes in properly soon.

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This sort of thing is allowed to happen because of the sheer weight of Adverts that are submitted to Adwords. Google’s resources are great but not infinite, they most likely have thousands and thousands of prospective adverts to approve or reject every day – it stands to reason that some dodgy ones are going to get through.

So what do you do? Well, firstly, don’t overreact. Adwords is still a great programme, and probably one of the best ways to get your message to all those lovely prospective clients out there in internet land.

The thing to remember is that Google is not God. What I’m driving at is they’re not infallible. You should be careful at all times online and no less so when using a programme that you know and trust. If adwords serves you up an advert that you think might be suspect, do not simply click on it because it’s from uncle Google. View it like you would normally and, if in doubt, DO NOT CLICK.

If you keep your wits about you there should be no reason to worry.

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Case in point: Adwords. Recent reports have indicated that the number one online marketing tool can be exploited by malicious programmers. Apparently it is possible to subvert Adwords, making it into a vehicle for pushing malware and phishing sites by showing users adverts for spurious websites that turn out to be nothing more than vehicles to infect their computers.

Continued later…

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