Breaking Out of the “+1” Mindset (SES Magazine)
Canada has weathered the economic downturn better than any other G7 nation. With a high level of economic, cultural, and technological development and a favorable trading relationship and cultural integration with the US, it can hardly be described as hurting. Since nothing’s terribly broken, creating a sense of urgency around living up to our […]
After Recent Revenue Grabs, Won’t Google Be Right Back Where It Started?
The problem Google faces is that, at the end of the day, it’s running an auction. It’s been a long while since anyone fully believed in the old, innocent “Don’t be evil” image of Google. The last 28 or so times I checked its quarterly financials, it appears to be running a business. And how! […]
Match Type Mayhem: Did AdWords Just Exit the High Road?
Yet another AdWords setting you should consider opting out of: “improved” phrase and exact match. Keyword match types have long been a cornerstone of keyword-triggered advertising. Starting early on, Google AdWords offered three types: broad, phrase, and exact. Over the years, there have been significant additions and modifications to the lineup, but one thing was […]
Managing to Metrics: 3 Pitfalls
How campaign managers are tackling bid automation today. I spend a lot of time trying to convince people that of all the actions we can take to improve performance in the keyword auction, bid management is possibly the most routine and non-subjective part of the job. As such, your organization (or you, as a professional) […]
3 AdWords Foibles That Are (Still) Costing You Money
Why are so many advanced features being added to AdWords, while basic fixes to workflow that affect testing and targeting are not being fixed? Google – the leading digital advertising company on Earth – is poised to release a new wave of innovations to build on the array of tools and formats already available. There […]
It’s the End of SEO as We Know It (and I Feel Fine)
Now is the perfect time to liberate yourself from the algorithm. Back in 2001, search was cool. It was the golden age of Google, when the company was so confident you would find relevant results that it had an “I’m Feeling Lucky” button that would take you directly to the first Google result. (Yes, the […]
Don’t Drink This ‘Failure Cocktail’ in 2012
Limiting confirmation bias – the biggest threat to having your biggest year ever. I know of no correlation between what you chose to drink to ring in the new year, and your level of success in the following year. It’s safe to say, though, that the Kool-Aid you drink to inform your ongoing strategy and […]
Filtering ‘Bad’ Traffic: For Best Results, Get Beyond Good and Evil
Is that questionable traffic segment worthless? Or merely worth less? In some parts of the world, lengthy conversations are still being held on the subject of persuading clients to devote enough budget to digital. In light of past battles nearly won, it’s particularly maddening that some paid search campaign managers seem so bent on handcuffing […]
Top 5 Worst Practices in Paid Search
The main reasons clients give for switching from their current PPC service provider. There is a saying in advertising: “Clients change agencies like they change [keyword: socks or underwear].” The reality is a little less volatile, given that familiarity and relationships often prevail in business, usually for the right reasons. A better analogy – when […]
How I Use ACE to Be the Geraldo Rivera of PPC
Put conspiracy theories about AdWords Campaign Experiments to bed with these three cases. Investigative journalism: some view it as merely casual entertainment; to others, it represents the beating heart of truth, justice, and freedom. From Geraldo Rivera to Dateline; NBC to Malcolm Gladwell, there’s nothing quite like shining the cold bright light of reality onto […]