Michelle Cruz says, “Not only do ad extensions work to encourage immediate sales, but they can also be used to move consumers along the decision journey/buy cycle. In our work, we’ve effectively used ad extensions in many stages of the buy cycle, for instance: When searchers research products online (research stage) When searchers home in on a specific product When searchers want to see products in person/offline And, of course, when they are ready to buy something immediately (online/offline) In this article, I’ll cover appropriate ad extensions for the decision journey stages... [...]

Michelle Cruz says, “Gone are the days when Bing took years to catch up to the new and innovative applications Google had launched within AdWords. In recent months, Bing Ads has been able to quickly implement comparable tools and features — indeed, they even have some unique features that AdWords does not offer. Unfortunately, Bing is still often seen as the secondary choice when launching a paid search campaign. Marketers underestimate the true value of this ad platform and its unique audience. I have had great success with Bing campaigns; in some instances, the results far surpass outcomes... [...]

Craig Simpson says, “The tendency for the mind to go blank and lose touch with any creative impulse has stymied the efforts of many copywriters. But legendary copywriter Eugene Schwartz claimed never to have been plagued by writer’s block, and it was for a simple reason: He’d developed a surefire method that enabled him to get right to work, without wandering around in that limbo of helplessness. He would start by reading the book he was to sell, maybe four times. Each time he read it, he’d highlight lines and phrases he thought were important or sounded interesting. By the time... [...]

Frederick Vallaeys says, “I’m always looking for an edge in PPC so that my campaign’s performance will shine in a very competitive landscape. Back in 2013, I started talking about how to use programming to set up time-saving and performance-boosting automations with AdWords Scripts, at the time among the newest capabilities in AdWords. But now that we’re about to head into 2017, there’s an entirely different AdWords power feature that is starting to let us use programming to improve performance: ad customizers (“customizers” for short). Customizers sit at the intersection of... [...]

Barry Levine says, “If you’ve noticed that more and more billboards have essentially become giant TV screens, then you’re watching the out-of-home (OOH) industry slowly grow into something resembling the online ad industry. This week, a Santa Monica, California-based startup called AdQuick launched its first product, a platform that is designed to manage the OOH ecosystem — including screens in bus shelters or displays on the sides of buildings, as well as billboards. But the industry still has a ways to go. Founder and CEO Matthew O’Connor told me that well over 90 percent of OOH... [...]

Brian Patterson says, “I’m always looking for an edge in PPC so that my campaign’s performance will shine in a very competitive landscape. Back in 2013, I started talking about how to use programming to set up time-saving and performance-boosting automations with AdWords Scripts, at the time among the newest capabilities in AdWords. But now that we’re about to head into 2017, there’s an entirely different AdWords power feature that is starting to let us use programming to improve performance: ad customizers (“customizers” for short). Customizers sit at the intersection of two... [...]

Andy Beohar says, “Expanded Text Ads (ETAs), announced in July of 2016, are considered by most industry observers to be the biggest change to Google Adwords in 16 years. Google’s new ETAs provide for an increase of 50 percent more ad space. Plus, ETAs pack in a few other exciting features as well. Numerous strategies and best practices have been developed over the years for the standard text ad format, but unfortunately, most of these don’t translate to expanded text ads. And, businesses are now having to scramble to update their ads before Google stops supporting the old format in January. The... [...]

Carl Erik Kjærsgaard says, “There’s a reason transparency is such an important topic of discussion throughout the industry. In June, the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) published a bombshell of a report revealing that executives were aware of — and sometimes mandated — extensive use of nontransparent practices like rebates and kickbacks. As a direct response to the report, JPMorgan Chase sent shockwaves throughout the industry when it became the first big brand to hire a team of auditors to examine its media agency. Ultimately, Chase wanted to ensure “that they are getting... [...]

Patricio Robles says, “Donald Trump’s upset victory in the 2016 U.S. presidential election has sparked a vigorous debate about the role of the internet in promoting the spread of misinformation. Much of this debate has focused on fake news sites and how articles they published found an audience thanks to the algorithms used by social networks and search engines. In many cases, these fake news sites were not intended to sway public opinion but instead to generate ad revenue for their creators. According to BuzzFeed News, teens in a small town in Macedonia were behind more than 100 pro-Trump... [...]

Ginny Marvin says, “A new Google AdWords ad extension has been spotted in the wild. Moz’s Dr. Pete notice a new promotion extension being tested in a text ad. First are Consumer Ratings Annotations, next up is the new Promo Extension that’s being tested, followed by Sitelink Extensions, and finally, a Location Extension. The promotion extension (official name TBA) features an offer followed by some descriptive copy (Here Williams-Sonoma is using a promo code, but I’m guessing a code does not always have to be included). Merchant Promotions that feature the same tag icon shown in... [...]