The Top 3 PPC Innovations of 2009
Well, the New Year is here and believe it or not, it's 2010. I know, everybody makes "top" lists around this time of year, but there were some great PPC innovations in 2009 that I can't let go by without mentioning.
#1 - The New Adwords Interface. Around mid-year, Google released a beta version of a very different Adwords user interface. Early on, it was much maligned for issues such as horizontal scrolling and instability. Google, in its usual fashion, took the criticism in stride and gradually made improvements (I guess that's the point of a beta, right?). At the end of July, the interface came out of beta and everyone was ported over whether they liked it or not.
I was one of the early detractors of the new interface, but I have to say that now that I'm used to it, it's one of the greatest PPC innovations not only of 2009, but of the past 5 years. I love the graphs that show trends in impressions, clicks, conversion rate, and/or a number of other metrics - enabling users to spot issues instantly. And many functions that once required running and poring over multiple reports now can be performed right in the interface. Placement performance reports are nearly a thing of the past - I can see how individual content sites are performing right in the interface. Search query reports also can be run in-line. You can even segment by day of week, network, or device - right in the interface. I sound like a broken record, but it's really cool and a huge time saver.
#2 -Bing. While Microsoft's rollout of their new "decision engine" isn't strictly a PPC move, it's definitely had a ripple effect on PPC. While market share for Bing is still paltry compared to Google, it's growing - and PPC advertisers are seeing increased traffic as a result. While some of our Fluency Media advertisers haven't seen a lift, others have - especially those in the travel vertical. Bing is really a pretty good search engine, and I expect big things from them in 2010.
#3 - Yahoo's so-called auto-optimization debacle. Way back in January 2009, Yahoo changed their Terms and Conditions, allowing them to "auto-optimize" PPC accounts. The PPC engines have offered optimization recommendations for years. Our Google reps regularly provide optimization suggestions for our clients' accounts. The difference with Yahoo is that they (1) created new campaigns without input from the account manager, and (2) implemented the campaigns live without permission, or even knowledge, of the account manager.
This caused a huge stir in the SEM industry, with recognized experts denouncing the practice. While Yahoo tried to defend themselves, no one was buying it.
Personally, I was able to get our rep to opt us out of auto-optimization, but it was a terrible experience all around.
Well, those are my top 3 of 2009 - what were yours? Share them in the comments!
#1 - The New Adwords Interface. Around mid-year, Google released a beta version of a very different Adwords user interface. Early on, it was much maligned for issues such as horizontal scrolling and instability. Google, in its usual fashion, took the criticism in stride and gradually made improvements (I guess that's the point of a beta, right?). At the end of July, the interface came out of beta and everyone was ported over whether they liked it or not.
I was one of the early detractors of the new interface, but I have to say that now that I'm used to it, it's one of the greatest PPC innovations not only of 2009, but of the past 5 years. I love the graphs that show trends in impressions, clicks, conversion rate, and/or a number of other metrics - enabling users to spot issues instantly. And many functions that once required running and poring over multiple reports now can be performed right in the interface. Placement performance reports are nearly a thing of the past - I can see how individual content sites are performing right in the interface. Search query reports also can be run in-line. You can even segment by day of week, network, or device - right in the interface. I sound like a broken record, but it's really cool and a huge time saver.
#2 -Bing. While Microsoft's rollout of their new "decision engine" isn't strictly a PPC move, it's definitely had a ripple effect on PPC. While market share for Bing is still paltry compared to Google, it's growing - and PPC advertisers are seeing increased traffic as a result. While some of our Fluency Media advertisers haven't seen a lift, others have - especially those in the travel vertical. Bing is really a pretty good search engine, and I expect big things from them in 2010.
#3 - Yahoo's so-called auto-optimization debacle. Way back in January 2009, Yahoo changed their Terms and Conditions, allowing them to "auto-optimize" PPC accounts. The PPC engines have offered optimization recommendations for years. Our Google reps regularly provide optimization suggestions for our clients' accounts. The difference with Yahoo is that they (1) created new campaigns without input from the account manager, and (2) implemented the campaigns live without permission, or even knowledge, of the account manager.
This caused a huge stir in the SEM industry, with recognized experts denouncing the practice. While Yahoo tried to defend themselves, no one was buying it.
Personally, I was able to get our rep to opt us out of auto-optimization, but it was a terrible experience all around.
Well, those are my top 3 of 2009 - what were yours? Share them in the comments!
Labels: adwords, Bing, search engine marketing, yahoo search marketing
posted by Melissa at
7:49 PM
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