Best Way To Learn About AdSense, Sign Up For A Webinar

AdSense is so simple and complex at the same time. I learned a lot from AdSense Help pages, AdSense Google Groups and Youtube videos offered by AdSense team.
Now the same team is offering free online webinars for the same purpose. These webinars focus on specific subjects or topics like increasing your revenue with the AdSense. The other advantage is that you will be able to ask questions at the end of webinar on the topic.
There are more webinars planned for 2009 and you can register for them at AdSense.
Inside AdSense: Connect with AdSense via online webinars

Google AdSense Adds More Countries To Western Union Quick Cash Payment System.

Making it easier and faster to get AdSense revenue to publishers hands, Google AdSense has added more countries the list of countries supported by Western Union Quick Cash Payment System. The countries added are;

Puerto Rico
Jamaica
Virgin Islands (British)
Ecuador
Costa Rica
Paraguay

But there are some limitations. Google will only send Western Union payments to publisher who has an Individual account at this time, and the payee name on your account must exactly match the government issued ID card that you'll use while picking up your payments.
To learn how to sign up to receive Western Union payments, and instructions on how to pick up your payments please visit our Help Center.
Inside AdSense: Western Union launched in new countries

Google sessions @ ad:tech NY

The Google Ads Factory Tour, 11/4-11/5/09

The Factory Tour will span 10 hours of live workshops designed to give you an overview of Google's latest measurement and optimization tools. Here's the full two-day agenda:

Wednesday, November 4 - Optimizing Search & Display

11:00am-12:00pm AdWords Optimization Tools: Smarter Search Management

12:00pm-1:00pm Conversion Optimizer: The Next Generation of AdWords Bidding

2:00-2:30pm Google Content Network: Matching Solutions to Advertisers

2:30-3:30pm Google Content Network: Creating Effective Campaigns

3:30-4:30pm Google Content Network: Optimizing for Results

4:30-5:00pm Automating Content Network Campaigns Through the AdWords API

Thursday, November 5 - Measurement, Ads Quality, Mobile & Local

11:00am-12:00pm Google Campaign Insights: What to Measure and When

12:00-1:00pm Google Campaign Insights: A Behind the Scenes Look at the Technology

2:00-3:00pm Google Analytics & Website Optimizer: Making the Most of Your Traffic

3:00-4:00pm Google Search Ads Quality: What It Is and How to Improve It

4:00-5:00pm Local and Mobile Ads: How to Use Location to Drive Results

You can stop by for a single session, or stay for the whole event. The Factory Tour is open to all exhibit hall and conference pass holders. For more information, check the ad:tech events page.

If you haven't yet signed up for ad:tech or CRS, registration is still open. You can enter the promotional code 20EXNY9 to receive 20% off an ad:tech full conference pass. If you're only attending CRS, enter the code CRSGoogle to receive $100 off the price of your CRS conference pass.
Reminder: Google sessions @ ad:tech NY next week

Translating AdWords campaigns with Google Translator Toolkit

If you are advertising in multiple countries or in countries with multiple languages, you may have spent a good time, translating in between those languages for website as well as the adwords.
Now Google has come from behind to help you with faster and easier translation, translation search, bilingual dictionaries and terminology databases which are custom for you.
In order to use the features, and translate your keywords, ad text by uploading AdWords Editor Archive (AEA) into Google Translator Toolkit.
Once you are done with translating work, you can get the campaign back and upload into your AdWords Editor.
AdWords Editor
AdWords Traffic Estimator.

Inside AdWords: Translate your AdWords campaigns with Translator Toolkit

IP Address Range for Google Affiliate Network Is Changing.

Please note that the Google Affiliate Network's IP address range is changing and if you have any automated reporting, Product feeds, or link subscriptions you might be affected.
Also if you are separating outside world with a firewall, add the new range to the allowed IP addresss'. Make sure to add the new IP network (216.73.92.0/23) range to firewall settings by 10/26 and leave the old IP network range (65.167.65.0/24) until November 8th, the old range can be removed from your firewall settings.
Google Affiliate Network: IP Address Range for Google Affiliate Network

Are You Planing On "Going Google"? Millions Of Businesses Around The World Have "Gone Google"!

Millions of companies, Universities and ordinary people "go Google" by switching to Google Apps, everyday. We too use Google Apps and other services from Google for our work and our hobbies.
There are more than 100 countries using Google Apps in 40 languages, which has lead to 2 million companies and 20 million individuals adopting the Apps for their workplace.
It is not only small companies that "Go Google", recently companies such as Konica Minolta, Rentokil Initial and TOTO that have just decided to go Google. (There are more, watch the video below) These companies no longer have to deal with the hassles of managing email servers or rolling out software updates, and their employees now enjoy the convenience of shared documents and calendars, Gmail and more.
I guess it is something that really can help you, small business do not have to go through these hassles either.
More importanly, the marketing types could learn from the marketing campaign the Google is running and every link above hints at how they run it. A simple blog post could be a seed of much larger marketing campaign.

Official Google Blog: "Going Google" with millions of businesses around the world

Google Removes Page Rank Info From Webmaster Tools!

Even though page rank has been running along side with  Google and Search, replying to a users question, a Google employee has responded that Google Has removed the page rank information from webmaster tools because it wants you to forget about it!

Susan Moskwa (Google Employee) We've been telling people for a long time that they shouldn't focus on PageRank so much; many site owners seem to think it's the most important metric for them to track, which is simply not true. We removed it because we felt it was silly to tell people not to think about it, but then to show them the data, implying that they should look at it.  :-)

More details on why not to obsess over PageRank here:
   http://sites.google.com/site/webmasterhelpforum/en/faq--crawling--indexing---ranking#pagerank

You can find the original discussion here

Google AdWords Team Will Be At ad:tech

One of our team always managed to get to a ad:tech when ever it is possible. But we are going to miss this ad:tech New York session, specially knowing that Google AdWords team will be presenting some really good sessions.

The Google Ads Factory Tour, 11/4/09-11/5/09

The Factory Tour consists of two days of live workshops at ad:tech NY designed to provide you with a comprehensive overview of Google's latest measurement and optimization tools. You'll hear directly from the Google ads team and walk away with practical tips you can immediately use to improve your search and display performance.

On day one, we'll spend the morning highlighting recently released AdWords search optimization tools such as the Opportunities tab and Bid Simulator, and in the afternoon we'll take you through effective optimization techniques for text and display campaigns on the Google Content Network.

The second day we'll expand our scope to cover measurement tools such as Google Analytics and Website Optimizer, search ads quality, and advertising strategies for local and mobile campaigns.

The Factory Tour is open to all exhibit hall and conference passholders.

Content Revenue Strategies, 11/5/09

Formerly known as ADSPACE, CRS is the first and only expo dedicated to AdSense and contextual advertising. CRS will take place alongside ad:tech New York and offers sessions tailored to advertisers as well as small and medium sized publishers. Here you can attend sessions designed to help you maximize your performance on Google’s Content Network and emerging blog, video and social media networks.

Both CRS and the Google Ads Factory Tour will be held in the Javits Center along with the rest of ad:tech NY. You can register ahead of time and save on admission fees, unless of course you are super rich!.
Google also published promotional codes for you to consume.

Enter the promotional code 20EXNY9 to receive 20% off an ad:tech full conference pass. If you're only attending CRS, enter the code CRSGoogle to receive $100 off the price of your CRS conference pass.

Inside AdWords: Meet the Google team at ad:tech

New FTC Guidelines On Advertising

The US Federal Trade Commission has released revised guidelines for advertising, governing endorsements and testimonials. These guidelines will come into effect on December 1, 2009.
Most notable for us blogger is the fact that it is now required to disclose compensation received directly or indirectly from the seller of that product or service, the blogger endorses.
Google Affiliate Network blog, which you have a link below, have posted a several resources to help you understand these guidelines.
But the ultimately the best is your own legal counsel will be the best source of advise for these situations.
You can review the FTC press release (also found below) or the full text of the FTC guidelines and make yourself familier with the situation.
FTC PRESS RELEASE

For Release: 10/05/2009

FTC Publishes Final Guides Governing Endorsements, Testimonials

Changes Affect Testimonial Advertisements, Bloggers, Celebrity Endorsements

The Federal Trade Commission today announced that it has approved final revisions to the guidance it gives to advertisers on how to keep their endorsement and testimonial ads in line with the FTC Act.
The notice incorporates several changes to the FTC’s Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising, which address endorsements by consumers, experts, organizations, and celebrities, as well as the disclosure of important connections between advertisers and endorsers. The Guides were last updated in 1980.
Under the revised Guides, advertisements that feature a consumer and convey his or her experience with a product or service as typical when that is not the case will be required to clearly disclose the results that consumers can generally expect. In contrast to the 1980 version of the Guides – which allowed advertisers to describe unusual results in a testimonial as long as they included a disclaimer such as “results not typical” – the revised Guides no longer contain this safe harbor.
The revised Guides also add new examples to illustrate the long standing principle that “material connections” (sometimes payments or free products) between advertisers and endorsers – connections that consumers would not expect – must be disclosed. These examples address what constitutes an endorsement when the message is conveyed by bloggers or other “word-of-mouth” marketers. The revised Guides specify that while decisions will be reached on a case-by-case basis, the post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement. Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service. Likewise, if a company refers in an advertisement to the findings of a research organization that conducted research sponsored by the company, the advertisement must disclose the connection between the advertiser and the research organization. And a paid endorsement – like any other advertisement – is deceptive if it makes false or misleading claims.
Celebrity endorsers also are addressed in the revised Guides. While the 1980 Guides did not explicitly state that endorsers as well as advertisers could be liable under the FTC Act for statements they make in an endorsement, the revised Guides reflect Commission case law and clearly state that both advertisers and endorsers may be liable for false or unsubstantiated claims made in an endorsement – or for failure to disclose material connections between the advertiser and endorsers. The revised Guides also make it clear that celebrities have a duty to disclose their relationships with advertisers when making endorsements outside the context of traditional ads, such as on talk shows or in social media.
The Guides are administrative interpretations of the law intended to help advertisers comply with the Federal Trade Commission Act; they are not binding law themselves. In any law enforcement action challenging the allegedly deceptive use of testimonials or endorsements, the Commission would have the burden of proving that the challenged conduct violates the FTC Act.
The Commission vote approving issuance of the Federal Register notice detailing the changes was 4-0. The notice will be published in the Federal Register shortly, and is available now on the FTC’s Web site as a link to this press release. Copies also are available from the FTC’s Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20580.
The Federal Trade Commission works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish, visit the FTC’s online Complaint Assistant or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357). The FTC enters complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to more than 1,700 civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad. The FTC’s Web site provides free information on a variety of consumer topics.

Google Affiliate Network: New FTC Advertising Guidelines

AdSense for Mobile Gets Optimized For SmartPhones

The growth of high end smartphones like like iPhone, Android-powered devices and the Palm Pre, has not gone unnoticed by advertisers or the agencies nor the analysts like Gartner which has estimated that smartphones sales will soar by 27% in 2009, to 177 million units, globally.
So keeping up with times, Google AdSense Mobile Publishers are getting ability to publish text and image ads from Google AdSense on their sites.
You can get more info on these products at search ad options for high-end phones and AdSense for mobile applications.
You also wll be get more information from the Inside AdSense Blog, which we follow regularly

Official Google Mobile Blog: AdSense for Mobile optimized for high-end phones

New Google AdWords Keyword and Placement Tools Beta Released.

If you are a Google AdWords user, there is some good news for you . The AdWords team has released a new beta versions of the Keyword and placement tools.

The updated Placement Tool (beta)

As with the updated Keyword Tool, you can now search for placements by any combination of keyword, website/URL, or category. For example, you can search for placements that are only on youtube.com that are also video placements and that are also in the automotive category. Under Advanced Options, you can also further filter placements by Country or Language, Impressions Per Day, Included Ad Sizes (those sizes offered by the content publisher for their offered placements), and demographic options.

The updated Keyword Tool is available via a link in the current Keyword Tool and the updated Placement Tool is available via a link on the Tools page.
So if you see those links in your AdWords account page, please use them and provide Google AdWords team with your input so that they can further hone the final version. Use "Send Feedback" link in your account.

Inside AdWords: Updated Versions of the Keyword and Placement Tools - Now in Beta

Bloggers wanted! By Blogger

Google Blogger published today that they are looking for bloggers who are willing to document their blogging practice over few weeks and participate in some interview questionnaire. The input will help all of by providing even better blogging service by Blogger.

Details of the study:

* This a two week diary study, starting on a date between September 28th and October 2nd (you will have a small daily task to complete)
* Compensation for the diary study is $100 US dollars in American Express gift cheques.
* Some participants may be selected for a 60 minute follow-up session which can be run either at the Google campus in Mountain View, CA or run remotely via screen sharing ($75 incentive). These sessions will be run after the 2 week diary study is completed early-mid October.

To participate you will need to:
* be at least 18 years old
* be willing to sign our Usability Non-Disclosure Agreement

If you are selected for one of the 60 minute follow-up sessions, you will also need to:
* Allow us to video or audio tape the session
* have a desktop or laptop computer preferably with Windows 2000/XP/Vista with Internet Explorer or Firefox browsers installed
* have a Broadband Internet connection or stronger (DSL, Cable, T1 all fine)
* a phone next to your computer that we can use to call you during the study. A speaker phone is recommended.
***or you can participate in person, in Mountain View, CA

You can register at Google.
Blogger Buzz: Bloggers wanted!

Bing Gains 18% In August Web Searches

Experian® Hitwise® published today that BING is gaining since its launch. Google accounted for 70.24 percent of all U.S. searches conducted in the four weeks ending Aug. 29, 2009. Yahoo! Search 16.96%, Bing 9.48% and Ask.com received 2.37 percent.
The remaining 56 search engines in the Hitwise Search Engine Analysis Tool accounted for 0.95 percent of U.S. searches.

Bing had 8.02% share in the month of July. So it has gained 18 percent while all other search engines declined, Google, Yahoo and ASK had -2, -1 and -4 percent drop respectively in August.
Hitwise

Google Analytics API, How To Develop With Analytics.

Google Analytics have been very helpful to webmasters, marketeers and generally everyone. But what we do day to day with Google Analytics is tip of the ice berg. There are much more hidden under the skin and Google  coming forth with information and steps needed by developers need to take, in order to retrieve data from Google Analytics: Authentication, Account Query, and Profile/Report Query.
Once you watch the video, there is a link for samples of javascript to play with Google Analytics via the API.

 interactive javascript examples for Google Analytics API

Get Closer To Your Google Team With Twitter.

Google has said and of course some of you may have noticed that Google searches for "coupons" have gone 95% over the year and that people are searching for "things to do" over the summer. Perhaps these folks are land locked by financial crisis that most people are experiencing.
But did you know that Google has it's own industry groups? they are Google Auto, Media and Entertainment, Financial Services, Retail, Tech, and Travel.
All these groups keep you updated with

• The latest industry trends and information
• Google insights and news
• Relevant product information and updates

And if you follow them, you might uncover information such as "coupons" and "Things to do" before most others do and be able to leverage it your advantage. If you do that I am sure you will not be searching for "Coupons" nor "Things to do" because you do not have to!
So to make the following even easier all these groups are now on Twitter!
Use the links belows to follow your favorite(s), Auto, Media and Entertainment, Financial Services, Retail, Tech, and Travel.

Inside AdWords: Stay Connected with your Google Industry Team on Twitter

Google Analytics How To: Use Dashboard To Save Mutiple Clicks And Time!

I just read an post on Google Analytics blog about a small but a valuable tip;

 Once you have gone through and created a nice reports, of of those real deep level ones, like analyzing your visitors from different cities in your state or any other state of a country for that matter by;

Click Visitors

            Map Over Lay

                United States

                     and your preferred State.

If this is a report you would like to visit regularly, make it simple add it to your dash board!. So next time you can select it direct from the dashboard, saving a bunch of clicks and having to remember the steps.

Try it now. Go to one of your favorite reports that requires several clicks to access. Once you've arrived at the report you want --and at the level you want it -- click Add to Dashboard. (The Add to Dashboard button is at the top of your report on the left, next to the Export and Email buttons.)

 Google Analytics Blog

Google Captures reCAPTCHA

Official Google Blog: Teaching computers to read: Google acquires reCAPTCHA

reCAPTCHA that you and I have been using on many a sites like facebook, ticket Master and twitter to thwart spam bots and the like, has been acquired by Google.
But the reason for Google to capture reCAPTCHA was not to beat spammers (they might use it in places like blogger) but to use the technology to make it better for computers to read, like in reading (Character recognition) Google Books scanned pages (The real thing behind reCAPTHA);

"reCAPTCHA's unique technology improves the process that converts scanned images into plain text, known as Optical Character Recognition (OCR). This technology also powers large scale text scanning projects like Google Books and Google News Archive Search. Having the text version of documents is important because plain text can be searched, easily rendered on mobile devices and displayed to visually impaired users. So we'll be applying the technology within Google not only to increase fraud and spam protection for Google products but also to improve our books and newspaper scanning process."

I hope people will be able to continue to use the simple interface that reCAPTCHA provided to protect web sites.

If not Blame Canada

Find Your HIgh Performance Keywords Through Google Analytics.

Google Analytics is a tool that many things to many people. I use it constantly to measure and improve sites that I work with. Some are in the high echelons of performance and production. As a policy I do not links or name those sites.
The point for today is that you can use Google Analytics for your advantage and one such point is finding high performance keywords for you for further expanding their performance, and turning them into ultimate keyword for your site or sites that you manage.

Without further ado, here it is straight form the masters of Google Analytics.
Recently, a Google blog called Solutions for Southeast Asia wrote a post about this topic, covering the techniques to use Google Analytics and AdWords to find and add the most effective unused keywords. It's a great post - definitive and very thorough, going from soup to nuts, expanding on these steps:

Step 1: Ensure Goals and E-commerce Tracking are set up

Step 2: Access the Keywords Report
Step 3: Export non-paid keywords to a spreadsheet
Step 4: Expand the list of keywords using other Google products
Step 5: Download a list of keywords that you are already advertising on
Step 6: Identify keywords you are not advertising on
Step 7: Expand on these keywords and start advertising

The article Using Google Analytics To Identify High-Performing Keywords
Go find your high performance keywords, and make them better.

Google TV Ads Webinar On New Products Features

Google TV Ads team put together an introductory webinar last week to empower all TV Advertisers. It was a such a success that the team has decided to repeat it for those who missed it or want to learn more. There is a microsite and training videos to ease the transition as well.

Google TV Ads New Product Overview Webinar
Wednesday, August 26th at 10:00AM PT / 1:00PM ET
Please register here before the event starts

Here are some new features that will make managing TV campaigns easier:

* The Traffic Estimator tool is now integrated into the core campaign summary view
* Historical bid guidance will be available when researching networks and programs to add to your campaign
* New filtering capabilities allow sorting campaigns by custom dayparts, days of the week, and current bid
* Custom dayparts are much easier to build via the new drag and drop network/daypart selector


Let's Take it Offline: Upcoming Webinar: Google TV Ads New Product Overview

Tags: Google TV Ads

Google Services for Websites For Web Hosters And Access Providers.

GSFW
With Google Services for Websites, service providers, from ISPs to hosting services will be able to provide Google tools such as Webmaster Tools, Custom Search, Site Search and AdSense, easily accessible via their own control panels. The service providers could easily enable these services for their webmasters. The tools help clients understand search performance, improve user retention and monetize their content — in other words, run more effective websites. Happy users will make happy hosting service providers, they will in turn be able to improve user retention and extend the services even further.

Its easy to get started. Here's what you need to do:

1. Review the technical requirements for becoming a provider of Google Services for Websites.
2. Sign up for a standard Google Apps account for one of your company's domains. This domain will be used for all your customer accounts that use Google Services for Websites.
3. Complete the application to become a provider of Google Services for Websites.
4. Integrate with Google APIs.

Official Google Blog: New tools for Google Services for Websites

Tags: Webmaster Tools, Google Services for Websites, Custom Search, Site Search, AdSense

Skype Releases FREETALK Everyman

FREETALK Everyman Headphone.
Hardware falks at Skype (Yes apparently they got them too! :) have come out with a headphone mic combination that many swear by, makes your Skype calls pleasurable, both speaking and listening terms. It is Skype FreeTalk Everyman, Yes Every Woman too can use it as well!
It looks comfortable, like the huge headphone I use for music at home with 25 feet cord, which I also use for late night TV watching. Certainly I like this headphone to no end.
From the people who have used the new Skype FreeTalk Everyman, I hear praises, specially people like Andrew Brennan at Skype who thinks even him a more pleasant person to talk with. A Link to his review is at the end of the article.

As for the actual device, the Everyman headset has a sturdy plastic design. The headband adjusts to the size of your head and the flexible boom mic easily adjusts to the right place in front of your mouth. The mic could be folded up out of the way when you don't need it, like when you are listening to music. The earpieces could be folded inward, taking up less space for travel and storage.
The headset connects to your computer via USB, and fortunately the USB jack is quite small -- you shouldn't have a problem plugging into a Mac or other computer where your USB ports are close together. In addition to the USB connection, the headset also has a regular 3.5 mm headphone jack, giving you extra flexibility to use the headset with your MP3 player or other device when you're away from your computer.
According to the reviewer, the sound quality was really good -- the speakers are neodymium and have a wide frequency response range (20Hz-20KHz). This frequency range makes it also good for listening to music. The Everyman also supports Skype's recently introduced Super Wideband Audio codec.

Skype Gear Readtest

Tags: FREETALK Everyman Headphone, skype, FREETALK Everyman, Super Wideband Audio codec

Amazon Buys Zappos!

If the shoe fits, wear it!
I could not understand why Amazon would want to buy a e Commerce shoe company. But it was all clear after watching the Video from Jeff Bezos about Amazon and Zappos. What boils down that customer care, might bring 800MIL.
“Zappos is a customer focused company,” said Jeff Bezos, Founder and CEO of Amazon.com. “We see great opportunities for both companies to learn from each other and create even better experiences for our customers.”


Good luck Amazon, Zappos.

Tags: Amazon, Zappos

Twittering Googlers!

Google has posted a list of google accounts on twitter. So if you are a twittering kind (who are not?) follow the link below to add your favorite Googlers to your twitter.
Official Google Blog: Google accounts on Twitter

Tags: google accounts on twitter, google, Twitter

Official Google Blog: Introducing a collection of favorite places from around the world

Google Blog has a very nice post on favorite places of famous and some what famous (because I did not know about some of them) people.
I was glad that I have visited most of the places mentioned by most of the people. Yes it hurts to think that one day Maldivian Islands will disappear from the face of the earth. I really enjoyed my trips there.
I have dined at Alice waters Chez Pannise but have not had ice cream at her creamery in San Francisco. This is good and hot week hear in bay area and I am going to try those salted caramel icecream.
But there were many other places all over the world and some were new to me.
But the target of this write up is to tell you that not only Alice Waters but you too could get exposure to your business, be it a big huge famous on or tiny home based business, through Google's local places and businesses initiative. You can use tools like Google Maps and the Local Business Center to reach customers.
Follow the link below to learn about some interesting people and what they think are interesting.
\Official Google Blog: Introducing a collection of favorite places from around the world

Tags: Google Maps, Google Local Business Center

Successful Ad Campaign With Google Ad Planner

Google Ad Planner is a tool that helps you launch successful Ads. Even though it is targeted at Ad Agencies, anyone could register as long as you have a client ID number.
Google is having a Google Ad Planner Webinar take you through the proper use of it and researching your ad campaign with it.
It will be held on July 15 2009.
AdWords Agency Blog: Upcoming webinar: Google Ad Planner

Tags: Account Planner, Ad Planner, Media Buyer, Media Planner, Tools, Training

AdWords Accounts Offline on July 11th

AdWords will be Offline for access on July 11th between 10:00 AM and 2:00PM Pacific time. But your advertisement campaigns will continue to run.
Inside AdWords: AdWords system maintenance on July 11th

Tags: Google adwords, Inside AdWords, AdWords Offline

Glam Media Hints At Monetizing Twitter

According to two articles on TC, after which I am still looking for real deal, Glam Media says it is going to make money with Twitter. Or at least make it easier for advertisers to reach real time surf crowd.
This must be music to Twitter folks or is it?
TechCrunch

Tags: Twitter Ad Network, Twitter, Glam Media

New Ad Technologies And Award Hunters

Click on the image for a larger view, Coloribus has even a larger image

Cannes Lions 2009
Advertiser: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Agency: Jung von Matt, Hamburg
Country: Germany
Category: Public awareness messages
Awards: Cannes Lions 2009 Outdoor Silver
Type of Entry: Ambient
Category: Ambient: Digital Outdoor

Advertiser/Client: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Product/Service: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Entrant Company: JUNG von MATT Hamburg, GERMANY
Advertising Agency: JUNG von MATT Hamburg, GERMANY
Creative Credits
Executive Creative Director: Wolfgang Schneider/Mathias Stiller
Creative Director: David Mously/Jan Harbeck
Copywriter: Nicolas Linde
Account Supervisor: Frank Lotze/Ilan Schaefer/Ina Neumann/Melanie Ebensperger/Simone Buchcik
Art Buyer: Marjorie Jorrot
Art Director: Duc Nguyen
Photographer: Dirk Heinrich
Other Credits: Agency Producer: S. Hannemann/Media Agency: Wall Ag/Final Artwork: C. Von Bartkowski
[coloribus]

Tags: EYE TRACKING AD, JUNG von MATT Hamburg, Digital Outdoor, Cannes Lions 2009, Amnesty International

AdSense for Mobile Applications beta Is On The Move

Google AdSense has announced the beta launch of AdSense for Mobile Applications. With this service, people will be able to take their product advertisements to the ever expanding mobile user base with smartphones.
AdSense for Mobile Applications allows developers to earn revenue by displaying text and image ads in their iPhone and Android applications. Specially for the beta launch, Google has created a site where developers can learn more about the AdSense for Mobile Applications program.

Official Google Blog: Announcing the AdSense for Mobile Applications beta

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/

Tags: AdSense for Mobile Applications, iphone.android, smartphone, mobile advertising

Power Up Local Business With Google "The Local Business Center dashboard"

If you are in business, local or otherwise, and if you think that your local business will make a big difference in your income, google have come to your aid. Thanks to Local Business Center from Google, Google Maps and Google Search, you might also be able to get a lot of online traffic through your business listing.

It is not hard as it seems, Go to Local Business Center: http://www.google.com/lbc | Create a Local Business Center listing. This will certainly help clients find your business on Google and Google Maps. Once that is happening you can tap into the Google Analytics and power of Google's data to learn where your customers come from and what they search for to find you.
Official Google Blog: The Local Business Center dashboard opens its doors

Tags: Google Local Business Center, Google Analytics, Google LBC, Google Maps

AdMob Makes iPhone Apps Shine In Advertising World.

AdMob for iPhone geared towards apps for iPhone and iPhone web sites and allows advertisers to create ads that will be served to iPhone users. There are 8 types of Actions that advertisers can choose from to engage customers on the iPhone: Canvas, Maps, App Store, Audio, Web, iTunes, Video, & Call.
AdMob also promotes the “iPhone Download Exchange,” which allows application developers in AdMob’s ad network to allocate a portion of their ad inventory to an exchange. The exchange is used to help developers drive downloads. The idea is for its network of companies to help drive traffic to each other and of course increased downloads will advertisements, advertisers and ADMOB.

Tags: AdMob for iPhone, AdMob, iPhone

Google Searchology (Google Squared)

Google Searchology (Google Squared)
Google mentioned that the new twist in google search will appear in google labs no later than a month, perhaps at www.google.com/squared. Matt Cutts, the search engine guru, has a nice paragraph that explains the Google Squared.
“You can type in any search and this Google Lab (scheduled to launch later this month) will try to build a useful “Square” that you can save. In the demo, if you typed in “small dogs” then Google would try to return types of small dogs, along with facts like how much they weigh. It’s easy to add a row to the Square, so you could add a row for Lhasa Apso and Google will try to infer the relevant facts from the web. You can also add new columns, e.g. if you type “energy level” then Google will look for corroborating facts across the web and try to guess the energy level of each type of dog. I can personally attest that Google Squared can be as fun as Google Maps--you can easily burn an hour just typing in random things to see what Google can do for that search..”
I don't think we need Wolfram|Alpha. Or isit?
ThechCrunch has a good video of the Google Squared;

They also looked at Search Options;

Tags: Matt Cutts, Google Lab, Lhasa Apso, Google Squared

Microsoft Apple(d) Again.

Apple has done it again with a smart ad. Microsoft's attempt of being smart ads seem to fly out the window with this smug ad by Apple! As an Ad, I like it! As a Product, I love it. (I use both PC's and Macs) It is like having two kids, naughty hyper one and angelic one! Now Apple bring out an Angelic ad!

Tags: Microsoft Apple, Microsoft Apple ad campaign

Chromance, How Google Advertise On The Web and TV

It is a rush!
Google got an ad space on New York Times to promote Chrome, Google's web browser. The ad points to 11 short videos on Google's own YouTube, in the Chrome Channel. The same ads have hit TV on some markets. Too bad Google took away their Google TV Ads.
But Chrome, I like it, it is fast, each tab is a process (on windows machines) and not much to learn.

Tags: Google Chrome, Google Ads, Google TV Ads, chrome on TV

Link Your Adsense To Google Analytics And Learn Indepth Information On Traffic To Your Site

Inside AdSense: Analytics integration for all

AdSense publishers are able to view more detailed reports by linking their AdSense accounts to Analytics. Adsense has rolled out this feature to all publishers. You can see it on AdSense Reports Overview page. (see the video below).

Once Adsense and analytics are linked, You will be presented with an AdSense-specific menu under the 'Content' section of the left-hand navigation bar on your Analytics homepage, containing these reports:

• The Top AdSense Content report allows you to see more details about specific pages on your site and analyze ad performance. For instance, if you find that some of your pages generate a high number of pageviews but aren't monetizing as well as other pages, you can focus your optimization efforts on improving these pages.
  
• The Top AdSense Referrers report can help you see how different incoming traffic sources contribute to your revenue.
  
• Last, the AdSense Trending report lets you analyze how your site generates revenue during different times of the day and different days of the week.

What a betterway to find out about your traffic and the revenue streams.


For more information, visit https://www.google.com/adsense/suppor... .

Tags: AdSense Content, AdSense Referrers, AdSense Trending, AdSense publishers, Google Analytics

DoubleClick Studio And Rich Media Ads

Rich Media Ad
As a result of Google acquiring DoubleClick, everyone involved with advertising is benefiting in various forms. The latest being DoubleClick Studio, which allows one to create a feature rich mixed media advertisements for the web.
Rich media ads, unlike the static ads, offer features such as expanding when users click or roll over, provide HD video experiences or get in touch with the advertiser byclicking to make a phone call.
But we have seen how dynamic web has changed the early days of web experience with tools such as ajax and flash. The scopes are only limited by the imagination of these web creators. So these ads are not much different and we might find some ads that we would want to immerse ourselves in.
To learn more about these Rich Media Ads;
Google Blog
DoubleClick Studio
DoubleClick Blog

Tags: Google Blog, DoubleClick, Google Ads, DoubleClick Studio, Rich Media Ads, DoubleClick Blog

Google Loves Twitter, Wants To Collaborate On Ads!

Twitter's sudden popularity is bringing praise from everyone, from lowly you and me to Aston Kucher, Oprah and the big shots like Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, who seems to have a special love for the advertising capacity of Twitter and anyone that does real time updates like Twitter.

"The question is how could you make some money on that? Without comment specifically about Twitter, because there are a number of real-time update companies like Twitter, you can imagine that to the degree they become successful, and obviously Twitter is already doing so, it could be a channel for product information, marketing information, real-time information, for which you can hang advertising products, whether it's a text ads or video ads.

I don't know personally their strategy, but it strikes me that's a logical strategy to pursue. It's something we'd be very happy to pursue with them and all the other players in that space.

The great thing about Twitter is it shows people really want to communicate, and that communication can occur in many, many different forms." Eric Schmidt said 15th April during the conference call to report Google's first-quarter profits,

Tags: Twitter, google, Google adwords, Google Advertising

ADSPACE Conference and Expo

ADSPACE Conference
Among bunch of emails I received, I found this little gem, ADSPACE will host an event to connect Advertisers, Adverting Hosts like AdSense and other small to mid-sized contextual advertising publishers. Present in this inaugural ADSPACE conference and expo, are Google, eBay, Facebook, Amazon and Zappos. The event is co-hosted at ad:tech San Francisco. on Aprill 22nd 2009.
Opening Keynote will by
Brad Bender Product Management Director Google

"If you are looking to increase your site revenue, this one day conference will give you the latest “how to” techniques to maximize eCPM and become a publisher success story!"
Register today

Tags: ADSPACE, ad:tech San Francisco.ADSPACE Conference and Expo, AdSense

Amazon, LiveJournal, mySociety and Netmums, to Block Phorm’s Webwise

Open Rights Group is reporting that the controversial spyware like program by BT will be blocked out by websites like Amazon, LiveJournal, mySociety and Netmums from scanning their sites. The program intrudes into your web surfing purporting to be a nanny;
".. makes the ads that are normally shown on participating websites more relevant by anonymously matching them to your interests. It does this by replacing generic ads with ones which may be of more interest to you based on the web sites you visit and the things you search for."
Make sure “Webwise”/”Phorm” spyware system does not scan pages on your site and if Phorm is installed on your computer by visiting this link.
Open Rights Group

Tags: Webwise, Phorm, Amazon, LiveJournal, mySociety, Netmums

SEO Bailout On Taxday

Aaron Wall is Interviewing Perry Marshall on April 15th to give readers and followers a business bailout, how to maximize advertisement expenses on Google Adwords.

Perry Marshall is the author of "The Definitive Guide to Google AdWords" and one of the best known AdWords specialist on the Internet.

Perry will explain ways to reduce AdWords clicks cost by 20% to 70% than your competition is paying for the same traffic, and how to get the best out of your advertising investment. He'll discuss why "SEO people" often avoid Pay Per Click and how to blend both worlds together for not just 2X results, but 3X.

Time: 2:00pm Central Time (3pm EST / 12pm Pacific / 19:00 GMT)
Date: Wednesday April 15, 2009
MP3's/transcripts will be available for purchase.

Reserve your spot at http://www.perrymarshall.com/aaron/

Tags: The Definitive Guide to Google AdWords, Perry Marshall, SEO people, Google adwords

Another Microsoft Ad, Search For $1500 Laptop May End In Darkness Engulfing You

Looks like your search for PC under $1500 may end you up engulfed in darkness, as it takes too long to choose a notebook as Technically incorrect pointed out. Other thing is that I did not see could not find Sony FW series VGN-FW378J/B, the only Sony FW falls under the criteria, at BestBuy either. Is it all a Dark Lie

Tags: microsoft, under 1500 Laptop search, apple bash

OpenX Ad Server 2.8 Released.

OpenX has announced the launch of the newest version of OpenX Ad Server, OpenX 2.8 at the beginning of this month which I somehow managed to miss. I really like the OpenX ad platform as I learned a lot about Ad Server technology by tinkering with it and deploying it as a test for MyAdlets in a closed Alpha.
But the latest release brings us much more to promote our on line commerce. One of the new features that stand out in 2.8 is the plugin framework. The plugin Framework introduces a new path to customize OpenX Ad Server in many ways.
One is able to build ownplugins, use the OpenX community plugins or if both the previous solutions does not fit you, have OpenX Consultants build one or two for you. OpenX expects to see many creative plugins to surface in the next few months, such as Video and mobile ad plugins.
One such is the new OpenX Market plugin, which allows you to seamlessly integrate your own ad inventory with OpenX Market and maximize your revenue.
As per OpenX announcement,Key benefits of 2.8 include:

• Easier Customization: The plugin framework allows you to customize your ad technology and build any plugin you need. You also have access to additional plugins developed by the OpenX community, OpenX and third parties.
• Revenue Maximization: The OpenX Market plugin allows you to maximize revenue by flowing your inventory directly into OpenX Market.
• eCPM Optimization: You can further maximize your advertising revenue by using an entirely new eCPM-based revenue optimization system for ad serving prioritization across your remnant CPM, CPC and CPA campaigns.
• Improved Scalability: Raw data storage has been overhauled by a re-architected distributed statistics technology (bucket logging) to provide significantly improved scalability and reduced storage requirements.
• Enhanced Usability: The first time you log in to OpenX 2.8, you’ll see significant UI improvements to make OpenX even easier to use.

You can download OpenX 2.8 immediately from OpenX Site and they also provide a pathe to upgrade to 2.8 from any prior version of OpenX.

But if you just want manage your Ads and ad campaigns and not run a bunch of Linux, LAMP WAMP servers and software, you should inquire or learn more about OpenX Hosted from OpenX Professional Services. Either way, you will be served!

Tags: OpenX, Ad Server, OpenX Market, Linux, LAMP, WAMP

VidPay, Sponsored Video Ad Platform

VidPay, dead simple white label platform for sponsored video campaigns and the best part about this startup is, it has started generating revenue from the start.
As Techcrunch says, Why didn't I think of that?

Where will my video be displayed?

As soon as you create and activate an ad campaign, your video will be displayed on Metacafe as a sponsored video, to your selected target viewers.

How do I start promoting my video?

• Upload a video advertisement to one of our partner websites
• Create a VidPay campaign by selecting the uploaded ads you want to promote
• Select keywords relevant to your video ads
• Tell us how much you are willing to pay each time a user clicks on your video ads
• Set a daily budget for your video advertising campaign
• Target your audience by location, language, time of day, category, etc.
• We will then match your keywords to search terms entered by users on our partner websites. If there is a match, and the price you offered is higher than that offered for other matching videos, your ads will be displayed on the partner website. You will only be charged if a user clicks on your ad.
• Monitor your campaign and adjust your keywords/targeting to optimize your results

How much will I pay for each click on my video?

• VidPay only charges you for the LOWEST cost per click which would enable you to win the auction - one cent higher than the next highest bidder. The actual cost per click is never higher than your bid, and may be lower.
• You will only be billed when viewers click on the links to your videos.
• You can define a maximum daily budget (average).

What more do you want? (yes get this on Youtube)
Vidpay via TechCrunch

Tags: Video Ad Platform, Vidpay, Metacafe, youtube

Web Trends Map Beta, Visualization At It' Best

Information Architects has Web trends Map beta, fourth in the series of really great Web Trends Map series. They visualize the current Internet trends, fitting companies and individuals with routes and paths they cross. I simply love it. Go see how you fit in to it!

Tags: Web trends Map, Web trends

Local Google And Location Based Searches

Local Google And Location Based Searches
Google searches are becoming more local. The search engine is matching your searches to ypu locales worldwide, Google does this based on your IP address and finds what ever you are looking for, in your visinity, on a google map.
Just try searching for [groceries], [sporting goods] or [flowers], or looking for your [bank], your [gym], or the [post office], As Google Blog pointed out.
I got the right information when I searched on all the given criteria above. I also searched on restaurants and as you can see from picture above results were presented with a map and links to reviews of restaurants.
Also there is a link to change the location if you want to search the neighborhood or for some rare reason, Google gets your location wrong, for an example if you were to search over 3G on a mobile device!
So here comes your SEO needs, in order to get listed you need to be indexed by Google and need to have a bit of higher page rank. All the sites listed above in my search, had page ranks ranging from 3-5, most having Page Rank of 4.
So get your gear out. If you area restaurant, get it reviewed, if you are in places like Mountain View, CA or for that matter any populated place, Your customers might be bloggers or twitters. Find a way to promote your establishment on the net. Perhaps a advertisement at the restaurant or a simple menu insert telling your customers that if they blog their experince, on their next visit they could have a drink or a dish of their choice free.
What ever the way get yourself know, your customers are looking for ....
Official Google Blog: Google becomes more local

Tags: localized Google, Google Search, Page Rank

We Are Cheap! Microsoft To Apple

<a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&amp;playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:0bb6a07c-c829-4562-8375-49e6693810c7&amp;showPlaylist=true&amp;from=shared" target="_new" title="Laptop Hunters $1000 &#8211; Lauren Gets an HP Pavilion">Video: Laptop Hunters $1000 &#8211; Lauren Gets an HP Pavilion</a>
I just saw this on techcrunch and did not know where to look! Guess hard time not only on us!

Tags: microsoft, apple

Add Preferences To Google ADs You See

Google AD Preferences
Since most websites and blogs show Google ads and they are chosen by the publishers to fit their wares. Now Google is giving you a chance to modify or add preferences to ADs you prefer. Once you visit the Google ADs Preferences site, you will be able edit the interest categories, which are based on sites you have recently visited.
The link to the ADs Preferences page and a link to learn more, after the video;


Ads Preferences
Learn more

Tags: Ads Preferences, Google ADs

Google Ads On Picasa Searches.

Last few post have been about Google Ads and now Google OS has provided me with another bit of news to write about Google Ads.
This time it is Picasa. If you log into your Picasa Web albums, you will see some ads relevant to what you are searching (Yes so far I have only noticed ads when I search withing Picasa.) May be it is what Google meant when it wrote about Ads in new places
Google Ads On Picasa Searches.
Source (Google Operating System)

Tags: Google Ads in new places, Google Ads, Picasa Ads

AdWords AD Auctions, How They Work?

When I think of an auction, be it a charity auction or land auction or ebay auctions, first thing comes to my mind is the highest bid. If I really wants the goods being auctioned, the best will be the highest bid and I will have to beat the rest of bidders in their high bids.
But I learned today that at the AdWords auctions the system works a little differently. The winner only pays the minimum amount necessary to maintain their position on the page. That means you'll only pay the minimum necessary to beat the person below you. In fact, our quality-based pricing system ensures that you'll often pay less than your maximum bid.
So your prize of the Ad could easily be less than your highest bid!
Confused? Me too, until I watched this video. (Or watch in HD)


Google blog Introduction to the ad auction Also available at inside Adwords Blog

Tags: Ad Auction, Google adwords