Google Reviews Ads, Websites & Advertiser Accounts to Combat Bad Ads

A couple of weeks ago, Google was facing scrutiny from lawmakers over their human trafficking ads policy. In response, Google has now shed a little more light on some of the systems it uses to prevent bad ads from showing up on Google’s search results pages.

We all know that Google doesn't allow malicious ads, bad downloads, counterfeit goods, or ads with unclear billing practices. In order to combat these types of scam/illegal ads and human trafficking ads, Google uses a combination of automated systems and human input to review the billions of ads submitted to Google each year.

Google attempts to eliminate ad spam via what it calls a three-pronged strategy, where ads, websites, and advertiser accounts are reviewed. By looking at all three elements, it's more likely Google can detect problems. All systems are complementary to the other three, sharing signals among each and comprehensively attacking and prohibiting bad ads from being displayed.
Google states that:

"... this three-pronged approach looks for patterns that would flag ... a site and help prevent ads from showing. Ad review notices patterns in the ads and keywords selected by the advertiser. Site review analyzes the entire site to determine if it is selling counterfeit goods. Account review aims to determine if a new advertiser is truly new, or is simply a repeat offender trying to abuse Google’s advertising system."

Ad Review

Google's ad review system inspects both the individual ads and the landing page. If there is nothing in the ad or landing page that would "flag" the system, it will automatically start showing the ad as "Eligible" and show the ads only on Google.com to users who have "Safe Search" turned off.

If an ad gets flagged by a variety of different factors, it will show up as "Under Review" and receive a manual review. This review will include:

• Machine learning models.
• A rules engine.
• Landing page analysis to perform a more extensive examination.
• A real person to make the final decision (in some cases).

Website Review

Different ads can point to many different pages on a website. The site review system identifies policy issues that apply to the whole website.

Google will regularly crawl the sites and look for changes and updates. It's intelligent and will learn from different scams and problem sites and flag potential sites with the same problems in the system...Read More

Facebook Ad Images – Tips for Killer Creative

If you want to seriously increase the likelihood of a Facebook ad’s success and impact on viewers in a social space already cluttered with multimedia, look no further than the good old ad image.

Facebook ad images serve two main purposes: to draw the eye of users and to reinforce or supplement the ad copy. Facebook ad images are small (110x80 pixels) and getting even smaller (99x72 pixels), which means advertisers have to work extra hard to make them outstanding.

We’ve noticed many Facebook advertisers have fallen short or cut corners when it comes to Facebook ad images. Marketers, what are you thinking? Skimping on the most important element of a Facebook ad?!

It’s time to pay these crucial ad elements the TLC they deserve. In this post, we’ll examine tools, tips, and strategies to create winning Facebook ad images.

Inexpensive to Free Image Processing Tools.

First, get started with the right tools that are appropriate for your budget. Free tools are great, but you get what you pay for; often, it’s worth the little investment in the end to buy a paid tool.

Free tools:

1. Gimp
2. IrfanView (PC only) – This was my favorite when I had a PC because it opened up in a SNAP.  
3. Pinta
4. Image Tricks (Mac)

Super affordable image processing tools:

1. Pixelmator - $29.99 (Mac only) – What I currently use.
2. Photoshop - $9.99

This list barely scratches the surface of image processing software out there, but I’ve had great personal experiences with these platforms in particular.

Image Sources.

First and foremost: The XS sized images will absolutely be large enough for Facebook ad images. Try to keep images three credits or less. Don’t waste money on an expensive image, unless you have to, because it will eventually be cut down to the size of a stamp.

1. Fotolia (from $0.74-$1.30 per credit). Fotolia is my go-to for images. Trolling through the thousands of photos Fotolia stocks can be incredibly fun, but before you know it, you’ve lost an entire afternoon that should have been spent on production. Cut down on waster time by being keyword-specific, using the expression or emotion you want to convey as keywords, and sort by “recent” to find truly fresh gems.

2. Veer (from $0.78-$1.41 per credit or buy individual images starting at $2.25). Very similar to Fotolia, but you don’t have to buy credits if you don’t want to. You can buy images with “real money,” and if you register for an account, you’re entitled to some freebie credits.

3. iStockphoto (from $1.67-$1.38 per credit). iStock is a bit more expensive than Fotolia, but not without its perks. For example: There’s a free photo of the week! ...Read More

PPC & Mobile Marketing Tips from Q1 2012 Industry Analysts

Each quarter, Search Engine Watch receives a number of reports from analysts in the online advertising space. Typically, the actual numbers vary, though looking at the figures as a whole helps marketers identify trends that can be helpful in strategizing for the coming quarter.

Covario just released their Q1 Global Paid Search Spend Analysis report, hot on the heels of the Adobe Systems Global Digital Advertising Q1 2012 Update and IgnitionOne Global Online Advertising Report, both of which we covered last week. Both Marin Software and the Rimm-Kaufman Group (RKG) just published their Q1 reports, the U.S. Online Advertising Report (Marin) and the Digital Marketing Report for Q1 2012 (RKG).

Covario’s analysis, which focuses on activity in the high-tech and consumer electronics sectors, showed a 15 percent YoY increase in PPC ad spend in the Americas, in line with the general trend shown by other analysts. In addition, they reported an 88 percent YoY increase in spend in the Asia-Pacific region, with a 2 percent decline in Europe (attributed to ongoing macroeconomic pressures).

In their report, RKG found that total paid search spend grew at 30 percent YoY in Q1 2012. Mobile comprised 12 percent of all organic search visits in Q1 and 13 percent of all paid search clicks. They also report that the tablet share of PPC nearly quadrupled from Q1 2011, and the iPad alone accounted for nearly 7 percent of all clicks.

Marin Software also found that increased click volume (46 percent higher YoY) more than made up for lower CPCs, with resultant robust growth in Google ad budgets leading to higher spend. This is in line with other reports. They point to algorithm changes, advanced match types, site links and mobile devices as potential reasons for the CPC decline.

So what sense can paid search marketers make of these trends? Analysts from each reporting company offered some tips for Search Engine Watch readers.

Take Advantage of Google Product Listing Ads’ Lower CPCs

RKG data shows Google's Product Listing Ads format exhibiting huge traffic growth. In their report, they note, “...traffic to Google’s Product Listing Ads format continued its own surge, representing 11% of Google clicks, but PLAs commanded 18% lower CPCs than standard text ads.”

“While the revenue per click of PLAs is on par with standard text ads, our advertisers are paying significantly lower CPCs,” said Senior Research Analyst Mark Ballard. “This suggests competition for PLAs remains relatively low, making them a great opportunity to pick up incremental traffic at a good value.”

Attribute Conversions Across Channels & Devices to Maximize ROI

In their quarterly report, Adobe reported a 93 percent YoY increase in Facebook ad spend; they noted that this one channel now represents between 3 to 5 percent of total search spend. Social media, they said, continues to be a strong digital advertising channel.

Dr. Siddharth Shah, Director of Analytics with Adobe Digital Marketing Business, told us, “With the growing impact of social as a marketing channel as well as the rapid increase in mobile device/tablet usage, the average consumer touches more devices and channels than ever before.” He recommends, “It is imperative for advertisers to measure the consumer path across the entire sales funnel and apply the right attribution to determine the correct media mix.”...Read More

Automated Alerts – Robotic Guardian Angels of PPC

It’s a good feeling to know someone has your back; that someone is looking out for you. When managing PPC campaigns, we could all use someone who is watching out for us just in case something goes awry in a campaign.

The automated alert functions within Google AdWords and Google Analytics are extremely helpful and they may be as close as we’ll get to guardian angels for PPC managers. These tools can be utilized to alert you if a keyword, ad group or campaign sees a dramatic performance fluctuation. This way, for example, if your CPA skyrockets on a specific day, you will be notified – and you can take fast corrective action!

How to Set up Alerts in Google AdWords
Setting up automated alerts within Google AdWords is fast and easy. Alerts can be set up at practically every level of an account: keyword, ad text, ad group, and campaign. You can find the alert function on each screen within AdWords:



Alerts can be established for just about any metric for each level of an account. The purpose of an alert is to indicate a change in performance. Alerts can be set to trigger when performance above or below a specific metric. For example, if my CPA inflates over $25, send me an alert. Alerts can be set up to trigger at a percentage of change as well. For example, if my CPC increases by 25 percent from the previous day, send me an alert.

The frequency of these alerts is flexible as well. You can monitor specific metrics on a daily or weekly basis, or continually throughout the day (every couple of hours). Alert frequency should be dictated by the amount of traffic for a specific campaign. For example, low-volume campaigns can probably be monitored on a daily or weekly basis. High velocity campaigns may require daily checks or even every couple of hours.

For example, this automated alert will notify us if any ad group has a CPA that increases by 25 percent from the previous day:


And this alert will notify us if any keyword has a CPA over $50:

How to Set up Alerts in Google Analytics

Alerts function similarly in Google Analytics. Their purpose is to alert you if there are any changes within your PPC campaigns. One of reason Google Analytics goes above and beyond AdWords is that you can set up alerts for AdWords as well as any other paid channel including adCenter, Facebook, and Display...Read More