Google announced the launch of the campaign bid simulator in AdWords. This is something of an extension of the bid simulator launched a few years ago. Previously, the bid simulator worked at the keyword and ad group level, but with the new launch, you can access it at the campaign level. It’s available in the Opportunities tab in AdWords, and lets you view bid changes (in aggregate) and model changes, “even when keywords or ad groups might not have enough data for this on their own,” according to AdWords Product manager Sheridan Kates. “See what might happen if you increased or decreased all your bids by a specific percentage (10%, for example),” says Kates, listing the functions. “See whether you may need to increase your campaign budget to ensure it doesn’t become limited by budget at the new bid value.” With the feature, you can also see what would happen if you changed all your bids to a single value. From the campaign bid simulator, you can download bid simulation data (at the account or campaign level) and a file (compatible with AdWords Editor) with bid amounts at the simulated level, and the ad groups/keywords where they should be applied, according to Google.

Google, along with Facebook, has for a while now been set to stand trial in New Delhi over failing to censor objectionable religious material from their social networking sites – only to find that justice in India moves very slowly. It was recently reported that these censorship proceedings in India were postponed again in that case, and now the Competition Commission of India (CCI) is investigating Google’s AdWords for alleged discriminatory practices. The probe is similar to another antitrust investigation in Argentina started in 2010, to determine if Google holds a dominant position in web search and ad markets that could have an adverse effect on competition. The investigation was prompted after the CCI found that Google might have given a marriage matchmaking site called BharatMatrimony preferential keywords for ads. A senior member of the CCI states, “We have asked the Director General (Investigations) to complete the probe and give a report on it within 60 days. Prima facie, we found evidence that suggests that Google did abuse its dominant market position.” The official adds, “the increasing number of competition law complaints against Google globally suggests a pattern of anti-competitive conduct that needs to be checked in order to protect Indian businesses and consumers”. Google has yet to respond to the allegations regarding BharatMatrimony, which is owned by a web portal called Consim. A spokesperson for the matchmaking service states, “BharatMatrimony requests that the Commission investigate Google’s practices and impose remedial measures to protect competition.” Google’s AdWords makes up about 96% of its profits, though it might take years for any sort of actual trial to take place on the matter in India, if the CCI decides to proceed.

Last week Google hosted a Hangout where they answered user’s questions about how to use their Display Network and what qualifies to be on it. During the Hangout Top Contributors from the AdWords community, and several of Google’s staff shared tips and tricks for using the network. If you missed it, I’ve included a collection of their questions so our readers can learn a little more about what Google is offering to advertisers with the network. I have also included the almost hour long video of the Hangout. If you’re interested, take a few minutes and look at this stuff. Google is really providing some great tools, and you would be a fool not to take advantage. Here’s the Google Hangouts video on the Display Network: Here are some questions that were asked and answered during the Hangout: * Where is the Display Network available? The Display Network is available in all countries that AdWords serves. * Which clicks are more likely to become conversions search or display? Search and display perform very differently, depending on your overall campaign goals. * What’s more effective: automatic placements or manual? If you’re trying to reach a specific audience or target users who demonstrate a particular interest and you have an idea of some Display Network websites where you want your ads to appear, managed placements are probably the best bet for you. If you’re just starting out with Display, we would suggest opting into automatic placements at first and then reviewing the domains you show on to further refine and optimize. * If in your industry search approximate cpc is = to display approximate cpc why would you do display?(Besides the obvious increase in potential traffic.) The Display Network is a great way to find customers that may not be actively searching for your product. Other than potentially increasing traffic to your website, you can potentially grow your customer base and get more conversions. * Tips on how to get JPEG ads approved quickly? Our ad review turn around time is usually 1-3 business days. If your ads are under review for more than 3 business days, please get in touch with us or submit your ads directly to our review team. * For remarketing, how do I set the ad up to show people the products they viewed but not purchased? You can create different audience lists so that you create an audience for users who visited your product pages and users who completed a purchase. You can then create a “custom combination” list to subtract those who purchased from those who visited your pages and did not purchase. * What is the difference between topics and interest categories? How are these compiled? Topic targeting allows you to place ads on pages directly related to the topic you’ve selected, whereas interest categories allow you to reach users across the Display Network who have shown specific interests, regardless of the page they’re currently on. * For remarketing, would you suggest using just one method per ad group, i.e., contextual, topic, interest, managed placements, or is it OK to mix them? Remarketing operates by showing your ads to users on your audience list, so within your ad group, the audience list should be the only targeting you have set up. * If you could only choose between search and display and the approximate cpc was the same. Which would you chose and why? This question really depends on your business and your advertising goals. In general, we tend to see advertisers looking for more direct response focus on the Search Network, while those who are interested in branding and remarketing might want to focus on the Display Network. * Any suggestions on frequency capping numbers? When you turn on frequency capping for a campaign, you can set a limit for the number of impressions you allow an individual user to have per day, per week, or per month, and you can choose whether this is applicable to each ad, ad group, or campaign. So ultimately, the frequency capping number you select depends on your goals and the size of your advertising endeavor. Kim and Theresa suggested numbers around 5-15 impressions per day for an individual user. * I know there is a placement tool in AdWords – however it doesn’t seem to show “all” of the websites available in the network. I have found sites displaying relevant ads, but I did not find it in tool. Is there another way to identify these potential sites? Yes! In addition to our Placement Tool, you can check the DoubleClick Ad Planner for other sites that are in the Display Network. Hope this helps you advertisers, especially if you were wondering about the Advertising Network. There’s a lot of information there, so you may want to save this page and come back to it. Good luck.

Great news if you’re a fan of AdWords. Google is now giving you full access to the AdWords community right through your mobile device. That’s right, it’s optimized for mobile now. So if you have any spur of the moment inspiration or you need to get in touch with another advertiser, you can do it on the spot. Here’s what Google promises with the new mobile-optimized AdWords access: * Ask your AdWords questions as soon as they come to mind. * Post answers/articles and help other members. * Instantly browse any thread you want to re-visit. Many people are finding navigation on the mobile version to be similar if not better than what they experienced on their desktops. They kept the interface simple and buttons to all the community features are easy to find and just as easy to employ. All you do is go to the AdWords Community like you would on your desktop and all the mobile-optimized features will appear.

It would appear that some companies get the privilege of paying to be featured in Google search results that most others don’t. Obviously anyone can pay for AdWords ads, but Google reportedly has a new presentation for a certain kind of ad that is a little bit different. Danny Sullivan, with contributions from Pamela Parker, has put together a very interesting report about Google’s apparent paid inclusion program, which comes in the form of sponsored comparison ad results. According to Sullivan, Google considers these to be something in between organic results and ads – a “third kind of thing”. As he points out, it seems very much like paid inclusion, even if it’s only on a few select types of searches (hotels, flights and financial products). Update: A Google spokesperson tells us, “We’re changing the design layout of our hotel, flight, credit card and bank account results, which help users complete actions such as booking flights quickly and easily. We’ve always disclosed that Google may be paid when a user completes such an action; we want to be clear and consistent in how we do that.” Who’s to say this won’t expand to other types of searches in the future, as Google looks for more revenue streams? Meanwhile, Google is continuing to make improvements to mobile ads, which could help in that department as well. The main point of Sullivan’s article is that Google has long been against paid inclusion in search. He points to Google’s 2004 Founders’ IPO Letter from its S-1 registration statement, which includes the famous “Don’t Be Evil” section. This says: Google users trust our systems to help them with important decisions: medical, financial and many others. Our search results are the best we know how to produce. They are unbiased and objective, and we do not accept payment for them or for inclusion or more frequent updating. We also display advertising, which we work hard to make relevant, and we label it clearly. This is similar to a well-run newspaper, where the advertisements are clear and the articles are not influenced by the advertisers’ payments. We believe it is important for everyone to have access to the best information and research, not only to the information people pay for you to see. Emphasis added. It is interesting that financial is mentioned in there, considering that financial products are apparently one of the verticals that display this new format. I’m not sure the new format is a complete contradiction to this statement, however, as they are still clearly marked as “sponsored”. Just not as clearly marked. They don’t come in the colored boxes like AdWords ads. There’s a white background that will make them blend in much like other types of Google results. Though, it’s pretty much the same approach Facebook uses on its sponsored posts. Of course the big difference there is that with Facebook, these posts were organically made by your friends in the first place, so there’s a good chance you would’ve seen them anyway. Image courtesy: Search Engine Land The timing of this is pretty interesting, considering Google’s massive push against webspam with the Penguin update, which is designed to target sites violating Google’s quality guidelines, which, of course, prohibit paid links and links schemes. The idea behind paid links is that you are paying to influence search results. Obviously this is quite different than Google’s new comparison listings format, but in effect, it is still select companies paying to influence search results. The big differences are that Google is the one being paid and they are marked as sponsored. It’s that positioning of them as “a third kind of thing” rather than an ad product (and the fact that they don’t use the well-known ad background color) that might raise a few eyebrows. I’m sure you remember the debacle over “Local Paid Inclusion” a few months back, which sent SEOs into an uproar. If what Google is offering is a kind of paid inclusion, which one of the most respected names in the industry is calling it, I’m guessing we’ll see some backlash here too. According to Sullivan, the new sponsored comparison results format is going live over the coming days, so you may or may not see them yet. I’m not seeing them, but it looks like Google will be controlling a lot of what users see on hotel searches. I’m already seeing plenty of ads, Google Maps and Places results and Google+ Page results on a search for “hotels”: We’ve reached out to Google for more on these so-called “paid inclusion” results/ads. We’ll update with any more info that comes to light. What are your thoughts about what Google is doing?

Google announced some new mobile search ad improvements today. These include: app promotion with a new Mobile App extension, richer info about mobile apps in ad units, the ability to track Android app downloads through AdWords and the addition of custom search ads to tablet apps. “For the first time, businesses can use AdWords mobile search ads as a holistic solution to promote, monetize and track their app downloads,” says Mobile Search Ads product manager Anurag Agrawal. The Mobile App extension is a new member of Google’s Ad Extensions for promoting apps. It lets advertisers add a mobile app download link to their search ads. Google says beta testers found a 6% increase in clickthrough rate with the extension. As far as the richer info in the ad units, that includes image previews, app descriptions, pricing and ratings. All of the info comes directly from Google Play and the iTunes App Store. Advertisers will be able to track app downloads from AdWords, specifically as AdWords conversions. The custom search ads for tablet apps are available through Google’s new AdMob SDK. All of this comes after two quarters in a row of sharp declines in cost per click for Google ads, for which mobile has been largely blamed. More people are searching with their mobile devices, but the CPCs just haven’t been what they are for desktop. Google believes that will change, however. During the company’s earnings call earlier this month, CEO Larry Page said he’s “very bullish” that mobile CPCs will get better, noting that Google is making lots of investments in that area and comparing it to how desktop search was in the early 2000s. “Mobile apps represent a significant opportunity for businesses to reach their customers, and mobile search is an important channel to reach these customers,” says Agrawal. “We’re looking forward to bringing new products in the coming year that will help businesses grow by promoting, tracking, and monetizing their mobile apps with Google.” It will definitely be interesting to see what other improvements and innovations Google comes up with for mobile ads this year. It will be even more interesting to see how CPCs react in the coming quarters.

If you are a user of Google’s AdWords service, then you are probably familiar with the Ad Rotation feature. The Ad Rotation feature currently offers three settings – “optimize for clicks,” “optimize for conversion,” and “rotate evenly.” Google figures that they can fix up these settings so that the most relevant ads are always delivered to the user. To that end, Google announced some changes coming to Ad Rotation next week. The company hopes that the change will “provide users with the most relevant ad experience” and “help advertisers improve the performance of their AdWords accounts.” So what does this new update entail? The “rotate” setting is going to change. Normally, creatives rotate for an indefinite period of time. With the new update, this setting will only rotate for a period of 30 days. After this period of rotation, the setting will then pick the ads that are expected to generate the most clicks. It’s also worth pointing out that whenever a creative is enabled or edited, the ads in that particular group will “rotate more evenly for a new period of 30 days.” While you already know that this change will be coming next week, it’s important to note how it will affect current ad groups. If you have created an ad group with creatives that haven’t been added or modified in the past 30 days, the new ad rotation will be applied automatically. If you have altered the ad group, the change will come about 30 after the last activation or change. Like with any new change, it may confuse some users. If you have any questions, consult Google’s documentation on the changes. It provides all the answers you need in regards to the changes coming to Ad Rotation.

In order to help users build better, more focused advertising campaigns, Google AdWords has updated its Keyword Tool and Traffic Estimator capacities. Both functionalities assist users in gauging how certain keywords or ad groups might perform, to more effectively put together a structured ad run. According to Inside Adwords crew member Dan Freidman, “One of the most common uses of traffic estimates is to evaluate potential keywords and decide whether you should add them to your account. Traffic estimates are also useful in determining if your bids and budgets are appropriate for these new keywords.” Improvements to the Keyword Tool include the ability to view keyword ideas grouped by themes, along with an enhanced integration of the new Traffic Estimator, which allows a more comprehensive view of data: As for the Traffic Estimator update, users can now better chart performance estimates – a graph has been incorporated to better gauge traffic and bid estimates visually, which depicts newly supported ad group drafts. And now, when users have settled on the visual draft of their campaigns, said drafts can be added directly to their accounts. Below is a screen of the new graph interface: AdWords Product Manager Deepti Bhatnagar states, “We’re also improving the quality and accuracy of the traffic estimates by using performance history to better gauge traffic estimates. This means that going forward you’ll have to log in to AdWords to use Traffic Estimator.” Google typically offers comprehensive guides regarding all of its product updates – enclosed are help pages for the Keyword Tool and the Traffic Estimator.

In addition to Google offering account labels for keywords in AdWords, it’s also now offering a new tool that details the Quality Score of a keyword so marketers can optimize an ad’s performance. When looking at your AdWords account, hover the mouse cursor over one of the keywords and you’ll now see a yellow box pop up with more detailed information about that keyword’s Quality Score. In addition to the general Quality Score of 1 through 10, which you’ve always been able to see, users will now be able to see the specific metrics of how the keyword’s performance compares to other advertisers. Keywords are assessed in three different aspects: “expected clickthrough rate,” “ad relevance,” and “landing page experience.” For each category, advertisers can see if the keyword’s performance was average, above average, or below average relative to competing ads. As you can see in the example provided by Google, the status hover of the keyword “track lights” reveals two above average performances and one average performance, which has resulted in a Quality Score of 7. Google’s Director of Product Management, Jonathan Alferness, who spoke with Pamela Parker of SearchEngineLand, explained the value of this information in terms of marketing strategies. “This is going to give advertisers a deeper look into where they might spend more time focusing and optimizing.” While access to this new information will not change how Quality Scores are calculated, knowing what three attributes of a keyword are considered in formulating the Quality Score could be a great boon to advertisers. Narrowing down what works and what doesn’t work with a keyword can enhance the advertisement’s relevance and since Quality Scores dictate the prominence and cost of an ad, this will help ensure that marketers are getting the most out of their ads.

Google has been conducting a trial run to gauge the results of tying its ‘Trusted Stores’ badge to the search ads of certain merchants and qualified advertisers. Google launched Trusted Stores last year, as a way for assist customers in locating online merchants they can trust, and made use of the badge to help consumers quickly identify those stores that achieve high levels of customer satisfaction. The program also offers purchase protection, if something goes wrong during transaction. A Google spokesperson had this to say about the trial run of applying the badge to AdWords – “As part of the Google Trusted Stores program, we’re currently conducting a test with a small set of advertisers to help users identify online merchants that offer a great shopping experience. In our ongoing efforts to provide ads that are useful and relevant for users, we’re experimenting with different ways to communicate information about the quality of the shopping experience for a particular advertiser in the search ad itself.” Below is a screen of the Trusted Stores Badge: Online retailers who seek to become a part of the test program need to submit wide sales and transaction data to Google, and have a good track record regarding shipping, customer service and problem resolution. Google also points out that “badged” Trusted Stores sites do not outrank those without the badge in search.