AdSense publisher view of pay per action ads.

Nice look inside website optimizer.

View the AdWords radio ads interface.

Someone from one of the major search engines recently asked me what my favorite and least favorite aspects of the various PPC engines were. At first, I thought this would be difficult to list.

Then, I decided I wasn’t comparing them (it’s difficult to compare incremental bidding at adCenter to Google’s incremental bidding in Ad Scheduling as adCenter allows for bid changes beyond just time of day).

So, here’s the quick and dirty list of my favorite and least favorite features of each of the major PPC platforms.

AdWords:

• Top features
  • Easy interface + AdWords editor
  • Google Analytics + PPC consolidated data
  • MCC (the absolute best multi-account organization around)
• Worst features
  • Difficult to ‘update landing page quality score‘
  • Visibility into the content network
  • API support

Microsoft adCenter

• Top features
  • Demographic targeting / Incremental bidding
  • Parameter system
  • Research tools (especially adlabs)
• Worst features
  • Lack of inventory
  • Have to set all commands at the order level (a cascading effect would be nice at the campaign level)
  • Interface can be confusing

YSM Panama

• Top features
  • Account level budget
  • Permissions by login
  • Ability to only show ads on certain continents (regardless of query)
• Worst features
  • Inability to see/block content & search sites
  • Interface confusing
  • Creating ads (especially w/ dynamic insertion) + ad review often makes it difficult to get ads live

Here’s a video posted on YouTube by Google about Google as a branding platform.

Google AdWords recently launched pay per action advertising. This advertising allows advertisers to only pay when certain actions occur instead of on a pay per click basis.

This is a strong move by Google as it now allows publishers to create offers and promote merchants, which has previously not been allowed for AdSense publishers. Since advertisers only pay for actions, AdSense publishers can tell their visitors about the program, and even entice them to click and fulfill the action on the advertiser’s website.

I recently had a few accounts accepted into the beta program. Here is a complete walk-through of how to setup a pay per action campaign, and all of the advertiser options.

Note: All pictures are reduced in size, and can be clicked on for full images.

Enable Conversion Tracking

An advertiser must be using Google’s conversion tracking script. If you already have the script installed, then you can continue. If you don’t, then you will have to add conversion tracking to your website before continuing.

Define Your Actions

Next, an advertiser can use one of their current actions, or create a new action. In the below example, I had already created a Purchase/Sale and ‘Lead’ action, hence why they are already options.

The description set in this panel is critical as its what the publisher will see when searching through their offers. Therefore, it must be enticing enough for the publisher to want to promote this particular action.

In defining actions, the advertiser must also state how much they are willing to pay for that action to occur.

An advertiser can revisit the action screen to change the settings, receive the tracking code, and manage or add actions at any time.

Create Your First Pay Per Action Campaign

To begin your first campaign, you need to provide information about the product. The more descriptive and enticing this information is, the more likely publishers will be to pay attention and promote your offers.

Once you provide the basic information, you then need to add keywords so publishers can search and find your offer. Please note, these aren’t keywords that will trigger your ad, they are keywords so that publishers can find your offer in their AdSesne control panel.

Once one has defined both actions, and descriptions, it’s time to create the campaign. An advertiser can name the campaign, ad group, and change language settings, just like a normal campaign.

Next, choose the countries where your customers are located.

Create Your First Ad Group

This is a typical text ad. You can create more either during setup, or from the ad group management screen.

Set Your Budget

Just like a normal campaign, you’re setting a daily budget.

You will be given the chance to review the ad group and campaign before you save it. As with all campaigns, you can edit this information at a later date.

Once you’ve saved your first campaign, you will now see a third option on your ‘manage campaign’s screen:

At this point in time, you have an active pay per action campaign. You can go into the campaign and edit the ad group, keywords, and ad copy.

Text Link Ads

There is a new ad unit that is specific to the pay per action campaigns called a Text Link Ad. A text link ad can be up to 90 characters (or much shorter). Publishers generally enjoy text link ads as they have a lot of control where to embed them into offers. I would suggest creating several of these and then tracking which one performs the best.

Ongoing Management

An advertiser can add, pause, change and delete offers and conversions at any time. It has yet to be seen how these changes will be communicated to the publisher.

Final Thoughts

Overall, this is going to be a fun beta. As the adoption of pay per action campaigns continues, it will be interesting to see if they are managed by the PPC department, or the affiliate departments. While the affiliate departments generally have more communication with publishers than the PPC departments ever receive, the offers which work for affiliates should be pushed through the PPA channels.

In addition, as Google makes advances into non-pay per click ad campaigns, it will be interesting to see how much adoption there is for some of these ad types. Google is well on their way to being a one stop shop for affiliate, banner, TV, radio, video, mobile, print, and PPC advertising.

Pay per action campaigns are very effective for advertisers, now, how much control of the messaging will they allow the publishers?

Google has made three changes recently that continues their push into replacing traditional banner buys, ad networks, and affiliate marketing channels.

With the recent launches of:

• Reach and Frequency Reporting
• Cost per action beta program
• Cost per click on site-targeting beta program

Google has moved past traditional text ads into being a one-stop shop for internet marketing ads.

Google’s site-targeting program allows one to target individual sites for ad serving. Google will show if that site allows text ads, image ads, or video ads. This is essentially an open marketplace for replacing traditional banner ads. This is paid for on a CPM (cost per thousand impression) basis, the traditional method of paying for banner ads.

A couple weeks ago, AdWords quietly launched a new report: Reach and Frequency. These numbers are generally only reported by banner networks.

Google defines Reach as: The total number of unique users who will be served your ad over a specific period of time. Reach is often expressed as a percent of the universe for the demographic category. Also known as an unduplicated audience.

Google defines Frequency as: The average number of times a unique user saw your ad over a given time period.

With the reach and frequency reports, one can see how many people saw one’s ad; how often someone saw an advertiser’s ad within a time period, and Google’s conversion tracking script works as well for site-targeting campaigns, so an advertiser can track conversions by even new forms of data.

Secondly, Google launched the ability to pay for site-targeted ads on a CPC basis. This now allows advertisers to try out site targeting, but not worry quite as much about the ad placement on a site. The biggest issue with site-targeting is that since one pays for ads on an impression basis, advertisers want to know where the ad is being shown.

With traditional banner buys, often the ad location is built into the contract, so one knows exactly where the ads will show on the website. Since with site-targeting, this visibility wasn’t often easy to determine, the CPC beta allows one to specifically target websites that an advertiser will feel is valuable, while still only paying on the traditional cost-per-click model.

Lastly, Google just launched a beta CPA program. To join this beta one must:

• Be using Google’s conversion tracking script
• Create ads that publishers can view and choose to use
• Create ads in text link, image, or traditional text ads
• Set a price per conversion
• Be in the United States

With the beta CPA, advertisers don’t choose publishers. Advertiser’s create their offer, set the price they are willing to pay per action, and then create ad formats that publishers can choose.

Sound like affiliate advertising?

Google is making some huge strides into the traditional banner buys where millions are spent every month (especially for product launches and branding), allowing advertisers to choose payment methods for these traditional banner buys, and then create an affiliate-like ad program.

If one were to combine this with Google print, radio, and tv ad programs - Google is moving towards being a complete advertising solution.

Technorati Tags: google, adwords, affiliate

I’m joining Search Engine Land as one of the columnist on Paid Search.

My first article came out today on Arbitrage: Web Blight or Brilliant Marketing Strategy?

I didn’t want to just rehash all the reasons people hate arbitrage. Instead, I went for explaining the various reactions and arguments people have for and against arbitrage.

Hope you enjoy the article.

Four industry guru’s Greg, Todd, Michael, and Rae, have created an in-depth SEO workshop to help share their wealth of knowledge about SEO and best practices.

I’ve recently joined the team to cover PPC marketing.

The agenda is pretty robust, with the current topic mix consisting of:

• Content Creation
• Organic and Paid Link Building and Management
• Research Techniques
• Social Marketing
• Paid Marketing Campaigns
• Technical Setup
• Tools

It should be an exciting and knowledge-filled day.

Feel free to register, or learn more about SEO Class.

Google recently announced it would allow advertisers to pay for site targeting campaigns, which are nomally CPM based, on a cost per click basis.

To change your site targeting campaign from CPM to CPC bidding is very straightforward.

First, go to the campaign settings of a site targeting campaign. Under ‘Advanced Options’, there is the ability to ‘view and edit options’ under ‘Bidding Strategy’.

Once you click on this button, you will have the opportunity to either CPM or CPC bidding and change the bid amounts.

Once you’ve chosen your starting CPC, then your ad group’s statistics will change. It will no longer display CPM based information, it will look just like a normal ad group (and Google conversion also functions with site targeting campaign).

It will be interesting to compare the pricing (converting CPM to CPC), total impressions, clicks, and conversions between campaigns which have been changed from a CPM to a CPC basis and see which one preforms better.

I’m guessing for new product launches and brand lifts, CPM will work better (if you choose sites carefully), where CPC will be better for ROI and CPA bidders.

Technorati Tags: site-targeting, adwords

New Releases

Google is releasing a Google Talk Gadget. This can be placed on your Google homepage or website to allow users to send IMs without having the Google Talk client.

Content Network Updates

Lifetimetv.com has joined the AdSense network and is available for site targeting. The primary demographic is women’s interest.

Boats.com has activated video ads.

Atlanticrecords.com and Atlanticstreet.com  are now part of the content network. These focus on the label’s company and community sites.

Olivia.com is now available for site targeting.

Google Local

Google local business center receives upgrades.

Google Advertising Professionals

Google is changing the credit system for MCC accounts. Previously, any MCC receives credits. The credits will only be available in MCCs run by AdWords professionals.

It has been almost two years since the professional program launched. For those who took the test when it was first available, it’s time to take the test again.

I’m finally getting around to updating my LinkedIn connections (I still haven’t finished building my profile), and after sending a mass email (which I hate to do), I received 17 acceptations within 10 minutes (which is a good response rate for sending 86 invites).

However, it was 10:30 pm CST when I sent it. While that’s only 8:30 pm EST; a third of these came from the east coast where it’s 11:30 pm.

Anyway, shameless self-promotion coming. I only sent invites to people in my contacts who are already members of LinkedIn (and I have your linked-in email address as opposed to other email addresses you may use).

If I missed you, feel free to invite me or contact me. Please note, I’m slow at following up on email, and I usually only accept invites from those I’ve met or know.

Enjoy.