Google Adwords

We are very impressed with the latest press ads for the opening of the London Corinithia Hotel. Each ads print features a fact about this new luxury hotel such as the location, the rooms even the staff. The ads are minimal and definetely attract the attention.  Last month we saw them in several purblications such as Monocle, GQ and others.

Unfortunately though despite the great print ads the Corinthia Hotels do not run any PPC brand campaigns in order to protect their brand and gain more exposure on the search result pages!! When a user is searching for several brand terms the two PPC ads that come up are from booking.com and Londontown.com

For us it’s very difficult to understand why a company will spend so much money on creating awareness for one of their hotels and not actually spend a few hundred pounds every month on a PPC campaign that will help them to get more traffic and offer more options to the users . The two online travel agencies are definetely gaining  a lot from the print campaigns and currently run some campaigns with a very high ROI.

Last week a lot of users started reporting that Google now provides flight schedule on search results. For example when a user is searching for “flights to new york” they get the normal PPC results followed by  a list of airlines that fly to New York (with the duration of the flight) followed by the organic results.

The user had an option to expand the Google results and get more option such as flight with stops. When the user clicks on the link it takes them to the airline website.

The great concern is for the companies that used to rank well on the organic search. They are now pushed further down the SERPs which will have a big impact on their traffic volumes.  On the above example we could only see two websites on the organic results above the fold.

Moreover travel comparison sites such as Kayak/Skyscanner/TravelSupermarket should start getting more uncomfortable with the new feature as it competes with their services. Although travel comparison sites do offer a much better service by providing prices and the option to filter the results further. (Something that probably Google will launch in the next few months after a lot of analysis)

Google is currently testing a similar feature for sometime with hotels. When a user is searching for a hotel term in Google maps such as “hotels near hyde park” get the following options:

A list of hotels on the left side and an indication of prices taken from on line travel agents or even the hotels website.

The next logical move for Google will probably be hotel  and holidays on the search result pages with prices and other options with some serious consequences for the travel industry.

Google Adwords changed their policy for advertisers in order to tighten security around the use and storage of consumers’ credit card details from advertisers. There are three new requirements covering disclosure and use of personal information and come in line with other Adwords policies that focus on transparency, user safety, and security.

If your site requests payment, financial, or personal information from visitors, please review the new requirements and make any needed changes to avoid having your ads suspended.

1. Clear, accessible disclosure before visitors submit personal information
   Our existing policy requires you to clearly describe how any personal information you solicit will be used. Soon, we’ll require that your description must also be easily accessible before site visitors submit their details.
2. Option to discontinue direct communications
   In the same description of how personal information will be used, you’ll also be required to describe how people can opt out of future emails, phone calls, or other direct communications.
3. SSL when collecting payment and certain financial and personal information
   Many websites use what are known as Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) connections to encrypt sensitive information that travels between the user’s browser and the website’s servers. To help ensure user safety, AdWords policy will require all advertisers to use SSL when collecting payments and certain financial and personal information (like bank account and social security numbers).

Google adwords is not testing ads with the full domain name on the adcopy. It was first reported by www.seroundtable.com yesterday for search results in Canada but now it seems that Google is also testing this in the UK:

So far we noticed that only the first three results get their domain name to appear next to the Headline. In some cases though the domain name only appears on the second or third listing. We presume this depends on the length of the Headline and/or the first description line.

What is the +1 Button?

Google +1 (plus one) is very similar to the Facebook “Like” button, Google +1 will be available as an embedded element on all web pages. Developers and web owners will be able to embed the code to their websites. Every unique URL will get its own +1 history. Google stated in the past that this will affect organic search rankings. In other words the more +1 a website it will help with the rankings.

When it goes live?

Google said it’s “only weeks away”. If you want to be notified when the Google +1 buttons are ready sign up wit this form here and Google will email you.

How to add Google +1 to my site?

According to Search Engine Land this will be done by using a simple code generator that allows setting of size, and other options. (It seems very similar to the facebook open graph)

How it will affect SEO?

So far the only think we know is that it will be part of the Google algorithm. When the button is fully release  several reports will be available through Google Webmaster Central. This alone indicates that its going to be an important element!

How it will affect my Adwords campaigns?

Google has explicitly indicated that so far “+1” won’t directly affect the qualityscore of your PPC campaigns. The ads though with a +1 will have a small logo on top.  As click-through-rate is  the primary driver of quality score, the+1 back door will be wide open. When a paid search ad is shown fora particular destination URL with alot of “+1” popularity, it willcertainly enjoy a higher CTR. Especially if we combine this with sellers rating/sitelinks/maps.

Can I opt out my site?

No at this stage there is nothing you can do to opt out.

Where do I sign up?

If you want to trial it as a user click here, if you would like to be notified for the button fill in this form here.