Besides a healthy amount of confusion stemming from Adwords changes and algorithm functionality, there have been a few more “permanent” implementations thrown in lately. The recent “update to the display URL” which restricts to a greater extent how one can play with what the user glances at while clicking on an ad, has, been causing confusion. Here is what Google says about it from adwords.blogspot.com:

In response to advertiser and user feedback, and in an effort to provide more relevant advertising results and a higher quality experience for our users, we have made the decision to no longer allow certain exceptions with regards to our display URL policy. This includes, but is not limited to redirects and vanity URLs. This policy will be strictly enforced regardless of past approvals and will apply to all advertisers, beginning on April 1st.

In line with our existing policy, we will continue to require that your ad’s display URL match its destination URL (the URL of your landing page).

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This is another presentation that was given to Time Inc. outlining the factors that go into the execution of a successful search marketing campaign. Topics covered include research, social media, search engine optimization, paid search, and analytics. This presentation was given in consideration of specific client needs and geared towards an audience of traditional marketers that was relatively unfamiliar with search.

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You get three guesses! One, no. Two, no. Three, no. Ok, here is a hint. Have you seen the new commercial? You know, the one with the all white background, goddess of a voice singing “I’m a new soul I came to this strange world hoping I could learn a bit about how to give and take”, and suddenly a mysterious manila envelope appears only to reveal the thinnest laptop known to man – the Apple MacBook Air!

Now, who do you think the artist is behind that angelic voice? Her name is Yael Naim, and she was singing her new song “New Soul”! I would put money on the fact that you had no idea who she was, unless you were one of the thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people to search for her in reference to the MacBook Air commercial, likely in one of the following ways (Wordtracker):

macbook air commercial
macbook air commercial song
macbook air song

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With respect to that 80’s one hit wonder, Rockwell (backed by a still, relatively sane Michael Jackson), today’s mobile phones can really make you feel like someone’s eyes are on you.

One of the buzzes around mobile, mobile web browsing and text messaging is the concept of geo targeting. Most are aware at this point that when you visit a website with your favorite browser on your computer, websites can pinpoint a general location from your IP address.

This is why when you visit search engines, it magically can target local businesses, services, etc. by your locality. Want to see for yourself? Point your browser to http://whatismyipaddress.com/ and see how close it can target your location. Some appreciate this, and others are frightened by it. Proxies and other similar techniques can be used to hide your IP address to fool the engines into thinking you are somewhere else.

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What is a brand’s greatest asset? Its image. A company’s greatest responsibility is to protect its online brand image. With the speed of today’s information sharing, it’s imperative to keep an ear to the online world in successfully managing an online campaign. More and more CGM’s (Consumer Generated Media) blossom every day, and these can quickly spread both good and ill will for your brand.

CGM’s can include blogs, message boards and other user driven platforms. The sharing of information can happen nearly instantaneously in this environment. A recent example was the lead scare in Chinese produced consumer products, including toys.

Successful marketers were ahead of the curve, immediately making changes to their keyword buys as well as editing ad copy on the major search engines. This gave consumers piece of mind in knowing what products were lead free and safe for their children and their families.

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