Google’s Going After Call Tracking

This week, Google made two important announcements that impact marketers who are trying to track calls from search, and/or control where the calls go. The first change impacts those using location extensions. Effective January 19 – yes, in 2 weeks … [Continue reading]

The Importance of Audiences In PPC

Happy New Year to all my readers! Every year I do a reader poll to see what you want me to write about. This year, the topic with the most votes was audiences in PPC. It seems like everyone is talking about audiences. In the annual "what's next … [Continue reading]

2016 Reader Poll

I can't believe it's already that time again - time for the 4th annual Beyond the Paid reader poll! I love hearing from my readers - in blog comments, on Twitter, and in person - and the annual reader poll is always interesting. Let me know what … [Continue reading]

Where Bing Ads Are Beating Google

A couple weeks ago, I wrote a post called Where Facebook Ads Are Beating Google. The key area where Facebook is beating Google is in goal identification, right at the start of campaign setup. Bing Ads are beating Google in this way, as well, with … [Continue reading]

Google Still Hates B2B Advertisers

Yesterday, Google launched a new website for Adwords advertisers to help them achieve their marketing goals. "Finally," I thought, "an answer to my pleas!" Just last week, I showed where Facebook ads are beating Google - in helping advertisers … [Continue reading]

Where Facebook Ads Are Beating Google

Now and then, we see talk in the blogosphere about Facebook Ads being the next best thing in online advertising. For years, I viewed that sentiment with skepticism. How could a social network, with no search or intent, ever perform better than … [Continue reading]

Expanding Your PPC Account with Ad Extensions

If you have a PPC account that’s doing well, chances are you’ll want to expand it at some point. One way to give yourself a better chance for more clicks is by using ad extensions. Ad extensions are a great way to help make your ad stand out on … [Continue reading]

PPC: Not For Kids

Yesterday there was an article published on BBC entitled Boy racks up 100,000 euro bill advertising his brass band. Unbelievable - some 12 year old kid in Spain opened an Adwords account and racked up 100,000 euro (about $111,000 in US dollars) on … [Continue reading]

Using Competitive PPC Intelligence Effectively

Earlier this week, an interesting discussion started on the PPCChat hashtag on Twitter regarding the use of competitive PPC intelligence obtained from tools such as SEMrush, SpyFu, and iSpionage, as well as visiting competitor websites. I commented … [Continue reading]

The Decline And Fall Of Search Engine Strategies

Earlier this week, the news broke that ClickZ Live, formerly Search Engine Strategies, was shutting down. Long-time search pros took to Twitter to share stories of how they got started in the industry speaking at SES. As many of my readers know, … [Continue reading]