Update

WebProNews spoke to Eric Goldman, Associate Professor, Santa Clara University School of Law and Director of the High Tech Law Institute about the latest trademark case brought against Google.

Google has launched a new version of the AdWords API. The company says this version offers more speed, scale, and flexibility to developers at a lower cost.

The AdWords API lets developers build apps that interact with the AdWords platform. With the API, users can:

Google has announced that AdWords advertisers can now import Google Analytics Goals and Transactions into their AdWords accounts to use as conversion actions. This allows users to track campaign return-on-investment (ROI), and optimize their accounts for conversions within the AdWords interface (the new one will soon be widespread).

Previously, users would have had to install AdWords Conversion Tracking separately to use the feature, now they can just follow these steps:

Google announced today that it has two updates regarding the release of the New Adwords Interface. For one, they’ve made the interface available to everyone who uses AdWords Standard Edition. Secondly, Google has begun the migration process already with a small number of accounts.

People who may be affected by a class action lawsuit against Google have been receiving some interesting notices in their inboxes lately.  It looks like certain AdWords advertisers are on track to split a $20 million settlement starting September 14th. 

On Friday, the Interactive Advertising Bureau announced that the US had reached $5.5 billion in online ad revenue for the first quarter. This was down a bit from last year, but that’s not too bad considering the state of the economy. In fact, you’d be hard pressed to find other ways to advertise your business that are as cost-effective.

Google has released a new version of AdWords Editor. That of course means that there are some updates that come with it.

For one, advertisers can now import CSV files. Users who make changes to their accounts in a spreadsheet or custom application can import their spreadsheet directly into AdWords Editor, then post new or edited items. To import a CSV file:

Google says AdWords’ real-time targeting and reporting are ideal for finding an efficient way to reach customers in the economic downturn. The company has detailed six tactics for maximizing your AdWords investment.

1. Focus your ads on low prices and savings.

Google is expanding the Search Query Performance Report for AdWords. The goal is to provide users with more visibility into the performance of ads and to aid in the decision process.

 The online world is noisy enough as it is. Everyone is trying to get everyone’s attention to sell whatever it is they have.

Update: Google has addressed the issue on the Official Blog. The company says:

As you are probably aware, Google offers local business ads, which are essentially AdWords ads associated with specific business locations. They appear on Google Maps, Google, and across Google’s ad network.

Earlier this year, Google announced the addition of four new links for these ads – "Get Directions," "Street View" where available, "Save to My Maps," and "Send." The links were introduced as an effort to help people better locate the business that was being advertised.

This June, Google will expand advertiser’s ability to bid on trademarked keywords worldwide in over 200 countries despite a class action lawsuit filed in Texas. The plan to do so illustrates Google’s confidence that trademark bidding is not a violation of trademark laws—apparently anywhere.

Google held its annual stockholders’ meeting yesterday evening and to accompany that Co-founder Sergey Brin decided to re-share the 2008 Founders’ Letter, which was originally published on Google’s Investor Relations site. Brin says they wanted to make this more widely available so they posted it on the Official Google Blog.

Yahoo is testing the use of favicons in sponsored ads. When a user searches for your domain name, your favicon will appear in your sponsored result.

Yahoo looks at the example of Expedia. You can see how it looks in the following screenshot:

Google is offering a look into its process for measuring and analyzing data from television ads. It’s interesting to see the metrics they use and how they are trying to make television ads more relevant to viewers.

AdWords users who use the English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Hebrew, Simplified Chinese, Japanese, or Brazilian Portuguese versions of AdWords will see the new AdWords interface next time they login to their accounts if they have not already.

There are a number of changes within the new interface, and Google has taken the opportunity to highlight a few of them.

Last October Google launched its Display Ad Builder. WebProNews has covered various features of this product since its launch.

"In short, DAB brings some key attributes of search — simplicity and cost-efficiency –  to display, a form of advertising that many agencies find to be more resource intensive and complex," a spokesperson for Google tells WebProNews. "Since the fall, it’s become much more relevant to the industry as the economy has made executing campaigns efficiently more crucial."

Google has launched the Google Ad Planner Publisher Center. This is a new feature of the Google Ad Planner that is designed to improve the quality and accuracy of site data.

 There has been a bit of discussion of late about the length of AdWords ad titles with some advertisers reporting more than 25 characters being displayed in their title.

Google announced today that it has expanded the beta testing for the new AdWords interface. It is now available in ten languages to most active AdWords accounts.