WebProNews

Google Getting More Experimental With Search Ads

Google is now offering some new formats for search ads. They have already been testing them in the U.S., so there is a chance you have already seen some of them if you live here. Some of them include videos. Some include maps. Some include multiple links for different landing pages. Some of the new ads include product images with corresponding links and prices. Some actually offer comparison shopping functionality. Take a look at some examples:

Does an Organic Search Presence Help Paid Result Performance?

A study from a couple of NYU Stern professors has found that organic search engine results can play a direct role in whether or not a paid listing is clicked. Basically, if this research is any indication, if your business has both a paid result and an organic result appear at the same time, you have a better chance of your paid result getting clicked than if the organic result had not appeared.

Report: Paid Search Spend Up 10%

SearchIgnite has released a report, which indicates that paid search spending in the United States was flat year-over-year in the third quarter, yet up 10% quarter-over-quarter. This comes largely from multi-channel retailers, who increased paid search spend by 40% in the quarter, according to the firm. This is despite flat conversion rates and average order value.

Yahoo Adds Paid Search Listings to Filtered Results

Yahoo has given Yahoo Search Marketing advertisers the ability to have their ads shown in filtered searches. When Yahoo launched its new search results pages last month, they added the ability for users to filter results by site. Relevant ads are now appearing with these results.

Geography Not Too Valuable in PPC Bid Management

A study that the Rimm-Kaufman Group began in early August set out to find out if certain regions and specific zip codes play significant roles in paid search conversions. The thinking was that low-population areas with fewer brick and mortar stores are usually more successful for catalogs, so perhaps the same would be true with paid search.

Yahoo Gives Search Marketers Time-Saving Tips

Yahoo has decided to drop some knowledge on Yahoo Search Marketing advertisers about a tool it has that it says will speed up their campaign optimization. If you are not familiar with it, it's called the Bulksheet.

Last Click Attribution Debated At SES San Jose

Warren Buffet may eat a banana right before he buys a yacht, but luxury yacht builders would be making some pretty bad conclusions if they tried to connect the two events.  A session at SES San Jose examined whether or not the practice of last click attribution (which often points to paid search) fails in a similar manner.

Are Local Businesses Trying Hard Enough with Paid Search?

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.

Paid Search Tips From Microsoft, Facebook, And Others

Companies that have made it this far should feel hopeful about the future; we may finally be coming out of the recession.  Not everything's back to normal, though - just ask General Motors - and so if you're in the position of needing to justify the use of paid search (or just wanting to get better at it), a session at SMX Advanced aimed to help.

Bing Algorithm and Advertising Questions Answered

Microsoft has posted a FAQ page for adCenter advertisers wondering just what Bing has in store for them. One question pertained to Bing's algorithm, to which Microsoft's Carolyn Miller responded: