Version 3 of SpeedPPC Released
This is exciting news for PPC marketers! Version 3 of SpeedPPC was launched yesterday. Version 1 was developed by qualified AdWords Professional
Jay Stockwell and Allan Gardyne for use in their own PPC marketing. Version 2 was launched publicly last year - to very strong reviews, including my own. (Note that the review applies to Version 2, however.)
Since then, Jay paid close attention to the feedback that he received from hundreds of SpeedPPC users and produced a long list of fantastic new features which have made SpeedPPC 3 even better, even more useful for rolling out intelligently constructed, large, effective PPC campaigns incredibly fast. Read more
Popularity: 25% [?]
PPC Advertising Doesn’t Work
I couldn’t help but notice the ad shown here to the left when I was checking my Gmail the other day.
“PPC Advertising Doesn’t Work” the ad loudly proclaims and then goes on to say that “You’re Throwing Away Money Since Your Visitors Don’t Trust You“.
Wait a sec.
The company is USING Google Adwords, Google’s pay per click advertising to advertise its service.
So, unless they’re complete idiots who are purposely throwing money down the PPC drain, doesn’t the PPC Advertising Doesn’t Work ad title make them liars — or guilty of misrepresentation to say the least? Especially considering their product has NOTHING to do with PPC advertising, a marketing method that isn’t even mentioned on the site.
They are selling a product that is supposed to enhance visitor trust - a seal to place on your website that guarantees that your testimonials are real - so wouldn’t it make more sense for these advertisers to try a different pitch? How about “Your Visitors Don’t Trust You”, “Beware Fake Testimonials” or “Build Customer Confidence”?
The point is, don’t believe everything you see under that “Sponsored Listing” column. While Google spouts its commitment to relevant advertising, the truth is that because ads don’t go through an editorial process before being displayed, Google advertisers are still getting away with breaking the FTC’s most basic rule of advertising:
Advertising must tell the truth and not mislead consumers. In addition, claims must be substantiated.
And just for the record, PPC advertising DOES work. I’ve been using it every day since 1998, and wouldn’t want do business on the Internet without it.
Popularity: 8% [?]
Yahoo! Changes Sponsored Search Minimum Bid Policy
Yahoo! Search Marketing announced that minimum bids for ‘a number of Sponsored Search keywords‘ would no longer be fixed at $0.10. Although they could end up lower than a dime - your minimum bids might also end up more expensive - depending on the quality and value of the keyword.
Minimum bids vary depending on keyword relevance measure by the quality of the associated ad, as well as the number of advertisers and bid amounts for that particular keyword market.
If your bid falls below the minimum set for that keyword, the ad will not be displayed and you will be notified and given some time to make changes to your bid.
Yahoo stated that the change was designed to improve their users search experience by rewarding advertisers for better quality with lower entry points into keyword markets.
I think this may prove to be an excellent opportunity to save some money on your pay per click advertising. So, if you haven’t done so lately, I highly recommend that you do a thorough review of your Yahoo! Search Marketing ad campaigns soon and beef up the quality of those ads that have so far been under-performers.
By the way, Content Match minimum bids currently will remain at $.10.
To learn more about this topic, check out the YSM Blog “Reserve Bids” post.
Popularity: 6% [?]
adCenter Affiliate Program to Close February 29, 2008
Hmmm… while scanning my Eudora for information about Microsoft’s adCenter affiliate program, I found this notice - sent February 20th - in the trash bin.
…Unfortunately, the adCenter offer will no longer be available after February 29th, 2008.
Any banner or text ads that you currently have placed and are receiving traffic will still be eligible for payout through February 29th. However, any traffic after this date will no longer be eligible for the coupon or commission payout. As of today, February 20th, no new marketing material will be available to current affiliates and new affiliates will not be able to sign up for the offer.
Final commission payout for any activity through the end of February will be processed and paid out in the month of March as usual. Please be sure to remove all marketing materials associated with this offer from placement by February 29th as you will no longer receive credit for this activity.
Although that’s definitely a bummer for affiliates who found adCenter’s offer lucrative (it offered $50 in free clicks to those who opened an adCenter account), I’m personally delighted to have found the notice before I ended up sending my visitors to a “Sorry, that offer is no longer valid” page, which happens way more often than I care to admit. 
Anyway, for those affiliates who promote to online marketers, there’s still the Yahoo! Search Marketing offer through CJ that pays $30 when your customer signs up for either a new Self Serve or Assisted Setup Account. They get a $25 credit on signup too.
Popularity: 9% [?]
Yahoo! Search Marketing Now Allows Direct Linking
Here’s a real policy change for YSM (Yahoo! Search Marketing) according to the lastest CJ Wire newsletter from Commission Junction:
After more than six months in the making and much customer feedback and testing, we are pleased to announce that Yahoo! Search Marketing (YSM) has recently updated its editorial policies and will now allow U.S. publishers to direct link to their advertisers. In the past, YSM’s editorial policy prevented publishers from linking directly to their advertiser partners and required that traffic be sent first to the publisher’s Web site. The new policy eliminates this restriction and opens a much broader search marketing opportunity for publishers.
This YSM policy change is the result of a strong relationship between Commission Junction and YSM. We have spent more than six months working with YSM to enact the new editorial policy and are very pleased that this effort has resulted in changes that are sure to create opportunities for our publishers and advertisers.
We find this policy change exciting on several levels. First, this is a significant shift for YSM and could be a great opportunity for your search marketing campaigns. Second, you heard it here first – YSM has asked us to communicate this change to the affiliate community. Third, the work we’ve done with YSM on this policy change is just another example of our commitment to listening to and speaking up for our publishers.
Although I’m sure there will be lots of blog buzz heralding this change over the next few days - I won’t be dancing in the streets as competition and click prices over at YSM increase and worse, as more affiliates choose a linking method that does nothing to build either their lists or their business in the long-term.
Popularity: 5% [?]
Rosalind’s Speed PPC Review
I finally spent some time over the weekend playing with Speed PPC by Jay Stockwell, a qualified Adwords professional.
As stated on the sales page, Speed PPC “requires that you have at least a basic knowledge of PPC marketing” and as a result “we can’t give advice and don’t provide training on PPC basics“.
I concur with the first statement completely. The software is definitely not for those who are completely new to pay per click marketing. However, as he obviously knows PPC marketing inside and out, I do think that Jay would have done well to include a basic PPC guide for those keen to learn and take action using his handy software.
And although I’m not sure that Speed PPC will actually help experienced search marketers build their pay per click advertising campaigns “72,500% faster”, it will save users a big whack of time… once they master the software.
Read the rest of my Speed PPC Review and check out Jay’s $100 discount offer for NPT readers here…
Popularity: 14% [?]
Brad is Going to Vegas
Our very own Brad Haslam, NPT Forum moderator extraordinaire, bought a copy of PPC Classroom and then WON a copy of the course.
After apologizing for depriving me of the affiliate commissions (no apology required, winning is always better than paying and I’m THRILLED that one of our own NPT’ers won a copy), he then let me know that he would also be going to Vegas for PPC Classroom LIVE!
Better yet, he promised to video document his PPC training progress and share it with the NPT subscribers.
Awesome. We’ll look forward to seeing what can be done with the course by someone who is new to the PPC world… and I expect the results will be fabulous!
Speaking of PPC Classroom, if you bought a copy through my link - you are on the list and I’ll be contacting you to schedule consultations when the refund period is over.
Too, you should have received a notice from Evelyn at PPC Classroom that reads: Read more
Popularity: 7% [?]
Reporting Arbitragers to Google
Jake posed the following question in response to my Google Slap or Salvation? post.
Ros, can I prevail upon you to post a link to where on Google it would be easiest for us to report such arbitragers?
Also, regarding the example arbitrager site in post #3 above, would we be able to automatically notify Google by clicking on the ads A LOT?! I heard somewhere (hmmm, I think a Joel Comm email from way back when) that if a visitor over-clicks AdSense ads, it can send up a red flag to Google and they’ll have a closer look at the website.
Thanks.
~Jake
I would never suggest clicking on any ad a LOT… although it may indeed be tempting.
So, here’s what Dave from Google told me… Read more
Popularity: 5% [?]
PPC Classroom Re-Launches Today at Noon Eastern with an Expanded Bonus Package and a 3-Payment Plan
How could it all have gone so wrong?
I know many of you were disappointed on Tuesday when you couldn’t get into PPC Classroom due to the launch delay and then the server attack that froze everything.
Well, the boys making it up to you…
They’ve extended and expanded the launch ‘extras’ and added a 3-payment plan (’cause SO many of you asked for that option).
More news…
Anik twisted my arm and I’ll be speaking at the LIVE event in Las Vegas on December 1st and 2nd - OK, he didn’t have to twist too hard. Better yet, I asked them to make the LIVE event passes available until Sunday, and they agreed.
They’re re-launching at NOON Eastern today with those goodies and more… and their big-time server consultant assures that all will be well.
So get to PPC Classroom ASAP and make sure that you get a most worthwhile bonus — Jeremy’s list of 135 TOP converting affiliate programs that made him 1.3M+ in 2006.
P.S. Marie asked - ‘I am still reading your book, it says I don’t need any other information. Should I be buying this program [PPC Classroom]?’
Here’s my answer…
Popularity: 5% [?]
Google Slap or Salvation?
I just finished writing my latest column for Revenue magazine. In the article I mention “when Google finally gets serious about producing relevant search results and dumps the no-content Adsense and YPN arbitragers outright, advertising costs for real affiliates (and merchants) should decrease substantially“.
Well, if you’ve been staying abreast Google’s landing page quality guidelines - which some refer to as a ‘Google Slap’ - you’re aware that according to a September 18th Inside Adwords post, another set of changes was made one week ago that promises to penalize arbitrage sites ‘that are designed for the sole purpose of showing ads’.
So, why did I say ‘when Google finally gets serious‘ about dumping the arbitragers? Well, in the same post they go on to say… Read more
Popularity: 6% [?]
