Category: Google (GOOG)

Congrat’s to Kyle MacDonald on getting his house for the One Red Paper Clip via trades! It’s an inspiring story that shows the power of blogs for both fun and creation of value.  

What is interesting about his blog is that frequently, the Google ads displayed on his page are good examples of ads not being placed or monitored well. For example, two days after Kyle was awarded a house in Kipling, Alberta, ads for books for author Rudyard Kipling were still appearing on the site. The keyword “Kipling” only should have been dropped from the campaign immediately.  Then today, “Saskatchewan dating” appeared on the site. This ad should be geotargeted and I should not be viewing it while surfing the net in Chicago.

As I become more familar with Adwords, it becomes obvious that there are tools Google is offering for micro-targeting that are not being fully utilized.

There was an ad in a local upscale Chicago publication this week profiling a local Chicago Google employee with a tagline that had a special URL that points you to the Chicago Advertising Sales job site. It then ends with “Cute childhood pictures optional”. I think the ad is trying to soften Google’s image and it surprised me when I saw it. I thought all the companies that would like to feature me in the future in a similar ad campaign might like to see what they are getting for their money. I can hear that phone ringing off the hook as soon as I hit publish…

Search Engine Roundtable is reporting increases in costs to some legitimate ecommerce web sites as part of Google’s campaign to squash Made for Adsense (MFA) sites. I applaud Google for moving to squash these sites as it is critical to the integrity of their business model and vital to removing splogs and other unwanted Internet creations based on the Made for Adsense site problem that are choking the internet with unnecessary or scraped content that all of us waste time viewing pages.

If you read the entry on the on the official Google Adwords blog, it clearly states to contact Adwords support if “you do see an increase in minimum bids and you feel that your landing page is providing a great user experience, please contact AdWords support and we’ll take a look.” It then provides a link that lays out the new guidelines.

Before people throw stones here, I would be quite interested in learning who has sent these e-mails in and what responses have been received back. I would be surprised if they weren’t taking this feedback seriously as this is not about legitimate sites, it’s about getting rid of the MFA sites to rebuild full trust and integrity in the system for advertisers. I think part of the Michigan announcement is an acknowledgment that a higher level of service and interaction may be required to achieve the desired long-term result. Until someone proves otherwise, I think Google’s recent actions signals that it understands the importance of this issue, but it is a problem of considerable size that cannot be realistically be solved overnight.

Please post your replies from the support team here and join the conversation. Thanks.

There is a recent documentary video from Australian television that focuses on Google. You can watch it here in 5 parts. Thank you to Andy Beal for pointing out the link.  It looks like it was filmed late last year as it talks a lot about book search and the surrounding issues.

It is an interesting video, not much new was learned by me however. The possible exception is that the founders tried to sell the idea several times and were told no, our search does 80% of what yours does. Sounds like there is something to be learned here though, to me it is that the web is about storing useful and accurate data to improve the customer experience as well as create value and trust. I love to be involved in listening and solving these types of issues and improving the customer experience.