Hummm. It is Friday afternoon so I guess this falls in line with the timing of most of Google’s tests and new feature roll outs, like when they tested their left side search tool on Friday, April 2nd that was Officially Launched on Thursday, May 6th or when they Tested Olympic Logos in Search Pages on Friday, February 19th.

The following screen shot indicates that Google is testing a new “Related to” pay per click text ad segmentation format in the search results pages. While, IMO, these look a little out of place, they may actually function better for users to help identify ad groupings that may interest them.

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Yes! It finally happened. Earlier this week, on July 14th, Google AdWords rolled out their new Broad Match Modifier (BMM) keyword matching option to all of their advertisers in the United States. Since BMM had previously only been available to AdWords advertisers in the UK and Canada, it’s release to US campaigns is something that has been eagerly awaited.

When AdWords first announced the new modified broad keyword matching, they released an infographic to help marketers visually understand how BMM works and relates to existing match types. The infographic shows a very small set of examples of keyword matches that you can expect to have your text ads displayed for.

New Pay Per Click Keyword Match Types

After spending a month running and analyzing modified broad match keywords in a few Canadian AdWords campaigns, we developed a few matching techniques and initial bidding strategies that are represented in the following infograph. We feel that this is a better representation of the tiered levels of match type bidding, traffic potential and keyword matching. In particular we have expanded upon the new BMM match types with 3 possible levels of matching that we call: “Anchor Modified Broad Match“, “Dual Anchor Modified Broad Match“, and “Fully Modified Broad Match“.

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First off, before I get into praising _(below) the new Google AdWords’ Broad Match Modifier (BMM), let me state for the record that I have HATED, H.A.T.E.D., Ha-Ha-Hated Google’s “Expanded Broad Match” since it’s inception!

Why?

Well, when Google AdWords first changed their normal Broad Match keyword targeting to this Expanded Matching option, I half jokingly referred to it as their new Pay Per Click “Money Algorithm”. This term seemed to fit very well because this “Mo-gorithm” took perfectly good broad keywords and corrupted their individual intent by algorithmically matching them to many different words for the sake of displaying higher bidded terms over many queries, thus inflating competition for search impressions and causing AdWords advertisers to lose a substantial amount of control of their targeting capabilities.

Here is an example of the loss of control and “Expanded Targeting” that Google’s current broad match triggers:

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Paid Search. Nothing seems to strike fear into the heart of a client quicker then the mention of those two horrifying words.

Bring up Search Engine Optimization? No worries; they all want their sites to show up organically.

Link Building? With a little explanation on the intricacies, most see the value these important links play in gaining online exposure.

Social Media? Of course they are interested, it’s the new rage…and if all the cool kids are doing it, they don’t want to miss out on the action.

But the moment you mention Paid Search, a surprisingly large percentage react like you just asked them to sign their soul over to Beelzebub, the dark lord himself. No other Search Marketing medium gets the types of horrified reactions that Paid Search does. This is especially true for small businesses and local clients that have little experience in marketing their businesses online.

But why is that? Why do so many run away screaming like frightened little school kids from this effective and proven form of online advertising? (more…)

After several false starts, today Microsoft and Yahoo announced a 10 year deal which will see Microsoft power Yahoo search while Yahoo will “become the exclusive worldwide relationship sales force for both companies’ premium search advertisers,” according to a joint statement released by both companies. This new agreement is expected to go into effect sometime in 2010.

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At WebRanking, we are dedicated to enhancing our own knowledge in the industry we love. So on Thursday and Friday of this week, July 16th & 17th, I will be out of the office attending the Google AdWords™ Seminar for Success in Minneapolis. This is an Advanced Level Training Seminar designed to educate experienced advertisers in the successful management and creation of premium Google AdWords Pay Per Click (PPC) campaigns.

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