Google Backlink Update

Google is updating their backlinks again. No changes in PR as of yet, just changing in # of backlinks.

You can check your Google backlinks across the various data centers using this Google Backlink / Google Dance tool.

Google AdWord Generator: New Google AdWords SEO Tool

What is Google AdWord Generator?
Jeff Alderson of Xybercode recently created a new Google AdWords tool.

His tool helps you create Google AdWords ads from a prepopulated set of successful marketing phrases. Google AdWord Generator takes a list of over 5,000 sales terms in 65 categories and creates various AdWords ads on the fly.
Not all of the ads are going to be a perfect fit for what you are trying to do, but by glancing at a few dozen variations (they show 8 variations at a time and take less than a second to generate another 8 ads) you may be able to find a few great ad ideas.

Importance of Ad Copy
Many people do not realize that a large part of the sales cycle occurs before people even click on your ads.

People see what they want to see and taste what they want to taste. If you give people a stronger presell they are more likely to convert. By changing my ad copy on one of my AdWords ads I saw my conversion rate go from 1.5 to 3.5%. John Caples once saw an ad pull 19.5 times better than another.

Is Google AdWord Generator worth $97?
If you are serious about Google AdWords and internet marketing then $97 means next to nothing.

Google AdWord Generator alone will not make you rich, but if it helps you create just a few quality ads then this software will pay for itself in no time at all.

Who is Google AdWord Generator Best For?
You still need to find the right products and do keyword targeting, but Google AdWord Generator is a good fit for:

People who struggle to write ad creatives.
Affiliate marketers who market tons of different products and need to make ads quick.
People who are writing ads for large ecommerce sites and need to write tons of ads.
This software could likely even help experienced ad copywriters think of more good ad creatives quicker.

Google AdWord Generator Bonuses
I think the sales copy is a bit overdone and some of the bonuses are more about getting you to buy more stuff versus giving you good quality bonuses. I recommend not buying the stuff for sale within the bonus products.

On a whole the Google AdWord Generator is a useful product which will surely pay for itself over time.

Other Copywriting Tips
Right now I am reading Tested Advertising Methods by John Caples and would recommend reading it to anyone in marketing.

If You Buy Google AdWord Generator...
Realize that there is a learning cycle to the Google AdWords game and not everyone will make money right away.

If you are new to Google AdWords you will want to read a report filled with tips on how to use AdWords. A few months back I created a free one ready for your download (I update it regularly). Additionally I would recommend the reports wrote by Andrew Goodman and Perry Marshall.

The Google AdWord Generator comes with a 120 day money back guarantee.

Google Advertising Google AdWords Contextual Advertising Program

Learn About Google AdWords Contextual Ads

Free 9 minute video offering tips on how to use Google AdWords contextual advertising. The video describes briefly some of the technology behind how the Google AdWords contextual ad network works.

A couple of the more interesting ideas covered in this video:

the Contextual ads are not based on a single keyword, but the keyword list associated with a specific adgroup.
In addition the adgroup creatives play are also used to help understand what ads to display.
Max PPC and clickthrough rate also play into the order of the ads displayed.
You want to use well themed keyword adgroups to help ensure your ads are delivered properly. Including generic words like laptop can make it harder for Google to understand what your adgroup is trying to sell.
Using appropriate campaign negative keywords can also help further target your ads.
Smart pricing helps reduce the cost of the ad based on Google's predicted value of the click.

Good ideas that were not covered:

While many people find smart pricing to be effective you may also want to manually ensure proper price discounting by disabling content syndication on your search adgroups and then create lower priced adgroups with content syndication enabled.

Google AdWords contextual advertisingfrequently asked questions
Mo Money (via Google AdWords Contextual Ads)...
Between Aug. 4, 2004, and Sept. 30, 2004 Google is offering selected Google AdWords subscribers (I don't know how exclusive it is) a discount for participating in the Google AdWords contextual ads program.

You need to create new contextual ad groups or enable contextual ads on current ad groups not participating in contextual advertising. Based on the amount you spend on those contextual ads you will get a rebate coupon code.

Spend $6000 or more, get $1500 credit
Spend $4000-$5999, get $1000 credit
Spend $3000-$3999, get $750 credit
Spend $4000-$2999, get $500 credit
Spend $1000-$1999, get $250 credit
Spend $500-$999, get $125 credit
Spend $300-$499, get $75 credit
Spend $200-$299, get $50 credit
Spend $100-$199, get $25 credit
Spend $10-$99, get $10 credit

source: Google AdWords contextual advertising ad

Google IPO - Bid on Google Shares

Google share price to go for $108 to $135. Brin and Page each plan to sell enough stock to likely have over $100,000,000 in cash each.

Google has set up their IPO page where you can acquire a bidder ID number.

https://www.ipo.google.com/

Ask Jeeves also just signed on with Google through 2007.

How do Google AdWords Appear on the Top Spot?

Many people are perplexed at how to get ads to list in the top spot of Google AdWords. So the question was asked:

Q: what are the conditions that cause AdWords to appear above the regular search results instead of off to the side?

A:I've just stopped by here for a few minutes between other tasks, but I'll give you some headlines. Ads which go to the (one or two) tops spots must:

* be reviewed and approved, and
* meet an additional performance bar that focuses on relevancy - rather than what you're paying

A few nuances:

Ads on the right are positioned by virtue of two factors, measured equally. These factors are Maximum CPC and CTR. Max CPC x CTR = your rank number. And it is your rank number as compared to your competitors rank numbers that determines position.

Ads going to the top, however, weigh CTR (which is a measure of the relevance of your ads to users) more heavily than CPC. And rather than Maximum CPC, it is the actual CPC that matters.

source: SEW Forums

Google AdWords Guidelines

Some Automated Bots are off the mark. When I linked into my page about Traffic Power & Cold Call SEO Google decided to reject the ad because I did not state my affiliate status? Clearly this was the action of an automated bot or a person who did not look at the page...I know that sometimes they do review pages because one time on my other site they sent me an email about a page for speaking of the AdSense ads which "were off to the side." Clearly though this is not an affiliate ad...

Campaign: 'Campaign #16,' Ad Group: 'Traffic Power'
----------------------------------------------

AD TEXT:

Cold Call SEO is Bad
Were you recently cold called by
someone selling SEO services?
SEObook.com/cold-call-seo-facts

Action taken: Suspended - Pending Revision
Issue(s): Identify Affiliate Status

Google AdWords Lauches Keyword Based Banner Ads

Google launches keyword based contextual based banner advertising.

Effect on Other Companies:

If Google can get many of their AdSense publishers to sign up for this then they will have access to one of the largest, most targeted contextual based banner programs on the web.
Interactive media agencies and webmasters may be able to do nearly all of their advertising at Google. Exceptions:
- Overture still will be used by many due to it's large distribution network.
- Link buyers will obviously not be able to buy links through Google...
Google can no longer in any way shape or form claim to be "just a technology company." This move cements their position as a large media company.
DoubleClick's stock is down 1% on the day (last I checked...this move by Google has to make their CEO cringe!).

Google AdWords Images:
Google Images AdWords FAQ's Here.
Google AdSense: What's New

Google AdWords Sizes: You may choose from four standard ad sizes: Banner (468 x 60), Leaderboard (728 x 90), Inline Rectangle (300 x 250), and Skyscraper (120 x 600). Sizes may be adjusted slightly to display the "Ads by Google" tagline.

Example Google Ads

Placing Image Ads on Google:
"At this time, we won't show image ads on Google. The initial launch of image ads is focused on sites already showing graphical ads. Because Google image ads are targeted specifically to a page's content, advertisers showing ads on these sites would realize the greatest benefit. (Please note that a content site publisher must opt in to the image ads program before your image ads may appear on his or her site.)"

How Does Google Know When to Display Image Ads?
If your image ad is more relevant, it will appear. If not, your text ad may appear in its place. This targeting model ensures you're reaching your prospects with the most effective ads.

Will Google Put Image Ads on My Site?
Google AdSense publishers can chose to opt in to graphic ads. Graphic ads will not automatically appear on AdSense publishers websites. You can choose to run image ads by simply selecting the image ads checkbox from the Ad Preference page of your AdSense account. Or, set your preference at a page level by selecting the type of ads you'd like to show when generating your ad code.

Google Sandbox Effect (Google Hilltop & Buying / Renting Links)

Google has made a change to it's algorithm which is making it much harder (or more expensive) to outright manipulate it's search results. I believe the discussion started by SEO Guy over at SEO Chat. From there he posted it on the Search Engine Roundtable weblog. The idea has since been talked about at most of the major SEO forums.

Garret French of WebProWorld wrote a synopsis article quoting some of the more common theories.

John Scott had a talk with a fellow who used to work with Krishna Bharat (Google engineer who worked on Hilltop) at another company (not Google).

"The probation does not apply to new sites. It applies to links. When the algorithm was deployed certain older links were grandfathered in. After that, links will be (are being) given partial credit, and be essentially on "probation".

It applies to links, not sites. And the age of the link is not the only factor. The IP range of the links and other considerations are made, and the person who I discussed this with said that Krishna Bharat is at Google primary to develop and implement this new algorithm. It is supposed to radically change the way links are evaluated...

Disclaimer: This is my opinion and that's all it is."

This will allow new sites to still quickly gain PageRank as displayed, but ranking for competitive terms via quick link purchase is becoming exponentially more expensive.

Google Search w PR (PageRank) Displayed

Cool new Google search result scrapper. It may soon get banned, but if it does not then it will be an awesome tool for SEO.

Proogle shows search PageRank with search results. This can quickly give you an idea of how competitive a search term phrase may be. In addition you can add a couple features to your search to make it super useful for SEO.

Instead of looking at a search phrase you can see who is linking to a site (using link:www.blawhateversite.com). In addition you can also add &num=100 at the end of the address bar to view 100 results per page.

here is an example search on SEO Inc.'s backlinks

Proogle will allow you to quickly find your competitors most valuable backlinks. It is not quite as powerful as OptiLink, but pretty ~~damn~~ darn cool for free!!!

May 20, 2004 Update: Proogle was rebranded to Prog.

Google AdWords Coupons - UK 50 Pound Coupon Vouchers

If you are from the UK and are debating giving Google AdWords a try then you probably should. Currently Google is giving away free 50 pound AdWords coupon vouchers at services.google.com/marketing/links/uk_adwordsfifty/ to new UK Google AdWords customers.

Update: the above link has expired, but you can get a free $75 AdWords coupon here (or here or here or here) ... many options linked, as some of their coupon offers expire over time & we update this page periodically. The Google Partners Program also offers coupons to consultants managing AdWords accounts.