Search Engine Update

Here is the latest news on the changes going on at the Google search engine. Google, a top 5 major search engine, has launched a paid links program. The Google search engine is beta testing their links program called AdWords with results being displayed to the right of the main search engine results. The Ads will be labeled "Sponsored Links" and will be noticeably different from Google's spider and directory search engine results. Adwords sponsored links will be sold based on how often your ad appears in the search engine results and not how many times someone clicks on your link. It appears the Google search engine will have three ad spots per page that you may bid on, competing with other advertisers. Placement will be determined by popularity.

All ad's will have a popularity bar that is shown below the description of every ad. This bar represents how many people click on the ad from a search engine result. The more green in the popularity bar the more popular the ad. If more than one ad is listed in the search engine result they will be ranked by popularity. To increase your click through rate you will have to experiment around with the ad to increase its popularity.

Make sure that your ad is appealing and have quality content on everything displayed in your ad. Try to be precise in the keyword terms displayed in your title and description because they are visible in the search engine results and will entice a search engine user to click. Try not to be too broad in your keywords. For instance, trying to target "weight" on a weight loss site is to general a term, you would do better to target the keyword phrase "weight loss diets". Also' when someone clicks on your ad in a search engine result and does not find the information they are looking for, your click through rate is high but yields very little sales. Remember use your key phrases in the title and description of your ad.

If you feel that you may want to utilize the sponsored links now is the time to start your ad campaign. This will allow you to start gaining
popularity for your ad before your competitors start their ad program. You will be taking somewhat of a risk, the program is in beta (testing) and is subject to change, as always.

When you sign up with the Google search engine they will let you set a limit on how much you spend a month. They will also notify you when your budget is up and will give you the option to set a period of time when your ad runs, this can be a big help if your products are seasonal. The Google search engine also allows you to target your keyword phrases:

Keywords: Your ad will be shown for any single keywords you specify, if those keywords or keyword phrases appear in a search engine query your ad will appear. If your target keyword is airplane, anyone that has the keyword airplane in their search engine query like "Jefferson Airplane" (the rock group) your ad would show up in the search engine result. To counter act this, the Google search engine allows negative keyword matching, which allows you to filter out the keyword "Jefferson Airplane". Your best bet is to use the keyword phrase matching option, which allows your ad to appear if you target the keyword phrase "used airplanes". Your ad will also come up for the search engine query "used airplanes" as well as "repairing used airplanes", "used airplane sales", and "where to buy used airplanes". This will not apply if you want your ad to appear for the keyword phrase "airplanes used". If you want your ad to appear for keyword phrase "airplanes used" you will have to also bid on that term, this is called exact phrase matching.

One more thing, you must decide if the plural is appropriate. Example: the search engine query "baby gift ideas" does not require a plural for the keyword term "gift" but "baby gifts" does. This is called stemming.


Jay Mock
Director of Internet Marketing
Compass Web Site Design