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Sometime back, Yahoo raised its minimum bid from $0.05 to $.10, and those current bids under 5 and 10 cents, which its users had been using earlier were called Grandfather Bids and so on. And now, they are trying to follow Google’s policy of no minimum bids….. Following is the official notification from Y!

Starting in the next several weeks(we are not sure about ourselves), the minimum bids for a number of Sponsored Search keywords will no longer be fixed at $.10. Your new minimum bids can be lower or higher than $.10. Content Match minimum bids currently will remain at $.10(why so? and who used them?).

This update is intended to align your minimum bids with the value and quality of your keywords(just like google, we used to follow them always). It also is designed to help improve the overall search user experience by rewarding advertisers for better quality with lower entry points into keyword markets.

The amount set as your minimum bid on a keyword in Sponsored Search can vary depending on multiple factors, such as(blah blah blah):

• The relevance of your keywords (as measured by the quality of the ads associated with them)
• The number of bidders and bid amounts in the particular keyword market.

A keyword term becomes “active” — switched “on” in the system (again we are copying google as such) and eligible for display — when your bid is equal to or greater than your minimum bid. If your bid falls below your minimum, your keyword will not be displayed. You’ll be notified of such changes and will have some time to adjust your bid.

Google now offers an enhanced level of customer support for some of its top AdWords advertisers and are now testing a new support option that allows its Customers to contact an AdWords Specialist by phone with just the click of a button. Google pays for the call and even do the dialing — all you need to do is pick up the phone and talk.

This option is available in the ‘Help Center’ via the ‘Contact Us’ link within the Adwords account. After clicking ‘Contact Us,’ follow the prompts to identify your concern. You’ll then be offered the option to speak directly to an AdWords Specialist by entering your contact phone number and clicking ‘Call.’ When your phone rings, answer it; you’ll hear ringing on the line as they connect you directly to the AdWords support team.

This service is completely free to users; as Google pays all local and long distance charges. AdWords Specialists are available by phone Monday - Thursday, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. PST (U.S.), or on Friday, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. PST (U.S.).

From AGLOCO Newsletter

Our first data points are in with our AGLOCO/Ask search system.  Average net revenue for AGLOCO per click is already over US$0.20 – the average Member click through rate on ads on the Ask search page - 20% to 25% of the time the ad is clicked on (one ad click for every 4 to 5 searches).

If every AGLOCO Member did 4 to 5 Ask searches a day and they clicked on average just one ad, the revenue generated for the AGLOCO community would be US$6.00 per month per Member.  This would be a great start to building revenue for Member distributions.

AGLOCO’s challenge is to get every Member to have the Viewbar open all the time and to use the Ask search box to make their searches.

If you haven’t used the Viewbar to do an Ask search. We implore you to do it now. Member feedback on the Ask search results has been extremely favorable (most Members reporting they rate Ask results as good as Google’s or better.).

It seems quiet evident that AGLOCO wants users to use Ask search and also click on the ads…

I was a bit surprised to see my clients adwords ad. displayed in Google Products results (on the right - under Sponsored Links) while searching from India, when the campaign is targeted to run only in the U.S. I went on to Google analytics and found that around 150 visitors have come in from the Google/CPC source from Non-US countries during this month. Absolutely Nonsense, but Quiet interesting to see that Google certainly has issues with geotargeting ads.

I went on to chat with an Adwords Rep, who has agreed to contact me once he has additional information. Not sure what they have to say. To understand more about this issue, please read the actual chat with the Rep…

Thank you for contacting Google AdWords. Please hold a moment while we route your chat to a specialist who will help you with your question: “hi”.
Dave has received your message and will be right with you.
Dave: Hello Ezhilraja. Thanks for contacting Google AdWords. How may I help you today?
ezhilraja: we have targeted ads to run only in US, but I’m seeing them in India while searching on google products
Dave: Let me look into that for you.
ezhilraja: http://www.google.com/products?q=xxxxx+xxxxx
ezhilraja: please look at the adgroup XXXXXXX
Dave: which campaign is that in?
ezhilraja: XXXXXX
Dave: Ok I have located the ad and see that it is a match.
ezhilraja: why does this happen?
Dave: I am not sure if this is expected behavior or not.
Dave: When you target by country we use domains.
Dave: For example, if you target Canada we only show your ads on Google.ca.
Dave: I would like to escalate this issue to our technical team for further clarification.
ezhilraja: okay, whom should i contact
Dave: What is the IP address of the computer you used to run this search?
Dave: I can follow up with you once I discuss this issue with the appropriate team.
ezhilraja: 122.164.165.72
Dave: Ok thanks.
Dave: And what is the best email address to reach you at?
ezhilraja: XXXX@XXXXXXXX.com and cc XXXX@XXXXXXXX.com
Dave: ok.
Dave: I will look into this on your behalf right away.
Dave: Is there anything else I can help you with today?
ezhilraja: we use google analytics, and it shows
traffic from over 30 countries from google cpc during this month
ezhilraja: around 150 clicks
ezhilraja: and we have targeted only US
Dave: All of these campaigns are keyword targeted?
ezhilraja: yes
Dave: Have they always been exclusively targeting the US?
ezhilraja: yes, right from the begining
Dave: Do you mind if we review your Analytics
account while investigating this issue?
ezhilraja: sure, no issues
Dave: Ok.
Dave: Thank you for bringing this to my attention.
Dave: I will contact you once I have additional information.
Dave: Is there anything else I can help you with?
ezhilraja: nothing else this is the only issue
Dave: ok great.
Dave: It was a pleasure chatting with you. If you have any more questions, please feel free to visit our Help Center. You can also print this chat transcript for your records. Have a great day. Thank you for contacting Google AdWords. Your chat session has ended. Click To Print

Can Yahoo Make Display Ads Work More Like Search? Yes; With SmartAds, Yahoo is tapping into user behavior to help advertisers target ads in a more personalized way.

For example, a Web user who has shown an interest in certain car models and who logged on from a computer in Los Angeles could receive an ad for that vehicle that combines information on their nearest dealership and a real-time feed of inventory levels

This SmartAds system includes new software from Yahoo that assembles the ads from information provided by the advertiser. Behavioral targeting has been the focus for the Internet giants, many of which have offered large sums for online advertising firms that help track Web users’ habits. This year, Google made a bid to purchase DoubleClick, Microsoft announced its plans to try to snap up aQuantive, and Yahoo bought Right Media.

Pay-Per-Action (beta): Pay only for actions that you define.

Google is now beta testing a different business formula for AdSense that eases up on its lucrative pay-per-click model in favor of a pay-per-action model. This Pay-Per-Action program could help address the problems faced by the advertisers due to click fraud.

The main benefit of this pay-per-action model for advertisers is that publishers can no longer make money by clicking on or paying others to click on advertisements on their own site.

You’ll create an ad and define the action that you want a user to perform when they visit your site, such as signing up for your newsletter or purchasing a product. Then you’ll set the amount that you’re willing to pay when this action is completed. Finally, you’ll install conversion tracking code on your website so that we can verify when an action has been completed.

But don’t be surprised if Google’s new product helps advertisers to address this click fraud issue, Yahoo is also making a similar move to let advertisers know that it hears their concerns

India’s #1 search engine and social networking site, has seen remarkable growth since it was acquired by Web2Corp four months ago, and will soon be adding another new feature. Starting on March 15, 2007, ByIndia.com will have keyword powered advertising available that is similar to Google or Yahoo. Ads.ByIndia.com will feature keyword listings on the top of the page as well as on the right margin, similar to AdWords’ functionality. However, unlike AdWords, inline images will be supported on advertisements on the right margin, affording advertisers an opportunity to reinforce advertisements with extra visual punch.

Read more here

A Landing Page is a specific web page that a visitor ultimately reaches after clicking an advertisement. This page should be focused on a particular product or service with the aim of getting the visitor to buy or take some form of action rapidly that will ultimately lead to a sale.

Ensure you have included a call to action towards the top of the page. This will work on more those who are already familiar with what you are offering. There should be calls to action throughout the remainder of the content as different people have different tipping points in the sales process. The call to action should be linked to the order page or subscription form.

Many landing page

Google announced its plans to start testing CPC-based ads using site targeting feature in Adwords. Site targeting, which was originally launched nearly two years ago used bids placed on a cost-per-thousand impressions (CPM) basis and allows advertisers to choose individual sites in the content network where they want their ads to appear. The new CPC based testing will begin in March, and a limited set of U.S. advertisers will have the option of paying on a cost-per-click (CPC) basis.

Google announced this in their official adwords blog and expects the CPC pricing to appeal to conversion-oriented, direct response advertisers who are focused on clicks, and track metrics such as sales, leads or sign-ups.

If you’re an AdWords advertiser located in the US and are interested in participating in the CPC site targeting beta, you can fill out this short web form: http://services.google.com/ads_inquiry/cpc_sitetargeting. Google will be selecting a limited number of advertisers from all that apply.

Yahoo embarks on a critical overhaul to its search engine starting today, although very few users will probably notice. But, in effect, Yahoo has left hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue on the table, with major repercussions.

Search engine advertising is a major business that is expected to generate $8.3 billion in sales in 2007, according to eMarketer, and advertisers are increasingly flocking to it as a way to hawk their products to what is considered a highly receptive audience.

Unlike television commercials, search ads are tailored to an individual user’s interest. Advertisers can choose which search queries their messages appear next to. The more aligned with the product they sell, the better. However, on Yahoo the ads were too often off the mark, Yahoo executives acknowledge. The problem was with the formula the company used to determine ad placement.

Yahoo’s technology gave most- prominent placement to advertisers that were willing to pay the most. But it turned out that those ads were not necessarily the ones users clicked on. Either users did not trust the companies advertising, or their pitches had no appeal.

To correct the problem, Yahoo will start considering an ad’s past success in generating clicks, in addition to the amount advertisers are willing to pay. Advertisers that are willing to open their wallets wide will no longer be guaranteed top billing. The change starts in the United States on Monday and will be phased in overseas by the end of the year.