Pay Per Click Profits Blog

What's Hot for 2006?

2006-07-08T17:14:00.000-07:00

Got the latest "Death Cab for Cutie" tune on your iPod phone? That's so 2005.

With the new year about to begin, it's time to upgrade your electronics, reprogram your TiVo, juice up your music collection, restyle your wardrobe and mark your calendar with all the most-anticipated movies.

Haven't a clue where to start?

Read full article here...

eBay Developer Conference 2006 Presentations

2006-06-11T10:13:00.000-07:00

PDF version of almost all sessions are available for downloading free.

Best overall IMHO is Session 205: Building a Killer Buyer App with eBay Web Services.

Download Killer App presentation here

See all Day 1 presentations
See all Day 2 presentations

Online shopping by category

2006-05-17T10:14:00.000-07:00

Retail e-commerce sales in the U.S. are projected by eMarketer to grow by an annual average rate of just under 19% this year and for the next three years. But what types of goods are selling well online? Computer hardware/software is on the cusp of becoming the first retail category to derive a majority of its sales online. Last year, Internet sales accounted for 48% of total computer-related sales, according to Forrester Research. By 2010, Forrester expects that 55% of these sales will be made online.

PPC Tips From SEO Book, #1 On All Major Search Engines!

2006-05-06T08:50:00.000-07:00

Here's your chance to get a free 40-page PDF eBook, PPC Tips, from The SEO Book, written by Aaron Wall. Aaron's book, The SEO Book, #1 Ranked. Everywhere.

Google Search: SEO Book (#1)
Yahoo! Search: SEO Book (#1)

This is the #1 ranking SEO book on all major search engines.

The search engines love it. Thousands of webmasters have built their business using SEO Book.

Download the PPC Tips chapter from that book FREE from PPC Profits.

Or Buy The Book Now!

Introducing AuctionCloud

2006-04-20T12:55:00.000-07:00

A Powerful Tool and Innovative Way to Buy and Sell on eBay. AuctionCloud visually shows popular keywords used by eBay users when searching for listings.

For sellers, see what eBay users are really searching for in each category. Take advantage of this information for drop-shipping ideas or products to resell or simply following trends. For buyers, get ideas on what items are hot with eBay users. Use this information for immediate or future gift ideas or long-term investments.

More here...

Search Engine User Behavior

2006-04-11T21:42:00.000-07:00

Did you know that 62% of search engine users click on search results within the first page of results? Grab the latest iProspect April 2006 report for some revealing facts.

Download PDF Report

An Idea For Selling On eBay

2006-03-10T07:48:00.000-08:00

Want to buy products on the cheap without importing or using drop shippers? Try Unique Auction! UniqueAuction.com in mid-March plans to auction off 10 Sony PlayStation 3 game consoles. The game console, which should retail between $400 and $700, will sell on the auction site to the highest unique bidder for less than one percent of the suggested retail price. Each of the 10 auctions will last one hour. Strategy is important. A Platinum Membership eliminates the guess work by allowing people to select a price and then defend that price by bidding on other people's bids. This option turns the auction into a strategic game and allows people to use many different methods to win.

The site auctions off everything from Apple Computer video iPods, to Nissan 350Z cars, to Hawaiian wedding and vacation pack. Register now and develop your strategy so you're ready when the Sony PS3 come up for bidding in a few weeks.

Find out more here.

Exclusive Tip For Blog Readers!

2006-02-17T10:10:00.000-08:00

Flaunt your expertise and get free traffic and marketing!

This web site is HIGHLY recommended and is still in Beta. Seth Godin is internationally known and I have read almost every book he has ever written.

Social networking meets blogging and About.com on graphical steroids. Amazing user interface and very nice graphics. Check out Squidoo now!

Very addicting... I've created more lenses in two days than I created web pages...

Alexa Rank: 3979
PageRank: 4

Growing Numbers Surf the Web Just for Fun

2006-02-16T11:29:00.000-08:00

More Americans are turning to the internet as a place to hang out.

Nearly a third of internet users go online on a typical day for no particular reason, just for fun or to pass the time.

Two-thirds of all internet users have tried surfing the Web just to pass the time, according to a survey we conducted in December 2005. Some 40 million people said they were surfing for fun on a typical day during the month. This number is up from 25 million people who were browsing for no particular reason in November 2004, the most recent time when this question was asked by the Pew Internet Project.

Full report here (PDF)

Marketing Wisdom 2006

2006-01-17T09:28:00.000-08:00

Marketers from 110 organizations contributed test results and lessons-learned stories for this fourth annual Wisdom Report, including: American Red Cross, CompUSA, Cox Communications, Deloitte & Touche, Palo Alto Software, and The Motley Fool:

Email campaign segmentation test results

Search marketing lessons (especially combining PPC and SEO)

Offline advertising and marketing lessons

Web site design and landing page lessons

Business-to-Business marketing campaign lessons

Office politics and job searching tips for a successful marketing career

Download the full report PDF here

New Study: Biggest Internet Marketers Rate Best & Worst Tactics of 2005 + Reveal 2006 Plans

2006-01-16T15:54:00.000-08:00

What are some of the world's heaviest Net marketers planning for 2006?

Search takes the top spot from email

Search averages 34% of online budgets

Behavioral ads have lost some of their luster

RSS feeds and in-house blogs are favorite ‘emerging tactics’

Full article here

Affiliate Summit 2006 Wrap-Up Report -- Commissions to Reach $6.5Billion in 2006

2006-01-11T16:51:00.000-08:00

How big is affiliate marketing? Roughly $6.5 billion

MarketingSherpa's rough estimate of $1.5 billion in January 2005 was probably way too low. Now with more data, MarketingSherpa's research team roughly estimates affiliates worldwide will earn $6.5 billion in bounty and commissions in 2006. This includes retail, personal finance, gaming and gambling, travel, telecom, 'Net marketing' education offers, subscription sites, and other lead generation, but it does not include contextual ad networks such as Google AdSense.

Grab the PowerPoint slides from Anne Holland's keynote speech at the Summit here

Search Engine Marketing: Top Five Eye-Tracking Laboratory Test Results

2006-01-04T10:15:00.000-08:00

More from the MarketingSherpa folks and now includes Shopping sites.

"Interestingly, although we hadn't expected to see a big difference between shopping engine eye-tracking lab results and traditional search engine eye-tracking results, it turns out that for shopping engines the right column is different. Most consumers still spend most of their eye time on the left column. A significant number of them, however, also view the top right column results on shopping search.

Why? It may be because consumers using shopping engines are in a different stage of the buying cycle. They may be slightly more serious about evaluating the results on the page, so they're willing to look harder. It may also be due to the way shopping engines such as Shopzilla and NexTag lay out their results page."

Full article here

How Click Fraud Could Swallow the Internet

2005-12-31T15:01:00.000-08:00

Pay-per-click advertising is big, big, big business. So are bogus hits on Internet ads. It's search giants against scam artists in an arms race that could crash the entire online economy.

Full article here

Silk Road - The Tipping Point Is Approaching

2005-12-30T15:20:00.000-08:00

Must read for anyone doing online advertising. Report by Piper Jaffray:

"The Upshot: We believe that online advertising is now positioned to exceed $55 billion globally by 2010, with Google and Yahoo continuing to garner the lion's share."

The Tipping Point is Approaching: The accelerating shift of marketing dollars toward online advertising and its implications for search and display advertising.

Full Report (PDF)

Online Holiday Shoppers Spent a Total of $30.1 Billion during 2005 Holiday

2005-12-30T15:17:00.000-08:00

Online Holiday Shoppers Spent a Total of $30.1 Billion during 2005 Holiday Season, Up 30 Percent from 2004, According to the eSpending Report from Goldman Sachs, Nielsen//NetRatings and Harris Interactive

Apparel/Clothing, Computer Hardware/Peripherals and Consumer Electronics Captured the Most Online Holiday Dollars This Year, Showing Double to Triple-Digit Year-over-Year Growth; Record High in Shoppers Choosing to Buy Online vs. Other Channels

Again, keep this in your notebook for next year's shopping season...

Full Report (PDF)

More than Half of Online Shoppers Finish Shopping the Week Prior to the Holidays

2005-12-30T15:14:00.000-08:00

More than Half of Online Shoppers Finish Shopping the Week Prior to the Holidays; Total Holiday Spending Hits $25 Billion, According to the Holiday eSpending Report from Goldman Sachs, Nielsen//NetRatings and Harris Interactive

Sales of Apparel/Clothing, Computer Hardware/Peripherals and Consumer Electronics Top This Year’s Holiday Shopping List

Keep this in your notebook for next year's shopping season...

Full Report (PDF)

ONLINE HOLIDAY SHOPPING GROWS 33 PERCENT YEAR-OVER-YEAR DURING SIXTH WEEK OF HOLIDAY SEASON, ACCORDING TO NIELSEN//NETRATINGS HOLIDAY ESHOPPING INDEX

2005-12-15T16:02:00.000-08:00

NEW YORK–December 12, 2005– Nielsen//NetRatings, a global leader in Internet media and market research, announced today that its Holiday eShopping Index saw a 33 percent year-over-year increase in the total number of online shopping trips during the week ending December 4th.

The year-over-year fastest growing category was Books/Music/Video, which increased in shopping visits by a remarkable 238 percent compared with Week 6 of the 2004 holiday season. Apparel ranked No. 2 in year-over-year growth with an increase of 38 percent, while Toys/Video Games, Retail and Consumer Electronics rounded out the top five year-over-year fastest growing categories, each with 28 percent growth.

Full Details here (PDF)

Don't leave money on the table!

2005-11-04T12:43:00.000-08:00

With an eCommerce web site where you are selling your own products or affiliate products, once a potential online customer leaves, you've lost him/her if you did not collect their email address for a future sale. If they did not buy anything, you've also lost a current sale.

What if he/she don't have to buy anything and you get paid for clicking on a link and exit? Google AdSense is the answer. I've always believe that you are leaving money on the table if you don't.

Click on Google AdSense link on PPC Resources page to sign up.

Read the bonus PDF eBook or check out Joel Comm's excellent eBook on this subject.

It's obvious - video games are HOT!

2005-10-14T07:48:00.000-07:00

A new report on Japanese consumers has been published showing detailed next generation console buying plans. It shows that nearly a quarter of games players plan to buy Xbox 360, with 65% opting for PS3 and 36% looking forward to Nintendo Revolution.

Details here...

Xbox 360 to lead PS3!

2005-10-03T15:33:00.000-07:00

New hardware estimates from analysts at Piper Jaffray have picked the Xbox 360 to maintain a lead over PS3 in the U.S. market through 2008 but ultimately tick victory for Sony. Also, hard drive equipped PSPs are tipped for mid-2006.

The latest report from Piper Jaffray has a number of optimistic figures. Overall hardware unit sales are predicted to grow 30% from 2006 to 2011. Most of that growth will be in handheld hardware, which has been tipped to grow 45% over the next cycle.

Software growth is predicted to go from $7.0 billion in 2005 to $10.0 billion in 2008. The analysts say that the sector as a whole should outperform broader market indices.

The introduction of PS3 and Revolution in the U.S. is pegged to be late 2006 with Sony introducing the rumored HD equipped PSP (presumably to tap into the iPod market) in mid-2006.

Hardware market share for the next cycle is predicted to eventually be 45%-50% for Sony, Microsoft at 35%-40% and Nintendo with 15%. That said, through 2008, Xbox 360 is predicted to be the market leader.

FREE Search Engine Optimization Ebook

2005-10-03T11:18:00.000-07:00

I've added a fifth bonus to the members only area.

It's SEO Made Easy. Must read even for experts!

Enjoy.

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmakkah: Optimize Early for Holiday Shoppers

2005-09-19T10:44:00.000-07:00

True, there are still leaves on the trees and days when your air conditioner may be whirring full blast in the background, but for your search engine marketing campaign, the holiday season is getting frighteningly close. And you can rest assured that the race has already begun with online retailers competing for a piece of that holiday pie. But it’s not too late. Through strategic planning and decisive action, you still have time to prepare your website to attract holiday shoppers.

You Must Start Now!

Read rest of article here

What's Your Favorite Search Engine Marketing Book?

2005-09-09T09:31:00.000-07:00

If you could only recommend someone one book on "search engine marketing", which one would it be? Why?

Here is a list of recommended books:

Search Engine Advertising: Buying Your Way to the Top to Increase Sales
By Catherine Seda
Paperback: 368 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.66 x 8.92 x 7.00
Publisher: Pearson Education; (February 24, 2004)
ISBN: 0735713995
Price: $20.39

Search Engine Visibility
By Shari Thurow
Paperback: 320 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.60 x 9.18 x 7.02
Publisher: New Riders; 1st edition (December 30, 2002)
ISBN: 0735712565
Price: $20.39

Search Engine Marketing: The essential best practice guide
By Mike Grehan.
Paperback: 2nd Edition with over 350 pages
Price: $97.00

21 Ways to Maximize Google AdWords Profits
By Andrew Goodman
153 pages
Price $69.00 On sale now for $49.00

The Nitty Gritty of Search Engine Optimization
By Jill Whalen
eBook download 23 pages. Well worth every sentence.
Price: $49.00

SEO Book
By Aaron Wall
eBook download 126 pages.
Price: $39.99

Enjoy & Prosper!

SEO and Strategies Work!

2005-09-03T08:59:00.000-07:00

Created a web site from scratch and applied 2 of the strategies from my book. It took less than 7 days for google to index ALL (484 to date) the pages that exist currently. Page Rank is zero but should get to 5+ in three to four weeks after applying one more strategy from my book. SEO works!

The Reference Desk

To find out, type:

site:the-reference-desk.com (or you can click here)

into Google search engine.

Good luck!

Google AdWords: New Keyword System Released

2005-08-16T15:47:00.000-07:00

Hello from the Google AdWords Team:

We're happy to let you know that we've implemented our new keyword status system. We've simplified our keyword states and introduced quality-based minimum bids, giving you more control to run on keywords that you find important. With these improvements, your keywords will now either be active or inactive, depending on their quality and maximum cost-per-click (CPC).

We suggest you log in to your account to view these changes. Any keywords that were previously normal, in trial, or on hold are now labeled as either active (triggering ads) or inactive (not triggering ads). Any keywords that were disabled before implementation will remain labeled as disabled in your account for several weeks. This gives you the opportunity to review and activate any disabled keywords you'd like to run on before we delete them. However, we will no longer disable any new keywords you enter into your account.

See FAQ here

Yahoo Search Marketing Alliance Program - Sign Up Now!

2005-08-12T08:48:00.000-07:00

Yahoo! Search Marketing Alliances program specifically designed to help agencies, search engine marketers (SEMs) and Web professionals earn money and grow their businesses.

Similar to the Google Advertising Professional program. $50 non-refundable sign up fee. Takes tests as many time as required to pass (80% or higher) - no extra charge!

Why wait? I already took the test and passed :-)

More info here.

Online Ad Spend to Climb Through 2010

2005-08-09T13:03:00.000-07:00

Online advertising continues to grow. A forecast from JupiterResearch says online ad spending will reach $18.9 billion in 2010, double 2004's expenditure.

Each category of Internet advertising will see growth. Display will increase by seven percent in five years; classifieds will grow about 10 percent to $4.1 billion; and rich and streaming media spending will grow to nearly $4.5 billion by 2010.

The forecast said search engine advertising will generate more revenue than standard display advertising by 2010. But David Card, VP and research director at JupiterResearch, doesn't expect advertising in search to rob budgets from other categories. "I think a lot of it is incremental spending, there's a lot of talk that people are shifting TV budgets, but that's not search. If anything, it's coming from direct marketing budgets," said Card. "[Search has] really proven itself as cost effective, measurable direct marketing,"

Findings from the 2005 Online Advertising Forecast report were presented this week at the Search Engine Strategies Conference & Expo 2005.

Yahoo! Sense?

2005-08-02T12:59:00.000-07:00

Yahoo is planning to launch on Wednesday an ad network for small Web publishers intended to strengthen its hand against rival Google, a source familiar with the plan told CNET News.com.

Read CNET story here

Google AdWords: PPC AdRank Changes

2005-07-22T08:52:00.000-07:00

Observations from Kevin Lee of Did-It in a press release

"Starting on August 2nd, two changes will take place. First, any marketer willing to pay the Google AdWord’s minimum bid will be able to compete for a spot within the ad rotation. Second, many of the factors that determine ad rank in the way AdWords ads appear will change. Factors that control an ad’s rank and rotation have been modified based on a new calculation of predicted clickthrough rate. However, the basic formula of predicted clickthrough rate combined with bid will stay the same.

The major new criterion being used to calculate the predicted clickthrough rate will involve a new quality score—a number based on the likelihood that a searcher will click on an ad. By including additional factors in calculating a predicted click rate, Google can select ads in the order of highest yield downward. Which means that ads that are likely to do better—and so get more money for Google—will appear in the most visible positions. Quality score factors include: historical keyword performance, creative, match type, as well as other variables Google declines to disclose.

The minimum cost-per-click bidding price for certain keywords or ad creative, in order to stay in the AdWords rotation could be very high.” You could be looking at minimum bids of over $0.50 a click,” says Lee. However, highly targeted ads a certain keywords may see CPC minimums drop below the $.05 current minimum. CPC minimums will be determined by the quality score."

Affect On Marketers?

Aside from Google, adds Lee, marketers bidding on generic and branded keywords will likely see more competition as a result of the change. Explains Lee, “The way things are now, there are so many people bidding on generic and branded terms that many of them end up with low clickthrough rates. They get thrown out.” “Now that you can pay to stay in the running,” Lee says, “the market for popular keywords becomes much more dynamic. So the prices for those terms could escalate dramatically.”

See full press release here

Google AdWords: Keyword Status Changes

2005-07-15T09:19:00.000-07:00

Upcoming changes from Google AdWords.

"In the coming weeks, we'll simplify our keyword status system and introduce quality-based minimum bids, giving you more control to run on keywords you find important."

See notes here

Google AdSense: Optimization Webinar

2005-07-15T09:17:00.000-07:00

Recent webinar by Google AdSense Team validated a lot of the optimization tips outlined in my bonus report, "AdSense Revenues: Generating Income From Search Traffic".

See full transcript here

Consumers suspicious of sponsored links

2005-07-07T08:46:00.000-07:00

Sponsored links are marketed as a sure-fire way to lure consumers to specific Web sites, but a Penn State study shows most online shoppers don't take the bait.

"Consumers have a bias against the links that businesses pay search engines to provide," said Jim Jansen, assistant professor in the Penn State School of Information Sciences and Technology (IST). "By themselves, sponsored links appear not to be a viable business model and should be only one part of an online advertising campaign."

Full article here

The CEO's Secret Handbook

2005-06-30T08:59:00.000-07:00

Imagine a lifetime's worth of executive wisdom, boiled down to a handy pocket-size guide. Corporate leaders swear by it -- but it's not for sale. Lucky for you, Business 2.0 magazine (July 2005 issue) has excerpted the best parts. Grab it on your newsstand or subscribe online.

A more in depth article can be found here

Turning Clicks Into Customers

2005-06-24T21:34:00.000-07:00

A tip from the Goolge AdWords team...

Turning Clicks Into Customers

If you're like most advertisers I've talked to, I'll bet you're looking for pre-qualified customers - in other words, people who are actively looking for the very thing you've got to offer.

Here's a short quiz that hints at the secret of attracting these customers:

Given a choice between the two potential customers below, who would you rather have click on your ad?

User #1: someone who has searched for something only slightly related to what you offer, and who clicked on your ad in the hopes that you might have it.

User #2: someone who searched for exactly what you have to offer, and who clicked on your ad because they're certain you have it.

If you chose User #2, then you'll be happy to know that AdWords gives you the control you need to reach this potential customer. Here's the simple secret:

Make sure that you create highly targeted Ad Groups. What are those? Well, a targeted Ad Group is simply a carefully chosen list of specific keywords, all regarding a particular something that you wish to advertise, combined with a crisp, specific, and well written ad about the very same thing.

When you advertise in this targeted way, users searching on one of your keywords will see an ad about the exact same thing they've just searched for. And when they click on your ad, they effectively arrive at your site as a pre-qualified customer; they're already interested in exactly what you have to offer.

AOL Beta Launches today

2005-06-21T13:18:00.000-07:00

AOL Beta portal started beta testing today.

See how your pages rank with AOL Search. You can also see Google AdWord Ads in their search results pages.

Check it out here

Paypal Website Payments Pro

2005-06-17T11:00:00.000-07:00

A new tool from PayPal is designed to give merchants the option of letting customers complete credit card transactions on the merchants' own sites--that is, without being redirected to PayPal's site.

PayPal is charging $20 monthly for Website Payments Pro, plus fees of 2.2 percent to 2.9 percent per transaction, along with a flat fee of 30 cents per transaction.

Details here

Site Targeting on Google AdWords launches

2005-06-17T10:45:00.000-07:00

Here's what you can now do with Google AdWords:

Target Sites (Not just Keywords)
Now, you can select specific content sites where you want your ads to show. This will allow you to precisely communicate with those individuals who are most likely to be interested in your offerings.

Get Creative
Within site-targeted campaigns, you can use not only text and image ad formats, but also animated image ads.

Make an Impression
Site-targeted campaigns allow you to bid for placement on a CPM (cost-per-thousand-impressions) basis. These ads will compete in the same auction with CPC (cost-per-click) ads.

Details here

Top 400 online retailers

2005-06-12T18:29:00.000-07:00

Internet Retailer latest report

Profiles and statistics of America's 400 largest retail web sites ranked by annual sales.

Read full article

Do Google Ads Help Fund Spyware?

2005-06-10T08:54:00.000-07:00

Google's sponsored-link ads may have helped turn the world's best-known search engine into a financial powerhouse, but they also are coming under attack for contributing to spyware practices that undermine trust on the Web.

Read Anti-spyware researcher Ben Edelman's research report here

Google Targets B-to-B Advertisers

2005-06-06T09:35:00.000-07:00

Google undertook a study with Millward Brown to show how search advertising is more effective than ads in trade magazines and other traditional business-to-business media.

Read full article here

FindWhat to Rebrand as Miva

2005-06-06T09:28:00.000-07:00

FindWhat.com announced plans today to bring its various online marketing and e-commerce properties it has acquired over the last 18 months together under three divisions, all with the Miva brand name.

Read full article here

Open to Exploitation: American Shoppers Online and Offline

2005-06-01T14:05:00.000-07:00

Must read report for everyone!

Open to Exploitation: American Shoppers Online and Offline

Sixty-four percent of American adults do not know that it is legal for online stores to charge different people different prices at the same time of day for the same product. This Groundbreaking new study explores this and many other shopping facts that all Americans need to know in order to protect themselves from online and offline exploitation.

Full Report (PDF) here

March 2005 SE Market Share: Google - 36.4%, Yahoo! - 30.6%, MSN - 16.5%

2005-05-31T15:58:00.000-07:00

March 2005 search engine market shares: Google - 36.4%, Yahoo! - 30.6%, MSN - 16.5% by ZDNet's Alex Moskalyuk -- In March 2005 Google continued to lead other search engines with a 36.4% share, up 0.5% YTY, according to comScore Networks. Yahoo! was #2 with 30.6%, up 0.6% YTY. MSN Search had 16.5%, increasing 0.8% YTY. AOL Search lost 4.5% of the market, falling from 13.4% in March 2004 to 8.9% in March 2005. Ask.com [...]

Book: All Marketers Are Liars

2005-05-31T09:45:00.000-07:00

I just got my copy of Seth Godin's latest, "All Marketers Are Liars".

I've read almost every book published by Seth and I expect this to be
just as good and maybe even more enjoyable than the rest because of it's controversial title!

See book details at Amazon

U.S. Online Sales Expected to Hit $172 Billion in 2005

2005-05-24T11:14:00.000-07:00

Washington, DC, May 24, 2005--Ten years after its inception, online retailing is growing up fast. According to The State of Retailing Online 8.0 , an annual Shop.org study conducted by Forrester Research (Nasdaq: FORR) of 137 retailers, 2004 online sales rose 23.8 percent to $141.4 billion. Excluding travel, online retail sales also rose 23.8 percent to $89.0 billion, representing 4.6 percent of total retail sales.

Read press release here

Google AdWords Blog launched by Google AdWords Team

2005-05-19T11:02:00.000-07:00

Inside AdWords

From the team:

"Recently, we were putting the finishing touches on some really cool new features for AdWords, and our conversation turned to a common theme: We’re really proud of AdWords because we know it can help people worldwide advertise successfully, but we wish we had a better place to tell you about it. Lucky for us, the Blogger team works down the hall."

- Updates on enhancements we've made to the system
- Thoughts on things that advertisers have been asking about
- Tips on getting the most from AdWords
- Details on tools we think you'll find useful
- Links to articles you might find interesting

Go To Blog Here

April Search Keyword Prices Rise

2005-05-12T23:06:00.000-07:00

Online Auction Is Attractive to Advertisers

"San Francisco, May 11, 2005. The prices that advertisers paid to buy search engine keywords increased on average 11 percent from April 1-30, according to the Fathom Online Keyword Price Index™ (KPI™). The data indicates that online auction of keywords is attracting more advertisers who are learning how to maximize their ROIs by taking advantage of seasonal opportunities when consumers come online with a strong intent to buy.

For instance, the Finance-Mortgage vertical remains strong, rising 20 percent to $6.49 per keyword on average. Clearly, homeowners are still refinancing and new mortgages are being purchased at a fast clip. Banks and mortgage lenders who are seeing their advertisements lead to profitable sales continue to purchase keywords."

Read Press Release

DogPile: Missing Pieces Study

2005-05-12T12:44:00.000-07:00

Recently released white paper from DogPile: The Missing Pieces.

"Search engines are extremely different. Did you know that only 3% of page one search results returned Google, Yahoo! and Ask Jeeves are the same?

We were amazed by the results of a study we conducted in collaboration with researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania State University. The study was designed to determine the amount of search results overlap between Google, Yahoo! and Ask Jeeves with over 10,000 queries. The results of the study are truly amazing! And it clearly shows how different search engines return different results."

Very good read and validation of many previously published reports.

Read more here

Call To Action: Converting Searchers To Buyers

2005-05-09T12:35:00.000-07:00

Wonderful book just released on how to convert surfers to buyers. I read the sample chapter and table of contents. Especially useful for Yahoo! Search Engine searchers (see Chapter 5 of PPC Profits e-Book) going to your web site...

See book details at Amazon

Call To Action Web Site

Interesting Product:: Adprecision ESP

2005-05-09T11:55:00.000-07:00

If you are in the travel industry or involved with price sensitive services/products, you've got to check out Adprecision ESP (Europe’s first dynamic Search Engine advertising platform for the travel industry). You should be able to get some unique ideas for your own situation - i'm brewing on something after reading this :-)

"the service aims to give travel companies the opportunity to display highly relevant sponsored ad-listings within Google Adwords and Overture. Ad-listings can now contain important elements such as prices, dates, departure, arrival and accommodation information taken directly from travel companies reservation or marketing systems"

Read more here

Google searches for quality not quantity

2005-05-01T22:26:00.000-07:00

GOOGLE has plans that will dramatically improve the results of internet news searches, by ranking them according to quality rather than simply by their date and relevance to search terms.

Read full article here

Googlebot Sighting...

2005-04-28T20:57:00.000-07:00

Ever wondered what the Googlebot looks like?

Check it out here.

Google Ready To Offer Banner Ads

2005-04-26T11:06:00.000-07:00

Advertisers bid for placement on a cost per impression (CPM) basis, as opposed to the cost-per-click (CPC) search ads.

Google's attempt to get at brand advertisers and a revival of the banner ad...

Morgan Stanley Internet analyst Mary Meeker told a trade conference on marketing and technology that "Internet advertising spending has nowhere to go but up."

Mary Meeker Presentation (PDF)

AdMoolah: AdSense Earnings Site

2005-04-25T09:23:00.000-07:00

New web site launches - AdMoolah.com is a place for webmasters to share and compare Google AdSense earnings.

You can query their database (nice save feature too) or enter your monthly earnings. Only 29 entries when i ran my query this morning (9:30AM PST).

Highest Payout
Month = 3/05
Earnings = $10107.91
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Businessweek Cover Story: Blogs Will Change Your Business

2005-04-23T13:32:00.000-07:00

Businessweek May 2, 2005 Issue
online version

Blogs Will Change Your Business

Look past the yakkers, hobbyists, and political mobs. Your customers and rivals are figuring blogs out. Our advice: Catch up...or catch you later

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Google Announces Record Revenues for the First Quarter of Fiscal 2005

2005-04-21T18:00:00.000-07:00

Another blockbuster report from Google...

PDF Version available here.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - April 21, 2005 - Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG) today announced financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2005.

"This was a very strong quarter for Google. We continue to execute well and we have been able to take full advantage of the growth in online advertising" said Eric Schmidt, Google chief executive officer. "In addition, we performed well across our operations with our engineering and product teams delivering dozens of new products and features for Google users around the world."

* Google reported record revenues of $1.256 billion for the quarter ended March 31, 2005, up 93% year over year. Google reports its revenues, consistent with GAAP, on a gross basis without deducting traffic acquisition costs or TAC, the portion of revenues shared with partners.

* Income from operations, on a GAAP basis, was $443 million, or 35.2% of revenues for the quarter ended March 31, 2005 compared to $155 million or 23.8% of revenues for the first quarter of 2004.

* Income from operations includes a $49 million non-cash, stock-based compensation charge compared to a $76 million non-cash, stock-based compensation charge in the prior year’s first quarter.

* Net income on a GAAP basis for the quarter ended March 31, 2005 was computed based on the following income statement or condensed income statement line items. Revenues of $1.256 billion less TAC of $462 million, less both other costs and expenses before stock-based compensation of $303 million and stock-based compensation of $49 million, increased by other income of $14 million and then reduced by a provision for income taxes of $87 million.

* Net income on a GAAP basis in the first quarter of 2005 was $369 million or $1.29 per share on a basis of a diluted 286.6 million weighted average shares outstanding. This compared to net income for the first quarter of 2004 of $64 million or $0.24 per share on a basis of a diluted 264.2 million weighted average shares outstanding.

* Some Wall Street analysts use non-GAAP measures to analyze our operating results. For instance, they may subtract TAC of $462 million from revenues of $1.256 billion to arrive at a net revenues amount. Also, certain analysts may arrive at net income before stock-based compensation by subtracting traffic acquisition costs of $462 million, other costs and expenses before stock-based compensation of $303 million, adding back other income of $14 million and subtracting our provision for income taxes of $87 million from revenues of $1.256 billion.

* Net cash provided by operating activities for the three months ended March 31, 2005 totaled $530 million as compared to $208 million for the first quarter of 2004, an increase of 155%.

* Adjusted EBITDA, which is an alternative measure of liquidity to GAAP net cash provided by operating activities (and is defined as income before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, the non-cash stock-based compensation charge and in-process R&D), increased by $293 million or 115% to $ 548 million (or 44% of revenues) in the first quarter of 2005 from $255 million in the first quarter of 2004 (or 39% of revenues).

Financial Highlights

Revenues - Revenues in the quarter totaled a record $1.256 billion, representing a 22% increase over the fourth quarter of 2004 and a 93% year-over-year increase. This revenue increase reflects strong traffic and monetization growth in the quarter as well as advertisers’ growing recognition of the Internet as an effective advertising medium.

Google-Sites Revenues - Google-owned sites generated $657 million or 52% of total revenues. This represents an increase of 116% over the first quarter of 2004.

The Google Network - Revenues generated on Google’s partner sites, through AdSense programs, contributed $584 million, or 47% of total revenues, a 75% increase over the Network revenues generated in the same quarter last year.

TAC - Traffic Acquisition Costs, the portion of revenues shared with Google’s partners, increased to $462 million. This compares to total payments to partners of $271 million in the first quarter of 2004.

Income from operations - Income from operations in the first quarter, on a GAAP basis, was $443 million or 35.2% of revenues, and included a non-cash charge of $49 million for stock-based compensation. This compares to income from operations of $155 million or 23.8% of revenues in the first quarter of 2004, when the stock-based compensation charge was $76 million. This improvement in operating margins was primarily due to decreases in both stock-based compensation expense and TAC as a percentage of revenues.

Income Taxes - Google recorded a provision for income taxes of $87 million in the first quarter of 2005, an effective tax rate of 19% as compared to a $92 million provision for income taxes and a 59% effective tax rate in the first quarter of 2004. The provision for income taxes in this year’s first quarter was reduced by $49 million related to ISO disqualifying dispositions. The effective tax rate for the remainder of 2005 is expected to be less than 30%. However if future revenues recognized by Google’s Irish subsidiary are not as proportionately great as expected, Google’s effective tax rate will be higher than expected.

Net Income - Net income on a GAAP basis increased to $369 million or 29.4% of revenues in the first quarter of 2005 as compared to $64 million or 9.8% of revenues in the first quarter of 2004. Earnings on a diluted per share basis were $1.29 in the first quarter of 2005 as compared to $0.24 in the first quarter of 2004.

Cash Flow - Net cash provided by operating activities increased 155% to $530 million for the three months ended March 31, 2005 from $208 million in the three months ended March 31, 2004. Free cash flow is an alternative non-GAAP measure of liquidity to GAAP net cash provided by operating activities and is calculated as operating cash flows less capital expenditures. Capital expenditures were $142 million in the three months ended March 31, 2005 as compared to $86 million in the three months ended March 31, 2004. Free cash flow for the three months ended March 31, 2005 totaled approximately $387 million as compared to $122 million for the same period in 2004, an increase of 217%.

Adjusted EBITDA - Adjusted EBITDA is defined as income before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, the non-cash stock-based compensation charge and in-process R&D. It is another alternative measure of liquidity to GAAP net cash provided by operating activities. Adjusted EBITDA increased to approximately $548 million in Q1 2005 (or 44% of revenues) from $255 million (or 39% of revenues) in Q1 2004.

The reconciliations of free cash flow and adjusted EBITDA to net cash provided by operating activities, the GAAP measure of liquidity, is set forth at the back of this release.

Cash – As of March 31, 2005, Google had a cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities balance of $2.507 billion.

On a worldwide basis, Google employed 3,482 full time employees as of March 31, 2005, up from 3,021 as of December 31, 2004.

Webcast and conference call information

A live audio webcast of Google’s first-quarter earnings release call will be available at http://investor.google.com/news.html. The call begins today at 1:30 p.m. (PDT)/ 4:30 (EDT). This press release, the financial tables as well as other supplemental information including the reconciliations of certain non-GAAP measures to their nearest comparable GAAP measures, are also available at that site. A replay of the call will be available beginning at 7:30 PM EDT through midnight Monday, May 2, by calling (888) 203-1112 in the United States or (719) 457-0820 for calls from outside the United States. The required confirmation code for the replay is 1993546.

Forward looking statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including statements relating to Google's market opportunity, future business prospects and our anticipated effective tax rate. Actual results may differ materially from the results predicted and reported results should not be considered as an indication of future performance. The potential risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from the results predicted include, among others, our ability to compete with new or existing competitors, risks related to our ability to innovate and grow, risks related to our international operations, our ability to maintain and enhance our brand, and the fact that we may have exposure to greater than expected tax liabilities, as well as those included under the captions, "Factors That Could Affect Future Results" and "Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations," in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004 which is on file with the SEC and is available on our investor relations website at investor.google.com and on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Additional information will also be set forth in our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2005, which will be filed with the SEC in May 2005. All information provided in this release and in the attachments is as of April 21, 2005 and we undertake no duty to update this information.

About non-GAAP financial measures

To supplement Google’s consolidated financial statements presented in accordance with GAAP, Google uses the following measures defined as non-GAAP financial measures by the SEC: free cash flow, adjusted EBITDA, net income before certain income tax items and net income per share before certain income tax items. The presentation of this financial information is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP. For more information on these non-GAAP financial measures, please see the tables captioned "Reconciliations of Non-GAAP Results of Operations Measures to the Nearest Comparable GAAP Measures," and "Reconciliations of Non-GAAP Liquidity Measures to the Nearest Comparable GAAP Measures" set forth at the back of this release

Google’s management believes that net income and adjusted net income per share, before these certain income tax items, provide meaningful supplemental information regarding the company’s core results because they exclude amounts that are not necessarily related to those core results and are of a substantially non-recurring nature. Google’s management believes that free cash flows and adjusted EBITDA provide meaningful supplemental information regarding liquidity. Google believes that both management and investors benefit from referring to these non-GAAP financial measures in assessing the performance of Google’s ongoing operations and liquidity and when planning and forecasting future periods. These non-GAAP financial measures also facilitate management’s internal comparisons to Google’s historical operating results and liquidity.

Google computes its non-GAAP financial measures using the same consistent method from quarter to quarter and year to year. The accompanying tables have more details on the GAAP financial measures that are most directly comparable to non-GAAP financial measures and the related reconciliations between these financial measures.
Media Contacts:

Google Inc.
Steve Langdon, 650-623-4950
slangdon@google.com

David Krane, 650-623-4096
david@google.com

Latest Revenue Magazine - Spring 2005

2005-04-20T16:12:00.000-07:00

Everyone involved in affiliate marketing must be subscribed to this awesome trade magazine...

STORIES FEATURED IN SPRING 2005 ISSUE (Volume 2):

Cover Story: Going Global
What affiliates and networks need to know about international affiliate marketing - the pitfalls, the benefits, and who's competing with whom. Plus, a look at where affiliates are going to sell prescription drugs and how geotargeting can help increase your sales.

Tis The Season
Having a seasonal site means you run the risk of limiting your appeal to a certain month or season, leaving your profits to dwindle in three out of the four quarters of the year. Here are some tips on how to boost sales all year round.

A Peek Into Affiliate Life
We probed into the work life of an affiliate, an affiliate manager at a merchant and an executive at a leading affiliate network. Here's what an average day looks like for these individuals.

Affiliate Home Run
Fans clamor for sports-related info and gear, and affiliates are there to fill the need.

Commission Junction's Reign
An in-depth look at Commission Junction more than one year after being bought by ValueClick.

Branding Outside The Pack
Discover the cheap tricks of the trade for offline marketing of your website. The solution just might be found in the basic lessons of business marketing 101. How integrated marketing can help you.

Ten Tools Of The Trade
A look at useful software, services and tools that may make your affiliate life a little easier when dealing with boosting traffic, key words, and check fraud.

Roger That
Marketing professor and noted author Roger Blackwell discusses issues that face international affiliates and the state of the global affiliate space.

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