Archive for February, 2008

• Google GeoTargeting 2008

  Since I did the research for my last description of Google’s GeoTargeting in AdWords, things have changed. Searches that used to yield only nationally targeted adverts are now getting adverts that are targeted to city level. Advertising to mobile phones has been promoted hard by Google - so what happens there?
  City and Regional Targeting
  In January […]

  February 26th, 2008

• Automating Content Network Management - Part 1

  About three years ago (2005), we started efforts to automatically improve performance of the AdWords Content Network, for advertisers. We were hoping to develop a product, but we were also doing some research to see how things worked and what lessons we could learn. This is intended to be part 1 of a multipart article, […]

  February 12th, 2008

• Microsoft and Yahoo - Read Him, Not Me.

  I’ve just been pointed to a masterful article about the proposed Microsoft acquisition of Yahoo.
  You know, I thought I’d written in below, about how a service company (Yahoo) and a product company (MS) would have integration problems - an issue I’ve seen before in startups where competent managers in one type of operation failed to […]

  February 8th, 2008

• Spam in Comments, Unattributed Content

  This article was triggered by a possibly spammy comment, and lead to investigating the quality of the site that was offered in the link. Bizarrely, it leads to further reflections on Google, and the Content Network. I struggle to make the Content Network work for my clients, at a reasonable ROI, and Google itself turns […]

  February 7th, 2008

• Microsoft + Yahoo = Opportunity

  Microsoft and Yahoo will doubtless want to capitalise on their current successes. Yahoo’s increasing Display Ad business is interesting. If they can use stuff like the targeting piloted by Microsoft AdCenter, and improve the control and measurement systems, they can take away Google’s toys…. and advertisers.
  In the UK, Google has over 80% of search […]

  February 1st, 2008