Google have released a list of the top 1,000 websites as measured by Ad Planner.

The list categorises each website, and also includes unique visitors, reach, page views and whether or not they have advertising.

Interestingly Google are also allowing advertisers to specify that they only want their content network ads to show up on the sites in this list.

More interestingly still are the names in the list. At least seven out of the top twenty sites will probably be unknown to most people, but at the very least should provide insight and opportunity to squeeze that little bit more out of Google AdWords.

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If you’re tight for time, please help me by clicking this link one time only, just so that I know you’re really reading this blog:

Please click this link - note that there are no downloads, forms or anything nasty. It’s a simple HTML page that does nothing but exist.

The more detailed explanation:

Every now and then I come across a problem that I want to solve myself, instead of reaching for the all-knowing Google.

Today’s challenge is a simple one. Perhaps.

The blog that you are reading has a reasonable number of visitors. But because of the nature of blog reading patterns and in particular the way that RSS readers may be set up, working out exactly how many visitors is tricky.

For instance people read the content through a web browser and/or RSS reader, and I can see that some RSS readers are set to hit our feed every hour. Every hour?

I’m determined to get to the bottom of this, and quite frankly right now I don’t know if we get hundreds or thousands of people reading the blog a day.

So if you can, please help me with my first round of testing by clicking on the link below one time only, just so that I know you are a real person reading this. The page exists purely to see how many people view it.

Thank-you – please click me.

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MarketingProfs have an interesting article on Online Shoppers Value Reviews, Ratings, Search:

“Online research is central to consumer shopping behavior: 50% of online shoppers say they conduct research online for at least one-half of their purchases, and 64% consistently read online reviews prior to making product purchase decisions, according to an e-tailing group and PowerReviews study slated for release in early May.”

The above chart shows some interesting ideas. Namely that sharing tools, blogs and videos aren’t anywhere near as important as customer reviews, ratings and customer service information.

How well does your website fit the recommendations?

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In order to exclude specific searches from seeing AdWords ads, negative keywords are required. For example a company selling a Windows email application bidding on the phrase “email software”, might consider using the following negative keywords:

-mac
-apple
-os x
-free
-freeware

A person searching for “email software for mac” or “free email software” wouldn’t see the ads.

However, the content network functions quite differently from the search network; the  main difference being that no search is carried out. Ads are displayed based on Google’s interpretation of your keywords and the page in question.

Let’s revisit the example. A company bids on the phrase “email software” and uses the above negative keywords. Will the ads be displayed on pages that contain the phrases, “email software for mac” or “free email software”?

Maybe.

Here is how Google explain the situation:

“If you add negative keywords to an ad group with placements, your negative keywords will behave as they have in the past for keyword-targeted campaigns on the Content Network. That means your ads will be less likely to appear on placements about the negative topics you’ve entered.

For example, suppose you select five different gardening websites as placements, then add the negative keyword -roses to the ad group. In that case, your ad may appear on any of the five websites, but it will be less likely to appear on pages of those websites that have to do with roses. In this case, your ad may still occasionally appear on placements about roses, depending on other keywords you have chosen for the ad group. Because groups of keywords work together on the Content Network, negative keywords are not as precise there as they are on search.”

Pay careful attention the wording:  “less likely to appear” is more than a little vague, and also means that it is out of your control.

The conclusion? The negative keyword list on a content network campaign appears to be little more than a suggestion.

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Facebook’s liberal interpretation of the very concept of privacy is sending ripples far beyond the confines of the ultra-paranoid.

The New York Times recently wrote an article on the Price of Facebook Privacy, and pointed out that while the United States Constitution contains only 4,543 words, Facebook’s Privacy Policy contain 5,830.

With more than 400 million registered users, Facebook have apparently decided that they can amend their terms as they see fit, with recent changes including requiring their users to actively opt out if they wish their information to remain private. By default, most information is public, and some personal data has already been shared with other websites.

Worse still is the fact that (according to the article) Facebook users who wish to keep their personal information private have to click more than 50 privacy buttons, which then require choosing among a total of over 170 options.

Privacy fears are nothing new, and big corporations like Google are already supporting the aluminium foil industry through the ever-paranoid ‘enlightened few’. But this issue appears to be a growing concern for more stable users too. And a news item on search engine land shows a huge spike of traffic to a guide on how to delete your Facebook account.

Who would have thought that you’d need a guide?

Facebook appear to be hovering dangerously close to a very clear line. The fact that the issue is now public means that they can no longer afford to sit on the fence and make token amendments to their policy and systems.

In much the same way that an avalanche can be triggered by the movement of a few snowflakes, Facebook’s demise could become very real very quickly.

It’s time to listen to their users and respond accordingly.

Image source: The New York Times

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Practical eCommerce have produced the results of their SEO Survey.

Aside from the fact that they made no mention of how many people took part, let’s consider the highlights of each question and answer combination:

More than 95% of respondents though that SEO is important for their business.

Nearly all respondents claim to have a fair or good understanding of how SEO works, and 83% of them think that their website is optimised.

However, all opinions are built on the assumption that the respondent really does understand how SEO works. If you’ve spent any time at all on the various SEO forums, groups and mailing lists, you’ll already appreciate the difference between ‘understanding‘ and ‘thinking you understand‘.

Illusory superiority, as defined by Wikipedia, “causes people to overestimate their positive qualities and abilities and to underestimate their negative qualities, relative to others. This is evident in a variety of areas including intelligence, performance on tasks or tests and the possession of desirable characteristics or personality traits.”

For example, as proven by extensive research, most people with below-average intelligence overestimate their intelligence.

And according to the Wikipedia entry:

A survey of faculty at the University of Nebraska found that 68% rated themselves in the top 25% for teaching ability.

A similar survey revealed that 87% of MBA students at Stanford University rated their academic performance as above the median.

And a survey of students in Sweden and the United States asked them to compare their driving safety to the other people in the experiment. 88% of the US group and 77% of the Swedish sample put themselves in the top 50%.

Enough said.

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Warning: this blog post may offend the short-sighted.

Our company has worked with a large number of online businesses over the years. And most understand the basic principles of how Google AdWords works.

We advise most of our AdWords clients to use conversion tracking, as this provides a useful gauge as to how well different parts of the account are working.

Note my wording. AdWords conversion tracking is a gauge; not that different from the RPM gauge on your car dashboard.

When you see that your RPMs are high, you don’t panic or celebrate. You simply factor that in to how and where you’re driving.

When you see that your RPMs are low, you don’t abandon your car, call the breakdown service or experiment with using milk as gasoline.

RPMs are measured on a scale. There’s a reason why your car doesn’t use a simple GOOD or BAD indicator for the purpose.

And like RPMs, conversion tracking data is useful. But it’s far from definitive, and far from accurate.

If the person buying your product is different from the person who clicked your ad, the conversion won’t register.

If the purchase takes place more than 30 days after the ad was clicked, the conversion won’t register.

If the PC used to order your product is a different one, the conversion won’t register.

I’m shocked by how many people I read about who slash their budgets or even close their AdWords accounts when they think it isn’t working for them. And guess which metric they use to reach that conclusion?

I’m shocked by the number of software developers who offer a 30 day trial, then wonder why conversion data doesn’t show up within five days of activating their campaigns.

“Most of our users buy within the first seven days” they say.

But AdWords visitors aren’t most of your users. They’re a new set of different users with different ideas and buying patterns. That’s why you’re using Google AdWords to reach them.

Don’t get me wrong. Questioning your account performance is vital, as is striving to improve ROI and efficiency.

But interpreting conversion data as rock-solid evidence of failure (or success) may be as sensible as cutting-off your head, arms and legs to cure a headache.

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The main advantage to my being stranded by volcanic ash – Around the World in 14 Days – was the fact that I came home with an iPad.

When I first heard about the device I dismissed it as a gimmick. As a PC user with a BlackBerry in my pocket, I always felt that the iPhone was little more than a well designed toy, and the iPad was simply a bigger version, without the ability to make phone calls.

I was right about the iPhone, but wrong about the iPad. The iPad isn’t a bigger iPhone. The iPhone is simply a smaller iPad.

I don’t believe that the iPad will revolutionise how we interact with the web and our data. But I do believe that it’s the biggest evolutionary step in the history of the PC since the invention of the mouse.

As usual, Google have spotted the opportunity. And as usual they have silently added the ability to directly target iPad users from within the AdWords system.

Yet before setting up your first iPad campaign, you might want to consider how the device works.

For instance without installing a means of synchronising my bookmarks, I can click an ad on my iPad, but won’t be able to store the URL on my desktop. But a special offer combined with the ability to send it by email might work well.

And a little ingenuity might even work out a means of re-establishing the link between my iPad and desktop PC so that you can track whether or not I purchase.

Opportunities are there for the taking, but only for the wise.

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I have had the pleasure of working with hundreds of Google AdWords accounts over the past ten years, and am yet to see a single account that isn’t wasting money and missing opportunities.

I’ve seen accounts that waste hundreds or even thousands of dollars a day.

I’ve seen accounts whose owners think they’re making a good ROI when they’re actually making a loss.

I’ve seen accounts that bid on the wrong keywords and display the wrong ads in the wrong places.

My company provides services that (among other things) help businesses to make more money from their Google AdWords accounts.

On Monday May 17th 2010, I will be giving away six free Google AdWords consultation sessions.

During your allocated 20 minute private session, I will talk you through exactly what’s wrong with your account, how to improve it, and how to turn your account into a money maker.

In order to qualify, you simply need an active Google AdWords account with a reasonable ad spend.

Please note that we expect demand to be high, and can’t make any guarantees regarding availability.

Apply for your free Google AdWords consultation today.

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From PriceWaterhouseCoopers:

“Despite a contraction in the advertising sector in 2009, total spend on mobile phone advertising in 2009 rocketed by 32% year on year to a new high of £37.6m, according to second, annual Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) – the trade body for digital marketing – and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) study.”

The key drivers, according to the report, are mobile internet usage growth, more time spent accessing the internet on a mobile device and a massive growth in unlimited data plans.

Now might be a good time to start catering for the mobile market.

UK mobile advertising market grew 32% in 2009 to £37.6 million

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