Google Ad Innovations: where ads are going next

In the past year, Google's advertising tools have moved in some exciting directions. We've introduced more data-driven and efficient campaign management with the new AdWords interface, easier account optimization with the Opportunities tab, and new ad formats like Ad Sitelinks and Product Extensions that provide more context and value to those who see them, to name a few.

But where is advertising with Google headed next? Which new tools, formats and features will make it possible for you to communicate with your customers in more meaningful, creative ways?

We've started a new project, Google Ad Innovations, to answer that very question. Google Ad Innovations is a website where you can explore Google's latest advertising technologies, watch short video demos, and try out select new tools.

The technologies we'll highlight on Google Ad Innovations are at various stages of development, from early tests to fully released features. Here are a few of the new releases you'll find on Ad Innovations right now:

• Remarketing -- a way to show your ads to users who’ve previously visited your website as they browse sites across the Google Content Network
• AdWords Search Funnels -- a set of reports that help you understand the Google.com search ad click and impression behavior leading up to a conversion
• Location Extensions with Multiple Addresses -- an ad format that displays a list of nearby store locations when your customers are performing local searches
• Click-to-Call Extensions -- an ad format that lets mobile phone users call you directly from your ads
• Analytics Intelligence -- a Google Analytics feature that automatically identifies significant changes in your site traffic

There's a lot to see on Ad Innovations, but we want it to be more than a show and tell site. Every Ad Innovations page will have a feedback link, so if you see a feature that can be improved or think we've hit on a valuable new idea, let us know! The comments and suggestions you leave while using Google Ad Innovations will go directly to the Google team working on the feature.

If you want to stay on the cutting edge of Google advertising products, visit Google Ad Innovations. We’ll regularly add new tools and features to the site, and would love to hear your thoughts.

Posted by Miles Johnson, Inside AdWords crew

Sell to the Benefit - e-Statements

Think about the information on your bank/credit union statements ... name, address, account numbers, spending habits. Now think about this information being left - unprotected - in an outside mailbox.

Pretty scary stuff, huh?

With e-statements, you remove one more worry for your customers to protecting their good name.

And your bank/credit union will save from printing paper statements every month.

"Saving a tree" is nice, but selling to the security benefit for e-statements will really speak to your target.

AdWords for mobile: check in quickly, anywhere

Did your smartphone suddenly start blinking and buzzing like crazy? No need to worry– it’s probably just getting excited about AdWords for mobile, our new mobile interface for Android, iPhone, and Palm Pre devices.

We’ve heard that your smartphone and AdWords account have been pining for each other. Over the past few months, many of you have let us know how much you’d like to have fast and easy mobile access to AdWords, which is why we’re now testing a streamlined mobile experience. AdWords for mobile gives you easy access to your key alerts and statistics, enabling you to make quick changes even when you’re out and about.

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AdWords for mobile works best when you customize your experience. Before using the mobile website, you should log in from your desktop computer and choose the parts of your account that you want to monitor closely. Set up custom alerts for key account events (like when your campaign reaches 90% of your daily budget, or when your traffic drops substantially compared to the previous week), and saved filters to flag your most important keywords and campaigns. You’ll then see these filters and alerts on your AdWords for mobile home screen.

We built AdWords for mobile to help you quickly access the essentials in your account, so we’ve focused on letting you view and make basic edits to campaigns and keywords through the mobile application. If you need access to the other parts of your account, like ads or campaign settings, you can switch to the desktop version of AdWords through a link at the bottom of the screen.

Today, AdWords for mobile will be used as the default mobile interface for a small percentage of English language advertisers, and we look forward to enabling the feature for additional advertisers and languages in the coming weeks. However, if you’d like to try AdWords for mobile immediately, simply direct your Android, iPhone, or Palm Pre to http://adwords.google.com/dashboard/Dashboard

Hope you (and your lovestruck smartphone) enjoy having easy access to AdWords wherever you go!

Posted by Miles Johnson, Inside AdWords crew

Why People Leave Their Bank

According to seventh annual household banking survey of 5,000 households conducted by Javelin Strategy and Research, it appears that fees and customer service continue to be the primary reasons a person leaves their bank (in addition to moving). What may be surprising to some, however, is that many millennial (ages 18-24) leave their bank due to the lack of ATMs while there is a growing percentage of households moving to a new bank to get mobile banking services. In fact, according to the study, 'ATM availability' edged out 'online features' as a factor that can predict customer attrition.


According to the study, there is one factor that does not predict whether a customer will leave a bank . . . errors by the financial institution did not move the needle as a reason why a customer attrites. This may be because banks have gotten much better over the years on not making as many errors in the first place and quickly addressing errors made as part of their focus on the customer experience.

Sell to the Benefit - Debit Card & Online Banking

When your customers use cash, the ability to track it seems to go up in smoke!

But, when they use a debit card for everyday purchases, they can track every penny right from their home computer using online banking.

Your customers can better track how much they spend on coffee, restaurants, gas, or anything at all ... and get a better handle on their budget.

And you will enjoy more loyal customers with 2 additional key products ... thanks to basic product bundling and selling to the benefit, rather than the feature.

New best practices to find more customers on the Google Content Network

Our previous post in the Content Network Optimization University series covered the basics of setting up and launching a good campaign on the Content Network.

Today, we'll cover more advanced optimization strategies. We've compiled these by observing best practices from the most successful advertisers on the network. Whether you're new to the Content Network or have been using it for a while, you can get better results from your campaigns by employing some of these strategies.

Build effective campaigns

Taking time up front to set up your campaign correctly goes a long way in getting higher quality traffic to your site. Let’s recap the top strategies:

• Separate Search and Content Network campaigns: Setting up a separate campaign just for the Content Network will give you more control over daily budgets, ad groups, keywords and bids. Watch this demo on campaign setup.
• Create many, tightly themed ad groups: AdWords can target your ads more precisely if you build multiple ad groups, each with a small tightly-themed set of 5 to 20 keywords. Watch this demo on ad group setup and this demo on keyword selection.
• Copy your best performing text ads from Search campaigns: For initial setup, it's best to use the text ads with the highest click-through rates from your search campaigns. Watch this demo on ad text best practices.
• Setup the same starting CPC bid as your Search campaigns: We recommend starting with the same maximum CPC bid as your Search campaign ad groups. Once AdWords has collected enough data, our smart pricing technology will automatically optimize your bids on the Content Network to give you more profitable clicks. Watch this demo on bidding tactics.
• Set up AdWords Conversion Tracking on your website: Install Conversion Tracking on your website to measure the sales and leads (conversions) you get from each ad group and placement. Watch this demo to learn how conversion tracking works on the Content Network.

Optimize for better results

It's important to monitor your campaign’s performance and consistently optimize individual elements. Before making significant changes (e.g. changing bids, excluding high volume sites, pausing ad groups), wait until enough click or conversion data has accrued. We recommend having at least 5 conversions or 100 clicks per site.

• Exclude poor-performing sites: Get more qualified traffic and boost conversions by excluding sites that perform poorly for your campaign, based on the number of clicks, the average CPC and the number of conversions.
• Focus your keywords and exclude less relevant keywords: Add more keywords that describe your product and ad group theme in greater detail. Also, add negative keywords to refine your targeting and prevent impressions on irrelevant sites. Watch this demo on refining your campaigns.
• Adjust your bids to manage your costs: Change your bids for ad groups or individual sites based on conversion rate, average CPC and cost-per-acquisition (CPA) to meet your performance goals. You should bid higher for better performing sites to get more traffic, and lower for poorly performing sites.
• Use Conversion Optimizer to manage your CPA: Google Conversion Optimizer is a free tool that automatically manages bids at the site level to reach a maximum CPA bid, which is the amount you're willing to pay for a conversion (such as a purchase or sign-up). Watch this video on how to use Conversion Optimizer.

Expand your campaign for more traffic

To get additional traffic and boost sales from your campaign, we recommend creating a keyword expansion strategy for the Content Network.

• Use the Wonder Wheel tool for ad group ideas: You can use Wonder Wheel on Google Search to brainstorm new ad group themes and keyword ideas. When you search for any topic on Google.com, Wonder Wheel will generate up to eight related topics for you to consider.
• Create new ad groups to reach additional parts of the network: Each topic in Wonder Wheel represents a possible ad group theme for your campaign. Simply click on any of the topics to see other searches and themes related to it. Any closely related topics that are less relevant to your product are great candidates for your negative keyword list. Watch this demo to learn how to use this strategy.
• Expand your keyword list to get more traffic: Once you have finalized your ad group themes, use the AdWords Keyword Tool to get keyword ideas. Enter ad group theme descriptions or keywords under the 'Descriptive words or phrases' tab. Select the 5 to 10 most frequently searched keywords and save them to your ad group This will help to ensure that your list stays highly relevant to your ad group theme.

You can find all the latest videos and updates on our YouTube channel. We hope these tips help you get even better results from your Content network campaigns!

Posted by Katrina Kurnit, Inside AdWords crew

Don't Forget Small Businesses With Your Reg E Communication

While small businesses are not impacted directly by Regulation E, many of the banks at the Atlanta BAI Checking 2.0 Executive Forum where I spoke last week indicated that they will be reaching out to their small business customers to explain the law and the potential impact on their retail business.

Not only do many smaller businesses use consumer checking accounts for their small business transactions (with the potential for debit card rejected transactions), but with the potential for so many customers of small businesses having payments for goods and services rejected after the implementation of Reg E, banks are communicating details around this consumer legislation and options as to how to deal with transactions that are rejected.

Improve your account structure to improve your results

Taking a little time to organize your account can help you to better target your potential customers. It can also save you time and effort when it comes to managing your advertising.

The video below will show you how a few minor changes to your account structure can make a big difference to your advertising performance.

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Use these simple tips to structure your account for success, and keep an eye out for the rest of our series of short video clips which we'll post over the coming weeks!

Did you find this video useful? We'd love to hear your feedback, so let us know. For more information on improving your account structure, visit this article in the AdWords Help Center.

Posted by Emily Williams, Inside AdWords crew

All Marketing is Cultural

Many marketers still ask the question: What is different about marketing to Hispanics, Asians, African Americans, etc.? Isn't marketing just marketing?

Marketing is marketing but few marketers consciously realize that what they do is cultural marketing. So when they target women with children, they are really addressing a subculture in the United States.  When they address young people they are addressing another culture within a culture. When they target middle class homeowners they are not just addressing a so called "demographic," they are addressing a culture.

There is little awareness of what a culture is. A culture is a set of designs for living that are shared by many people, and sometimes those designs for living are passed on from generation to generation.

Most advertising would not work if it were not cultural. The marketer attempts to connect with consumers who share something in common, but the "demographic" is not what they share in common, it is the way of being, thinking, doing, valuing, and feeling.

Thus, it should not be surprising that to reach out to Latinos, for example, the marketer needs to understand their culture. And that is profound because it goes to the core of who people are. That is what ethnic marketing consists of. It is the understanding of the culture and the contextual issues surrounding it. It is different because the culture is different, but also because it is a lot harder to market to a different culture than to the one you are part of. See, culture is like water for the fish, we are seldom aware of it. We think a joke is funny just because it is funny. Not so, a joke is funny because it is culturally bound. A joke is funny to a group of people who share a culture, and not to others. An emotional appeal is emotional to those who share a common reaction to that appeal.

When the marketer crosses cultures s/he needs to make many assumptions explicit. There is no more obviousness of water to the fish. The fish needs to become aware of the water in order to succeed. That is what has to happen with marketers. They need to step out of the comfort of their own culture to be effective in another. That is why it is so difficult to do cross cultural marketing.

But, all marketing is cultural, and it is hard for many to realize that. So, now, why do we need to make special efforts to market to Hispanics, African-Americans, Asians, etc.? Because they swim in different waters.

Getting Philosophical

My son turned 7 this week and it got me to thinking about parenthood.

It seems that we don't raise our children to be like us, but rather ... we raise them to be like the people we WANT to be.

If it also follows that the most influential teaching is to teach by example ... then the act of parenting, by it's very nature, should make each of us more like the people we strive to be.

I would think that this same philosophy applies to management.

No matter your management style, your staff will learn and are are motivated by example. Does the sheer act of being a manager make you a better employee?

Should it?

Take care,

Eric

Now available: Reach the right audience through remarketing

Imagine you’re a travel company, and you’re trying to excite users during the holiday season about deals to tropical Caribbean destinations. Users may come to your website, browse the offers and think about booking a trip, but decide that the deal is still not cheap enough. Then, they continue to browse the web. If you later decide to offer discounted deals to the Carribean, how do you reach these users who have already expressed interest in travelling there?

To help you do this, this week we're rolling out a new feature called remarketing. Any AdWords advertiser can use remarketing to reach users as they’re browsing the web on sites within the Google Content Network. Remarketing is a simple way to connect with users, based on their past interactions with your website.

We opened a trial of remarketing last March as part of our interest-based advertising beta. We’ve received a tremendous response from the hundreds of advertisers who’ve been using it in recent months, across all industries - including automotive, retail, local and finance. We’ve seen that remarketing has worked well for many different kinds of advertisers - whether they’re looking to boost brand awareness, or drive clicks and sales, and whether they use display or text ads. For example, if you’re a search advertiser, you can use remarketing to create an integrated campaign strategy. After driving traffic to your site with search ads, you can then remarket to those users who reach your site by showing them tailored ads on sites throughout the Google Content Network.

You can easily set up and create a remarketing campaign through the new “Audiences” tab in AdWords. A remarketing campaign allows you to take advantage of the same features and reports you can use today in AdWords - it’s just a new way to reach the best audience for your ad.

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Here’s an example of how it works. Let’s say you’re a basketball team with tickets that you want to sell. You can put a piece of code on the tickets page of your website, which will let you later show relevant ticket ads (such as last minute discounts) to everyone who has visited that page, as they subsequently browse sites in the Google Content Network. In addition to your own site, you can also remarket to users who visited your YouTube brand channel or clicked your YouTube homepage ad.

You can also run a number of remarketing campaigns at the same time. For example, you could offer discount game tickets to users who’ve previously visited your tickets page, advertise VIP hospitality packages to users who clicked on your “How to get to the arena” page, and advertise a sale on team merchandise to users who previously visited your YouTube brand channel.

Remarketing is a great way for businesses to reach users who are likely to be highly receptive to their ads and special offers. It helps advertisers and websites get higher returns. For example, Intercontinental Hotels Group has used remarketing to reach potential customers who have visited one of their hotel websites:

Ad by InterContinental Hotels Group using remarketing to offer incentive to users

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It also means more relevant and useful ads for users, and more opportunities for your customers to receive special offers and discounts that may be of interest to them. As we announced when we launched our beta of interest based advertising, we want to put users in control of the ads they see, so anyone can opt-out of remarketing by using the Ads Preferences Manager. Our remarketing product complies with industry standards developed by self-regulatory groups such as the NAI and IAB and IAB UK.

To get started with a remarketing campaign, check out the information we’ve put together.

Posted by Aitan Weinberg, Product Manager

Large Banks Not Adequately Serving Small Businesses

While there is little denying the revenue potential of serving the financial needs of small businesses, there continues to be a significant disconnect between small business needs and the way large banks serve this segment according to a research report released today by Aite Group (Small Business Opportunities: Are Large Banks Missing the Boat?). And with the continuing financial crisis, availability of sophisticated cash management products to smaller banks and the significant negative press around large banks, this gap in expectations is widening. In fact, the percentage of large bank small business customers describing themselves as 'extremely satisfied' with their primary institution has dropped from 50% in 2007 to 33% in 2009. This has led to a shift of small businesses considering a community bank to be their primary financial institution from 24% in April 2006 to 35% in April 2009.


According to Christine Barry from Aite Group, the low satisfaction rates and disappointing cross-sell ratios are due in large part to large bank's failure to properly segment the small business market, thereby improving the understanding of the market. Without adequate segmentation and research, it is difficult to provide a personalized experience based on the small business' unique needs.

Another challenge is that it is difficult to even identify all small businesses since as many as two-thirds don't have business banking accounts according to a 2009 Javelin Strategy & Research report. These relationships may pay lower fees by being handled in the consumer platform initially, but they are quickly underserved as they grow and their needs expand to include payroll, specialized lending and enhanced cash management services.

One of the responses to this need to better understand the underserved small business banking customer is a shift in reporting structure at some large banks from being handled through the retail or commercial side of the bank to being handled by a standalone small business unit, where specific offline and online products can be developed and needs adequately researched. Another response has been the introduction of new services for this segment including scaled down cash management services, invoicing and payroll services and personal/business financial management products.

To win in the small business banking competition, it will be imperative to segment small businesses beyond a size categorization that neglects industry or needs segmentation. Data collection will also need to be enhanced since the amount of public information is much less reliable for small businesses than for retail customers. Finally, there needs to be constant direct communication with small businesses to demonstrate the desire to serve this segment and to provide ongoing leads for a better trained sales force.

New In AdWords: Search Funnels

Yesterday, AdWords announced the launch of Search Funnels, a new set of reports available only in AdWords that describe the Google search ad click and impression behavior leading up to a conversion. They are rolling out over the next few weeks and work if you are using AdWords Conversion Tracking or importing your Google Analytics goals into AdWords.

What are Search Funnels?

Currently, conversions in AdWords are attributed to the last ad clicked before the conversion happened. However, it's likely that customers perform multiple searches prior to finally converting.

These reports provide data on how "upper-funnel" keywords behave on the conversion path prior to the last ad click. These funnels are not to be confused with funnels in Google Analytics, which are on-site funnels. These are the paths users take when seeing and clicking on your ads after doing a search on google.com, on the way to converting. They look back 30 days prior to the conversion.

In addition to a Top Conversions report, Search Funnels consists of 7 reports including Assisted Conversions, First and Last ClickAnalysis, Time Lag, and Path Length. Take a look at this video giving an overview of the new reports, and at the AdWords blog post to learn more.

How is this useful?
Search Funnels data gives you more data to help you gauge the true value of your keyword and ads in AdWords. By showing whether an ad was shown prior to a conversion and whether it was clicked or not, they help you analyze assist relationships. For instance, find out whether generic keywords actually contributed to conversions occurring from a branded keyword search, and vice versa. You're no longer limited to a last-click perspective in AdWords.

Take a look at the AdWords help center for a complete description of the new reports and metrics. These reports are currently in beta, and again, they'll be available in your AdWords account over the next few weeks. Bravo AdWords!

Posted by Jeff Gillis, Google Analytics Team

New Reports: AdWords Search Funnels

In order to help you make more informed decisions about your AdWords keywords, ad groups, and campaigns, we're excited to release a new set of reports for your AdWords account: AdWords Search Funnels (beta). Currently, conversions in AdWords are attributed to the last ad someone clicks before making a conversion, masking the fact that many customers perform multiple searches before finally converting. AdWords Search Funnels help you see the full picture by giving you insight into the ads your customers interact with during their shopping process.

What are AdWords Search Funnels?

AdWords Search Funnels are a set of reports describing the ad click and impression behavior on Google.com that leads up to a conversion. In addition to a Top Conversions report, Search Funnels consist of 7 reports including Assisted Conversions, First and Last Click Analysis, Time Lag, and Path Length. For an overview of these new reports, check out this video:

Why are these useful?

"Search Funnel enables us to create a better experience for our customers by helping us understand how they search for our products," said Beth Hirschhorn, Chief Marketing Officer from MetLife, the largest life insurance company based in the United States. "It is an important tool to help de-code consumer shopping habits and thought processes, which we can relate back to our online as well as offline advertising."

By showing which ads your customers clicked on before ultimately converting, Search Funnels give a more complete picture of the value of your keywords, ad groups and campaigns. Let's look at a hypothetical example.

An online vacation service called Flyaway Vacations is running AdWords campaigns for vacation packages in Hawaii. Their ads link to a site where visitors can book any or all parts of a package that includes flights, a hotel, car rental, and surf lessons. Suppose that on March 10 someone searched for "hawaii vacation" and clicked on an ad for Flyaway's Hawaii package. A click was registered in their AdWords account. Then, two days later, the same person searched for "flights to hawaii" and saw another ad for Flyaway, but didn't click. An impression was registered in Flyaway's AdWords account. Finally, three days later, the same person searched one more time, this time for "flyaway hawaii." This time they clicked the ad, visited the site, and purchased the Hawaii vacation package.

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Instead of showing only a purchase conversion for the "flyaway hawaii" keyword, Search Funnels will show an assist click for the keyword "hawaii vacation" and an assist impression for the keyword "flights to hawaii". Testing the value of assist clicks and impressions is important for evaluating and understanding the true value of all of your keywords.

Search Funnels not only help you understand the keywords seen by converters, they also show you those that weren't seen. For example, in the Flyaway campaign, it's possible that another keyword, such as "hawaii surf lessons," didn't contribute any assist clicks or impressions, or last click conversions, indicating that this may be a keyword that's providing little conversion value. Assist information is an additional data point you can use when making strategic budgeting decisions, from the campaign level down to the keyword level.

Search Funnels also show the "Path Length," or average number of clicks and impressions prior to conversion, which can help you understand and target repeat visitors. Additionally they show "Time Lag," or the amount of time it takes a customer to convert after seeing or clicking on your ads for the first time, which can help you determine lead time for seasonal campaigns. These breakdowns can help you understand your customers' behavior and create strategies around that information.

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Over the next few weeks, the Search Funnels beta will be rolled out gradually to all accounts in the 'Conversions' section under the 'Reporting' tab. To activate them, you must either have AdWords Conversion Tracking running or import goals or transactions into AdWords from Google Analytics. Keep in mind that Search Funnels are only available in your AdWords account (not in Google Analytics), and will only show data for keywords that show up in at least one conversion path. Search Funnel data is currently limited to search ads showing on Google.com, for ad impressions and clicks within 30 days of the conversion.

Posted by Miles Johnson, Inside AdWords crew

Using Social Media...

OK...this past Friday, we delivered a Brown Bag Lunch Series session on social media.  HUGE audience and lots of insightful questions.  The good news is that from a session we did in May of 2009 until this session, the industry...and many of the attendees...have picked up steam on their way to integrating social media into their marketing strategies.

Thanks to Jason Kincy (Arvest Bank) for his Guest Commentary and sharing of his expertise, experience and words of wisdom...very well done!

Three key insights for ALL bankers and CU marketers:

• Find the social media that is appropriate to YOUR institution
• Use social media yourself...the best place to start is small and learn as you go
• Compliance is an evolving practice, as it applies to Social Media...document everything!

Here is a humorous reminder of the largest caveat to social media.  If you use it, be prepared for its broad access and sharing.  It will live forever in electronic media so be sure what you share it what you want to share (and have potentially millions of people read it).  Don't be scared, but be prudent!

CHEERS!

Bruce

Web Analytics TV #7 with Avinash and Nick

This is the 7th edition of Web Analytics TV with Avinash Kaushik and Nick Mihailovski! In this series you ask questions via the Google Analytics Google Moderator site and we answer them!

Here is the list of last week’s questions.

In this action packed episode we discuss:

● Test your tracking implementation without waiting for the data to appear in reports.

● How GZip compression works for the tracking code.

● Retrieving the value for visitor level customer variables.

● Adding annotations via the API.

● Why do searches from Google Image Search appear as referrals in Google Analytics?

● Why do I see self-referrers to my site (my site referring to itself)?

● How to detect new search engines in Google Analytics?

● Fixing site overlay to not distinguish two links pointing to the same page.

● How to exclude internal users now that _setVar is deprecated.

● Why does (not set) appear as page titles in reports?

● What is the best way to begin with web analytics? How do you focus?

● Why do longer date ranges return different results?

● How can you use the Motion Chart bar graph?

● Best practises for setting up conversion goals for e-commerce sites.

Here are links to resources we discussed in the video:

● Validating and Troubleshooting your Google Analytics tracking code.

● Speed up your site, get better data, use asynchronous tracking.

● Use _getVisitorCustomVar() to retieve previously set visitor level custom variables.

● The open feature request to add annotations via our API; please vote and add use cases.

● Override the page referral using _setReferrerOverride().

● One possible solution to tracking Google Image Search.

● Use _addOrganic() to detect new search engines to in Google Analytics.

● Need help with Google Analytics? Have tough questions? Check out these 4 wonderful resources for help:

○ Hire a Google Analytics Authorized Consultants

○ Google Analytics Help Center

○ Google Analytics Code Site for developers

○ Google Analytics General Help Forum

● How sampling works in Google Analytics.

● Rock out with the Motion Charts Anthem (super cool!).

Special Notice: We also have a Custom Variables Webinar coming up on Wednesday, March 24th at 10:00 am PT. Space is limited, sign up before it’s too late!

If you found this post helpful, we'd love to hear your comments. If you have a question you would like us to answer, please submit a question or vote for your favorite question in our public Google Moderator site. Avinash and I will answer your latest questions in a couple of weeks with yet another entertaining video.

Thanks!

Posted by Nick Mihailovski, Google Analytics Team

Incentives for Facebook “Fans”

Have you noticed how many companies are offering incentives for Facebook "fans"? I've seen such a trend that it seems you could get a free coupon, discount, product, etc. just about every day on Facebook if you play your cards right.

I've heard arguments that some may feel this is bribery and portrays false loyalty that may quickly fade after the freebies stop coming. Others have felt it is worth the time and cost to gain a new "fan" base. At first, I leaned towards agreeing with these arguments. Over time, my thoughts on this have evolved.

I am guilty myself of becoming a "fan" of a product on Facebook to get a free discount/coupon or sample. Perhaps it is due, in part, to the economy. After all, I certainly wasn't using coupons or getting excited about free samples a year ago. I don't become a fan of just anything to get a freebie, but if it is a product I have used in the past or have an interest in trying, I will often become a fan.

At one social media panel, I heard people say the "fans" would disappear overnight, and that offering these kinds of incentives to gain a fan might be perceived negatively and have the opposite effect as desired. At first, I tended to agree with these arguments. However, after a few months of being a fan of various companies/products on Facebook, I can say that I am actually a fan that sticks around after the sample/coupon.

Understanding why I have remained a fan is something I'm exploring. I feel a little indebted (perhaps it's guilt) to remain a fan since I received something out of the relationship. Many of the companies I became a fan of have continued to keep the communication coming, whether on Facebook, via email or text, and I'm becoming less of a faux-fan and more of a real one. It certainly helps with the product/sample I received (such a Purex washer/dryer sheets) turns out to be quite good.

There are a few companies I have become a "fan" of that I've been a fan on long before Facebook. Coca-Cola is one such company.

As a marketer, I value a well executed campaign, and have been impressed with how the communication from many of these companies has been just right. Not too much, not too little. It's as though these companies may understand that they are actually winning over an existing Facebook "fan" to become a true brand loyalist.

What are your thoughts on this trend?

SES New York Is Next Week!

The Search Engine Strategies conference is next week in New York, and googlers from search, AdWords, AdSense, YouTube, Google Analytics and Website Optimizer will be there in force. We'll have a large booth where we'll be demoing the coolest new features from any and all of our products. Come by and say hello, and also be sure to attend some of the Google sessions.

Of special note, 4:45pm on Tuesday where Sissie Hsiao, a senior product manager on Google Analytics and AdWords, will be launching something really cool at the "Getting the Most Out of AdWords Features & Tools" session. We can't say any more, but we think you'll like it. I'll also be talking at the same time at the "Deep Dive Into Analytics: When Bounce Rate No Longer Floats Your Boat". Choose one of them and you can't miss.

Also - a must-see is the keynote on Day 2, given by our very own Avinash Kaushik. Here's the blurb about his keynote:

Be Awesome: Ideas for Approaching Search Analytics Differently
Click through rates, page rank, conversions, page views are all sweet. Yet they rarely scratch the surface of the true opportunity of search and subsequently quantifying the true impact of this massively data driven ecosystem. In his keynote Avinash will share specific ideas you can execute to find the audiences you crave online and use data to ensure that you are getting highest possible ROI. Keyword trees, yes. Attribution analysis, sure. Monetizing the long tail, got that. Micro conversions, yep. Bring an open mind.

Register here and use the code 20GOOG for a 10% discount.

Posted by Jeff Gillis, Google Analytics Team

More choice for users: browser-based opt-out for Google Analytics on the way

As an enterprise-class web analytics solution, Google Analytics not only provides site owners with information on their website traffic and marketing effectiveness, it also does so with high regard for protecting user data privacy. Over the past year, we have been exploring ways to offer users more choice on how their data is collected by Google Analytics. We concluded that the best approach would be to develop a global browser based plug-in to allow users to opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics. Our engineers are now hard at work finalizing and testing this opt-out functionality. We look forward to make it globally available to our users in the coming weeks.

Posted by Amy Chang, Group Product Manager, Google Analytics

Go Mobile! Series: Reach local customers

About one in three mobile search queries are made by people who are looking for something in their local area. This means that local businesses have the opportunity to reach mobile users when they’re nearby and looking to take immediate action. Here are a few tips to help you reach these potential customers.

1) Control how your business appears in organic search results

Since more people search for businesses online than anywhere else, it's important to make sure your business listing can be easily found on Google.com and Google Maps. Creating a business listing in the Local Business Center helps ensure potential customers find you, and allows you to maintain full control over how your listing appears.

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If your business already appears as a search result, you can use the Local Business Center to claim your listing and enter additional information like photos, hours of operation, website, and more.

2) Reach more potential customers near you

Whenever you create a campaign in your Google AdWords account, you can use location targeting to show your ads only to people close to your business. You can target potential customers within a given city, region or metro area. You can also define a radius around a certain point or set your own borders for more precise reach. Location targeting can help you improve the ROI on your ad campaigns by focusing on people who are nearby and therefore more likely to take action.

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3) Drive local action with location extensions

A location extension is an optional additional line of ad text that shows your nearest business address to potential customers based on their location or search terms. People can click on the address to see a map of the area around your location. When the ad appears on mobile devices with full internet browsers, potential customers can also see a click-to-call phone number to connect directly with that business location by phone.

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You can easily set up location extensions with the business information in your Local Business Center account or by manually entering the information in your AdWords account. While your ad will appear to users in any geographic location you chose to target, only people whose location signals indicate that they're close to one of your businesses will see your location extension.

4) Put it all together

How do geo-targeting and location extensions come together when ads appear on mobile devices? Let’s say you own a flower shop with several locations in the area. John is a potential customer who wants to pick up flowers on his way to a housewarming party. John can use his mobile phone to search for ‘flower shop.’ Since he’s close to one of your stores, your ad appears with a location extension showing the closest business address and phone number. John clicks on the business address to see a map and get driving directions. He then clicks on your phone number to call and make sure that you’re open for business and have ready-made bouquets in stock. Thanks to you, geo-targeting, and location extensions, John can quickly pick up a beautiful bouquet of lilies and make a great impression at the party!

Mobile users are often looking to take action immediately, whether it’s driving to a store or calling ahead to make sure that store has what they’re looking for. Try out these features to enable your customers to easily engage with your business.

Posted by Katrina Kurnit, Inside AdWords crew