Introduction to the update: This update mainly pertains to two main changes that Google has decided to come up with in order to rank ads better. First one being more precise quality score calculation & the second one is promoting more & more high quality ads in the yellow region above organic results.

Google has recently launched the improvements to Ads Quality that they announced in Nov, 2008. These improvements better evaluate the precise quality of your ads and improve the way they determine which ads show in the yellow region above the search results.

Google also wanted to emphasize that AdWords has always accounted for the influence of ad position on CTR and removed it from the Quality Score. This specific improvement updates this system to make it fresher and more accurate.

Though any immediate changes are not needed on the advertisers’ part, but Google encourages them as always to watch their key metrics and to make adjustments as appropriate.

Following are the two major changes Google has decided to bring in:

More precise Quality Score calculation

Clickthrough rate (CTR) is the most significant component of Quality Score because it directly indicates which ads are most relevant to our searchers. As you probably have observed, ads in high positions typically earn better CTR than those in low positions, because ads in high positions are more visible to searchers. To calculate the most accurate Quality Scores, it’s important that the influence of ad position on CTR be taken into account and removed from the Quality Score.

In the coming days, we’ll update the portion of the Quality Score algorithm that accounts for ad position. This will result in more accurate Quality Scores, ensure that ads compete fairly for position based on their quality and bid, and enable Google to show the most relevant ads to searchers by rewarding high-quality advertisers with better ad positions.

Higher quality ads above the search results

We’re also improving the way we determine which ads show in the yellow region above the search results. These positions are particularly valuable to advertisers because they are prominently positioned on the page. Given their prominence, it’s especially important that these ads be high quality; we therefore place extra emphasis on quality when determining which ads to show in this location.

To appear above the search results, ads must meet a certain quality threshold. In the past, if the ad with the highest Ad Rank did not meet the quality threshold, we may not have shown any ads above the search results. With this update, we’ll allow an ad that meets the quality threshold to appear above the search results even if it has to jump over other ads to do so. For instance, suppose the ad in position 1 on the right side of the page doesn’t have a high enough Quality Score to appear above the search results, but the ad in position 2 does. It’s now possible for the number 2 ad to jump over the number 1 ad and appear above the search results. This change ensures that quality plays an even more important role in determining the ads that show in those prominent positions.

Source URLs:

http://adwords.blogspot.com/2008/11/update-on-improvements-to-ads-quality.html

http://adwords.blogspot.com/2008/10/improvements-to-ads-quality.html

Comments: This should certainly prove good for advertisers as well as for users because more ‘good quality’ ads would now show in top slots. Earlier Google used to take ad position as a parameter to calculate ad quality score. However, if this portion of the quality score algorithm is revised, advertisers would be prompted to create quality ads to rank on top rather than only assigning high bids to keywords in order to rank high. This would certainly create value & refine PPC advertising further.

Introduction: This update has been announced by Google on December 9, 2008. It talks about running Sponsored ads on iphones & other mobile devices. One has the option of opting in & out of this through campaign settings options. This would not require any changes in the ad format or the way campaigns are structured. It is just about an additional platform that is being offered. Read below for details on the same:

Google has recently added a new option under campaign settings.

Under Networks and bidding, there’s a section entitled Device Platform that has two options:

• Desktop and laptop computers.
• IPhones and other mobile devices with full Internet browsers.

Google define full browsers as “those that can show standard HTML web pages and can support a user making a purchase from start to finish, including supporting any tracking or Analytics functionality on e-commerce pages”.

It is advised to note that this doesn’t include WAP browsers.

Source URL : http://www.sharewarepromotions.com/adwords/index.asp#e098

Comments: The issue with this new functionality is that it is enabled by default. In the true sense, not many of our customers are likely to search for goods via their iPhone. So the best thing would have been to allow the user to go & opt into this feature if required, rather than enabling it by default when a new campaign is set up.

AdWords Trademark Policy Revision (UK and Ireland) –(Mainly relates to trademark infringement in keywords & ad copies)

Introduction: This update is about the way an advertiser needs to file a complain against trademark infringement in UK or Ireland. It has now been made inline with the policy in US & Canada.

Google team writes that they are changing their trademark complaint procedure in the UK and Ireland. This change may affect how they handle the trademark complaint advertisers currently have on file with Google.

If one has submitted a complaint letter requesting that Google prevents advertisers from using certain trademark terms anywhere in their ad text, Google will continue their efforts to support the request. However, since May 5, 2008, their trademark complaint investigations have no longer been resulting in Google monitoring or restricting keywords for ads served to users in the UK and Ireland. This will bring their procedure in line with the approach taken in the US and Canada.

One does not need to file a trademark complaint with Google again unless it is required to amend it based on the new guidelines.

Source URL:

http://www.ppcblog.co.uk/google-adwords/google-changing-trademark-policy-in-the-uk/

http://adwords.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=92877&hl=en_US.

Comments: This is a good change brought in by Google in order to streamline their policy across all countries. Previously, the policy used to be different for US/Canada & UK/Ireland; however it would now be the same all across which would ensure standardization.