Your feedback on the blog

A big thank you to everyone who sent us feedback about the blog, and if you haven't had chance to speak your mind, please take a minute to send us your thoughts on the blog.  Here's a quick update on what you've said so far:

• 67% of you read the blog at least once a week, so thanks for the loyal readership! 
• The top reason for reading the blog is to learn about new features and releases (voted for by 89% of readers), followed by keeping track of online advertising trends (voted for by 53% of readers).
  
• The top product, outside of AdWords, that you want to read more about is Google Analytics (voted for by 74% of readers).  

We're also taking the time to read through every response you sent in about how we can improve the blog. Next week we'll share some of your ideas for improving the blog and also our plans for implementing them.

Posted by Amanda Kelly, Inside AdWords crew

We'd love to hear your feedback

Because your opinion matters to us, we've put together a short survey so you can tell us how we're doing and what you'd like to see more of on the Inside AdWords blog. We hope you'll take the time to let us know what's on your mind -- click to give us your feedback.

Posted by Christian Yee, Inside AdWords crew

Happy Halloween (and a tip, too)

We know that many advertisers set up seasonal campaigns for specific holidays and occasions. Well, if you didn't set an end date for your Halloween campaign yet, here's a quick reminder to log in to your account and pause it. (You can always use it again next year.)

And of course, Happy Halloween from the Inside AdWords crew!


Posted by Vivian Leung, Inside AdWords crew

Introducing FrankRank, a new ad ranking algorithm

We're proud to announce a new member of the AdWords family -- Frank the hand turkey. You may remember Frank from previous blog posts, and as of today, Frank will be the official mascot of Google AdWords. As part of our continuing efforts to improve the quality of online advertising, we're also introducing FrankRank(TM), a new ad ranking technology and algorithm inspired by our new mascot.

To learn more about Frank and FrankRank, we sat down with the new mascot for a quick interview:

I see you're sporting a new look.
Frank: Oh? What? Oh yes, the bow tie. Well, I'm a big corporate mascot now. I need to look the part. Plus, I hear they have big plans for me, so I've got to look sharp.

Tell us about FrankRank.
F: I'd be happy to. Well, as you might know, AdWords rankings are now based on how well a particular ad goes with mashed potatoes and gravy... and quite frankly, how much I like the ad. Some people thought this connection between mashed potatoes and bids was confusing, but since it's really all about what I like, I figured we'd just name it after me.

We've done some usability studies with it, and you wouldn't believe the results. People are like, "Who's Frank?" and the User Experience Researcher is like, "He's a hand turkey," and then the people are like, "Woah, I get it now." Truly fascinating stuff.

How did you become the AdWords mascot? Were there others competing for the title?
F: I did have to beat out a snowman and his girlfriend for the title, but fortunately I received a travel hair dryer in my office's Secret Santa last year. That certainly heated up the competition, if you know what I mean.

Any concerns that you might be eaten?
F: Well, not in particular, I mean I'm a hand turkey, not the real thing. Now I could see that someone could be enjoying some mashed potatoes and gravy while managing their AdWords account, and then see me, think I am delicious turkey, and try to devour me, but I mean what are the odds?

What else do you have lined up for the future?
F: I've got big plans! First off, I'm going to learn 42 new languages so I can speak to all of our AdWords customers. I also hear that the AdSense folks are looking for a mascot. After that, I'm off to Mars with Project Virgle.

Posted by Trevor & Vivian, Inside AdWords crew

Roses are red...

For Valentine's Day, we wanted to write you a sonnet but we've found that it isn't as easy as Shakespeare made it look. So instead, we took the traditional approach. Here's a Valentine's day poem from each of us...enjoy!

Roses are red

Violets are blue

We love our readers
...Yes, we mean you. :) (Vivian)

Roses are red
Violets are purple
Our readers are as sweet
As fine maple syrple. (Blake)

Roses are red
violets are mauve
Inside AdWords readers
Are pretty darn suave. (Trevor)

Roses are red
So are your lips
We're glad you read
our AdWords news and tips. (Feng)

Roses are red
Violets are blue
Sugar is sweet
Google offers a number of business solutions that help advertisers increase their ROI, most of which are free. Check them out here. (Christian)

Roses are red
Violets are blue
Happy Heart Day...
From the Inside AdWords crew. (Heather)

Posted by Vivian, Inside AdWords crew

Groundhogs, Seasonality, and Trends

Tomorrow, February 2nd, is Groundhog Day, and Punxsutawney Phil will soon emerge from his burrow and give his prediction for how much longer winter will last. While working with a prognosticating woodchuck to predict seasons is great, we have our own tool for determining seasonality: Google Trends.

Google Trends shows you what the world is searching for. Using Google Trends you can see when searches for a particular keyword are most popular as well as the top geographic regions and cities for that keyword. You can even perform comparisons between keywords.

(Click the image for a full-sized version)

Here we have a trends graph for the searches performed in the United States in 2007 for the keywords flowers, roses, and chocolate. We can see that flowers is more popular around Valentine's Day and most popular around Mother's Day. Roses, on the other hand, sees the biggest surge around Valentine's Day, and just a small bump for Mother's Day. And chocolate has jumps for Valentine's Day and Easter and then starts climbing around Halloween, peaking around Christmas. You can also look at a monthly view to see which days have the most traffic. Knowing this information can help you prepare your campaigns for the additional interest.

Happy Groundhog Day!

Posted by Trevor, Inside AdWords crew

Season's greetings

As 2007 wraps up, we'd like to take a moment to send you our warmest wishes for the holiday season. We'll be taking the next week off, but look for us again in January when we'll countdown our annual top 10 must-read posts from the past year. And before we go, here's this year's holiday doodle, featuring someone you may recognize along with his new friend:


Have a warm and wonderful holiday!

Posted by Vivian, Inside AdWords crew

On turkeys and giving thanks

It's that time of year again. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving in the US, and we'd like to take a moment to thank you for your continuous support and readership. Before we take the next couple of days off, we'd like to share with you our latest blog doodle -- you may even notice a cameo appearance by a certain hand turkey from last year!

We hope you'll have a warm and wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!


Posted by Vivian, Inside AdWords crew

Vegging out with Google AdWords

Today is Blog Action Day, and we’re excited to rally with hundreds of bloggers around the world to write about one topic: the environment. Since this issue is close to our hearts, we were very pleased to learn that some online advertisers were using AdWords to educate others about innovative ways to help green the planet.

Nate Petre, the CEO of Veggie Wheels, used AdWords to spread the word about the alternative energy movement. He ran ads alongside search results for his company on Google.com as well as on the Google content network, so that people looking to convert their diesel-run cars to run on vegetable oil could get connected to Veggie Wheels.

On his site, Nate explains why vegetable oil is the perfect ingredient to reduce climate change:

• Sulfur, which causes acid rain, is eliminated
• Co2 emissions, a major contributor to global warming, are nearly eliminated because vegetable oil is a renewable fuel
• Emissions of others pollutants like HydroCarbons and Carbon-monoxide are reduced by about 30% - 50%
• Black soot (particulate) is significantly reduced by 50-70%

Thanks to people like Nate for using Google in creative ways to connect others to eco-friendly solutions.

Posted by Christina, Inside AdWords crew

Happy Labor Day!

Those of us in the US and Canada are looking forward to a long Labor Day weekend. Whether Labor Day means intense retail therapy in the form of back-to-school sales or simply the end of wearing summer whites, we here at Inside AdWords will be taking a day off to rest in the true spirit of the holiday. We hope you'll find some time to do the same as well.



We'll be back next week!

Posted by Vivian, Inside AdWords crew