Google Tweaks Phrase and Exact Match Keyword Behavior

By Kye Mou April 18th, 2012

Yesterday, Google announced changes to the way phrase and exact match type keywords will behave in AdWords. Traditionally, advertisers have had to compile large keyword lists to account for misspellings, plurals and other keyword variations. Starting mid-May, AdWords’ phrase and exact match keywords will begin matching close variants, including:

• Misspellings (“waterproof sunblock” will match “waterpoof sunblock”)
• Singular/plural forms (“bollard cover” will match “bollard covers”)
• Acronyms (“MLB” will match “Major League Baseball”)
• Stemmings (“single serving coffee” will match “single serve coffee”)
• Abbreviations (“st.” will match “street”)
• Accents (“cliché” will match “cliche”)

This level of matching is already baked into Google’s organic algorithm, but the impact it will have on search advertisers has yet to be seen. Initial Google testing yielded a 3% increase in clicks, with comparable CPCs, however those who don’t want the potential for more clicks have the option to opt out.

Click here for more information on this upcoming change.

Stop Paying for Unwanted Clicks with Our Negative Keyword Strategies

By Matt Lawson February 22nd, 2012

Whether you’re just starting out in paid search or have fully built out search campaigns, in order to be successful, you’ll want to know how to implement negative-keywords within your campaigns. Why? Actively managing negatives is possibly the single most impactful tool marketers have to increase revenues and lower costs. The virtuous circle of lowering costs while simultaneously increasing quality and position results in a win-win for the advertiser: increased revenue and ROI. Given the benefits, negative keywords should always be a top consideration for advertisers looking to optimize paid search.

In a recent white paper, Marin Software reviews the benefits of successful negatives strategies and presents a variety of best practices for deploying and managing negatives. Some of these best practices include:

• Strategies for Identifying Negatives: Where does one start when identifying negative keywords? Learn 5 tactics for sourcing negatives, as well as tips and tricks for implementing these methods efficiently.
• Using Negatives to Shape Traffic: One of the most common methods for shaping traffic with negatives is by creating match-type silos. Discover how match-type silos force search engines to trigger the correct keyword-match-type combination for each query and how to implement them in your campaigns.
• Negative-Keyword Strategies for Yahoo! & Bing: Marketers should not assume that negatives in adCenter act the same way as negatives in AdWords. Find out the important differences in the treatment of negatives between the two search engines.

Gain a complete understanding of how to leverage negatives to maximize revenue and performance for online advertising programs. More importantly, become equipped with the techniques necessary to make a strategic implementation of negatives a reality.

Download the free white paper here.

And, join our free webcast on Thursday, March 15 at 10am PST (1pm EST).