I’ve seen mentioned on the Web in several places that Google Ads is an auction bid and then again that it is not. Finally in Google’s own help information on Google Ads they themselves use the “Auction” term.
I have long felt that getting to position one on a keyword had an auction factor to it as one could bid up the price, but in some cases never pay the actual bid price and raise a keyword s’s position. Now at least it is clearly in the open. Yes Google Ads does have an auction-like bid to position.
Remember there are additional factors that affect your keywords page position like quality score, ad text, and even landing page match and now auction is another one.
Site Suspension! If you are an AdWords advertiser, know that Google is watching you – very carefully. What you state in your content and the images you show are all reviewed by the Googlebot and flagged for review if you are in the medical, plastic surgery, and dermatology fields of business.
CoolSculpting and Dermatology Advertisers Be Aware
Case in point, if you are promoting CoolSculpting and you state on your website that this treatment provides permanent fat loss, Google will be coming for you – soon. I’ve now crossed paths now with four doctors in different areas of the US that have all received site suspensions in AdWords.
A site suspension simply means that Google will not allow you to promote your business in AdWords, at all! They simply shut down your account. Only the account owner will receive an email about the issue and Google will point to its terms of service and rules. Account Managers will see next to the accounts ads a speech bubble which will state Site Suspension.
What Would Be Noted in a Site Suspension?
I recently saw a site suspension in AdWords for a Dermatologist and Vascular doctor with this information:
Site Suspension due to:
Restricted Medical Content
Restricted Drug Terms
Misleading or unrealistic promotions
I’ve seen several doctors remediate their site, get up and running, and then get a second site suspension. As sometimes the issues take a while to correct and there are numerous communications with the Google team before the site can even be submitted for a higher level review (which is not immediate), I recommend moving your program to Bing Ads while Google is futzing around with your site review to remove the suspension.
Your entire program from AdWords can be picked up and moved to Bing Ads relatively quickly. At least this way you will continue to have a flow of leads while Google does your review and lets you know things that need to be further changed in each communique.
A site suspension is serious business. In two cases it took 6 and up to 8 weeks to remediate the problems. That’s nearly 2 months off of AdWords with no leads coming in. In all cases to remediate the problem, all content had to be updated and images updated. Wording like permanent, immediate, fat loss had to be softened to reduction, over time, and fat reduction.
If you need help resolving a site suspension or moving to Bing Ads while your staff is working to remediate an AdWords site suspension, call us today to get fast help and get rolling on Bing Ads.
Google has recently revealed research based on micro moments and customer buying patterns to Google Partners. Of particular interest are several trends
Customers are more demanding.
“Near Me” searches have decreased by 150% over the last 2 years.
Use of a zip code in a search query has declined 30%.
Google data shows that consumers want more useful information, more personalization, and more immediacy.
The reason for the decrease in activity on “near me” and zip code specific searches are that consumers expect the results to be location and self-specific. This change has been driven by the mobile micro-moment, as Google calls it, – the I want to know, I want to buy, I want to go mentality.
One important trend that you can leverage on your website and in Google AdWords due to dynamic keyword insertion is the use of “best” in a search query. Consumers want the “best” toothbrush, “best” web designer, “best” lawyer and so on.
In fact in the research Google states that “best” related keyword search activity has grown by 80% in the past two years.
In addition, consumers are demanding personalized localization – meaning the delivery of results that are uniquely personal and based on their own location. Mobile apps leverage results by GPS location and websites can enhance results by providing location cues and data sortable by location.
In addition to more localization, Google has identified that 50% of all mobile users will typically make an immediate purchase after a successful mobile search.
Google is identifying other important trends and sharing them with Google Partners as we work to leverage this information to help our client’s better market their products and services on Google AdWords.
Free phone call tracking is available in your account from Google AdWords. Why pay for a third party service when you can get great metrics that flow into the AdWords control panel for free?
With nearly all conversions now happening in Google AdWords via phone activity versus email actions, tracking is more important than ever.
Google AdWords allows you to enable through phone call extensions a call forwarding number. Install 4 pieces of code on your website and you can even track calls that are made after an ad click from website visitors.
Although you can’t record calls or see the full phone number, you do see the area code, time to the second, and length of the call. For most clients this is enough data to ascertain the value of AdWords in driving phone calls about your services.
If you need AdWords services, account management, service by the hour, make sure to visit our AdWords services page for details and pricing.
