Cream of Life

Since the launch of Google.cn in Jan 2006, Google did try hard in China to gain market share from local search leader Baidu.  If you look at the contents available in google.cn and compare those with that Google has for the US market, you can tell Google did spend effort in pleasing the local Chinese users, and give them love by being more “Chinese” or localized. The Chinese music content on google.cn is one of the examples. The US search giant struggled between intellectual properties and joining the Chinese online community that don’t care too much about copyright.

It’s never easy for any US company to walk away from the China market today where purchasing power, size of internet users, GDP, and influence in the international political stage are rising at alarming rate. But “don’t do evil” seems to remain as a prevailing core value for Google which has been surfaced once again in times of facing devil. So many companies claim to have code of conduct or whatsoever mission statement, but few could exercise it when it comes to making critical business decisions.

Rumors are saying google.cn planned to withdraw from China by Feb 2010. After video conference with Eric Schmidt on Thursday 14 Jan, employees at Google China in Beijing understood it’s high time to say goodbye. Thank you for not giving up in a tough market in the last 4 years where competitors and authorities had never been friendly.

I remember the days I needed to rely on the so-called official AdWords keyword tool to help brain storm keyword ideas. I did not like it from day 1. The most important reason is the interface. You simply can’t believe that it’s so “primitive” — it’s like my HTML coursework when I studied multimedia design many years ago.

But the simplicity in interface design should not be a problem if it does not sacrifice functionality. I used to urge my clients and agency friends to try out the keyword tool, but most of them were not very impressed with it. After understanding with them, I found some of them did not realize they could enter an URL of their website to ask the tool to suggest keywords. Some did not see a link on the tool where they could choose country and language to narrow the keyword suggestions to suit their target users. Their “misunderstanding” or “lack of understanding” of the tool is because its interface is not very user friendly.

And finally this year, the long-awaited enhanced keyword tool arrived — Search-based Keyword Tool . To me, it’s an ultimate keyword tool that caters the 3 aspects that Google cares the most — user, advertiser and budget.

Similar to the old keyword tool, Search-based Keyword Tool lets you choose country and language to find keywords. But finally it’s now in a more prominent position so you won’t miss it. It’s also for existing advertisers to review the competition of the keywords in their campaigns and decide if they want to add more keywords. Well, campaign budget is always a concern for advertisers. The tool provides a “suggested bid” column to give you a sense about the CPC level of the suggested keywords.

So, maybe it’s time for us to move on to the new keyword tool and say goodbye to the old tool.

One of the key improvements I enjoy the most on the new AdWords interface is the way that Google brings 2 useful reports for optimization more accessible. The first report is the Search Query Report, and it’s for generating more relevant keywords. The other report is the Placement Performance Report (PPR), and it’s for optimizing performance in the Content Network (if you opt into that).

With the Search Query Report, you will see the search terms people use to trigger your ads on Google Search Network. Because of different keyword match types, like Exact and Board, the keywords that trigger your ads are not necessarily those you added to your campaigns, and you may want to add those keywords that you don’t have in your campaigns. To dig out these keywords, on the new AdWords interface, go to “Campaigns” Tab > “All online campaigns”  > “Keywords” Tab, and hit “See Search Terms” > All. Focus on the “Match Type” column and look for keywords with “Board Match.”

If you opt into the Content Network, you may want to know where exactly my ads are displayed. While you can choose “Managed Placement” (formerly known as “Placement Targeting”) to control the website to show your ads, the “Automatic Placement” (a.k.a. Content Match) has been a mystery that scared off advertisers. Although Google provided the PPR to address the concern allowing advertisers to view performance of individual website, the PPR was too shy, and too logically and properly placed under the “Report” Tab. The net result was no one cared to discover it and appreciate its beauty.

The PPR is now in a much prominent position on the new interface. Check it out on the “Networks” Tab > Content > Automatic placements > show details.  If you find some sites that you like, e.g. the CTR is high or the CPC is low, you can add them to your Managed Placements and set a separate bid for them (see the picture below).

I find the 2 handy reports/ tools easy to use for myself and easy to communicate my optimization suggestions with my clients. If you have time, please check them out and let me know what you think. Enjoy.

The long-waited certification program for Google Analytics has been rolled out this week.  Despite your willingness to pay US$50 for the qualification, the Google Analytics Individual Qualification (GAIQ) program offers online presentations for free (using Adobe Presentation) to learn GA step-by-step from interface navigation to e-commerce tracking. You can watch the lessons at your own pace. Pause and play as you like.

Once again it’s high time for Internet Marketing gurus to be GA knowledgable to improve our competitive edge. Survival of the fittest. The key to survive in the Internet Marketing is to keep learning.

Many people know Google has an official certification program for individual or ad agencies to obtain the Google Advertising Professional qualification to manage AdWords campaign for advertisers. I was recently asked by a Hong Kong advertiser if there’s something similar for Google Analytics (GA). Yes, there is. But it’s not yet well developed as GAP. And there are different resources for advertisers and ad agencies.

If you are an advertiser who needs a vendor to install and maintain GA on your website, you may check out Google Analytics Authorized Consultant program. You will see a list of GA Authorized Consultants located in US, Canada, Europe, Asia Pacifica and so on.

Say if you work in the ad agencies, you may want to equip yourself knowledge of GA. Afterall GA is free and you are likely to be asked some common questions when you talk to your clients. Go to Analytics Troubleshooter if you have some specific technical questions on installing tracking code or setting up filters. Visit Analytics Help if you want to get an overview on what GA is.

Some of my favorite articles about how GA can help improve Conversions are found on the Conversion University. Check them out to make sure you understand GA not just on theories, but in practice as well.

In honor of Google 10th birthday, they brought back their oldest available index. Take a look back at Google in January 2001.  Do a search with iPod and see what it was like back in 2001. Enjoy.   

Google Maps has long been well known for its driving direction feature. People who enjoy self-drive tours will find this tool handy and saves much time to get around.

With the map data for Hong Kong enriched on Google Map, the driving direction feature is also available for drivers in Hong Kong. Though Hong Kong is a small place, if you do need a driving guide showing you around, the Google Maps for Hong Kong could serve the purpose.

Well, I know this Google Maps feature for Hong Kong is under-promoted. You know, it’s always Google style to do it with word of mouth marketing.

View Larger Map