Yale University Keyword Modeling Study

Oliver J. Ruiz, Assistant Professor of Marketing at Yale School of Management authored this keyword modeling study. Professor Ruiz uses and hotel chain for his study.

It's long and detailed but worth the read if you are into the subject. My initial takeaway is confirmation of what I have found in managing keyword or PPC based campaigns. When dealing with multiple keywords for a service or product there can be no precise measurement of effectiveness per keyword or keyphrase.

This is where many clients get confused about pay per click. It's easy for the small business operator to understand the need to advertise on a TV or radio advertising spot or even a print yellow pages ad because it's traditional. While ROI is not easily quantified it's tried and true, safe though expensive.

Web based advertising is still new and is being sold to them primarily by the same guys that used to sell them old media spots.
If a small businessperson were to read the Yale modeling study above they might come away with skepticism and that would be a shame. For the small to medium business it's the surest way to get above the fold.

PPC For Grocers Works, Cereal Case Study

Adtech, a majority owned subsidiary of Advertising.com points to this case study that cites how proper targeting of Kellogg's Special K increased sales volume. Please read the excerpt from this older press release.

"Frankfurt, Germany – 22nd January 2007. The French survey NetImpact 3 bis has proven that online advertising has positively affected the sales of the fitness cereal Kellogg’s Special K in the supermarket. Firstly, advertising increased the sales volume in the retail business. Secondly, banner & co generated new customers for Special K in stationary trade.

Participating on the implementation of the advertising impact study were the online advertising provider ADTECH (www.adtech.info), the IAB France, the advertising customer Kellogg’s and the market research company Marketing Scan. Within six weeks, from mid June to end of July 2006, ADTECH delivered the online ads for Special K on numerous French websites – Advertising.com, Alice, Au Féminin, Benchmark Group, Doctissimo, France Télévisions, Hi-Media, Lagardère Active Publicité, Lycos, MSN/Windows Live, Orange, Régie Obs, Skyrégie, TF1 Publicité, Voyages SNCF, Yahoo!, Zefir Web.

Via geographical targeting, the ADTECH ad server adjusted the cereal banners in a way that only internet users from two French towns – Angers and Le Mans – got to see them. The market research company Marketing Scan had installed test panels in these two towns and was in connection with all supermarkets in the area. To compare the sales figures control data was collected twelve weeks before the virtual campaign and six weeks afterwards..."

Did you know?
"ADTECH is a leading international digital marketing solutions company. The company's flagship product is the Helios IQ ad serving platform. It enables web publishers to manage, serve and evaluate virtually any kind of online advertising campaign including display, video and mobile formats. The Helios IQ ad serving platform differentiates itself via its scalable, enterprise-class infrastructure and publisher-friendly tools, providing publishers with increased efficiency, reliability and ROI for their online advertising business.
Founded in 1998 and headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, ADTECH is an independent and majority-controlled subsidiary of AOL's Advertising.com division. Globally, ADTECH AG works with customers in more than 25 countries."

Google Pay Per Action Will Change The Game

Google Pay Per Action (CPA) being expanded according to Google;

"Google announced today the worldwide expansion of its pay-per-action advertising beta. Pay-per-action is a new pricing model that allows advertisers to pay only when a pre-defined action is completed on their site, such as when a user makes a purchase, signs up for a newsletter, or completes any other clearly defined action. Since the initial launch of the pay-per-action advertising beta in March 2007, many advertisers who have used the new pricing model are pleased with the opportunity to have more ways to promote their products and services online."

Click fraud concerns will all but disappear for merchants adopting the CPC model. (CPC defined)

A key question for adopters is how much are you willing to pay for a fairly qualified lead, one that has at the least given you their phone number or email?

Google Local PPC Not Being Used By Local Business

I was searching Google Local (I'm not calling it "Maps" today) for eateries in Fresno California
and found these review oriented sites advertising via AdWords for eyes on the Google Local results pages for Restaurants, Fresno CA

Check out these sponsored ads;

Restaurants

Locate a Restaurant in Your Area

Search Locally with SuperPages.

www.Superpages.com

Restaurant guide

Find restaurant guide here.

We offer local search in your area.

california.local.com

California

Sponsored Links

Restaurants La

Search for top rated restaurants!

Get reviews, ratings, tips & more.

losangeles.citysearch.com

Sponsored Links

Introducing The Dish

Offers & Restaurant Picks from Food

Experts in NYC, San Fran & Boston

mylifemycard.com/thedishprograms

Videos of Top Restaurants

Featuring Bay Area Chefs, Food,

Wine & Entertainment!

www.restaurantslive.com

How long will it be before local restaurants begin bidding these spots up? I have chronicalled how difficult it is to sell restraurants and other local business into these spots. I wonder if Google really cares if mom and pop find their way into view here? I'm not sure, as long as the spots are filled by someone and apparently review sites and some national chains do then they have no worries.
I'll say it until I have no more voice, this online real estate should be snapped up by local merchants and there should be heavy bidding for the spots.

*There was also an ad for MeasuredUp, a rate and review site that launched in December 2006. I wish the folks running MeasuredUp the best of luck but they are burning their angel and venture funds against some very stiff competition. For what it's worth there is not one Fresno eatery (or any Fresno business) listed in their directory.