Earlier this month we posted on an upcoming webinar "5 Things Marketers Can Do Now," with Analytics Evangelist Avinash Kaushik. We realize some of you may have missed the opportunity to hear Avinash speak, but may still be interested in the tips he provided. As such, we've posted a recording of his talk onto the Google Brand Channel on YouTube.

Posted by Jaime Mayer, Business Marketing

If you've been working with AdWords accounts recently, you've probably heard that we're releasing a new AdWords interface. To help you become familiar with the changes, we have two resources that you may find helpful:

• The new AdWords interface website, which comes complete with short overview videos, a downloadable PDF, and a quiz to test your knowledge.
• New Interface Thursdays on the Inside AdWords blog, a weekly series that covers a new aspect of the interface and how to make the most of the new features.

You can also switch between the current and new interfaces, so you can try out new features without having to worry about adapting to all of the changes at once.

Posted by Devin Sandoz, Product Marketing

You've recently set up a new Google Analytics account and when you check to see if any data has come in, nothing shows up. Does this scenario sound familiar? If so, it's time to confirm that you've installed your tracking code correctly.

Posted by Jesse Nichols, Agency Team

If Carla Hendra, co-CEO of Ogilvy North America, could wave a magic wand to solve their clients' biggest problem, what would it be? And how does eMarketer CEO Geoff Ramsey think marketers can best reach influencers? You can tap into these answers and more on DoubleClick's Three Questions site, where innovators and thought leaders in digital marketing share their perspectives on the space. We invite you to explore the video interviews, spanning issues from viral marketing to ad exchanges to the future of digital marketing, and even ponder some of the questions for yourself.

Posted by Min Li Chan, Product Marketing

We recently published a new Google Content Network success story, which highlights both products and tactics you may wish to consider when creating and expanding content campaigns for your clients. Here's a sneak peek at the story:

"JustAnswer, the San Francisco-based pay-as-you-go question and answer website, was born from a need CEO Andy Kurtzig's wife had during her first pregnancy. Calling her doctor numerous times with questions drove him to cut her off, so she offered to pay him for each question. Although it may not have worked for his wife, the notion inspired Andy to create an online communication channel for people to get answers from doctors, lawyers, mechanics and other experts, at all hours of the day or night.

Today, JustAnswer has more than 15 million registered users, and some 20,000 experts in 90 categories ranging from health to law to automobiles. It’s also a worldwide enterprise, with customers in 145 countries. Andy was able to grow his company from a one-man operation into a successful global company using Google AdWords and the Google Content Network."

Highlights of the story include:

• Successful acquisition of customers as well as subject experts using Google AdWords Search and Content Network campaigns
• Quick response to trends, such as the economic downturn, thanks to flexibility, control and transparency of placement targeting
• Effective use of the Placement Performance report to identify high-converting sites, which included smaller, highly focused sites

Check out the full story here, and share it with clients who are interested in advertising on the Google Content Network. For additional stories like this, visit the Google Success Stories site.

Posted by Cathy Bishop, Writer

The digital landscape may be increasingly complex and competitive, yet your clients' sales objectives and ROI goals are no less challenging. However, are you and your clients ready to experiment with cutting-edge marketing platforms such as YouTube when budgets are tight?

To demonstrate the effectiveness of innovative marketing solutions on purchase behavior, we conducted a study with a major video game client who ran a YouTube campaign during the 2008 holiday season. The client had released a popular franchise game in fall 2008, and had four primary goals: sell games during the holidays, drive traffic to branded sites, drive engagement with branded content online, and drive online buzz and consumer interest in the game.

In order to achieve these goals, the client executed seven YouTube homepage takeovers, a branded channel, and supporting media. We measured the impact by analyzing Compete, Inc. click stream data and Dynamic Logic survey data for test users (those exposed to the campaign) and control users (those not exposed to the campaign).

We found some encouraging results:

• Ad exposure increased game purchases. There was a 29% lift in game sales over 6-week 2008 holiday period.
• Campaign boosted searches on branded terms. We found a 3.6x increase in searches, with 5.4x jump on Google, and 5.3x on YouTube.
• Ad exposure increased online engagement. The test results also showed an 11.8x increase in video views, 4.6x jump in channel visits, and 3.9x more official site views.
• Clear brand lift associated with campaign. Test users showed a 14% lift in aided brand awareness, with a 19% lift among active gamers, and an 18% lift among game purchasers
• High frequency of ad exposure led to strong brand lift. We found a 27% lift in brand awareness resulting from ten or more exposures.

How can you apply this strategy to your clients' advertising? Think beyond search to develop and execute campaigns using search as well as display tactics. A well-developed display strategy, including YouTube promoted videos, a YouTube channel, and campaigns targeting the Google Content Network can engage your audience, generate buzz, and have a positive lift on search traffic.

For more details on the Google tools that can help you build a compelling display campaign, visit the Agency Toolkit, a one-stop-shop for relevant products, and Google for Advertisers, your hub for Google's marketing solutions, including all your options for advertising on YouTube.

Posted by Angela Reynar and Leah Spalding, Advertising Research Managers

With travel's busiest season right around the corner, understanding consumers' attitudes about traveling this summer and their planning process is more important than ever. Using an in-depth survey of traveler perspectives and a detailed online behavioral analysis, Google and Compete, Inc. have partnered to create a new study exploring how consumers are shopping for summer travel.

During this webinar, you will learn:

• Are consumers planning to travel this summer, and how do their plans differ this year in comparison to last year?
• How has the volume of travel research and booking activity changed?
• What types of destinations and promotions do consumers find appealing, and how can travel sellers take advantage of this?

Date: Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Time: 1:00pm EDT, 10:00am PDT

Register here

Posted by Veronica San Luis, Marketing Manager

On June 2nd and 3rd SMX Advanced will take place in Seattle, and search engine marketers will gather to discuss what they do best. If you're planning on attending the event, register here and use the discount code smx15google for a 15% discount on an All Access Pass.

If you're attending SMX Advanced, be sure to stop by the Google booth. We'll have Conversion Optimizer specialists Courtney Lischke and Megan Sabo on hand to answer questions and collect advertiser feedback. In addition, we'll have demo stations for Google Analytics, Google Website Optimizer, Webmaster Tools, and the new AdWords interface.

Enjoy the conference. Hope to see you there!

Posted by Katie Wasilenko, Agency Team

Do you use Google Ad Planner to find websites for your display ad campaigns? If so, you'll be glad to know we launched the Google Ad Planner Publisher Center, a new feature that improves the quality and accuracy of the site data you see in Google Ad Planner.

The Publisher Center enables publishers to contribute directly to the site data provided in Google Ad Planner. Website owners can specify their site descriptions, content categories, supported ad formats and sizes, and share their Google Analytics traffic data in Google Ad Planner. With shared Google Analytics data, we can supplement our traffic estimates with actual, site-measured data from the publisher themselves. In turn, you'll have access to more robust and accurate information in Google Ad Planner to make better-informed decisions about which sites to include in your media plans.

Here's an example of a site profile you'll see when the site owner updates information through the Publisher Center:


We hope you'll take advantage of this enhanced Google Ad Planner data for your media planning activities. To get started, visit www.google.com/adplanner.

Posted by: Wayne Lin, Product Manager, Google Ad Planner

In today's tough economic climate, it's increasingly important for marketers to utilize resources effectively – in particular, media dollars – in order to maximize ROI. However, marketers often ignore what's immediately achievable.

To explore the little changes that can bring in large results, join us for our upcoming webinar, "5 Things Marketers Can Do Now," with Analytics Evangelist Avinash Kaushik. Avinash will cover the primary tactics for using data-driven insights to guide your marketing message and media strategies. You'll walk away knowing how to improve marketing efficiency, drive insights into consumer behavior, and generate greater returns on your marketing investments.

Date: Tuesday, May 12th
Time: 1:00pm EST / 10:00am PST
Register now

Posted by Jaime Mayer, Business Marketing

Join Google and Compete, Inc. on Tuesday, May 5th for a look into beauty searching, researching, and purchasing behavior. Google partnered with Compete in 2008 to analyze beauty consumer behavior through click-stream analysis and surveys collected from panelists. In the webinar, Compete will be sharing the broad findings from this analysis.

We hope you can join us.

Date: Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Time: 10amPST/1pmEST
Register here

This webinar will be recorded and directions to obtain the recording will be added to the Official CPG blog after the event.

Posted by Jenny Liu, CPG Marketing