Google AdWords Rewards Good Sentence Structure

Last Thursday, Google AdWords announced a big change to (select) PPC ads. It seems those marketers who like proper sentence structure will be rewarded with a much longer "headline" – but only if they're already showing up in the coveted "top 3" section. For those ads utilizing sentences for each line of their ads, they'll see the second line jump up to join the first – separated by a hyphen – and the third line will occupy the second's place:

So  these ads aren't really receiving more copy for their ad; just a longer headline. How is this such a big change to Google PPC ads? Well, for starters, if you're showing up in the top 3 places, you already have a bigger boost over your competitors (i.e., those in the 4th-10th place positions) but now with the longer headlines, you can stand out amongst the top 3 spots, even if you're the third ad:

As evidence by this pizza example, it seems you can even have multiple sentences in your 2nd line and still have those show up alongside your headline.

Of course, once everyone catches on and starts writing their ads in sentence structure – i.e., ending each line with a period or question mark – we'll be back to square 1 and still need to come up with creative ad copy to stand out. But for right now, suffice it to say if you use sentences for each line of your pay-per-click ads, you're more likely to get a bump in your click-through-rate.

Gone are the days of trying to cram as many words into each line of your PPC ads as you can; now we've got to be grammatically correct. After re-writing all your ads to ensure you (hopefully) show up with a longer headline, the next step is to also show up with a Google Boost:

But wait...is it really about good sentence structure?

After re-writing some ads and checking to see what other businesses are doing to gain an edge within this new format, I'm finding it's not about overall sentence use in ads, it's really about how the 2nd line of ad copy is punctuated. The 3rd line evidently doesn't factor in at all – as long as your 2nd line appears to be proper sentence structure, you get your longer headline. The family attorney ad above is an example, as well as this:

Notice how the 3rd ad line (now moved to the 2nd line) isn't punctuated. However, the 2nd ad line IS punctuated, so it moves up to join the headline. But, wait...hang on!

That 2nd ad line isn't a sentence...is it? Come to think of it, neither of those ads used proper sentences at all. Just to be sure, I had to re-read the blog post from Google AdWords about this detail:

..."we’re changing the placement of the first description line for certain ads that appear above the search results on Google. For some ads where each line appears to be a distinct sentence and ends in the proper punctuation, description line 1 will be moved to the headline and separated by a hyphen."

This got me to thinking: what, exactly, does Google AdWords consider a sentence? According to Dictionary.com, a sentence is:

"a sequence of words capable of standing alone to make an assertion, ask a question, or give a command, usually consisting of a subject and a predicate containing a finite verb."

Curious, because the more I look, the more I run across ads which are not only missing punctuation in their ad copy, they're not even using sentence structure:

Let's not mention the fact this business makes a hefty assumption about their skills; neither their 2nd nor 3rd lines of ad copy are sentences. In fact, they're sentence fragments –  and poorly punctuated ones at that. But, at least they use all English words.

I realize we live in a world of texting and instant-messaging short-hand, but could this ad's 3rd line be deemed even a sentence fragment (even with proper punctuation)?

Let's take another look at that example, so we can all see how few actual sentences exist in those 2 highlighted ads. In fact, sentence fragments abound:

Evidently Google AdWords needs to redefine their definition of "sentence," or start imposing a more thorough check of ad copy before assuming proper sentence structure is used – if that's indeed what they mean when they say each line of ad copy needs to be a "distinct sentence."

You be the judge – sentences only, or sentence fragments?

MnSEM (Minnesota Search Engine Marketing Association) to Launch with “Search Party” Networking Event in Minneapolis

This is very exciting for me and other search marketers in the Twin Cities! Join the Minnesota Search Engine Marketing Association at our first official event the “Search Party: MnSEM Launch”. Get to know MnSEM and our members with an evening of networking, drinks, and of course talking search!

Register here today!: http://mnsem.eventbrite.com/

We’re looking for feedback on what the search community would like for meet-ups in the Twin Cities. We’re currently gathering members at our group on Linkedin to connect search engine marketing folks: http://www.linkedin.com/groupRegistration?gid=3563768. We’re also on Twitter- hey! @MnSEM

Who Should Attend MnSEM: All current MnSEM members, marketing professionals who have a passion for Search (all search disciplines), and those who are interested in joining the Minnesota Search Engine Marketing Association.

Sponsor: Leading brand and media consultancy, FRWD is proud to host and sponsor the launch of MNSEM (Minnesota Search Engine Marketing Association). They can be found at: frwdco.com

When: Thursday, November 18, 2010 from 5:30 PM – 8:00 PM (CT)

Where: Headquarters of FRWD Co., in the Ford Building near Target Field in Minneapolis

FRWD Co.
420 5th Street N #1186
Minneapolis, MN 55401

About Us: MnSEM is start-up professional organization for search engine marketers in Minnesota, aligning industry professionals to promote collaboration and knowledge sharing across search disciplines. Organizers of MnSEM, include; Lisa Raehsler, SEM strategy consultant, with over 12 years of experience in online marketing specializing in pay-per-click (PPC); James Svoboda, Partner and Director of Search at the Best Search Engine Marketing Agency in Portland Oregon with a 11-year background in search engine marketing consulting; and Clint Danks, Owner of ThinkSEM Consulting, LLC, who offers PPC, landing page development, and web analytics. In all, these industry leaders bring a combined 30 years of search engine marketing experience to MnSEM.

Google Instant Preview Says Design for Function

When Google Instant rolled out way back when – let's be honest, anything older than "a few days" in the online world is filed in the "ago" – the entire SEO world was up in arms. Blog posts, articles and tweets of "SEO is DEAD!" abounded. Again. Every time Google does anything it's declared as a spear through the heart of search optimization. No worries. Google Instant did NOT kill SEO. Truly.

But now a new function is about to roll out within Google Instant: The Preview. Soon, not only will Google fill in the SERP while a user types; once the query is chosen the user will gain even more insight into the results. By clicking on the magnifying glass to the right of the <title> tag, every user will be able to discern just what type of web page they'd be visiting by seeing an Instant Preview:

Pretty cool, huh? It even pulls out snippets of text on the page (seems to pull data from the meta description).

So, other than the coolness of this new, soon-to-be function, what effect – if any – could or should this have on websites? On SEO? Design?

Well, therein lies the rub. Depending on how you wish your site to appear at a glance to a potential visitor, you might want to re-think how you've built your site. Do flash aspects make a site look cool once the visitor's on the page? Sure. Will it show up in The Instant Preview? Nope. Take a look at our own site's preview:

While still a good snapshot – along with some text information pulled out in orange – you can see our cool flash portion doesn't translate. Not a big deal, but certainly something to think about.

For those sites still built entirely in flash (ahem, ad agencies, you know who you are), well, they'll definitely be at a distinct disadvantage:

A slightly-less-than-desirable user experience.

And, it seems if web designers want to use a flash fade-in that also affects The Instant Preview:

Should every web master design to avoid a "bad" Instant Preview? Surely not. After all, we're not sheeple.

BUT, if you want your website's first impression to be a fully-functioning, easy-to-see experience...then yes. Also, from Google's testing, they're predicting that users who take advantage of this functionality will be 5% more likely to be satisfied with their choice. But don't take my word for it. Read more about Instant Preview, try it out, and see for yourself.

Google Instant Did Not Kill SEO

In light of the new Google Instant search function and a lot of people's unnecessary knee-jerk reactions, we here at ThinkSEM thought we'd alleviate your anxiety about search engine optimization moving forward.
First and foremost, SEO is NOT dead – as some purport it to be with this new change, very similar in function to Google Suggest – in fact, to quote Matt Cutts,

"SEO is in many ways about change. The best SEOs recognize, adapt, and even flourish when changes happen." 

Just because Google has changed – again, we might add – the way SERPs are served doesn't mean website optimization is irrelevant.

How else is Google going to determine which results to show in the Instant searches? The same way they have for the past who-knows-how-long: by using their algorithms to determine relevancy between keyword queries and online documents.

The same thing happened when Google offered up their Suggest feature. This is merely suggestions without having to click any more than we have to!

Now, what will most likely change is the way search engine users actually search. Even with a specific question to be answered or need to be filled, searchers had to type in a full keyword/phrase and decide which of the results on the SERP they wanted to read. Then, they'd possibly refine their searches further, sometimes branching off into tangents until they saturated themselves with information. This is not to say Google (or any search engine, for that matter) doesn't return relevant results; rather, how many times have you started searching for one thing and ended up reading about something slightly different but it was what you needed?

Well, the same theory still applies, except now they just don't have to type as much before finding all the information they want, because it's offered up immediately for consideration. And, for those of you who don't think this is the type of search for you, you can always opt out of it. Google gives you that option right away.

So, rest easy, website owners. It's not a question of whether or not search optimization is dead; it's a question of will you recognize a great leap forward in search?

Actually, it might not even be that big of a jump forward...Google might've gone a little retro with this new feature. It seems in 2005 Yahoo! implemented a similar Instant Search function but didn't put it on yahoo.com and it evidently never flourished. Also, in 2006 AlltheWeb had Livesearch – which evidently was extremely like Google Instant – but that didn't take, either. Of course, we think that was most likely due to the fact these search functions weren't front-and-center, like Google's is.

Long story short – SEO isn't going anywhere, but search definitely is.

Adwords Game Has Changed

Pay-per-click continues to change – maybe not drastically, but Google especially is always on the lookout for any advances and improvements to this multi-billion dollar enterprise. Well, a global Adwords change is in effect (after a beta test in the UK and Canada), and it's a biggie: broad match modifier.

What is Broad Match Modifier?
According to Google's Agency Ad Solutions Blog,

"The broad match modifier lets you create keywords which have greater reach than phrase match and more controlled than broad match. To implement, put a plus symbol (+) directly in front of one or more words (no spaces between + symbol and word). Each word preceded by a + must appear in the search exactly or as a close variant."


To recap the different match types and define the newest member:

1. Broad match = ads show for matches on any variation of a keyword, plus similar keywords. E.g., the keyword western saddle could receive matches for western saddle pads, horse tack, roping saddle, western stirrups, etc.
2. Phrase match = ads show for matches on keyword phrases which match/contain phrase. E.g., "western saddle" could receive matches for western saddle pads, western saddle tack shops, fitting a western saddle, etc.
3. Exact match = ads show for matches on exact keyword/phrase only. E.g., [western saddle] would match only western saddle.
4. Negative match = ads do not show for any matches on keyword. E.g., –western saddle.
5. Broad match modifier = ads show for matches on exact or "close variants" (misspellings, plural/singular, acronyms, etc.) . E.g., western +saddle could receive matches for english saddle, roping saddle, barrel saddle, etc. +western +saddle could receive matches for wstern saddle, custom western saddles, etc.

With the new broad match modification option, Google's now allowing PPC marketers to refine their broad match keywords without having to add a myriad of negative keywords. For those whose pay-per-click marketing campaigns rely heavily on broad and phrase match keywords, this new modification match type can eliminate a lot of work.

It's important to note that while the broad match modifier option can show ads for close variants, that doesn't include synonyms or related searches. Also, if you're about to switch all your PPC broad match keywords to use the new modifier, be prepared for a negative shift in click volume.

Why Is Google Pushing Brands?

Last year, Google rolled out a big change – named the Vince Update – in the way their algorithm ranked brand-name sites. Sorry, in the way they "trusted" brand-name sites. While this of course had little to no effect on me personally (I don't own a brand-name website nor do I think I have to click on one when it's presented in a SERP) it did create quite a stir in the online community, and had many asking, "Why is Google all of a sudden focusing on big names?"

Well, the plot...she thickens, my friend. It seems Google's now shoe-horning other additions into their SERPs – still focused on driving eyeballs to brand-name sites.

 To explain the first SERP change, I have to back up a bit and talk about Chrome – for those of you living under a rock, that's Google's browser – and one of its functions. While Chrome doesn't tell you PageRank (which seems odd, since that's pretty much Google's "cool-o-meter" for web pages), it does some pretty cool things, such as allows you to personalize your browser look and feel (mine's of course leopard print). Anyway. Other than aesthetics, Chrome also offers a Similar Pages button (in beta) to viewers; if you like the web page you're looking at and would like to quickly view, you got it, similar pages, you just click that button and voilà.

It seems Google wants to bring this function into their SERPs, as well. For name-brand searches they're offering up a "Pages Similar To" section:

 These results do occur at the bottom of the SERP, but exist nonetheless. And, how does Google choose WHICH brands get represented here? Probably based on the 'trust' they perceive coming from Vince.

According to yesterday's post at Search Engine Land, Google's other addition is a test: pushing brands at the top of the SERP for product searches. However, in performing multiple searches this morning to determine the reach, it seems they've rolled this one out on a vast – if not complete – scale:

I can see where Google would test with extremely high-profile searches such as "point and shoot cameras," "HD TVs," even "laptop bags." However, I find it hard to believe they're merely testing with searches such as "dog leashes," since I myself am a dog owner and I didn't even know about the majority of those brand names. The point? I don't think Google's simply testing this anymore. It would seem to be standard procedure now...and not only is it (more than likely) here to stay; this brand-name pushing is taking up valuable real estate on the SERPs, pushing organic results even farther down.

The big question here is, why is Google pushing name brands at us?

Remarketing on the Google Content Network

It would seem Google has been dabbling in remarketing for a while. We first noticed it in the SERPs a few years ago. Historically, session-based broad match has been active within the search side of PPC; rumors run rampant that a new version of remarketing, on the content network, is in BETA and will be available to Adwords advertisers who qualify.

What is Remarketing?

Remarketing (online) is serving ads to users who've seen some aspect of your site, but didn't take a desired action. For an example, let's say a visitor is browsing your site and ends up on a key page. From this page, said visitor could convert, but instead backs out.

Then this visitor heads to another site – a site on the content network. There s/he is then served up with an ad hauntingly reminiscent of the hotel site recently visited.

Why Remarket?

What's the point of remarketing to someone who's left your site, anyway? Well, for starters, if a visitor has already been to your site – i.e., shown an interest in what you're offering – they're a pre-qualified lead. Just because they didn't take 'action' the first time doesn't mean they won't if given the opportunity again. It's much easier to 'close' an interested party than a new visitor.

As with anything in BETA, only time will tell how it'll impact advertisers – or users, for that matter – but we're pretty optimistic about Google's venture into content network remarketing.