google adwords - Adam Yamada

If you like to use Google's well known Google Keyword Tool, then it is probably no surprise to you that Google has planned to shutdown the Google Adword Keyword Tool and Traffic Estimator for awhile now to replace it with the new Google Keyword Planner. I noticed that just in the last week the Keyword Tool URL now redirects to the new and, what Google claims, improved Google Keyword Planner.

In a post on Inside Adwords, the official Google Adwords blog, on May 20th 2013 this is why Google says it has switched from the Google Keyword Tool to the Google Keyword Planner.

We’re constantly working to simplify the process of building campaigns, and today we’re happy to announce the launch of a new tool, Keyword Planner, which combines the functionality of the Keyword Tool and Traffic Estimator into a smooth, integrated workflow. You can use Keyword Planner to find new keyword and ad group ideas, get performance estimates for them to find the bid and budget that are right for you, and then add them to your campaigns. You’ll also see some new features in the tool – some of which we’ll highlight below.

To put this into terms people can understand this basically means Google built the Keyword Planner to try to make it easier and simpler for advertisers to figure out which search phrases they want to bid on. Google obviously wants to give as much data and tools as possible since the more advertising on Google Adwords, the more money they will make. The Keyword Planner includes several new features compared to the Google Keyword Tool. This includes;

Multiply keywords in 2 different lists to generate new keywords you mightnot have thought of.
You can geotarget not juts countries, but specific cities and regions.
A graph showing the search volumes for selected keywords or phrases by month by month. This allows you to see when certain terms have a higher volume of searches.

The Google Keyword Tool and Google Traffic Estimator are not exactly retired as they were merged into the Google Keyword Planner. You can do everything you used to do but supposedly even better with the Keyword Planner.

Since I try to make the most of my articles (of course you can't always do that) SEO friendly and keyword optimized I used to use the Google Keyword Tool all the time. Even external SEO programs, like Long Tail Pro, pulled most of their data from the Google Keyword Tool too. While I appreciate it when companies update their tools and services when they are free, I am having a bit of trouble getting used to the Keyword Planner. Since the Keyword Tool has been around for so long I know my way around it easily. The Google Keyword Planner is taking some getting used too. I like the new features but find some of the new layout and tools confusing.

If you are a SEO (search engine optimizer), SEM (search engine marketer), advertiser, or do a lot of keyword research what do you think of Google changing over from the Keyword Tool to the Keyword Planner? Do you like the new tool or wish Google kept the Keyword Tool and just added the new features?

Google Adsense, Google's ad network, turned 10 years old this month. It's hard to believe Google Adsense was launched 10 years ago as this helped Google's popular search engine turn a profit. Well this didn't just make Google profitable but one of the most successful companies in the history of the world.

To celebrate this important milestone for Google and the Google Adsense program, what did Google decided to do? Release a short video detailing the history of the Adsense on Youtube obviously. Check it out.

Here is the timeline of the Adsense program from the video. I've changed some of the milestones wording in the video slightly.

June 2004 – Introduces display ads (with pictures)
June 2005 – Placement targeting helps publishers and websites owners earn from ads that reach a specific audience
September 2005 – Adsense teams up with Blogger to help bloggers earn from their content.
November 2008 – Adsense welcomes its 1 millionth publisher
May 2007 – Site's videos, on YouTube, can incorporate Adsense for additional revenue.
September 2007 – A new revenue stream for publishers, ads on mobile content.
October 2008 – Adsense can now help you earn from games. (I didn't even know that.)
March 2009 – Connect with more advertisers through expandable formats and internet based ads. (Don't know what that means.)
November 2009 – Adsense gets a major makeover, offering new features to help publishers do more with their ads.
October 2010 – More display ads are now shown on AdSense than text ads.
January 2011 – Over 1 billion daily transactions between AdSense publishers and advertisers occur on mobile phones.
October 2011 – More transactions are made through AdSense, than all of the world's major stock exchanges.
January 2012 – Publisher toolbar offers greater efficiency and new controls.
May 2013 – 65% of the Top 200 ad supported sites in comScore use AdSense.

Advertising and specifically the Adsense program still accounts for about 90%+ of Google's income. Well technically all that revenue comes from Google AdWords, the counterpart for advertiser's to AdSense. (If you are a business looking to advertise across the AdSense network you would use AdWords to bid on keywords or display your graphic advertisements.)

Even though Google Adsense often unfairly shutdowns people's Adsense accounts wihtout explanation, like mine, there has been no Advertiser network that is so popular and has generated so much money in the last 10 years. If you want contextual based advertising nobody else is going to beat AdSense. (Contextual advertising means that you will only see ads that is relevant to your site visitors.)

Google Adsense now includes over 2 million publishers and sends out over 100,000 checks to people every month. That's a lot of checks and a whole lot of money.

Interestingly WordPress celebrated it's 10th Anniversary recently as well. Many people couldn't monetize their WordPress blogs without Adsense. For most web entities 10 years is like forever by the way.

What is in store for Google Adsense in the future? I assume they will be focusing on more mobile, video, and even app advertising. Whatever Google will do I am fairly sure Adsense will be around for another 10 years though.

Tag: google adwords

Google Keyword Tool now the Google Keyword Planner