Comments on: The Honeymoon Is Over – My Infatuation with Google is Waning http://www.ppchero.com/the-honeymoon-is-over-my-infatuation-with-google-is-waning/ Heroic Feats of Pay Per Click Management Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:50:58 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: You’ve got to be ’social’ to build a strong business , 77Lab http://www.ppchero.com/the-honeymoon-is-over-my-infatuation-with-google-is-waning/comment-page-1/#comment-18181 You’ve got to be ’social’ to build a strong business , 77Lab Tue, 26 Aug 2008 01:25:41 +0000 http://www.ppchero.com/2008/06/10/the-honeymoon-is-over-%e2%80%93-my-infatuation-with-google-is-waning/#comment-18181 [...] give us an advice that we must not forget: after going through some issue on his AdWords campaigns, John was poorly assisted by Google’s “customer care desk”. We all know that Google still has the best SEM platform (maybe because it is actually the best one [...] [...] give us an advice that we must not forget: after going through some issue on his AdWords campaigns, John was poorly assisted by Google’s “customer care desk”. We all know that Google still has the best SEM platform (maybe because it is actually the best one [...]

]]> By: John http://www.ppchero.com/the-honeymoon-is-over-my-infatuation-with-google-is-waning/comment-page-1/#comment-14764 John Wed, 25 Jun 2008 16:07:01 +0000 http://www.ppchero.com/2008/06/10/the-honeymoon-is-over-%e2%80%93-my-infatuation-with-google-is-waning/#comment-14764 @ Gavin, I hear it or read it every day... there's lots of folks who are scared of the massive amounts of data that Google has acquired. While I don't trust Google implicitly, I'm not yet to the point of abandoning ship... But diversification is always a plus, and as you mentioned, there are plenty of other search engines that can generate quality traffic and conversions. @ Gavin,

I hear it or read it every day… there’s lots of folks who are scared of the massive amounts of data that Google has acquired. While I don’t trust Google implicitly, I’m not yet to the point of abandoning ship…

But diversification is always a plus, and as you mentioned, there are plenty of other search engines that can generate quality traffic and conversions.

]]> By: Gavin Doolan http://www.ppchero.com/the-honeymoon-is-over-my-infatuation-with-google-is-waning/comment-page-1/#comment-14691 Gavin Doolan Tue, 24 Jun 2008 09:39:03 +0000 http://www.ppchero.com/2008/06/10/the-honeymoon-is-over-%e2%80%93-my-infatuation-with-google-is-waning/#comment-14691 Interesting article. I too love the big G but to be honest I'm kind of scared as to what the big G knows about us and our businesses. Their mantra of do no evil is a great mantra, but who knows what goes on behind the curtains? Although your article wasn't so much to do with this, I must say it has been this factor that has caused me to be cautious about devoting all my time and energy to the one company and one set of products. Certainly there is value in other search engines and traffic generated from those sources. In fact I see it all the time, conversion through organic / ppc on Yahoo!. My experience with Yahoo! account managers has been good, when I was working in Australia I had an excellent account manager who was very helpful. I do find the Yahoo! editorial process a bit of a pita, but the "panama" release has been a godsend compared with the old "overture" system. Interesting article. I too love the big G but to be honest I’m kind of scared as to what the big G knows about us and our businesses. Their mantra of do no evil is a great mantra, but who knows what goes on behind the curtains? Although your article wasn’t so much to do with this, I must say it has been this factor that has caused me to be cautious about devoting all my time and energy to the one company and one set of products.

Certainly there is value in other search engines and traffic generated from those sources. In fact I see it all the time, conversion through organic / ppc on Yahoo!. My experience with Yahoo! account managers has been good, when I was working in Australia I had an excellent account manager who was very helpful.

I do find the Yahoo! editorial process a bit of a pita, but the “panama” release has been a godsend compared with the old “overture” system.

]]> By: John http://www.ppchero.com/the-honeymoon-is-over-my-infatuation-with-google-is-waning/comment-page-1/#comment-14230 John Thu, 12 Jun 2008 13:41:21 +0000 http://www.ppchero.com/2008/06/10/the-honeymoon-is-over-%e2%80%93-my-infatuation-with-google-is-waning/#comment-14230 @ Daniel, Thanks for commenting and for the kind words. Here lately, "take the good with the bad" has become a common theme. It just shows how much harder all of us search marketers have to work to provide great results for our clients (or for ourselves)! @ Daniel,

Thanks for commenting and for the kind words. Here lately, “take the good with the bad” has become a common theme. It just shows how much harder all of us search marketers have to work to provide great results for our clients (or for ourselves)!

]]> By: Daniel Kagan http://www.ppchero.com/the-honeymoon-is-over-my-infatuation-with-google-is-waning/comment-page-1/#comment-14204 Daniel Kagan Wed, 11 Jun 2008 22:23:31 +0000 http://www.ppchero.com/2008/06/10/the-honeymoon-is-over-%e2%80%93-my-infatuation-with-google-is-waning/#comment-14204 Yes John, I agree. I had the exact problem and spoke to a rep in Australia and they gave me no loving!. The lack of customer service drive can be a little frustrating. However, my clients never complain about the ROI - so i guess you take the good with the bad. Really enjoying the blog mate! Keep it up. Daniel Yes John, I agree. I had the exact problem and spoke to a rep in Australia and they gave me no loving!. The lack of customer service drive can be a little frustrating.

However, my clients never complain about the ROI – so i guess you take the good with the bad.

Really enjoying the blog mate!

Keep it up.

Daniel

]]> By: John http://www.ppchero.com/the-honeymoon-is-over-my-infatuation-with-google-is-waning/comment-page-1/#comment-14184 John Wed, 11 Jun 2008 13:24:34 +0000 http://www.ppchero.com/2008/06/10/the-honeymoon-is-over-%e2%80%93-my-infatuation-with-google-is-waning/#comment-14184 @ Mark, Thanks for the comment! It would seem that me and the PPC Hero team are certainly not the only ones that have thought long and hard about this. : ) I would agree that my dedicated service reps genuinely want to help, and often provide solid responses to my requests. But they more than occasionally seem clueless, if not powerless. Very disconcerting. I'd like to think that Google is smart enough to realize that customer service is really a cornerstone of their business. @ ATalerico, Thanks for stopping by! We constantly struggle (as most search marketers do) to find the best ROI. That typically translates into shifting funds back and forth between the major PPC search engines. While I haven't had any recent surges in Yahoo conversion rates, I wouldn't be surprised to hear that someone else had! As for the URL policy, I'm sorry to hear that you've had such a big problem. I know how frustrating it is to read one thing and be told another (by the same company, no less). Have you tried contacting multiple Google personnel? When we don't get the answer we need, we just start calling other customer service reps until we're satisfied. This same policy applies to Yahoo's often misguided service reps (though my dedicated rep is excellent). @ Mark,

Thanks for the comment! It would seem that me and the PPC Hero team are certainly not the only ones that have thought long and hard about this. : ) I would agree that my dedicated service reps genuinely want to help, and often provide solid responses to my requests. But they more than occasionally seem clueless, if not powerless. Very disconcerting. I’d like to think that Google is smart enough to realize that customer service is really a cornerstone of their business.

@ ATalerico,

Thanks for stopping by! We constantly struggle (as most search marketers do) to find the best ROI. That typically translates into shifting funds back and forth between the major PPC search engines. While I haven’t had any recent surges in Yahoo conversion rates, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that someone else had! As for the URL policy, I’m sorry to hear that you’ve had such a big problem. I know how frustrating it is to read one thing and be told another (by the same company, no less). Have you tried contacting multiple Google personnel? When we don’t get the answer we need, we just start calling other customer service reps until we’re satisfied. This same policy applies to Yahoo’s often misguided service reps (though my dedicated rep is excellent).

]]> By: ATalerico http://www.ppchero.com/the-honeymoon-is-over-my-infatuation-with-google-is-waning/comment-page-1/#comment-14160 ATalerico Wed, 11 Jun 2008 02:10:52 +0000 http://www.ppchero.com/2008/06/10/the-honeymoon-is-over-%e2%80%93-my-infatuation-with-google-is-waning/#comment-14160 What a timely post. Today two things happened: 1. In a stats review meeting with a large, household-name client we discovered that their Yahoo traffic is converting significantly higher than their Google traffic. What are they going to do about it? Reduce their Google spend and put a lot more $ in Yahoo. 2. A different client launched some new landing pages for a Google campaign. The domain and display URL are the same, but the landing pages live at a subdomain of the main domain. Google's own rules for landing page URLs say this is fine. But Google won't take the ads live because the pages live at a subdomain. What they say on the phone, and what their published rules say are contradictory, and they don't seem to care at all. Working with Google can make you feel entirely powerless—they hold all the cards. What a timely post. Today two things happened:
1. In a stats review meeting with a large, household-name client we discovered that their Yahoo traffic is converting significantly higher than their Google traffic. What are they going to do about it? Reduce their Google spend and put a lot more $ in Yahoo.
2. A different client launched some new landing pages for a Google campaign. The domain and display URL are the same, but the landing pages live at a subdomain of the main domain. Google’s own rules for landing page URLs say this is fine. But Google won’t take the ads live because the pages live at a subdomain. What they say on the phone, and what their published rules say are contradictory, and they don’t seem to care at all. Working with Google can make you feel entirely powerless—they hold all the cards.

]]> By: Greg http://www.ppchero.com/the-honeymoon-is-over-my-infatuation-with-google-is-waning/comment-page-1/#comment-14159 Greg Wed, 11 Jun 2008 00:46:46 +0000 http://www.ppchero.com/2008/06/10/the-honeymoon-is-over-%e2%80%93-my-infatuation-with-google-is-waning/#comment-14159 I experienced the same disapproved ads several days ago, and the reason was an invalid destination URL. But the URL's were fine. I sent an email to Google and the ads came back. I experienced the same disapproved ads several days ago, and the reason was an invalid destination URL. But the URL’s were fine. I sent an email to Google and the ads came back.

]]> By: Mark Pilipczuk http://www.ppchero.com/the-honeymoon-is-over-my-infatuation-with-google-is-waning/comment-page-1/#comment-14154 Mark Pilipczuk Tue, 10 Jun 2008 21:56:55 +0000 http://www.ppchero.com/2008/06/10/the-honeymoon-is-over-%e2%80%93-my-infatuation-with-google-is-waning/#comment-14154 "...signs that the GOOG is working hard for my business." What you're seeing is the fact that Google actually *doesn't* have to work hard for your business. With such a massive share of search on the consumer side of the equation, what are your (as a PPC pro) alternatives? You can't say "No" to running Google campaigns for your clients, as they'd go elsewhere if you tried. Google knows this and staffs their customer service teams appropriately. My guess, based on my background with a really big company, is that their service folks don't have the tools and resources they need, and would want, to help you out. Unfortunately, my prediction is that it will get worse until it gets better. And it only gets better once something else comes along to start share-shifting ad dollars to something else. What that something else is, I wish I knew and could invest in it now! Until then, the onus will fall on the search pro world to put into place procedures to ensure that nothing goes wrong on Google's end. Once something else comes along, GOOG will start investing in the backend tools they need to keep the dollars on their platform. I hope that's sooner rather than later. “…signs that the GOOG is working hard for my business.”

What you’re seeing is the fact that Google actually *doesn’t* have to work hard for your business. With such a massive share of search on the consumer side of the equation, what are your (as a PPC pro) alternatives? You can’t say “No” to running Google campaigns for your clients, as they’d go elsewhere if you tried.

Google knows this and staffs their customer service teams appropriately.

My guess, based on my background with a really big company, is that their service folks don’t have the tools and resources they need, and would want, to help you out.

Unfortunately, my prediction is that it will get worse until it gets better. And it only gets better once something else comes along to start share-shifting ad dollars to something else. What that something else is, I wish I knew and could invest in it now!

Until then, the onus will fall on the search pro world to put into place procedures to ensure that nothing goes wrong on Google’s end. Once something else comes along, GOOG will start investing in the backend tools they need to keep the dollars on their platform. I hope that’s sooner rather than later.

]]> By: John http://www.ppchero.com/the-honeymoon-is-over-my-infatuation-with-google-is-waning/comment-page-1/#comment-14142 John Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:38:42 +0000 http://www.ppchero.com/2008/06/10/the-honeymoon-is-over-%e2%80%93-my-infatuation-with-google-is-waning/#comment-14142 @ Josh, No, the website is just a plain ole http. What really kills me is that there was absolutely no change on the website (or in my account) from when the ads were disabled on Friday to when my Google rep. resubmitted the ads for approval. Something in their system killed my ads, some sort of error... but I received no explanation. Just confirmation that my ads were live again. Thanks for commenting! @ Josh,

No, the website is just a plain ole http. What really kills me is that there was absolutely no change on the website (or in my account) from when the ads were disabled on Friday to when my Google rep. resubmitted the ads for approval. Something in their system killed my ads, some sort of error… but I received no explanation. Just confirmation that my ads were live again.

Thanks for commenting!

]]>