Au Revoir, Adios, Aloha Goodbye! The PPC News Roundups have been part of our family of posts for four years, but, at last, we must say goodbye. In an industry where things are constantly changing and evolving, we know we must do the same. It is hard to say goodbye, but we’ve developed an even better system of keeping you, our faithful readers, informed about the SEM industry’s latest news. We’ll be tweeting regularly at our Twitter account, @PPCHero, to give you up-to-date SEM news in more real-time fashion. If you’d like to hold on to our news updates, just start following us on Twitter! …So I guess it’s not goodbye, just see you later!

How many paid advertisements have you seen that don’t truly give you an accurate picture of what is being offered, or worse – the landing page doesn’t match up with what the ad promises?  Paid ads are a great way to build an online presence, generate traffic to a site, and make more sales.  If you’re not implementing a well-thought-out strategy, or making a great first impression with copy, then you won’t see the most bang for your buck.  Check out Cameron Jonsson’s article on Search Engine Land for suggestions.

Goodbye cookie, hello…fingerprinting?  According to Jack Marshall of ClickZ, new startups software companies are beginning to launch a way of tracking users by relying on device “fingerprints.” Instead of relying on temporary code, this method would log a device’s information, ranging from what operating system it uses to its search history.  That way when its owner uses it to go online, the device will carry a more permanent record of the user’s demographics and search history, which would allow for an ever-evolving but stable profile to be used by online trackers.  While this technology brings up many concerns about privacy, effectiveness, and plausibility, it is an interesting alternative to those time-trusted cookies.

It’s no news to us that Google is constantly rolling out new tools and features. In fact, we have recently welcomed yet another change. Up until now, AdWords users have only been able to optimize for clicks or distribute them more evenly. But last week, Google announced the addition of a conversion optimization option for your ad rotation. Perhaps you are wondering how this happens? I’m glad you asked. The secret lies with the conversion tracking tool in analytics. Now you have even more options to get the best out of your paid search efforts. Check out Rob Young’s post on Search Engine Journal for the full report.