News has surfaced that Google filed a US patent nearly 7 years ago for “determining and/or using location information in an ad system.”

Venturebeat discovered the patent as it was finally granted last week. Here is an extract from the patent:

“The usefulness, and consequently the performance, of advertisements are improved by allowing businesses to better target their ads to a responsive audience. Location information is determined (or simply accepted) and used. For example, location information may be used in a relevancy determination of an ad. As another example, location information may be used in an attribute (e.g., position) arbitration. Such location information may be associated with price information, such as a maximum price bid. Such location information may be associated with ad performance information. Ad performance information may be tracked on the basis of location information. The content of an ad creative, and/or of a landing page may be selected and/or modified using location information. Finally, tools, such as user interfaces, may be provided to allow a business to enter and/or modify location information, such as location information used for targeting and location-dependent price information. The location information used to target and/or score ads may be, include, or define an area. The area may be defined by at least one geographic reference point (e.g., defined by latitude and longitude coordinates) and perhaps additional information. Thus, the area may be a circle defined by a geographic reference point and a radius, an ellipse defined by two geographic reference points and a distance sum, or a polygon defined by three or more geographic reference points, for example.”

This news is sure to sound alarm bells for companies like Yelp and Foursquare whose very existence is based around location- based advertising. However, Venturebeat’s Kim-Mai Cutler points out that these companies shouldn’t be too alarmed.

“It’s standard for large companies to file patents on technology they have developed as a defensive practice, rather than as a tool for pressuring other companies to desist or pay license fees.”

When you combine this patent with Google’s recent agreement to acquire mobile ad network Admob, it would appear that this is another area of search that Google could soon have a firm strangle-hold on.

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Understanding the needs of their “customers’ customer” is essential for PR agencies and communications professionals to remain relevant and productive. “Push PR” is increasingly being complemented by “Pull” tactics – optimization for discovery. Being able to provide value is essential and here are 3 ways a better understanding of SEO can do just that.

1. Fish where the fish are.

There were over 14 billion core searches in Dec (comSore) vs 285 million who watch TV in a given month (Nielsen). Consumers rely on search daily to find news and information. PR and communications types need to understand the consumer search behaviors and preferences (keywords) of their clients as well as the publications they want their clients to be covered by.

2. Journalists rely on search.

According to TopRank’s “Journalist Use of Search survey”, 91% of journalists, editors and reporters surveyed use standard search engines such as Google, Yahoo or Bing to do their job. That preference was mirrored by findings in a recently published “Social Media & Online Usage Study” (pdf) by George washington University and Cision where 100% of those surveyed use Google to research stories.

3. Optimization is about more than SEO.

Search engine optimization, digital asset optimization, social media optimization and even micromedia optimization (ie real time SEO) are buzzwords all representing opportunities for Media Relations and communications professionals to influence discovery by making it easier for various types of search engines to find, index and rank their content.

It’s imporant that communications people understand the different search options consumers and the media are using to distribute and consume news. If content can be searched on, it can be optimized. That includes everything from press releases to video to Tweets.

Search Engine Optimization or “SEO” as an umbrella term is typically concerned with any kind of work that influences any kind of search engine to do what it does best and hopefully in favor of the content being promoted. Most people mean optimizing content for better visibility in Google, Yahoo or Bing when they employ SEO tactics.

It’s important to note that many publishers are already using SEO tactics to make their news stories better suited for discovery and ranking on search engines. These efforts have resulted in substantial increases in traffic to online news sites, improving the attractiveness of advertising.

Digital Asset Optimization or “DAO” is a term TopRank has used and promoted since 2007 that makes reference to the different types of media search engines like Google have started to display (aka Blended or Universal search results) depending on the query. Search results are no longer limited to web pages and can include images, video thumbnails, news, blogs, books and local information. Optimizing for these different types of media involves understanding what digital assets can be created, keyword optimized and published online for search.

Social Media Optimization or “SMO” is a term initially made popular by Rohit Bhargava and added on to by several others in the SEO world including TopRank. While many social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn keep the bulk of their content behind a login and away from search engine spiders, many social interactions produce content that can be indexed and included in search results. Journalists and consumers increasingly participate with social channels to watch, share, contribute and curate information. If PR and communications can understand how to influence keyword use of social content then their news will be easier for analysts, reporters and journalists to find.

Here’s a story related to me by an editor in the TopRank Journalist use of search survey that illustrates the intersection of search and social media:

“I was writing a column about the planned partnership between Google and Yahoo.”

“I tracked down potential sources first using Google and LinkedIn, and came across a white paper prepared by a senior fellow at the American Antitrust Institute.”

“While I could not easily find an e-mail address, I went to Facebook where I located him, then sent a message. He replied and we followed up with a phone interview.”

Micromedia Optimization is a new term that basically means real time optimization of status updates and content sources that are indexed and included as real time content by search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing. The same micromedia content can be shared and discovered on platform specific search engines such as search.twitter.com and across social networks that provide the opportunity to syndicate such content. Google Buzz, Facebook status updates and LinkedIn updates are also included in this category.

The takeaway that I think is most important for communications professionals is to understand the nature of search and how to match up optimization tactics with channels of disccovery. Using keyword research for both standard search and social search optimization of news content along with ongoing web analytics and social media monitoring are key.

I’ll be discussing these strategies, tactics and a lot more at SMC Louisville tonight 6:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. ET on at the Louisville Visual Art Association. I hope folks can brave the snow (safely) and make it out. You won’t be disappointed!

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Those familiar with Natural Search Blog may remember some of my similar past work here outlining laser graffiti ads on buildings, roofvertising, marriage proposals in Google Maps, “earth art” geoglyph ads, and sponsoring town names as an Ultimate Local SEO tactic.

It’s not surprising to see guerilla marketing tactics finding their way into Google Maps. Not only does Google itself seek to introduce disruptive technology innovations, but I expect that as Satellite and Aerial photos may get more frequently updated in such interfaces we’ll be bound to see a whole lot more efforts from people trying to get messages conveyed through the Maps interfaces.

The real question I’m left with, is if Google resells ad space on pictures of people’s rooftops and billboards, would they owe anything back to the original property owners?!?

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How is that you say? How is it possible to make less on my advertising spend when I am advertising directly to the group that most needs or wants my products? Well, it’s simple supply and demand. While you are targeting a much more defined market you are not going to be alone in that quest to advertiser to just the people that will buy. Remember those pesky competitors? They want those people too because their claim is that they are better than you. Now you are going to find a price war that drives up costs for advertising and makes customer acquisition costs rise which in turn hurt the bottom line. So maybe there is too much of a good thing after all.

MediaPost tells about a study performed by the MIT School of Management that has looked at this in detail

Professor Alessandro Bonatti, working with Yale University economics professor Dirk Bergemann on this research, says “… newspapers have a very limited ability to target audiences… specialized magazines can do better… Google has a very good ability to target who’s browsing each page… (though) online advertising has the potential to drive out traditional advertising, it does not necessarily follow that online advertisers will make more money… ”

Bonatti continues, “…as technology keeps improving, more and more web sites can sell very narrow products to very specialized audiences… with lots of people targeting the same audience the profits to be made through specialized advertising become more and more spread out… instead of competing for one large pool… you will have price war in each targeted segment as the slice gets more and more narrow.”

Bonatti concludes that, “… the better the technology, the lower the profits for advertisers… “

Not the news that advertisers want to hear but it sure is music to the ears of the niche ad networks that attract these more narrowly defined groups. Advertising price war? We’re in! Woo-hoo!

Different verticals are responding more rapidly and it also is dependent on just how far CPM’s fell during this downturn / recession / economic morass. Real estate is seeing an increase in CPM’s jumping 17% from Q2 to Q3 of last year while foodies are driving that category up almost 91% in the same period.

Here is a chart from Adify Vertical Gauge for you to gloss over and wonder what it really means.

So be careful what you wish for advertisers. Sure it’s great to advertise as close to the buyer as you can but you’re not the only one with that strategy. Let’s hope you are the one with the deeper pockets at least.

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With this search report you can see what visitors are searching that triggers your ad. Knowing this can help you make some changes in your ad or the landing page that visitors are viewing.  The position of the ad are shown with the click through rate percentage. The high percentage reading indicates the ad is a hit.

To view your search report for your Google Adwords, go to reporting and scroll down to reports.  This will take you to the report center, you want to create similar for the report.  Give the report a name like “restaurant consultants” and be sure to click on search query performance.

Once the search report is created, the idea is to pay attention to the keywords and the CTR.  Which means the click through rate, when visitor clicks on the ad because they were compelled to.  The higher the percentage the better.

Any questions about this invaluable source of info on your traffic, please give us a holler!

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Ad.ly has partnered with PeopleBrowsr to analyze participating publishers’ followers, as well as how they receive ads.

The analytics offer information on user engagement, male and female segmentation, location, and sentiment analysis. Ad.ly founder Sean Rad said the analytics, “provide Twitter users the data they need to become more prolific content creators.”

As with all user-based social media advertising, there have been a number of ethical and practical questions floating around Ad.ly. Would a service like this increase the noise in the stream? Would it turn off or even drive away followers? Now users are better equipped to understand how their followers interact with their sponsored tweets.

What do you think? Would you use Ad.ly? What kind of analytic data would you need to help you evaluate the service?

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This is the dawn of social media as a true business outlet and there’s never been a better time to get in on the inside.

Look online at tools and applications like Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Flickr and more and you’ll see both major and minor brands with a presence. With the amount of businesses taking a more active role in social media, it’s a fairly good guess that some of them will be your competitors.

So how do you keep up and make sure you’re not the one left in the social media wastepaper bin? How about getting to the HEART of social media?

Hear what’s being said

There’s a lot of conversations taking place that you won’t even be aware of until it’s potentially too late. Perhaps it’s the amount of conversations taking place that’s kept you away from social media in the first place – too much to take in with too little time. But is it really too much to take in if you filter out the conversations that affect you? And that small amount of time now could mean the extension of successful time for your business. Hear what’s being said and react accordingly – the benefits will be worth it.

Engage the conversation

Once you’ve filtered the conversation to look after your brand, it’s easier to then engage the conversationalists. Listen to what’s being said and involve yourself – whether it’s in support of a positive comment or in defense of a negative one. Show empathy over exclamation – get to understand what the problem is and work with the audience to resolve. A negative experience turned into a positive one is worth more than any PR or advertising blitz.

Acclimatize to your new surroundings

The single biggest “mistake” that most businesses make when taking their first steps into social media is rushing in headfirst and using old business methods to try and establish themselves. This might work in certain settings – old school still has a little sway left – but for the majority of social media use, it’ll just come across as too much too soon. Look at what’s happening around you and maneuver your strategy around what’s working. See who’s being successful, use their guidance and always be open to new practices.

Reach outside your core audience

Think about your business and the reasons why it’s successful – I’m guessing one of them is because you reached out to new markets outside your niche and targeted them with your products or services. After all, without growth comes stagnation. Social media makes it even easier to find other audiences to talk to.

Just because they don’t use your brand isn’t to say their friend doesn’t – wouldn’t it be great to get a new customer because their friend told them you were on Twitter, Facebook or other social media sites and networks? Keep thinking one step ahead to grow your userbase.

Transparency is key

You know the old saying, “Honesty is the best policy”? Take that with you into the social media arena and you’ll learn more and gain more than if you try being something you’re not. Your biggest fans are probably that because of how you’ve conducted yourself business-wise so far – why should you want to change that?

Be open, be clear, and be honest. False views have a way of coming back to haunt you when you least need or expect them to – truth and transparency are the perfect foils to any and every misquote. Keep it simple and keep it honest and you’ll find the respect of your audience, targeted and otherwise.

Most happy endings come from following your heart – why should it be any different for social media?

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Look closely:

Well the one on the bottom just made the founders of Teracent, very, very rich!

OK, that’s not quite the same example that Google just gave over at the official blog, but it did announce that it plans to acquire Teracent.

What does Teracent do?

Teracent’s technology can pick and choose from literally thousands of creative elements of a display ad in real-time — tweaking images, products, messages or colors. These elements can be optimized depending on factors like geographic location, language, the content of the website, the time of day or the past performance of different ads.

This technology can help advertisers get better results from their display ad campaigns. In turn, this enables publishers to make more money from their ad space and delivers web users better ads and more ad-funded web content.

Think of it as multi-variate testing for your banner ads.

No news yet on the price paid and the deal is subject to final closing conditions.

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AdSense has recently announced the brand new user interface for publishers at Content Revenue Strategies. It will initially start as a closed beta, but if you have CRS, you can directly go to the optimization area to get yourself on the whitelist for closed beta.

There is an inbox in the user interface where you will find messages and tips from the AdSense team. This particular feature has been added after the request of publishers. As there is an increase in the phishing emails related to AdSense and AdWords, the feature will prove to be really useful.

Here are some other features of the Publisher Interface:

• After you will login, you will see running totals on the right hand side of the page. It will not only include your total for that particular day but also the total revenue generated after the last payment.
• There are many graphs on the page with metrics including: page impressions, clicks, page eCPM and page CTR.
• The interface also has many help topics. Therefore, it you have any question related to specific metrics on the page, you can refer the help link for further information.

You can get more information about the new interface on Google AdSense blog.

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Are you new to search engine marketing and are a bit apprehensive of using Microsoft Advertising Intelligence? A post on Microsoft Advertising community
is talking about expanding the keywords through User Interface.

Here are the step-by-step instructions discussed in the post to do keyword research:

After you log in to adCenter, click on the “Research” tab in the blue bar present along the top.

You will see a few options in searching for new keywords in the research tab.

When you will enter a keyword, adCenter will provide you results that are related to the keyword. These might help you in expanding your keyword list.   In case you will enter the URL of a website, adCenter will search the site for terms that could be included in your list, if you don’t have them at present.   After selecting the search method, you can refine the search in terms of language and market, business category, age group or a specific option that you find appealing. You can leave the defaults in place to generalize the results.   Let’s taken an example of what would occur if you are costume retailer and want to expand your list to meet increasing demand presented by Halloween. If you will do a search for the keyword “costumes”, following sample of top results will be displayed:  

  In case you want demographic targeting in your campaign, you will be able to procure relevant research data easily. You will see a “play” button after these terms, click on those buttons and a drop down information box will be displayed to give detailed information about each search result.  

  Look out for the keyword you think will be most helpful for the campaign. You should also check out the box present at the box left to each keyword you would like to include. After finishing the process, click the “Add” button to add the selected terms to your approved suggestions list.  

  The list of approved terms will be appear on the right side of the original list. Click the “Continue” button present near the top of the search area.  

  Set the pricing on the next screen. The minimum default bid is .05. If you will set a bid below .25 or lower, it can hurt the chances of participating competitively, hence the result will affect overall performance of the campaign. After setting the max cost-per-click bid, click the “Apply” button and move forward to place the keywords into an ad group by clicking “Continue” button.  

  The last step is to add new keywords to the ad group. You can simple use drop down menus for choosing the correct account, ad group, campaign and then click “Add to ad group” button.  

  Once you are done with this step, a dialog box will open that would tell you how successfully you have added the keywords to the ad group.   Hope this information will be helpful for those who are new to adCenter.

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