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Starting today, advertisers who use AdWords conversion tracking and receive more than 500 conversions from their cost-per-click (CPC) or cost-per-thousand impressions (CPM) campaigns in the most recent 30-day period will be invited to join this beta test, on a rolling basis. Eligible advertisers will see an alert in their AdWords account informing them that they can now try the PPA beta.As a refresher, pay-per-action advertising is a new pricing model that allows you to pay only for completed actions that you define (such as a lead, a sale, or a page view), after a visitor has clicked on your ad on a publisher's site. With CPC and CPM campaigns, advertisers need to continuously monitor and tune their campaigns to meet their target CPA (cost-per-action). With pay-per-action campaigns, advertisers only need to set their desired cost-per-action and pay for completed actions to hit their CPA targets.PPA ads will appear on publisher sites in the Google content network. Publishers are free to choose the PPA ads most relevant to their site and run them in new ad units.
Here come the bridesAccording to a 2006 Questus research study, 97% of brides now use the Internet to plan their weddings, and 93% find new ideas and brands online. Google's content network includes wedding planning sites like eWedding.com, which engaged couples visit frequently as their big day approaches. These sites offer a fantastic opportunity for caterers, photographers, DJs, formal wear retailers, and florists to market their products and services. But they're not the only ones who stand to benefit. Many couples are already anticipating post-nuptial purchases such as honeymoon travel, a new home, and household items like furniture and cooking supplies – especially if they find that their wedding gifts include more cash than kitchen appliances.Make sure your keywords are targeting wedding guests rather than brides- and grooms-to-be. Use keywords like 'wedding day gift ideas' and 'unique wedding gifts' to reach undecided shoppers. Include these terms in your ad text and experiment with calls to action like 'Find the Perfect Wedding Gift' and 'Save on Gifts for Newlyweds.'Try creating a separate landing page on your website that features all your wedding-appropriate products. That way, wedding attendees will have an easier time finding the perfect gifts and adding them to their shopping carts.Don't forget that wedding party members are often looking for finery of their own! School's outYoung adults are notoriously hard to shop for. According to the National Retail Federation's Graduation Survey, 31% of proud parents and other shoppers plan to give gift cards for graduation. The survey also found that the average graduation gift shopper plans to give gifts to two graduates this year, spending about $50 on each. In light of these two findings, consider the following tips:If you offer gift cards on your website, try mentioning them in your ad text.If you offer any special discounts like 'buy one, get one half off' or 'free shipping on orders over $50,' you can use your ad text to let potential customers know. These will attract shoppers looking for gifts for more than one graduate.World's Greatest DadDesignated as a holiday a full 51 years after Mother's Day, Father's Day has always lagged behind its more prominent counterpart. In recent years, however, it seems to be catching up. According to a survey done by the National Retail Federation in 2007, U.S. consumers will spend nearly $10 billion on dads this year, with the average person spending $98.34 (up from $88.80 in 2006) on dear old dad. Roughly 19% of respondents plan to buy Father's Day gifts online., and with a little work, you can use AdWords to connect with these gift-givers.Set up a separate AdWords campaign for all Father's Day-related keywords and ads to gain better control over your daily budget and maximum cost-per-click. You can then delete this campaign after June 17 or pause it and use it again next year.Within your Father's Day campaign, create distinct ad groups for each product category, and direct visitors who click on your ads to the most relevant pages on your website.The fewer clicks it takes to find the perfect gift and complete the transaction, the more likely it is that consumers will complete a purchase. You may want to consider using Google Checkout, a convenient checkout process that can save your customers time, while saving you money.
On Saturday, June 9th, the AdWords system will be unavailable from approximately 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. PDT due to system maintenance. While you won't be able to log into your accounts during this time, your campaigns will continue to run as usual.In addition, we thought we'd point out that our system maintenance typically occurs on the second Saturday of each month, during the same hours noted above. We'll continue to update you via the Inside AdWords blog as we always have, but you may want to take note of our intended dates and times to help you plan for any scheduled downtimes further down the road.
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