"Why should I pay to appear in the Search Engines when I can get in the organic side for free" they used to ask me (not quite sure who "they" are but you know what I mean). Ahhh says I! Because SEO is complicated and difficult to understand, because sometimes despite your best efforts you just don't appear, because the search egnines are very secretive about how they rank your pages, because there are bots and spiders who visit your site and check for relevance and quality!!!

Whereas pay per click is...

I remember when the AdWords professional programme came out. Because AdWords was quite limited in those days the "exam" was a tad easier than it is now. You didn't have to swot up on all that functionality simply because there wasn't much.

On that basis, I guess Microsoft are gonna be swamped when the new AdCenter Pro accreditation comes out with everyone trying to get qualified before the study list starts to get longer and longer and longer.

Labels: Adcenter, adcenter excellence, adcenter pro, GAP

There's a fab demo of VideoHyperlinking over at the AdLabs site. Lets say you're watching the latest episode of Emmerdale and Jack Sugden is wearing a particularly fetching pair of Green Wellingtons, VideoHyperlinking will let you click on said rubber boots and be taken directly to a site where you can buy them!!!

Can you imagine the carnage when right in the middle of the Rugby World Cup final, my teenage son clicks on Gavin Hensons head in order to buy a bucket of "Super Spikey Hair gel"?? Ok, I'll concede there are at least two items of fiction here... one Wales wont be appearing in the Rugby World Cup Final and even if they were it's unlikely our Gav will get a game.

Got a quick sneak preview of the new Microsoft analytics tool codenamed "Gatineau". Apprently it's not too far off beta testing now having been in Alpha since January. The "hosted" analytics tool is based on technology Microsoft acquired in the purchase of French company,Deep metrix (based in the town of Gatineau, hence the name).

First impressions fo the product were very good and it seems that Gatineau will be a "free" product to rival Google analytics. For more detail, head over to Ian Thomas' Lies, Damned Lies blog.

Just re-read my last post and decided it was just too darn gushing. Stand by every word but nonetheless ‘twas gushing. So, to balance things out I thought I’d have a rant...


Having waited what seemed to be an eternity for bulk upload functionality I was positively panting (ok maybe not panting but pretty darn chuffed) when I heard the latest release of AdCenter had just that. The idea was that we’d use the Google interface to optimise our accounts and then every day or every other day we’d take a download from Google, ad a tweak or two and then upload the whole shooting match to AdCenter.


Make sense?


So what happens when you upload all your ads into AdCenter using the bulk import facility? They upload perfectly BUT IN DRAFT MODE!!! Which means you have to use the interface to go into each ad group (sorry... each order) and press the continue button about 5 times for EACH and EVERY ORDER!!!! Arrggghhhhh!


We have had to employ someone to do just that. Bless him. We need a job title for him other than “Head of AdCenter Continue Button clicking”. Suggestions?

I had the pleasure of spending a day with a whole bunch of AdCenter people at the European AdChamps event.


There’s a stack of news I’ll pass on to you over the coming days but what really struck me about the event was the enthusiasm and passion of the AdCenter team.


Maybe my cynicism is getting worse with age or maybe I’m just used to a different attitude from other engines but I was genuinely taken by surprise. Number one, the AdChamps event was by invitation only and yet by and large the attendees were from the smaller agencies rather than the big money guys. Yeah I know the big boys get the one-on-one treatment but the mere existence of an event like this for the “less than massive” fish was refreshing. Two, when the Adcenter people asked for feedback, you get the feeling that they genuinely wanted that feedback. Not only that but there was also a sneaking suspicion that they may even (wait for it) act on the feedback they receive.



This is a group of people who know they have a way to go before they can compete toe to toe with Google. They know that traffic volumes need to be increased, they know there are UI issues but they also know that right now they can compete and win when it comes to service & support.


Thanks for a great day guys, learned a lot and had a great time doing it.