Understanding Google Maps & Local Search » Google Places Ads- Tags, Boost

Is Google Intentionally Trying to Minimize the Fact that These are Ads?

Mike — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:22:01 +0000

Like many people, I have a less expensive, older LCD display at home that works just fine. With one exception. It makes Google Ads look just like a genuine search result. Obviously a screen shot doesn’t capture the “failings” of my typical display so I took a shot of the screen using my iPhone where you too can experience the lack of contrast. There is absolutely no distinction between the Adwords Express Ad and the local result. And the Adwords advertiser has the temerity to fake their reviews to boot.

But even when the yellow highlighting is visible, it might not really convey the fact that these are ads. My daughter, 19 and a reasonably savvy consumer of technology, asked me last week what the yellow meant. One assumes, in a company that tests things so much the decision is not accidental.

Do you think that Google makes the ads obvious enough?

(Click to view my bad photo of my LCD screen larger)

Google Maps Bubble Ads and The SMB State of Mind

Mike — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 14:46:16 +0000

Awareness of Google’s new, aggressive & annoying Bubble ads has been creeping into the SMBs field of vision since their introduction 10 days ago. Articles have been posted at a number of sites (here, here & here) questioning their purpose. On Saturday alone, there were 4 posts in the Places Forum from SMBs specifically about Google advertising against a given place (here, here, here and here). And as you can imagine the posts were hostile and fearful.

Here is one of the posts:

It’s a bit disheartening to go to the trouble of creating a good Google Places business listing only to see an ad for a competitor prominently placed right smack in the middle of your map pin bubble – with a highlight color, to boot!

I understand this is probably How Google Wants it to Work. So how do you fight it? Does Google let you buy “Anti-Adwords” to prevent this from happening? Or do I just go for retaliation by buying Adwords that place my ad on my competitor’s listing?

If the ads were only on the side of the page with the listings I guess I could live with it, but right in the middle of my bubble – it just strikes me as mean.

I have been strongly opposed to the ads on broad social grounds and have not touched on the SMB perspective vis a vis these ads as much. Google has made it clear over the past 18 months that they perceive the Place Page and now the business’s Info Bubble their property to do with as they wish.

That’s the current reality. They own the sandbox and they can do what they want. But should they?

While in a business environment it may be true that Google needs to explore all options in an effort to increase their revenue, the question really is: Is advertising against specific local businesses the best way for them to increase local revenue over the long haul?

The answer that I would provide to Google is an unequivocal NO!

To a large extent, Google has made the previous local top advertising venue, the Yellow Pages, irrelevant. Part of that was Google’s better and more widely disseminated technology and part was Google’s ability to provide more return on advertising.

But another significant factor was the pent up resentment the SMBs felt towards the Yellow Pages. As soon as there was a perceived, viable alternative SMBs abandoned print YPs quickly to work with a friendlier and less manipulative Google. Sometimes the choice was rational (ie better returns) but often it was an emotional response based on years of abuse at the hands of the YP FUD (fear, uncertainty & doubt) selling techniques.

The print YPs had a monopoly for many years and faced revenue growth issues like Google does today. Their answer was to send out swarms of sales reps that would not worry about the real value nor return of the ads but would play on the emotional vulnerabilities of the small business person who reacted in horror as they saw competitors take out another ad in their space. The SMB felt compelled to respond.

The current Bubble Ad smacks of a similar FUD selling. Rather than a productive ad space that will generate positive returns, for most SMBs it will feel like the an ill designed attempt to extort them for money. And some, more driven by emotion than returns, will buy the ads. And for many, the resentment of Google will build, just like it did for the YPs.

Does Google really need to follow this path? And again, the answer that I would provide to Google would be another resounding NO.

Google could and should be providing tools and techniques that improve advertising returns and tracking information. Rather than feeling forced to take out ads to defend their good name, businesses should be motivated to take out ads that increase business and improve analytics, ads that create a bond with Google not a deep seated resentment based on Google’s ability to manipulate.

Here are a few suggestions (I am sure that you can think of more) for Google that might function as alternatives to the Bubble Ads that would increase Google’s income while providing real solutions to the SMBs:

If Google feels the need to sell that space in the bubble then bring back the Tags and allow the SMB to use the space for that.

Provide a meaningful coupon solution that has visibility.

Offer up a low cost call tracking mechanism that doesn’t muck up a listing and works across the internet.

Report out substantial local analytics (what ever happened to that Places analytics upgrade that briefly made its appearance last year?) that provide additional insigts.

Add additional transactional capabilities (like Hotel Booking) that disintermediate more expensive alternatives.

These are all solutions that would increase Google’s income and NOT be perceived as lame attempt to force advertising. I am sure that you can add more ideas that would be improvements over the bubble ads. What would they be?

Rogue’s Gallery of Inappropriate Bubble Ads

Mike — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 10:00:34 +0000

This search for “Child Protection Services, NY” provides an obvious example of Google’s inability to target a specific ad against a specific place with their new Info Bubble Ads. It provides great fodder for my second installment of the Rogue’s Gallery of Inappropriate Bubble Ads…

There is some irony that the Archdiocese of New York* is sandwiched between Children’s Rights and the NY Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Child in the Map search results and I suppose the bottom ad for a Child Protection Lawyer is somehow oddly relevant in this context.

But the ad for the Gay Church service shown against the Archdiocese manages to clearly demonstrate Google’s (lack of ) ability to target these ads correctly. It adds fuel to the already inappropriate fire that is the Bubble Ad… I never knew that the Adwords algo had such a twisted sense of humor.

In attempting to match a single ad to a single Place in Google Maps raises multiple issues…..

1)Certainly business (and churches & political organization for that matter) have a new arena where they need to worry about reputation management. They now have to think about “defending” themselves against ads from competitors or groups that disagree with their position….This drives ad growth and is likely to drive up bid prices for Google. While this occurs for all the wrong reasons I believe that they ones of which Google is likely aware. I had heard rumors in early September of Adword Account Reps instructing large Adword clients to take out ads in Google Maps in anticipation of this rollout.

2)The algo is incapable of correctly understanding which Places should have ads and which shouldn’t. This makes every Place in the virtual universe a target for an ad. Churches which are in theory a sanctuary from commercialism lose that… somber memorials become just another opportunity for a pitch.

3)Content that is abhorent or antithetical to the Place in real life can be associated with the Place virtually. The algo does not posses any ability to distinguish relevancy at a granular enough level to provide truly relevant ads that respect the intentions and aspirations of a given place. But worse, ads that are totally inappropriate by most human standards become acceptable.

4)At the end of the day, many of these ads are disrespectful of the user that made the effort to dive deeply into Google and find out more information about a given place.

There is the argument that the low visibility of the ad location somehow obviates the offense. My experience with Google Maps is that it is a testing ground for the big show. Single ads against single Places will migrate outward and upward if they are successful within Maps.

Like Facebook is pushing the limits of privacy in an effort to have none, Google is pushing the limits of ad display so that there are no societal limits on where or when ads can be displayed. Clearly breaking down societal mores that provide implicit boundaries to advertising is in Google’s best interest. I am not sure that it is the interest of either the general public nor the small business community.

*Note that I have no love lost on the Archdiocese of NY and they certainly have only themselves to blame for any problems that they have. That doesn’t deny my belief that they, and any church for that matter, should not have to worry about how Google uses their info bubble.

Google Places Separates Adwords Express Analtyics

Mike — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 16:58:43 +0000

Google has recently (exactly when is not clear) separated the Adwords Express analytics from the standards dashboard view of Places analytics. Until very recently the analytics for both your free Places Listing and your paid Adwords Express ad were shown in a consolidated view:

Adwords Express: Things that are Easy to Hate

Mike — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 09:46:35 +0000

I have a love hate relationship with the elegantly simple Google’s Adwords Express. One of the things I love is that for a business with more than 2 reviews and greater than an 4 star rating, it will show your star rating with the ad. One of the things I hate is that, unbeknownst to the business placing the ad, if the stars are clicked, it is a billable event and the searcher is taken to your Places Page NOT the web page that you had opted for when you purchased the ad.

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On the Places Page, the searcher is subjected to seeing both additional ads AND a list of nearby competitors. Perhaps a reasonable trade off if the business was aware of the quid pro quo or could opt out, but neither is the case. Regardless it hardly seems reasonable that a business should be paying for the privilege of showing a searcher additional ads on Google.

There are a number of other issues I have with the practice besides the indignity of paying to have users to see more ads and learn about your competitors:

1- There are no analytics of the event. It is impossible to see how many ads that were clicked went to the Places Page instead of your website thus it is difficult to asses the value of the ad. A click on the stars shows in the Places analytic as an action and exactly the same as a visit to your website.
2- A corollary to the above is that there is no ability to track the campaign accurately. Since the click never makes it to your website there can be no measurement of conversions or goals in Analytics or the value of the click.
3- There is no indication in the Help files that you are paying when a user clicks on the star. I had to confirm the practice by contacting Google.
4- More importantly, as most Express users do not make it to the Help files, there is no indication in Places that your ad will show your review stars or that a click on them is billable.
5- When you place the ad, there is no indication that the user might be sent to your Places Page even though you explicitly selected the option for sending the user to your web page.
6-If a business has no reviews or a low star rating they are not paying this extra fee. How is that fair? Only better businesses are thus taxed?

With Adwords and location extensions you have the option to enable clicks to call. You pay if the searcher does in fact call. That is a reasonable option in that it is both a choice to turn it on or not and it is an event that is measurable and likely to lead to a conversion.

The other Adwords case where Google will show review stars is with the seller ratings extensions option. In that case you are also “automatically opted in to showing seller ratings with your ads”. (Where is a good copywriter when we need one? Does “opt” not mean choice? Oxymoronic at best.) In this seller ratings case however, when the searcher is taken to the product reviews, it is not a billable click. While it may disrupt your purchase funnel, the pros seem to outweigh the cons.

While a review highlighted Adwords Express ad is more visually attractive, the total lack of knowledge, control and tracking makes this one of those options that is easy to hate.

Update: Boost Ad Buries A-Business Listing–> Not According to Google

Mike — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 17:57:22 +0000

Update Wednesday 8/17: Google checked into this situation and claims on the digital/computer science equivalent of a stack of bibles that this was just a coincidence. Here is the communication that was forwarded to me:

After looking into the customer’s situation, we can confirm that there is no connection between the AdWords Express ad being disapproved and his Places listing not appearing. There was a technical error that prevented the listing from appearing, but that issue was specific to Google Places. Participation in AdWords Express does not affect the ranking of free, organic business listings in any way.

More info on this can be found on the AdWords Express help center article: Does AdWords Express affect my website’s organic listing on Google?

The recently named ~~Boost~~ Adwords Express has more than a few oddities that might not make it the ideal SMB advertising tool. But this one is a show stopper: If business places an Adwords Express ad for a category for which they have a A position, their natural A position local listing will be removed from the main search results 7-Pack.

Last week Local SEO David Mihm sent me this note:

“I had an interesting prospective client email. His Place Page was not showing ANYWHERE when I first looked at some prominent keywords for his business. The client swore he was ranking #1 for a couple of key phrases prior to emailing me. He had been advertising on Adwords Express. He shut it off and IMMEDIATELY it went back to letter A for a generic phrase when I checked again.”

My Google local adwords rep called me later in the week and, in a totally unrelated context, said:

“If they are in the top position of Places – an Adwords Express Ad will cause the Places listing to not show”

He went on to sensibly recommend that a business NOT use a category from their Places page for which they were doing well and to use one of the other categories. Makes sense.

It has long been thought that taking out an Adwords campaign would not affect your ranking on Google search. In fact we have long been under the impression that there was a firewall of sort between the two results. This clearly calls that long held belief into question, at least in the Local space.

Hotel Booking Ads Test Continues – a 2 Bit Hooker?

Mike — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 12:04:13 +0000

My grandfather was born and bred on the lower East Side of New York City in the early 1900s. He moved to upstate NY after WWII to join my father in business.The subtleties of gentile conversation that was the norm in rural NYS were largely lost on my grandfather. He was a large, loving, lovable direct man but one who spoke with the frankness of having grown up on the streets of NYC. At one time or another he had been scrambling to make a living having as a merchant, a fruit vendor with a cart and a taxi cab driver. I envied his ability to literally cut heavy wrapping twine with his bear hands (a skill I never was able to master).

Once in the mid 60′s, when I was probably in 8th grade, he was giving me a ride home from work. We saw a classmate of mine standing on the curb waiting for a ride. As was the style at the time, she was wearing a short skirt, fishnet stockings and perhaps a bit too much make up. He gruffly noted that she looked like a 2 bit hooker. I recognized that my grandfather was not current with the style of the times but his point, that she appeared inappropriately tawdry and cheap, was heartfelt. Nothing I could say would change his mind. Was he just out of date or did he have a valid point of view?

At the time I was shocked at his “provincial” assessment but have come to think him more right than wrong. Certainly the need for ~~young~~ women to dress in the ever changing fashions of the day, particularly ones that objectify them as sex toys, could be considered a less than ideal aspect of our commercial culture.

It is a conversation that I have never forgotten and one that comes to mind as I look at Google’s on-going hotel booking experiment on the main search results pages. Literally every item above the fold is either an ad or has the booking option attached to the result. Google experiences the demands of every corporation to increase their income but exactly when does commercialization of the front page pass from tasteful to tawdry?

(click to view larger)

Google Boost Now Becoming Adwords Express

Mike — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 16:16:05 +0000

Mike Ramsey of NiftyMarketing, a local search marketer from Idaho, sent along this screen shot reflecting a name change to the Boost product:

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The change has not yet made it over to the Boost Help pages. Certainly it makes sense from a branding perspective to leverage Google’s well known, existing ad brand although I doubt that it will make the bidding basis of the pricing more obvious.

Update 2:17

Google has just posted their announcement:

Making local online advertising easy with Google AdWords Express

Updated 1:00 p.m EDT:

I just got off the phone with Kiley McEvoy, Product Manager Lead on ~~Boost~~ Adwords Express at Google to let me know that Google will be formally announcing the rebranding of the Boost product shortly.

Here are some of his comments:

We have seen great success with the Boost product and signup rate and to better indicate its ties to Adwords we are going with new name.

We have seen users in all 50 states and tens of thusands of customers. I spend a lot of time talking to customers and the main piece of feedback is that they are surprised by the simplicity. The product is so simple that it has allayed fears of involvement in on-line advertising. A pizza shop that was getting 30 clicks per day had to pause their campaign due to significant increase in business.

I did inquire as to specific numbers or percentage of claimed accounts using Boost but he was unable to be explicit.

He indicated that there is a new requirement, introduced a number of weeks ago, that an Adwords Express ad be created for each category. With this better targeting, users will be less likely to see large jumps in bid pricing that I experienced in my “legacy” ad campaign that had one ad with two categories.

He also noted that there is a new signup procedure flow (now visible here) that allows a business to sign up for both Places and Adwords Express simultaneously. In the new process, verification required for the Places listing, is no longer required for an Adwords Express ad to start to run. The ad can run independtly of an approved Places listing as long as the ad point to your website. If a Places listing is rejected or suspended the ads will continue to run.

This YouTube Video just went live:

How to Tell a Boost Ad from an Adwords Ad with Location Extensions

Mike — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 16:38:54 +0000

Google recently announced that they would now display Adwords ads with Local extensions with an associated push pin and a place the Map.

The display format of the ad is very similar but not the same as a Boost ad. There are two differences: On an Adwords ad, the title of the ad can be anything not just the business name and the push pin contains a letter not just a dot.

Click to view larger with the Map:

Google Rolls Out Boost Nationwide

Mike — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 14:53:24 +0000

Google Boost is now available nationwide and the ads will be visible in the mobile environment. Apparently though it may not be available for all businesses based on the categories of the business. In other words if you are a locksmith, you might not see the option.

Boost is Google’s simplified Adwords tool for Local that can be initiated starting at $50/mo. The product rolled out to 3 cities in late October and 11 additional cities were added in mid November. The product was first seen in testing in October of 2009 and was known at the time as Local Listing Ads. Thus, from initial test to full rollout it has been 16 months.

This interview with Chikai Ohazama, the Director of Product Management for Maps, provides some insight into Google’s thinking on the product.

I am curious of those in markets that have previously had access to Boost, what your experience has been? Have the returns been as good as Adwords? Has the product opened up additional opportunities for you? I am also curious what industries are not being given the option to purchase a Boost ad in their Places Dashboard.

Reader Dan Freeburg sent this screen shot from a smaller market: