I started this blog because I felt that too many other blogs simply re-posted news stories without commentary or analysis. And the one type of “news story” that annoys me the most is what I call the “Google Sneezes” story. Basically, if Google does anything, many bloggers feels compelled to write about it. For example, if Google built a new volleyball court at the Googleplex, this would definitely be blogged about on many prominent blogs. I think there is a psychological aspect to this sort of ‘reporting’; when … Continue reading →

As Google purges its advertiser list of “undesirables” (like MFAs, incentivized sites, affiliate marketers, or anyone who bids under $.20 a click), much discussion has been focused on the impact of this strategy to Google’s bottom line. As noted in prior columns, there’s no doubt in my mind that Google’s decision is driven purely by financials, and that this will only grow their revenue and margins. One question that I haven’t seen discussed much, however, is how Quality Score will impact Google competitors – particularly Yahoo and MSN. … Continue reading →

Earlier this week, Google announced an enhancement to their quality score initiative on their Inside AdWords blog. The changes were two fold: 1) quality score would now apply to the Google content network; and 2) Google would put an increased focus on landing page relevancy in this new and improved algorithm. Folks who religiously read this blog will know that I am generally against Google’s quality score, mainly because of the lack of transparency and the opportunity for Google to make decisions about who shall and shall not … Continue reading →