Google announced in an email to advertisers today that “the AdWords pay-per-action beta test will be retired”.

“Starting the last week in August, your pay-per-action campaigns will no longer be active, and any ads in your campaigns will stop running. As a result, you will no longer be able to edit or create pay-per-action campaigns.”

This move is to make room for the DoubleClick acquisition:

“As part of Google’s recent acquisition of DoubleClick, the Performics affiliate network is now a part of Google and has been renamed Google Affiliate Network. To consolidate our offerings, we will be phasing out the AdWords pay-per-action beta in the last week of August 2008.”

The news was also posted on the Inside Adwords Blog: We are retiring the pay-per-action beta

Today, Yahoo and Google officially announced a non-exclusive agreement. This agreement “enables Yahoo! to run ads supplied by Google alongside Yahoo!’s search results”, per Yahoo

The move comes as no surprise to many. In early April, Yahoo conducted a limited test of Google’s Adsense on Yahoo Search.

Google quickly followed today’s announcement with it’s anti-monopoly case for the Department of Justice.

Let Me Opt Out

Minutes after the announcement, I quickly sent an email to my Google AdWords Relationship Manager asking to be opted out “IF” I have the opportunity.

Ultimately, it comes down to money for advertisers. (Doesn’t it always?)

Yahoo Sponsored Search does not have a strong Return on Ad Spend (ROAS). Over the past month, I have begun trimming my spending on Yahoo and moving more funds into Google. Yahoo doesn’t pay for itself, like Google does.

If Yahoo ads do not have a good ROAS, then why would I want my Google ads there?

As I mentioned before, one of main themes in 7 Habits of Highly Effective Pay-Per-Click Advertisers is separation.

• Separating Content from Search
• Separating Match Types
• Separating Negatives

Search separation allows advertisers precision analytics. Blending Google with Yahoo defeats the separation. In fact, it taints the analytics with bad ROAS.

If Google does not allow advertisers to opt out of Yahoo Search, then cost per conversion will increase. If Cost per Conversion increases then spending will decrease. This ultimately defeats the whole point for Google.

I ask Google: “Allow AdWords clients to Opt out of Yahoo”

Well, I was not chosen as a finalist for the Semmys, but its okay. As they say, “it is an honor to be nominated”. There were some great articles this past year. I definitely can not say my writings were better than the finalists.

Local Search
Anatomy & Optimization of A Local Business Profile - By Chris “Silver” Smith

Analytics
Web Analytics Demystified - By Avinash Kaushik, Occam’s Razor

Google
Google 2.0: Google Universal Search - By Danny Sullivan

SEO
SEO Linking Gotchas Even the Pros Make - By Andy Beard

Online Marketing / General
How A Pretty Face Can Push Visitors Away - By Bryan Eisenberg

PPC
Five Common Paid Search Mistakes That Can Sink Your Campaign - By Jennifer Laycock, Search Engine Guide
* This one mentions some of the same points that I mentioned in 7 Habits of Highly Effective PPC Advertisers. However, Jennifer does a much better job of explaining in many of the points. Plus, she has some other great points that I left off. I strive to write as good as her.

Small Business
When Ignorance Isn’t Bliss: What You Don’t Know About Your Web Site Can Hurt You - By Christine Churchill

LOL Funny!
Web 3.0 Sites - By Philipp Lenssen, Google Blogoscoped

Viral Marketing
Viral Marketing is NOT the Same as Word of Mouth - By Jennifer Laycock, Search Engine Guide

Nominations for the first Semmys were recently announced recently.

The awards recognize the best articles in search engine marketing over the past year. “The SEMMYS are an annual awards event honoring the great content produced across the search and online marketing industry.” - Semmys.org

I was honored to be nominated in the PPC Category, for Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pay-Per-Click Advertisers.

The finalist will be announced around January, 23rd. From there the public can vote for a winner. In the PPC category, the judges are Christine Churchill and Aaron Wall. With that being said ….

Have I mentioned how much of a fan I am of Christine Churchill and Aaron Wall? They are geniuses and masters of search engine marketing. Their intelligence is beyond belief, and they would … (too much?)

Christine Churchill is the President of KeyRelevance and a frequent speaker and contributor to the search engine marketing community. Christine can also be found on SEMClubHouse.com

Aaron Wall is SeoBook.com, one of the leading SEO blogs around. SEOBook.com has long been a source for quality articles in the industry..

(Link love never hurts)

Today, the finalists for the 2007 Heisman Trophy were announced. Unlike the rest of college football, the statistics seem to tell us, there is a runaway clear winner.

Coming into the season, there was no a clear cut winner … as it should be. However, as the season continued, Tim Tebow clearly went ahead of the pack.

It is also interesting to note, Tebow didn’t start pulling away until after September 15th. It’s no coincidence that September 15th was the day Florida beat Tennessee 59-20. Clearly, Tebow made a statement in that game, by scoring 4 touchdowns and passing for nearly 300 yards.

Chase Daniel received a big boost after winning the Big 12 Championship on November 24th, but it may not be enough.

Sadly, Colt Brennan just cannot seem to get noticed outside of Hawaii. He owns or shares 29 NCAA records, including the career touchdown mark of 131. Plus, he led the Warriors through the regular season as the nation’s only unbeaten team.

Ask any football fan who the #1 pick in the NFL draft will be, and the answer will always be Darren McFadden. The Arkansas running back started the season as the Heisman favorite. Statistically he didn’t do anything to disappoint. Unfortunately, his Razorbacks didn’t do enough to get noticed on the national scene.

It will be interesting to see how these numbers compare to the real Heisman Trophy presentation Saturday Nnght.

Google’s Marissa Mayer, Vice President of Search Products & User Experience, revealed on the Today Show some recent Google Trends for 2007.

Fastest Rising US Searches
1. IPhone
2. Webkinz
3. TMZ
4. Transformers
5. YouTube
6. Club Penguin
7. MySpace
8. Heroes
9. FaceBook
10. Anna Nicole Smith

Presidential Candidates Searches
1. Ron Paul
2. Fred Thompson
3. Hillary Clinton

Top Google searches of 2007

Just in time for the ski season, vacation rentals have surpassed hotel in search popularity.

Hitwise numbers shows for the past 6 months, vacation rentals have consistently remained behind hotel searches. In mid-October vacation rentals passed the hotel demand.

This seems to be an obvious connection with ski season starting. For families on a ski vacation, vacation rentals seem to be a no-brainer. However, even in past years, ski season or not, vacation rentals were not as popular with consumers.

A recent USA Today article expressed what many vacationers are finding:

• “In resort areas such as the Florida Panhandle, some hotels are being torn down and replaced with condo rental units”.
• “Travelers are benefiting from more choices and better websites….”
• “Condos and houses have more space, including fully equipped kitchens. Condos and houses also have more amenities, such as stereo equipment, barbecue grills and laundry facilities.”

The complete article on vacation rentals can be found here.

Family vacationers want more than hotels can provide and the Hitwise numbers indicate that the word is getting out to consumers on the value of vacation rentals.

The article I wrote this past summer for DMNews’ Essential Guide to Search Engine Marketing, was published on their website today.

Here is the link.

I am probably late to the bandwagon on this, but I am very happy to know about it now.

Dr. Randy Pausch, is a professor at Carnegie Mellon University. He is the married father of three and he is dying from pancreatic cancer. According to him “there are approximately 10 tumors in my liver, and the doctors told me 3-6 months of good
health left.” That was in August, 2007 and as he says, “you can do the math.”

In September 2007, Randy gave a final lecture to his students at Carnegie Mellon. Please take a moment to watch the video:

I will spend the first part of next week speaking at SMX Travel @ PhoCusWright in Orlando. This will be my first SMX conference and I am looking forward to it.

If you are coming to the conference or in the Orlando area, post a note here. I would love to meet anyone and everyone. Catch me early, because I will only be in Orlando Monday and Tuesday.

I will am participating in: “How ya doing?” Critiques, Appraisals and Kudos from Travel SEM Experts. This session will by Monday, November 12 at 1pm.

Below are links for more details:
www.phocuswright.com/the_phocuswright_conference_2007_information

searchmarketingexpo.com/travel/2007/full_agenda.shtml

See you in Orlando.