Google has been updating and giving makeover to many of its services in the past few months. That includes its AdWords and AdSense programs. Google now plans to change the way ads are displayed in the SERPs. Ads that used to be shown in the side may now be shown below the top listings.

… ads that have previously shown to the side of the results may in some cases appear below them. We dynamically optimize each search page, including its ads, to provide the best experience for our users. In many cases, we have found that displaying ads below search results fits better into the user’s flow as they scan the page from top to bottom. On average, this placement performed better than side ads in terms of click-through rate in our tests.

The good news is you can always compare how your ads are performing depending on where they are being shown. You do want to keep an eye on the position of your ads to make sure you get the best bang for your buck.

Google has a point. We have tested this in the past, and paid ads when combined with SEO campaigns do lead to more traffic. The trouble arises when you have a fixed cost per acquisitions goal.  This strategy works fine for large corporations but not so much for small businesses with a limited budget.

Google has posted an article to clarify what it means when it requires family friendly sites for Adsense:

Prohibiting sexually explicit pornographic images is straightforward, but publishers often unknowingly overlook some of the more subtle content that can be intended for a mature audience. Examples can include adult toys or fetish sites, sheer/see-through clothing, and lewd or provocative poses (even if clothed) that have sexually gratifying overtones. This rule applies to links or ads that drive traffic to adult or mature content too.

Text that can be considered sexual in nature can get you kicked out of the Adsense program too. As a rule of thumb, if you would be embarrassed to share your content with your colleagues, you are probably pushing it with Google. A lot of folks get in trouble with Google by not knowing the rules. With Google’s latest clarifications, there are no excuses.

Nobody likes getting the dreaded account suspension email from Google. Google does not suspend everyone who is breaking the rules. Just because you have been doing it long enough and gotten away with it, that does not mean Google won’t catch you eventually. One of our colleagues had his account suspended by Google for not doing anything at all. He did have a bunch of “make money online” campaigns that were paused. Paused campaigns are still reviewed by Google’s team though.

So what should you do if your account is suspended? First, you should try to figure out the exact reason it has happened. You should take time to contact Google Adwords’ team to ask for the reason. Going through the rules and making sure your account is complaint is not a bad idea. Google’s team could be a bit slow getting back to you. You should also not expect miracles. Google can be very unforgiving if you don’t have a special contact inside. They will send you basic responses and won’t go out of their way to re-approve you, especially if you are not a big spender with them.

You do want to be as polite as possible with Google. You can’t win a shouting match with its team. They may be willing to give you a second chance if they realize your crime is not severe enough to justify banning you permanently. If all fails, hedge your bets by taking advantage of Facebook and Microsoft Ad systems (or find yourself a deep contact in Google). Let’s face it. When it comes to customer service, Google is no Amazon. Don’t expect it to be caring and understanding with your situation.

• Received a notification asking you to make changes within three business days: Here is a detailed overview on what you need to do and know. Please keep in mind that you don’t need to let us know if you have simply fixed the violation.
• Ad-serving has been disabled to your site: Read our Help Center article for more information on why this may have happened.
• Received a notification stating your AdSense account may be disabled: By reading this information you may be able to get your AdSense account back in good standing.
• Your AdSense account has been disabled: AdSense accounts can be disabled for different reasons. If you’d like to appeal the decision, be sure to use the right appeal form.
• You’d like to report a policy violation: Our team is happy to investigate any policy violations submitted through these forms.

It could have taken us a bit to put this information together. Google has been kind enough to list them all. The moral of story here is you do not want to push your luck with Google Ads. There are a lot of folks who do all kinds of crazy things to improve their earnings from Adsense. You should try to use the right product for your website. Don’t forget to make sure your content is complaint with Google’s Adsense policies.

Those of you who have been using Google Adwords to drive traffic to your business know that it does not exactly provide you with the most accurate traffic estimates for your keywords. Many advertisers would love to get more accurate information from their ad serving partners to better optimize their campaigns. Google has now updated its algorithm to offer more quality information to advertisers:

You can find keyword traffic estimates in a number of places across AdWords including the Traffic Estimator, the Keyword Tool, and on the Keywords tab… One of the most common uses of traffic estimates is to evaluate potential keywords and decide whether you should add them to your account. Traffic estimates are also useful in determining if your bids and budgets are appropriate for these new keywords.

It remains to be seen whether the new enhancements can improve advertisers’ results. A lot of testing and tweaking is still required. These enhancements may provide you with more accurate estimates but they won’t simplify your job as an advertiser.

There is simply no doubt that Facebook is one of the hottest places to be involved in for online advertiser and small business. The community is growing fast and offers opportunities not available through other channels. Facebook was responsible for 23% of display ad impressions in the previous quarter. That beats Yahoo!’s numbers by a mile. According to a report released by Comscore, Facebook produced 297 billion online display ad impressions last quarter, out of the total 1.3 trillion impressions. Microsoft and Yahoo are still big players but they were just blown away by Facebook. So why is Facebook so successful?

The ability to buy specific audiences is enabling a greater number of display ads to be delivered on target, display formats are improving at a rapid rate, and the quality of creative is getting better every day. As publishers prove the value of online display ad campaigns, digital should continue to carve out a bigger piece of the advertising pie,

said Jeff Hackett, ComScore senior VP. So who are the top advertisers? That is not tough to guess. AT&T, Verizon, Netflix, and Experian are among the top advertisers. Telecommunication, insurance, credit, and shopping businesses have always been big spenders in this area. Nothing has changed in that regard.

Google Adwords is a great tool for small businesses getting started with online advertising. But businesses should not forget about Facebook, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, and other sites that can help them spread the word about their ventures. Being solely focused on keyword advertising limits your opportunities as a business to gain more leads. The good news is some of these services are so new, the market is not so crowded yet. Now’s the time to take advantage.

For Google, training its advertisers means more revenue for the company. The more people it can get on board with all its advertising services, the better off the company will be over the long run. Of course, Google does not mind people making more sales and converting more. Those all mean advertisers will come back for more. Mobile advertising is on the rise and Google wants you to be involved. That’s why the company is hosting an interactive training session to train its advertisers. Here are the details per Google:

This course is for those of you interested in learning more about mobile advertising and how to easily set up your AdWords account to target more users on mobile devices. The interactive course will be delivered by an Online Media Specialist and will take approximately 1 hour including time for Q&A. It will take place on Wednesday 3rd November from 3pm – 4pm BST / GMT+1 (London), 10am-11am EST (New York), 7am-8am PST (San Francisco).

In order to take advantage of this course, you will need an Adwords account and your account number. You don’t necessarily have to be doing anything special with Adwords to watch this session.

Google is out to make life easier for small and large advertisers. Those of us who have been around Adwords for a few years have known that it needed some re-organizing. Google is finally putting the final pieces together in that regard. The Report Center, which has become redundant with Google moving reports to the Campaign tab, will retire in the next “few weeks.” Here is how Google put it:

If you’re currently downloading reports from the Campaigns tab, you’ve already adjusted to the bulk of the changes, and you’ll find that each of your scheduled reports have been copied to the Control Panel & Library. We’ll delete any old versions of scheduled reports from the Reports tab, and stop sending the emails associated with them, by early November. Shortly thereafter, we’ll remove the Report Center entirely.

As you can tell, your old reports will not be functioning after the move is complete. So you want to make sure you compare your old reports with what you have today under your Campaigns tab to make sure you have the information you need.

In the meantime, Google has introduced Google Boost to help small businesses promote their ventures more effectively. It is a beta program that auto-generates listings for Adwords and Google Maps ads. There is a $50 minimum monthly fee to get started with Google Boost. The good news is businesses will have an easier time getting their listings in front of more people.

People have argued for and against this approach in the past. There is nothing with Toshiba bidding on Apple branded terms and trademarks. Besides, having the ability to challenge top companies in a niche from the get go is good for businesses (and for Google’s bottom-line too).

There are going to be complaints about Google’s new approach in Europe. Those folks do seem to be a bit more strict about these things. But Google is not too concerned:

the European Court of Justice has upheld our right to allow advertisers to bid for keywords corresponding to third party trademarks. This change allows us to harmonize our policies across the world. Users will benefit by seeing more relevant ads following a search on Google.

UK Adwords advertisers will be able to use branded terms in the copy of their ads too. If you can afford it, it’s only fair.