My Weekend Musings (5th Edition)

It’s been a while since my last weekend musings post, the 4th edition was all the way back in April. So, I thought it would be the prefect time for another weekend musings post! Following are some of the big things going on in my world…

Time For Me

PPC Ian is now a registered trademark of my company, IJL Productions LLC. I’m thrilled, it’s the first trademark that I own and represents my goal of continuing to go really big with PPC Ian! I truly appreciate each and every person who takes the time to read my blog, thanks so much.
Nicole and I had dinner with a great friend tonight who we had not seen for a year! Time passes by so fast, especially in the world of online marketing. Make sure to take time for the important people in your life. It’s all about friends and family.
This weekend, I’m working most of the weekend. I have a big presentation on Monday and want to make sure it’s perfect. I worked half of the weekend last weekend too. It’s all about doing your best and going above and beyond in your online marketing career. Next weekend will be my time to take some time off!
I own a portfolio of websites and recently did some important housekeeping items that have improved user experience and also organic traffic. A few weeks ago, I spent the entire weekend auditing each site and doing the following…
1. I removed all non-converting affiliate links. Even though the links were marked as “nofollow”, I saw no reason to keep such links if the were not driving sales.
2. I made sure all links worked. I corrected or removed broken links. I found lots of them. I also made sure to check the websites I linked to. Some of them were gone and were simply parked pages. I made sure to remove such links, as they are no longer of value to the user.
3. I updated all copyright notices to say “Copyright XYZ Date – 2012”. Many of them had only been updated through 2011 or in some cases 2010. The combination of these efforts seems to be helping quite a bit. My traffic is steadily increasing and also my AdSense earnings are up about 25% over the last few weeks.
It’s important to simplify your life and focus on those things that are truly important. This type of framework can help both at work and at home, it’s a big productivity and peace of mind booster. Recently, I dropped a lot of domains. I’m even dropping domains that have built websites, if they are not earning good money each year. Why keep domains/websites that don’t pay for themselves (and that I have no intent/ability to sell for a profit)? Such domains/websites are liabilities, not assets. This move has helped clear my mindshare while also boosting profits. It’s just like paid search optimization, you need to invest in your winners and cut your losers.
PPC tip of the week: Make sure to ask your search engine reps about beta tests. Beta tests are a great way to stay ahead of the curve and embrace new technologies before anyone else. Moreover, betas often offer a discounted (or even free) way to test features that may later cost money.

Image of Time For Me © iStockPhoto – donskarpo

More Money Saving Tips For PPC Professionals

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Sep 13 3

I’m really focused on saving money this year, it’s one of my top goals. Just a few posts ago, I highlighted Ways For PPC Professionals To Save Money. Since there are so many great ways to save money, especially through the lens of the PPC professional, I wanted to follow up my prior post with some more money saving tips today!

Tip 1: Let Unnecessary Domain Names Drop

Save Vs. Spend

If you’re a paid search professional, there’s a very high probability you own some domain names. If you don’t, I would at least recommend registering your own name. Even if you are the best domain name investor ever, you will probably have some unnecessary names in your portfolio. Don’t feel bad. Even the most respected domain investors around, such as much friend Morgan Linton, have registered domains that they have later dropped. In fact, Morgan dropped a good percentage of the domains he registered in his first year domaining, realizing that his strategy needed to evolve.

So, how do you choose which domains to drop? While everyone’s model will be different, I’m dropping domains that meet two criteria. Criteria 1: The domain has no intrinsic “equity” resale value. Criteria 2: I have no plans to develop/monetize the domain. Also, on occasion, I will drop a domain I’ve developed that is not monetizing well. Registrars make a ton of money on annual renewal fees. Your domain name is a lifetime stream of recurring income to the registrar. Drop your unneeded domains and save yourself hundreds/thousands over the years! I’ve dropped many domain names this year and am happy to save the money and simplify my portfolio.

Tip 2: Always Leverage GoDaddy Coupon Codes

This tip ties into the last one. If you’re an online marketing professional, you likely own domain names. It’s also quite likely that your domains are registered with GoDaddy, the Internet’s leading registrar. When renewing your domains (or other GoDaddy products), always check your email for coupon codes. I receive coupon codes each week and always make use of them. You can save a substantial amount of money over they years by refusing to pay full price and always utilizing GoDaddy coupon codes.

Bonus tip: GoDaddy experienced some network issues on September 10th. If you have hosting account(s) with GoDaddy, you should get an email regarding a credit. Make sure to follow the instructions in the email to redeem your GoDaddy in-store credit. I just redeemed my credits!

Tip 3: Don’t Forget To File Expense Reports

As a corporate professional, you are likely in incur expenses on your personal credit card related to work. I’m talking about mileage to company events, business usage of your personal cell phone (voice/data plan), team business lunches (where you paid for everyone), lunches with clients/customers, and other similar expenses. Every company has a different policy regarding expense reports. Make sure to understand what is covered and what is not. Then, be very diligent about filing your expense reports, especially if there’s a cut-off date for filing such reports. I have known several search marketers who did not take the time to file expense reports and then lost hundreds (or even thousands) over time.

As a PPC marketer, you’re always looking for ways to save your company money, while growing volume. Make sure to also focus on saving money yourself. And, for more tips, check out my previous post about saving money.

Disclaimer: I’m not a financial advisor and this is not financial/investment advice. Before making any financial decisions, make sure to contact your financial advisor.
Image of Save Vs. Spend © iStockPhoto – iqoncept

Ways For PPC Professionals To Save Money

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Aug 31 3

If you’re a PPC professional at a company, it’s all about investing your employer’s money. By making wise use of your marketing budget, you deliver solid returns for your company by driving sales. In the world of SEO, they say content is king. In paid search, cash is king. Invest that cash wisely and the returns will be impressive. Now, what’s a PPC professional to do outside of work, when it comes to saving money and investing wisely? Today I’m thrilled to share some money tips for paid search professionals.

Tip 1: Leverage Your Employer’s 401k

Stacks of Money

If you work at a company (as opposed to being an full-time affiliate marketer), your role typically comes with benefits (especially at larger companies). One of the best benefits around is the ability to participate in your employer’s 401k plan. 401ks are an amazing way to save for your retirement. Dollars go in on a pre-tax basis and get to compound over the years tax free. You only pay taxes when you eventually withdraw your money during retirement. Even better: Many employers offer 401k matching (aka “free money”). I also like 401ks because they offer a “pay yourself first” investment strategy. Money automatically goes in, before you “see it” on your paycheck. No matter how small you start, I think it’s a great idea to participate in your employer’s 401k plan.

Tip 2: Take Stock Options Seriously

Another one of my favorite benefits of a corporate career is the ability to participate in your employer’s stock option plan. View your employer as an investment and choose wisely. It’s possible to do incredibly well by getting in early on a growing company (just look at LinkedIn, as an example). In addition to stock options, I’m also a big fan of RSU (restricted stock unit) plans. As compared to options, RSUs represent actual shares of stock that are gifted to you by your employer. I recommend taking your stock option and RSU plan seriously. Understand if your employer or prospective employer offers one. Then, make sure to keep a close eye on your investment. Don’t sell too early nor too late, it’s all about timing with the stock market.

Tip 3: Consider Lending Club As A Savings Vehicle

I’m a huge fan of LendingClub. This year, Lending Club has become a nice component of my overall savings strategy. You may wish to check out the following posts:

Lending Club not only offers a great way to save money, but also a great way to earn returns on your free cash. My net annualized return is 11.10% – not bad at all. Just remember, a well diversified saving/investing strategy is always important. As such, I have personally scaled into my Lending Club account more and more over time!

Tip 4: Consider Building Websites

I’m a huge fan of web publishing and affiliate marketing. I make money from this blog and also my portfolio of websites, IJL Productions LLC. In addition to earning/saving money from my websites, I have learned so much about SEO, blogging, social media, email marketing, PR, and so much more. In short: Websites are not only a money-savings vehicle but also a vehicle to grow your online marketing knowledge (in channels outside of PPC). Round out your PPC expertise with the other channels and you become even more valuable as an employee! Just remember to always place your own websites as a much lower priority than your job (I spend very little time on this stuff, it’s really my hobby and way of relaxing). In the corporate world, your job is priorities 1, 2, and 3.

Tip 5: Remember To Save Money From Your Paycheck

This may sound obvious, but I want to point it out since it’s not always easy. PPC is a high powered corporate career. If you’re good at what you do and give it your 110%, the upside and career path is great. Take time to save money. When you’re making money, it’s easy to spend money. And, you should since you earned it. However, just remember to save and invest some of it for the future too. Make a conscious decision and take action!

The paid search career path is one of the best, if not the best, around. Combine a strong career path with a strong savings plan and you are destined for greatness!

My Mid-Week Musings (Volume 2)

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Aug 15 0

It’s been a while since I did one of my musings posts. (Here, you can check out my last mid-week musings.) Since there’s so much great stuff going on, I thought I’d capture some of it today, in the second edition of my mid-week musings!

Chili Peppers

I’m thrilled that my guest post about 5 Ways To Leverage In-House Paid Search Insights Across A Company was published on the PPC Associates blog today. PPC Associates is Silicon Valley’s SEM Agency. My good friend David Rodnitzky is CEO of PPC Associates and I’m also good friends with their marketing manager, Hillary Read. Thanks, David and Hillary for sharing my guest post! I’m really happy how it turned out. If you manage paid search campaigns at a company, I highly recommend heading over to PPC Associates and checking out this post.
I love working at my company. Not only is the job super exciting, but the team is the best I have ever had the honor of working with. Last night, my company treated my wife and I to the Red Hot Chili Peppers concert at the Oracle Arena. We enjoyed the concert in style, at the luxury suite. I have been lucky to enjoy many sporting events from luxury suites, but this was my first concert. I actually saw the Red Hot Chili Peppers open for the Rolling Stones back in the day, when I was in high school. It was great to see them again. It was also an incredibly fun time enjoying the concert with my wife, co-workers, and their spouses too. It’s all about the people!
It’s all about Going Above And Beyond In Your SEM Career. Things have been intense ever since I got promoted to VP six months ago. And, I love it! I’m so energized and excited about online marketing. The online marketing career path is one of the best around and it’s never too late to get started! My advice: Push yourself each and every day. Always strive for excellence in everything you do.
Finding Inspiration is super important. One of my favorite sources of inspiration is my good friend, Morgan Linton. Why? I’m always focused on getting stuff done and Morgan is one of the most productive people I have ever met. His blog empowers me to be as productive and energized as possible, and it’s also taught me a great deal about domain names. In life, it’s always important to follow your dreams. Everyone has different dreams, and it doesn’t matter what they are as long as you’re true to your own path. Morgan’s Dream Has Come True – He recently started his own company, and is focused on it full-time. Morgan’s company, FashionMetric, got written up on the Microsoft BizSpark Blog since they were finalists at AngelHack. Way to go, Morgan and team, you rule!
I really enjoyed attending SES San Francisco last year. Even though the conference is right here in San Francisco (just a short drive from our home on the SF Peninsula), I couldn’t attend this year. Too many exciting projects at work, but that’s ok. My wife is attending the event and I can’t wait to hear her recap!
I’ve been getting a lot of great emails from readers recently. I’ve been doing my best to keep up, but sometimes a few will fall through the cracks and I just forget to respond. If I don’t respond, please feel free to email me again. I’m here to educate and empower online marketing professionals, I’m here to help!

Image of chili peppers © iStockPhoto – eli_asenova

My Friday Musings, It’s Been An Exciting Week

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Jun 14 4

This has been a super exciting week. Just last week, I attended SMX Advanced Seattle. This week, I worked really hard, played in a golf tournament, met a domain industry guru for lunch, and attended the US Open. I’m excited to share my Friday musings…

PPC Ian and Work Colleagues in Randy Cross Invitational

Golf is a really great sport. On Monday this week, I played in the Randy Cross Invitational with three other colleagues from work. Our company was one of the event sponsors and we had a fantastic time. We played at the Stanford Golf Course and then enjoyed a reception (and charity raffle) after at the Rosewood Hotel, Sand Hill Road. The tournament raised money for the Ronald McDonald House, an amazing charity. (Side note: Charity is one of my huge goals this year, so I love how this event lined up with my goals and also provided some truly amazing times.)

This event was so much fun because I got to spend time with amazing co-workers/friends, help raise money for charity, and play golf. I have not played as much golf in recent years, but did better than expected (especially on my long game). I’m truly thankful that my parents got me playing golf from an early age, it’s an amazing sport (for fun and business). If you play golf, I highly recommend playing with co-workers. If you don’t, I recommend giving it a try! Golf is a great sport for fun, exercise, and business.

PPC Ian and Nima Jacob Nojoumi

I’m a huge fan of Nima Jacob Nojoumi (@domainadvisor). I have been chatting with Nima about domain names for years. He’s a real leader online in the domain industry. This week, I finally had the chance to meet Nima in-person. We grabbed lunch in downtown Mountain View and chatted domain names, websites, SEO, PPC, and so much more. If you ever have questions about domains, he’s the guy to ask on Twitter. My advice: Find influential people within online marketing and reach out to them! You will build some amazing connections and friendships.

It’s important to spend time with co-workers and partners at fun events. Today, our account executive at Marin Software treated a colleague and I to the US Open. It was truly an event to remember. We got to talk business but also so much more. It’s important to spend time with those you work with outside of the office. Marin went above and beyond with the US Open and it was such an amazing way to spend Thursday.

The last few weeks have been amazing. They have marked an incredible combination of fun, networking, and of course work. While it’s been a busy few weeks, I feel like my team and I have also made incredible progress on our “real work”. Sometimes it’s the “extra” activities that motivate excellence and push you even further. Wishing you a super Friday and weekend! (Note: Like my musings posts? You may want to check out my last one, my mid-week musings.)

Images in this post © PPCIan.com

My Mid-Week Musings

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment May 22 5

I really enjoy writing my Weekend Musings posts. It’s been a while since my last weekend musings so I thought I’d go ahead and do a mid-week musings post. Here are a few exciting updates in my life / thoughts going through my mind right now…

I’m now advertising on Twitter! Thanks to the American Express / Twitter partnership, I was able to secure $100 free Twitter advertising credit and get my Twitter account (@ianlopuch) set up for promoted accounts and promoted tweets. My campaign is already off to a great start and I know that the insights I learn will make me a better online marketer (and will be directly transferable to my corporate role). I’m especially excited because this will help me achieve goal three of my Twitter Advertising Challenge. (You can read about my results so far here.) I’ll definitely do a follow-up post when I have more insights from my Twitter advertising.
I have a major speaking event scheduled for next week. I can’t wait. Public speaking is really thrilling and rewarding for me. In both 2010 and 2011, I spoke at Stanford Graduate School of Business. So far in 2012, I spoke at SVForum’s CXO Forum. I will definitely do a recap of my speaking event in a future PPC Ian post. I’m truly thankful that people are thinking of my when it comes to these speaking opportunities.
My blog, PPC Ian, may have had its most major success ever. PPC Ian is really about you, my readers. I blog here due to my passion for helping others and giving back to our industry. Thanks to PPC Ian, I have formed some amazing friendships and business partnerships. Just last week, I was able to connect a PPC Ian reader who has become a personal friend to a really stellar job opportunity. That PPC Ian reader ended up landing the job! Of course, all credit goes to this person for landing the job, but I like to think that I helped out in a small way by connecting two parties that I respect incredibly. Without PPC Ian, it’s unlikely I would have formed such a great relationship with either party. This news really made my day/week. Helping others always puts a smile on my face and is the goal of PPC Ian.
Surround yourself with positive people who have a “can do” mentality. Remember and document the positive feedback you receive. Winners work with other winners. Ignore the haters, but also embrace them because they are a direct reflection of your success (more haters = more success). Here are some of my Sources of Inspiration.
I was over at Google’s Mountain View campus today. My team and I met with several members of Google’s product management team to give client feedback. Earlier this week, Microsoft met with my team to collect product feedback. There is a clear trend in our industry of soliciting feedback directly from the end user, via in-person meetings. I’m a huge fan and can’t thank the search engines enough!
I have been building great friendships with SEM Agencies such as Rocket Clicks and PPC Associates. I’m a huge fan of SEM agencies and recommend working with agencies even if you have an in-house team. They provide such a valuable perspective and value-add. If you’re looking for a great SEM agency, these are two awesome ones to contact.

I hope you’re having a super week. Thanks so much for supporting PPC Ian!

Image of Twitter Ads © Twitter

The San Francisco Giants and Online Marketing

By Guest Blogger Leave a Comment Apr 25 0

Baseball Hey everyone, PPC Ian here. Today, I’m thrilled to share a fun guest post from my good friend Hillary Read, Marketing Manager at PPC Associates. Let’s jump right into it…

With baseball season upon us and San Franciscans sniffing rawhide, it’s time for a fun blog post: if the Giants starters were SEM channels, which would they be? (Based on Ian’s recent weekend musings about trips to AT&T, I’m guessing he’ll like this topic.)

One fan’s take:

Tim Lincecum – All the rage. The people’s choice. A merchandise-moving combo of style and substance. And like Timeline and its page-loading issues, Timmy’s fastball doesn’t get there quite as quickly as it used to. Yeah, he’s the Facebook of the starting five.

Matt Cain – Steady. High-performing. Reliable. Consistent. He’s not the flashiest choice, but he sure gets the job done. Sounds like AdWords to me.

Madison Bumgarner – He’s young, he’s developing, he’s already had a big impact, and just about everyone (Giants check-writers included) is betting on him going from star to superstar over the next year or so. Madison = mobile.

Ryan Vogelsong – He’s been around for a while (longer than you’d think). And while his performance used to be underwhelming, he’s better than he’s ever been, thanks to a trickle of adjustments and improvements, including better (retargeted?) control. Display it is.

Barry Zito – He was a whole lot more valuable 10 years ago, and just when you’re ready to write him off for good, he pulls out a gem and keeps hope alive. Do you Yahoo, Barry? (They also love him on Pinterest.)

Batter up…

– Hillary Read is the Marketing Manager at PPC Associates and is thankfully not in charge of any SEM accounts. But she is a huge baseball fan.

Image of baseball © iStockPhoto – 33ft

My Weekend Musings (4th Edition)

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Apr 15 9

PPC Ian and Najee

The last week has been really great. I thought it would be the perfect time for another weekend musings post. Want to check out my prior weekend musings? You my want to check out the first, second, and third editions of my weekend musings. Without further ado, let’s jump into this week’s musings…

My amazing wife, Nicole, took me to Yoshi’s San Francisco to celebrate my promotion (we’ll get to that next) last night. We had an amazing dinner and then saw one of my favorite jazz artists, Najee. The concert was totally amazing. While Najee is one of my favorite jazz artists (I have been listening to him since his 1992 album Just An Illusion), I had never seen him in concert before so last night was a real treat. I also got to meet Najee after the concert (pictures to the right and below) and also got my CD signed. As someone who has been truly inspired by Najee’s music for many years, this was the best gift ever, thanks Nicole!
In late March, my lifetime goal of reaching VP was realized. I got promoted to Vice President, Search Marketing and it as been a true honor. My new role is everything I imagined and so much more. I feel a deep sense of responsibility and am so thrilled with everything I’m doing. I’m extremely thankful as the honor would not have been possible without an unparalleled team and company, amazing co-workers and mentors, and of course my amazing wife and family.
I had so much fun on Friday! I attended the Giants/Pirates game at AT&T Park with my co-workers. We had really great field club seats (picture below). The Giants won the game and the weather was perfect. It’s so exciting that baseball season has started. Just a few weeks back, I attended the Warriors/Lakers game with co-workers as well. Sporting events are a great way to enjoy the company of co-workers while relaxing after work.
Google+ is taking off! If you don’t have a business page on Google+, make sure to create one. Google+ is showing up in organic search results and also paid (right rail) from time to time. I’m going to get some screenshots and do a future post on this topic, but long story short it is the perfect time to invest in your Google+ business profile.

Giants Opening Day Field Club

Najee CD Signing

My Weekend Musings (3rd Edition)

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Mar 18 0

The weekend is here, thank goodness! If you’re in online marketing, it’s all about taking some time to relax and reflect during the weekends. That’s how you stay motivated and productive for the long run! Thanks to inspiration from my good friend Morgan Linton, I started writing these weekend musings posts to take a step back and reflect on my week. Without further ado, let’s jump into this week’s musings…

The Weekend Is Coming

I really enjoy public speaking! Last Tuesday, I spoke on a panel at SVForum’s CXO Forum at Sheppard Mullin Palo Alto about Marketing In The Digital Age. This was an amazing event and truly distinguished panel. I was humbled and honored to be on such an incredible panel. Moreover, I was dazzled with the high caliber C-level audience. My advice to those in the corporate online marketing career path: Go after public speaking events, they will grow you as a person and as a leader.
It’s all about connections. How did I get the speaking opportunity on SVForum’s CXO Forum? I was recommended and referred by a friend/co-worker who has some seriously impressive connections. It’s really important to build strong connections. Also, it’s important to make your connections your friends and, of course, make sure to pay them back (or even better pay them forward) whenever you can! Everyone wins!
I’m intrigued by customer testimonial marketing/product marketing (mainly becuase my wife is an expert at this stuff), and had the amazing opportunity to do a Video Testimonial for Marin Software. I’m really pleased how it turned out. Not only is their product amazing, but Marin has a world-class marketing team (and video production team). Thanks, Marin for the opportunity, you rule!
You can’t do it on your own! I have had some incredibly difficult decisions over the past few weeks (in a good way). I wouldn’t be where I am without my wife, family, friends, and mentors. Also, I have been following a lot of inspirational folks on Twitter such as Diddy and Rev Run, and their Tweets have been truly inspirational. Find your sources of support and inspiration. Become a source of support and inspiration for others. Stay inspired, stay on your game!
One of my big 2012 Goals is donating a record amount to charity. Today, my wife and I cut a check to Second Harvest Food Bank that’s 300% the amount of any other single donation we’ve made in our lives. It felt good. There is no reason that anyone in our community should go hungry. Get out there and help those in need of assistance!
About a month ago, I Was Live on the Radio. My good friend Donald Landwrith hosts an amazing show called The Free COO. It’s an amazing show, and quite inspirational.

Thanks for reading! You may want to also check out my the first edition and second edition of my musings. Wishing you an amazing week!

The Ministry of Truth in Advertising

By Guest Blogger Leave a Comment Mar 3 0

Hey Everyone,
PPC Ian here. I’m honored today to share a guest post for you from my good friend David Rodnitzky, CEO of PPC Associates. What is PPC Associates? It’s Silicon Valley’s SEM Agency. David just spoke at SMX West 2012 and did an amazing job! Without further ado, let’s jump into today’s guest post…
All the best,
Ian

The hero in George Orwell’s 1984 has a simple job: rewriting history. He scours over old newspapers (at the direction of the ironically named “Ministry of Truth”) and changes stories to make it appear that the government is doing an incredible job. For example:

PPC Associates

As short a time ago as February, the Ministry of Plenty had issued a promise (a ‘categorical pledge’ were the official words) that there would be no reduction of the chocolate ration during 1984. Actually, as Winston was aware, the chocolate ration was to be reduced from thirty grammes to twenty at the end of the present week. All that was needed was to substitute for the original promise a warning that it would probably be necessary to reduce the ration at some time in April.

To the citizens of Oceana – whose only source of information is the government – this ongoing manipulation of the truth creates a sense of incredible progress:

The fabulous statistics continued to pour out of the telescreen. As compared with last year there was more food, more clothes, more houses, more furniture, more cooking-pots, more fuel, more ships, more helicopters, more books, more babies — more of everything except disease, crime, and insanity. Year by year and minute by minute, everybody and everything was whizzing rapidly upwards.

You might wonder, what does this have to do with search engine marketing? Well, a lot, actually, and the fact that you don’t immediately recognize it as such only further proves my point!

Consider the following changes to AdWords over the last few years and see if you notice any similarities:

The addition of many-per-click conversions;
The addition of view-through conversion tracking;
The addition of multi-channel funnel reporting in Google Analytics;
The addition of “top versus side” reporting;
The addition of “impression share” reporting;
The addition of “minimum first page bid” reporting.

To me, all of these reports serve one purpose: to convince you to spend more money with less regard for your actual ROI. Take view-through tracking, a metric that counts a conversion when a user sees – but does not click on – a display ad and later converts at your site. Do you have any proof that this user was influenced by the display ad? Generally, no – but Google wants you to think twice about disabling display ads with no actual conversions but plenty of “view through” conversions.

Top versus side reporting is another example. Mike Nelson wrote an awesome post outlining how to use top versus side reporting to improve your ROI, but I suspect that most AdWords users see too much “side” position as an affront to their manhood and spend more per click not to increase performance but to increase their own vanity.

It’s worth noting that tools like multi-channel funnel and view-throughs never existed in AdWords or Analytics until Google decided to snap up DoubleClick and YouTube. Suddenly, last-click data (i.e. paid search) needed to share the spotlight with first-click data (display, video, etc.). No doubt if Google+ takes off, we can expect to see a lot more integration of “social conversions” into AdWords and Analytics.

Google’s long-term plan is to create a single dashboard that integrates AdWords, YouTube, Analytics, Google Affiliate Network, DoubleClick Display, and Mobile in one place. Perhaps this will be given to advertisers for free (like Analytics and AdWords currently are), or perhaps this will have a nominal fee associated with it (like ad serving or campaign management through DoubleClick). Either way, the true benefit to Google will be the ability to control how advertisers determine success.

As long as Google controls the reporting and analytics, Google can heavily influence how advertisers measure success. As such, as new Google products and channels roll out, Google can increase advertiser adoption by creating new metrics that validate investment in these products.

Now, before I get an agitated call from one our fabulous AdWords reps (thanks for the cupcakes last week, Elizabeth!), I want to note that I don’t blame Google for trying to influence advertisers through their reporting tools. As noted, all of these tools can be incredibly useful for advertisers if applied properly, and it’s hard to argue with the price!

If anything, the point of this post is to caution advertisers to think carefully about how you define success, rather than blindly accepting what your vendors – Google or otherwise – tell you is a winning strategy. There are lies, damn lies, and statistics. At the end of the day, the one metric that never lies is profit. View-throughs, cost per engagement, virality coefficients, and other fancy stats are all interesting enough, but you can’t pay the bills with them. Focus on profit, and no ministry of truth can ever deceive you!

David Rodnitzky is the CEO and co-founder of PPC Associates, a digital-marketing firm with offices in the Bay Area and Chicago. He can be contacted at info@ppcassociates.com.