“Since Google ranks ads by bid times ad quality, ads in higher positions tend to have higher quality and higher quality ads tend to have higher conversion rates,” says Varian. “Thus you may see a correlation between auction position and conversion rates just due to this ad quality effect. However, the real question is how the conversion rate for the same ad would change if it were displayed in a different position.”

and of course he has an answer,

“We have used a statistical model to account for these effects and found that, on average, there is very little variation in conversion rates by position for the same ad,” continues Varian. “For example, for pages where 11 ads are shown the conversion rate varies by less than 5% across positions. In other words, an ad that had a 1.0% conversion rate in the best position, would have about a 0.95% conversion rate in the worst position, on average. Ads above the search results have a conversion rate within ±2% of right-hand side positions.”

So there you have it. No longer should you be worried about the ‘placement’ of your ad, but the quality of it.

If you want to increase efficiency and ease of Twitter research, then try out Twellow. This service is basically a ‘yellow pages’ for Twitter. You can go in and search different categories, to find users associated with those keywords.

For example, if you have a blog dedicated to architecture, you can visit Twellow’s category page dedicated to architecture. Every user on the page will have dealings with architecture in some form. F.Y.I – There are 2,744 profiles associated with architecture, and that’s just a sub-heading.

The benefits of the service are priceless. First, as I mentioned is the efficiency with which you navigate Twitter. Second, you can corner your market and find people that will want to visit your site. Just engaging in social media isn’t enough to have it turn profit for you. Much like other forms of marketing, you have to be engaged and really make it work for you. Twellow is a great place to start.

Decision Engine goes beyond search to help customers deal with information overload.

REDMOND, Wash. — May 28, 2009 — Microsoft Corp. today unveiled Bing, a new Decision Engine and consumer brand, providing customers with a first step in moving beyond search to help make faster, more informed decisions. Bing is specifically designed to build on the benefits of today’s search engines but begins to move beyond this experience with a new approach to user experience and intuitive tools to help customers make better decisions, focusing initially on four key vertical areas: making a purchase decision, planning a trip, researching a health condition or finding a local business. The result of this new approach is an important beginning for a new and more powerful kind of search service, which Microsoft is calling a Decision Engine, designed to empower people to gain insight and knowledge from the Web, moving more quickly to important decisions. The new service, located at http://www.Bing.com, will begin to roll out over the coming days and will be fully deployed worldwide on Wednesday, June 3.

Microsoft is committed to building better tools to help people find the shortest distance from their initial search query to the point of making an informed decision. Bing is an important first step toward this long-term vision and a strong indicator of Microsoft’s commitment to move search technology forward for customers.

It’s difficult to say with certainty just what will happen when Bing release. That’s because it isn’t out yet, but if you got by many expert’s evaluations of the Bing demo, you might want to pay attention. Here’s one tweet about someone who’s already decided to make a switch to the service.

Something to keep an eye on is how inclusive Bing looks to be. Very few times in the demonstration, and in the video did anyone navigate off a page. That’s because there looks to be a slew of information available through Bing. How will this play out with content owners, is the real question. We have until June 3rd to make judgement though.

The keyword in my previous statement is quality. Ward drives the point home in his article, that Twitter has massive potential in obtaining the traffic you want.

Let me put it this way: Would you rather have 1,000 visits to your site that were accidental or you questioned their interest…or…receive 200 visits and every single one of those people were there specifically for your content?

At first you might be pondering the question. 1,000 page visits is 5x the amount of the second option. Of those 1,000 you have to think that a certain percent is doing something useful with your site. The problem is that you don’t know. Depending on where your inbound links are coming from, your trafffic could be completely worthwhile, or utterly useless. Option B might have you receiving less visits but you are guranteed a higher conversion rate. Those visitors are navigating through your site, possibly making purchases, and even some could be interested in your hosted ads. YAY!

Twitter, if used correctly can be a driving force behind option B. Ward explains that the great thing about Twitter is when you find experts, or reliable sources in the field your website pertains to. If you’re a gamer, and you are able to build relationships with gaming companies; this is an example of exposing your site to higher conversion traffic. Another great thing about Twitter is the domino effect…

If you have someone following you that is respected in the field, then they have people following them. Those people are exposed to your site, and you could soon have a brand spanking new community following your site.

I’ve been speaking hypothetically in this post, but the real magic is making it happen. Twitter like anything else requires savvy, and hard work to make it be to your benefit. Building relationships online for business isn’t always easy. The best you can do is keep tweeting away, and really provide the content that will blow people away.

If you’re not sure what Google Checkout is I’ll briefly explain. If you’ve ever bought something off Amazon, or any other retailer then you have to go through a checkout process. Google has taken this and simplified it in a way that people with smaller sites can integrate it into their structure.

As I mentioned before, Google Checkout has seen a couple of significant upgrades that greatly increase its value to users. First, they’ve simplified the installation process, to the point you don’t even really need to know a lot of code to do it. Before the upgrade you had to insert the Checkout code directly into your PHP files. Now, they’ve set it up so that when you install Google Checkout it finds where it needs to insert itself.

The second addition, and one I think could take Google Checkout into the next level is allowing subscription selling. If you’re selling something that will have a recurring charge, then Google Checkout will implement it with they’re latest beta build.

If you want to checkout some more about Google Checkout, visit the official blog.

Has anyone used Google Checkout before? If so, what did you think of the service? Is it worth saving money by hiring someone to set it up?

Feel free to drop any comments, or questions below.

It might not sound business related, but I think there’s an untapped potential for Twitter. Actually it has been tapped by Skittles. Which could ultimately make Twitter a huge power player in online advertising.

In this Marketing Pilgrim article, we find that Skittles increased traffic to their site by 1332% due to their Twitter-site campaign. That’s quite a bit of traffic for a site, about candy. Just imagine what Twitter can accomplish for a business more online oriented.

I’m not saying you should drop all your other strategies and adopt Twitter as a main outlet. However, with how easy Twitter is to update, the scope of its userbase there’s no reason you shouldn’t be linking to your site from there.

The trick to Twitter is to become a part of the community, and gain followers. People more than likely won’t follow, or if they will stop if they think you’re there just to advertise. Be natural, and Twitter could provide a bright future for page traffic.

The problem is that while it might not seem like much, checking your various social networking profiles throughout the day can be a time sink. Sure, you might only be checking Facebook for five minutes, but add that to the time you check Flickr, LinkedIn, MySpace, and so on. Instead of feeling bad about doing so, why not make your time spent there work for your business.

Before we get further into this article, let me preface by saying that social networking isn’t for every business. You’re not always going to find a diamond in the ruff by looking to Facebook, or Twitter. But if the conditions are right, you could find yourself with some increased page traffic. Which of course leads to more clicks, and clients.

So, if social networking isn’t for every business your first step is deciding if the platform could help. In my experience with social networking, and business, one key ingredient is how new is your product? What the product is doesn’t matter, but is it something fresh and exciting? The reason being is that social networking takes the old saying ‘word of mouth’, and mixes it with about twenty Red Bulls. If you have an original product that’s engaging, then getting the hype started through a social media platform is a wonderful place to start.

Another aspect of your business, or product you need to analyze is how community oriented is it? Is what your offering going to benefit from starting an online community around it? If you hear yourself answering a loud YES! to those questions, then social media might work for you.

Ok, so you’ve made it this far. If you’ve decided that getting onto social networking is a good idea then you need to know how to start. First, any profile you have on any site that’s being viewed by others needs to have a link to your business. I don’t care how small, or underground it is. If you’re name is there, a link to your business should be as well. Looking through stats, and analytics on different sites you wouldn’t believe where some web traffic comes from.

If you’re utilizing a site that allows you to create a group, or community then base one on your site. Invite as many people as you can to it. Try and do as much upkeep with the community as possible. Even link to it from your actual site. The point is to make sure your community is always thriving, and that there’s something going on. Nothing can kill reputation faster than seeing an owner not actively engaged about their product.

What I consider the most quintessential aspect of utilizing social networking, is Do Not Advertise. The advertising that you pay for, or put on your site should seem completely separate from what your doing through social media. You need to come off as being natural, which can probably be the hardest step to take. The easiest way to do this is to utilize family and friends. It might sound dirty, and underhanded but if you can get people close to you for help you can establish a naturally flowing community with ease. Have them start discussions, and mention the product. In some of the large circles certain people run in on sites, just having one person helping can be a big help.

Once you’ve gotten your social presence started, the important thing is to keep up with it. You’re not going to be a Facebook, MySpace, or any other kind of sensation over night. People giving up after a week, or even a few days is a common occurrence. I know it sounds cliche’, but who won the race, the turtle or the hare?

I hope that you find success in jumping into the social media platform. With the amount of users that have some kind of presence on these sites, it would be a knuckle-headed move not to get involved somehow. You just have to know your niche, and make sure the time and resources you invest are going to be valuable enough to your bottom line.

Of course, having a large friend list doesn’t hurt either …

The Bonanzle site really drives home the community aspect, first by allowing live chat in many of the site’s booths. Second, you can send real time messages to any user at any time. Another unique feature is that user’s locations are easily available for those who want to meet to exchange goods or money.

This of course leads to security issues, but the founders of the site have great things to say about the community they’ve started,

“Our main point of distinction is that we’re trying to create a marketplace where people matter. On other ecommerce sites, there generally isn’t a compelling reason to visit unless you have a specific item you want to buy or sell…We have tried to create a more social atmosphere, where it’s easy to meet and talk with people who share your interests in items.”

After about a hour of browsing around the site, I’m thoroughly impressed with the services that Bonanzle offers. If you’re sick of the crowded, power selling world of eBay you could find a slower more unique pace found on Bonanzle.

Google’s latest news is one of those ideas, depending on your business practices could be deemed right or wrong.

The story originated from Google’s Adsense blog when they made the announcement, “Many publishers have approached us looking for a way to monetize their domains, and today, we’re excited to announce the expansion of AdSense for domains. This product allows publishers to earn revenue through ads placed on undeveloped domains.”

If you go to DonkeyShow.com (can’t believe that hasn’t been developed) then you’ll get an idea of what kind of site they are talking about.

For those who are continually looking for new ways to monetize their online ventures, now might be the time to strike. Domain squatting has always been a tricky affair, as you’re betting on what’s going to be popular down the road. While squatting these domains, you now have an option to at least make some money in the process.

For those who register domains in order to get “accidental” visits, this is good news as well.

The big question though is; is it right? Google has for the most part fallen on the side of trying to provide quality sites to its users. In turn making the internet a better place for people to access information.

How does allowing owners of undeveloped sites to make money help internet users with their experience? While it might not be unethical, it certainly does leave a bad taste in my mouth. Or it could just be the goat cheese.

What if I told you, you can get paid to give away stuff people want.

That’s right; you can give away magazine subscriptions and tech resources to your readers for free and earn money from it.

RevResponse is changing the way people monetize their blogs and websites. Traditional monetization methods such as AdSense and other similar services are burnt out, if you will. Not only are the majority of people in this niche aware that they’re ads, but they’re also sick of seeing them.

And in all reality, those ads weren’t giving away free stuff. They just took you to a page where you would most likely have to make a purchase.

That is the core of a business, to make the sale go through, right?

But for this to happen, the consumer must be convinced the product is well worth the money they will spend. But what if you could get paid for giving someone the very thing they are looking to pay for.

Excited aren’t ya?

Well, this is why RevResponse is the best monetization method in the blogosphere at the moment from my perspective.

So, how does it work?

Like magic.

RevResponse allows you to give away free business and tech resources to your readers like: free magazine subscriptions, software trials, podcasts, and white papers just to name a few.

Once you sign up for free, you can start browsing through the offers they have and select the ones you think your audience will be interested in.

After that, you can use the user-friendly ad wizard to make your widget or ad.

The offers you selected will display in your widget/ad and whenever someone clicks on them, it will take them to where they can download or subscribe to the offer for free — and you get paid for that action.

So everyone’s happy; your reader gets the info they’re looking for and you get paid for it all at the same time. Payouts range from $2.00 to $20.00 per action depending on the content.

So you can be making up to $20 for giving something away to your readers.

Why RevResponse is different

Unlike other methods of monetization, RevResponse allows you to give readers top-notch, quality content you select and earn an income from it.

Unlike AdSense, Yahoo! Search Marketing, and others where you place an ad and based on keywords on the page relevant ads begin to display, you’re giving away something of value to your readers and earning from it — not getting low payments on a pay-per-click basis.

So your readers are happy they got quality info for free and not only will you get paid, but they will come back to your site for more freebies — and each time you make an income from it.

The benefits of RevResponse

• High payouts – payouts range from $2.00 to upwards of $20.00 depending on the given offer.
• Payment- quick and easy payments via check or PayPal Mass Pay.
• Referral program – 20% of the earnings your referrals make in the first 6 months of joining RevResponse is yours.
• White labeling – top-tier publishers receive free white-labeling provided by RevResponse. And all others can easily do it on their own with their Site Setup Wizard.
• Account manager – All publishers are assigned an account manager, if they want more of a 1 on 1 experience
• International – As long as the Websites are relevant to the offers, they accept publishers from any country.
• Forum and blog – RevResponse has an extremely helpful community and constantly keeps contact with their publishers via their support forum and blog. Unlike other services, RevResponse opted not to keep everything behind closed doors and chose to talk about every aspect of their service with their publishers.

Why you should join RevReponse

RevResponse is truly in a class of its own. Not only do they bring diversity to the way people monetize their blogs, but they also ensure both parties are pleased; you earn an income and your readers get quality content they were already looking for. And they don’t have to click on an ad, read a sales copy, or make a purchase to do so.

With RevResponse there’s no purchase or sales copy.

Just free content that you get paid to give out for . . . free! Also, if you don’t want to place any widgets or ads on your homepage, RevResponse allows you to create your own page with all the free, quality offers you selected. And if that’s not enough, you can customize it to match your Website too!

So if you want to get paid to give away freebies and have a better way to monetize your Website, I highly recommend signing up to RevResponse.