Wall Street was surprised as Google released earnings for the first quarter of 2008 that showed, not a slowing of the massive growth rate experienced in the third and fourth quarters of 2007, a 42% increase from the same period last year. The line Google has been towing has been that they have been refining their system to increase the quality of the service to both advertisers and searchers. Google’s lower click numbers had worried many stake holders and expectations just before the release of the information were much lower for the search giant. Here are the seven biggest changes Google has made in the Q1 2008:
1. Demographic bidding & exclusion
2. Demographic reporting
3. Site exclusion limit removal
4. Integrating audio ads with analytics
5. Landing page load time integration into quality score
6. Updated URL policy
7. Google Business YouTube channel
With Microsoft and Yahoo battling over a buyout at the number two and three spots in search Google has not lost a step. Google continues to take their ad serving system in directions to meet the more traditional standards B2B marketers insist upon, greater control over who does and does not see their ads and the ability to track ROI and optimize easily.
