chris dalrymple - blog

I read this slightly cheeky article with interest recently - I'm a big fan of the Northumberland coast and it really is stunning - stunning enough, it seems for a Canadian tourist board to use it in their ad promoting Alberta:

So far, so interesting, but what's this got to do with PPC?

Well, it wasn't until a few minutes later while, inspired by the Telegraph article, I started searching for tourist attractions in Northumberland that I saw this ad for the search 'Bamburgh castle':

Funny, relevent and great branding with personality - something lots of brands could learn from.

Labels: google, marketing, sem

Great blog post from Cabel.name about adverts in Japan using search suggestions instead of URLs to guide people to websites.

The main reason is seems is the difficulties of using the internet with both Japanese and Latin alphabets - searching in Google means not having to switch keyboards. It also makes life easier when so many Japanese use the web via mobile.

In fact, more people search for 'hotmail' in Google than search for 'DVD'.

The only problem is, once you've decided to publish a 'search for...' how do you make sure you always stay top?..

Labels: google, seo

Well actually, it doesn't. It just records all the stupid things you do. Interesting article from the BBC about the perils of online paper trails, especially if you're just about to enter the big wide world of employment.

The inability to delete your emo-tastic MySpace profile aside (ever heard of privacy settings?), it's definitely something people should think more about - especially if you've spent your formative years as an online AOL 12 Y3AR OLD SCRIPT KIDEI LOLZ!.

On a few occasions before meetings or job interviews people have asked me about my blog (hello if you're doing pre-meeting research). Because of this I'm very aware of what I write which might incriminate me later, but to a certain extent I just have to live with it - I'm sure any determined Googler could find something untoward if they looked hard enough.

However so long as you're sensible with your privacy settings, use an alias if you want to spill salacious gossip about your colleagues on a public message board and be careful who tags photos of you dressed like a fairy on facebook, you should be fine.

Labels: bbc, google, privacy

For the last couple of years, it's not been possible to use AdWords for sites which allow gambling online (unless you manage to avoid the attentions of Google's editorial team...).

However, it had been possible to advertise free play sites then soliciting email addresses to target later (i.e. littlewoodsbingoquiz.com).

According to a recent conversation with an AdWords rep, that's all about to change however:

I'd like to confirm that we are changing our policies regarding the advertising of gambling from 1st June 2007.

In the past we made exceptions for gambling when no real currency was involved. However these exceptions will no longer apply from June onwards.

Which pretty much means there's no way in to AdWords for gambling advertisers, unless you're prepared to play bait and switch every Friday night when the reps go home.

Gambling SEO just got a little tougher still.

Labels: gambling, google, seo