Winding Down 2007
Filed Under (the PPC Book) by Jeff Hudson on 17-12-2007
Well it’s been one wild ride this year. Most all of the campaigns I’m managing are fine tuned for the holidays and we are entering what I generally feel is the home stretch of 2007. By the end of this week activity will slow considerably for many advertisers. 
2007 brought a lot of change in our industry. Google Adwords has continued to raise the bar with continued Quality Score enhancements as well as improvements to their platform usability. Many have felt the wrath of the QS, deservedly or not. Others feel Google is doing a poor job of quality control in regards to broad match. Google is asking more from it’s advertisers, and at the same time giving them more tools to leverage and improve their results. Google is leading the way, shaping the market this way and that, exacting their will on the rest of the industry.
On a micro level, what I’m seeing is:
Pay Per Click is still the most phenomenal advertising medium I’ve ever seen. While they used to be a source of information, people need to almost completely disregard what they see in the forums these days. They are overrun with uneducated and ineffective marketers who run out their front door screaming everytime they encounter something unknown. Not one of my campaigns has taken a step backwards this year. 95% are performing at higher levels than they were this time last year. However….
Pay per Click campaigns require more work and knowledge than ever to manage effectively. Adwords has added many new enhancements that will help maximize ROI. Search query reporting, placement performance reporting, quality score indications, adwords editor improvements, etc. At the same time, they are corporation, and it’s their job to make more money than ever before, meaning, Google is getting more aggressive about monetizing traffic. They are tweaking sponsored serps, broad match algo’s, and a million other little things along the way.
Set it and forget it PPC management is long gone. Hasta la bye bye. I now have 10 ads running constantly for every ad group. Ad copy testing is no longer a special event, it’s required everyday. The content network takes enormous time to monitor if you want to reap the benefits. On top of this, Google no longer gives you a free pass if you are a local retailer/serviceperson with a website. If your landing page sucks, so does your campaign. What’s happening as a result? SEM agencies are now having to incorporate web development and design to keep their clients above water. In fact, SEM agencies are having a hard time keeping themselves above water. I’ve been doing this for years, I bring a lot of knowledge to the table, and I still have to work my a*@ off to get my clients results. The talent pool just isn’t deep enough to staff up a large SEM agency.
Weak SEM agencies are getting filtered out, just like weak PPC advertisers. Even strong agencies are facing enormous challenges in growing and sustaining revenues. I remember how stunned I was to see the revenues of one of the ‘leaders‘ of the SEM micro industry in 2006. They saw the writing on the wall in 2007, and have now changed business models.
Decisions need to be made. Will you continue to service clients as a core business, or will you develop your own properties? In 2008 we will see many SEM’s choose the latter. Small shops will be acquired or shuttered, in favor of domain development. Whether it be domaining, seomaining, retail, or affiliate. For some folks growing an agency is not a desired path.
What else do I see in 2008?
That’s it. That’s everything that will happen, or should happen, in 2008. You don’t have to read another blog now. Fast forward to Jan. 1 2009.
