Google Online Marketing Challenge 2008

The 2008 Google Online Marketing Challenge results are in....

2008-07-29T11:52:00.000-07:00

Our team posted a very high overall finish in the 2008 GOMC, we were semi-finalist in the United States. An overall ranking of 14th in the US is a very good performance for our group. We will soon get official certificates from Google to help celebrate this achievement.

The Final Paper is complete!!!

2008-06-17T13:34:00.000-07:00

After much discussion and debate over what to write and how to present the information. Our team has completed the last task in the Google Online Marketing Challenge. The judging will conclude by July, so until them I cannot post any excerpts. I will do this after the winners are announced. I can say that overall our account performance was great and the many adjustments made were helpful.
Since this is the first year of the Challenge, do you think it can or will grow in the future?

Final Paper, Google Challenge, Data Collection

2008-05-29T13:39:00.000-07:00

We are currently going over all the information and data collected on our AdWords account. The business owner has stated that,"the AdWords campaign was successful, and I received one confirmed sale as a result." Our team has seen first hand the return on investment (ROI) that this campaign can yield. Now back to the paper, we have mountains of information and ideas, but limited space to divulge this to our audience. I am usually not nervous about writing papers, but with so much on the line and such a divers audience, this will be a challenge......stay with us, more to follow.

Final milestone...

2008-05-24T15:39:00.000-07:00

As we have entered the final phase of this competition. I think that we did a fair job as far as attracting web traffic is concerned. Since, we now have data, we are focusing on doing a much better job to critically analyze it and present our findings.

Thank you Google and Professor Moore...

2008-05-24T15:28:00.000-07:00

I never thought of the logic behind Google search. Always had the idea that it was created by genius minds with brilliant algorithm. By participating in this competition, I came to realize, how simple ideas and simple tools can produce fantastic results. This competition has helped me unlock my understanding of Google, and I would give the credit to my Professor and Google.

Google AdWords really ADD UP.

2008-05-21T07:12:00.000-07:00

From the discussions we had last week on the feedback from our business owner, the AdWords campaign had a huge impact on web traffic. We are currently reviewing the data for our final paper, but I can tell you a few highlights. Overall web traffic increased by more than 30% and the majority of web hits were from search engines, mainly Google. Our client did get a few calls and they were driven by our Ads. Right away it is easy too see that this small investment paid off, however if more time was put into further developing the campaign I believe the ROI would be significant. The Google Online Marketing Challenge is not over by any means, we have to complete our final paper and wait for the judges to decide both regional winners and the global winner. We will keep you posted until the end. May the Clicks be with you!!! (okay that was lame)

The end of of our campaign as we know it...

2008-05-19T17:04:00.001-07:00

And I think we're fine. I definitely feel fine. I think the last time I wrote we were at roughly 65% utilization of our funds. Our client was mentioning that she'd had more traffic driven to her page but still not a lot of actual contacts for work. We then were gained access to her Google Analytics page and noticed a significan increase in traffic as well as an increased duration in the amount of time that users spend on the website.

Some of our Search Engine Optimization (SEO) suggestions were heeded and listened to by our customer and additional links were added to make the page much more navicable.

We definitely need to ramp up on generating formal reports and determine what changes we made, and quantify how the changes we made in our AdWords increased traffic to our client's website.

This was an excellent project for both us (as learners) and our client to learn how AdWords can help grow a business through marketing to users based on relevance in Google searches.

Over and out....

The Ads Click!

2008-05-13T19:06:00.000-07:00

Oh well, just a week ago we were wondering if we would even spend all of our budget before the Google Challenge ends. Now, I have to ask, will we have enough money to make it to the end? Seems like AdWords can and did produce traffic to a website. Now we must further analyse if the clicks resulted in calls, new clients, or further review of the business model. Tomorrow we meet again to hear feedback from the business owner.

I thinks we are in for a great ending to this Google Challenge. Could there be a screenplay in the works?!

click clack....

2008-05-13T14:39:00.000-07:00

So. We've had a very very successful week or so on our AdWords campaign and we are closing in on the final stretch. As a baseline of what we've accomplished is spending roughly 65% of our $200 amount thus far.

What can we take away from this? I'd think that relevant ads based on the word choice you've selected will drive traffic to your website. But, are the ads 100% relevant to the content on the page? Do the ads create feedback for our client?

I guess that information will have to wait for the final documentation to be writ.

Where Are My Clicks?

2008-05-07T07:30:00.000-07:00

Despite many useful changes to the AdWords campaign for our project, the desired number of clicks are not materializing. Google has many reference sources to chooses from in order to answer some of our questions, but the only remedy we seem to see is to revise, revise, revise. A successful targeted ad campaign is not developed in one swoop, a series of historical results combined with the latest market trends analysis will provide the basic blueprint. Just like in constructing a new building, once you break ground who really knows what is under the surface. Well we need to break ground now and find out why the campaigns are performing somewhat below our expectations. It could be the current economy, the landing page, or the selected search criteria. Nevertheless sharp marketing is expected to overcome these obstacles and drive interest and potential customers to a product or service. With a powerful too like AdWords we should be able to find a winning solution. Our team will meet tonight and go over our options.

Writing Effective AdWord Campaigns

2008-05-04T19:28:00.001-07:00

This was by far not an easy task, ad campaigns for web advertising require a different approach. With limited space and only seconds to get your customer to connect (CTR), web ads have to convey the message fast. Most of us are willing to sit through a thirty second commercial during the Super Bowl but may feel less likely to waste time during a specific internet search. The Google challenge is forcing the teams to not only be clever and creative in writing ad copies, but also narrow the search parameters and develop excellent content on the landing page. This does not take away from the fun of the whole Google AdWords experience. I find myself checking ad campaign performance multiple times on a daily basis. This makes me read and understand much more about AdWords and less like to just spend the bank in hopes of gaining increasing click averages. Stay with this blog as we continue to share how AdWords really works!

Let the Games Begin

2008-05-01T09:00:00.000-07:00

This is Matt -- the team inquisitor for the Six Amigos. Oh, and the one that came up with the snazzy name. I'm the one that likes to start the debating about issues that come up in our group work.

This challege...has really been a challenge so far. I'm definitely interested in seeing how this whole thing pans out. Not just for our team, but for Google as well. I can see that this challege is really about creating awareness for this tool, AdWords and how it can facilitate companies in their quest for world domination.

The challenge is in the start-up.

2008-04-29T10:37:00.000-07:00

This is an opportunity that I will never forget. I wanted to take this Internet Marketing MBA class for some time, but scheduling was an issue. Now I am in, and boy am I ever in for something new. The Google Online Marketing Challenge was an added surprise and additional demanding workload. Given that my team will challenge the world and the world will watch our progress is a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate how AdWords can, and will change how traditional advertising campaigns compete.