Here at LeadQual, we have a lot to be thankful for – while the economy outside is stormy, LeadQual is growing – we added 7 people in December alone.  It gives both Glenn and I great level of satisfaction to be adding folks, versus laying people off.  I believe small businesses will be what pulls this country out of our severe recession, and most of our clients are these small businesses, so we thank you.  This year, unlike prior years, we decided to forgo giving holiday gifts to our clients.  In lieu of distributing these gifts, we gave contributions to local food banks, as well as funds to Donor’s Choose (thanks Google).  I posted a few of the letters we received in thanks, and wish to pass along my sincere appreciation to our clients, partners and friends (see Thank you letter from Alameda Food Bank and Google’s Donor’s Choose).  Happy holidays.

Andrew

First, I’d like to thank the CAPPS (California Association of Private Postsecondary Schools) team for allowing me to speak at thier annual conference.  We have done a number of tests in the edu veritcal and find a lot of areas of opportunities.  This vertical is highly competitive and the big players have a lot of advantages - we believe by working with us, you can level the playing field.  I have been asked for my presentation by a number of folks, so I have uploaded it here.  Thanks,

 Andrew

Google Quality Score and Minimum CPC

Both Google & Microsoft reported their earnings today. Both search engine companies missed analyst’s estimates bringing up more question about how much the slowing economy is weighing on the search engine market.

Google fell $49.70 (-9.3%) to $473.74 as of 9:35PM PST. Microsoft slid $2.14 (-7.8%) to $25.37.

The missed targets brings up the concern that searchers are spending less online and the effect of the economy on the technology industry as a whole. Google reported a slowdown in the growth of consumers clicking on their online ads. Eric Schmidt said that Google faces “a more challenging economic environment” for the first time in a while. Though some technology companies, most notably Intel Corp, was able to beat estimates, the entire technology sector was brought down by the slow reported earnings.

Google also reported a higher than expected increase in research as their spend rose 65 percent which cut into their profits. Administrative expenses also rose 49 percent partly due to their fight against Viacom Inc.

LeadQual as a whole is starting feel the impact of the economy as many clients are curbing their spend or targeting higher ROI at the expense of volume. As LeadQual’s clients range across numerous industries, we see that some sectors such as real estate are hit the hardest while others like B2B continue to remain more steady. Though marketing dollars are being cut, many companies do end up allocating a larger percentage of their budget to SEM because it’s a medium that is fully trackable and easy to measure.

Paul Lee
Director of Online Marketing
LeadQual - Search Engine Marketing

Did you know the Google Mini Fridge can be plugged into your car lighter? Did you know the Google Mini Fridge can be set on Cold or Hot? Did yo know the Cold & Hot switches are switched backwards? For those who have been using Google Adwords extensively for their businesses may know about a little swag called the “Google Mini Fridge”. Most small business users are often surprised when this gift appears at their door but for those who have been advertising on Google for years know, this is the swag you wanted. Why? The fridge itself is nothing spectacular but it’s almost a trophy item. It’s a badge that says, you’ve spent a lot of money on Google. Hopefully this translate to having a lot of experience rather than having wasted tons of money. Regardless LeadQual is a proud owner of a mini-fridge. See it below!

What does that mean for LeadQual? It means we have tons of experience…In all seriousness, since several of us have done PPC and SEM for many years we’ve come across many fridges in our time.

So how does one receive such a novelty item?
You have to hit particular milestones. Whether that be a million clicks, 3 million clicks, 1 million leads, it is certainly all over the place depending on who you ask but what is certain is that you have to hit the million mark to be considered. The three figures I noted above were real click and lead milestones I’ve heard that warranted a Google Mini Fridge. It seems to be its really up to the Google reps.There are some interesting things people are doing with the fridge. Some are posting it on Ebay. Others are using it to create back links for their blogs by running contests that requires the entrants to link to their blog. Others like us are just using it as a beauty piece occasionally used to hold cold drinks for the office.

Paul Lee
Sr. Manager of Web Marketing
LeadQual - Search Engine Marketing