What will Google think of next? Earlier in the month they launched the Beta test of “advanced keyword match”. Then it was the new addition to Google’s search results; search within search box. Now there is demographic bidding.

Demographic bidding helps you target your ads to users of a particular age group, by gender, or to combinations of those groups. You can use demographic bidding whether you are using contextual or placement targeting and with both CPC and CPM bidding. You can refine your reach based on users’ gender and age on certain sites in the Google content network such as MySpace and Friendster. Overall, demographic bidding gives you more control over the demographic groups who see your ads.

Keep in mind that demographic bidding and demographic site selection are two separate ways of targeting your ads. Demographic site selection helps you find and target entire websites that have the audience you’re trying to reach. On the other hand, demographic bidding lets you modify your bids or restrict your ads’ visibility based on the age and gender of the users viewing your ads on participating sites in the Google content network. I think only time will tell if this new product will be accepted or not, but I’m sure newsletters and blogs will be talking about it soon.

As a Client Strategist, I am often the person that my clients go to for advice about their CPC campaigns and reaching their target audience. Recently, I have had several of my US based clients interested in targeting the Canadian market. Their interest stems from the struggling US economy and a desire to broaden their targeting parameters.

Unless you have been hiding under a rock for the past several months, you are aware that the US dollar is extremely weak right now. I am sure that many of you are experiencing the hole in your wallet while filling up your SUV and/or taking a trip to the grocery store. It seems that the cost of everything is increasing dramatically, while the US dollar decreases in value. Several businesses are feeling the effects of the weakened dollar and are desperate to market their product/service outside of the struggling US economy.

According to a recent article I read, the United States Department of Commerce released 2007 tourism figures that demonstrated how the weak US dollar is bringing more people from overseas to the United States, especially people from Europe. At the end of February, the Euro was trading above 1.5 dollars- which was an all time record. It seems that people who are coming from overseas are taking advantage of the weak US Dollar by buying property within the United States, going on shopping excursions, and traveling to different areas of the United States that they may not have traveled to before. I cannot blame them! The value of the Euro surpasses the Dollar, therefore resulting in more “Bang For Their Buck”, or in this instance their Euro.

Therefore, if you consider setting your target parameters to areas outside of the United States, Canada might seem like the next logical place due to the common language, but don’t forget about Europe. With the value of the Euro at a record high, it might be beneficial to reach this target audience, especially if you are a real estate or travel company. Some of the concerns one might face, could be: how a company from overseas will react to a US based company/product, how a US based company will handle the language barrier, and the ignorance about an international market in general. Although those are valid concerns, I think it is worth the effort to investigate the situation and evaluate expanding the target parameters. There are several people interested in coming over to the US right now for plenty of different reasons, such as the ones mentioned above. Capitalize on their interest and increase your sales revenue by testing and targeting different markets. You never know how it could work, until you try it!

You have just searched in Google for a specific product. You are ready to buy and your credit card is in hand. But wait! The page will not load. Annoyed and agitated, you click on the next ad to make your purchase. Let’s face the facts; time is a precious commodity and patience is not something people have a lot of (online shoppers in particular). That being said, there are few things more frustrating than clicking on a paid advertisement and then having to wait for the page to load. Most shoppers simply will not wait and as a result you (the marketer) pay for that click and unfortunately get absolutely nothing from it. You didn’t even get the chance to show what you have to offer! In addition, this will certainly increase your bounce rate and do absolutely nothing to improve your conversion rate or quality score.

It is always important to have your website pages load efficiently and accurately, but even more so now that Google has announced that they will be incorporating “landing page quality” into their quality score. Your quality score is a critical piece of the puzzle within Google in terms of paid rankings. The better your quality score, the better your positions. Google has always tried to provide the user with the best possible experience and this new metric should be in place in the next few weeks. Thus, all online marketers should take this time to ensure that their web pages are up to speed, literally and figuratively. Check out the latest buzz from Google!