Yandex launches a desktop application for managing PPC campaings

Yandex.Direct, the PPC platform of Yandex, has been around since 2001 and is the oldest system of contextual ads in Russia (Google launched AdWords in Russia in 2002). Even though it displays ads to over 22 million people every day and attracts hundreds of new advertizers from Russia and overseas, the user interface is, let’s say, not the most convenient. Managing large PPC campaigns through Yandex web interface is a challenging task. But from now on it will be much easier for all search marketers. Finally Yandex launched a desktop tool for managing Yandex.Direct accounts, similar to those of Google, Bing and Yahoo!. Please meet  Direct Commander!

The tool is available for Windows and Mac, but unfortunately the user interface is in Russia only. The first version of Commander is not as powerful as AdWords Editor, but it provides all the basic options you need for day-to-day PPC optimization. With the help of Direct Commander you can easily:

- Change campaign and ad settings (targeting, budgets, alerts, site exclusion, automated campaign management features such as Autofocus etc.)

- View statistics

- Create, edit and manage ads

- Add, remove and modify keywords

- Manage your presence in Yandex Catalog

- Import data from XLS and CSV files

The interface is very convenient, in my personal opinion. Commander window is divided into 3 panels

1. Campaigns

2. Ads

3. Keywords

The panels can be minimized if needed. I really like the fact that you don’t need to switch between tabs, but can edit the campaign at all levels simultaneously.

Direct Commander window

Of course, since it is the first version, there are a lot of functions that are missing. For example, it is impossible to download campaigns into Excel. Would be also nice to have the Yandex keyword tool (Wordstat) incorporated into the tool.

I am looking forward to more features in Direct Commander, but it’s already a big improvement. The tool is going to be great help to all search engine marketers optimizing for Yandex.

Understanding Yandex.Direct PPC platform

Yandex.Direct is a PPC platform for advertizing on Yandex and their content network. Yandex hold 65% of contextual ads market in Russia, so if you want to enter this market, that’s probably where you will allocate a big chunk of your advertizing budget.

Yandex.Direct ads in Yandex search results

Yandex have been working very hard for a year or so to attract foreign advertisers, not only promoting themselves at conferences in the US and Europe, but also investing into English translations of the most important tools and tutorials:

• Yandex.Direct interface in English: http://direct.yandex.com
• Yandex.Direct help center and program description in English:
  http://advertising.yandex.com/, http://direct.yandex.com/help/
• Yandex corporate blog: http://company.yandex.com/ with the latest news and features

When I first started with Yandex.Direct, there were a few things, which I had a hard time to grasp, being used to working with Adwords. Below I will list the key differences between Yandex.Direct and Google Adwords.

1. Campaign structure

Yandex.Direct platform allows you to group keywords and ads into campaigns. There is no support for ad groups. The campaigns looks like a bunch of ads with a number of keywords assigned to each ad.

2. Keyword match types

In Yandex.Direct there are no match types as such. The keyword matching works like modified broad match in Adword. E.g. adding a keyword Cheap Laptop Bags into Yandex.Direct will give you similar results to adding +cheap +laptop +bags into Google Adwords.

There is a tool inside Yandex Direct the system that allows you to broaden keyword matching and incorporate synonyms, which will make it more similar to Google’s broad match.

You can start your keyword research using Yandex Keyword Tool.

3. Negative keywords

Negative keywords can be only created at an Ad level.

4. Ads

The ad format is 33 characters for the title and 75 characters for the ad text. Dynamic keyword insertion is supported.

What is not supported is ad rotation. When working with Adwords, you usually create several ads per ad group and test different messages to maximize your CTR and conversion. With Yandex.Direct it is impossible to have several ads shown for the same keyword at the same time.

5. Display network

Yandex have an extensive content network in Russia. The selection criteria for the websites are very strict, therefore you can be sure, when opting into the network, that your ads will be shown only on respectable and good quality sites with a fair amount of traffic. This is a big advantage in comparison with Google’s GDN, where you get all those useless clicks from thousands small spammy sites!

What is different with Yandex content network is that :

- the ads will only be shown if your keywords match keywords in web page content (like with Bing content ads, really), while Google would rather match a “theme” of your ad group than a particular keyword.

- It is not possible to create a campaign targeting display ads only, which is totally the opposite of what Google recommend when working with GDN. Your ads to be shown on Yandex content network AND search results, or in Yandex search results only.

6. Conversion tracking

In Yandex.Direct there is no conversion tracking as we know it. Instead of tracking pixel you get from Google or Bing, the suggest you to install Yandex.Metrics, which is their analytics kit, in a way similar to Google Analytics. Yandex Metrics is a very good and powerful tool; the only problem with it is that it is only available in Russian at the moment.

Otherwise, you can rely on 3rd party tracking solution, but then the number of conversion won’t be shown in Yandex.Direct interface.

7. Mobile ads

Yandex.Direct does not support device targeting. Your ads will be shown on mobile devices by default if they occupy position #1 or #2.

The interface of Yandex.Direct otherwise if pretty straightforward. If you are an experienced search marketer, it won’t take you long to get comfortable with the platform.

Dynamic Search Ads

Dynamic Search Ads look like other text ads that you see on Google search results pages. But in fact they’re a new way to target searches with relevant ads that link to the most appropriate landing page, all based on the content of your website. You don’t have to choose keywords, tell Google when you add a page to your website or take it down, or create an ad for each product page of your site. AdWords figures out when to show your ads based on the same indexing and relevance technologies used for Google's organic search.
How it works

AdWords uses content from your website domain to target your ads for searches


instead of keywords.


You can tell AdWords whether all pages or just specific sections should be used to target your ads by creating dynamic ad targets. Dynamic ad targets can be your whole website or specific sections of the following:
pages that belong to specific categories
pages that contain certain words
pages whose titles contain certain words
pages whose URLs contain certain strings

Using Google’s organic search index of your website, AdWords determines which searches might be relevant to the products and services offered on this website. When AdWords finds searches that are a match for your dynamic ad targets it generates a text ad in real time that links to the most appropriate page from your website. The headline is dynamically put together by taking words from the search phrase and content from the landing page used in the ad. The rest of the ad is a template that you wrote when you set up or edited your campaign.


Although Dynamic Search Ads change the way that ads are targeted for searches, they won’t impact the way that ads get ranked, the performance of your keyword-based ads, or the amount of control you have over your account.
Same ranking. When entering the auction, the ranking of a dynamic search ad is determined in the same way as keyword-based ads: the maximum cost-per-click bid that you’ve specified for the dynamic ad target and the dynamic search ad’s Quality Score using the same calculations that are used with other search ads. The cost for a click is based on your ad’s Quality Score and the AdRank of the ad just below yours, again, just like with other search ads.
Works with your keyword-based campaigns. Complementary instead of competitive, Dynamic Search Ads don’t trump keyword-based ads. Dynamic Search Ads only show when keyword-based ads for your domain aren’t eligible to run in the auction. And the performance of your Dynamic Search Ads won’t influence your keyword-based ads and vice-versa since AdWords handles the history of your Dynamic Search Ads separately from your other ads.
You’re still in control. With Dynamic Search Ads, you control the dynamic ad targets, ad templates, bids, and your budget. You can use negative keywords, like "free" or "returns," just like with traditional campaigns to avoid showing your ads on searches that don't convert into sales. And you can prevent advertising when specific words or phrases appear on the page, like "temporarily out of stock" or "sold out", when you add dynamic ad targets that exclude pages containing these words. You'll also get full reporting: see the headlines and landing pages of your ads, the ad generated, average CTR and CPC, and conversion data.
Who should use Dynamic Search Ads

You’ll probably get the most value from Dynamic Search Ads if you operate a website with hundreds or thousands of products, services, and listings that frequently change. Do you currently map keywords, bids, and ad text to each product listing on your website? Dynamic Search Ads can help you get more complete ad exposure for more of what you sell, while reducing the effort of keeping your ads, keywords, and destination URLs current.

Russia: Advertising on Yandex

In Russia over 46 million people used the Internet in 2010 comprising 33% of the total population according to Euromonitor which defines internet users as those using the internet from any device (including mobile phones) in the past 12 months and generally covers users between the age of 15-74. The Internet is a powerful channel in Russia for advertising goods and services while promoting your brand or reaching your end buyer via contextual advertising. Yandex, a Russian search engine (also operating in Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan) has a average search market share for 2010 of 64%. Yandex offers advertisers a sophisticated service for placing text ads on both its search result pages and millions of pages on its advertising network, in total showing ads to over 30 million people daily. The Yandex.Direct Advertising Network covers various business spheres, from construction to banking, and diverse areas of interest. Yandex.Direct allows for targeting by location (down to city level) and by timing for ad exposure, along with thematic and behavioral targeting on partner sites. Yandex also offers display ad placement on the pages of its most popular services, such as Mail, News, Weather, Traffic, Market etc, as well as on the Home Page - a single placement that will bring you 13 million unique views daily! Yandex has English-speaking professionals who can advise you on the most effective campaign strategy for your business and help you set-up the process that brings potential customers to your site. An English-language log-in system is available that lets you monitor the campaign in real time. It enables you to track visitors, expenditure and set up goals. Online campaigns with Yandex are perfect for a sales-push to a specific audience or for company branding. If you are looking to make boost your sales and company recognition in Russia, Yandex is the answer!

Six Ways to Optimize Your Landing Pages For Improved Lead Generation

Marketing studies have shown that 93% of B2B buyers begin their buying process using the Internet.  When examining your website’s effectiveness, take into consideration the all-important landing page.   A high quality page not only ranks higher in the search engines but it also can earn more exposure in your pay-per-click campaigns and reduce your cost per click. Follow these six ways for increasing conversion rates and improving lead generation

1. Focus on a call to action:

Don’t worry about including navigation on your landing page, as this is not your homepage. Use an arrow graphic to show users how and where to get what they came for and build your content around fulfillment such as free downloads, reports or demos.  Keep the copy short and sweet focusing on the benefits and the call to action.

2. Think Branding:

This is your first opportunity to introduce users to your business.  Include a logo that reinforces brand recognition.  Include a mock-up of the white paper or photo of the webinar presenter.  Be sure to make your graphics click-able as a recent internet study by Eyeblaster showed that viewers who interact with web pages have higher retention rates than those that don’t.

3. Reassure your Prospect:

Create an atmosphere that encourages users to part with their information without feeling like they are risking their privacy.  Privacy statements, customer testimonials, Better Business Bureau logos and guarantees are a great way to do this.  Give them a reason to give you their information.  Set up the problem, talk about your solution and deliver the goods (content) in a professional manner, with biographical information on your author or web presenter when appropriate.

4. Say Thank You:

You can never make a first impression twice. Thank your prospect for sharing his time and information with you. Have a page that confirms their submission and tells them you appreciate their visit. Don’t neglect to show them another offer as well. Also make sure the email they receive in response is well written, short and easy to understand and includes your logo and contact info.

5. Be Search Engine Friendly:

Another important part of landing pages is the URL. The title of the page along with the URL path is weighed heavily. Make the best use of the 1024 characters available to you.  Optimize your URL with things a search engine likes, such as dashes rather than underscores and include keywords whenever possible.

6. Test:

Testing is an essential tool for lead generation.  Landing pages are one of the most valuable things to test and the best B2B marketers are test fanatics. Your landing page has plenty of elements to test, including headlines, copy, forms, offers, designs, colors and more.  Testing the landing page can lead to increased conversion rates of up to 115% or more.

Follow this equation: Take the number of conversions per day and divide it by ten.  Next, take your testing period in weeks and divide by two.  Multiply the two results to determine the number of versions you can comfortably test in your testing period.

Optimizing landing pages doesn’t have to be complicated.  Taking into consideration how you like to be treated as a user who visits a web site can be valuable when creating user-friendly elements.  Use these tips to build the most efficient landing page for lead generation and fueling the sales funnel.

Automated rules now available to all advertisers

Back in December, Google Adwords announced the limited release of AdWords automated rules, a new feature that lets you save time by scheduling automatic changes to your account based on criteria that you specify. Today we’re happy to announce that this feature is available in all accounts.

If you regularly log in to your account to pause or enable ads, adjust your bids, or perform other manual tasks, automated rules may be just the tool you need to manage your account more efficiently. For a step-by-step guide to creating an automated rule and best practices to get you started, visit the AdWords Help Center.

Keep in mind that when scheduling automatic rules, it’s important to check your work periodically to make sure your rules are having the desired impact on your account performance.

Once you’ve given automated rules a try, we want to hear about it! Share your feedback and ideas for improving automated rules by filling out this survey.