Google Local Service Ads Display Pricing Estimates for Specific Locations

Google has recently announced a new feature for its Local Service Ads (LSAs) that allows advertisers to display pricing estimates for their services in specific locations. This feature aims to help users compare different providers and find the best value for their needs.

                                               Tom Waddington shared a screenshot on Twitter.

LSAs are ads that show up at the top of Google search results when users search for local services such as plumbers, electricians, locksmiths, etc. LSAs are different from traditional Google Ads because they only charge advertisers when they receive a phone call or a message from a user, not when their ad is clicked.

With the new pricing estimates feature, advertisers can set up different prices for different areas or zip codes where they offer their services. For example, a plumber can charge more for a service in an urban area than in a rural one. Users can see these prices by clicking on the "View price estimates" link below the LSA.

Google says that this feature will help users make more informed decisions and reduce the number of calls or messages that are not relevant to the advertiser's service area or price range. Advertisers can also benefit from showing their prices upfront and attracting more qualified leads.

To use this feature, advertisers need to have an active LSA campaign and enable the pricing estimates option in their Google Ads account. They also need to provide Google with their service area and price information through a spreadsheet or an API. Google will then review and approve the prices before displaying them on LSAs.

The pricing estimates feature is currently available in select markets in the US and Canada for some service categories such as plumbing, HVAC, locksmiths, etc. Google plans to expand this feature to more markets and categories in the future.

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.

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.