I read an article yesterday in AdAge (printed version) that was discussing how MSN is trying to unload Avenue A Razorfish (AARF). I won’t go into detail on the article, because it wasn’t as interesting as the article about Sanjaya (American Idol’s popular black sheep) being spotted in AdAge’s Manhattan offices.

The article, however, did spark a severe issue with me and a colleague.  If AARF is managing PPC accounts and so is Google - but yet they are actually the ad venue, isnt’ this a conflict of interest? It’s like going to your car dealer and asking them to finance your loan.  You might as well club yourself over the head.

I’ve heard so many times how easy it is to setup a Google Adwords Account, and well, yes it is.  You just need 5 minutes and a credit card because Google will select your 20 keywords for you. And into the lions den you go.  Consider this, why would Google only say you need 20 keywords? Well, because they are making $600 million dollars a year off of their keyword advertising. So naturally any smart ad venue is going to tell you that you should be bidding on the most broad and expensive keywords available.  Do they mention anything about conversion rate or conversion tracking? No. But, they do tell you how important click-through (CTR) is.  That’s because they get paid when someone clicks on your ads.

My point really is - I can’t believe there aren’t any regulations around Google managing client PPC accounts, in addition to MSN having purchased an agency as a part of a bigger collective but also manages their accounts.  How can this be good?

Hire us to manage your pay-per-click campaigns.

Good question, most likely yes.  You may not have as many people searching for you as Paris Hilton or Britney Spears, but if you know anyone at all, the Internet is your key to finding information quickly and easily on anyone or anything.

Just yesterday I met with a client who was surprised to discover his name was the third highest referring keyword to his web site.  It was not only surprising, but alarming to him.  So, this morning, I decided to search my name.  I realize I am all over the Internet (I’m not bragging by all means). But, I have signed up for A LOT of “stuff” online.  I’m an Internet Marketing junkie, it’s my job.  Who can fault me for it?

The thing is, searching for my name on Google and other search engines has become a regular habit. I advise you to make it one as well.  With all these new sites, directory sites, social and people sites popping up every day your information can be out there and someone/anyone can claim it.  Sites like zoominfo and spoke may have your information, career history, address, etc. and anyone can claim it with an email address.  It’s just that easy.

Additionally, it’s good to see where you show up and who else shares your name be it a company or individual.  If your name is not returning a result for your company or organization, you might consider adjusting SEO tactics and strategies depending on your objectives.

We are having an internal debate and really decided to take it to the masses.  Completely unrelated to what we actually do, but for the benefit of our clients and the hopes of overturning the definition in Webster we are petitioning you to help us fight the good fight.

According to Webster and Dictionary.com - bi-monthly means twice a month AND once in every two months. We want to stop the madness. Help us overturn the definition - pick a side and stand by it.

Tell us what bi-monthly means to you if you had to choose:

You can subscribe to the results of this poll by RSS. Simply copy the link below into your RSS reader.
http://polldaddy.com/pollRSS.aspx?id=24AFF214BB5314AD