Introducing Agency Edge: a one-stop shop for Agency Education Online

One of the requests we get most often from our agency partners is for tools that help them put our tools into action to make the web work for them. We listened, and are today introducing Agency Edge, our new home for agency learning online.



Agency Edge is for agency professionals to get on-demand training, sales collateral, and benchmark data to better serve their clients. Agencies can fully leverage the platform as their own by customizing Google and agency materials into “course packs” and assigning them to employees for a globally scalable training platform.







We have consolidated and refreshed agency-specialized content from multiple Google content portals, which are now available for on-demand self service, including: Search, Display, Mobile, YouTube, Think Insights, Google Research, Learn with Google, and Engage content.



Agency Edge is available in English today, with more language support coming. Contact your Google rep for more info about how to get set up!



Posted by the Agency Edge team

Learn from other AdWords advertisers in the AdWords Community!

Since its launch in mid-February 2012, the (still-new) AdWords Community, has been a place for advertisers from different parts of the world to come together and exchange ideas, advice and stories with other AdWords advertisers. It's really inspiring to see people sharing their best practises, pointing each other to resources, and enthusiastically helping those who need it.

 



I’d like to share with you a few comments from our members on their experiences with the AdWords Community:



NehaGupta: “I am happy to be part of Google AdWords Community. I love to discuss about Google AdWords as much as I can as I believe discussions always bring something knowledgeable. Perfect platform for me. I am really excited spending more and more time here instead of Facebook. Everyday I’m learning new things and also trying to take part in conversation by replying answers asked in the forum.”



PPCBossman: “Hundreds of advertisers flow in and out of this Community on a daily/weekly basis and we all roll on as if it's just another day. ...There are great days where lots of problems get worked out, new advertisers are learning and members are achieving personal goals here within the Community. Just as any real life situations, we also have some down times too. ...I have had the most amazing experience here in the last few months, made some great friends, learned a ton and helped a few people along the way as well. But I keep coming back because I know that this Community, Visitors and Members alike, are here for me and guess what, they're here for YOU too! (for the full post click here)



David-nationalp: “I'm here because I'd like the ability to have some input into the direction that Google AdWords goes, understand what's going on in the PPC world, and be able to learn/share knowledge of Google AdWords.”



But the AdWords Community is more than just user discussions; you can find insightful articles (so called “AdWords Wikis”) written by expert users. You can learn more about the some of the community members, such as the Top Contributors, and what it takes to become one. And you can get some reassurance that the Google AdWords Community team is not just a bunch of robots. But instead of taking our word for it, why don't you go and find out for yourself! If you'd like, go ahead and leave us a comment by clicking on the "new message" button directly on the forum.



We are looking forward to see you in the Community!



Note: Currently, the AdWords Community is also available in the following languages: French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian and Italian.




Posted by Zuzana S. Moran on behalf of the AdWords Community Team

Welcome summer with exclusive promotions

Google Affiliate Network exclusive promotions are back! Over 50 limited-time deals are available only to Google Affiliate Network publishers from June 22nd to June 25th.

Follow these steps to get started:

1. Apply for Google Affiliate Network with your AdSense Publisher ID (or sign in if you're already a Google Affiliate Network publisher).


2. Once approved, review the available promotions and click the "Apply Now" link for each one that you wish to promote. These promotions will also be available in your Google Affiliate Network account starting on June 18th. You can find them in the Home tab or by searching for “June Exclusive” in the Links tab.

When can I post these promotions on my site?
All promotions will be live by 12 am Central Time on June 22nd, and all will expire at 11:59 pm Central Time on June 25th. Note that while you may access the promotions by June 18th, you may only post these exclusive promotions from June 22nd to June 25th.

For additional questions, check out the Help Center or contact us.




Posted by Erica Sievert, Product Marketing Manager

Announcing the June 12 DS release!

With the June 12 DoubleClick Search (DS) release, you can now make changes to existing customized Floodlight columns. From the column selection tool, click Floodlight activities under the Available columns header. In the list of your existing Floodlight columns, click the pencil icon and update the name, selected Floodlight activities, and metric as necessary.







Read the Help Center release notes for information on other updates, and on issues fixed in this release.



Posted by the DoubleClick Search team

With over 940,000 followers, H&M captivates Google+ users with exclusive content

When H&M produces hot new collections, the Swedish fashion retailer knows just how to get the word out. With around 2,500 stores spread across 44 markets, not only does the company engage in traditional forms of marketing, but also integrates its social media with other communication activities. An early adopter of Google+, today H&M has more fans on the platform than any other retail brand – over 940,000 followers.



Unique, exclusive content wins followers

Instead of replicating the experience of shopping in the store or on the website, their page supplies a steady stream of interactive content tailored specifically to the Google+ audience. H&M publishes unique coverage, including a captivating range of exclusive collection previews, contests and behind the scenes footage, such as a Vogue editor preparing for an H&M photo shoot. Their most popular posts are the ones for their top collections with Beckham, Versace and Marni.



Using ripples to understand trendsetting

H&M has a very high rate of shared posts. Their team can “View Ripples” to see who has shared content and what has been said. In this way, the ripples feature lets H&M see how posts spread across Google+, who’s sharing and resharing the content and whose opinions matter. The feature can be used to identify influencers and see how communities form around content. The larger the circles in ripples, the larger the reach they might have.


Social extensions to integrate their social strategy into search

Another feature H&M uses are social extensions in its AdWords advertising. Social extensions help the company obtain a higher number of brand recommendations, +1’s and direct traffic to their Google+ page, effectively increasing their number of followers by doing so. On average H&M has achieved a 22% CTR uplift on all their AdWords campaigns thanks to implementing social extensions.



It’s all adding up...



All of this has contributed in great levels of engagement from fans with the following results so far: 

• Average number of +1’s per post: 72 


• Average number of reshares per post: 11 


• Average number of comments per post: 22

To learn more about H&M’s inspirational example, read the full case study here.



Posted by Natalia Cano, PMM Google+ for Businesses

GoV3: It's time to Upgrade

Last week, I mentioned in my Fab Friday post that it’s been two years since the deprecation of V2 of the Google Maps JavaScript API. In those two years, we’ve seen the number of sites using the Google Maps API grow from 350,000 to 800,000, and we have happily seen many sites switch from V2 of the Google Maps API to V3. As we have less than a year before the end of the deprecation period for the Maps API V2, it’s time to remind  everyone else to upgrade to the latest version of the Google Maps API.



With that in mind, Thor Mitchell, Product Manager for the Google Maps API, will sit down Thursday night 18:30 Pacific Time with me and Chris Broadfoot to discuss the benefits of V3, how to migrate from V2, and any other questions you might have about the Maps API. We’ll answer any questions you post on Google Moderator and join us live in the hangout. For those of you not able to join, you can view the video later, which we will post to this blog and to our Google+ Page.



We will also be conducting regular office hours every week, alternating between Sydney and Mountain View friendly times. You can ask your questions about upgrading or anything else related to Google Maps. Just keep an eye on our Google+ Page for more information.



What do you get with V3? Here’s just a few features that are only available in V3:



Styled Maps

Distance Matrix

Places Library

Geometry Library

Weather Library

Circles and Rectangles

Marker Animation

And much more



So we look forward to seeing you in office hours, online, and at Google I/O!





Posted by Mano Marks, Google Maps Developer Relations Team

Map of the Week: Nature Valley Trail View

Map of the Week: Nature Valley Trail View

Why we like it: This map has a lot of great qualities. In particular: It’s a great example of custom Street View panoramas in the Google Maps API and it’s a great example of using the Google Maps API as the centerpiece of a interactive marketing campaign with a positive goal.



Launched in March 2012, Nature Valley Trail View uses custom Street View panoramas to take viewers through select national parks in the United States. What really impressed us is the number of custom Street View panoramas. Taking DIY to a whole new level, the developers of this site even created their own cameras to build upon the imagery that’s already available in the Google Maps API.



According to Nature Valley, the site is about supporting the causes that are important to its customers. This site is part of larger partnership between Nature Valley and the National Parks Conservation Association, a nonprofit group that supports national parks in the U.S.







In using the Google Maps API, Nature Valley Trail View has proven that it’s possible to create marketing collateral that provides real value to a customer. Below is a short video from Nature Valley explaining the origins of the projects.







Above all, this Google Maps API implementation reminds us that many images can be shared as a Google Street View like experience. So if you would like to have your own Street View panoramas (to share with the world or just a small group of people) it’s possible to pick up a camera and create your own great imagery.



Posted by Carlos Cuesta, Google Maps API Product Marketing Manager