If your ad text includes a term from your keyword list, that term will appear in bold text when that word is in a user's search. This can help improve the clickthrough rate of your ad, as its relevance is highlighted to the user. So the next time you're writing a new ad, boldly experiment with using a keyword in the copy or title. Want more details? Take a look here.
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
A *Bold* New World
On this blog, we'll be showcasing tips from the AdWords team. Our first one is from Emel, an AdWords Specialist:
Monday, May 16, 2005
So we heard this blogging thing is going to be huge...
Recently, we were putting the finishing touches on some really cool new features for AdWords, and our conversation turned to a common theme: We’re really proud of AdWords because we know it can help people worldwide advertise successfully, but we wish we had a better place to tell you about it. Lucky for us, the Blogger team works down the hall.
So, with that… Welcome to Inside AdWords!
Here’s what you’ll find when you visit adwords.blogspot.com…
- Updates on enhancements we've made to the system
- Thoughts on things that advertisers have been asking about
- Tips on getting the most from AdWords
- Details on tools we think you'll find useful
- Links to articles you might find interesting
That’s it. We’ll try and post every few days, and hope that you'll come back often.
And if you have suggestions for this site, send them to inside-adwords@google.com.
So, with that… Welcome to Inside AdWords!
Here’s what you’ll find when you visit adwords.blogspot.com…
- Updates on enhancements we've made to the system
- Thoughts on things that advertisers have been asking about
- Tips on getting the most from AdWords
- Details on tools we think you'll find useful
- Links to articles you might find interesting
That’s it. We’ll try and post every few days, and hope that you'll come back often.
And if you have suggestions for this site, send them to inside-adwords@google.com.
Sunday, May 1, 2005
Business Ethics for SMEs
This month, Ethics Today (the Newsletter from the Ethics Resource Center) focuses on ethics initiatives in smaller organizations. More often than not, resources and new insights for organizational ethics are assumed to have universal appeal. However, their research and experience have revealed that organizations with fewer than 500 employees represent a very different mix when it comes to effective ethics program efforts.
On the one hand, small businesses exist as streamlined examples of the impact of organizational leadership on a company's ethical culture.
On the other hand, smaller organizations are much less likely than larger ones to have in place what we now consider to be "formal elements" of an ethics program, namely written ethics standards, ethics training, a dedicated ethics office/advice line, and a means to report misconduct anonymously.
In May 2004, the U.S. Department of Commerce published a manual for corporate responsibility programs that integrates corporate governance, organizational ethics, and social responsibility. "Business Ethics: A Manual for Managing a Responsible Business Enterprise in Emerging Market Economies" was co-authored by ERC Principal Consultant Kenneth W. Johnson and Igor Y. Abramov, Senior Advisor, Market Access and Compliance, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce.
Because the bulk of businesses in all economies, especially emerging market economies, consist of small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), note the authors, most chapters discuss specific issues facing SMEs. Some chapters have tables comparing the best practices of large, complex enterprises and cost-effective solutions for the SME.
Chapter 6 (pages 129-140) examines business ethics infrastructure -- the structures and systems that help enterprise owners and managers address issues of responsible business conduct. The manual details the best practices that have been developed by large, complex enterprises (LCEs). While valuable for similarly situated enterprises in emerging market economies, they can also serve as models for small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). By considering the best practices that have been generated over countless hours by larger organizations, SMEs can design business ethics infrastructure that meets world-class standards but is tailored to the requirements of an SME.
According to the authors, leading enterprises, government agencies, and NGOs have found that an effective business ethics program addresses functions at seven levels of responsibility. Table 6.1 describes how a typical SME might staff these seven responsibility functions. Also in this chapter is a box that lists "Ten Ways Small Business Owners can Prevent and Detect Fraud."
The book contains numerous practical examples, worksheets and checklists, a bibliography, a glossary, and-in its nine appendices-numerous examples of business ethics policies adopted by various countries and organizations.
The manual can be downloaded for free at:
http://www.ita.doc.gov/media/Publications/blurbs/ethics2004blurb.html. (Printed versions are available for sale also at that site.)
More on Business Ethics in SMEs can be found at the Ethics Resource Center , a great source of information on Business Ethics.
On the one hand, small businesses exist as streamlined examples of the impact of organizational leadership on a company's ethical culture.
On the other hand, smaller organizations are much less likely than larger ones to have in place what we now consider to be "formal elements" of an ethics program, namely written ethics standards, ethics training, a dedicated ethics office/advice line, and a means to report misconduct anonymously.
In May 2004, the U.S. Department of Commerce published a manual for corporate responsibility programs that integrates corporate governance, organizational ethics, and social responsibility. "Business Ethics: A Manual for Managing a Responsible Business Enterprise in Emerging Market Economies" was co-authored by ERC Principal Consultant Kenneth W. Johnson and Igor Y. Abramov, Senior Advisor, Market Access and Compliance, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce.
Because the bulk of businesses in all economies, especially emerging market economies, consist of small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), note the authors, most chapters discuss specific issues facing SMEs. Some chapters have tables comparing the best practices of large, complex enterprises and cost-effective solutions for the SME.
Chapter 6 (pages 129-140) examines business ethics infrastructure -- the structures and systems that help enterprise owners and managers address issues of responsible business conduct. The manual details the best practices that have been developed by large, complex enterprises (LCEs). While valuable for similarly situated enterprises in emerging market economies, they can also serve as models for small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). By considering the best practices that have been generated over countless hours by larger organizations, SMEs can design business ethics infrastructure that meets world-class standards but is tailored to the requirements of an SME.
According to the authors, leading enterprises, government agencies, and NGOs have found that an effective business ethics program addresses functions at seven levels of responsibility. Table 6.1 describes how a typical SME might staff these seven responsibility functions. Also in this chapter is a box that lists "Ten Ways Small Business Owners can Prevent and Detect Fraud."
The book contains numerous practical examples, worksheets and checklists, a bibliography, a glossary, and-in its nine appendices-numerous examples of business ethics policies adopted by various countries and organizations.
The manual can be downloaded for free at:
http://www.ita.doc.gov/media/Publications/blurbs/ethics2004blurb.html. (Printed versions are available for sale also at that site.)
More on Business Ethics in SMEs can be found at the Ethics Resource Center , a great source of information on Business Ethics.
Friday, April 1, 2005
Keep the objective in mind
(Cross posted from my java.net blog)
My wife and I are not the most practical people in the world. We live in Austin, which is in central Texas, and my wife’s family lives in El Paso, which is as far west as you can go in Texas (El Paso is actually closer to Los Angeles CA then it is to Houston TX).
Roughly 500 miles west of Austin and 200 miles east of El Paso there is a desert mountain range called the Davis Mountains. Its main claims to fame are the ruins of old Fort Davis and the McDonald Observatory.
We fell in love with this remote mountain range and purchased 18.24 acres on the top of a ridge, the only access to which is a rocky dirt road with several astoundingly steep and twisty switchbacks. It’s an adventure just to get to our property when it’s dry, and if it’s raining you will be taking your life in your hands if you try to get down off the mountain (even with 4 wheel drive). The payoff is a fantastic view.
On top of this isolated ridge that others might call god-forsaken, we’re building a cabin. It’s tough even to get materials up to the site, everything has to come up those steep switchbacks, but I was able to convince a local to deliver two prefab metal buildings (one is 14’ by 24’ and the other is 12’ by 12’). They aren’t much to look at yet, but they’re very sturdy and an excellent base on which to build. Once I’ve encased the shells in papercrete and build some covered porches our little casita is going to be quite delightful.
Thus far, the vast majority of this endeavor has been done remotely, via the phone and email. I’ve never actually met the gentleman who built and delivered the cabins. My communications with him were pretty much limited to a sketch of where I wanted the doors and windows, how I wanted the buildings to relate to each other, and one simple directive:
I am delighted with the results. The doors and windows are not precisely where I want them, but when I sit in the big room and look out the French doors I’m staring right at the McDonald Observatory (the telescopes are the white dots on the far mountain in the picture below).
In our world of software development, simple directives are often overlooked. We often get lost in the minutiae and confuse details with objectives. It isn’t worth a darn if my doors and windows are accurate to the millimeter unless I can see the Observatory.
Kohsuke Kawaguchi’s recent blog entry: "Should JAXB Work With Fields or Properties?" is a good example of how we can lose sight of the Observatory. Kohsuke shares with us a decision that is facing the JAXB 2 development community: Should the default behavior store all of the fields in an object, or only fields that have getters and setters. This is a great question, and Koshuke lays out the options well… I am really glad that he shared this with us.
I don’t have a strong passion for the outcome of this question, but I am passionate in promoting clear thinking. My response to Koshuke was the following:
Beyond the answer to Koshuke’s question lies another interesting question. If there is controversy on what the default behavior for JAXB 2 should be, then is it meaningful to have a default behavior at all?
Over the years I have fallen into these traps repeatedly. My colleagues and I endlessly debated questions based on what we did at previous jobs or whether or not it was easy to implement one solution over another. We often forgot to step back and ask:
With JAXB the objective is pretty clear; provide a Java to XML persistence technology. All decisions on details must defer to that objective.
Amazingly, we’re back to communicating with our customers. We’ve got to really understand what our customers want and what our customers expect. We can’t do that unless we have a glimmer about how our customers think. If we aren’t sure what most customers expect, then we cannot provide “default behaviors”.
My contractor in Fort Davis understands why people want to build cabins on top of remote mountains. They love the view. It’s tremendously important to build a structure that can survive the high winds and temperature extremes, but it’s the view that’s going to determine success or failure. I’ll bet he would have lined up my French door with the Observatory (the best view) even without my directive.
The JAXB development team is actually pretty lucky. Most of them plan to use JAXB themselves, so they can empathize with their customers. It’s not so easy when your customers are business people who aren’t technologists.
My wife and I are not the most practical people in the world. We live in Austin, which is in central Texas, and my wife’s family lives in El Paso, which is as far west as you can go in Texas (El Paso is actually closer to Los Angeles CA then it is to Houston TX).
Roughly 500 miles west of Austin and 200 miles east of El Paso there is a desert mountain range called the Davis Mountains. Its main claims to fame are the ruins of old Fort Davis and the McDonald Observatory.
We fell in love with this remote mountain range and purchased 18.24 acres on the top of a ridge, the only access to which is a rocky dirt road with several astoundingly steep and twisty switchbacks. It’s an adventure just to get to our property when it’s dry, and if it’s raining you will be taking your life in your hands if you try to get down off the mountain (even with 4 wheel drive). The payoff is a fantastic view.
On top of this isolated ridge that others might call god-forsaken, we’re building a cabin. It’s tough even to get materials up to the site, everything has to come up those steep switchbacks, but I was able to convince a local to deliver two prefab metal buildings (one is 14’ by 24’ and the other is 12’ by 12’). They aren’t much to look at yet, but they’re very sturdy and an excellent base on which to build. Once I’ve encased the shells in papercrete and build some covered porches our little casita is going to be quite delightful.
Thus far, the vast majority of this endeavor has been done remotely, via the phone and email. I’ve never actually met the gentleman who built and delivered the cabins. My communications with him were pretty much limited to a sketch of where I wanted the doors and windows, how I wanted the buildings to relate to each other, and one simple directive:
"Align the cabin so that I can see the McDonald Observatory through the front door."
I am delighted with the results. The doors and windows are not precisely where I want them, but when I sit in the big room and look out the French doors I’m staring right at the McDonald Observatory (the telescopes are the white dots on the far mountain in the picture below).
 |
| From November2005 |
In our world of software development, simple directives are often overlooked. We often get lost in the minutiae and confuse details with objectives. It isn’t worth a darn if my doors and windows are accurate to the millimeter unless I can see the Observatory.
Kohsuke Kawaguchi’s recent blog entry: "Should JAXB Work With Fields or Properties?" is a good example of how we can lose sight of the Observatory. Kohsuke shares with us a decision that is facing the JAXB 2 development community: Should the default behavior store all of the fields in an object, or only fields that have getters and setters. This is a great question, and Koshuke lays out the options well… I am really glad that he shared this with us.
I don’t have a strong passion for the outcome of this question, but I am passionate in promoting clear thinking. My response to Koshuke was the following:
"Step back and consider JAXB's purpose.
You wrote: "JAXB 2.0 is primarily a persistence technology"
This tells me that the intent of JAXB is to persist a Java POJO... in this case the persistent form is an XML representation, but that doesn't really matter.
As a "persistence technology", JAXB's reason for being is to be able to store an object, and then restore it later to the same state.
Ask yourself the question: Do the properties of the object dictate its state, or do the fields of the object dictate its state?
Answer that question and you'll have the answer to your question."
Beyond the answer to Koshuke’s question lies another interesting question. If there is controversy on what the default behavior for JAXB 2 should be, then is it meaningful to have a default behavior at all?
Over the years I have fallen into these traps repeatedly. My colleagues and I endlessly debated questions based on what we did at previous jobs or whether or not it was easy to implement one solution over another. We often forgot to step back and ask:
"What was the objective?"
With JAXB the objective is pretty clear; provide a Java to XML persistence technology. All decisions on details must defer to that objective.
Amazingly, we’re back to communicating with our customers. We’ve got to really understand what our customers want and what our customers expect. We can’t do that unless we have a glimmer about how our customers think. If we aren’t sure what most customers expect, then we cannot provide “default behaviors”.
My contractor in Fort Davis understands why people want to build cabins on top of remote mountains. They love the view. It’s tremendously important to build a structure that can survive the high winds and temperature extremes, but it’s the view that’s going to determine success or failure. I’ll bet he would have lined up my French door with the Observatory (the best view) even without my directive.
The JAXB development team is actually pretty lucky. Most of them plan to use JAXB themselves, so they can empathize with their customers. It’s not so easy when your customers are business people who aren’t technologists.
Firms are nervous about ethics and fast to fire
Two senior investment bankers at Bank of America were summoned to a meeting where their boss, visibly uncomfortable and flanked by bank lawyers, read them a statement. They were both dismissed and asked to leave the building immediately. The decision was final.
Stunned, the bankers asked if they had broken any regulations. No, they were told. Nor had they traded on any inside information. Within the hour, they had turned in their BlackBerrys and laptops and were on their way home to the suburbs.
This example illustrates one effect of heightened regulatory scrutiny in the United States after the collapse of Enron and other companies. Corporations and their boards are adopting zero-tolerance policies and increasingly holding their employees to lofty standards of business and personal behavior.
The result is a wave of abrupt firings as corporations move to stop perceived breaches of ethics by their employees that could result in law enforcement action, or public relations disasters.
In the ruthlessly competitive world of investment banking, the two investment bankers at Bank of America had been doing what presumably was their job. Acting on a tip from a rival banker, they had called a company preparing to merge with another and asked to get in on the deal.
In a different era, such a ploy might well have been seen as an example of what hungry bankers do to secure an inside edge with a client and maybe even a better bonus - not an inappropriate use of confidential information and cause for termination.
'We are in a regulatory frenzy,' said Ira Lee Sorkin, a senior white-collar-crime lawyer at Carter Ledyard & Milburn in Manhattan. Read on.
Stunned, the bankers asked if they had broken any regulations. No, they were told. Nor had they traded on any inside information. Within the hour, they had turned in their BlackBerrys and laptops and were on their way home to the suburbs.
This example illustrates one effect of heightened regulatory scrutiny in the United States after the collapse of Enron and other companies. Corporations and their boards are adopting zero-tolerance policies and increasingly holding their employees to lofty standards of business and personal behavior.
The result is a wave of abrupt firings as corporations move to stop perceived breaches of ethics by their employees that could result in law enforcement action, or public relations disasters.
In the ruthlessly competitive world of investment banking, the two investment bankers at Bank of America had been doing what presumably was their job. Acting on a tip from a rival banker, they had called a company preparing to merge with another and asked to get in on the deal.
In a different era, such a ploy might well have been seen as an example of what hungry bankers do to secure an inside edge with a client and maybe even a better bonus - not an inappropriate use of confidential information and cause for termination.
'We are in a regulatory frenzy,' said Ira Lee Sorkin, a senior white-collar-crime lawyer at Carter Ledyard & Milburn in Manhattan. Read on.
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