Here are a few interesting quotes I found in a short interview with Professor Stuart Hart on the latest developments around the Bottom of the Pyramid concept in an interview in Business Ethics Magazine.
"Western capitalists need to enlist the entire human community in the capitalist dream, which is about pulling yourself up. Unless we can do that for everyone — in a way that respects local culture and doesn’t destroy underlying ecosystems — global capitalism is in trouble".
"When C.K. Prahalad and I started working on this in 1998, people thought we were nuts. Nobody would publish it. It became an underground paper on the Internet, getting a fair amount of corporate visibility. The inflection point was Sept. 11. After that, it was published almost immediately, coming out in Strategy and Business in January 2002. Suddenly people could see how this way of thinking had implications for security, because it deals with the roots of terrorism".
"We’re also looking at creating a worldwide network of collaborating BOP labs at other business schools".
If you have thoughts or experiences to share around this intriguing BOP concept, please enter your Comments.
Sunday, November 6, 2005
Friday, November 4, 2005
Advertisers helping advertisers: it's working!
Several weeks ago, we posted about the new AdWords Help user-to-user support forum on Google Groups, where advertisers may search or browse for answers, ask questions, and assist others with AdWords. At the time we posted, we'd just earned our 126th member.
Today, I'm posting with some exciting news. Thanks in large part to readers of this blog, I'm delighted to report that the membership of AdWords Help has now quadrupled.
And while a 400% increase in membership is pretty great, even better is the fact that AdWords advertisers are actively helping each other every day -- and doing it well. It's truly a pleasure to see. Thanks to all who have taken a look at this user-to-user forum, with a very special nod to those of you who have become active participants of AdWords Help.
If you're hearing about this resource for the very first time, then maybe you'll want to take a look now. You'll find a growing, friendly, and helpful community which offers valuable advertising insight and advice.
Today, I'm posting with some exciting news. Thanks in large part to readers of this blog, I'm delighted to report that the membership of AdWords Help has now quadrupled.
And while a 400% increase in membership is pretty great, even better is the fact that AdWords advertisers are actively helping each other every day -- and doing it well. It's truly a pleasure to see. Thanks to all who have taken a look at this user-to-user forum, with a very special nod to those of you who have become active participants of AdWords Help.
If you're hearing about this resource for the very first time, then maybe you'll want to take a look now. You'll find a growing, friendly, and helpful community which offers valuable advertising insight and advice.
Have you heard?
We've made it easier to spread the word about AdSense with referrals, our newest feature. Not only can you connect friends, acquaintances, and complete strangers with AdSense, but you can generate more earnings in the process.
It's easy: Visit the new "Referrals" tab in your AdSense account.
Pick out a referral button, and add it to your site. Users who sign up for AdSense through your referral button will learn about a great product, and you'll have a new way to generate revenue - $100 when each user you refer first earns $100.
In addition, if you are a U.S. publisher, for Firefox with Google Toolbar referrals we will pay up to $1 per referral the first time a user installs Firefox. (We hope to make this available soon to international publishers.)
UPDATE: Firefox referrals are now available internationally.
It's easy: Visit the new "Referrals" tab in your AdSense account.
Pick out a referral button, and add it to your site. Users who sign up for AdSense through your referral button will learn about a great product, and you'll have a new way to generate revenue - $100 when each user you refer first earns $100.
In addition, if you are a U.S. publisher, for Firefox with Google Toolbar referrals we will pay up to $1 per referral the first time a user installs Firefox. (We hope to make this available soon to international publishers.)
UPDATE: Firefox referrals are now available internationally.
Tuesday, November 1, 2005
The Keyword Tool -- now even more useful
Everyone knows about the importance of creating effective keyword lists, and now there's an improved Keyword Tool to help you do so. Ann-Lee, from the Keyword Tool team, tells us a little more:
Selecting new keywords to meet your campaign goals can be challenging -- that's why we've improved our Keyword Tool to give you more data alongside keyword results. You can see the general popularity of a keyword -- green bars will show you if other advertisers are competing for a particular keyword you're considering or if users are searching on that keyword. Also, you can look at the cost and ad position estimates for a list of keywords prior to adding them to your Ad Group.
We're also excited about a new feature that allows you to generate keywords based on the content of any webpage, such as your landing page (currently only available to advertisers who access their accounts in English).
While we can't guarantee that selected keywords will hit your campaign goals, we hope that this additional guidance will help you make smarter keyword selections. And as always, remember to shop for negative keywords in the results that are returned.
To try these and other new features, access the Keyword Tool from the Ad Group page or the Tools page of your account.
Engineeringtalk talks
You might make frequent changes to the position and design of your ads, but it isn't often that you completely redesign your website. The next time your site is due for a full makeover, take a tip from Engineeringtalk and incorporate what you've learned from your AdSense optimization.
Engineeringtalk has been a successful AdSense publisher since June 2003. When the site's old design needed a rethink, the team went back to basics on the site navigation and structure. Realizing that the vast majority of visitors reached the site through search engines, editor Chris Rand wondered: "Why are we prioritizing on helping visitors find their way around the site when they've already come straight in to what they're looking for?" Moving site navigation from the prime ad positions - across the top and down the side - to a more logical place gave the team more options for ad placement.
Next, the team experimented with AdSense designs, focusing on optimization through typography and placement. They found the biggest influence on CTR was the similarity between the AdSense type (size and font), and the main body text of the page. The more similar the type, the higher the CTR.
The Engineeringtalk team found little difference in CTR between between left-versus-right positioning. So they opted for the right side, which proved useful a few months later, when the final piece of the jigsaw arrived - the introduction of link units. After another round of testing, it was no surprise that the link units worked best in the "prime position" as seen on the "heatmap". The new design can be seen here.
From his experience, Chris learned that it's best to incorporate your ads into redesign discussions right from the start. After experimenting with a new redesign he walked away with this new perspective:
“The recommended positions for AdSense ads are a great place to start, but don't assume they'll automatically be the best for your site, which is unique. Even more important, however, is the relationship between the typography of the AdSense ads and your site's design. Ask yourself if your website's current fonts, font sizes and colors are really that important to you, or if you'd be prepared to change them for better AdSense results!"
Engineeringtalk has been a successful AdSense publisher since June 2003. When the site's old design needed a rethink, the team went back to basics on the site navigation and structure. Realizing that the vast majority of visitors reached the site through search engines, editor Chris Rand wondered: "Why are we prioritizing on helping visitors find their way around the site when they've already come straight in to what they're looking for?" Moving site navigation from the prime ad positions - across the top and down the side - to a more logical place gave the team more options for ad placement.
Next, the team experimented with AdSense designs, focusing on optimization through typography and placement. They found the biggest influence on CTR was the similarity between the AdSense type (size and font), and the main body text of the page. The more similar the type, the higher the CTR.
The Engineeringtalk team found little difference in CTR between between left-versus-right positioning. So they opted for the right side, which proved useful a few months later, when the final piece of the jigsaw arrived - the introduction of link units. After another round of testing, it was no surprise that the link units worked best in the "prime position" as seen on the "heatmap". The new design can be seen here.
From his experience, Chris learned that it's best to incorporate your ads into redesign discussions right from the start. After experimenting with a new redesign he walked away with this new perspective:
“The recommended positions for AdSense ads are a great place to start, but don't assume they'll automatically be the best for your site, which is unique. Even more important, however, is the relationship between the typography of the AdSense ads and your site's design. Ask yourself if your website's current fonts, font sizes and colors are really that important to you, or if you'd be prepared to change them for better AdSense results!"
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