View Full Version : AdWords Surprise!
abbottsys
11-03-2007, 10:51 AM
Has anyone else noticed the new Ad unit? It's a small "Ads by Google" search box that lets you grab ads for any keywords you enter. I love it.
So far the only place I've seen it is on my new blog below. (No, this is NOT a clever way to self promote, it's honestly the only place I've seen this new unit.)
It's on here..
http://adwords-addict.blogspot.com
Anyone seen it anywhere else?
abbottsys
11-04-2007, 11:30 AM
Has anyone else noticed the new Ad unit? It's a small "Ads by Google" search box that lets you grab ads for any keywords you enter. I love it.
So far the only place I've seen it is on my new blog below. (No, this is NOT a clever way to self promote, it's honestly the only place I've seen this new unit.)
It's on here..
http://adwords-addict.blogspot.com
Anyone seen it anywhere else?
And now it seems to have disappeared from my blog. Clearly some experimental unit that Google is testing periodically. I assume it will show again at some point.
rustybrick
11-05-2007, 08:02 AM
You mean something that kinda looks like this: http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/001433.html
abbottsys
11-05-2007, 10:59 AM
You mean something that kinda looks like this: http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/001433.html
Close, same idea but a cleaner implementation. It was simply a very small search box where you could enter any keyword and get a set of ads for that keyword. I suppose it was a kind of "DIY Ad Unit" :)
rustybrick
11-06-2007, 07:49 AM
Do you have a screen capture?
abbottsys
11-06-2007, 10:57 AM
Do you have a screen capture?
Afraid not. I wasn't expecting it to vanish so fast. I saw it, I used it, but then when I went back to play with it again it had vanished. But it did exist, I swear :)
jimbeetle
11-06-2007, 12:16 PM
But it did exist, I swear
Yeah, I saw it. Google does so many quick tests of different formats it's hard to keep things straight, but this muddled mind seems to remember them occassionally playing with this over the past few years.
abbottsys
11-06-2007, 05:45 PM
Yeah, I saw it. Google does so many quick tests of different formats it's hard to keep things straight, but this muddled mind seems to remember them occassionally playing with this over the past few years.
A second sighting! So I'm not going mad :)
Has anyone else spotted the "mystery ad unit"
(read posts below for details.)
Not sure if either of you have seen this or not but:
"Why am I seeing a search box within my link unit?
When Google is unable to return relevant ad topics to your link unit, we look for your specified alternate ad. If no alternate ad has been specified, the link unit will show an empty search box labelled with "View ads about." Users can enter their own search terms into this box to view ads related to their query. Publishers are paid for clicks on these ads."
abbottsys
11-07-2007, 10:47 AM
Not sure if either of you have seen this or not but:
"Why am I seeing a search box within my link unit?
When Google is unable to return relevant ad topics to your link unit, we look for your specified alternate ad. If no alternate ad has been specified, the link unit will show an empty search box labelled with "View ads about." Users can enter their own search terms into this box to view ads related to their query. Publishers are paid for clicks on these ads."
Thanks Beu, that's exactly it. So, Google uses this as a kind of "ad unit of last resort" which explains why I saw it very rarely. I figured it was a new ad unit being tested. Actually, I kinda liked it and think Google should ad it to the regular list of AdSense ad units. This thing is simply a search engine for ads i.e. Google without the organics :)