Google is retiring the old version of AdSense for Search and telling users to switch to the new version powered by Google Custom Search, which has been offered for a while.

If you see "powered by Google" on the logo on the search results page, then you’re using the old one. In a post on Google’s Inside AdSense blog, Katrina Kurnit writes:

AdSense for search with CSE gives you more control over your search results without changing how you earn money showing AdSense for search ads. For example, with the new version, you’ll have access to advanced features like refinements and promotions. Our team has developed a number of updates and improvements during the past few months, and you can access more advanced features at www.google.com/cse.

Your existing AdSense for search box will continue to work normally for a few more months, and we’ll be sure to update you when we retire this version. To take advantage of the benefits offered by the new version of AdSense for search and ensure you don’t miss any revenue during the transition, we encourage you to update your code now.

To upgrade go to AdSense setup and "AdSense for Search" then select the sites you want your users to be able to search across, customize the look and feel and update the code for your site. Google offers more info here.

Google has announced some upcoming changes to the way its third party partners provide reports and information about AdWords to their clients.

"In order to provide the best online marketing experience, we want to make sure that you understand how each dollar you invest in AdWords is performing," says Jason Shafton of Google’s Inside AdWords Cew.

"If you work with another company to manage your AdWords campaigns, you should be able to find out how much of your advertising budget (cost) was spent on AdWords, how many times your ads appeared (impressions) and how many times users clicked on your ads (clicks)," he adds.

These requirements will be included in Google’s legal terms and agreement starting in February.

Google says that while most partners already provide advertisers with the proper information, some will need to make adjustments.

More info about the changes can be found in the AdWords Help Center.

Despite the Chinese government’s decision to renew Google’s Internet Content Provider license, the company is continuing to run into trouble in that country.  The latest problem is that two of Google’s authorized advertising agents have ended their relationships with the corporation.

That’s in no way a good sign for Google.  Wang Xing reported that Universal Internet Media and the Xi’an Weihua Network were two out of only 25 authorized advertising agents, and they were also "the major advertising agents for Google in East and Northwest China."

The organizations must have represented a pretty significant percentage of Google’s revenue stream, then, and Google was already doing a poor job of attracting advertisers compared to Baidu.

Plus, it’s necessary to consider whether the exits of Universal Internet Media and the Xi-an Weihua Network will be part of a trend.  If they’re successful enough partnering with another company, additional advertisers might follow their lead, either to avoid negative connotations or just pursue bigger audiences.

But Google’s not completely out of allies.  Wang Xing wrote, "Cheng Yu, general manager of Zoom Interactive, a Google authorized advertising agent in Beijing, said on Monday his company will continue its partnership with Google."

So Google fans can hope that this is just an isolated incident.

The 4th season opener of the AMC show Mad Men aired last night, and in it, the main character Don Draper had an interview with a reporter from Ad Age. While the show is clearly fictional and takes place in the 60s, it seems that Ad Age has taken some issue with how it was represented as a publication.

Rance Crain has posted a spiel about what the show failed to get right (in Ad Age’s eyes), and how it really was back then:

What’s wrong with this picture? No. 1, we never did interviews over lunch; No. 2, we didn’t take notes in shorthand; No. 3 we didn’t ask cute-ass questions; and No. 4, our pictures were never bigger than our stories.

I was a member of the Ad Age editorial staff in Washington, New York and Chicago in the ’60s and, heaven help us, we would knock down walls to be the first to report a big account change, major product introduction or agency startup…

It continues for about ten more paragraphs. The article is met with numerous comments from readers, including some sarcastic ones. For example, one person says, "This is saying a story-telling medium (television) about a story-telling medium (advertising) might not be ‘authentically’ accurate. I am shocked. SHOCKED!"

While most viewers probably don’t look to Mad Men for historical facts, it’s understandable that Ad Age would want to make sure it is defending its reputation, particularly given the industry that the publication resides in. The critically acclaimed show does get a great deal of media attention.

Interestingly, Georg Szalai of the Hollywood Reporter says the show is "hardly a hit on Madison Avenue".

"Despite all the attention and the show’s affluent viewership, ‘Mad Men’ has averaged far fewer viewers than other summer cable dramas like USA’s ‘Burn Notice,’ and ad rates also are lower," he writes. "An average 30-second spot on first-run episodes of ‘Mad Men’ fetches about $20,000-$25,000, according to a recent trade media report — not much, but it is a multiple of AMC’s primetime movies."

Google is currently touting Mad Men as a great way to target viewers through Google TV Ads. Last night’s episode ran only limited commercial interruption from BMW.

Google has launched Mobile ValueTrack for advertisers to track clicks on mobile devices.

"The ValueTrack parameter has long allowed you to track the clicks that you get via search and the Google Display Network separately," says Miles Johnson with Google’s Inside AdWords crew. "We know that many of you would like to be able to see the clicks you get from mobile ads separately as well."

The new mobile version works the same way as the other, adding a tag to the site’s URL. To utilize the feature, advertisers can add the Mobile ValueTrack parameter to the destination URL field, when creating a text ad.

Advertisers can use automatic re-directs to mobile optimized sites or third-party tracking tags. "Note that non-Google-ads traffic to your site won’t have the ValueTrack parameter, so it’s still a good idea to send all users to your mobile-optimized site," says Johnson.

He goes into more detail about third-party tracking tags here.

Mobile ValueTrack works for WAP mobile ads, as well as regular text and image ads in iPhones and other mobile devices with full web browsers.

Popular TV show Mad Men returns to AMC tomorrow night, and Google is taking the opportunity to get advertisers interested in targeting viewers through Google TV Ads.

"With season four debuting on Sunday, July 25th, Mad Men fans are buzzing with excitement," says Neha Mandal, Product Marketing Manager for Google TV Ads. "For advertisers, this is a great opportunity to reach an upscale and educated audience. Target Mad Men across DISH Network’s 14M homes and align your message with this high caliber show by creating a Google TV Ads campaign today."

AMC also has a new series called Rubicon, which starts August 1st (a preview was shown after Breaking Bad’s season finale). "The show promises to ‘tap into our collective paranoia’ by chronicling an intelligence analyst who cracks codes for a living," says Mandal. "This show is a great chance to target adults 21+ who are interested in sci-fi and thrillers."

Of course Google TV ads aren’t limited to AMC shows, but the channel is developing a reputation for high quality original programming, and Google clearly sees the upcoming premeires as a good chance to push them.

Google also mentions Real Housewives of DC and the Rachel Zoe Proejct on Bravo, as well as the US Open as potential ad targeting opportunities.

The growth in the use of mobile technology has made U.S. consumers more comfortable with safeguards as fewer are voicing concern about privacy and security on their wireless devices, according to a new global survey by KPMG.

KPMG found that 48 percent of the U.S. consumers surveyed on the use of technology (e.g. computers, smart phones, mobile applications and the internet) were very concerned about privacy when using a mobile device, which was down from 58 percent when KPMG conducted a similar survey in 2008.
In comparison, 54 percent of consumers said they were very concerned about security in this year’s survey, compared to 65 percent in 2008. The U.S. findings on this question were lower than the global findings in the survey that consisted of more than 5,000 consumers in 22 countries. Globally, when using mobile devices, 67 percent said they were very concerned about security and 59 percent indicated they were very concerned about privacy.

"The evolving U.S. consumers’ sentiment about privacy and security speaks to their greater familiarity and understanding of the convergence of computers, mobile devices and content, and how they can use the technology and services to their benefit," said Gary Matuszak, Global Chair, Information, Communications and Entertainment.

 "Anywhere you turn, you can see examples of this, whether it’s a person checking their email, texting, buying movie tickets, watching a video, listening to music, updating their Facebook status, or checking their bank account balance on their mobile phone."

About half of the consumers said they would be willing to allow their (mobile or desk top) online usage and personal profile information to be tracked, if this would result in lower costs.  This compares to one-third who were willing in 2008.

"As content and service providers continue to search for ways to make advertising more acceptable, U.S. consumers have recognized the value of their personal information and are willing to leverage their power for a better deal," said Tony Castellanos, U.S. Communications and Media sector leader.

U.S. consumers’ willingness to provide their personal information translates into a willing ness to accept advertising when accessing online content/services in exchange for lower prices or free content, but there is a difference between advertising on a PC and a mobile device. Half of U.S. consumers would accept ads on their PCs, but 28 percent would accept them on their mobiles.

A challenge for content providers has been turning their online presence into revenue, but some consumers’ attitudes are shifting.

In the U.S. about one-quarter said they are now willing to pay for access to frequently used online content whether by mobile device or desk top computer, compared to 43 percent of consumers globally. India and China were the clear global leaders at 65 percent and 63 percent respectively. Least willing to pay are consumers in the Netherlands, at only 6 percent, followed by Ireland with 12 percent, Canada with 15 percent, and Germany with 17 percent.

U.S. consumers are among the least likely to download free movies, music and video games from file-sharing sites, as only 39 percent said they have done so.  In comparison, in the growing markets of Brazil, Russia, India and China, on average, about twice as many consumers in those countries than in the U.S. have downloaded content for free from file-sharing sites,

Chatting and instant messaging, after having a 4-5 percent mobile phone usage rate in 2007 and 2008, and talking over the internet (eg. Skype) now are mobile phone mainstays, with 30 percent and 49 percent of U.S. consumers naming these uses respectively in KPMG’s new consumers and convergence survey.

American consumers accessed maps and directions on their mobile phones three times more often than in 2008. Social networking on mobile devices was around 1-2 percent until this year when 10 percent of consumers said they user their mobile phone for social networking. 

AOL has launched AOL Advertising Politics hub aimed at campaigns, advocacy groups and companies looking to target audiences online.

Online display advertising has become a key factor for political campaigns. With the Supreme Court ruling earlier this year lifting the restrictions on political ad spending from corporations, companies can now join campaign and issue advocacy groups in influencing voters online. AOL hopes to capitalize on the upcoming November elections.

The Politics hub will help political marketers figure out how to structure their online campaign from using display advertising to help fundraise, build name recognition, organize operations, persuade voters, respond in real time to negative coverage, get the vote out, or educate voters about issues related to the race.

"AOL has positioned itself to be the go-to resource for political marketers needing to reach their constituencies through our ability to reach target audiences at scale with our comprehensive set of innovative, highly-targeted products," said Jeff Levick, President, AOL Global Advertising and Strategy.

"Our Politics hub lets campaigns and issue advocacy groups take their messages directly to voters and key influencers in a proactive way through display advertising, and we make the on-boarding process something that is simple, easy and intuitive."

The AOL Advertising Politics hub includes:

*Ad Desk for Politics- A "how-to" guide for political targeting via AOL’s display advertising platform.

*Display University- A microsite to help marketers build their first campaigns and improve existing ones.
 

Talk of free 30-day trials may not "wow" a lot of folks.  Some people, for example, will wonder whether a company won’t find an excuse not to take a product back, and other individuals realize just returning a product with a receipt can accomplish the same thing.  But local business owners should definitely take advantage of an opportunity to try Google Tags for a month.

If you’re ready to jump right in, here’s a link to what’s supposed to be a signup page (although it’s showing a 404 error at the time of this writing), and here’s a link to one page that features both a "Claim your free trial" button and a phone number.  Enjoy.

If you’d like a few more details, a new post on the LatLong Blog explained that Google Tags is "a new advertising product that allows local business owners to add a yellow tag and additional information to their listing for an affordable flat monthly fee."

The post later added, "We’ve designed Google Tags for busy local business owners who want an easy and low-maintenance way to advertise online.  It allows you to highlight qualities that differentiate your business from the crowd, and helps customers make easier, more informed decisions about the places they want to call or visit."

So again, business owners should be sure to take advantage of this offer.  As long as everything’s canceled before the 30-day trial is up, Google won’t charge anyone a dime.

It’s possible Google Tags will see a significant uptick in regular users thanks to this promotion, though, since it normally costs just $25 per month.

It’s very rare that a major website launches any kind of redesign without any complaints from users. Google is no stranger to this itself, and it should come as no surprise that this week’s launch of the new Google Image Search has come with its own share of complaints (although I’d be surprised if the complaints outweighed the positive opinions).

There is one interesting complaint, however that is coming from webmasters, who have been voicing their frustrations in webmaster forums. "The main issue from a webmaster perspective, as noted in WebmasterWorld, is that when you click on an image, it doesn’t take you to the site," writes Barry Schwartz at Search Engine Roundtable. "Instead, it keeps you on Google, overlays the image in large format on top of your grayed out web site."

"So any ads on your site won’t be clickable after the first click from Google. Users are instructed to either go back, click on the web site with the image or click on the actual image source file," he explains. "I should note that clicking anywhere on the background web site will take you to that web site."

There have been inevitable comparisons between the new Google Image Search and Bing’s Image Search, but I wouldn’t necessarily count that as a complaint, because since the launch of Bing, people have expressed praise for the image search functionality even if they continued to use Google. It is undeniable, however that Google’s overall user interface has become much more Bing-like in recent months.

The Google Image Search redesign is still in the process of rolling out, so if you don’t have access to it yet, be patient. You will soon.