It’s “how to” day.

This is a tremendously easy way to see your Google Adwords Results in cities or countries where you’re not located.

To see Google Adwords Results In Another Country:

Move there

Append the following code to the end of your query: url &gl=country iso code (ISO stands for International Orgzanization for Standarization — why it wouldn’t be an IOS code is quite beyond me, but I digress…). For the very curious, here’s a listing of the various and sundry ISO country codes.

So, a search for dentists on Google http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GFRC_enCA213CA213&q=dentists becomes http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GFRC_enCA213CA213&q=dentists&gl=UK to show dentists in the UK.

Two very interesting online posts today around Matt Cutts’ comments regarding search results of search results showing up in Google. One from SEORoundTable and the other from Danny Sullivan at Search Engine Land.

In his example, Danny used “dvd players”. Curious, I scratched around the longtail terms, searching dvd players by brand names like “Sony DVD players” or “Panasonic DVD players” and I’m even more intrigued by the prospects. Not only will sites like Amazon.com and Bizrate be affected, but so will a couple of other lightweights like, oh, say MSN Shopping and Yahoo! Shopping who also show up in Google results.

The question of analytics has popped up more and more these days, both from an organic and a paid perspective.

There are several analytics packages on the market today ranging from the very cheap to the not so very cheap; and from the very good to the not so very good as these things are wont to be.

Transitioning from one analytics package to another can be a jarring experience as numbers may fluctuate wildly between any two given packages.

If not the first in Canada, one of the first. Take a bow, guys!!!

It’s a two blog day!!

Under the auspices of striking while the iron is hot, Search Engine People is beyond thrilled to announce that we are among the first, if not the first Canadian company to become Google Adwords Qualified.

Not only has Search Engine People met the minimum standard requirements for qualification, we have surpassed them. (Google requires two Google Adwords Qualified Professionals, Search Engine People has no fewer than four.)

And, ripped from the press release, in the words of my boss:

90 minutes, fifty bucks and a little bit of knowledge goes a long way towards becoming Google Adwords Certified, which The (SEP) Guy is pleased to report he in fact did yesterday.

The exam, at over 100 questions is for the most part user-friendly. And there is a handy little study guide. Of course, for the really challenging questions, there’s the thing called Google that you can search with. (I think this Internet thing is really going to catch on!)

Under the auspices of better late than never, and after phone calls, emails, protestations and enquires, not the least of which may well have been a phone call from Andrew Wahl of Canadian Business Magazine, Google has reversed its policy, now allowing Canadian companies to become Google Adwords qualified and as such, a Google Adwords Qualified Company.

Becoming a Google Adwords Qualified Company requires:

Well, first of all, it requires being listed in the Google country participants which Canada is, here.

Or, why can’t we all just get along?

Is it just me or is there a big disconnect in the advertising world of late? I’m speaking of both online and offline advertising.

Take, for instance, Google. Isn’t it a little odd that the world’s foremost brand, the company challenging not only advertising revenues but the very model of advertising has yet to drop a dime on advertising? And they’re hardly alone. Ebay, Napster, Yahoo in their early and supernova days spent nothing on advertising.

No wonder Madison Avenue has issues with Silicon Valley. That’s a lot to have to swallow.

Yahoo has launched the new Panama system today, its new and improved sponsored search advertising that it hopes will have people including advertisers, users and investors alike saying Yahoo!

The system is a direct shot over the bow of Google and the two systems not only function in much the same manner, but offer many of the same tools and as such the comparisons will be inevitable. But what really matters to advertisers is conversions and sales and in the end the same things matter to Yahoo! as well.

How do you get to be a Google Adwords Certified Company?  Practise.  Oh wait, no, that’s how you get to Carnegie Hall.

Frankly, if you happen to be Canadian, it’s a whole lot easier to get to Carnegie Hall.  Google, whose stated mandate, mantra, guiding principle, hollow mission statement or whatever you wish to call it is “Do No Evil” prevents or more to the point, prohibits Canadian companies from achieving the vaunted status of Google Adwords Certified Company.

Was it something we searched?

To date, there seems no real reason given and the issue is not one of proficiency as individuals within a Canadian organization can become Qualified Google Adwords Professionals.