The program includes a certification (along the lines with the GAP certification, Google Advertising Professional) as well as the possibility to be featured in the very Ad Manager’s help centre as a certified ad serving consultant.

Here’s what an earlier message sent out to Ad Manager users says:

“[...] It’s important to invest your ad serving and ad operations budget where you’ll get the greatest return.

That’s why we’re excited to announce Google Ad Manager’s partnership with companies who can provide advanced ad serving support and professional services.

Whether you have an established in-house sales and IT team, or are just getting started, our certified partners are here to help you take full advantage of their experience using Google Ad Manager. This will allow you to spend more time focusing on what you do best, producing great content, while our partners can help you manage the rest.

Google Ad Serving Certified Consultants can assist you with services such as:

Ad Trafficking: Day-to-day ad operations services.

Consultation: Inventory recommendations, campaign management and optimization.

Training: On-site, classroom, and web based training are all available.

Advanced Support: Dedicated technical support and troubleshooting [...]”

Surely, Google had all the interest in eliminating the workload on their own support teams for Ad Manager, particularly since, well, true ad serving experts aren’t that easily found and they usually work for premium, paid ad serving platforms (DoubleClick included).

However, there’s one question to be answered: who and how will decide which of the “certified partners” will be featured, and in what order? For now, only four are listed – Acceleration, Epik One, Outsourced Ad Ops, Vanguardistas – but one can imagine how fast the list would grow. How’s this program going to be managed, who will make the list and who will not?

INDIANAPOLIS – ExactTarget, a leading provider of on-demand email and one-to-one marketing solutions, announces it has been named a recipient of the 2009 Upshot50 Marketing Technology Leaders Award.

The Upshot50 Awards recognize marketing technology providers offering the most innovative, powerful and useful marketing tools and techniques. Compiled by Upshot Institute, a marketing analysis, education and consulting firm, the list was determined by nominations from marketing professionals and ultimately selected based on votes from the marketing community.

This accolade comes after ExactTarget introduced a number of innovative one-to-one marketing solutions in the past six months, including:

* ExactTarget SMS text message marketing software
* Live Offers email coupon technology that renders discounts at point of open instead point of send
* Live Ads, a Google Ad Manager integration that gives marketers the ability to target ads to audiences based on known subscriber data

“We design all of our product offerings with the needs of one-to-one marketing professionals in mind, so we are delighted the marketing community recognizes our contributions to the industry,” said Tim Kopp, chief marketing officer, ExactTarget. “It’s an honor to be recognized in the Upshot50 Marketing Technology Leaders Award list, and we look forward to continuing to support this industry with results-driven product offerings and education through our webinars, whitepapers and annual Connections User Conference, which takes place in September.”

For more information on ExactTarget, please visit www.exacttarget.com.

About ExactTarget:

ExactTarget, Inc. is a leading provider of on-demand email marketing software solutions. The company’s suite of on-demand one-to-one marketing applications enable clients to send business-critical and event triggered communications to increase sales, optimize marketing investments and strengthen customer relationships. ExactTarget offers four editions of its on-demand software application along with integrated solutions such as ExactTarget for AppExchange and ExactTarget for Microsoft Dynamics CRM. ExactTarget offers a range of optimization services including support, implementation and training, integration, deliverability, account management, design and deployment and strategic consulting. ExactTarget’s software powers permission-based email communications for thousands of organizations including CareerBuilder.com, Expedia.com, Florida Power & Light, Gannett Co., Inc/USA TODAY, the Indianapolis Colts, The Home Depot, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Liberty Mutual Group, Papa John’s and Wellpoint, Inc. For more information, please visit www.exacttarget.com or call 1-866-EMAILET.

Save, schedule, and share reports - With the ability to save, schedule, and share reports, you can now easily save any reports that you frequently run, quickly share your reports with your users or advertisers, and schedule your reports to automatically generate and be shared.

Roadblocking – If you have similar creatives from an advertiser and would like them to appear together, now you can with roadblocking. With roadblocking, multiple creatives from the same line item can be synced to serve together on the same page. You’ll find this particularly useful for sponsorship deals.

Free-form targeting – With free-form targeting, you can have thousands of possible targeting values, and no need to define each value ahead of time. When you need to target a specific value, you can simply enter that targeting value into your line item.  This was, indeed, a much-awaited one, the missing tool needed to create those special ad packages with the really juicy CPM rates!

Last but not least, the release newsletter reminds us of the Google Debug tool:  diagnose why your ads are not serving using the Google Debug tool. To see why an ad isn’t delivering to a specific ad slot, open the debug window, then click Details beside the appropriate ad slot.

Use the line items tab on the orders page to get a quick glance at order readiness, delivery status, and inventory revenue performance. View the color coded delivery bars to easily identify line item pacing information and line items at risk.

More on Google Ad Manager: http://www.google.com/support/admanager/

“We had a good third quarter with strong traffic and revenue growth across all of our major geographies thanks to the underlying strength of our core search and ads business. The measurability and ROI of search-based advertising remain key assets for Google,” said Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google. “While we are realistic about the poor state of the global economy, we will continue to manage Google for the long term, driving improvements to search and ads, while also investing in future growth areas such as enterprise, mobile, and display.”

Q3 Financial Summary

Google reported revenues of $5.54 billion for the quarter ended September 30, 2008, an increase of 31% compared to the third quarter of 2007 and an increase of 3% compared to the second quarter of 2008. Google reports its revenues, consistent with GAAP, on a gross basis without deducting traffic acquisition costs (TAC). In the third quarter of 2008, TAC totaled $1.50 billion, or 28% of advertising revenues.

Google reports operating income, net income, and earnings per share (EPS) on a GAAP and non-GAAP basis. The non-GAAP measures, as well as free cash flow, an alternative non-GAAP measure of liquidity, are described below and are reconciled to the corresponding GAAP measures in the accompanying financial tables.

- GAAP operating income for the third quarter of 2008 was $1.74 billion, or 31% of revenues. This compares to GAAP operating income of $1.58 billion, or 29% of revenues, in the second quarter of 2008. Non-GAAP operating income in the third quarter of 2008 was $2.02 billion, or 37% of revenues. This compares to non-GAAP operating income of $1.85 billion, or 34% of revenues, in the second quarter of 2008.
- GAAP net income for the third quarter of 2008 was $1.35 billion as compared to $1.25 billion in the second quarter of 2008. Non-GAAP net income in the third quarter of 2008 was $1.56 billion, compared to $1.47 billion in the second quarter of 2008.
- GAAP EPS for the third quarter of 2008 was $4.24 on 318 million diluted shares outstanding, compared to $3.92 for the second quarter of 2008 on 318 million diluted shares outstanding. Non-GAAP EPS in the third quarter of 2008 was $4.92, compared to $4.63 in the second quarter of 2008.
- Non-GAAP operating income, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP net income, and non-GAAP EPS are computed net of stock-based compensation (SBC). In the third quarter of 2008, the charge related to SBC was $280 million as compared to $273 million in the second quarter of 2008. Tax benefits related to SBC have also been excluded from non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP EPS. The tax benefit related to SBC was $63 million in the third quarter of 2008 and $48 million in the second quarter of 2008. Reconciliations of non-GAAP measures to GAAP operating income, operating margin, net income, and EPS are included at the end of this release.

Q3 Financial Highlights

Revenues – Google reported revenues of $5.54 billion for the quarter ended September 30, 2008, representing a 31% increase over third quarter 2007 revenues of $4.23 billion and a 3% increase over second quarter 2008 revenues of $5.37 billion. Google reports its revenues, consistent with GAAP, on a gross basis without deducting TAC.

Google Sites Revenues – Google-owned sites generated revenues of $3.67 billion, or 67% of total revenues, in the third quarter of 2008. This represents a 34% increase over third quarter 2007 revenues of $2.73 billion and a 4% increase over second quarter 2008 revenues of $3.53 billion.

Google Network Revenues – Google’s partner sites generated revenues, through AdSense programs, of $1.68 billion, or 30% of total revenues, in the third quarter of 2008. This represents a 15% increase over network revenues of $1.45 billion generated in the third quarter of 2007 and a 1% increase over second quarter 2008 revenues of $1.66 billion.

International Revenues – Revenues from outside of the United States totaled $2.85 billion, representing 51% of total revenues in the third quarter of 2008, compared to 48% in the third quarter of 2007 and 52% in the second quarter of 2008. Had foreign exchange rates remained constant from the second quarter of 2008 through the third quarter of 2008, our revenues in the third quarter of 2008 would have been $59 million higher. Had foreign exchange rates remained constant from the third quarter of 2007 through the third quarter of 2008, our revenues in the third quarter of 2008 would have been $168 million lower.

In the third quarter, we recognized a benefit of $34 million to revenue through our foreign exchange risk management program.

Revenues from the United Kingdom totaled $776 million, representing 14% of revenue in the third quarter of 2008, compared to 16% in the third quarter of 2007 and 14% in the second quarter of 2008.

Paid Clicks – Aggregate paid clicks, which include clicks related to ads served on Google sites and the sites of our AdSense partners, increased approximately 18% over the third quarter of 2007 and increased approximately 4% over the second quarter of 2008.

TAC – Traffic Acquisition Costs, the portion of revenues shared with Google’s partners, increased to $1.50 billion in the third quarter of 2008. This compares to TAC of $1.47 billion in the second quarter of 2008. TAC as a percentage of advertising revenues was 28% in the third quarter, compared to 28% in the second quarter of 2008.

The majority of TAC expense is related to amounts ultimately paid to our AdSense partners, which totaled $1.33 billion in the third quarter of 2008. TAC is also related to amounts ultimately paid to certain distribution partners and others who direct traffic to our website, which totaled $167 million in the third quarter of 2008.

Other Cost of Revenues – Other cost of revenues, which is comprised primarily of data center operational expenses, amortization of intangible assets, content acquisition costs as well as credit card processing charges, increased to $678 million, or 12% of revenues, in the third quarter of 2008, compared to $674 million, or 13% of revenues, in the second quarter of 2008.

Operating Expenses – Operating expenses, other than cost of revenues, were $1.63 billion in the third quarter of 2008, or 29% of revenues, compared to $1.64 billion in the second quarter of 2008, or 31% of revenues. The operating expenses in the third quarter of 2008 included $859 million in payroll-related and facilities expenses, compared to $810 million in the second quarter of 2008.

Stock-Based Compensation (SBC) – In the third quarter of 2008, the total charge related to SBC was $280 million as compared to $273 million in the second quarter of 2008.

We currently estimate stock-based compensation charges for grants to employees prior to October 1, 2008 to be approximately $1.1 billion for 2008. This does not include expenses to be recognized related to employee stock awards that are granted after October 1, 2008 or non-employee stock awards that have been or may be granted.

Operating Income – GAAP operating income in the third quarter of 2008 was $1.74 billion, or 31% of revenues. This compares to GAAP operating income of $1.58 billion, or 29% of revenues, in the second quarter of 2008. Non-GAAP operating income in the third quarter of 2008 was $2.02 billion, or 37% of revenues. This compares to non-GAAP operating income of $1.85 billion, or 34% of revenues, in the second quarter of 2008.

Interest Income and Other, Net – Interest income and other was $21 million in the third quarter of 2008, compared with $58 million in the second quarter of 2008. The decrease was primarily related to an increase in expenses substantially due to more activity under our foreign exchange risk management program. The cost of the options used to manage our foreign exchange risk is amortized on a mark-to-market basis. As a result, the amount of amortization expense we recognize in any particular quarter is impacted by how much the option moves into or out of the money, as well as the underlying currency’s volatility.

Net Income – GAAP net income for the third quarter of 2008 was $1.35 billion as compared to $1.25 billion in the second quarter of 2008. Non-GAAP net income was $1.56 billion in the third quarter of 2008, compared to $1.47 billion in the second quarter of 2008. GAAP EPS for the third quarter of 2008 was $4.24 on 318 million diluted shares outstanding, compared to $3.92 for the second quarter of 2008, on 318 million diluted shares outstanding. Non-GAAP EPS for the third quarter of 2008 was $4.92, compared to $4.63 in the second quarter of 2008.

Income Taxes – Our effective tax rate was 24% for the third quarter of 2008.

Cash Flow and Capital Expenditures – Net cash provided by operating activities for the third quarter of 2008 totaled $2.18 billion as compared to $1.77 billion for the second quarter of 2008. In the third quarter of 2008, capital expenditures were $452 million, the majority of which was related to IT infrastructure investments, including data centers, servers, and networking equipment. Free cash flow, an alternative non-GAAP measure of liquidity, is defined as net cash provided by operating activities less capital expenditures. In the third quarter of 2008, free cash flow was $1.73 billion.

We expect to continue to make significant capital expenditures.

A reconciliation of free cash flow to net cash provided by operating activities, the GAAP measure of liquidity, is included at the end of this release.

Cash – As of September 30, 2008, cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities were $14.4 billion.

On a worldwide basis, Google employed 20,123 full-time employees as of September 30, 2008, up from 19,604 full-time employees as of June 30, 2008.

WEBCAST AND CONFERENCE CALL INFORMATION

A live audio webcast of Google’s third quarter 2008 earnings release call will be available at http://investor.google.com/webcast.html. The call begins today at 1:30 PM (PT) / 4:30 PM (ET). This press release, the financial tables, as well as other supplemental information including the reconciliations of certain non-GAAP measures to their nearest comparable GAAP measures, are also available at that site. A replay of the call will be available beginning at 7:30 PM (ET) today through midnight Thursday, October 23, 2008 by calling 888-203-1112 in the United States or 719-457-0820 for calls from outside the United States. The required confirmation code for the replay is 6417802.

While this is good news for all small and mid-sized publishers who cannot afford the ad serving fees of DoubleClick DFP or another professional ad serving solution, the AdSense team does not address two very important aspects in their announcement: all publishers can now have their Google ads open in a new window and can have Google ads displaying in more than 3 ad units.

- opening ads in a new window
This feature is one of the most requested one by publishers of all sizes, but it was always denied to the small and mid-sized publishers, the very audience of Ad Manager, for ads opening in a new window may not be a good user experience. However, on a case-by-case basis, the feature was seen available on large AdSense partners.

Google Ad Manager does have this feature available though – and it now becomes available to all AdSense publishers, making the AdSense rules obsolete in this regard. Why was it then so fiercely prohibited in the first place? Has it suddenly become a good user experience?

- displaying more than 3 Google ad units per page
Again, this was a rule enforced in the Google AdSense program: no more than 3 ad units per page, please. If a publisher still displayed more than 3, the system would automatically not show ads after the 3rd unit.

However, Google Ad Manager works differently and there is no impediment for a publisher to display way more than 3 ad slots – and have them all filled by AdSense. Google ads will be showing in all slots and it’s solely down to the publisher’s honesty not to allow that to happen. I clearly remember a discussion in the Google Ad Manager group, when somebody asked how would the ’3 ad units per page’ rule be enforced and the official Google answer was that it will not be enforced but publishers using Ad Manager are kindly asked not to take advantage of the opportunity.

I’ve asked these questions on the Inside AdSense blog – no reply so far.

As far as finding out details on how Ad Manager works, I absolutely recommend checking out http://www.johnon.com/605/working-4-google.html – brilliant explanation!

Here is the list of all that’s new in today’s release:

- Creative preview on your site: you can now preview a creative on your site to test the creative before the campaign starts.
- New look and feel: the style and overall appearance of the product has changed. I find the new look to be much neater, with less unused space, more ‘put together’ and polished.
- Additional languages: Ad Manager is now available in three new languages: French, Italian, and Ukrainian.
- Unlimited flight dates: originally you could only set unlimited flight dates for ad network orders. Now you can set unlimited flight dates on any Exclusive, Remnant, or House order that has an unlimited impression goal.

Additionally, the new release includes a number of updated features and improvements:

Creative Ratios/Weights – AdManager previously optimized all line items that had multiple creatives so the creative with the highest CTR would be shown more often. Now, if your line item contains multiple creatives, you may specify how often each creative is shown. You can choose between:
- Even: creatives rotate evenly.
- Optimized: creative with the highest CTR will be shown more often.
- Manual: creatives rotate at a frequency you specify.

Reports by Creative Size – Pretty straightforward, you can now report on all of your leaderboards and skyscrapers for example, by segmenting your reports by creative size.

Link to Reports from Orders – Quickly run a report from within any order by selecting ‘Run Report’.

These additions to the AdManager are very welcome and I can say the product is clearly going the right way, at least feature-wise. A question still remains: is there a planned capping on adding new features and capabilities to the AdManager, to avoid possible future competition with DoubleClick DFP?

- Automatic Macro Insertion – Ad Manager will automatically detect the ad tags from several popular 3rd party vendors when you paste them in as new creatives. When properly detected, the click-tracking and cache-busting macros will be inserted automatically.

- Competing Line Item Report – The quantity booked, amount delivered, and the current delivery status have all been added as new columns to the competing line items report.

- Overbook Details – When warned about possible overbooking, you now have the option to book only the inventory that is available. A new link to a “Detailed Inventory Check” will also provide quick access to more information.

- Export Ad Slots – The new “Download Ad Slots” link on the Ad Slots tab will export your entire slot list to a CSV file. This is useful to audit your inventory and verify AdSense settings.

- Edit Company Name – The company display name is now editable on the Admin > Settings tab. This name is seen by advertisers who you invite to log in and see their orders.

While these features and improvements are definitely much needed, there are still many unanswered questions as to where Google AdManager is going and how it will position itself in regard to its fancier relative, DoubleClick DART: are there plans to develop its rich media capabilities, to support video and in-stream advertising?

Here’s a quick list of supported ad servers and partners:

North America: Ad servers

- Atlas (www.atlassolutions.com)
- DoubleClick (www.doubleclick.com)
- Eyeblaster (www.eyeblaster.com)
- Mediaplex (www.mediaplex.com)
- Tumri (www.tumri.com)

North America: Rich media

- DoubleClick (www.doubleclick.com)
- Eyeblaster (www.eyeblaster.com)
- EyeWonder (www.eyewonder.com)
- Interpolls (www.interpolls.com)
- Pointroll (www.pointroll.com)
- Unicast (www.unicast.com)

North America: Research

- Dynamic Logic/Safecount (www.safecount.net)
- Factor TG (www.factortg.com)
- IAG (www.iagr.com)
- InsightExpress (www.insightexpress.com)

Interesting choice of ad servers, with Tumri in but many major ones missing – it is unclear yet if it is because deals with other major ad serving companies aren’t in place yet but they’re being worked on, or it’s simply a business decision from Google not to work with them at all.

It is well-known that the majority of very large content owners do not use Google’s AdSense program as their primary monetization source. In most cases, the publishers’ salesforce is able to sell ad space at quite high CPMs, and AdSense would be employed for those hard-to-sell, low-performance ad slots.

Google AdManager is built around AdSense and greatly facilitates the use of AdSense as a backup for the remnant inventory, making it obvious that Google’s goal was to gain access to premium placements.

However, it is unclear whether DoubleClick will be developed in the future to better support Google AdSense. Currently, one can traffic Google ads through DoubleClick’s DART for Publishers (DFP) but the two aren’t integrated in any way. This makes forecasting and reporting a nightmare and certainly works against AdSense. One would expect a quick integration between the two but there is are no signs of it happening yet.

I think it would make sense for Google to better position AdSense into DFP and gain even more access to premium placements of truly large publishers, but ultimately it goes down to the plans of positioning AdManager and DoubleClick on the ad serving market.