Share Digital

Google allow alcohol brands to advertise spirits in the UK

Google have changed their policy on "Hard alcohol and liqueur" - spirits like Whiskey, Rum, Vodka etc. Previously these ads were banned on Google. From this week spirit ads are allowed in the US, with plans to roll them out in the rest of the world soon, with spirit Google ads in the UK expected in January.
 
Ads for beer, wine and champagne are also now also allowed on Google, in a change to previous policies.

From Google's adwords blog:
"To comply with the updated hard alcohol and liqueurs policy, advertisers must promote the information about hard alcohol and liqueurs that their websites contain, such as recipes and brand messages. Ads that directly promote the sale of hard alcohol and liqueurs are still not permissible through <Google's> program. In contrast, advertisements for beer may directly promote its sale.

For example, under the hard alcohol and liqueurs policy, you might market to individuals searching for helpful and relevant alcohol-related information by promoting holiday cocktail ideas or the caloric content of popular spiked beverages. Under the beer policy, you might state a specific sales promotion for a great winter ale."
 
See the Google blog, the updated Google alcohol policy, and you can see beer ads live on Google in the UK here.

Google Analytics in 60 Seconds: Find the Best Keywords

Actually it's 90 seconds, but it's a pretty good overview of how Google Analytics can be used to track which google search keywords are actually bringing sales, and which are just burning up media budget.

Google mobile voice activated search on iPhone

This looks cool - wish I had an iPhone

Selling cars with Google 101 - Search

Here's a video from Google it's a simple introduction to how car dealers and auto brands can use google search ads to sell more cars. It's got a US voiceover, but it's all still relevant to the UK market. At 5 minutes in they start talking about geo-targeting - showing specific ads to users based on their geographic location in the UK - ie a prospect in Birmingham automatically sees an an ad for Toyota's Birmingham dealership when he searches on Google for Toyota.

A lot of auto brands and car dealers aren't using this yet, and I don't really understand why not.