“We have done this to ensure quality, improve Google products and services and compliance with Adwords API Terms and Conditions.”

Developers have to reapply for their tokens and [...]]]> Google revoked access to their Adwords API for literally hundreds of developers and applications on the 12th September. Here is what Google said about this:

“We have done this to ensure quality, improve Google products and services and compliance with Adwords API Terms and Conditions.”

Developers have to reapply for their tokens and it can take 5 to 6 weeks before they are re-approved, if they are, that’s it! My personal suspicion is that Google did this to reduce the amount of webspam created with this kind of tools, you know, the good old ‘find profitable keyword, buy exact match domain, write some crappy content and promote the heck out of it’ approach. I really doubt that Google is eager that the information that is meant for Adwords advertisers is used in this way, but that might just me being suspicious …

So your favorite keyword tool is down and you are not knowing what to do now? Here a few tips and ideas until Google sorts things out and allows developers of keyword tools to access their API again – or not:

Start Writing Content
If you are like me, you have umpteen keywords saved for further use, now is a good time to write content. And if you are not like me and haven’t a backlog of keywords to write about, write a great blog post just for fun and readers A site that only targets keywords without one single post that doesn’t do so with mathematical precision might actually raise Google’s eyebrows, don’t you think?

Strengthen Your Site with Internal Links
Outlined in my oldish post entitled >>>Getting better Ranking for Keywords you are already Ranking for Without Knowing It<<< is a method on how to find out what your site is actually ranking for and some ideas on how to use on page SEO, especially internal linking, to strengthen your internal pages even more.

Improve Existing Content
All of us, me included, know that we have articles on our sites that could do with a serious overhaul, combing in one, updating, spell and grammar checking etc. Now is a good moment to start to prune weak content and to improve what can be improved.

Beautify Your Site
Does your site look hundreds of others that are made only for making money puposes or does it look like somebody actually cares for it? A new banner, some custom design, a simple color change, even a new theme, all this can help to make your site stand out from other similar ones. If you don’t have an inkling how to do this, you can always resort to the nice people at >>>Web Service Pros<<< for help for, nearly, everything website and design related.

Get Involved in Social Media
Yeah, I know, internet marketers often look at social media like Severus Snape looks at a bottle of shampoo – with disdain. But seriously, don’t you think Google would prefer sites that get traffic from more than a few sources? So, search out a forum that is relevant to your web sites topic, open a Twitter account, answer questions at Yahoo or >>>Webanswers<<< and so on. You might even meet some like minded souls for a joint venture. At least you widen your reader base and gain some traffic, just don’t spam! Sign up, be helpful, get a good reputation and then drop a hint (link) that you have a related website, not the other way round. Another great tip is to sign up to a few yahoo email lists (groups) that relate to your topic as Yahoo will display your signature every time you post and as some of these lists have literally thousands of readers, that are thousands of potential visitors to your website. Works best with ‘non-spammy’ topics like DIY etc btw

Overhaul your Seasonal Site
Do you have a site that is seasonal and that is now in its nadir? For example the travel season for some places is now over and traffic is down, a good time to do a necessary overhaul with such a site without damaging potential earnings. On the other hand, the Christmas season will start soon, so if you have a gift or Christmas related site, I would wait until January or work really, really fast on it
Back Up Your Site
That is one of the things that is boring but necessary, but as you have time now, the time you save by not being able to hunt for new keywords, you could set up a good back up solution. There are a multitude of ways to do it, either from your cpanel, as a plugin or you could use Peter’s service at >>>Codegarage<<< who monitors and backups up to 10 of your sites for only $15/month, highly recommended! And if you are still in need of a ‘keyword fix’, from all the keyword tools I use, >>>Market Samurai<<< is the only one that is still working!

So, any more ideas on what to do with your sites until your favorite keyword tool starts working again?
Leave them in a comment please

Why it is a gem you ask? No, not because of the slim chance of winning the jackpot just shortly before Christmas, but because [...]]]> Sometimes it pays out to read the a-list blogs because you find something interesting. Like last week, when I was surfing around John Chows blog and found this gem: Peep Lottery

Why it is a gem you ask? No, not because of the slim chance of winning the jackpot just shortly before Christmas, but because the example this kid gives.

But first a short summary how it works:
Peep Lotto is a Twitter Lottery that makes money by tweeting sponsored tweets and placing advertisement on their own homepage. This money goes into a jackpot, that will be awarded to one lucky Twitter follower on Christmas day. The only thing you need to participate is a (free) Twitter account and to follow Twterlotto, no fee, no gambling or risk involved.

So why am I impressed with this guy? And why do I think this idea will be a success?

It is simple and it is viral!
All great business concepts that became a success, especially on the internet, were simple. Look at Google, Youtube or Digg, they are all based on a few “if-then” relations. In the case of Peep Lotto it works like this: If there are followers, then there are advertisers, if there are advertisers, then the jackpot increases quickly, if the jackpot increases, then there will be more followers, if there are more followers… You get the idea

It is free!
Free always sells, a free chance to win money sells even better. For advertisers this is an interesting approach, as people are tempted to check frequently how much the jackpot is now. That leads to more people visiting the web site and see the advertisements and possible click on it. The same is valid for the tweets. Sponsored tweets are only a few each day and always mixed with personal and / or interesting messages. People will be inclined to add this account to their Twitter lists as to  easier follow the story / progress. At the moment the account stats read: 1,490 followers and added to 46 public lists. That is an excellent relation between followers / lists and reflects only in how many public lists Peep Lotto appears, it doesn’t include the private ones. This stats make it a very interesting channel for advertisers and I venture to guess it will become even more attractive as time goes by.

It is personal!
There is actually a real person behind all this, not just a cool Web 2.0 style web site and a viral idea. By adding a blog and by tweeting about his life and his project, Peter Danihel, the site / project owner, adds a story to the product and gives it so a personal touch. He engages with the site visitors via his blog, and like every successful entrepreneur receives even his share on hatemail.

Negative points:
Missing disclosure of advertisement. From the web site “To the untrained eye, your advertisement will not appear an obvious advertisement; this ensures a more efficient return on investment.” Also searching around the home page didn’t brought up any policy, disclaimer or similar. Now, the web site owner is apparently located in Canada, which means he doesn’t fall directly under the new (from 1st December) FTC guidelines, but proper policy, disclaimer and disclosure pages would add a lot to the credibility of the site. I am not very familiar with Canadian internet laws, but my guess it that also they require a minimum of “legalese speak” on a web site that sells advertisement.
What will happen after Christmas? At the moment all is geared towards one date, Christmas Eve when the winner will be announced. I don’t know if Peter has any plans after that, but he really should start to think about how to build up on this momentum he has created and how to take his project into the next year. If not this will stay just an internet episode instead of growing into a long-term business for him.

Summary:
Following the Twterlotto Twitter Account is done in a few seconds and you might even be the lucky jackpot winner. The jackpot has now reached $1400+ and the follower count was 1490 last time I looked, which gives me a chance of 1:1490 to win Certainly better odds then a “normal” lottery.

But secondly, and more importantly, it is a great case study in viral internet marketing and by following the project and the discussion around it you might actually pick up one or two ideas for your own internet business!