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With the rainy spring this year, vacations are top of mind for most Americans right now, and this trend is expected to last through July. According to a recent USA Today study, more than six in ten Americans say it’s important that they get away from home this year.

Unfortunately, getting away from home might be more of a financial challenge than expected due to the high gas prices. As such, stay-cations are on the rise this year, with consumers placing an increased importance on staying local and decreasing spend. Among Americans who report making major changes to their lives to deal with gas prices, 32% said they will drive less or stay home more.

With more people remaining within their local communities, Retailers should focus on promoting seasonal products that are easy to transport or even use in your own backyard. Here’s a few helpful tips to keep in mind:

Use Display Ads to Drive Interest:
Show ads alongside relevant articles and content related to the rising gas trends or fun summer activities using eye-catching banner ads. Text ads are easier to create, but banner ads may have a longer-lasting impact. E-Marketer reported that use of standard banner ads grew 23.1% from 2009 to 2010. With the growth of display and increasing emphasis on local, relevant deals, display ads are a great way to supplement your text ads. Don’t forget to include all ad sizes!

Expand Your Reach Locally:
Explore ideas for new keywords with Google’s Contextual Targeting Tool to ensure you have as many potential keyword themes as possible. Type in a local attraction and let the system do the heavy lifting. Also remember to make as many tightly-themed display ad groups as possible.

Remember the Essentials:
Gas grills and tents are on the rise, so gear up and get ready for the camping trip and bonfire! Promoting outdoor accessories will be helpful for the last-minute camper looking to get away for a nice weekend.




It’s not too late to capture these growing trends and plan for local summer promotions. Remember to stay relevant and communicate the value of your offer through display advertising!

Posted by Nicole Poppe, The Google Retail Team
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As temperatures across the US have skyrocketed this summer, searches for warm weather fashion products have also soared. In the last month, searches for warm weather apparel and footwear correspond with the rising temperatures. When temperatures rise, searches for keywords like ‘short shorts', ‘sandals’ and ‘bathing suits’ do the same.

















So make sure you are taking advantage of the heat wave (whether you're selling apparel or sprinklers) through your ad messaging and keyword bids. Search has always been about reaching engaged consumers with the right message, in the right place, at the right time. Advertisers should take advantage of what's on the minds of consumers -- even when that's something as basic as the weather.

Posted by Heidi Spector, Google Retail Team
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The holiday period will soon be arriving and retailers want to know what to expect. Last year Hal Varian, Google's Chief Economist, provided us with data and analysis to better understand the trends relating to online consumer research and purchase behavior during this critical period. The information proved to be invaluable to our retail clients in preparing for the holidays and understanding the week by week holiday traffic and associated cost and click metrics. Therefore, we are once again turning to Hal to analyze the 2007 data.

Lots of people focus on CPC (cost per click) but ultimately the performance measure that really matters is CPA (cost per aquistion). These two metrics are tied together by the conversion rate:

CPA = (cost/click)/(conversions/click) = CPC/CR.

The chart below shows median CPC, median conversion rate, and median CPA during the 2007 holiday season for US Google AdWords advertisers who use conversion tracking. The series have been normalized so they all start at the same point on October 1. Click on graph below.

The most obvious feature in the plot is the dramatic increase in the conversion rate (green line) that starts around December 1 and continues through December 17, the peak online shopping period. During this period, the median cost-per-click (red) shows a small increase, but the conversion rate (green) goes up by even more. The result is a significant drop in CPA. So even though clicks are slightly more expensive during the holiday buying season than during other times, the cost per conversion is much lower.

It is also of interest to look at how the number of clicks changes during the holiday season. Click on graph below

We see a steady march upwards in clicks starting Oct 1, with two noteworthy peaks: the first on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, and the second on December 10, which was the peak of the online holiday shopping period in 2007. We may see something a bit different this year, since there are 5 fewer shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Furthermore, given the current economic situation, consumers are likely to be hunting for bargains, so holiday sales of excess inventory may well kick in earlier than normal. Both of these facts suggest that merchants should get an early start on planning their 2008 holiday ad campaigns.

Posted by Emma Weisberg, Google Retail Team and Hal Varian, Chief Economist, Google
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