Category: Pictures

I just returned from Ireland! I, as a represantativ for my company, was invited by Google to be trained along other agencies from across Europe to improve my knowledge on E-marketing and Website optimization.  It was all on very short notice, I only got the invitation about 1,5 weeks in advance. Needless to say I had my flights and the hotel booked in no time.

My first day started with signing a two page confidential agreement and a meeting of my contact person at Google, that I had previously only known via phone. We started the day with a coffee at the Google Cafeteria and a little chit chat about how my company deals with clients and how tourism works in general in Austria. Then I headed for my first Seminar about Quality Score and Bid management for Google Adwords . The quality of the presentation was top top-notch and very helpful in terms of understanding how Google works. Their philosophy in simply words –  Deliver what the costumer is looking for and you will be successful, try and trick him into visiting a site that is not what he/she is looking for and you will fail. Common Sense which, in my opinion, is the secret behind the success of Google.

My next seminar was about Advanced Optimization, such as using season events to increase profit and how to improve the performance of your website by analyzing how your visitors react to your content.Then came lunch – and if the seminars weren’t already impressive enough – their food was absolutely astonishing. It looks like an ordinary canteen at an university but it tastes like in a restaurant – Sushi, Pizza, fantastic salad, you’ll name it – and on top of all – its free for Visitors and Google Workers alike. Rumor has it that after you start working there you’ll gain about 7 kilos in the first few weeks.

Then came the afternoon seminars – which was kind of hard to follow after the superb lunch, but nonetheless, very interesting. The first one was about ROI Tools and an in depth look on how to improve Return of Investment as well as a “How to Guide”. We ended the day with an Agency Round Table where we where asked how Google could improve and increase support for agencies as well as our opinion on a platform provided by Google for potential clients to choose which agencies fits them best.

Our day ended at the “Ocean”, a bar close the Google headquarter. One guy actually ended up swimming across the Grand Channel after being challenged to do so by the others – Hilarious!

The second day started with a look at the Content Network and how it can be used to promote and get awareness for products that have just been introduced to the market. This seminar was followed by an outlook on the developments of social media and mobile search for the next couple of years. Its kina scary how fast this markets are developing. In the afternoon I got the chance to take a stroll around the Google complex and the official part ended with a workshop and in-depth analyses of my current projects. At night we made a pub crawl around Temple bar, again with the Google Staff. Needless to say I enjoyed a few pints of Guinness…

My final day at the Google Headquarter was dedicated to Google Analytics and its new features such as the Internal site search, Advanced segmentation and Motion charts (still haven’t figured that one out but it sure looks great). Overall I was very excited to go to Dublin and get a little insight on “Google”, but my expectation where actually by far exceeded!