Google's AdWords jumped in snowy weather 

Monday, January 31 by Steve Swallow

Cold and snowy weather during November and December was partly behind an increase in Google's online advertising revenues, it has been suggested - something people using pay per click services UK may want to take note of.

The Guardian reports that the record low temperatures in the UK during November prompted a "drastic" rise in the number of people buying Christmas gifts online.

Internal advertising figures from Google show a six per cent variation in AdWords click-throughs depending on weather conditions, with the search giant's ad revenues jumping three per cent in the big freeze.

"It used to be that bad weather was an unmitigated disaster for retailers, but now they have a way to hedge themselves with an online and offline presence that allows them to benefit whether rain or shine," Google's chief eceonomist Hal Varian told the newspaper.

In fact, Mr Varian's team uses a sophisticated "weather dashboard" capable of illustrating the effect of climate conditions on people's behaviour online, which may interest pay per click services UK users.

The dashboard shows precipitation, snowfall and temperature juxtaposed with click-throughs on the AdWords platform.

Not only is this data useful for Google, but its customers could also use the information to adapt their advertising strategies in real-time, Mr Varian suggested.

"An advertiser could set an ad campaign that says if the weather is cold and rainy for four days in a row, increase my budget for [ads for] get-away vacations by ten per cent," he told the Guardian.

Recently, Google surprised a few companies in the US by giving them $100,000 (£62,820) worth of AdWords credit, smartphones, laptops and access to a year of professional website, accounting and tax advice.

Baby good store Twinkle Star and cooking school Create a Cook were two firms to benefit from the promotion.

Living Streams "Improving clients' profitability through better use of the internet".