Meet Acronym’s Peter Semetis

Director, PPC

When did you join Acronym?

In the autumn of 2010.

What do you do for Acronym and which clients do you work for?
I’m a PPC director on the Travel team and my primary client is Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts.

If you had to cite the most impactful change affecting the PPC business that Google has made over the past 12 months, what would that be?

We are currently undertaking the rollout of Upgraded URLs, which is actually a very clever change Google imposed on Adwords advertisers this year. A vital part of running any campaign is the ability to measure success. To obtain the most in-depth details within an analytics tool, tracking parameters are implemented at the keyword level. These parameters are appended after landing page URLs, and often appear as a mess of text and symbols. It’s quite common for tracking parameters to be modified through the course of the year, or even mistakenly changed by human error. With Upgraded URLs, Google has created a template system that separates tracking parameters from landing page URLs.

What are the lingering effects of that change and how has Acronym helped its clients adjust to it?

There are three main benefits to Upgraded URLs:

• Less time will be spent managing URL tracking information.
• There will be a reduction in Google crawling client websites.
• Advertisers will be able to share tracking templates at the account and ad group levels, lessening the chance of structural errors.

We are working closely with Google and third-party vendors to ensure data collection is seamless with this transition to Upgraded URLs.

What do you consider the most interesting aspect of digital advertising overall and the current state of search marketing?

Being able to witness striking changes in consumer behavior first-hand! With the rise of smartphones, it has been incredible marking the shift in device usage over the last few years. Around the world, users are connected to the Internet and experiencing life with a supercomputer at the tip of their fingers. It’s amazing.

You earned an MBA degree. What field is it in and how does it help you on the job?

I received my MBA in marketing management, which has been helpful in understanding the role of digital advertising within the companies I work with.

What do you like to do best when you are not working?

I’m a technology nerd, so I spend much of my free time reading about personal tech. I love mobile, can you tell?