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If you’re pressed for time, here’s the takeaway point of this article: Don’t put all of your figurative eggs in the mobile commerce basket just yet.  Information gathered by eMarketer indicates that growth in this field is painfully slow.

An eMarketer article states, “A 2008 Nielsen Mobile poll found that only 9.2 million US mobile subscribers purchased goods or services with their handset - a low figure when compared with a JPMorgan projection of 233 million total subscribers.  Even lower next to eMarketer’s estimate of 270 million US mobile phone subscribers in 2008.”

And although 2009 might be better - the iPhone, the Palm Pre, and the Android operating system are liable to help - stats suggesting that any sort of huge surge has taken place haven’t appeared.

Plus, even if people do start to make purchases using their phones, a Harris Interactive poll found that individuals generally aren’t willing to go for expensive items, opting instead for cheap stuff like pizza, movie tickets, and music.  Admittedly, hotel rooms count as a pricey, high-ranking item, but you have to figure the overlap of need and convenience is a huge factor there.

So if your blog or site isn’t optimized for viewing on a cell phone, well, don’t sweat it.  This might be a fine option to pursue if you have the time, but otherwise, your energy can probably be put to better use.

Google’s Keyword Tool seems like a potentially magical thing - after all, what better source of keyword ideas than the search giant through which 60+ percent of all queries are processed?  But it may be best if you don’t entirely bet your site’s success on the tool’s abilities.

Earlier today, Barry Schwartz asked his readers a simple question: “Do You Trust Google’s Keyword Tool?”  Exactly 169 people have responded so far, so the results are (although we won’t get into the exact mathematics of the statistical significance) quite noteworthy.

And as for how they responded, 22 percent of people said that, yes, they do trust Google’s Keyword Tool.  Which isn’t exactly overwhelming.  On the other hand, just 11 percent of folks said they didn’t trust the tool.

A full 64 percent of people landed somewhere in the middle with the response “Not Fully.”  Whether that sounds like a vote of confidence or not may depend on whether you tend to see glasses as half full or half empty.

So use the Keyword Tool as a go-to idea generator, perhaps . . . just don’t accept every term it spits out simply because the Google logo is visible on the same page.

Are you a person who likes to micromanage by the minute?  Or perhaps you’re the type who prefers to tend to something once and then retire to the couch.  Well, pay per click campaigns are a tricky matter, and one expert has weighed in with her thoughts on what sort of approach works best.

Jen Slegg believes advertisers don’t need to start rethinking their approach a mere one or two - or even 20 or 30 - clicks into a campaign.  Instead, she suggested in a guest post on the adCenter Blog for Advertisers, “[A]im for at least 100 ad clicks before you start tweaking things around.”

Unless there’s a sort of exceptional circumstance, anyway.  Slegg says to watch out for when a product (or info about a product) gets updated, and to keep up with the competition in this case so that your ads/site don’t look outdated.

Also, watch out for related news - think a product getting featured on the “Today” show or something of that nature - and then be ready to capitalize on the fresh words and phrases that might get people to visit your site.

Which isn’t so bad, right?  Really, given the sort of results a PPC campaign can generate, it’s kind of a gift that a campaign can be successful as the result of so little work.

Get to it, then, and here’s hoping you can still spend a fair amount of time on the couch.

The times, they are a-changing, and AdSense users should know that it also isn’t the same anymore.  Yesterday, there were some new policies introduced with which people who depend on AdSense for income probably need to become familiar.

Now, don’t panic - the world hasn’t been turned upside down (or even, in contrary to what some news reports might lead you to believe, overrun by swine flu-bearing sickies).  The fresh policies mostly amount to some tweaks and clarifications.

As explained on the Inside AdSense blog, “[A]ds may not be formatted in a way that makes them indistinguishable from other content on the page where they appear.”  Also, “Google ads, search boxes, and search results may not be placed in emails, as well as alongside emails.”

Another thing: “With this new policy, publishers aren’t permitted to place ads, search boxes, or search results on, within, or alongside other Google products in a way that violates the policies of that other product or service.  For instance, this would include placing ads on sites which allow users to download YouTube videos, which isn’t permitted by the YouTube Terms of Service.”

And finally, Google would continue to appreciate it if you don’t use the company’s logos and trademarks.

Easy enough, right?  So do some fine-tuning if need be, and then go back to business (and/or buying surgical masks and hand sanitizer) as usual.

Timing can be everything, and the saying is especially likely to apply when you’re asking a favor.  So if you decide to ask for links - hey, it happens, right? - it’s important to consider when exactly you should starting sending some nicely worded emails.

Barry Schwartz recently ran a poll on this issue, and 160 people responded.  The absolute worst day to send link request emails, according to these folks, is Saturday.  You’ve got to figure everyone will spend most of the day away from their computers, and be pretty quick with the “delete” button when they do check their email.

Next up in terms of bad ideas is Thursday.  How or why it appeared here is anybody’s guess.  But then come Friday and Sunday, and it’s likely that some of the same I-don’t-want-to-be-bothered attitude that people adopt on Saturdays will be present here.

Wednesday’s next, followed by Monday.  Monday’s presence this high on the list seems a bit odd, considering that people will have all sorts of stuff to catch up with and probably be in a bad mood from the weekend ending, besides.  You’re on your own with it.

Finally, though, is Tuesday.  A full 28 percent of Schwartz’s respondents identified this as the best day to send link request emails.  Why?  Well, it’s a good bet that everyone will be a little settled into the pattern of the week at this point and ready to accomplish some stuff.

As for the best time to send link request emails, we’ll cut to the chase and reveal that 40 percent of the survey’s participants favored the 8 AM to noon chunk of time.  Then 1 PM to 6 PM is popular with another 30 percent of the crowd.

Plan your schedule accordingly if you decide to seek out any links.

A repair company in the U.S. is turning its head to the skies and taking direction from Mother Nature as to where, and when, it should place its search ads.

Bad weather is good news for American Residential Services (ARS). The firm specializes in the repair of air-conditioning, heating units and plumbing systems across the U.S., often called out to towns that have experienced disasters on a major scale.

When ARS turned to TMP Directional Marketing for help with their search marketing strategy, the agency turned they eyes skywards - literally. By analyzing keywords, they made the connection between increases in keyword use and incidents of meteorological mayhem such as torrential flooding, ice storms, and heat waves.

“As we were ramping up the campaign and doing keyword expansions, we started to notice that often times if there was unseasonably cold weather in certain areas or flooding, there was an increase in traffic,” said Liz Serafin, senior director for SEM at TMP Directional Marketing, via ClickZ. “And in certain markets, depending on the duration of the triggers, they were running out of budget faster. So we took a step back and tried to get a little more strategic.”

Using Google alerts and a team of coordinators who kept tabs on meteorological sites such as Weather.com, the TMP Directional Marketing was able to divert ARS’ budget to areas that were far more likely to see an increase in need for their repair services.

Without the need for increased spending or exceeding cost per lead expectations, ARS increased leads nationally by 57%.

“For ARS, local search is growing significantly because you have the flexibility to define your audience, to define your geography and to move very quickly in the interactive environment — whether that is paid search, natural search or Internet Yellow Pages,” said Elizabeth Young, executive director of marketing and customer satisfaction at ARS.