Google AdWords recently announced it will launch a new feature for marketers that allows cross-device targeting campaigns for the first time ever. This means that if someone searches for a company's product or service in the morning on a smartphone, you can then serve ads related to that product on his or her desktop computer at work or tablet on the train ride home.

As long as the potential customer is signed in to a Google account (via Gmail, YouTube or any other Google service), marketers are now able to use powerful tools within AdWords for retargeting. Though it's been a long time coming — Facebook has been leading the way in cross-device targeting for many years now — this new development has some very practical implications for advertisers using Google's AdWord platform.

With over one billion global Gmail users as of February, according to Digital Trends, chances are good that either you or the person sitting next to you is one of those users. And though this free email service is only a decade old, Google has provided an interesting way for advertisers to reach consumers in a place where (according to The Huffington Post) they spend over six hours a day: their inboxes!

What are Gmail ads?

Gmail ads are a specific type of native advertising that uses Google's AdWords platform to target users based on the content of messages in their Gmail accounts. If you've ever used the browser version of Gmail, you may have noticed a "Promotions" tab near the top of the page. This is where they can be found most easily. These ads are formatted like short emails with 25-character headlines and 100-character mini-bodies. Consumers can click anywhere on these lines to view expanded ads that look like emails and typically contain graphics, links, and additional text.

If you do any travel advertising, you know that the days of the white-gloved, bespoke traveler are far gone. It's long been true that travel is booked almost exclusively online — whether through branded travel apps such as Expedia, independently by going directly to hotel and airline websites, or even by travel agents (who, yes, still exist). For businesses that rely on tourism, this has created new opportunities to reach customers.

The Purchase Journey

Long before a trip is booked, consumers begin to research destinations. The purchase journey can run the gamut from daydreaming about what it would be like to stay in the Caribbean to actually investigating the cost of flights, hotel rooms and things to do in Antigua. It is along this path that marketers for hotels, chambers of commerce and travel destinations can reach customers, particularly through search engine marketing (SEM).

If your PPC budget is generating lots of traffic, but you're not seeing a return in sales, you're probably wasting money with the wrong keywords. If you want clicks that convert, you need to help the right customers find your ad. Think of it as prequalifying your leads. Here are four quick ways to zero in on profitable keywords and eliminate the excess.

You've Got This

When it comes to maximizing your PPC budget, the best tools you have are stored in your AdWords account already. Search Engine Land recommends that you concentrate on the past three to four months of data, noting that anything older introduces too many variables to be useful. Within each campaign, you can delve into the specific performance of keywords. From the keywords menu, click the "search terms" tab to see exactly what people are searching for when they click on your ad. Once you see what people are looking for, there will be obvious keywords to eliminate.

Casting a wide net is certainly a nice thought when it comes to growing your business. Why wouldn't you want to reach as many potential customers as possible? Although you never want to turn away potential leads, focusing your efforts through hypertargeted marketing can help you reach consumers all over the Internet that are most likely to be interested in your business. This type of marketing can also identify those leads that might become the much-desired repeat customer.

What Is Hypertargeting?

Put simply, hypertargeting is a method of identifying consumers who would be interested in patronizing a certain type of business.