July 6, 2008 - July 12, 2008
Dallas-Forth Search Marketers Question the Closing of Google Dallas Office
The board of the Dallas-Fort Worth Search Engine Marketing Association is scratching their heads over a decision by Google to close their Dallas office. The group says Dallas-Fort Worth are search marketers are responsible for spending $100 million on search advertising, the majority of it going to Google.
“Our association members have worked with many different vertical Google sales offices across the country, and the general consensus is that the Dallas Google office was one of the best, if not the best team to work with,” said Rob Garner, DFW SEM president. “The Dallas Google office has supported the association and the North Texas search industry from the beginning, and their presence will be greatly missed.”
Dallas Googlers must choose between staying in Dallas and leaving Google, or staying with Google and relocating. They are invited to attend the DFW SEM Association's quarterly meeting on July 16 at the Renaissance Hotel in Richardson, Texas. The group says there should be opportunity for networking for those choosing to stay local.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 11, 2008, 11:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Google CEO Affirms Stance on Independent Yahoo
In the wake of Carl Icahn's declaration that Microsoft would buy a Yahoo run be a different board (and Microsoft's affirmation of the claim), Google CEO Eric Schmidt hasn't changed his position on what should happen with Yahoo. Speaking to reporters in Idaho yesterday, he reiterated that he believes an Independent Yahoo is best for the industry.
Schmidt called Microsoft's bid for Yahoo "anti-competitive," something Google has been saying from the beginning. He also said that the Redmond-based software giant has a history of being anti-competitive, and that's evidence enough of their intentions with acquiring Yahoo.
Of course, Google is facing its own anti-competitive issues with its recently announced search advertising deal with Yahoo. Despite the partnership being non-exclusive, the Justice Department formally opened their antitrust investigation into the matter earlier this month.
Still, it's no doubt that the search ad deal fuels Schmidt's desire for Yahoo to remain independent. That and a Microhoo would mean a stronger second place competitor in the search ad marketplace. Though, most would agree that second place is definitely first loser in a Google-dominated search industry.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 11, 2008, 11:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Yahoo's Conversion Tips: Optimize, Navigate and Track
Over at Yahoo's Search Marketing blog, Marketing Communications Manager Roger Park is offering up tips on converting your search ads. He breaks down a bunch of best practices principles to three main steps: Optimize, Navigate and Track.
Optimize
Optimizing your landing pages is crucial to a profitable search marketing campaign. Park advises:
- Have a "deep link" to a product on your site
- Offer several contact methods
- Online shopping carts should be secure and easily visible
- Remove broken links
- Have good server availability
Navigate
Park encourages site owners and developers to put themselves in the shoes of their web site visitors. I personally have found that many of my clients have a difficult time being able to do this. They're just too close to their business. So, it was nice that Park also served up some tangible tips:
- Create an obvious pathway to the product that the visitor searched for
- Don't have too many layers between the landing page and the end goal - no more than 2 clicks
- If the end goal is sale, move non-commercial content below the fold
Track
Successful marketing campaigns are built on solid data. Consistently evaluate your data and tweak your paid search campaigns accordingly. Yahoo's conversion-only analytics tool can help you do that. The tool can help you analyze keywords, tweak landing pages, and improve under-performing ads.
What do you think of Park's advice? Anything else you would add to the mix? Share your ideas in the comments!
Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 11, 2008, 11:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
24 iPhone Applications That Accelerate Mobile Search
Apple is releasing the next generation of its popular iPhone today, and users of the first gen phone (including yours truly) get a software upgrade that enables downloading of applications available for the iPhone 3G. Of course, search has made its way onto several applications, so let's take a look at what's available.
Straight Up Search
First up, Google is the only one of the major search engines to offer up an iPhone search app. Suggest and My Location are utilized and you can also use Google search to query your iPhone contacts. The app is free.
The generically named Web Search pulls queries from search engines and presents them in a iPhone friendly format. The idea behind the app, which costs $1.99, is that not all search sites are optimal for browsing via the iPhone's Safari browser, so Web Search takes the results and formats them for better usability.
Going Local
A whole host of applications are making local search easier. Some are the iPhone versions of popular web sites. Others are designed just for the iPhone. They make use of a user's location and several include reviews and ratings, which are popular among searchers. Here's a list:
- YP Mobile - developed by Yellowpages.com
- Yellow Pages - developed by Avantar
- Local Picks by Trip Advisor
- Where to Go
- UrbanSpoon
- Places
- Yelp
- Vicinity
- Where
YP Mobile vs. Yellow Pages iPhone apps
Media: Images, Video, Music and Movies
Both Flickr and Photobucket are offering apps for their popular photo sharing site. You can also browse public photos on their sites. Meanwhile, Truveo developed a video search app for the iPhone. YouTube (complete with search) comes packaged with the original iPhone software.
Midomi allows users to hum a song and the app will search for the song that's hummed. I plan to make great use of this service.
Box Office, OneTap Movies, and plainly named Movies help you search, you guessed it, movies!
Travel
So far, the travel search apps (or lack thereof) leave a lot to be desired. I mean, this is the iPhone! People use it while they're out and about and, you know, traveling. But for now, here's what users can download:
- Travelocity - find flight times and nearby hotels
- British Airways - find flights with the airline
- Transit Guides - mostly just for NYC, San Francisco, and DC right now
Etc. and So On
Here's a couple more apps, in case you didn't have enough.
- People - a white pages directory
- CareerBuilder - search for jobs on the go
- Pulawai Real Estate Search - maybe not prime time for this app with the housing crisis, but useful if you're house hunting, especially if on a relocating trip
There are also several apps which deliver information, such as news and sports scores. They kind of take search out of the equation.
Make no mistake, the iPhone is in the process of re-defining search (whether it meant to or not), and mobile search advertising is a space you need to explore.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 11, 2008, 9:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Gord Hotchkiss of Enquiro shares new brand research
One of the smartest people I know is Gord Hotchkiss, the president and CEO of Enquiro. He's smart because he asks questions about how people use search engines, navigate websites and engage with advertising -- and then conducts groundbreaking research to find answers before anyone else.
Most search engine marketers know Gord as the father of eye tracking research -- and if Gord got an American dollar or a Canadian Loonie every time someone used an image the "Golden Triangle" in their PowerPoint presentation, then he could take early retirement up in Kelowna, British Columbia.
Lately, Gord and the folks at Enquiro Research have been looking at online branding -- and the the relationship between brand lift and search engine rankings. I caught up with him at SES Toronto last month and asked him what he had discovered lately while conducting some new studies with Google.
Web Search, Branding, & Brand Lift with Gord Hotchkiss
While Gord won't be speaking at Search Engine Strategies San Jose, Bill Barnes, the co-founder and executive vice president of Enquiro, will be. Bill is speaking at the "Searcher Behavior Research Update" session on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 -- which is Day 3 of the SEM conference.
Bill's a smart guy, too. Or, as we'd say here in Boston, "wicked smat." And I'll bet that he'll be sharing some of Enquiro's new research on how searchers interact with search engines.
If you're looking for the latest studies and findings -- or just some new slides to incorporate in your PowerPoint presentations (with proper attribution, of course), you'd be considered "wicked smat" in my neck of the woods if you attended this session.
Posted by Greg Jarboe on July 11, 2008, 7:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
NowPublic Buys Truemors: Kawasaki Says It's All True
TechCrunch is reporting that NowPublic has acquired Truemors, a rumor site launched by Guy Kawasaki in May 2007. NowPublic bills itself as a"participatory news site." The startup has raised two rounds of financing. Kawasaki will serve on the company's advisory board as well.
This is one acquisition rumor TechCrunch got right: Guy Kawasaki confirmed it on his blog and Twittered the buyout.
NowPublic is an unusual site to say the least. Besides a story on Sarkozy being behind a break-in, one of the top stories is Top 10 Porn Dreams of Filipino Men.
The terms of the deal aren't being disclosed.
Posted by Kevin Heisler on July 10, 2008, 3:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Is Microsoft Buying Yahoo For Overture's PPC Patents?
David Utter over at WebProNews has written an insightful piece on the possibility Microsoft wants Yahoo mainly for the old Overture patents it holds, in particular patent 361.
Between his article which clarifies much of Usman Latif's posts on the topic as well as Latif's own detailed post from 2005 when Google fired the employee for blogging - shows a very good conspiracy and Machivellian business theory.
Is 'patent 361' the Holy Grail of our industry? Does it hold the power of the search engine industry? Could we see a long-haired Tom Hanks snooping around San Jose this year looking for clues?
When you see the government investigating the Yahoo/Google deal, and the cries about the possible Microsoft buying of Yahoo, this makes for even more high drama.
Is Jerry Yang refusing Microsoft advances because he knows the secrets. Is patent 361 the National Treasure like source of all riches in paid search?
This definitely gives a different perspective to the entire situation. I am waiting for David Brown to write the novel.
Posted by Frank Watson on July 10, 2008, 12:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Google Mobile Releases MMA-Compliant Ads
In April, Google launched image ads as part of their mobile ad service. 5 days later, the Mobile Marketing Association released new guidelines for mobile image ads. Today, Google is announcing that their mobile image ads are compliant with the new MMA specifications.
But don't freak out if you're using the old formats. Writing on the Official Google Mobile blog, Product Marketing Manager Alexandra Kenin said, "if you have an ad in an old format that's already uploaded to your account, it will continue to run. From here on out, though, we'll be accepting uploads only in the MMA-compliant formats."
Not advertising on Google mobile yet? SEW Columnist David Szetela suggests you get started and shows you how.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 10, 2008, 12:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Online Security Fears Larger than Actual Risk, Survey Finds
In the wake of a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on online advertising and privacy, Mintel has released survey data revealing Americans are more concerned than they were 5 years ago about online security.
- 65% are more concerned than they were 5 years ago
- 28% are significantly more concerned than they were five years ago
But the actual risk is declining. The number of American identity thefts declined 12% from 2003 to 2006 (10.1 million to 8.9 million), according to US Justice Department data. Of the 8.9 million cases in 2006, only 8.3% of them were related to online activity, such as computer viruses, hackers or phishing. Mintel reports that less than 1% of emails they tracked were phishing scams.
“The actual risk of having your identity stolen online is not as high as many people think,” states Menke. “Financial services companies are trying to reassure consumers of this fact, but our research suggests their marketing messages aren't sticking. Companies need to find innovative new ways to convince Americans that their identities are secure online and when using email.”
Financial service companies already have a solid base to work from to achieve that goal. 71% of American adults report managing at least one financial services account online. The average American manages 3 financial services via email and the web.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 10, 2008, 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Ask.com and Photobucket Enter Image Search Partnership
Ask.com and Photobucket (think Flickr + YouTube) have announced a multi-year partnership. Photobucket will now display an Ask.com search box, and includes syndication of sponsored listsings and display ads. Photobucket sees 44 million unique users worldwide each month.
“Photobucket has one of the largest online audiences, and now Ask.com provides these consumers with the answers to the questions they ask every day," said Andrew Moers, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Ask.com Partner Network. “This alliance furthers our strategy to bring Ask.com to consumers worldwide through a broad range of Internet access points.”
Photobucket President Alex Welch spoke of the importance of search for users of the photo sharing site: "Photobucket users view, store and share billions of images each month and Ask.com will serve as a great resource in helping those users find specific content quickly and efficiently.”
Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 10, 2008, 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Google Shares Three Ranking Philosophies
The Google Search Quality Team is keeping its promise to explain more about how they conduct their work. As usual and expected, it's fantastically vague, but since a chunk of our readers at any given time are new to search, it's worth going over.
Writing on the Official Google blog, Amit Singhal, a Google Fellow on the Core Ranking Team, defines Google ranking:
"Google ranking is a collection of algorithms used to find the most relevant documents for a user query. We do this for hundreds of millions of queries a day, from a collection of billions and billions of pages. These algorithms are run for every query entered into most of Google's search services. While our web search is the most used Google search service and the most widely known, the same ranking algorithms are also used - with some modifications - for other Google search services, including Images, News, YouTube, Maps, Product Search, Book Search, and more."
Then he gave three philosophies that the Core Ranking Team follows:
1) Best locally relevant results served globally.
2) Keep it simple.
3) No manual intervention.
Singhal says that the team strives for simplicity in their architecture, something that Twitter has been struggling with lately. Obviously, with all the queries conducted and the massive amount of content to be indexed, it coud be easy to piece together a very complex architecture (similar to Google's woes with their ad products). With approximately 10 ranking updates per week, Singhal says the team takes simplicity in architecture into consideration in every single update.
Singhal also emphasized philosophy #3 - that Google does not hand edit results.
"You are the ones creating pages and linking to pages. We are using all this human contribution through our algorithms. The final ordering of the results is decided by our algorithms using the contributions of the greater Internet community, not manually by us."
What do you think of Singhal's explanation of Google Ranking? Let us know in the comments.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 10, 2008, 10:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
hakia Comments on Leveraging Yahoo's BOSS
Yesterday, Yahoo announced the launch of Build your Own Search Service, aka BOSS. The program allows third parties to utilize Yahoo's index and ranking methodologies to create their own search engines.
Semantic search engine hakia is using Yahoo's BOSS technology to accelerate its advanced QDEX (Query Detection and Extraction) technology. The Yahoo data is being combined with hakia's own crawled data, and then indexed and ranked by hakia.
“Accessing Yahoo!'s resources via Yahoo! Search BOSS geometrically increases our ability to QDEX the entire World Wide Web and usher in the next evolution of search – semantic, or natural language search,” said Dr. Riza Berkan, CEO of hakia. “BOSS is a great testament to Yahoo!'s foresight, strategic thinking and leadership, and illustrates the growing need for new technologies that will improve the user experience and overall search capabilities.”
Recently, hakia launched Syndication Web Services, allowing third parties to leverage their search.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 10, 2008, 9:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
comScore Ranks Yahoo! Finance as Top Financial News Site
Yesterday afternoon, comScore announced the latest rankings in the financial news and research site category, which attracted more than 64 million U.S. visitors in May, an increase of 35 percent versus year ago.
Yahoo! Finance was the leader in the category during May with 18.5 million visitors, up 58 percent versus year ago, followed by AOL Money & Finance with 15.2 million visitors (up 48 percent) and MSN Money with 13.7 million visitors (up 13 percent).
Here are the top 10 Financial News and Research Sites:
Total Unique Visitors (millions) May 2008
1. Yahoo! Finance 18.5
2. AOL Money & Finance 15.2
3. MSN Money 13.7
4. Forbes Property 7.0
5. Dow Jones & Company 6.6
6. CNN Money 6.0
7. BNET 5.6
8. TheStreet.com Sites 5.3
9. Reuters Sites 4.8
10. Reed Business Information 3.8
The category displayed visitor growth across virtually all demographic segments. However, certain segments contributed more than others.
The number of visitors to the category age 50 and older grew 46 percent versus year ago, while visitors under 50 grew by 32 percent. Above average growth was also seen in the following segments: households earning at least $60,000 annually (40 percent), households with children (38 percent) and households with at least 5 people (57 percent).
In other words, the segments displaying the greatest growth are those more likely to have greater financial responsibilities or challenges, such as paying for their kids to go to college, or needing to figure out how best to handle rapidly escalating monthly payments on home mortgages. And don't get me started on rising gas prices.
Why should search engine marketers pay attention to this trend? Check out your favorite financial news site, search for a couple of publicly traded companies, and see how many press releases you can find in the results. Most of them have been distributed by Business Wire, Marketwire, PrimeNewswire and PR Newswire.
It kind of makes you think.
Posted by Greg Jarboe on July 10, 2008, 8:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
SEW Experts: Link Building via Word-of-Mouth
Get people talking positively about your company or product and the links will follow. In today's linkbuilding column, "Link Building via Word-of-Mouth," Justilien Gaspard offers some tips on how to increase exposure, branding, and build links all at the same time.
Posted by Kevin Newcomb on July 10, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
SEW Experts: Has Facebook Found the Key to Making Money via Search?
While it's anyone's guess what will be rolled out at the f8 Facebook Developers Conference on July 23, the buzz is predicting an announcement of e-commerce and micro-payment capabilities. And once there's scale to the commercial transactions taking place on Facebook, then people will start searching for things rather than just people. In today's building brand equity column, "Has Facebook Found the Key to Making Money via Search?," Erik Qualman notes that there's money to be made there, and small businesses need to start paying attention.
Posted by Kevin Newcomb on July 10, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Yahoo Launches BOSS: Build your Own Search Service
Yahoo is taking the next step in its "open" strategy with the launch today of BOSS: Build your Own Search Service. The BOSS program will allow third parties to build their own search engine using Yahoo's index and ranking methodologies as a base.
Building a competitive search engine would require upwards of $300 million in capital investments, according to Prabhakar Raghavan, chief strategist for Yahoo Search. Besides the hardware involved, there is a limited pool of talent available that can create the query handling, ranking, indexing and crawling infrastructure. Add to that the need for massive amounts of data to achieve relevance, and it becomes nearly impossible for smaller players to compete.
Yahoo is changing all of that with BOSS, Raghavan said.
"This is a bold direction for any search principal to take," he said. "We're expecting this to disrupt the market, and that includes ourselves."
By disrupting the search engine market, Yahoo hopes to bring more choice to consumers, while also taking away some of Google's share. Where Search Monkey opened up Yahoo's SERPs, BOSS opens up Yahoo's infrastructure and technology, and extends it outside of Yahoo.
Using the BOSS APIs, partners will be able to take Yahoo's search results and apply their own ranking criteria, creating their own customized search engine. The BOSS API is based on Yahoo's full index of Web search, news and image search results, as well as spell correction, Raghavan said.
There are three levels to the BOSS program. The first is a self-service API, which will be available to partners who want to build their own search engine using Yahoo results as a base. Examples could include social, vertical, or visual search engines. The second is an API program for academics, dubbed BOSS University. Yahoo is partnering with the computer science departments of several top universities to allow them to use the BOSS program in their research.
Yahoo will also offer partners the BOSS Mashup Framework, a software library that provides tools for data joins and other tasks. It will also offer some ready-made SERP templates, which partners will be able to customize for themselves. Since Yahoo is not in control of the way partners rank results, it has made it clear that these BOSS results are not allowed to be attributed to Yahoo.
The third tier is BOSS Custom, a program where Yahoo will work with a very limited set of partners to customize their integration of Yahoo's results into their own search engines. These partners will generally fit into two main categories, Raghavan said. The first includes companies with their own ranking and/or presentation methodologies, such as semantic search engine Hakia. Hakia is using Yahoo's results, to which it applies its own "secret sauce," he said. Hakia is not replacing its own indexing process completely, but rather using BOSS to accelerate the process.
The other category of partner includes companies with proprietary data, such as user profiles or behavior, that can be used to affect search results. One such company is Me.dium, a browser toolbar that lets users connect with each other and find related sites recommended based on other users' surfing habits. Me.dium will use Yahoo's BOSS data to create a social search engine that will rank results based on what its users say is important.
At launch, all reordering of search results must be done by the partner. Over time, Yahoo expects to begin offering "knobs" that will allow partners to dial up or down certain criteria in the results, such as favoring recent results, or results from blogs, Raghavan said.
Eventually, Yahoo expects to monetize the program by requiring partners to show Yahoo ads alongside their results, in which partners will share the revenue generated. Yahoo is holding off on doing so at launch to allow time to monitor the quality of traffic coming in from BOSS partners, to ensure that advertisers would not be hurt by having their ads displayed in that manner, Raghavan said.
Posted by Kevin Newcomb on July 10, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
Dick Cheney Is Spamming SEW: As Effective As A Shotgun Blast
As the Forum Editor here at SEW, I have to delete a lot of bogus spam posts. So much to my surprise I came across one new visitor using the screen name Dick Cheney to drop a couple of spam posts about some tool he is pushing from his site.
Obviously not the current Vice President since he is pushing some type of Craigslist toolbar and not shot guns or Enron or Haliburton. Nice try mate - but if Dick Cheney is doing any kind of reputation management he may come hunting for you. And we know he has no inhibitions when it comes to using shot guns.
Good luck with your tool - but link drops and other spam generally gets swept out of the forums pretty quick. We have good mods.
If you want to get links from a search forum I would suggest you spend the time to actually post here and give advice on the areas you know. Develop a presence and reputation for helping others and we allow some links to relevant information on other sites.
Come by and drop links and you waste everyone's time - yours and ours - and if you happen to use a prominent person's name as your nom de spam I would worry about them tracking down your site and creating problems.
Posted by Frank Watson on July 9, 2008, 5:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Google Earth Doesn't Kill Rabbits; Rabbit Serial Killers Do
A sadistic serial killer has set his sights on rabbits in Germany. He decapitates them (chops off their heads) and then exsanguinates them (drains their blood).
Dubbed the "Rabbit Ripper" in the English tabloids ("Serienmörder von Kaninchen"), the Germans have created a five-man special task force to find the unsub.
His accomplice?
Police suspect the Rabbit Ripper is using Google Earth satellite images to find homes where pet rabbits reside. Volker Schuette, one of a special team of five officers hunting the killer, warned that many animals had been snatched from cages away from public view, suggesting the killer might be using Internet satellite images to track them down.
What's worse: They fear the murderer will move on to humans if he or she isn't caught soon.
Seriously? Jawohl.
Estimates of the bunny bodycount range from 30 to 40 bunnies beheaded in the towns of Written and Dortmund, in the Ruhr Valley, since last summer.
A taskforce of five officers has interviewed more than 300 people in the search for the killer.
The 'bunny murders' have alarmed owners living around the city of Dortmund who have now offered a £2000 reward to catch the killer.
In one case, brother and sister rabbits Fussel and Marianne were dragged from their cage, decapitated, bled dry and their bodies left for their owners to find the next morning.
One woman, Julia Perkun, has built a secret bunny bunker for her 13 rabbits in woodland on the edge of Witten.
"This place isn't visible from the street," Mrs Perkun told the BBC. "I try not to tell anyone where this place is. People know that I have rabbits, but I don't tell anyone where this place is, so I hope my rabbits are safe."
Police suspect there could be a satanic or occult connection to the killings. Ruhr Valley police said they feared that the assassin could be a Satanist, or Satanists, engaged in bloody, ungodly rituals.
Posted by Kevin Heisler on July 9, 2008, 3:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Where My Ads At? Yahoo Knows
Now you see it. Now you don't. If you conduct search advertising over at Yahoo, your experience may feel a bit like hide and seek at first. But Kastle Waserman, Communications Manager, managed to find the time and wherewithal at troubled Yahoo to answer this very problem on their Search Marketing Blog.
Our system is designed to check your click charges to see how close you are to your spending limit, and adjusts the display of your ads to ration your spending throughout the day. That way, your whole budget isn't blown in the first few hours that the ad is online.
So what do you do when your ads aren't displayed as often as you like?
If your ads are not being displayed as often as you like, it may be time to take a look at how your spending limits and bids are set. To help get your ads displayed more often, consider increasing your spending limits. If that's not possible, there are ways to work within your means and still compete with the deep-pocket competition.
What do you think of Kastle's tips? Let us know in the comments.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 9, 2008, 11:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
AdWords Keyword Tool Now Shows Numerical Data
If you hear loud shouts of exuberance coming from your SEM department (or consultant), that's because keyword research just got a whole lot easier. I'm super-excited to report that Google announced that it has officially added numerical data to its AdWords Keyword Tool. Now instead of staring at green bars, hoping to decipher how much of a difference there is between keywords, you have a ballpark figure. Tests of numbers in Keyword Tool were being seen as early as March 2007.
Here's a screenshot.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 9, 2008, 11:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)
Back-to-School Offline Purchases Influenced by Online Ads
AOL has released data from a Platform-A study examining the influences of online advertising on offline back-to-school purchasing. Here's what you need to know:
- 83% of consumers indicate that they're somewhat likely to seek information on promotions they see online.
- Women are typically the primary decision-makers for back-to-school purchases.
- 40% of consumers who buy early are likely to purchase electronic items vs. later shoppers (17%). This suggests that advertisers may want to promote laptops, cell phones and other electronics during the earlier summer months.
“While back-to-school buying remains primarily an offline activity, the survey reveals plenty of opportunity for online marketing to influence back-to-school purchases,” said Stuart Rodnick, Senior Director of the ADlytics group. “As an example, the usefulness of weekly circulars can be extended online where they can be viewed any day of the week and targeted to in-market back-to-school shoppers.”
Related Reading:
The Offline Benefits of Online Advertising
Assessing the Offline Impact of Online Research
Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 9, 2008, 11:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Google Can't Fix All of YouTube's Ad Problems with 'Project Spaghetti'
Google is struggling to monetize YouTube and will fall short of revenue projections this year, according to the Wall Street Journal. Tim Armstrong, Google's President North American Advertising and Commerce, told the Journal that 105 problems have been identified with YouTube's advertising process. Meanwhile, 24 different processes were identified for search advertising. Now, "Project Spaghetti" is in full swing to help streamline the processes.
YouTube's monetization problem may not be as severe as reported. Last month at a Triangle Interactive Marketing Association meeting, Google said that YouTube's branded channels come with an agreement for clients to spend $200,000 in advertising the channel on their Content Network. Otherwise the channel is "free." Obviously those aren't YouTube revenues, but it does funnel money elsewhere in Google.
Still the bigger question remains in the ability to monetize social media. In May, eMarketer lowered its projections for social network advertising. While users are open to ads on social networks, many find them irrelevant. Mix in the fact that advertisers are wary of marketing their product next to some of the crazy social media content out there, and you've got yourself a regular conundrum.
YouTube is expected to begin pre-roll and post-roll ads (ads before and after vids) in the third quarter, but don't expect that to go over well with users. Or advertisers. Or even Google in the long run. With one of the core problems being relevant ads, simply adding a new type of ad to the mix doesn't solve the problem.
Plus, pre-roll and post-roll ads are akin to TV ads, where branding is a key focus. But with the economy and Google's own shifting of the ad marketing place with pay-per-click ads, more and more advertisers are looking to direct response methods.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 9, 2008, 10:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Yahoo's Yang Rips Microsoft and Icahn
CEO Jerry Yang accused Microsoft of trying to destabilize Yahoo without intending to complete a deal, according to the Wall St. Journal. Yang also fired back at billionaire investor Carl Icahn and his selection of a new Yahoo board.
What ticked Yang off? Microsoft said publicly it would restart buyout talks and partial acquisition discussions if Icahn succeeds at replacing Yahoo's board of directors in a proxy battle.
"To trust Mr. Icahn and his board is really a bad choice," Mr. Yang said in an interview with the WSJ.
Of course, Icahn would replace Yang so it's clear why Jerry wouldn't trust him.
Yang said Yahoo would look at any deal Microsoft proposed, and he called Microsoft's apparent unwillingness to negotiate further "baffling." Microsoft and Yahoo advisors spoke last week, but there are currently no formal conversations between the companies, he said.
Microsoft had no comment on Yang's remarks. A spokesperson referred to Monday's statement, which read: "We have concluded that we cannot reach an agreement with them. We confirm, however, that after the shareholder election, Microsoft would be interested in discussing with a new board a major transaction with Yahoo."
Posted by Kevin Heisler on July 9, 2008, 10:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Google, Microsoft and Facebook to Testify to U.S. Senate about Online Ad Privacy
The Senate Commerce Committee is today holding a hearing about online advertising privacy. Scheduled to testify are:
- Jane Horvath, Google Senior Privacy Counsel
- Mike Hintze, Microsoft Associate General Counsel, Legal & Corporate Affairs
- Chris Kelly, Facebook Chief Privacy Officer
For Google's part, Horvath says she'll be focusing on the following:
- First, Google supports the passage of a comprehensive federal privacy law that would enhance consumer trust and protections; establish a uniform framework for privacy; and put penalties in place to punish and dissuade bad actors;
- Second, we have participated in the Federal Trade Commission's effortsto develop principles relating to online privacy and behavioral advertising, and our hope is that revised principles will be adopted widely by the online advertising industry;
- Third, we believe that the private sector and government should provide more education for consumers about what kinds of personal information are collected by websites, how such data is used, and what steps they can take to better protect their privacy. Too often, web site operators view their online privacy policy as the beginning and end of their privacy obligations;
- And finally, we believe that industry should provide greater labeling of online display ads -- as we currently do with text ads -- and give consumers mechanisms to opt out of behaviorally targeted advertising.
The hearing begins at 10am in SR - 253.
Google has been vocal about their dedication to privacy this week. They've thrown up a privacy link on their minimalist home page and addressed the concerns related to a ruling requiring them to hand over YouTube user logs.
But Google's insistence on their privacy policy has generally not been enough for lawmakers, especially in election years. Several states have taken on the online advertising privacy issue, most recently in New York and Connecticut.
Facebook has not been as successful in protecting user privacy. Last year, the social network came under fire for its Beacon ads, which used user data without their permission.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 9, 2008, 9:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
SEW Experts: What's on your Mind?
Anyone engaged in the practice of search has at one time or another struggled to motivate searchers. Motivation comes in the form of click action, triggered by text. In today's Searching for Meaning column, "What's on your Mind?," Kevin Ryan reminds us that the action starts long before reaching search results.
Posted by Kevin Newcomb on July 9, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
SEW Experts: Coherency in Landing Page Testing
Coherency is an overall sense of your design hanging together. It's a congruity and harmonious consistency in the relation of all parts to the whole. And it's largely ignored by landing page testers. In today's By the Numbers column, "Coherency in Landing Page Testing," Tim Ash shows how this can lead visitors to respond to incoherent pages with a variety of gut reactions, and none of them are flattering.
Posted by Kevin Newcomb on July 9, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Google Lively: Comprehensive Guide to Getting Started
Second Life, get a life. Google Lively is the new virtual world created by the world's largest search engine.
Google Lively is billed as a "chat experience" using avatars. Google says, "You're about to embark on a chat experience in which you can communicate and express yourself using avatars in your very own space. Choose an avatar and use it to make friends and chat. Create rooms, decorate them to your liking, and make sure to invite your friends over."
Here's how it works:
Choose a Google Lively room
* From the Room List, click the title of the room you'd like to visit first.
* Use the tabs at the top of the page to sort rooms by most popular, most visitors, or newest.
* Once you've added friends or created a room, the My Rooms and Friends' Rooms tabs will also be handy.
Choose your Google Lively avatar
1. Click My Avatar on the right sidebar.
2. Click the avatar you like and choose Select Avatar (your avatar changes instantly).
3. Once you've chosen the one you want, click the X to hide the menu.
Change your Google Lively avatar's clothing
To change your outfit, check out the styles available in the wardrobe picker. Here's how:
1. Click My Wardrobe on the right sidebar to open your wardrobe.
2. Browse or search the options in your wardrobe inventory and select items to wear. When you double-click an item, it'll appear on your avatar instantly. You don't have to close the window to find out if you like the look.
If you don't like how something looks on your avatar, go back to your wardrobe, left-click on the item, and choose Remove Item.
If you want more wardrobe options, add new stuff to your inventory by o quickly change your entire outfit, click my avatar and choose I'm Feeling Lucky . You'll see the new duds on your avatar instantly.
Create your own Google Lively room
1. Click new room and choose Create New Room to start the process.
2. Look over each tab and choose what you want your room to look like, the permissions you want to grant visitors, and whether you'd like to play music in your room.
Posted by Kevin Heisler on July 8, 2008, 6:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)
Google Docs Dying for a Checkup
The Register reported today that Google Docs disappeared in the cloud computing stratosphere, leaving users hoping for a house call from the Google guys. No word yet on the outage on the official Google Docs blog.
Cade Metz noted that Google's Docs and Spreadsheets disappeared today for close to an hour, proving that the world's largest search engine is a long way from perfecting the art of online business applications.
Metz said many businesses paid good money to look at this screen, which appeared from about 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. at least to customers in Silicon Valley.
The Register quoted a less-than-thrilled Google Apps Premiere customer, San Francisco-based open source outfit MuleSource. The company pays Google for the use of Docs and Spreadsheets, and it describes the experience as a game of chance.
"As businesses look to move their systems and applications into cloud-based services, we expect them to work minimally as well as if we ran them ourselves," Mule Source CEO Dave Rosenberg tells us. "With Google Apps, we are at the point of taking bets to see if the services will actually be up."
We're not sure the phrase "When clouds die" is part of the official Google server error message.
Posted by Kevin Heisler on July 8, 2008, 2:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Ex-Google Exec Heads to Bebo Europe
Ex-Googler Kate Burns has been tapped by social networking site Bebo to head up their European operations, according to the Guardian. Burns previously was Google's managing director for the UK. She also helped launch DoubleClick and AltaVista in the UK.
Bebo was recently acquired by AOL for $850 million. The site boasts 40 million members worldwide. AOL's Platform-A recently announced a guaranteed CPM for Bebo developers. Platform-A was the largest ad network in March.
Also in March, Microsoft announced a data portability with 5 social networks, including Bebo. However, AOL joined Google's OpenSocial initiative in May.
Google owns a 5% stake in AOL, and was recently given permission to unload the stock, though it has yet to do so.
Meanwhile, rumor of a possible Yahoo-AOL merger have reared its (ugly?) head again, but today reports are suggesting any deal would not be completed in July. Yahoo's shareholder meeting is August 1.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 8, 2008, 11:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Microsoft Secures Search Ad Partnership with Rodale's Health Sites
Microsoft has announced a new search advertising partnership with Rodale's roster of health sites. The agreement is exclusive and includes sites like MensHealth.com, WomensHealthmag.com, Prevention.com, RunnersWorld.com and Bicycling.com.
"Rodale is the authoritative source for trusted content in health, fitness and wellness around the world and on the Web, and we are pleased to provide our advertisers greater access to this valuable audience segment," said Scott Howe, vice president of the Advertiser and Publisher Solutions Group at Microsoft. "The inclusion of Rodale in our lineup of syndicated advertising partners is a strong indicator that we're continuing to gain significant traction with our advertising platform and further complements our vertical expertise in health, finance, travel, autos and entertainment."
Related Reading:
Paid Search Advertising Drives Microsoft Bid for Yahoo
Microsoft Changing Trademark Policy For PPC Advertising
Microsoft Committed to Advertising Success
Digg Goes with Microsoft for Ads
Microsoft Invests $240 Million In Facebook
Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 8, 2008, 11:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Online Couponing Up 56% During Weak Economy, High Energy Prices
Online couponing is up 56% from last year, likely due to high gas prices and a weak economy, according to Hitwise data reported by CouponCabin.com. The coupon company says it has experienced 35% growth over last summer.
"As consumers become more and more conscious of saving money, they're exploring new ways to cut costs without giving up too much of what they love, which includes shopping," said Scott Kluth, founder and president of CouponCabin.com.
CouponCabin also gave the following tips for online shopping:
- Be Safe -- Only Shop at Secure Websites: Secure websites are definable by a yellow padlock in the status bar. By shopping at a secure website, it ensures hackers are unable to obtain any of the shopper's personal information.
- Save On Shipping -- Search for Discounted or Free Shipping Coupons: Sites like CouponCabin.com have entire sections dedicated strictly to coupons for discounted or free shipping.
- Let The Sales Find You: Register for e-newsletters to stay constantly informed of sales and discounts.
- Stack For More Savings: Stacking is an online shopping trick that allows shoppers to use multiple coupons at once, providing extra savings. If there are two promotional code boxes, make sure to use two different coupon codes to maximize savings.
- Shop For The Things You Want: Check listings for coupon codes that pertain to specific items you are interested in. Sites like CouponCabin.com have a link for "favorite deals," which allows shoppers to browse by category to view products with discount codes that may peak their interest.
Have you used online couponing? Share your experience in the comments.
Related Reading:
Do E-Mail Coupons Really Work?
Google Adds Printable Coupons to Local Listings
Yahoo! Partners with Coupon Inc. for Mobile Coupons
Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 8, 2008, 10:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
mInfo Chosen as Official Mobile Search Provider for Beijing Olympics
The Beijing Olympic Committee has chosen mInfo as the official search provider for the mobile version of the 2008 Olympics web site. mInfo currently provides mobile search services to 600 million wireless subscribers in China. Pull-advertising is also a major mobile offering of the Shanghai-based company.
"mInfo is extremely honored to have been chosen by BOCOG to take on the important responsibility of powering search for the official mobile site of the 2008 Olympics," said mInfo CEO Alvin Wang Graylin. "We are proud to be able to contribute to this historic event. The release of this service is particularly satisfying to mInfo, as our Chengdu development team was the core group behind its development, and had to overcome extraordinary challenges to release the service on time, given the devastation caused by the recent earthquakes in the region."
Related Reading:
China Real Estate Search Engine Launches in English Before Beijing Olympics
Google, Baidu, Sohu Search Engines Spanked by People's Republic of China
Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 8, 2008, 10:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Yahoo Gains, Google Declines, and MSN Plummets for Q2 2008 Search Ads
AdGooroo has released second quarter search advertising results, and Google's client base is down 6.4% from the previous quarter. Google also declined 8.5% year-over-year.
Things were far worse for MSN. Their client base dropped a whopping 20% from Q1. The decline contributed to a 6.7% drop year-over-year. The decrease is not really a surprese since Microsoft has essentially admitted how bad their search is in their attempt to acquire Yahoo, and their successful acquisitions of FAST and Powerset.
Meanwhile, Yahoo could use some good news right now, and the AdGooroo data delivers. Yahoo saw a slight increase in its advertiser base at 0.03% over last quarter, and up 9.8% over last year.
Here's a chart with all the data goodness:
AdGooroo also reported data on the number of ads per keyword. Globally, the number of ads per keyword declined across Google, Yahoo, and MSN. When just looking at the U.S., however, Yahoo and Google held steady while Microsoft saw a decline.
More data for the math junkies:
What do you think of these numbers? Let us know in the comments.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 8, 2008, 10:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)
Twitter Buys Summize?
Twitter, the social media sensation, is rumored to buy Summize, the Twitter search engine.
Summize is widely considered to be the best search engine for Twitter conversations.
Of course there are skeptics about the acquisition given that it was reported in TechCrunch:
"Want a good way to build a popular blog? Make up a story! According to “the sources” of what appears to be a high school student, Summize is being acquired by Twitter. Mike Arrington's verification model for this source? Why a FriendFeed post from Jason Calacanis of course! Mike Arrington has confirmation that the two companies were talking but no acquisition confirmation.
Hat tip to Josh Chandler for breaking the news.
Posted by Kevin Heisler on July 8, 2008, 9:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Optimizing your schedule for Search Engine Strategies San Jose
Yesterday, we looked at building the business case for going to SES San Jose. Today, let's tackle optimizing your schedule for Search Engine Strategies San Jose.
For arguments sake, let's say that you'll be bringing four members of your team to the SES conference and SEM training. One is an SES newbie, another is an SEO specialist, a third is a PPC specialist, and the fourth is an SEM veteran.
Which Search Engine Strategies conference sessions and search engine marketing training workshops should each one attend – to ensure that your business gets the biggest bang for its bucks?
As I mentioned yesterday in yesterday's post, “Building the business case for going to SES San Jose,” almost 88% of the content at Search Engine Strategies San Jose 2008 will be brand new! So, how can anyone presume to know which sessions to recommend to someone else?
That's a fair point, so you may want to glance at the conference at a glance yourself before deciding which tracks are right for you.
But, I've attended 28 SES conferences since the spring of 2002. And I've learned that the key to getting the right member of your team into the right session is to see who is speaking as well as to read what the session is about.
For example, on Tuesday, Aug. 19, from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m., the Orion Keynote Panel, Technical & Information Giants, will be moderated by Kevin Ryan, Vice President, Global Content Director, Search Engine Strategies and Search Engine Watch, and Mike Grehan, Global KDM Officer, Acronym Media. The speakers include:
• Matt Cutts, Software Engineer Guru, Google;
• Danny Sullivan, Editor-in-Chief, Search Engine Land;
• Tim Westergren, Founder, Pandora;
• Robert Scoble, Managing Director, FastCompany.TV; and
• Kirsten Mangers, Co-Founder & CEO, WebVisible.
According to the session description, these search engine marketing industry giants will “discuss how the past will shape our future and attempt to answer some of the biggest questions in search. What are the most important changes in the space that you should be aware of? How will the decisions made today affect our marketing and communication efforts in the future?”
While it's never been held before, I strongly encourage you to attend this session. In fact, run, don't walk, if you want to get a good seat.
In other cases, you'll want your team to split up to cover as much of the four-day SEM conference as possible. To help you get started, here is an optimized schedule of Search Engine Strategies San Jose for an SES newbie, an SEO specialist, a PPC specialist, and an SEM veteran.
Day 1 - Monday, August 18, 2008
9:00am-9:30am
Whole Team: Conference Welcome & Orientation
9:45am-11:00am
SES Newbie: Search Industry Update
SEO Specialist: Universal & Blended Search
PPC Specialist: More Customers, Fewer Costs - Why Marketing to the 'Long Tail' Makes Sense
SEM Veteran: Mobile SEO: Death of the “.mobi”
11:15am-12:30pm
SES Newbie: The Next Wave for Online Video
SEO Specialist: Igniting Viral Campaigns
PPC Specialist: Giving Credit Where It's Due: Which Campaign Sold What?
SEM Veteran: Semantic Search: How Will It Change Our Lives?
1:30pm-2:30pm
Whole Team: Orion Keynote Panel: How Much Search is Enough?
2:45pm-4:00pm
SES Newbie: Video Search Engine Optimization (VSEO)
SEO Specialist: Storyteller Marketing: How the Art of Storytelling Matches Up With the Business of Marketing
PPC Specialist: Everything But Google: Alternative Search Advertising Options
SEM Veteran: Enterprise Search: Running Your Own Search Engine
4:30pm-5:30pm
Whole Team: Opening Keynote Presentation
Lee Siegel, Author of “Against the Machine”
Day 2 - Tuesday, August 19, 2008
9:00am-10:00am
Whole Team: Morning Keynote
Satya Nadella, Senior VP, Search, Portal & Advertising Platform Group, Microsoft
10:00am-11:00am
Whole Team: Expo Hall Grand Opening
11:00am-12:15pm
SES Newbie: Introduction to Search Engine Marketing
SEO Specialist: Measuring Success in a 2.0 World
PPC Specialist: Landing Page Testing & Tuning
SEM Veteran: Shopping Search Tactics
1:30pm-2:30pm
Whole Team: Orion Keynote Panel:: Technical & Information Giants
4:00pm-5:15pm
SES Newbie: Search Advertising 101
SEO Specialist: Identify, Analyze, Act: SEM by Numbers
PPC Specialist: Landing Page Utopia: Expert Roundtable
SEM Veteran: Research Online, Purchase Offline
5:15pm-6:30pm
Whole Team: Networking Cocktail Reception
7:00pm-11:00pm
Whole Team: Google Dance
Buses depart for the Google Campus from 6:30pm
Day 3 - Wednesday, August 20, 2008
9:00am-10:00am
Whole Team: Special Session
10:30am-11:45am
SES Newbie: Building a Search Friendly Site
SEO Specialist: SEO Through Blogs & Feeds
PPC Specialist: Ads in a Quality Score World
SEM Veteran: Getting Vertical Search Right
1:00pm-2:15pm
SES Newbie: Link Building Basics
SEO Specialist: News Search SEO
PPC Specialist: Auditing Paid Listings & Click Fraud Issues
SEM Veteran: Searcher Behavior Research Update
2:45pm-4:00pm
SES Newbie: Keywords & Content: Search Marketing Foundations
SEO Specialist: Duplicate Content & Multiple Site Issues
PPC Specialist: War of the Search Worlds: Unifying Your Global Search Marketing Program
SEM Veteran: SEO Rehab & Intervention
4:15pm-5:30pm
SES Newbie: Maximizing SEO Returns With User Generated Content
SEO Specialist: Dealing With New Technologies
PPC Specialist: Advanced Paid Search Techniques
SEM Veteran: Black Hat, White Hat: Playing Dirty With SEO
5:30pm-7:00pm
Whole Team: Domain Auction
7:00pm-11:00pm
Whole Team: SearchBash
Just blocks from the Convention Center from 7:00pm till late!
Day 4 - Thursday, August 21, 2008
9:00am-10:00am
Whole Team: Morning Keynote
Chip Heath, Author of “Made to Stick”
10:15am-11:15am
SES Newbie: The Business Case for SEO Content Development: Turning Words Into Action!
SEO Specialist: How to Speak Geek: Working Collaboratively With Your IT Department To Get Stuff Done
PPC Specialist: Effective Contextual Search Management
SEM Veteran: Site Clinic
11:30am-12:30pm
SES Newbie: Fast, Free & Easy Tools to Get You Going
SEO Specialist: Trademark Issues: What SEMs Should Know
PPC Specialist: Creating a Cohesive Search Strategy Across Multiple Business Units
SEM Veteran: Site Clinic
1:30pm-2:30pm
SES Newbie: How to Choose a Search Vendor
SEO Specialist: Best Kept Secrets to Search
PPC Specialist: Post Click Marketing - Converting Search Engine Traffic
SEM Veteran: Affiliate & Search Marketing Square Off
2:45pm-3:45pm
SES Newbie: Organic Listings Forum
SEO Specialist: In House SEO: Lessons Learned & Victories Won
PPC Specialist: Search Advertising Tools
SEM Veteran: Site Clinic
Yes, I know that I included special events like the Google Dance in the schedule above. But, trust me on this: You'll learn as much talking to the Google guys and girls at the Google campus as you will by attending any of the conference sessions listed above.
Before you register, take a hard look at sending some of your people to the SEM and SEO training workshops on the day following the conference. They are designed to provide in-depth training in a small class setting.
You may want to send your SES newbie, SEO specialist, and PPC specialist to one or two of these half-day workshops.
Day 5 - Friday, August 22, 2008
8:00am-12:00pm
SES Newbie: Successful SEO: The Essential Elements - Part 1
SEO Specialist: Optimizing for Universal Search
PPC Specialist: Search & Analytics Workshop: Using Analytics to Increase Search Effectiveness
12:00pm-1:00pm
Whole Team: Lunch Break
1:00pm-5:00pm
SES Newbie: Successful SEO: The Essential Elements - Part 2
SEO Specialist: Search Engine Marketing Metrics and Myths
PPC Specialist: Making Pay Per Click Pay - Best Practices in Pay Per Click Advertising
If you optimize your schedule for SES San Jose, then you will increase the likelihood that your team will return with more than enough new search engine marketing opportunities, better search engine optimization techniques, and different pay-per-click advertising options to provide your organization with a very healthy return on its investment.
See you there.
Posted by Greg Jarboe on July 8, 2008, 6:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
SEW Experts: Local Search for Little Biz
For many small businesses, commercial transactions don't take place on the Web. Anything that you'd traditionally look for in the print yellow pages becomes a local search on the Internet. In today's small business search engine marketing column, "Local Search for Little Biz," Carrie Hill shows small business owners that there are steps they can take to influence many of the factors that positively affect local search rankings.
Posted by Kevin Newcomb on July 8, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
SEW Experts: What are Good Links, Anymore?
Furthering your brand through social media, press release optimization, paid search, and directory placement will "naturally" get you more recognition from the search engines. But these methods aren't paid links...or are they? In today's organic search engine optimization column, "What are Good Links, Anymore?," Mark Jackson tries to make sense of the paid links debate, and determine what is and isn't a paid link.
Posted by Kevin Newcomb on July 8, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Free Google Webinar July 8th - Website Optimizer/Analytics/Webmaster Tools
As many of your know I am a big fan of both Google Analytics and Google Website Optimizer. But these excellent tools, along with Google Webmaster Tools are treated by most people as individual single-purpose applications.
There are tremendous synergies possible when you combine them in innovative ways. For the first time, the product teams for each one are stepping out of their respective silos and putting on a joint webinar about how to get the most out of combining them.
More info on the The Google Trifecta: Webmaster Tools, Analytics, Website Optimizer webinar (July 8th, 9-10am PDT)
I strongly urge everyone to listen in…
Posted by Tim Ash on July 7, 2008, 2:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Is 'Good Ship Lollipop' Sinking At Google?
The 'state-of-the art' day care facilities at Google have increased their pricing to around what it costs to go to some community colleges, according to the New York Times. While the free food, refreshments and candy, once looked upon as a great perk by many outsiders considering a Google job, now seem to be considered pampering by co-founder Sergey Brin, NYT reports.
Though a Google spokesperson denied it, several people who attended a T.G.I.F. meeting in June claim Brin said "he was tired of “Googlers” who felt entitled to perks like “bottled water and M&Ms,” NYT stated.
Hey Sergey, you keep these people at their desks longer - or is it productivity or new thoughts outside the box are not coming as rapidly as in the past? Maybe the $72 million a year spent on food is cutting into Sergey's private income, and he does not want child care to take even more.
Given stock prices are a long way from the $700 highs of last year, it should now not fall on the non-millionaire employees to make up the short fall.
Seems to me this approach is a lot like the minimum bid increases that saw the regular advertiser pay for Google's efforts to stop arbitragers - they were so profitable Google continued this with implementation of Quality Scores to keep minimum bids and have all new advertisers pay premiums starting out their accounts.
Working at Google was once almost an extension of living with your parents, but now it seems dad is starting to charge rent.
Posted by Frank Watson on July 7, 2008, 12:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Does Google Analytics Share Data with Google Trends and Ad Planner?
Google is assuring users of its Analytics product that their data is protected. Apparently, the recent announcements of Google Trends for Websites and Google Ad Planner had some web site owners concerned about how much data sharing was going on among the various offerings.
Brett Crosby from the Google Analytics team went to the blog to allay fears:
Google Analytics doesn't share individual, site-level information with Google Trends for Websites or Google Ad Planner. These products gather data from multiple sources, then check the data against anonymous, aggregate, industry benchmarking data within Google Analytics. This helps Google Trends for Websites and Google Ad Planner calibrate category data and correct for under- or over-reporting in certain verticals. The benchmarking data comes from Google Analytics customers who've chosen to share their data in aggregate.
This isn't the first time fears over data collected by Google Analytics have popped up. But not everyone is worried.
When I spoke with Crosby last month, he told me that for every person who expresses fears over data collection in Analytics, there is another who wants to know why more isn't being done with the data. He told me that Analytics works hard to strike a balance for people of both viewpoints, allowing those who want to share in the hopes of developing deep integrations with other Google products the ability to do so.
Of course, there's only so far you can take integration. Google Analytics does not affect a site's rankings in Google's search results.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 7, 2008, 12:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Yahoo Responds to Icahn's Latest Letter
Yahoo has responded to the letter Carl Icahn issued this morning. Here's the statement
Yahoo!'s Board of Directors continues to stand ready to enter into negotiations with Microsoft Corporation for an acquisition of Yahoo!. Indeed, as recently as June, Yahoo!'s independent directors and management approached Steve Ballmer about just such a transaction, only to be told that Microsoft was no longer interested even in the price range which they had previously proposed. Now Mr. Ballmer and Mr. Icahn have teamed up in an apparent effort to force Yahoo! into selling to Microsoft its Search business at a price to be determined in a future "negotiation" between Mr. Icahn's directors and Microsoft's management. We feel very strongly that this would not lead to an outcome that would be in the best interests of Yahoo!'s stockholders. If Microsoft and Mr. Ballmer really want to purchase Yahoo!, we again invite them to make a proposal immediately. And if Mr. Icahn has an actual plan for Yahoo! beyond hoping that Microsoft might actually consummate a deal which they have repeatedly walked away from, we would be very interested in hearing it.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 7, 2008, 12:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Compete Unveils Premium Version of Analytics Product
Compete.com has released a PRO version of its analytics product. Compete PRO is available in three different price levels: $199/month for Intro, $299/month for Standard, and $499/month for Advanced. Enterprise editions are also available.
Included in the PRO version:
- Search analytics: new search term, site and market category report packages so brands and agencies can ascertain competitors' strategies and then adjust their own.
- Site analytics: new metrics, daily updates and a full 25 months of history reporting on Reach, Page View and Visitor Engagement for more than 1,000,000 websites.
- Ranked lists: downloadable lists of up to 500,000 sites for the fastest-growing, most influential sites across multiple categories delivering the most comprehensive view of Internet traffic.
Stephen DiMarco, chief marketing officer at Compete had this to say about the announcement:
Compete PRO gives marketers a single place to go for premium-grade online metrics, something that until now was available to only a select few. We designed the platform around the way online marketers work, addressing their feedback that other data providers are too costly, don't enable them to drill down into critical segments and aren't built to translate what they see into revenue-generating results.
Last summer, Compete launched a pay-as-you-go analytics service, enabling users to purchase credits that would allow them to view a set number of results. Earlier this year, Compete was acquired by London-based market research firm TNS.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 7, 2008, 11:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Google Adds Privacy Link in Wake of Viacom Ruling; YouTube Addresses Privacy Issues
Recently, Google has been resisting calls to add a privacy link to their home page, saying searchers can simply type "Google privacy policy" in the search box to find the info. Plus, they didn't want to mess up that beautiful front page - well, except for links to advertising and business solutions that will bring them money.
But the search giant has finally caved and added the 7 letter word to its page with a link to the policy. And as John Paczkowski points out at AllThingsD, the link just happened to go up just after a judge ruled that Google has to hand over YouTube user logs in a suit brought against it by Viacom.
Meanwhile, YouTube addressed the ruling on its blog. While they're planning on complying with the ruling, they are working with Viacom lawyers to remove at least some of the information they'll be handing over:
Of course, we have to follow legal process. But since IP addresses and usernames aren't necessary to determine general viewing practices, our lawyers have asked their lawyers to let us remove that information before we hand over the data they're seeking. (You should know, IP addresses identify a computer, not the person using it. It's not possible to determine your identity solely based on your IP address. Rather, an IP address can reveal what geographic area you're connecting from, or which Internet service provider you're using.)
What do you think of Google's move to put the privacy link on the homepage? How about YouTube's decision to comply with the law? Fire off in the comments!
Related Reading:
If You Give Google a Cookie
Google: A Clear & Present Danger to Corporate Data Privacy
Google Privacy Practices Under Attack
Google Defends Data-Retention Practices
Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 7, 2008, 11:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Carl Icahn Returns to Letter-Writing; Microsoft Open to Deal with a New Yahoo Board
The rumors of Microsoft still being open to a deal with Yahoo are true - with a caveat. The deal would have to be struck with a new board, not with Jerry Yang and his current set of cohorts. It could include a full acquisition or an alternative deal for just search. The software giant released the following statement:
"Despite working since January 31 of this year, as well as in the early part of last year, we have never been able to reach an agreement in a timely way on acceptable terms with the current management and Board of Directors at Yahoo!. We have concluded that we cannot reach an agreement with them. We confirm, however, that after the shareholder election Microsoft would be interested in discussing with a new board a major transaction with Yahoo!, such as either a transaction to purchase the “Search” function with large financial guarantees or, in the alternative, purchasing the whole company."
Of course, it's not just any new board. Microsoft's Ballmer has been talking to Carl Icahn, who has put together a proxy board to take over Yahoo. The talks prompted Icahn to break out the quill, and compose his latest edition in his series of letter-writing expeditions:
Carl C. Icahn
ICAHN CAPITAL LP
767 Fifth Avenue, 47th Floor
New York, NY 10153July 7, 2008
Dear Yahoo! Shareholders:
During the past week I have spoken frequently with Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft. Several of our conversations have lasted as long as an hour. Also, a few of our discussions have taken place while other top executives, such as Kevin Johnson, participated. Our talks centered on the industry in general but, more importantly, on how Yahoo! and Microsoft can do a transaction together. Steve made it abundantly clear that, due to his experiences with Yahoo! during the past several months, he cannot negotiate any transaction with the current board. His logic is simple. If and when a transaction was consummated, Microsoft would be guaranteeing a great deal of capital at closing. However, a transaction could take at least nine months and perhaps longer to obtain regulatory clearance in the U.S., Europe, and elsewhere. During that period, if the current board and management team of Yahoo! mismanage the company (and their recent track record is far from reassuring), Microsoft would be putting its money at risk and a great deal could be lost.
For example, in a transaction to purchase the whole company, a very large amount of capital would be due at closing. Even in an "alternate" transaction, where just the "Search" assets were purchased, large guarantees would have to be made and, again, large sums could be lost if the company was mismanaged. Microsoft perceives this risk may be quite high with the current board and management in place. However, Steve made it clear to me that if a new board were elected, he would be interested in discussing a major transaction with Yahoo!, such as either a transaction to purchase the "Search" function with large financial guarantees or, in the alternative, purchasing the whole company. He stated that Microsoft would be willing to enter into discussion immediately if the new board that has been nominated were elected. While there can be no assurance of a future transaction, as many of you know, I have negotiated successfully a large number of transactions over the past years. If and when elected, I strongly believe that in very short order the new board would, subject to its fiduciary duties, be presenting to shareholders either a purchase offer for the whole company or a very attractive offer to purchase "Search" with large guarantees. I hope to continue to be speaking to Steve over the next few weeks; however, since I do not as yet represent the Yahoo! board, both Steve and I do not wish to get into details over price, or even which of these transactions makes the most sense.
Much has been said about how badly the Yahoo! board has "botched up" negotiations with Microsoft over the past months. There is no need to keep pointing out the mistakes I believe Yahoo! made by not immediately taking a $33 offer made by Microsoft. But one thing is clear -- Jerry Yang and the current board of Yahoo! will not be able to "botch up" a negotiation with Microsoft again, simply because they will not have the opportunity.
Our company is now moving toward a precipice. It is currently losing market share in its "Search" function; our current Board has failed to bring in a talented and experienced CEO to replace Jerry Yang and return Jerry to his role as Chief Yahoo!, and currently it is witnessing a meaningful exodus of talent. It is no secret that Google (which hired a great operator as CEO) continues to dramatically outperform Yahoo!. According to publicly available information, Google's income from operations grew 59% per year over the last two years while Yahoo!'s shrank 21% per year. However, none of the above has caused the Yahoo! board to hesitate in paying themselves $10,000 per week. IT IS TIME FOR A CHANGE.
If elected, I have little doubt that the new board, subject to its fiduciary duties, will do what the current board will not do, i.e.,
-- Immediately start negotiation with Microsoft to sell the whole company or, in the alternative, sell "Search" with large guarantees.
-- Move expeditiously to replace Jerry Yang with a new CEO with operating
experience.
Sincerely yours,CARL C. ICAHN
Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 7, 2008, 10:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Marc Chagall Google Doodle
Today's the birthday of artist Marc Chagall. Google has honored Chagall with a Google Doodle.
The Marc Chagall Wikipedia entry states, "After gaining a reputation as an artist, Chagall left St. Petersburg to settle in Paris to be near the burgeoning art community in the Montparnasse district, where he developed friendships with such avant-garde luminaries as Guillaume Apollinaire, Robert Delaunay, and Fernand Léger.
In 1914, he returned to Vitebsk and, a year later, married his fiancée, Bella. While in Russia, World War I erupted and, in 1916, the Chagalls had their first child, a daughter they named Ida.
Chagall became an active participant in the Russian Revolution."
Posted by Kevin Heisler on July 7, 2008, 9:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Building the business case for going to SES San Jose
It's that time of year again. Search Engine Strategies San Jose will be held the week of August 18, 2008. And whether this will be your first SES San Jose ever, or the sixth one in a row that you've attended since 2003, you might need to spend little time optimizing your schedule for what search engine marketers call “the big one.”
A quick look at the conference at a glance will tell you why. There are a total of 77 conference sessions, strategic development workshops, Orion panels, and keynote presentations crammed into the four-day Search Engine Strategies conference. And on the fifth day, there are an additional six SEM training workshops.
Since there are five concurrent tracks during the SEM conference and three concurrent workshops during the SEM training, no one can attend everything – unless, of course, you bring a team of five or more people to SES San Jose.
And deciding which sessions to attend isn't just daunting for the first-time attendee. It's also a challenge to SES Alumni.
If you compare last year's conference at a glance with this year's conference at a glance, you see that only 12 of the sessions and two of the workshops are repeats. And four of the “repeat sessions” are Site Clinics or the Organic Listings Forum, which examine new web sites or issues every year. This means almost 88% of the content at Search Engine Strategies San Jose 2008 will be brand new!
The rate of change in the search engine marketing industry comes as a surprise to some – especially the bean counters over in finance. They act like going to one SEM conference a year ago means you don't really need to go to another one this year. But you can't learn search engine marketing the way they learned the multiplication tables.
So, if they give you any grief about taking a team of people to SES San Jose 2008, remind them that it will get increasingly harder to manage the bottom line if you don't continually find new ways to increase the top line. Who knows, skipping this year's conference could end up costing a bean counter his or her full-time position next year.
If the folks in finance don't buy that argument, then build your business case for attending the show. And do it in the next couple of weeks.
If you sign up before August 1, you can save $200 off the cost of Platinum Passport. And, if you bring more than two people from your organization, the third, fourth, and others registering at the same time qualify for 50% off their registration fee.
I'm not making this up. Read the registration information for yourself.
If you sign up for a full-day of the SEM training workshops, you'll save $145 off the cost to two half-day workshops. And, if you make reservations by July 23, you should be able to find hotel rooms for $179 per night.
All in all, bringing a team of four people to the four-day Search Engine Strategies conference as well as the fifth day of SEM training can cost your company under $12,000 – less than $3,000 per person – not counting airline reservations.
This means your business will break even if your entire team discovers new Search Engine Marketing (SEM) opportunities, learns better Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques, or finds different Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising options that generate an extra $1,000 a month. And, if each member of your four-person team finds a way to generate an extra $1,000 a month, then you'll be showing a very healthy return on investment (ROI) from bringing them to SES San Jose.
How realistic is this scenario?
According to the Search Engine Strategies San Jose website, you will learn:
• How search engines list Web sites for free and through paid placements;
• How to get free “organic” traffic by building a site that pleases search engines and your visitors;
• How to efficiently purchase listings guaranteed to rank your company at the top of search engine results;
• How to calculate the ROI of your search marketing efforts by tracking your visitors from the time they hit your site until they buy – and get tips on improving conversion if they don't!
• How to build links that generate traffic to your Web site, and how to avoid the penalties of “spamming” the search engines;
• What's coming next in the constantly evolving world of Web search, and how you can profit from it.
But wait! There's more!
According to data and research provided by Efficient Frontier, the average cost-per-click (CPC) in the “Total finance” category, which includes auto finance, banking, credit, financial information, insurance, lending, and mortgage, was $2.96 in May. So, if each member of your team finds a way to generate 338 extra clicks per month – less than a dozen clicks a day – then he or she will be providing your organization with a very healthy ROI.
Can each member of your team come back from SES San Jose with new, better or different ways to generate a dozen extra clicks a day? That's the business case that you can make to the bean counters. And trust me on this: The folks over in finance will love it when you talk numbers to them.
So, let's say you get the okay to bring a team of four all the way to San Jose. They still won't be able to cover every session. And now each person is on the hook for coming back to the office with new SEM opportunities, better SEO techniques, and different PPC advertising options that can generate 338 extra clicks a month.
Tomorrow, I'll recommend the sessions and workshops that an SES newbie, an SEO specialist, a PPC specialist, and an SEM veteran should attend – to ensure that your business gets the biggest bang for its bucks. It's not a difficult task. There is so much great content being presented.
Posted by Greg Jarboe on July 7, 2008, 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
SEW Experts: PPC Advertising: Art or Science?
Pay-per-click advertising is 10 percent art, and 90 percent science. In today's debut Profitable PPC column, "PPC Advertising: Art or Science?," David Szetela begins showing you the fundamentals and secrets of successful PPC advertising in his new weekly search advertising series.
Posted by Kevin Newcomb on July 7, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
