July 26, 2009 - August 1, 2009
BrightRoll Unveils Performance Pricing for Online Video Advertising
BrightRoll is launching Performance Pricing models for online video advertisements. They are:
- Cost Per Engagement (CPE): cost per each user-initiated video engagement or start
- Cost Per Completed Video (CPV): cost based on successful user-initiated video completion
- Cost Per Click (CPC): cost per click on video advertisement
"Requests from advertisers seeking a broader portfolio of pricing options to better align with their plan objectives led us to release this pricing model innovation," said Tod Sacerdoti, BrightRoll's co-founder and CEO. "Performance Pricing demonstrates that there is no one right way to buy online video advertising. By letting customers pay on the metrics that most benefit their individual campaigns, we're continuing to remove inefficiencies in the video inventory buying process."
What do you think of BrightRoll's Performance Pricing? Let us know in the comments.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 1, 2009, 12:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Webtrends Acquires Multivariate Testing and Optimization Company, Widemile
Webtrends has acquired Widemile, adding their multivariate testing and optimization services to their offering. Widemile's platform provides advanced visitor segmentation, real-time reporting, intuitive wizards, and best practices training.
"Webtrends now offers the most open, elegant and powerful analytics and optimization platform available anywhere. Our customers want to further leverage the rich data set available with Webtrends Analytics, and Widemile's capabilities provide a natural path to help our customers achieve better performance and improved ROI," said Alex Yoder, Webtrends CEO.
The third-generation of Widemile's platform is known for its ease of use, algorithms and architecture, and reporting capabilities.
"The Widemile and Webtrends offerings fit naturally to address the macro challenges and opportunities facing our customers in the coming years," said Robert Bergquist, Widemile CEO and President. "The combination is a best-in-class integrated web analytics and optimization platform allowing users to plan online marketing programs with the assurance that built-in testing, targeting, and optimization solutions will maximize conversion rates."
Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 1, 2009, 12:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Google Rolls Out Search Options to Image Search
Remember back in May when Google launched Search Options as part of its Searchology day? Well, now they're rolling it out to Image Search as well.
If you don't remember, Search Options provides a panel on the left side of the results page which helps you filter the results. Search Options originally launched just on the main Google web page.
As pretty much all of Google launches, this one is being rolled out. I wasn't yet able to access it.
How about you? Have you checked out Search Options on Google Images yet? Tell us what you think of it in the comments section below.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 31, 2009, 11:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Google Removes Beta Label from New AdWords Interface
Recently, Google removed the "beta" label from a bunch of apps, including GMail. Now they're at it again. The new AdWords interface is the latest to say goodbye to beta.
If you haven't made the upgrade, you'll eventually be required to. But you can do so now, and here's what to expect when you do:
- Performance graphs: Quickly recognize trends in your account performance via custom graphs on every page
- Roll-up tabs: Identify top priorities by viewing and editing all keywords, placements or ads in an account on a single tab
- In-line editing: Make faster adjustments with single-click editing that doesn't require loading a separate page
- Networks tab: Improve performance on the content network by looking at site-level statistics and making changes directly from your reports
- Filters: View only the keywords, ads or other parts of your account that meet or miss the performance thresholds you specify
- Spreadsheet editing: Make efficient bulk edits to keyword lists by using spreadsheets directly in your account
- Location extensions: Make ads locally relevant by including business addresses with your ads
- Custom alerts: Flag real-time changes in key metrics to stay on top of trends in your performance and quickly take corrective action
Search marketers are already seeing improvements in their paid search efforts as a result of the new interface.
"The new AdWords interface has given us huge gains in efficiency," said
Alex Mann, CEO, ClickTime. "We're spending less time navigating the
system and more time making good decisions."
What do you think about the new interface? Let us know in the comments section below.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 31, 2009, 1:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)
SEW Awards Finalists Named
The editorial team here at Search Engine Watch is proud to announce the finalists for the 2009 Search Engine Watch Awards. We had a great turnout this year, with nearly 100 entries for the 14 categories.
We've winnowed down the entries to three finalists in each category. Once our judging panel completes their deliberations, we'll announce the winners in each category at Search Engine Strategies San Jose.
Look for my smiling face, along with several of our SEW Experts, in Booth 327 of the Expo Hall. We'll be announcing the winners throughout the day on Tuesday and Wednesday, August 11 and 12.
And so, without further ado, let me congratulate the 2009 SEW Awards Finalists:
Most Innovative Use of Search Engine Optimization
- Procter & Gamble
- Washington Post Digital
- Wharton EMBA/Acronym Media
Most Innovative Paid Search Campaign
- Adobe Systems/Covario -- Acrobat 9 Release
- ADT/Razorfish
- Pictage/Wpromote
Best Social Media Marketing Campaign
- Endless Vacation Rentals/iProspect -- "Your Fat Chance"
- Grasshopper -- "Advanced Phone Numbers"
- Pepsi/Eyeblaster -- "Refresh Everything"
Best Business-to-Business Search Marketing Campaign
- All Metals & Forge/TopSpot Internet Marketing
- Kelly Services/TMP Directional Marketing
- PTS Data Center Solutions
Best Use of Local Search
- ARS & Rescue Rooter/TMP Directional Marketing
- Reliant Energy/Range Online Media
- Storage West
Best Integration of Search with Other Media
- Embarq/iCrossing
- Intel -- "Sponsors of Tomorrow"
- Malibu Boats/PRWeb
Most Effective Use of Web Analytics
- Helzberg Diamonds/Rosetta
- PRNewswire/iCrossing
- World Travel Holdings -- CruisesOnly.com
Technology Platform Search Marketers Can't Live Without
- ClearSaleing
- Lyris HQ
- Marin Search Marketer
Best SEM Technology Platform for SMBs
- Marchex Connect
- ReachLocal
- WebVisible Geneva
Best Social Media Platform for Marketers
- Facebook Ads
- YouTube Promoted Videos
Best Web Analytics Platform
- Omniture Online Marketing Suite
Best Search Engine Ad Platform
- blinkx AdHoc
- Jumptap tapMatch
- LookSmart AdCenter
Search Engine with Most Relevant Results
- Local.com
- Yahoo Search
Most Innovative New Search Engine
- COGITO Focus
- FanSnap
- TapTu
Posted by Kevin Newcomb on July 31, 2009, 1:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Yahoo! Updates UI on Local Search Results
Yahoo! has made some UI changes to their local search results. The update is centralized around the idea of reducing clicks.
When you're viewing a result, the links to Yahoo! Shortcut information (reviews, photos, etc.) now load the content directly on the page you're viewing.
Additionally, when you do a category local search on Yahoo!'s main search, a local section will pop up, enabling the Yahoo! Shortcut content to be accessed in the results page.
Raleigh must be in some kind of vortex, though, because I couldn't get this feature to work for my hometown. But I can get it to work for other cities of varying populations.
What do you think of Yahoo!'s local search updates? Let us know by leaving a comment.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 31, 2009, 1:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
YouTube, Sony, and Chris Brown Make Money Off 'JK Wedding Entrance' Video
A bright young couple decided to have a non-traditional beginning to their St. Paul wedding. The entire wedding party, bride and groom included, danced down the aisle of a church to "Forever" by beleaguered R&B singer Chris Brown. They put the video up on YouTube and it currently has received over 12 million views.
While watching the video, links pop up allowing users to buy the song from Amazon or iTunes. Many have done just that.
Google took to their Official Blog to tout this YouTube is touting this as proof YouTube does can indeed make money. Amazon and Apple are benefiting from links guiding people to buy the song. Sony and Chris Brown are making money from song purchases as well.
Everyone is making money except the couple. None of the above companies would have made this money without their content.
Anyone else see something wrong here?
Ironically, many times videos with unauthorized use of music simply get taken down here. I guess it's a good thing for the companies monetarily that this was allowed to stay up.
Hopefully the next step in the evolution of their education is to let content makers profit from their creations as well. After all, this entire money-making situation is nothing without it.
But that's just my opinion? What's yours? Share it below in the comments section.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 30, 2009, 8:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (13)
Yahoo! Doesn't Know What Will Happen with BOSS; YUI, YQL and Pipes Unaffected by Deal
One of the biggest questions regarding the new Microsoft-Yahoo! deal is what will happen to Yahoo!'s search offerings in its Developer Network. Yahoo! is known for being pretty open, which was a major reasons that many thought last year's Microsoft acquisition offer was a bad idea. The cultures just didn't seem to mesh.
Fast forward to yesterday and the deal was severely watered down from 2008 proposals. Yahoo! will maintain the UI in its search pages and the two companies will essentially engaging in a revenue-sharing agreement, powered by Bing.
But what will happen to Yahoo! offerings like BOSS, which allow developers to harness Yahoo! search technology for their sites and applications. The answer: even the BOSS team doesn't know. Not yet.
Chris Yeh, head of the Yahoo! Developer Network (YDN), did take to the YDN blog to ensure that YUI, YQL, and Pipes will remain unaffected by the deal. But the deal is just too new to know how it will affect YDN's search offerings.
Hopefully, Microsoft will adopt BOSS and SearchMonkey into Bing.
Around the beginning of the year, Microsoft snagged a bunch of former Yahoo! execs with experience in search. It won't be surprising if their influence encourages Microsoft to incorporate more openness into search there.
Actually, Microsoft is much more of an open company than people think. For example, the Windows Mobile operating system was been open to developers for years before the iPhone came on the scene. They don't approve or reject apps (like Apple does), and there are many sites on the web where you can get the apps. When you think about it, it's a big strange that Live Search was so closed.
What do you think should happen to BOSS and SearchMonkey? Leave a comment and give your opinion.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 30, 2009, 6:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Microsoft and comScore Partner Up to Develop Online Branding Measurement Tool
Microsoft and comScore are teaming up to create a new digital ad planning tool. Dubbed the Reach and Frequency Planner, the tool will enable advertisers to predict reach, frequency and audience composition at the ad placement level. Audience measurement will combine ad serving data from Microsoft with demographic information from comScore.
After the ad is placed, tracking will be enabled to see how closely the end result reflected the prediction.
Ultimately, the Reach and Frequency Planner is designed to measure branding efforts in digital advertising.
"The perception that traditional branding metrics are not possible or meaningful for digital media is misguided," said Scott Howe, corporate vice president of the Advertiser and Publisher Solutions group at Microsoft. "We believe online advertising won't maximize its appeal to brand marketers until the basic metrics they've relied on for years are available in digital media plans. This requires the cooperation of digital publishers and panel measurement organizations, which our collaboration with comScore will accomplish."
One aim of the tool is to help which demographic opportunity is best. If you're reaching women aged 18-34, will an opportunity to get 10 million impressions on one group of placements perform better or worse than another group that gets 5 million? The tool will help you decide. In the end, this should help advertisers with budgeting issues as well.
"Brand advertisers need the ability to evaluate reach and frequency by audience composition in ways that are actionable and accountable," said Gian Fulgoni, comScore chairman and co-founder. "Current online reach and frequency metrics are typically computed at the site level. Measuring reach and frequency at the ad placement level is more precise because it shows the reach of the ad campaign that can actually be achieved, the true potential frequency and the specific demos of that audience."
All of this will help digital marketers gain street cred with execs who are attached to traditional advertising measurement methods.
" This new hybrid approach to digital media planning offers the granular campaign-level analysis and streamlined planning capabilities upon which brand advertisers have long relied in the traditional media environment," added Fulgoni.
The Reach and Frequency Planner will immediately open to a closed beta.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 30, 2009, 6:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Charity Party Will Be A Blast - Are You Coming
The IM Charity Party will be another great event this year. Where else can you find an open bar for 4 hours where you can meet on an intimate level all the major speakers at SES San Jose?
The organizers are asking people to sign up through the website so they can be fully prepared.
Remember this is a charity event and the donation is a tax deduction. There will be some great people and raffles of all types of cool industry prizes.
Sign up today! And even if you can't attend feel free to make a donation for a worthy cause.
Posted by Frank Watson on July 30, 2009, 1:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Search and Community Case Study at SES San Jose: NACA's Save the Dream
The Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA) Save the Dream tour will arrive in St. Louis on Thursday, July 30. Their buses will pull in front of St. Louis University's Chaifetz Arena at 2 PM filled with hundreds of staff and volunteers. St. Louis is the third stop on NACA's 10-city tour to help homeowners take advantage of an historic opportunity to make their mortgage affordable.
About 35,000 people attended the first Save the Dream event in Cleveland. About 50,000 people attended the second Save the Dream event in Chicago. This is a dramatic increase over the 25,000 people who attended NACA's first two Save the Dream events last year in Columbia, SC, and Washington, DC.
One of the reasons why turnout has increased this year is NACA's use of optimized press releases, blog outreach, and YouTube videos to let people know that the national non-profit community advocacy and homeownership organization offers unprecedented solutions for homeowners caught up in the current mortgage and economic crisis. During the Save the Dream events, borrowers can get mortgages restructured the same day.
The Obama administration just finished its meeting with mortgage servicers this week to get them to modify hundreds of thousands of home loans for Americans so borrowers can avoid foreclosure. But even before that, NACA secured legally binding agreements with all the major servicers to restructure loans to what homeowners can afford based on a documented affordability analysis.
I will be showcasing this case study during the session, "How to Optimize for Search & Engage the Community," which will kick off the Search & Community Track at SES San Jose 2009. During the "What Works: Best Practices / Case Studies for Online Video" session at the Social Media & Video Strategies Forum, I'll also be taking a closer look at the documentary video about last year's tour that was uploaded to YouTube on July 1 of this year.
Documentary: NACA's "Save the Dream" - Mortgage Restructuring and Renegotiation Rescues Homeowners
To date, there have been 338 posts about NACA's Save the Dream events -- 170 on Twitter, 151 in blogs, 10 in mainstream news, 3 comments, 3 forum replies, and 1 video. In other words, NACA's story has been retold 338 times this month.
But NACA's success story isn't over. After spending July 31 to August 3 in St. Louis, NACA's Save the Dream tour continues to the World Congress Center in Atlanta, GA, August 7 to 10. For more information, go to NACA.com.
Posted by Greg Jarboe on July 29, 2009, 9:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Search Industry Reacts to Yahoo!-Microsoft Deal, and They're Not Holding Back
Here at Search Engine Watch, we wanted to reach out to the search community to get their reaction to the long-awaited search deal between Microsoft and Yahoo! Not surprisingly, marketers, search engine representives, and agencies had a lot to say on the matter. Below you'll find their initial reactions to this morning's announcement.
The deal is good for marketers and advertisers
Most agree with Search Engine Watch editor Kevin Newcomb, who earlier wrote today that the MSFT-YHOO deal is good for advertisers.
Ted Shergalis, co-founder and chief strategy officer of [x+1] thinks the deal raises the profile of search marketers, who, on the flip side, must be diligent in learning the terms of the deal as they unfold.
Ultimately i think it makes SEMs more relevant. Now, instead of doing the bulk of the work on each search engine, search marketers will now need to dedicate a bulk of time understanding new Bing/Yahoo! environment. At [x+1], we specialize in display, landing pages, and website personalization, so it will be interesitng to see if different type of user is coming through using the new Bing/Yahoo!
Brian Lewis, vice president at Engine Ready, emphasized the need for this type of improvement for search marketers, while recognizing the difficulty of capturing additional market share, which requires habitual change.
Although many specifics remain to be disclosed, my initial thoughts are that this alliance is just what the search industry needed to continue to provide improvements in the search experience for users as well as an advertising medium that offers profitable returns for savvy marketers. I think one of the biggest challenges for Yahoo/Microsoft will be changing user habits of automatically jumping to Google for search, and slowing the perception that Google and search have become synonymous.
Not an alternative to Google
Combining the number 2 and number 3 search engines may help advertisers in terms of traffic, but will the search landscape truly change? Other search engines know that to truly make waves in search, you need to provide value to searchers, which is not a guarantee in this deal.
Dr. Tomasz Imielinski, executive vice president of technology at Ask.com hints that their could be room for other players to move ahead while Microsoft and Yahoo! spend time implementing the terms of their deal.
This news is a solid indication that the search market is healthy and growing across the board, and a core foundation of the online medium. But as far as Microsoft and Yahoo are concerned, the primary focus for both for 2009 and into 2010 will need to be on search integration - and not on search innovation. At Ask, our core focus will continue to be innovating for success by putting consumers - and search products - first.
Ryan Hardy and Dan Giulvezan , Co-founders of Unurthme, echo that sentiment.
Everyone in the search industry has the same thing on their to-do list: beat Google. At Unurthme, we believe the more significant opportunity is to add value and innovation to search, thereby delivering users a superior search experience.
SEW Expert and WebCertain CEO Andy Atkins-Krüger thinks its a good time for smaller search engines to partner up with Google or Microsoft.
This deal is the best of both worlds. It creates a stronger competitor for Google, and an opportunity for regional search engines - such as Baidu, Yandex and Seznam - also to enter the fray thanks to the distraction this will create for Google and the negotiating position it opens up with them to partner with Microsoft or Google.
hakia CEO Dr. Riza Berkan thinks that Google has nothing to worry about, at least from this deal.
Our perspective is this deal does not really change anything from the search precision point of view. We think that Yahoo! is actually more precise. From the business point of view, it will create more advertising opportunities, since the share will be at 30%. The advertisers will feel better because the exposure is wider. But as for business as usual, I don't think there's a significant change. The search problem is still there and google is still dominating. this won't make a big diffference.
hakia, of course, employs Yahoo! search technology. Will this deal harm the semantic search engine? Berkan says no.
We don't rely on it. It helps us, but from what i have read so far, those services will be intact. But even if it wasn't, it really won't affect us at all.
It's natural for competitors to challenge the idea that the deal will work, but they're not alone. Vern Rowe, client strategy manager at OneUpWeb wonders if innovating existing search is even the answer. Perhaps the efforts seen lately in social media are the true future of search?
The Microsoft/Yahoo! deal is interesting from many aspects. Is it really about partnering to battle an adversary, or are we perhaps seeing a glimpse into a struggling profit center at Microsoft and a new Yahoo perspective that search is a dying technology (time to move on to the next thing-maybe social)? Whatever cord finally struck to get these two together, it might be a long road ahead of them with the Department of Justice before the deal is done. Then, if and when it gets cleared, there will most likely be another several months before there is a significant change from an advertiser's perspective.
So, you're telling me there's a chance?
Still, there are a few optimists out there who know what Microsoft and the technology community are capable of. Underdogs have been known to upset giants before.
Ben Saren, Co-Founder and CEO of CitySquares thinks perserverance is the answer.
Microsoft is taking some hard swings at Google and its just a matter of time until they make contact. Their most dominant days may not be in their past, rather coming very shortly. This kind of competition is entirely necessary and is ultimately going to be a very good thing for search and its cottage industries. Seems to me that the battle drums in the search wars are growing louder and more intense.
Joshua Palau, vice president of the search engine marketing office at Razorfish (an interactive ad agency acquired by Microsoft in 2007) sees an opportunity ripe with potential for Microsoft now.
I think it now sets up MSFT to do what Yahoo failed at - combine search and display in an advertiser friendly way. With 30% search share and a boatload of impressions that can leverage BT, MSFT now becomes a more compelling option.
A wide sentiment is that Yahoo! has given up on search. According to Mark Kelly at Chair 10 Marketing, Yahoo! may have given up a long time ago, and getting rid of the dead weight might just be the ticket for Microsoft.
Yahoo stopped improving its pay-per-click platform, while Microsoft and Google have continued to improve. Advertisers need a stronger competitor to counter-balance Google's power, and Yahoo and Microsoft on their own weren't providing that. With this increased search traffic, Microsoft has a much better shot at competing effectively.
Rick Kahn, CEO of eZanga, thinks combining the technologies will inject fresh ideas into the search industry.
Well it's about time. By pairing up and using each other's technology, I believe Microsoft and Yahoo are going to have what it takes to slowly close the gap between their companies and Google. The old saying of 'Two heads are better than one' will be hard at work, as both Yahoo and Microsoft have some interesting technologies. I think by using Yahoo's system, but adding the new traffic available at Bing, it's going to be a winning combination for both companies. By putting them together there can be some interesting synergies created and new functionality that can benefit people searching as well as advertisers. I look forward to tracking the results of this deal over the upcoming months and years.
What is YOUR reaction to the Microsoft-Yahoo! deal? Continue the conversation by leaving a comment below.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 29, 2009, 4:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)
Apple Seeks to Improve App Search (Without Google?!)
Say you're searching the App Store on iTunes, but you can never find what you want. That's because Apple, who has thus far stayed out of the search game, has enjoyed profits from iTunes despite a despicable search experience.
iPhone developers have had to get pretty creative to get the word out about their apps. (Full disclosure: I've marketed a couple of my husband apps and it ain't easy.)
Now, things are getting easier if word from Apple Insider is true. According to the blog, Apple is asking developers to submit up to 255 characters containing keywords related to their app. The keywords will be used for searches conducted via the iPhone or iPod Touch devices. (If the iTunes desktop software is seriously left out of this update, it makes no sense to me.)
I've felt for a several months now that Apple should seriously look at getting involved in search. They've missed their chance with Yahoo! now that Microsoft sealed the deal, unless it unravels in an antitrust investigation (wink, wink).
Sounds like a job for Google CEO Eric Schmidt who currently sits on Apple's board and maintains close ties with the White House. Last year, Google backed out of a deal with Yahoo!, which was clearly designed to keep Yahoo! from being bought by Microsoft's initial acquisition offer. Google will no doubt lobby the DOJ in an attempt to kill the MSFT-YHOO deal.
In fact, they could potentially kill two birds with one stone. Since Google and Apple are themselves under antitrust scrutiny, Schmidt could agree to leave the Apple board in exchange for Apple doing a Yahoo! deal. While there would still remain Google's large search market share open for antitrust regulators, Google hasn't done anything to force their search on anyone and they can always just point the finger right back at Microsoft anyway.
I know this is a far-fetched conspiracy theory, but stranger things have happened. Besides, Google's coming out with an OS and software giant Microsoft is going after search. There is enough of an argument for Apple to be pursuing search, creating three strong and innovative companies who compete across several niches.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 29, 2009, 2:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Ask.com and Citysearch Parent IAC Revenues Down in Media and Ad Division
IAC released quarterly earnings today and the news is a little dim. The media and advertising division, which includes Ask.com and CItysearch saw Q2 2009 revenues of $168.6 million, down from $186.3 million in Q2 2008, a 9.5% decline.
Revenue per query declined on Ask.com, which IAC is attributing to an improved search experience. They say users are finding what they're looking for with fewer clicks. As a result of all of this, cost per click has declined.
Additionally, Ask.com experienced increased expenses related to their NASCAR partnership as well as increased marketing efforts in the UK. (Jeeves is an expensive mascot.)
Citysearch's revenues are down due to the implementation of a relaunch of the site and new ad serving platform. User registrations and reviews were up for the quarter.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 29, 2009, 12:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
The Yahoo-Microsoft Deal from Searchers' Perspective
So by now, you've probably heard about the Microsoft - Yahoo search deal. You may even have read my take that this will be good for advertisers. If not, go back and start there, so we're all caught up.
I got responses from several other search marketers saying the deal looked good from their side too. We'll be putting up a collection of industry responses later today. In the meantime, I wanted to look at the deal from a searcher perspective. Is it good for them too?
For most searchers, Google = search. They don't know or care about the fact that Microsoft just launched a search engine, and unless they have Yahoo as their home page (likely decided by their ISP), they don't have much use for Yahoo Search either.
Will a combined Microsoft-Yahoo search change any of that? Not likely.
"The deal is both good and bad for searchers. Bad in that there will be less choice. I personally prefer to have more options rather than less. Good for searchers in that Bing is actually a pretty good search engine," said Amanda Watlington, owner of Searching for Profit.
Basically, it's going to depend on just how good Bing is, and how good it will become, given the additional volume pumping through its platform. That volume should generate more relevant ads, since there will be more competition. It should also allow Microsoft to innovate with its algorithms faster, since it will have more data to work with.
Andrew Goodman, principal at Page Zero Media, agrees: "It's a good deal for searchers. Running a high-quality consumer search property is expensive and requires constant innovation. By consolidating resources these companies can focus on their strengths," Goodman said. "Microsoft has done a great job developing a consumer-oriented search engine in Bing. They may also have access to data from Yahoo that can help them to refine it."
Microsoft has proven with Bing and adCenter that they can not only keep up with Google, but actually improve on what's already out there in the marketplace. With a huge surge in traffic through those platforms, they should theoretically be able to improve on their ideas, refining their algorithms, adding features and improving relevance.
But, as has been said many times before, it's going to take something more than just "a little better" than Google to get searchers to switch. What may happen is that Yahoo-Microsoft becomes a more credible number-two. That in itself could be good for searchers, if only because it forces Google to innovate a bit quicker, given that it's nearest competitor will be quite a bit nearer than it's used to.
Posted by Kevin Newcomb on July 29, 2009, 12:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)
Microsoft Yahoo Deal Makes SES San Jose 2009 Must-Attend Event
So, I'm sure you've already about the Microsoft-Yahoo deal. If you haven't, check out the news stories and blog posts below:
It's Official: Microsoft and Yahoo! Finally Strike Search Deal
It's official: Microsoft-Yahoo ink 10-year search pact
Microsoft-Yahoo Search Deal: The Most Important Facts (And Some Opinion)
But if you want to figure out what MicroHoo means for your search engine marketing campaign, including your search engine optimization and pay per click advertising programs, then Search Engine Strategies San Jose 2009 is a must-attend event. It was already the right place to be and August 10-14 was already the right time to be there. But now it is the hottest ticket in town.
For example, you might want to attend the session entitled, "Don't Call it a Comeback: Semantic Technology and Search." Among the speakers who will be there for Q&A are: Othar Hansson, Software Engineer, Google, Kevin Haas, Senior Engineering Manager, Yahoo!, Mark Johnson, Program Manager, Bing, and Dr. Tomasz Imielinski, EVP, Global Search & Answers, Ask.com. I imagine they are all busy preparing for the event.
Or, there's the session entitled, "SEO Tools of the Trade: What's in YOUR Toolbox?" Among the speakers are Rajesh Srivastava, Principal Group Program Manager, Bing, and David Roth, Director of Search Marketing, Yahoo!, Inc. Will they play nicely and share the same advice?
Or, there's the session entitled, "Keeping it Local: The Convergence of Phones & Local Search." Among the speakers are Josh Siegel, Product Manager, Mobile Local Search, Google, and Justin Jed, Group Product Manager, Bing Mobile. Will we see the SES version of PubCon's Search Engine Smackdown?
Or, there's the session entitled, "Keywords & Content: Search Marketing Foundations." Among the speakers are Marc Canabou, Senior Director, Product Management Leader, Yahoo! Search Advertising, and Ari Levenfeld, Manager Client Services, Ask Sponsored Listings. Do you think they are updating their presentation as you are reading this?
Or, there's the session entitled, "Credit Crunch: The Death of Last Click Attribution and its Impact on Paid Search Advertising." Among the speakers is Mark Grote, Sr. Search Advertising Manager , Microsoft. Do you think you should be taking notes?
Or, there's the session entitled, "Duplicate Content & Multiple Site Issues." Among the speakers are Greg Grothaus, Search Quality Team, Google, Sasi Parthasarathy, Program Manager, Bing, Ivan Davtchev, Lead Product Manager, Search Relevance, Yahoo! Search. The moderator may need to keep this from turning into a tag-team wrestling event.
Or, there's the sponsored session entitled, "Bing Toolbox: Your One-Stop Shop for Better ROI." The speakers are Rajesh Srivastava, Principal Group Program Manager, Bing, and Alessandro Catorcini, Senior Program Manager, Bing. This has just become a must-attend session.
Or, there's the afternoon keynote by Nicholas Fox, Business Product Management Director, AdWords, Google. I wouldn't skip this one, if I were you.
Or, there's the session entitled, "The BuyerSphere Project: Understanding B2B Buyer Patterns." Among the speakers is Mark McMaster, Senior Planner of B2B and Technology Markets, Google. This was a must-attend session already, but now you will really need to run, not walk, to get a good seat.
Or, there's the session entitled, "Real World Multivariate Testing." Among the speakers is Trevor Claiborne, Product Marketing Manager, Google. What new messages will he be testing at this event?
Or, there's the session entitled, "Ads in a Quality Score World." Among the speakers are Tomaso Pozzi, Product Manager, Core Model & Optimization, Yahoo! Search Marketing, and Jonathan Alferness, Group Product Manager, Google. I want a ringside seat for this one.
Or, there's the session entitled, "The New Search ROI: Measuring More than Conversion." Among the speakers is James Colborn, Director, Microsoft Advertising, Microsoft. I know James. I'm sure he'd rather be invited to the White House for a beer with the Google guy, but I don't think that's going to happen. So, he may just have to make the best of it at this pivotal time in the industry.
Or, there's the session entitled, "Images & Search Engines: Getting the Full Picture." Among the speakers are R.J. Pittman, Director of Product Management, Google, Todd Schwartz, Group Product Manager, Bing, Microsoft Corporation, and Kaushal Kurapati, Director of Product Management, Yahoo! Search. I want photos taken of this panel discussion.
Or, there's the session entitled, "In-House SEO: Structuring the Organization for Success." Among the speakers is Laura Lippay, Director of Technical Marketing, Yahoo! Do you think it's too soon to ask if Microsoft-Yahoo are structuring their organizations for success?
Or, there's the session entitled, "Search Becomes the Display OS." Among the speakers are Rajas Moonka, Group Business Product Manager, Google Inc., and Josh Jacobs, Vice President and General Manager, Advertising Technology, Yahoo! Inc. Oh, boy, this is going to be great.
Now, the last time that "Microsoft-Yahoo deal" was a search term was back in February 2008. Microsoft Corp. had just announced that it had made a proposal to the Yahoo! Inc. Board of Directors to acquire all the outstanding shares of Yahoo! common stock for per share consideration of $31 representing a total equity value of approximately $44.6 billion.
Since it was an unsolicited bid, nobody wanted to talk about MicroHoo when they turned up at SES London 2008 two weeks later.
But, this time the Microsoft-Yahoo deal is a done deal. So, I'm betting that everyone wants to talk about what MicroHoo means for the search engine marketing industry.
And since I was already planning to be at SES San Jose 2009, now I'm going to have to scramble to get seats in the front row.
Posted by Greg Jarboe on July 29, 2009, 12:12 PM | Permalink
Stephane Panier Named by AOL as Global Head of Bebo
To fill the top position of global operations at Bebo, AOL (which acquired the social network last year), promoted from within. VP and COO Stephane Panier will now oversee advancing the social network worldwide.
"Stephane is a proven strategist and operator with executive experience from some of the world's leading brands and businesses," said Brod. "He is the ideal leader to build on Bebo's existing successes, to chart a course for its future, and to execute against that vision."
Prior to joining Bebo this past January, Panier worked at Google for six years, holding upper level management positions in Finance and Operations. Before the Google stint, Panier was a management consultant for Booz & Company where he focused on energy and hi-tech.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 29, 2009, 10:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
It's Official: Microsoft and Yahoo! Finally Strike Search Deal
Don't adjust your screen folks, it's finally official. Microsoft and Yahoo! have finally struck a search deal. No, Microsoft will not be acquiring all of Yahoo! No, Yahoo! will not be slicing off search and selling it off to Microsoft.
Under the 10 year agreement, Bing will power Yahoo! search, creating a Google competitor that last month reached a combined 28.4% of the search market share, according to comScore. Microsoft will also be able to integrate Yahoo! search technologies into its web search platform.
Meanwhile, Yahoo! will sell the search advertising for the newly combined entities. AdCenter will be the self-service search ad platform. This will take a long time to implement as they adjust relationships with thousands of advertisers.
Display advertising will not be affected by the deal. Both companies will maintain their programs separately.
Microsoft will pay Yahoo! 88% of search ad revenues generated by Yahoo! sites. Yahoo! expects to see $275 million operating cash flow as a result of the deal.
"This agreement comes with boatloads of value for Yahoo!, our users, and the industry, and I believe it establishes the foundation for a new era of Internet innovation and development," said Yahoo! Chief Executive Officer Carol Bartz.
Yahoo! will now focus primarily on their media sites, many of which are #1 in their categories. Sites like Yahoo! Finance and Yahoo! Sports are very popular and bring in millions of unique visitors per month.
"Users will continue to experience search as a vital part of their Yahoo! experiences and will enjoy increased innovation thanks to the scale and resources this deal provides," continued Bartz. "Advertisers will also benefit from scale and enjoy greater ease of use and efficiencies working with a single platform and sales team for premium advertisers. Finally, this deal will help us increase our investments in priority areas in winning audience properties, display advertising capabilities and mobile experiences."
For its part, Microsoft is finally getting what it wants: an increased search market share to take on rival Google. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer hopes that combining the resources of the #2 and #3 search engines will help innovation, which he says is needed to steal share from Google.
"With our new Bing search platform, we've created breakthrough innovation and features," said Ballmer. This agreement with Yahoo! will provide the scale we need to deliver even more rapid advances in relevancy and usefulness. Microsoft and Yahoo! know there's so much more that search could be. This agreement gives us the scale and resources to create the future of search."
Antitrust issues will likely rear their ugly head, with Microsoft poised to seek the blessing of the DOJ. Expect Google to lobby against the deal, but keep in mind that Christine Varney, Assistant AG at DOJ Antitrust is on record saying she wants to go after Google for antitrust issues. She has also said that Microsoft antitrust issues are, like, so 1990s.
Alright, SEW readers, time to unleash your initial reaction to this deal. That's what the comments section below is for. What do you think of this deal? Will they be able to take on Google? Do you want to use AdCenter to for search ads on Yahoo!? Let us know!
Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 29, 2009, 7:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (19)
AOL Advertising Revenue Down by 21% in Q2 2009
AOL parent company Time Warner released its quarterly earnings this morning and the news is not pretty.
Revenue came in at $804 million, a decrease of 24% over Q2 2008, which brought in $1.06 billion. The decline was almost evenly split among online advertising ($111 million, a 21% decrease) and internet access subscriptions ($135 million, a 27% decrease).
Time Warner has spent $20 million so far in the process of prepping AOL to become a separate, independent company. Earlier this week, Time Warner bought back Google's 5% stake in AOL for $283 million, a big dip from Google's original $1 billion investment back in 2005.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 29, 2009, 7:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
20 Authors of Business, Marketing, PPC and SEO Books Speaking at SES San Jose
Bring a couple of book bags to Search Engine Strategies San Jose 2009 because there will be more than 20 authors of business, marketing, PPC and SEO books and speaking at the conference. I should disclose that I'm one of them.
Now, there are a lot of great conference speakers who haven't written a book -- yet. I should know. I've been speaking at SES conferences since 2003, six years before I wrote a book. And writing a book isn't like Doc Ostrow getting a Krell brain boost in the movie Forbidden Planet (1956).
Nevertheless, getting a book published does indicate that you've got more than 12 minutes of PowerPoint slides to share with attendees. And, it's "something that never looks bad on your permanent record," according to Greg Marmalard in the movie Animal House (1978).
As a new author, I'm also beginning to learn that tracking where you rank on Amazon.com is almost as addictive as tracking where you rank in Google. Now, Google guidelines do not recommend the use of products to check rankings. However, Amazon.com welcomes them. For example, Rankforest provides sales rank tracking for authors and publishers. They can view historical charts, export rankings, compare items, create alerts, and more.
So, as you look over the agendas for SES San Jose, the Social Media & Video Strategies Forum, and the Local Search Summit, you might want to know about the subjects that the conference speakers have written about as well as the topics that they are going to address.
Here are the 20 authors that I know will be speaking at one or more of these events:
Clay Shirky, author of Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations.
Charlene Li, co-author of Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies.
Tim Ash, author of Landing Page Optimization: The Definitive Guide to Testing and Tuning for Conversions.
Optimizing Landing Pages -- Tim Ash's Tips and... Footwork
James Colborn, author of Search Marketing Strategies: A Marketers' Guide to Objective Driven Success from Search.
Bryan Eisenberg, co-author of Call to Action: Secret Formulas to Improve Online Results, Waiting For Your Cat to Bark?: Persuading Customers When They Ignore Marketing, and Always Be Testing: The Complete Guide to Google Website Optimizer.
Bryan Eisenberg Always be Testing: Google Website Optimizer
Mona Elesseily, author of Mastering Panama.
Eric Enge and Stephan Spencer, co-authors of The Art of SEO.
Dave Evans, author of Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day.
Andrew Goodman, author of Winning Results with Google AdWords.
Andrew Goodman- Winning Results with Google AdWords
Mike Grehan, author of Search Engine Marketing: The Essential Best Practice Guide.
Bill Hunt, co-author of Search Engine Marketing, Inc.: Driving Search Traffic to Your Company's Web Site.
Greg Jarboe interviews Bill Hunt about his new book
Greg Jarboe, author of YouTube and Video Marketing: An Hour A Day.
http://www.amazon.com/YouTube-Video-Marketing-Hour-Day/dp/0470459697
Greg Jarboe - Mysteries of Online Video
Avinash Kaushik, author of Web Analytics: An Hour a Day.
Rebecca Lieb, author of The Truth About Search Engine Optimization.
Rebecca Lieb, eConsultancy, on her new book about search engine optimization at SES NY 2009
Lance Loveday, co-author of Web Design for ROI: Turning Browsers into Buyers & Prospects into Leads.
Robert Scoble, co-author of Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers.
Ayat Shukairy, co-author of Landing Page Optimization: The Complete Guide.
Shari Thurow, author of Search Engine Visibility and When Search Meets Web Usability.
Amanda Watlington, co-author of Business Blogs: A Practical Guide.
Now, I'm probably missing a few authors -- especially a couple of conference speakers who are still writing books that haven't been announced yet. Still, if you review the list above, you could fill a bookshelf with all the titles that have already been written by speakers at SES San Jose, the Social Media & Video Strategies Forum, and the Local Search Summit.
So, if you will be attending Search Engine Strategies San Jose 2009 for the first time, then imagine entering Flourish and Blotts for the first time. It's the popular bookstore in Diagon Alley where most Hogwarts students purchase their schoolbooks.
Who knows. Maybe famous wizard author Gilderoy Lockhart will be holding a book signing at the store.
Posted by Greg Jarboe on July 29, 2009, 6:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (15)
Google Analytics Enables Advanced Segment Tracking for Events
If you have events set up to be tracked in Google Analytics, you can now view advanced segments to view traffic data related specifically for the events. To make it happen, first, define an advanced segment to show only traffic from events. Then, activate the defined segment to compare event traffic to overall traffic.
Image via Google Analytics blog
You can view as many segments as you are tracking for events.
Google created a handy video for setting up the advanced segment tracking for events. Check it out below:
Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 29, 2009, 12:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Search Stars in Redesign of Twitter Homepage
Twitter has unveiled the redesign of their homepage and it's clear they're dedicated to search. (You'll have to sign out to view it.) They now serve up a central search box as the main feature with trending topics below in almost a tag cloud style. The top row, with the biggest font features current hot topics. The second row with slightly smaller font features hot topics from the past day and finally the third row with topics from the past week.
I think it would be nice to incorporate the design more inside the sign-up wall. It looks sharp and the main reason I go to the Twitter site is to see what's trending or to conduct a search. I use a desktop and mobile client to do my actual Tweeting.
Twitter does have plans to keep working on the entire site, so they remain a site to watch as they continue to incorporate their strategy.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 29, 2009, 12:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Time Warner Buys Back Google's 5% Stake in AOL
When the Time Warner board voted in late May to spin off AOL, buying back Google's 5% stake in the company would be a prerequisite for the sale. This week, Time Warner did just that.
The return on investment, however, was not so hot. Google invested $1 billion in 2005 to acquired the 5% stake. They only got back $283 million.
Other statements made in the filing are quite telling of the possibilities for AOL's future. Google currently powers the search on AOL (including paid search). That will be in place until December 19, 2010, but they're leaving open the possibility of ditching Google after that.
They may then strike up an agreement with an alternate search engine, such as Yahoo! or Microsoft, or Microhoo. Though, with former Google exec Tim Armstrong now running things at AOL, I'd prefer to see AOL go for broke and develop their own search engine.
AOL also plans to maintain some licensing agreements with Time Warner.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 28, 2009, 2:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
When Bloggers Attack: Retaliation is Not the Answer
George Smith Jr. took to his blog to offer up a cautionary tale for both marketers and bloggers. He was recently at BlogHer representing Crocs (a footwear company), when one of the conference attendees walked up to him and struck up some small talk. Then she made clear she wanted some free shoes. When she didn't get any, she threatened to take to her blog and trash the company.
While many are praising Smith for the way he responded, it might not be one you want to replicate.
Smith responded to the woman with his own form of blackmail. He threatened to use his connections to essentially shut down her blog. While the bloggers actions were appalling, I find it hard to empathize with Smith when he retaliated with the same type of threat.
Smith didn't publish the name of the blogger. He said he couldn't remember it. He called her a nobody (in his blog, not to her face) because he claims to be so connected that he knows who the big bloggers in his space are. (He later "clarified" that she was only a nobody as a blogger, but that's not much better in my mind.)
I see this kind of defense all the time. I understand it and used to do it all the time, but I've come to despise it. We try to make ourselves feel better by talking about how awesome we are - a hollow lie that can eventually make us stop trying. But the truth is that no one is so comprehensive in their job that they might not have missed something. Plus, Smith couldn't remember her name, so no one can dispute him.
Search Engine Watch is a well known blog in the search industry, but no one really knows who the heck I am (I prefer it that way). I never imagined I would write about Crocs, but here I am. Marketers can't discount people just because they've never heard of them.
I'm not saying Smith shouldn't have blogged about this. This situation needed a response because she could concoct some lie about Crocs being sleezy at the BlogHer conference and really do some damage to the brand.
But marketers aren't in the clear. In fact, Crocs did give away shoes at BlogHer. They had a limited number of shoes and ran out of swag, leaving the blogger Croc-less.
If Crocs goal was to improve their brand image in the minds of women bloggers, essentially the opposite of blackmail, isn't that bribing? Will the blog posts about Crocs be fair in their opinion or enhanced due to free product?
Would Smith have arranged for a free pair of Crocs for the blogger if she had been "somebody" in the blogosphere?
At the end of the day, both marketers and bloggers have frustrations about the nuances of their jobs. But we need to find ways to work together instead of blackmailing and bribing.
How would you have handled the blackmail blogger? Share your thoughts on the matter by leaving a comment below.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 28, 2009, 12:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Category Vs. Product Pages: Which One Tests Better? (You Might Be Surprised)
When Al Scillitani set out to do a little landing page testing, he was convinced he knew which page would win. But when the results came in, he was suprised.
Scillitani conducted an A/B test to see whether category pages or product pages would test better. He used email and homepage promotions to drive traffic to his test. He guessed that product pages would fare better. But it was the category pages that won the day.
The promotion involved 6 products that were on sale. In test A, the image of the 6 products was broken down to link individually to the product page. There was also a link to the category page. In test B, the image was kept as a whole and linked directly to the category page.
The email results didn't show much of a difference in conversion rates, but the order size was 40% higher for test B.
Meanwhile, test B was also the winner for the homepage promotion, but in a different way. The conversion rate was 15% higher and brought in 10% higher revenues. However, test A actually did produce a higher order size, by 5%.
So, why did the category page test so well?
"The products we were offering were way below our competitors. I feel this is the reason B performed better," wrote Scillitani on his blog. "Once the B people clicked and went to the category page, they not only saw the product they clicked on, but 100's of other products priced way below the competition. This combined with the "only a few days and limited quantities" messaging triggered more sales."
Of course, you can't use this test and assume it will work for your site.
"Run your own A/B tests. It is the only way to really evaluate what works and what doesn't work based on your product prices, product availability, the marketing message, and your customers, concluded Scillitani. "There are very few absolutes when it comes to online marketing."
Full disclosure: Al Scillitani was the boss of me at a North Carolina-based search engine marketing firm a few years back. I still meet him for coffee at Starbucks, where everybody knows his name.
Do you have a search marketing story to share? Contact me here.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 27, 2009, 2:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
hakia Unveils Commercial Ontology
hakia is unveiling their new approach to the semantic web by introducing Commercial Ontology. Dr. Riza C Berkan, CEO, took to the official hakia blog to explain.
Commercial Ontology is able to recognize phrases and terms as opposed to typical ontologies which Berkan says only look at one word. The word Commercial must be taken broadly - extremely broadly. You could be looking up a phrase like "Ricky Henderson statistics," with no intention to buy anything. But it's still considered commercial because of Henderson's career in Major League Baseball, which is a commercial entity.
Berkan used the word "road kill" to demonstrate the difference between Commercial and traditional ontologies. (Road kill is disturbingly commercial, btw.)
Traditional ontologies search the word road and the word kill separately before making a connection. hakia's Commercial Ontology recognizes the phrase "road kill" from the beginning. Here's a graphic that maps out the differences:
According to Berkan, another major difference is that traditional ontologies use manual work while hakia's Commercial Ontology can be automated.
The Commercial Ontology will be released at some point in the future. No further details were given.
In the meantime, what do you think about Commercial Ontology? Is it the future of Natural Language Processing? Share your opinion below.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 27, 2009, 12:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
53% of Women Bloggers Willing to Share About Marketing to Women
A new survey by Ketchum shows that 53% of attendees to the popular BlogHer conference are willing to share information or feedback they've gathered from their blog to help better market to women.
It won't be easy, though. Almost half of those surveyed are contacted by a public relations professional at least once a week. 30% are contacted daily. Keep in mind that many of these women are very busy outside of writing their blog.
They're also not (necessarily) hard as nails journalists that PR and marketing professionals are used to pitching.
If you want to reach them, you need to offer a personal approach. Here's what survey participants had to say about being pitched:
- Take the time to read their blogs and understand their areas of focus. Many women bloggers said they would like to hear about news and products that better match their specific interests.
- This applies to location, too. A number of respondents said they receive communications about products and events not available in their regions or even their countries.
- Know that they are "more than their blog" -- they have other roles in addition to being a mom or a blogger, say respondents, including jobs outside the home.
- Similarly, don't assume that all women bloggers are "mommy bloggers."
What do you think of Ketchum's survey? Share your thoughts on marketing to women in the comments below.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 27, 2009, 1:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
PPC Click Fraud Rate Drops to 12.7% in Q2 2009
Click Forensics has released data regarding pay-per-click (PPC) fraud for the second quarter of 2009. The news is good. Not only is click fraud down from the first quarter of 2009, it's down year-over-year as well.
This year's second quarter click fraud rate came in at 12.7%, which is an almost 8% decrease from the first quarter, which was 13.8%
The second quarter of 2008 came in at 16.2.%, which means Q2 2009 came in 22% lower than the year prior.
Click fraud did increase from certain programs and sources.
"The increased diligence of online ad networks to detect and block invalid traffic sources has contributed to the decline in the overall click fraud rate this quarter," said Tom Cuthbert, president of Click Forensics. "However, increasingly sophisticated attacks, such as publisher collusion fraud, continue to be a concern. Ad networks should pay close attention to such threats in the coming months."
Publisher collusion fraud is when publishers use things like botnets to click on ads on their own sites to generate income. This happens to ads on unprotected networks.
What do you think of the click fraud data for Q2 2009? Drop us a comment and let us know.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 27, 2009, 1:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Google Maps Provides Street View Zoom Via Panoramio Pics
When you're traipsing around the earth via Google Maps, you now have a new option to get a little closer. Google is incorporating photographs from Panoramio, a travel photo sharing site, to assist with Street View zoom.
Let's say, for example, that you're checking out the Eiffel Tower in Street View from Avenue de la Motte Picquet. To access the new feature, click the user photos box in the top right corner (yes, this was added back in February, hold your horses, I'm getting to the new stuff.)
Once you've done that, check out the shapes on the image of the Eiffel Tower. (Or click one of the images in the carousel.)
Mouseover one of the polygons to select an image to view. Then, double-click to actually view it.
The new image shows a zoomed in look at the area you selected:
Then you can select yet another polygon on the new image:
And see yet another image that's zoomed in a little more:
You can keep doing this until you're as zoomed in as Panoramio photos provide.
What do you think of this new Google Maps zoom feature? Let us know by zooming below to leave us your comment.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 27, 2009, 12:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
