October 12, 2009
Search Ad Spend Up 10% in Q3 2009, Per SearchIgnite Report
SearchIgnite has released their quarterly search advertising spend report.
The data shows that U.S. search spend flat year-over-year but up 10% quarter-over-quarter. That's good news as we head into the holiday season.
The most notable increase came from multi-channel retailers, who upped their spend by 40% from Q3 2008 to Q3 2009.
Breaking down ad spend by search engine, Google and Yahoo! traded off percentage points year-over-year, but things were flat quarter-over-quarter.
Microsoft saw a 15% increase in ad spend, but it didn't help them gain ground on Google. Yahoo!, on the other hand, is seeing an abysmal decline year-over-year with a 24% decrease.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on October 12, 2009, 11:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
LexisNexis Integrates Semantic Search Technology into Patent Research
LexisNexis is introducing semantic search technology into its intellectual property research products. The technology was developed by Pure Discovery, based out of Dallas, TX.
"With semantic search technology we have changed the very nature of online patent research by providing users with an additional means of researching patent and non-patent prior art," said Peter Vanderheyden, LexisNexis vice president of Global Intellectual Property.
LexisNexis says the semantic search technology will feature the following:
- Transparency: The semantic tech will "enhance" each query and then shown to the user for complete understanding.
- Increased control: Users have the ability to add, delete, increase or decrease the importance of all query words in a visual query interface called a "querycloud."
- Fully federated: The semantic search platform can associate semantic searches to virtually any index, whether it resides internally or on the web.
- Scalability: The LexisNexis index includes semantic intelligence from over 10 million patent documents from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's patent index.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on October 12, 2009, 11:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Google Creates Learning Site Specifically for Ad Agencies
Google has launched a new site called AgencyLand. The site is an answer to requests from advertising agencies for resources to help them manage their clients' accounts. Originally launched into a closed, private beta in March 2009, AgencyLand is now available by invitation to agencies and third parties in the United States and Canada.
You can request an invitation at the homepage of AgencyLand.
In the meantime, here's a video featuring advertisers saying why AgencyLand is Awesome Town.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on October 12, 2009, 10:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Will Black Friday Become Cyber Friday?
One of the most significant online shopping days of the year is Cyber Monday, which, like Black Friday, follows Thanksgiving and unofficially marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season. But new data that Yahoo! has released suggests that Black Friday is itself increasingly becoming a popular day for online shoppers.
Last year, while overall click-through rates were down for both days, conversions shot up 147% for Black Friday while they "only" increased 73% on Cyber Monday.
Let's face it, search marketers. You gotta play both days.
Anecdotally, I can testify to being online with my computer at midnight on Thanksgiving/Black Friday, soaking up a sweet deal on some scooters for my kids. I did it all from the comfort of my rental condo atop of a peak in the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina, which I can assure you is far preferable to the (unfortunately lethal) stomping grounds of big box stores across the land.
While the economy has consumers as uncertain as ever, I wouldn't be surprised if last year's Walmart deaths have people bumping those conversion rates even more this year. Make sure you've got great deals and free shipping. You might just save a life.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on October 12, 2009, 10:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Former Genentech CEO Levinson Quits Google Board
Arthur Levinson, former CEO of Genentech, has resigned Google's Board of Directors. Levinson had been on the board for five years.
"Working with Eric, Larry, Sergey and the whole Google team has been a remarkable experience for me. I greatly admire what they've built and have no doubt that Google has a terrific future," said Levinson.
Levinson is also on the Board of Directors at Apple. The FTC has been Google CEO Eric Schmidt recently quit Apple's Board.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on October 12, 2009, 10:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Google Launches 'Fetch as Googlebot' and 'Malware Details' in Webmaster Tools Labs
Google is releasing into Webmaster Tools Labs a couple of features that help you view things from their angle. The two features are "Fetch as Googlebot" and "Malware Details."
Fetch as Googlebot lets you view your web pages as Google's famous indexing spider. This will answer a question Google (and SEOs) gets asked ALL. THE. TIME.
Malware details show you code snippets on your website that Google has determined are malicious. The goal is to help streamline the often tedious process of ridding your site of malware.
Google has released these features into Labs because they want feedback from users before they release it as official features in Webmaster Tools.
What do you think of these new Webmaster Tools Labs features? Let us know by leaving a comment.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on October 12, 2009, 10:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Twitter to Add Four Additional Langauges
Twitter will soon be available in French, Italian, German, and Spanish. This will bring the grand total of languages to six. Twitter is already available in English and Japanese. Of course, that hasn't really stopped people from around the world from Tweeting in everything from Russian to Portuguese - and, of course, Persian.
To assist in adding the new languages, Twitter is seeking volunteers (which borders on crazy if you know how much money they've raised. But hey, even mega-wealthy Google gets people to voluntarily translate for them).
The volunteers will be able to make suggestions to Twitter about translations on the website. Twitter is hoping this will facilitate the quick roll-out of the four upcoming langauges.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on October 12, 2009, 3:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
StumbleUpon Enhances Search in Latest Update
StumbleUpon updated its social bookmarking service last week and one of the key improvements was search. Users can now search within their favorites, friend's favorites or the entire site. The search was enhanced using community ratings and reviews.
Additional updates include UI and social features. The UI is simpler and more minimalistic. It's cleaner and just looks easier to use. On the social side of things, StumbleUpon says it's now easier to find your friends. They're also following the trend of Twitter and Facebook by enabling near real-time updates.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on October 12, 2009, 2:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Yahoo! to Serve Up Sponsored Ads on BOSS
Web developers who use Yahoo!'s BOSS (Build your Own Search Service) have requested the incorporation of Sponsored Ads as a way of generating revenue on their sites. Yahoo! has obliged the requests, but has arranged for a third party to manage everything.
Developers will need to apply through Domain Development Corp (DDC) in order to be selected to have Sponsored Ads on their BOSS search sites. DDC will provide support and payment for the program, not Yahoo!
Yahoo! did take the opportunity of the announcement to reiterate that it still does not know how the impending Microsoft search deal will affect BOSS. In the meantime, it looks like there are revenues to be had for BOSS developers.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on October 12, 2009, 2:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Go to SES Berlin or SES Chicago for "Five Brand New Things"
During the past four weeks, I've provided four great reasons for going to either Search Engine Strategies Berlin or SES Chicago 2009. For those who want to join in the chorus, they are "four keynote themes, three key trends, two early birds, and a ranking in the top three."
This week, I'll share a fifth compelling reason -- and it isn't "five golden rings."
You should plan to attend SES Berlin or Search Engine Strategies Chicago 2009 to discover "five brand new things."
Most of the focus at these events is on the conference sessions, but I've always made time to prowl the floor of the exhibit hall to see "what's new." And I don't mean trade show tchotchke.
Now, sometimes I see a booth from a brand new company that I've never heard of before. And other times, I find a brand new product or service being demoed in the booth of a big brand name. And every now and again, I uncover the latest SEO or SEM tools in a sponsored session at the conference.
I know, I know, this is like saying that I watch the Super Bowl in order the see the commercials. But, that's why the official name of the event is Search Engine Strategies Conference & Expo.
Now, it's hard to predict the five brand new things you'll come across at either Search Engine Strategies Berlin or SES Chicago 2009. As either Niels Bohr or Yogi Berra once said, "It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future."
But, I've been attending five of more Search Engine Strategies a year for more than five years on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, so I'm reasonably confident that SES Berlin and Search Engine Strategies Chicago 2009 will feature their fair share of brand new things.
And I should probably say something like, "Past performance is not indicative of future results," but let me share some actual examples of the five brand new things featured at previous SES events by Byron Gordon, my colleague at SEO-PR, who conducts many of the interviews for SESConferenceExpo's Channel.
Acquisio PPC Management Client Demo & How-to
At SES Toronto 2008, Marc Poirier, Chief Marketing Officer of Acquisio, gave a how-to demonstration of Acquisio's online advertising campaign and client management / report generation tool. Acquisio is a PPC management software company that builds software to help agencies automate processes they have to deal with in their monthly campaign management. It is exhibiting at Search Engine Strategies Chicago 2009.
Stacey Jarvis, Microsoft Canada, on Bing, at SES Toronto 2009
At Search Engine Strategies Toronto 2009, Stacey Jarvis, Search Lead, Consumer & Online, Microsoft Canada, discussed Microsoft's Bing. Stacey said Bing has evolved from what was originally a pure search engine to a "decision engine." Bing is a Platinum Sponsor of SES Berlin.
Dan Morris, Brafton, on customized news feeds for websites at SES New York 2009
At Search Engine Strategies New York 2009, Dan Morris of Brafton, a custom news agency, was interviewed. Morris said Brafton writes for each client specific stories about breaking news developments in their respective industry, using keyword strategy and links. Brafton is exhibiting at SES Chicago 2009.
Alex Torres, Google, on Google tools that help to maximize your website's ROI
As Search Engine Strategies New York 2009, Google Enterprise Product Marketing Manager, Alex Torres, was interviewed about using Google's many tools, including website optimizer, Adwords analytics and Site Search to help website owners maximize their ROI. Alex discussed the reasons why Google expanded its offerings and recommends website owners to use a holistic approach when incorporating Google's website tools. Google is holding sponsored sessions at SES Chicago 2009.
Jeev Trika, Visibility Magazine, at SES Chicago 2008
At Search Engine Strategies Chicago 2008, Jeev Trika, Visibility Magazine, was interviewed. Visibility Magazine started in 2007 and focuses exclusively on Internet marketing strategies. Visibility Magazine is exhibiting at SES Chicago 2009.
Next week, we'll look at more reasons to go to either Search Engine Strategies Berlin or SES Chicago 2009. In the meantime, keep singing " five brand new things, four keynote themes, three key trends, two early birds, and a ranking in the top three."
Posted by Greg Jarboe on October 12, 2009, 2:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
