June 17, 2008

iWidgets Launches Public Beta, Makes Widget Development Easier

To compete in social media or with open source search applications, widget development is key. But it can be costly if you don't know what you're doing. iWidgets is demystifying the widget development process by launching their platform into public beta. The service is free to use and brings widget creation to a wider audience.

“Private beta users were so enthusiastic about iWidgets, we knew the market was ready,” said Peter Yared, CEO of iWidgets. “Our robust tools provide an unmatched ability to display personalized content from a source website without requiring experienced programmers. The result is incredibly viral - a fun, interactive application people want to use and share.”

Widgets created through iWidgets can be used on iGoogle, Facebook, MySpace and others.

If you've been holding back on widgets, are you inclined to check out iWidgets? Give us your thoughts in the comments.

Related Reading: Testing Applies to Widgets and Accessories, Not Just Landing Pages

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 10:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 14, 2008

Rubicon Enters Free Ad Server Arena

Rubicon is the next ad serving company to enter the free services arena, the company announced.

"Ad Network Ad Server is compatible with more than 300 ad networks--including Google's AdSense and the Yahoo Publisher Network, as well as networks with CPC, CPM and CPA-based pricing. The platform offers publishers the ability to serve and track ads across multiple networks, with a point-and-click dashboard interface that allows them to pull performance reports from each network," MediaPost reported.

Frank Addante, CEO of the Rubicon Project, told MediaPost that because "the platform spans multiple networks that makes it a formidable Google Ad Manager challenger".

"We've created an ad-server specifically designed for managing ad networks," Addante said. "Many of the free products like Google's Ad Manager were primarily designed to address direct sales for publishers."

Posted by Frank Watson at 3:01 PM | Permalink

February 6, 2008

Social Media Could Thrive In a Recession Says Forrester Research

Marketing and PR people hate to hear talk of a recession or a depression. Our budgets are always the first to get cut, A report from Forrester out today says this time will be different -online and social media marketing could escape that fate.

Strategies For Interactive Marketing In A Recession says companies will continue to invest online

Online display ads won't be hit too hard -brand advertisers seeking cheaper media could turn from TV and print to online video and flash ads. Money will flow toward search - Google and other search-based firms could actually see prices increase as marketing dollars cut from mass brand advertising begin to flow into performance-based search Email marketing will increase -existing customers are far more likely to listen to your messages in a recession than new prospects Social Applications Could Thrive - social programs leverage the voice of the customer to get messages carried further than ad impressions, they're chepa and they motivate consumers in the middle of the funnel.

The report is free and open for public access. It does have a fairly long registration process. The link to register is on the top right of the page.

Posted by Sally Falkow at 8:49 PM | Permalink

January 28, 2008

Search not understood and used in PR campaigns

The Public Relations Society of America's Los Angeles chapter holds an event in January of each year where they have a panel of the top PR experts look at what the state of PR is and where it is headed for the next year. All five panelists mentioned social media and how it has changed the practice of PR this year.

Search, however, is not part of the PR lexicon yet. In answer to a question from the floor Joe Kessler of SS & K said that search is an area every PR person should understand and use, but it is a gaping hole in the PR toolset.

When Greg Jarboe saw the importance of search for PR and started to optiimize press releases four or five years ago he called his agency SEO-PR. But it was not the PR industry that adopted the practice, it was SEO agencies. So we had the odd situation of non-PR folk writing press releases.

And here we are in 2008 and one of the top agency CEOs says search is something of value and should be an integral part of all PR campaigns.

What makes search so important to PR?

* Studies have shown conclusively that page one positioning in the search engines affects your brand value. In many cases the SERP is the first contact someone has with your company. How you appear on that page influences their perception of your business. * If a searcher persistently sees your business on page one for the key phrases they're searching it leads them to believe you are a major player in this field * User-generated content has given the power of voice to consumers. Peer reviews and comments are the number one influencer prior to action or purchase today. Blogs and comments are showing up in search results pages. * If there is negative content on the page it can damage your reputation. * Journalists are using search engines to find information when they research a story. Being highly visible in the search engines could increase your media coverage.

These are all very traditional PR areas of expertise. And search is influencing every one of them. It is tool PR professionals have to master.

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Posted by Sally Falkow at 7:25 PM | Permalink

December 27, 2007

Poor Market Less Impact On Online Marketing Of Real Estate

The subprime debacle and poor economic growth has not impacted the online marketing of real estate at least as far as online condos sales seem to indicate, according to newcondosonline.com's profit reports.

The effectiveness of online marketing - specifically search marketing - seems to be showing this success in many areas. Financial services companies have turned heavily to search marketing and have found much success.

This bodes well for the industry and will no doubt be reflected in the increase in budget spends of Fortune 100 companies next year. With the direct nature of the ad to the search, or the optimization and landing pages, our market can be measured and that ability to see ROI will keep money coming into our space.

Posted by Frank Watson at 4:09 PM | Permalink

December 14, 2007

Save the Date! "Meatball Sundae" Webcast with Seth Godin

We know you guys love Seth Godin (who doesn't?). You nominate his blog for ClickZ's annual Marketing Excellence Award every year -- and it's won. Twice.

As a marketer, Seth's brilliance borders on the uncanny. He's an unparalleled public speaker (who just delivered a keynote at Search Engine Strategies Chicago), and a prolific author. And we're delighted to announced that on Wednesday, January 23, 2008 at 2:00 PM EST we'll be presenting a Webcast featuring Seth on the topic How Do You Avoid the Meatball Sundae? in conjunction with the release of his latest book, Meatball Sundae: Is Your Marketing out of Sync?

You owe it to yourself to catch this Webcast, so