By Bob Bentz president of Advanced Telecom Services.
Mobile coupon growth
The mobile phone is quickly becoming the go-to medium for couponing. As mobile advertising struggles to gain acceptance, it is chipping away at the 300 billion paper coupons issued every year in the U.S.
A recent study by Scarborough Research found that virtual coupons sent via text message are making strides and are a significant force to be reckoned with. Coupon distribution in the U.S. is still dominated by the old-fashioned insert in the Sunday newspapers, with 51 percent of us still obtaining our coupons there.
Here's a breakdown of what percentage of U.S. consumers get their coupons from each medium, according to Scarborough Research:
* Sunday newspaper: 51 percent
* In store: 35 percent
* Direct mail: 31 percent
* Loyalty programs: 21 percent
* Circulars: 20 percent
* Weekday newspaper: 17 percent
* Product packaging: 16 percent
* Magazines: 15 percent
* Email/text messages: 8 percent
* Websites: 7 percent
Advertisers are always seeking the young and affluent, and mobile coupons pinpoint this market, which is usually full of early adopters. College graduates are 51 percent more likely to get their coupons from their mobile phone. Not surprisingly, mobile coupon users also tend to be young adults, with those 18 to 24 years old being 14 percent more likely to take advantage of them. Mobile coupon users are also decidedly female. And according to a study by Juniper Research, mobile coupons are expected to grow by 30 percent in the next two years.
Getting started with mobile coupons
The best markets to test mobile coupons are those with young populations. Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, San Diego, and Washington, D.C., are the best big city test markets, while college towns, like Blacksburg, Va., also make great test areas. Providence, R.I., leads the way in mobile penetration, with 12 percent of its residents using mobile or email coupons
Some mobile marketing sites, such as 84444.com, also allow for each mobile coupon to have a unique tracking code associated with it. With the code, advertisers can determine which customers redeemed the mobile coupons.
Big brands, including Subway, have embraced mobile coupons because the brands can reach their target audiences when those audiences are most likely to buy. Subway sends text messages to its opt-in database just before lunch time, when workers are deciding where to go for lunch. If they receive a mobile coupon, the decision is almost made for them.
Most mobile coupons start out with the brand creating a database of opt-in users. At Subway, for example, posters are hung near the line at the restaurants. When a customer is waiting in line, the only medium at his disposal is his cellphone. By sending a text message to a short code (for example, texting DIETCOKE to 84444), he can immediately receive a text message that either enters him in a sweepstakes or provides a discount coupon.
This is where the fun starts for brands. Once a brand has an opt-in database and an existing relationship with a consumer, it can send text messages to that consumer in the future.
A consumer may opt-out of any mobile marketing campaign simply by replying "stop" to the text message received. According to Anthony Wayne of the Text Message Blog, the opt-out rate for mobile coupons is only 3 percent.
"There's a fine line between sending enough and sending too often," Wayne said. "If you overdo it, and don't send anything of value, consumers will tire of your messages and opt-out more often."
Coupons go green
With more and more companies going green, mobile coupons fit the bill. Most of your mobile coupons won't end up in the landfill, but will ultimately be erased by the consumer's cellphone.
And, that's good for all of us, whether we are coupon users or not.
Showing posts with label gasta advertising. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gasta advertising. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Gasta Tech News: Why your conversion rate is an erroneous metric
By Brandt Dainow
September 25, 2009
The ultimate measure of a website's success is its conversion rate -- the percentage of visits that resulted in a sale or an inquiry. It is supposed to measure the degree to which the site converts visitors into customers. As such, it is deemed to provide the ultimate assessment of whether a site is successful or not. In a single number, it captures the appeal of the design, the ease (or otherwise) of navigation, the effectiveness of the sales pitch, and all the other factors that affect a visitor's willingness to buy from you.
Except that it doesn't.
The conversion rate tells us absolutely nothing about the site. It's a completely useless metric.
As a professional web analyst, my job is to analyze a site's web metrics and determine from those numbers where, and what, improvements are needed in order to increase the rate at which visitors convert into customers. Doing this over and over again has taught me that the conversion rate is of no help at all.
Let's go back to basics and work this through. I think if you follow along with my reasoning, you'll see there's no point calculating the conversion rate. Luckily, I have an alternative I think you'll prefer.
The problem with conversion rates
Firstly, the conversion rate is supposed to measure the success of the site as a sales pitch -- an attempt to turn a browsing visitor into a customer. The problem with the conversion rate is that it calculates the percentage of all visits that resulted in a sale. This means it includes people who bounced. By definition, a bounced visit is one that looked at only a single page then left. In other words, they never entered the site, they never engaged with the material within it. Thus, bounced visitors were never exposed to the site's sales pitch.
There are two steps in converting a visitor into a customer. When someone lands on your site the first thing you need to do is convince them to stay. Only after that can you try to sell them something. It's like the shop window: You've got to get people into the store before you can try to sell to them.
The overall average bounce rate is around one-third. It's extremely difficult to get a bounce rate below 30 percent simply because search engines are far from perfect and can list the wrong sites. In addition, people frequently scan a number of sites before deciding which one to return to and engage with. It's also possible to be legitimately listed in the search engines for content you don't have.
For example, I have a client who owns a chain of restaurants. Like most restaurant sites, it includes the menus available. Due to some extremely high-quality search engine optimization, the site accidently became No. 1 in Google for a series of menu-related phrases, such as "set menu," "Christmas menu," and "menu ideas." The result was thousands of people arriving who were looking for menus they could cook at home, not a restaurant. Needless to say, the bounce rate for these people was extremely high -- around 80 percent -- and none of those who remained converted into restaurant bookings. This dragged the overall bounce rate for the site as a whole up to around 50 percent, which proves how important it is not to look at the bounce rate for the site as a single figure, but look at the bounce rate for each audience segment individually.
It is especially important to look at the bounce rate for different referring keywords because this tells you how the site appeals to different audiences. In this case, we found the bounce rate for people who were actually looking for a restaurant was down around 25 percent, so the site was doing a pretty good job of holding onto new arrivals. However, the key point for our purposes is that all this inappropriate traffic, with an extremely high bounce rate, pushed the conversion rate down to less than 1 percent. This makes it look like the site is a disaster.
When I see a conversion rate calculated from the total number of visits, including bounces, I don't know how much it's been affected by that bounce rate. In other words, I don't really know if I need to improve my landing pages and engage more arrivals, or if it's my actual content that needs more work.
September 25, 2009
The ultimate measure of a website's success is its conversion rate -- the percentage of visits that resulted in a sale or an inquiry. It is supposed to measure the degree to which the site converts visitors into customers. As such, it is deemed to provide the ultimate assessment of whether a site is successful or not. In a single number, it captures the appeal of the design, the ease (or otherwise) of navigation, the effectiveness of the sales pitch, and all the other factors that affect a visitor's willingness to buy from you.
Except that it doesn't.
The conversion rate tells us absolutely nothing about the site. It's a completely useless metric.
As a professional web analyst, my job is to analyze a site's web metrics and determine from those numbers where, and what, improvements are needed in order to increase the rate at which visitors convert into customers. Doing this over and over again has taught me that the conversion rate is of no help at all.
Let's go back to basics and work this through. I think if you follow along with my reasoning, you'll see there's no point calculating the conversion rate. Luckily, I have an alternative I think you'll prefer.
The problem with conversion rates
Firstly, the conversion rate is supposed to measure the success of the site as a sales pitch -- an attempt to turn a browsing visitor into a customer. The problem with the conversion rate is that it calculates the percentage of all visits that resulted in a sale. This means it includes people who bounced. By definition, a bounced visit is one that looked at only a single page then left. In other words, they never entered the site, they never engaged with the material within it. Thus, bounced visitors were never exposed to the site's sales pitch.
There are two steps in converting a visitor into a customer. When someone lands on your site the first thing you need to do is convince them to stay. Only after that can you try to sell them something. It's like the shop window: You've got to get people into the store before you can try to sell to them.
The overall average bounce rate is around one-third. It's extremely difficult to get a bounce rate below 30 percent simply because search engines are far from perfect and can list the wrong sites. In addition, people frequently scan a number of sites before deciding which one to return to and engage with. It's also possible to be legitimately listed in the search engines for content you don't have.
For example, I have a client who owns a chain of restaurants. Like most restaurant sites, it includes the menus available. Due to some extremely high-quality search engine optimization, the site accidently became No. 1 in Google for a series of menu-related phrases, such as "set menu," "Christmas menu," and "menu ideas." The result was thousands of people arriving who were looking for menus they could cook at home, not a restaurant. Needless to say, the bounce rate for these people was extremely high -- around 80 percent -- and none of those who remained converted into restaurant bookings. This dragged the overall bounce rate for the site as a whole up to around 50 percent, which proves how important it is not to look at the bounce rate for the site as a single figure, but look at the bounce rate for each audience segment individually.
It is especially important to look at the bounce rate for different referring keywords because this tells you how the site appeals to different audiences. In this case, we found the bounce rate for people who were actually looking for a restaurant was down around 25 percent, so the site was doing a pretty good job of holding onto new arrivals. However, the key point for our purposes is that all this inappropriate traffic, with an extremely high bounce rate, pushed the conversion rate down to less than 1 percent. This makes it look like the site is a disaster.
When I see a conversion rate calculated from the total number of visits, including bounces, I don't know how much it's been affected by that bounce rate. In other words, I don't really know if I need to improve my landing pages and engage more arrivals, or if it's my actual content that needs more work.
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
Gasta.com set to launch Greek Search Engine
Gasta is set to launch a greek search engine this month contact bizz@amiwired.com for more info on this and our other white label search solutions.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Gasta Tech News: Yahoo developing search partner relationships.
"Gasta.com working with Yahoo and Bing to bring the best regional search engine experience"
Yahoo is to launch a search certification programme by the end of September to help brands connect with specialist search agencies.
The internet giant – which last month revealed its search product is to merge with Microsoft’s Bing – is developing the Yahoo Network Certified Agency programme to boost agency spend across its network.
Agencies that meet stipulated criteria will receive benefits including training from Yahoo’s sales team, dedicated account management and permission to promote their agency by using the programme’s logo.
new media age understands the application criteria will include managing at least three search clients and spending over £15,000 a month on the Yahoo network.
Tim Frankcom, senior director for Yahoo Europe’s in-house sales organisation, said the programme had been created in response to requests from a number of clients.
“We recognise that education and comprehensive training are vital elements of our customer service and therefore will be launching the new programme later this year,” he said.
It will join existing programmes in the search sector, including Google’s Advertising Professional programme, launched in 2004, and Microsoft’s AdExcellence, launched in 2007.
The news comes a month after new media age revealed Google was launching a similar programme for conversion specialists (nma 2 July 2009).
However, the launch of such programmes has received a mixed response in the search industry.
Michael Day, ecommerce manager at Endsleigh Insurance, which earlier this year appointed search agency I-Spy Search, said accreditation schemes were useful when looking for new partners but an agency’s track record was equally important.
“You need to get the right blend: an agency with proven results or the confidence to commit to getting them, together with accreditation in the areas that matter to you,” he said. “If Google is where the majority of your activity will take place, then you’d naturally want an agency that has proven knowledge in this area, such as Gasta.com or Europasearch which have the combination of results, text ad platforms, SearchMatch and Adsense and AdWords qualification.”
Harbir Padda, search campaign manager for Orange, said, “I’d guess qualifications are considered more when recruiting for individual roles within an agency or in-house team.”
Jonathan Beeston, European client services director at search specialist Efficient Frontier, said, “These programmes will help agency staff get so far, but it’s then for the agency to provide real insight and training. I’d say brands will look at previous results delivered for clients first.”
NMA
Yahoo is to launch a search certification programme by the end of September to help brands connect with specialist search agencies.
The internet giant – which last month revealed its search product is to merge with Microsoft’s Bing – is developing the Yahoo Network Certified Agency programme to boost agency spend across its network.
Agencies that meet stipulated criteria will receive benefits including training from Yahoo’s sales team, dedicated account management and permission to promote their agency by using the programme’s logo.
new media age understands the application criteria will include managing at least three search clients and spending over £15,000 a month on the Yahoo network.
Tim Frankcom, senior director for Yahoo Europe’s in-house sales organisation, said the programme had been created in response to requests from a number of clients.
“We recognise that education and comprehensive training are vital elements of our customer service and therefore will be launching the new programme later this year,” he said.
It will join existing programmes in the search sector, including Google’s Advertising Professional programme, launched in 2004, and Microsoft’s AdExcellence, launched in 2007.
The news comes a month after new media age revealed Google was launching a similar programme for conversion specialists (nma 2 July 2009).
However, the launch of such programmes has received a mixed response in the search industry.
Michael Day, ecommerce manager at Endsleigh Insurance, which earlier this year appointed search agency I-Spy Search, said accreditation schemes were useful when looking for new partners but an agency’s track record was equally important.
“You need to get the right blend: an agency with proven results or the confidence to commit to getting them, together with accreditation in the areas that matter to you,” he said. “If Google is where the majority of your activity will take place, then you’d naturally want an agency that has proven knowledge in this area, such as Gasta.com or Europasearch which have the combination of results, text ad platforms, SearchMatch and Adsense and AdWords qualification.”
Harbir Padda, search campaign manager for Orange, said, “I’d guess qualifications are considered more when recruiting for individual roles within an agency or in-house team.”
Jonathan Beeston, European client services director at search specialist Efficient Frontier, said, “These programmes will help agency staff get so far, but it’s then for the agency to provide real insight and training. I’d say brands will look at previous results delivered for clients first.”
NMA
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Gasta Social marketing tools a huge success with Search users
Gasta.com continues to Innovate and attracts more search users than any other meta search engine. People think local, so our advertisers act local.
Over the past several years, organizations have been unlocking the knowledge within an enterprise through enterprise search. Now that users are finding and exploring this information, they have a desire to enrich the information with their own ideas and knowledge. Social search by Gasta.com empowers the user to not only find the information they need to make a quick decision but to begin collaborating with peers by tagging and sharing search results across an organization, blogs, images, news, web results, and videos can now all be shared with FaceBook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Digg.
Gasta Social 'Search n Share' provides our users with the benefits of enterprise social search.
Over the past several years, organizations have been unlocking the knowledge within an enterprise through enterprise search. Now that users are finding and exploring this information, they have a desire to enrich the information with their own ideas and knowledge. Social search by Gasta.com empowers the user to not only find the information they need to make a quick decision but to begin collaborating with peers by tagging and sharing search results across an organization, blogs, images, news, web results, and videos can now all be shared with FaceBook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Digg.
Gasta Social 'Search n Share' provides our users with the benefits of enterprise social search.
Find the discussions surrounding your brand
Find the discussions surrounding your brand
There are a lot of online forums out there, including countless product and service review sites, where relevant consumer conversations regarding your brand are taking place. It simply isn't feasible to monitor and participate in every one. So how do you decide where to focus?
Much of this comes down to being familiar with the types of sites out there and your brand's relation to them. For example, retail companies are likely to find monitoring social networks and community forums particularly useful because consumers regularly discuss their purchases and experiences on such sites. And of course, peer reviews dramatically impact purchase behavior. These forums, as well as price comparison websites, are the ideal place for marketers to engage directly with consumers who care the most, says Andreas Roell, who heads up digital marketing agency Geary Interactive. Consumers in these forums routinely take the time to write comments, so if a marketer can cultivate a relationship with these individuals, they have an opportunity to create a loyal, influential customer base.
Message boards are also good resources for marketers, though they can be hard to monitor due to the sheer number of them. Thus, marketers need to find ways to simplify their searches. BoardTracker.com is one of the biggest players in this field, currently tracking more than 37,000 forums. Similarly, Copernic Inc. offers software that searches for new content on web pages (including product review sites) as often as you like. When a change is detected, the tracking software notifies you by sending an email, including a copy of the page with the changes highlighted.
While automated solutions can be useful, marketers should invest time in familiarizing themselves with the communities that have the greatest relevance for their brands. In this regard, Rob Enderle, president and principal analyst at emerging technology advisory firm Enderle Group, says that marketers need to be on the lookout for sites that cover areas in which their companies operate. These are the best places to find insight into how others perceive your company, your industry, and your customers, as well as the trends and news that surround all three. "These will give you a sense for how your brands perform against others in the same space, and whether folks are thinking more positively or negatively over time about them," Enderle says.
There are a lot of online forums out there, including countless product and service review sites, where relevant consumer conversations regarding your brand are taking place. It simply isn't feasible to monitor and participate in every one. So how do you decide where to focus?
Much of this comes down to being familiar with the types of sites out there and your brand's relation to them. For example, retail companies are likely to find monitoring social networks and community forums particularly useful because consumers regularly discuss their purchases and experiences on such sites. And of course, peer reviews dramatically impact purchase behavior. These forums, as well as price comparison websites, are the ideal place for marketers to engage directly with consumers who care the most, says Andreas Roell, who heads up digital marketing agency Geary Interactive. Consumers in these forums routinely take the time to write comments, so if a marketer can cultivate a relationship with these individuals, they have an opportunity to create a loyal, influential customer base.
Message boards are also good resources for marketers, though they can be hard to monitor due to the sheer number of them. Thus, marketers need to find ways to simplify their searches. BoardTracker.com is one of the biggest players in this field, currently tracking more than 37,000 forums. Similarly, Copernic Inc. offers software that searches for new content on web pages (including product review sites) as often as you like. When a change is detected, the tracking software notifies you by sending an email, including a copy of the page with the changes highlighted.
While automated solutions can be useful, marketers should invest time in familiarizing themselves with the communities that have the greatest relevance for their brands. In this regard, Rob Enderle, president and principal analyst at emerging technology advisory firm Enderle Group, says that marketers need to be on the lookout for sites that cover areas in which their companies operate. These are the best places to find insight into how others perceive your company, your industry, and your customers, as well as the trends and news that surround all three. "These will give you a sense for how your brands perform against others in the same space, and whether folks are thinking more positively or negatively over time about them," Enderle says.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Full List of Gasta Property Domains UK
# propertybelgravia.com
# propertyblackburn.com
# propertyblackburn.com
# propertybolton.com
# propertybrighton.com
# propertybristol.com
# propertybrittany.com
# propertyburnley.com
# propertycambridge.com
# propertychelsea.com
# propertycheltenham.com
# propertycotswolds.com
# propertydoncaster.com
# propertyedinburgh.com
# propertygloucester.com
# propertyguernsey.com
# propertykent.com
# propertyknightsbridge.com
# propertyliverpool.com
# propertylondon.net
# propertyluton.com
# propertymanchester.com
# propertymayfair.com
# propertymiddlesbrough.com
# propertynewcastle.net
# propertynormandy.com
# propertynorwich.com
# propertyoldham.com
# propertyoxford.net
# propertypeterborough.com
# propertyrotherham.com
# propertysouthwest.com
# propertysquaremile.com
# propertysunderland.com
# propertysurrey.com
# propertytorquay.com
# propertywatford.com
# propertywigan.com
# propertywindsor.com
# propertywirral.com
# propertyblackburn.com
# propertyblackburn.com
# propertybolton.com
# propertybrighton.com
# propertybristol.com
# propertybrittany.com
# propertyburnley.com
# propertycambridge.com
# propertychelsea.com
# propertycheltenham.com
# propertycotswolds.com
# propertydoncaster.com
# propertyedinburgh.com
# propertygloucester.com
# propertyguernsey.com
# propertykent.com
# propertyknightsbridge.com
# propertyliverpool.com
# propertylondon.net
# propertyluton.com
# propertymanchester.com
# propertymayfair.com
# propertymiddlesbrough.com
# propertynewcastle.net
# propertynormandy.com
# propertynorwich.com
# propertyoldham.com
# propertyoxford.net
# propertypeterborough.com
# propertyrotherham.com
# propertysouthwest.com
# propertysquaremile.com
# propertysunderland.com
# propertysurrey.com
# propertytorquay.com
# propertywatford.com
# propertywigan.com
# propertywindsor.com
# propertywirral.com
Monday, August 10, 2009
Europasearch the future of contextual search
Europasearch.com offers the best value for money contextual advertising platform on the web. The platform is called SearchMatch, and what is unique about Europa SearchMatch is that it allows your advert to show in the number one position for your Keywords,with no competitors. The Keywords are yours as you have purchased them already for 1 month, 3 months, 6 months or 1 year. No one can competitively click on your keywords to waste your money or raise the price of PPC, because there is no PPC. Get it? You buy your niche or direct marketing keywords for a 1,2,3, month or 1 year period.
The SearchMatch platform also allows you to buy your keywords only across the regions you are intersted in as your target market, North America, UK /Ireland, Central Europe,China, Japan, Australasia. The Keywords you buy may only be relevant to you or your brand, like 'Gucci Bags' or may be generic like 'Car Insurance'. Your keywords might be seaonal like 'Christmas hampers'in which case you may only need them for 3 months of the year for a specific region. The SearchMatch platform is the worlds first truely anti click fraud service that enables and empowers the advertiser to run the top competitive keywords to suit their budget. Not only that the Unique Five Star number one position will start to develop organic traffic as it picked up by Google and the other major search networks as a backlink on The Europasearh network.
Europasearch is a blended search engine that will bring up results for videos, news, images, and web results with one mouse click, your ad will appear across all the blended search services, so if someone searches for a how to video on 'Christmas hampers'your advert will come up first on the video search as well as the web results index. this is a great service and great tools are available on the search results page for sharing results with LinkedIn, Twitter, FaceBook, and Digg.
Europasearch currently has 165 web search engines launched across global regions and is now offering a white label search solution for countries, cities, industry, or towns. to find out more about the white label hosted search solution contact bizz@amiwired.com.
The SearchMatch platform also allows you to buy your keywords only across the regions you are intersted in as your target market, North America, UK /Ireland, Central Europe,China, Japan, Australasia. The Keywords you buy may only be relevant to you or your brand, like 'Gucci Bags' or may be generic like 'Car Insurance'. Your keywords might be seaonal like 'Christmas hampers'in which case you may only need them for 3 months of the year for a specific region. The SearchMatch platform is the worlds first truely anti click fraud service that enables and empowers the advertiser to run the top competitive keywords to suit their budget. Not only that the Unique Five Star number one position will start to develop organic traffic as it picked up by Google and the other major search networks as a backlink on The Europasearh network.
Europasearch is a blended search engine that will bring up results for videos, news, images, and web results with one mouse click, your ad will appear across all the blended search services, so if someone searches for a how to video on 'Christmas hampers'your advert will come up first on the video search as well as the web results index. this is a great service and great tools are available on the search results page for sharing results with LinkedIn, Twitter, FaceBook, and Digg.
Europasearch currently has 165 web search engines launched across global regions and is now offering a white label search solution for countries, cities, industry, or towns. to find out more about the white label hosted search solution contact bizz@amiwired.com.
Gasta and the future of contextual search
Gasta and the future of search
I can’t find my phone. What are my options for locating it?
1. Look for it
2. Ask others if they’ve seen it
3. Phone it
I would probably apply those strategies in that order as each fails. Of course, what I really want is for my phone to magically appear in my hand whenever I need it. That would be nice.
Search on the internet today is somewhere between a technology-driven stage 1 (Google, and minor variations like Wolfram Alpha and Bing) and a people-driven stage 2 (Digg, StumbleUpon, Twitter, Amazon recommendations). One might stretch the metaphor to argue that RSS, Google Alerts and the like are forms of stage 3; I’m not sure I would agree.
Technology markets typically display the following characteristics.
- Incumbents are displaced by products that are an order of magnitude better, not just 20% better.
- Product evolution is about adding value by getting closer to the user
The Internet has evolved. It has become more personal, less about static home pages and more about communication and collaboration (behaviour rather than data). This is what we would expect: The Internet is moving closer to us.
But what most people think of search has not changed significantly:
For the first 10 years, the web was primarily just a bunch of pages, and Google was an excellent tool for searching primary data.
Then we started doing mashups and social networks; these are essentially derived and dynamic forms of data and it’s not that we search differently, per se, but that we simply don’t think about search in these arenas in quite the same way. How many links away from me are you in a social network? Who is listening to the same music as me on Last.fm? What relevant experience do we have within our business? What houses are for sale on my street?
Inevitably, search will move closer to these problems, because these problems are closer to us.
Context is King
The end game for search is recognizing a context where an answer should be presented rather than sought. There are a few candidates in this field.
The semantic web garners a lot of attention (or at least it did once!). It attempts to wrap content in more meaning by enriching it with relevant keywords (I know this is a simplification, but really, who cares?). It is a rather an old fashioned view of the web because it solves an old fashioned problem — find relevant pages. It’s not that there is no room for innovation in this arena it’s jut that Google does this so well, you’re only ever go to be picking at their leftovers. Start-ups entering the search arena should be focussed on a different set of use cases.
There is a lot of talk about real time search but I think it is confused. Nothing is real time, particularly the typical examples that are given like Twitter (go talk to guys that build financial trading systems about “real-time”!).
Further, it is a rather unattractive property. I want data to arrive at the right time and real time is a narrow set of those cases (your house is on fire!). But we don’t understand what right time means so we’ll shove it at you whether you like it or not, so that when you actually need the data, it will have disappeared down the drain with the rest of the contents of the firehose.
Which returns me to my opening gambit. I want my phone to appear in my hand when I need it. How do we know when I need my phone? We start with behavioral triggers (he put his hand to his ear!) and continue to layer in those activities that provide meaning such as task-lists (I must order my groceries) or conversations (they are discussing the price of tomatoes).
Put that way it sounds a lot like the future of search belongs to collaboration: ‘What am I working on with you?’ is a the kind of behavioural question we could hang a new form of search off. What do we have to do to complete this project? That’s a context begging for unsolicited answers.
The future of search is not about better text fields and faster, smarter indexing; the future of search is about you and me.
This is a guest post by Jasper Westaway of OneDrum. Throughout the summer we’re running guest posts we like - exclusive to TC Europe - written by people on the tech scene in Europe. If you’d like to contribute get in touch. More info here.
I can’t find my phone. What are my options for locating it?
1. Look for it
2. Ask others if they’ve seen it
3. Phone it
I would probably apply those strategies in that order as each fails. Of course, what I really want is for my phone to magically appear in my hand whenever I need it. That would be nice.
Search on the internet today is somewhere between a technology-driven stage 1 (Google, and minor variations like Wolfram Alpha and Bing) and a people-driven stage 2 (Digg, StumbleUpon, Twitter, Amazon recommendations). One might stretch the metaphor to argue that RSS, Google Alerts and the like are forms of stage 3; I’m not sure I would agree.
Technology markets typically display the following characteristics.
- Incumbents are displaced by products that are an order of magnitude better, not just 20% better.
- Product evolution is about adding value by getting closer to the user
The Internet has evolved. It has become more personal, less about static home pages and more about communication and collaboration (behaviour rather than data). This is what we would expect: The Internet is moving closer to us.
But what most people think of search has not changed significantly:
For the first 10 years, the web was primarily just a bunch of pages, and Google was an excellent tool for searching primary data.
Then we started doing mashups and social networks; these are essentially derived and dynamic forms of data and it’s not that we search differently, per se, but that we simply don’t think about search in these arenas in quite the same way. How many links away from me are you in a social network? Who is listening to the same music as me on Last.fm? What relevant experience do we have within our business? What houses are for sale on my street?
Inevitably, search will move closer to these problems, because these problems are closer to us.
Context is King
The end game for search is recognizing a context where an answer should be presented rather than sought. There are a few candidates in this field.
The semantic web garners a lot of attention (or at least it did once!). It attempts to wrap content in more meaning by enriching it with relevant keywords (I know this is a simplification, but really, who cares?). It is a rather an old fashioned view of the web because it solves an old fashioned problem — find relevant pages. It’s not that there is no room for innovation in this arena it’s jut that Google does this so well, you’re only ever go to be picking at their leftovers. Start-ups entering the search arena should be focussed on a different set of use cases.
There is a lot of talk about real time search but I think it is confused. Nothing is real time, particularly the typical examples that are given like Twitter (go talk to guys that build financial trading systems about “real-time”!).
Further, it is a rather unattractive property. I want data to arrive at the right time and real time is a narrow set of those cases (your house is on fire!). But we don’t understand what right time means so we’ll shove it at you whether you like it or not, so that when you actually need the data, it will have disappeared down the drain with the rest of the contents of the firehose.
Which returns me to my opening gambit. I want my phone to appear in my hand when I need it. How do we know when I need my phone? We start with behavioral triggers (he put his hand to his ear!) and continue to layer in those activities that provide meaning such as task-lists (I must order my groceries) or conversations (they are discussing the price of tomatoes).
Put that way it sounds a lot like the future of search belongs to collaboration: ‘What am I working on with you?’ is a the kind of behavioural question we could hang a new form of search off. What do we have to do to complete this project? That’s a context begging for unsolicited answers.
The future of search is not about better text fields and faster, smarter indexing; the future of search is about you and me.
This is a guest post by Jasper Westaway of OneDrum. Throughout the summer we’re running guest posts we like - exclusive to TC Europe - written by people on the tech scene in Europe. If you’d like to contribute get in touch. More info here.
Sunday, August 09, 2009
FAQ on Gasta white label solution
FAQ on Gasta white label solution
How will our branded site receive traffic?
a) Case 1 - A new domain with no existing traffic or index on Google
· As a Gasta Partner you will be connected with 200 active sites on the Gasta Network that have over 110,000 indexed pages in Google
· Our network will cross promote you internally across all our sites (http://gasta.com/ads/adnetwork)
· Gasta serves between 250k to 500k searches a day <-- We will push you domain
· You domain will be picked up and indexed on Google within 24-72 hours of launching
· Case example Gasta.cn <- when initially launched it was index with over 12,000 pages on Google with 6 weeks
b) Case 2 - Existing domain
· You can bring in an existing domain
· As previous applies.
Will we need to SEO the site our selves
· No, our sites are completely SEO optimised using our platform. The only thing we start out doing is creating a dictionary of keywords that describe your site (see - baroneracing.com HomePage) - this leverages and helps search engines both understand and create an index for you site.
· Our system takes care of the rest - for example Google SiteMaps, Meta Titles etc.
· We can provide you with a complete admin interface that allows you to tweak and add keywords and SEO mark-up or we can care-take this for you.
Who will host it?
· We can will host it - however we can offer to install the site on your own server if you wish.
Can we customize the links on the home page
a) Standard implementation (eg. baroneracing.com or gasta.com)
· Yes, the home page is completely customisable.
· The standard layout will allow you to change the keywords (tabbed directory) and ALL text on the home page.
· This is controlled from your admin area, or care-taken by our support team.
b) Custom implementation
· We can 100% create a customised homepage for you - alternative designs or new features as you request
Will there be adsense ads in our result page
· You can turn ads on and off via the control panel.
· If you wish to have adsense (or any other simliar third party ads) you can control them from you control panel.
· Your ads, your revenue, your option.
Note: On Ads
· The Gasta White Label has it's own version of adsense built in. We call these 'InstantAds' and 'SearchMatch'.
· Using the example http://gasta.com/Search/casino
o Draw you focus to the top left logo and the grey bar - directly below this is 'SearchMatch'.
o Now to the right column and at the top - notice your ad - this is 'InstantAds'.
· You can control the number of ads you wish to display in each unit via the admin.
· Both ad types can cross pollinate with each other.
· The Ad scope (this is how the system decides what ads to be displayed) can be set to 'exact' or 'universal'
o 'exact' is a direct keyword or contextual match
o 'universal' - display an exact match first (if available) and always display 'ad stock' regardless.
In addition
· You can sell you ad space if desired directly.
· You can create your own network of related sites.
· You can export you ads to existing sites (similar to Google Adsense)
· We can sell ad space for you.
· Turn the feature off.
I would suggest that the ads system be filled with a library of your corporate and associated network services and set to universally be displayed.
Gasta white label solution comes in three partnered solutions.
Basic
· We retain control of all Ads and Revenue including Google, SearchMatch, InstantAds and other third party campaigns
· Only the logo and keywords can be customised
· Branding and Copyright remains as part of the Gasta Network
Partnered
· As part of the Gasta Search Network all advertising revenue sold to third parties via your domain is split evenly on SearchMatch & InstantAds.
· All third party advert revenue (eg. Google Adsense, Trade Doubler etc.) on your site is 100% is retained by your company.
· You will receive a 50% discount on all adverts you place across the entire Gasta Network.
· Ad revenue sharing is completely optional. You may turn the ad system off.
· Initial set-up cost
Dedicated
· 100% Control of Ad system and 100% retained Advertising revenue
· 100% Branding as Your Company
· Create your own Exclusive Ad Network and Ad Content.
In addition we can provide you with a completely bespoke design. We can offer to redesign the home page or results page to suit your company needs.
How will our branded site receive traffic?
a) Case 1 - A new domain with no existing traffic or index on Google
· As a Gasta Partner you will be connected with 200 active sites on the Gasta Network that have over 110,000 indexed pages in Google
· Our network will cross promote you internally across all our sites (http://gasta.com/ads/adnetwork)
· Gasta serves between 250k to 500k searches a day <-- We will push you domain
· You domain will be picked up and indexed on Google within 24-72 hours of launching
· Case example Gasta.cn <- when initially launched it was index with over 12,000 pages on Google with 6 weeks
b) Case 2 - Existing domain
· You can bring in an existing domain
· As previous applies.
Will we need to SEO the site our selves
· No, our sites are completely SEO optimised using our platform. The only thing we start out doing is creating a dictionary of keywords that describe your site (see - baroneracing.com HomePage) - this leverages and helps search engines both understand and create an index for you site.
· Our system takes care of the rest - for example Google SiteMaps, Meta Titles etc.
· We can provide you with a complete admin interface that allows you to tweak and add keywords and SEO mark-up or we can care-take this for you.
Who will host it?
· We can will host it - however we can offer to install the site on your own server if you wish.
Can we customize the links on the home page
a) Standard implementation (eg. baroneracing.com or gasta.com)
· Yes, the home page is completely customisable.
· The standard layout will allow you to change the keywords (tabbed directory) and ALL text on the home page.
· This is controlled from your admin area, or care-taken by our support team.
b) Custom implementation
· We can 100% create a customised homepage for you - alternative designs or new features as you request
Will there be adsense ads in our result page
· You can turn ads on and off via the control panel.
· If you wish to have adsense (or any other simliar third party ads) you can control them from you control panel.
· Your ads, your revenue, your option.
Note: On Ads
· The Gasta White Label has it's own version of adsense built in. We call these 'InstantAds' and 'SearchMatch'.
· Using the example http://gasta.com/Search/casino
o Draw you focus to the top left logo and the grey bar - directly below this is 'SearchMatch'.
o Now to the right column and at the top - notice your ad - this is 'InstantAds'.
· You can control the number of ads you wish to display in each unit via the admin.
· Both ad types can cross pollinate with each other.
· The Ad scope (this is how the system decides what ads to be displayed) can be set to 'exact' or 'universal'
o 'exact' is a direct keyword or contextual match
o 'universal' - display an exact match first (if available) and always display 'ad stock' regardless.
In addition
· You can sell you ad space if desired directly.
· You can create your own network of related sites.
· You can export you ads to existing sites (similar to Google Adsense)
· We can sell ad space for you.
· Turn the feature off.
I would suggest that the ads system be filled with a library of your corporate and associated network services and set to universally be displayed.
Gasta white label solution comes in three partnered solutions.
Basic
· We retain control of all Ads and Revenue including Google, SearchMatch, InstantAds and other third party campaigns
· Only the logo and keywords can be customised
· Branding and Copyright remains as part of the Gasta Network
Partnered
· As part of the Gasta Search Network all advertising revenue sold to third parties via your domain is split evenly on SearchMatch & InstantAds.
· All third party advert revenue (eg. Google Adsense, Trade Doubler etc.) on your site is 100% is retained by your company.
· You will receive a 50% discount on all adverts you place across the entire Gasta Network.
· Ad revenue sharing is completely optional. You may turn the ad system off.
· Initial set-up cost
Dedicated
· 100% Control of Ad system and 100% retained Advertising revenue
· 100% Branding as Your Company
· Create your own Exclusive Ad Network and Ad Content.
In addition we can provide you with a completely bespoke design. We can offer to redesign the home page or results page to suit your company needs.
Friday, August 07, 2009
Gasta SearchMatch
Your Customers Are Online: Can They Find Your Website?
The search world is fluid; keywords, rankings, links and more change everyday, and define your brands online success or failure. Help your customers find your products and services by effectively promoting your online brand with proven techniques. A recent Datran Media survey found 57% of marketing executives identified search marketing as one of the strongest advertising mediums for their company. Another 54% indicated that they have increased budgets for search while decreasing offline and direct marketing efforts.
Gasta SearchMatch™ now offering the best value for European keyword advertising across 200+ internet search engines. Get your niche targeted keywords now with a unique Instant Ad Free/
Social Marketing Services
Gasta now offers the ability to share web search results, videos, news items, images, and Blogs with your chosen social networking partner site, Gasta now has social marketing links with FaceBook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Stumbleupon, Bebo, and Digg. This service not only offers an added value to our users but also greatly assists our advertisers with their social marketing and brand awareness campaigns.
The search world is fluid; keywords, rankings, links and more change everyday, and define your brands online success or failure. Help your customers find your products and services by effectively promoting your online brand with proven techniques. A recent Datran Media survey found 57% of marketing executives identified search marketing as one of the strongest advertising mediums for their company. Another 54% indicated that they have increased budgets for search while decreasing offline and direct marketing efforts.
Gasta SearchMatch™ now offering the best value for European keyword advertising across 200+ internet search engines. Get your niche targeted keywords now with a unique Instant Ad Free/
Social Marketing Services
Gasta now offers the ability to share web search results, videos, news items, images, and Blogs with your chosen social networking partner site, Gasta now has social marketing links with FaceBook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Stumbleupon, Bebo, and Digg. This service not only offers an added value to our users but also greatly assists our advertisers with their social marketing and brand awareness campaigns.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Gasta Tech News: Search Advertising remains king of the Marketing world
Search engine marketing, like nearly all digital media forms, is evolving rapidly. Text ads
accompanying search results came into the world with little fanfare, but the real-time,
individually targeted, bid-based buying system they spawned is now on the verge of
becoming the dominant method for all commodified media buying. During the most
difficult economic times that the search marketing industry has seen in its decade-long life,
search marketers are more relevant than ever.
The Web itself is getting ―smarter.‖ Web 1.0 was mostly static with publishers
communicating to consumers. Web 2.0 is two-way, with consumers talking back to
publishers. Web 3.0 uses information from the consumer to tailor the experience to
individuals. Gmail ads already do this. By taking advantage of email content, Google is
able to serve ads that are immediately and individually relevant. The new search site
Hunch.com asks searchers to tell the site about themselves in order to predict interests and
suggest searches. Why this matters to search marketers is that the entire infrastructure of
the Web 3.0 economy is built on what‘s known as the ―semantic web.‖ Having a
background in search engine optimization and PPC advertising is just about the best
possible way to prepare for the new ways of doing business this technology enables.
While the consumers of the world get nervous about change, it won‘t be long before an untargeted
―dumb‖ ad provokes as much consumer backlash as the first targeted ads did in
the last few years. As advertising undergoes a transformation from annoyance to utility, it
will be the semantic marketers of the world who make it happen. It‘s a very good time to
be in this business for a variety of reasons. You represent the first wave of a new media
economy. If that isn‘t enough to convince someone of the increasing relevance of search
marketing, perhaps the promise of money to be made will.
accompanying search results came into the world with little fanfare, but the real-time,
individually targeted, bid-based buying system they spawned is now on the verge of
becoming the dominant method for all commodified media buying. During the most
difficult economic times that the search marketing industry has seen in its decade-long life,
search marketers are more relevant than ever.
The Web itself is getting ―smarter.‖ Web 1.0 was mostly static with publishers
communicating to consumers. Web 2.0 is two-way, with consumers talking back to
publishers. Web 3.0 uses information from the consumer to tailor the experience to
individuals. Gmail ads already do this. By taking advantage of email content, Google is
able to serve ads that are immediately and individually relevant. The new search site
Hunch.com asks searchers to tell the site about themselves in order to predict interests and
suggest searches. Why this matters to search marketers is that the entire infrastructure of
the Web 3.0 economy is built on what‘s known as the ―semantic web.‖ Having a
background in search engine optimization and PPC advertising is just about the best
possible way to prepare for the new ways of doing business this technology enables.
While the consumers of the world get nervous about change, it won‘t be long before an untargeted
―dumb‖ ad provokes as much consumer backlash as the first targeted ads did in
the last few years. As advertising undergoes a transformation from annoyance to utility, it
will be the semantic marketers of the world who make it happen. It‘s a very good time to
be in this business for a variety of reasons. You represent the first wave of a new media
economy. If that isn‘t enough to convince someone of the increasing relevance of search
marketing, perhaps the promise of money to be made will.
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Gasta Tech News: Microsft v Google in OS Battle
Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) still hasn’t commented on Google’s plans to introduce an operating system of its own. An official statement is coming later today and we’ll post it here when it comes out. (Update: Microsoft now says it will in fact not comment). But there are lots of reasons why Microsoft does not need to be too concerned about Google’s foray into its home turf. Here are five:
—Windows 7 is not Vista: Google’s operating system, which is initially targeted for netbooks, will only be available starting in mid-2010. By then, Microsoft’s new operating system, Windows 7, will have been on the market for at least nine months. Unlike its predecessor Windows Vista, Windows 7 has received rave early reviews. Also unlike Vista, Microsoft has promised that Windows 7 will work as well on netbooks as on high-end gaming PCs. As one Microsoft employee wrote on his blog today, “If Win7 didn’t have a SKU for Netbooks, this might even be interesting.” Microsoft will therefore be in a strong position to defend its turf than when Chrome OS comes out
—Microsoft is building its own browser optimized to run web apps: Like Google (NSDQ: GOOG), Microsoft understands that more people are running applications from within the browser—and is moving quickly to adapt its products to that reality. The company’s research arm, Microsoft Research, is developing a new browser called Gazelle, which it describes as a “browser-based OS” optimized to run web apps. Just last week, the company put out a summary of the principles behind the project.
—Chrome OS will compete with Ubuntu: Chrome OS—which is open source—will further fragment the open source operating system market, since it will provide yet another option, writes Renai LeMay at ZDNet. This comes just as Ubuntu was becoming the dominant choice. He writes, “In this context, Google’s decision to create its own Linux distribution and splinter the Linux community decisively ... can only be seen as foolhardy and self-obsessive.” That could obviously benefit Microsoft.
—Are consumers ready for a life on the web? Most of the user experience in Chrome OS will take place on the web, so it’s not likely that computers with the operating system installed will be able to run any Windows applications. That will likely limit adoption. Writes Bernstein Research’s Jeffrey Lindsay, “Google would need to rely on people to more fully adopt web-based services (a long-dated proposition), or for software developers to port their applications over to Chrome OS.”
—Google’s track record outside of search is poor: Google has launched other high-profile attacks on Microsoft products, with only limited success so far. The company has gone after Office with Google Docs and Internet Explorer with Chrome. Both products may have generated lots of buzz but not much market share. And, of course, Microsoft is also going on the offensive, with its revamped search engine Bing, which directly targets Google’s core business.
—Windows 7 is not Vista: Google’s operating system, which is initially targeted for netbooks, will only be available starting in mid-2010. By then, Microsoft’s new operating system, Windows 7, will have been on the market for at least nine months. Unlike its predecessor Windows Vista, Windows 7 has received rave early reviews. Also unlike Vista, Microsoft has promised that Windows 7 will work as well on netbooks as on high-end gaming PCs. As one Microsoft employee wrote on his blog today, “If Win7 didn’t have a SKU for Netbooks, this might even be interesting.” Microsoft will therefore be in a strong position to defend its turf than when Chrome OS comes out
—Microsoft is building its own browser optimized to run web apps: Like Google (NSDQ: GOOG), Microsoft understands that more people are running applications from within the browser—and is moving quickly to adapt its products to that reality. The company’s research arm, Microsoft Research, is developing a new browser called Gazelle, which it describes as a “browser-based OS” optimized to run web apps. Just last week, the company put out a summary of the principles behind the project.
—Chrome OS will compete with Ubuntu: Chrome OS—which is open source—will further fragment the open source operating system market, since it will provide yet another option, writes Renai LeMay at ZDNet. This comes just as Ubuntu was becoming the dominant choice. He writes, “In this context, Google’s decision to create its own Linux distribution and splinter the Linux community decisively ... can only be seen as foolhardy and self-obsessive.” That could obviously benefit Microsoft.
—Are consumers ready for a life on the web? Most of the user experience in Chrome OS will take place on the web, so it’s not likely that computers with the operating system installed will be able to run any Windows applications. That will likely limit adoption. Writes Bernstein Research’s Jeffrey Lindsay, “Google would need to rely on people to more fully adopt web-based services (a long-dated proposition), or for software developers to port their applications over to Chrome OS.”
—Google’s track record outside of search is poor: Google has launched other high-profile attacks on Microsoft products, with only limited success so far. The company has gone after Office with Google Docs and Internet Explorer with Chrome. Both products may have generated lots of buzz but not much market share. And, of course, Microsoft is also going on the offensive, with its revamped search engine Bing, which directly targets Google’s core business.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Gasta Launches new white label search engine for India
Gasta has launched a second of its web2.0 white label search engines in India. Gasta has partnered with Indus Net Technologies to launch www.talash.in (Talash means search in hindi)Abhishek Rungta CEO of Indus Net said "I am delighted to partner with Gasta and provide search and search marketing services to the indian continent"
If you would like to hear more about Gasta hosted white label search engines contact the gasta website.
If you would like to hear more about Gasta hosted white label search engines contact the gasta website.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Gasta Keywords:Why Profitable Keywords are the Cornerstones of Your Internet Marketing?
Keywords are ground zero. They are essential to your online success. You must get your keywords right or it's game over before you even get started. Mainly because keywords are the most important element of your online marketÃng.
It can't be emphasized enough, especially to beginning online webmasters or marketers, choosing the right profitable keywords will largely determine whether or not you succeed with your online endeavors. You simply must get this element right or your marketing will be in big trouble.
What are Keywords?
Lets start at the very beginning, keywords are the exact words someone types into a search engine to find what they're looking for on the web. Some keywords are valuable / profitable, while others are virtually worthless.
Profitable keywords are the ones that convert into a sale, a lead or potential client/customer for your company or product. These are the words someone is searching in order to buy a product or hire a service. Someone searching for "honeymoon vacatÃon packages" is probably in the market to book a honeymoon vacatÃon and could turn out to be very profitable for the right website or business.
Profitable keywords are the ones where the searcher is in the right "mind-set" or frame of mind to buy what they're searching for on the web. Tailor your marketing online to target these profitable keywords and it can spell success.
So what's the whole process for finding or choosing profitable keywords to use in your marketing? Lets look at some ways to proceed...
Number of Keyword Searches?
You need to find out how many searches are made for your chosen keywords each month. Simply use WordTracker or a site like SEOBook. These will give you a preliminary number of searches made each month for your keyword. Highly popular, well-searched keywords with hundreds of thousands of searches each month will be extremely hard to rank for because you will have stiff competition from major companies with limitless resources.
I like to pick less popular keywords that get only a couple of hundred of searches each day because my chances of getting on the first page greatly increases. But don't get fixated on the number of searches, some keyword phrases that only get four or five searches daily, can still be very profitable.
For serious keyword research in a particular niche market I like to use Brad Callen's Keyword Elite which is professionally designed software that makes all your keyword research so much easier. But there are plenty of free keyword tools you can use. One handy keyword tool is Google Adwords external suggestion tool which will help you find valuable keywords.
Commercial Intent of Keywords?
But how do you know if a keyword is profitable? Well, one convenient tool is from MSN which helps you with "Detecting Online Commercial Intention" of keywords. Just type in a keyword and it will give you a percentage or probability your keyword query has commercial benefit or intent.
Conversion Rate of Keywords?
Once you have your chosen keywords in place, next you want to have a landing page that converts those keywords or traffic from those keywords into buyers or leads for your online business. This is another crucial element of your online marketÃng - you must have a landing page or content/site that converts into a sale or you obviously won't make any revenue.
Keep in mind, if you're into affiliate marketing, you main goal is not to sell but to "pre-sell" your products or services. One effective way I have found to do this is to give potential customers/clients valuable information they can use in making their final purchasing choice. Comparison sites do well, as do review sites, top ten sites... potential customers use the Internet and keywords to not only find products but more so, to find information on those products. Your goal should be to provide this valuable information to make their task a little bit easier for them and they will reward you with a sale.
Long-Tail Keywords?
Long-Tail keywords are simply that: long three or four word phrases that searchers use to find what they're looking for on the web. Because they are highly specific, long-tail keywords have proven to have better conversion rates than general keywords. This is also just common sense, someone searching for a "2005 ford mustang convertible" may just be in the right mind-set to buy such a vehicle; as compared to someone searching for a more general keyword phrase such as "sports cars."
Study your website traffic logs religiously to find long-tail keywords that turn into a sale. Target these long-tail keywords in your marketing. Even buy PPC (Pay Per Click) advertising in the three major search engines - Google Adwords, Yahoo! Marketing and MicroSoft AdCenter - for these valuable/profitable keywords.
And build higher rankings in organic search for these long-tail keyword phrases. It's really not that difficult for long phrases, especially if they're related to your site; many times you can reach the top spot in a matter of days, especially in Google.
How to Rank High for Your Chosen Profitable Keywords?
Of course, the million dollar question is: HOW do you rank in the top spot for your chosen keywords? I believe the key to ranking high in the search engines (especially Google) is to be persistent in building your rankings for your keywords. Take a long-term view or approach, sometimes it may take months, even years, to rank in the top Five for your highly competitive keywords.
The best strategy is to "stick to it" and keep building relevant links to your keyword landing page. Create related blogs with valuable content linking back to your keywords. Write keyword related articles and distribute them all over the web. Create Google Alerts for your keywords and then place comments/links in the newly formed pages on the web that Google is indexing.
Be pro-active, download the SEOQuake toolbar and find your main keyword competitors. Check out their links and then go out and get the same links. Write better, higher quality content than your main competitors because Google always rewards great content. Plus, use the free Addthis.com button and let your visitors bookmark your great content in all the social bookmark sites and build your keyword links for you.
Do keyworded Press Releases with your embedded links and spread them all over the web. Get these Press Releases into Google news and other important places on the web. PRWeb.com is really a great place for your press releases since you can embed your keywords in your links.
If you can try to get your most important keywords in your domain name. Many SEO experts argue the merits of this but from my own experience and marketing - it is much easier to rank high for your keywords if you have them in the domain name. Again, it is just common sense, if you have your main keyword in the domain, this keyword is obviously telling the search engines this is what your site is all about. I have even bought domains and created sites specifically around certain keywords just to rank high.
Always remember, you have to be persistent, I have been fighting some keyword battles for over four or five years! For really profitable keywords, it can be a constant struggle to remain on the first page, but the trick is not to give up, just keep fighting away at your competitors. Persistence usually pays off in the end and those profitable keywords will have your links in the top spot. Make ranking high for those profitable keywords your number one marketing strategy. Concentrate all your marketing efforts towards getting plenty of quality traffic for those keywords and you will succeed online.
By Titus Hoskins (c) 2009
It can't be emphasized enough, especially to beginning online webmasters or marketers, choosing the right profitable keywords will largely determine whether or not you succeed with your online endeavors. You simply must get this element right or your marketing will be in big trouble.
What are Keywords?
Lets start at the very beginning, keywords are the exact words someone types into a search engine to find what they're looking for on the web. Some keywords are valuable / profitable, while others are virtually worthless.
Profitable keywords are the ones that convert into a sale, a lead or potential client/customer for your company or product. These are the words someone is searching in order to buy a product or hire a service. Someone searching for "honeymoon vacatÃon packages" is probably in the market to book a honeymoon vacatÃon and could turn out to be very profitable for the right website or business.
Profitable keywords are the ones where the searcher is in the right "mind-set" or frame of mind to buy what they're searching for on the web. Tailor your marketing online to target these profitable keywords and it can spell success.
So what's the whole process for finding or choosing profitable keywords to use in your marketing? Lets look at some ways to proceed...
Number of Keyword Searches?
You need to find out how many searches are made for your chosen keywords each month. Simply use WordTracker or a site like SEOBook. These will give you a preliminary number of searches made each month for your keyword. Highly popular, well-searched keywords with hundreds of thousands of searches each month will be extremely hard to rank for because you will have stiff competition from major companies with limitless resources.
I like to pick less popular keywords that get only a couple of hundred of searches each day because my chances of getting on the first page greatly increases. But don't get fixated on the number of searches, some keyword phrases that only get four or five searches daily, can still be very profitable.
For serious keyword research in a particular niche market I like to use Brad Callen's Keyword Elite which is professionally designed software that makes all your keyword research so much easier. But there are plenty of free keyword tools you can use. One handy keyword tool is Google Adwords external suggestion tool which will help you find valuable keywords.
Commercial Intent of Keywords?
But how do you know if a keyword is profitable? Well, one convenient tool is from MSN which helps you with "Detecting Online Commercial Intention" of keywords. Just type in a keyword and it will give you a percentage or probability your keyword query has commercial benefit or intent.
Conversion Rate of Keywords?
Once you have your chosen keywords in place, next you want to have a landing page that converts those keywords or traffic from those keywords into buyers or leads for your online business. This is another crucial element of your online marketÃng - you must have a landing page or content/site that converts into a sale or you obviously won't make any revenue.
Keep in mind, if you're into affiliate marketing, you main goal is not to sell but to "pre-sell" your products or services. One effective way I have found to do this is to give potential customers/clients valuable information they can use in making their final purchasing choice. Comparison sites do well, as do review sites, top ten sites... potential customers use the Internet and keywords to not only find products but more so, to find information on those products. Your goal should be to provide this valuable information to make their task a little bit easier for them and they will reward you with a sale.
Long-Tail Keywords?
Long-Tail keywords are simply that: long three or four word phrases that searchers use to find what they're looking for on the web. Because they are highly specific, long-tail keywords have proven to have better conversion rates than general keywords. This is also just common sense, someone searching for a "2005 ford mustang convertible" may just be in the right mind-set to buy such a vehicle; as compared to someone searching for a more general keyword phrase such as "sports cars."
Study your website traffic logs religiously to find long-tail keywords that turn into a sale. Target these long-tail keywords in your marketing. Even buy PPC (Pay Per Click) advertising in the three major search engines - Google Adwords, Yahoo! Marketing and MicroSoft AdCenter - for these valuable/profitable keywords.
And build higher rankings in organic search for these long-tail keyword phrases. It's really not that difficult for long phrases, especially if they're related to your site; many times you can reach the top spot in a matter of days, especially in Google.
How to Rank High for Your Chosen Profitable Keywords?
Of course, the million dollar question is: HOW do you rank in the top spot for your chosen keywords? I believe the key to ranking high in the search engines (especially Google) is to be persistent in building your rankings for your keywords. Take a long-term view or approach, sometimes it may take months, even years, to rank in the top Five for your highly competitive keywords.
The best strategy is to "stick to it" and keep building relevant links to your keyword landing page. Create related blogs with valuable content linking back to your keywords. Write keyword related articles and distribute them all over the web. Create Google Alerts for your keywords and then place comments/links in the newly formed pages on the web that Google is indexing.
Be pro-active, download the SEOQuake toolbar and find your main keyword competitors. Check out their links and then go out and get the same links. Write better, higher quality content than your main competitors because Google always rewards great content. Plus, use the free Addthis.com button and let your visitors bookmark your great content in all the social bookmark sites and build your keyword links for you.
Do keyworded Press Releases with your embedded links and spread them all over the web. Get these Press Releases into Google news and other important places on the web. PRWeb.com is really a great place for your press releases since you can embed your keywords in your links.
If you can try to get your most important keywords in your domain name. Many SEO experts argue the merits of this but from my own experience and marketing - it is much easier to rank high for your keywords if you have them in the domain name. Again, it is just common sense, if you have your main keyword in the domain, this keyword is obviously telling the search engines this is what your site is all about. I have even bought domains and created sites specifically around certain keywords just to rank high.
Always remember, you have to be persistent, I have been fighting some keyword battles for over four or five years! For really profitable keywords, it can be a constant struggle to remain on the first page, but the trick is not to give up, just keep fighting away at your competitors. Persistence usually pays off in the end and those profitable keywords will have your links in the top spot. Make ranking high for those profitable keywords your number one marketing strategy. Concentrate all your marketing efforts towards getting plenty of quality traffic for those keywords and you will succeed online.
By Titus Hoskins (c) 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Gasta Search Marketing: Kevin Ryan,Motivity Marketing
Why does every attempt to gain market share with clever ad campaigns fail? Why do search companies still think throwing ad dollars at the problem will work? Defining insanity with identical repetitive activity is becoming the norm for search sites, but it doesn't have to be that way.
MSN's upcoming ad campaign surrounding the release of its new search technology dubbed "Kumo," also know as "Project Kiev," and the reported $100 million ad budget is headed for yet another agency with marching orders to magically increase search market share.
Having met key people in multiple levels at MSN like Satya Nadella, Eric Picard and Mel Carson, I know MSN is not short in the talent department. History has taught us that great talent + cute and edgy ad initiatives ? more searchers.
It's time for a change in how to approach the market. It's time to learn from past blunders, and the answers might just be outside the search box.
Parade of failures
Fix it because it's broke. On Sept. 6, 2006, Crispin Porter + Bogusky began turning out an amazingly creative, edgy execution that successfully got the attention of everyone in the ad business. My, that initiative was going to look great at an awards ceremony.
"The Algorithm" homepage even had an abstract reference to our man Dmitry Sklarov's view of a poorly encrypted DRM file. The reference to another aspect of the digital industry with its head up its arse -- while providing yet another excellent illustration of how an engine of the search variety works -- was most fortuitous.
The algorithm initiative included drive to search activities online. Perceived multitudes of searchers could be educated and provided with a better experience. That just didn't happen.
in the end, Ask's campaign post mortem meeting might have touted the benefits of elevated awareness, but no elevated search market share occurred. In fact, during the time frame from September 2006 (campaign launch) to May 2007, Ask.Com lost about 10 percent of market share, according to Hitwise.
On a pop culture note, a "South Park" episode airing on March 28, 2007, featured kids making the sneer that "Nobody uses Ask Jeeves, just Google search it." The Butler had been dropped from Ask over a year earlier.
Nobody cares about your Butler. Don't you get it?
2005 MSN growth spurt
In February 2005, Microsoft planned to reach 90 percent of U.S. households 40 times in eight weeks. As I recall, the big, bold campaign had some great agencies involved as well. Shops like McCann Erickson and Avenue A were at the reins of this big event. The effort was so bold, it had to work.
Something did, and MSN had a 5.5 percent share of searches by July 2005. But by the following year, Hitwise showed MSN search at 11.8 percent, and MSN search was back at about 5.5 percent by December 2008.
Hundreds of millions of dollars to get right back where you started? That's gotta hurt. Why not throw another $100 million at the problem a few years later. It'll definitely work this time.
It's cruel to think a great product can be stagnant. If the creative is going to be effective, it has to be married to great technical execution. The driving triggers have to be more than following Google's selling point: "Don't just search. Find." That pretty much describes what I do every day on Google.
To bring them in, you have to be more compelling.
To keep them, you have to be clever.
Tell them and show them the great things they'll find. Great creative might actually get them there, but as history has taught us, it's hard to keep them when it's so easy to switch. Don't give them a learning curve, and for heaven's sake, please don't make them think.
Do something
Each and every ad campaign that attempts to gain market share fails. But why? Utter lack of actionable creative flow for starters. "The algorithm constantly finds Jesus." What does that even mean? We are witnessing the Paris Hilton syndrome of advertising: it looks good, it's pretty expensive, but it doesn't really do much to earn your respect and application.
These campaigns are more likely to inspire "Pribilof Stare" than they are more searches.
Hiring ad people to initiate search needs is like looking to an oncologist for a Pap Smear analysis. Sure, your average cancer physician is likely to have some well-founded opinions, but you are always going to be better with the experts. In this case, the searching, consuming public are the experts.
Change my mind...
The endless search for information retrieval utility through creative and aggressive spending reminds me of an old Russian friend's expression. With only two words, he summarized a worthless endeavor of mine: "??????? ????!" he used to say, and then shook his head. The Russian soul isn't something you can touch, but it's there, and you either get it, or you don't.
Since you, the engines, seem to want to change my mind, you'll have to suit my needs. Getting into the hearts and minds of searchers requires building needs and becoming indispensible. It requires clean, accurate, and relevant results. To date, no one has beaten Google in this effort.
The real secret sauce of the next generation of search will contain a multitude of ingredients that serve time, need, convenience, and desire. While Microsoft and Google duke it out in the information-seeking world, Apple will charge on with devices in the iPod family.
The media and creative surrounding the iPod are a cute and cozy afterthought when compared to the inherent desire our world seems to have for the device. To name a few, China, Japan, Italy, France, The Netherlands, Germany and the U.S. seem to have a need for this gadget from heaven.
The final solution, perfection... in aggregate
Well, even the best technologies have their faults. My Apple videos can't be played on my Xbox, and darned if I can't figure out how to get an iPhone for less than a thousand dollars. My iTunes keeps crashing my Vista (sorry, just plain Windows), and I REALLY want to update my music lists. No dice. It's too bad all those music files I bought can't be played anywhere else.
If the digital entertainment world could get together and decide on terms for protection, our world would change. Independent obstacles, when removed can create magical results. Devices would compete on their own merits.
Velvet ropes would part and champaign would flow from the heavens.
The real answer to search's great mystery lies in accumulating massive assets, utilizing those assets, and coming to market with them. Perhaps a search get-together is in order. A few people around the world have asked about the "Search World Summit," so maybe its time has come.
Whatever the approach to media might be, it's clear that a shift is in order. Not just a shift in creative focus or emotional triggers, but a shift in how we approach the most important aspect of the search: the people behind each need-defining query.
Kevin Ryan is CEO of Motivity Marketing.
MSN's upcoming ad campaign surrounding the release of its new search technology dubbed "Kumo," also know as "Project Kiev," and the reported $100 million ad budget is headed for yet another agency with marching orders to magically increase search market share.
Having met key people in multiple levels at MSN like Satya Nadella, Eric Picard and Mel Carson, I know MSN is not short in the talent department. History has taught us that great talent + cute and edgy ad initiatives ? more searchers.
It's time for a change in how to approach the market. It's time to learn from past blunders, and the answers might just be outside the search box.
Parade of failures
Fix it because it's broke. On Sept. 6, 2006, Crispin Porter + Bogusky began turning out an amazingly creative, edgy execution that successfully got the attention of everyone in the ad business. My, that initiative was going to look great at an awards ceremony.
"The Algorithm" homepage even had an abstract reference to our man Dmitry Sklarov's view of a poorly encrypted DRM file. The reference to another aspect of the digital industry with its head up its arse -- while providing yet another excellent illustration of how an engine of the search variety works -- was most fortuitous.
The algorithm initiative included drive to search activities online. Perceived multitudes of searchers could be educated and provided with a better experience. That just didn't happen.
in the end, Ask's campaign post mortem meeting might have touted the benefits of elevated awareness, but no elevated search market share occurred. In fact, during the time frame from September 2006 (campaign launch) to May 2007, Ask.Com lost about 10 percent of market share, according to Hitwise.
On a pop culture note, a "South Park" episode airing on March 28, 2007, featured kids making the sneer that "Nobody uses Ask Jeeves, just Google search it." The Butler had been dropped from Ask over a year earlier.
Nobody cares about your Butler. Don't you get it?
2005 MSN growth spurt
In February 2005, Microsoft planned to reach 90 percent of U.S. households 40 times in eight weeks. As I recall, the big, bold campaign had some great agencies involved as well. Shops like McCann Erickson and Avenue A were at the reins of this big event. The effort was so bold, it had to work.
Something did, and MSN had a 5.5 percent share of searches by July 2005. But by the following year, Hitwise showed MSN search at 11.8 percent, and MSN search was back at about 5.5 percent by December 2008.
Hundreds of millions of dollars to get right back where you started? That's gotta hurt. Why not throw another $100 million at the problem a few years later. It'll definitely work this time.
It's cruel to think a great product can be stagnant. If the creative is going to be effective, it has to be married to great technical execution. The driving triggers have to be more than following Google's selling point: "Don't just search. Find." That pretty much describes what I do every day on Google.
To bring them in, you have to be more compelling.
To keep them, you have to be clever.
Tell them and show them the great things they'll find. Great creative might actually get them there, but as history has taught us, it's hard to keep them when it's so easy to switch. Don't give them a learning curve, and for heaven's sake, please don't make them think.
Do something
Each and every ad campaign that attempts to gain market share fails. But why? Utter lack of actionable creative flow for starters. "The algorithm constantly finds Jesus." What does that even mean? We are witnessing the Paris Hilton syndrome of advertising: it looks good, it's pretty expensive, but it doesn't really do much to earn your respect and application.
These campaigns are more likely to inspire "Pribilof Stare" than they are more searches.
Hiring ad people to initiate search needs is like looking to an oncologist for a Pap Smear analysis. Sure, your average cancer physician is likely to have some well-founded opinions, but you are always going to be better with the experts. In this case, the searching, consuming public are the experts.
Change my mind...
The endless search for information retrieval utility through creative and aggressive spending reminds me of an old Russian friend's expression. With only two words, he summarized a worthless endeavor of mine: "??????? ????!" he used to say, and then shook his head. The Russian soul isn't something you can touch, but it's there, and you either get it, or you don't.
Since you, the engines, seem to want to change my mind, you'll have to suit my needs. Getting into the hearts and minds of searchers requires building needs and becoming indispensible. It requires clean, accurate, and relevant results. To date, no one has beaten Google in this effort.
The real secret sauce of the next generation of search will contain a multitude of ingredients that serve time, need, convenience, and desire. While Microsoft and Google duke it out in the information-seeking world, Apple will charge on with devices in the iPod family.
The media and creative surrounding the iPod are a cute and cozy afterthought when compared to the inherent desire our world seems to have for the device. To name a few, China, Japan, Italy, France, The Netherlands, Germany and the U.S. seem to have a need for this gadget from heaven.
The final solution, perfection... in aggregate
Well, even the best technologies have their faults. My Apple videos can't be played on my Xbox, and darned if I can't figure out how to get an iPhone for less than a thousand dollars. My iTunes keeps crashing my Vista (sorry, just plain Windows), and I REALLY want to update my music lists. No dice. It's too bad all those music files I bought can't be played anywhere else.
If the digital entertainment world could get together and decide on terms for protection, our world would change. Independent obstacles, when removed can create magical results. Devices would compete on their own merits.
Velvet ropes would part and champaign would flow from the heavens.
The real answer to search's great mystery lies in accumulating massive assets, utilizing those assets, and coming to market with them. Perhaps a search get-together is in order. A few people around the world have asked about the "Search World Summit," so maybe its time has come.
Whatever the approach to media might be, it's clear that a shift is in order. Not just a shift in creative focus or emotional triggers, but a shift in how we approach the most important aspect of the search: the people behind each need-defining query.
Kevin Ryan is CEO of Motivity Marketing.
Thursday, April 02, 2009
Gasta News: EU warns Internet companies to 'protect information'
The European Union has told internet companies to make better efforts to protect information they are given by consumers, or face tougher regulation.
Consumer Affairs Commissioner Meglena Kuneva told leading e-commerce and internet search firms that standards of privacy are "not satisfactory".
"Basic consumer rights in terms of transparency, control and risk are being violated," she said.
Internet firms say they have recently taken action to protect users' data.
Consumer rights
The technology used by internet companies to profile customers is becoming so sophisticated that more confidential personal information is being recorded than consumer watchdogs believe is necessary.
In a speech on Tuesday, Ms Kuneva warned internet giants such as Microsoft and Google that "the current situation with regard to privacy, profiling and targeting is not satisfactory".
The EU is concerned that consumers are being pressured into handing over personal data to subscribe to internet services, and that confidential information is then abused to create a profile to target the customer for sales.
Last month, the social networking site Facebook was forced to abandon a plan to change its policy towards privacy after a backlash by users.
The EU cites this as evidence that the regulators need to intervene to protect consumers.
Brussels recognises that keeping data that tracks customers' preferences is useful for marketing, but insists that consumer rights must be protected.
Ms Kuneva warned online businesses that if the EU fails to "see an adequate response", the regulator will not "shy away" from its duty to protect consumers.
"We must establish the principles of transparency, clear language, opt-in or opt-out options that are meaningful and easy to use," she said.
Consumer Affairs Commissioner Meglena Kuneva told leading e-commerce and internet search firms that standards of privacy are "not satisfactory".
"Basic consumer rights in terms of transparency, control and risk are being violated," she said.
Internet firms say they have recently taken action to protect users' data.
Consumer rights
The technology used by internet companies to profile customers is becoming so sophisticated that more confidential personal information is being recorded than consumer watchdogs believe is necessary.
In a speech on Tuesday, Ms Kuneva warned internet giants such as Microsoft and Google that "the current situation with regard to privacy, profiling and targeting is not satisfactory".
The EU is concerned that consumers are being pressured into handing over personal data to subscribe to internet services, and that confidential information is then abused to create a profile to target the customer for sales.
Last month, the social networking site Facebook was forced to abandon a plan to change its policy towards privacy after a backlash by users.
The EU cites this as evidence that the regulators need to intervene to protect consumers.
Brussels recognises that keeping data that tracks customers' preferences is useful for marketing, but insists that consumer rights must be protected.
Ms Kuneva warned online businesses that if the EU fails to "see an adequate response", the regulator will not "shy away" from its duty to protect consumers.
"We must establish the principles of transparency, clear language, opt-in or opt-out options that are meaningful and easy to use," she said.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Gasta:Google Index of Gasta Search Network By popularity
Google Index of Gasta Search Network By popularity
Google index of gasta search network shows how effectively Gasta has maximised its global reach. Surprisingly on Google rankings Gasta Ireland lags behind some of the newer domains, while Gasta China, and Gasta India outperform even the UK Engine.
Google Index of Gasta Search Network By popularity
14,300 Gasta China
4,590 Gasta International
2,990 Gasta Japan
1,330 Gasta Europe
1,420 Gotagshare
1,420 Gotagspot
1,220 Gasta India
736 Gasta UK
397 Europasearch
395 Gasta Austria
363 Gasta TV
275 Gasta France
272 Baroneracing
263 Surfni
241 Gasta Germany
171 Gasta USA
232 Gasta Money
156 Gasta Spain
112 Gasta Ireland
101 Gasta Travel
19 Gasta South Africa
Yahoo Index of Gasta Search Network By popularity
(4,330) | Inlinks (426) Gasta International
1,764) | Inlinks (258) Gasta UK
1,458) | Inlinks (116) Gasta Ireland
(868) | Inlinks (51) Gasta USA
(806) | Inlinks Baroneracing
(530) | Inlinks (55) Gasta Europe
(410) | Inlinks (51) Gasta Austria
(359) | Inlinks (50) Gasta India
(312) | Inlinks (51) Gasta China
(261) | Inlinks (49) Gasta France
(247) | Inlinks (51) Europasearch
(243) | Inlinks (52) Surfni
(240) | Inlinks (51) Gasta Japan
(225) | Inlinks (49) Gasta Spain
(208) | Inlinks (49) Gasta Travel
(207) | Inlinks (51) Gasta TV
(110) | Inlinks (48) Gasta Germany
(101) | Inlinks (49) Gasta Money
(5) | Inlinks (45) Gasta South Africa
3) | Inlinks (41) Gotagshare
(5) | Inlinks (45) Gotagspot
(2) | Inlinks (9) Gasta Italy
Google index of gasta search network shows how effectively Gasta has maximised its global reach. Surprisingly on Google rankings Gasta Ireland lags behind some of the newer domains, while Gasta China, and Gasta India outperform even the UK Engine.
Google Index of Gasta Search Network By popularity
14,300 Gasta China
4,590 Gasta International
2,990 Gasta Japan
1,330 Gasta Europe
1,420 Gotagshare
1,420 Gotagspot
1,220 Gasta India
736 Gasta UK
397 Europasearch
395 Gasta Austria
363 Gasta TV
275 Gasta France
272 Baroneracing
263 Surfni
241 Gasta Germany
171 Gasta USA
232 Gasta Money
156 Gasta Spain
112 Gasta Ireland
101 Gasta Travel
19 Gasta South Africa
Yahoo Index of Gasta Search Network By popularity
(4,330) | Inlinks (426) Gasta International
1,764) | Inlinks (258) Gasta UK
1,458) | Inlinks (116) Gasta Ireland
(868) | Inlinks (51) Gasta USA
(806) | Inlinks Baroneracing
(530) | Inlinks (55) Gasta Europe
(410) | Inlinks (51) Gasta Austria
(359) | Inlinks (50) Gasta India
(312) | Inlinks (51) Gasta China
(261) | Inlinks (49) Gasta France
(247) | Inlinks (51) Europasearch
(243) | Inlinks (52) Surfni
(240) | Inlinks (51) Gasta Japan
(225) | Inlinks (49) Gasta Spain
(208) | Inlinks (49) Gasta Travel
(207) | Inlinks (51) Gasta TV
(110) | Inlinks (48) Gasta Germany
(101) | Inlinks (49) Gasta Money
(5) | Inlinks (45) Gasta South Africa
3) | Inlinks (41) Gotagshare
(5) | Inlinks (45) Gotagspot
(2) | Inlinks (9) Gasta Italy
Thursday, January 08, 2009
Gasta Opinion: Why the forecasters are wrong about digital in 2009
While the pundits may be singing a similar tune when it comes to digital advertising's immediate future, here are a few points they may not have considered.
It's the first full work week of the New Year, and already I'm tired of the constant vacillation in moods concerning the health of internet marketing.
Depending on whom you believe, digital marketing will either follow newspapers into oblivion in 2009, or it will be hit hard but not quite as hard as other media. Hardly any of the pundits give it a positive outlook. And that's a shame, with self-fulfilling prophecies and all…
There are quite a few assertions, though, that are fairly consistently questionable from pundit to pundit when it comes to predicting digital's future. Among them:
1. Failing to grow at the same rate as last year is some sort of failure -- If digital advertising grew at 10-15 percent last year, and it will hit only 7-9 percent growth this year, that's not a failure. Accelerated year-over-year growth for any market sector, whether it be manufacturing, biotech engineering, or financial services, is unsustainable in the long term. Things have to slow down at some point. If digital advertising slows down but still grows in an economy where the word "Depression" is still commonly used in headlines for op-ed pieces, I think we're doing rather well, thankyouverymuch!
My other issue with this is that more marketers are doing things with digital that are not classified as advertising and probably don't get tracked by the prognosticators. Suppose your recommended solution to an e-commerce client is not to buy a bunch of ad banners, but instead to pay to have their digital shelf presence enhanced. Is that advertising? No. Does it address the business problem your client is trying to solve? Most definitely. Will such a deal get picked up by the powers-that-be who track internet spending? Probably not.
2. Video and social media need an ad model -- It's true that in order to make money the way that Yahoo, MSN, and Platform-A do, Facebook will need to improve its ad model. And yes, something will have to come along that can replace pre-roll and overlay ads in video. But hinging digital's growth potential on these ad model conundrums is a mistake, I think.
If video advertising won't scale appropriately (and I do believe it will to a certain degree in 2009), marketers might turn to other non-advertising ways to leverage video. Viral strategies, video syndication, and content sponsorship are all ways of making video work in ways that enhance the bottom line without registering on someone's radar as an ad spend.
As long as social networks can continue to capture everyone's attention the way they have in the last few years, I doubt the lack of an ad model will put them under. Not as long as I'm spending what I do on things like Facebook gifts and Facebook ads. I think there's a lot of potential in something like Facebook ads -- not the big banner deals they do, but the smaller, targeted buys that would appeal to small business marketers. I've used Facebook ads both to recruit people for positions at Underscore and to try to sell my home. In both cases, sub-$100 investments have yielded huge gains. If Google still has plenty of potential to roll up many thousands of small, self-serve ad deals in order to make money, why not Facebook?
3. Performance-based advertising will be where the growth is -- I've seen this prediction made by many of the pundits, followed by some Google-flattering comment about how search will drive modest growth in 2009. In the short term, this might be the case, but I think we've already seen what happens in digital when too many advertisers shift their focus to DR and performance-based digital media. Things quickly get crowded. Clearance issues abound. Lead and sale volumes drop sharply unless concessions are made with respect to price and environment. This is how we weathered the last downturn, and display never really went away and experienced a rebirth when the economy turned around and marketers learned to trust digital again.
I question these three assertions, and I'm skeptical that the equation is as simple as many of the pundits make it out to be. I'm also optimistic for another reason: Analysts and pundits who don't work in digital on a day-to-day basis often have trouble understanding the dynamic of how marketing budget decisions are made. I see a lot of potential out there for marketers and brand managers to come to the conclusion that their diminished budgets can't afford last year's levels of broadcast, and for those marketers to consider digital-heavy or digital-only options for marketing campaigns.
However, it turns out in 2009, I don't think we should resign ourselves to slowed growth or declines this year. People who work in digital tend to be people who thrive in chaos. There's certainly a good deal of chaotic behavior out there in the floundering economy, and I wouldn't be surprised if we figure out how to capitalize on it this year.
Tom Hespos is president of Underscore Marketing and blogs at Hespos.com.
It's the first full work week of the New Year, and already I'm tired of the constant vacillation in moods concerning the health of internet marketing.
Depending on whom you believe, digital marketing will either follow newspapers into oblivion in 2009, or it will be hit hard but not quite as hard as other media. Hardly any of the pundits give it a positive outlook. And that's a shame, with self-fulfilling prophecies and all…
There are quite a few assertions, though, that are fairly consistently questionable from pundit to pundit when it comes to predicting digital's future. Among them:
1. Failing to grow at the same rate as last year is some sort of failure -- If digital advertising grew at 10-15 percent last year, and it will hit only 7-9 percent growth this year, that's not a failure. Accelerated year-over-year growth for any market sector, whether it be manufacturing, biotech engineering, or financial services, is unsustainable in the long term. Things have to slow down at some point. If digital advertising slows down but still grows in an economy where the word "Depression" is still commonly used in headlines for op-ed pieces, I think we're doing rather well, thankyouverymuch!
My other issue with this is that more marketers are doing things with digital that are not classified as advertising and probably don't get tracked by the prognosticators. Suppose your recommended solution to an e-commerce client is not to buy a bunch of ad banners, but instead to pay to have their digital shelf presence enhanced. Is that advertising? No. Does it address the business problem your client is trying to solve? Most definitely. Will such a deal get picked up by the powers-that-be who track internet spending? Probably not.
2. Video and social media need an ad model -- It's true that in order to make money the way that Yahoo, MSN, and Platform-A do, Facebook will need to improve its ad model. And yes, something will have to come along that can replace pre-roll and overlay ads in video. But hinging digital's growth potential on these ad model conundrums is a mistake, I think.
If video advertising won't scale appropriately (and I do believe it will to a certain degree in 2009), marketers might turn to other non-advertising ways to leverage video. Viral strategies, video syndication, and content sponsorship are all ways of making video work in ways that enhance the bottom line without registering on someone's radar as an ad spend.
As long as social networks can continue to capture everyone's attention the way they have in the last few years, I doubt the lack of an ad model will put them under. Not as long as I'm spending what I do on things like Facebook gifts and Facebook ads. I think there's a lot of potential in something like Facebook ads -- not the big banner deals they do, but the smaller, targeted buys that would appeal to small business marketers. I've used Facebook ads both to recruit people for positions at Underscore and to try to sell my home. In both cases, sub-$100 investments have yielded huge gains. If Google still has plenty of potential to roll up many thousands of small, self-serve ad deals in order to make money, why not Facebook?
3. Performance-based advertising will be where the growth is -- I've seen this prediction made by many of the pundits, followed by some Google-flattering comment about how search will drive modest growth in 2009. In the short term, this might be the case, but I think we've already seen what happens in digital when too many advertisers shift their focus to DR and performance-based digital media. Things quickly get crowded. Clearance issues abound. Lead and sale volumes drop sharply unless concessions are made with respect to price and environment. This is how we weathered the last downturn, and display never really went away and experienced a rebirth when the economy turned around and marketers learned to trust digital again.
I question these three assertions, and I'm skeptical that the equation is as simple as many of the pundits make it out to be. I'm also optimistic for another reason: Analysts and pundits who don't work in digital on a day-to-day basis often have trouble understanding the dynamic of how marketing budget decisions are made. I see a lot of potential out there for marketers and brand managers to come to the conclusion that their diminished budgets can't afford last year's levels of broadcast, and for those marketers to consider digital-heavy or digital-only options for marketing campaigns.
However, it turns out in 2009, I don't think we should resign ourselves to slowed growth or declines this year. People who work in digital tend to be people who thrive in chaos. There's certainly a good deal of chaotic behavior out there in the floundering economy, and I wouldn't be surprised if we figure out how to capitalize on it this year.
Tom Hespos is president of Underscore Marketing and blogs at Hespos.com.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Gasta News: Microsoft still soft on Yahoo Deal
Key issues to watch in Microsoft's next bid for Yahoo's search business
Posted:
It's starting to seem inevitable: Microsoft appears poised to make another run at Yahoo's search business. The point was driven home by the selection of Qi Lu as Microsoft's new online chief last week, giving the company a former Yahoo insider to oversee the integration, if it comes to that.
Discussing Lu's hiring during an interview with the Wall Street Journal last week, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer all but scheduled the Yahoo negotiations.
"I think a search deal makes great sense for Microsoft, and Yahoo, and I think I've been very open about that," Ballmer told the paper. "That's as true with Qi joining us as it was before Qi joined us. Obviously the logistics of any such integration … can only be simpler by having somebody who will know both sides."
There have been so many twists and turns since Microsoft's original Yahoo acquisition bid that it's impossible to know what will come next. But assuming Microsoft gives a search deal another try, these will be some of the key issues to watch:
PARTNERSHIP OR SEARCH ACQUISITION? Microsoft hasn't been clear on this point. At the company's shareholders meeting last month, Ballmer used the phrase "search collaboration." Some media reports focus on Microsoft acquiring Yahoo's search assets.
Matt Rosoff, an analyst at Kirkland-based Directions on Microsoft, said this morning that the most logical scenario would be a partnership letting Yahoo keep its portal while redirecting search queries to Microsoft's engine and advertising system.
TIMING: The biggest complication here may be Yahoo's ongoing CEO search. Will the Sunnyvale, Calif., company engage in serious talks with Microsoft without a new chief on board? And once the new CEO is in place, how will he or she approach the possibility of a Microsoft deal? In any event, Ballmer made it clear during the WSJ interview that he wants to do something soon.
SEARCH BRAND: On the surface, at least, this seems the easiest issue to resolve. Microsoft is looking for a better search brand, and it appears ready to go off in a new direction with Kumo.com or some other new name. But were the companies to combine search operations, wouldn't the Yahoo search brand be the one to lead the way, based on market position?
PEOPLE AND LOCATIONS: Much of this will depend on the outcome of the "partnership or acquisition" question above. But depending on the agreement the companies reach, it seems reasonable to expect more of Microsoft's search operations to be based in Silicon Valley, building on the existing presence of both companies there.
ANTITRUST: With a combined total of roughly 30 percent of the U.S. search market, a Yahoo-Microsoft search deal wouldn't face nearly the regulatory hurdles that the Google-Yahoo deal did.
But things could get more complicated if the companies bring their Web portals, Web mail or instant-messaging systems into the mix, even tangentially. Particularly on an international level, the market strength of those properties could attract the attention of regulators.
The additional complication is the transition of power in the United States. Depending on how it's structured, a Microsoft-Yahoo search deal could be the first big test of U.S. antitrust policies under Obama and Eric Holder, his nominee for attorney general.
P.S.: Microsoft is holding an internal employee meeting with Lu and Ballmer this afternoon in Redmond. My request to cover it was turned down, but hopefully some details will emerge. Contact me at toddbishop@bizjournals.com.
Posted:
It's starting to seem inevitable: Microsoft appears poised to make another run at Yahoo's search business. The point was driven home by the selection of Qi Lu as Microsoft's new online chief last week, giving the company a former Yahoo insider to oversee the integration, if it comes to that.
Discussing Lu's hiring during an interview with the Wall Street Journal last week, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer all but scheduled the Yahoo negotiations.
"I think a search deal makes great sense for Microsoft, and Yahoo, and I think I've been very open about that," Ballmer told the paper. "That's as true with Qi joining us as it was before Qi joined us. Obviously the logistics of any such integration … can only be simpler by having somebody who will know both sides."
There have been so many twists and turns since Microsoft's original Yahoo acquisition bid that it's impossible to know what will come next. But assuming Microsoft gives a search deal another try, these will be some of the key issues to watch:
PARTNERSHIP OR SEARCH ACQUISITION? Microsoft hasn't been clear on this point. At the company's shareholders meeting last month, Ballmer used the phrase "search collaboration." Some media reports focus on Microsoft acquiring Yahoo's search assets.
Matt Rosoff, an analyst at Kirkland-based Directions on Microsoft, said this morning that the most logical scenario would be a partnership letting Yahoo keep its portal while redirecting search queries to Microsoft's engine and advertising system.
TIMING: The biggest complication here may be Yahoo's ongoing CEO search. Will the Sunnyvale, Calif., company engage in serious talks with Microsoft without a new chief on board? And once the new CEO is in place, how will he or she approach the possibility of a Microsoft deal? In any event, Ballmer made it clear during the WSJ interview that he wants to do something soon.
SEARCH BRAND: On the surface, at least, this seems the easiest issue to resolve. Microsoft is looking for a better search brand, and it appears ready to go off in a new direction with Kumo.com or some other new name. But were the companies to combine search operations, wouldn't the Yahoo search brand be the one to lead the way, based on market position?
PEOPLE AND LOCATIONS: Much of this will depend on the outcome of the "partnership or acquisition" question above. But depending on the agreement the companies reach, it seems reasonable to expect more of Microsoft's search operations to be based in Silicon Valley, building on the existing presence of both companies there.
ANTITRUST: With a combined total of roughly 30 percent of the U.S. search market, a Yahoo-Microsoft search deal wouldn't face nearly the regulatory hurdles that the Google-Yahoo deal did.
But things could get more complicated if the companies bring their Web portals, Web mail or instant-messaging systems into the mix, even tangentially. Particularly on an international level, the market strength of those properties could attract the attention of regulators.
The additional complication is the transition of power in the United States. Depending on how it's structured, a Microsoft-Yahoo search deal could be the first big test of U.S. antitrust policies under Obama and Eric Holder, his nominee for attorney general.
P.S.: Microsoft is holding an internal employee meeting with Lu and Ballmer this afternoon in Redmond. My request to cover it was turned down, but hopefully some details will emerge. Contact me at toddbishop@bizjournals.com.
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