The internet will this year overtake national newspapers to become the third biggest advertising medium by spend, according to authoritative forecasts.
By the end of 2007, internet advertising will close the gap on regional newspapers, the number two medium, but will still be well short of television, the biggest outlet in the £12bn-a-year media advertising market.
The projection, seen exclusively by the FT, underlines the pace of growth in internet advertising and the challenge to businesses reliant on traditional advertising revenue.
Excluding internet spending, total media advertising would be in recession with television, national and regional press reporting revenue falls this year, it said.
The report comes from GroupM, a WPP holding company which drew on data from the group's media buyers, Mindsharre, Media-edge:cia, Mediacom and Maxus, which buy and plan more than 30 per cent of global media advertising.
It estimates the internet will take 13.3 per cent of the total media advertising market – excluding areas such as direct mail, public relations and market research – in 2006. National newspapers will take 13.2 per cent.
Read the full article here:
http://us.ft.com/ftgateway/superpage.ft?news_id=fto052920061706070914&page=2
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Friday, May 26, 2006
The Keys to Podcast Advertising
The CEO of RadioTail outlines five tips for successful podcast advertising.
People can't seem to stop talking about podcasting-- and for good reason. According to Arbitron, 27 million Americans have listened to a podcast. Clearly, independent podcasters and media companies alike have attracted engaged, highly focused audiences of early adopters.
Advertisers have a tremendous opportunity to get their message out in this fragmented media landscape. But understandably, advertisers and podcast producers fear turning off users and losing their attention by botching the campaign. Unlike podcasting itself, podcast advertising shouldn't be just all talk. It's time for marketers to take action. Here are five tips for launching a successful podcast ad campaign.
Keep your message briefPodcast audiences have proven accepting of ad spots so long as they're short. In a recent Nikon ad campaign that ran across our podcast network, we did not receive a single complaint from listeners about a 15-second spot.
Short ads drastically decrease the incentive to fast-forward. Even Clear Channel is pushing "less is more" for its broadcast radio advertisers. Besides, brevity is the soul of wit. If you do need 60 seconds to pitch the benefits of your product, it would be better to do four 15-second spots throughout a podcast than one 60-second spot.
For The Rest Of The Podcasting Keys Click Here: http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/9614.asp
People can't seem to stop talking about podcasting-- and for good reason. According to Arbitron, 27 million Americans have listened to a podcast. Clearly, independent podcasters and media companies alike have attracted engaged, highly focused audiences of early adopters.
Advertisers have a tremendous opportunity to get their message out in this fragmented media landscape. But understandably, advertisers and podcast producers fear turning off users and losing their attention by botching the campaign. Unlike podcasting itself, podcast advertising shouldn't be just all talk. It's time for marketers to take action. Here are five tips for launching a successful podcast ad campaign.
Keep your message briefPodcast audiences have proven accepting of ad spots so long as they're short. In a recent Nikon ad campaign that ran across our podcast network, we did not receive a single complaint from listeners about a 15-second spot.
Short ads drastically decrease the incentive to fast-forward. Even Clear Channel is pushing "less is more" for its broadcast radio advertisers. Besides, brevity is the soul of wit. If you do need 60 seconds to pitch the benefits of your product, it would be better to do four 15-second spots throughout a podcast than one 60-second spot.
For The Rest Of The Podcasting Keys Click Here: http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/9614.asp
Thursday, May 25, 2006
New study argues that MSN Search gives the best search results.
Microsoft’s search engine has been prominent in the news lately.
Amazon and Alexa have started using Windows Live Search instead of Google for their web search results. Ask.com’s CEO Steve Berkowitz is to start working with Microsoft. Steve Ballmer is boasting about Microsofts’s gains vis-a-vis Google and Yahoo.
For the time being Microsoft Search is far behind Google as regards users, but that might change. Christopher Payne, who is responsible for Windows Live Search, says to Associated Press that “I think we’ll look back on this as the DOS era of search.” Hm.
We are familiar with Microsoft using big words. Therefore it is interesting to read a new report on search engine result relevance. The report is produced by Intralink, a search engine optimization and web marketing consultancy firm in Cincinnati.
The findings and the methodology used are found at Seoresourcecenter.com. Intralink has covered Google, Yahoo, MSN Search, Ask.com, AOL Search, Gigablast and Wisenut but not the French search engine Exalead.
Intralink has checked on five criteria or variables, namely: “relevancy”, “freshness of content”, “failure rate”, “difficult search results” and “non-organic or extra features”.
Surprisingly the top score is given to MSN Search, ahead of Google (although not with a large margin). When it comes to “relevancy” Google is behind both MSN Search and Yahoo!
On the other hand, Google is the leader concerning “Freshness of content”, where both Yahoo! and Ask.com are performing surprisingly badly.
Does this mean that MSN really is better than Google? It is hard to say, as the margins of error are large. However, what the report may indicate, is that MSN is catching up quality-wise, which is important, as it was quality and relevance of search results that made Google the dominant player on the search engine arena.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Right now Google is still king as far as search engine popularity and prominence is concerned. Competition between the search engines is a wonderful thing. Just like any other industry competition will help accelerate innovation and improvements, which should benefit the consumers.
I definitely think MSN will gain some major ground on Google over the next several years. Whether MSN is able to take users from Google, or does Yahoo start to see it's demise nearing. It seems like every several years a couple of the major search engines fall from prominence to the graveyard.
Look at what happened to Alta Vista, Hot Bot, AlltheWeb, Excite, WebCrawler, and InfoSeek. All of these search engines were popular and almost common household names, now they are either totally dead or spam filled wastelands that only uninformed surfers still use.
I don't think the battle of MSN and Google will result in a fate like this to Yahoo, but if Yahoo isn't ready to keep up they may be the real losers in the Search Engine Wars. Yahoo has been a solid SE for so long I think many people will stay loyal to it, but it's market share of searches may fall to around 15%.
Amazon and Alexa have started using Windows Live Search instead of Google for their web search results. Ask.com’s CEO Steve Berkowitz is to start working with Microsoft. Steve Ballmer is boasting about Microsofts’s gains vis-a-vis Google and Yahoo.
For the time being Microsoft Search is far behind Google as regards users, but that might change. Christopher Payne, who is responsible for Windows Live Search, says to Associated Press that “I think we’ll look back on this as the DOS era of search.” Hm.
We are familiar with Microsoft using big words. Therefore it is interesting to read a new report on search engine result relevance. The report is produced by Intralink, a search engine optimization and web marketing consultancy firm in Cincinnati.
The findings and the methodology used are found at Seoresourcecenter.com. Intralink has covered Google, Yahoo, MSN Search, Ask.com, AOL Search, Gigablast and Wisenut but not the French search engine Exalead.
Intralink has checked on five criteria or variables, namely: “relevancy”, “freshness of content”, “failure rate”, “difficult search results” and “non-organic or extra features”.
Surprisingly the top score is given to MSN Search, ahead of Google (although not with a large margin). When it comes to “relevancy” Google is behind both MSN Search and Yahoo!
On the other hand, Google is the leader concerning “Freshness of content”, where both Yahoo! and Ask.com are performing surprisingly badly.
Does this mean that MSN really is better than Google? It is hard to say, as the margins of error are large. However, what the report may indicate, is that MSN is catching up quality-wise, which is important, as it was quality and relevance of search results that made Google the dominant player on the search engine arena.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Right now Google is still king as far as search engine popularity and prominence is concerned. Competition between the search engines is a wonderful thing. Just like any other industry competition will help accelerate innovation and improvements, which should benefit the consumers.
I definitely think MSN will gain some major ground on Google over the next several years. Whether MSN is able to take users from Google, or does Yahoo start to see it's demise nearing. It seems like every several years a couple of the major search engines fall from prominence to the graveyard.
Look at what happened to Alta Vista, Hot Bot, AlltheWeb, Excite, WebCrawler, and InfoSeek. All of these search engines were popular and almost common household names, now they are either totally dead or spam filled wastelands that only uninformed surfers still use.
I don't think the battle of MSN and Google will result in a fate like this to Yahoo, but if Yahoo isn't ready to keep up they may be the real losers in the Search Engine Wars. Yahoo has been a solid SE for so long I think many people will stay loyal to it, but it's market share of searches may fall to around 15%.
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Google Click To Play Video Ads Announced Today
Google has just announced the release of click-to-play video ads that will be shown on Google's content network. Advertisers will have the option of choosing to bid on placement by CPC or CPM. These ads will be supported by site and keyword-targeted campaigns.
Video ads will only appear on Google's content network and not on Google's search engine.
"We are offering a very, very non-intrusive ad product," says Gokul Rajaram, product manager for Google AdSense. "Only users who click on the ad see the video."
"Google's announcement today that they will offer video ads into their existing AdSense network is further recognition that for many categories and in many situations, consumers value a more compelling advertising experience than just text and static website information. The success of video ads will vary by category with some categories such as restaurants, spas and florists -- where a visual representation of the service or product can offer the consumer a more compelling reason to choose one provider over another -- benefiting the most. For other categories, the video might take the form of a personal message from the owner -- perhaps the roofing contractor -- who can make a more compelling case through the use of video than simply text. For yet other categories where price is the primary driver of choice -- selecting an auto insurance carrier for instance -- a video may do nothing to influence the consumers' decision," says Neal Polachek, senior vice president, The Kelsey Group.
Go to Google's Official Blog to Read More and See An Example Video Ad In Action: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2006/05/click-to-play-video-ads-for-adwords.html
Video ads will only appear on Google's content network and not on Google's search engine.
"We are offering a very, very non-intrusive ad product," says Gokul Rajaram, product manager for Google AdSense. "Only users who click on the ad see the video."
"Google's announcement today that they will offer video ads into their existing AdSense network is further recognition that for many categories and in many situations, consumers value a more compelling advertising experience than just text and static website information. The success of video ads will vary by category with some categories such as restaurants, spas and florists -- where a visual representation of the service or product can offer the consumer a more compelling reason to choose one provider over another -- benefiting the most. For other categories, the video might take the form of a personal message from the owner -- perhaps the roofing contractor -- who can make a more compelling case through the use of video than simply text. For yet other categories where price is the primary driver of choice -- selecting an auto insurance carrier for instance -- a video may do nothing to influence the consumers' decision," says Neal Polachek, senior vice president, The Kelsey Group.
Go to Google's Official Blog to Read More and See An Example Video Ad In Action: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2006/05/click-to-play-video-ads-for-adwords.html
Friday, May 19, 2006
Human Presence Online Builds Sales
Making a few simple changes to add a human presence to your sales and offer pages can increase conversions significantly.
All too often we write our sales and offer pages in strong copywriting language, believing that is the way to maximize sales.
However, our testing indicates that you can increase conversion rates further by adding a human presence to that page. You keep the strong sales element, but you put it in the voice of a person, and add credibility factors like a photograph and signature.
In a recent test for a new research partner we tested two offer pages. The changes made to the text were minimal. On the new page we simply made minor changes to have the text written in the first person. We then added a photo of the writer, listed his qualifications and added his signature towards the end of the page.
Here are the results:
All too often we write our sales and offer pages in strong copywriting language, believing that is the way to maximize sales.
However, our testing indicates that you can increase conversion rates further by adding a human presence to that page. You keep the strong sales element, but you put it in the voice of a person, and add credibility factors like a photograph and signature.
In a recent test for a new research partner we tested two offer pages. The changes made to the text were minimal. On the new page we simply made minor changes to have the text written in the first person. We then added a photo of the writer, listed his qualifications and added his signature towards the end of the page.
Here are the results:
The version of the page which included the author's photograph, qualifications and signature improved conversion by 40.7 percent.
As we have noticed elsewhere in previous tests, the addition of a genuine human presence to a page builds confidence, reassures the reader and often increases conversion rates significantly.
Monday, May 15, 2006
Yahoo! and OMD Study Reveals Online Research Plays Critical Role in Consumers' Offline Purchases
NEW YORK, May 11, 2006 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The Internet's greatest impact on shopping is assisting consumers in the decision-making process, regardless of whether purchases are made online or at retail stores, according to a study released today by leading global Internet company Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO) and worldwide media communications specialist OMD.
According to the study, a large majority of consumers look online for information as a core part of the purchase decision process for products of all kinds. In particular, the Internet offers a collaborative environment where consumers turn for advice and the experience of others in weighing brands, discovering alternatives and distilling prices, as they weigh their purchase decisions.
Released today, the "Long and Winding Road: The Route to the Cash Register" is the first research study to examine how cultural shifts brought about by the proliferation of technology have radically altered the way consumers make purchasing decisions. The study found that the Internet, along with related technologies like camera phones and text messaging, have given consumers a new kind of "social empowerment" as they gather information before they shop. More than two-thirds of shoppers across several product categories still make the bulk of their purchases at physical retail locations -- yet nearly two-thirds (62%) use a combination of online and offline sources to gather information before they buy.
"The Internet is far more than just another point of purchase; its biggest impact lies within the awareness and consideration process," said Wenda Harris Millard, Yahoo!'s chief sales officer. "The widespread adoption of social technologies gives marketers an even greater opportunity to continuously engage consumers and make connections across traditional and new media advertising, helping to build brand mindshare and increase offline sales."
The Role of Online Research
The research shows that the Internet is crucial to consumers as they follow various paths on their way to making a purchase. The Internet serves as a price leveler, has helped create a communal shopping experience, and is where consumers turn for trusted sources of information and dependable customer reviews.
Read the full article http://yhoo.client.shareholder.com/press/ReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=196082
According to the study, a large majority of consumers look online for information as a core part of the purchase decision process for products of all kinds. In particular, the Internet offers a collaborative environment where consumers turn for advice and the experience of others in weighing brands, discovering alternatives and distilling prices, as they weigh their purchase decisions.
Released today, the "Long and Winding Road: The Route to the Cash Register" is the first research study to examine how cultural shifts brought about by the proliferation of technology have radically altered the way consumers make purchasing decisions. The study found that the Internet, along with related technologies like camera phones and text messaging, have given consumers a new kind of "social empowerment" as they gather information before they shop. More than two-thirds of shoppers across several product categories still make the bulk of their purchases at physical retail locations -- yet nearly two-thirds (62%) use a combination of online and offline sources to gather information before they buy.
"The Internet is far more than just another point of purchase; its biggest impact lies within the awareness and consideration process," said Wenda Harris Millard, Yahoo!'s chief sales officer. "The widespread adoption of social technologies gives marketers an even greater opportunity to continuously engage consumers and make connections across traditional and new media advertising, helping to build brand mindshare and increase offline sales."
The Role of Online Research
The research shows that the Internet is crucial to consumers as they follow various paths on their way to making a purchase. The Internet serves as a price leveler, has helped create a communal shopping experience, and is where consumers turn for trusted sources of information and dependable customer reviews.
Read the full article http://yhoo.client.shareholder.com/press/ReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=196082
Friday, May 12, 2006
Google Trends Gives Users Access to Google's Search Data
This has been a busy day for Google. In addition to Google Co-op and a new version of Google Desktop Search, the company has also launched a test version of Google Trends.
In essence this search tool gives you information on how popular a specific topic (or — rather — a specific query) is among Google searchers. You can enter up to five topics and see how often they’ve been searched for on Google over time.
In Google’s words Google Trends “analyzes a portion of Google web searches to compute how many searches have been done for the terms you enter relative to the total number of searches done on Google over time.” Google then shows you a graph with the results.
Google Trends will also tell you how frequently a topic has appeared in news stories featured by Google News and how this popularity varies in different parts of the world.
“For the first time ever, Google is making it possible to sift through billions of search queries from around the world to see what people are thinking about,” says Marissa Mayer, Google vice president of Search Products and User Experience.
Google Trends will also be useful for search engine marketing experst trying to find out what users really are searching for.
Google Labs are also testing a new notebook service: Google Notebook lets users clip text, images, and links from the pages they’re browsing, save them to an online “notebook” that is accessible from any computer, and share them with others. (The link is not working at the time of writing)
In essence this search tool gives you information on how popular a specific topic (or — rather — a specific query) is among Google searchers. You can enter up to five topics and see how often they’ve been searched for on Google over time.
In Google’s words Google Trends “analyzes a portion of Google web searches to compute how many searches have been done for the terms you enter relative to the total number of searches done on Google over time.” Google then shows you a graph with the results.
Google Trends will also tell you how frequently a topic has appeared in news stories featured by Google News and how this popularity varies in different parts of the world.
“For the first time ever, Google is making it possible to sift through billions of search queries from around the world to see what people are thinking about,” says Marissa Mayer, Google vice president of Search Products and User Experience.
Google Trends will also be useful for search engine marketing experst trying to find out what users really are searching for.
Google Labs are also testing a new notebook service: Google Notebook lets users clip text, images, and links from the pages they’re browsing, save them to an online “notebook” that is accessible from any computer, and share them with others. (The link is not working at the time of writing)
New Local Search Engine GenieKnows.com
GenieKnows.com formerly a PPC only search engine has recently launched a local search feature. It is free to add a local search listing to GenieKnows, which also has PPC availability within the local search feature.
"We are excited to add local-search capabilities to our already proven core search service. With the addition of local search capabilities, our users now have the option of searching the entire web or targeting a specific geographic area with their searches," says Barbara Manning, CEO of IT Interactive Services.
The global online local search marketing is set to grow from the 3.4 billion in 2005 to nearly 13 billion by 2010. Local search is quickly becoming a major advertising medium, and we should see many other small search engines adding local search capabilities in the near future.
"We are excited to add local-search capabilities to our already proven core search service. With the addition of local search capabilities, our users now have the option of searching the entire web or targeting a specific geographic area with their searches," says Barbara Manning, CEO of IT Interactive Services.
The global online local search marketing is set to grow from the 3.4 billion in 2005 to nearly 13 billion by 2010. Local search is quickly becoming a major advertising medium, and we should see many other small search engines adding local search capabilities in the near future.
Monday, May 08, 2006
Study: Companies Undervalue SEM
iProspect released a study that found search engine marketers perform an average of five other job functions in addition to search engine marketing.
Website design is the most frequently cited non-SEM function also performed by search marketers (58 percent), with email advertising being the second most reported additional function they perform (57 percent), according to the study.
iProspect says that the findings suggest that companies are not serious about investing human resources in the management of search engine marketing.
"While this finding was troubling -- given the complexity of the medium and the quality of the results it delivers -- it may only be reflective of the limited pool of experienced search engine marketing talent available in the marketplace, and the need for some organizations to develop this skill set internally," says Robert Murray, president, iProspect.
Website design is the most frequently cited non-SEM function also performed by search marketers (58 percent), with email advertising being the second most reported additional function they perform (57 percent), according to the study.
iProspect says that the findings suggest that companies are not serious about investing human resources in the management of search engine marketing.
"While this finding was troubling -- given the complexity of the medium and the quality of the results it delivers -- it may only be reflective of the limited pool of experienced search engine marketing talent available in the marketplace, and the need for some organizations to develop this skill set internally," says Robert Murray, president, iProspect.
Microsoft Opens adCenter for Business
Business owners and buyers and sellers of all things, take note: Microsoft is now officially open for business in the U.S. -- to sell advertising. On Thursday, the software giant announced the formal launch of Microsoft adCenter.
Offering pay-per-click ads for all Microsoft online properties, most notably MSN Search, this move puts Microsoft squarely in an arena dominated by its new archrival Google.
Previously, Yahoo's Overture service had been providing the pay-per-click ads for Microsoft. And in recent months, a beta version of adCenter had been handling an increasing volume of Microsoft's ad business.
Click Here for the full article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nf/20060504/tc_nf/43131
Offering pay-per-click ads for all Microsoft online properties, most notably MSN Search, this move puts Microsoft squarely in an arena dominated by its new archrival Google.
Previously, Yahoo's Overture service had been providing the pay-per-click ads for Microsoft. And in recent months, a beta version of adCenter had been handling an increasing volume of Microsoft's ad business.
Click Here for the full article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nf/20060504/tc_nf/43131
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)