Vertical Search: Microsoft, Yahoo and a new kind of functionality

Combining the horizontal search capabilities of Yahoo and Microsoft would still leave Google twice the share of that market. But ‘Googling’ the net has lost its novelty value and the market is looking for a different kind of functionality. As mobile access grows, the future will be in vertical search like real estate, travel, jobs or financial services, and here Google will have less of a lead over the consolidated rival. In fact the vertical market is wide open. Take advertising networks. Slow takeup of advertising on social networks was behind Google’s uncharacteristic failure to hit its earning forecast on February 1. Meanwhile, AOL bought buy.at, an affiliate network that differs from pay-per-click in that the advertiser only pays if a transaction results. Innovative models like this can quickly lead advertisers and publishers to abandon providers that add less value domestically or fail to leverage international markets. Exec is going to have a lot of fun in the remainder of this year mapping this landscape.

SEO 'can boost revenue within months'

Wednesday, 13 Feb 2008 10:05 Search engine optimisation (SEO) can make a "phenomenal" difference to a firm, an expert has asserted. Lee Smith, of search marketing agency Utopia, described online marketing as a "crucial consideration" for all businesses and claimed that it can create "substantial" growth within a few months.Utopia has claimed to have increased some client profits by more than 300 per cent."By using proven SEO services for companies such as hosted exchange provider Network London, website traffic and business leads have risen by over 1000 per cent for the 12 months to January 2008," it boasted.SEO firm Brick Blue also claims that enhancing a company's web presence can boost its revenues.By achieving a higher ranking in search portals, firms benefit from an increase in site traffic, which leads to greater return on investment, it notes.However, Brick Blue suggests firms consider maximising the effectiveness of search campaigns by combining organic methods with pay-per-click advertising.

Microsoft Won't Beg or Steal; Will Borrow to Buy Yahoo

Microsoft CFO Chris Liddell told Wall St. analysts the company would likely borrow to pay for the cash portion of its Yahoo bid. That's a first in the company's history. The half-cash, half-stock offer is $31 per share.
Microsoft has a huge war chest, approximately $21 billion at year end.
It's not as if Microsoft couldn't fund the cash portion without borrowing any money. The cash-rich company definitely won't have to beg for the loan.
So what's the exact amount Microsoft will borrow? It's anybody's guess.
The need for capital, though, won't subside if or when the bid is accepted. As Kevin Johnson, Microsoft President, Platform and Services, noted in the initial conference call, "There are a few key dynamics in the online advertising industry that I think are worth noting. First, this is a business that has scale economics in a few key areas; scale economics in search and ad serving and scale economics and the capital needed to support these areas, CapEx for data centers, servers and infrastructure."
Who ever said Web 2.0 has low barriers to entry? Not the search engine CEOs who claim competition is just one click away.
Posted by Kevin Heisler at February 4, 2008 1:31 PM

Running Successful PPC Campaigns: Attracting The Right Click

Creating and refining successful PPC campaigns requires the ability to think and act like the average web surfer. It requires taking time to understand your ideal customer as well as the wrong visitor (the guy who just cost you a $2.00 click). It's worth the effort to figure out how to attract the former and dissuade the latter.
Outlined here are 7 tips to attract the right kind of clicks to your pay-per-click campaign, clicks that make you happy to spend those marketing dollars.
1. Study the website as if you were a visitor
Click through each page
Click on each link
Look at pages in several different browsers
View the source code for keyword ideas
2. Think through how searchers will search for your products (ID cards, photo id cards, nametags, ID badges) and separate out these intuitive keywords into their own ad groups
ID card systems
ID badge systems
3. Understand your policies
Does "Same Day Ship" relate to lanyards as well as nameplates?
How does the low price guarantee work?
4. Check Google Images for search terms that generate traffic, but that don't make sense such as "Cobra Lanyards" & "Dress Lanyards" or even the ubiquitous "Honda Lanyards"
Understanding the search term (and whether you sell it) allows you to take appropriate action
5. Walk through all conversions to the point of the Thank You/confirmation page
Is there "friction"? (anything that causes the user to become frustrated, fatigued or confused about the buying process)
Are there broken pages?
Is there too much on the landing page that might distract a potential buyer and make him/her bounce off the page?
6. Study your competition
Understand what they sell
Understand your image(s) of difference
Write ad copy that echoes how the competition is advertising as well as ad copy that is uniquely yours
Run testing to see which ad copy converts the best
7. Screen potential clickers with the use of qualifying adjectives
"Premium"
"Quality"
"100 minimum"This process assumes the presence of search marketing analytics. Utilizing good search marketing analytics in an intelligent fashion can give you control over the money spent on pay per click ads. If you don't have visibility into your campaigns then get in and strap yourself down, it could be a bumpy road!
And if you're thinking of enlisting a co-pilot on your paid search marketing journey, feel free to contact Oneupweb.
TagsPaid SearchPPCOneupweb

Florida’s Think Partnership becoming Kowabunga!

CLEARWATER, FL-- Think Partnership Inc. (AMEX:THK), which sells interactive performance-based advertising networks and technology platforms, intends to seek shareholder approval to change the company’s name to Kowabunga!. The company will commence doing business as Kowabunga! effective today (Feb. 14) Kowabunga! became a popular word in the 1960s surfer culture to describe the exhilaration of riding a big ocean wave. It was already the name of the company’s leading affiliate marketing brand. “We have chosen the name Kowabunga! as our overall company name to emphasize the excitement of our brand value,” said Scott P. Mitchell, president and CEO of the new Kowabunga!.” Kowabunga! provides a comprehensive and integrated set of scalable marketing solutions for both advertisers and publishers. Its solutions increase customer retention and revenues through a diverse set of related marketing channels, including affiliate marketing, click-fraud-protected pay-per-click advertising, lead generation, interactive direct marketing, integrated offline advertising, campaign management, public relations, and branding.

www.clickconsult.co.uk Become One of the First MSN Adcenter adExcellence Members

Cheshire, United Kingdom, January 29, 2008 --(PR.com)-- Leading Internet Marketing Company http://www.clickconsult.co.uk/ have become one of the first pioneers of the new Adcenter adExcellence Programme, with agencies being selected by invitation to take the test, Click Consult was excited to be part of this process, in their opinion the more agencies that can demonstrate that they have the skills required in terms of accreditations the better, similar to the Adwords Professional programme MSN are aiming to ensure that agencies using the platform when using PPC Marketing have the experience and skills in house to ensure maximum performance and skill when managing a campaign on behalf of the client. To Pass the test, the candidates had to achieve a pass rate of more than 80% based on questions set around the Adcenter platform.Managing Director Matt Bullas Commented: This accreditation is just another reason why companies should be using http://www.clickconsult.co.uk/ for there online marketing services. They are finding the much larger agencies who are just focused on growth can find it hard to keep the service and results aspect maintained due to higher staff turnover levels and the costs required to switch the lights on. At Click Consult their growth has been based on building long term client relationships and providing a complete online marketing package whilst retaining and putting focus on their own people. Credit has to be paid to their Paid Search Team for this achievement who are always striving to be part of and lead in industry standards.Established in 2003 www.clickconsult.co.uk is one of the leading UK specialists in online Marketing, with services that focus on Pay Per Click Marketing, SEO (Search Engine Optimisation); see their dedicated site http://www.seoconsult.co.uk/, Email Marketing, Affiliate Marketing & Shopping Feeds. They are positioned in the market place to provide a full online service. With more than 25 Staff of which many are Adwords Professionals their in house expertise is industry leading.

Mobile Phones: A Pocketful of Marketing

There are 3.2 billion cellular connections worldwide, and with the iPhone's launch last year, the concept of browsing the Web from a mobile phone has gone mainstream. Marketers are abuzz about the trend. Consider this: Mobile phone carriers are sitting atop a trove of data--not just your name, address, and, of course, phone number but also credit card information, who your friends are, and where you're located at this very moment. Even with privacy regulations, more of this information will become available to marketers as phones are used more like little PCs, creating opportunities for highly targeted ads and other marketing breakthroughs. Imagine a retailer texting customers with a discount offer whenever they are within a few blocks of a particular store. The mind reels!
How exactly do I advertise on a mobile phone?
The most common type of mobile ad is a display banner served on a Web page called up on a cell phone's screen. When you go to The New York Times' website from your phone, for example, you will see ads like the one for AT&T (NYSE:T) shown here. The ads are created for the site's mobile format and may not be the same as the ads you would see if you were browsing the site on a PC. Ads are priced on a Cost Per Mille, or CPM, basis--the price you pay for the ad to be seen 1,000 times.
To get a sense of what your website looks like on a cell phone, go to Skweezer.net. JetBlue has used the free messaging tool Twitter to provide fare updates to customers.
How do I buy mobile ads?
Most advertisers work with mobile-ad networks, which bring together advertisers and websites that are frequently viewed by phone. Some of the larger players, which are owned by the likes of Nokia, AOL, and Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO), will act as full-service marketing shops. They handle the entire process, including technology, the creative content of mobile ads, and the ads' placement.
What do mobile ads cost?
Because the industry is so young, rates range widely. Third Screen Media and AdMob, the two main mobile-ad networks, charge CPMs of $15 to $25 for banner ads. "The market is trying to find its price points," says Mike Baker, head of Nokia Ad Business, which charges CPMs as high as $75.
What about text messaging?
One option is to buy or rent a short code, a five- or six-digit phone number from which you can send and receive text messages. One common way to use a short code is to publish it on a billboard or in a print ad ("Text 51234 for more information") that encourages customers to enter a contest or participate in a poll.
What does a short code cost?
Cellit Mobile Marketing, in Chicago, and Movo, in Florida, sell short codes for $500 to $1,000 per month, plus a one-time setup fee of a few thousand dollars and a charge of 4 cents to 7 cents for each text message. You can also rent a code for as little as $225 per month. Keep in mind that technological standards vary. Nearly every phone on the market is equipped to send and receive texts, but some systems won't let you embed complex graphics or photographs.
How do I go after my best customers on a mobile phone?
Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) is expanding into the mobile world, allowing companies to buy contextual ads--ads related to content, like those Google ads you know and love--on the mobile Web. This is being hyped as the next big thing. AdMob claims click-through rates on this type of ad of up to 3 percent, which is quite high. The company doesn't charge by CPM for contextual ads; instead, it charges a cost-per-click fee of 25 cents to 30 cents. Marketers are also experimenting with targeted click-to-call ads on mobile phones.

Paid Search Advertising Drives Microsoft Bid for Yahoo

More "relevant" search results and social media innovations won't solve the problem of Google's dominance in paid search advertising. Microsoft-Yahoo still need to beat Google brand equity and searcher loyalty. Search is a habit. For some, search is an online addiction.
Switching costs may be low --and search engine alternatives are "one click away" - but Microhoo will still need to win over the Google ravers and junkies.
When Microsoft or another suitor finally buys Yahoo , no one need feign surprise. The Redmond giant finally went public with a formal buyout offer because the Yahoo board (sans Semel) won't fight back. The last bid was rumored to be $50 billion. Today's offer comes in at $44.6 billion because Yahoo stock price dropped below $20 per share.
Look for other bidders to force Microsoft to pay a higher premium. While display advertising is a key driver for creating two super-portals on one efficient ad serving and ad management platform, Microsoft-Yahoo would never win government approval unless Google had achieved what some call near-monopoly leadership in paid search.
Yahoo Panama -- Yahoo's paid search auction algorithm and search ad platform would move to Redmond even if the Yahoo engineers remain in Silicon Valley. MSN adCenter is innovative, but Yahoo Panama improved topline revenue -- although not as much as Wall St. and Jerry Yang would have liked.
Some reports had attributed Microsoft's urgency to close a Yahoo deal to Google's successful bid for DoubleClick. Formal negotiations between the two companies are clearly driven by Google's dominance of paid search and share of searches. Today's conference call confirmed that Google's dominance in paid search advertising -- pegged at 75 percent of worldwide paid search share by Kevin Johnson,
The revenue engine that drives search engines is auctioned paid search (PPC) advertising. As Pay-Per-Click advertising has evolved, traditional banner ad networks suffer from consumer banner blindness. That's led to the rise of behavioral targeting, or more accurately, "search re-targeting" -- another key driver of today's deal.
Neither Yahoo Search Marketing nor MSN adCenter has made significant inroads in creating a search management or web analytics platform to rival those of Google. Microsoft's acquisition of DrivePM, for example, through the Aquantive acquisition was immaterial to MSN search and online advertising revenues.
Microsoft and Yahoo have held informal talks for years -- with neither company making inroads against Google. As recently as May, Yahoo has turned down an unconfirmed offer worth $50 billion to Yahoo shareholders. On the call, Steve Ballmer said the companies have been in talks for $18 months, and confirmed that Jerry Yang had nixed his initial offer, citing timing as the reason.
Given Yahoo's share price, it's unlikely Yahoo shareholders will give Yahoo execs more time to turn around the company's fortunes. Terry Semel's resignation from the Yahoo board last night removes the last vestiges of his controversial reign as Yahoo's chief.
So the pundits and reporters who attribute Microsoft's bid to ego -- "stung" by the success of Google's DoubleClick bid -- don't understand the fundamentals of paid search. Steve Ballmer does -- and he knows he can't beat Google without adding Yahoo's critical mass. It's not about winning or losing a bid for a rival's ad serving platform.