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Wednesday, October 5th, 2011
Having always traditionally played second fiddle to Google – and now third with the introduction of Bing – Yahoo! Inc is in the process of preparing financial information for potential sale, according to an article published by the Wall Street Journal.
Yahoo! has suffered from the increase in power that its rivals, including Google – one of the biggest platforms for search engine marketing – and social networking site Facebook, have gained.
The search engine company is currently undertaking a review of its strategy, having previously sacked chief executive, Carol Bartz, last month.
As a result, Yahoo!’s board is also considering a number of different options, including the sale of its assets or the striking of partnerships.
Members of the board at the search engine informed staff, last month, that the company was “fielding inquiries from multiple parties that have already expressed interest in a number of potential options.”
Chairman of the Chinese company, Alibaba Group Holding Corp, Jack Ma, is amongst the interest parties. He previously made his interest in buying the company known – stating that he was “very interested” in a possible acquisition.
News brought to you by ClickThrough – experts in Search Engine Marketing & Internet Marketing.
Tags: sale, Search Engine Marketing, yahoo
Posted in Search Engine News
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Monday, October 3rd, 2011
In a bid to improve financial losses and gain significant ground on Google, Bing is set to unleash an update that will see the search engine produce more relevant results much faster than ever before, according to an article published by Search Engine Watch.
Currently known as ‘Tiger’, the update is being worked on by both Bing and Microsoft engineers, and has undergone a gradual rollout since August.
It is expected that the rollout will be completed before the turn of the year, according to a spokesperson for Microsoft.
By using Solid State Disk (SSD) technology, Bing is expecting an improved level of efficiency – which could potentially improve search engine marketing.
Speaking in a video, general manager of Microsoft’s Search Technology Center in Asia, Yongdong Wang states: “In Tiger, we not only look at improved efficiency but also look at new ways of processing queries.”
Continuing, he added: “These new ways will enable scenarios where we can significantly improve the relevance of the results seen by users.”
News brought to you by ClickThrough – experts in Search Engine Marketing & Internet Marketing.
Tags: Bing, Microsoft, Search Engine Marketing
Posted in Search Engine News
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Friday, September 30th, 2011
Not showing any signs of slowing up following their recent spate of activity, Bing have announced the launch of an airport maps feature for Bing Maps, according to an article published by TechCrunch.
Currently launching to display maps for 42 airports located across America, the feature is expected to expand to encompass other airports over time.
Users will be able to find the maps simply by searching either the name of the airport, the city the airport is located in, or the airport’s code in Bing’s search bar.
The airport maps will also provide a useful link allowing users to send the map across to a mobile device.
Displaying the locations of terminals, toilets, check-in counters, baggage claim areas, information desks and shops – as well as other features – airport maps is expected to provide users with useful information during what can be a quite stressful experience.
Currently lagging behind Google in the search engine stakes, Bing’s recent introduction of a number of innovative new features – such as Adaptive Search, a feature that could potentially affect search engine marketing – could see them gain ground.
News brought to you by ClickThrough – a best practice Internet Marketing Agency.
Tags: Bing, Google, Search Engine Marketing
Posted in Search Engine News
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Wednesday, September 28th, 2011
Having launched a number of new features recently, Bing has just released it’s latest – an event planning feature – according to an article published by TopNews New Zealand.
Named “Bing Events”, the feature has been created specifically to aid users in planning nights out. It will provide a whole host of useful information about events, restaurants and parking, in a timetable format.
Information will be drawn from various sources to cover as many as 10,000 venues spread across locations in the United Kingdom.
Meanwhile, the Microsoft owned search engine has also announced that it will be encompassing moving images on its homepage.
The move is seen as a bid to compete with Google – the most popular platform for search engine marketing – and their hugely popular doodles, that change on a daily basis – often marking a significant event or past landmark.
Google currently have a huge advantage over Bing in the search market, possessing a 65 per cent share of the global market.
News brought to you by ClickThrough – experts in Search Engine Marketing & Internet Marketing.
Tags: Bing, Google, Search Engine Marketing
Posted in Search Engine News
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Saturday, September 24th, 2011
A recent European Court ruling could see the commonly utilised practice of a brand using a rival’s trademark as a keyword – in search engine marketing – breach trademark law, according to an article published by Brand Republic.
The dispute, regarding flower retailer, Interflora and Marks & Spencer (M&S), has seen the court rule that using a competitor’s trademark as a keyword could have an adverse impact – in situations where a particular keyword’s use impacts on brand reputation and the company’s ability to retain and entice customers.
Despite this, the ruling also found that the practice could be utilised fairly in cases where the keyword “puts forward an alternative to the goods or services of the proprietor of the trade mark with a reputation – without offering a mere imitation of the goods or services if the proprietor of that trade mark, without causing dilution of the trade mark or detriment to its repute (tarnishment) and without, moreover, adversely affecting the functions of the trade mark.”
M&S’s use of the word ‘Interflora’ in Google AdWords sparked the dispute and prompted Interflora to take legal action – as the term produced results relating to M&S’s own flower delivery service.
Both have been referred back to the High Court of Justice, England, in a bid to resolve the matter.
News brought to you by ClickThrough – experts in SEO, Pay Per Click Services, Multilingual Search Marketing and Website Conversion Enhancement services.
Tags: brand republic, Interflora, M&S, Marks and Spencer, Search Engine Marketing, trademark
Posted in Search Engine News
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Tuesday, September 13th, 2011
When we work with a new client reviewing their search strategy, there is a common set of issues that are often discussed. I thought it would be useful to set these down, so that you can think through which apply to you. I have covered them as a series of basic questions to be reviewed.
Question 1. Goals and objectives
Do we have the right types of goals to review paid search effectiveness and efficiency?
You should set goals and review performance against volume (e.g. visits), quality (e.g. bounce rate, conversion % to lead or sale), cost (e.g. average cost per click and cost per conversion) and value measures (e.g. for transactional Ecommerce sites with a referral engine, Cost Per Acquisition, ROAS, Revenue per visit). If you’re not running a transactional site, you should still try to establish the value of leads since you won’t be able to estimate the returns you need otherwise.
Question 2. Performance targets
Do we have clear targets to ensure the agency meets goals of value generation and cost?
If you’re not paying by performance, then it’s essential to set targets to encourage optimisation of the account through improving quality score
Question 3. Keyphrase targeting selection and reporting
Are you investing in the right keyphrases to meet your objectives and performance targets?
Often not enough consideration is given into how to group keyphrases so that the right investments are made to drive commercial outcomes. Suitable top-level grouping of the performance of the many search terms on an account will be needed to do this. For example, can you determine the commercial contribution of these:
- Pure brand
- Brand + generic
- Brand + product
- Non-brand generic – category
- Non-brand generic – product, etc
Using the new Multichannel Funnels in Google Analytics for search analysis can help you identify terms which assist in conversion to sale, even if they aren’t responsible for the final click.
Question 4. Always on paid search
Are we investing continuously in paid search at the levels necessary to create demand for our products and help consumers choose us?
In some companies, paid search is intermittent, often related to campaigns which may miss opportunities if the case for continuous, always-on paid search hasn’t been made.
Did you know that according to Google research on their client accounts, 89% of search traffic is incremental?
Question 5. Customer journeys
Are we directing visitors to the right landing pages on our site to meet our objectives?
Test whether it is best to route visitors direct to a category landing page, rather than the home or category page. Ask where it makes sense to create tailored landing pages to increase conversion and quality score rather than existing site pages.
As mentioned in question 3, the importance of multiple visits in driving sales should also be understood.
Question 6. Improving relevance and Quality Score
How can we improve quality score?
To improve account efficiency means improving relevance of ads based on targeting through account structure, match types and ad creative.
Since Google Quality Score is so important to managing paid search we recommend you read this latest guidance if you’re unfamiliar with it.
Question 7. Google Display Network
Are we managing the display network well enough?
The Display network (once known as the Content Network) can still be effective for demand generation and generating awareness since your ads are displayed on related pages/sites according to the keywords they contain. It’s often neglected because of poor performance when it isn’t treated separately from Google search, but it can and should be optimised.
Question 8. Remarketing
Are we using Google’s new Remarketing features?
Adwords now uses cookies from previous visitors to the site to use ads on the Content Network to remind visitors who have shown interest in a product to explore more. Define clear re-targeting rules which target those with the highest intent and potential value, for example directing to the referral engine or store locator where relevant.
Question 9. Non-Google networks
Do we pay enough attention to other search networks
In this note I have focused on Google since it’s dominant in many markets but not all – in many others Google is not the market leader. But consumers do use other search networks and particularly for brand keyphrases volume will be sufficient in other search engines. So select the top 3-5 search networks that are important in your country and apply these notes across all 3 networks.
Question 10. Testing and review
What is our optimisation process to improve ROI?
All search networks have excellent options to test targeting, offer and creative, so put time into refining the approach for all the different factors above.
So those are the ten fundamental questions to improve paid search, I hope they help you review your approach.
Tags: PPC, PPC marketing, Search Engine Marketing, search marketing
Posted in Blog, Google, Keywords, Pay Per Click (PPC), SEM Industry, Tips & Tricks
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Wednesday, September 7th, 2011
In an area that has recently seen Facebook and Yelp scale back, Google is moving forward to display daily deals adverts on Google.com, according to an article published by adage.com.
Traditionally taking a minimalist approach, Google’s homepage has always been sparse. However, recently it displayed a deal for a Nexus S Smartphone – a model it developed – from Best Buy.
It now seems that Google have taken this a step further; last Wednesday (August 31) it featured an offer for $5 tickets to the American Museum of Natural History – displayed directly underneath the search bar. Using geo-targeting, the deal was displayed only to those with a New York IP address.
A Google spokeswoman, commenting in an email, said: “We occasionally include a link on the Google homepage that points users to important information, whether it be about a relevant cause, a new product or an offer.”
She added: “We believe that users can benefit from learning about great deals from local organisations.”
Impressively the deal saw the purchase of 7,700 tickets and it is thought that the move could see a new outlet for search engine marketing.
Google originally launched Offers in June as a rival to Groupon; it currently provides deals for Portland, the Bay Area and New York.
News brought to you by ClickThrough – experts in SEO, Pay Per Click Services, Multilingual Search Marketing and Website Conversion Enhancement services.
Tags: geo targeting, Google, Search Engine Marketing
Posted in Search Engine News
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Friday, September 2nd, 2011
The value of good search engine marketing is unprecedented.
San Francisco’s recent Search Engine Strategies event featured a number of experts from the field, including Crispin Sheridan and Rosemary Lising, according to an article published by Search Engine Watch.
In a question and answer session, entitled ‘Global Search Marketing Best Practices Roundtable’, the experts were able to provide a number of useful tips for search marketing on a global level.
Here are just three of those tips provided at that session, as recorded by the SEW:
- More to localisation than a literal translation – Maura Ginty, when responding to a query about localisation and translation, responded by stating that translations often failed to take into account local terms or context – therefore leaving the process needing much more work. She added that automated translation wasn’t a good way forward and that utilising a vendor made much more sense.
- Purchase Top Level Domains for protection – While the panel showed general agreement that TLD’s could be extremely costly, Bill Hunt recommended going the extra distance to ensure both legal and brand protection. He said: “If you have any aspiration to go into any market anywhere in the world, if you think you might have an IPO (intellectual property office), if you make over $5million a year, buy top level domains. Someone else is going to.”
- The way in which audiences consume content is a major factor in localisation – The preferences of users can impact the formatting of content – therefore causing it to vary quite a lot depending on the market. Highlighting Match.com’s Japanese site, Sheridan said people in the country preferred more content than Americans did – taking more time to read the material. He added that his own company included content at the bottom of the page to offer greater value to international markets and also to improve optimisation.
News brought to you by ClickThrough – experts in SEO, Pay Per Click Services, Multilingual Search Marketing and Website Conversion Enhancement services.
Tags: international strategies, Search Engine Marketing, SES
Posted in Pay Per Click Marketing
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Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011
A new report released by The Australia Institute, and cited in an article published on smartoffice.com.au, has revealed that 37 per cent of Internet users were not aware that search engines were displaying paid advertising in with standard search results.
The results drawn from a sample pool of 1,000 Australians also surprisingly revealed that only two out of every five could tell the difference between paid ads and unpaid organic search engine listings – which may be interesting for those in search engine marketing.
Co-author of the study, Richard Denniss, was slightly concerned by the research – this was justified in further results found by the study.
Worryingly for those not ranking on the first page of Google, Yahoo! or Bing, only 15 per cent of users actually clicked to go beyond the first page of search results; while the first results displaying on the page accounted for 72 per cent of user clicks – resulting in larger brands dominating.
Denniss commented: “I get the sense from the work I have done on this that in Australia we still seem to think of anything that happens on the internet as a bit of fun and we don’t take it seriously.”
The co-author also was vocal in explaining his fears that regulators were not taking issue seriously enough, adding: “Unless regulators pay more attention to the need for online diversity, and there is greater understanding of how search engines function, online retail could come to resemble to today’s shopping centres.”
News brought to you by ClickThrough – a provider of SEO Services & Pay Per Click strategies.
Tags: Paid Ads, Search Engine Marketing, The Australia Institute
Posted in Search Engine News
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Monday, August 22nd, 2011
Plans for the Yahoo! and Bing search alliance have been well-known for around a year now.
Having now acted on those initial plans by launching a joined-up service, Yahoo!’s search results and search adverts have now, as a result of the ‘merge’, been migrated – and are subsequently powered by Bing.
Because of the merge, those in the search engine marketing industry will now be able to make use of combined data (traffic data from both search engines) through Bing’s Webmaster Tools, according to an article published by Search Engine Journal.
Any increase in clicks, impressions and click-through rates – all impacted because of the combined data numbers – could be put down to this change – which was implemented between August 12 and 16.
One down side of the update is the current inability to differentiate between the separate data for Bing and Yahoo!
The combined results change will only affect regions in which Yahoo!’s search results have switched to being powered by Bing; though it is widely expected that every regional version of Yahoo! (except Yahoo! Japan) will eventually have made the transition early next year.
As Yahoo! had previously announced plans to withdraw access to their own webmaster tools, the introduction of its data to Bing’s Webmaster Tools will certainly be welcome.
News brought to you by ClickThrough – experts in SEO, Pay Per Click Services, Multilingual Search Marketing and Website Conversion Enhancement services.
Tags: Bing, Search Engine Marketing, yahoo
Posted in Search Engine News
