Search Marketing News

A cool story pop up on the radar this morning, Porter Novelli International, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Omnicom Group has billed Costa Rica $2 million dollars for a handful of ads in National Geographic Traveler magazine. The ads begin in June and run until November. $2 million dollars for magazines that sit near toilets .. and SEO budget for Costa Rica Tourist
Board (ICT) ... it’s rumored to be zero.

So they spend money on magazines… but have no budget where people are actually looking.. online and though search… amazing stuff.. Source : here and here

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In the vast majority of news concerning Google and its numerous competitors (aka Google Killers) as to who has the potential to win the search war, only one other search engine deserves some attention. It is called Cuil (pronounced Cool) and was founded by former Googlers. Check it out. According to some experts including Danny Sullivan from Search Engine Land, Cuil has the potential to compete, but more so Microsoft than Google and has yet to create a dent in the search market. Here is the article from the NY times called Cuil’s New Search Engine: Cheaper Than Google, but Not Better. Now, please try it out and let me know your thoughts and if you think Cuil has the quality required t motivate Google users to switch.

Here are some excerpts from the article:

SAN FRANCISCO—In her two years at Google, Anna Patterson helped design and build some of the pillars of the company’s search engine, including its large index of Web pages and some of the formulas it uses for ranking search results. Now, along with her husband, Tom Costello, and a few other Google alumni, she is trying to upstage her former employer. On Monday, their company, Cuil, is unveiling a search engine that they promise will be more comprehensive than Google’s and that they hope will give its users more relevant results. The makers of the Cuil search engine say it should provide better results and show them in a more attractive manner.

“I think it will be better,” Mr. Costello said in an interview. “But there is no question that the public has to decide.”

Cuil, pronounced “cool,” is only the latest in a long string of start-up companies that have been founded and financed with the goal of competing with Google, as well as Yahoo and Microsoft. (In June, Google accounted for 61.5 percent of search queries in the United States, while Yahoo held 20.9 percent and Microsoft had 9.2 percent, according to comScore.) Some of the most prominent include Powerset, which Microsoft recently bought, and Wikia, which was founded by Jimmy Wales, one of the creators of Wikipedia. So far, none have managed to make a dent in the search market.

But some analysts say Cuil has potential, in part because of the pedigree of its founders.

“This is the most promising thing I’ve seen in a while,” said Danny Sullivan, who has followed the online search business for more than a decade and is the editor of Search Engine Land. “Whether they are going to threaten Microsoft, much less Google, that’s another story.”

Mr. Costello, a former researcher at Stanford, said that with 120 billion Web pages, Cuil’s search index is larger than any other. The company uses a form of data mining to group Web pages by content, which makes the search engine more efficient, he said. Instead of showing results as short snippets of text and images with links, it displays longer entries and uses more pictures. It also provides tools to help users further refine their queries.

Google would not comment on Cuil and would not disclose the size of its own index. But in an e-mail statement, Google said that it maintained “the largest collection of documents searchable on the Web” and welcomed competition.

Mr. Sullivan said he was unimpressed by Cuil’s claim that its index includes more Web pages, noting that could mean users are “overwhelmed by a whole bunch of junk.” But he said that Cuil’s new approach to ranking pages and presenting results could prove to be a hit with some users.

“If it turns out that they have good relevancy, I could see that the word of mouth” would bring Cuil some popularity, he said.

Ms. Patterson left Google in 2006 to found Cuil. The new company has other prominent ex-Google employees, including Russell Power, who worked with Ms. Patterson on the large Google index, and Louis Monier, a former chief technology officer at AltaVista, a pioneering search engine. Cuil, which has about 30 employees and is in Menlo Park, Calif., has raised $33 million from venture investors.

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An interesting report was published today that display ads may be pretty (pricey) vehicles with bells and whistles that dazzle the eyes, but it seems that cheap but effective search ads get better results, according to a report in The New York Times. 

While online advertising is still much stronger than other forms of advertising, there are signs of weakness.

The evidence, per the Times:

Online publishers are (at least right now) getting less money for the ad space they sell. (The prices paid through online advertising networks plummeted 23% from March to April).
Display ad revenues declined at AOL by 18%, according to Time Warner.

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I first must say that I am sorry for not having posted in the last few weeks, I was on a search for a new home for eMarketing 101. Sonia & I as well as eMarketing 101 are officially moving on May 24. Moving in BC does suck, I can say that much. Thankfully, Sonia prepared a “marketing plan” that really helped the process. It involved a sales letter, a description of our couple (where we met and things like these) as well as an appropriate dress code. I did not believe in all of it but it all worked out in the end.

Over the last few months, there has been a lot of speculations over the Microhoo deal, the acquisition of Yahoo by Microsoft and I have been reading a lot about it, even though I am not interested in reading, writing or commenting on these issues. I found that most of these articles were lame and filled with speculative outcome and its impact on the search industry. I did not treat those news seriously as much as I never believe in any potential Google Killer. That terminology all in itself is arrogant & unfounded. I am wondering why that would be the least but interesting. But apparently, people love to read about those things.

Understandibly, since nothing major was going on, that potential deal had a lot of press. Nevertheless, the best comment on what could have happened is clearly summarized today by Gord Hotchkiss in a Search Insider Article called: Don’t Crown Google Yet—The Rules of Engagement Are Still Being Determined. In this article, the only one I enjoyed reading on the Microsoft-Yahoo acquisition, Gord points out that it is a little premature to declare unconditional victory to Google. Even according to Google, we’ve barely begun to play the search game. To declare it won now would probably be as myopic as awarding the crown to AltaVista in 1997. With his usual incisive style, Gord goes on by comparing Yahoo & Microsoft with 2 dysfunctional families that could have never made things better. Delicious.

It is the one and only article you should read on the Microhoo failed acquistion.

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Today, SEMPO, the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization released the results of its 4th annual State of the Search Marketing Market Survey and the results indicate the that the search marketing industry has exceeded the projected search investment trends. Results for the Canadian Search Marketing portion of the survey will come shortly.

Search Marketing exceeded projections in 2007 and that the overall consensus from marketers it that the industry will continue to positive growth.

Here are key findings from SEMPO’s State of the Market Survey:

- The North American SEM industry grew from $9.4 billion in 2006 to $12.2 billion in 2007, exceeding earlier projections of $11.5 billion for 2007

- North American SEM spending (investment) is now projected to grow to $25.2 billion in 2011, up significantly from the $18.6 billion forecast a year ago.

- Marketers are finding more search dollars by poaching budget from print magazine spending, web site development, direct mail and other marketing programs.

- Paid placement captures 87.4% of 2007 spending; organic SEO, 10.5%; paid inclusion, .07%, and technology investment, 1.4%.

- Google AdWords remains the most popular search advertising program, but both Google and Yahoo sponsored search spending has decreased from a year ago.

Google, Yahoo Most Popular Search Media Companies:

SEM Is Getting Budget From Both Online and Off-line Marketing Programs:

North American SEM Expenditures to Reach $25.2B in 2011:

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I am not sure what to think about this, if this is true or not, and I would really like to have your comments. I just got an email from Quebec about a new search engine (sic), ecogle.fr, a supposedly greener approach to our beloved Google. They claim that white pixels take way more energy than black pixels and as such we should turn to their solution instead. We would still get Google search results but with a different (black) user interface essentially. As such, this is what it would look like:

Please try it and let me know what you think. I am not convinced that I would like to search in the dark. I think the claim of saving energy would better suit traditional media people because of the insane amount of junk mail we receive and as such, we should leave Google alone for the time being, but that is just me.

Here is the original email, en Français:

Comme vous le savez, l’état de notre planète est de pire en pire. Effet de serre, pollution des océans, etc. Nous nous devons de faire des économies d’énergie, et ce pour la protection de nos enfants, de toutes les espèces animales, végétales, pour la protection de la Terre en général.

Un blogueur canadien a démontré il y a quelques temps que si le site Google était noir, on pourrait économiser 750 mégawatts-heures par an, soit toute l’énergie produite par 1000 petites éoliennes ou par 26 turbines du barrage des Trois Gorges en Chine (barrage dont la construction, faut-il le rappeler, a engendré le déménagement de plus d’un million de Chinois, qu’ils le veuillent ou non). Cette économie est dûe au fait que les pixels blancs nécessitent plus d’énergie que les pixels noirs pour s’afficher sur vos écrans.

Suite à cette démonstration, un nouveau moteur de recherches noir est né, Écogle (ecogle.fr), moteur de recherches qui utilise toutes les données de Google.

J’incite donc tous ceux qui reçoivent ce mail à mettre Ecogle.fr en page d’accueil, ou au moins à changer cette habitude d’aller sur Google, et d’utiliser Ecogle. Un geste qui ne coute rien, et qui à grande échelle, aura une influence sur la santé de notre environnement.

Merci de votre attention, et merci de faire en sorte que notre planète resplendisse à nouveau.

Bertrand Caussin
Président
Greenpeace France

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For those who are curious about this question, here is the answer to the number of employees at Google as of December 31, 2007. This information was released at the same time that Google Announced Fourth Quarter And Fiscal Year 2007 Results.

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I was looking for a research from enquiro minutes ago and instead I found this great video interview with Gord Hotchkiss on Search Marketing. I think you should check out if you ever want to become a leader in the online space. This interview was made by Yahoo Canada.

What attracted my attention is when he was asked about how the mainstream media marketers are responding to search, Gord does not hesitate to mention that most people are really scared. He is using the term *crapless* and I am still trying to figure out exactly what it means but I am guessing it is not flattering. In his usual style, he does not make any favor to Canadians when on the text version of the interview, he goes on by saying that “when you get to C-Level in Canada, it is like somebody has poured maple syrup on everyone… Everything slows down”. Canada has a culture of caution, which does not work well in search. The video is only 3 minutes long and he brings you straight to the point.

Here is the text version of the interview with Gord

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Darcy Foster from VKIstudios.com mentioned to me this morning during our monthly SEMPO Canada meeting about a great program he saw recently on the BBC channel. It is called “The World According to Google”. Because Google still sees a phenomenal growth which leads to think that we are on a verge of another industrial revolution, you have to take the next 30 min to watch it. You can find all the links here. As a bonus, you can also see parts of the interview with John Battelle which was not broadcasted in full during the program.

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It has been brought to my attention this week that 25% of all search queries conducted on Google per month are NEW. For years, it has always been easier for Google to refine their algorithm & determine rank for repetitive & common search queries. They now find themselves in front of the daunting task of refining the algorithm for brand new search queries, composed of obscure or longer strings of text that no one has searched for before. This is quite an interesting challenge for everyone in this industry, including you, a website owner.

This information is coming from Udi Manber, Google’s VP of Engineering, in a speech that he gave recently on Search is a Hard Problem. He explained that with an audience like Supernova, he imagines we understand to some extent how difficult a problem it is, but it’s probably a harder problem then we even appreciate. He laid out three reasons why this is the case:

* Scale and diversity are almost beyond comprehension
* Expectations and needs will continue to grow
* 20 to 25% of the queries we see today, we have never seen before

What does this mean to you?
Since searchers are clearly becoming more sophisticated at refining their queries, the opportunity contained within the tail of search queries is greater than ever. We all know that blog is a great way to tap into this opportunity. If you do not consider starting a blog in 2008, please do so. It also means that your SEO plan as well as your PPC management might get a little more sophisticated this year than it used to. Break your site in smaller units of content. Break your Google adgroups the same way in order to dig deeper within the tail of search queries. You may want to try an SEO tool that is called HitTail.com that will allow you to find keywords your potential customers are searching for that you have not thought of before. That might guide some future SEO planning and you may win big in the process. First come, first serve.

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There has been a lot of debate in 2007 about whether of not Traditional Ad Agencies “Get” Search and it seems like we have not seen the end of it yet. Here is a recap. The initial statement that Ad Agency don’t “Get” Search came from Gord Hotchkiss, which was soon followed by a counter argument article, Some Agencies DO ‘Get’ Search by Mike Margolin. Chris Copeland add to the discussion this week with his article titled “2007: The Year Traditional Agencies ‘Got’ Search” and criticize Gord’s point of view by saying that persuasion happens in search. Ouch! Please take a minute to read the last article from the series: Persuasion On The Search Results Page. Gord hits the problem right on the head.

This whole debate reminds me of a discussion I had a few months ago with a top executive with one of the largest advertising agency in Canada which I wish I could name. The individual (and everyone else around the table) wanted to call a Search Marketing business “Intercept”. I tried to convince them otherwise by saying that search marketing is not about changing or altering the course of user intent. We rather reinforce, support user intent but we never work against it. Here are some more thoughts.

Definitions:
Intercept: To stop, deflect, or interrupt the progress or intended course of: intercepted me with a message as I was leaving.
Persuade: to move by argument, entreaty, or expostulation to a belief, position, or course of action.

Do you see how similar those 2 definitions are?

The Ad Agency Model is based on persuasion
According to many, and this is the point Gord makes in his latest jab on how we can’t persuade on the search result pages. Since the traditional Ad Agency model is based on persuasion, most people who work in Ad Agencies are trained to think that they need to persuade their audience. They want to attract their target customers’ attention while they are doing something else. That is called interruption advertising. They want to change, re-orient customers’ course of action. Even when they (ad agency execs) go online, they still want to persuade their audience. They are trained to do this. What I have been telling them for years, “You are no longer targeting them, you are being targeted” (and your message should be changed accordingly). The persuasion model no longer exists. RIP. Then again, who consciously wants to admit that their business model was based on the false hypothesis that consumers want to be targeted and persuaded. The whole Ad industry is shaking. You either want to persuade your audience or you use user intent without making any attempt at changing their course. Pick your side.

Over the holidays, I had a spirited discussion with my friend Mario Beaudoin and his lovely girlfriend Manon Gartside about why there is a lobby against search marketing and how dichotomous the advertising market becomes. Like Al Gore said in his movie which is one of my favorite quotes: “You can’t make someone understand something when his/her salary depends upon not understanding it”. This issue became clear and resemble in a lot of ways other scenarios we have seen in history: “Search Marketing is to Traditional Advertising what the Electric Car is to Conventional Cars”. You either want to keep running your SUV with little regards to the environment or you join environmentally-friendly organizations and market your business with search marketing. Unfortunately, there are more people in the first category. Sometimes, you just can’t be on both sides and this debate is a symptom of this reality. Coldplay had a good line in one of their songs: ask yourself, “Am I a part of the cure or am I part of the disease”.

Ultimately, the marketplace will decide who get it and who don’t.

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You may have heard the news last month about Facebook opening profiles to search engine indexing. It may be a good time to take a second look at your profile and polish it to make sure it won’t offend anyone.

Now, since I saw my Facebook profile indexed in Google as well as in Yahoo over the weekend, I can confirm that it is likely that your Facebook profile may have been indexed as well. Don’t wait a second and Google yourself right now and see if it is there. It should appear on the first page of search results.

What does this mean to you?
Since your Facebook profile is now indexed, anyone can Google your name and access it. Because of Facebook popularity, it is likely that your Facebook profile may appear on the first page of search results and thus get a fair share of the traffic from Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs). But, unlike your LinkedIn profile, which is generally speaking more professional & polished, your Facebook profile contains a wider variety of content that is prone to interpretation. There are elements in most Facebook profiles that I would not want prospective clients to know for instance. Therefore, it would be helpful for you to review it carefully and remove any controversial items that may have been posted by you and/or your friends or any information that may be wrongfully interpreted. Tell your friends to be careful when they post content on your wall as well as pictures of you in different contexts or settings that you do not appear at your best (!) or for a business-type audience.

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comScore, a leader in measuring the digital world, today released the first comprehensive study of worldwide search activity, based on data from its qSearch 2.0 service. comScore qSearch 2.0 offers the first panoramic worldwide view of online search activity, providing granular, in-depth analysis of the search universe reported from the top 50 worldwide Internet properties where search activity is observed. The study found that more than 750 million people age 15 and older - or 95 percent of the worldwide Internet audience - conducted 61 billion searches worldwide in August, an average of more than 80 searches per searcher.

Here is the breakdown by search engine:

The press release is also available at: http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=1802

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The Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO) and members of SEMPO Canada, announced today it is launching its first ever salary survey of in-house search engine marketing professionals. The survey is open to all in-house SEM professionals whether or not they are currently SEMPO members. Organic and/or Paid-Search, in-house professionals are all invited to take the survey.

The 20-question survey can be accessed here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=DZCiIcuGHhZtJqv7NrjTrQ_3d_3d

Respondents have anonymity when taking the survey. SEMPO is running the survey through October and possibly will continue it into November. Results of the survey will be published in November.

Among the data trends SEMPO hopes to gauge are the overall salary range of SEM jobs, from entry level to executive; salary variations by geographic markets, the total compensation package beyond salaries, such as bonuses, benefits and perks; SEM staffing levels within enterprises, and SEM budget levels. 

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I just got another search marketing study today. This one was coming from SEMPO Institute which presents Piper Jaffray’s latest search study. It shows how search is the second most commonly used application on the Web with 550 million searches daily in the United States. They have identified key trends in the search industry which you might be interested in:

Search is the new portal

Search is becoming a branding tool

Google’s dominance is increasing

Local search remains a looming opportunity

New search technologies are likely to expand the field

As far as this study suggests, search reach surpasses any other form of web applications as presented in the graph below:

On the other hand, people spend very little time on search pages, which explains why time spent is so low. The fastest you find what you are looking for, the fastest you leave a common SERP (Search Engine Results Page). If you think about it, this means 2 things. Online users are getting more savvy at searching and spend less time doing it. They use more words to further define their search queries. This is consistent with the trend from the last few years. It also means that Search Engines are getting better at providing relevant search results for a wider range of search queries.

Also, as part of this research, it shows the Online Advertising forecast in the upcoming years:

What does this mean if you are an advertiser?
Since users are using more words to define any given query in a search engine, it means that advertisers would need to build a Search Marketing plan around a wider variety of search terms. Targeting the tail (of search queries) is the term that has been used to describe this concept. It is both a burden and an opportunity since it involves more work from the advertiser (and/or their Search Marketing supplier) but allows them to reach their entire audience on very targeted (niche) search terms. It also means advertisers need to allocate more funds into their Search Marketing plan in order to cover both paid search and organic listings. 

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