SEMPO's Gord Hotchkiss predicts 'search showdown'
Gord Hotchkiss, chair of search marketing association SEMPO, is bullish about the industry's prospects, saying 2007 will be a "watershed year" for localised advertising and that various other revenue channels will drive growth.
But in an exclusive interview, he also points to challenges facing the sector, including the lack of transparency over click fraud and an upcoming "showdown" between consumers and advertisers over search data.
Google syndicated search on the horizon?
I came across an interesting post on the ZDNet.com blog written by Garett Rogers about Google registering many variations of a "syndicated search" domain on September 15th.Google Checkout struggles against etailer resistance
Retailers are continuing to turn their backs on Google Checkout because of fears that they will be relinquishing ownership of their customers to the search giant, according to research published by the analyst house Piper Jaffray.
Google Analytics now offers immediate access for all
Google Analytics will from today provide instant access for anybody that wants to open an account and start using the service to monitor visitor activity on their website/s.
The service, which is free of charge, provides comprehensive information on visitor behaviour to help webmasters better understand how their sites are being used and where users are coming from.
PPC Management Software Firms – Feeling Nervous?
Over the last few days I have been learning about the new pay per click management tools that Yahoo! Search are soon to launch and the already live Google Adwords Editor in BETA.
Why isn’t ebookers top of Google for a search on ‘ebookers’?
While doing some project-based research last week I noticed that ebookers isn’t on the first page in Google for a search on its own brand name. Ouch.
The travel group is currently paying Google for an Adwords ad, to achieve the brand visibility it needs, but it is puzzling as to why an established dotcom with many thousands of inbound links is failing to capture the number one spot for its own brand.
Search engines to form anti-click fraud alliance
Search engines including Google, Yahoo and MSN have teamed up with The US’ Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) to develop ways of better measuring click fraud, according to the Associated Press .Set to be announced later today, the initiative will attempt to develop guidelines that would introduce more accountability into PPC advertising.
Eureka! Google optimises its PPC Adwords quality algorithm
Will Google’s decision to introduce an algorithmic element into its Adwords ‘Quality Score’ spell the end for sponsored keyword arbitrage and add further pressure to affiliates to clean-up their act?
Google launches Adwords click fraud tool
Google has responded to calls for greater transparency on click fraud by introducing a new tool for Adwords users that displays "invalid clicks".
Google business product manager Shuman Ghosemajumder explains: "The metrics of 'invalid clicks' and 'invalid clicks rate' will show virtually all the invalid clicks affecting an account."
This should provide advertisers with an overview of how Google is dealing with clicks already identified as possibly fraudulent, aka 'invalid', though for many marketers this might not be enough.
What digital giants can learn from Greek mythology
Microsoft’s choice of Argo as the development name for its eagerly awaited digital media player has got us thinking about how other mighty digital brands might (or might not) want to draw on Greek mythology for inspiration.
Social media: the best and worst of 2009
Email marketing: six steps to improving customer engagement in 2010
Web 2.0
Graham Charlton
Strategy & Planning
