Will Yahoo mash-ups save us from Hotmail?
Yahoo’s decision to open up its email API is great news for web mail users and is a great example of what Web 2.0 is about. How long will it be before a major retailer like Tesco follows suit?
Affiliates raise bar as channel delivers £2bn plus in UK sales
One of the key trends identified in our just-published 2006 Affiliate Marketing Buyer's Guide is the way that affiliates have raised their game to match increasingly sophisticated approaches by both merchants and affiliate networks.
Cookie deletion discrepancies take the biscuit
Vinny Lingham’s blog has carried some interesting research into cookie deletion – an area which has not been studied in depth but affects user privacy, as well as advertisers’ measurements and conversion rates.
The research will also be of great interest to affiliates who may not be getting the credit they deserve.
Microsoft inks ad deal with Facebook
After losing out to Google in the race to sign up Myspace as an advertising client, Microsoft has landed a deal with the US' second largest social networking site Facebook.
Webwag enters customisable start page tussle
Webwag, the latest creation of ex-Google France chief Franck Poisson, is set to go live at the end of this month, adding more competition to the 'customisable start page' arena.
AOL admits ‘screw up’ over user privacy
AOL has apologised after “mistakenly” releasing the search histories of around 650,000 users onto the web.
The internet giant has come under fire in the past week after its research division made public around 20 million keyword searches performed by its subscribers. Although the information didn’t include users’ names, the move has attracted widespread criticism that the company had breached their privacy and left them open to ID theft.
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.
Display ads lift Search conversion rates, says research
Research by the Atlas Institute shows that the conversion rate from Search advertising is 22% better when used in conjunction with Display advertising.
The study demonstrates that there is a quantifiable "synergy" between these two channels and will hopefully encourage advertisers to take a more integrated approach to their online marketing.
The research is welcome because there are still companies out there who are shifting their budgets from display advertising into Search without a full understanding of how this might affect their conversion success or long term prospects.
Google launches Cost-Per-Action adverts
In an interesting move, Google has started offering cost-per-action advertising to selected website owners on the Adsense programme. In short it’s aimed at getting around the click fraud that is becoming increasingly worrying for Google – where advertisers only derive an income when the website visitor completes an action.
Google Base replaces Froogle for product feeds
Retailers are being asked to submit products directly into Google Base, rather than using the now-defunct Froogle Merchant Center.
The move reflects Google's attempts to make Base a central depository of third party information, something that was reinforced by CEO Eric Schmidt in a conference call yesterday.
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
