Yelp gives businesses a voice
Yelp, the popular online review website that has a strong following in major US cities and launched in the UK earlier this year, has seen its fair share of controversy.
One of the biggest complaints amongst business owners: that reviews can "become a shakedown by emboldened customers or Internet trolls".
Google introduces Product Search results for iPhone
Google has begun to integrate Product Search results for users of Android and iPhones in the US and UK, presenting users with results tailored to their mobile phone.
Product Search for mobile makes for a useful price comparison service, allowing users to check prices and reviews while shopping instore to make sure they are getting a good deal. So how well does it work?
Q&A: Mark Patron of RedEye on integrated marketing
Mark Patron has more than 20 years of experience in data-driven marketing, formerly as the MD of Claritas (now Acxiom) and, since 2006, as the CEO of RedEye International.
I've been talking to Mark about integrated digital marketing and the latest possibilities for behaviourally triggered email...
How Amazon made $2.7bn with one small tweak
User reviews have proven to be an effective sales driver, but there is more to it than just adding them to product pages. Once you start to get large amounts of reviews you need be able to sort them in a meaningful way for customers.
Usability expert Jared Spool has a great example of how Amazon managed to solve this problem for its customers and add $2.7bn to its bottom line.
Kelkoo’s view on the product search market in 2008 + 2009
2008 was the year of the voucher code, however 2009 is starting to look like the year of looking after yourself and your property.
Kelkoo has seen a large increase in searches for home related items such as consumer electronics, household appliances, and garden products.
Mobile site review: Sccope
I wrote an article about the quality of shopping comparison sites on mobile a few weeks ago, and was disappointed by the quality of most of them.
Reevoo and Kelkoo both had useful iPhone versions, and Reevoo has further improved its app by adding price information and transactional functionality, but most were less useful than they could have been.
I've been looking at another entrant into the market, Sccope, as well as talking to CEO Douglas Orr.
Site review: Fly.com
Having paid a reported $1.8m just for the domain name, TravelZoo has launched a comparison site for airline tickets, Fly.com, this week.
Providing an excellent user experience on travel websites is vital, given the complexity of the product on offer in terms of different flight options and the quantity of results, so how does Fly.com measure up?
Reevoo improves its iPhone site
I looked at price comparison websites on mobile yesterday, and found many of these sites were not up to scratch, have not released versions for smartphones, or in many cases have not even developed mobile sites.
Of the five mobile shopping comparison sites I looked at, Reevoo's was one of the best, and has now improved its mobile offering by adding pricing information from retailers.
Are mobile shopping comparison sites any good?
For mobile internet users shopping offline, mobile price comparison sites should provide a useful service, allowing shoppers to look up reviews and see what kind of value they are getting.
Mobile users are using their phones to access product reviews and compare prices when shopping instore, so how well do price comparison sites cater for this consumer behaviour?
Google profit drops but strong revenue helps it beat estimates
The results are in: investments in AOL and a company called Clearwire contributed to a 68% drop in Q4 profit for Google but an 18% increase in sales helped the beat analyst expectations.
All told, Google achieved net income of $382m on total revenue of $5.7bn. Sales, excluding commissions paid to partners, was $4.22bn, beating the consensus estimate of $4.12bn.
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
