Britons spend 50 days a year online
The average British broadband user now spends around 50 days a year on the web, according to a new survey by YouGov.
General surfing was the most popular internet-based activity at an average seven hours and 54 minutes per week.
Brand associations on both sides of the Atlantic
Online measurement company Hitwise has run a comparison of search terms associated with Yahoo!, MSN and Google in the US and UK, highlighting some differences in consumers' attitudes to the three portals on different sides of the Atlantic.
The study found that US consumers, for example, largely associate MSN with its portal content while in the UK, the brand is better known for communications tools Messenger and Hotmail.
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.
Click fraud on the rise, according to Click Forensics study
Click fraud remains a growing problem for search engines and online advertisers, according to a study by US-based consultancy Click Forensics.
FeedBurner acquires BlogBeat
FeedBurner has acquired the blog analytics provider BlogBeat in an interesting move which can only be described as good news for users.
The symbiosis of brand trust and optimised on-site search
We recently analysed the major factors that influence our visitors to subscribe. The results? The surest sign of a subscriber-to-be was one who used our site search box. So naturally we’re looking into improving it, but that's not actually relevant here. Far more important here is getting more people to use it in the first place.
People aren’t search-shy, we know this from Google’s original search-box-only interface. According to DoubleClick, less than 20% use on-site search (the actual figure varies by sector, of course). So looks like the majority of visitors are finding just what they want right away, right? Much more likely, they don’t trust the onsite search box. Aha.
Five hot new visual metrics make analytics for humans
E-consultancy analyst Linus Gregoriadis last week solicited suggestions on a
sexier name
for "web analytics". But five new Web 2.0 services currently brewing in beta are threatening to take the whole online marketing measuring practice into a more sexy paradigm entirely.
All these new products ask is that you place some Javascript in your header - but they promise to serve up juicy thermal imaging, in-page indicators or movable feasts that produce easy-to-use visual metrics for left-brain webmasters.
So what are these new tools? Let's take a look...
Web 2.0 needs to be agile to be successful
I’ve been dealing with a few clients of late, most of which have heard the ruckus around this newfangled Web 2.0 thing, and most of which want to do something Web 2.0 with their projects. Some want to implement blogs, others are interested in Wiki’s and podcasting, and surprisingly most of them want some Ajax features. The list goes on.
That’s really good because I’m always happy to talk to people about getting more out of the web, specifically around creating better and more valuable user experiences, but the problem I have (and which I communicate) is that Web 2.0 doesn’t just stop at implementing a blog engine, podcasts, a Wiki or Ajax.
Google's Schmidt on the economics of click fraud
Google CEO Eric Schmidt has played down calls for the search industry to tighten its grip on click fraud by declaring the problem "self-correcting".
Quoted by ZDNet from a speech at Stanford University earlier this year, the Google CEO said clickfraud could ultimately be solved by market forces, and that PPC firms should "let it happen".
Wanted: sexier name for web analytics
We have started to pull together our 2006 Web Analytics Buyer’s Guide and it’s clear that a lot has moved on in the last few months.
Should we re-name this topic entirely in the face of criticism that the title Web Analytics doesn’t do justice to its strategic importance and growing role in delivering valuable business insights?
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
