Chris Lake

Digital Bites - A Week In The Video Downloads Sector

LOVEFiLM's Craig Sullivan provides a weekly overview of the key news stories to emerge this week in the online video sector...

by Chris Lake 27 July 2006 14:03pm 0 comments

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.

by Chris Lake 26 July 2006 13:22pm 2 comments

Craig's digital video roundup

Here's LOVEFiLM's Craig Sullivan's weekly digest of the key news affecting the digital media sector.

by Chris Lake 26 July 2006 11:43am 0 comments

The 12 fundamentals of e-commerce

We are often asked about the fundamentals of e-commerce: how do you build an online retail store, what do customers need to see, what does Google look for, how can you increase conversion rates?

I have compiled a list of the 12 fundamentals that you can put in place to enhance an existing online store or plan a new one...

by Chris Lake 18 July 2006 14:14pm 1 comment

Sky launches broadband, triple play services

BSkyB has announced plans to roll out a broadband service, to be bundled alongside its pay-TV and newly relaunched ‘Sky Talk’ telephone service. Triple play, baby!

by Chris Lake 18 July 2006 11:53am 0 comments

BetonSports charged by US Justice Department

Trouble ahead for the online gaming industry after reports that the US Justice Department has charged BetonSports and three other companies with racketeering, conspiracy and fraud.

AIM-listed BetonSports suspended shares just before 8am this morning, pending an announcement, while AFX is reporting that "the indictment seeks forfeiture of 4.5 bln usd from Kaplan and the co-defendents, as well as various properties", which would spell more trouble for BetonSports investors (shares fell by almost 20% yesterday).

by Chris Lake 18 July 2006 09:07am 0 comments

BetonSports' CEO detained by US Feds

The online gaming sector is reeling this morning after BetonSports CEO David Carruthers was seized by The Feds in the US, while waiting to transfer onto an aircraft destined for Costa Rica, where the company’s customer services centre is based.

by Chris Lake 17 July 2006 12:45pm 0 comments

A 10-point checklist for landing page design

The fallout from Google's new 'Quality Score' is growing, with talk of "mass defections" to MSN and Yahoo, but if you want to stick with Google Adwords then you need to know how to create some quality landing pages.

A quality landing page is one that reinforces ‘conversion intent’. To do this, you need to consider the mindset of your visitor and provide just enough information to persuade them to convert. And no unnecessary distractions… ok?

So what are the 10 things you need to know about designing landing pages? Read on to find out...

by Chris Lake 28 November 2008 17:26pm 26 comments

Will the geeks really rule the world?

Paul Graham, one of the founders of web incubator Y Combinator, says we’re not in a bubble, and he’s right. There’s way too much talk about this mythical bubble. It ain’t a bubble, folks.

However, I think Paul is wide of the mark on a number of his assertions made when interviewed by Ian Delaney, who is currently writing a book on Web 2.0. Paul says he has spotted “a social trend that will last”, namely: “the startup world will increasingly be ruled by technical people rather than business people”.

God forbid!

I’m amazed that a savvy investor would think that way. Paul is a hacker himself of course, and a successful entrepreneur to boot, so I could be wildly out on this one. It just seems… wrong… on… so… many… levels…

by Chris Lake 13 July 2006 20:50pm 2 comments

PPC hyperinflation reported on Google Adwords

Wow, Google’s Quality Score is really starting to bite hard on some PPC budgets. I’ve just taken a call from Auctioning4U, a UK-based firm that helps people sell goods on eBay, and they are reporting that average click costs have risen by almost 2,000% in just one week.

Trevor Ginn, Head of Consulting at Auctioning4U, told me that one keyphrase has jumped in price from 12p to £2.75 in the last week.

In another example, the price went up from his default of 30p (which paid for an average Adwords position of 1.3) to £5.50. “Feel my pain,” he says, not without reason.

Naturally, Trevor is wounded and reeling, and puzzled as to what he’s done wrong. He’s not really done anything wrong. It is simply a case of Google shifting the goalposts.

Yup, this PPC hyperinflation is linked to Google’s newly-enhanced focus on ad quality. It could be a case of too much, too soon.

by Chris Lake 13 July 2006 13:34pm 2 comments