Digital Marketing Blog

Google opens PPA beta test

Google has invited advertisers to become beta testers for its new pay-per-action online ad system - a move that looks very much like an entrance into the realm of affiliate marketing.

Participants in the PPA system are able to add lists of intended actions to regular ads, with ad impressions only paid for once a user completes on those activities. An advertiser pays Google only if an individual subscribes to its newsletter after clicking through to its site, for example.

by Robert Andrews 21 March 2007 12:44pm 3 comments

Charges against Sportingbet chairman dropped

Online gambling firm Sportingbet has announced that the charges against its former chairman Peter Dicks, who was detained last September by US authorities , have been dropped.

In a statement, the company said that it 'has reached an amicable resolution with the St. Landry district attorney in the state of Louisiana' and that all warrants related to the case have been withdrawn.

by Graham Charlton 21 March 2007 12:37pm 0 comments

Reasons why customers don't book travel online

Despite the amount of deals on offer, and the convenience of booking holidays online, many US internet users still prefer to book their travel over the phone, with perceived security problems the main reason cited.

Forrester Research polled over 5,000 US consumers in the last quarter of 2006 to find out the reasons for their reluctance to use the web for holiday reservations.

by Graham Charlton 21 March 2007 11:49am 4 comments

Search engine market share stats

The March 2007 version of our Internet Statistics Compendium is now available, with updates including new facts and figures on topics including search marketing, transactional email, online fraud, mobile, display advertising, online travel, online dating and more.

To give you a taster, here's a selection of stats on search engine market share...

by Graham Charlton 21 March 2007 11:46am 0 comments

Paypal signs up 35m European accounts

eBay’s online payment outfit, Paypal has announced it has registered almost 35m accounts in Europe - a boost in its battle with rival providers.

It’s the first time the group has released specific numbers for Europe, where it says it processed $8.4bn (£4.3bn) in payments last year.

by Richard Maven 21 March 2007 11:40am 0 comments

Mysupermarket allows booking of delivery slots

Shopping comparison site mysupermarket.co.uk has introduced a useful-looking new feature which allows customers to book their delivery slots before starting their shopping.

Users can choose from a range of one hour slots, view costs and book one in advance. Mysupermarket says the service has been introduced in response to growing demand from shoppers using the site.

by Graham Charlton 21 March 2007 08:52am 0 comments

Seven tips for recruiting paid search professionals

Recruiting paid search professionals can be a painful experience. Whether you're an agency specialising in search or a company looking to bring it in-house, the demand for paid search professionals has never been greater.

In these market conditions it’s easy to panic and jump on the first candidate who’s heard of Adwords, but there is another way.

by Duncan Jennings 20 March 2007 16:10pm 4 comments

Baidu advertisers raise click fraud concerns

Advertisers on Baidu, the largest search engine in China, appear to be losing confidence in its ability to deal with click fraud, according to a new report.

The search engine has 58% of the search market in China, compared to Google's 17%, but the click fraud problems could help its rivals to catch up.

by Graham Charlton 20 March 2007 12:38pm 0 comments

Interview with 'super-affiliate' Keith Budden

As well as being one of the UK's super-affiliates, Keith Budden is a partner in Affiliate Healthcheck, a consultancy offering affiliate programme performance reviews, training, recruitment and assistance with network selection.

We asked him for an affiliate's perspective on some of the main issues around affiliate marketing programmes.

by Richard Maven 20 March 2007 10:16am 0 comments

Google Blog Search ranking explained

Bill Slawski at SEO by the Sea has an interesting post which gives an insight into how Google's Blog Search ranks its results. He has come across a patent application by Google which explains some of the ranking factors.

The patent application, 'Ranking Blog Documents', shows how Google ranks blogs according to searchers' queries based upon a combination of relevance and quality scores.

by Graham Charlton 20 March 2007 10:14am 1 comment