Digital Marketing Blog

Google plans ads on local billboards

Google plans to extend its online advertising network to offline billboard ads, according to reports of a new patent filing.

The search leader would allow retailers to buy space on local interactive ad hoardings that would display corresponding ads when the advertiser has items in stock.

by Robert Andrews 18 January 2007 15:22pm 0 comments

BuzzLogic nets $9.6m to measure blogs' infuence

BuzzLogic, a San Francisco-based startup which helps help marketers make sense of social media and identify relevant and influential blogs, has received $9.6m (£4.9m) in venture capital. The company has now raised over $11m in funding.

by Graham Charlton 18 January 2007 13:11pm 0 comments

Google Checkout playing catch-up

JP Morgan has released a study which shows that Paypal is still seven times more popular than Google’s rival system, Checkout.

Google Checkout launched last year with an aggressive challenge to PayPal, although it has encountered resistance from etailers that are reluctant to cede ownership of customers to the search giant.

by Graham Charlton 18 January 2007 12:53pm 0 comments

Online sales add to Tesco's profits

Tesco reported a 5.9% rise in its Christmas profits yesterday, ahead of forecasts, which the company has attributed to a strong online performance, as well as increased sales of organic foods.

Meanwhile, DSG Group, which owns Curry's and PC World, seems to be on track having reshuffled its multichannel brands last year, with online sales more than doubling as a result.

by Graham Charlton 17 January 2007 16:20pm 1 comment

Neteller founders arrested for 'money laundering'

The two founders of online payments company, Stephen Lawrence and John Lefebvre, were last night charged with conspiracy in connection with what's being described as "money laundering", linked to internet gambling.

A FBI operation had discovered that Neteller was being used by Americans to place bets on sporting events via foreign-based internet gambling companies.

by Graham Charlton 17 January 2007 16:03pm 0 comments

Given up your email marketing New Year resolutions yet?

Bad salutations, not working off feedback and static timing schedules: UK email marketers are slipping back into the bad habits so prevalent in 2006, writes Henry Hyder-Smith.

by Henry Hyder-Smith 17 January 2007 15:04pm 0 comments

Searchers tempted to check out Checkout

Google is ramping up its Checkout online payments service with a promotion campaign ahead of a rumoured imminent major development.

The PayPal-esque conduit for customer-merchant transactions launched last June after its rival inked an exclusive deal to facilitate Yahoo! customers' payments.

by Robert Andrews 17 January 2007 14:47pm 0 comments

Startup silenced - Talkr up for sale

Talkr, a text-to-speech web service that lets readers listen to written blog posts, has put itself up for sale after failing to turn a profit in two years.

Founder Chris Brooks revealed that 2,173 bloggers had bought into the service but that only 1,179 of them had agreed to accept audio advertising in the posts that Talkr converts.

by Robert Andrews 17 January 2007 13:19pm 0 comments

Hidden charges and poor usability deter online shoppers

Nearly half of online shoppers would abandon their shopping trolley if confronted by 'hidden' charges during the checkout process, according to a survey from Webcredible.

Webcredible polled visitors to its website in September, October and November, asking them what would make them abandon an order when shopping online.

by Graham Charlton 17 January 2007 11:54am 0 comments

Why PR is so powerful for online marketing...

For a long time we at E-consultancy have been banging the drum of how powerful 'traditional' PR and Online PR are as forms of online marketing. Particularly in terms of driving search activity and natural search rankings.

So I was interested to read which terms were the most searched for on Google in 2006...

by Ashley Friedlein 16 January 2007 18:56pm 0 comments