Drake Direct Roundtable

Tips for Interviewing

2012-01-20T08:49:00.001-08:00

I just created a five minute video and posted it on my YouTube channel on how to impress a potential employer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfBp80UU2KA&context=C3804694ADOEgsToPDskL5Hlz4LUwX_VRd1WcLFEWj

In this live video I stress eight things to investigate prior your interview:

1. Where do they rank organically for keywords versus the competition? (Google it)
2. Are they involved in paid search and what about their competitors? (use spyfu.com)
3. Do they have more engagement and reach versus their competitor? (use Alexa.com)
4. What are they using to track visitors and what is their competitor using? Are they using Google Analytics, Omniture, Coremetrics? (consider the Vendor Discovery Tool: http://www.webanalyticsdemystified.com/vendor_discovery_tool.asp )
5. If they are tracking visitors, ask how they create their dashboards or flash reports and how often they update them. Ask if they bring social metrics and other campaign data (like email campaigns) into the reports. Probe on their KPI’s.
6. If they are an e-commerce site and you abandon the shopping cart, do they reach back with an email communication and if so what is the timing and is it optimal. Consider the following study we examined in my web analytics class (http://www.listrak.com/News/slow-cart-remarketing-adoption/)
7. Check out their social presence on Facebook and their Facebook fan base. What about Twitter and their followers. Then assess their competitors. Are there opportunities?
8. If they are involved in social media, ask if they are using a social monitoring tool like Radian6 or Lithium.

For this and other videos on other topics check out my YouTube channel at: www.YouTube.com/user/profpddrake

Good luck on that interview and let me know how you did.

Perry

How Did 2009 Fair Regarding Ad Spend?

2010-11-03T10:33:00.001-07:00

Sorry it took so long but not all the ad budget numbers for 2009 were out or easily within reach. But none the less, I have finally pieced the "ad spend" puzzle together with the use of a little math and multiple sources including Nielsen, Forrester and the IAB.

So how did 2009 fair regarding ad spend and which channels were hit the most you ask? Well let's take a look. Below are charts showing ad spend for TV, Digital and Other Traditional for 2008 vs 2009.

In summary we notice that in 2009 TV advertising fell 6%, other traditional advertising dropped 16% (which includes magazines and publications), and digital advertising dipped just 3% as shown more clearly below.

Examining just the digital ad budgets more closely we see that search is the fair share of spend and growing.

In particular we see that search, banner and video ad spend are all up 2008 vs 2009 while email, classifieds, affiliates and lead gen are down.

So what is the forecast for 2011?

According to ZenithOptimedia, overall US ad spend will grow 2.2% in 2010 and 2.4% on 2011. Keep an eye out as they are continually upping their estimates. A good sign.

http://www.dmnews.com/zenithoptimedia-ups-global-ad-spending-forecast/article/181197/

According to Forrester, TV ad spend in particular will be up 1% in 2010 to a level of $69.5 billion.

http://www.forrester.com/rb/Research/us_tv_ad_spending_forecast,_2009_to/q/id/54092/t/2

And, digital ad spend in particular is forecast to hit $25.1 billion in 2010. An increase over 2009 of 11%

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=128759

Be careful when looking at those numbers from ComScore, Nielsen and others.

2010-07-31T10:48:00.000-07:00

Last semester I began having my students at NYU do month to month comparisons in search share for the big three (Google, Yahoo and Bing). I was particularly interested in doing this when I began noticing that some sources were stating Google as losing share to Bing while others were not.

I thought how can this be? Each of the major players in this online audience measurement space (ComScore, Nielsen and Experian) all have gigantic panels. So I decided to dig a bit further.

Until I began having my students conduct this exercise I did not even realize how far off Experian was versus the others. I thought, once again, how can this be?

Take a look at the below charts one of my students created for my summer Web Analytics class.

Upon examination of these charts we note two things.

First, we note that one of the three sources (Experian) is far off from the others in terms of Google share of search by almost 7 percentage points. Wow! That is definitely a significant difference even with panels in the millions. I wonder who is right.

Secondly, we note that two of the sources (Nielsen and Experian) each states Google search share being down June vs. May while the other source (ComScore) states Google search share is up. Again, I wonder who is right.

Thinking about this more and contemplating writing a blog entry on this topic, one of my summer students flipped me an article dealing with this exact issue. It was a story she had just read in the Los Angeles Times titled:

Hulu's sharp decline in viewership underscores inconsistency in measuring size of online audiences.

In this article it is revealed that when ComScore changed its measurement methodology Hulu's viewership numbers plunged from 43.5 million in May to 24 million in June. The article goes on to talk about these wildly divergent audience numbers and how all the players have been working hard to make improvements in their methodology.

Let me ask you a question.

Do you think it might be a bit harder to create a representative panel to measure what content we are consuming on the web versus doing the same to measure the content consumed on cable or in print?

Probably.

I have always told my students that the variation in measurements on the web is most likely subject to other errors not typical seen in more stable “environments.” After all, there are very long and dark tails on the web that we might or might not trail off to on any given day given what comes up in search or paid search or where the links our friends tell us to visit via a facebook post. It is pretty vast and dynamic out there on the Internet. So, in a way we should not be surprised to see this variation.

So until such a time comes that measurement is more stable and we can account for this hard to quantify variation, what can you do?

Plan accordingly and use results from various sources and not just one source.

Additionally, remember these variations will in all likelihood be even more severe for those smaller and free web traffic tools offered by Compete, Quantcast, and Alexa. They are all great and I use them regularly for research but definitely with caution.

Never jump to conclusions based on research data from one source alone.

Perry

An AOL Update

2010-02-07T11:36:00.000-08:00

Did you notice that AOL has been in the news again lately? It appears they are gearing up to forcefully push forward with their new agenda of original content sites and a performance based advertising model as discussed in my prior blog entry on April 5, 2009 titled "I was thinking about AOL the other day."

In that blog entry, AOL was just beginning to lay the foundation for this new strategy. Well, it appears they are now moving forward and quite aggressively. What were they waiting for? Were they waiting for the advertising business to come back a bit from the recession of last summer and fall?

Let's take a look at some of the new moves made by AOL and Tim Armstrong.

Armstrong has hired a few more Google executives including David Eun who served as the vice president of strategic partnerships at Google. David will be responsible for AOL's 80+ content sites.
Armstrong also hired Sashi Seth who was in charge of the monetization of YouTube while at Google. At AOL he will be the SVP of global advertising products -- their new performance based advertising model I assume.
They are pushing hard for original rather than repurposed content on their various sites within the MediaGlow network. Currently 80% of content on their various sites is new and unique -- I would say they are succeeding.
Armstrong recently launched Seed.com, a new venture that aims to make it easy and cheap for freelancers to create and publish stories and articles -- what a great way to support their goal of obtaining original content right?
AOL also bought StudioNow, a platform for creating and distributing online video -- again making it easier for others to create that original content they so desire.

A lot happening at AOL. I cannot wait to see how it all plays out. Being one that grew up with AOL, I wish them luck.

Perry

Sources:
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=121917

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/aol_dials_up_results_mrGEcJ4zxcO6khtGXKbWgM

Facebook Nearing the Finish Line

2009-11-13T14:01:00.000-08:00

The October Compete.com and unemployment data are now in and guess what? Many of the findings in our previous blog entries regarding Facebook trends have been solidified even further.

The relationship previously identified between Facebook traffic and the unemployment rate has been only strengthened with the inclusion of the October data. As Figure 1 below shows, this month’s increase in the unemployment rate to 10.2% coincides with a similar increase in Facebook unique visitor counts. In fact, the correlation between these two metrics now stands at a whopping 98.2%. The relationship simply cannot be denied during this time. It is quite amazing.

Figure 1

By viewing Figure 2 below we can easily see that with the incorporation of the new October data, Facebook will, without question, actually surpass Google in term of visits by the end of the year (as predicted in our previous blog entry). And, shockingly they may even surpass Google regarding unique visitors even sooner than we could imagine (see Figure 3).

Figure 2

Figure 3

However, one may ask did this major increase in Facebook traffic for the month of October negatively impact some of the other engagement metrics like pages viewed and time spent on site? The answer is an astounding NO. See Figures 4 & 5 below. In fact, October represents some of the most significant jumps in these engagement metrics seen in some time.

Figure 4

Figure 5

Versus YouTube, we see Facebook pulling away at an even more dramatic rate in terms of engagement (Figure 6). They appear to be leaving YouTube in the dust.

Figure 6

There is no question that Facebook is on a roll. Please look for our next blog entry titled “And the Winner is…Facebook.”

Perry & Rhonda

First Google, Now YouTube

2009-11-03T09:59:00.001-08:00

In case you did not read all of my last blog entry titled "Has Facebook Been Lucky" you probably missed the fact that Facebook has now overtaken YouTube on a key engagement metric -- average time spent per visit.

I realize both sites are different in terms of content and purpose but it is still an important event -- showing us that that Facebook has the ability to draw us into its grip for longer and longer periods of time per visit. YouTube, on the other hand, has been actually slipping regarding this metric over the past 12 months (see Figure 1).

Figure 1 - Average Stay per Visit, Facebook (blue) vs YouTube (green)

In addition, YouTube has also been losing the battle to Facebook in terms of attracting / growing its customer base. Note the unique visitor trend shown below in Figure 2. Facebook has surpassed YouTube as of February of this year.

Figure 2 - Unique Visitor Counts, Facebook (blue) vs YouTube (green)

And, in terms of raw number of visits by month, forget it. Facebook is leaving YouTube in its dust as we can clearly see in Figure 3.

Figure 3 - Visit Counts, Facebook (blue) vs YouTube (green)

Could it be that Facebook is rendering YouTube to be less valuable than it once was? After all, not only can we post our own videos and share with others on Facebook, we can do so much more!

Perry

Has Facebook Been Lucky?

2009-10-30T10:15:00.000-07:00

After having written my latest blog entry on Google versus Facebook and my appearance on the CNBC show Street Signs I got to thinking. The question posed by observers at this stage should not be so much is Facebook doing all that they can to capitalize on the significant increase in traffic and engagement but rather why is it happening and, if more can be done to increase the traffic further or,…could the party all end tomorrow?

We all have to admit the trends I revealed in my previous blog (see Figures 1 & 2 below) are quite amazing showing that Facebook has already surpassed Google in terms of page views and is fast approaching Google in terms of unique visitors. But it begs the question why.

Figure 1

Figure 2

After careful investigation, Rhonda Drake, my business partner and wife, kept staring at the latter curve and thinking it looked familiar. A light bulb went off and she realized it looked the same as the unemployment curve. Upon further examination we determined that the correlation of Facebook unique visitors and the unemployment rate is close to 98%. You can’t get much higher than that. Take a look at the graph below (Figure 3).

Figure 3

You will also notice on Figure 3 that the steep increase in engagement begins to take place last year at the same time the bottom fell out of the mortgage lending industry in August and September of 2008.

So now the question is, does this make sense?

Remember, we must be careful at jumping to conclusions of cause and effect. As a reminder, see my previous blog entry title How is this Economy Impacting us Emotionally which was posted on March 11, 2009.

But in this case I think the connection makes perfect sense. As more and more people were being laid off last year and this year, they began to flock to social media sites, connecting with others and discussing issues and concerns.

What is also interesting regarding the Figure 3 data, is that as the unemployment rate has begun to flatten over the past few months (July – September 2009) so has Facebook’s unique visitor count. Coincidence? I am not sure.

When trying to assess Facebook’s engagement metrics such as page views per visit (or unique visitor) and average time on site per visit we notice a couple of things. First, the number of pages viewed per visit is going down. This alone might indicate to some that the engagement of those visitors is waning. However, when we go a bit deeper in our analysis and examine the average time spent on site per visit we notice a slight upward trend. So what does this mean? It means more time is being spent on fewer pages being viewed. One explanation might be the various games and other engagement tools that Facebook has been promoting. These games might be increasing our time at the detriment of going deeper on the site per visit. Is this a good thing? I am not sure. Does this yield opportunities with sponsors? That is for Facebook to decide. See figures 4 and 5 below for these data.

Figure 4

Figure 5

To help better understand our increasing engagement findings, I decided to make a comparison to YouTube. And, the results are astounding. Facebook has actually overtaken YouTube as of June of 2009 in terms of time spent per visit. Facebook is now more engaging than YouTube. Wow! This is a major accomplishment. See the graph below (Figure 6). This makes sense is light of the fact that Facebook is designed to allow you to share content (including video) easily with your circle. No need to leave Facebook.

Figure 6

So will Facebook soon overtake Google in terms of unique visitors as the graph in Figure 2 might suggest? Or will it still be some time coming?

Based on our analysis it is not possible at this time to predict when, if at all, Facebook will overpower Google in terms of unique visitors. The relatively recent past is revealing a completely different pattern than the more distant past. As such it is hard to forecast the future. Is the economy behind this pattern as previously suggested? Very soon we will know the answer to this question. Hang on.

However, we do feel confident that we can predict Facebook will overtake Google in the number of visits by the end of 2009. See Figure 7 below.

Figure 7

Of course this assumes no major or unforeseen changes in our economic climate. :-)

Perry & Rhonda

Please note that all traffic data for this analysis was sourced using compete.com

Google Vs. Facebook

2009-10-18T11:28:00.000-07:00

I was reading an article the other day that revealed Facebook in the UK accounts for 1 in every 7 pages viewed on the Internet. I thought wow, I knew Facebook was big but did not realize it was that big. Then I wondered what this statistic is in the US. And, does Facebook in the US account for more or less of total page views than it does in the UK? I had to find out.

My research revealed some very interesting facts. First of all let me say, that in the US, Facebook accounts for a significantly higher percent of our total page views than in the UK. In the UK, Facebook accounts for 15% of the total pageviews (or 1 in 7). In the US Facebook accounts for, now get this, 1 in every 4 or 25% of our total pageviews. Unbelievable!

Google on the other hand accounts for only 8% of the total pageviews (or 1 in 12). See the figure below that I generated using data from compete.com.

Page Views: Google (blue) vs. Facebook (green)

Is this surprising? Not really. Facebook is, by design, much more engaging. So we should expect this fact.

However, when we look at total number of visits to these two sites, we notice that Google does have an edge as the figure below shows. But, surprisingly, that edge is quickly slipping away. Ouch!

Visits: Google (blue) vs. Facebook (green)

Even for the metric "monthly unique visitors," we can see that Google is also losing its edge here as well.

Unique Monthly Visits: Google (blue) vs. Facebook (green)

Do you think Google is a bit concerned?

I would imagine so. And especially now that Facebook is finally out of the red and making some money. Think about it. They probably have more information on what we as a society are doing, saying, and into than anyone could possibly imagine. We post it all. Facebook has the potential to become a major search portal and source of relevant and timely information. Of course this is assuming that Facebook has the appropriate tools and people in place to mine that data and make it useful. But of course that is a topic for a future discussion.

To play with these figures and create your own data, simply go to http://www.compete.com/ and sign up for a free account.

Perry

Let’s make sure we are not putting Chinese citizens at risk in lieu of profits.

2009-06-11T06:55:00.000-07:00

In case you have not heard, the Chinese government is requiring that all manufacturers of PCs being shipped to China be preinstalled with a software package designed to filter pornography and other content called “Green Dam” which is produced by Jinhui Computer System Engineering,

According to Zhang Chenming, general manager of Jinhui Computer System Engineering, the concerns of Green Dam are overstated. He claims the software simply blocks pornography and can be deleted or turned off by the PC owners at any time.

Other sources outside of China are concerned that it is an effort for China’s government to take tighter control over the internet. Some suggest the software may actually allow the Chinese government to spy on the Internet user and tightly control content. I am not sure if this is true but it certainly seems highly likely given their recent actions in bringing down Youtube, Google and other social media sites and blogs during the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square incident.

According to the Wall Street Journal and other publications, PCs manufactured in China have already complied with the mandate and have preinstalled Green Dam. These include PCs manufactured by Lenovo, Inspur and Hedy.

U.S. based computer manufacturers such as Dell and Hewlett-Packard are confused and are not sure exactly what to do at this stage. The mandate is for all PCs to have the software preinstalled as of July 1 of this year.

All I can say (and will say) is I hope Dell and the others examine the software more closely to determine exactly how it might be used against the citizens of China before they blindly install the software on their PCs. If in fact it is like Mr. Chenming has stated, then fine. If not, then we must be concerned with its intent and how it might be used to harm or oppress the citizens of China.

To read more on this topic there are several recent links to the NY Times, Reuters and the WSJ you might wish to consider:

NY Times Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/09/world/asia/09china.html
Reuters Article: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5590ZX20090610
WSJ Article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124464392279802213.html

Perry

Interactive marketing spend takes a hit first time in 7 years

2009-06-08T14:37:00.000-07:00

The numbers are in from the IAB and for the first time since 2001, interactive marketing spend is actually down versus the same point in time one year ago. But before we get all excited, let's look at the numbers over the past year in total.

To be fair, interactive marketing spend throughout 2008 has been relatively flat and now it has taken its first dip. The graph below from the IAB website clearly shows this fact.

Source: www.iab.net

And when we compare this trend for interactive marketing spend to traditional marketing spend, we notice about a year lag. Traditional marketing spend actually started to decline about a year ago when the recession first hit.

So does this lagging relationship of traditional versus interactive marketing spend make sense?

Let's think about it.

When the recession first hit about a year ago, the first thing to get cut was traditional advertising. Marketers were forgoing expensive direct mail acquisition campaigns in favor of cheaper email retention efforts. Additionally, needing to prove ROI to upper management, advertising dollars also began to shift from less measurable sources like print advertising to those more measurable like search.

Now, let's fast forward to today. The economy is still showing signs of trouble. Budgets need to be cut again. What's left? The answer -- interactive.

Will this drop in interactive marketing spend continue into the second quarter? Will Forrester's $26 billion spend estimate for 2009 interactive marketing spend be adjusted downward? I hope not. I guess we will all know in a few months.

Lets all keep our fingers crossed.

Perry

Interactive marketing spend on the rise

2009-05-11T06:37:00.000-07:00

Forrester Research predicts major growth in interactive marketing spend. As the graph below shows, spend is projected to increase from $23 billion this year to over $55 billion by 2014. Wow, I guess the recession is over.

Perry

http://blogs.forrester.com/marketing/2009/05/interactive-budgets-are-growing-at-the-expense-of-offline.html

Please keep internet ad spend in perspective

2009-05-03T14:52:00.000-07:00

I know we are all excited about how video ad spend is growing quickly, but we need to keep it in perspective regarding all other advertising expenditures. I hate to tell you but digital video ad spend actually represents less than 1% of total ad spend in the US. In fact Internet ad spend in total (search, banner, video, etc.) only represents 17% of 2008 ad spend in total.

What is number one you ask? It is television of course coming in at 60% of all ad spend.

Total ad spend for 2008 was $136.8 billion dollars. According the Nielsen Co. and the IAB, $82 billion was on TV, $23 billion was on the internet and the remaining $31 billion was for print, radio, etc.

Regading the $23 billion of internet ad spend, $10.5 billion was on search, $4.9 billion was on banner ads and $.7 billion was for digital video.

Procter & Gamble is the number one advertiser for 2008. They account for $2.8 billion of all ad spend.

For the full Nielsen report see:
http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/consumer/nielsen-reports-2008-us-ad-spend-down-26/

For the IAB report visit: http://www.iab.net/about_the_iab/recent_press_releases/press_release_archive/press_release/pr-033009

Perry

How can it be that the WSJ increases circulation?

2009-04-30T07:14:00.000-07:00

The Wall Street Journal must be doing something right. They just increased their circulation yet again. In fact they are the only U.S. newspaper among the top 25 to show growth in total circulation.

In the write-up below you will see this is a result of a good integrated approach: content, expanded coverage, mobile apps, web integration and yes even a glossy magazine.

http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/news.html?d=163900

Of course let’s not forget guys, the WSJ never had to deal with the major loss in classified advertising revenue like the local papers did a couple of years ago due to Craig’s List. So that certainly left the WSJ in a better position to deal with changes required to succeed in today's digital media world.

Congratulations WJS on another success.

Perry

Check those sources, please!

2009-04-29T06:20:00.000-07:00

Let me tell you about something that happened to me yesterday. I was reading the latest article about a study of Twitter users on Media Post News.

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=104808#commentscomments

In this article, it stated that Twitter users, according to the survey, are motivated by learning new things. Like you perhaps, I thought yes, that sounds like me. So I wanted to read more and even searched for the real source of the study and found it.

As I was reading the complete details of this study, I came across an interesting statistic -- the study said that the average tweeter spends 2.75 hours a day on twitter. Now I don't know about you but I thought that seemed awfully high and wondered immediately who they surveyed. So I went to the very bottom of the study to the "about the study" section and lo and behold I found my answer.

This study was not to a random cross section of Twitter users by any means. It was to a self-selecting group of Twitter users that responded to some tweets asking for participation in a survey. So in other words this study is to a sampling of "power tweeters." I hate to tell you, that negates the results for this survey. Bottom line here is we simply cannot use the results of this survey to make statements about all Twitter users.

Lesson learned: be careful reading all those statistics being tossed about lately based on studies being conducted. Check the sources carefully and how the studies were conducted.

For the full study see:
http://www.marketingcharts.com/interactive/tweeters-motivated-by-learning-immediacy-8864/

Perry

1 out of 5 not tracking email campaigns

2009-04-26T12:46:00.000-07:00

The latest results are in and nearly 20% of email marketers said they are NOT tracking their email campaigns. http://www.eroi.com/resources/eROI-Email-Analytics-Survey-Results.pdf

Wow, what a missed opportunity.

A traditional direct mail marketer would never think of not measuring the success of their promotions, so why would an email marketer not do the same?

Well, let me tell you...because they see no benefits in terms of cost savings. After all it is free to send out emails to your current customers right? Wrong!

Even though it is free to email your current customers remember the cost of sending an untargeted or in appropriate email is that of an opt-out. And there could not be a higher cost than the customer telling you to no longer communication with them.

So how do we track our email campaigns and what metrics do we monitor?

Well first you will need an email delivery program. Even something as simple as Constant Contact will do. http://www.constantcontact.com/ It does not have to be pricey. Such a system can run you as little as $150 per year. Once in place you will begin by monitoring the open rates and click rates. And with some simple key coding tricks you can even examine the results by various customer demographics and segments.

Once a customer clicks through to your site, you will use Google Analytics (which is free by the way) to help you monitor exactly what each visitor that "clicks through" is doing. For example, what pages they are viewing, the number of pages they are viewing, the time they are spending on your site, what they are downloading, etc. And again with a little work you can see how these metrics differ by unique email copy and offer approaches you might be sending them via Constant Contact. It really could not be easier. Even my cat Simon could handle it. You do not need an IT background. Trust me. And most importantly the time is worth it.

Keep in mind that getting it all set up is only half of the effort. The toughest part is learning how to assess your metrics to make good marketing decisions. Based on a report from the Web Analytics Association (WAA), 35% of companies are not happy with the overall application of web analytics for purposes of making strategic decisions. That is a high percent. Showing we have a way to go. But with a little patience and effort we can do it. http://www.clickz.com/3626084

Perry

86% of Marketers are Tweeting. Wow!

2009-04-22T08:37:00.000-07:00

For those of you in disbelief when I tweeted yesterday about the latest stats from Comscore on demos of the current twitter user, here is the proof. Yes, here is why more people aged 45-54 are using twitter than those aged 18-24 at the present:

According to a new study by Michael Stelzner for the Social Media Success Summit 2009:

88% of all marketers are now using social media to advertise their business.
86% of marketers are now using twitter in particular to advertise their business.
Twitter is used by 94% of marketers who have been using social media for years.
40% of marketers using social media are spending 10+ hours a week at it.

And, yes, I have to admit I am hooked on this social media thing myself. I spend at least 12-15 hours a week staying current with industry events, blogging and tweeting. I absolutely love it.

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=104386

Perry
PS I am probably going to regret letting Rhonda (my wife) know how much time I am spending on these activities.

Oh, how search has changed over the years

2009-04-20T08:13:00.001-07:00

Interested in learning how dynamic search has been over the past 10 years. Bruce Clay has an interactive flow chart that shows the relationship among the major search engines today and in the past.

Below is what it looks like today. Basically there are only two engines driving all search: Google and Yahoo. They feed most other search engines for both organic and paid search.

(Image Soucre: Bruce Clay)

Now step back in time 10 years or so. There were 100’s of different search engines around.

(Image Source: Bruce Clay)

Ten years ago, one would hire a firm to submit their website to the different search portals for indexing purposes. Why because there were simply too many and the submission procedures too varied.

Today of course that is no longer an issue. You simply submit to Google and Yahoo and you are done – assuming Google lets you in!

Also of interest is the fact that 10 years ago or more there were no standards for the various search business models and how they worked. Search was still trying to define itself. For example, goto.com was a strong contender in organic search back then but you had to pay each time your listing (not an ad) was clicked on. You paid more to be higher in the organic search results. However, keep in mind that back then we did not really use the words organic or paid search.

To use this really fun and interactive relationship chart go to: http://www.bruceclay.com/serc_histogram/histogram.htm

Perry

Twitter has competition and it is called Flutter

2009-04-09T13:13:00.000-07:00

If you have not checked out Flutter yet, I advise you do. They are a new site that only allows 26 characters per "flap" as opposed to twitter which allows 126 per "tweet."

It is a real time saver. Also they have some unique features that twitter does not.

To view the demo go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeLZCy-_m3s

What will they think of next!

Perry
PS the video is a mockumentory. Enjoy!

AOL about to be spun off on own

2009-04-07T10:14:00.001-07:00

Very interesting finding.

Following up on my AOL story from yesterday, it appears that Time Warner is about to let go of AOL...now that it has direction and a new business objective.

To read the latest, see: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10213254-93.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5

Perry

I was thinking about AOL the other day

2009-04-05T17:27:00.000-07:00

I know it sounds crazy but I was thinking about AOL the other day...wondering what they have been up to.

For the younger generation, just so you know, AOL was once the online leader. They were the pioneer.

So what are they doing now? Anything up their sleeve?

Well, after some investigation I have found some very interesting things going on and being planned at AOL.

First of all, in case you have not heard, they just hired Tim Armstrong a former Google chief executive. Tim has been credited with building Google's search business worth almost $21 billion in 2008. Quite an accomplishment.

Tim is actually being charged with helping AOL develop their new "performance" based advertising model along with Greg Coleman, an old Reader's Digest ad guy that I knew from my days at the Digest. http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/04/03/how-will-armstrong-fare-at-aol/

What you ask? Why in the world is AOL trying to develop a new advertising model when Google has a 57% share of all online ad calls? http://www.attributor.com/blog/google-ad-server-share-now-at-57-microhoo-less-than-15-market-share/

Sounds crazy doesn't it?

Well, not really as it turns out. It appears that AOL has been very busy aggressively purchasing content sites ranging from TMZ, FanHouse and WalletPop to name a few. In fact, the various properties they now own boast 73 million monthly visitors and a 21% page view increase this year alone. In fact they now own 100 different content properties.

So how are they getting the experts to help them manage the content of these properties you ask? Well, as it turns out they have been busy hiring executives and editors that have been laid off from the publishing world. They have been hiring reporters and columnists from publications like the Associated Press and Los Angeles Times. http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=103051

So now it all makes sense. AOL is building a network of content sites and as such obtaining a lot of eyeballs. They will have experienced editors and reporters manage these sites. And, they will have Tim and Greg sell the eyeballs using their new advertising model.

Sounds pretty smart to me. Will it work? I guess we will have to wait and see.

Perry

Are you ready for our digital future?

2009-03-29T10:48:00.000-07:00

As an NYU professor teaching integrated and digital marketing, I cannot stress enough the importance of being prepared for this new world that is emerging ever so quickly.

Before the recession began we were obviously well on our way to becoming more and more digital in how we communicate and conduct business. However, the recession has seemed to help propel this event even quicker.

We as individuals are flocking to social sites (excuse the pun) at lightening speed to make connections
Publications are shifting from print to "digital only" versions at an even faster rate
Direct mail quantities are decreasing rapidly while at the same time shifting customer communications to email. http://adage.com/article?article_id=135003
Cloud computing is becoming more and more mainstream as a viable business model. Even companies like SAS are testing the cloud computing waters.

I do believe the future will be brighter than we can even imagine. However, we must make it through this storm first. And what a storm it is. But most important we must all be prepared and trained properly for this new world once the clouds lift. Because once the sun shines again it is not going to be the same. Guaranteed.

These are exciting times, these are scary times. Still so many unanswered questions.

Those that understand the new dynamic role digital will be playing in our emerging economy will be the ones poised for success. You must be prepared for the revolution. Get proper training now to set yourself apart from the rest of the pack.

Luckily for you more and more options are becoming available to get the digital training you will need for this new world. And NYU is leading the pack. Check out the following two programs offered by NYU for more information.

NYU Certificate in Digital Marketing http://www.scps.nyu.edu/course-detail/X50.9504/20092/web-analytics-integrating-website-and-e-mail-data-for-effective-digital-marketing-programs
NYU Master's Degree in Integrated Marketing http://www.scps.nyu.edu/areas-of-study/marketing/graduate-programs/ms-integrated-marketing/index.html

Within the certificate program some classes, like my web analytics class, are also offered online for distant learners. But be prepared these classes fill up quickly and are often wait listed.

Be ready for the future guys.

Perry

PS Any questions about these programs offered by NYU, please do not hesitate to contact me directly at pd29@nyu.edu.

YouTube is sugar and spice and everything nice

2009-03-25T06:45:00.000-07:00

Piper Jaffrey analyst Gene Munster conducted a study in February, 2009 and determined that YouTube is selling more in-stream advertising on more videos and attracting many new and substantial advertisers.

According to Rory Maher of paidcontent.org Munster surveyed the top 100 videos on YouTube for one week during the month of February and determined:

72 percent of the ads displayed were in-video ads versus 52 percent in January and 63 percent in December.
New advertisers on the site included Verizon, Adidas, Xbox, Disney, Kraft, and Chevy – yes you heard it right Disney is now on YouTube!

Obviously since in-video ads typically have a higher CPM than the ordinary cost-per-click network ads, it represents some additional revenue for YouTube.

So why did it take so long to see YouTube become more aggressive in it’s advertising efforts? I am not sure whether the wait was intentional or not, but it definitely served a couple of very important purposes:

The wait allowed advertisers to become more comfortable with YouTube and how advertising would and could work within this environment.
Additionally, YouTube’s reluctance to pursue an aggressive advertising policy in its infancy got us, the users, even more hooked and therefore less likely to put up a fuss when being shown an increase in advertisements.

Again, was this wait intentional or not on the part of YouTube? You decide.

For YouTube, they have been slowly integrating in-stream advertising to the viewers to ensure we are okay with this practice for some time. They actually began in-streaming advertising in August of 2007. Initially ads were to show up no earlier than 10 to 15 seconds into the video and were only placed on videos made by content partners. A very smart idea...slowly integrating more and more ads into the mix within a controlled environment.

And now I just read they are testing bigger homepage ads – masthead ads across the top of the page. http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=135449

I say to YouTube, go ahead and make some money. You have earned it. After all where else can you or I see so much video content for free and upload some of my own videos to share with others? No place that I know of.

Hey, If Disney is ready to advertise on YouTube, then everything must be sugar and spice and everything nice.

Perry

I promise to keep the iphone in perspective

2009-03-24T09:01:00.000-07:00

Sales figures were just released last month for the iphone. Did you know that the iphone now stands at 17 million in sales worldwide since its introduction? Wow!

I thought that sounded pretty impressive until I put it into perspective.

There are now 4 billion cellular users worldwide. That represents 60% of the world's population. http://www.cellular-news.com/story/35298.php

Nokia sold more than 470 million phones worldwide in 2008 alone. That represents a 38% market share. http://www.physorg.com/news155308101.html

I know I think iphone users rule the universe and I am constantly pushing the iphone to my friends and colleagues but I guess I need to keep things in perspective.

Sorry everyone for being so pushy.

Perry

Time Inc., Plans a Customizable Magazine Test

2009-03-18T15:28:00.000-07:00

As an old Reader's Digest guy, I must admit I am very excited by the prospects of this pending test by Time Inc. For this test they plan on letting us customize the content and advertising.

Will this work? I don't know but this should certainly help determine future options for publishers. I am sure many publishers small, medium and large will be lining up to see the results.

This new magazine is called "Mine." And, best part is during this testing phase they are offering the publication for free. Yes you heard me right, FREE. Quantities are limited so sign up now. To subscribe go to https://www.timecmg.com/mine/ .

The only disappointment is that you have a choice of content from only eight publications. I was kind of hoping for more options. But, hey, this is only a test. If it flies I am sure more options will be available.

Could this be what the Publishers Clearing House "model" turns into? Instead of selecting magazines you want to receive from the stamp sheet you select content you want to be included in your very own personalized magazine. Might be pretty cool.

For more information on this "Time-ly" test go to: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-ap-made-to-order-magazine,0,7970503.story

Enjoy your free magazine,
Perry

Internationally Google is not King

2009-03-17T11:41:00.000-07:00

Did you realize that Yahoo is actually the number one search portal in Japan, followed by Google?

http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=3718017972019115462

In fact, Yahoo Japan receives over half of all searches and is growing.

Why you ask is that the case?

Some say Yahoo returns better search results than Google in Japan. Others say it is because Yahoo entered the Japanese marketplace earlier than Google. You do a search and decide.

Perry

UPDATE 03/18/09
A friend of mine that works at Ogilvy (Jorge Ruiz) just passed me this link to shed a bit more light on why Yahoo is number one in Japan. Take a look. Very interesting. http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/08/23/3-reasons-why-the-internet-in-japan-is-ruled-by-one-single-company-yahoo/