The future of search: 5 ways to prepare
By Kevin Ryan
The process of searching and finding on the internet is changing right before our eyes. Billions of pages have been indexed and organized into relevant results to match billions of queries. The first goal of search engines was to gather as many pages as they could into an index. The next goal of each search engine included ranking the queries while delivering results as fast as possible. Searching and finding was meant to be a fast, efficient experience.
The introduction and subsequent proliferation of blended search results have changed the way searchers think while they search. Searchers are now being programmed to spend more time on the search results page. Their search experience is being enriched with more visual candy, and the days of providing a link and exit from the search page as quickly as possible are over.
Marketers have to learn how to function in the new age of search. Every inch of a company's web presence has the potential to be included on the main search results page. Video, images, and local business information (including maps) are now being included on search results pages. Smart marketers who recognize and embrace these changes will move ahead of their competitors and gain more revenue, mindshare, and brand equity.
Are you ready for the new Gasta search?
1. Rethink your thinking
Search engine optimization used to mean garnering hundreds of back links into a website and then hoping that search engines would rank your site favorably. Prior to that, search engines only read text through robotic software applications called crawlers or bots, so optimizing was all about the text.
Search engine result pages predictably included miles and miles of text listings, along with sponsored listings that can be bought in an auction format. Thus, SEO was focused primarily on obtaining better rankings through popularity and clearly labeling your content to make sure listing results were accurate and timely.
Ah, what a grand time it was.
Today's search results are a complex labyrinth consisting of text listings and advertisements for websites, along with video, maps, images, news, and local information. Google's introduction of Universal Search, combined with moves by other major search engines like Yahoo and Microsoft to offer consistently "blended" search results, has changed the way results are offered to the consuming public.
Your thinking had better change with the results.
2. Understand what's in the blend
Your content must now be segmented and thought of as individual assets that can (and should) be optimized independently. In the past, getting someone to your website from a search engine meant healthy, vibrant content. Rarely did we think of ancillary content as a means of appearing in search results.
comScore's qSearch reports more than 30 percent of all search results contained at least one blended result in September 2008. That number has been steadily increasing over time, and I expect blended penetration to continue a steady upward climb over the next year. Also in September 2008, comScore observed that 85 percent of searchers saw some type of blended result.
So, if nearly one-third of results contain some type of blend, what do those blends look like? While your business category results should be scrutinized on their own, qSearch data suggest that video is the most popular segment of all blended results.
Other segments of blended results getting attention include: "news," "images," "shopping," "entertainment," and "travel."
The problem is this: A high-ranking website doesn't necessarily mean high rankings for, or inclusion of, other site assets. It also doesn't mean that your content will be featured in an associated search for your brand, products, or services. Therefore, challenges facing the search engine marketer going forward will include stiffer competition for getting assets included from competitors, amateurs, and related providers.
Understanding where engines place emphasis is mission-critical.
3. Know who's blending what
Google is blending everything from news, images, and shopping to maps, stocks, weather, and travel. Google stands alone in including "books," "blogs," and "groups" information in its blended results.
Microsoft's Live Search is including health information as well, but unlike Google, MSN is taking a pass on "multiple" types of blended results and the likes of "books" and "groups." Yahoo is not including "books," "blogs," "groups," or health information in its blended results.
Every search engine is including local information, news, and video in its blended results. Local business information is also included with maps and weather, so local ads and assets are becoming more important than ever. Are all of your local addresses and telephone numbers correct? Get on it.
Another interesting development is the inclusion of "answers" and "definitions" categories in blended results across the top three search sites. These are most often in response to information gathering, as opposed to immediate commerce-driven searches, but that doesn't mean people aren't searching for technically specific information in searches. Technical information about an electronics item or the national switch to digital television, for example, may be high in the purchase funnel, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be there.
A searcher looking for information on "sarcoidosis" might be looking for information on diagnosis, but they could also be a potential medical drama audience member. Why shouldn't a 20-second clip from the television series "House" appear in a "sarcoidosis" search result alongside the mountain of pharma ads and "answers?"
A mid-tail search like "foam ear pads" for in-ear headphones might appear benign enough, but what about the commercial impact of images in results? If I am peddling $500 in-ear noise isolating headphones like the Shure SE530, I'd want to make sure my images (as opposed to only amateur images) appear in search results.
Any way you slice the blend, search is getting more personal.
4. Get personal with results
As search results become more personalized and relevant to the unique searcher, competition will increase for paid search market share. Searchers are either unaware or could care less about providing information to search engines about how they search.
My iGoogle page has local information news and fun gadgets. Yahoo and Microsoft also offer customized search solutions driven by the natural human desire to make everything one's own. Google even introduced an experimental project that allows users to rate search listings and suggest alternative sites. Yahoo's Search Monkey is another example of the search personalization phenomenon. Search Monkey is an open platform that Yahoo hopes will make search more useful and visually compelling.
Why would people invest time in helping Google make money? Why aren't people just searching and finding? The basic human need for recognition is a flame that has burned since the dawn of modern man. The internet and personalized search have poured napalm on that flame.
In the early stages of video's inclusion in blended results, one could watch the video on the results page. Watching video in results was quickly eliminated for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was the need for search engines to have searchers click off the page, as opposed to loitering on it.
While many of the projects search engines are engaged in to make search more efficient may be temporary, we will see components of these experiments incorporated on future search pages.
Information gathering is not a new phenomenon for search engines hoping to create a more relevant experience for searchers. The impact this information gathering has on the results page has never been more pronounced.
Personalization and customization will serve to facilitate increased blended search and thus serve to increase competitive activity in paid results. Recreating the search results page as a temporary destination, as opposed to a quick clicking-off point, will work against you if you do not shift your search engine marketing strategy to accommodate the change.
The search model has changed; how shall I begin to change with it?
5. Optimize everything
Now is the time to use every aspect of what you know about your existing and potential audience. You must apply that knowledge to your search strategy. You can't optimize everything out of the chute, so focus on the top-blended search categories initially.
Whether searching for "sushi" or "puppies" to the latest on "Beyonce" and "Britney," along with everything in between, the social components of the web are beginning to appear in search results. If you can't afford to start shooting video with your latest and greatest information, chances are your fans and detractors already have created brand love or hate content. Amping up social media marketing strategies with a search priority should be another driver for embracing the new search.
Video, local, news, and maps are among the highest categories represented in blended results, but niche interests are also represented. Consider the random and obscure search for a "coach gun scabbard." Embedded within the results page for coach gun scabbards was an amateur video reviewing scabbards made for -- you guessed it -- coach guns.
Make sure images, video, and local information are both accurate and included. Tagging video information is very important, but so are popularity rankings, so make sure you are putting your best foot forward.
From top-end search traffic to obscure mid- and long-tail searches, blended search has changed the way we find everything on the web. It is still early enough in the game to achieve some big and quick wins with modern audience optimization tactics -- so what are you waiting for?
Kevin Ryan is CMO of WebVisible Inc.
Showing posts with label gasta branding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gasta branding. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Gasta News: Digital Industry awaits the Carter Report
It will be a case of Get Carter as the Digital Industry rushes to find out the proposition of Stephen Carters report on Digital Britain.
The digital industry is buzzing ahead of Stephen Carter's much-anticipated Digital Britain report, but let's not forget the compelling vision at the centre of Carter's report: the aim to make the UK a world-leading digital creative capital.
Speaking last week, Carter hinted at a need to create greater opportunities and protection for the creative industries, in order to help the UK become a location of choice for the content industries. The plan is to create the regulatory framework and structures to help shape a Britain that is fit for purpose in the digital future.
Reports today suggest Carter will push for BBC Worldwide to be freed from its regulatory shackles to allow the commercial organisation to become a "British rights company on the global stage".
It's part of Carter's vision to ensure British content continues to be exported around the world in order to reap the economic and cultural benefits. With the UK largely viewed as a leader in digital advertising, it's time the content and technology industries were awarded the same kudos.
Carter's vision is imperative as the global content market accelerates. The UK market needs to create infrastructures that support the nurturing and growth of home grown talent and businesses.
Channel 4 CEO Andy Duncan has said the report could be one of the most important elements in deciding how the UK competes in the global economy. He believes it could determine how Britain contributes culturally, creatively and economically through the turbulent times ahead and has urged the UK media industry to work together to support the UK's cultural and economic future. Duncan's not wrong on this point. The potential to create an established vision is both necessary and inspiring - if it works.
Interestingly this comes ahead of the Competition Commission's decision on Project Kangaroo due early next month. While local rivals and the CC itself have major concerns about the potential lessening of competition in the UK market, the shareholders - ITV, Channel 4 and BBC Worldwide - have always argued that Kangaroo is crucial to the UK's ability to compete on a global stage as the likes of Hulu and iTunes continue to grow internationally.
With Carter's vision likely to stir up much debate in this area, is it possible that the controversial video-on demand service may still manage to limp across the line?
The digital industry is buzzing ahead of Stephen Carter's much-anticipated Digital Britain report, but let's not forget the compelling vision at the centre of Carter's report: the aim to make the UK a world-leading digital creative capital.
Speaking last week, Carter hinted at a need to create greater opportunities and protection for the creative industries, in order to help the UK become a location of choice for the content industries. The plan is to create the regulatory framework and structures to help shape a Britain that is fit for purpose in the digital future.
Reports today suggest Carter will push for BBC Worldwide to be freed from its regulatory shackles to allow the commercial organisation to become a "British rights company on the global stage".
It's part of Carter's vision to ensure British content continues to be exported around the world in order to reap the economic and cultural benefits. With the UK largely viewed as a leader in digital advertising, it's time the content and technology industries were awarded the same kudos.
Carter's vision is imperative as the global content market accelerates. The UK market needs to create infrastructures that support the nurturing and growth of home grown talent and businesses.
Channel 4 CEO Andy Duncan has said the report could be one of the most important elements in deciding how the UK competes in the global economy. He believes it could determine how Britain contributes culturally, creatively and economically through the turbulent times ahead and has urged the UK media industry to work together to support the UK's cultural and economic future. Duncan's not wrong on this point. The potential to create an established vision is both necessary and inspiring - if it works.
Interestingly this comes ahead of the Competition Commission's decision on Project Kangaroo due early next month. While local rivals and the CC itself have major concerns about the potential lessening of competition in the UK market, the shareholders - ITV, Channel 4 and BBC Worldwide - have always argued that Kangaroo is crucial to the UK's ability to compete on a global stage as the likes of Hulu and iTunes continue to grow internationally.
With Carter's vision likely to stir up much debate in this area, is it possible that the controversial video-on demand service may still manage to limp across the line?
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Gasta Advertising: Latest trend news
Search Advertising Slowed in 2008
Though Internet advertising has been vulnerable to the overall economic decline, search advertising has become more desirable for marketers. Still, U.S. search advertising saw its annual spending increase slow down a bit from its 2007 growth.
During the first half of 2008, $5.06 billion was spent on paid search, according to a report released by Interactive Advertising Bureau/PricewaterhouseCoopers. This reflected a 23.6 percent increase compared to the first half of 2007 when paid search spending was $4.10 billion.
However, search advertising saw its annual spending increase $1.89 billion in 2008, reflecting a slower growth compared to the $2.01 billion in additional year-over-year spending in 2007, according to eMarketer.
Search advertising annual spending increases are expected to remain relatively sluggish until 2012.
Video advertising saw a 245 percent increase in revenues during the first half of 2008, thanks mostly to a low base figure from the first half of 2007.
Sponsorships and classifieds both saw declines during the first half of 2008 compared to the same period in 2007. Classifieds lost 5.2 percent, while sponsorships lost 23.3 percent in revenues, according to the IAB/PwC study.
Search advertising’s share of total online ad spending increase to 45.3 percent in 2008 from 41.5 percent in 2007.
eMarketer attributes this to search advertising’s performance-based approach, which allows marketers to keep this area accountable and controlled during tough economic times.
Source:
http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?id=1006853
Though Internet advertising has been vulnerable to the overall economic decline, search advertising has become more desirable for marketers. Still, U.S. search advertising saw its annual spending increase slow down a bit from its 2007 growth.
During the first half of 2008, $5.06 billion was spent on paid search, according to a report released by Interactive Advertising Bureau/PricewaterhouseCoopers. This reflected a 23.6 percent increase compared to the first half of 2007 when paid search spending was $4.10 billion.
However, search advertising saw its annual spending increase $1.89 billion in 2008, reflecting a slower growth compared to the $2.01 billion in additional year-over-year spending in 2007, according to eMarketer.
Search advertising annual spending increases are expected to remain relatively sluggish until 2012.
Video advertising saw a 245 percent increase in revenues during the first half of 2008, thanks mostly to a low base figure from the first half of 2007.
Sponsorships and classifieds both saw declines during the first half of 2008 compared to the same period in 2007. Classifieds lost 5.2 percent, while sponsorships lost 23.3 percent in revenues, according to the IAB/PwC study.
Search advertising’s share of total online ad spending increase to 45.3 percent in 2008 from 41.5 percent in 2007.
eMarketer attributes this to search advertising’s performance-based approach, which allows marketers to keep this area accountable and controlled during tough economic times.
Source:
http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?id=1006853
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Gasta News: Launch your own search engine for your community, your needs
Web searches for minority groups
The genesis of the World Wide Web, in a Swiss laboratory, to serve a multi-national team of physicists, might lead many to think that the network is blind when it comes to race, sex, creed and colour.
But some sites are taking steps to address shortcomings in the way that the web serves some sectors of the population.
In October, Ask gave its search engine a fresh interface to help with its new-found focus on its core search audience, 60% of which were women.
In the US, a search site aimed squarely at black Americans, launched in April 2008.
Rushmore Drive's creator, Johnny Taylor, said search results can be more relevant to some social groups than to others. He cited the example of Type 2 diabetes, which predominantly affects Afro-Caribbean and Asian people.
He said: "If a user were to search for diabetes on Google, why would [Google] rank diabetes results as it pertains to black Americans early on in the result set, when only 14% of the US population is black?"
Results ranking
All search engines generate their results by looking at links leading to a webpage to get a sense of how important it is to web debate on that subject.
In such a set 'relevance' is a quantitative rather than a qualitative measure, and it is a short step from the 'wisdom of the crowds' to the 'tyranny of the majority'.
Said Mr Taylor: "People can affect change on Google, but the black population has less of an influence on Google to affect the result rankings."
With Rushmore Drive, said Mr Taylor, "it is more a matter of optimising the relevancy ranking based on one's cultural identity."
Rushmore Drive's editorial team seeks out sites relevant to the black community, and uses a unique algorithm which weights "black results" higher. It also exploits user feedback to tweak the relevance of results.
Aleks Krotoski, a social psychologist researcher at the University of Surrey, argued that such initiatives need to be seen in a wider sociological context.
"Each community has its own social norms, its own mores which are part of how its members make sense of the world," she said.
"Technology isn't a passive tool. It reflects the social norms and the mores of the people who developed it.
"So, the results of any search come from the algorithms and databases of their cultural perspectives," she added.
"They may not speak to or reflect the identity or needs of the minority group, who would achieve much better results by developing their own system from the bottom-up rather than to use one imposed from the top-down," she continued.
Web ownership
For Bill Dutton, director of the Oxford Internet Institute (OII), there is no doubt that the web is a divisive force.
"There's still a relationship between using the internet and socio-economic status," he said.
"Those that have higher socio-economic status tend to be more likely to be online; that's to do with having a PC in the home," said Mr Dutton. "That's a barrier."
Research in the early 90s by the OII suggested that those living in "distressed" inner-city areas tended to feel that in using the web they were using someone else's technology.
"With web use becoming more common among younger people, there is a greater sense of ownership," he said.
Also, he added, there was no doubt that the web was getting more representative as it started to include more languages.
Search engines such as Google and Yahoo have already picked up on the trend towards more niche web use by providing the means to develop individual search engines via Custom Search and Search Builder sites.
Yahoo's BOSS (Build your Own Search Service) even allows developers to customise their own results ranking, and so create bespoke search engines which can reflect the needs and interests of a particular search community.
"If the web community at large becomes niche-centric, then community search, for those people, could be much more effective than Google or any other search engine, said media consultant Mihaela Lica.
But, she pointed out, community-based search sites face problems when pursuing a relatively narrow audience.
Ever-decreasing relevance, when drilling down within certain socio-demographic groups, is one factor.
Once an algorithm is developed to appeal effectively to one sociological group, further subdivisions within that group become an issue; between male and female searchers, or young and old searchers, for example.
Ms Lica said there were practical problems as sites letting their narrow groups help refine results. In the case of Rushmore Drive she said "How would they know that the user who gets involved in the rating, searching, refining process is actually a member of the black community?"
And, she added, those who believe in the unifying power of the web may baulk at the notion of "black" and "white" search results.
She said: "Online we have no colour - 'segregating' knowledge is not something that gets my vote. Search results should be unbiased and impartial."
nod to Murray Dick and Mark Ward
The genesis of the World Wide Web, in a Swiss laboratory, to serve a multi-national team of physicists, might lead many to think that the network is blind when it comes to race, sex, creed and colour.
But some sites are taking steps to address shortcomings in the way that the web serves some sectors of the population.
In October, Ask gave its search engine a fresh interface to help with its new-found focus on its core search audience, 60% of which were women.
In the US, a search site aimed squarely at black Americans, launched in April 2008.
Rushmore Drive's creator, Johnny Taylor, said search results can be more relevant to some social groups than to others. He cited the example of Type 2 diabetes, which predominantly affects Afro-Caribbean and Asian people.
He said: "If a user were to search for diabetes on Google, why would [Google] rank diabetes results as it pertains to black Americans early on in the result set, when only 14% of the US population is black?"
Results ranking
All search engines generate their results by looking at links leading to a webpage to get a sense of how important it is to web debate on that subject.
In such a set 'relevance' is a quantitative rather than a qualitative measure, and it is a short step from the 'wisdom of the crowds' to the 'tyranny of the majority'.
Said Mr Taylor: "People can affect change on Google, but the black population has less of an influence on Google to affect the result rankings."
With Rushmore Drive, said Mr Taylor, "it is more a matter of optimising the relevancy ranking based on one's cultural identity."
Rushmore Drive's editorial team seeks out sites relevant to the black community, and uses a unique algorithm which weights "black results" higher. It also exploits user feedback to tweak the relevance of results.
Aleks Krotoski, a social psychologist researcher at the University of Surrey, argued that such initiatives need to be seen in a wider sociological context.
"Each community has its own social norms, its own mores which are part of how its members make sense of the world," she said.
"Technology isn't a passive tool. It reflects the social norms and the mores of the people who developed it.
"So, the results of any search come from the algorithms and databases of their cultural perspectives," she added.
"They may not speak to or reflect the identity or needs of the minority group, who would achieve much better results by developing their own system from the bottom-up rather than to use one imposed from the top-down," she continued.
Web ownership
For Bill Dutton, director of the Oxford Internet Institute (OII), there is no doubt that the web is a divisive force.
"There's still a relationship between using the internet and socio-economic status," he said.
"Those that have higher socio-economic status tend to be more likely to be online; that's to do with having a PC in the home," said Mr Dutton. "That's a barrier."
Research in the early 90s by the OII suggested that those living in "distressed" inner-city areas tended to feel that in using the web they were using someone else's technology.
"With web use becoming more common among younger people, there is a greater sense of ownership," he said.
Also, he added, there was no doubt that the web was getting more representative as it started to include more languages.
Search engines such as Google and Yahoo have already picked up on the trend towards more niche web use by providing the means to develop individual search engines via Custom Search and Search Builder sites.
Yahoo's BOSS (Build your Own Search Service) even allows developers to customise their own results ranking, and so create bespoke search engines which can reflect the needs and interests of a particular search community.
"If the web community at large becomes niche-centric, then community search, for those people, could be much more effective than Google or any other search engine, said media consultant Mihaela Lica.
But, she pointed out, community-based search sites face problems when pursuing a relatively narrow audience.
Ever-decreasing relevance, when drilling down within certain socio-demographic groups, is one factor.
Once an algorithm is developed to appeal effectively to one sociological group, further subdivisions within that group become an issue; between male and female searchers, or young and old searchers, for example.
Ms Lica said there were practical problems as sites letting their narrow groups help refine results. In the case of Rushmore Drive she said "How would they know that the user who gets involved in the rating, searching, refining process is actually a member of the black community?"
And, she added, those who believe in the unifying power of the web may baulk at the notion of "black" and "white" search results.
She said: "Online we have no colour - 'segregating' knowledge is not something that gets my vote. Search results should be unbiased and impartial."
nod to Murray Dick and Mark Ward
Friday, November 28, 2008
Gasta News: Mobile advertising on the Rise say analysts
Advertising: an emergent stream of revenues for the mobile industry
LONDON – 25 November 2008 – Mobile advertising could become a strong source of revenues for the mobile industry. The European mobile industry has extensively explored the use of advertising recently as a sustainable business model for mobile content, mobile messaging and other services. Despite being in the initial stage, these models have galvanised the industry. The level of confidence of the mobile communications and advertising industries in the potential of mobile advertising is very high.
New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.wireless.frost.com), Ad-based Content and Communications: A Lucrative Avenue for the Mobile Industry estimates that the mobile social and content advertising market revenues should reach 2.18 billion euro in 2012 in Europe. Mobile content advertising, ad-based music, video, TV and games will represent the major source of revenues.
“To achieve high revenues, the mobile advertising industry will need to successfully confront three main challenges. What should be concentrated on is: continuously enhance the mobile user experience through high-speed connectivity and high-quality user interfaces; use ads as a transparent value to consumers’ mobile experience without being intrusive; and educate the advertising industry on how to exploit the advertising power of mobile devices,” notes Saverio Romeo, Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst. “If these challenges are not adequately faced, the advertising market will not grow strongly as the mobile industry expects.”
From the mobile industry point of view, advertising is a potential revenue stream that can counterbalance the continuous decrease of revenues from voice and SMS services. However, advertisers and agencies, the sources of the advertising revenue stream, are, only now, gradually learning the use of the mobile device as an advertising medium.
“Agencies’ budgets rarely include a specific allocation for mobile communications,” states Romeo. “An intense synergy between the mobile and the advertising industries is crucial to transform today’s enthusiasm into strong revenues in the future.”
Ad-based Content and Communications: A Lucrative Avenue for the Mobile Industry is part of the Mobile & Wireless Growth Partnership Services Programme, which also includes research in the following markets:European Mobile Premium Content Markets, Mobile Messaging Markets in Europe and Exploring the European Market for Mobile Smart Devices. All research included in subscriptions provide detailed market opportunities and industry trends that have been evaluated following extensive interviews with market participants. Interviews with the press are available.
If you are interested in a virtual brochure, which provides manufacturers, end users and other industry participants with an overview of the ad-based content and communications market for the mobile industry, please send an e-mail to Joanna Lewandowska, Corporate Communications, at joanna.lewandowska@frost.com, with your contact details. Upon receipt of the above information, an overview will be sent to you by e-mail.
Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, partners with clients to accelerate their growth. The company's TEAM Research, Growth Consulting and Growth Team Membership™ empower clients to create a growth-focused culture that generates, evaluates and implements effective growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan employs over 45 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment community from more than 30 offices on six continents. For more information about Frost & Sullivan’s Growth Partnership Services, visit http://www.frost.com.
LONDON – 25 November 2008 – Mobile advertising could become a strong source of revenues for the mobile industry. The European mobile industry has extensively explored the use of advertising recently as a sustainable business model for mobile content, mobile messaging and other services. Despite being in the initial stage, these models have galvanised the industry. The level of confidence of the mobile communications and advertising industries in the potential of mobile advertising is very high.
New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.wireless.frost.com), Ad-based Content and Communications: A Lucrative Avenue for the Mobile Industry estimates that the mobile social and content advertising market revenues should reach 2.18 billion euro in 2012 in Europe. Mobile content advertising, ad-based music, video, TV and games will represent the major source of revenues.
“To achieve high revenues, the mobile advertising industry will need to successfully confront three main challenges. What should be concentrated on is: continuously enhance the mobile user experience through high-speed connectivity and high-quality user interfaces; use ads as a transparent value to consumers’ mobile experience without being intrusive; and educate the advertising industry on how to exploit the advertising power of mobile devices,” notes Saverio Romeo, Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst. “If these challenges are not adequately faced, the advertising market will not grow strongly as the mobile industry expects.”
From the mobile industry point of view, advertising is a potential revenue stream that can counterbalance the continuous decrease of revenues from voice and SMS services. However, advertisers and agencies, the sources of the advertising revenue stream, are, only now, gradually learning the use of the mobile device as an advertising medium.
“Agencies’ budgets rarely include a specific allocation for mobile communications,” states Romeo. “An intense synergy between the mobile and the advertising industries is crucial to transform today’s enthusiasm into strong revenues in the future.”
Ad-based Content and Communications: A Lucrative Avenue for the Mobile Industry is part of the Mobile & Wireless Growth Partnership Services Programme, which also includes research in the following markets:European Mobile Premium Content Markets, Mobile Messaging Markets in Europe and Exploring the European Market for Mobile Smart Devices. All research included in subscriptions provide detailed market opportunities and industry trends that have been evaluated following extensive interviews with market participants. Interviews with the press are available.
If you are interested in a virtual brochure, which provides manufacturers, end users and other industry participants with an overview of the ad-based content and communications market for the mobile industry, please send an e-mail to Joanna Lewandowska, Corporate Communications, at joanna.lewandowska@frost.com, with your contact details. Upon receipt of the above information, an overview will be sent to you by e-mail.
Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, partners with clients to accelerate their growth. The company's TEAM Research, Growth Consulting and Growth Team Membership™ empower clients to create a growth-focused culture that generates, evaluates and implements effective growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan employs over 45 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment community from more than 30 offices on six continents. For more information about Frost & Sullivan’s Growth Partnership Services, visit http://www.frost.com.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Gasta Search Statistics
Search engine data is the most relevant on the net
The net reveals the ties that bind
Regular columnist Bill Thompson wonders what it will take to get used to living in a networked society.
One of the throwaway remarks I sometimes make at conferences is that "Google knows you're pregnant before you do".
I can say this because the things you search for will change as your life changes, and search engine providers may well be able to spot the significance of these changes because they aggregate data from millions of people.
Now Google's philanthropic arm, google.org, has shown just what it can do with the data it gathers from us all by offering to predict where 'flu outbreaks will take place in the USA.
It has found that "certain search terms are good indicators of flu activity", in that they correlate well with reports from the official Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
And it claims that "across each of the nine surveillance regions of the United States, we were able to accurately estimate current flu levels one to two weeks faster than published CDC reports", a result that could save people's lives by alerting them to have 'flu vaccinations earlier than they might otherwise have done.
This is a really interesting piece of work and clearly demonstrates the power of data mining. Its potential usefulness is not limited to health matters.
Pick and mix
As John Naughton pointed out in The Observer, "everyone I know in business has known for months that the UK is in recession, but it's only lately that the authorities have been in a position to confirm that - because the official data always lag the current reality."
Perhaps the answer lies buried somewhere in the queries being made online, with company directors or politicians searching for terms that imply a coming recession, like details of redundancy pay or bankruptcy protection.
It isn't only Google who can do this of course. Its database of queries is vast and fast-growing, but it is only one among many databases that underpin the modern world.
The banking system is really only a collection of collected databases recording who has which assets, while neither government nor business could operate without complex data stores.
Soon the national ID register will store details of everyone in the UK, while the forthcoming Communications Data Bill is likely to include proposals to create a vast system that will record details of every e-mail sent, every website surfed and every file downloaded.
As we have seen with flu trends, sometimes the "interesting" knowledge that can be extracted is well-concealed until comparisons can be made with other sources, as it was the correlation between some search terms and the real-world data that mattered.
Of course Google has not revealed which search terms it analysed because doing so would undermine the model's effectiveness.
Unfortunately it is being equally reticent about how it has ensured that the data its uses is properly anonymised so that users cannot be identified on the basis of their queries.
A letter from the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and Patient Privacy Rights to Google boss Eric Schmidt has not been answered, leaving those concerned with online privacy uncertain over the broader implications of the project.
Early warning
But as Cade Metz points out in an insightful article in The Register, we may all be happy to know that a 'flu outbreak is coming, but what happens when the disease involved is more life-threatening and the government asks Google for the names and IP addresses of anyone whose search terms indicate that they are infected?
It's not that I don't trust Google. I don't trust any company, government department or individual without a good reason to do so.
In the case of search engines that claim to protect my privacy I want to know just how they do it and will not accept vague reassurances.
In the case of governments that want to build vast databases, I want strong legal sanctions against their abuse and full disclosure of the technical details.
Those of us living in the west with access to technology and the network have lived through a revolution in the last decade and a half that is as radical in its impact as the industrial revolution, and it has happened a lot faster.
It is hardly surprising that we do not yet know how to operate in a networked world where amazingly detailed data is routinely stored, processed and made available.
We will need to think in new ways, learn to assess risk according to new criteria, and find ways to hold those who have power over us - whether political, social or cultural - accountable in new ways.
The US writer Curt Monash has written about this topic many times over the years, arguing that since we clearly cannot halt the move towards data capture and use we should put legal and regulatory frameworks in place as a matter of urgency.
We have made a start in Europe with data protection legislation which could be strengthened and reinforced if politicians were willing to make the effort.
But first we need an active press and an engaged population, one that asks hard questions, forces those who want to develop new databases to be accountable and open, and makes the boundaries of acceptable surveillance a matter of public debate.
And perhaps we should ask google.org to start work on "Privacy Trends", hoping to spot privacy disasters before they happen by looking at searches for "compromised data", "hacked database" and "lost USB stick".
Bill Thompson is an independent journalist and regular commentator on the BBC World Service programme Digital Planet.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Gasta: Personalised Search
Gasta Personalised Search for your company website.
You can reap the benefits of having your own personal search engine for you and your collegues to share in the revenues, and benefit from Search per acquisition affiliations.
Google leads in personalised search.
1. You can no longer assume that rankings as you see them are global. Anyone logged in while they search is potentially seeing a different set of results for the same keyword. You can log out of your Google account to search or turn off personalized results, but it won't do much good since every other user is potentially searching with personalization.
2. If Google is incorporating usage data from other sources such as the Google Toolbar, Google Chrome and Google Analytics, it means that the user experience is going to play a heavier role in SEO. Keep this in mind: for Google, the user experience is everything. Doesn't it then make sense for them to incorporate available usage data when ranking websites?
3. With these new data sources, Google could potentially be scaling back the emphasis on inbound links in their ranking algorithm. Links to this point have been central for Google rankings. With their market share continually improving and the unparalleled usage data that affords them we can reasonably expect that they'll be putting more emphasis on these metrics in the future.
4. Expected traffic estimates based on rankings just became difficult if not impossible to achieve. In the past, traffic could be reasonably estimated by multiplying the available search usage for a given keyword by the known traffic percentage of a given position. The 1st position, for example, receÃved some 48% of traffic for a keyword according to leaked AOL data from a few years back. For a keyword receiving 100 searches per month, you could reasonably estimate 48 visits per month based on a #1 ranking for that keyword. SEO companies used that data to take some of the guesswork out of their campaigns. With personalized search these estimates are going to become far less accurate if not completely unreliable.
5. Overall, this means you need to keep your eyes OFF the search engine rankings to a large degree. Does a #1 position for your Google account mean you could be somewhere back on page 5 for someone else? Probably not. But the point is, from here on out we can't be sure without extensive testing. Rankings have haven't ever meant much - they've always been a means to an end, the end being quality traffic and ultimately more sales, attention or whatever your website goal may be. Now, more than ever, high-quality traffic should be your focus.
Personalized search isn't exactly a new concept - it's been discussed for at least a couple of years now. But we're seeing it receive heavier emphasis lately, and the buzz is on that Google is going to change the game again soon. Like it or not, we're likely going to have to let go of rankings as a metric for success.
You can reap the benefits of having your own personal search engine for you and your collegues to share in the revenues, and benefit from Search per acquisition affiliations.
Google leads in personalised search.
1. You can no longer assume that rankings as you see them are global. Anyone logged in while they search is potentially seeing a different set of results for the same keyword. You can log out of your Google account to search or turn off personalized results, but it won't do much good since every other user is potentially searching with personalization.
2. If Google is incorporating usage data from other sources such as the Google Toolbar, Google Chrome and Google Analytics, it means that the user experience is going to play a heavier role in SEO. Keep this in mind: for Google, the user experience is everything. Doesn't it then make sense for them to incorporate available usage data when ranking websites?
3. With these new data sources, Google could potentially be scaling back the emphasis on inbound links in their ranking algorithm. Links to this point have been central for Google rankings. With their market share continually improving and the unparalleled usage data that affords them we can reasonably expect that they'll be putting more emphasis on these metrics in the future.
4. Expected traffic estimates based on rankings just became difficult if not impossible to achieve. In the past, traffic could be reasonably estimated by multiplying the available search usage for a given keyword by the known traffic percentage of a given position. The 1st position, for example, receÃved some 48% of traffic for a keyword according to leaked AOL data from a few years back. For a keyword receiving 100 searches per month, you could reasonably estimate 48 visits per month based on a #1 ranking for that keyword. SEO companies used that data to take some of the guesswork out of their campaigns. With personalized search these estimates are going to become far less accurate if not completely unreliable.
5. Overall, this means you need to keep your eyes OFF the search engine rankings to a large degree. Does a #1 position for your Google account mean you could be somewhere back on page 5 for someone else? Probably not. But the point is, from here on out we can't be sure without extensive testing. Rankings have haven't ever meant much - they've always been a means to an end, the end being quality traffic and ultimately more sales, attention or whatever your website goal may be. Now, more than ever, high-quality traffic should be your focus.
Personalized search isn't exactly a new concept - it's been discussed for at least a couple of years now. But we're seeing it receive heavier emphasis lately, and the buzz is on that Google is going to change the game again soon. Like it or not, we're likely going to have to let go of rankings as a metric for success.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Gasta Video News:
Online TV viewing doubles in past year
The regulator’s annual UK Communications Market Report found the number of people watching TV programmes online grew from 8% to 17%, and nearly a third of internet
The number of UK internet users who watched YouTube hit 9m in April, nearly 50% more than a year ago, while the BBC iPlayer delivered more than 700,000 daily video streams in May 2008.
The number of households with digital video recorders grew 53% in 2007 to nearly 6m (23%) and the majority (88%) use them to fast-forward through ads.
The findings were in line with increased online ad spend, which, according to Ofcom, grew to £2.8bn in 2007, attracting more money than the combined ad spend on ITV1, Channel 4, Five and S4C.
This was mainly driven by consumers upgrading from dial-up to broadband.
More than one in ten mobile phone users have accessed the internet on their phone and 3G mobile connections increased by 4.7m (60%) in 2007 to reach 12.5m subscribers.
According to the Ofcom report, the average UK adult spent seven hours nine minutes a day using various communications services, six minutes more than in 2002. This includes radio listening, TV viewing, time spent online, texting or talking on the telephone.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Gasta Advetising set to grow
Find the online opportunities in your own backyard: Gasta.com
These days, the advertising community is focusing its attention on how to create ads for online media -- including video, rich media, Flash, etc. -- and the revenue potential associated with these channels. However, a less-often-asked but vitally important question in terms of industry shift, as well as dollars and cents, is this: Where will these ads be placed?
Industry estimates suggest that mobile advertising will reach nearly $10 billion in the next few years, with online video reaching nearly $3 billion. However, advertising at the local market level -- although not as frequently discussed -- has the potential for even bigger numbers and greater growth. What's more, local advertising isn't at odds with mobile and online video, as many assume. Rather, rich media and geotargeted place-based mobile advertising are likely to be big components of that local online ad spend. Within the context of the changing media landscape, local online advertising represents a massive opportunity that is coming into its own -- and bears more attention from the advertising community.
Tip O'Neill once said, "All politics is local." And while that's not quite true of advertising, it does resonate when assessing this new shift into hyper-local marketing and advertising. According to eMarketer, $97 billion of the $157 billion -- more than 60 percent -- of the advertising market in the U.S. is focused on local. The online portion of that has thus far lagged behind the other advertising channels, with only about $2.1 billion -- 2 percent -- of local advertising being online at the end of 2007. However, that number is expected to more than triple over the next four years to more than $7.8 billion. That's a huge movement of dollars shifting toward reaching local audiences online.
But where are these dollars going to end up?
Although traditional local media -- Yellow Pages, newspapers, radio and broadcast television -- all have an online presence, none of them enjoys the dominance on the web that they do in their "home markets." Yet their audiences are moving online at faster and faster rates, resulting in major drop-offs in print subscriptions to newspapers, broadcast TV audiences, terrestrial radio listenership and Yellow Pages customers.
For example, the Kelsey Group recently found the erosion of print Yellow Pages is going to increase from 2-3 percent to more than 10 percent this year. That's a pretty massive decrease year over year. And even the Yellow Pages Marketing Association concedes that although online usage of Yellow Pages is growing, a 10 percent drop in print usage dwarfs the increase in online searches. Newspapers are in a similar boat with their advertising; online ad sales are climbing, but offline usage declines are taking a larger chunk of ad sales away from the industry as a whole.
And yet, projections show online ad sales more than tripling -- and there has to be a place for all that advertising to land, outside of the traditional media's online presences mentioned above.
With Google, Yahoo and online Yellow Pages growing their audiences, there is certainly going to be growth in local business searches. But what about brand advertising and trying to reach people who are migrating away from traditional television, radio and newspaper outlets for their news?
The numbers are a little grim. There are about 1,400 daily newspapers and 7,000 television and radio stations in the U.S., and back-of-the-envelope math shows that they each produce about three to six stories per day, or about 22,000 local stories for the entire U.S. This for an audience of roughly 20,000 individual cities and towns. All these players used to be able to back up their locally produced content with national stories, thereby providing a full news experience for their viewers or readers. But, the internet has changed all that; people get their national news from national sources. Instead of competing with other local newspapers, papers are competing with every news site that has a web page. Given this fragmentation, local news sites are not maintaining their market share.
So what's going to take up the slack?
Well, nature abhors a vacuum. Thus, amateur, user-generated content and commentaries are taking off in local markets. The internet's solution to the dearth of local news coverage is the same as it has been with other problems of scale: let the people build it themselves. Similar to Wikipedia, the Open Directory and Usenet, truly local content is going to be provided by the people who live there.
In looking at sites like MetroBlogs, Gothamist publications, Outside.in, NowPublic, Baristanet and Topix (the site that I run), it becomes apparent that a massive amount of attention and investment has been paid to giving people a platform for engagement with the places they live. And while social networks (based on who you know) like Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace have generated a lot of usage, and even more buzz, none of them has really provided a locally contextual venue. You are unlikely to meet the neighbors who live two blocks away via Facebook or LinkedIn. However, when that same family starts blogging about your neighborhood or commenting on something another neighbor wrote, it's a compelling discussion -- one that you're likely to read and possibly even join.
Given the aforementioned advertising growth and the decline of the traditional places for it to go, user-generated content is where the action is going to be. The local online outlets that make the most sense for a given campaign will vary greatly depending on where you live and who you're trying to reach with your advertising. But the potential audience size available through these channels is impressive. Speaking for Topix, we've seen comment rates go from around 30,000 comments a day in the middle of 2007 to more than 140,000 comments a day -- or more than 3.5 million comments a month -- across more than 20,000 cities and towns within the U.S.
Media consumption and local audiences' preferences are shifting. Advertising is going to shift as well. So along with that cool viral video and mobile campaign, consider how you can make the most of region-specific opportunities as the $97 billion gorilla of locally targeted ad dollars spent in the U.S. starts to move online.
Chris Tolles is CEO of Topix
Friday, August 08, 2008
Gasta top repeat keywords purchased.
Top 100 repeat purchased keywords
search engine promotion
search engine submission
web search engine
search engine
search engines
search engine ranking
search engine marketing
search engine placement
all search engine
other search engines
search engine optimization
business search engine
asp search engine
search engine php
photo search engine
american search engine
names of search engines
world search engines
search engine rss
china search engine
web search engines
people search engines
christian search engine
medical search engine
search web sites
popular web sites
business loans calculator
new business loans
new business loan
business loan
search
people search
html search
search spider
search by email
search terms
email address search
job searching
magazine article search
music search com
search message boards
china search
job search
job searches
jobs search
music search
photo search
news paper
current news
rueters news
breaking news reuters
latest news
reuters news
unusual news
reuters news agency
local news
news archives
news today
dow news
france news
global news
nbc news
news and
news from
news headlines
news reports
news sport
news this week
news tickers
register news
retail news
shopping news
weather news
business startup loans
canadian businesses
business article
business newspapers
sports business
business for sale
business monthly
business newspaper
businesses for sale
cards business
homebased business
top business magazines
bad credit loans
unsecured loans
fast loans
loans
sba loan rates
sba loans for women
listen to music
find music
downloading music
music
music downloads
radio online
reuters online
online jobs
online advertising
virtual games online
internet advertising
pay per click advertising
ppc advertising
advertising
web advertising
best of
pride of
the times of
times of
website promotion
website marketing
job websites
website designers
website for sale
reuters website
banks
bank
bank pnc
hotels
holidays
weekend breaks
internet
web marketing
baby slippers
mortgage
tv over internet
christmas shopping
computer stores
hotel
industry magazines
information
internet articles
trends magazine
videos
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
