Tough economic times call for small businesses to get creative. Here is why you should consider implementing a multi-domain strategy for your business.
COST. A memorable, highly targeted and keyword-rich domain name, garners free organic search engine traffic. By acquiring a domain name from the secondary domain market, you are spending less money in traffic than by engaging in often costly keyword search buys or print advertising.
BRANDING. Acquiring domains related to your products and or services sends a strong and consistent message to your customers and builds brand equity while avoiding customer confusion and lost traffic. For example, a photographer's website would benefit from camera, weddings and portrait themed domains.
GLOBAL REACH. Although the "dot com" is the most common extension, you should cast your net wider by getting as many extensions possible, including country code specific extensions. Act locally, think globally!
CAPITAL INVESTMENT. Like fine wines, domain names appreciate in value as they get older, thanks to the navigation traffic they acquire from prominent search engine positioning. By acquiring multiple premium domain names you are building a valuable portfolio of assets.
Are you ready plan a multiple domain strategy for your business? BuyDomains has the largest inventory of premium domain names — let us help you find one that matches your business needs. Contact domains@buydomains.com.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Gasta News:Search Strategy is Critical
When the going gets tough, the tough get searching.
As the shadow of a recession looms large, the knock-on effect has seen ad budgets if not slashed then certainly tightened.
This week's NMA highlighted concerns raised by key figures within the online industry that brands are rethinking their online ad strategies in light of the current economic misery.
However, one area that looks like it will benefit is search - an accountable, proven marketing channel that shows no sign of slowing down.
Almost everyone from the numerous agencies NMA spoke to for this week's front-page story said that search, and indeed affiliate, will see more money pumped in to it as brands look to areas they can pretty much guarantee will work.
But as brands demand results, does that mean that creativity is sucked out of search?
We've seen plenty of moves this year that have given search specialists the chance to show how creative they can be with campaigns.
Reaction to Google's trademarking decision is probably the most high-profile example, with agencies saying that launching brand protection campaigns was now almost as high on the agenda as brand building and acquisition campaigns for some clients.
But will creativity now be put on hold in favour of results? Will clients solely demand ROI, rather than creative thinking?
Similarly, if search becomes the commodity that it's threatening to be and so simply Just Another Media Buy, will that take the excitement out of it?
I doubt it, but I'm sure that there'll be plenty of meetings between marketing directors and search agencies in months to come where the question of creativity versus results will be top of the agenda.
As the shadow of a recession looms large, the knock-on effect has seen ad budgets if not slashed then certainly tightened.
This week's NMA highlighted concerns raised by key figures within the online industry that brands are rethinking their online ad strategies in light of the current economic misery.
However, one area that looks like it will benefit is search - an accountable, proven marketing channel that shows no sign of slowing down.
Almost everyone from the numerous agencies NMA spoke to for this week's front-page story said that search, and indeed affiliate, will see more money pumped in to it as brands look to areas they can pretty much guarantee will work.
But as brands demand results, does that mean that creativity is sucked out of search?
We've seen plenty of moves this year that have given search specialists the chance to show how creative they can be with campaigns.
Reaction to Google's trademarking decision is probably the most high-profile example, with agencies saying that launching brand protection campaigns was now almost as high on the agenda as brand building and acquisition campaigns for some clients.
But will creativity now be put on hold in favour of results? Will clients solely demand ROI, rather than creative thinking?
Similarly, if search becomes the commodity that it's threatening to be and so simply Just Another Media Buy, will that take the excitement out of it?
I doubt it, but I'm sure that there'll be plenty of meetings between marketing directors and search agencies in months to come where the question of creativity versus results will be top of the agenda.
Gasta Seo: Reputation Management
If your website or products suffer from bad reviews or negative feedback, Sometimes disguised as “constructive criticism” do not sit and hope that it will go away; this is a set of circumstances that you can and must change and influence. Everyone would much rather receive a pat on the back, but how do you stop this negativity from getting in the way of your clients? It’s called reputation management, sometimes clients marketing can conflict with the reputation of an area or a ‘ghettoisation’ as happened with West Belfast during the prolonged troubles, However when local communities started to respond to this negative portrayal in a positive way by starting community festivals instead of traditional ‘bonfires’ and demonstrating and discussing all the positive aspects of the West Belfast community such as low crime, lively social networks, strong community support groups, and neighbourliness. What happened was a complete turnaround of the perception of West Belfast as a ‘ghetto’ into one of a vibrant community that has become a Mecca for conflict resolution.
Gasta SEO Services explains that reputation management and SEO go hand-in-hand because it’s all about getting the positive results above the negative ones. They also suggest participating in and leveraging social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. and building up the positive picture of your website to downgrade and diminish the negative comments and to help gain positive momentum.
Gasta SEO Services explains that reputation management and SEO go hand-in-hand because it’s all about getting the positive results above the negative ones. They also suggest participating in and leveraging social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. and building up the positive picture of your website to downgrade and diminish the negative comments and to help gain positive momentum.
Gasta News:Internet feels the bite of Crunch!
Mixed News as internet feels the bite of Crunch!
A straw poll of media agencies from the NMA Top 100 Interactive Agencies 2007 guide found budgets are under pressure as marketers alter their media plans ahead of the potential economic downturn. The findings are in conflict with market predictions. A report by analyst firm Enders Analysis this week said UK online ad spends was set to grow...
Meanwhile automotive brands plan to stop using dedicated campaign sites as budgets tighten and consumer’s tire of fragmented content. Car brands including Mercedes and Land Rover plan to pull back from campaign sites for car launches, switching to a central online hub. Mercedes has launched a global online hub, built by Digital Annexe that will house all its brand activity. It has been built to incorporate video streaming, an easily updateable back-end system and increased promotional space....
Online Video's Short Shelf Life
On average, video viewer ship peaks early in a video's life-cycle.
Thursday 19th of June 2008 12:00:00 AM
We set out with a simple question: throughout the life of a video, do most views occur in the first few days and weeks or are they distributed randomly over time? Since Tube Mogul tracks millions of videos, we turned to the data and were surprised to find such a robust trend: viewer ship peaks early.
Methodology
Our sample includes data for views by day for 10,916 videos over a 90 day time period. In order to exclude casual creators of online video (i.e. "Mickey’s Birthday"), each video in the sample achieved a minimum of 1,000 cumulative views over the 90 day time period.
On average, videos are time-sensitive. Trends pointed out elsewhere, such as "evergreen" (non-time sensitive) content always fetching views or videos randomly "going viral," seem more of a rarity than an underlying trend in the data.
A straw poll of media agencies from the NMA Top 100 Interactive Agencies 2007 guide found budgets are under pressure as marketers alter their media plans ahead of the potential economic downturn. The findings are in conflict with market predictions. A report by analyst firm Enders Analysis this week said UK online ad spends was set to grow...
Meanwhile automotive brands plan to stop using dedicated campaign sites as budgets tighten and consumer’s tire of fragmented content. Car brands including Mercedes and Land Rover plan to pull back from campaign sites for car launches, switching to a central online hub. Mercedes has launched a global online hub, built by Digital Annexe that will house all its brand activity. It has been built to incorporate video streaming, an easily updateable back-end system and increased promotional space....
Online Video's Short Shelf Life
On average, video viewer ship peaks early in a video's life-cycle.
Thursday 19th of June 2008 12:00:00 AM
We set out with a simple question: throughout the life of a video, do most views occur in the first few days and weeks or are they distributed randomly over time? Since Tube Mogul tracks millions of videos, we turned to the data and were surprised to find such a robust trend: viewer ship peaks early.
Methodology
Our sample includes data for views by day for 10,916 videos over a 90 day time period. In order to exclude casual creators of online video (i.e. "Mickey’s Birthday"), each video in the sample achieved a minimum of 1,000 cumulative views over the 90 day time period.
On average, videos are time-sensitive. Trends pointed out elsewhere, such as "evergreen" (non-time sensitive) content always fetching views or videos randomly "going viral," seem more of a rarity than an underlying trend in the data.
Gasta SEO: Oganic Search
If your company's organic search results aren't what you wish they were, check out these key tricks to know and implement. By Noah Elkin
When it comes to search engine optimization (SEO), there is no magic bullet. Effective SEO boils down to doing a lot of little things well. Imagine building a house -- each brick that goes into the foundation plays a vital role in creating a solid structure. A website is similarly comprised of a large number of building blocks, each of which needs to be given a proper level of attention to maximize your site's visibility. Following are 11 steps marketers can take to get more out of organic search.
1. Optimize your title tags: The title tag is the most important tag on a page. It's like the title of a book in that it should tell the search engine spiders exactly what the page is about. Also, bear in mind that the title tag forms the link in the search engine results page (SERP), so think about giving it a keyword-rich call to action to help it stand out from the crowd.
2. Add a robots.txt file: This is a simple file that sits in the root of the website. It's one of the first files a search spider will look for as it begins a site crawl, so make sure you have one -- it helps to control where the spider can and cannot go and hence what it can and cannot see.
3. Include sitemaps (HTML and XML): Google doesn't share much in the way of how to optimize for its algorithms, but the search giant does recommend that you add an HTML sitemap, and when Google talks, you should listen. Make sure you include the entire site, break it into multiple pages (no more than 100 links per page) and update it regularly so it accurately reflects the structure of the site. Add an XML sitemap designed specifically for search engines. This is particularly important for large sites that spiders are having trouble indexing. Verify the sitemap with the Google webmaster console and receive useful data back about your site.
4. Write high-quality, unique content: After all these years, content still rules. Good quality content will help attract links to your site as people refer to it and that same content will work to keep them on your site after they arrive. From a search engine perspective, spiders love content, so the more you can provide them, the better. And don't limit yourself to text -- images and video can help to showcase additional brand messages and attributes. But whatever content you do serve up, just make sure it is in an accessible format.
5. Insert meta-tags for top-level pages: While not nearly as important as they used to be, optimized meta-descriptions are still worth adding to your key landing and top-level pages. Well-wrought meta-tags will help entice users to your site from a SERP.
6. Conduct keyword research: There's no point in ranking for keywords that your target audience is not using, so make sure you know what your customers are searching for and the terms they're using to find you. To improve your chances of connecting with interested users, structure your site around keywords and themes that reflect their vernacular, not your internal marketing-speak. Remember that you want to help both visitors and search engines build a complete picture of your site.
7. Don't neglect your internal link structure: There's more to SEO and boosting your search rankings than getting links from other sites. Devote some attention to your internal link structure. Embed your target keywords into the internal links and help reinforce the key landing pages to the spiders; don't just use "click here," "next" and "more."
8. Think about pages you want to rank and those you don't: This is something that's closely tied to the internal link structure. For brand searches (typically the most significant source of traffic for any site), the home page often ranks first, followed by privacy policies, contact us and terms and conditions pages. The home page is a good destination to steer interested visitors, but the privacy policy and T&C pages generally are not the places you want your users to hit first, so try to sculpt the flow of page rank to the key site landing pages instead.
9. Get more from analytics: Make sure you set up your analytics package correctly so it separates the sources of your traffic. There's no point spending a lot of time and effort on search engine marketing only to find that your analytics software was not configured to separate the paid search traffic from the organic traffic.
10. Submit to the main directories: Make sure your site is listed in all of the main directories, such as Yahoo!, DMOZ, Business.com, JoeAnt, etc.
11. Emphasize internal education: Everyone within your company can make a difference, particularly when it comes to a natural search campaign. Make sure all departments, from marketing to IT to PR to product development, know why the company is undertaking an SEO program and how they can contribute. Run regular sessions to update staff and inform them about how the campaign is progressing.
Last, but certainly not least, remember that SEO is not a set-and-forget process, but rather, one of ongoing improvement. Anytime you make changes to the structure of or content on your site, review the relevant steps in the optimization process to make sure you get the maximum benefit from these changes. Search can help you connect with your customers, but you have to make sure you're supplying the search engines with the right connective tissue.
When it comes to search engine optimization (SEO), there is no magic bullet. Effective SEO boils down to doing a lot of little things well. Imagine building a house -- each brick that goes into the foundation plays a vital role in creating a solid structure. A website is similarly comprised of a large number of building blocks, each of which needs to be given a proper level of attention to maximize your site's visibility. Following are 11 steps marketers can take to get more out of organic search.
1. Optimize your title tags: The title tag is the most important tag on a page. It's like the title of a book in that it should tell the search engine spiders exactly what the page is about. Also, bear in mind that the title tag forms the link in the search engine results page (SERP), so think about giving it a keyword-rich call to action to help it stand out from the crowd.
2. Add a robots.txt file: This is a simple file that sits in the root of the website. It's one of the first files a search spider will look for as it begins a site crawl, so make sure you have one -- it helps to control where the spider can and cannot go and hence what it can and cannot see.
3. Include sitemaps (HTML and XML): Google doesn't share much in the way of how to optimize for its algorithms, but the search giant does recommend that you add an HTML sitemap, and when Google talks, you should listen. Make sure you include the entire site, break it into multiple pages (no more than 100 links per page) and update it regularly so it accurately reflects the structure of the site. Add an XML sitemap designed specifically for search engines. This is particularly important for large sites that spiders are having trouble indexing. Verify the sitemap with the Google webmaster console and receive useful data back about your site.
4. Write high-quality, unique content: After all these years, content still rules. Good quality content will help attract links to your site as people refer to it and that same content will work to keep them on your site after they arrive. From a search engine perspective, spiders love content, so the more you can provide them, the better. And don't limit yourself to text -- images and video can help to showcase additional brand messages and attributes. But whatever content you do serve up, just make sure it is in an accessible format.
5. Insert meta-tags for top-level pages: While not nearly as important as they used to be, optimized meta-descriptions are still worth adding to your key landing and top-level pages. Well-wrought meta-tags will help entice users to your site from a SERP.
6. Conduct keyword research: There's no point in ranking for keywords that your target audience is not using, so make sure you know what your customers are searching for and the terms they're using to find you. To improve your chances of connecting with interested users, structure your site around keywords and themes that reflect their vernacular, not your internal marketing-speak. Remember that you want to help both visitors and search engines build a complete picture of your site.
7. Don't neglect your internal link structure: There's more to SEO and boosting your search rankings than getting links from other sites. Devote some attention to your internal link structure. Embed your target keywords into the internal links and help reinforce the key landing pages to the spiders; don't just use "click here," "next" and "more."
8. Think about pages you want to rank and those you don't: This is something that's closely tied to the internal link structure. For brand searches (typically the most significant source of traffic for any site), the home page often ranks first, followed by privacy policies, contact us and terms and conditions pages. The home page is a good destination to steer interested visitors, but the privacy policy and T&C pages generally are not the places you want your users to hit first, so try to sculpt the flow of page rank to the key site landing pages instead.
9. Get more from analytics: Make sure you set up your analytics package correctly so it separates the sources of your traffic. There's no point spending a lot of time and effort on search engine marketing only to find that your analytics software was not configured to separate the paid search traffic from the organic traffic.
10. Submit to the main directories: Make sure your site is listed in all of the main directories, such as Yahoo!, DMOZ, Business.com, JoeAnt, etc.
11. Emphasize internal education: Everyone within your company can make a difference, particularly when it comes to a natural search campaign. Make sure all departments, from marketing to IT to PR to product development, know why the company is undertaking an SEO program and how they can contribute. Run regular sessions to update staff and inform them about how the campaign is progressing.
Last, but certainly not least, remember that SEO is not a set-and-forget process, but rather, one of ongoing improvement. Anytime you make changes to the structure of or content on your site, review the relevant steps in the optimization process to make sure you get the maximum benefit from these changes. Search can help you connect with your customers, but you have to make sure you're supplying the search engines with the right connective tissue.
Gasta SEO : Matt Cutts 5 SEO Tips
Matt Cutts top 5 seo Tips
1. Spotlight your search term on the page. If you want to be found for your keyword, make sure that term is on the page you want to rank. The term should be at the top as well as peppered throughout your copy.
2. Fill in your "tags." The two most important tags are Title and Description b/c that's what is displayed on the search results.
3. Get other sites to "link" back to you. This is one of the most important of the 100 factors Google considers when ranking sites
4. Create a blog and post often. This can help you get links.
5. Register for free tools. Cutts recommends using the tools at google.com/webmaster, as well as creating a text-based sitemap www.xml-sitemaps.com, and adding your business to Google's Local Business center (google.com/local/add)
1. Spotlight your search term on the page. If you want to be found for your keyword, make sure that term is on the page you want to rank. The term should be at the top as well as peppered throughout your copy.
2. Fill in your "tags." The two most important tags are Title and Description b/c that's what is displayed on the search results.
3. Get other sites to "link" back to you. This is one of the most important of the 100 factors Google considers when ranking sites
4. Create a blog and post often. This can help you get links.
5. Register for free tools. Cutts recommends using the tools at google.com/webmaster, as well as creating a text-based sitemap www.xml-sitemaps.com, and adding your business to Google's Local Business center (google.com/local/add)
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Gasta welcomes Byron Review Action Plan
The UK government has unveiled its action plan to protect children from the internet and video games.
The Byron Review Action Plan includes the appointment of an executive board for the UK Council for Child Internet Safety.
The board will be chaired by the Department for Children, Schools and Families as well as Home Office Ministers and industry representatives.
Awareness of e-safety will also be raised as part of the government's £9m investment in child safety communications.
The action plan was published by children's minister Kevin Brennan, Home Office minister Vernon Coaker and culture minister Margaret Hodge.
The plan is based on recommendations given in the TV psychologist's report that was released earlier this year.
Home Office minister Vernon Coaker said of the move, "I am determined to do all I can to help ensure that there is an internet environment that is safe for children to use."
The Byron Review Action Plan includes the appointment of an executive board for the UK Council for Child Internet Safety.
The board will be chaired by the Department for Children, Schools and Families as well as Home Office Ministers and industry representatives.
Awareness of e-safety will also be raised as part of the government's £9m investment in child safety communications.
The action plan was published by children's minister Kevin Brennan, Home Office minister Vernon Coaker and culture minister Margaret Hodge.
The plan is based on recommendations given in the TV psychologist's report that was released earlier this year.
Home Office minister Vernon Coaker said of the move, "I am determined to do all I can to help ensure that there is an internet environment that is safe for children to use."
Gasta Press Release :Channel 4IP
Gasta Latest Channel 4 News
From 2nd July, potential suppliers will be given an opportunity to register their interest and ask questions about the 4IP fund at http://channel4.com/4ip. We will keep the site updated with information on how to submit ideas, the range of projects we are looking for, as well as how our partnership arrangements work. Throughout July & August, the Channel 4 team will be taking part in a number of activities and events - including sponsoring 2gether, a new festival taking place in London in July - in order to talk broadly about Channel 4's ambitions for digital media and engage informally with some of the people who may want to submit ideas and look for funding from 4IP when we launch in September.
The official 4IP launch will involve a range of events (currently planned for 17-25 September) at which we will outline our vision for the fund, introduce our partners and provide examples of the type of projects 4IP will be looking to invest in. We will also begin actively soliciting ideas and responding to proposals.
We will be in touch again soon with details of the September launch events, but if you would like any more information in the mean time then please do not hesitate to get in touch.
From 2nd July, potential suppliers will be given an opportunity to register their interest and ask questions about the 4IP fund at http://channel4.com/4ip. We will keep the site updated with information on how to submit ideas, the range of projects we are looking for, as well as how our partnership arrangements work. Throughout July & August, the Channel 4 team will be taking part in a number of activities and events - including sponsoring 2gether, a new festival taking place in London in July - in order to talk broadly about Channel 4's ambitions for digital media and engage informally with some of the people who may want to submit ideas and look for funding from 4IP when we launch in September.
The official 4IP launch will involve a range of events (currently planned for 17-25 September) at which we will outline our vision for the fund, introduce our partners and provide examples of the type of projects 4IP will be looking to invest in. We will also begin actively soliciting ideas and responding to proposals.
We will be in touch again soon with details of the September launch events, but if you would like any more information in the mean time then please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Gasta News:Brand Identity
Here at Gasta HQ we have noticed a pattern in our advertisers inluding the brand names of competitors in their advertising keywords, we have seen an upsurge of brand identity marketing of terms such as Louis Vuitton, 12th Sreet by Cynthia Vincent, Adidas, Alexander McQueen, Anya Hindmarch, Bottega Veneta, Chloé, Derek Lam, E-bags, Erva, Fendi, Gucci, Hoss, Intropia, Jimmy Choo, Kate Moss, Laccoste, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Miu Miu, Net-a -Porter, Nike, Orange, Oscar de la Renta, Puma, Ralph Lauren, Roberto Cavalli, Samsung, Sony, Stella McCartney, Toni&Guy, Valentino, VBH, Vivienne Westwood, Red, Zoe&Morgan.
This change is due to the new rules introduced by Google about brand keywords, and the savvy marketers are the ones using the Gasta search marketing keyword tools to capitalise, Big brands you have been warned. buy your brand keywords now!
This change is due to the new rules introduced by Google about brand keywords, and the savvy marketers are the ones using the Gasta search marketing keyword tools to capitalise, Big brands you have been warned. buy your brand keywords now!
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Microsoft Strategy & Gasta European Search Network
Microsoft is to launch a European Search Technology Center (STC) next year as it attempts to boost Live Search's presence across the continent.
The company said it aims to "disrupt the search and advertising marketplace" by using the STC to make Live Search more targeted and relevant for European users.
Kevin Johnson, president of the platforms and services division at Microsoft, said, "Success in search in Europe is paramount, and we see the investment in this new Search Technology Center as an important step in doubling down on our long-term investments."
Satya Nadella, senior vice president of the search, portal and advertising Group at Microsoft, said, "Searchers have different expectations and experiences in every geography in the world, so we believe it's critical to make deep investments in physical locations in multiple markets to ensure that we're applying the best local expertise to our research and development efforts."
The STC is scheduled to open next year, but Microsoft said it had yet to decide on a location.
The company said it aims to "disrupt the search and advertising marketplace" by using the STC to make Live Search more targeted and relevant for European users.
Kevin Johnson, president of the platforms and services division at Microsoft, said, "Success in search in Europe is paramount, and we see the investment in this new Search Technology Center as an important step in doubling down on our long-term investments."
Satya Nadella, senior vice president of the search, portal and advertising Group at Microsoft, said, "Searchers have different expectations and experiences in every geography in the world, so we believe it's critical to make deep investments in physical locations in multiple markets to ensure that we're applying the best local expertise to our research and development efforts."
The STC is scheduled to open next year, but Microsoft said it had yet to decide on a location.
Gasta Strategy on Brands
To get the greatest value out of your social networking strategy, you need to communicate consistently across every platform used. An online communities expert explains how.
Online social environments have multiplied at an exponential rate over the past few years. In fact, many of us have at least two or three identities online in various social networks (I have at least 15). At the recent iMedia Breakthrough Summit, 32 percent of the audience admitted to having . As a result of the social networking gold rush, I am often asked how to best leverage the ever-expanding social web to market to consumers in an effective manner. My goal in this article is to help marketers formulate strategies for engaging consumers in a meaningful dialogue across various social channels.
The distributed web for brand emphasis
Since the onset of the web as a viable marketing solution, brand marketers have been creating what is commonly known as the microsite. Despite the fact that that we label these online brand shrines as "micro," many treat the microsite as the centerpiece of their strategy (perhaps we should have been calling this interactive marketing vehicle a macrosite). While I believe that online brand initiatives ultimately benefit from having all roads lead to one place, we simply cannot always expect consumers to leave their current environments in order to become immersed in centralized brand experiences. After all, consensual brand presence in a consumer's social environment is a much more powerful statement than a consumer's presence in a closed branded environment.
You may be asking yourself, if we are no longer to place emphasis on the microsite as a central component to marketing initiatives, where should this emphasis go?
The answer to this question is rooted in the concept that many are referring to as the distributed web. I define distributed web strategy (as it pertains to marketing) in the following way: consistent brand presence across various social channels. Distributed web strategy is based on the notion that the sum of all syndicated content and messaging is greater than any single brand presence.
Last November, Forrester Research Senior Analyst Jeremiah Owyang penned an analysis of Open Social and how its impact should be explained to executives. In this incredibly prescient post Owyang writes, "Web marketing no longer is limited to your corporate site. Let go of the concept of 'driving traffic to your website' as a sole measurement of success. The web, its message and your battles are now fought on the open and distributed web."
Nearly seven months later brands are still ignoring the impact of the distributed web. I understand why marketers would be reluctant to put their brands into a sea of uncertainty; however, we have reached a point where brands can no longer solely compete on their home turf. It is time to let go!
Adam Broitman
Nod to Imedia Connection
Friday, June 13, 2008
McDonald’s Top Online Display Advertiser
Served 295 million ads
McDonald's served more than 295 million display ad views (34% share) in March, reaching 52 million Internet users an average of 5.7 times during the month, according to comScore Ad Metrix.
Quizno's ranked second delivering 98 million display ads in March, accounting for 11 percent of market share, followed by KFC with 84 million (9.6%), and Papa John's with 82 million (9.3%).
comScore also looked at the share of visits to the Web sites of the top 10 restaurants that used display ad campaigns to see if there is any relationship with their market share. There is little relation between the two metrics, since site traffic is influenced by televised promotions and online ordering functionality at a few companies.
PizzaHut.com, whose online advertisements promote online ordering for delivery has a disproportionately high share of site traffic (23.3%) compared to its share of online advertising voice (6.8%).
"It's clear that that the quick-serve restaurant industry has been slower than many other industries to move its advertising dollars online," said comScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni. "But, given the Internet's broad reach and ability to selectively reach consumer segments, its potential as a brand-building advertising medium is beginning to attract more attention."
WebProNews. Mike Sachoff
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Gasta InstantAds
With most of the traffic from Europasearch coming from Northern Europe, Gasta InstantAds are building into a powerhouse for UK and Irish Advertisers, and it does'nt stop there, more and more property sales are taking place on the web and Europasearch and Gasta networks are perfectly poised to take advantage of the property search market. Here are just some of the great property domains in the gasta network that are getting ready to launch.
http://www.propertysurrey.com
http://www.propertywexford.com
http://www.propertyyork.net
http://www.propertyisleofman.com
http://www.propertycambridge.com
http://www.propertybristol.com
http://www.propertybrighton.com
http://www.propertysurrey.com
http://www.propertywexford.com
http://www.propertyyork.net
http://www.propertyisleofman.com
http://www.propertycambridge.com
http://www.propertybristol.com
http://www.propertybrighton.com
Monday, June 02, 2008
Gasta the amoebic replicant
Gasta the amoebic replicant
Growing faster and replicating itself across the universe how big can Gasta get?
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Gasta.com launches 150 new web Domians
Gasta has today launched 25 of the 150 new web domains to carry its expanding search networks to 172 search engines. The list includes much sought after domain names in Ireland such as http://www.westbelfast.com , http://www.lisburncity.net and http://www.dublincitylive.com
The Domains are for various regions throughout the UK and Europe expanding the gasta search network to 172 search engines across europe. The next set of domains are scheduled to be launched later this week all concentrate on the UK and European Property market, and include http://www.propertydublin.com http://www.propertyedinburg.com and http://www.dublinproperies.com
The Domains are for various regions throughout the UK and Europe expanding the gasta search network to 172 search engines across europe. The next set of domains are scheduled to be launched later this week all concentrate on the UK and European Property market, and include http://www.propertydublin.com http://www.propertyedinburg.com and http://www.dublinproperies.com
www.andersonstown.com
www.cathedralquarter.com
www.eastbelfast.net
www.ardglass.com
www.ballsbridge.net
www.glencolin.com
www.maloneroad.com
www.southbelfast.com
www.dublin4.net
www.dublincitylive.com
www.dublincityonline.com
www.jordanstown.com
www.westdublin.com
www.lisburncity.net
www.lisburnroad.com
www.southarmagh.com
www.stranmillis.com
www.westbelfast.com
www.westbelfast.net
www.westbelfast.org
www.westbelfastonline.com
www.derrycity.net
www.doire.com
www.glengormley.net
www.haroldscross.com
www.leopardstown.net
Friday, April 25, 2008
Secure your brand Keyword on Gasta search networks
Gasta will this month launch its white label search solution on up to 150 new search domains on a UK/Ireland concentration looking to companies like The Search Works, Latitude and Bigmouthmedia. All companie on the fast development track. As gasta.com rolls out its white label solution across more and more platforms, making the networks stronger and more robust, we can see the shift as advertisers move to more niche geo targeted search networks.
Google's decision to allow brand name bidding from 5 May 2008 has seen a huge increase in inquiries by companies wishing to secure their brand names on the Gasta search network.Companies like Gucci, Adidas, Nike, etc.. look for the niche specialists search marketing companies like Gasta , this once again shows not just the number of agencies out there that provide search offerings but the indelible need to secure your brand online, and gasta is relentless at doing this on a global platform, and at a cost that companies can afford.
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Gasta News:Search engines warned over data
Search engines should delete personal data held about their users within six months, a European Commission advisory body on data protection has said.
The recommendation is likely to be accepted by the European Commission and could lead to a clash with search giants like Google, Yahoo and MSN.
Google and MSN anonymise user data after 18 months, while Yahoo does the same after 13 months.
The body said search companies were not clear enough on data protection.
Google said its privacy policy "strikes the right balance" between privacy, security and innovation.
Peter Fleischer, Google's global privacy counsel, said in a statement: "Google takes privacy incredibly seriously; protecting our users' privacy is at the heart of all our products.
"It is the reason we were the first company to commit to anonymising our search logs, and also why we dramatically shortened our preference cookie lifetime."
In a statement Yahoo said it was reviewing the details of the body's recommendations.
"We remain committed to striking the right balance between protecting user privacy, providing the most compelling online experience, meeting our legal obligations and preventing fraud," the firm said.
Many search engines currently collect and store information from each search query, holding information about the search query itself, the unique PC address (known as an IP number), and details about how a user makes their searches, such as the web browser that is being used.
Users who create an account with a search engine hand over more data to the firms, including search history. Some search engines also enrich personal data held on their users with information from third parties.
The report from the Article 29 Data Protection Working Party said search engine providers had "insufficiently explained" why they were storing and processing personal data to their users.
It said "search engine providers must delete or irreversibly anonymise personal data once they no longer serve the specified and legitimate purpose they were collected for".
The report said the personal data of users should not be stored or processed "beyond providing search results" if the user had not created an account or registered with the search engine.
The advisory body also said it preferred search engines did not collect and use personal data to serve personalised adverts unless the user had consented and signed up to the service.
The body was set up to provide expert opinion to the European Commission and to make recommendations in the areas of personal data and privacy. The Commission usually adopts the recommendations the body makes.
The report also said search engines did not need to gather additional personal data, beyond the IP address of a machine being used, in order to deliver basic search results and advertisements.
It added: "Because many search engine providers mention many different purposes for the processing, it is not clear to what extent data are reprocessed for another purpose that is incompatible with the purpose for which they were originally collected."
It said search engines should not use personally identifiable data to improve their services or for accountancy purposes.
Personal data stored for security purposes should not also be used to improve services, the body recommended.
The report issued a set of obligations to search engines firms, including:
- Search engines should get informed consent from users if they correlate personal data across different services, such as desktop search
- Search engine providers must delete or anonymise (in an irreversible and efficient way) personal data once they are no longer necessary for the purpose for which they were collected
- Personal data should not be held by search engines for longer than six months
- In case search engine providers retain personal data longer than six months, they must demonstrate comprehensively that it is strictly necessary for the service
- It is not necessary to collect additional personal data from individual users in order to be able to perform the service of delivering search results and advertisements
- If search engine providers use cookies, their lifetime should be no longer than demonstrably necessary
- Search engine providers must give users clear and intelligible information about their identity and location and about the data they intend to collect store or transmit, as well as the purpose for which they are collected
The report also warned that if search engines enriched personal data about users from third parties they could be breaking the law unless customers had given explicit consent.
It said users had the right to access, inspect and correct all the personal data about themselves held by search engines, including their profiles and search history.
By Darren Waters
Technology editor, BBC News website
Friday, April 04, 2008
Gasta News: Craigslist, Thats how to do it!
The website devouring the classified industry could hit $100 million in revenue in 2009 with a couple of minor changes, with the old-line newspaper industry helplessly watching from the sidelines.
Craig Newmark's story is inspiring. He took a little email project and turned it into a multi-million dollar headache for the newspaper industry. Even after all the success, craigslist remains humble, simple, and end-user focused. There's a lesson in there somewhere, right?
Craigslist looks like what it is, a site launched years ago as a personal project that never forgot its users, though the powers that be at Craigslist, founder and customer service rep Craig Newmark and CEO Jim Buckmaster, aren't commenting on the story from industry analysts Classified Intelligence (CI), they are pulling in an appreciable amount of money on the famously minimalist site. They could do even better.
CI said in its report on Craigslist that the implementation of its $25 job listing fee in three more locations could boost the company's revenue into nine-digit territory. Through assessment of Craigslist postings in January and March, CI pegs 2008 revenue for Craigslist at $81 million.
Take the job recruiting fee of $25 Craigslist charges in a handful of major metropolitan areas. Kick it up to $75 across the board (that's the price in San Francisco), and revenue for 2009 should climb to $150 million for a company based in a Victorian-style house that looks like it saw much better days a half-century ago.
The customer service credo of Craigslist, and its modest appointments both in headquarters and in site design, stand in stark contrast to the glassy offices of the newspapers that bore the brunt of the no frills, no fee approach to classifieds that are a hallmark of the site. Craigslist looks like what it is, a site launched years ago as a personal project that never forgot its users.
Some feel like Craigslist should do more, namely the bombastic VP and general manager of eBay's classifieds competitor, Kijiji, Jacob Aqraou. He doesn't care for the dated look of Craigslist, or the English-only listings that have only branched out into other languages in recent months.
As CI noted, the sniping comes across as odd, since eBay happens to own a 25 percent stake in Craigslist. The competition is real, however, with Kijiji, Freecycle, and the Village Voice's Backpage all trying to present themselves as a better classifieds option.
Although some may dispute Craigslist real impact on newspaper classified revenue, one publishing professional cited by CI called Craigslist a catalyst that forced newspapers to reconsider their business models.
There isn't one cause for newspaper fortunes to be in decline. Craigslist is a popular target, especially since CI said in 2004 that
Craigslist simply found a niche where demand existed, and they make as much money as they care to earn. One can imagine how much they would make if they tossed an AdSense ad unit into their templates. But to Newmark and company, such a prospect looks unfathomable.
David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Gasta White Label Update...
Gasta White Label Update...
Gasta is super excited by the interest in our White Label Search and Ad platform. Recently Francis Higgins (Commercial Director @ Gasta) announced that our White Label was now on trial with several high profile clients.
Features.
- Branded search for Web, Video, & Images
- Web 2.0 Social Bookmarking tools
- 100% Retained Advertisement revenue from ad partners including Google, Yahoo, MIVA, ASK & Looksmart
- GeoTargetted Ad Platform
- Multi-site configuration and integration options
- High Search Visibility
- Multilanguage support
As a test case we created Gasta.cn using only our white label search engine on February 12th 2008, as of 26th March the site is indexed on Google with 13,698 pages and receives 30,000+ searches per day. Our solution deployed on Gasta.cn is growing at vastly accelerated rate.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Gasta SearchMatch offers real value for money.
GASTA News: Web advertising outstrips TV
Here is a fascinating article from Rich Ord the CEO of iEntry, Inc.
Despite the fact that social media advertising has yet to hit its stride and is taking some lumps for low click rates when compared to high page views, it will succeed. Social media is a different type of advertising platform from information-oriented websites and the two should not be compared.
The reality is that social media delivers the holy grail for advertisers on the Internet: a mass-concentrated
The top 25 social media networks delivered over 155 million unique visitors in Feb. 2008 with 70 percent coming from MySpace, Facebook and Classmates.com. Add in Youtube and Flickr and you get another 60 million totalling an estimated 215 million humans viewing social media monthly.
Compare that to television where an average 24-hour period delivers around 50 million unique viewers. The highest viewer ship day of the year, Super Bowl Sunday, has an estimated 110 million unique
The Internet has become a powerful platform for advertisers to reach mass audiences via user generated video too. According to comScore Video Metrix, U.S. Internet users viewed over 10 billion videos online in the month of December alone. Imagine a 15 to 30 second commercial with each video view and the Internet seems ready today to compete with broadcast TV in delivering commercial views.
Advertising on social media is not about clicks or click rate any more than TV commercials are; it's about quickly reaching a huge U.S audience. Sooner rather than later, advertisers will see social media as a great way to reach mass audiences. After all, in terms of audience size there are several Super Bowls every day on Facebook, MySpace and Youtube!
It simply doesn't matter what the click rate is for Facebook, MySpace and Youtube because they reach huge audiences that major advertisers like Ford, Pepsi and McDonald's can't help but see the value in. Predictably, Adwords buyers will see the value too.
Click rates are a reflection of page views and social media sites similar to TV have a large overlapping audience that hang around them all day, every day. Television would have a low click rate too if an ad campaign were measured over the course of a months worth of programs on the same network, assuming you could click the screen.
People also tune in and out of TV just like they do with social media. According to Compete's figures for every unique visitor to Youtube there are 54 page views. With Facebook, a unique visitor creates an amazing 564 page views in a month and on MySpace each person generates a staggering 1,110 page views.
The social media audience is loyal, large and habit-oriented just like broadcast TV. They also hit the prime youth-tilting demographic who are big spenders online and are considered a high value audience by ad agencies and advertisers. Ultimately, what advertiser’s value is the audience, not just the clicks?
http://archive.webpronews.com/2008a/0318.html
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