A Mind of Its Own: Search Engine Technology Ever Pervasive

By James Zipadelli

Americans performed more than 15 billion searches in January, which is up 3 percent from the month before, the audience measurement service comScore says. The latest search engine rankings show that Google is still king when it comes to search engines. “Google Sites accounted for 9.9 billion searches, followed by Yahoo! Sites (2.6 billion), Microsoft Sites (1.7 billion), Ask Network (574 million) and AOL LLC (375 million),” the release says.

Although Google spokesperson Nate Tyler declined to comment on Google’s numbers, he did say that Google Suggest Technology is an effective way to help users search for what they are looking for.

“As you type into the search box on Google Web Search, Google Suggest offers searches similar to the one you’re typing. Start to type [ new york ] — even just [ new y ] — and you’ll be able to pick searches for New York City, New York Times, and New York University (to name just a few). Type some more, and you may see a link straight to the site Google thinks you’re looking for — all from the search box,” Google’s Help Forum says. (Ask.com and Microsoft were not available for comment at press time.)

Kevin McFall, co-founder of the vertical search engine RushmoreDrive.com, says the level of difficulty “is pretty high” for anyone trying to gain a share in the search engine market because established search engines spend large amounts of money on marketing and advertising. However, he says there are ways a new search engine can differentiate themselves from their competition. RushmoreDrive.com was a sister site of Ask.com and was shut down in June 2009 due to the recession.

“One must position the value of one’s search in such a way as to change existing behaviors and habits of those who already use Google, Yahoo, AOL or Bing by offering them a reason to change and then delivering a rich enough experience to warrant their frequent return,” McFall says. “One must also realize that instead of taking on the major search players head on, one must find a way to backdoor them to get a slice of the market share instead of trying to compete directly.”

According to McFall, he was able to do this with Rushmore Drive.com by marketing his website as a discovery engine and a search engine. “We achieved the ability to deliver a richer and more relevant set of results through our unique index and page ranking algorithm, along with a distinguished universal results page, which delivered text, image, video and blog results all in one page,” McFall says.

He also suggested search engines that have a social component would be more successful long-term.

There are also specialized websites that find search engine technology useful. For example, Healthline Networks uses search engine technology to help customers with health and drug information.

Healthline Networks CEO West Shell says, “We’ve found out that consumer search can be complicated when it comes to health. Consumers and doctors speak different languages, and often consumers don’t know what to look for when they start.”

Shell says the technology Healthline Networks uses is based on “semantic taxonomy,” or classification, of health information. He also says the technology is always being updated to ensure customers have the latest information available and that they are partners with health carriers like Aetna.

Rich Kahn, CEO of the search engine eZanga.com, says his search engine is being redesigned and should be finished by late 2010.

The redesign allows eZanga.com to “significantly increase the number of sources we pull information from, improve our relevancy algorithm so that our results will be more accurate to the queries performed by our users [and] designing new technologies, that are not used by any other search engine at present, that will improve how we display our results to users in a way that will be more useful to our users,” Kahn says.

WebMetro

• Location: Los Angeles, Calif.
• Number of employees: 45
• Notable Clients: American Management Association, Great Expectations, Merrick Group, Murad, Tourism Authority of Thailand, University of Redlands
• URL: www.webmetro.com

Based in Los Angeles, Calif., WebMetro is an interactive marketing firm committed to helping online advertisers maximize their ROI and expand their reach. A leader in the industry, the company specializes exclusively in Internet marketing, showcasing a suite of solutions that cover everything from e-commerce integration to video advertising. Covered extensively by traditional media outlets such as BusinessWeek and Los Angeles Times, WebMetro is widely recognized as one of the premiere providers of search engine marketing services.

Contel Bradford of DMB recently chatted with Michael Behrens, WebMetro vice president of eMarketing, to learn more about this dynamic marketing firm and get some expert insight on the state of the industry.

Can you share some of the success WebMetro has enjoyed in the area of SEM and Internet marketing in general?
Most recently, MarketingSherpa published a case study about how we helped a client drive branded conversions from non-branded keywords and tail terms. By properly assigning credit instead of using last click attribution, our client in this case was able to reduce its cost-per-acquisition over 25% while increasing sales by over 15%.

It really comes down to proper attribution and understanding which elements in any campaign or marketing mix assist or contribute to a sale or lead. This enables a brand to gain insight into what drives conversions and appreciate what weight should be allocated to various media.

Another area where we’ve helped our clients enjoy success is from contextual advertising in the content networks. For some time, advertisers treated and managed contextual campaigns just like search. In addition, many advertisers feel they’ve been burned by the content networks in years past. However, the content networks have made dramatic improvements over the last couple of years providing significant transparency and control and contextual campaigns should be managed and optimized differently than search campaigns.

As you’ve probably guessed, DMB is a firm believer in social media. What makes social media marketing such a powerful tool for businesses looking to increase their bottom line?
There are a couple ways we divide social media marketing. One arena is social media advertising, such as advertising in Facebook. Despite reports of this type of activity being largely ineffective, we have been able to make it work successfully as a form of direct response for some of our clients. A key factor in this revolves around understanding a brand’s audience, where the audience is, what the audience is doing at those online locations, and the strengths/limitations of the advertising platform.

Another aspect of social marketing is social interaction via the networks or platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Once again, depending on a brand’s audience, the level of engagement varies. It is important to recognize these are, as you said, in fact tools. They are mechanisms that can be leveraged to support a brand’s overarching marketing strategy. The reach provided by social marketing can be exponential, as demonstrated by Twitter and user retweets.

Standardization, or the lack thereof, is one of the most hotly debated topics in the world of online video advertising. What, if any, impact has this had on your online video marketing solutions?
The focus of our online video marketing is content used to increase conversions. It’s not the viral or guerilla tactics we stress. We concentrate on how video on a website can turn the visitor into a customer while improving ROI. That may mean using video to condense the learning curve of a product that has a higher perceived risk or a brand that is not as well-known. It can mean using video to engage a visitor, drawing the visitor to complete a call-to-action.

It’s all about online video for the direct marketer. It’s about using video to lower CPA, increase conversions, and ultimately improve ROI.

The importance of a sound marketing strategy is clearer than ever today. Please explain how you have emphasized this importance in your offerings such as website design and ecommerce development.
When developing a website a company needs to fully appreciate the obligations the website has to the marketing strategy. Those obligations have grown tremendously over the past few years. A website is not only here to support your online marketing efforts, but to support all of your marketing efforts, including traditional advertising, promotions and CRM.  Appreciating the multi channel engagements we have with our customers, and the role digital plays in the mix, is a critical and essential step, before ever embarking on a Web design project.

In your opinion, what digital marketing trends should we keep an eye on in 2010?
For years, we have all been hearing that brands need to take mobile more seriously, to be prepared for the mobile revolution. I think it is safe to say that it is here, and mobile needs to be integrated more diligently into the mix. So being abreast of the key mobile trends, from usage to purchase behavior, to search volume, will be crucial for marketers in 2010. Budgets will need to shift, and in this economy shifting too early or too late can be devastating.

Ideal E-Commerce Sites Target Customers

By Alexander Hotz

E-commerce sites are increasingly being trafficked, especially during the holiday season. While some of this increase can be attributed to products and competitive pricing; another big factor is website design, a crucial ingredient in any successful e-commerce business.

“I see the biggest hurdle as being a constant struggle to understand your audience and what they want,” says Matt Bryan, a designer who has worked on hundreds of e-commerce sites. “My perfect e-commerce website would accomplish that in every way. If I had that, all other hurdles would fall away and I would have an online empire.”

Although targeting customers is important, Bryan understands that when he works on a website the priorities of the owner are paramount. The focus in e-commerce is generally put on sales, but “in some businesses, it is more profitable to generate a lead than sell a product.

“From the position of a designer, the success of a website is not determined by the amount of product it moves, but by its efficacy in meeting and achieving the clients expectations and goals,” Bryan says. “Factors like creating a niche market are important, but that falls under the category of business logistics, not design. This becomes very frustrating for some designers because even though they may understand what kind of business strategies work online, it’s usually not their place to consult.”

It’s no secret that design is an important element in attracting and maintaining customers, and established businesses can also benefit from a website that zeros in on the consumer.

Last September the Seattle-based jewelry retailer Blue Nile transformed its website to better target women. Images were blown up, shadows were emphasized and the feel of the site became more effeminate. Although the majority of those who shop at Blue Nile are men, the products typically end up on women and the company wanted to ensure that female visitors would also enjoy the site. The redesign was a gamble, but one that the company felt it needed. This year Blue Nile reported its highest Thanksgiving numbers ever, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Not surprisingly, Amazon.com once again outstripped the competition in online holiday visits (a 44-percent increase in visits according to comScore). Other large companies like Blue Nile, Wall-Mart.com and Target.com reported impressive results as well.

Bryan Williams, another designer who currently works for Sports Technologies, stressed that an e-commerce site design is successful if it does one thing: sells. “Aspects of the design can help promote trust and quick-and-easy use,” Williams says. “Design that educates and helps the user finish the transaction will make the sale.”

Williams says that when he’s designing or redesigning he always has Google Analytics open at the same time. “I look at what pages were viewed most and longest, and what pages don’t get any views at all,” he says. “The pages that don’t get viewed at all are scrapped in order to put more emphasis on the content that is relevant. It’s nice to have lots of pages and fancy navigation, but if your users aren’t using it or looking at the pages, it’s more of a service to put the information they are looking for right up front.”

Williams’ inspiration comes from sites like Templatemonster.com and envato.com, which have a wide variety of designs. Ideally Williams says he would try to model his sites after those he likes most on envato.com.

“They host a system of e-commerce websites that deal with digital data like website templates, stock vectors, sounds and video,” Williams says. “Their system is consistent, very graphical, easy and a pleasure to use.”

Would Someone Please Explain To News Corp How Google Works?

By: searchengineland.com

Yet another News Corporation executive is talking about Google, and yet again, I feel like they have no concept about how Google interacts with their web pages.

[Read More and Discuss]

Top 6 SEM Companies to Hire

By Alexander Hotz

It’s a question that online marketers struggle with every day: How can you ensure that the eyeballs you want to see your ad actually see your ad? According to a report released earlier this year, industry stalwarts like iCrossing, iProspect and 360i are some of your best bets. The study, Forrester Wave: US Search Marketing Agencies, Q1 2009, revealed that the industry has matured but that the top dogs in 2006 still outperform the competition today.

iProspect got top marks for being “particularly good at automating processes to save time, identifying best practices, or improving scalability.” Forrester says iProspect is the best option for large marketers because of its far-reaching programs and “global footprint.” Any marketer, Forrester analyst Shar VanBoskirk says, “would be well served by the firm.”

Not far behind the “IBM of search marketing” were 360i and iCrossing. VanBoskirk was impressed with both firms’ “research-based approaches to keyword development and highly automated execution.” Forrester found that iCrossing was the best company in both paid search and SEO due to its “open bid management platform, its use of market mix models to aid enterprise paid search planning, and its heritage of optimizing dynamic sites for natural search results.”

Not to be outdone 360i led the way in social media apps and the “searcher-centric keyword development process.” The report added that 360i’s “experience and buzz monitoring capabilities make it a strong partner for media firms and big brand marketers.”

Although they didn’t make it into the “Leaders” bracket, Reprise Media, Razorfish and IMPAQT were all listed as “Strong Contenders” with a variety of different strengths. IMPAQT, which scored the highest of the three, works strictly on “applying analytics” to improve search results. VanBuskirk says that IMPAQT was ideal for data-driven marketers like retailers, financial services firms and companies “ready to go global.”

Razorfish, the only completely interactive agency profiled, earned most of its points for its bid optimization and click fraud monitoring. Sarah Hu, a search marketing manager at Razorfish, stresses that SEM companies like Razorfish need to ensure that its ads are reaching as many people interested in their product without casting the net too wide and targeting people who aren’t interested. “The problem comes in when say someone is looking for ‘canines’ and you don’t know if they’re referring to buying a dog, looking for information on dogs, or even perhaps interested in teeth,” Hu says. “Through various options that search engines give you, such as setting match types and targeting ad copy, SEM companies monitor the type of people they want to attract.”

Reprise Media, which Forrester cites as another “habitual strong performer” grew because of its “PROSuite platform, its use of data and analytics tools to model optimal outcomes, high account manager-to-client ratio and social media expertise.” More good news for the New York-based company is its SEO, which in 2006 was the evaluation’s lowest. In the more recent study, Reprise took second place making it a “good bet for marketers looking for a social media-based approach to search marketing.” However, despite the kind words, Forrester was concerned with the firm’s youth. “The youngest in our study, this firm’s vision is in formation and its executives are still striking a balance between innovational and operational leadership.”

To compile the report, Forrester evaluated seven vendors against 72 criteria. The methodology included data sources, vendor surveys, scenario-based demos, interviews with clients and client references.

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