Over the past few weeks, my agency has been asked to participate in two RFPs specific to paid search and also asked to be involved in a couple of industry overview/review exercises. In each case, I've noticed a disturbing trend--the correlation of paid search management to bid technology. Bid management is a key piece--but, in my opinion, it is not the linchpin to paid search success.» 0 Comments
People who buy radiators online are unique. For one thing, they don't really research their purchases beforehand. When your radiator blows up, you know you need a new one--fast! As John Thys, president of Radiator.com says, it's a different market. And for this market, pay-per-call is just the right thing.» 0 Comments
So what happened to Yahoo? Last week, the online giant announced slow ad sales; Wall Street responded by forcing Yahoo stock down 11.2 percent. There's been a flurry of speculation as to what went wrong. But pointing to any one problem misses a crucial underlying issue that's giving Yahoo trouble. Simply put, Yahoo's hurting because its publisher side refuses to learn from its search side.» 0 Comments
The debate on the branding value of pay-per-click search ads may be over before it was ever properly resolved. Google has spoken, at least indirectly, in a couple of news items from the Googleplex....» 0 Comments
The fact is, the whole world is becoming digitized and indexable. It's not a new trend, it's been making inroads for the last two and a half decades, but there seems to be a tipping point of convergence that's rapidly approaching.» 0 Comments
In my last column, I discussed the features that make search marketing so powerful--Proactive Consumption, Mass Customization, Instant Point-of-Need Direction, and Dynamic Performance-Based Pricing. Then I pondered how we can incorporate these attributes into other advertising media. I believe it is the role of search providers and search firms to push the agenda here.» 0 Comments
Online data storage isn't the sexiest of trends emerging in the search space, but it's one with more implications than I at first realized.» 0 Comments
You know those ads you see on screens in airports, office building elevators, and on the occasional person? They're called out-of-home digital ads. And my prediction for them is that they'll be almost entirely auction-based by 2010.» 0 Comments
