Google Remains No. 1, But Traffic Source Percentage Wanes by Laurie Sullivan

Google's influence continues to wane a bit across the Internet when it comes to referral traffic, but as of January 2012, the company still remains the No. 1 traffic source for 23 of the top 30 Web sites that Citigroup Investment tracks across six vertical market segments. Sixteen percent of traffic to the sites comes from Google. By contrast, Yahoo, No. 2, and Microsoft, No. 3, account for 11% and 6% of traffic, respectively. ...Read the whole story

  • search Solve This: What's Google Really Up To With 'X'? by Laurie Sullivan

    Google unveiled hints early Monday to a project called Solve For X, which it later revealed represents an event held last week for experienced entrepreneurs, innovators and scientists. The event follows similar guidelines to those established at the Technology, Entertainment, Design conference, also known as TED. It focused on discussing technology solutions to some of the world's greatest problems. ...Read the whole story

  • Branded Multichannel Ad Campaigns Emerge From Super Bowl Spots by Laurie Sullivan

    Football fans didn't tap into mobile devices to catch the New York Giants] win over the New Engine Patriots Sunday as many analysts expected, but the ad industry did hit a major milestone in multichannel marketing. Consumers searched for data and game stats on desktop and mobile search engines, and viewed ads on YouTube and other video channels. ...Read the whole story

Integrated Marketing Is Made Of People by Roger Barnette

There has been much discussion about the fragmented and chaotic ad technology landscape. User interaction with multiple channels is converging rapidly, and technology providers are quickly trying to bridge the gap. A potential customer is more likely than ever to interact with multiple channels before purchasing your product. While technology certainly plays a role in navigating these uncharted waters, marketing organizations also need to look inward to discover what else is holding them back. ...More

  • The Cautionary Tale Of The Komen Foundation by Derek Gordon

    What a week for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation, which raises money for the treatment and prevention of breast cancer. Not only did its strategists make a hugely unpopular decision to defund its long-time partner and grantee, Planned Parenthood, which provides breast cancer screenings for largely low-income women on Komen's behalf, they appear to have been caught completely flat-footed in PR maelstrom that followed. Now, they've apologized, reversed their decision and are doing the mea culpa circuit. But the damage has been done on so many levels, not the least of which is the organization's hard-won SEO ...More