Roger Barnette

Articles by Roger All articles by Roger

• Has Search Lost Its Luster? in Search & Performance Insider on 06/03/2013
  

  Search marketers remain a busy bunch of people. Whether it's dealing with Enhanced Campaigns, new APIs, PLAs, new opportunities to reach users or just the constant honing and optimizing campaigns -- there always seems to be more on our plates than we can handle given the constraints of a 24-hour day. But in spite of the continued evolutionary changes to the search industry and the no-time-for-rest attitude of search marketers, things are really pretty darn stable. In preparing for this column, I scoured blogs, newsletters and twitter feeds for something juicy to talk about. What controversy can I discuss? What grand prediction can I make or refute?

• Brave New Search World in Search & Performance Insider on 05/02/2013
  

  A recent New York Times article attributed to Google the stat that "thirty-six percent of people's information needs are unmet." But that isn't stopping Google and sites like Yelp, Kayak, Amazon, LinkedIn, and Quora from trying their hardest to fill that gap. And when you add in differing experiences on different device types, the fragmentation only accelerates. But what does this fragmentation do to the search landscape? As with all things, there is some bad, some good - let's look at a (small) sample of these pros and cons:

• Spring Cleaning, Integrated Marketing-Style in Search & Performance Insider on 04/03/2013
  

  While the groundhog might have been wrong about when winter ended, there is no escaping the fact that (in the Northern Hemisphere at least) the cold weather will eventually make way for springtime. It's time for the yearly ritual of spring cleaning. Search marketers should consider this type of cleaning for themselves as well, taking this opportunity to look at their account structures, keywords, ad creative and media mix models -- but that's not the cleanup I'm here to talk about today. It's time to look at all the ad technology solutions you have assembled over the winter and do some serious straightening up.

• Search Marketing Shouldn't End At the Click in Search & Performance Insider on 03/05/2013
  

  As search marketers, we focus a ton of money and brainpower testing and optimizing our media to make sure we drive the best results. Most of us do our job (and do it well) and then count on other teams to take the ball to the end zone. In turn, we take what we learned from those wins and then optimize against insights from those conversions reactively. Our focus is on the advertising itself, getting the right message in front of the right person. And while we may leverage landing pages and where users go after they click, the full experience is often out of our hands. So how do we work more efficiently to make the most out of every person who clicks on one of our ads?

• What Google Enhanced Campaigns Changes Mean For Sophisticated Marketers in Marketing Daily on 02/07/2013
  

  Wednesday's announcement from Google promises to make a real impact on advertisers. These changes will undoubtedly meet Google's primary goal of increasing the adoption of mobile search advertising -- but unfortunately, this threatens to be at the expense of their most sophisticated marketers.

• How Are We Doing So Far? The Opportunity In Google PLAs in Search & Performance Insider on 02/05/2013
  

  In June I gave a eulogy for free Google Product Search. In that column, I asked some serious questions about what the new Google Product Listing Ads (PLAs) meant for marketers, and what retailers would need to do to prepare for the change. Now that time has passed and the craziness of Q4 is over, it's a good time to really see what initial results look like and what PLAs mean for marketers.

• Bright Lights, Big Data in Search & Performance Insider on 12/11/2012
  

  The first time in a big city it's easy to get overwhelmed and distracted by all the lights, the signs, the people, the options. You are overwhelmed by the amount of information thrown your way as you step off the bus. But maybe you have a guidebook, or did a lot of research in advance. Maybe you found a way to distill all that information into just the useful bits that will help you enjoy your trip. This is similar to how one may approach "Big Data."

• Search Is But One Tool In Your Marketing Toolbox in Search & Performance Insider on 11/13/2012
  

  As the old saying goes, when you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail -- and search is one excellent hammer. But the fact is, like every tool, there are some things search just does not do well on its own. Let's explore some of the shortcomings of our favorite channel:

• Marketing To Mobile Users: Proof Is In The Numbers in Search & Performance Insider on 10/16/2012
  

  It's hard to believe Apple introduced the iPad in April 2010, less than three years ago. In their 30-month run, tablets have grown exponentially, changing where and how we consume media and the overall digital marketing space forever. But what does this really mean? I have discussed the importance of mobile and tablet marketing in my columns before, but it's important to understand the differences in behavior on different devices to better market to these users successfully. We recently released a report that was meant to help identify these differences so marketers can optimize campaigns according to device type. The results are enlightening:

• The Future Of Search in Search & Performance Insider on 09/21/2012
  

  Do you hear that rumble in the distance? It's change coming. What sort of change, you ask? Well, the events of the last few weeks collectively point to a pretty big shift in the search landscape.

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