• Keeping Ourselves Honest: Auditing Our Predictions For 2008
    Each February we at Razorfish release our "Digital Outlook Report," outlining the key trends and predictions in digital marketing over the next year. Sometimes our predictions are right, and sometimes they aren't. In this column I will revisit the four major search marketing trends we predicted in 2008, and see how successfully we predicted the future.
  • Hyperlinking Reality
    Fellow Search Insider David Berkowitz (David, it's been too long since we riffed on each other's columns!) allowed his curiosity to wander down some fascinating potential directions search may evolve in a couple of recent columns, first looking at Ford's plans for integrating GPS enabled voice search in all its vehicles, and then speculating how one search could be launched in 17 different ways, both today and in the future. One of his speculations is what I wanted to explore further today....
  • How Search Fits Into The Web Site Design Process
    I was recently going through a discovery process with a Fortune 500 executive who was guiding his company's Web site redesign, and I inquired directly about the search aspects of the project. His response: "Search is not relevant to this process." Contrary to what he was saying, search was in fact critical to the overall process; he was just clearly unaware of his company's campaign history and investment in the search channel. In light of this response, seemingly old and worn advice is worth another spin or two around the block, especially if it will help convey the natural search …
  • Cataloging A Search Catastrophe
    Don't let this catastrophe happen to you. This is based on a true story, though certain names have been omitted to protect the guilty brands. Scene One: My wife, Cara, and I went to see the movie "Milk." Beforehand, we endured the barrage of commercials. Yet something incredible happened -- one of the spots was not only relevant, but memorable....
  • Moving Toward Rational SEM Agency Procurement
    George Michie, who works for SEM agency Rimm-Kaufman, made an excellent point last week in an article about SEM agency procurement policies. He pointed out that choosing an SEM agency is more like choosing a professional service company such as a law or engineering firm than a traditional advertising agency or other "creative" company.Michie's article was important because SEM agency procurement processes are broken, and the result hurts everybody in the search business.
  • The Tweet Life
    It's 2009, and like many of you I made several New Year's resolutions that I may or may not keep. Some of them revolve around my vices. I like to smoke. I like to sleep in to the last possible minute. I like to eat food that will kill me and I like to drive too fast. Also, I'm a complete and utter Twitter addict -- a Twaddict, if you will. All the former vices are addictions I really will try and address this year. The latter is a different story. In fact, I intend to increase my addiction to …
  • Google Evolves Back To Its Core
    Last week, I talked about how the economy will sort out winners and losers even faster. This week, a trio of news releases seems to confirm that search, and Google, in particular, will be a winner. Unfortunately, almost no one will recognize that they've won.
  • Global Search Integration: Yes We Can
    Obama's inauguration got me thinking about how much work the U.S. has to do to improve its standing internationally -- and all the hurdles in its way. It's not unlike the laundry-list of challenges that search marketers face when trying to centrally manage global search programs from the States. Here are some of the key differences that make international search integration difficult
  • One Search, 17 Ways
    After the Consumer Electronics Show this month, where I met with the executives from Ford and heard about their ambitious voice search plans, I kept wondering how the ability to conduct voice searches from their cars will change how people search, communicate, access information, and drive. It then made me wonder about all of the venues and devices people can search from. Here's a vision for how searches will differ when conducted in different settings from different devices. In all of these situations, we'll take the example of a young, female, Dallas-based professional named Penny who's searching for the best …
  • Rooting For Yahoo's Bartz
    Tell me something: When was the last time you rooted for Google? When was the last time you thought of the search giant with a benevolent smile, wanted to ruffle its hair, or felt generous about forgiving its trespasses because, after all, it means well? That is, after all, how we started our relationship with them. We were all charmed. They were so cute, so clever, so... not evil. But the luster has worn thin, replaced by stories about how long they should retain cookies or whether searches should be legally admissible evidence.
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