by Laurie Sullivan on Dec 30, 1:04 PM
One driver of post-holiday traffic remains shoppers seeking out sales and discounts after the holidays -- especially after Christmas, Hanukkah or other religious holidays at the end of the year, where gift-giving could mean receiving a gift card to make the purchase. Experian Hitwise Analyst Heather Dougherty believes if search is an indicator of the uptick, there were plenty of gift card givers, along with recipients looking for goods and services to spend them on. Gift cards could lead to searches and clicks on paid-search ads online.
by Laurie Sullivan on Dec 29, 10:44 AM
How does a high school student looking for a college to further their education find the perfect program? Answering that question, Fred Jambukeswaran found a niche and created collegeseekr.com. Rather than clicking through multiple pages and screens, the search engine aggregates and pulls in data from Web sites based on location, which could become a gold mine for brands looking to connect one on one with students through recommendations, retail and restaurants.
by Laurie Sullivan on Dec 28, 12:49 PM
Google has developed a framework for the AdWhirl SDK that allows developers to display banner ads from different networks in their iOS and Android applications, but it also enables them to turn off the refresh rate for ads serving up in apps on mobile devices. Allowing developers to turn off the refresh rate is significant because the longer the ad remains on the screen visible to the user, the better the chance it will be clicked on.
by Laurie Sullivan on Dec 27, 11:53 AM
Understanding how social marketing drives consumers to the top of the search funnel should appear as No. 1 on the Marketing New Year's Resolution List for 2012. Paid social can drive brand search to the top of the funnel, improving brand conversion percentages. It may seem counterintuitive, said aimClear Founder Marty Weintraub, but at the Search Insider Summit earlier this month he described how to drive people to the top of the search funnel through social media sites like Facebook and LinkedIn. The results mean better brand conversions.
by Laurie Sullivan on Dec 23, 11:41 AM
While it may not come as a shock to online advertising or marketing to find pure-play Internet giants at the top of the list for companies most likely to take America's dollars this holiday season, it's important to note that the study also reveals that traditional brick-and-mortar stores continue to lose the battle for online sales. Most just can't apply learned physical-world strategies to the Web.
by Laurie Sullivan on Dec 22, 1:01 PM
Smartphone and email users relying on tap-to-call or tap-to-schedule features on a variety of portable devices might infringe on patents granted to Apple and Microsoft.
by Laurie Sullivan on Dec 21, 11:13 AM
Looking for a job? Google, Bing and Yahoo want to make it as easy as pulling up a search engine in a browser and typing a few choice keywords into the search box.
by Laurie Sullivan on Dec 20, 12:05 PM
What do three executives from traditional brick-and-mortar stores see as important in the world of ecommerce and search for 2012? GroupM Search CEO Chris Copeland sat down at the Search Insider Summit earlier this month with 3M Search Marketing Manager Craig Berdie, Bob Evans Digital Marketing Strategist Nate Riggs, and BabyCenter Director of Global Operations Joe Byrne to find out.
by Laurie Sullivan on Dec 19, 1:09 PM
Determining the underlying intent to a consumer's purchase, and acting on those signals, could make or break a paid-search ad campaign. Social media helps search marketers see the light by providing the underlying intent to an action, rather than serving up suggestions we may already know. Setting itself apart from Google, Microsoft's Bing began to focus more on connecting intent with action to assist in better targeting for paid-search ads at a higher return on investment.
by Laurie Sullivan on Dec 16, 2:37 PM
Ask.com plans to expand Smart Answers into Europe, as well as two to three categories per month in the United States next year. The answers combine data from Web search, partner information and real people -- all accessible from Web and mobile platforms. The data gets sourced and analyzed from query logs looking for patterns, focusing on what users ask, how often and when.