by Laurie Sullivan on Jan 30, 2:01 PM
A 30-second TV spot during the Super Bowl will cost brands about $4.5 million. While many people watch the big game, the ads alone are not as effective as many think. Although 90% of people are not likely to purchase something they saw during the Super Bowl, some companies hope that running an ad online will increase the chances.
by Laurie Sullivan on Jan 29, 1:09 PM
Companies frequently work with bad data, although 95% feel compelled to turn the numbers into insights. It's not just data for paid-search campaigns, but email, display, social and video. The repercussions trickle into campaigns from desktop to mobile devices. Some 32% of U.S. marketers call their company's data inaccurate. Although the number drops to 26% when looking at the global market, overall the amount of bad data rose 25% compared with a year ago, per a report released Thursday. Some companies try to fix the problem through better data management and attribution.
by Laurie Sullivan on Jan 28, 9:49 AM
Yahoo took a close look at search and metrics during the company's Q4 2014 earnings call. Company executives fielded questions on everything from Panama to the partnership with Microsoft. CEO Marissa Mayer kept reiterating the importance of search to the company's long-term strategy.
by Laurie Sullivan on Jan 27, 12:15 PM
It can take one click to make a purchase from a smartphone when consumers use a retailer's app that stores credit card and shipping information. Apparently, brands and retail stores caught on. In Q4 2014, Web site traffic to mobile sites grew 49%, and 44% of total Q4 visits and nearly half of holiday season visits were from mobile devices. Mobile shoppers didn't just research, they bought. Among those researching, orders from smartphones rose 87%, and conversion improved by 53%, compared with the year-ago quarter, per a study released Tuesday.
by Laurie Sullivan on Jan 26, 8:47 AM
Steve Wozniak barely mentioned search engines and ecommerce during a keynote Saturday at the National Association for Music Merchants in Anaheim. He'd rather go to the store to touch and feel musical instruments, which makes Chattanooga, Tenn. music store owner Darren Patrick happy. "People come into my store and they ooh and aww, whether they buy anything or not," Patrick said. People can't experience the tones, notes and vibrations from a specific instrument online. Not yet, anyway. Early on, Apple helped create a piano-style keyboard that let people play music on the Macintosh.
by Laurie Sullivan on Jan 23, 10:21 AM
Marketers have a love/hate relationship with Facebook. Some search marketers say the social media site doesn't provide the return on investment, while others can't live without it. Numbers released this week from several sources tell an interesting tale. Apparently the market has reacted positively to the changes in user experience; mobile adoption domestically and abroad; and costs -- especially when it comes to mobile and video.
by Laurie Sullivan on Jan 22, 1:20 PM
Norway-based Cxense, a data management company, has developed technology that turns any image viewed in a browser into a 3D interactive image. That means any image on a Web site, not just in an ad unit. The company's VP of global marketing says brands also could use the technology to make images in Google Shopping interactive, because it works in the browser.
by Laurie Sullivan on Jan 21, 9:12 AM
Datanyze, a two-year old startup backed by Google Ventures and Mark Cuban, on Wednesday will launch a free browser extension for Chrome that brings the power of data-driven marketing to the masses. Ilya Semin, the company's CEO, calls it a lead-generation tool.
by Laurie Sullivan on Jan 20, 10:02 AM
Google could be close to investing in a project that would support Internet access from space via satellite. The $1 billion infusion would value Space Exploration Technologies Corp., better known as rocket developer SpaceX, at about $10 billion. It would give Google the tools to offer Internet access from virtually anywhere.
by Laurie Sullivan on Jan 19, 10:32 AM
Searching the Internet contributes to global warming, but tech giants have begun to take steps to reduce the erosion. Apple, Amazon, eBay, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and some of the largest online ad tech companies have been slashing energy consumption in data centers known more commonly these days as cloud servers.