Blogs

Is Bing a serious contender or still an also ran? So far playing around with Bing it seems localized search is as good as Google but non-local search is still poor.

Internet traffic tracking firm comScore says Microsoft sites increased daily penetration among U.S. searchers from 13.8 percent during the week of May 26 to 15.5 percent during the week of June 2, the week of Bing’s public launch.

Only time will tell if their market share is permanently increased.

See more info at Business Journal.

Fionn Downhill, CEO of Elixir Interactive, interviews Tim Kendall, Facebook Director of Monetization about his participation on the "Branding without borders" panel at SES New York, 2009. Tim talks about Facebook's exponential growth in the social media landscape with 175 million active users. Tim says Facebook is growing by 500,000 new users each day and growth is spreading all around the globe. Tim says Facebook currently has approximately 73 of the top brand spenders using Facebook for marketing. Tim goes on to say that lots of local, small businesses are having success with Facebook advertising and Tim cites one example, Store Quest in California. Tim also discusses the accuracy of Facebook profiles and how it impacts the ads served.

In today’s rough economy, marketers are finding revenue growth in digital media. Many companies are shifting their marketing budgets to online campaigns to meet consumer expectations. With the shift in spending companies want to know just how effective Internet marketing can be, which in turn is leading companies like Google to change how they use consumer data (i.e. geo-targeting, behavioral ad targeting, etc). Despite the newness of behavioral ad targeting, the most recent SEMPO survey revealed that , “Three-quarters of advertisers indicated they were willing to pay more for behavioral targeting opportunities, particularly for in-market consumers.”

It’s apparent that behavioral advertising has the potential to drastically change online marketing. But is this the direction business should be taking? Is this an ethical business practice? This question needs to be answered for the business decisions that are being made right now. If we don't, then we risk repeating the mistakes of the past (and getting ourselves into a mess like what we are experiencing today).

To get a discussion on the ethics of marketing and media in the digital age started, I asked the Elixir team what they thought of these developments.

Are online marketing practices, such as geo-targeting and behavioral ad targeting, ethical?

Fionn: I believe that if people are willing to share their information that it is ethical to use it. The world has changed traditional marketing does not work as well as it did. Marketers are simply responding to new ways to sell and market their products and behavioral and demographic targeting has never been easier. Collecting that data on your customer base in the past was laborious and expensive. My guess is that eventually it will be regulated but for now if I open up my information I expect to be marketed to. If I say I am 40 years old in my Facebook profile I can expect to see Ads targeting what is important to 40 year old women (they all think I am fat), if I don’t want to see those ads then I don’t fill out my profile on Facebook. I think the ethics issue comes into play where people do not realize that their information is being used this way. Nobody reads the TOS except maybe attorneys. The TOS are written by attorney so nobody understands them anyways. We do because of who we are but the average web user or social media participant really doesn’t. But until they wise up marketers are going to use the information and the sites themselves are going to use it to further monetize their properties and provide value to their investors.

Jason: The common complaints with email are that the messages are not relevant and that they are delivered either too often or not often enough. So – from the email recipient perspective – they want to receive messages that are relevant to their needs, lifestyle, personality and delivered at just the right time.

Translate these needs to the greater web. The experience online should be relevant to one’s particular online “journey” and the timing of any messaging should be appropriate for that particular visitor. Using behavioral and other data points to customize the user experience can provide incredible benefits to the consumer.

I would however agree with Tim Berners-Lee where he notes “The power of this information is so great that the commercial incentive for companies or individuals to misuse it will be huge.”

Used in a manner where the consumer’s experience is paramount and the business benefits are ancillary, there could be big rewards for the marketer.

Unfortunately, as we have seen with email, there are those that abuse this power and flood our inboxes with Spam.”

Christine: I DON’T LIKE IT! I know it is inevitable and that just makes me sad….just keep taking away my right/ability to think. When I am doing a search on G it is because I am choosing to. If I am checking my email and I get an ad because of some content in someone’s else’s email that’s maddening. It is not targeting me at all and I DON’T WANT TO BE ANYONE’S TARGET. Let me search, let me choose, let me find my content to read, let me find my own products to buy. I want to be an active participant in my life. Don’t target me, just keep delivering me the most relevant content possible by my own search queries.

I thought we were on the right track with marketing civility. Google was leading, now they are serving up corporations in our searches just because THEY view it as relevant. Wrong move G, stop serving up the corporations who have done nothing to deserve it. I can find the big corporations on my own.

Ashley: I do believe that geo-targeting and behavioral ad targeting can be used in an ethical manner to better survive customers and make online shopping and searching easier for individuals, as long as the information gathered and used cannot be linked to a specific identity. By this I mean a company should not gathering information such as an individual’s full name, home address and other identification information then pairing it up with information they get form marketing techniques such as the behavioral ad targeting. There is a such thing as storing too much information on your clients and many would view this as an invasion of personal privacy. I personally would find it unsettling to find if a company stored my name, home address, favorite shoes, times of day I usually browse online and other information that tells about my personality and habits all in one place.

There is another way these techniques can become unethical in the way they are used. For example, if the information is used to specifically target children, marketing alcohol to known addicts, or concealing media and news from people that live in specific regions I would consider this to be all unethical uses of these marketing techniques. It is up to the individual companies to make sure they are not using these marketing techniques in an unethical manner and keep from crossing that line. It is also important to keep in mind that when a company practices unethical marketing techniques they are risking serious damage to their online reputation. Customers communicate and value the opinions and incites of individuals.

Caitlin: The ethics rulebook for online marketing is continuously evolving as new websites and technologies constantly redefine the Internet landscape. Google's decision to incorporate behavioral target ads using data collected from search queries and website visits exemplifies the unyielding power Google possesses and the impending complete transition into web transparency.

I don't consider it unethical for Google to leverage the consumer information they collect. But making that information public to advertisers or any company with an invested interest in their customers' search habits is irresponsible.

As a culture we've become reliant upon Google as a trusted resource and confidant. In that tiny, unassuming search box, we divulge our most intimate curiosities and unspeakable thoughts. For many people, search history is not a direct reflection of their consumer interests. To be followed by ads that underline your health problems, work concerns or other personal interests may not be an outright ethical issue (at least not until your queries are sold to a prospective employer), but it's a clear infringement of space and privacy.

Dave: I have no issue with geo-targeting ads. The location of where I’m accessing the internet is generally not a private matter and consequently I don’t mind if ads are targeted towards me based on that information.

Behavioral targeting is something I have no issue with IF PEOPLE VOLUNTARILY OPT IN. I have a far bigger problem with the collection of that level of data because it’s so insanely valuable to advertisers and businesses that it’s ripe for abuse. As the creator of the web, Tim Berners-Lee, alluded to, it will be a sad day when my ‘user profile’ which is created from my web usage habits, is sold to a prospective employer or insurance company to be used against me by either of those parties. It will feel very big brother-ish when I see the same ads following me around the web due to some action I recently took online a while back. People need to realize that their fears, concerns, and insecurities which they use the web to research are being tracked and marketed back to them. I think once people understand this they will be far more vocal about this egregious abuse of privacy.

What do you think? Is behavioral advertising ethical? Please join us in the discussion.

 

Next week at SES NYC (http://www.searchenginestrategies.com/) I'll be moderating a panel on how companies are migrating budget from traditional media such as print, radio and TV to digital media such as email, search and social.

We will have Century 21, Avon and SAP on board to share with us their experiences and recommendations for how to move budget online without negatively impacting brand equity.

There is a seismic shift occurring in how brands communicate with their customers. The move from a monologue based approach to dialogue requires the use of interactive media. One way communication is being displaced with two way, and now, community based conversation. Brands realize that in order to remain relevant they need to be speaking "with" their customers instead of "at" them.

In addition to the shift from monologue to dialogue, brands are realizing that their focus on the product or service is being replaced with a focus on the customer. By listening to their customers' likes and dislikes, brands can learn a lot about how to produce, market and support their offerings.

The web does not need to be thought of as a transactional tool - simply to get people to sign-up or buy something. Increasingly, the interactivity and functionality provided by web-based tools and widgets is part of the brand experience. A customer that can more easily find what they are looking for influences their perception of the brand. Companies that realize this dynamic will succeed as they migrate their budgets online. The interactions customers have online reveals a tremendous amount about their thought processes and preferences. The informed digital marketer will use this insight to create more compelling interactions and thus a stronger brand association.

It should be noted that the migration to digital media will not kill offline media. There is still a place for TV, radio and print. The importance of the marketing mix is more pronounced in today's digital landscape and traditional media will serve to enhance the overall brand position.

I hope that if you are attending SES next week you will be able to stop by our panel and become part of the conversation.

"The Hustlers" Joshua Murphy & Dave Shapiro have a debate over the new Skittles.com site. They were both asked the same questions after having an audible debate in the office over their feelings about the new site. Below is what came from the e-mail interview. Do you like the Skittles site? Dave: I dislike the Skittles site. Although it's a great way to garner attention/buzz in the short term (we're doing a whole blog post about it after all) , I think they could have been better served by incorporating social elements WITHIN the site, and not making the whole thing social. Joshua: I was on the fence about it when I first saw it, but I love it now. Not so much for the design or the functionality, just for the idea of it. I love that they are embracing the idea of social media and being completely transparent. Do you think that Skittle made the right move by making this their new site? Dave: No, as I mentioned above I think it's a good short term play but will yield little in the long term if not coupled with contests and promotions that create further brand mentions and interactions with customers. It looks like it works now because the conversation levels are relatively high, but the site will look stale as time passes and comments on each of the individual social networks dry up. Joshua: Absolutely I do. For their key demo I think this is a very smart move for them. The kids who are eating skittles are in this space and Skittles are showing them that they are there with them to hang out, not to shove messaging down their throats. Do you see any benefits to skittles doing this to their site? Dave: Yes, a short term lift in mentions and traffic which will hopefully result in sales. Joshua: Well, besides the cost savings of allowing your customers to create the content that drives your sales there is the media buzz that is being generated as well. On top of that I think they have really helped to establish their brand with their key demographic. Do you think this is good or bad for their brand? Dave: Although I don't think it will harm their brand, I think it's bad from the opportunity cost perspective that given the amount of time/money/resources they likely put into this, I think they could have done a much better job. Look at the way Doritos used social media to get people talking about them and creating content on their behalf for their Superbowl spot, or how Kraft got people to create videos of them creating recipes using Kraft products. These are both creative ways that larger food brands used social media to actually ignite conversations about their brand, not simply republish conversations that are taking place elsewhere. Again, I like the idea if it's incorporated into the site, but not the whole site itself. Joshua: I think this is FANTASTIC for their brand. I think it shows that skittles understands their customers and is truly embracing the idea of social media and what it's all about. Because really, who gives a shit about skittles and what the company that makes them has to say about them, I know I don't. But by connecting their customers together and LISTENING to what is being said about them they can react to their customers wants, rather than try and guess them. Do you think they should give up the ability to control their messaging? Dave: To an extent. I'm all for transparency but still believe you should have the ability to control what appears on your site, something they've given up in this case. It's not helping your brand profanities start appearing on your site simply because people think it's funny to write crazy stuff so that content appears on your site. Joshua: I don't think they have given up that ability. I think they have changed the way in which they are getting their message out, but I don't think they have no control. Skittles still has the ability to upload content, it's just in a much more interactive and social environment than ever before. Any last comments? Dave: I hate how they use Wikipedia in place of original content. Although it goes with the theme of openness, not controlling the content, etc., it represents laziness to me. aAlso, from an SEO perspective they have some hidden text on each of the pages which is never good. Joshua: I say Kudos to Skittles for doing this. I think that you have (or the agency that did this) have hit a home run and I applaud you for taking the risk to do this. It got my attention and apparently the attention of everyone else, so if nothing else it was an effecting campaign. Remember any press is good press and that still goes for the social media realm as well. I wish that there were more companies that would open themselves up like this and just join the conversation rather than trying to control everything. People are going to feel a certain way about your product no matter how you tell them to feel, so why not start LISTENING instead of talking so damn much.

Joshua Murphy & David Shapiro of Elixir Interactive discuss the importance of hustling. When you work in an environment that is ever changing and filled to the brim with smart, creative hard working people the ability to stay on top of things can make or break your company. We are lucky enough to work in an industry that allows for such creativity and freedom and we should all be taking full advantage of it. One of the best things about the interweb right now is the ability to quickly and easily publish your content. Joshua Murphy & David Shapiro of Elixir Interactive discuss the importance of hustling, creativity and moving quickly as well as see how they use it to their advantage. Q. Tell me what I am looking at here, why are these videos so short and what is the point? Dave:12 Seconds is essentially the Twitter for video. You get your message across while being concise and to the point. I think it's particularly useful in this industry as it forces you to explain complex subjects in laymans terms. I have an incredibaly hard time describing to my friends and family what I do in less than 10 minutes, and I think somebody like my mother would be able to understand what I do better by watching these videos. Although I'm not quite sure if she'd understand what links are :) Q. How did these videos come to life? Joshua: It was about 15 minutes before Dave and I were getting ready to head out for lunch when I went over to Dave and said, hey I have an idea. We should try to explain SEO and Social Media in 12 seconds and put it up on that 12seconds.tv site. Less than 30 min later we had our video and we were off to lunch. These are the types of things that companies need to be doing. They are easy to accomplish and they are effective. Q. Explain what hustling means to you. Joshua: It means putting in 150% every day, all day. It means pushing through, being efficient, constantly learning and growing as a person and as a community. Dave: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Nam sodales scelerisque est. Sed urna quam, placerat ut. In English, that means doing everything necessary to do the job well, and not just accepting average. Q. How do you use this to your advantage? Joshua: I use it personally to beat my competition. I use it to make sure that I keep my job, make the client happy, meet the deadline, get promoted, land the deal and generally crush it as often as I can. Dave:I use it to keep a leg up on what's going on in the industry and the competition. I try to read and learn as much as possible and continually invest in my own education and try to learn something from every project so the experience I'm accumulating becomes more valuable. Hopefully all the work I put in will allow our clients, and personal projects I work on, to achieve greater success. Q. Give me an example of a time that hustling has specifically paid off for you recently. Joshua: Just the other day I noticed that our companies twitter account had been neglected and lying pretty much dormant. I jumped in there and joined the conversation. Just started talking to people, making connections, making friends and two days later we had a potential new client, a few new leads, we have a guest blogger writing an article for us, some new friends and who knows what else. All from two days of talking to people on Twitter. Now imagine expanding that effort 100 fold. Dave: Although this is unrelated to work and may be taking it a tad too literally, but recently I wanted to see a concert but did not want to pay the $50 per ticket. So I did some research and found a guy on Craigslist who was selling two tickets for $75. Picked them up and sold one at the show for $45, saving that person $5 and myself $25. It was a win win as I got to see a see a concert I wanted to for half the price and helped somebody else save money, all from an extra 30 minutes of effort. Q. What advice would you give to people out there just getting started or looking to join the conversation. Joshua:Don’t be afraid. I know it’s a little intimidating to think about putting yourself out there, but imagine you are one great big Christmas party and everyone in the world is there. The more people you go out and talk to, the more you will learn, the more you will experience and the more opportunity you will have. Dave: Dive in and make mistakes, but don't make the same mistake twice. Don't be afraid to ask questions or ask people for help. People like helping others and I've never seen an industry that likes to help their own more than this one. About "The Hustlers" Joshua Murphy is the Creative Director for Elixir Interactive. He has spent the past 12 years working in digital marketing with an emphasis on interactive marketing and usability. Joshua is a self taught digital marketing expert and prides himself on his ability to find creative solutions to seemingly impossible problems. Contact Joshua: Joshua {at} elixirinteractive {dot} com @element3media David Shapiro is Elixir Interactive's Search Strategist. He is always on the lookout for the next great link and in his spare time tries to figure out how the heck Google ranks certain pages where they do. He also enjoys VH1 reality TV and salads. Contact David: david {at} elixirinteractive {dot} com @daveshap.

Search engines have done wonders for businesses of all sizes by allowing them to place their products and services in front of users at the exact moment they’re looking for them.  They’ve provided website owners with streams of targeted traffic and have allowed many to make a killing online.  As Google accounts for over 70% of all searches, the majority of search engine traffic is provided by Google (although ~70% is what’s reported by Hitwise, the breakdown of search engine traffic is closer to 85% Google, 10% Yahoo, and 5% other on most sites we work with).

Although this may seem great on the surface it can lead to the Wal-Mart effect , which is detailed in this Fast Company article.   It occurs when suppliers reach an agreement with to distribute their products at Wal-Mart and consequently either devote more of the resources they have towards toward fulfilling the hefty production obligations of Wal-Mart, or invest in more resources so they can continue to service their existing accounts and Wal-Mart simultaneously.   If/when the relationship ceases to exist the companies are left to figure out other ways to make up for the revenue that Wal-Mart had been providing and/or cover any increased costs of doing business with Wal-Mart.  If the business can’t fill these gaps they are forced to close.

Just as Wal-Mart can wreck a small supplier, Google can also take your site out of the index with few people noticing particularly if you are a smaller brand.  It could be all sorts of issues that get you temporarily removed, justified or not, and you’re losing a large share of your revenue while figuring out why.  Search engines have more to lose by not having large brands in the index as those large brands have significant search volume associated with them and should the branded sites not be included it hurts their relevancy.  If they fail to include Joes Cat Shack which gets 3 searches per day there will be far fewer people who notice.

No business wants to lean too heavily on one source for the majority of its revenues and online businesses should act the same way regarding traffic streams and sales.  The business is at risk if the source that is providing the majority of traffic and sales comes to a halt.  The ability to diversify traffic and revenue sources significantly lowers this risk.

Examples to Diversify Traffic and Revenue:

1. PPC – More useful for commercial sites, PPC traffic will always be an option as long as the budget is in place. 
2. Email Marketing – Your best potential customers are … your current customers!  It’s a lot easier to get somebody to buy something again than it is to get them to buy something the first time.  Use this to your advantage.
3. Blog/RSS – Start a blog and allow people to subscribe to your updates.  Create content that will allow you to be top of mind in your vertical.
4. Affiliate Programs – Allow others to sell your products for you

By incorporating these elements into your online business you are shielding yourself from decreases from any one source, particularly Google organic traffic.  The better job you do of building your brand the less likely you are to rely on Google for your traffic and revenues since you will likely be generating traffic from other sources and will enjoy many of the SEO benefits of being a well known brand.  As Aaron Wall said, the less reliant you are on Google, the more reliant they are on you.

Online Reputation Management (ORM) is, at its core, the process of monitoring brand conversations online and dealing with them in a way that helps maintain the brand’s image. Managing brands online is achieved by controlling and addressing the messages customers see and hear on the web. Such a task might seem impossible with the wild freedom of the Internet, but search engine optimization (SEO) techniques can provide the leverage needed to successfully manage brand messaging. One of the most important aspects of ORM is ensuring that the search results directly related to your brand include your own sites within the top listings. SEO can help improve your own site’s rankings in searches, so that your branded messaging is read more often than the other messages out there.

However, the other messages cannot be ignored. It is also important for companies to read and listen to the concerns voiced on other websites, blogs, or forums that are highly-ranking in search result pages. Taking a proactive approach to address these concerns professionally is vital to maintaining the online reputation of any brand.

Overall, online reputation management comes down to three steps: monitoring the messages, managing message visibility, and then addressing messaging conflicts.

Even though I have the opportunity to see the power of social media in action every day, I still get excited when great things happen with the support of social networks – especially when they have a positive impact on the philanthropic sector. It's exhilarating to see organizations like Greenpeace, the World Wildlife Foundation, and the American Red Cross spread awareness for their causes on Twitter or to watch and be inspired by global events like The DAVOS Debates on YouTube.

Those are large organizations, but it's just as simple for smaller organizations to gather worldwide recognition - and support - through social media. For marketers, business professionals and organization leaders who are still unsure how to get started can learn how by attending a workshop or seminar.

On February 26, 2009, Elixir Interactive CEO Fionn Downhill will be speaking at a social media event at The Jamaica Pegasus Hotel. It’s an intensive, hands-on workshop in which business professionals will learn how to use social networks for marketing and public relations. Joining Fionn as speakers at the event will be Digital Marketing Strategist and Entrepreneur Ingrid Riley and Newsforce founder Dana Todd. These industry experts have about 25 years of combined experience in digital marketing and they are scheduled to present on several topics, including: an introduction to social media, blogging for success, online PR, and viral marketing strategies.

This event is being hosted by Survivors Unlimited and all proceeds go to their services. They are a support organization helping bereaved children in Jamaica. Over the years it’s been harder to get corporate sponsorships for their programs and hosting events like this one serves as a fundraiser for the organization. Unfortunately, the demand for counselors who help children that have lost loved ones has been increasing in Jamaica. Through hosting this workshop, Survivors Unlimited hopes to gain enough funding to run a much-needed training program for additional support personnel. If you'd like to know more about Survivors Unlimited and the event they are hosting, please visit their website at http://www.survivorsja.com.

Paid Search, a.k.a pay-per-click, is an online marketing strategy in which advertisers buy listings on results pages put up for sale by search engines. Paid advertisements are also known as “sponsored links” on Google, "sponsor results" on Yahoo and "sponsored results" on MSN/Live, and can be seen directly under the search box and along the right rail in the majority of search engines. These locations make the listings clearly visible to the searcher.

Paid search allows marketers to control where and when their listing is viewed by paying to appear in the results for specific keywords and phrases. Noah Elkin of iMediaConnection states: “Among online marketing channels, paid search is unrivaled for the speed and relative ease with which it allows marketers to put relevant offers in front of interested consumers.” This search engine marketing strategy focuses on analyzing search trends and behaviors of consumers, and creating listings that match the language of the identified audience.  

The price search engines charge for particular keywords varies according to the competitiveness of the targeted word, determined by its conversion rate and the number of people who bid on it. For example, there are over 300 different websites bidding for the keyword "drug rehab". Because this phrase is fiercely targeted, marketers have to bid and ultimately pay a steep price to appear in the results (over $20 according to Google's Adwords Keyword Tool). When Internet users click through a paid listing, the search engine receives the rate charged per click.