Internet Marketing News

Online advertisers expect budget increases in 2004 and 2005

2004-09-20T11:35:00.000+02:00

More than half (56%) of the marketers Millward Brown surveyed indicated that their total marketing and media budgets increased in 2004 over 2003, and 60% expect the upward trend to continue through 2005. Optimism about budgets swelled, with 81% of marketers with budgets above $400 mln expecting increases, compared to 44% of marketers with budgets under $25 mln.

Looking forward, the largest portion (28.2%) of survey participants named Web advertising as the online marketing application that would grow the most over the next five years. E-mail marketing was a strong second with 19.2% expecting the most growth, followed by search (16.3%), online promotions (13.9%), and affiliate marketing (9.8%). ITFacts

Consumers reluctant to buy financial products online

2004-09-20T10:34:00.000+02:00

Research shows 87 per cent of consumers are using the internet to make purchases more now than they did five years ago - but reluctance remains in relation to financial products.

When it comes to buying financial products it seems people are more reluctant to go online. For example, only 23 per cent of those who have applied for a personal loan over the past five years did so on the internet. This reluctance appears to be based on several misconceptions: nearly a fifth (19 per cent) believe that they will get a better deal talking face to face with someone.

Over a third of us (38 per cent) buy something online every couple of weeks - and in the last year alone, the average consumer spent £770 on goods via the internet. MyFinances.co.uk

Free Email Marketing Guide from CRM Technologies

2004-09-15T09:00:00.000+02:00

Specialists in sales lead management, CRM Technologies, are offering a free email marketing guide according to sourcewire. Aimed at marketing professionals working in both business-to-business and business-to-consumer environments, the guide provides hints and tips designed to help the execution of email marketing campaigns more effectively and importantly, within the most recent legal guidelines.

“It covers the fundamental aspects of every email marketing campaign,” explains Andrew Freeman, Director at CRM Technologies. “From avoiding the ‘spam’ label and maintaining credibility, to handling responses and analysing failure. Most importantly though, it also details a pre-campaign checklist of legal requirements related specifically to email marketing,” he continued.

For a free copy of the guide, or for further information about email marketing, download Email Marketing Guide

SEO- 10 steps to success

2004-09-15T08:47:00.000+02:00

SEO is complex, but it does not need to be. As with any strategic activity if you develop a methodology or process you can give yourself a pre-defined set of stages which drastically simplifies the process. This is summarized and explained in a very comprehensive way on sourcewire

10 Stage Methodology

1. Site Performance Audit
2. Objectives Setting
3. Project Plan
4. Keyword Analysis & Selection
5. Content Development
6. Site Structure Optimisation
7. Link Building
8. Search Engine Submission
9. Reporting & Analysis
10. Maintenance & Improvement

This article is a shortened version of an 18 page White Paper titled 'How to Implement Successful SEO'. This paper is available to download from http://www.clickthrough-marketing.com/resources/white-paper.php

TradeDoubler sets the pace for online marketing and sales in Europe

2004-09-09T09:29:00.000+02:00

STOCKHOLM, Sweden – September 8, 2004 – TradeDoubler, the leading provider of solutions for managing online marketing and sales activities, today reinforced its market position by announcing revenues of €27.1 million for the six months ended June 30th 2004.

The six month audited results demonstrate rapid growth which almost equals the total revenue for 2003 of €28 million. For the same period of 2003, the company generated revenues of €11.1 million, which means that year-on-year growth for the first half of 2003 to 2004 is 144 per cent.

Having tracked and generated sales revenues of €400 million in 2003 for its clients, this figure has increased to just under €100 million in August 2004 alone and the company expects this to rise to well in excess of 1 billion Euros for the full year.
e-consultancy

Pop-Up's successful- or Not

2004-09-09T09:23:00.000+02:00

Myth: Since people go dyspeptic over ubiquitous, in-your-face marketing techniques like pop-up ads, they either tune them out or close them down without even seeing the product or service advertised.

Fact: Despite popular perception, pop-up ads are among the best performing of all online ads. Michael Bailey, interactive media supervisor at GSD&M Advertising of Austin, Texas, said, "'Pop-ups generate roughly 5 to 10 times the response rate of standard banner units" because "people are more apt to notice them."

This doesn't mean that most people like them. A study conducted by Dynamic Logic found that almost 70 percent of those surveyed had a "very negative" opinion of pop-under ads and almost 80 percent held similar views on pop-up ads that launch a smaller browser window. Wired

Spam successful- or Not?

2004-09-09T09:19:00.000+02:00

Most experienced web surfers will tell you that the most annoying aspects of life on the internet are pop-up ads and spam. But in the online marketing game there are a number of popular misconceptions floating around:

Myth: Spam can't possibly work because no one is stupid enough to fall for come-ons for penile enhancements, lower mortgage rates and Nigerian scams.

Fact: If only that were true. "Spam does work, but in a relatively artless way," said David Schwartz, a director of sales at Claria, an online behavioral marketing firm. Since there is almost no cost associated with sending out millions of e-mails (unlike, say, with mail-order catalogs that require hefty postage), spammers require a miniscule click-through percentage. If a bulk e-mailer sends out 1 million messages for a product that he sells for $20, he only needs 0.1 percent to purchase it to earn $20,000. Wired

Rising Keyword Expenses Reducing Profitability

2004-09-08T09:27:00.000+02:00

The cheap keyword prices found by search engine advertising's early adopters are disappearing, which is making the great early returns on investment harder to find. Profitability, in the eyes of one Internet expert, will now come only with a little creativity. Good returns on investment are apparently still there, but increasingly with second and third choice keywords and phrases. ecommercetrends

Overture Shifting To Default Broad Match

2004-09-07T09:27:00.000+02:00

Within the next few weeks, Overture will make a major switch to matching terms on a broad basis, rather than the traditional exact match default it has followed since the company's launch. Finally, some might say, as Google has offered the service since the start. The change will make it easier for advertisers to gain more traffic, as they'll no longer have to think of each exact term they want to target. This makes tapping into the "tail" of search queries, the relatively low-volume searches that happen, easier to target.

The change will likely increase Overture's revenues, as well. Not only will advertisers probably to target more terms, but they'll also likely pay more as previously low cost terms get rolled into the same bid price as more expensive terms. SearchEngineWatch

Few companies use SEO effectively

2004-09-07T09:05:00.000+02:00

A new analysis performed by Oneupweb indicates that the number of companies effectively using SEO is quite small — only nine of the 100 companies in the study. Oneupweb's criteria for effective use is based on the practice of both "ethical" and "unethical" SEO methods. "Ethical" methods include pertinent keywords in tags and relevant titles and body text, whereas "unethical" methods include invisible text and image links, keyword tags not related to the business sector and other methods used to trick search engines.

However, Oneupweb finds that search engine optimization can pay off. Companies with effective SEO often end up in the top 10 search results on Google for their respective keywords. eMarketer

SE Trademark Case Moves Forward

2004-09-06T10:04:00.000+02:00

A federal judge has let insurer GEICO's lawsuit against the two biggest providers of search-based advertising move forward, setting the stage for closer examination of whether the burgeoning form of online ads breaks trademark laws.

The court decision is significant because it essentially states that GEICO's facts, when accepted as true, could prove trademark infringement. But the case is far from resolved, legal experts say. eWeek

Blacklisted By Google: Is Your Company Next?

2004-09-01T09:40:00.000+02:00

A new released book on Search Engine Advertising explains how companies that outsource their optimization campaigns are at risk of hiring firms that engage in search engine spam. "The problem isn't that the SEO firms get banned. It's their clients who pay the consequences" says author Catherine Seda.

Being banned by a search engine could arise from actions such as:
- Doorway pages loaded with keywords, often containing hidden links then placed within advertisers sites.
- Posting thousand of links to client web sites inside guestbooks or classified ads.

"There is a right way to boost your site's link popularity," says Seda. "Secure links from content-relevant site that have already achieved high rankings. Think quality, not quantity. And if you want to hire an SEO firm, ask how they get rankings for their clients."

Advertising UK

Net ads grow at high speed

2004-09-01T09:32:00.000+02:00

The Internet has finally emerged as a major advertising platform, with the latest audited results revealing the market grew to $300 million in advertising revenue last year.

The Audit Bureau of Verification Services said the greatest percentage growth came from general online advertising, which lifted revenue 70 per cent to $104.7 million.

That was followed by search and directories advertising (up 61 per cent to $92.6 million), then classified advertising (up 45 per cent to $102.6 million.)

Total revenue in the 2004 financial year grew 58 per cent beyond the previous year to $300 million.

The Mercury

More on Affiliate and SEM...

2004-08-31T11:01:00.000+02:00

Another interesting article by Fredrick Marckini, deals with the very interesting issues on if to let Publishers bid on trademarked terms and if Advertisers should share bidding intelligence with them. The conclusion in both cases was "yes", even though it includes a high degree of risk.

It's Good to Compete With Your Affiliates in PPC Search

2004-08-31T10:00:00.000+02:00

"Madness! Why on earth would you allow your affiliates to compete with you in pay-per-click (PPC) search advertising programs? It drives up bid prices! Made no sense to me." Fredrick Marckini

Me neither to be honest. Until I read the an interesting article on ClickZ saying that:
- Affiliates extend your paid search advertising budget.
- Competing with affiliates on the same keywords is valuable because they help you dominate the page.
- If your affiliates are restricted from paid search advertising, they'll simply switch teams and bid for the same keywords on behalf of your competition.

Forrester report: U.S. online retail sales to top $300B by 2010

2004-08-30T11:49:00.000+02:00

Forrester Research Inc. of Cambridge has put a value on the fast-growing online retail market in the United States, saying American firms will sell $316 billion in goods and services via the Web by 2010. According to Forrester, e-commerce will amount to some 12 percent of all retail sales in 2010, up from about 7 percent today.

"Significant behavioral changes by consumers and retailers will fuel online retail growth over the next six years," Forrester Senior Analyst Carrie Johnson said in a prepared statement".

Among the reports other finding:
- Most online retail categories will grow between 10 percent and 20 percent compound annual growth rate over the next six years.

- Such categories as hardware and garden supplies will experience above-average growth, as consumers become increasingly comfortable buying products that historically have seen slow growth online. Flowers will also experience an above-average spike as consumers continue to shift spending away from telephone orders.

- As more retailers increase and improve their multichannel efforts, like in-store pickup, such categories as home decor will see an increase in sales.

- Although the number of new households that begin shopping online will slow significantly between 2004 and 2007, momentum will build again between 2007 and 2009 when half of U.S. households will have broadband at home.

- Retailers will invest in one-to-one marketing efforts to help find new customers. By targeting blogs, chatrooms, and message boards, retailers will run appropriate ads while consumers are discussing a specific product, or content related to that product.

Gmail causes problems for email marketers

2004-08-30T10:05:00.000+02:00

Many people start using GMail as their primary mail service. This will have a huge impact on the future of email marketing as email marketers have got this invisible competition in GMail. As GMail has content sensitive advertisement system meaning that the mail service show ads which are relevant to the content of the mail. This might result in a totally new problem to email marketers as when they send mails to GMail users, and along with the promotional mails, there is this very high chance of appearance of a competitors advertisement. This does not reflect well on the clients... Search Engine Journal

If you can't beat them- join them!

2004-08-30T09:57:00.000+02:00

Nate Krenkel and Conor Oberst, founder of the indie band Bright Eyes, are music industry veterans who are taking a novel approach to selling CDs. Their new label, Team Love, posts all the songs from their young bands' albums online for free. The result, so far, has been a success! Businessweek

Joined UK forces aims to eliminate discrepancies in online advertising

2004-08-30T09:15:00.000+02:00

Historically, publisher and rich media ad servers have used different counting methodologies. Typically ad servers used by publishers would count on the request made by a user's browser for an advert to be served, and those used to deliver rich media formats would record the impression only if the advertisement was actually ready to be seen or played - causing a discrepancy in the figures reported to the advertiser.

24/7 Real Media and Tangozebra have joined forces in an industry-leading initiative to eliminate discrepancies in advertising campaigns. Advertising UK

Online Advertising Market $16.1 Billion By 2009

2004-08-27T14:54:00.000+02:00

A forecast, presented today at the Jupiter/ClickZ Ad Forum in New York, sees the online ad market growing from $6.6 billion in 2003 to $16.1 billion in 2009.

According to the forecast, paid search will grow 30% compounded annually over the next two years and is no longer the sole driver of online ad spending. Display ads and online classifieds will each grow more than 25% compounded annually over the same period.

People & Discussion Search - News on Lycos

2004-08-27T13:32:00.000+02:00

In a bid to differentiate itself from Google and the other major search players, Lycos has rolled out two search tools aimed at helping people connect with other people and one tool that targets some of the Web's most popular public community boards and forums. The services are called People Search and Discussion Search and have recieved great reviews on Search Engine Watch.

Overture's Secret - Godzooky

2004-08-27T11:47:00.000+02:00

Something not very well known to Overture customers is "Godzooky" acoording to seroundtable.com!
Overture explains: "Godzooky is a tool that is used when there is no match in Match Driver. Godzooky uses the first 60% of the listings in the Index (search terms, titles and descriptions) and attempts to find an algorithm."

Bill Would Unnecessarily Ban Cookies

2004-08-27T11:35:00.000+02:00

Bill author Mary BonoIn the grand congressional tradition, one of the main bills designed to thwart spyware has been written in an overly-broad fashion, preventing legitimate firms from using cookies and otherwise providing useful tracking on their sites. I like the thought. Pity though, something went wrong along the way...

Personalization - The end of search engine marketing (as we know it)?

2004-08-27T10:36:00.000+02:00

"Search engine personalization is all about empowing the user. It’s about search engines finally delivering what they have always tried to do: results that are relevant to the individual performing a search, given their specific psychological profile. Not results based on a global average."

But will personalization be the end of search enginge marketing as we know it? Read some interesting thoughts on the subject.

Text Message Marketing - opt out required

2004-08-27T09:58:00.000+02:00

LONDON – The Advertising Standards Authority has rapped O2 following a complaint that the mobile phone operator did not allow recipients to opt out of receiving promotional text messages. Revolution Magazine

Personally I'm surprised the problem even occured. What's new?! See any similarities to the recent years Internet e-mail marketing discussions?