tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55290782011-04-22T05:39:57.740+02:00Notes on Internet Marketing in Europe, UK and USATristamnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2131100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1091892596219702382004-08-01T17:28:00.000+02:002004-08-07T17:29:56.220+02:00

MSN has launched it’s news search and aggregation service in the US. This new service, christened newsbot, is very similar to the service offered by Google except that it offers greater personalization. The site learns what content interests you as you use the service and designs the homepage to show you topics relevant to your interests based on your historical behavior. This personalization is

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1082918728321836502004-04-25T20:40:00.000+02:002004-04-25T20:49:07.496+02:00

The Internet economy is booming – Internet Advertising accounts for more than cinema in the UK, and grew by 62% year-on-year in 2003. An acquaintance recently remarked to me that getting a job in the industry is pretty difficult today. This beggars the question: “Why is it so hard to get a job in a booming economy?” Before I attempt to answer this, let us first take a trip back to the nineties.

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1075453944779564412004-01-30T10:12:00.000+01:002004-01-30T10:14:00.546+01:00

According to reports on Google, they look to be delaying their much anticipated IPO. One of the reasons for this is reckoned to be an upcoming lawsuit on copyright infringement in their AdWords program, although I also suspect this has a lot to do with the fact that Yahoo will be dropping Google as their Search partner. This massive dent in their distribution will be a big loss to Google and will

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1073985222021620142004-01-13T10:13:00.000+01:002004-01-13T10:15:00.936+01:00

Fredrick Marckini is betting that when Yahoo! drops Google, it will cost website marketers more money to get found in Searches. It is speculated that Yahoo is introducing Inktomi to its search listings to provide a large market share for Inktomi, that it can exploit to force users to pay for listings on Inktomi on a CPC basis. The article makes a lot of sense, although this may be just a

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1073923660989502202004-01-12T17:07:00.000+01:002004-01-12T17:08:59.233+01:00

Only eight months into her new position as interactive media executive vice president, Lisa Brown is leaving AOL. Brown claims reason for resignation were "health and personal reasons." WSJ quotes unnamed sources as having said Brown was under investigation for questionable expense reports in excess of $40,000.

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1073507232746146262004-01-07T21:27:00.000+01:002004-01-12T22:19:01.403+01:00

The news that Yahoo! will soon be dropping Google as a search partner has led to Ask Jeeves shares jumping in value on expected gain in leverage over Google as a result. "Anything that improves Ask Jeeves' ability to retain Google as a partner and to continue to get the same type of economics from that relationship is good for Ask Jeeves," said Mark May, an analyst at Kaufman Brothers. "

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1073462325412228762004-01-07T08:58:00.000+01:002004-01-12T22:20:09.046+01:00

Reports are circulating that Yahoo! will ditch Google as its search provider and use its own search technology as early as the first quarter. This is certainly no spuprise, but could put a big dent in Google's IPO impact, which is expected to happen in April this year. Yahoo! has already started using their own search technology in their Shopping channel, and as their senior vice-president in

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1073305231816976262004-01-05T13:20:00.000+01:002004-01-05T13:21:42.843+01:00

FindWhat is following in the footsteps of Google and Overture by adding a new feature, Intellimap, to their keyword advertising products. Starting this month FindWhat will match advertisers' keywords with similar search queries, including misspellings, plurals and different word order. This very similar to what Google and Overture have rolled out late last year. However, FindWhat does not allow

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1073232236576233832004-01-04T17:03:00.000+01:002004-01-04T17:05:06.903+01:00

A few weeks back, I cited an article for Clickz.com on the new Google Frequent Searcher Program. mktg brainlogthinks there is more to this, going on to speculate that this is the first step in Google's introduction of personalized search. This article is very interesting and I encourage you to go visit this blog.

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1073150283919489752004-01-03T18:18:00.000+01:002004-01-03T18:19:13.106+01:00

Marketing communications agency Euro RSCG Worldwide recently released a forecast on local behavioural trends in 2004. Amognst the predictions of increased people power and anti-globalization, it was also predicted that 2004 will be the year the blogging really takes off as a buzz marketing tool. Another great reason to understand now how blogs can help your business. For more on how to create a

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1073062376153994872004-01-02T17:52:00.000+01:002004-01-02T17:54:03.856+01:00

The marketing plan for Sony's forthcoming Spiderman sequel will include blogs. Sony pictures has created templates for users of Livejournal and blogger as well as backgound images for regular websites. I don't expect enormous success on this, but it is interesting that they decided to make blog templates in addition to the regular backgrounds and screensavers many film companies produce. A big

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1073041323192612492004-01-01T12:02:00.000+01:002004-01-02T12:04:37.716+01:00

With a new year brings new predictions for the year. Most analysts seem to be predicting slow, steady ad growth for 2004, with strongest growth in the paid Search sector. In Europe this growth in online advertising will not come from increased marketing budgets instead at the expense of other media as marketers realize the better ROI and accountability from online advertising. So what specific

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1072214396109780122003-12-23T22:19:00.000+01:002003-12-24T13:12:23.046+01:00

Lycos Europe announced on Tuesday that they have renewed its search listings deal with Overture. What is remarkable about this is that the deal also involves Overture's parent Yahoo!, who will work with Lycos Europe on e-commerce and community products. Full details of the Yahoo! involvement were not announced, but it will be interesting to see how this pans out - this kind of collaboration with

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1072134299395068562003-12-23T00:04:00.000+01:002003-12-23T00:05:57.200+01:00

Kanoodle has just launched a tool that enables customers to set times for their keyword campaigns to be active or inactive depending on the time of day, day of month or month of year . This may seem like a simple innovation, but up until now keyword campaigns on Overture or Google cannot be planned in advance like this. The reason this is so great is this how marketers plan their campaigns -

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1072131687229886662003-12-22T23:21:00.000+01:002003-12-22T23:24:30.280+01:00

Apparently more than 15m drunken text messages will be sent by mobile phone users in the UK in December. "Intexticating", the habit of sending inappropriate messages on mobiles while drunk, affects one in four Brits, according to a survey created by Virgin Mobile. I know I have been guilty of this myself in the past - thankfully I have never been one of those to "mistext" - sending a love note

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1071843094701095072003-12-19T15:11:00.000+01:002003-12-19T15:12:29.093+01:00

Google announced today that it is adding five new interface languages to the AdSense contextual advertising programme. This will enable websites in Spanish, German, French, Italian and Japanese to sign upt to AdSense. Google has been running AdSense on some German sites already, albeit only the large portals such as msn.de, so this announcement makes it now available to small publishers as well.

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1071771645904640832003-12-18T19:20:00.000+01:002003-12-18T19:21:39.420+01:00

Clickz.com reports on Google's Frequent Searcher Program. Google will be showing users how often they use the site - the big question is why and for what purpose? Google's answer to the question "What do I win?" on their FAQ page read, "There is no winning. There is only self-awareness. The search is endless." Very out there - even more quirky: Google installs fully automated digital toilets - a

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1071684410446423972003-12-17T19:06:00.000+01:002003-12-17T19:07:43.060+01:00

After Google bought Sprinks, it seemed the contextual advertising game was now just a 2 horse race between Overture and Google. Not anymore: Kanoodle has hired 3 former Sprinks executives to create a new contextual advertising division within the privately held search firm. When Google bought Sprinks, it only acquired the intellectual rights to their technology, not their staff. Kanoodle have

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1071683227295785982003-12-17T18:47:00.000+01:002003-12-17T18:49:43.356+01:00

According to WebAdvantage.net..."When asked about the relevancy of search engine sponsored links and advertisements, business searchers responded that even when clicked on, paid links do not yield the best results. [most] respondents feel that they find the information that they are looking for less than 40% of the time through sponsored links, and the search engine business searches go to first

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1071682844183952232003-12-17T18:40:00.000+01:002003-12-17T18:41:36.310+01:00

The IAB has just reported that online ad spend in the Uk reached £151.6m in the first six months of 2003, representing 85% from last years first 2 quarters. This brings the share of spend to 2% of all media in the UK, which the IAB had previously hoped to reach by Fall 2004. This comes as a welcome boost for internet industry in the UK, and is in stark contrast to downward trends in other media.

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1071489854564521372003-12-15T13:04:00.000+01:002003-12-15T13:05:04.966+01:00

According to the Guardian, WeCaSoWeWi advertising is so annoying and intrusive not even Satan himself could invent it. What is WeCaSoWeWi ? Read Paul Carr's article and then tell me there is a future to pop-up advertising - I dare you.

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1071158703115141452003-12-11T17:05:00.000+01:002003-12-11T17:05:49.716+01:00

In contrast to the rest of the search industry, LookSmart is looking more and more troubled each day. Shortly after announcing the closure of it's London office (and all European operations), the San Francisco search company is to cut its staff by about 50 percent , following the massive loss in business through MSN's cancellation of their agreement to provide listings for MSN Search. The deal

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1071088516041353662003-12-10T21:35:00.000+01:002003-12-10T21:36:01.420+01:00

In response to MSN not enabling its site for output to Opera web browsers, Opera has turned MSN into a bunch of muppets. The latest version of the Opera browser works properly on all sites except MSN, where all the words are turned into the language of the Swedish chef from The Muppet Show. This new version is called the Bork version, and is a joke but intended to make an important point about

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1071051477632314042003-12-10T11:17:00.000+01:002003-12-10T11:18:42.826+01:00

Ask Jeeves has confirmed plans to go on an acquisition and partnership spree in Europe next year. I know they have plans to move into Europe and have conducted focus groups in key markets already. It's about time as they have been around a long time without any presence on the continent while the competition has raced ahead with offices all over Europe. Again they are at pains to stress they will

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1071050741502441772003-12-10T11:05:00.000+01:002003-12-10T11:06:26.860+01:00

As further proof of the imminent death of pop-ups, online ad effectiveness research firm InsightExpress has scrapped the use of pop-ups for recruiting survey panelists. Instead they will use rich media ad units in a hope this will increase response.

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1071050353273219662003-12-10T10:59:00.000+01:002003-12-10T10:59:57.873+01:00

AOL UK has finally got it's act togehter and launched an online media kit. Woo hoo! I remember them starting this project 4 years when I used to work there - well done guys you really know how to innovate!

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1070965323420545672003-12-09T11:22:00.000+01:002003-12-09T11:22:47.653+01:00

The latest version of the 'AdSubtract' software, which eliminates advertising from user's browsers, will also remove commercial listings form search results. The new feature, called Search Sanity is designed to shut out any links that are not relevant to the search and are there because of advertising agreements between the organization and the search engine company. InterMute Inc., which makes

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1070895067412867332003-12-08T15:51:00.000+01:002003-12-08T15:51:50.373+01:00

After having been dropped from MSN Search listings, Looksmart is closing it's UK office after coming to the conlcusion that it cannot operate profitably without MSN in Europe.

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1070880384375109662003-12-08T11:46:00.000+01:002003-12-08T11:47:07.216+01:00

According to a recently published survey by the Usability Company Online advertising could be more effective if they did not appear in the same position on each web page. Even though we need to press for more standardisation in advertising, these observations do agree with similar eye-tracking surveys I have worked on in the past. In particular, users that use web services such as email or chat

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1070541655338369302003-12-04T13:40:00.000+01:002003-12-04T13:41:34.403+01:00

Reminding us there is an alternative to Overture or Google for contextual advertising, FindWhat has inked a deal to provide local advertising technology and services to the largest online Yellow pages in the US, Superpages, owned by Verizon. This of course also puts FindWhat firmly on the local search arena, an area in which Google and Overture are both currently testing capabilities for.

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1070538678691449752003-12-04T12:51:00.000+01:002003-12-04T12:51:57.593+01:00

Recent research from the European Interactive Advertising Association (EIAA) has revealed that Europeans spend more time on the Internet than reading magazines. The data shows that the web makes up 10% of total media consumption for Europeans, 2% more than magazines. This also positions the internet close to Newspapers which represent 13% of all consumption, although still a long way form TV with

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1070359242756660142003-12-02T11:00:00.000+01:002003-12-02T11:01:20.310+01:00

One of the UK's leading ISPs is now offering ad inventory across other European portals via its Sales team in London. Freeserve has created a network with Germany's web.de, Italy's Libero and with its parent company, Wanadoo in France, Holland and Spain. All of these portals are very strong in their own local markets, particularly web.de in Germany and Wanadoo in France. I imagine however this

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1070212215711518072003-11-30T18:10:00.000+01:002003-11-30T18:10:51.450+01:00

Yep thats right, MSN is launching in the least expected of markets. The company announced this week that they will enter into a partnership with Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) to launch a new portal in the Philippines.

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1070126354299604422003-11-29T18:19:00.000+01:002003-11-29T18:19:49.013+01:00

This is the sort of thing that makes me feel ashamed to be British, as the Times reveals just 1/3 of all British firms have a presence on the web, and 20% of these have not been updated in over a year. I will agree with those that argue that a website is hard to set up, but I for one make most of my product choices researching the web - companoies that dont have a website will rarely get my

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1070019050496811752003-11-28T12:30:00.000+01:002003-11-28T12:31:23.873+01:00

Online ad sales house Valueclick has poached former Doubleclick director Vanessa Kent for the newly created position of Corp. Dev Director. Having also recently purchased affiliate network Commission Junction, it seems Valueclick is starting to ramp up with the company due to announce more new hires in the London office. Surely when the fortunes of these bucket shops of the internet advertising

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1069704042294146912003-11-26T10:38:00.000+01:002003-11-26T10:58:00.873+01:00

Avantmarketer.com conducted an interview with Tim Armstrong, Google's VP of Ad Sales. The piece is split into two parts (although there is no link to each other (?)).Part 1 is here, and here's a link to Part 2. Key takeaways: - he admits Google must have some human optimization in their processes, it cannot all be automated; - CPA pricing may be available in the future; Google remains adamant

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1069779505835998592003-11-25T17:58:00.000+01:002003-11-25T17:58:56.750+01:00

According to the latest report from Forrester, Web advertising in Europe could exceed 1bn euros by 2005. Online advertising continues to be the strongest growing advertising medium in Europe, and consumer spend online is set to hit over €140bn by 2007, up from €47bn this year even though internet access will only increase from 57% to 69% of all Europeans.

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1069703115880604532003-11-24T20:45:00.000+01:002003-11-24T20:45:45.450+01:00

"'Google is about to join, I think, that rarified level enjoyed by Microsoft, the New York Yankees, the United States of America,' said Hayson. 'Too big, too powerful, too successful, too rich. And you're starting to see the rumblings right now.'" How true is this? The Boston Globe thinks Google could become as hated as Microsoft. There are already Google bashers around, so it seems inevitable -

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1069683272023293052003-11-24T15:14:00.000+01:002003-11-24T15:15:01.653+01:00

Yahoo agreed to purchase 3721 Network Software Co. last week, a developer of Chinese language search technology for around $120M in cash. Yahoo will be integrateing its technology into the portal's Asian sites.

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1069682844979543332003-11-24T15:07:00.000+01:002003-11-24T15:07:54.686+01:00

In a strange move last week, AOL hascut its agency relations director position. Given the arrogance AOL used to have with agencies and the difficulty agencies have in planning campaigns on AOL's non-standard inventory, this seems a very short-minded move. I believe the argument for more short term revenue gain against strategy has won out here - this resource is no doubt being cut to provide

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1069181460976545462003-11-18T19:51:00.000+01:002003-11-18T20:04:17.420+01:00

Microsoft has launched a Beta Test version of their four language Newsbot which is seen by many to rival Google News. This is Microsoft's first move to truely launch a service that will compete with one of Google. According to MS: "MSN Newsbot http://uk.newsbot.msn.com(beta) is an experimental, automated news service. We gather news from over 4,000 sources on the internet and speed your

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1068985344342153472003-11-16T13:22:00.000+01:002003-11-16T13:23:32.326+01:00

Yahoo recently announced that the next version of its search toolbar will include a pop-up blocker, and now Microsoft is incorporating one into its Internet Explorer software. This move has been speculated on for a while, but it was finally confirmed on Friday when it was revealed that a service pack to be launched in the first half of 2004 would carry such a feature. According to industry

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1068569961826915662003-11-11T17:59:00.000+01:002003-11-11T17:59:19.570+01:00

According to the Guardian newspaper I am the 9th most important figure in New Media.

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1068569184993180212003-11-11T17:46:00.000+01:002003-11-11T17:46:22.266+01:00

Ask Jeeves is going to increase headcount by 20-30% over the next year as part of its push to grow market share. I still think Ask Jeeves has little chance in becoming a contender in the search arena and this is just more hyperbole to interest investors.

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1068065326204107582003-11-05T21:48:00.000+01:002003-11-05T21:48:44.093+01:00

Lycos is suing Overture over claims that it broke competitive clauses in its contract with the paid listings provider when it was taken over by Yahoo! This has .echoes of Germany's T-Online pulling out of their contract with Overture in order to allow them to switch to Google. Funnily enough Lycos has now switched to using Google.

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1067942286272950372003-11-04T11:38:00.000+01:002003-11-04T11:38:04.463+01:00

Hardly a surprise but noteworthy nonetheless, Yahoo has decided to use daughter company Overture for its sponsored search listings in Europe. This kills off a partnership with English firm Espotting who are already in strife over the possible annulment of their takeover by FindWhat.com.

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1067941262744139732003-11-04T11:21:00.000+01:002003-11-05T11:54:35.816+01:00

There is a lot of hype about the speculated Google IPO, and it all seems overwhelmingly positive. However, Jeremy c. Wright thinks the IPO is bad news for the tech industry, going so far as to call it evil.

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1067937138806558782003-11-04T10:01:00.000+01:002003-11-04T10:12:17.390+01:00

10 months after the US IAB launched their Universal Ad Package (UAP), the Interactive Advertising Bureau Europe (IAB Europe) and the The European Interactive Advertising Association (EIAA) announced the launch of the new standards for Europe. They have taken the 4 sizes recommended by their American counterparts, but somewhat disappointing is that they have refused to rule out the classic 468x60

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1067859685228520432003-11-03T12:39:00.000+01:002003-11-03T12:41:23.520+01:00

The latest thing in the search industry is local search. How can a marketer benefit from this, and does need to make any changes to their websites to improve local search rankings? Webadvantage.net has published a handy guide to local search answering these sort of questions. According to a recent Kelsey report on Local Search most small businesses lack a website that will show up in local search

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1067770450604771902003-11-02T11:54:00.000+01:002003-11-02T11:54:09.633+01:00

In September I reported that Google could make a move for friendster.com. According to Mecury News, Google in fact made a $30M offer for the company, which Friendster rejected, instead taking $13M in VC funding. Friendster have set a $53M valuation on themselves. The company was valued at $12.5M two months ago, but they and industry insiders believe the one year old company has great potential.

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1067770015596143842003-11-02T11:46:00.000+01:002003-11-02T11:46:54.106+01:00

The Guardian reported this weekendthat Microsoft has approached Google in the last two months to discuss a merger. A quick search on Google news shows 31 stories about this rumor. This story is dominating the headlines, although Google is making no comment whatsoever.

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1067767170270387592003-10-31T10:58:00.000+01:002003-11-02T10:59:29.253+01:00

Red Herring published a great article which chronicles the rise fall and rise of Ask Jeeves this week. Many industry observers regard Ask Jeeves as one of the few potential threats to Google outside of Yahoo and MSN. Their technology they inherited from the purchase of Teoma is very good and offers ways to narrow down your search by dividing Web sites into communities of specialized subjects and

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1067448028452295132003-10-29T18:20:00.000+01:002003-10-29T18:20:27.713+01:00

There has been much speculation on Google's recent purchase of contextual advertising rival Sprinks. The question is "what will Google do with the Sprinks technology and organization?" C|NET has compiled a lot of this speculation and many seem to think that Google is just swallowing competition to make themselves stronger and ditching the new technology they will inherit. However Sprinks has a

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1067424319210150792003-10-29T11:45:00.000+01:002003-11-02T10:47:04.183+01:00

According to the latest Ad Serving Trend Report from Doubleclick, rich media ads are increasing in popularity and may eventually edge out banner ads. Rich media ads increased in overall usage from 17.3% of all ads served in Q1 2002 to almost 37% in Q3 2003. This is all very promising for companies such as Eyeblaster and Unicast, but one has to bear in mind that this report only concerns itself

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1067339875996950662003-10-28T12:17:00.000+01:002003-10-28T12:17:55.393+01:00

Marketing Wonk comments today on problems rich media advertisers will have with Microsoft's new Internet Explorer browser. Advertisers make heavy use of Active X type plugins to display rich media ads, and in the new version, users will be shown a pop-up asking them if they want to proceed when sites contain such plug-ins. There are workarounds to avoid this, but Eric Picard at Clickz.com claims

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1067334667795665552003-10-28T12:05:00.000+01:002003-10-28T12:05:50.293+01:00

Broadband Users in the six biggest states in Europe are set to more than treble by 2007, providing a catalyst for growth in Online Advertising with bigger pipes providing more creative possibilities. According to new report by Price Waterhouse Coopers, Broadband is set to enjoy 35.2% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the next 4 years which will in turn promote a CAGR of 9.3% for internet

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1067179167910947522003-10-26T15:39:00.000+01:002003-10-27T11:05:44.150+01:00

Google announced on Friday that it has bought the contextual advertising unit of Primedia, Sprinks. It looks likely that Google will just replace the Sprinks service with their own AdSense program.

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1067005768497614612003-10-24T16:29:00.000+02:002003-10-24T16:29:28.140+02:00

The FT reported today that Google is planning an IPO early next year. More interesting is that Google will offer shares via an internet auction, bypassing huge fees for investment banks. Sources on Wall St estimate the company to be valued at $15-25bn.

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1066892934940542562003-10-23T09:08:00.000+02:002003-10-23T09:08:54.980+02:00

Following on from yesterday's news that UK Internet Advertising revenues are getting healthier, Price Waterhouse Coopers reports that Internet Advertising in Western Europe as a whole is on the verge of recovery following a three year slump. PWC is expecting double-digit growth taking income in the six major online marketing economies of the UK, France, Italy, Spain, Germany and Holland to

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1066816792218930042003-10-22T11:59:00.000+02:002003-10-22T11:59:52.340+02:00

The British Institute of Practitioners in Advertising's latest Bellwether survey of marketing spend among the UK's top advertisers indicates that Internet Marketing budgets are growing faster than any other sector, with a full recovery in sight for advertising and marketing expenditure in the UK in early 2004. The report shows that 18.2% of companies surveyed have increased their internet

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1066816227089622842003-10-22T11:50:00.000+02:002003-10-22T11:50:27.300+02:00

Motley Fool is publishing a 4 part interview with Yahoo! CEO Terry Semel over the next 4 days. Today's start only touches the tip of the iceberg and reveals nothing new except that Semel was disappointed the Giants didn't make it to the World Series. The next installments should make an interesting read.

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1066815452923563102003-10-22T11:37:00.000+02:002003-10-22T11:37:32.686+02:00

German based European Sales House, Ad Pepper has bought the biggest independent Italian Marketing group, Clickit. Financial terms of the deal are not being disclosed. This deal makes Ad Pepper, the former sales house for MSN Germany, the biggest internet marketing group in Italy. Ad pepper has a huge ad network spanning 9 European countries covering 650 websites. The acquisition of Clickit will

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1066754095722186532003-10-21T18:34:00.000+02:002003-10-21T19:11:46.620+02:00

Are you the sort of person that emails your buddy who works at the desk next to you? Do your relatives and family describe your job as "works with computers"? If so then you could be an e-bore. Try the e-bore-ometer at e-consultancy.com to see how much of an e-bore you are.

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1066729502860417352003-10-21T11:45:00.000+02:002003-10-21T11:50:49.480+02:00

There has long been discussions in the internet marketing industry that paid inclusion providers such as Google and Overture should police the process more to ensure trademarks are not 'hijacked' by competitors. The automation used in setting up these campaigns ensures low costs and introducing some kind of editorial approval would make the process slower and of course more costly. Now that

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1066727733036904192003-10-21T11:15:00.000+02:002003-10-21T11:28:48.013+02:00

QXL was set up to provide Europeans an auction service to rival eBay. Years later, it seems that eBay's dominance is too much for them with news that they are withdrawing from Germany and Spain and apparently giving up control of their Polish subsidiary. QXL lost control of their Polish business late last year in what the UK office claim was a "fraudulent share issue". QXL is launching a rival

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1066726412649358232003-10-21T10:53:00.000+02:002003-10-21T10:53:32.023+02:00

Mediapost reports today on the future plans for Doubleclick. That future is based around rich media advertising, and they want a fat piece of the $50M pie. Rich Media advertising normally has heavy filesizes, so the increase in bandwidth will help their ad-serving business, but the real big bet is on DART Motif, their new tool for creating rich media advertising creative. This tool puts them into

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1066676195135182652003-10-20T20:56:00.000+02:002003-10-20T20:56:35.286+02:00

How often do you get birthday 'specials' from marketers? I remember getting these a lot when I was younger form nightclubs, restaurants, record stores, etc. After reading this article on New Media Age, it suddenly occurred to me that I give my birthdate to hundreds of web marketers every year, yet they never use this information to send me a birthday present. This surely is the biggest wasted

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1066675927944239842003-10-20T20:52:00.000+02:002003-10-20T20:52:08.133+02:00

Sean Carlton makes some great points today about Search Engine Marketing. Usage of Search Engines is more like berrypicking where people "forage" from one information "bush" to another, than "a linear process of keyword search to result". He is perfectly right: search engine marketing should be a component of a broad media campaign, not just the be-all and end-all. However as Search Engine

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1066642025411818812003-10-20T11:27:00.000+02:002003-10-20T11:27:05.296+02:00

AME Info reports that websites in the Middle East have a larger audience than conventional media. Yahoo! published a full page ad in local media showcasing its regional success - more people in Saudi Arabia view Yahoo! than the local nr1 newspaper. Especially impressive when you consider that Yahoo! has no local website, and all sales are made by Sales Houses for yahoo.com inventory. As with the

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1066403801057804322003-10-17T17:16:00.000+02:002003-10-17T17:16:41.036+02:00

Doubleclick reported its third consecutive quarter in profit last night with their share price now doubling in value this year. Motley Fool reports this as positive signs of a strong recovery in the online ad business, despite other reports claiming that Wall Street was disappointed with their results.

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1066403269217327392003-10-17T17:07:00.000+02:002003-10-17T17:07:49.276+02:00

Just three months after Yahoo's chief, Terry Semel pocketed $11.1 million by exercising options, he's at it again with another $ million in profits from the exercise of options. Yahoo's market value has more than doubled this year, resulting in an additional $16 billion in shareholder wealth. Since his last sell-off, Yahoo shares rose from around $32 to $42.

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1066402963985307682003-10-17T17:02:00.000+02:002003-10-17T17:02:44.093+02:00

Want some great tips on how to build a business blog and get it promoted across the internet for almost nothing? Check out Blog Business World if this is what you are looking for. It has some great tips and guidelines for creating a commercial blog.

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1066402683636306262003-10-17T16:58:00.000+02:002003-10-17T16:59:27.910+02:00

AOL is planning a new discount Internet service, and in doing so will also revive the Netscape brand. The new Netscape service will cost just $9.95 a month compared to the standard AOL price of $23.90. AOL UK used the Netscape brand for a pay as you surf ISP a few years back in response to losing market share from non-subscription ISPs that take a cut from the phone call charges by the Telco

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1066305504706666732003-10-16T13:58:00.000+02:002003-10-16T13:58:24.053+02:00

Pay per Click Advertisers in the UK are attacking Google over their new AdWords 'enhancements'. These enhancements include 'extended matching capability' - a system that matches by more than just the selected keywords using synonyms or related phrases. Advertisers are angry as they have to opt out of expanded matching, and many internet marketers feel that Adwords is now generating a large number

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1066235867662110022003-10-15T18:37:00.000+02:002003-10-15T18:37:47.380+02:00

The UK branch of the IAB is considering a merger of its business with one or more trade bodies to create a unified voice for the internet marketing industry. Conversations have already started with the AOP (Association of Online Publishers). The IAB believes this change will be a catalyst in gaining 8% of all media expenditure for the web within a decade. Online media in the UK currently makes up

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1065774786223465142003-10-10T10:33:00.000+02:002003-10-10T10:36:46.706+02:00

Following on from recent speculation, Google announced yesterday that AdWords customers will now receive free conversion tracking. Yahoo is still losing a lot of market share to Google, but it seems that Google still feels the need to add unique value to it's service. Lets see what reaction there is from the other search engines.

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1065717843827160902003-10-09T18:44:00.000+02:002003-10-09T18:44:03.333+02:00

Here is a bunch of good reasons not to use pop-ups in your ad campaigns. Recent research by NOP world claims that a fifth of users are using software to block the intrusive formats. Furthermore 38% said pop-ups make them feel less favorably about the brands they represent. 45% of users said that pop-ups make them feel less favorable about the website that is launching them. The argument is of

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1065709725394779002003-10-09T16:28:00.000+02:002003-10-09T16:30:56.560+02:00

According to Andrew Orlowski, writer for the Register, "its [Google's] current brute-force text index produces search results with little or no context", and that "PageRank is now widely acknowledged to be broken, so new, smarter tricks are required." News to me - according to him, Teoma is a far superior search engine. Hmmm... This weblog is indexed by all the search engines, including a

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1065708349561627362003-10-09T16:05:00.000+02:002003-10-09T16:30:11.936+02:00

In what can only be good news for the rest of the internet marketing industry, Yahoo said profits more than doubled in the third quarter amid an ongoing revival in online advertising, during its latest quarterly results. Mercury News | 10/09/2003 | Yahoo posts huge profit:

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1065708062146628962003-10-09T16:01:00.000+02:002003-10-09T16:01:02.290+02:00

Vin Crosbie of Clickz.com asks, "how can we increase revenues for Blogs?" and looks into detail the possibility of paid subscriptions. Given that most Blogs are just full of links, there is little original content so I doubt anyone would pay for this. This argument is looked at and several other factors such as the legality of deep linking are looked into. It indicates that for the time being the

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1065705431774679202003-10-09T15:17:00.000+02:002003-10-09T15:17:11.760+02:00

Is the Search Industry over-hyped? Masha Geller seems to think it may be.

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1065534961509832482003-10-07T15:56:00.000+02:002003-10-08T16:51:16.373+02:00

Adverblog today point out an example of how not to run a promotion by Nissan Micra. Bad targetting, poor copy and an unreadable ad. One wonders whether the ad space was badly sold (or even wrongly trafficked), or whether Nissan's media planning and execution really is that bad?

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1065010344316583472003-10-01T14:12:00.000+02:002003-10-01T14:12:24.323+02:00

Google has aquired search technology start-up Kaltix for an undisclosed sum. Kaltix is only 3 months old, and develops personalized and context-sensitive search technology.

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1064922959457710152003-09-30T13:49:00.000+02:002003-09-30T13:55:58.816+02:00

Amazon has now entered the growing Product Comparison Search Genre. Following last week"s launch by Yahoo! of their new service, Amazon subsidiary A9 is being staffed up to produce a competitive product. This technology will be licensed to third parties which is in line with their e-commerce service offerings; however it will put the product at odds with the Amazon site itself as licensees will

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1064850288872029892003-09-29T17:44:00.000+02:002003-09-29T17:46:10.096+02:00

A rumor has been started by the NY times following insider news that Google became interested in buying an ad listing service after Yahoo made a move for Overture. Sprinks, which does contextual targeting by area of interest rather than keyword parsing is touted as being the ideal partner.

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1064513262671945452003-09-25T20:07:00.000+02:002003-09-25T20:07:42.703+02:00

Google recently launched a demo of it's localized search tool, where users can get info for a specific zip-code; Overture already launched a demo of it's local search tool in August on AltaVista. I also know that Ask Jeeves has plans for localized search too. This is shaping up to be the next battleground for Search. IAR reports on how the the products from Overture and Google shape up, and it

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1064491953317107972003-09-25T14:03:00.000+02:002003-09-25T14:12:33.300+02:00

Google owns a blogging platform, they own a great search platform and they also own a shopping comparison tool. All 3 of these are scalable businesses with a scope for successful growth. Now all they need is a dating service. Rumor has it that Google may soon be purchasing Friendster.com, the successful personal networking site. It is also a free service, which fits perfectly into Googles free

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1064389595222067212003-09-24T09:46:00.000+02:002003-09-24T09:46:34.890+02:00

An ezine for ethical marketers in the UK has been launched this week. With the topic of spam high on the digital agenda, the new online magazine is dedicated to improving online marketing ethics. One of the founders, Robin Houghton says, "We unmask the cowboy tactics, analyse the trends and highlight the news -- the interesting stuff, that is...Our aim is to break the myth that in order to

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1064310399511838332003-09-23T11:46:00.000+02:002003-09-23T11:46:38.963+02:00

Overture has ousted Google as the provider of PPC results for Sympatico, the largest portal and ISP in Canada. This is a significant win for Overture as they were able to oust Google for non-paid results too. With the acquisition of FAST and Alta Vista, they are now able to offer these services. In the past it was easy to use Google for paid search as well as non-paid search as they were the only

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1064308780196730712003-09-23T11:19:00.000+02:002003-09-23T11:19:40.030+02:00

Yahoo is expected to launch a price comparison service today, after nearly five months in testing. The move highlights the strong affinity to shopping that search engine users have. C|Net reports that "as many as 40 percent of surfers look for information on products or services while using a general search engine". However the specialist comparison services such as Dealtime or Kelkoo are

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1064307364642302702003-09-23T10:56:00.000+02:002003-09-23T10:56:03.956+02:00

You either love 'em or hate 'em, but you gotta admit those Orbitz pop-unders have been really successful for the online Travel Agency. emarketer.com published an interview with the Creative Director of Orbitz's agency, Mark Rattin. 75% of US surfers find pop-unders to be "very annoying" Ad Formats. Despite this the Orbitz ads are much loved by users, and have a knock-on viral marketing value as

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1064221581174863802003-09-22T11:06:00.000+02:002003-09-22T11:29:08.920+02:00

newmediazero reports that CPMs are rising over the next quarter, even for the biggest buyers. This demonstrates a strenghtening of the UK internet advertising market, and "is the first time that across-the-board rises have been forecast".

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1064221239237891592003-09-22T11:00:00.000+02:002003-09-22T11:30:44.920+02:00

Findwhat is wishes to renegotiate the terms of their merger with Espotting, after reviewing the London based PPC firm's historical and forecasted finances. FindWhat believe the purchase price is too high, and this could result in the deal falling through: "It is possible that mutually agreeable terms will not be reached and that the merger may not be consummated.", the company said in a

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1064220060473612942003-09-22T10:41:00.000+02:002003-09-24T09:26:41.500+02:00

During AOL's launch party for AOL 9.0, it was announced that the "new AOL 9.0 Friendly to Advertisers. Apparently the new version of AOL will be 99 percent media compliant and 100 percent IAB compliant by year's end making the adoption of ad units created for other media easy to implement on AOL. This of course refers to AOL's enthusiastic adoption of the IAB Universal Ad Package, which AOL

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1064219393073292332003-09-22T10:29:00.000+02:002003-09-24T09:23:42.830+02:00

Yahoo! have forecasted the their sponsored search revenue will more than double by 2006, increasing from $2 billion today to $5 billion. Big numbers indeed, especially when you consider that Jupiter predicts the paid search market to be just $4.8 billion in 2008, and Piper Jafray estimates it at $7 billion by 2008. So this forecast predicts well over 100% market share - I wonder what % Google

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1063805700457259952003-09-17T15:35:00.000+02:002003-09-18T11:55:00.450+02:00

It looks as though the bubble may be bursting for Ask Jeeves, who revealed in their Q2 earnings report that nearly half of Ask Jeeves' revenue came from a paid placement partnership with Google. Short sellers are now buying the stock, which is normally a sure sign that their value will decrease. They are also struggling to gain traffic: "Ask Jeeves is continuing to struggle to get traffic. The

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1063805515189762882003-09-17T15:31:00.000+02:002003-09-17T15:31:55.033+02:00

Much ado has been made in the internet marketing press over the recent Ford F-150 truck campaign that ran on the homepages of the big portals recently. However the celebrated success is in the traffic delivered to Ford's website. Adverblog asks the question: Is traffic enough?, and I think she does have a good point - this campaign should be evaluated on leads generated through the site, not just

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1063716547331853292003-09-16T14:49:00.000+02:002003-09-16T14:49:06.843+02:00

VeriSign, registrar of all .com and .net web domains, is planning on realizing at least $100M a year in revenue through its new Site Finder service. In a similar manner to MSN and AOL, VeriSign will display a search page to users who mistype urls ending in .com or .net. The search page will apparently be a paid for search listings powered by Overture and Inktomi. Although MSN and AOL will not be

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1063716934300903622003-09-16T01:55:00.000+02:002003-09-16T14:57:16.700+02:00

A News story broke this week that major publishers were shocked to find their ads on ABCSearch.com, a site with lots of adult content. One aspect of this story was pointed out to me by Andy Beal that I had not noticed. Apparently Advertising.com is having a major spat with Ask Jeeves, who placed their advertising on said site. The ads were sold in a Run Of Network rotation; however, "We were

Tristamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529078.post-1063644205693973852003-09-15T18:43:00.000+02:002003-09-15T18:55:15.560+02:00

In order to make life easier for internet marketing bods everywhere, Kevin Lee has written an article to explain the differences between the different Contextual Ad programs. The three majors are all weighed up: Google's AdSense, Overture's Content Match and Sprinks' ContentSprinks (Sprinks is owned by Primedia). Kevin leans towards Google, and it is interesting to learn that in his tests the

Tristamnoreply@blogger.com