Electronic Marketing Blog

The second advert of Microsoft was released the Friday 12th of September 08.

It remained confused, as the first one, barely citing anything from the tech world. Both discussing why to connect to real people and said that Microsoft had already connected with over a billion people.

Just leaves us to think that they are to prepare a launch to a better product or something to make “real people’s” life easier. Guessing what would that be? Me too, I recon that’s the point of the mind game Microsoft is playing ’til now. For sure, there will be a surprise, the question is, will it be surprising enough?

And please, do not take too long on those “funny” adverts, people may get a bit bored.

- The average online video viewer watched 235 minutes of video.

- 91 million viewers watched 5 billion videos on YouTube.com (54.8 videos per viewer).

- 51.4 million viewers watched 400 million videos on MySpace.com (7.8 videos per viewer).

- The duration of the average online video was 2.9 minutes.

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According to comScore, their lastest data points  out 11 billion videos were seen last July (08), guess what? Yep, Google again, through its YouTube they have achieved over 5 billion videos on the web. Fox Interactive comes next almost reaching 500 million (so far, aren’t they??) and Microsoft comes 3rd with 280+ million. I guess it’s pretty clear how long is the trail for the competitors to find Google, if they still can even see Google far ahead. Congrats again G!

Most likely to reach stores in weeks time, Google’s G-Phone is under expectations considering the recent launch of the new iPhone. Innevitable to be compared with, G-Phone and iPhone are not on the same level, taking into consideration that iPhone was produced to a niche market very tailored to a certain goal, we might see frustation running around Google’s Android which by main goal is to enter the dreamy $50 billion market for mobile advertising that Eric Schmidt keeps talking about.

There’s no better way to generate new sales and leads for your business, than a front page listing on Google and Yahoo! By advertising your website on the first page of Google and Yahoo!, you get exposure to millions of searches every day and the ability to drive thousands of highly targeted visitors to your website. Click here to see the promotions.

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Extracted from Essentials Of Search Engine Submission, written by Danny Sullivan, Search Engine Watch

How can I get my site listed with search engines? It sounds like a pretty simple question, but sadly, search engine submission can be a complicated subject.

Have no fear. This guide will take you through the essential and relatively easy steps you can take to get listed with search engines.

Before we begin, it’s important to make a distinction between search engine submission and search engine optimization. These terms, along with others, are sometimes used synonymously to discuss different efforts to promote sites on search engines. However, within this section of Search Engine Watch, they will be used to refer to some very specific activities.

Search Engine Submission: Getting Listed

“Search engine submission” refers to the act of getting your web site listed with search engines. Another term for this is search engine registration.

Getting listed does not mean that you will necessarily rank well for particular terms, however. It simply means that the search engine knows your pages exist.

Think of it as a lottery. Search engine submission is akin to your purchasing a lottery ticket. Having a ticket doesn’t mean that you will win, but you must have a ticket to have any chance at all.

Search Engine Optimization: Improving The Odds

“Search engine optimization” refers to the act of altering your site so that it may rank well for particular terms, especially with crawler-based search engines (later in this guide, we will explain what these are).

Returning to the lottery example, let’s assume there was a way to increase the odds of winning by picking your lottery numbers carefully. Search engine optimization is akin to this. It’s making sure that the numbers you select are more likely to win than purchasing a set of numbers at random.

Search Engine Placement & Positioning: Ranking Well

Terms such as “search engine placement,” “search engine positioning” and “search engine ranking” refer to a site actually doing well for particular terms or for a range of terms at search engines. This is the ultimate goal for many people — to get that “top ten” ranking for a particular keyword or search terms.

Search Engine Marketing & Promotion: The Overall Process

Terms such as “search engine marketing” or “search engine promotion” refer to the overall process of marketing a site on search engines. This includes submission, optimization, managing paid listings and more.

These terms also highlight the fact that doing well with search engines is not just about submitting right, optimizing well or getting a good rank for a particular term. It’s about the overall job of improving how your site interacts with search engines, so that the audience you seek can find you.

On To Submission

The next few “essentials” pages cover the basics of search engine submission. If all you do is follow the instructions on these essentials pages, you’ll receive traffic from search engines. However, if you have time, you should also read beyond the essentials to understand how optimization can increase your traffic and other ways you can market your site with search engines.

From The Official Google Blog, posted by Marissa Mayer, VP Search Products & User Experience, and Micheal Lopez, Web Designer

You may have noticed that Google has a new favicon, the small icon you see in your browser next to the URL or in your bookmarks list. Some people have wondered why we changed our favicon — after all, we hadn’t in 8.5 years(!). The reason is that we wanted to develop a set of icons that would scale better to some new platforms like the iPhone and other mobile devices. So the new favicon is one of those, but we’ve also developed a group of logo-based icons that all hang together as a unified set. Here’s the full set:

The design process we went through was rigorous and interesting, so we thought we would share more of it here. We tried in total more than 300 permutations. It was much harder than we thought at first. We wanted something distinctive and noticeable, so we aimed toward transparency or semi-transparency, so the image would have a more distinctive noticeable shape than just a block. We wanted something that embraced the colorfulness of the logo, yet wouldn’t date itself. Since we don’t really have a symbol that means Google, we felt it best to work with the logo and letters within it. Our design team tried literally hundreds of approaches. You can see some of our explorations here.

By no means is the one you’re seeing our favicon final; it was a first step to a more
unified set of icons. However, we really value feedback from users and want to hear your ideas that we may have missed. If you have your own notions about the Google favicon, please send them to us. We’ll do our best to work them in, and maybe your idea will be the one that people see billions of times per day.

With today’s HP announcement and the recent MSN toolbar release, I want to discuss our recent moves in the toolbar space. Overall, these distribution deals come down to three things:

1. Live Search is ready for primetime

These types of deals require a search engine that can stand on its own, as we all know how easy it is to switch to another search engine. Sure, Live Search has room to improve, but we’re confident that when consumers now try Live Search they’ll get relevant results, differentiated experiences, and a unique value proposition (see cashback).

2. Distribution can help with awareness and preference

We’re building a stronger consumer connection that starts with awareness and ends with preference. To be successful, we not only need to care about traditional consumer marketing campaigns to drive awareness. We also need to care about how other channels can help spread the word. We recognize that awareness for Live Search is low and that to crack into the consumer’s consciousness we need to be in front of them in more ways than one. Case in point: check out our new Search Share Facebook app.

3. Enabling partners is good for everyone

We need to provide publishers and our partners, like HP, with great tools and platforms to help them distribute content and reach their customers in new ways. The toolbar platform we have created exemplifies how we’re looking to extend customer service, brands, and content through great new experiences. With this platform we will be able to quickly build a branded feature and content-rich toolbar for HP’s entire line of US-based consumer PCs with just a few easy customizations. When the toolbar is released, HP will offer easy access to their online services like Snapfish and customer support, and bring their brand to life through Silverlight. Now imagine that type of customization for anyone and everyone on the Internet.

The HP toolbar highlights our excitement about the new developments we’re working on. Let us know what you think of the new toolbars.

From the Official Google Website Optimiser Blog posted by Jon Stona, Website Optimizer Team

One question we get asked often is whether Website Optimizer will work with content-management system (CMS) platforms. The short answer is yes: if you get our JavaScript tags onto your pages, Website Optimizer will function with any tool you use to build, manage, or serve your pages.

Of course, there are use cases when a particular CMS platform’s architecture might make it less easy for you to implement Website Optimizer tests. With this in mind, we launched our global Technology Partner Program this morning, to call attention to those specific platforms that are certified as compatible with Website Optimizer.

Although you can still use Website Optimizer on non-certified platforms, our partners make it easier by offering specific documentation and technical support. They can also automate the process of adding Website Optimizer tags, so you can launch experiments faster than ever, with fewer dependencies on your IT team.

We see this program as a win for CMS providers and website-owners alike. CMS platforms of any size can offer their customers a powerful A/B and multivariate testing solution, which might have cost them millions of dollars to develop internally. Site-owners who build and manage their websites through these platforms can in turn launch Website Optimizer experiments more easily to help improve their conversion rates. And perhaps most importantly, the web becomes a more useful place for users since more web pages will be improved through customer input.

Another customer,LA.com has used Clickability’s platform to run A/B tests on their newsletter subscriptions page. They tested two alternate page designs against their original layout and content:

Original Page

Variation 1

Variation 2

By leveraging Clickability’s integration with Website Optimizer, the LA.com marketing team was able to build the alternate pages and launch their experiment in no time. And their first variation outperformed the original by over 18%, while the second actually did worse. All this insight, for minimal marketing and IT work.

If your current CMS provider isn’t yet a Website Optimizer Technology Partner, we encourage you to ask them to join; it’s a free and easy way for both of you to benefit.

Remember the Microsoft’s Live Search Cashback rewards program that we told you about not so long ago? It is now working on a direct-to-merchant system with eBay’s “Buy It Now” program. That means, you’ll start seeing more cashback ads when searching for jewelries to electronics.

Whereas previously, the CashBack rewards program works only on indirect cashback system wherein a user clicks on a Live Search cashback ad and they will be directed to the cashback page before proceeding to the advertiser’s site. But now with the recent tie up between Microsoft and eBay, users will be brought directly to the advertiser’s page. The cashback gleam will follow you as you fulfill a sales transaction and then rewards you with a corresponding rebate.

More information about this new program can be found at the eBay’s Terms and Conditions page for the cashback offer:

Extracted from the Search Engine Journal, written by Arnold Zafra