Archive for the ‘Trends & Predictions’ Category

Google’s New SERP

Monday, May 17th, 2010

Google launched their NEW Search Engine Results Page (SERP) universally to the public on May 10th, 2010.

Below is an image of their updated results page.

Image of Google's new search engine results page

The new look of Google: May 2010

The new format has been received well, by most people in the Online Marketing Industry, as it will likely give our clients more traffic/better traffic and as searchers get used to the change they are likely to click more options than previously before. However, many users may not be liking the new SERP, as they once did. Search Engine Watch published a blog titled “Google’s New SERP: Hit or Miss” that is definitely worth reading. In it, the writer describes some of the pro’s and cons and reactions of people to the new SERP.

Time will tell, of course, but it would appear that Google is hoping that searchers will get more relevancy and more convenience from their favorite search engine.

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Ad:Tech SF

Friday, April 23rd, 2010

Having attended this year’s Ad:Tech in San Francisco this week, I learned a lot more (and grew a lot more excited) about our space. In particular, these were my observations and nuggets of information obtained from the event:

  1. We are working in the most exciting Industry in the world!!! Spoken first by our initial keynote speaker Jaime Cohen Szulc, Senior VP, Levi Strauss & Co. and CMO, Levi’s Brand & then echoed multiple times throughout the conference by many attendees & exhibitors.
  2. We have more talent in our Industry than we’ve ever had. As money flows into online marketing (expected to be about 17% of total marketing spend by corporations by 2014), new talent is entering at the same time. Coincidentally, schools are now teaching Online Marketing so the education and skill set is stronger than it has ever been. Online will overtake print this year and is finally moving into the mainstream.
  3. Technology continues to impress & amaze. I saw exhibitors doing much more with their technologies than I’ve ever seen before. New ad platforms, click-able video technologies, eye tracking, conversion optimization tools, International marketing, one-click alternative pay methods and much more. While it’s now very confusing at times to navigate the space, technology ultimately is making the bottom line online much better.
  4. There is now an “old timers’ club for Internet Marketers, i.e. people that have served 10 years or more in this space. Sadly, I am a member.
  5. iPads are a hot item – and an even hotter FREE giveaway for exhibitors.

This year’s conference drew over 15,000 people, making it the largest Online Marketing conference in the world. That statement alone says all it needs to say about the Online Marketing space & what’s happening in 2010 & beyond.



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Online Spending Continues To Increase

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

According to a recent Forrester Report written in the latest issue of B2B Magazine, spending in the next five years on Interactive Marketing by business to business will continue to climb significantly.  It is reported, in fact, that business-to-business spending online will double from $2.3 billion a year in 2009 to $4.8 billion in 2014. These are huge numbers and not unlike what we’ve been seeing here at a local level where businesses continue to invest in online marketing programs such as search engine optimization, pay per click marketing, and social media at record levels. As many businesses cut back on traditional advertising and marketing efforts that are difficult to track, online marketing becomes a natural fit where businesses can get clear data on the actual returns from their marketing investments. These reported anticipated numbers are staggering though and as we all know where there is money… there will be more people arriving quickly to our Industry. We look forward, however, to what may be a flood of new talent, new technologies, and new tools introduced to our Industry. Our company, SD Interactive, has been working in the Online space since 2002 and we  have certainly see our share of change over the years. This report, however, indicates that a major shift is currently underway by businesses and we are likely to see changes that we’ve never seen quite before. No matter what happens, it is obvious that “online” is the place to be both now and in the foreseeable future.

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Random Thoughts

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

Below are a few random thoughts I have had recently in regards to the Online space. These thoughts were written in no special order and carry no particular weight…they are just…as the title implies…random thoughts. Sometimes my brain works in interesting ways…enjoy!

1) SPAM SPAM, where have you gone – Is it just me or has SPAM gone away for the most part? I still do get Spammed…don’t get me wrong… but the volume seems to have gone down significantly. Sad to be reminiscing about the days of unwanted emails but somehow I miss those messages of weight loss, Viagra, and winning the lottery from a distant relative in Kenya. The truth is, however, that unsolicited email may be finally on it’s way out of the Internet Marketing mix.

2) The day of the online expert is here – Seems like everyone these days is an Online expert. From the person who just went to their first Internet marketing seminar to your neighbor’s 16 year old step-son who apparently chalked up their experience designing a few websites for a school project. The problem here is that our space is becoming extremely crowded and customers who cut corners are getting frustrated in the process. I recently had a prospect cry in a meeting because she was so frustrated. Yes, she cried at our meeting. I got her frustration, as her concept was still not off the ground two years after she went live, but this tale is becoming commonplace. Becoming an expert takes time, experience, education, and instinct. You cannot teach someone how to be a marketer, designer, or programmer and in the case of most things with digital marketing…you get what you pay for…

3) Pay per click grows up – Recent advances in paid search are making it one of my favored online strategies once again. Google, for example, gives e-commerce providers the ability to display products in their ads as long as they have a Google Merchant account. Same for local business owners who can now display their address and phone numbers in their ads as long as they have a Google Business Listing. All cool additions that give advertisers a better chance for a sale. We love it and commend all of these new updates to the platform.

4) Social media woes? – True, Social Media is still hot. Way hot. But if our youth is any indication burn out may be forthcoming. A recent survey stated that 13-24 year old people think that Twitter is lame. They’ve obviously never used it for business but they may be on to something and the trending here may be clear. Sure, Social will never go away and as long as there are people there will always be a need to connect. Still, we are keeping our eyes wide open here.

5) Technology amazes -the iPad, the smartbook, the netbook. Apple MacBook Pro, iPhone, Blackberry Smartphones, DVR’s, Blue-Ray Players, Video Games, Sirius Satellite Radio – the world is changing very quickly and the gadgets we use are evolving at a torrid pace. It’s often hard to believe we once used dial-up to access the Internet and now we get what we want when we want it through our phones. Perhaps the Jetson’s were not that far off…

Guess I’m starting to sound a little like Andy Rooney here but honestly there is so much going on in our world and our space that it’s hard not to feel jumbled, confused, and a bit awed by what’s happening these days. My random thoughts are a way for me to organize some of the chaos and put them into print.

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Google Social Search

Thursday, January 21st, 2010

Turns out, you can take your network with you. Check out Google Social Search and you’ll see what I mean. Google Social Search is a new concept at Google (currently in beta) that allows you to easily find online content written by people you know along side your regular search results. So if, for example, a friend of your has blogged about a specific subject when you search you will see their social media content integrated into Google’s normal listings. This is NOT personalized search, which is already happening on Google but an experiment that combines search and social media elements. The obvious reason behind this is that you will trust the opinions of your network more that you trust content from people you don’t know. Makes great sense and something we look forward to seeing develop. We fully expect that social search will not be a trend and will indeed be a sign of things to come.

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Bing Increases Market Share

Friday, January 8th, 2010

Surprising to no-one except for me apparently, Bing.com has increased it’s share of the search engine market to 10.3%.  Just a few short days ago, in fact, I predicted that Google’s market share was going to increase this year at the expense of Bing and Yahoo! Instead it appears that Bing is eating away at both Google and Yahoo’s share! Google still has a healthy 72% of the market and their market share has not dropped much, maybe a point or two. Still Bing’s increases have me wondering…why? Why is Bing so popular now? True, Bing.com’s ad campaign last year’s was brilliant and steered the engine in the proper direction but to see increases month after month is surprising. Google is still the engine that people use and, by and large, many online marketers do NOT use Bing.com for advertising purposes. However, with a 10% share, I believe that we all may need to rethink that strategy. We love Google but we also love the fact that Google may finally have some competition so that we can have some advertising alternatives for our clients. In this case, competition is healthy, very healthy, and I look forward to the battle ahead this coming year.

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Bold Predictions in Online Marketing for 2010

Monday, January 4th, 2010

Okay, so I’ll admit I was wrong about a few of the predictions I made last year. Yes, Google is still the King and Mobile Search has still not yet hit the big time. Still, I enter 2010 with a renewed passion for what we do and where our Industry is going. Many of the changes that were made last year and many that are coming only strengthened the case for building better websites. In 2010 the best sites that best meet the needs of their target markets are those that survive while spammy sites go by the way of the dinosaur.  So, that said, below are my bold predictions in Online Marketing for 2010:

Link Builders Go Bye Bye – As a major algorithm cleanup, Google and other engines will drop or purge sites that artificially bought their way to top organic SEO rankings via buying links. Link building companies will start to become obsolete as link building for SEO becomes ineffective. The financial impact is felt as far away as India and the Philippines, where many of these link building companies were stationed.

Shady SEO Companies Go Bye Bye – The search engines will move away from “seo tactics” and instead rank sites based on their “quality.”  Sites that best hit their target markets, judged by low bounce rate and audience engagement will be the sites that rank well across all platforms.  Shady SEO companies that built their success based on “fooling the search engines” will be exposed and will eventually vanish from site. Good SEO companies that focus on all facets of a web site (web design, web development, web marketing) will become the new “go to” companies. The financial impact is also felt as far away as India and the Philippines, where many of the shady optimization companies were stationed.

Google Increases Market Share to 80% – In 2010, I predict Google will increase it’s market share from currently about 72% to 80% of the market. Their continued growth comes at the expense of both Yahoo! and Bing, where audience share will decline because Google (as a result of algorithm changes) will be providing it’s audience better search results.

Mobile Search – I know I’ve been saying it for years but this is finally the year when Mobile Search hits the big time. Already with staggering growth, it is shocking that mobile search is still not a major part of most people’s marketing mix. In 2010, I predict that mobile gets into the mainstream of all marketers alike, both global and locally-based.

Conversion Optimization Gets Its Due- Finally, conversion optimization will not be just for serious marketers but instead will be a tactic and a topic of discussion amongst everyone who markets online. Brought on by last year’s recession, the business of “improving your bottom line” just by tweaking your landing pages, your messages, etc. will get a serious look. Budgets for conversion optimization in 2010 will be allocated accordingly.

Change is Coming – Something, somewhere, someone is lurking around the corner waiting to capture the hearts and minds of Internet users much like Twitter and Facebook did in 2009. Whether it be a new social media site, a change in technology, or the way that we market ourselves online, one prediction we can count on each and every year is that there likely will be a major change to look forward to in the coming year.

Will any or all of these bold prediction turn out? Only time with tell. One thing for sure is that everyone, from peers to customers, are looking forward to a better year and more prosperous 2010.

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