Posted by Malcolm Slade on March 17th, 2008
Natural search
The success of Google has been attributed to two factors by one industry organisation.
According to the Internet Advertising Bureau’s (IAB) Jack Wallington, the search giant has reached its dominating position through a combination of customer awareness and brand commitment.
Mr Wallington said: "At the end of the day when the consumer is searching they want to get the most relevant and the best quality site back and Google put a lot of effort into making sure the consumer does."
The company carefully controls its brand image, which is evident in all its online and offline activities, the IAB representative commented.
Meanwhile, its simple approach has been a significant factor in propelling Google to its position as market leader, Mr Wallington noted.
Its homepage is among the most simple on the web and consumers visiting it appreciate this basic approach, he added.
The IAB assists members in engage their customers and developing their brands in its capacity as trade association for the marketing industry.
Posted by Daniel Peden on March 17th, 2008
Social Media
About one-third of all videos viewed on the internet in January were on YouTube, a new study has indicated
The survey by comScore found that Google sites took a 34.3 per cent share of the market in the first month of 2008, with 96 per cent of items viewed on this property represented by YouTube.
In comparison, Fox Media – which ranked second – took six per cent of the total number of videos viewed.
The figures have been released after Google’s head of quality, Matt Cutts, told Wired magazine that the company is not biased towards YouTube in video searches and is actively attempting to promote market diversity.
According to the comScore report, more than three-quarters of the total web audience in the US watched videos on the internet in January.
The average viewer spent 206 minutes watching content on the internet during the month, the report revealed.
Posted by Alex Postance on March 14th, 2008
Paid Search
Heavy consumers of internet news are a prize for online marketing professionals, according to a new report.
The digital revolution means that more people are consuming news, comScore’s latest research indicates – but these people are reportedly more likely to read current affairs content on the web.
Web news consumers are likely to be younger than their traditional news-based counterparts and they also tend to take in a greater volume of content across a variety of formats, it is claimed.
As such, advertisers should work to harness the spending potential of these highly valuable users, advises Jack Flanagan, executive vice-president with the digital world analyst.
"Just because print circulations are declining does not mean there are fewer news consumers. In fact, just the opposite is true," he says.
Mr Flanagan explains that news companies need to combine good-quality journalism with an effective approach to web design and search marketing.
The report follows another recent comScore article which suggested that heavy bloggers consume more news on the web than the average internet user.
Posted by Gavin Smith on March 14th, 2008
Social Media
Broadband penetration in the UK is accelerating the growth of online TV viewing, according to one industry representative.
Barak Bar-Cohen, president and chief operations officer with Narrowstep, notes that as more people in Britain acquire broadband connections, internet broadcasts of television programmes are set to become more common.
Key to this development is the provision of high-quality content, asserts Mr Bar-Cohen, as web TV consumers are only willing to invest their time and bandwidth in the best programmes.
"We’re also seeing that the quality of the content and the quality of the stream is a big driver in not only viewing times but repeat usage and adoption in general. We’re very focused on quality," he says.
Some 18 per cent of respondents to the Entertainment Media Research’s 2008 Digital Entertainment Survey said they watched less scheduled TV content because of the availability of online video streaming.
However, fewer than one in five people were revealed in the report to have watched programmes over the web.
Posted by David Wilding on March 14th, 2008
Natural search
Methods of searching for video on the internet must be advanced, the leading industry presence has claimed.
Phillip Inghelbrecht, head of strategic partner development at YouTube, told delegates at McGraw Hill’s Media Summit that the lack of video search is a challenge for the company.
Silicon Alley Insider heard the executive state that user habits are shifting from accessing YouTube to browse and sample the unexpected to a much more driven approach, where consumers look for specific items on the video-streaming site.
"This is a challenge for us because there is simply no good video search out there today," Mr Inghelbrecht said.
He added that advertising would be the key to solving the problem of video search, noting that copyright owners are still being persuaded to upload their content onto the Google-owned web space.
Barak Bar-Cohen, president and chief operations officer with Narrowstep, has this week predicted that "exponential" growth in the web TV market in the UK.
Posted by David Wilding on March 13th, 2008
Natural search
People buying car insurance on the internet are increasingly comfortable with carrying out complicated account management actions in cyberspace, a new report asserts.
According to comScore, last year saw a 15 per cent rise in e-servicing, with more customers choosing to manage their policies online.
This was driven by a 20 per cent rise in visits to the policy management sections of car insurance sites, reveals the digital world analyst, which claims that people are growing more comfortable with carrying out less simple actions on the web.
A shift in consumer behaviour occurred in 2006 that has driven growth in the online car insurance market, states Kevin Levitt, comScore vice-president.
"The rapid growth of the internet demonstrates the importance of a multi-channel approach that includes the ability to request quotes, purchase policies and service accounts online," said Mr Levitt.
Some 32 million online quotes were requested in 2007 – a 15 per cent rise on the previous year – and two million web policies were purchased, indicating an increase of 37 per cent on 2006.
A recent study by Harris Interactive and Witeck-Combs Communications discovered that 17 per cent of homosexual respondents would buy their main car insurance on the web, compared to eight per cent of heterosexuals.
Posted by Daniel Peden on March 13th, 2008
Social Media
Consumers who have located their desired product on two websites for the same price will consider the etailers’ security rating, a new report asserts.
Sponsored by PayPal and carried out by Jupiter Research, the poll notes that security and payment options are at the top of customer priorities once product and price are no longer factors.
"Today’s consumers demand security and convenience when they shop online, and merchants must answer with an extremely safe, fast and easy buying experience," says Cliff Hopkins, senior director of PayPal merchant services.
The confidentiality of their financial details would be the deciding factor by 54 per cent of respondents, while 55 per cent would choose the e-commerce company that offered their preferred method of payment.
A third of people polled would prefer to avoid filling out their personal details when completing a transaction over the web.
User reviews have this week been highlighted by Ben Camm-Jones, news editor of Web-User, as a factor that influences internet commerce.
Posted by Daniel Peden on March 13th, 2008
Paid Search
Google has purchased DoubleClick for $3.1 billion (£6.2 billion) after the European Union cleared the deal earlier this week.
The deal was finalised on Tuesday March 11th, with Google’s acquisition of the web advertising company highlighted by commentators as a sign the search giant’s influence in the online marketing sphere is set to rise.
Eric Schmidt, chief executive officer of Google, said on the company’s official blog that redundancies would be likely following the merger.
"DoubleClick gives Google the leading platform for display advertising, enabling us to rapidly bring advances to the market in technology and infrastructure that will dramatically improve the effectiveness, measurability and performance of digital media for publishers, advertisers and agencies," said Mr Schmidt.
He added that the merger would make ads more relevant to users, as well as improving page load speed through the associated scale and infrastructure enhancement.
According to comScore, Google received the highest number of unique UK visitors in January.
Posted by Gavin Smith on March 12th, 2008
Natural search
Comparing singular searches with plural searches can reveal a lot about web users’ online shopping intentions, it has been claimed.
People who search with terms containing the word ‘laptops’ are more likely to buy a portable computer than those searching for terms containing the word ‘laptop’, according to a new Hitwise blog post.
Robin Goad compared the top ten searches containing the word ‘laptop’ with the top ten key phrases featuring the plural version of the term.
The majority of searches containing the word ‘laptops’ suggest that the consumer is hoping that their web surfing will end in a purchase, Mr Goad notes.
Terms that signify intent to buy were said to include ‘laptops for sale’, ’second-hand laptops’ and ‘refurbished laptops’.
By contrast, there is only one term on the singular top ten that represents intent to purchase: ‘cheap laptop’.
Of the singular top ten, four imply an accessories search – for instance, ‘laptop bags’ – while two suggest the consumer is in the early stages of the buying cycle – ‘laptop reviews’ and ‘best laptop’.
In related news, Dr Adam Le Gresley of Technology Means Business has claimed this week that firms without a web presence could lose sales to companies that have embraced the internet.
Posted by Daniel Peden on March 12th, 2008
Social Media
As businesses develop and grow, so should their web presences, according to one industry representative.
Dr Adam Le Gresley, head of operations with Technology Means Business, has observed that web development should mirror corporate development and urged firms to remember this when establishing an online strategy.
"Be mindful of the fact that your business requirements may change and you may need to upgrade to business and premier packages to acquire the more advanced functionality for your site," he said.
Dr Le Gresley’s comments came after comScore released statistics indicating that Britain now has the most active online population in Europe, with daily visits reaching 21.8 million in the UK.
He added that the amount of responsibility a company will need to take in order to establish a web presence could vary according to the size of the site.
Enterprises using a small amount of space on a hosting provider’s service will need to oversee matters more thoroughly than companies running complex sites with their own dedicated service and technical support adviser, he said.
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