So much to say, so little time. I’m still on a major deadline for the January/February issue, which goes to the printer next week. So, this entry has to be very brief - my apologies.
I just thought I’d give you a sneak peek into the cover story for the next issue. We are focusing on the state of online marketing. We look at how things have changed in the last two years, where things are now and a look into the future.
Of course, there’s tons of research, data and numbers to illustrate the growth of online marketing. But it’s the people not the numbers that always intrigue me most.
As I interviewed many different industry leaders about the future of online marketing, it was clear everyone was very optimistic looking forward. Many also warned me about the inevitable consolidation that is coming and about the need for more regulations and less of a Wild West feeling. Just as many that I spoke with couldn’t stop raving about the benefits of RSS. There was also so much excitement about new, innovative technologies - especially blogging.
Now if I don’t get back to the putting out the issue, you’ll never get to read all this great content.
Did someone say Black Friday or I Feel Fat Friday? I know why the Friday after Thanksgiving is the biggest retail-shopping day of the year. I think most people are trying to “shop off” all the turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie they consumed the day before. I call it retail exercise or shop-o-cizing.
For me, the impetus to brave crazy (often rude) shoppers and the inevitably overcrowded parking lots is about several things: I’m anxious to get my body moving after a day of nothing but eating and watching football games (oh yeah, and giving thanks); I’m also driven by the hope of snagging an amazing bargain; plus, it’s simply a huge thrill to know that my favorite stores are open at the crack of dawn since I am an extremely early riser on a daily basis.
My desire to participate in Black Friday perplexes those who know me. Three hundred and sixty four days a year, I work extra hard to avoid throngs people or anything where I have to deal with large crowds. I don’t have some weird fear of crowds, just less patience (and sometimes manners) than is typically required in those situations. So, if everyone is going to a parade, I’m headed out of town. If everyone is expected to be on the road for a long weekend getaway, I’m sticking close to home. If there’s a must-see free concert in the park, I’m thinking that’s the time to head to the mall or movie theater.
Now researchers are saying that Black Friday is still likely to bring out the crowds, but that most will be window shopping and not spending. Instead, “Cyber Monday,” the Monday after Thanksgiving, is when many will choose to actually make purchases.
The theory goes like this: people head out the retail stores on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday after Thanksgiving check out the items they are interested in, then go into work on Monday search for the items online and buy via the Net. Sounds good to me.
Cyber Monday used to be the twelfth busiest shopping day online, but it is quickly becoming one of the biggest online shopping days of the year.
According to the Shop.org/BizRate Research 2005 eHoliday Mood Study, 77 percent of online retailers said that their sales increased substantially last year on the Monday after Thanksgiving, a trend that is driving serious online discounts and promotions on Cyber Monday this year.
That means that on Friday while I’m still trying to zip up my jeans and moaning about how I really should have avoided that second heaping, helping of mashed potatoes, while pushing my way towards that on sale cashmere sweater, many online marketers will be working overtime to get ready for the Cyber Monday onslaught.
It will be interesting when the actual data for online retailers for Monday, November 28, 2005 comes in. However, I also can’t wait to see the correlation to worker productivity for that day.
Only two days until we stuff ourselves with turkey and all the trimmings. To hold you over, let me offer you some tasty search engine marketing stats to snack on from Performics’ Search Trend Report DoubleClick Q3 2005. Ain’t that a mouthful?
The index is a subset of the more than 150 search campaigns currently under management with Performics and includes a mix of e-commerce and lead-based campaigns. Performics does not release the names of the advertisers included in its Performics 50.
Here are the key findings. Eat up!
*Cost-per-keyword (CPK) rose gradually in the third quarter, from approximately $28 in July to approximately $32 in September.
*CPK vs. CPC: While CPK within the Performics 50 showed a gradual rise from July through September, click prices rose more sharply.
*There exists a separate class of first-ranked keywords that hold the top spot almost exclusively for certain paid search terms. Dubbed pure first place (PFP) keywords, these terms behave differently than other top-ranked terms, and earning this distinction has become increasingly difficult in 2005.
*Lower ranking keywords convert increasingly well: The percentage of total conversions originating from keywords in a second place or lower ranking rose by nearly four percent from July through September, but keywords that maintain top position the majority of the time still drove 70 percent of conversions in September.
*The role of lower ranked keywords: Lower ranked keywords (fifth place or lower) drove far more impressions than conversions, suggesting an increased use of lower ranked keywords for branding or other non direct purposes.
Lots of things going on, but mostly I’ve got my head down. I’m on deadline for a couple of stories that are slightly overdue. Okay, that means they are late. So in order to avoid sending out a magazine with blanks pages to you, our beloved reader, or having my family go without a proper turkey dinner, I’m going to give you a quick round up of events and news that stood out this week. Enjoy!
Google Base Brought Online
Just three weeks after rumors emerged of a potentially massive information-gathering effort by Google, it launched Google Base late on Tuesday, in beta, allowing users to upload all manner of text and images and categorize or label (tag) that information to make it easier for others to find it - via Google Base searches and, if appropriate or relevant, via Google Search, Froogle and Google Local.
Ad Impressions Trend Up
Online advertisers served 124.5 billion display impressions in October – up from 110.2 billion in September, according to new data from Nielsen//NetRatings.
Blogs, Podcasts, Cell-phones are Toddlers in Ad Market
Advertising executives see blog, podcasts and Web-enabled cellular phones as newcomers in the market that are worth watching, but have yet to prove they’re worth major investments, a survey showed.
Google Launches Free Classifieds
In a move that potentially threatens online classified providers like eBay and Craigslist, Google Wednesday announced the release of Google Base, a service that allows users to post free classified listings.
Web Firms Take Stand Against Spyware
The five companies, America Online, Yahoo, Cnet Networks, Verizon and Computer Associates, said they are responding to escalating frustration among consumers about stealth computer code that can generate endless pop-up ads, monitor which Web sites people view or even capture personal data and impair computer performance.
Yahoo, AOL and MSN: Sorry, We’re Sold Out
WSJ (paid subscription required)
The front pages of major Web portals have been sold out of their prime real estate for months and even years on end. Ad buyers are complaining that bookings on Yahoo, AOL, and MSN are placed so far in advance their campaigns run the risk of no longer being relevant once the time comes to post the ads.
Small-Town Shops Bulk Up on the Web
Almost every significant American economic era is apparent in this neat-as-a-pin city on the western shore of Lake Michigan. Its agrarian heritage is reflected in the farms lying at the city’s edge, and a beer-malting plant at the center of town.
Ad Execs: Shift to Online Accelerates
A study by the American Advertising Federation and Atlantic Media found that ad industry executives believe the industry is rapidly changing, with a resulting shift of media budgets to online, reports AdWeek.
Is It Beginning to Feel a Lot Like Christmas?
How early will you start buying gifts for this holiday season? If you have already started, you’re not alone. Hitwise found that searches for holiday-related terms were much more common in the week ending November 5th than the week before. For example, queries for “christmas” were up 41 percent, searches for “christmas gift ideas” were up 185 percent, searches for “christmas gifts” were up 92 percent, and searches for “christmas decorations” had risen 75 percent. But these types of queries had begun moving up sharply even earlier. Searches for “christmas” shot up during the week ending September 24th, and again during the week ending October 15th.
Pheedo Unveils RSS Analytics
In a further sign of momentum in the RSS advertising space, Pheedo, a blog and RSS ad network, today officially unveils its RSS analytics service.
Last Chance for Free Homepage Makeover
Today is your last chance to get in your submission for Revenue’s By Design Makeover, a free homepage makeover for our January/February issue. Do it now.
Sometimes I can’t resist no matter how hard I try. So, I’m just going to ask, what the heck was Yahoo thinking?
Monday the company announced enhancements to its core shopping capabilities, calling the service the “Shoposphere.”
Now, I’ve been covering technology since 1987 so I’ve seen my share of off-color, inappropriate and down right stupid names for both products and companies. I have to say this one is right up there on my list of annoyingly lame names.
I’m willing to let cute slip by now and then. I’ll even tolerate (barely) those made up words that mash together some Greek or Latin word with supposedly powerful sounding vowels. But committee-generated pseudo-clever rarely gets a thumbs up from me.
Yahoo is clearly trying to capitalize on the word blogosphere. Too bad most people have no clue what the blogosphere is or if they do they feel like an idiot saying it. If they don’t feel self conscious saying it then they are likely one of those “inside baseball” bloggers. It’s kind of like each time I utter the word digerati - I really want to slap myself.
It looks like I’m not the only one that thinks the name Shoposphere is sort of ridiculous. The folks at Threadwatch.org also weighed in briefly on this one. Warning: Don’t click on this link if you’re offended by swear words or explicit language.
As promised Tobias Siegel, one of Revenue’s top sales reps and conference schmoozer extraordinaire is today’s guest blogger. He’s just returned home to San Francisco from Ad:Tech in the Big Apple armed with swag, stories and battle scars. Here’s his tale.
Live from New York it’s Team Revenue featuring all the performance marketers on Broadway for the 2005 Ad:Tech conference! With over 7,000 advertisers, publishers, affiliates, ad networks, search engines, email and Web analytic solutions in attendance, the Hilton in Times Square was the place to be for two days and nights of schmoozin’, cruisin’ and a bit of boozin’.
Not that we advocate shameless self promotion here at Revenue, but the opening day of Ad:Tech was all about our Publisher, Nick Smith. Or for those who were meeting him for the first time at the show, Nicholai Nickelby Da Clown. Who needs a booth when you’re parading around the show dressed in a costume that includes a purple velvet coat and a crazy hat?
As the opening day conference sessions came to a close we made our down the Red Carpet for the PartnerWeekly kickoff cocktail hour in the Hilton. It’s funny how a couple of cocktails with your friends and partners can ease the exhaustion from working the floor for nine hours straight. We linked up with big wigs like Alex Zhardanosky, CEO of AzoogleAds, John Grosshandler, CEO of eComXpo and Kevin Wolfski of Neverblue Media. Big thanks to Jake Ludens and Robyn Weese at PartnerWeekly for getting the party started.
As party wound down at the Crobar and folks started filtering out to the street there was still a little gas in the tank for Team Revenue and following the fearless lead of our Sales Director, Chris Smith, we hit the late night NYC underground at Club APT in the famous Meat Packing District where we kept the party going with DJ A.Vee and Prince Paul of De La Soul at the controls. We can’t stop and we won’t stop!
After catching a little nap and refreshing back at the Sheraton we made our way back to the conference for Day Two and a chance to meet and greet with our premiere partners such as Rachel Lazar at RealNetworks, Trevor Lakier of Findology, Tom Storm and Bruce Bortle of VentureDirect Worldwide, Ryan Berryman and Ron Sheridan of Revenue.net, Mark Harper of GenieKnows.com and Dan Yomtobian at ABCSearch.com.
The Tuesday night festivities started off with the Affiliate Happy Hour at the Divine Bar. Nick Smith returned to his more familiar role as Revenue’s Publisher and the affiliate gossip was rolling with Beth Kirsch of LowerMyBills.com, Stephanie Schwab of Converseon and Peter
Figueredo, CEO of NETexponent.
Before we could call it a wrap there was one more stop for Team Revenue as we closed out the Ad:Tech festivities at the GRS Poker Party at Club Deep. More celebrities were on hand including Danay Escanaverino and Jonathan Neveloff of Global Resource Systems/Filinet, along with Jason Liester and Nancy Margaret Jones of the AdDrive Advertising Network.
When it was all said and done Team Revenue was beaming with joy from all the great feedback we received at the show. The best personal testimonial I received at the show was from an account manager at iMediaDirect.com who told me he worked as a construction worker for the past 10 years and recently made a career change to the foreign world of Internet performance marketing and advertising. With little knowledge of the industry he picked up a copy of Revenue Magazine and praised our Editor and writers for providing such an invaluable resource for both newbies and industry vets to stay up to speed on the ever changing trends in online performance marketing.
Many thanks to Meredith Medford at Ad:Tech for the continuous support in nurturing the growth of Revenue!
I’ve got shopping on the brain. And maybe once I find those exact knee-high cocoa brown boots I’m searching for I’ll poke around online for Christmas gifts for the rest of the clan. Meanwhile, until at least right before Thanksgiving, it’s all about me.
It looks like I’m not the only one spending more time and money shopping online. There have been a handful of surveys and research reports this week jam-packed with statistics that bolster what the online marketing community already knew – shopping online is huge and getting huger.
Now for the now scientific and analytical breakdown -read on for enough stats to make your head spin with delight.
A new survey from Burst Media reports that for this holiday season, four out of five shoppers (83.2 percent) said they expect to use the Internet to research or purchase gifts and two out of five (44.3 percent) said they will use the Internet more than last year.
The survey of more than 6,000 Web users 18 years and older found that three out of five online shoppers (62.8 percent) say the Internet is their primary source of information when evaluating and comparing products.
The new research also found that as a respondent’s reported household income increased, so did the likelihood that the Internet is the primary comparison-shopping tool. In fact, the percentage of respondents who said the Internet was their primary tool for comparison-shopping increased from 59 percent for those reporting household income of less than $35,000, to 70.6 percent for households reporting income of $75,000 or more.
Other research that came out this week shows that shopping is intertwined with online search.
According to a U.S. population survey, “How America Searches,” by icrossing and Harris Interactive, 88 percent of online adults who purchase online conduct research at least sometimes prior to completing their purchase.
Only 3 percent of online adults who purchase items online never do any type of online research before making online purchase, and only 9 percent of respondents say they rarely research products and services online. 65 percent said they often/always rely on the Internet to research unfamiliar products, while 60 percent always or often research to find the best price
An overwhelming 42 percent of participants, who indicated that they use at least one online tool or service to research products, cited search engines first, well ahead of the 17 percent who turn to retailer/seller web sites first.
When search engines are the first tool to which people turn to find more information, 54 percent of respondents use search engines to find a website from which to buy or 53 percent search to investigate where to purchase. 43 percent indicated they use search engines to find an offline retailer from which to buy.
Eight-two percent of men ages 18-34 and 80 percent of men age 55 years and older, of the 74 percent who use search engines to research products/services look to learn more about their intended products.
60 percent of adults who use search engines to research products/services before buying online said they click on sponsored links at least sometimes, and 16 percent indicated they do so always/often. Just 9 percent indicated they never click on sponsored links when looking for a specific product or service.
Older shoppers are more likely to click on sponsored links. 48 percent of adults aged 18-34 click on sponsored links at least sometimes; 61 percent among those aged 35-44; 64 percent in the 45-54 age group; and 75 percent among adults over the age of 55.
Finally, according to the findings of the latest National Retail Federation 2005 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey conducted by BIGresearch, the average consumer plans to spend $738.11 this holiday season, up 5.1 percent from the previous year, and plans to spend an additional $86.62 on themselves. Popular shopping locations include: 71.4 percent of consumers plan to shop at discounters; 59.4 percent at department stores; 46.5 percent at specialty stores such as clothing, toy or electronics; 47.4 percent at grocery stores; and 42.6 percent of consumers plan to purchase gifts online
All this talk of spending is making me want to give away something to one lucky reader for free. Hey, how about a free homepage makeover? Go here for the details. You’re time is running out. And did I mention it’s free? What are you waiting for?
Is your homepage holding you back? It is missing that “wow factor” that entices consumers to click? Is the navigation awkward? Then maybe you need a homepage makeover. And Revenue wants to give you one for free. Yes, I said free.
Pedro Sostre, creative director of Sostre & Associates, will pick one lucky Revenue reader (you can be an affiliate or a merchant) and perform a visual redesign of their homepage. The goal of the makeover is to illustrate how making design modifications can boost conversions.
Pedro will assess the site to determine and highlight its unique value proposition. He’ll streamline navigation; make it easy for users to figure out where to click; and perform a host of his other expert tricks and design magic. If you choose to implement these changes it should result in better performance for your site. Pedro has turned his own sites into consistently top performers for Commission Junction.
Pedro’s normally charges clients upward of $5,000 to undertake this sort of visual redesign project, but for one lucky Revenue reader it will be FREE.
The results of your makeover will appear in the March issue of Revenue. Pedro’s first By Design Makeover will debut in Revenue’s January edition. In that article you’ll see the dramatic “before” and “after” pictures and Pedro will explain why he made the modifications.
So here’s what you need to do to have a chance to get your page visually redesigned by Pedro and his team:
1. Send an email to ByDesign@Sostreassoc.com
2. Please put “Revenue’s By Design Makeover” in the subject header
3. Include your name, company, contact information (phone, email, etc.)
4. Also include a brief description of your business and its goals.
5. You must also include the URL for your home page or landing page for Pedro to review.
In order to reap the benefits of this bountiful offer and to be considered for Revenue’s By Design Makeover for the March issue, we must receive your submission by Friday November 18, 2006. Also, if your submission is chosen, you must agree to let Pedro show the before and after designs in our magazine.
Okay, on to other housekeeping items.
Most of our Revenue sales team has fled the office for a weekend of fun in New York City before heading to the Ad:Tech New York show next week. I’m a little envious. I’m going to be here in rainy San Francisco cranking out the next issues of the magazine instead of shopping in Manhattan, er I mean, meeting exciting ad executives and gathering lots of great information, but our sales team has promised to fill me in on all the happenings.
In fact, next Friday one of our top sales folks, Tobias Siegel, will be our guest blogger. You may remember Tobias from his detailed schmooze report from last June’s Affiliate Summit in Vegas. He left no party unexplored and no hand unshook. This time, Toby’s volunteered his services to provide a complete report from the parties of Ad:Tech NY.
You all know that I take a strong stand on the wall between sales and editorial, But since this new blogging medium is more of a one-to-one communication (or intimate conservation) with our readers and this report is intended to provide a little more information about the fun, parties and the schmoozing that happened at the show, I welcome Toby’s expert involvement.
But remember, I’d also like to hear more about the subjects, topics, and points of interest at the show. Feel free to let me know what you’re hearing and seeing at Ad:Tech. lisap@revenuetoday.com
Halloween is finally over and I managed to get through it only buying a couple of decorative gourds and one pumpkin. When did Halloween turn into such a huge holiday? It’s no longer just a fun fright night for kids to overdose on mini-Milky Ways and Snickers. I saw more adults than little ones in elaborate costumes last night.
Earlier this month, reports said Halloween costume sales increased 88 percent over last year according to Shopping.com and market researcher HitWise. Sales of adult Halloween costumes rose 84 percent, while children’s costumes sales through the shopping engine rose 150 percent.
And it’s not just people that like to dress up. Okay I also bought a silly-looking witches’ hat for our doggie, but we were certainly not the only pet-guardians that choose to costume their canine pals.
Also, houses, apartments and businesses in our neighborhood were totally decked out with faux spider webs, plastic bats, bubbling caldrons and complex eerie lightening. This is not unexpected in suburbia, but I live in a very urban area of San Francisco. It’s basically the ‘hood or it used to be before the dotcom boom. People used to be scared in this neighborhood every night.
But looking back to rural Massachusetts when I was kid, even when I thought Halloween was a big deal, it was really small potatoes. We got masks from the local store, carved a pumpkin to put on the front steps, slapped up our cardboard cut out of a “scary” black cat on the front door and embarked on a quest for as much chocolate as possible. Ah, good times.
Over the last two months I’ve heard countless people say, “Halloween is the new Christmas.” Although I find that notion truly frightening, it likely means that online marketers made lots of money and I’m all for that – but I’m still not dressing up like a slutty-pirate to show my support.
And now for a real treat.
It’s that time again for us to begin taking submissions for our By Design Makeover. The January issue of Revenue will feature the premiere of our By Design Makeover column in which Pedro Sostre, a well established top affiliate with Commission Junction, who also owns Miami-based design firm Sostre & Associates, gave a homepage redesign to one of our readers. He explains each step and shows you the “before” and “after.”
Now it’s your turn. So here’s what you need to do to have a chance to get your page visually redesigned by Pedro and his team:
1. Send an email to ByDesign@Sostreassoc.com
2. Please put “Revenue’s By Design Makeover” in the subject header
3. Include your name, company, contact information (phone, email, etc.)
4. Also include a brief description of your business and its goals.
5. You must also include the URL for your home page or landing page for Pedro to review.
In order to reap the benefits of this bountiful offer and to be considered for Revenue’s By Design Makeover for the March issue, we must receive your submission by Friday November 18, 2006. Also, if your submission is chosen, you must agree to let Pedro show the before and after designs in our magazine.
