Bada-Bing: WPP Teams With Microsoft To Research How Search Builds Brands

MediaPost Publications, June 24, 2009 — WPP Group this morning unveiled plans for a research initiative with Microsoft to benchmark the "dynamics between search engine marketing and brand building." The effort, which is being spearheaded by WPP's Wunderman unit, will utilize proprietary research from Y&R's Brand Asset Valuator studies, as well as Wunderman's ZAAZ analytics and planning system.

"Marketers are spending billions on search engine marketing, primarily as a direct response mechanism," David Sable, vice chairman-COO of Wunderman, stated, adding, "We think it's time to better understand how search builds brands differently than traditional media.

Marketers Take Search Ads Beyond Search Engines†

Facebook, MySpace, iPhone Figure in Efforts by Pizza Hut, Others to Boost Online Exposure While Controlling Costs

Wall Street Journal, January 20, 2009 — Marketers, seeking to boost their online exposure while keeping a lid on costs, are looking beyond Internet search engines such as Google and Yahoo to find new places for their search ads.

The trend reflects a change in the way consumers are navigating the Web. More online searches now take place on YouTube, the popular video site owned by Google, than on Yahoo, the No. 2 Web-search property. The change has companies including Pizza Hut, Universal Pictures and Monster.com rethinking their search marketing strategies.

Former Employees of Google Prepare Rival Search Engine

New York Times, July 28, 2008 — In her two years at Google, Anna Patterson helped design and build some of the pillars of the company’s search engine, including its large index of Web pages and some of the formulas it uses for ranking search results.

Now, along with her husband, Tom Costello, and a few other Google alumni, she is trying to upstage her former employer.

On Monday, their company, Cuil, is unveiling a search engine that they promise will be more comprehensive than Google’s and that they hope will give its users more relevant results.

What Marketers Can Learn from the Tomato Scare†

Whole Foods, McDonald's Should Be Buying Keywords, Posting to Blogs

Advertising Age, June 10, 2008 — The businesses affected by the tomato scare are, yet again, missing out on a very big opportunity to address nervous consumers: search.

Despite being taught the importance of paid search either by action or, more often, inaction of other marketers during times of crisis — including the pet food scare, Jet Blue's runway woes or Mattel's toy manufacturing issues — grocery and other food marketers have not focused on search as a way to address the recent tomato scare.

Online Search Ads Faring Better Than Expensive Displays

While search advertising remains strong, there are signs that the growth in online advertising — particularly in more elaborate display ads — is slowing.

New York Times, May 19, 2008 — In the past few years, Web publishers have made a big bet on booming online advertising revenues. But the economic slowdown may be throwing a wrench into those plans.

While search advertising remains strong, there are signs that the growth in online advertising — particularly in more elaborate display ads — is slowing down.

Beaming Online Services Toward Blacks

New York Times, April 14, 2008 — CHEAP computers and Internet connections have helped people get online in greater numbers in recent years. Now Barry Diller’s IAC/InteractiveCorp wants to make money by helping minority groups connect more easily to specific sites.

Spending on Alternative Media Jumps 22%†

Marketers Follow as Consumers' Broadband Use Surges

Advertising Age, March 26, 2008 — Spending on alternative media hit $73.43 billion in 2007, a 22% increase over the previous year, and will continue to grow, according to PQ Media's Alternative Media Forecast: 2008-2012, released today. The research firm tracked 18 digital and nontraditional segments, with a combined 16.1% of total advertising and marketing dollars in 2007, up from 7.9% in 2002, yielding a compound annual growth rate of 21.7%.

The forecast predicts a 20.2% increase over the next year, to a total of $88.24 billion, and a compounded annual growth rate of 17% for 2007-2012, reaching $160.82 billion. By then, alternative media will represent 26.6% of all advertising and marketing dollars.

To Aim Ads, Web Is Keeping Closer Eye on You

A new analysis of online consumer data shows that large Web companies are learning more about people than ever from what they search for and do on the Internet.

New York Times, March 10, 2008 — A famous New Yorker cartoon from 1993 showed two dogs at a computer, with one saying to the other, “On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.”

That may no longer be true.

A new analysis of online consumer data shows that large Web companies are learning more about people than ever from what they search for and do on the Internet, gathering clues about the tastes and preferences of a typical user several hundred times a month.

These companies use that information to predict what content and advertisements people most likely want to see. They can charge steep prices for carefully tailored ads because of their high response rates.

On the Web, Signs of a Click Recession†

Google Feels Pinch As Ad Growth Slows; Sweeter Deal for Yahoo?

Wall Street Journal, February 27, 2008 — Internet advertising may be showing itself more vulnerable to a consumer slowdown than many in the industry had hoped, according to new search-ad data released this week.

The report from research firm comScore Inc. showing a decline in the number of consumer clicks on Google Inc. search ads in January amplified existing concerns about the effect of a broader economic slowdown on the Internet. Many online-ad experts have played down such worries, predicting any economic weakening will be offset by a continued shift in ad spending from traditional media to the Internet. Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said the company hadn't seen any impact from macroeconomic softening when the Internet company reported earnings Jan. 31. But some investors and analysts... continue reading

Mobile Search Is Finding Its Way

Everyone knows that online search is huge. Could mobile search match it, maybe even surpass it?

eMarketer, February 14, 2008 — Everyone has been talking about mobile search for years. But now talk is being replaced by action. The number and variety of searches on mobile phones jumped during the second half of 2007, causing eMarketer to raise its global mobile search revenue forecast up from $83 million in 2007 to $3.8 billion by 2012.