Articles of the Day
‘OMG Advertising!’ YouTubers React To In-Video Ads - Reactions from YouTube viewers to the new InVideo ads unveiled on the site last week ranged from mean and critical to favorable and constructive. More significant may be the feedback from companies already trying the format, such as Brightcove, which found resistance from advertisers.
Yahoo Searchers are Top Spenders, Says Online Retailer - SiCap Industries, a natural health products company, says that on average, Yahoo searchers spend 30% more on its goods than other consumers. The company has a robust e-commerce site, as well as relationships with brick-and-mortar stores to sell its OTC remedies. According to Wayne Perry, SiCap’s president, Web analytics data found that “consumers referred by Yahoo definitely spend more money on our Web sites, and according to data collected from our retailers, Yahoo surfers also spend more money in the stores that carry our products. This has been a consistent theme for nearly three years,” says Perry.
Google’s integration of its various engines will redefine relevance - Google’s decision in May to roll out “Universal Search,” a model that involves combining information from videos, news, Web sites and other sources into one set of search results, has raised more than a few eyebrows. At every search-related conference since Google’s announcement, speakers have displayed screenshots of Google search results that show inserted video and news results–all in an effort to frighten us about how little real natural search is now available above the fold.
Internet Keeps Young People Upbeat - Young people age 13 to 24 today are generally very happy and optimistic about the future, according to an MTV-Associated Press study conducted by Knowledge Networks in April 2007. “Nearly two-thirds of the young people surveyed said they think that the Internet, instant messaging, cell phones and other technologies make people happier, and 61% said those things make them feel closer to their family,” said eMarketer senior analyst Debra Aho Williamson. “You simply cannot separate young people from technology; it is part of who they are.”
Print and Digital Need Not Compete - The printed word still holds a strong pull for many consumers, according to Deloitte & Touche’s “State of the Media Democracy” study, conducted by the Harrison Group in March 2007. Nearly three-quarters of respondents said they would rather read the printed version of a magazine even if they could get the same information online.
Interactive A Stock Crunch Alternative - As the housing market continues its collapse, the tech sector is starting to look like “somewhat of a safe haven,” says Standard & Poors’ analyst Scott Kessler. Since the stock market’s 387-point drop on Aug. 9, the tech sector hasn’t been impacted by the sustained slump. But a safe haven? “Money has got to go somewhere,” says David Geltner, professor and director of MIT’s real estate program. Indeed, there is a ton of cash out there–particularly among large caps, and media firms, especially, are investing in online advertising. So far, Wall Street seems to approve.
MySpace Unveils Ad Targeting - Facebook’s plan for a new ad targeting system received lots of attention, but News Corp.’s MySpace–social networking’s former media darling–actually launched a beta version of a similar platform, and almost nobody noticed.Targeting “the most valuable advertising real estate across MySpace” will “meaningfully increasing the advertising opportunity,” over the next several months, he predicted.
Strike and Counterstrike: Analyzing The Next ‘Google-Killer’ - Rand Fishkin dives into blogger and technologist Robert Scoble’s three-part video series that aims to explain why Mahalo, Facebook and other sites that blend socially constructed features into their Web crawlers, will usurp Google and its algorithm in a few years. Fishkin, SEOmoz’s co-founder and CEO, tackles each of the points Scoble makes in his videos, countering his theories with a side-by-side analysis of search results from both Mahalo and Google, as well as a general defense of common SEO practices — which Scoble’s videos also seem to pan.
Truveo’s Revamp Rates A Thumbs Up - Katherine Boehret plays with four video search engines (Google, Yahoo, Blinkx and Truveo) and finds that the user experience on AOL’s Truveo comes out on top. When a user searches on the newly revamped Truveo, the crawler brings back videos that are tied directly to the specific search word or phrase — but also shows results that encourage users to browse videos with slightly related or unexpected content. It’s this lure to explore that makes Truveo different, and Boehret also finds that the site’s depth of content and interface is the most user-friendly of the four.
New On Yahoo: Text To Cells From Email - Yahoo today is unveiling a host of new features for its popular e-mail program including, most significantly, the ability to send text messages to cell phones directly from email. With that feature, anyone with a cell phone is now accessible to a far greater extent than before. For instance, senders can now send text messages to recipients who might not be in a position to answer their phones, or listen to a long voicemail message. In particular, parents can now more easily reach teens at school, where they can inconspicuously check for text messages.
