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Why Pay for Online Audience Metrics When You Can Get Them For Free?Everyone loves getting something for nothing, particularly when that something has a pretty decent price tag associated with it. What am I talking about here? It’s online audience metrics, which until now were primarily available to organizations willing to subscribe to comScore or Neilsen Online.So who’s out there shaking things up? It’s our old chum Google! Yes, in the very near future, Google is expected to announce its own online audience measurement tool aimed at helping advertisers identify the best places to reach their target audience and purchase online ads by telling them which sites they visit. Not only will the tool be free, but it will also have a different means of collecting user data than either comScore or Neilsen Online, which many believe will make it better and more accurate. Specifically, Google’s tool will be based mostly on data from Web servers, which will allow for a more in-depth and broad-based view of internet use. Comparatively, both comScore and Neilsen Online gather usage data by tracking panels of people and what they do online or by conducting surveys. This methodology has the ability to make results inconsistent and incomplete as you are in reality measuring a small segment of the online population and then aggregating those results to make more broad-based observations about the marketplace as a whole. In comparison, Google’s tool, which will still rely on some data gleaned from panels, will measure a much broader segment of the population as it will be deployed across their entire very, very expansive ad network. While Google’s system does not appear infallible (it's cookie-based and users can delete cookies), the sheer size of Google’s user base and network has the potential to make this a very revolutionary system and shake-up the way online activity is measured. And because it’s being offered for free, it will make this kind of intelligence more of a commodity and level the playing field in terms of online media planning and buying. What do I mean by “leveling the playing field”? Simply stated, services like comScore and Neilsen Online cost money and are available only to those who can afford them. However, by Google making audience data free of charge, it will enable everyone to leverage it and make more intelligent decisions about how they plan and buy online media. Therefore, while such intelligence has primarily been available to big agencies or companies and touted as a competitive advantage that smaller rivals just don’t have access to, this will no longer be the case. Hence, what is exciting about Google’s forthcoming tool is that it will enable everyone to make more accurate and confident decisions about the buys being executed and the targets being reached, which should in turn lead to an overall increase in the ROI associated with online advertising. And in an era of heightened accountability, this will likely only make advertisers more comfortable with committing more dollars online. But the true value that I see in a tool such as Google’s coming to market, is not just that it’s going to level the playing field, lead to increased budgets and provide free access to data that was previously only available to those with the means to pay for it, but that it’s going to force us as marketers to become better at what we do. In order to be competitive, we’re now going to be forced to further evolve our thinking. So in the online media planning and buying space where will the competitive advantage now come from? Simply stated, it will no longer be enough to say you have access to and spout audience statistics, as soon everyone will be able to do this. Rather you will need to demonstrate that you understand and know how to use and apply this data. The truth is, while everyone likes statistics, people love it when you can demonstrate that you know what they mean and apply this knowledge to solve real business issues. With Google’s forthcoming tool, we’ll all soon be able to know who is going where and doing what. But now, to truly differentiate your plans and buys, you’ll need to demonstrate that you not only have the data, but understand what it means and the business benefits derived from it, and this is what will separate the leaders from the pack. Labels: Google, Industry, New Business, Online Media, POV, small business marketing, Strategy Thinking of Developing a Facebook Application?You might want to read this first.Ah Facebook. Day by day, its audience and community just seems to grow larger and larger and as this audience grows, more and more businesses are looking to effectively levearge it as part of their social media marketing strategy. One obvious step is to set-up a profile, which is a key if you want to access the Facebook community in a relevant manner. Having a profile gives you a presence and a base of operations to start marketing to and leveraging the community. However, the challenge that many organizations face once they set-up a profile is what to do next, in order to actually grow their friend and fan base. Having a profile on Facebook is great, but if no one know its there or it just stagnates, then what is it really worth? In order to grow your friend and fan base, there are a number of viral tactics you can tap into as well as advertising mediums such as left-hand ad units and Social Ads. While these are all great, if you read the press and just listen to the buzz, these all seem to pale in comparison to what many see as the Holy Grail of a developing a successful Facebook presence – Application Development. Yes, in May 2007 Facebook decided to invite developers to create free software programs that Facebook members could in turn use to communicate with and entertain one another. The net effect of opening up Facebook as a development platform has played a huge role in its growing popularity and has helped to ensure that things do not become stagnant. This assertion is supported by the fact that in the past year more than 250,000 developers have requested the company’s tools for building applications and more than 24,000 applications have been launched. This equates to over 65 new applications being launched every day! Pretty impressive growth, if I say so myself. Needless to say, many developers have turned their applications into viable business models and companies have used applications to raise their profile within Facebook through increased engagement with their brand. While this is all great and I applaud everyone who has had success, it has also spawned some unrealistic views about Facebook’s application development platform. The Myth of the Facebook App This flood of application development and the associated buzz has also led to many organizations talking about developing “Facebook Apps” as part of a strategy in order to grow and evolve their presence on the site. It’s almost as if people look at Facebook as some kind of magical development platform and no matter what kind of App you develop its surely going to be viral and increase your friend and fan base 10x over. As much as I would like say this is the case, its really not and hence - “The Myth of the Facebook App”. So what do I mean by “The Myth of the Facebook App”? Well, take this recent quote from Ben Ling, director of platform marketing at Facebook, when asked why some applications are successful, but many just seem to stagnate – “The Facebook platform is not a magic platform and you can plug anything in and be successful. It does not make something that’s not useful useful.” - Wall Street Journal – June 10, 2008 Reality Bites In fact a study published in March 2008 by O’Reilly Media, Inc. regarding Facebook applications revealed some very sobering statistics:
So why is it that some applications are successful while others are not? The applications that seem to be working are those that provide a useful service, entertain users and allow users to socialize with one another. This last point is very, very key, particularly when you think about Facebook as medium. What I mean is that as a medium Facebook is about connecting and socializing with others and something that is considered to be both useful and entertaining is most often based on the premise that it enables you to connect and socialize with your friends.
While these are certainly not the only questions to be asking yourself, they can provide a baseline framework to ensure that you set foot in the right strategic direction when developing an application. As Facebook grows more and more crowded, the opportunities for successful application development are going to get more and more challenging. To simply develop an application without considering its strategic value and how it can be effectively woven into Facebook’s social fabric is a recipe for failure and frustration. Labels: Industry, POV, Social Media, web 2.0 Launching Multicultural Media CampaignsA specialty at our firm is helping companies target niche audiences. One of our more challenging accounts has charged us with running a multicultural campaign targeting dozens of individual ethnic groups within the United States with just the right message. This type of campaign presents a different set of challenges from huge buys on the Web's top sites. To help describe some of the challenges and tactics associated with running one of these campaigns I interviewed Barbara Wojslawowicz, one of our planners, who does a great job managing and optimizing these difficult multicultural campaigns. Barbara Wojslawowicz: I'm an online media planner in the media department at Overdrive Interactive. I'm responsible for online, and sometimes offline, media strategy, planning, buying, and management for direct-response clients, primarily focused on multicultural advertising. Prior to Overdrive, I held online marketing positions at Digitas and First Night Boston. HG: Why is multicultural advertising so important? BW: Since each ethnic group responds to messaging differently, it's important for advertisers to tailor products and subsequent advertising campaigns in culturally relevant media segments. The U.S. has always been referred to as a melting pot of ideas, religions, and cultures, and according to a recent Pew Research Center study entitled, "Immigration to Play Lead Role in Future U.S. Growth," the pot is going to get even bigger. According to the study, "the population of the United States will rise to 438 million in 2050, from 296 million in 2005, and 82% of the increase will be due to immigrants arriving from 2005 to 2050 and their U.S.-born descendants...The Latino population, already the nation's largest minority group, will triple in size." This population boom will inevitably lead to increased spending on consumer goods from ethnic Americans. This presents a huge opportunity for companies to expand their product offerings and target their ad campaigns by ethnic group. HG: In your experience, what channels have been the most successful in reaching your client's ethnic markets in the U.S.? Labels: ClickZ, Industry, Online Media Yahoogle – It’s HereWell folks, it’s official! On Thursday, Yahoo officially stated that under a new pact with Google it will display “some” ads sold by its rival. The deal is expected to generate an additional $800 million in annual revenue for Yahoo, through what the Wall Street Journal describes as improved monetization of certain types of searches.On top of it all, both companies also stated that they are looking for ways to now expand what is considered to be a limited partnership, possibly into the realm of display advertising. Now this would be interesting, as display is one area where Yahoo does hold a commanding lead over Google. While all of the specifics of this deal have not been definitively worked out, the understanding is that Yahoo will control how Google’s ads are displayed along side its own advertising. Although it has not been 100% defined, my guess here is that Yahoo will most likely give priority to ads purchased directly through its own site, but then populate excess inventory with ads from Google. Therefore, it appears that Yahoo is entering in a pact to become part of Google’s “Expanded Search Network”. This means that while you will still be able to buy everything you would like directly via Yahoo, whenever there is a case of excess inventory on Yahoo, Google’s ads will now be displayed. It appears to be a similar arrangement that Google has with sites such as Business.com, from which you can purchase ads directly from or go through Google to do so, as Business.com is part of Google’s expanded search network. Assuming I am correct, and while this great news for the shareholders of Yahoo, there are few things that we as search engine marketers must now consider. If you did not already know, when you buy advertising from Google, you have a few options. You can go with Google Search, which means you advertise to people just searching on Google; Expanded Search, which means adverting on Google and all of its search partners (AOL, Earthlink, etc.); and then of course there are programs such as Google Content. In my experience, most people opt to go with Google’s expanded search network as they not only get access to the audience on Google, but also those on AOL, Earthlink and more. However, unlike Yahoo’s expanded search network, with Google, it’s an all or nothing proposition. This means that with Google, you can not select which search partners you advertise with and which you do not. Additionally, Google does not disclose what percentage of your searches or budget are actually being spent with their partners, versus them directly. This leads most people to believe that when they advertise with Google all traffic and clicks are coming from people directly on Google, but this is not necessarily the case at all. Why this is important is that if Yahoo does join Google’s Expanded Search Network, you could end up spending a good portion of your budget directly with Yahoo unknowingly via Google. Because Yahoo does command upwards of 20% of the Search Marketplace, they still have a very good sized audience and therefore you could soon find your Google programs spending much faster that you had previous realized, as you now have your ads being put in front of Yahoo’s still very sizeable audience. As a result, if you were previously reaping the benefits of Google’s Expanded Search Network, whether you knew it or not, with Yahoo in the fold you may have to start spending a lot more to continue to do so. Additionally, seeing that Google does not let you see the specifics behind what is happening on their Expanded Search Network, you will loose the ability to plan your budget accordingly for Yahoo. I see this as important as both Google & Yahoo perform differently under certain circumstances and therefore you want to be able to structure your campaign on many levels such as Keyword, bidding and budget to take advantage of different audience dynamics. However, under this pact you will be relegated to spending some of your budget with Yahoo, but planning based on your insights from Google. Now, you might say that with Google’s Expanded Search Network you’ve already had to do this for AOL, Earthlink, Business.com, etc., but the difference here is that none of these engines offer an audience the size of Yahoo’s and really have the potential to shift things one way or the other. Now of course you can still advertise with Yahoo directly and plan accordingly, but previously you had the advantage of knowing that you had a Google budget and a Yahoo budget. But now under this new pact you will have a Yahoogle budget and a Yahoo budget, if in fact you decide to advertise directly with Yahoo at all. This leads me to my last point, what does this mean for Yahoo in the future? In my experience, a lot of organizations like the fact that they can go through one provider and get their ads displayed on multiple engines. In the end you basically get the same result, without the headache of having to manage multiple programs and campaigns. In short, life is simpler. So, does this mean that over time, we will see more people just turning to Google to leverage the fact that they can go there and use them as a one stop shop? I guess the answer to this question relies on the definition of “some”, in terms of what the Google/Yahoo pact means when they say it means that Yahoo will display “some” ads displayed/sold by Google. Ultimately the word “some” is very ambiguous, and leaves a lot of room for this partnership to grow and expand. However, while you can at times get better cost efficiencies of going straight to the source, versus going through a partner, the challenges of managing multiple programs sometimes outweighs the cost benefits gained. Therefore, while I do believe that Yahoo will always have direct presence, I feel that the number of advertisers who opt run programs directly with them will shrink as they realize they can go to Google and manage everything from one single interface. This will be particularly true for those businesses that don’t have the ability to have a dedicated search marketing staff, but previously felt they had to run on both engines in order to access both audiences. One thing that is for sure is that by making a bid for Yahoo, Microsoft has certainly shaken-up the search marketing landscape. Who would have thought that the net result of trying to acquire Yahoo, would have the unintended effect of making Yahoo run directly in to the arms of the rival that Microsoft as trying to fend off via their intended acquisition strategy. If you think this is strange; based on the precedent set here, I can only imagine what's going to happen next. Labels: Google, Industry, Online Media, Paid Search, POV, Strategy, Yahoo Landing Page Whitepaper Offers With Sub-Par Landing Pages?Things change fast in the world of interactive marketing, so it is a good idea for most interactive professionals to subscribe to industry email newsletters in order to keep on top of the latest research, trends and best practices. As a result, my inbox is flooded with various industry newsletters pointing to current articles, and of course the HTML emails contain ads targeted to someone in the interactive media business.Over the last few days, I have been served ads for a couple of different landing page guides. In order to get the landing page whitepapers, the user is directed to what else- a landing page. Logically, you would assume that an ad or email for a landing page best practice whitepaper would point to a pretty well designed landing page, but don’t make assumptions too quickly. I do not have access to the conversion data for either of the pages to be discussed, so the following observations are based solely on my experiences of landing page elements that enhance or detract from conversion rates. One example of a questionable landing page design is for an Omniture landing page guide entitled “Does Your Landing Page Smell Like Your Keywords”. I use the term “questionable” because many design elements on this page are pretty good , but there are some design elements on this page that are extremely frustrating, especially in the context of downloading a whitepaper about landing pages. See the page below. The red line represents the “fold”; the portion of the page above the red line is visible without scrolling.
The next design element that is frustrating as an end user is the functionality of the form. Keep in mind, I was served the ad for the landing page in an email newsletter for online marketers- the primary subscriber base is most likely comprised of folks working at interactive agencies, which brings me to my concerns surrounding the form functionality. The first several fields are the standard fill-ins like name, email, but when you get to the drop down menus, things get a bit strange. One design element that seemed particularly odd was the industry selector. As I mentioned previously, the ad for this page was served to a group that is likely comprised on online advertising agency types, but neither “Advertising” or “Marketing” were available as drop down selections. Instead, the form has a selection for “Healthcare” which seems strange as I could not imagine many people in healthcare are developing custom lead generation landing pages in-house. Similarly, peculiar selections were available for other fields, especially considering the ad for this offer was served in an online marketing industry newsletter. Assuming the majority of folks that see this ad work at online ad agencies, it is odd that the most common job titles in the industry are not available in the drop down menu. There are no fields for “Account Executive” or “Account Director” although these are very common titles for the people that are seeing the ad impressions. Another unique component of this page that I find frustrating relates to “form growth”. If you select “Other” from the drop down, a new fill-in field appears below the drop down box. I personally find this very frustrating as I feel deceived by the advertiser as the form gets larger and larger as I complete fields. Look at the difference between the original impression of the form, and the expanded form that “grows” based on your selection.
This experience reminds me of the frustrating multi-stage forms in which users keep getting directed to new pages with new form fields, and there is no indication of when the form will be complete. Keep in mind, this page design could have been the result of extensive testing that indicated this design would lead to the highest possible conversion rates for this channel; however, it is undoubtedly counterintuitive to many thoroughly tested best practices, as well as my own experience in landing pages testing and design. Nevertheless, I won’t be reading Omniture’s landing page whitepaper- I bailed out of the conversion process before I could make it through the frustrating landing page and form. Labels: Industry, Landing Pages, Strategy, web 2.0 Google CEO Shares His Secrets to SuccessFortune magazine recently spoke to Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, to discuss why Google continues to achieve impressive financial results in a slow economy. I began reading the article expecting to learn some groundbreaking business philosophies, but found Schmidt’s insights to be rather obvious.Don’t Lose Sight of What’s Working Schmidt expresses the importance of keeping priority on your core products and services while developing new ones to grow and diversify your business. He refers to this as the ‘threat of distraction.’ In Google’s case, 90% of focus remains on their core services such as SEM and allows 10% to new product development. While this ‘don’t put all your eggs in one basket’ philosophy seems fairly intuitive, many large corporations have fallen prey to the allure of new initiatives. Remember New Coke? McDonald’s Arch Delux? Levi’s Type 1 jeans? Nintendo’s Virtual Boy? Many of these companies have yet to regain the market status they held prior to these failed product launches. Rise to The Challenge Schmidt argues that most growing corporations either don’t recognize or address growth-related issues. Schmidt believes it’s important to recognize challenges and do what it takes to overcome them. He feels the biggest threat is internal vs. market based, specifically highlighting the threat of bad leadership. The list of organizations that saw leadership-related failure is long. Some high-profile examples include Enron, Tyco, and WorldCom. Provide an Integrated Experience Schmidt discusses how Google is consciously working to keep all Google-related products and services within the Google brand vs. having a divisionalized business structure. This includes focusing on ensuring that Google products and services are integrated to provide a cohesive experience for their customers. In my experience, Google is doing a fairly successful job of this. As an online marketing firm, Overdrive has leveraged Google’s SEM, Online Media, and Analytics products (to name a few) and has realized the management, data correlation and optimization benefits of their integration. I encourage you all to click here to read Schmidt’s full interview with Fortune Magazine. You’ll also find a link to a Fortune video discussion that provides another take on the growth-related threats Google is facing. Web Beats Radio and Cable: Web Ads Topped $21B in 2007The Internet ad market last year grew 26%, surpassing both radio and cable TV, to reach $21.2 billion, according to the annual online ad spending report from IAB and PricewaterhouseCoopers.Search advertising accounted for 41% of the total spend, with display ads making up 34%. Video, which in 2007 was broken out as a separate category for the first time, made up 2% of overall online ad spending. "We've learned not to be surprised by the vitality and vibrancy of Internet advertising," said David Doty, SVP-thought leadership and marketing at the IAB. Labels: Agency News, Industry, Online Media What's Your Browser Preference?There has been some debate around the office lately about which browser we, as online marketers, should use as default. Some of my colleagues believe we should adopt Firefox because of its flexible tools and overall superior (in their opinion) usability. While I do not contest that Firefox has its benefits, I remain an IE user with the belief that we should align our behavior with that of the majority, and the majority uses IE….at least that’s what I assumed.To ensure my claim was founded I decided to do a bit of research. Based on the statistics below from www.w3schools.com, Internet Explorer remains the most common browser. I can be confident my claim is accurate.  However it seems Firefox is moving in on IE’s position with a steady climb in usage. So, it may only be a matter of time before I’m experiencing the superior Firefox usage features my colleagues talk about….but I may not have to wait! An article on www.windowshelp.com outlines some great ad-ons for IE which, I believe, truly enhance the browser's usability. This includes a ‘find as you type’ feature, allowing users to more quickly search page content for specific terms. This feature just happens to be one of the main features my colleagues claim make Firefox a superior browser. I guess time will only tell whether Firefox will continue its climb and surpass Internet Explorer as the most commonly used browser. Until then, I guess my colleagues and I will just need to agree to disagree, and use the browsers that fit our individual preferences. Because, in the end, no matter what our personal browser usage, we need to be good online marketers and test everything we do in all browsers. Social Media and Why You Need a StrategyEvery day, it seems we read something new about Facebook, MySpace and other likeminded properties and how the social web is changing the face of the online landscape as we know it. So what is it that makes these companies so important that they are garnering so much press and interest? Well, in my opinion its not such much the properties themselves, but rather the communities they have fostered within them and this is why every marketer should be paying attention.To support this point, just read the following quote from a recent Wall Street Journal article about Sport Illustrated (SI) and their decision to take their Fantasy Content to Facebook: "The move is, in part, an admission by the iconic sports brand, owned by the Time Inc. division of Time Warner Inc that it needs to do more than draw users to its own Web site. It also needs to take its products to a site people already visit.” - Wall Street Journal, May 5, 2008. What struck me about this comment was not so much that Sports Illustrated is partnering with Facebook, but rather how it as decided that a presence on Facebook is a viable alternative to driving users to their own web site. In short, SI has realized if they truly want to engage the Facebook community, they have to do so within Facebook, not outside of it. This, in my opinion is one of the true powers of the social web, and a key reason why all companies need to start thinking about developing a social media strategy, if they have not already done so. In short, the social web, comprised of sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Bebo and others is a web within a web. Rather than refer to these as sites, I think that they could be more accurately described as online environments. People don’t necessarily go on the social web with the intent of finding the next great web site, rather they're on the social web to interact and socialize with others within the context of that environment. Therefore, if you want to reach users within the social web you need to come to them and set-up shop in their environment. Doing so demonstrates to users that you understand the nature of the social web and are willing participate within it. This is an important fact to realize and if you want to be considered relevant within the fabric of the social web, then you need to be have a presence within the social web. Now you may be saying to yourself “But we have a website, so why would I need to create a presence within context of the social web? I mean, we’re already online.” Well, yes your business or company does have a website and is online, but you are not operating within the realm of the social web. You are also making the broad based assumption that those who are engaged in the social web, want to leave it to see what you have to offer. However, this is big assumption and an unfortunate mistake. Again, users go to the social web to interact within that environment, so if you want to reach them you need have a presence where they are. Additionally, there is a common misconception that the social web is only for kids, teens and young adults so it just does not make business sense to be there. Well, there was a time when people felt the same way about this thing called the World Wide Web. Remember when only cutting edge companies had websites? It’s laughable by today’s standards and if you don’t have a website today, people will seriously question your competency. Well, the same trend is now being realized with the social web. Not every company has a presence and those that do are hailed as being innovative and thoughts leaders…just look at Sports Illustrated. The fact that they have decided to set-up shop on Facebook has gotten them ink in the Wall Street Journal. I’m willing to bet that in a matter of just a few years, that such moves will be par for the course and if you don’t have a presence on the social web, you’ll be laughed out of the room. So where am I going with this all? Well, the fact is that marketing on the social web is something that is still relatively new. People are waking up to the fact that there is an audience to be had, but they don’t know what to do or how to effectively access it. But the fact is that social media, just like other forms of online media such as search, can act as channel and means to access a very ready and willing audience. However, to be successful you need to understand how to play with and engage this audience within the context of the social landscape. Like what SI did, think of social media as a means to complement what you are already doing online. While your corporate web site can still be the center of your online marketing universe, it does not mean you can’t have branch or satellite offices within the confines of Facebook, MySpace, Bebo and others. As I mentioned earlier, the social web is not just another group of sites, it's a unique, multi-faceted environment in which resides a huge audience. However to effectively market to this audience, you need to first understand the environment and be willing to join its fabric. Ultimately, by deploying a social media strategy you will greatly expand the power and reach of what you are doing online and develop a channel that is bound to pay off today and in years to come. Labels: Industry, POV, Social Media, Strategy Paid and Natural Search - Complimentary MediumsI was recently asked the following question by a client: "If we are appearing in the Natural Search Engine Results, why should we we also be paying to appear in the Paid Search results for the same term?" In short, if they're getting the clicks for free, why should they be paying for them as well? However, I don't think the answer is really that simple, as a truly effective search engine marketing campaign is not about Paid vs. Natural, rather its about understanding what makes each medium strong thereby playing to and understanding those strengths.
 Please do note that while it may sound like I am trying to discount the natural results, that is not the case at all. Natural results most always drive more traffic and getting top positions is the true benchmark of success when it comes to any SEO program. However, what I am trying to illustrate is the value that Paid Search results do have, even when you are also appearing naturally for the same term, as paid search offers a level of flexibility and control that you cannot get from Natural SEO. In the end, this is not a case of one versus the other, but about illustrating how having a fully integrated SEM and SEO program can ensure that you can take advantage of all that is being afforded to you in the search environment and driving the optimal user experience for all facets of the page. Labels: Google, Industry, Landing Pages, Paid Search, POV, Search, SEO, Strategy, Yahoo Yahoogle! –A New Way to Define the Online Marketing Landscape…according to Microsoft.Yahoogle (Ya-hoo-gle) n. 1. An arrangement between Google and Yahoo! that would involve or lead to the outsourcing to Google of key paid Internet search terms offered by Yahoo! 2. A world, according to Microsoft, in which talent flees, prices increase, the Feds come after you and most of all Google becomes an Evil Price Fixing Baron.
Labels: Google, Industry, Paid Search, SEO, Yahoo Look Out - Here Comes Yahoogle!Well folks, if you have not already heard the news, Microsoft has withdrawn its offer to acquire Yahoo!. Despite having raised its offer by $5 Billion, from $29/Share to $33/Share, Yahoo! still walked away from the deal unless Microsoft would pony-up an additional $5 Billion ($37/Share).However, what I find makes the collapse of this deal really interesting is that when you read the letter that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer sent to Yahoo! CEO Jerry Yang on Saturday, May 3rd while price was certainly deciding factor, the straw that broke the camels back appears to be Yahoo’s decision to further expand their “partnership” with Google. In short, it’s the prospect of having to acquire “Yahoogle!”, not Yahoo! that has really made Microsoft stop its pursuit and not go hostile. In a letter to Yahoo! CEO Jerry Yang, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer stated that “We regard with particular concern your apparent planning to respond to a “hostile” bid by pursuing a new arrangement that would involve or lead to the outsourcing to Google of key paid Internet search terms offered by Yahoo! today. In our view, such an arrangement with the dominant search provider would make an acquisition of Yahoo! undesirable to us for a number of reasons.” So what would the world according to Yahoogle! look like? Well according to Mr. Ballmer, its one that’s pretty dark in which talent flees, prices increase, the Feds come after you (Microsoft certainly knows about this) and most of all Google becomes an Evil Price Fixing Baron. But who am I to tell you about Yahoogle!, let Mr. Ballmer be your guide! The following is a summary of why Mr. Ballmer feels that Yahoogle! would make Yahoo! undesirable acquisition for Microsoft: 1. No More Panama 2. Talent Will Flee 4. Google Now Sets Every Price So what do you think? Is Yahoogle! good or bad? Whether you agree with Microsoft or not, the paid search and online advertising landscape is quickly changing and Yahoogle! is certainly going to play role in paving the way. Labels: Google, Industry, Online Media, Paid Search, SEO, Yahoo Questions to Ask Your ClientsSo often people say, "In sales, listening is as important as talking." I couldn't agree more. While media planning isn't selling in the traditional sense, it's very much still sales. We all must actively pitch our services, ideas, and ultimately our plans to clients; we truly need to sell the merits of our recommendations. But more important, we need to make them want to buy. Even with the best fact-based decision-making methodology, we need to make the client very comfortable with a plan or strategy. To do this, the client must feel like you're providing them with exactly what they need. And to give them what they need, you must get them to tell you what their needs are. You must ask the right questions. Sometimes you can determine what you'll get from a vendor based on the questions she asks rather than the presentation she eventually gives you. Many times, asking the right questions early in a relationship not only arms you with information to create a successful marketing strategy or media plan but also gets the client thinking along the same lines as you. It helps the client look at success in the same way you do and aligns your priorities. It gets a client thinking about things you think are important early in the process. Google Subscribed Links Offers Powerful Branding Opportunity in Search ResultsThere are a few things constant about Google - frequent acquisitions of cool companies, an increasing stock price, and an ever expanding catalog of products. Google Subscribed Links, the latest tool to roll off the Google widget assembly line, allows webmasters to connect with previous visitors to their site through search results.Google Subscribed Links works like this:
 Of course, designing and managing the site feed requires at least a minimal command of XML and HTML. Additionally, you’re going have to induce your visitors to subscribe to the link (market the marketing tool); however, the potential opportunity for visitor retention and branding is just too good to pass up, particularly if your website ranks highly for frequently searched keywords. View examples of Google Subscribed Links. One application of this new product that springs to mind is to serve as a complement to paid search campaigns. You could post a Subscription Link button on a landing page for a pay-per-click campaign. A visitor in the early stages of their search may not be prepared to convert right away, but assuming your site ranks organically, e-marketers could conceivably push customized natural listings to the prospect at every stage of their search and entice a conversion at a later time. Labels: Google, Industry, Integration, Paid Search, SEO Is Google’s Universal Search Designed to Improve the Experience of the User or Stockholder?More Relevant Results? MaybeMore Google Revenues? Likely As Google continues to roll out expanded universal search listings, it will become increasingly difficult to achieve and maintain a strong natural search presence. The new search results will “incorporate information from a variety of previously separate sources – including videos, images, news, maps, books, and websites – into a single set of results” according to Google. Although Universal Search was rolled out in May, Google will gradually include a higher proportion of its local information, maps, images, video, and news results in the prime natural first page real estate. Although the shift will be gradual, the addition of this content into the natural results means that it will be increasingly difficult to achieve or maintain your coveted first page ranking through traditional natural optimization tactics. Inbound links, metatags, and keyword density will still have their place in making pages pop undoubtedly, but savvy marketers will need to make sure they optimize different types of content as well to ensure continued visibility as the natural results continue to evolve. If maps, videos, images and other non-traditional listings continue to take natural real estate from the standard text listings, it will also be important to develop and optimize this content to at least ensure the opportunity to get the highly desirable above the fold natural real estate. So how will the shift to universal results impact Google? Revenue. PPC will become increasingly important for organizations that are currently ranked in the middle and lower portion of page one on Google for their key SEO terms. Now instead of competing with Wikipedia and more direct competitors within an industry, they are also competing with Google itself for a natural first page ranking. Organizations that typically invest more in natural SEO will begin to shift budgets to the paid side if they see universal results bumping their natural listings down to the second page or beyond for important, high frequency queries. When organizations invest in SEO efforts like keyword-centric content development and link-buying, Google loses out on those marketing dollars, so Universal Search certainly makes sense for Google’s shareholders. The increasing PPC spend from dollars that previously funded SEO, coupled with the increase in the volume of advertisers, means a more highly competitive PPC market, and as a result, click costs will likely increase across the board. Natural SEO and PPC marketers alike will certainly be challenged as Universal Search expands, and the competition for the top paid listings will be amplified. PPC will become an even more crucial marketing tactic as natural rankings become harder to attain. So is Universal Search really all about improving user experience? What do you think will happen to Google’s revenue if CPCs double? $500 a share might still be a good time to buy. Labels: Google, Industry, Search, SEO, universal search Microsoft Offers To Buy Yahoo For $44.6 BillionOk, pretty big news right! Technically I do not predict big changes for online advertisers and search marketers in the short term as I am sure Microsoft will not want to rock the revenue boat. It will be in interesting to see how competition between MSN and Yahoo! plays out though.Microsoft said it had offered to buy Yahoo for $31 per share, which it said represented a 62 percent premium above the company's closing stock price on Nasdaq on Thursday. Microsoft said Yahoo holders would be able to trade each of their shares for $ 31 in cash or 0.9509 of a Microsoft share, pro-rated so that no more than half of the overall purchase price is paid in cash. Pre-market trading Friday sent the stock to: 29.34 +10.16 (52.97%) as of Feb 1 8:36am ET. The deal values Yahoo at 65 times earnings. Currently, it trades at 40 times earnings, according to FactSet Research. Yahoo shares haven't traded at $31 since November. The companies held talks about partnering or merging in late 2006 and early 2007. Those talks included the potential of a merger proposal, but Yahoo told Microsoft in February it wasn't interest in being acquired. On another note Google's shares did not do well in pre-market trading: GOOG: Pre-Market: 526.76 -37.54 (-6.65%) Feb 1 8:51am ET This announcement and yesterday's earnings news from Google really hit them hard: "NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Google reported earnings and sales for the fourth quarter that missed Wall Street estimates, sending the stock tumbling after hours." Labels: Google, Industry, Yahoo Seminar: Search Engine, Blog and Social Media MarketingExciting news! I am giving a Search, Blog and Social Media seminar at the NEDMA (New England Direct Marketing Association) Conference on April 30, 2008. You can see my seminar description below. It's not on their site yet but click on the link below to see the preliminary info and sign-up for their newsletter via the "subscribe" box at the bottom of their page to get updates.http://www.nedma.com/annual-conference Search Engine, Blog and Social Media Marketing: Accessing the Critical Moment and Joining the Customer Conversation Search engines have become the number-one resource that consumers as well as business and technology decision-makers use to find and research products and solutions. No other point of consumer or prospect contact has the ability to access the "critical moment" when your target audience is seeking exactly what you are selling. On top of that blogs and social media have become a trusted source of opinion and reviews for consumers, technology professionals and business people researching purchase decisions. They also offer an unprecedented opportunity for businesses to join the marketing conversation between consumers and weave their messages into user generated content and the market place instead of simply broadcasting to it. The main question that every marketer must ask is: "Do I have a strong presence on the search engines, blogs and social media sites?" If not, then the obvious next question must be: "How do I build one in a cost effective and politically correct way?" The answer is search engine, blog and social media marketing. This seminar will focus on the statistics, strategies, tactics, and benefits of search engine, blog and social media marketing. It will also detail the linkages between search engine optimization and a strong presence in blogs and social media sites. Any marketer (both client and agency side) who wish to access prospects when they are researching or discussing their products and services should attend. -Topics covered will include: -Current and predicted trends in search, blog and social media behavior and technology -Assessing your company's search engine presence -A detailed overview of paid search listing and advertising opportunities -A detailed overview of organic search engine optimization -Some tactics regarding universal and image search -Converting search engine traffic into customers and leads -A breakdown of the major search properties, the blog landscape and social media sites -The anatomy of a blog and social media site profiles and channels -Some basic blog and social media outreach and politically correct saturation tactics -Case studies -More... Please come prepared to have a good time and ask lots of questions specific to your organization's products and marketing goals. About the instructor: Harry Gold Founder and CEO Overdrive Interactive Harry started his online career in 1995 when he founded Interactive Promotions. Since then he has been at the forefront in developing successful online programs for various agencies and Fortune 500 companies. His client experience includes search and online media management for top companies that include General Motors, Harley-Davidson, John Hancock, Dow Jones, EMC, Progress, LoJack, Cognos, Mosnter.com as well as many other companies who now enjoy a strong Internet presence. Harry brings to Overdrive a highly distinguished background in online development, search engine marketing, and online media that goes back over 12 years. As the architect and conductor behind Overdrive's programs, Harry's primary mission is to create innovative marketing programs based on real-world success and to make sure that the best marketing and technology practices that drive those successes are continually institutionalized into the culture and methods of the agency. What excites Harry is the knowledge that Overdrive's collaborative environment has created a company of online experts, all of whom drive success for the clients and companies they serve. Harry is a frequent lecturer on search engine marketing and online media for The New England Direct Marketing Association, The In-House Agency Forum, The Ad Club, and Boston University. He is also a recognized subject matter expert and columnist for ClickZ. Labels: Agency News, Google, Industry, Online PR, Paid Search, Podcasts, SEO, Social Media, Strategy M&A: Web and Internet Companies Acquired in 2007Ok, here is a nifty little list showing some of 2007's acquisitions and their price tags. Clearly there were people making some pretty serious money out there this year!Web/Internet Companies Acquired in 2007 > > Acquired > Acquirer > Acquisition cost Afterbuy.com > eBay > Not Disclosed BarelyPolitical.com > NextNewNetworks > Not Disclosed Billmonk > Obopay > Not Disclosed Blogniscient > TopTenSources > Not Disclosed Business.com > R.H. Donnelley > $345 Million BuzzTracker > Yahoo > $2-$5 Million Cricinfo > ESPN > Not Disclosed Cuts > RiffTrax > Not Disclosed dpreview.com > Amazon > Not Disclosed Feed Crier > IMified > Not Disclosed Feedburner > Google > $100 Million Fireant > Odeo > $400,000 Flektor > Fox Interactive > $20 Million FotoLog > Hi-Media > $90 Million Gravatar > Automattic > Not disclosed Grub > Wikia > Not Disclosed Hitwise > Experian > $240 Million HowStuffWorks > Discovery > $250 Million Ingenio > AT&T > Not Disclosed Insider Pages > CitySearch/IAC > $13 Million InviteShare > TechCrunch > Not Disclosed JobLoft.com > onTargetjobs > Not Disclosed Jumpcut > Yahoo > Not Disclosed Logoworks > HP > Not Disclosed Max Preps > CBS > $43 Million Mediabistro > Jupiter Media > $23 Million MedStory > Microsoft > Not Disclosed metaStories > Brightcove > Not disclosed MeziMedia > ValueClick > $352 Million Movielink > Blockbuster > $50 Million Mozy > EMC > $76 Million Odeo > SonicMountain > Not Disclosed Optimost > Interwoven > $52 Million Panoramio > Google > Not Disclosed Parakey > Facebook > Not Disclosed PhotoBucket > Fox Interactive > $250 Million PRWeb > Vocus > $28 Million RedSwoosh > Akamai > $15 Million Sidestep > Kayak > $200 Million SmartShopper > Zango > $9 Million Strategic Data Corp > Fox Interactive > Not Disclosed StubHub > eBay > $310 Million StumbleUpon > eBay > $45 Million Tabblo > HP > Not Disclosed Tonic Systems > Google > Not Disclosed Treehugger > Discovery > $10 Million Trendalyzer > Google > Not Disclosed UGo > Hearst > $100 Million Virtual Ubiquity > Adobe > Not Disclosed Wallstrip > CBS > $5 Million Webdialogs > IBM > $161 Million WebEx > Cisco > $3.2 Billion WhereOnEarth > Yahoo > Not Disclosed Yedda > AOL > Not Disclosed Social Networking Companies Acquired in 2007 > > Acquired > Acquirer > Acquisition cost AdultFriendFinder > Penthouse Media Group > $500M BOOMj.com > Time Lending California > Not Disclosed BuddyTV > Comcast > Not disclosed Clipmarks > Forbes Media > $30 Million Club Penguin > Disney > $700 Million Fandango > Comcast > $200 Million Five Across Inc. > Cisco > Not disclosed Glimpse > TheFind.com > Not Disclosed Jaiku > Google > Not Disclosed Jellyfish > Microsoft > $50 Million Kaboodle > Hearst > $30 Million Last.fm > CBS > $280 Million mbuzzy.com > SendMe Mobile > Not Disclosed MyBlogLog > Yahoo > $10 Million Newsvine > MSNBC > Not Disclosed Pickle.com > Scripps Networks > $4.1 Million Rivals.com > Yahoo > $100 Million SingShot > EA > Not Disclosed Tribe > Cisco > Not disclosed TripUp > SideStep > Not Disclosed Twango > Nokia > $96.8 Million WebFives > Microsoft > Not Disclosed WebShots > American Greetings > $45 Million Zingfu.com > Profile Builder > Not Disclosed Internet Advertising Companies Acquired in 2007 > > Acquired > Acquirer > Acquisition cost 24/7 Real Media > WPP > $649 Million AdTech > AOL > Not Disclosed aQuantive > Microsoft > $6 Billion BlueLithium > Yahoo > $300 Million Doubleclick > Google > $3.1 Billion Enpocket > Nokia > Not Disclosed Quigo > AOL > $340 Million RightMedia > Yahoo > $680 Million ScreenTonic > Microsoft > Not Disclosed Tacoda > AOL > $275 Million Software Companies Acquired in 2007 > > Acquired > Acquirer > Acquisition cost Cognos > IBM > $4.9 Billion devBiz > Microsoft > Not Disclosed EqualLogic > Dell > $1.4 Billion Global Care > Microsoft > Not Disclosed GreenBorder > Google > Not Disclosed Koral > SalesForce.com > Not Disclosed Latigent > Cisco > Not disclosed Opsware > HP > $1.6 Billion PeakStream > Google > Not Disclosed Postini > Google > $625 Million TellMe Networks > Microsoft > $800 Million Zimbra > Yahoo > $350M Voice Companies Acquired in 2007 > > Acquired > Acquirer > Acquisition cost GrandCentral > Google > $45 Million VoiceStar > Marchex > $28 Million Hardware Companies Acquired in 2007 > > Acquired > Acquirer > Acquisition cost Avaya > Silver Lake & TPG > $8.2 Billion 3Com > Bain Capital Partners > $2.2B Gaming Companies Acquired in 2007 > > Acquired > Acquirer > Acquisition cost Gaming Everywhere > Ujogo > Not Disclosed Adscape > Google > $23 Million Havok > Intel > $110 Million Mapping/Geo Companies Acquired in 2007 > > Acquired > Acquirer > Acquisition cost ImageAmerica > Google > Not Disclosed Keyhole > Google > Not Disclosed NavTeq > Nokia > $8.1 Billion Vexcel > Microsoft > Not Disclosed What Bubble?The Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers came out with amazing news about the digital advertising industry recently.On November 12, they issued a news release headlined: "Internet Advertising Revenues In Q3 '07 Surpass $5.2 Billion, Setting New High." That was followed by the subhead: "Industry Maintains Record-breaking Trend; 2007 Q3 Revenues Up Over 25% From 2006 Q3." Wow! If that doesn't say it all and validate the hot air we've been blowing all year, I don't know what does. Read more at http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3627684 Get Ready for the Good News and a Lot More WorkAre you busy? If you're like most shops, including my own, I'm sure you are. Brace yourself. You're about to get busier. Whether you call it the coming "digital storm" (as Sapient's Gaston Legorburu calls it), the digital tidal wave, or even the Internet's second coming, one thing's for sure: marketers of all stripes have woken up to the Web's power and promise of the Web, and online budgets are growing. We now ask ourselves whether this bountiful harvest will last, especially those of us who witnessed the last bubble burst.Read more at http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3627166 Pros and Cons of Ad ExchangesAn ad exchange is a marketplace in which publishers and advertisers can participate in an auction-based system for buying and selling online display advertising from a large group of participating sites. Publishers place their unsold inventory on the exchange, and buyers place bids to purchase the leftover inventory through an easy-to-use interface (kind of like paid search).This auction system creates a competitive environment in which each bidder has equal access to the media, so relationships and budget sizes typically have no bearing. Ad exchanges are generally open to all ad agencies, advertisers, publishers, and ad networks. (Although publishers do have the right to reject ads they don't want to run on their sites.) Read more at http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3626493 Labels: ClickZ, Industry, Online Media The Pros and Cons of the Google NetworkGoogle is headed full steam into display advertising with its Google Network. The search engine is offering a full array of online media products, including regular GIF and Flash banners (image ads in the AdSense network), streaming video ads, and rich media ads (Google Gadgets, currently in beta). Through its AdSense network, Google has basically created a huge network of sites. Now its reps are actively selling CPM (define) based banner and video ad packages to clients and agencies alike. These are also available to self-serve clients, of course.Read more at http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3626369 Labels: ClickZ, Industry, Online Media, Search Pros and Cons of Google and DoubleClickGoogle, the Internet behemoth, is swallowing up a critical piece of the online advertising infrastructure -- after devouring YouTube. Not only does it want to control the Web's access points to content, it also wants to assert its control behind the scenes with the DoubleClick acquisition.Microsoft is crying monopoly (that's a new peak in irony), and most articles and points of view I've seen predict gloom, doom, and control. Read more at http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3625716 Labels: ClickZ, Industry, Search Where Are You Spending Your Clients' Money?I had the distinct pleasure of participating on a panel at Search Engine Strategies this week. The topic was "Where Are You Spending Your Clients' Money?" What really stood out was just how parallel the points of view were for all five panelists, representing agency media buyers from shops both large and small. Labels: ClickZ, Industry, Online Media Capitalize on the ViewThe concept of view-based clicks and conversions has been around a long time. We online media planners and buyers love the view-based conversion -- it makes us look like heroes. Clients eat it up because they love the boost it gives campaign metrics, and publishers love it because they can use it to create better retention rates for advertisers. Overall, it lends incredible weight to the whole online advertising space and has been a significant force in furthering of our common cause: growing the percentage of the ad budget that online gets. Used correctly, view-based metrics are a win for agencies, clients, and publishers. Read more at http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3625449 Labels: Analytics, ClickZ, Industry, Online Media How I tried to Save the Yahoo! Search Term Suggestion ToolSo if you have a little time to read all of this you may actually find this post to be entertaining. Below is an email chain that resulted from me hearing that the person in charge of the Yahoo! Panama launch, planned to do what I consider to be one of the most wasteful things Yahoo! ever did.It all started when we attended the Panama road show at the Harvard Club in Boston and this person (to protect his privacy I have replaced his name, contact info and title with XXXXX) announced that Yahoo! would be replacing the current Search Term Suggestion Tool with something that, instead of reporting historical search volume, would predict clicks. (Much like the Google Click Estimator.) Now this flew right over the head of most of the people in the room but I raised my hand and said, "Wait a second, are you saying that the Search Term Suggestion tool that every search marketer on the planet loves and uses every day is going away?" His answer was, "yes." Could this guy be unaware of how essential that tool was and how cool everyone thought Yahoo! was for proving search marketers with this info? The strange part was his reaction was as if no body had protested before. So from there a whole little feud let loose between me and this person who admittedly said, "I am the one directly responsible for this decision." The really funny part was I started making a huge stink about this and when I told Yahoo! reps about it one of two things would happen: A) They would say "Oh my god – I use that tool all the time in my presentations to show potential clients how much people are searching under their keywords – this is terrible." (My reaction.) B) They would say, "Oh I heard about you." Clearly my protests had made their way around the company. Ok, so the real reasons why I think they stopped maintaining the tool are as follows. ( It is certainly not that people were "confused" by it or that what they have given us as a replacement is better.) A) Most people used the tool as an SEO keyword scoring tool and clearly that was of no benefit to Yahoo! B) All that usage, data storage and other applications that scraped the results of the tool into their interfaces was probably very taxing on Yahoo! from an IT, storage and load balancing standpoint. C) It could have shown that search volume on a month by month basis for certain terms was trending down on Yahoo! and that they were losing. Now to XXXXXX's credit he did have a conference call with me, let me express my opinions and engaged in the lengthy email exchange that I am about to share with you and I give XXXX and the whole Yahoo! team major kudos for that. Also Yahoo! did leave the tool up but it often does not work and now only displays 2007 data. However, it is still a good scoring tool and they should use it as a way to build a search marketing community made up of Yahoo! Search Term Suggestion Tool members. (Basically this is what I say in all the emails.) So as you read these emails realize that they started right after the event at the Harvard Club. The last email was from me to on of our Yahoo! reps that was facilitating the dialogue between me and XXXXXXXX. Actually, I must add that we did in fact all survive the Search Term Suggestion Tool effectively going away and all is well. Panama is indeed leaps and bounds above were it was and Yahoo! is very often the top performing property in many of our B2C paid search campaigns from a cost per action and ROI standpoint. ******************* Email # 1 ********************** From: Harry Gold Date: Thu, 31 Aug 2006 13:32:44 -0700 To: XXXXXXX XXXXXXX@yahoo-inc.com Subject: It was great talking to you! Hi XXXXXXX, I just wanted to tell you what a pleasure it was to meet you the other night and talk to you about the coming changes at Yahoo! I also want to thank you for letting me express my views on the importance of the current suggestion tool and for you agreeing to take the time to see how our company uses it in the new business process. I know you are either on or winding down from the road show so as we discussed I will give you a couple weeks to catch up then I’ll send you some of my pitch materials that use the tool and we can schedule a time to talk though them. Again thank you so much for this opportunity, I look forward to talking again. Best regards, Harry- ___________________________ Harry J. Gold founder, managing partner 617-254-5000 x 1100 direct ______________________ overdrive 46 Leo M. Birmingham Parkway First Floor Boston, MA 02135 http://www.ovrdrv.com/ ******************* Email # 2 ********************** From: XXXXXXX [mailto:XXXXXXX@yahoo-inc.com] Sent: Thursday, August 31, 2006 6:31 PM To: Harry Gold Subject: Re: It was great talking to you! Harry, Indeed it was fun meeting you and your team. I love the passion around this industry, and getting out of the “Panama factory” to get in front of actual customers really revs me up.I appreciate the perspective you brought me on how valuable keyword search data is to sell the search tactic to customers. Let’s definitely continue the dialog there. If you have proposals ready to ship my way, please don’t hesitate, as I’d like to put my thinking cap on around this topic as soon as possible. But if you want to think on it for a bit, just send them along when you’re ready. Looking forward to the next conversation! XXXXXXX XXXXXXX Sr. Director, XXXXXXX ManagementYahoo! Search Marketing searchmarketing.yahoo.comAddress: 3333 Empire Ave. Burbank, CA 91504 USAO: XXXXXXXXXXX F: XXXXXXXXXXX E: XXXXXXX@yahoo-inc.com ******************* Email # 3 ********************** From: Harry Gold Date: Thu, 31 Aug 2006 21:12:17 -0700 To: XXXXXXX XXXXXXX@yahoo-inc.com Conversation: It was great talking to you! Subject: RE: It was great talking to you! Hello XXXXXXX, Below is a link to a download page where you will find a portion of our capabilities presentation. In order to see the stats we use from the suggestion tool you will want to view it in Slide Show mode and then click on the live links embedded in the Current Search Situation slides. (Some links may require a user name and password to access the destination pages and they are listed in the presentation.) I have included three Keyword Usage Analysis Tables from past pitches. What I am basically showing here is that there are millions of searches per year that describe these companies’ products and then illustrate with position reports that they have no presence in those terms responsible for the majority of those searches. I then present paid search as the best and fastest way to capitalize on this channel. Please do let me know what you think and in the mean time I will try and send you more relevant materials as they arise. I have dozens and dozens of these pitches and these types of analysis slides have been critical parts of the close every time. I look forward to speaking with you about this further and again thank you so much for this opportunity. Download Page:XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (sorry, cannot post this in the blog) Talk to you soon, Harry- ******************* Email # 4 ********************** From: XXXXXXX [mailto:XXXXXXX@yahoo-inc.com] Sent: Friday, September 22, 2006 1:48 PM To: Harry Gold; XXXXXXX Subject: Re: It was great talking to you! Harry, Hope all is well and that you’re enjoying a nice early fall in New England. This is the one time of year where we southern Californians are justifiably jealous of your climate. We’re going gangbusters here to get project Panama ready and out the door. You’re going to like it. I’ve spent time with some of the Product Managers on my team thinking about the use case around search volumes that we discussed in Boston. We think that the Panama offering actually will allow you to make your pitch in a much more compelling manner. We’d like to get an hour to talk with you (and others from Overdrive if you want them there) to kick the tires on what we’ve been thinking. Can you suggest a couple of times in the latter part of next week or early in the first week in October that might work for you? If you can, I can rally our team here and get a call set up for us to talk. Thanks, XXXXXXX XXXXXXX Sr. Director, XXXXXXX ManagementYahoo! Search Marketing searchmarketing.yahoo.comAddress: 3333 Empire Ave. Burbank, CA 91504 USAO: XXXXXXXXX F: XXXXXXX E: XXXXXXX@yahoo-inc.com ******************* Email # 5 ********************** From: Harry Gold Sent: Monday, October 02, 2006 8:56 PM To: 'XXXXXXX'; 'XXXXXXX' Subject: RE: It was great talking to you!Importance: High Hi XXXXXXX, Please let me know that you are getting my emails as for some reason our IP is getting blocked here and there. I sent you some dates but have not heard back from you and I am a bit concerned you didn’t get my emails. I am very excited about seeing your new tool but I still get the feeling from your email (below) that the tool that is at the foundation of everything we do is going to go away. I am still a bit mystified as to why you would want to remove the most valuable search marketing tool on the entire web. One that is used literally several times a day by every search marketer on the planet. Why not simply leave it and offer the other one to? Also, look at the interface for your current tool: |
