The Digital Lookout

As 2008 comes to a close I thought I’d do a quick recap of the topics we have been talking (and blogging) about this year in the world of digital media and search engine marketing.

Mergers and Buyouts

A lot of headlines have been written this year about various potential mergers and buyouts, mostly in the world of the search engines.  Whether it is Microsoft buying Yahoo, Yahoo partnering with Google, or Yahoo merging with AOL barely a month has gone by without a new story about the battle for search engine supremacy.  And where has it got us?  Back where we started with Microsoft and Yahoo still trying to find the best way to dethrone Google.
Away from search (slightly) there was the Google Double Click deal which caused a stir, something which is still yet to show real significance.

Google Pushing Non Search Products

At the Above and Beyond event in September Google discussed everything, apart from web search.  A clear sign of intent that they are looking to diversify in 2009 and place the Google strangle hold on other markets such as mobile marketing and display advertising.  On top of this they launched Google Ad Planner which allows digital marketers to plan digital campaigns outside of search and Google Ad Creator which allows people without flash experience to build display adverts.

Quality Score

Two lots of wholesale changes to quality score in 2008.  The first in September where minimum bids were removed and dynamic quality score was introduced.  On top of this Quality Score began to be displayed on a 1-10 scale and Google began showing the estimated first page bid for all of your keywords.

This was then followed at the end of October when they began normalising click through rate based on an ads position when factoring it into quality score calculations.  Further changes were launched at the same time which affected when and why an ad appeared in the valuable “yellow box” positions at the top of the results.

Google’s Gambling U-turn

One of the biggest stories of the year outside of the merger talk was Google’s U-turn on their policy of not allowing gambling advertisers.  Amazingly, in the face of a difficult Q3, Google’s halo slipped and they decided to begin allowing legitimate gambling advertisers onto the Adwords programme.  Opening up millions of pounds of additional turnover in one swift move.

Google Trademark Bidding

As always, changes on Google, are big changes.  And with the removal of trademark protection they ruffled a few feathers and made themselves a few quid in the process.  Their argument was that quality score and min bid would take care of it, but then they removed min bid and left a lot of trademark owners with a headache and high CPCs on brand terms.  Now Google find themselves with a high profile court case on their hands!

Social Media

Once again on of the hot topics of the year in many different guises.  Whether it was Facebook getting a Facelift, Google launching and subsequently pulling lively.com, or Barack Obama using social media tools to become US President the word social, closely followed by media, network or utility have been uttered many a time in 2008.

Browser Wars 3.0

The launch of Google Chrome announces browser wars 3.0 and looks set to see this space slightly more interesting than usual in 2009.  Although it does have a lot of people questioning what information you would be giving away to Google by browsing using Google Chrome.

Best Practice Funding

As Google’s dominance grows, their charity slows!  Google announces that as of Jan 1st 2009 they will no longer be offering best practice funding to search marketing agencies that resell Google Adwords.  No big deal for direct advertisers but for agencies slow to adapt it could mean a few casualties in 2009 as the more innovative and transparent PPC agencies learn to live without handouts.

There’s my recap of the year, anything I’ve missed?

It’s been another fast paced and exciting year in the digital world we operate in and no doubt 2009 will follow suit and through up surprises and changes which give me something interesting to write about!

I know where Ill be.  Sat in front of the television after consuming far too much turkey with all the trimmings, beer in hand, contemplating which variations of chocolate to consume next!  After all, that’s what everyone does on Christmas Day isn’t it?

Well, apparently, this year will be different.  If the news stories are to be believed millions of people will be logging on to their computers in an attempt to grab a pre-sales bargain ahead of the shop doors opening on December 26th.  Reports on the Sky news website claim 5 million of us will be logging on in between mince pies and spending as much as £100 million.  In the past I can vouch for the fact that Christmas day and Boxing day are notoriously slow days online.  Search volumes and website traffic are down as people spend time with families and sleep off hangovers.  But maybe this year will be different, and December 25th will turn out to be one of the bigger spending days as opposed to the lowest.

I have to say it sounds like wishful thinking on the part of the retailers to me, who have brought forward January sales online to try and cash in before the recession really takes hold.  But maybe I am wrong, and times are changing, Ill certainly be having a look at search and click volumes when I’m back after my Christmas break.  But for now, its back to the sofa and the mince pies!  Merry Christmas!

Advertising network Adrevenue has gone into administration today after talks with potential buyers fell through.  The advertising network which has been operating since 2000 served display adverts across publisher sites in a standard network auction model.  They offered both blind and transparent media buying solutions as well as mobile advertising and search advertising.  Their selling point was their large network of smaller niche sites allowing for targeting by user type or interest.

The announcement isn’t a huge shock as networks of this type have been becoming less and less popular for a long time now (flexible digital marketing is the future remember!) but the question I am asking is, are Adrevenue the first in a long line of casualties in the current economic climate, or are they the anomaly?  Is this really the start of Web Bust 2.0 or just a blip?

There has been much talk about digital being the go to medium in the impending recession, but in reality, every advertising channel is going to suffer as companies tighten the purse strings.  Blind advertising networks and inflexible digital channels only ever had a limited shelf life as Internet marketers look for accountability and transparency on spend.  Are they the first casualty in what is bound to be a tough year for all forms of media?

What do you think  A one off, or a sign off things to come?

Google announced this week that it was launching a from of events tracking, allowing web masters to track flash and social media elements and how their users interact with them (reported on the google analytics blog).

Is this something new? Something which will revolutionise the world of web analytics?  No!

This functionality has been available through many other leading analytics packages, and is already available through Yahoo Web Analytics, the new challenger to Google analytics since Yahoo bought out Indextools.  So why is it newsworthy?

Well, it shows that Google are serious about the whole analytics game, and that they are trying to build something competitive which has benefits aside from an ease of integration with AdWords.  So far this, and the fact that it was free, were (and I suppose still are) the only reason to choose Google Analytics over the more advanced tools in the market.  But since Yahoo made Indextools free after they bought the analytics tool, and since most tools can incorporate AdWords data in one form or another, this wasn’t going to last them for long.

So its a step in the right direction for Google and a shot across the bow for its competitors as they show signs of taking the analytics market seriously.

Tesco have given a sneak preview of their latest project at the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles.  In conjunction with media agency Conchango, Tesco are looking to build a digital application which acts as the proverbial fridge door.  The main purpose of the tool from Tesco’s perspective is for the placing or grocery orders via an Internet connection as and when food is used up in the fridge but the tool will also act as notice board, family calender, email inbox, social networking tool and recipe book.

The system will include a shopping cart tool which populates as items are marked as used as well as the functionality to find recipes and order the ingredients at the touch of a button.  You will also be able to plan a weeks worth of meals using the diary planner tool and order all the food you will need to produce it at the end.

It is a very ambitious project for Tesco but the benefits of getting it right are obvious.  Through tying people in to the tool through purchase they are essentially guaranteeing their grocery orders for the period it is in use.

This project fascinates me as it is a real insight into how the Internet could (and should) be used in years to come.  i have speculated in the past about the use of digital TV to make purchases direct from the television and this is a similar revelation.

The future of the Internet could well involve taking it away from the confines of the PC and integrating it fully in our everyday lives through mobile, TV and innovative systems such as the one Tesco are looking to produce.  by definition the Inetenet is “The wide collection of connected networks that all use the TCP/IP protocols” and bears no connection with the means used to interact with it.  Hats off to Tesco for foreseeing what the future might hold and trying tor preempt it, it si this sort of innovation which will push the Internet and its usages forward.