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!

According to an article on the Guardian.co.ukover the next 3 days, those of us unlucky enough to be working will spend an average of 2 hours per day skiving on the Internet when the boss isn’t looking.  That’s 25% of a standard working day spent unproductively browsing news and shopping websites if the survey conducted by hotels.com is accurate.   Miranda Sawyer of the Observer salutes the skivers for making the most of the fact they are being made to attend work when traditionally there is very little that can, or needs to be done.

I’m not sure I would be saluting anybody who chose to spend their time browsing the web when they had other work to be doing but it does raise the question about whether it is worthwhile companies opening their doors at this time of year.  Given that (according to these stats) everyone is working at a maximum of 75% capacity or maybe even less, and a lot of people will be struggling to do their day job due to the absences at supplier and partner companies, would it be more cost effective to shut down completely?  It certainly suggests it would be worth weighing up both the tangible and intangible pros and cons of each option.  Overheads, opportunity cost, staff morale etc.  It is a bit of a long standing tradition on office based environments to have a presence over the festive week but maybe it is time for this to change in the name of good business sense??

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!

The success of the iPhone and Blackberry storm with their full Internet browsing capability could signify a new future for mobile Internet.  The ability to view full web pages and navigate with all the ease of a desktop browser, along with the added zoom functionality that makes them readable on a small handset really does give their users full Internet capabilities in a mobile (and an 8GB iPod too in the case of the iPhone 3g!).  But what does this mean to the world of mobile Internet and mobile advertising?  And does it mean the end of WAP sites and mobile specific channels?  After all, as more and more people use handsets with this functionality where is the need for a WAP site?

In the past I have been an advocate of having a WAP site built with clear navigation and easy path to mobile based conversion.  Simplifying the user journey is such a way made mobile Internet consumption a much more pleasant experience and from a business perspective would encourage conversion also.  But since getting my iPhone and realising how usable the Internet can be made on a mobile device I am starting to think we may have seen the end of WAP sites.

Apart from some initial SEO misgivings (Mobile SEO - Stuck in the Past!) I can’t see many reasons why a business would now choose to invest in a WAP site when the future is quite clearly full browser capabilities through mobile handsets.  There is still half an argument for building a specific WAP site based around commonly used mobile functions (such as a simplified interface for balance checking on a bank site for example) but I’m sure there is a simpler way of achieving this than building and maintaining a seperate WAP site.

And its not just WAP sites we are talking here, any technology built specifically for WAP ca[abilities is at risk, including the advertising channels.  There is little or no need for a seperate channel for mobile advertising when users are consuming standard Internet through their handsets.  The wise thing for publishers and networks is to follow Google’s lead and allow advertisers to opt in and out fo mobile traffic, but continue to use the same ads and format.

It may be too soon to say for sure if this is the way things are going to go, but I know id be sweating if I owned a mobile advertising business.  I’d be looking for a way to earn my crust in the new, and much improved, future of mobile Internet.

Google has entered into the festive spirit today by including images and icons on christmas based search results.  A search on Google today for the keyword christmas presents, christmas trees or christmas gift ideas brought back the usual search results but with a festive icon running down the page to the left of the PPC listings.  I’ve spotted listings using candy canes and holly, have you seen any I havent found?  Im guessing there are more out there if you have the time to spend searching on Christmas keywords.