As I noted in my panel dust up with the head of Google's universal search product, I found it interesting that YouTube was being pushed so directly into Google's universal search results. This from Hitwise I also find interesting: One interesting trend that I have noticed is that search…
One interesting trend that I have noticed is that search engines and social networks are now accounting for an equal share of referred traffic. Last week (ending April 12, 2008) the share of upstream traffic from search increased 35% over the same week the previous year, while the referred traffic from social networks declined 20%.
Thanks Denise. This is pretty funny stuff….
That's what this Times article seems to imply: Last year, Mr. Townsend said, many clients were happy to spend money just to raise awareness. Since January, however, “everyone’s retail-oriented. They want as many clicks for the dollar as possible,” he said. Well, it's fine and dandy to harvest demand…
Last year, Mr. Townsend said, many clients were happy to spend money just to raise awareness. Since January, however, “everyone’s retail-oriented. They want as many clicks for the dollar as possible,” he said.
Well, it’s fine and dandy to harvest demand for as long as you can, using ad networks. But at some point, you have to create demand as well. I sense that as we enter a downturn, the smart marketers are getting ready to do just that, as opposed to chasing ever decreasing margins down the rathole of direct response.
….matter to Google….
Posting might be a bit light as I will be at the Web 2 Expo this week. It's shaping up to be quite a show, with news from Microsoft, Yahoo (not that news!) and many others……
Our partner BabyCenter has released a study about the power of Mom's online. Not surprisingly, they are one of the most influential groups online. New research released today by BabyCenter(R), the largest online resource for expectant and new parents around the world, and industry-leading market research company, the Keller…
New research released today by BabyCenter(R), the largest online resource for expectant and new parents around the world, and industry-leading market research company, the Keller Fay Group, reveals that today’s pregnant women and new moms engage in one-third more word of mouth conversations per day than the total public or women and almost two-thirds of these conversations include brand recommendations. This group has an average of 109 word of mouth conversations per week about products, services and brands, most of which are positive and considered highly credible by other moms.
These are the two essential ingredients to any successful media property, to my mind. But I'm not alone, I'm really just parroting Clay Felker, my partner for a few brief years when I taught at Berkeley, and a legendary figure in the world of magazines. So why do I…
So why do I bring them up? Because for once, I have something nice to say about Time Inc., in particular, its flagship magazine, Time. When I was in Europe, I read the cover story of Time that week, “The Clean Energy Myth.” The piece was a winner – a conceptual scoop, an important and timely topic, and – this was the really surprising part – a true argument, an attempt to make a point. It was so refreshing, and so different than the warmed over “on the one hand, on the other hand” pap I was used to from most newsmagazines. This article was great journalism, and it had a serious point of view. The last graf, for example:
Advocates are always careful to point out that biofuels are only part of the solution to global warming, that the world also needs more energy-efficient lightbulbs and homes and factories and lifestyles. And the world does need all those things. But the world is still going to be fighting an uphill battle until it realizes that right now, biofuels aren’t part of the solution at all. They’re part of the problem.
Read MoreSome musings, fundamental stuff for most of you I imagine, but still, background on the noodling I continue to do around my shadow next book, over at the Amex site where I'm contributing some thoughts from time to time as part of an FM brokered marketing program. From it:…
At its core, the Web is a network of computers. As businesspeople, we’ve been in dialog with computers for some time now. But back in the 1960s and 1970s, computers were hulking machines meant for the back offices of Very Large Companies, not small businesses. These machines had a very particular interface – a command line into which you were required to type an arcane “computer language” to get anything done. The number of people who spoke this language were understandably low, and therefore, the number of people in the world who were having “conversations with machines” was also quite low.
In the 1980s, we all got “personal computers,” and thanks to the graphical user interface – “GUI” – millions of us starting talking with computers. But the conversation was hardly fluent. I call this the “hunt and poke” era of computing – we used a mouse to navigate a representational desktop; when we found something we wanted, we poked at it until it came alive for us. This gesticulative interface – not unlike what the wordless signals we employ while in a foreign land in need of the bathroom – is a step forward, but it sure doesn’t scale.
Read MoreI am the first John on Google. WTF? Google, please don't change this. I feel – so giddy! (hmmm, really, WTF?!) I mean, I am ahead of Lennon. The Gospel. Er…McCain. WTF? What I really love about this is that I found out from my kids drama teacher via…
I mean, I am ahead of Lennon. The Gospel. Er…McCain. WTF? What I really love about this is that I found out from my kids drama teacher via my wife. No wait, my wife knew, but I didn’t. Then Neil at FM told me. In an email. Because his kid saw it. I mean really. WTF?
I hope you read my earlier post. Now I look like I know what I'm doing, eh? Google crushes it. Stock is up more than ten percent in after hours….
Stock is up more than ten percent in after hours.
