Here we go again: will they or will they not be able to complete the DoubleClick deal and is it worth the negative publicity?
Only time will tell....
The Google Monopoly
Financial Times
"Don't be Evil." You knew that motto would come back to haunt any company with enormous growth aspirations like Google. Evil--or something approaching it--is exactly what Microsoft and AT&T worry about in Google's bid to acquire the display advertising giant DoubleClick. The prospect of marrying cookies to search data is just a little too scary, they say--mostly for Google's competitors, which would be at the Web giant's mercy when it comes to establishing online advertising rates.Google was interested in buying DoubleClick in 2005, but backed out. It "decried the use of cookies," which involves collecting user surf data to aid the relevancy of display ads, "as invasive," deeming the practice "evil." But now that Google has agreed to buy DoubleClick for $3.1 billion, pending government approval, it says it's found new ways of using cookies to lessen their impact on privacy.However, even without the DoubleClick deal, Google often receives black marks in the privacy department. The company's moves into new fields like satellite mapping and email mean that it collects far more than just search data from users. Rivals say Google is to the ad market what Microsoft has been to software: a monopoly. Nevertheless, co-founder Larry Page, who coined the "Don't be Evil" phrase, sounds nonplussed: "As you get more powerful, it's natural for people to think this way."
Friday, September 21, 2007
Hi there,
As Yahoo! and all other engines make changes to ad quality, partner quality et al, users are slowly getting to grips with what this means to their listing management and overall understanding of the business - this is but 1 opinion from someone on the SEM side looking in:
Will Yahoo Deliver Something New With Its Ad Quality Filtering?
by Hansel Merchor, Friday, September 21, 2007
IN THE EVER-EVOLVING WORLD OF search engine marketing, staying idle can be deadly. The ongoing cycle of updating and re-launching is something that all the engines seem to accept as the price of doing business and that search marketers, who must respond to all these updates, know all too well as their daily routine. As someone who has been immersed in the SEM world for the better part of the last two years, I confess that it is hard - sometimes nearly impossible -- to keep up with the ever-increasing number of new tools, updates, implementations, and so-called "improvements'" from the leading search engines. On an almost weekly basis, we are all inundated with e-mails proclaiming the virtues of new features from Google, MSN, Yahoo and the newly dynamic Jeeve-less Ask.com. All the engines are striving to create the ultimate user experience and to provide more relevant results at a fairer cost. I am charged with reporting back on these updates to my clients and colleagues, so I have the obligation to read these daily emails and notices. Those changes that do hold some promise of improved utility or enhanced functionality, I implement accordingly. However, I usually see no benefit whatsoever. The truth is that many of these changes have little to no effect on the performance of my campaigns, and, in many cases, seem to be made simply to justify the engines' existing structures, costs, faults, and quirks. On some occasions, unfortunately, these changes even seem to affect the campaigns in a negative way. On several instances, I have rushed to capitalize on a new search engine feature or update, resulting in sudden improvements to metrics and giving me that exhilarating feeling of "Wow ... look what a little change can do for this campaign." In almost all cases, however, this exhilaration quickly fades to the realization that, "Oh no ... these numbers are totally not right. I gotta call my (insert search engine) rep." As happens so frequently, last week I received an e-mail from Yahoo regarding its Ad Quality Filtering feature. According to the missive, this change is designed to "improve result relevance for users by increasing thresholds." As we know, these "thresholds" are determined by quality score, click rate and bid. If all goes as planned, these changes will impact campaigns as follows: -- Reducing low-quality competition: To this I say: Good, finally after all this time will we stop seeing those stomach turning ads publicizing dirty diapers or some other inane combination of random keywords? Or Amazon.com advertising "Sweatshops"? Or ShopLocal.com advertising "Slave Deals"? Or Target's "Slave Online"? Will all these go too? -- Accounts with lower quality may receive less volume: Does that mean a new account or one with a quality score that is still recovering from some past event will suffer a decline in traffic? Will irrelevant traffic finally vanish into cyberspace so that I can get a true sense of the real volume available for my campaigns? For a small campaign promoting a single product/service, it is often so difficult to develop a respectable number of high-relevance keywords. Where will the result of all that effort go? And hasn't this been happening already anyway? - Ads may no longer display for certain terms: No surprise from Yahoo here. I've seen this happening since I started working in SEM. Sometimes, a quick call to my rep is the simplest and fastest solution. To finish, Yahoo will be pushing for keyword insertion in copy -- I knew this was coming before I read the e-mail, though. The last 10 times I contacted my rep about poor performance for a particular category, he suggested I use this tool. In those instances, I actually did follow his recommendations, and the results were, hmmm... let's call them indecisive. And aren't those "sweatshops" and "slave" ads the result of keyword insertion anyway? Looking over the benefits of the new Yahoo tool made me realize that there is really nothing new about these changes. The benefits Yahoo's Quality Filtering feature is designed to deliver are benefits that most of the engines claim to have had in their system for a long time now. Given that the rules of SEM and the capabilities of search engines are continually evolving, they are all working to catch up to the others' supposed innovations. Yahoo is just matching the updates of the other engines. And as engines continue to improve their platforms, we can only hope that once, sometime in the future, they'll get it right and provide us with meaningful improvements.
As Yahoo! and all other engines make changes to ad quality, partner quality et al, users are slowly getting to grips with what this means to their listing management and overall understanding of the business - this is but 1 opinion from someone on the SEM side looking in:
Will Yahoo Deliver Something New With Its Ad Quality Filtering?
by Hansel Merchor, Friday, September 21, 2007
IN THE EVER-EVOLVING WORLD OF search engine marketing, staying idle can be deadly. The ongoing cycle of updating and re-launching is something that all the engines seem to accept as the price of doing business and that search marketers, who must respond to all these updates, know all too well as their daily routine. As someone who has been immersed in the SEM world for the better part of the last two years, I confess that it is hard - sometimes nearly impossible -- to keep up with the ever-increasing number of new tools, updates, implementations, and so-called "improvements'" from the leading search engines. On an almost weekly basis, we are all inundated with e-mails proclaiming the virtues of new features from Google, MSN, Yahoo and the newly dynamic Jeeve-less Ask.com. All the engines are striving to create the ultimate user experience and to provide more relevant results at a fairer cost. I am charged with reporting back on these updates to my clients and colleagues, so I have the obligation to read these daily emails and notices. Those changes that do hold some promise of improved utility or enhanced functionality, I implement accordingly. However, I usually see no benefit whatsoever. The truth is that many of these changes have little to no effect on the performance of my campaigns, and, in many cases, seem to be made simply to justify the engines' existing structures, costs, faults, and quirks. On some occasions, unfortunately, these changes even seem to affect the campaigns in a negative way. On several instances, I have rushed to capitalize on a new search engine feature or update, resulting in sudden improvements to metrics and giving me that exhilarating feeling of "Wow ... look what a little change can do for this campaign." In almost all cases, however, this exhilaration quickly fades to the realization that, "Oh no ... these numbers are totally not right. I gotta call my (insert search engine) rep." As happens so frequently, last week I received an e-mail from Yahoo regarding its Ad Quality Filtering feature. According to the missive, this change is designed to "improve result relevance for users by increasing thresholds." As we know, these "thresholds" are determined by quality score, click rate and bid. If all goes as planned, these changes will impact campaigns as follows: -- Reducing low-quality competition: To this I say: Good, finally after all this time will we stop seeing those stomach turning ads publicizing dirty diapers or some other inane combination of random keywords? Or Amazon.com advertising "Sweatshops"? Or ShopLocal.com advertising "Slave Deals"? Or Target's "Slave Online"? Will all these go too? -- Accounts with lower quality may receive less volume: Does that mean a new account or one with a quality score that is still recovering from some past event will suffer a decline in traffic? Will irrelevant traffic finally vanish into cyberspace so that I can get a true sense of the real volume available for my campaigns? For a small campaign promoting a single product/service, it is often so difficult to develop a respectable number of high-relevance keywords. Where will the result of all that effort go? And hasn't this been happening already anyway? - Ads may no longer display for certain terms: No surprise from Yahoo here. I've seen this happening since I started working in SEM. Sometimes, a quick call to my rep is the simplest and fastest solution. To finish, Yahoo will be pushing for keyword insertion in copy -- I knew this was coming before I read the e-mail, though. The last 10 times I contacted my rep about poor performance for a particular category, he suggested I use this tool. In those instances, I actually did follow his recommendations, and the results were, hmmm... let's call them indecisive. And aren't those "sweatshops" and "slave" ads the result of keyword insertion anyway? Looking over the benefits of the new Yahoo tool made me realize that there is really nothing new about these changes. The benefits Yahoo's Quality Filtering feature is designed to deliver are benefits that most of the engines claim to have had in their system for a long time now. Given that the rules of SEM and the capabilities of search engines are continually evolving, they are all working to catch up to the others' supposed innovations. Yahoo is just matching the updates of the other engines. And as engines continue to improve their platforms, we can only hope that once, sometime in the future, they'll get it right and provide us with meaningful improvements.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Here's another deal that will surely help increase reach and marketshare for my old buddies in the UK:
Yahoo, Bebo Cut An Ad Deal
by Laurie Petersen, Wednesday, Sep 12, 2007
YAHOO UK & IRELAND TODAY announced an exclusive strategic partnership with social networking site Bebo. The agreement covers the sale and serving of display advertising, integration of Yahoo Answers and a toolbar for users to manage their Bebo activities. Under the agreement, Yahoo will sell the majority of Bebo's display advertising in the U.K. and Ireland, reaching an estimated 11.6 million users. Bebo has a membership of more than 38 million worldwide, and ranks as the U.K.'s second-most engaging site after Google. The majority of members fall within the 13- to-24-year-old age group. According to the UK's Internet Advertising Bureau, the U.K. online advertising market leads the world for share of advertising spend online with 11.4%, compared to a global average of 5.8%. "The partnership with Yahoo enables us to focus on custom sponsorship campaigns and groundbreaking original productions with the knowledge that our display advertising is handled by a partner that guarantees the highest quality ad for each user interaction," said Joanna Shields, Bebo's president, international. Among Bebo's original entertainment properties are the online drama "Kate Modern" and the recently announced "Sofia's Diary." This is Yahoo's first such agreement with a social networking site. The two companies' combined audience consumes more than 11.7 billion pages views per month and represents 75% of the U.K. Internet user population, according to the statement announcing the partnership. Yahoo Answers will be integrated into Bebo's site, allowing users to ask and answer questions posed by other users within the Bebo community and beyond. Yahoo and Bebo have also announced the development of a new Bebo Toolbar enabling Bebo users to monitor their social network even when they are not on the Bebo site. The average Bebo user spends 38 minutes on the site each day they log on, according to the company. Yahoo began providing search on Bebo in May this year in a previous deal. The new initiatives will begin to roll out during the fourth quarter. "This exclusive partnership is the next step of our ongoing strategy to build the largest and most effective online advertising network," said Toby Coppel, managing director, Yahoo Europe.
Yahoo, Bebo Cut An Ad Deal
by Laurie Petersen, Wednesday, Sep 12, 2007
YAHOO UK & IRELAND TODAY announced an exclusive strategic partnership with social networking site Bebo. The agreement covers the sale and serving of display advertising, integration of Yahoo Answers and a toolbar for users to manage their Bebo activities. Under the agreement, Yahoo will sell the majority of Bebo's display advertising in the U.K. and Ireland, reaching an estimated 11.6 million users. Bebo has a membership of more than 38 million worldwide, and ranks as the U.K.'s second-most engaging site after Google. The majority of members fall within the 13- to-24-year-old age group. According to the UK's Internet Advertising Bureau, the U.K. online advertising market leads the world for share of advertising spend online with 11.4%, compared to a global average of 5.8%. "The partnership with Yahoo enables us to focus on custom sponsorship campaigns and groundbreaking original productions with the knowledge that our display advertising is handled by a partner that guarantees the highest quality ad for each user interaction," said Joanna Shields, Bebo's president, international. Among Bebo's original entertainment properties are the online drama "Kate Modern" and the recently announced "Sofia's Diary." This is Yahoo's first such agreement with a social networking site. The two companies' combined audience consumes more than 11.7 billion pages views per month and represents 75% of the U.K. Internet user population, according to the statement announcing the partnership. Yahoo Answers will be integrated into Bebo's site, allowing users to ask and answer questions posed by other users within the Bebo community and beyond. Yahoo and Bebo have also announced the development of a new Bebo Toolbar enabling Bebo users to monitor their social network even when they are not on the Bebo site. The average Bebo user spends 38 minutes on the site each day they log on, according to the company. Yahoo began providing search on Bebo in May this year in a previous deal. The new initiatives will begin to roll out during the fourth quarter. "This exclusive partnership is the next step of our ongoing strategy to build the largest and most effective online advertising network," said Toby Coppel, managing director, Yahoo Europe.
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Hi there,
September/back to school time here in Toronto but the M&A wheels are continually turning at Yahoo! with news of another important aquisition that will certainly position us, along with our ownership of Right Media, extremely well when it comes to Ad Distribution services. Read on.....
Yahoo makes another online ad buy
Yahoo Inc. is buying online advertising network BlueLithium for US$300 million in cash, building upon an expansion aimed at ending a financial malaise that has ravaged the Internet pioneer’s stock price.
The deal announced late Tuesday marks the latest step in Yahoo’s attempt to regain some of the ground that it has lost during the past three years to Google Inc., whose Internet-leading search engine propels the most lucrative online ad network.
As part of its comeback efforts, Yahoo recently spent nearly $700 million to buy a major online ad exchange, Right Media Inc., and upgraded its system for distributing ad links tied to search requests. The Sunnyvale-based company also has extended its reach by agreeing to deliver ads to more partners, including the websites of Internet auctioneer eBay Inc., cable provider Comcast Corp. and hundreds of daily newspapers.
Yahoo is betting it can boost its recently sagging profits by offering more ways for Internet advertisers to connect with consumers shopping for products and services online.
Besides operating a large ad network, BlueLithium provides tracking technology, known as “behavioural targeting,” that identifies web surfers with particular interests so the ads they see will be more interesting to them. For instance, a person who had been looking up information about home loans would be more likely to see ads about mortgages.
A long list of major advertisers, including General Motors, already rely on BlueLithium, according to Yahoo.
Both Google and Microsoft Corp. also are trying to supplement their advertising services through acquisitions. Microsoft last month completed a $6 billion takeover of aQuantive Inc., while Google hopes to buy DoubleClick Inc. for $3.1 billion if it can gain approval of federal antitrust regulators.
Yahoo expects to complete the BlueLithium deal before the end of the year.
Privately-held BlueLithium says it became profitable three months after its 2004 inception. The San Jose-based company has about 135 employees scattered in 10 offices in the United States and Europe.
–Associated Press
September/back to school time here in Toronto but the M&A wheels are continually turning at Yahoo! with news of another important aquisition that will certainly position us, along with our ownership of Right Media, extremely well when it comes to Ad Distribution services. Read on.....
Yahoo makes another online ad buy
Yahoo Inc. is buying online advertising network BlueLithium for US$300 million in cash, building upon an expansion aimed at ending a financial malaise that has ravaged the Internet pioneer’s stock price.
The deal announced late Tuesday marks the latest step in Yahoo’s attempt to regain some of the ground that it has lost during the past three years to Google Inc., whose Internet-leading search engine propels the most lucrative online ad network.
As part of its comeback efforts, Yahoo recently spent nearly $700 million to buy a major online ad exchange, Right Media Inc., and upgraded its system for distributing ad links tied to search requests. The Sunnyvale-based company also has extended its reach by agreeing to deliver ads to more partners, including the websites of Internet auctioneer eBay Inc., cable provider Comcast Corp. and hundreds of daily newspapers.
Yahoo is betting it can boost its recently sagging profits by offering more ways for Internet advertisers to connect with consumers shopping for products and services online.
Besides operating a large ad network, BlueLithium provides tracking technology, known as “behavioural targeting,” that identifies web surfers with particular interests so the ads they see will be more interesting to them. For instance, a person who had been looking up information about home loans would be more likely to see ads about mortgages.
A long list of major advertisers, including General Motors, already rely on BlueLithium, according to Yahoo.
Both Google and Microsoft Corp. also are trying to supplement their advertising services through acquisitions. Microsoft last month completed a $6 billion takeover of aQuantive Inc., while Google hopes to buy DoubleClick Inc. for $3.1 billion if it can gain approval of federal antitrust regulators.
Yahoo expects to complete the BlueLithium deal before the end of the year.
Privately-held BlueLithium says it became profitable three months after its 2004 inception. The San Jose-based company has about 135 employees scattered in 10 offices in the United States and Europe.
–Associated Press
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