This statement came from David Hallerman, senior analyst at eMarketer and author of an upcoming report on US advertising spending, in an eMarketer article published last week titled ‘Double-Digit Bounce Back for Online Ad Spend’.

In this article, Mr. Hallerman went on to state that “Overall, the US economy is recovering a bit sooner than last year’s data led us to believe. For example, not only did the GDP increase by 3.2% in Q1 2010, but there was a corresponding 3.6% gain in personal consumption expenditures”.

This very encouraging news has resulted in an upwardly revised forecast from eMarketer of an almost eleven percent (+11%) increase in spending on domestic online advertisements in 2010, compared to the decrease of 3.4% in 2009.

As depicted in the following graph from this eMarketer article, total spending on online advertisements will reach $25.1 billion in the United States for the full year, up from $22.7 billion from last year.

Mr. Hallerman added that “As Google makes gains, so does a large slice of online advertising.”  Evidence of this can be seen in this second graph from eMarketer.

We, at EngineWorks, and our fellow experts in the online search industry, have been acutely aware for some time now that the more and more dollars are being committed to our highly measurable, ROI-focused marketing solutions, which in turn is powering our industy – and economy – out of our recent challenge business environment.

After months of testing, Google’s SERP’s now appear in this three column format, which features a new menu of search options and search refining tools along the left side of their organic results, as shown in the following screen-shot:

As you can see, the new Google SERP is laid-out with their new search options column on the left, organic search results in the middle column, and AdWords listings in their traditional column to the right of the algorithmic results.

It’s important to note that most of the features and tools in the search options column are not new, and some have even been available on Google for more than a year.  However, prior to the introduction of this new page layout, in order to access these features, users were required to open the search options via a text link.

Google states that the reason behind this new design is that they hope this ease of access will encourage more individuals to use these functions, which (hopefully) will improve user experience even more.

Here’s an example from an eMarketer article published yesterday titled ‘What Facebook’s Open Graph Means for Marketers’:

Note that in this advertisement for Levi’s pants, individuals can indicate that they “Like” this product, and can share this sentiment with friends on Facebook.  As this article also points-out, they can also discover which of their friends “Like” the pants on the Levi’s Web site.

Facebook states that “Like” buttons, and in some instances “Recommend” buttons, will initially appear on numerous popular Web sites that span a variety of industries, such as CNN.com, USA Networks, ABC.com, and NYTimes.com.

The following is a summary of Open Graph which came directly from Facebooks’ blog:

Any webpage can now easily become part of the social graph

On Facebook, users build their profiles through connections to what they care about — be it their friends or their favorite sports teams, bottles of wine, or celebrities. The Open Graph protocol opens up the social graph and lets your pages become objects that users can add to their profiles. When a user establishes this connection by clicking Like on one of your Open Graph-enabled pages, you gain the lasting capabilities of Facebook Pages: a link from the user’s profile, ability to publish to the user’s News Feed, inclusion in search on Facebook, and analytics through our revamped Insights product.

In summary, by giving your users better, simpler ways to connect with the content on your site, you can then use those connections to provide more personalized, relevant experiences. And the product only gets better over time. The more people that come back to your site, the more connections that are made, the better your service becomes.

Watch-out world (that means you in Mountain View!), Facebook is about to truly monetize social media.

Let us know the impact that you perceive Open Graph will have across the Internet landscape.  Drop us a response to this post.

Get the full story here:  We’re Not In Kansas Any More.

Stay thirsty, my friends.

I am still moderating the panel session titled Display & Placement, Super-Charging Results Through the Power of Two at 2:30pm at this all-day conference.  However, due to schedule changes, this panel now features expert insight from the following veteran online search executives: Jane Hong, Display Account Executive at Google Inc., and Michael Cottam, CTO & co-founder of TheBigDay.com.

The other panel sessions being moderated by EngineWorks executives include Twitter, The World is Changing . . . 140 Characters at a Time, and Reputation Management, and First Page Results Have Become Even More Important. Both of these session will be moderated by our Chief Strategy Officer, Kent Schnepp.  In addition, Mike Rosenberg, our Vice President of Client Acquisition, will be moderating the panel session titled Tools & Competitive Intelligence, Learn More About Your Competitors.

Once again, as a founding board member of SEMpdx, we highly encourage you to attend this prominent industry event.

In his position as Google’s Green Energy Czar, Bill spearheads the world’s largest search engine’s efforts in energy efficiency and renewable energy. Being an experienced technologist, entrepreneur, and committed environmentalist with deep and broad experience in computer science, he is obviously extremely well qualified to steward these respectable pursuits.  In fact, under his guidance, Google has invested more than $45 million during the past three years towards efficient energy programs.

You can learn more about his impressive efforts in the January 7, 2010 interview with Bill Weihl in The New York Times.

In addition to an informative evening of insight into Google’s green initiatives, including the Google Power Meter and coolant-free data centers (in Belgium!), SAO delivered a wonderful formal networking event, complete with sit-down dinner and signature cocktails.

As the largest professional software association in the Pacific Northwest, SAO is dedicated to bringing together some of the brightest minds in the software industry, and is comprised of more than 350 companies in Oregon and SW Washington that are involved or affiliated with the software and technology industries.

Well done, SAO!

As most readers of this blog are aware, Sponsor Links within Google have traditionally appeared to the right of the organic search results, having been triggered by relevant keywords from users’ search queries.  Now, however, sponsored listings can be found in LBC results throughout Google.  As shown in the example below from Danny Sullivan’s article, these paid search listings are designated by a yellow marker and the word “Sponsored”.

Here is Google’s response to Danny’s inquiry into this new development:

Enhanced listings are a new feature in the Local Business Center that enable business owners to let potential customers know what they think is most important or unique about their business. The feature enables LBC users to choose one of the following enhancements: photos, videos, website, coupons, directions, menu or reservations. We are currently running a limited trial of the feature in San Jose and Houston.

To be clear, enhanced listings have no impact on the ranking of LBC listings.

What I find intriguing about Google’s statement above is that it sounds very familiar to the other major search engine’s defense of the now-almost-defunct Paid Inclusion services offered over the past decade.  Google touted its supremacy in that it would never allow paid listings of any sort to be included in their Natural search algorithm.  To which Yahoo!, and the other Paid Inclusion engines, retorted with the fact that Paid Inclusion listings have no impact upon the rankings of Natural listings.

Let me know if you perceive that, with this development to allow paid listings into the Seven-Pack of Local Listings, the G-Men and Women from Mountain View have violated their golden rule.

Take a look at the following search engine results page (SERP) from Bing:

Now, compare this page above to the shift in the location of Google AdWords listings shown in the second SERP below, which is from a search performed today.  The first SERP below was captured in May 2009.

Once again, I’m not purporting that ‘correlation equals causation’ in this instance.  However, it is always important to be cognizant of factors, such as timing of events and actions, which could point to a specific cause for a given effect.

Stay skeptical.

Code Name:  Caffeine

Access:  Approved

The Associated Press revealed this morning that Google posted an announcement to their blog late last night that they are allowing individuals to have access to a new version of its search engine.  That’s right . . . Google has released a new search engine.  On a completely separate Web address.  That looks exactly the same as its existing engine.  However, the G Men and Women from Mountain View claim that ‘Caffeine’ (the new engine’s code name!) uses a different algorithm to rank sites for relevant queries within its index.

According to the article announcing this post by Google, their new search engine will be even faster and more accurate than their current offering.  That’s an amazing concept to comprehend, given the world-class performance being delivered by its search engine today.  It’s also a concept that may have tremendous repercussions upon the search marketing industry.

Caffeine could, quite possibly, feature new elements and/or new weighting factors, within its ranking algorithm, which would mean that search engine marketing firms and individual Web sites might have to alter their approach to enhancing relevancy elements for the purpose of achieving prominently positioned Natural search listing within Google.

Stay tuned for more insight into Google’s new search engine!

Microsoft’s newly re-named search engine, Bing, is contracted to be Yahoo!’s search provider for the next ten (10) years.  While, admittedly, only a nanosecond in the more than 13.5 billion years that our actual universe has existed, this amount of time equals Google’s entire lifetime to date!  The 10-year arrangement will give Microsoft access to the Internet’s second-largest search engine audience, which should enable the Redmond-based software company to better confront Google, which is by far the leader in online search and advertising.

Microsoft was able to put this colossal search arrangement together without having to pay billions and billions of dollars, which it had offered Yahoo! over the past several years.  In exchange for allowing Bing to provide its Natural search results, Yahoo! will retain eighty-eight percent (88%) of all revenue earned through Sponsored Listings advertising on its site during the next five (5) years.  In addition, Yahoo! also has the right to sell its Sponsored Listings on some Microsoft sites.

In an attempt to travel back to the days of single lens telescopes, here is a celestial map of the major bodies in our search universe, circa August 1999:

Northern Light: 16%
AltaVista: 15.5%
Inktomi (Snap): 15.5%
Inktomi (HotBot): 11.3%
Inktomi (MSN Search): 8.5%
Infoseek: 8.0%
Google: 7.8%
Inktomi (Yahoo): 7.4%
Excite: 5.6%
Lycos: 2.5%
Euroseek: 2.2%

Today, of course, Google commands well over sixty-three percent (63%) of all domestic online searches.  However, this announcement today enables Yahoo! and Microsoft to handle more than twenty-seven percent (27%) percent of the Internet searches in the United States.  Could this be the beginning of the Big Bing Theory?!!

Richard’s study used a proprietary data-set of more than 36 million search queries which delivered almost 20 million click-throughs.  The following graphic created by Mr. Hearn very explicitly substantiates the need for businesses and organizations to be found within the top three Natural search results for relative queries pertaining to their brand, products, and services.

As shown in this presentation from Richard Hearn, a full sixty-two percent (62%) of search engine users, on average, click on one of the first three (3) search listings in Google.  In addition, the second Natural search result receives almost seventy-two percent (72%) less click-throughs than the number one listing.  It’s also important to point-out that number three listing receives almost thirty percent (30%) less click-throughs than the number two listing.

This informative study drives home the need to ensure that your online presence is highly optimized to achieve top-ranked listings for your most important search phrases.  (I also commend Richard on this easy-to-digest graphic above.  Thanks!)

More and more companies around the world are grabbing hold of the idea that their corporate blog can directly impact their image and enhance their communication with target audiences.  The purpose for this blog post is to present a collection of effective corporate blogs, along with an explanation of the different approaches that these companies embrace with regards to the content, purpose, and tone of their blog.

Examples of Outstanding Company Blogs

37signals – This small-business software firm’s blog offers more than just promotion of its products.  They, in fact, use their blog, titled “Signal vs. Noise”, as a platform to showcase great ideas pertaining to “getting things done”.  Because of this, the creative blog has already surpassed 100,000 RSS subscribers.

Asia Transpacific Journeys – This premier client of EngineWorks is a luxury travel agency that uses the unique approach of posting content created by their tour guides located in countries all around the world.  These informative posts are written in the form of “staff postcards“, and offer a very personal view into the the different types of tours that you can book through Asia Transpacific Journeys.   Some of the company’s guides have also filled their Flickr accounts with exceptional photos from the many exotic locations available through ATJ, such as Marilyn Downing Staff’s Australia Tour Photos.

Southwest Airlines – The “Nuts About Southwest” blog is one of the best examples of a “playful” blog created by a large corporation.  On this blog, you can learn insightful information about the airline industry, tips surrounding customer service from their stewards, watch videos, view photos, and share your travel stories with other Southwest Airlines customers.  The company has even recognized that parents (especially mothers) represent their primary blog reader demographic.  Therefore, they created “Mommy Patches”, a section of the blog where readers can post their own stories.

Cadillac Notes – A General Motor’s blog focused on the brand, promotion, and culture of Cadillac.  Promoting the culture around owning a Cadillac is the primary goal of this blog, which allows users to join the Cadillac Facebook group, submit Cadillac related videos on YouTube, browse through the Flickr group of photos, and see what Cadillac has been ‘tweeting’ lately.

Whole Story – Whole Foods Market has a very interesting blog that they use to promote healthy living and healthy eating throughout communities.  It’s a place for recipes , stories about their products that they carry, and reader interest stories in their “Farm to Market” category.

Styles of Company Blogs

The Company Blog
One of the most common types of blogs used by corporations is the Company Blog.  The purpose for this type of blog is to be all things related to a company.  This can include many aspects of the value and benefits associated with the company’s products or services.  However, the ultimate purpose for this type of blog is to reinforce a company’s brand and image.  If you’re looking for a simple way for your business to start blogging, you need to consider launching a Company Blog.

A few examples of effective Company Blogs include: Official Google Blog, Official Adobe Blog, Flickr’s Image heavy corporate blog, and Yahoo! Search Blog.

CEO Blog
How many CEOs have time to blog? Evidently, a lot! Plenty of company leaders, especially in the travel and technology industries, have taken it upon themselves to create blogs that highlight their vision for their company, products, and industry. Bill Marriot, the Chairman and CEO of Marriott International, does an excellent job providing insightful travel industry information, corporate and investor guidance information, and drawing attention to special interests on his CEO Blog. Recently Mr. Marriott conveyed the importance of the company’s Health Care Coverage for employees.  In addition, he posted a discussion on how the company’s name became the cornerstone of their first hotel built in 1927.

Other examples of CEO Blogs include: Jonathan Schwartz, President & CEO at Sun Microsystems, Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, and founder of Craigslist, Craig Newmark’s Blog.

Industry Blog
If you’re looking to make a splash in your industry, launching an industry focused blog can build your authority online, and have you be recognized as the prominent resource within your industry.  For example, a small “green and sustainability” company called “Sustainable Minds” uses their blog to be the resource for the industry of on-demand green product design and software. This blog is also a great example of “team blogging” – having 19 contributors specializing in all kinds of topics in the industry.

Orbitz’s blog is also another good example of a company that has launched an Industry Blog. On this blog, the travel company discusses industry concerns, specials, and events happening throughout the world.

Department/ Product Blog
Companies that feature specialized product s and services, which can benefit from specialized forums, may consider launching a Departmental?Product Blog.  Interestingly, Google is one of the biggest users of product focused blogs, branching-out with blogs featuring many facets of their business, including: a Spanish language focused blog for Webmasters, a Google Student Blog, a YouTube business development blog, and a blog focusing on Google Grants for non-profits. In another example, General Motors recently launched a blog/social media network to promote their new Chevy Volt.  Dubbed “Chevrolet Voltage”, and focusing solely on the new electric car, the site promises to be the definitive resource for photos, videos, news releases, and discussions pertaining to the new vehicle.

Don’t Wait!

At EngineWorks, we’re always looking for ways to expand our client’s footprint online.  As explained in this post, an exciting way to do achieve this goal is by launching a corporate blog to connect with your audience and reach prospective new customer.  If you’re not doing so . . . you can be sure your competition is!  Contact us today to learn more!

I just received the June 10, 2009 e-mail blast from Search Engine Guide, the self-proclaimed educational Web site aimed at translating the search marketing world into something that small business owners can understand.  This most current edition features at report from WordTracker that identifies the Top 300 search queries within the largest Meta engines (e.g., Metacrawler, Dogpile, etc.) during the past 48 hours.

I am shaking my head, because a quick cursory glance at the first thirty (30) search queries on this list reveals that 22 of these queries (or more than 2/3) are ‘direct’ keywords (i.e., exact keywords that can be entered into your browser to navigate directly to a specific site).  For example, the four (4) most popular search queries on this list (1. google, 2. youtube, 3. yahoo, and 4. facebook) could each be typed into a browser directly, rather than be searched-for through a search engine.

This phenomenon, which is not unique to the past 48 hours, leads me to speculate that the majority of today’s Internet users are either: 1. uninformed, or 2. creatures of habit.

There are individuals out there – perhaps, even the majority of individuals – who perceive that the only way to access a Web site is through a search engine.  On one hand, this is a testament to the impressive job that Google (and, the other major engines) has done in thrusting itself, and the services it offers, into the everyday lives of individuals.  On the other hand, it might just be a testament to the fact that many people (especially, new Internet users) are not aware of the most efficient means of accessing recognized sites.

This seemingly cumbersome means of visiting popular Web sites could also be a result of the fact that most of us adopt a routine for our everyday activities.  Think about it.  You more than likely performed your required tasks getting ready to go to work today in the exact same order as yesterday, and the day before.  Shower.  Hair.  Teeth.  And, so on.  I’m confident that a large percentage of Internet users get into the habit of using their favorite search engine to navigate to any and all Web sites.

One important take-away from this report, in terms of effective search engine marketing, is to realize that branded keywords are significant drivers of qualified traffic through search engines.  For many campaigns, relevant ‘long tail’ search terms can deliver substantial conversion rates.  However, branded keywords can dramatically increase the quantity of individuals arriving at your site.

For example, the Google Squared search results for the query ‘cat toys’ presents a logically formatted grid containing relevant headings including Item Name, Image, Description, Price, and Viewing, whereas the query ‘real estate’ configures results under the headings Item Name, Image, Description, Area, Type, and Zip Codes.  Rather than present the well-recognized 10-per-page list of search results, Google Squared provides a spreadsheet-style grid designed to make information gathering simpler and more intuitive.   An example of this is the ability to add additional columns or rows to customize each grid.

What the engineers at Google are attempting to do is present information in a manner that (ostensibly) aligns with the purpose of each search query.  While this may be a rote exercise for humans, it is an extremely difficult activity for algorithms.  Google Squared is yet another evolutionary step in this omniscient pursuit.  It may also present challenges and opportunities for the future of search engine marketing.

Let me know if you perceive that Google Squared will catch-on with all the hip kids.

The reason for this make-over, as conveyed by Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer, is that “We want to do better.”  Given that Microsoft currently captures less than a ten percent (10%) share of total online search queries in the United States according to the Nielsen Online  MegaView Search in May 2009, as apposed to Google’s share of more than sixty-four percent (64%), I would say that Mr. Ballmer very astutely identified the desire for this development!

As noted in this AP article, Microsoft has been relegated to third place behind Google and Yahoo! in terms of search market share for years.  This fact is important, since Google’s reported revenue of more than $4.7 billion in Q1 2009 is inextricably tied to its search market dominance.  Microsoft, by contrast, reported a net loss from its online advertising business in the first quarter of this year.

When asked why Microsoft chose Bing, Mr. Ballmer responded, “The name is short, it’s easy to say, it works globally.”

I guess he perceives it to be shorter, easier, and more global than Live.

Let me know if you think this latest incarnation of  Microsoft’s search product will have an impact upon Mr. Softy’s position within the search space.

Interestingly, the AdSense ad will not expand beyond twice the width or height of the original display ad.  The expandable ads, which can feature rich media including video and images, can be closed by the viewer at any time.

As also noted by Search Engine Watch, Google offers these expandable AdSense ads with either a Cost-Per-Impression (CPM) or Cost-Per-Click (CPC) pricing model.

As more an more advertisers seek advertising channels that deliver quantifiable results, we expect that these expandable Google network ads will become increasing popular.  Let us know if you perceive that there is added value in this new offering from the world’s largest online search entity.

This article also reiterates that the time it takes for your pages to load can directly impact the Google Quality Score associated with your AdWords campaign, as we first reported in a blog post back in May 2008.  In this post, we convey that your Quality Score is a rating generated by Google that influences the positioning of your AdWords listings, and specific minimum bid prices for relevant keywords.

As identified in the UK Fast article, your Paid Search listings in Google are impacted by the load time of your PPC landing pages, which means that you may have a higher cost-per-click than your competitor, even though your listing is ranked below them.  Google has determined through their research that a mere half-a-second greatly diminishes user satisfaction and decreases click-through traffic by twenty percent, which is why load time is now a critical component of Quality Score.

The article went on to claim that Amazon.com produced similar results pertaining to customer experience and load time.  In A/B tests, the online retailer delayed page load time in increments of 100 milliseconds, and found that even very small delays resulted in substantial and costly drops in revenue.

Portland’s premier search engine marketing conference, SearchFest09, will provide insight into the newest in strategies and technological advancements within our vibrant industry.  Search marketing experts from around the country will be participating on informative panel presentations throughout the this exciting event in the Cascade Crest Banquet Center at the Oregon Zoo.

SearchFest is hosted by Search Engine Marketing Professionals of Portland (SEMpdx), a Portland-based, non-profit organization dedicated to nurturing the development of the search engine marketing industry in the greater Pacific Northwest, and will feature thirty-five well-known presenters, including headliner Danny Sullivan, Editor-In-Chief of Search Engine Land.

In addition to sponsoring this lively Closing Reception, key EngineWorks personnel will be actively participating on several panel presentations throughout the day.  Our President and CEO, Sean McMahon, will be moderating the Technology panel session featuring Susan Moskwa from Google, Vanessa Fox with Nine by Blue, and Aaron Kahlow from Online Marketing Summit.  As Vice President of Client Acquisition, I will be leading the Social Media Marketing discussion featuring Dawn Foster (Fast Wonder), Neil Patel (ACS), and Matt Inman (Next Dating, LLC).  Immediately preceding the Closing Reception, our Vice President of Strategy, Kent Schnepp, will moderate the exciting Hot Seat presentation.

Please drop me a post to this blog, or stop by our booth at the event, if you would like to discuss how our high performance search marketing services can benefit your online presence. I looking forward to seeing you there!

‘Cyber Monday’ sales are up this year, as Scott Fish pointed out on December 3rd, the Chicago Sun Times reported a 15 percent increase in holiday shopping, citing a ComScore Inc report. The connection between the increase in online holiday shopping and search volume provides us with further proof that consumers are using search engines to research products and services prior to purchasing.

We can observe the connection between significant changes in real-world conditions to changes in the behavior of search engine users. This is valuable information for any business interested in targeting segments of specific markets.

We’re curious how you plan to complete your holiday shopping list this year. Are you shopping online to find deals, or are you sticking with the brick-and-mortar stores?