First There Was ‘Inquisitor’ and Now There Is ‘Google Instant’

Google have released a product during the summer called Google Instant.

“As you start to type your search terms, Google Instant automatically shows results for a popular search that begins with those letters. If you don’t see the results you want, just keep typing and the results will dynamically update. Connect to the information you need faster, even before you finish typing your search!”. Taken From Google Instant Help Page.

 

When Google releases a new product that is related directly to its world dominating search and ad model it needs to be sure of its move. Google is like any other company in that it needs to continue to make money for as long as it can. But because of its influence through functionally / culturally and that underneath it’s one of the true online start-ups, is this new move by Google, good or bad? Well that depends on who you are?

USERS : We must always remember that the use of the Internet by your everyday consumer is still in its infancy. Users use Google because it is simple and clear, and deep down there is logic to make it work for you. But because most people do not have time to set and continually adjust their search queries, users can be at a cross roads if another option allows them to conduct a search query that shows them another way of finding what they want and finding other popular things along the way. I don’t think I would be able to turn that down especially if it’s Ajax styled and INSTANT. Please note, currently Instant is only available if you are logged into Google.

AD WORDS ADVERTISERS :  The first question that needs to be asked here is what percentage of your conversions come through users who are logged in. This is the only percentage of traffic that needs care and attention, unless Google makes a change and opens Instant up to the world. The first page of Instant is now hotter than ever. So make sure you run your campaigns as relevant as possible. Costings of some keywords may also fluctuate since certain terms would bring up certain pages. impressions will also no doubt change because this first page has been given added value, but again the refinement of campaigns should only make the number of impressions more realistic. Remember it’s the conversions that really matter and long term focus should be made on SEO.

AD WORDS PROFESSIONALS : Impressions will be a clear indicator on which keywords or phrases are affected. But on the positive this is clearly a refinement process, so negative keywords and phrase adjustment should be applied to reduce any part-formed keyword or phrase creating false impressions and part-formed keywords or phrases that may increase the chances of creating conversions, this data should be clear to see from your data analytics. Costings should also be closely watched since they will change and affect how budgets should be managed.

SEO SPECIALISTS : SEO was already vital, now it is now made more important because of Instant. Instant brings up links that should match search queries. How accurate the matching of queries amongst SEO optmised sites will take time to see but it makes sense since these sites should be aiming for as much relevancy as possible.

Google talks a lot about how much time is being saved, but we already knew this because of existing software like Inquisitor, see below, the beautiful UI styling and usefulness of this software is priceless, even tells you how many times you have visited a site from the search query…nice touch.

So unless its just a field that sits on your screen, how much time is really being saved. And if you now start looking at other things, then surely you could end up spending even more time online. Until Google unveils it’s full plans for Instant and we begin to gather data about the effects; after this time we shall see how much of an impact Google Instant is really making over the next year.

Find out more about Google Instant at :

http://www.google.com/instant/

Find out more about Inquisitor at :

http://www.inquisitorx.com

Web Trends : Apple’s iAds

The other day over the Easter break my five year old nephew asked me a straight forward technology based question, he said “Uncle, can you fast forward the adverts on the television because I hate adverts, they are so boring?” When I got in front of the television, I realised he was watching live TV, and explained to him that generally you can only fast forward adverts if you are watching a recorded program, or if you have paused live TV at some point earlier and you are simply catching up to the point of live transmission. Obviously, I had to use other words and maybe showed some examples of how this would work, but I thought wow, do the next gens really hate adverts? Not really, I feel that that the next gens really don’t react to passive media because their world from day dot is all about interactivity. Therefore until the Internet has converged with the TV, (and we really are not too far away from that) then television adverts cannot create conversions like true digital advertising currently does.

During my experience of using the Internet, I realised a long time ago that adverts as a minimum need to be interactive. If I as a consumer have any interest in a company’s product or service, then what I need more than anything is an emotional interactive experience. To date, I have only come across a small number of these styles of adverts. The first was a banner advert for Gran Turismo 4. It was not just a simple banner advert, it was an invitation to interact with a brand that I love. The advert asked me to play a few videos, and position the in built camera within the video to a point that would capture, what I thought would be a great photograph. The images were then submitted into a competition. I was on that advert for 2 hours, yes that’s right, 2 hours. That is the power of digital advertising, yet still thousands of companies spend thousands of pounds on boring click through adverts.

Now Apple has announced that it is going to allow developers to create adverts that are exactly this type in nature. So when you see an advert, you know that you are not just going to click through to a boring brochure based website, but you can look forward to a fully interactive emotional experience.

Apple told the world about apps, even though Windows Mobile users were already using apps. Now Apple is going to tell the world about creating interactive adverts even though it’s nothing new. But they are going to do it on the mobile, so how long is it going to take the rest of the digital media to catch up?

Watch a demo of iAd below courtesy of lightstab :

The Twitter Advertising Models Emerge, That’s Right, Models.

Twitter has now been around a few years and is utilised by Big Brands, SME’s and individuals as a very useful communication channel. You can read more about using Twitter and catch up on some case studies at :

http://business.twitter.com/twitter101

New Twitter advertising models are emerging, allowing businesses to promote their tweets above others in order to get seen by users searching for relevant information. Twitter itself has released what they call ‘Promoted Tweets’. As you can see from the image below, after doing a search for ‘Starbucks’, their tweet is shown above the others. It can be re-tweeted like any other tweet and is paid for on a cost per 1000 basis. But do I want to see these above real time natural tweets?

Not really sure yet because although the service has just been unveiled, Twitter are taking the roll out slowly in order to find out if what they have implemented is of any value, so it’s a bit if a beta test! They will looking at feedback from people and businesses to see how successful these ‘promoted tweets’ are. Personally I would prefer all paid for advertising be place in a separate part of the page, but then again, that’s just me.

In the meantime, a new site, which is not linked to Twitter, but is also promoting another Twitter Advertising model was launched yesterday. It is called Tweetup, created by Bill Gross and Idealab. Tweetup is attempting to create a ‘Google Ad-Words’ for Twitter.

With the two models in place, what’s going to happen? There are still many people who have not yet got to grips with what Twitter can offer them today …yet the ad models are now here for those wanting to get their messages above the rest. This is going to be a very interesting battle.

Btw, since creating the above image half an hour ago, there have now been 845 more tweets related to the search query ‘Starbucks’. Is this the hype of the new ads or is this just the way it is? Twitter simply is amazing …make that 1105 wow.

Find out more about Tweetup at :

http://www.tweetup.com/about

Social Media Dashboard By uberVU.

As we begin to use social media more and plan for new campaigns it would be wise to understand the metrics of such activities.

A company by the name of uberUV have created a dashboard to help you understand your user engagements across various social media web applications like Twitter, Friend Feed etc based on keywords and/or phrases.

Watch a video to find out how to use uberUV’s dashboard at :

Find out more about uberUV at : http://www.ubervu.com/

Content Courtesy of uberUV :

uberVU bring you community metrics and analytics. On uberVU you search for something – such as your brand or your blog. We return whole conversations in a single thread – not just the post (like on Google blogsearch), but comments to the post from all over the Web – blogs, Twitter, Digg, FriendFeed, Reddit and a lot more.

More Online TV for Free – This Time It’s Microsoft.

Not that there enough services available for users to access streamed TV content already, but now Microsoft has joined the party with MSN Video.

With the recent success of streaming services like the iPlayer in the UK, Hulu in the US and Joost worldwide, Microsoft has acted fast. But the question of whether this site will be successful would be down to the library of content available.

Microsoft has stored an entire series of content per TV show which is definitely a plus point. But apart from content which can only get bigger how do the other properties weigh up?

The quality of the streaming service is watchable but not excellent. When the site becomes more popular we will see how the streaming will cope. Users have to watch an advert before watching a show, but then if you want free, then this is the usual price.

If you leave a TV show and return at a later time, the service does not go back to the exact point you were watching last, there is also no history button, in case you want to watch a show again. So in terms of usability at this stage its average, but not certainly not smart.

One plus point that I noticed on this service is the ability to full screen content on a second monitor whilst you continuing to use your computer on the other screen. Most services in full screen mode don’t let you do this, so Microsoft…well done. Now let’s see if you have a competitive model.

Find out more about MSN Video at : http://video.uk.msn.com

Find out more about Hulu at : http://www.hulu.com

Web Trends – Burberry uses 3D at fashion week.

Burberry has displayed a good example of online brand engagement by utilising the latest new TV technology that’s currently doing the rounds…3D.

Burberry Prorsum’s 3D show with thigh-high boots and heritage jackets
A 3-D online extravaganza celebrated the brand’s future while the clothes reminded us of Burberry’s great heritage. Read More…

Article source courtesy of Lisa Armstron, TIMESONLINE.

Watch a repeat of the video here :

Autumn/Winter Burberry catwalk show Feb 2010.

Watch BBC News Report, running up to the show at :

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8534058.stm

Love magazine are also using online media to help promote it’s brand.

Check out the short film released on Valentine’s Day earlier this year,  The Love Thing

Web Trends – Fiat is the first brand to use new Facebook ad format.

Fiat is the first brand in the UK to use a new Facebook ad format that captures consumer data.

The ad format asks users to input their address in order to receive more information, product samples or vouchers.

Source by Charlotte McEleny, New Media Age : http://www.nma.co.uk/news/fiat-first-brand-to-use-new-facebook-ad-format/3010171.article

This is a great example of the brand embracing the web.

Fiat are just prying the door open here on a world waiting for seamless interactive experiences.

UKOM – Online Media Measurment Powered By Nielsen.

What is UKOM APS?

UKOM APS is a media industry measurement of UK consumers’ online activity, specified by UKOM Ltd and delivered by Nielsen, to the standard required by the industry for planning online brand advertising campaigns.

Advertisers and their agencies use official audience data as a foundation to plan campaigns across all media. TV has BARB, National Press has NRS and so on. These allow the placement of advertising across a whole medium to achieve clear reach and frequency objectives. UKOM APS will allow online brand advertising to be planned in this way for the first time.

Find out more about UKOM at : http://www.ukom.uk.net

Will It Blend? A well thought out digital marketing case study of how a brand can mix well with digital media.

Presented By Blendtec, this site shows you some of the things you should and definetly not do with a Blendtech blender.

Find out more at :

http://www.blendtec.com/willitblend/

It displays a well thought out digital marketing case study of how a brand can mix well with digital media.

Together with the site are the ‘Will it Blog‘ and Tweets.

Online Advertising – A Little ‘i’ to Teach About Online Privacy.

When consumers click on the icon, a white “i” surrounded by a circle on a blue background, they will be taken to a page explaining how the advertiser uses their Web surfing history and demographic profile to send them certain ads.

Read the full article courtesy of the New York Times at :

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/27/business/media/27adco.html

Find out more about The Future of Privacy Forum at :

http://www.futureofprivacy.org/