Ad Age has obtained an internal Google document that highlights some of the biggest AdWords buyers for the month of June 2010, offering insight into how big brands are using Google and how much they are spending.
According to the documents, the biggest buyers of AdWords in June included AT&T Mobility, Amazon, eBay and BP. Although most of those companies are frequent big Google (Google) spenders, BP was a newcomer to the list, spending $3.59 million on search ads in the wake of the gulf oil spill (compared to just $57,000 in the two months prior).
Top Spenders
The top spender in June, AT&T Mobility, spent $8.08 million on search ads to coincide with the release of the iPhone 4. According to Ad Age, AT&T’s the third-largest U.S. advertiser overall, so its Google spending is not a big surprise.
Other companies that made up the top 10 include:
* Apollo Group – You know them as The University of Phoenix and they spent $6.67 million in June 2010
* Expedia – $5.95 million
* Amazon – $5.85 million
* eBay – $4.25 million
* Hotels.com – $3.30 million
* JC Penney – $2.46 million — we’ll admit, this one surprises us
* Living Social – $2.29 million
* ADT Security – $2.19 million
The data shows us that for big brands, a heavy investment in Google is usually tied to revenue that comes directly from search traffic (as in the case of Amazon, eBay, Expedia, Hotels.com) or in instances where companies are trying to build awareness (AT&T) or weather a PR crisis (BP).
It’s also interesting to note some of the brands that aren’t on the list. The documents obtained by Ad Age indicate that companies like GM, Disney and BMW spent less than $500,000 on Google ads in June. Even Apple spent just less than $1 million on Google ads, despite its high-profile launch of the iPhone 4.
However, we also think it is possible that some big brands are spending money on search, but not directly with Google. For instance, although Ad Age cites Walt Disney as one of the companies that spent less than $500,000 on Google ads in June, the movie studio released Toy Story 3 that month, a film supported by a massive ad campaign. The film has gone on to gross more than $1 billion worldwide, making it one of the most successful animated films of all-time. It seems odd that Disney would spend only $500,000 on search terms for its big summer release.
What seems more likely, however, is that Disney purchased advertising through companies like Fandango or MovieTickets.com and those companies have their own arrangements with Google. In other words, when it comes to evaluating search spending, don’t count out the potential middle men.
This also makes sense when taking a big-picture approach to Google’s own revenue. The top 10 brands only accounted for 5% of U.S. revenues for the month.
Google is a big target for advertisers because of its strength in search and because of its ubiquity across devices. We do wonder if ad buys will shift to other outlets, like say, Facebook (Facebook), as users spend more and more time on those networks.
Source: http://mashable.com/2010/09/06/brand-spending-google/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mashable+%28Mashable%29&utm_content=Twitter
Friday, September 10, 2010
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Survey Finds 15% of Consumers Now Use Mobile Devices to Purchase
A recent study sponsored by Sterling Commerce and Demandware found that consumers are increasingly turning to mobile devices to serve their in-store shopping experience, but are concerned about security and ease-of-use.
The independent survey of 3,600 U.S. consumers reveals that 15% of consumers have used their mobile devices to make purchases. While nearly all (96.2%) of consumers surveyed own a mobile phone, just under half owned a smart phone, which are designed to deliver a more optimal shopping experience.
The study revealed interesting trends surrounding how consumers are looking to their mobile device to support their in-store shopping experience. For example:
- More than 60% believe that being able to use their mobile phone while shopping to verify product availability at a particular store location is important to very important.
- Nearly a quarter of shoppers use their phone while in a store to competitively price shop an item.
- Approximately 20% of consumers currently use their phones to create shopping lists or baskets, and slightly more than that number would be interested in a mobile app to help with shopping list or basket management for their favorite retailers.
- Two thirds are interested in the possibility of using their mobile phone to scan and purchase items, thus enabling them to bypass checkout lines.
- A quarter of shoppers believe that receiving specials/promotions (such as coupons) would be an important use for their mobile phone when shopping, although they were less enthusiastic about receiving advertising via their phones.
"Mobility is more than a channel, and as consumers begin to use mobile devices in all aspects of their shopping process, cross-channel will be essential for retailers to succeed," said Jim Bengier, global retail industry executive for Sterling Commerce. "Today's consumers are transforming the shopping experience with their mobile phones, and retailers who have not broken down their siloed channels will not be able to keep up."
"While the increasing consumer adoption rate of mobile devices has long been recognized by retailers, these survey findings suggest that offering mobile access to the brand is no longer just a 'nice to have'; it has become a necessity," said Jamus Driscoll, vice president of marketing at Demandware. "The mandate for retailers is not only to create a mobile channel to give consumers more options, but also to find innovative ways to leverage mobile to influence consumer shopping and purchase behavior across all sales channels."
Other findings of the survey continued to highlight consumers' concerns around security and ease-of-use with mobile devices. Respondents cited the following concerns:
- Internet non-connectivity (40%),
- Difficulty with the small screen size (34%) and therefore difficulty in visualizing the products (31%),
- Security issues (28%),
- Slow interaction with the retailer website (22%), and
- Difficulties in entering information due to a small keypad (21%).
Although security issues were mentioned as a concern by only 28% of respondents, the top solutions that would encourage more mobile phone purchases all deal with security.
- Nearly half of consumers would like the option of using PayPal.
- Nearly 40% would feel secure knowing that the mobile phone app would not store their credit card number.
- A quarter of consumers would prefer that the mobile phone would only show a truncated credit card number (last 4 digits), and
- About 20% would like to be prompted to enter their 3-digit credit card security number.
The independent survey of 3,600 U.S. consumers reveals that 15% of consumers have used their mobile devices to make purchases. While nearly all (96.2%) of consumers surveyed own a mobile phone, just under half owned a smart phone, which are designed to deliver a more optimal shopping experience.
The study revealed interesting trends surrounding how consumers are looking to their mobile device to support their in-store shopping experience. For example:
- More than 60% believe that being able to use their mobile phone while shopping to verify product availability at a particular store location is important to very important.
- Nearly a quarter of shoppers use their phone while in a store to competitively price shop an item.
- Approximately 20% of consumers currently use their phones to create shopping lists or baskets, and slightly more than that number would be interested in a mobile app to help with shopping list or basket management for their favorite retailers.
- Two thirds are interested in the possibility of using their mobile phone to scan and purchase items, thus enabling them to bypass checkout lines.
- A quarter of shoppers believe that receiving specials/promotions (such as coupons) would be an important use for their mobile phone when shopping, although they were less enthusiastic about receiving advertising via their phones.
"Mobility is more than a channel, and as consumers begin to use mobile devices in all aspects of their shopping process, cross-channel will be essential for retailers to succeed," said Jim Bengier, global retail industry executive for Sterling Commerce. "Today's consumers are transforming the shopping experience with their mobile phones, and retailers who have not broken down their siloed channels will not be able to keep up."
"While the increasing consumer adoption rate of mobile devices has long been recognized by retailers, these survey findings suggest that offering mobile access to the brand is no longer just a 'nice to have'; it has become a necessity," said Jamus Driscoll, vice president of marketing at Demandware. "The mandate for retailers is not only to create a mobile channel to give consumers more options, but also to find innovative ways to leverage mobile to influence consumer shopping and purchase behavior across all sales channels."
Other findings of the survey continued to highlight consumers' concerns around security and ease-of-use with mobile devices. Respondents cited the following concerns:
- Internet non-connectivity (40%),
- Difficulty with the small screen size (34%) and therefore difficulty in visualizing the products (31%),
- Security issues (28%),
- Slow interaction with the retailer website (22%), and
- Difficulties in entering information due to a small keypad (21%).
Although security issues were mentioned as a concern by only 28% of respondents, the top solutions that would encourage more mobile phone purchases all deal with security.
- Nearly half of consumers would like the option of using PayPal.
- Nearly 40% would feel secure knowing that the mobile phone app would not store their credit card number.
- A quarter of consumers would prefer that the mobile phone would only show a truncated credit card number (last 4 digits), and
- About 20% would like to be prompted to enter their 3-digit credit card security number.
Apple Introduces A Social Network: Ping
Apple just unveiled a social network based on music, built right into iTunes called Ping.
Steve Jobs says "It's for social music discovery. You can follow people and be followed on Ping."
He compared it to Facebook and Twitter. You can see what your friends are listening to. You can also follow artists and pick up on what's new from the artists.
This is really bad news for MySpace, which is trying to rebuild itself around music.
Ping looks pretty neat. Will Apple's crack at social will go better than Google's?
Our initial feeling is skepticism. Do you want another social network your life? Let us know.
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-introduces-a-social-network-ping-2010-9
Steve Jobs says "It's for social music discovery. You can follow people and be followed on Ping."
He compared it to Facebook and Twitter. You can see what your friends are listening to. You can also follow artists and pick up on what's new from the artists.
This is really bad news for MySpace, which is trying to rebuild itself around music.
Ping looks pretty neat. Will Apple's crack at social will go better than Google's?
Our initial feeling is skepticism. Do you want another social network your life? Let us know.
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-introduces-a-social-network-ping-2010-9
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Facebook Takes on Foursquare
Social media giant's entry into location-based services could help the market go mainstream -- and give small businesses a better way to target advertising.
Facebook launched its answer to location-based services such as Foursquare and Gowalla on Wednesday -- a feature that automatically shares information on where users are with their online friends.
The hotly anticipated feature – which uses the GPS on smartphones – allows users to "check in" at locations which will then be shared with their friends and Facebook network. Users also will be able to browse shops, clubs and nearby venues to see which friends are in the neighborhood.
Places, as the features is called, is expected to help Facebook pull in local and small-business advertising, though the company said it had no immediate plans to pursue that revenue.
"Starting today, you can immediately tell people about that favorite spot with Facebook Places," Michael Eyal Sharon, Places product manager, said in a blog post."You can share where you are and the friends you're with in real time from your mobile device."
For early adopters of social media, Places is nothing new, though with Facebook's involvement there's a good chance that location-based social networking finally will go mainstream. The fledgling location-based sector is expected to become a billion dollar market, targeting advertising or promotions at people based on proximity. (Starbucks, for example, used a Foursquare promotion to attract a million customers to its stores in a day.) Media research firm Borrell Associates has estimated that such services could generate as much as $4.1 billion in annual ad sales by 2015.
"Location gives marketers a great way to target customers," Debra Williamson, an analyst with eMarketer, told the New York Times. "The whole idea is to reach people at the point of decision before they have to clip a coupon or perform a search."
Places is available first as an update to Facebook's app for the Apple iPhone, while other smartphone users can log onto touch.facebook.com. Updated apps for Blackberry, Android and other handsets are expected in the next few months. Nearly one third of Facebook's 500 million users access the site by mobile, the company says.
Other location-based services say they see Facebook's entry in the field as validation of what they're doing -- more as opportunity than competition. Foursquare, Gowalla, Booyah and Loopt all are building on top of the Facebook platform, as is online review site Yelp, which promised that a Places application for iPhones and Android-based smartphones will be out Thursday.
Places is likely to spark fresh concerns about privacy. After a string of controversies about the site's safety, Facebook simplified its privacy settings in May.
Critics will note that the primary location setting is switched on by default, which means any "places" tags will automatically be shared with immediate friends.
Ahead of the Places launch, Foursquare announced new privacy settings, which make it easier for users to hide their e-mail address and phone numbers, to opt out of automatic check-in at certain venues, and to choose which lists they appear on. It allows them to control whether or not they publish their Foursquare activity to Facebook and Twitter, and decide whether they want companies and businesses to know if they're a regular.
Source: http://www.inc.com/news/articles/2010/08/facebook-launches-location-based-service.html
Facebook launched its answer to location-based services such as Foursquare and Gowalla on Wednesday -- a feature that automatically shares information on where users are with their online friends.
The hotly anticipated feature – which uses the GPS on smartphones – allows users to "check in" at locations which will then be shared with their friends and Facebook network. Users also will be able to browse shops, clubs and nearby venues to see which friends are in the neighborhood.
Places, as the features is called, is expected to help Facebook pull in local and small-business advertising, though the company said it had no immediate plans to pursue that revenue.
"Starting today, you can immediately tell people about that favorite spot with Facebook Places," Michael Eyal Sharon, Places product manager, said in a blog post."You can share where you are and the friends you're with in real time from your mobile device."
For early adopters of social media, Places is nothing new, though with Facebook's involvement there's a good chance that location-based social networking finally will go mainstream. The fledgling location-based sector is expected to become a billion dollar market, targeting advertising or promotions at people based on proximity. (Starbucks, for example, used a Foursquare promotion to attract a million customers to its stores in a day.) Media research firm Borrell Associates has estimated that such services could generate as much as $4.1 billion in annual ad sales by 2015.
"Location gives marketers a great way to target customers," Debra Williamson, an analyst with eMarketer, told the New York Times. "The whole idea is to reach people at the point of decision before they have to clip a coupon or perform a search."
Places is available first as an update to Facebook's app for the Apple iPhone, while other smartphone users can log onto touch.facebook.com. Updated apps for Blackberry, Android and other handsets are expected in the next few months. Nearly one third of Facebook's 500 million users access the site by mobile, the company says.
Other location-based services say they see Facebook's entry in the field as validation of what they're doing -- more as opportunity than competition. Foursquare, Gowalla, Booyah and Loopt all are building on top of the Facebook platform, as is online review site Yelp, which promised that a Places application for iPhones and Android-based smartphones will be out Thursday.
Places is likely to spark fresh concerns about privacy. After a string of controversies about the site's safety, Facebook simplified its privacy settings in May.
Critics will note that the primary location setting is switched on by default, which means any "places" tags will automatically be shared with immediate friends.
Ahead of the Places launch, Foursquare announced new privacy settings, which make it easier for users to hide their e-mail address and phone numbers, to opt out of automatic check-in at certain venues, and to choose which lists they appear on. It allows them to control whether or not they publish their Foursquare activity to Facebook and Twitter, and decide whether they want companies and businesses to know if they're a regular.
Source: http://www.inc.com/news/articles/2010/08/facebook-launches-location-based-service.html
Google pushes further into social networking, buys SocialDeck
In its effort to challenge Facebook, Google has become a social butterfly. The latest proof of that is Google’s acquisition today of SocialDeck, a maker of social games for mobile phones.
SocialDeck has made games such as Shake & Spell, Color Connect, and Pet Hero. Its games were downloaded about a million times in 2009. The company is based in Waterloo, Ontario. The purchase price wasn’t disclosed.
SocialDeck also makes a cross-platform tool for integrating social content across the BlackBerry, iPhone and Facebook platforms. Shake & Spell, notably, works on all of those platforms.
Google has been acquiring a variety of companies, such as Slide and Jambool, to compete with Facebook in social networking. It has also made a $150 million investment in social game leader Zynga. But SocialDeck’s products seem to line up best with Google’s interests in expanding the Android mobile operating system. Google has appointed Slide founder Max Levchin as its head of social networking.
Source: http://games.venturebeat.com/2010/08/30/social-butterfly-google-buys-mobile-game-developer-socialdeck/
SocialDeck has made games such as Shake & Spell, Color Connect, and Pet Hero. Its games were downloaded about a million times in 2009. The company is based in Waterloo, Ontario. The purchase price wasn’t disclosed.
SocialDeck also makes a cross-platform tool for integrating social content across the BlackBerry, iPhone and Facebook platforms. Shake & Spell, notably, works on all of those platforms.
Google has been acquiring a variety of companies, such as Slide and Jambool, to compete with Facebook in social networking. It has also made a $150 million investment in social game leader Zynga. But SocialDeck’s products seem to line up best with Google’s interests in expanding the Android mobile operating system. Google has appointed Slide founder Max Levchin as its head of social networking.
Source: http://games.venturebeat.com/2010/08/30/social-butterfly-google-buys-mobile-game-developer-socialdeck/
Monday, August 23, 2010
Email marketing on a budget
Email marketing is constantly evolving, which means the best practices you take for granted today could easily change tomorrow. Plus, email remains a relatively small piece of the overall marketing pie, meaning that email marketers are often doing their job on a limited budget. These two facts are the main reasons that email marketing firm Cypra Media, based in Montreal, this past Tuesday staged a webinar: “The 10 Secrets of Professional Email Marketing on a DIY Budget.”
While the webinar is targeted at a variety of marketers, including those who are just getting started with email, there was plenty for more seasoned marketers as well. Mark Berger, the company's director of marketing, provided these three take-aways specifically for the more educated—and experienced—marketer.
1. Think about pre-headers. Pre-headers are the short text messages that appear above graphics or body copy. Typical pre-header content includes, “Click here to add us to your address book” and “Click here to view this email in your browser.” But email marketers don't have to keep their pre-headers in the plain vanilla category, Berger said: “You should use the space in a creative way. This is a great place to tell people why they might want to open your email.” You can include your call to action, such as “Download our latest white paper” or “Click for our latest offer,” he said. “You can use the space to create a quick, 50-character message to increase your open and click-through rate,” Berger said.
2. Massage the text-only version. It's a given that all emails should go out with a text-only option because, according to the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), about 20% of all recipients view their email on smartphones or other handheld devices. Yet many marketers don't even bother to look at their text-only email to make sure it is formatted properly. The bottom line: It's not enough to simply clean up the HTML and dump your copy into text-only format, Berger said. “You have to massage the text so you can call out subjects and heads and links,” he said, “and you need to organize the chunks so it's easier for someone to read in a mobile device.”
3. Don't just hand off your coding. Placing code—either links or formatted content—into an email is typically left to a technical person, Berger said. “Marketers don't want to worry about it or think about it, instead concentrating only on the subject line and offer,” he said. “Before you just hand over your code, consider this: While Web browsers might be tolerant of mistakes, email servers and clients are not.” The biggest problem, he said, is that poorly coded email is usually flagged as spam, which means it never gets into the inbox. Yes, it's OK to hand off the technical details of your email campaign, but make sure you're outsourcing to or hiring someone who has significant email experience.
Source: Karen J. Bannan on www.btobonline.com
While the webinar is targeted at a variety of marketers, including those who are just getting started with email, there was plenty for more seasoned marketers as well. Mark Berger, the company's director of marketing, provided these three take-aways specifically for the more educated—and experienced—marketer.
1. Think about pre-headers. Pre-headers are the short text messages that appear above graphics or body copy. Typical pre-header content includes, “Click here to add us to your address book” and “Click here to view this email in your browser.” But email marketers don't have to keep their pre-headers in the plain vanilla category, Berger said: “You should use the space in a creative way. This is a great place to tell people why they might want to open your email.” You can include your call to action, such as “Download our latest white paper” or “Click for our latest offer,” he said. “You can use the space to create a quick, 50-character message to increase your open and click-through rate,” Berger said.
2. Massage the text-only version. It's a given that all emails should go out with a text-only option because, according to the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), about 20% of all recipients view their email on smartphones or other handheld devices. Yet many marketers don't even bother to look at their text-only email to make sure it is formatted properly. The bottom line: It's not enough to simply clean up the HTML and dump your copy into text-only format, Berger said. “You have to massage the text so you can call out subjects and heads and links,” he said, “and you need to organize the chunks so it's easier for someone to read in a mobile device.”
3. Don't just hand off your coding. Placing code—either links or formatted content—into an email is typically left to a technical person, Berger said. “Marketers don't want to worry about it or think about it, instead concentrating only on the subject line and offer,” he said. “Before you just hand over your code, consider this: While Web browsers might be tolerant of mistakes, email servers and clients are not.” The biggest problem, he said, is that poorly coded email is usually flagged as spam, which means it never gets into the inbox. Yes, it's OK to hand off the technical details of your email campaign, but make sure you're outsourcing to or hiring someone who has significant email experience.
Source: Karen J. Bannan on www.btobonline.com
Worldwide Advertising On Social Networks
Social networks worldwide are estimated to bring in $3.3 billion in advertising dollars this year, according to updated estimates by eMarketer. That number represents a 31 percent increase from 2009′s $2.5 billion. A full 39 percent of that amount, or $1.3 billion, will go to Facebook.
In the U.S., social ad spending is estimated to rise 20 percent to $1.7 billion. Facebook is gobbling up even more market share in the U.S. It is expected to make up 50 percent of that amount ($835 million), compared to a 36 percent share last year (when it’s U.S. advertising revenues were estimated to be $500 million out of a total of $1.4 billion).
The big market share loser in social ads this year is MySpace, whose share is estimated to drop from 32 percent in 2009 ($445 million) to 19 percent in 2010 ($323 million). Social games and apps, interestingly, are also expected to pretty much stay flat in terms of ad revenues, with $142 million of the total this year. The social game segmentation really doesn’t make sense to me. It kind of makes me wonder whether the folks at eMarketer have ever heard of Zynga.
Source: http://techcrunch.com/2010/08/16/advertising-social-networks-3-3-billion/
In the U.S., social ad spending is estimated to rise 20 percent to $1.7 billion. Facebook is gobbling up even more market share in the U.S. It is expected to make up 50 percent of that amount ($835 million), compared to a 36 percent share last year (when it’s U.S. advertising revenues were estimated to be $500 million out of a total of $1.4 billion).
The big market share loser in social ads this year is MySpace, whose share is estimated to drop from 32 percent in 2009 ($445 million) to 19 percent in 2010 ($323 million). Social games and apps, interestingly, are also expected to pretty much stay flat in terms of ad revenues, with $142 million of the total this year. The social game segmentation really doesn’t make sense to me. It kind of makes me wonder whether the folks at eMarketer have ever heard of Zynga.
Source: http://techcrunch.com/2010/08/16/advertising-social-networks-3-3-billion/
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