search marketing blog: ambergreen

As you may have read in the papers, blogs and other media, Google have recently announced that as of May 5th they will no longer bar people bidding on trademarked keywords in the UK and Ireland, a 180 degree turn from their previous policy. This announcement has sent ripples through the online marketing world, with advertisers and agencies alike spreading panic as though the entire internet were about to shut down. However, the impact is likely to be fairly minimal, for the following reasons.

Firstly, this is not a one-off experiment. Google has never enforced such a trademark policy in the US and there is absolutely no problem with it there. Paid Search, and AdWords in particular, continues to be an extremely cost-effective and targeted form of marketing despite the presence of competitor ads on branded searches.

Secondly, there is no reason to assume, as many self-proclaimed experts have done so in the media, that CPCs on previously protected keywords will suddenly sky-rocket as a result of increased competition. This is because Google are continuing to prohibit the use of trademarked terms in ad copy unless the trademark holder gives permission. The upshot is that a search for “Company X” will also display ads for “Company Y” and “Company Z” BUT the user is specifically looking for Company X and only one ad will contain that keyword. This ad will continue to attract clickthrough rates much higher than those of the competing ads and will consequently have a much higher quality score. This quality score will counteract the effect of competing bids on CPC so average CPC will rise only slightly while leading rankings are maintained. On the other hand, competitors will be forced to pay high CPCs for any clicks they attract because of their relatively low quality scores.

A final point of note is that the policy also opens up the possibility to bid on your own competitors’ trademarked terms if such an approach is attractive to you. Such a campaign should not be looked upon as a way to ’steal’ traffic from other sources; as noted above such traffic will come at a high cost. However it is an excellent opportunity to raise brand awareness, advertise new product lines relating to those of a competitor and advertise any USPs which may give you an edge over competition. The aim for such a campaign would primarily be impressions rather than traffic.

In the end this all boils down to a storm in a teacup. Yes, there is the fact that brand campaigns will now need slightly more care and attention in the light of new competition; and yes, branded terms may start to cost more than a couple of pence each. However, this can only be a make or break point for the weakest and most marginal campaigns. The purpose of the policy change is simply to open up some more revenue for Google but it’s evident they have enough sense not to endanger their entire advertising network for the sake of a few dollars more.

Google has completed its purchase of DoubleClick having been given the green light by the European Union. The deal cost the search company £1.5 billion and will unite it with a leading ad–provider. “Google and DoubleClick were not exerting major competitive constraints on each other’s activities and could, therefore, not be considered as competitors at the moment,” the Commission said. The deal attracted criticism for competitors such as Microsoft and Yahoo! and from consumer groups concerned that together the companies could gather vast amounts of user data. US authorities had already approved the deal, as had legislators in Australia which saw no cause for concern on anti-competitive grounds. The Centre for Digital Democracy, in a letter to the US Federal Trade Commission had told policy makers the deal would create ” insurmountable barriers to entry in the interactive ad market”.

The European Commission is expected to allow Google to buy Double-Click, sources close to the deal told Reuters. The deal would combine Google’s search capability with the online advertising company that provides the ads. Tim Armstrong, president of advertising and commerce, is keen for it to go through. “This transaction will strengthen our advertising network by expanding our access to publisher inventory and enabling us to serve the needs of a broader set of advertisers and ad agencies,” he said. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) decided not to intervene in the merger as the two companies were not close rivals. Its chairman, Mr Graeme Samuel said: “In this context, the ACCC considered that the merger was unlikely to result in a substantial lessening of competition in an Australian market.” Some privacy concerns have been raised as Google keeps users’ search data and DoubleClick connects advertisers and publishers.

TV and newspaper advertising are less effective than email at getting consumers to go online, Brand Republic has reported. Research by Response One found that customer emails are 52 per cent more likely than average to make consumers turn to the web - TV/newspaper ads lagged behind at 34 per cent. Amanda Ling, data intelligence director said the research showed there were other ways to drive web visits. Significantly, Response One found advertising on social networks was 26 per cent less likely than average to encourage web buying activities. However, these results were notably different depending on which age group the respondents belonged to – those aged 18-24 thought it was 22 per cent better than average at getting users to seriously consider a purchase. Newspaper publishers are now looking to mobile online adverts to support their businesses. News International has created Leadership in Mobile and hopes to offer the market new advertising data.

Phorm, the digital technology company that signed deals with three of the UK’s internet service providers (ISPs), has defended its plans. The company is set to collect data from web users who are signed to contracts with BT, Virgin Media and TalkTalk. Senior vice president, Marc Burgess told the Guardian: “Our privacy claims have been audited by Ernst & Young they have been through our system and seen that it does what we say it does.” Phorm uses anonymised ISP data streams and targets users by deciding ‘channels’ or groups of users with similar interests. “We have spoken to the Information Commissioner’s Office. All of the privacy groups in the US, UK and Europe have been impressed by our approach,” he explained. The firm’s Open Internet Exchange (OIX) will track surfers’ activities, record the URL and header data of visited sites but not the users’ IP address. Targeted advertisements provide users with messages that are more relevant based on their browsing and search habits - eMarketer has predicted that online ad spending will surpass £3 billion in 2008.

Google has agreed that clicks on its search adverts have fallen, Online Media Daily has reported. Alan Eustace, senior vice president of engineering & research told delegates at a conference in California it was down to their recent algorithmic changes. He explained the changes had occurred on the ad-serving end and were due to the reduction of clickable space. Mr Eustace said the company opted to “reduce the number of advertisers and decrease accidental clicks”. This he hoped would deliver “better information to users and make them click more in the long run.” Research by comScore revealed that the number of paid clicks per Google search query were down by eight per cent since December. The analyst has agreed with the search company’s explanation, saying Google’s own initiatives were responsible for the decline. One approach to help fight ‘click fraud’ would see users provide marketers with personal data so they are identified each time.

Ambergreen can help you track your customer’s buying behaviour and monitors the metrics for potential click fraud so you know you’re in safe hands.

Digital leaders have been advised to “focus on the metrics that matter most” by a new study of the media and marketing industry. The Marketing & Media Ecosystem 2010 was co-authored by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and Booz Allen Hamilton and was announced at the bureau’s annual meeting in Arizona. It advised that industry leaders will “understand what marketers want to measure - including reach, engagement, action, and ROI -and they are improving their ability to collect and analyse consumer data”. The research suggested that future leaders are more likely to have ROI metrics than their competitors and “have the ability to tie media behavior to sales”. The report highlighted five behaviours that shape the emerging agenda for digital leadership – these include investing in ongoing marketer education, providing consultative services and knowing what drives consumer behaviors. Christopher Vollmer, vice president at Booz Allen Hamilton, said: “Media companies are expanding well beyond traditional advertising sales roles into areas such as campaign development, creative services and consumer insight.”

Ambergreen is a full-service provider so you can rely on all your needs being adressed.

Reports from comScore that web users are clicking less on Google’s search adverts have prompted talk of internet recession. The analyst has reported clicks from US consumers fell by 0.3 per cent in January compared to the previous year and dropped seven per cent since last month. “There are pretty strong signals now that the economic slowdown is having impact on consumers’ behavior online and therefore having a negative impact on Google,” the New York Times reported Clayton Moran, an analyst with the Stanford Group saying. However, Bill Tancer, general manager of analysts Hitwise disagreed. He said a slowdown would be more accurately illustrated by a drop in traffic going from the search engine to retail sites. “If we focus in on daily data (year-over-year comparison) we see that Google traffic to retail is also up on a daily basis when we compare January/February 2007 with 2008.” Yahoo! has seen its rate improve and comScore reported that clicks on its adverts rose in January by one per cent.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has announced the release of new advertising privacy guidelines.

They are designed to ensure users’ control over the use of personal information and guarantee the continued improvement of marketing communications to advertisers.

Randall Rothenberg, president of the IAB explained that the guidelines are necessary and help to support vital online services such as free email and social networking.

“Research shows consumers value free internet services highly and prefer advertising that is relevant to their interests, but want guarantees that their personally identifiable information won’t be misused,” he commented.

The guidelines were developed over many months with the IAB Policy Development Task Force and Policy Council, and will be submitted to the Federal Trade Commission before the end of February.

Previously the FTC had complained about the amount and security of personal data collected by some internet companies.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has announced the release of new advertising privacy guidelines.

They are designed to ensure users’ control over the use of personal information and guarantee the continued improvement of marketing communications to advertisers.

Randall Rothenberg, president of the IAB explained that the guidelines are necessary and help to support vital online services such as free email and social networking.

“Research shows consumers value free internet services highly and prefer advertising that is relevant to their interests, but want guarantees that their personally identifiable information won’t be misused,” he commented.

The guidelines were developed over many months with the IAB Policy Development Task Force and Policy Council, and will be submitted to the Federal Trade Commission before the end of February.

Previously the FTC had complained about the amount and security of personal data collected by some internet companies.