July 2007 - Posts
Wired Magazine's Editor-in-Chief Chris Anderson delivered the keynote address this morning at ad:tech Chicago. Much of what he focused on was how today's online businesses need to address the long tail.
Anderson cites statistics that show $20 billion in online advertising spend in 2007, while Google accounts for upwards of 45% of that. And to what does Anderson attribute Google's massive success? Granularity - evidenced by their ability to match even the most obscure niche industries with appropriate, relevant AdSense ads. In Anderson's opinion, granularity is the most important part of attacking the long tail and ensuring long-term success.
One of his samples showed that the average rating for the #1 television show each year has dropped - at once drastically and then steadily. In the 1950's, "I Love Lucy" was a top show and garnered a rating near 70 - in 2005, "CSI" was a top rated show and rated below 20. But at the same time, people are watching more TV than ever.
So what happened? A proliferation of choices - there are more TV channels with extensive programming on a huge variety of topics. Viewers have more choices and are expressing them.
It has to do with what Anderson refers to as "shelf space." The Internet has provided unlimited virtual shelf space, as compared to the past, where limited shelf space proved that only the most popular items or services were worth "stocking." Anderson sees a shift, not just in online behavior, but a cultural shift. Instead of the consumer being accustomed to "one size fits all," they are now demanding "one size fits one."
Those businesses that can address the needs of all, rather than capitulating to the wants and needs of the majority will win.
For the online business owner, this boils down to listening. Take off your I-know-what-the-public-wants hat for a while. The Internet has provided the resources to "stock" as many offerings as you can create. So it's up to you, as a business owner, to formulate your plan. And what better way to do that than ask your prospects and clients?
Website Magazine will be at ad:tech this Tuesday, July 31 and Wednesday, August 1 at Chicago's historic Navy Pier. Come by our booth for a free magazine, a free subscription and to enter for your chance to win the new iPhone!
Website Magazine's editors will also be in attendance, scouring the exhibit hall, conferences and conducting interviews to bring you all of the important information from this year's event.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Human-powered search, where search results are determined and refined not by computerized algortihms but by people, has generated some buzz lately, including the release of Jason Calacanis' brainchild Mahalo and other, more established systems such as ChaCha and Acoona. Now, Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia has ideas on a new approach to human-powered search, and envisions a rival to Google and Yahoo.
"If we can get good quality search results, I think it will really change the balance of power from the search companies back to the publishers," said Wales. Wales is chairman of Wikia, a service that has helped set up thousands of Wikipedia-style sites on the Web. Wikia recently acquired Grub, a Web crawler to help with the project. The new Wikia search service will combine computer algorithms and human-powered search - the human element will help refine results of search terms that could have multiple meanings. Unlike Google, where search algortihms are a highly secretive formula, Wikia plans to open Grub to developers for improvements or to incorporate the crawler on other sites.
Wikipedia is under constant fire as to the validity of the information presented. It's easy to see that a Web crawler indexing thousands of wiki-style sites will face the same challenge. And as developers will have the option to tweak the search service, there will certainly be concerns of devlopers "gaming" the system to serve their own interests. Even so, the concept of the community shaping search results rather than one central authority is very interesting.
The following are the top voted Web news stories on Share.WebsiteMagazine.com for July
27, 2007. Share the news (industry articles, blog posts, tutorials and more) that you find important and noteworthy at Share.WebsiteMagazine.com.
Yahoo Joins Industry In Defining How Long It Will Hold Onto Search Data:
Feeling pressure from U.S.
and European Union legislators, the major search engine providers have now all
fallen into step by providing greater visibility into the types of data they
collect.
Digg Fires Google for Online Ads:Digg Inc., a reader-powered news site, fired Google
Inc. as its online advertising partner Wednesday in favor of a company Digg's
top executive described as young and willing to take risks: Microsoft Corp
1 in 5 Adults Watch Web Videos: One in five online Americans view video over the
Internet on any given day, thanks to speedier Internet connections and a wider
selection of clips, a study finds.
Meta Tag Optimization: Baloney or Good SEO? While perusing a new social network for the advertising
industry, I noticed an interesting question posted regarding whether meta tags
were relevant to search engine optimization.
If You Advertise in Second Life, Does Anyone Care?:
Frank Rose has an
excellent piece in this month's Wired suggesting that advertisers are wasting
millions of dollars by building "pavilions" in the 3-D world that nobody visits.
Search Engine Visibility and Image Optimization:
Search engine visibility
for your site is greatly improved for local search results by optimizing your
images, especially given Google’s and Yahoo’s implementation of universal
search.
8apps takes social networking to the next level:
Social networking sites
have become an increasingly popular way for people to connect professionally
but, once you've added someone to your contact list, what then?
GPLv3 may not bind Microsoft: Microsoft should be able to extricate itself from the
implications of the General Public License version 3, according to a leading
Australian intellectual property lawyer
Google is not moving:
Despite all of the “so-called experts” predicting the rise of Yahoo, Ask, or
MSN, Google is not losing any ground in search volume. In fact, they are growing
stronger every day.
Technorati is a poor source of blog ranking data:
While it may be a unique
source of this type of data, Technorati provides a lousy basis for accurately
ranking blogs and appears to be very easily fooled by anyone actively working to
increase their Technorati ranking.
Nothing sure but death and the Internet tax debate:
Congress is once again
embroiled in a question that comes up every three or four years: To what degree
does the Internet merit special federal protection from state and local tax
collectors?
Webmaster console features?What do you want to see the Webmaster Central team do
next? About 10 months ago, Google Blogoscoped asked what people wanted next.
It’s time to ask that question again, because the team has made great progress.
Top Website Magazine Posts:
The FormSpring online form
building tool that WM featured in its last issue as one of the "7
Sizzlin' Site Tools" is set to release FormSpring 2.0 on Monday. The newest
version allows for simpler form building and provides an enhanced user
interface. The new version should be an ever better fit for those looking to
easily create, manage and host online forms without having to know HTML or
scripting.
"Our goal is to provide a great user experience and to allow anyone to
create and use online forms," states Ade Olonoh, Founder of FormSpring. "FormSpring
gives users the tools to let them easily build online forms, allowing them to
quickly capture and use the information they need."
Key features of the new version include PayPal integration, enhanced security
options; allowing users to create encrypted forms for online ordering and
processing confidential information. The new version also features drag and
drop form building, thumbnail view of active and non-active forms and more
template styles.
Definitely worth a look. Well, another look.
RSS Mixer lets users mashup multiple RSS feeds into one single, comprehensive feed. If you
have several disparate feeds available on your site that you want users to follow (posts,
comments, individual authors) this is an easy way to get it done. Users must
simply provide a title to their 'Mix' and then add the feed URL's. RSS Mixer then
mashes it all up and provides several ways for you to offer it to those visiting
your site - an RSS feed of the combined feeds, straight HTML, a Web Widget for your blog
and even of an iPhone version of the mix. It's been getting some attention so I found the service to be a little slow
today. Similar services are provided through Yahoo!
Pipes and Microsoft's
PopFly, but not with the extensibility.
A limited number of exhibit hall only passes are available for
Affiliate Summit in London.
Scheduled for September 28, 2007 at the Olympia Conference Centre in London, the keynote address will be provided by Linus Gregoriadis, head of research of
e-consultancy. The London Affiliate Summit will mark the first time in several years that an affiliate marketing-specific conference has been held in Europe.
Affiliate Solutions, presented by Refer-it and hosted by Internet.com, held the first European affiliate marketing show in April, 2000. Affiliate Summit co-founder Shawn Collins helped organize the Affiliate Solutions' conferences when he worked at Refer-it in 1999-2000.
For more details on the conference and registration information, visit http://www.affiliatesummit.com/07london_conference.php.
And all the pieces are falling into place. (aQuantive, Ask, now AdECN)Microsoft Corp. just announced it has agreed to acquire
AdECN, Inc., an advertising exchange platform. AdECN’s technology serves as a hub where advertising networks can come together in a neutral (you have to wonder about that now), real-time auction marketplace for buying and selling display advertising.
It's definitely shaping up to be a interesting business environment.
From the release: The deal is a key component of Microsoft’s strategy to develop a comprehensive search and display advertising platform enabling advertisers and publishers to maximize return on investment (ROI) on their digital advertising investments.In my opinion, Microsoft will now be able to better compete with the likes of Google (with the DoubleClick acquisition) and Yahoo! (with the Right Media acquisition).
"
Both Microsoft and AdECN have a deep commitment to creating the technologies and platforms that enable advertisers and publishers to maximize their ROI in the digital marketplace", said Kevin Johnson, president, Platforms and Services Division at Microsoft.
"
We believe the addition of AdECN to the Microsoft portfolio is a perfect fit and will create more efficiency for the industry by forming a more robust marketplace between advertisers and publishers, aggregating more supply and demand. This is good for the whole advertising industry."
If you needed another reason to be convinced of online video's explosion on the Web, and why it should be part of your marketing mix, keep reading.
According to a survey from the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 57% of online adults in the U.S. have used the Internet to watch video. That number swells to 74% for those who have high-speed connections. Not surprisingly, young adults ages 18-29 watch the most online video (76%) followed by those 30-49 (57%) and, somewhat surprisingly, those ages 50-64 (46%). The most popular categories are news (37%), Comedy (31%), Music (22%) and Educational (22%) - think instructional videos and how-to's.
Some other findings:
- 75% of respondents have received video links from others
- 57% have sent video links to others
- 13% upload video
- 7% pay for video
- 59% of online video consumers watch their video at home, while 24% watch at work.
(One of the big takeaways here is the first two figures. Create a good video and your message has a good shot at being shared and becoming a true viral message.)
Amateur vs. Professional:
Most (62%) prefer videos that are "professionally produced" over video "produced by amateurs." However, young adult men, the highly sought after group for most marketers, have a different opinon. Of that group, 43% prefer professional video, while 34% prefer amateur content.
Where and What:
Overall, 27% of viewers chose YouTube to watch (that number reaches 49% for viewers ages 18-29.) News websites came in second (12%), next was Cable or network TV sites (9%), Yahoo (9%) and MySpace (6%). "Other" accounted for 21%.
News videos lead the way with 37% of all views. This is not surprising, considering that news channels were one of the first to take advantage of online video. Also, news feeds are available across almost all networks - including YouTube. As you might expect, the news category drops off for young adults ages 18-29 - that group watches only 43% news, compared to 56% comedy/humor.
Educational videos should get some special attention: this is where you can use the power and reach of online video to promote your products or services by educating your consumers. Of all online video viewers, 22% watched some form of education video (how-to, DIY, home remodeling or learning a language, for example). What's interesting is that the variation across age groups is limited. Everyone is watching education video. The 18-29 group leads the way with 28%, while the 65+ group came in a at 21%. Last for education videos were those ages 50-64, at 17%.
Profilactic enables users to combine all of their social networking profiles into one space, minimizing the time needed to visit each of those sites to keep up with the latest happenings. They have released Version 2 - unfortunately without a name change. But, if you're active in the social/business networking scene, there are some nice features.
- More support for Technorati, LinkedIn, Shelfari, Pownce and CoComment
- Ability to add more than one account/profile from the same site
- Daily email of your "friends'" latest content - negating the need to visit each of their pages
- Improved look and feel
If you use social networking sites as part of your marketing mix, Profilactic offers a way to manage all of these accounts - a growing need with the proliferation of networking sites out there. Some more well-known sites supported by Profilactic include: MySpace, Digg, Newsvine, del.icio.us, Twitter, Bebo, Flickr and Yahoo! 360.
According to a company official, Microsoft will launch their new analytics package, Gatineau, later this summer in beta testing. The test will be limited and all signs point to testing by invite only.
Microsoft's Ian Thomas, on his blog, states that some of the features include ability to segment data by age and gender buckets. He was also quick to point out that information about users is obtained anonymously and without the use of personally identifiable information such as email addresses or names. Other than that, there is little information at this time.
You can apply to beta test Gatineau by sending an email to Microsoft.
By now, everyone should be including, or at least determining the best way to use video on your website. From how-to's to interviews, video can find a place in just about every site's marketing mix. Now, YouTube offers a way to make video an even bigger, more seamless part of your site. Customizable video allows users to choose colors, name of the player and layouts.
It's a nice way to include video while keeping some sort of continuity with the overall look and feel of your website.
Website Magazine will be at HostingCon 2007, July 23-25. Situated at Chicago's historic Navy Pier, HostingCon boasts "the largest gathering of hosted services professionals in the world."
Stop by the Website Magazine booth to get a free subscription and to enter for your chance to win the new iPhone. Also, check back as we will offer updates and recaps of some of the important happenings from the show. We look forward to seeing you there!
The following are the top voted Web news stories on Share.WebsiteMagazine.com for July
20, 2007. Share the news (industry articles, blog posts, tutorials and more) that you find important and noteworthy at Share.WebsiteMagazine.com.
Yahoo revenue up, profit falls 2%: Beleaguered Internet giant Yahoo (YHOO) said Tuesday
that earnings fell 2% in the second quarter because of slowing growth in
advertising revenue. The company, which replaced its CEO last month, also
lowered its outlook for the third quarter.
Strong Google Revenue Disappoints Investors But May Ease Antitrust Scrutiny:
Market research firm
eMarketer predicts that Google will take in 27.4% of the projected $21.7 billion
U.S. online advertising spending in 2007. In 2006, Google won 24.3% of $16.9
billion spent that year.
Microsoft's New Search Czar Outlines Strategy:
Microsoft has long lagged
behind Google in Web search, struggling to gain market share with its Live
Search product and advertising dollars with its adCenter pay-per-click ad
network, and lost two top executives earlier this year.
ValueClick Acquires Comparison Shopping Operator MeziMedia:
ValueClick has acquired
MeziMedia for up to $352 million, in a deal consisting of $100million in upfront
in cash, with an additional sum of up to $252 million to be paid depending on
MeziMedia’s revenue and earnings performance through to 2009
Google offers Custom Business Search for SMBs:
Google introduced a new
service for small businesses that allows visitors to search within their Web
sites on a customized search page
VoIP provider SunRocket suddenly closes: Internet phone service provider SunRocket, which had as
many as 200,000 customers nationwide, has ceased operations without warning.
Facebook Adds Ajax - Abandoning Page Views?:
But tonight I noticed that
the 2nd step has been Ajaxified - meaning you no longer need to land on a
Request Confirmation/Skip This Step page. Instead it is an Ajax pop-up.
Progress seen on Internet radio talks: Internet radio broadcasters and the music industry
appeared to be moving closer Monday to resolving a dispute over a new system
mandating higher royalty fees for streaming music online.
Openads lets websites keep visits private: The British firm Openads is offering website operators
an alternative to giant online ad firms accused of imperiling privacy by
amassing data about people's Internet activities.
Google agrees to sell print ads for 225 newspapers:
Google Inc. said on
Tuesday it is expanding its Print Ads program to allow online advertisers
nationwide to place print advertisements in 225 newspapers, serving half of U.S.
newspaper readers.
Hearst Sells Stake in Local: Hearst, which invested $6 million in Irvine, CA-based
business directory site Local.com earlier this year through its Interactive
Media division, has apparently sold its stake in open market, reports Barron's
blog Tech Trader Daily.
Walmart.com to let customers review merchandise:
Shoppers will be able to
review and rate the merchandise sold on Wal-Mart Stores Inc's Web site beginning
on Thursday, as the retailer works to expand its online capabilities.
Microsoft and Ask.com Partner Up For Keyword Sales:
Microsoft Office Live
today announced that it is adding Ask Sponsored Listings to its adManager Beta
search advertising service.
Top Posts at the Website Magazine Weblog This Week:
Local.com made another modest splash this week with the acquisition of
PremierGuide, a provider of online business directories to regional media
publishers such as newspapers, TV and reasio stations and city portals.
What makes this important news is that it gives (or could give) Local.com
immediate access to hundreds of high quality online publishers. It's inevitable
over time that Local.com will tie in their LocalConnect program into
PremierGuide's existing SEO-friendly local business listings.
Related "Local" Posts at Website Magazine...
If you consider yourself a Web publisher, there are many opportunities to
monetize on the visits of users and the page impressions they generate. While
you may think that high-quality solutions to help you serve advertising to your
users is out of a reasonable price range, there are actually a myriad of
solutions, both commercial and open source, which could fit the bill nicely.
The solution Website Magazine uses to serve advertising on this site is
OpenAds, an immensely popular open source
adserving solution that of late has received a lot of attention and rightly so -
it's stable, efficient and easy to manage. Why did we choose to go with an
open-source solution? The primary reason was because we needed to be seen as
impartial and choosing one commercial solution over others would not exactly
show that we're unbiased - which we definitely are (well, aim to be at least).
I had the opportunity pose a few questions to OpenAds' new CEO James
Bilefield today (Q&A below) and above all, it confirmed for me that not only did
we make a great decision in the past, but that I could look forward to
additional enhancements for the benefit of those using the solution.
WM: Considering the ad-network consolidation the past six months, what kind
of opportunity exists for users of OpenAds and for the company iteself?
JB: The industry has consolidated fast over the past few months, and many
online publishers are getting concerned about the consequences. In this
environment, Openads, which offers a fully independent, reliable and free
solution used by thousands of publishers all around the globe, offers a really
attractive choice for their ad serving needs.
WM: 20,000 publishers (Website Magazine included) using the platform is
impressive, but what are some of the steps you'll take to achieve growth? i.e.
Who will you be targeting? e.g. corporations or individual publishers?
JB: Our publisher base is very diverse, by size, sector and geography. We
need to get to know them better, understanding their needs and future plans to
ensure we can continue to deliver for them. However, we are also keen to attract
new publishers, large and small, to the Openads community through providing a
great, independent solution to their adserving needs.
WM: The market is dominated by commercial solutions – how can OpenAds take
the lead in building confidence in open source solutions?
JB: We like being different! We are perhaps uniquely focused on the needs of
publishers rather than advertisers. Our large, passionate and committed
community of publishers and open source developers help us deliver the right
features and functionality to our global publisher base. And because we are open
source, we make it easy for individual publishers to customize the Openads
software to suit their particular needs.
There's a new report available from the Click Fraud Network stating that the overall industry average click fraud rate increased 1.7% in the second quarter of 2007 to 15.8%. The main reason for the increase put forth by the Click Fraud Network for the increasing instances of click fraud is a noticeable increase in botnets, parked domain sites, and made-for-AdSense (MFA) sites.
“We’re not surprised to see the industry average click fraud rate climb this quarter as a result of botnet activity,” said Robert Hansen, CEO of SecTheory. “Our clients are well aware that botnet activity is on the rise and that botnets are being used for a variety of online fraud activities, including click fraud.”
The thing about click fraud however is that even though these clicks occur it does not necessarily mean that advertisers were charged for them. Of course, this does not prevent those that benefit from the presence of poor quality clicks to capitalize on the problem, regardless of its estimated scope. Case in point:
“Click fraud has become the new spam and it’s clearly a problem that is getting worse, not better,” said Tom Cuthbert, president and CEO of Click Forensics, Inc. “A significant percentage of today’s click fraud traffic can be attributed to two growing areas of concern for search advertisers – traffic that comes from botnets and from parked domains or made-for-ad sites. Advertisers running campaigns on content networks are especially vulnerable as they are increasingly targets of this growing pool of savvy fraudsters.”
Both Google and Yahoo however had something to say about the report in an article on News.com from Elinor Mills:
"Yahoo is also actively pursuing numerous new quality initiatives that provide advertisers with more control over and visibility into the quality of their traffic. We've recently launched new features and functionality--like quality-based pricing and enhanced geo-targeting tools--for advertisers and we plan to introduce additional controls like domain blocking in the coming months," Reggie Davis, vice president of marketplace quality, said in a statement.
Google released a statement that said: "These estimates continue to count clicks Google does not charge to advertisers as fraudulent, so they are not actually click fraud estimates. Furthermore, their estimates have never reflected the invalid click rates we see at Google. It is also worth noting that in all of 2007, only two advertisers have contacted us regarding click fraud data from Click Forensics, and in both cases we found that the suspicious activity was not charged for in the first place."
Defeat Click Fraud
How do you stop click-fraud? Learn how to mitigate the risk of click fraud by implementing some basic policies to prevent it (such as not advertising in countries that are known to be hotbeds of such activity - i.e. China) and accept that it happens - it's part of doing business online. Networks like Google, Yahoo and others (yes, even second-tier search engines really do care about the problem.) In the end, if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.
If you are utilizing Google's webmaster console, you'll be pleased to know that Google has launched Message Center - a formal way for Google to communicate with you about issues pertaining to your website.
Notifications that appear in Message Center will initially refer to search quality issues (for example, if you have hidden text on your website) but over time the communication channel will be used to provide other types of information.
Integrating messaging into Google accounts instead of using the traditional channel of email is a good move as it will provide an added layer of security from phishing attempts that for a while plagued Google back in May.
Message center is provided in all supported Webmaster Tools languages, but the number of sites Google is actually contacting is small according to the Official Google
Webmaster Central Blog.
Sherry Maxson, Guest Contributor1) Increase your links - This is the first and most important priority of your blog or website. Many sites are "static" - meaning they are rarely updated. To optimize a site for social media, it is important to increase the "linkability" of your content, often called "linkbaiting". Give your audience something to link to to help boast your popularity. Adding a blog is a great step, however there are many other ways such as creating white papers, or even simply organizing and aggregating content that exists elsewhere into a useful format, such as articles, consumer reports, and video reference materials.
2) Make tagging and bookmarking easy - Use quick buttons on your material to make tagging and bookmarking a cinche. Sites like "technorati" “del.icio.us" and “digg” have a large user base. Get to know the sites and how their users are using their sites.
3) Help your content travel - Social Media optimization is not just about making changes to a site. When you have content that can be portable (such as PDFs, videos, podcasts, photos), submit them to relevant sites to help your content travel further. This also helps in driving back links to your web site.
4) Encourage the mashup - Its now a world of co-creation. Let others use your content. A great example of this is YouTube providing code to cut and paste so visitors can imbend video from their site. Syndicating your content through RSS also makes it easy for others to create mashups that can drive traffic.
5) Participate! Get in there and get involved in discussions going on. Earn your reputation on Digg.com and other sites. Social media is a two way street. Converse with your community on a regular basis. Find your niche and work it!
6) Be a Resource - Even if it isn't of immediate help, provide valuable information on your web site. One client ,who sells poison ivy skin care created an FAQ on poison ivy facts and remedies, some of which were competitive treatments. While users may not convert to a purchase, this page is critical to help brand their product and to gain links from other sites. Though it may not yeild short term benefits, the long term effects will be worth the effort.
7) Reward valuable users - If you have created a Wiki or are using another tool on your site to encourage visitors to add content, recognize and thank them for their efforts.
8) Know your Audience - First ,understand who you are targeting, then figure out where they "hang out". Creating a page on mySpace may not always be the best route if you are not trying to target a young demographic with a heavy focus on music. Perhaps creating a Squidoo Lens for your subject would be better or if you are a shopping site, try StumbleUpon. For your business, get some PR with timely articles on Digg.
9) Be Overt - Stay real in your efforts. Do not create a fictious name for your marketing. Users can sniff you out like a rat and they don't like to be fooled. It will do you more harm than good. Be overt and direct.
10) Stay fresh - Social media is changing minute by minute. Keep up on new tools, products and challenges and keep your pulse to the beat.
__________
Author: Sherri Maxson, SEO/Internet Marketing Consultant
PrairieWeb Internet Marketing
You have a clean, attractive website. But you also have loads of content and pages that your visitors may need help finding. Previous versions of Google Custom Search would allow you to place a search box on your site - albeit with Google branding and AdSense all over the results page. Google's Custom Search Business Edition now includes ad-free search, where you can employ a Google search box on your site to search only those sites, pages or portions of your website that you determine. After a search query is entered, only results will be returned, not Google ads that can disrupt the feel of your website. It's a nice way to use the power of Google site search without sacrificing your site design or exposing customers to ads that may cheapen the look of your site or worse, drive traffic away. And, some can argue, AdSense on your site gives visitors the impression that you're a small-time business, looking to coax as much revenue as possible from your website.
Simply sign up, customize your search box, add the sites to be searched and get the code to place on your site. The fee is on a sliding scale, starting with $100 annually for searching 5,000 pages and up to $500 for up to 50,000 pages.
One of the many challenges for Internet marketing consultants and Web service providers is that when you assist an enterprise in developing a Web presence, they treat you as the expert, as they rightly should. But many consultants (whether designer, SEO, or SEM) give clients reason to doubt this expertise when default analytics accounts are provided by third parties. Furthermore, if you are a hosting company or a provide a content management solution you are expected to have some analytics solutions for your clients.
I've had a dialog with Daan van Rossum of
StatsPlugger recently and they are empowering independent marketing consultants and service providers to essentially be the source for their clients analytics and get around the problem of perception.
It's challenging to be an independent and provide clients with a complete marketing package. With StatsPlugger however, you have complete control over how you want the data presented. StatsPlugger provides an XML feed (similar to RSS) that provides information (for example the total amount of visitors to a page) which can be customized to fit within the look and feel of your own control panel. StatsPlugger partners will still need to install the tracking code on their clients sites, but when you're building a site from the virtual ground up it's easier to implement from the start as opposed to going back and doing it later.
Almost more appealing than the ability to white label analytics information is the pricing model of StatsPlugger. Partners are not charged licensing, setup or account fees, but rather a flat charge based on the aggregate amount of page views the company's clients generate within a month.
StatsPlugger is an especially good solution for hosting companies that are looking to replace the standard log file statistics. One of the many things that make the service appealing is that their costs will be greatly reduced as this is an ASP model. Savvy hosting companies will see the value in such a white label analytics service as they will be able to create different levels of analytics reporting and pricing.
Microsoft Office Live today announced that it is adding
Ask Sponsored Listings to its adManager Beta search advertising service.
Through adManager, small businesses will be able to purchase and manage search-based keyword advertising from the Microsoft Office Live platform
and appear within Ask Sponsored Listings. This is a very big deal as it may
signal further consolidation within the competitive search engine and Internet
advertising industries.
"We are very excited about the integration of Ask Sponsored Listings,
as this provides more options for our small businesses to market their companies
and attract new customers," said Baris Cetinok, director of product management
and marketing for Microsoft Office Live. "Adding Ask Sponsored Listings to our
adManager service gets us one step closer to our goal of providing small
businesses with an all-inclusive search engine marketing service."
