'Net Features : ppc advertising

Five Non-Google PPC Programs

Michael Garrity — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 13:30:00 GMT

Yes, we get it, Google does everything. Ask an affiliate marketer what they think the best Pay-Per-Click (PPC) program available is and they'll likely say Google AdSense.

Why? Because it's free, easy-to-use and comes with a very popular and proven name attached to it. And while AdSense is a great program, it's also expensive and it's not necessarily for everyone, so what are some of the alternatives out there?

Many other PPC programs offer things like a return on investment (ROI), faster payments and other features that rival or surpass Google's product. But with dozens upon dozens of different options out there, where does an affiliate start to look for the PPC program that is right for them? Well, at Website Magazine, of course!

Without further ado, here are five non-Google AdSense PPC programs to consider:

Bidvertiser
As the name suggests, this is an auction-based PPC program. Payouts with Bidvertiser are based on an advertiser's bid for your ad space, as opposed to things like keyword popularity. This makes it possible for more popular sites to make more money than their unpopular counterparts who use the same keywords. The upside here is that flash, low content or other application-heavy sites that are typically difficult to crawl much easier to monetize.

AdBrite
One of Google's biggest competitors in the field is AdBrite, largely because they accept many sites that Google doesn't, making it the sort of go-to program if you're rejected by AdSense. This PPC and Pay-Per-Impression (PPI) program rakes in over 330 million impressions and operates on approximately 100,000 websites. Members get paid based on how many clicks an ad gets or how many times an ad is viewed. Sites are monetized by AdBrite when the company pulls ads from top brands, keywords, demographics, location and over visitor targeting metrics. It's also free to sign up.

7Search
7Search, though smaller in their reach than Google, has one of, if not the, highest ROI measures in the industry based on their high quality search traffic sources. They provide solid analysis, such as letting you see how many searches were done on each of your keywords in the last month and then comparing those numbers to how many clickthroughs you got and where you're ranked. You can then see what happens if you raise or lower your bid. 7Search provides affiliates with multiple opprotunities to for revenue through their affiliate program such as standard and white label search boxes, Pay-Per-Text, an advertiser referral program, AccessoryAds and XML partnerships with other search engines, portals and directories. They also proudly claim to pay affiliates faster than any other ad network, with those who earn just $25 a month receiving their chekcs in the first ten days of the following month. Having operated since 1999 means that 7Search is a tried and tested network for affiliate marketers.

Ad:Dynamo
This PPC program is said to be the "fastest paying ad network." One leg up that they have over Google AdSense is that they show contextual ads. They also launched a mobile advertising platform earlier this year. The program offers an array of features like geo targeting that allows you to target customers in specific locations, dynamic text insertion into text ads and URLs, the ability to configue an ad to only show to the same unique user only a specific number of times and, perhaps most importantly, conversion tracking that lets you follow leads, acquisitions and sales in real-time to evalute the performance of an ad campaign. Though it's a young program (it started in South Africa in 2009 and went global even later than that), Ad:Dynamo is already considered a serious AdSense competitor by many users and reviewers.

Chitika
As a direct competitor to Google AdSense, Chitika is probably the most well known and highly regarded program on this list, and that is largely because of its proven record of success. Many who use both AdSense and Chitika have reported that they see a higher clickthrough rate with Chitika, though this is largely because the ads are product related, so they greatly outperform Google on niche blogs and sites. They have an interesting 1-tier referral program that allows you to earn 10% of the income generated by publishers that you refer. Their site claims that they are the only network that "knows when not to show an ad," which makes for a positive user experience. The compatibility with AdSense has, ironically, been the biggest boost to Chitika, and makes it a great option for those who are already using Google, but would like to add to it with another program.

What other PPC progams do you use? What do you think should be on this list? Let us know in the comments section below.

Super-Charged PPC Ads

Administrator — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 20:00:00 GMT

Running a successful pay-per-click advertising campaign can be a challenge for online retailers. In particular, writing great PPC ads can be a real struggle.

With numerous products that have various benefits and varying price points, advertisers often feel overwhelmed when it comes to writing great ads. In this article, we will outline a strategy for online retailers that will help to improve click-through rates, conversion rates and overall engagement of your PPC ads.

Feature the Product Keyword in Your Ad
One of the most important tactics for a successful PPC ad is highlighting the user’s search query directly in your ad. By displaying the keyword in your ad, it will be more relevant and this will result in a higher click-through rate.

In order to display the right keywords in the right ads, you need to structure your campaign so that each ad group contains a very tightly themed group of keywords. For example, if an ad group contains a few variations of the keyword, “organic pet supplements”, then you can write ad copy that highlights this keyword specifically.

To create tightly themed ad groups, you should follow this rule-of-thumb: Each ad group should contain two to four related keywords (and the appropriate match-type variations). With only two to four keywords per ad group, you can write PPC ads that highlight each of your core terms. In other words, you can highlight one product per ad group.

Highlight Benefits, Not Features
This is a common mistake when writing PPC ads. Many ads contain features and not benefits of their products. Your ads should be audience-centric. How will your product or service make the lives of your audience better or easier? What problem or desire does your product satisfy?

For example, if you sell treadmills, your ad shouldn’t mention the product weight, where it was made or the various running speeds. Most people looking for treadmills want to get healthy, have more energy, lose weight and look better. Those are the most desirable benefits of owning a treadmill. You may want to review your current PPC ads to see if they are featureor benefit-focused.

Close with a Call-to-Action – Urgency
This may seem obvious, but it is also worth saying: Tell people what you want them to do. For online retailers, you can use straightforward action verbs like, “Buy Now!” Or you can use a special offer to motivate people, such as, “Get Free Shipping!” or “Buy 1, Get 1 Free!” Or, if your product requires a demo before someone makes a purchase, you can use, “Get a Demo Now!”

Display Price and Discounts
Displaying prices in your PPC ads can give them a boost. You should test different prices to see what appeals best to your audience. Also, you should try mentioning discounts within your ads. Any specials or sales that are active on your website should certainly be mentioned within your ads.

Utilize SiteLinks
Google AdWords has a very helpful feature called SiteLinks. This feature allows you to display up to four additional text links below your PPC ad. I highly suggest that you take advantage of SiteLinks. With this option, you can write additional texts that display other product benefits — and you can send users to other products or pages within your website.

Expand Your Ad with Product Listings
Product listing ads are a powerful feature within AdWords. With this feature, you can display your products directly within search engine results (SERP) on Google. Unfortunately, we don’t have enough space in this article to go into the details of implementation. But, in a nutshell, open a Google Merchant account; upload a product feed from your website to your Merchant account; link your Merchant account to your Ad- Words account. There is a little more to it than this, but if you login into your Google Merchant account, the help section is very informative.

Claim More SERP Real Estate with Location Extensions
If you have a brick-and-mortar location, or multiple locations, you should take advantage of the Location Extensions feature in Google AdWords. With this feature, you can display your company’s location directly on the SERPs within Google. To implement Location Extensions, you will need to link your Google Places list with your Google AdWords account. Trust me, it’s easy!

Get Longer Headlines (hot tip!)
This is a new feature within Google AdWords. You can display longer headlines that will make your ad stand out, which will increase your click-through rate. All you need to do here is to make sure that Line 1 of your ad ends in punctuation (a period, question mark, etc.) — then when your ad appears in the top-ranked positions, line 1 will be bumped up into your headline, and your headline will be longer and more noticeable.

The PPC ad below works because it is using the following tactics from our list: feature the product keyword directly in the ad; display price (this is covered by the product listing); expand your ad with product listings; and get longer headlines.

The PPC ad below utilizes some other tactics from our list, such as: feature the product keyword directly in the ad; close with a call-to-action; highlight benefits, not features; utilize SiteLinks; and get longer headlines.

By implementing this overall strategy, you will be initiating the following thought pattern when someone reads your PPC ad:

1. This ad seems relevant to my search query (highlight the keyword)
2. This sounds like a product that I can use (highlight benefits)
3. It looks like they have a few interesting products (utilize SiteLinks
and product extensions)
4. Wow, this is a great offer (display a great call-to-action and/or deal)
5. I am going to click and I am going to buy!

You may be thinking that users don’t interact with PPC ads this way. But why not? If your PPC ads are good enough, they will. Now, go super-charge your PPC ads for higher click-through rates and conversion rates.

About the Author: Joseph Kerschbaum has been working in PPC advertising, search engine optimization, conversion optimization and social media marketing for the past five years. He is the co-author of PPC Marketing: An Hour a Day and the client services director at Clix Marketing.

Twitter Search Intrigue and Holiday Selling Tips

Mike Phillips — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 20:00:00 GMT

This week on Website Magazine Radio we address a very interesting Twitter search strategy to get indexed properly, found by Twitter searchers and get more clicks in the process. Also, we offer up several tips for the home stretch of online holiday selling. Get a better ROI using these holiday strategies.

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WM Radio: Discussing PPC, and CPM vs. CPA

Mike Phillips — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 18:54:00 GMT

Pay-per-click marketing is the focus of this episode of Website Magazine Radio, as we talk with specialist Sergio Alvarez, COO of AI Media Group. We talk about the past, present and future of PPC and strategies to help your business profit. Also, we answer our listener question of the week, about the differences between CPM vs. CPA and which option is right for your website.

Listen now, and subcribe to Website Magazine Radio in iTunes!

LISTEN NOW! (Please visit the site to view this media)

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If you would like to have your questions answered on Website Magazine Radio, please send email to editors@websitemagazine.com with "WM Radio" in the subject field.

31 Back-to-School Keyword Targets

Mike Phillips — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 19:30:00 GMT

For most students, summer is in full swing. Going back to school is far from the top of their minds. However, for retailers, online marketers and publishers, back-to-school should be top-of-mind. Take a look at the chart shown here. This is the search volume for "back to school," taken from Google Trends. You will notice that consumers start their back-to-school research (and, therefore shopping) right about now. In fact, from today to mid-August, search volume will triple.

The chart below "Search Volume index" indicates news references across Google. That's also about to spike -- meaning the opportunities to benefit from back-to-school traffic is not limited to retailers but can include bloggers and publishers, too.

Clearly, its time to optimize for for back-to-school traffic and keywords. Below the chart are 31 keyphrases to consider targeting, either for organic rankings or for paid search. These keywords were found using Google's External Keyword Tool and Wonder Wheel. Keep in mind, variations of these keywords and phrases can be used as well -- for example, 'back to school kindergarten supplies,' 'back to school college supplies,' etc.

back to school activities
back to school ideas
back to school supplies
back to school supplies list
back to school supplies sales
back to school supplies college
back to school shopping
back to school shopping tips
back to school shopping list
back to school sales
back to school deals
back to school bargains
back to school checklist
back to school worksheets
back to school crafts
back to school fashion
back to school clothes shopping
back to school tips
back to school resources
back to school lesson plans
back to school trends
back to school coloring
first day of school
school supplies
teacher school supplies
school supplies list
school supplies online
school art supplies
educational supplies
free school supplies
classroom supplies

OneRiot to Monetize Real-Time Web

Mike Phillips — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 14:46:00 GMT

OneRiot, a leader in the real-time search space has released a new product to target advertisements to users of the real-time Web. RiotWise Trending Ads streams advertisements aimed at trending topics in the real-time Web. These ads will appear in applications that target real-time useres - such as Twitter apps, IM clients and mobile applications. The idea is that users of these services are more likely to be interested in trending topics. Therefore, when an ad is served that appeals to the hot topics of the day, users are more likely to click or be open to branding efforts. Application developers will share in the revenue generated from these ads.

RiotWise Trending Ads are available through their API, as well as new Mobile Ad Units. So far, one real-time player, Digsby, is integrating these ads into their IM and Twitter clients. The ads appear as part of the real-time feeds on users' accounts. This is an interesting departure from "traditional" PPC advertising, in that the individual is not targeted. Rather, the collective trends of an Internet population are targeted. At least in this context, a personalized Web is sort of reverse engineered. Instead of attempting to create an individual experience for each user, the "flavor of the week" is targeted - in effect shaping a user's personal experience based on the moods of others. If anything, it points to the fact that as we become more social on the Web, we are arguably becoming more similar than we are different. It's also a signal that, for success on the real-time Web, businesses need to pay attention to trends and meet the needs and desires of a collective conscience. Be nimble - businesses that can adapt quickly have a better chance of branding with real-time consumers.

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Syncing Search Marketing and Inventory

Pete Prestipino — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 16:30:00 GMT

Search marketing platform Kenshoo unveiled RealTime Campaigns today, a feature which links a company's search marketing program directly to their e-commerce or inventory system.

Connecting inventory and marketing clearly offers web enterprises many benefits to improve their overall advertising effectiveness. The Kenshoo system automatically updates dynamic items like promotional text and prices in the ads to reflect the status of inventory, can pause ads for items that are out of stock or unavailable (valuable in improving customer satisfaction), and eases management thanks for larger campaigns (the average size for a RealTime campaign so far is 1.2 million keywords).

Kenshoo is the first vendor in the search management space (that I am aware of) to offer this functionality.

"Select customers have been using RealTime Campaigns with resounding success - on average they are seeing a 40% improvement in ROI. RealTime Campaigns is the pinnacle of online technology solving the issues faced by real world advertisers. We have connected the supply chain and marketing departments like never before to increase the success and effectiveness of our customers marketing programs," said Yoav Izhar-Prato, CEO of Kenshoo.

StatsJunky for PPC Affiliate Marketers

Pete Prestipino — Fri, 22 May 2009 16:50:00 GMT

Affiliate pay-per-click marketers are some of the hardest working Web professionals on the 'Net. That's why when you come across a tool that might just aid that group in terms of lowering the time they spend managing campaigns and earnings, it's good to give it a little nod of approval.

The problem with the overall existing model is that it requires marketers to log into individual networks, export Excel spreadsheets and merge them into one larger document just to get a partial sense of how campaigns are performing. The problem (clearly) is that once you identify poorly performing campaigns, you've already wasted quite a bit of time and effort as that process isn't nearly in real time. Enter a better way.

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StatsJunky is a handy desktop application that tracks affiliate and PPC stats. A few of the noteworthy features of the software include reports on keyword level profit and loss, the ability to integrate with major PPC networks and hundreds of affiliate networks and provides custom income and expense statistics tracking. If that weren't enough, with SJ Mobile, users can view statistics from any Web-enabled phone.

There is a free seven day trial (and daily training Webinars) of the service and you should consider taking them up on that considering the price for all this convenience - for a six month license (with three bonus months) - is currently offered at $414. That will save you 40% but if you're really sold after the initial seven day trial you could save up to 60% - one time payment of $708 will get you a one-year license (plus six bonus months). This is really a drop in the bucket.

There is an alternative to StatsJunky. AffMeter, a service covered by Website Magazine back in October of 2008, provides much of the same functionality at a fraction of the cost (14.95/mo.).

Click-fraud Declines in Q1 2009

Pete Prestipino — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 16:24:00 GMT

Click Forensics released PPC fraud figures from the first quarter 2009 last week. There is good news for PPC advertisers.

The overall industry average click fraud rate was 13.8 percent for Q1 2009. That’s down from 17.1 percent reported for Q4 2008 and from the 16.3 percent rate reported for Q1 2008. In Q1 2009, the greatest percentage of click fraud originating from countries outside the U.S. came from Canada, United Kingdom and Germany. Tom Cuthbert, president of ClickForensics, attributes the drop to the decrease in keyword CPCs and the progress Yahoo! and Google have made blocking click fraud from botnet sources.

“It appears that the drop in keyword Cost Per Clicks (CPCs) and the progress Yahoo! and Google made blocking click fraud from botnet sources contributed to the decline in the overall click fraud rate this quarter,” said Tom Cuthbert, president of Click Forensics. “However, we also saw an increase in scripted attacks aimed at ad networks, which are historically more vulnerable to such threats. Advertisers should pay close attention to traffic from these sources over the next year.”

Google Reorganizes SERP Sitelinks: What You Need to Know

Mike Phillips — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 18:20:00 GMT

Google has been displaying site links - the linked words below a main search result that leads to internal pages of that website - for some time now. But there has been a restructuring. Now, instead of the stacked appearance of several links, in several columns, more sitelinks are being seen on one line, just four across at the bottom of the result. As such, you can expect to see more results on the results page, as there will be more room. But the ramifications don't stop there.

For advertisers, it's possible that paid links will become more prominent in the eyes of users. When sitelinks are stacked, it could be argued that attention is drawn to the larger real estate that the result inhabits, thus garnering more attention - and clicks - away from smaller paid ads. The larger sitelink sections might even be confused with ads themselves, as they simply look different than regular results. So, one could theoretically see a rise in clicks on PPC search ads, which could result in a more competitive landscape, or more opportunities for advertisers.

It also means that as a site owner, you need to pay close attention to how your sitelinks are being displayed within search results. In the past, one would see upwards of eight sitelinks, where now there seem to be no more than four. That means the choices for users are fewer, and so is your opportunity to capture a Web surfer. While there are no official guidelines or rules as to how Google displays sitelinks, some correlations can be found. Anchor text, page navigation, meta tags, even ALT tag text have been rumored and seen to show up in sitelinks. This means that internal navigation is a key element to how (and whether) sitelinks show up in your search results. Like most things Google, we don't know for sure, but it is a reminder to optimize these elements of your website.

For now, it appears that the change is not sweeping - some results still show the older version of sitelinks and some results are using the new system. Google will continue to test and tweak, so keep a close eye out for developments.

Yahoo! Gains Ground in Search Advertising

Mike Phillips — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 17:27:00 GMT

AdGooroo has released their Search Engine Advertising Update for Q1, and the findings are positive for Yahoo! The report finds that Yahoo! is gaining some ground in the paid advertising marketplace. According to the report, Yahoo! saw a 10 percent increase in active first-page advertisers over the first three months of 2009. The increase appears to come mostly at the expense of Live Search which, in February 2009, saw a whopping 30 percent drop in first-page advertisers. It also suggests that Yahoo! is back in the game, and perhaps it's time to shift some ad spend to the perennial runner-up in the search engine races.

Some other notable findings include:

Yahoo! leads the way with the average number of ads per keyword (US only) - 6.05 as of March 2009. Google is next with 5.44 and MSN is third with 3.92.
Ad results are boom-or-bust. About 42 percent of Google keywords contain no ads, while 15 percent have ten or more ads. Only 18 percent of Yahoo! keywords displayed no ads.
Since December 2008, Yahoo! has gained 6.5 percent in market share of all advertisers, while Google has lost 0.9 percent and MSN lost 4 percent (US and international).

The findings also see the travel industry stepping up its advertising, as is normal for this time of year, and a big increase in spending from BankOfAmerica and car resellers.

The full report is offered with site registration.

Five Pure-Play PPC Search Engines to Try

Pete Prestipino — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 14:14:00 GMT

When pay-per-click (PPC) advertising came on the scene nearly 10 years ago, it changed how companies promoted their products and services for the better. PPC remains one of the default ways to generate traffic, but many advertisers ( to their own detriment) routinely limit their promotions to the big three; Google Adwords, Yahoo! Search Marketing and Microsoft AdCenter. Savvy advertisers understand that the inherent value proposition is not in clicks, but in return on advertising spend. Let’s look at five pure-play search engines and why you should add them to your paid search engine advertising mix.

First let’s explore why so many Internet marketers shy away from these networks.

One of the most pervasive and damaging misconceptions about most ad network providers is that traffic alone (number of clicks) is the best sign of value. That's a mistake. Just because a network like AdWords is sending lots of traffic, that doesn't mean it's the best quality. However, advertisers should focus on other very important issues concerning second-tier, pure-play PPC search engines before funding any account.

Conversion rates will vary (just as they do with Google and Yahoo!) as the traffic from partner sources are different for each network and vary based on time of day. Investing in a longer term campaign will provide a consistent view into how the individual network performs over the long term - not just on one day.
PPC networks often specialize in topical areas, not all areas (as do larger networks). That’s not limiting however, it’s actually quite a refreshing change. Much like you would make a media buy on a high profile site, PPC networks like those mentioned below should be treated in the same way – as one providing you with an opportunity to get in front of the network's partners (the network may never in fact ever be seen as most are just middlemen providing a valuable service to both publishers and advertisers).
The cost per action and return on ad spend, not total spend or total traffic, should be the reason to engage in second tier PPC advertising. Advertisers routinely look at their total number of sales or the total amount of traffic sent from networks to determine quality. What advertisers should be doing is engaging in granular measurement of their return on total advertising spend. There is no other way to know for certain which network provides the best ROI unless you look at campaigns in this manner.

Where Does Second-Tier PPC Search Traffic Come From?
Another very important question advertisers have about second-tier search engines is where these advertising networks get the traffic they send to the advertisers. The answer in short is... their partners including other search engines, niche content portals or individual Web publishers that integrate advertisers from the network into their own sites (through contextual advertising for example) or their own search result listings. It is important to note that this practice is completely standard in the online advertising industry.

Selecting just five pure-play pay-per-click advertising networks is like choosing a favorite child - impossible, but you wouldn't want to even if you could. In addition, the summations of the networks themselves are intentionally brief. Each of these networks is more robust than can be expressed in just a few words.

Let's look at five of the top pure-play PPC search engines now though, their unique value propositions and the traffic they receive to their individual sites (data from Compete.com). If you would like to add the pure-play PPC advertising engine you use to this list, simply sign in and comment below. Again, it's exceedingly important to remember that most of the "clicks" these networks generate come from their partners and not from the actual sites themselves - measuring them in this way is a disservice to them and to the advertiser paying for the clicks.

7Search: One of the original second-tier PPC search engines, 7Search specializes in serving website owners of “low profit margin” categories of business. Features of the service include fraud detection, geo-targeting, keyword suggestion, campaign conversion tracking, custom per-keyword listing modifications, email outbid notifications, direct navigation advertising and quite a bit more. Often referred to as the "little engine that could," 7Search is known in SEM circles as providing a medium traffic volume but of high quality (the majority of which comes from natural listings on popular search engines).

ABCsearch.com: Part of the Internext Media Corp, ABCSearch is another provider using the classic pay-per-click advertising model. The network features geo-targeting (available for the US and Canada, as well as local markets), a proprietary click fraud solution in ClickShield, flexible bidding and many other features standard in second-tier providers such as auto-rebilling. The company's focus seems to be on distribution, featuring network partners such as Search123 and its own Scour property, publishers networks such as Bravenet Media, and direct navigation.

Findology: Founded in 2000, Findology Interactive Media is one network that many advertisers have tried at one time or another. The company's Pay-Per-Click Search network offers a minimum deposit of $25 with a minimum bid of $0.03, real-time click fraud prevention and some decent traffic reporting tools. Findology also has a contextual advertising program where bids start at one cent, offers URL/Keyword and category targeting, geo-targeting and a bidding auction model.

Marchex: Local search and advertising company Marchex is known for making waves. The company purchased over 170,000 domain names for use in its OpenList local search platform. The ad solution provides advertisers with the ability to geo-target specific areas and topics of interest. A pure-play PPC search engine, Marchex has an impressive list of distribution partners including TheMotleyFool and RealtyTrac, advertising resellers such as YellowPages.com and agencies.

Miva: Pay-for-performance provider Miva (formerly Findwhat) is known as much for its PPC service as it is for its e-commerce shopping cart solutions. Miva has been around in some iteration or another for many years and actually has two pay-per-click networks, the Core network features the company's standard bid-for-position technology, and the new Miva Precision Network enables advertisers to concentrate on specific business verticals. Miva has several interesting features including AdAnalyzer, to track the actual ROI on advertising investments.

Are you ready to try the second tier of PPC?
Should you opt to use second-tier pure-play ad networks such as 7Search, Miva, Marchex, Findology, ABCsearch or others, know at the outset that you will need a decent sample to determine statistical validity. That means you will probably be disappointed if you only fund your account with the minimum and expect big things to happen - much like any first tier engine. The best course of action is to leverage the keywords, titles and descriptions from existing campaigns and make modifications for each individual ad network that you add to your marketing mix.

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Cyber Monday? Think "Cyber December"

Mike Phillips — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 16:59:00 GMT

Cyber Monday brings Web surfers out in droves. They are looking for good deals on items on their lists, and products they don't even know they want yet. As such, it's important to be prepared, to strategize and make sure you get the biggest bang out of your marketing budget - not just for Monday, but also the coming weeks.

The National Retail Federation expects nearly 60% of workers to shop over their lunch hour on Monday. As a retailer, that means you should set your PPC bids at the highest your budget allows during these hours, then scale them back in the afternoon. Of course, if you're a local retailer, take time zones into consideration.

Naturally, traffic spikes for most online retailers on Cyber Monday. Look at the chart below from Compete.com and you'll see this holds true for some of the Web's most heavily trafficked retailers. That means you need to make sure your site is ready for the influx.

However, Cyber Monday is not the biggest online purchasing day of the year. That day occurs somewhere in the middle of December. Data from comScore illustrates this point, as does a study from the International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs. Their annual study shows that only 11% of consumers say they have 50% or more of their gift buying done already. That is down from 15% last year, and 25% from 2004. In essence, consumers are procrastinating and that means they will be shopping feverishly as December draws to an end.

For retailers, this means that your budget should follow these trends - you want to garner the initial traffic surge, but also make sure you have enough left in your budget for when it really counts. Increase bids on Cyber Monday, scale back that week and start increasing them again towards mid-December. And get creative. Consider promotions or email blasts touting "last-minute" gift ideas, savings and shipping options and discounts.

Miva Launches New Platform

Pete Prestipino — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 13:35:00 GMT

Digital advertising network MIVA, formerly Findwhat, announced the launch of a new online ad platform intended to replace the company's PPC system in the US and EU.

Expect the new platform to include additional online advertising and marketing formats for advertisers and additional opportunities for publishers to monetize their content.

"As the online advertising market continues to mature, the needs of advertisers and publishers are also evolving. MIVA's new platform is intended to address these needs through completely updated technology that we believe will provide a significantly enhanced set of features and online marketing options for advertisers and publishers," commented S. Brian Mukherjee, SVP and Group Managing Director, MIVA Media.

SEM Certification with Market Motive

Mike Phillips — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 13:57:00 GMT

If you're unfamiliar with Market Motive, they provide a bevy of online classes to help Web businesses train staff on the intricacies of Internet business. Now they offer a certification program in SEM, with two levels.

The Practitioner track is for your marketing staff and covers the basics of search marketing. The Master Consultant track subjects the student to "stringent testing and a peer review by the Internet Marketing Dream Team." The cost is much higher, but so is the depth of coverage.

The certification program is conducted through video classes, live webinars and workshops and Q&A sessions with the staff. And the staff is the most attractive part of the course. It's a Who's Who in the Internet Marketing world including Bryan Eisenberg (New York Times best selling author), Greg Jarboe & Jamie O'Donnell, Dr. Alan Rimm-Kaufman, Matt Bailey, Avinash Kaushik & John Marshall, Todd Malicoat, Tim Ash and more. With this talented staff, it sounds like a pretty good alternative to outsourcing your SEM needs.

Courses start at $299 and cover SEO, Web Analytics, PPC, Social Media Practices, Online Publicity and Conversion & Landing Page Optimization.