Since 2003 I’ve been blogging on SEM, and for most of that time I’ve tracked queries that lead people to my blog. In addition to learning that offhand references to Michael Jackson songs can lead to tons of unwanted traffic, I’ve learned a great deal about what SEM buyers are looking for. In this … Read more »

• Chris Zaharias
• 0 responses
•  Search Engine Marketing

Omniture’s industry experts will be traveling the world in October and November helping advertisers run better search engine marketing campaigns and increase site conversion through more effective landing page optimization.
We are calling the series “Improving Conversion Through Relevance” and we will focus both on how to decrease your search engine marketing costs and how to … Read more »

• Bill Mungovan
• 0 responses
•  Search Engine Marketing

One of the most interesting developments in the Internet space is…
…something that hasn’t happened.
Despite 10+ years of constant growth in online marketing and e-commerce, no overall platforms have emerged to serve the needs companies have in the key areas of web analytics, campaign management, conversion optimization and associated enterprise integration.
There are a number of reasons … Read more »

• Chris Zaharias
• 1 response
•  Online Marketing, Search Engine Marketing

There are two ominous trends developing in Search Marketing right now.
Trend 1: Prices Are Rising
On the one hand, there’s a longer term macro-trend where more dollars are flowing online which is pushing up CPC prices. You can see this first in the growth of online ad spending (from a recent Jupiter study):

And secondly in the … Read more »

• Bill Mungovan
• 0 responses
•  Search Engine Marketing

My family and I recently visited a well known beach boardwalk on the west coast. While walking the boardwalk, tempted by carnival games, funnel cakes and cotton candy, there was one carnival game that caught my eye. The game was simple: throw a dart at a wall covered in little star targets, land the dart … Read more »

• Jordan LeBaron
• 2 responses
•  SEO, Search Engine Marketing, Testing and Targeting

There’s a great piece in the recent Business Week about an up and coming way to sell display ads. “Yahoo! Counting On Apex” describes how a search engine marketing-esque auction environment may save the beleaguered Yahoo! by increasing the amount of revenue they extract from their vast quantities of display ad inventory. If they can … Read more »

• Bill Mungovan
• 1 response
•  Search Engine Marketing

It has long been a given that search advertising converts at a higher rate than display advertising. Search is essentially the only form of advertising where a consumer actually asks to be shown an ad. Display functions much more like traditional media where you don’t really want to see an ad but you’ll endure one … Read more »

• Bill Mungovan
• 1 response
•  Search Engine Marketing

One of the more interesting concepts presented at last week’s SES show in San Jose detailed the use of predictive revenue modeling for SEO and paid search. A former colleague of mine, Dave Roth of Yahoo!, runs search programs on behalf of Yahoo!’s properties. He discussed their use of predictive data models … Read more »

• Bill Mungovan
• 1 response
•  SEO, Search Engine Marketing

As I left yesterday’s SES session, “Measuring Success in a 2.0 World,” it seemed to me that the speakers were sending a wake-up call to marketers, encouraging them — now that Web 2.0 is changing how content travels on the Internet — to ask the right questions when it comes to measuring campaigns. Content reaches … Read more »

• Jordan LeBaron
• 0 responses
•  SEO, Search Engine Marketing

“Oh I’ve heard of Omniture. You guys do Web analytics, right?” Some would add, “I thought you loved Search. Why the change?”
I heard some variation of this every time I told people I was leaving the ad agency life for Omniture. The truth is Omniture’s SearchCenter product has one of the most compelling approaches to … Read more »

• Bill Mungovan
• 0 responses
•  Search Engine Marketing