This Week’s Industry News
Compiled By Rocket Clicks Staff
Surprise! Google Dominates The Online Ad Space
Google is one step closer to Skynet-like domination, as a recent ZenithOptimedia report has determined the search engine monolith is in control of 44% of the world’s online ad revenue. It’s not that surprising, but the number itself is fairly shocking.
Another interesting nugget in this report is the motive behind Google’s foray into TV/cable alternatives. Online ad revenue is only responsible for 16% of total global ad spending. However, TV controls 40.2% of all advertising, hence Google’s focus on building out YouTube channels.
Source: Search Engine Land
New Google Markup Helps Spider Read Multilingual Content
Under the “rel=alternate” hrefland-x” link element tag, any multilingual website you run can now communicate its message more effectively to Google’s crawl spiders. This should help websites that use similar content across multiple language-based sites to guide Google to the intended target page when a relevant query comes in. Speculation around this new tag centers on the belief that Google often sees translated content as duplicate content.
Source: Google Webmaster Central Blog
German Search Engine Specialized In Peer-To-Peer Connections
YaCy is a German search engine hoping to replicate Google’s indexing power by way of peer-to-peer information sharing. When someone downloads YaCy (“ya see,” get it?), their actions across the web are considered a decentralized way of indexing. However, none of a user’s personal information is saved, and the sites they visit are simply added to the index on an anonymous basis.
Source: Search Engine Watch
YouTube Gets A Major Makeover Just In Time For The Box Social
We’ll mostly let the actual visuals speak for themselves, but YouTube has undergone a severe re-design. The world’s most popular video sharing website now features an emphasis on its growing channels lineup, customizable menu displays, a completely and new homepage.
Source: Search Engine Watch
Slingshot SEO Conducts Google/Bing Clickthrough Rate Comparison Study
A recent study from Slingshot SEO has unearthed some tangible comparison data on Bing and Google. Compiled in the form of a very aesthetically pleasing infographic, the company found that click-through rates on Google’s first page of results are typically double those of Bing (Google’s top spot: 18.2% CTR, Bing’s top spot: 9.7% CTR).
They also provide a head-to-head comparison of each search engine’s main ranking factors (Bing apparently isn’t too concerned about page loading time), user demographics (Google: 55% men, 45% women; Bing: 42% men, 58% women), and search engine queries on competitors (177 million Bing searches for “Google,” 4 million Google searches for “Bing”).
Source: Slingshot SEO
Facebook Subscribe Plugin Unveiled For Websites
Facebook’s subscribe website plugin has been officially released into the wild, and now works for both profiles and pages. It had previously been available on your Facebook homepage for certain profiles, but with the simple addition of an XFBML or iframe code, the subscribe feature will be displayed on an actual site.
Source: All Facebook
Google Now Graphs Your Complex Equations
Typing any complex or simple mathematical equation into Google’s search bar now yields a smooth graph of that function. It basically turns Google into an online graphing calculator, and anyone that geeks out on math or algorithmic technology is guaranteed to appreciate this. The rest of us not so proficient in signs and cosigns are kicking ourselves for paying $100 for that TI 93 in high school.
Source: Search Engine Land
Baidu Sinks Big Money Into Training SEOs, Developing Online Presence Of Chinese Small Businesses
China’s top search engine, Baidu, is investing around $470 million into beefing up the online marketing world in China. A portion of that money will go towards training up to 100,000 professionals in the ways of search marketing, while the rest will be used to help small businesses build up their presence online (similar to Google’s Get Your Business Online initiative).
Source: Search Engine Land
Facebook Gets Back In The Conversion Game
Like Bon Jovi rising from the depths of the hair band underworld, Facebook conversion tracking has made its way back to useful relevance. Facebook has re-rolled out the feature to select advertisers, and unlike other conversion tracking programs, Facebook actually controls and inserts the pixel on each desired page.
Source: Tech Crunch
Marin Software, BoostCTR Form Ad Optimization Partnership
Marin Software and BoostCTR are partnering together to integrate ad copy optimization into the Marin interface. BoostCTR specializes in ad copywriting at volumes not possible in a standard company or agency. By offering optimized ad copy on a large scale through Marin, both companies hope to help clients increase click-through rates, ad split testing, and of course, sales.
Source: Search Engine Watch
Goo.gl Is Being Used For Evil!
Google’s popular URL shortener, goo.gl, has become a primary catalyst in a recent string of quick hit malware attacks. Hidden in a goo.gl link, the malware comes dressed as a warning that a direct deposit attempt had failed, and clicking the link would send the user to a site that would help them reclaim that money.
The real link actually redirects users to a site that exploits weaknesses in Flash and Java. This recent wave of malware virus infections highlights the increasing use of link shortening programs in cyber criminal activities.
Source: Search Engine Watch
Which Converts Higher: “Happy Holidays” Or “Merry Christmas?”
There has been an ongoing debate over whether “Merry Christmas” or Happy Holidays is the most-used used holiday greeting in the United States. A simple conversion rate test proved one thing: People are twice as likely to click on an ad that includes “Merry Christmas” rather than “Happy Holidays.”
Source: Conversion Voodoo
For $5, Amazon Wants You To Go In, Walk Out Of Stores With No Purchase
Are you willing to save $5 on Amazon to walk into a store, use their mobile app to compare product prices, and then walk out empty-handed? If so, the online retail giant would love for you to join in their experiment, stating this Saturday. Amazon’s goal in this initiative is to increase usage of their barcode scanning app.
Source: All Things D
Twitter Re-Designs Itself, Apparently Loves Alt Symbols
Twitter has put its user’s personal habits at the forefront of its most recent re-design, which incorporates the @ and # symbols into its options menu. Visuals speak louder than words in these situations, so here’s a screen shot of the impending site-wide re-design:
Source: TechCrunch
Video Ads Got More Popular This Year
According to a report by Free Wheel, video ad views jumped in growth by 128% in 2011. Coupled with the fact that the length of these ads and their increased immersion into online media, this is an encouraging development for advertisers looking to experiment with video advertisements.
Source: Search Engine Watch
Gmail And Google+ Forge A Partnership
Google+ now allows you to grow your Circles from Gmail contacts. If you receive an email from someone in one of your Circles, their most recent activity on the social network will also be displayed at the right-hand side of the email. They now offer a few other features as well, including automatic contact updates, and social sharing right from your Gmail inbox.
Source: Official Gmail Blog
Xbox 360 Gets Binged Up With Voice Remote Controlling
If you’re an Xbox lover, and you happen to use Kinect, Microsoft is about to make Bing a bigger part of your online gaming experience. Bing voice search through Kinect, as well as Bing search technology, has been added to Xbox Live with the intent of creating an easier web browsing experience for users. For example, a voice search for “Batman” would retrieve “Batman & Robin” from Netflix, “Batman: The Animated Series” from Hulu, and “Batman: Arkham City” from the Xbox game store.
Source: Search Engine Land
Notable Commentary
To Double Your Brain’s Conversion Rate
How Google Chrome Eclipsed Mozilla Firefox In Usage
Garry Przyklenk explains why people are leaving Internet Explorer and Firefox in favor of Google Chrome, which is now considered the fastest growing browser in the world. He lays out the primary user-centric reasons why people would make the switch, including a personal conversion story.
Analysis By: Garry Przyklenk, Serach Engine Watch
A Classic Unbounce Guide To A/B Testing
Unbounce has a strong history of providing comprehensive guides for all facets of online marketing. Their most recent compilation focuses on A/B and multivariate testing, of which they provide links to 45 awesome, useful posts on the topics.
Analysis By: Kristi Hines, Unbounce
INFOGRAPHIC: Daily Deals Are Great For Customers, Not So Much For Businesses
A new Search Engine Land infographic details the rapid rise of daily deal websites ($4.2 billion projected consumer spending by 2015), consumer trends (62% of purchases are made by infrequent customers), and some negative consequences felt by the businesses offering a deal (82% unsatisfied with repeat business after running a Groupon).
None of this data should be that surprising, as Groupon and its ilk have been the subject of controversy for some time now, but it’s interesting to see the numbers manifested in a visual form.
Analysis By: Search Engine Land Infographics
You Have 10 BizDev Link Building Questions, Eric Ward Has 10 Answers
Eric Ward’s authority as a link builder can be summed up by the mention of one name: Jeff Bezos. Ward was nice enough to stop by Search Engine Watch and answer a few hot topic questions about the past, current, and future trends in link building, and how to utilize those techniques to achieve maximum ROI.
Analysis By: Garrett French, Search Engine Watch
On The 21st Day Of Christmas, Social Content Gave To Me…
Jordan Kasteler at Search Engine Land offers 21 varieties of social content that can help boost an SEO profile, and explains how to utilize each to their fullest capabilities. He also provides helpful, real-world examples that illustrate the concepts in action.
Analysis By: Jordan Kasteler, Search Engine Land
Improve Your Efficiency Working From Home
One of the unique things about the Internet marketing industry is that its workplace can be extremely mobile. As long as you have a solid Internet connection and a good computer, you can pretty much do whatever you have to do in a coffee shop or at home. Search Engine Journal has a two-part series on how to work from home more effectively, offering tips that help you to get things done in much less time and with fewer distractions.
Analysis By: Tim Biden, Search Engine Journal
Need Some Quick On-Site SEO Analysis? Turn To This Bookmarklet
Troy Meyer has developed a bookmarklet that rapidly provides on-page SEO analysis when you really need it. He also provides a step-by-step guide for setting it up and utilizing its best features.
Analysis By: Troy Meyer, SEOmoz
Facebook Reveals Top Shared Articles in 2011
The New York Times, CNN, and Yahoo dominate Facebook’s top 40 list of the most shared articles over the past year. The stories range from actual news (Japanese tsunami, giant Filipino crocodile) to fluff (zodiac signs, parents hiding a child’s gender). If you’ve followed our “best of 2011” shares over the past couple weeks, you’re probably in agreement that this is much more encouraging that reading into the top Google searches of the year.
Analysis By: Miranda Miller, Search Engine Watch
Ask.com Still Exists, And It Released Its Top Questions From 2011
“Was Kim Kardashian’s wedding fake?”
“What happened to Charlie Sheen’s teeth?”
“What caused Hurricane Irene?”
“Is Michele Bachmann crazy?”
These are just four of the most popular and funny questions (by category) asked on Ask.com in the year 2011. They provide a list, as well as 2012 predictions, that offers some other fairly amusing inquiries from its users.
Analysis By: Miranda Miller, Search Engine Watch
Remarketing Advice For The Holidays
Many a column has been written offering techniques for luring the massive school of customers swimming in the online holiday shopping sea. Brad Geddes gives his take on remarketing during the holidays, and how to break some trends that will increase the effectiveness of your ad campaigns.
Analysis By: Brad Geddes, Search Engine Land
The Top 10 Worst Ad Decisions Of 2011
As 2011 nears its inevitable end, media publications and websites are counting down the year’s best (and worst) happenings in everything from news to sports to entertainment. At iMedia Connection, they’ve compiled a top 10 list of 2011’s biggest advertisement backfires, and how those companies have responded to the controversies.
Analysis By: Tricia Despres, iMedia Connection
