Still More Not-So-Natural-Born Google Killers

by Aaron Goldman, VP Marketing & Strategic Partnerships
Appeared in MediaPost’s Search Insider

My kill count is reaching Jack Bauer status. I started by slaying four would-be Google killers. Then I targeted three more contenders before crowning just one. Today, I’ll crush even more potential killers than that. Unlike other pundits who consider emerging search engines to be challengers to the Google throne, my focus is on companies, individuals, and institutions that stand in the way of Google reigning supreme in the $500 global advertising universe — and in case you couldn’t tell, I don’t think any search engine is going to do that.

Read the whole column...

Search is Not Just a Direct Response Vehicle!

By Aaron Goldman, VP, Marketing & Strategic Partnerships

Starcom MediaVest Group recently created a unit called SMG Performance Marketing to house its search, directory and direct groups. In reading ClickZ’s coverage of this news, one quote jumped out at me.

“In the past you might bring a search capability or a directory marketing capability to play [for a client],’ said Mullahy. Performance-based media planning, with its focus on lead generation and sales, ‘demands an integrated look across all forms of media in all different channels,’ she added.”

Now I have lots of friends over at SMG Search and SMG Directory and I know some of the leadership there so I can attest that these are smart folks with good intentions. That said, I don’t understand why they are lumping search into a performance division.

As I emphasized in my rant last week on Google’s toggling back and forth between promoting itself as a brand marketing and direct response solution, search does more than drive “lead generation and sales.” It is certainly the best performing DR channel available to marketers today but ignoring the impact of search on brand awareness and consideration metrics is leaving money on the table.

We recently completed a study with Microsoft that proved that mere exposure to search listings -- no click, no on-site actions, just the impression -- provides a significant lift (10+ points) across 6 key metrics:

• Unaided Brand Awareness
• Ad Recall
• Brand Favorability
• Positive Attitudes (towards the brand)
• Purchase Intent
• Likelihood of Recommendation

News flash: people who are searching are not always ready to buy immediately. But search can still be effective in engaging consumers and moving them down the purchase funnel. Treating search solely as a DR channel and silo’ing the folks who manage it into a DR group makes it impossible to capture the full opportunity.

Google: We’re All About Branding -- No Wait, We’re DR!

I couldn’t wipe the wry smile off my face after reading AdAge’s interview with Google’s “Chief Economist” Hal Varian last week.

In the context of “Why Google Really Is Recession Proof,” Varian espoused the virtues of Google being a direct marketing company. Per Varian, brand advertising is more “pro-cyclical” and “when the economy goes down, it goes down.” Direct marketing, however, is “definitely not pro-cyclical… direct marketing is a staple.”

I just love how the Google chameleon changes colors as needed to adapt to the marketplace. I remember not too long ago that Google was hyping itself as the greatest thing for brand advertisers since, er… tattoo ads? And, as John Battle pointed out, Google’s even buying the keyword “brand advertising.”

Now I’m not going to get too deep into the whole Brand vs. Direct Response discussion. The truth is Google, and search marketing at large, lies somewhere in the middle of the Brand/DR continuum. There are times (and strategies) that search is a great at driving brand awareness and times (and strategies) where it’s great for DR.

As I discussed in my Recession Schmecession post, it doesn’t matter whether Google’s ad platform is geared towards brand advertisers or direct marketers. What matters is that during a recession people search more as they try and stretch each dollar. For that reason, Google will continue to grow despite overall marketing budgets being cut.

Whether or not marketers spend money to reach people when they just start their research (i.e. head terms used for awareness) or when they are ready to buy (i.e. brand or tail terms used for direct response), when times are tough, search marketing is still a better, more accountable use of a marketing dollar than TV, radio, or print. And that’s why Google investors should not fear a recession; not because Google is or isn’t a direct marketing company.

Posted by: Aaron Goldman, VP Marketing & Strategic Partnerships

Even More Not-So-Natural-Born Google Killers

by Aaron Goldman
Appeared in MediaPost’s Search Insider

Let’s turn our focus to three more potential Google killers and see if they have what it takes to derail the Big G. Again, my focus here is not on newfangled search engines. Google’s global search share isn’t in jeopardy nor is its search ad revenue — despite what comScore might say next. Rather, the true Google killers are companies, individuals, and institutions that stand in the way of Google and the $500 billion pot of gold at the end of the global ad rainbow.
Read the whole column…

Teaching Young Pups New Tricks

Last month, I posted a rant lamenting the state of digital marketing education in today’s colleges and universities. With “real-world” experience so hard to come by in an infant industry, it’s crucial that “higher education” begin to churn out candidates that can step right into our crazy little search world.

In my post, I observed how few institutions had built out coursework specific to interactive marketing so I was pleasantly surprised to read AdAge’s recent coverage of The Country’s Top Five Digital Media and Marketing Schools.

Apparently VCU, NYU, Art College Center of Design (ACCD?) in Pasadena, UT- Austin and the Miami Ad School all have pretty robust digital marketing curricula. To hear AdAge tell it, these schools marry cutting-edge technology with practitioners boasting true field experience, culminating in digital education nirvana.

Admittedly, I don’t know much about these programs nor do I know anyone who’s come through them but AdAge rattles off some big names in the biz that are either lending their time to the schools or have come up through the ranks, so something must be cooking on these campuses.

Unfortunately, I think the drop-off between the top five and the next hundred is pretty steep. I’d love to hear more about other schools with blossoming digital marketing programs so, if you’re aware of any, please drop a comment.

Closer to home for me, I know DePaul University has a strong e-business masters program and Northwestern University’s Integrated Marketing Communications track is one-of-a-kind. Additionally, IIT has a masters course on “Communications Strategies in a Digital Environment” (taught by one of the savviest online marketing pro’s in the city) and I just got word that the University of Chicago plans to offer a class in the fall on… gasp, Search.

Hopefully this is a sign of real momentum in the collegiate ranks and, someday in the not-too-distant future, we’ll be able to spend less time getting entry-level employees up to speed and more time on client-billable work.

Posted by: Aaron Goldman, VP Marketing & Strategic Partnerships

Recession Shmecession!

Last week Google reported Q1 earnings that surpassed analysts’ expectations sending the stock soaring 20% in the largest one-day gain since its IPO.

Many industry pundits had speculated that Google would report less-than-stellar results after comScore indicated that paid search clicks were down year-over-year, sparking fears that a recession was hurting performance.

As I mentioned in a previous blog post, a recession is unlikely to cause people to click less on ads -- maybe buy less, but not click less -- especially once they’ve already initiated a query. Furthermore, I observed that the decrease in paid clicks was likely due to continued rollout of Universal SERPs.

I recently came across a Forbes article from last month that does a good job articulating the impact a recession will have (is having?) on search.

“In good times, when consumers feel cash-rich and time-poor, they can afford to be less diligent about their spending. But as economic pressures mount, sentiment changes. People feel cash-poor and are more willing to invest time and effort in getting the best deal.

What sets the current recession apart is that, for the first time, consumers have a tool that empowers them to subject everyday buying decisions to the kind of scrutiny formerly reserved for big-ticket items and large business-to-business transactions.”

In other words, in recessionary times, people are more prone to search and click as they research ways to best spend their limited discretionary funds.

Google’s Q1 results certainly reflect this trend. In the earnings call, CFO George Reyes reported paid clicks were up 20% year-over-year and 4% quarter-over-quarter -- which is particularly impressive given that Q4 typically spikes for holiday shopping.

Bottom line? It’s clear that search is indeed impacted by macroeconomic factors -- perhaps, just not in the negative way that everyone thought.

Posted by: Aaron Goldman, VP Marketing & Strategic Partnerships

SEO Is So Easy A Baby Could Do It

2 weeks ago I was blessed with the arrival of my first child, Eliara Lily.

About 10 months ago I bought the domain EliaraGoldman.com for Ellie to use as a cyber-diary of sorts (yes, my first instinct after we got the positive pregnancy test was to run out and create a website for my unborn child).

Today, I am proud to say that my baby girl has achieved the #1 rank on Google for the keyword “Eliara Goldman” and #5 (still above the fold) for the term “Eliara.”

So what did little Ellie do to leapfrog to the top of the index?

5 easy steps (dare I say “baby steps?”):
1. Bought a Good URL that was keyword-rich
2. Created keyword-dense content
3. Used keywords in alt tags
4. Generated backlinks using targeted keywords in the anchor text
5. Created a keyword-rich page title and meta description

Now I won’t pretend that SEO for all websites is this easy (after all, as far as I know, there’s only 1 Eliara Goldman in the world) but it does go to show that, with some basic planning, strong natural rankings are within a (baby’s) arms’ reach.

Posted by: Aaron Goldman, VP Marketing & Strategic Partnerships

The Slowdown is Universal

Last month, I submitted back-to-back posts arguing against the widespread notion that a reduction in PPC clicks on Google was tied to our current economic “slowdown” -- or whatever Dubya is calling it these days.

Last week, news came out of SES New York reaffirming my take that the root of all this non-clicking may be as simple as the continued rollout of Universal Search.

Here’s an excerpt from Top Rank Online Marketing’s coverage of the SES panel in which comScore released new data on consumption of Universal Search results pages.

“Overall when reviewing universal search results, the study found less clicks from the consumer because the information they were searching for is now appearing directly on the results page such as maps, stock quotes and weather.

According to James, the two major implications of universal search include:
1. Organic search will become increasingly critical
- search result pages becoming the destination
- technology and content supercede marketing spend
- inherent ‘view thru’ value will challenge measurement

2. Paid search will become more competitive
- fewer paid click options on fewer pages
- consumer in control, not marketers
- conversion rates should increase”

Clearly, the SERP is no longer the bridge to 3rd party sites it once was and eyes are being drawn to the images and other advanced results. In my opinion, the best way for Google and others to combat this is to create advanced PPC listings, incorporating images and some of the same functionality of the fancy new natural results.

Google is apparently headed down this path, testing video ads in PPC listings. And with the DoubleClick acquisition now in the books, it has the platform to roll out display ads on SERPs -- something I’ve been predicting for a while.

Meanwhile, Yahoo recently introduced a plug-in for companies to create their own expanded natural search listings. I think it’s only a matter of time before it migrates this platform into the sponsored listing environment -- or at least blow out its paid inclusion product accordingly.

Regardless of what -- and how quickly -- innovation takes place in PPC, it’s comforting to know that the decrease in activity we’ve seen is part of a concerted effort by Google and others to improve overall user-experience and not tied to the problems with our economy.

Posted by: Aaron Goldman, VP Marketing & Strategic Partnerships

Not-So-Natural-Born Google Killers

by Aaron Goldman
Appeared in MediaPost's Search Insider

It’s become quite fashionable to speculate about companies that could unseat Google. As I write this, there are nearly 100,000 matches on Google for the query “Google Killer.” Not one to miss a fashion trend, I thought I’d jump on the bandwagon here.
Read the whole column...

Breaking Into the Digital Ad World

A few weeks ago I sat on the Advertising Career Night panel at University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. Later today, I’ll be joining the Digital Marketing Career Panel at Loyola in Chicago. When I participate in these kinds of events I’m always surprised by how little institutional knowledge there is regarding the online advertising space at today’s colleges and universities.

So what’s holding academia back? Well, quite simply, there are very few people with “real world” digital marketing experience that are in a position (or would be willing to forego the money they’re making) to become a college professor and build out an interactive marketing curriculum. And there are very few comprehensive resources available to guide such a track. By the time anyone published an online marketing textbook it would be out of date.

So what are the nubile young minds of tomorrow to do if they have aspirations of breaking into the digital ad world? Here are a few tips:
1. Take as many diverse classes as your major allows. Connecting brands with consumers online takes a keen understanding of different mindsets, cultures, technologies, etc. We are looking for well-rounded people that we can train in our area of expertise. We can teach search. We can’t teach diverse experience.
2. Experiment on the web. Get in deep with MySpace or Facebook, if you’re not already. Join LinkedIn. Create a Google Gadget. Customize your Yahoo homepage. Start a blog, burn a feed, and use Google Analytics to monitor your traffic.
3. Read the online marketing trades. Media Post, iMediaConnection, ClickZ and others are great sources of the latest news and commentary. And Ad Age, AdWeek, DM News and others all provide solid coverage of the interactive space.
4. Network with industry professionals. I can’t emphasize this point enough. Seek out people who work in the space and pick their brains. Offer to buy them lunch or ask for an informational interview. And stay in touch with them. Send them relevant articles you’ve read about their clients or their client’s competitors. Give them a reason to want to talk with you.
5. Land an internship. Most interactive agencies and online media companies do not have standardized internship programs. At Resolution Media, we’ve had paid summer interns for the past couple years but we’re in the minority. That said, go to a company that interests you and offer to intern for them. And, if you can make it work financially, offer to do it for free! I don’t know anyone that would turn down an offer for free help given how much work and how little time we all have.

At Resolution Media, we’re not waiting around for higher education to start churning out digital media rockstars. So we’ve developed an extensive orientation program and ongoing learning and development culture that allows us to take smart, eager individuals and put them on a path towards building our clients’ businesses as well as their personal careers. So far this formula is working. But it sure would be nice to be able to start hiring interactive advertising majors. Until then, we’ll be on the lookout for folks that can check the boxes above.

Posted by: Aaron Goldman, VP Marketing & Strategic Partnerships

The Future of Reading is Here

Yesterday, I speculated about where the future of reading meets the future of search. Looks like we won’t have to wait too long to find out.

Today, there was an article in the USA Today about how the Amazon Kindle is sold out and people are waiting 4-6 weeks to get theirs on back order.

Now that consumer adoption is proven, it won’t take long for the search marketing opportunities to follow. Giddyup!

Posted by: Aaron Goldman, VP Marketing & Strategic Partnerships

The Future of Reading Meets the Future of Search

I’d been meaning to comment on the Newsweek article, “The Future of Reading”, for quite some time as its implications on the search world are profound. But after reading Bryson’s post on mobile visual search, I knew it was time to get on with it.

Just as Bryson looked at innovation in the mobile search within the context of Query Marketingsm, I’d like to apply that framework to recent innovation in the print world.

Amazon recently released the Kindle, an electronic device with a six-inch screen that can store hundreds of books. Weighing just 10 ounces, the Kindle can accommodate 30 hours of reading on a charge and has WiFi built-in to allow you to access the web and, of course, download books from Amazon.

Other features include a private email address that let you receive and read messages and attachments. There’s also a special pen that lets you capture passages from the book you’re reading just like you were using a highlighter. Finally, you can subscribe to newspapers, magazines and selected blogs and get the updated editions sent right to your device.

Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO, is convinced the Kindle is the future of reading. And, while the jury is still out, you have to figure the man that transformed the book sales industry knows what he’s doing.

In fact, the story of the Kindle may turn out to mirror that of the iPod. The latter was an expensive device created by a category leader designed to replace radio, CD’s, and music stores in one fell-swoop. So, too, with the Kindle you have an expensive device ($399) that could displace newspaper, magazines, books, libraries and book stores.

Key to adoption here is that (just like with music) you have a group of people incredibly passionate about the category. I think the term “voracious” was created to describe avid readers. Skeptics have said that book readers will never replace their trusty paperbacks because there’s an emotional connection, but they also said that about vinyl records, tapes, CD’s, etc.

OK, so enough about the Kindle. What does this mean for search?

Well, quite simply, the print medium is now officially searchable. Sure, we’ve been able to search online editions of newspapers and magazines for quite some time. But there’s still a considerable population that prefers to read their content on the go, in bed, etc. without having to fire up a laptop. These are just the folks that will take to the Kindle.

Never before (outside of Google Book Search and Amazon’s Search Inside the Book, both of which offered limited selections and functionality) have books been searchable.

But I think this is less about being able to search inside books and more about being able to search while reading books. There’s a big difference. Think about kids doing homework and being able to reference Wikipedia with a quick click. Or adults taking on Dostoyevsky and being able to query a bulletin board thread on the topic. Or anyone reading about a product that sounds cool and being able to Google it and purchase instantly. The possibilities are endless.

And, of course, it’s only a matter of time before the same query-based marketing opportunities available on a computer will be available via Kindle. Whether it’s sponsored listings, contextual listings (oy, can you image Vibrant Media hyperlinking every other word in a book?) or even natural print optimization (for publishers that want to make sure their content is found when people are looking for the next piece to buy), there are myriad Query Marketingsm opportunities in a world of digital print.

Bottom line, the Kindle just might spark something big for search marketers.

Posted by: Aaron Goldman, VP Marketing & Strategic Partnerships

Open Wide and Say Yahhhhhhoo

by Aaron Goldman
Appeared in MediaPost’s Search Insider

Having just shed 1,000 employees in an attempt to trim costs and with a possible Microsoft acquisition casting a shadow over Sunnyvale, it would be hard to fault Yahoo for just trying to keep its various business units fully operational. But Yahoo’s not taking the lumps handed to it by the market lying down. Showing great resilience, Yahoo is pressing ahead with a series of innovative initiatives designed to improve user-experience across its properties and create compelling opportunities for the online media ecosystem.While the scope of these various projects is diverse, they can all be tied together under Yahoo’s continual push to “open up.”

Read the whole column…

Spot Runner Says Two Can Play this Game

Forget Microhoo, maybe its Spot Runner that Google should be worried about. Today’s Media Post Online Media Daily covered Spot Runner’s acquisition of Weblistic, “an online media company specializing in search, and some display advertising.”

Per MediaPost, “the deal is part of a push by Spot Runner to offer a fully automated online advertising and media buying system that anyone can use to create, buy, schedule and evaluate advertising on any medium.”

Boy, sure sounds like Google’s vision to me. What’s ironic here is that Google backed into offline media after having cornered the market on long-tail search advertising. Here you have Spot Runner trying to crack search media after having cornered the market on long-tail TV advertising.

I’m not sure which company is better positioned to make a significant impact on the new media platforms they are entering…

By all accounts, Google’s forays into TV, radio, and print have been slow to gain traction (slow by Google standards, that is). But you can’t count out anyone with a bankroll in the billions. And Google is hiring all sorts of Madison Ave. types to help it really improve its solution set.

As for Spot Runner -- they seem to have the proper insight into what makes TV tick for the long-tail. They approached the market to fill a gap that they identified and a constituency that had long been underserved -- not merely to find a new revenue stream like Google did when getting into TV. Only time will tell if this insight will translate well into the search world, which is already mature (hah, can’t believe I’m saying that!) with arguably few gaps to fill -- or at least gaps Spot Runner can do anything about.

What does Weblistic bring to the table? I must admit I don’t know much about them. I queried their brand name and their top natural listing has a brutal meta description so I immediately question their search prowess. Apparently, these are the guys behind Yellowpages.com prior to its acquisition by AT&T so they must have some good business and tech savvy.

It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out. I’m sure it will take time for Spot Runner and Weblistic to integrate so we’ll have to give them some leash before making any judgment. Fortunately for them, their penetration of the new markets they’re entering into will not be evaluated with the same scrutiny as Google so they can likely afford to take their time and get it right.

Unfortunately, though, getting it right is only one side of the equation -- scaling it is the other. Without the millions of advertisers that Google has, I’m not sure how receptive publishers in the online space will be to giving their inventory to Spot Runner. However, given that Spot Runner is part owned by IPG and WPP, their Fortune 5 advertisers could bring some serious clout to the new platform.

Alas, only time will tell if this acquisition hits the spot for the online media ecosystem.

Posted by: Aaron Goldman, VP Marketing & Strategic Partnerships

The Clicks are Falling, the Clicks are Falling!

More fodder in the press today trying to reassure the market that the bottom is not falling out at Google. Here’s an excerpt from a MediaPost piece by Tameka Kee:

“SearchIgnite analyzed the performance of its clients' ads over the first 45 days of the year and found that clicks on Google ads were up nearly 46% year-over-year --while comScore found that Google's clicks had remained relatively flat (down by 0.3%) in January. The search automation tech firm also found that total ad spend on Google was up by 40% versus the same time period in 2007. SearchIgnite's research covered more than 53 million clicks across Google, Yahoo and MSN, with clients in the retail, travel, financial services and media industries, among others.”

Not sure we’re looking at apples to apples here. comScore monitors Google SERPs through a panel of computers and counts the number of clicks on paid ads relative to queries on Google. SearchIgnite monitors paid search campaign data managed by its clients (marketers and agencies) and counts the number of clicks on paid ads relative to impressions received (for each campaign).

In other words, SearchIgnite’s data is skewed. First, it does not measure the total universe of search queries, only the impressions received by actual paid search campaigns (which have budget caps among other restrictions like geo, etc). Second, changes to the campaign parameters will alter the number of clicks received relative to impressions -- if advertisers have bid higher CPCs or changed ad copy to receive higher CTRs this year over last, then clicks will go up.

Same logic goes for ad spend. A 40% increase is not indicative of more searchers at large clicking on ads, it’s a function of marketers increasing their investment in paid search.

I’m all for using hard data to dispel marketplace myths but let’s make sure we are using the proper correlations.

Posted by: Aaron Goldman, VP Marketing & Strategic Partnerships

Lack of Clicks Does Not a Recession Make

Lots of noise in the press the last few days that the recession has officially hit the search marketing world.

ComScore recently released January stats showing flat growth in paid clicks via Google year over year. The news sent investors scurrying and Google’s stock dropped about 9% -- which translates to billions in market cap.

It seems this data reflects that consumers, armed with less discretionary income, have curtailed their online spending and thus… no, wait a minute... the comScore research says nothing about reduced spend or lower conversion rates for search marketers. It just says people clicked on less ads.

Pardon me, but what does a recession have to do with people clicking on ads? Spending less, I’d understand -- but clicking less? They’ve already performed the query. They’ve already stated they are interested in X product, Y service, or Z information. Is something happening while they’re navigating the SERP reminding them they don’t have the money so they better not click on that ad? I think not.

And it’s not like search volume is down. Per Compete, the number of queries on Google in January was up 50% year over year.

Additional ammo against the search-sky-is-falling camp comes from Hitwise. They point out that traffic from Google to retail sites is actually up year over year.

And Tech Crunch notes that Yahoo paid clicks are up 15% year over year. Surely, you can’t say that the recession is affecting Google users but not Yahoo’s?

So what’s cooking here?

Google provided rationale for lower paid clicks in its Q4 earnings call, citing weeding out of low quality advertisers and reformatting AdSense placements to reduce accidental clicks.

However, there’s one contributing factor that has not been alluded to in the press -- outside of my last Search Insider column, that is. The continual roll-out of Universal search on Google could very well be reducing the number of clicks on SERP paid listings.

With the eye drawn to images in the middle of the natural results, people no longer consume SERPs top down. Instead, they start in the middle of the page and sniff around from there. So it’s a lot more likely they’ll get diverted before making it to the sponsored listings at the top or on the right.

What does this mean for paid search marketing? For one, it means clicks on paid listings should be more qualified. If someone took the time to scan past the images and the natural results surrounding them and made it to the paid ads, they must really want that product/service/information.

At the end of the day, savvy search marketers know the click is not the end-all-be-all of campaign performance. It’s all about post-click activity that ultimately leads to revenue -- online and/or offline. Let’s hope investors pick up on this and start using the same metrics to evaluate the health of our industry.

Posted by: Aaron Goldman, VP Marketing & Strategic Partnerships

SEO By Any Other Name...

SEO, DAO, DCO… what’s in an acronym?

Outrider’s Chris Copeland shared his POV (sorry, that’s the last one I’ll use for a while) on Friday, introducing the concept of Digital Asset Optimization as the next step in the evolution of Search Engine Optimization (ok, can I start acronymizing again? Typing these words out is getting cumbersome.)

As Chris observes, “It seems like the trend is shifting from optimizing for a slow, dumb engine, and is moving towards a more sophisticated integration of elements, be it image, video, consumer reviews, or social networks.”

While I couldn’t agree more, I do feel compelled to point out that shifting the focus away from SEO to a more holistic and inclusive process is something Resolution Media has been actively promoting in the marketplace since December of 2006, when we first launched the QueryMatrix.



Core to the QueryMatrix methodology were the principles of Consumer-Initiated Advertising and Digital Content Optimization. The former was our wide-lens view of the PPC landscape today and tomorrow. And the latter bears a strong resemblance to Copeland’s vision for DAO.

Our goal when we coined theses phrase (and their corresponding acronyms) was to get the search community talking about how the strategies and tactics we employed were part of the larger marketing ecosystem. We thought this would help CMOs understand that what we did went far beyond the SERP and were really just extensions of marketing principles they were familiar with and had been executing for years.

Guess what? We were wrong. The C-level suite was not ready for more geeky acronyms. It had taken them years just to understand SEM, SEO, and PPC. And they didn’t want to hear how we did what we did. Rather, they wanted to know how what we did would help them.

So we canned the acronyms and began talking less about the work we deliver to our clients and more about what the work will deliver for our clients’ brands. We also framed our expertise into the context of 2 basic platforms that everyone in marketing can relate to -- advertising and content. Our re-release of the QueryMatrix in July 2007 reflects this repositioning.



7 months later, these subtle tweaks are making a big difference. More and more Omnicom clients have awoken to the power of paid and natural search. We’ve found that breaking down a complex marketing specialty into concepts CMOs can understand and outcomes they can expect has allowed them to embrace the channel on their terms. This has led to a willingness to take ownership and accountability for its implementation. And this has translated to increased commitment and, in turn, budget allocation.

Bottom line -- the key to driving success in search lies less in defining (and redefining) what we do and more in defining (and redefining) the results we can achieve.

Posted by: Aaron Goldman, VP Marketing & Strategic Partnerships

Before Our Very Eyes: What’s Google Up To?

by Aaron Goldman
Appeared in MediaPost's Search Insider

Lost in the shuffle of a heavy news week that included Yahoo spurning Microsoft’s advances was this eye-popping bit of tid — Google is now running video ads on SERPs. The New York Times broke the story, reporting that “on Thursday, Google started testing video ads on some pages of search results.” The article includes excerpts from an interview with Marissa Mayer in which she discloses the move and provides the rationale behind it.
Read the whole column...