SEO Doesn’t Die. SEOs Do.

By Bryson Meunier, Natural Search Supervisor

I thought we were done with the whole SEO is dead thing, but two posts came out Friday that addressed the subject: Ian Lurie’s "How the SEO Bubble will Pop" and William Flaiz’s "The Evolution of SEO."

Although Dave McAnally already covered this, I have to add my $0.02 to the conversation.

Flaiz’s article doesn’t specifically speculate on how SEO will die, but I see it as a good answer to Lurie’s questions. What Lurie doesn’t get that Flaiz does is that SEO doesn’t die, it just takes a different form. SEOs that don’t evolve with it, however, well… they may not be as lucky.

Lurie’s article is kind of perplexing, actually, as it gives three ways that SEO will die that don’t actually end with the end of the practice. In the first instance, SEO is being taken in-house and going to big agencies, which, having done SEO years ago in-house for a large corporation, and having worked on SEO for a big agency for the past three years, I know doesn’t kill SEO. There are different people working on it than there were in 1996, but the discipline is far from dead.

The second scenario involves an economic meltdown that somehow makes SEO less desirable as advertising, which is odd considering that search is actually more recession-proof than other forms of advertising due to its efficiency.

Finally, Lurie says that clients are becoming savvier and rip off artists are becoming extinct—which somehow kills all of SEO in the process? If even Google is recognizing the existence of white hat, ethical SEOs, can we please stop with the snake oil salesmen nonsense? Obviously, that scenario doesn’t kill SEO any more than prosecuting spammers stops me from getting legitimate newsletters or the mass retirement of corrupt cops and unscrupulous lawyers would prevent me from being able to get arrested and prosecuted if I committed a crime. Eliminating unscrupulous practitioners of a discipline doesn’t diminish the discipline, just the unscrupulous practitioners of it.

The real answer to how the SEO bubble will pop is one of two scenarios: 1) search engines become obsolete or 2) all the listings become sponsored. You can debate about whether either of these unlikely scenarios will ever play out, but as long as people use search engines to find things, there will be people helping these people get found. I call these people search engine optimizers, or SEOs.

Search engines may take (and are taking) different forms and refining the algorithms, and as Flaiz points out, SEO evolves with it. As specialists in web design and development for search engines and users, SEOs specialize in making digital content visible to search engines and the consumers who use them.

In 1996 this meant putting as many keywords on your page as humanly possible. In 2002 there was more of an emphasis on crude link building than the early days. In the past few years, social media and video SEO have become more commonplace. In the future there may be more of an emphasis on semantic search, mobile search, or something none of us can even conceive of yet. And there to help content owners navigate the waters will be SEOs.

Not the keyword tag stuffers, though. They haven’t been relevant for a while and have, as a result, gone the way of the dodo. SEO, however, is still here; along with the smart SEOs who evolve with the search engines. And both of us probably will be in some form for longer than many people seem to understand.

Transparency's the New Black

By Aaron Goldman, VP Marketing & Strategic Partnerships

Well, folks, it looks like Transparency is back as the buzzword du jour. For those that follow my Search Insider Summit Buzz-o-Meter, you'll recognize Transparency as a mainstay in the Top 10.

I'm quoted in a DMNews piece today by Ellen Keohane talking about what the push for transparency means in the context of recent developments in the industry.

Allow me to elaborate...

There's been a confluence of buzz around the topic of transparency the past few weeks. It started with the launch of Cuil and its much-hyped promise to not collect or store any personal data on its users.

Google quickly responded by rolling out a new feature on SERPs that shows if/how search results are customized for a user (note: "responded" is my choice of words. Google did not mention Cuil in relation to their announcement. But the timing seems uncanny.)

Then the following week brought the launch of Google Insights for Search, a great tool which Mr. Gould discussed yesterday.

So, in the past 2 weeks, you've had Google release 2 new products -- 1 geared towards providing greater transparency for users, the other meant to give greater transparency to marketers. Both big steps forward to, as I put it in the DMNews article, "unbundle the [Google] black box."

But what's really motivating Google's push towards transparency here?

As I relayed to DMNews, one other development in the past week that may tie in here is the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee "expanding its inquiry into potential privacy violations of online advertising that is targeted based on consumers' Web-surfing activities."

Per the Washington Post, "lawmakers have written to 33 telecommunications businesses [including Google] to learn whether, how and when Internet companies might have engaged in such practices. Their aim in part is to determine whether existing laws sufficiently protect consumers' privacy in online behavioral advertising or whether new legislation is needed."

I suspect Google's announcements are part of an attempt to pre-empt any backlash that this investigation might have among end-users who are becoming increasingly suspicious of how companies like Google use their data.

Regardless of its motivation, it's great to see the Big G doing more to become more open about its practices and transparent with the data it's collecting. This will only help ingratiate it the end-user and marketing communities.

The Power of Search Beyond Search

By David Gould, President

As Search Marketers, we spend a lot of time looking at data. Understandably, we typically spend most of that time looking at data through the relatively narrow lens of Search Marketing. We comb through data looking for ways to optimize our campaigns for efficiency or volume or ultimately both. No doubt, this is an absolutely crucial piece of our responsibilities. That said, in our never-ending quest for the perfectly optimized campaign, we often miss the opportunity to draw conclusions about more general consumer behavior that could possibly impact a brand’s marketing efforts on a broader scale.

The recent launch of Google’s Insights for Search sheds light on the ability for search to be more than just a one-trick pony. Rather than only being a platform on which we execute marketing campaigns, search can also function as a valuable source of consumer behavior information that can be used to shape offline as well as non-search online campaigns. The recent New York Times article on Google’s latest tool clearly shows how Google is peddling the tool to not just search marketers, but to all marketers.

My point here is not to plug Google’s new tool (although I think it’s just swell), my point is that we have valuable information at our fingertips, and we should be considering new and innovative ways to help our clients understand and use it. As we strive to look for ways to provide additional value, don’t pass up the opportunity to leverage search as a source of information for feedback and planning on both existing and upcoming non-search marketing initiatives. Your colleagues will be amazed at the insight you can provide!

Here are five quick examples of ways to leverage search insights beyond search:

1. Where are people searching? Are most of the queries for your brand coming from a particular region? How can the offline media team use this to target their placements?

2. What time of year are people searching? Do brand or product terms spike in Q4 around the holidays? When exactly does the volume pick up? How can the PR team get out ahead of this trend and stimulate demand earlier?

3. Are there variations on the brand name being searched? Misspellings, etc. Should the web team buy those misspelled domain names?

4. What ad copy is working best? Can the creative team use that to bolster their TV call-to-action? Or maybe even come up with a new slogan altogether?

5. What copy are competitors using? Can the brand team use this info to better differentiate pricing, promotions, etc?

What are some of the applications for search beyond search that you’ve found?

Cuil SEO thoughts

By Dave McAnally, Natural Search Supervisor

Well now that I’m back from my various cycling journeys in various parts of the globe that are cut off from the internet (oh yes, they exist), I’ve been back in Chicago long enough to gain some initial impressions of Cuil. As most of you know by now, this has been touted as the Google killer everyone anticipates (even made the headline of CNN). As near as I can tell, the two big reasons it gets this label is that some big names are behind it’s development, and because it presents an entirely new view for search results.

Cuil initially stated that their superior number of pages indexed was the unique selling position, but Google quickly squashed that announcing that it had actually indexed a trillion-odd pages (Billions? Trillions? Really now, at what point does the noise to signal ratio with pages indexed overshadow the usefulness of the results?). Instead of the (decidedly) drab list of links, we are now presented with a more ‘magazine’ like interface where results are staggered throughout the page with pictures (that may or may not sync with the article/page in question).

Since there are plenty of reviews on all the ins and outs of the late and great features on it, I’ll save the trouble and cut to the chase for things I see initially for how Cuil is going to function as an engine that can be optimized towards.

• First, I’m not sold on the image association whatsoever. There are some funny examples of how it simply doesn’t sync up. Optimizing for images on this could be an interesting endeavor as you may find your trademarked and/or proprietary images associated with content that doesn’t belong to you (and vice versa).
• Cuil is not effective for local search or long tail queries at all. This surprises me given the minds involved in creating it. But go ahead and check it out. Modesto California? Really? Not very effective compared to Google.
• I applaud the category effort, but I don’t think it’s quite to a stage where I’d call it ‘usable’ for the average user. The categories need to be more specific on most of the queries I’ve run. For example, none of these categories exactly apply to Resolution Media and Health Care certainly doesn’t. Were I to be searching on that (even if it wasn’t a branded query), those categories wouldn’t be very helpful. This categorization (coupled with the supposed use of semantic tags) could make for some interesting optimization tactics.
• On the plus side, I really like the layout change. It looks better, you can see more on one page, and it leaves room for some cool possibilities (hint hint: local search maps). It would be interesting for an eye tracking study to be performed on a Cuil search result page.
• So where are the paid listings going? Anyone?

Search marketers have lost their heads

By Lance Neuhauser, East Coast Managing Director
Appeared in DM News

That's right, search marketers, we've up and lost our head. I'm referring to the “head” in the sense of our high-volume, high-impact marketing placements (as opposed to the proverbial “tail”). Yet despite the play on words, our lack of focus on the head in an effort to cover our tail has me wondering whether we have really lost our head— that is, our wits — and whether the tail is going to cost us our…well, our tail.

Yes, long-tail terms (searches consisting of a combination of words) are cost-effective in paid search due to the typical lack of competition and higher level of consumer qualification. However, in a world where nearly limitless, highly successful testing options and advanced analytics are available at our fingertips, we must remain conscious of the very real resource limitations that counterbalance the possibilities.

Each keyword in our growing lists requires attention. To be most successful, they require tests and analyses to the point where we can truly understand the consumer behavior attached to each keyword and associate a value to that specific consumer touchpoint.

However, we often neglect the depth in which we need to understand our audience in an effort to extend the breadth by which we reach customers. I'm not suggesting we disregard tail terms, but I am suggesting that mathematically we can be more successful and drive better results in a resource-constrained universe by narrowing our efforts. (Feel free to read the Jerry Maguire Memo for theoretical background.)

The 80/20 rule has a tendency to apply to our keyword lists: 80% of our volume from 20% of our keywords. Granted, the tail keywords help drive incremental efficiency gains that enable coverage on the head terms, but…

If your head terms underwent creative and landing page tests that increased click-through rate and conversion by a mere 15%, you would accomplish three things. First, you could add volume at a level on par or greater than most entire tails. Second, you could drive efficiencies at a magnitude that outpaces most tails. And finally, you could learn more about your audience and what resonates with them, something that will surely pay dividends on an ongoing basis.

I recognize the extensive time required to run the aforementioned tests, but add up the time used to build long-tail keyword lists, properly categorize the terms, set bid and coverage rules, and provide top level analysis and reporting. But, I assure you, the time is there — it's just a matter of prioritizing.

Remember that search should be used for more than just direct response. Maximum awareness driving campaigns are a function of reach and frequency, of which the head terms, even at a high cost per click, can make you most successful.

Ultimately, as search marketers we need to use all tactics available to us. However, we also need to properly prioritize our efforts to make the greatest impact on our goals. Maybe it's because I just had a major milestone birthday and age is setting in, but I've learned that using my head gets me a great deal farther than going after tail.

Microsoft and Facebook Enter Into Search Partnership

By Jeff Campbell, VP Product Development

Breaking News:
It was just announced today that Microsoft has extended the relationship with Facebook to bring its users Live Search-powered web search and search ads by the end of the calendar year.

Here are a few FAQ’s from Microsoft surrounding this new distribution deal:

• What is the consumer experience going to be like?
We don’t have any specifics to announce at this time but are actively working with Facebook to design the search experience that will provide the best experience for users and advertisers.

• What is the expected impact on Microsoft’s search share from this deal?
We expect to continue to see a lot of volatility in monthly share numbers. Our strategy is focused on three areas – delivering great results, simplifying key tasks and changing the game. We believe this deal fits well in all three dimensions of our strategy.

• Will Facebook continue to have it own search technology, or is Microsoft replacing it?
Facebook has its own search on its site today, and the extension of the U.S. relationship with Microsoft does not change that. The specifics of the future search integration are still being determined by Facebook.

• Are you going to expand the search deal internationally?
The current search relationship is for the United States only. Both companies are always looking at how to best evolve their relationship.

It Pays to Give (Cash) Back

By Aaron Goldman, VP Marketing & Strategic Partnerships

For the first time in over a year, Microsoft Live Search gained share in total US query volume, per comScore.

Below is a chart compiled by Danny Sullivan at Search Engine Land showing Live Search creeping up from 8.5% to 9.2% month over month (May to June ’08).



Now, it’s impossible to say for sure what caused this spike, er… blip, but it was just at the end of May that Microsoft launched its Cashback platform.

And, not only did Microsoft start bribing consumers to use its search engine but it launched an aggressive online media campaign promoting it.

Here are 2 screenshots I grabbed of recent Live Search Cashback ad placements.





So not only is Microsoft foregoing margin from advertisers but it’s shelling out coin to tell people that they’re doing it. So they really are paying to give (cash) back.

And, so far, it seems to be paying off.

Catching Up on the Search News

by Jeff Campbell, VP Product Development

I've certainly been out of the loop (and office) the last week, so here are the biggest recent news stories & pertinent articles to get everyone caught up:

• Ann Smarty at SearchEngineLand once again drops it like it's hot with The Ultimate Collection of SEO Tools. This article is a must-bookmark for any DIY SEO.
• Enjoy YouTube? Well, you aren't the only one watching something. Danny Sullivan rants on why sharing YouTube viewing records is an invasion of your privacy. Based on the updates, it looks like Viacom will not take personal user data, but Danny's points of needed regulation still hold.
• Attention social media marketers: it's more than just getting on Digg. The Matchbox presents "10 of the Best Alternative Social Media Sites". If you still are working on the content (er, bait), here are 12 tips on creating content (note tip #6 is to create lists - I'll bite).
• DoshDosh tosses out a good primer on the importance of Bounce Rate in judging your website's performance and comparing the quality of traffic sources/campaigns. I'll argue bounce rate is up there with conversion rate and volume trends as the most important site performance metric to optimize against.
  

Enjoy the week!

Be an Educator to Add Value

By David Gould, President

We in the marketing agency world are always looking for ways to add value for clients. But adding value is not always just about the marketing campaign. No doubt clients expect that we, as their marketing agency, will deliver value via a well optimized and executed campaign, but it’s too easy to get myopically focused on only the campaign when looking to add value. There are plenty of opportunities to add value in other ways as well. One of the simplest is to be an educator.

I am reminded of a day, many, many moons ago, when I sold pharmaceuticals. The target audience was doctors. Much like our industry the medical/pharmaceutical industry is one that changes constantly … new drugs, new treatment regimens, new medical studies on treat regimens, etc … With doctors being pinched to see more patients in fewer hours, they struggle to keep up on latest and greatest. Time and again, I heard from doctors that their best pharmaceutical reps were the ones that helped educate them. The reps that presented and summarized pertinent studies about real things that impact the doctor’s practice were appreciated. The ones who simply dropped off samples, brought lunch and jammed a narrow minded article about the reps specific drug in the doctor’s face were useless.

So how does this translate to search marketing? We’re in an industry that is hyper-dynamic. Clients are just as busy as we are and no doubt struggle to keep up with the latest “stuff”. We have the opportunity to be a valuable source of information. Are you funneling pertinent articles to your client? Do you scan the news periodically for articles about your client’s business and industry and pass those articles along? … and it doesn’t necessarily have to be about your specific expertise (in Resolution Media’s case, Search). No doubt it’s a fine line between flooding the client’s inbox and being a useful source of information, but that balance can be achieved. There’s no lack of pertinent content out there and depending on how you use it, it can valuable tool to add value and help you build a deeper relationship with your client.

Are you an educator or are you just “dropping off samples”?

To Verb Or Not To Verb

By Aaron Goldman, VP Marketing and Strategic Partnerships

OK, let's get this straight...

Google as a verb -> not ok.

YouTube as a verb -> ok.

Words to Live By: Notable Quotables & Advice

By Jeff Campbell, VP Product Development

Whether it’s your favorite Pete Drucker quote on strategy, inspirational song lyrics, or advice from a grade school teacher, what are some words of wisdom you have received that has stuck with you or has helped to mold who you are today? That’s right, this is a conversation. I’ll start…

• People do business with people they like. You’ve probably heard the old adage “that most business decisions are made on the golf course,” it’s referring to the same thing. Took me a while to grasp this ever-so-simple concept and to change my approach with clients, sales targets, etc.
• Good is the enemy of great. After reading Good To Great, I adopted this mantra from the book. This has got to be the toughest advice to follow, even in my personal life. I still tee off with a 3-iron because I can hit a straight and consistent 220 yard drive (just jinxed that) versus my 50% slice rate of my driver.
• Everybody loves progress, nobody likes change. How can you grow (personally, as a leader, as a business) while keeping things the same? Change willingly; let go of the fear and look for opportunities that come with change (easier said than done, I agree). With change comes discomfort so balance that with the desire for progress.
• “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” –Robert F. Kennedy. I’m a risk taker and a change junkie. Wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t. Sure, I’ve got regrets, but at least failure is instructive.
• Focus on Solutions, Not Problems. I started my career with larger, Fortune 100 companies with multiple divisions and many, many layers of management; I was pretty good at finding inefficiencies, issues, or opportunities and bringing them to my manager. When starting/joining a small company, this was a major mental shift for me – now, the only person to fix the problem was me. I had to take the initiative, I had to investigate further, I had to learn to be more resourceful and take action. A thanks to Mr. Spiegel for instilling this value in me.
• Just have fun with it. This is a quote from Three Amigos that Chevy Chase tosses out before going into battle. Whenever I feel stressed, especially before a big presentation, I remind myself to just have fun with it (and refer to the advice in the top bullet). Then I think of the kid who approaches Chevy on the horse to ask “Can I have your watch when you are dead?”. :)
  
• Rarely do you find purely evil people. I love psychology and understanding what makes people tick, which is the main reason I’m in marketing. In all aspects of life, I need to account for people’s behavior & communication styles that are different than mine. I’m verbal, they are written. I am quick to answer a question with little information, they need time to process or research. I feel positive conflict brings progress, others get emotional with confronted and avoid it at all costs. “They” aren’t evil or wrong…and I need to understand (and account for) their differences if I’m going to be an effective team member/manager/husband/leader.
• Success is a choice. Speaks for itself. This is my #1.

OK, now for you. Cliche or not, share as little or as much as you think would be helpful to your fellow readers…

Google Makes Flash Better, Not Best for SEO

By Bryson Meunier, Supervisor, Search Engine Optimization

For years Adobe Flash was the technology that separated the SEO from the Web designer. Flash allows designers to create fluid, cutting-edge web sites and is frequently used to improve the desktop user experience. However, the search engines wouldn’t (and couldn’t) properly index it, causing SEO problems for designers who didn’t take proper precautions when building a Flash site. Last Monday Google announced their improved indexing of Flash web sites, including text extraction from Flash movies, and designers worldwide breathed a collective sigh of relief. But what does Google’s announcement really mean for people who build and promote web sites built in Flash?

Google now utilizes Adobe technology to discover and index textual elements within Flash files. Since Google can now extract text from a Flash movie, Flash web sites with discoverable deep links and the most important content in text should be more easily indexed and ranked as a result of this announcement. However, just as an HTML page can in theory be indexed and ranked without special consideration for SEO, an audit for obstructions to accessibility, usability and relevant content delivery will likely help that HTML page be indexed faster and ranked better. Likewise, Google can now index and rank Flash web sites without special consideration for SEO, but since not all Flash web sites are created equal, an SEO audit will always help to make the content more relevant, accessible and discoverable.

That said, this announcement does not change SEO best practices for developing in Flash significantly. Resolution Media still recommends building a basic textual version of a web site and enhancing that core experience with more dynamic elements such as JavaScript and Flash. In July of 2007, Google made this same recommendation on the Google Webmaster Central blog, even though at that time Google could extract text from some Flash files. A year later they can extract more text, but still cannot read text in images. Furthermore, not all Internet spiders can even extract text from Flash files. While a Flash site may now be more easily and accurately indexed, the ideal method for developing in Flash takes all search engines and users into consideration, progressively enhancing a basic user experience with elements that will enhance the experience of users with more modern browsers, and search engine spiders with more sophisticated crawling and indexing capabilities.

Another Day, Another Microhoo Rumor

Aaron Goldman, VP Marketing & Strategic Partnerships

Last Wednesday, the WSJ reported that Microsoft is taking a new approach to a Yahoo merger, this time trying to broker a 3-way deal that would send Yahoo’s search assets to Microsoft and the rest of Yahoo’s business to a 3rd party. The article -- which also included salacious details of the Yahoo-Microsoft negotiations over the past few months -- fingered Time Warner and News Corp. as potential suitors for Yahoo’s remnants.

AdAge has good coverage of this recent development and points out that the Google-Yahoo deal would not stand in the way as it has various outs for Yahoo (which, if it exercised, would put an additional $250MM in Google’s pocket -- nice insurance play there, Schmitty).

One thing that’s gone unmentioned in the analysis I’ve read is that the proposed 3-way deal would seemingly allow Microsoft to skate past potential regulatory hurdles. As Google pointed out when news of Microhoo first hit, an outright acquisition would give Microsoft a virtual monopoly on email and IM. In a 3-way deal, those products would not be folded in to the Big Red(mond) Machine.

So what of a searchscape with Google at the top and Microhoo nipping at its heels? Or rather, given the share split would be 65/35 in Google’s favor, perhaps a more appropriate analogy would be “in the same ballpark.”

Well, for one thing, it would make Microsoft (finally) a must buy for search marketers. I’m still amazed how many advertisers still aren’t buying Live Search. Even though it’s only 10% of the market, certainly covering brand terms and other top performers from Google and Yahoo seems to be a sound strategy. With a 35% share, the Microsoft Advertising search reps would finally know the joy of the phone ringing unsolicited.

At this point, it’s unclear which system -- AdCenter or Panama -- would be tapped to manage the combined Microhoo search inventory but I don’t think that would change its “must buy status.” With the deal now focused solely on search, my guess is AdCenter would win out as it is built for compatibility with Microsoft’s display media assets. That said, Panama might be calibrated to generate higher revenue per query and, with Yahoo dwarfing Microsoft in terms of number of advertisers, it might make sense for Microsoft to keep the platform intact at least in the short term.

Back to the compatibility issue… Microsoft was the first of the big 3 to make significant progress in allowing marketers to overlay keyword targeting when buying display ads. However, that feature has been used sparingly due to the limited volume available against finite selects -- eg, Men 35-54 who searched for “sports car” in the past 30 days. With the added search inventory of Yahoo, we’d (finally) have enough scale to make it worth planning and buying against these targets. For this reason, I expect AdCenter to win out in the long run.

As for what this deal would mean to Google… for one thing, I think it would keep the Big G on its toes. As I mentioned when the Google/Yahoo deal went down, my biggest concern is that, with little-to-no-competition in search, Google would lose its motivation to continue innovating and throw its best engineers against other channels such as TV, radio, and print.

News for Search Patriots

By Jeff Campbell, VP Product Development

1. The biggest news of the week for website owners and designers was that search engines can now crawl and index Flash sites. Granted there are still some pretty major limitations, but a step in the right direction.
   
2. Sad news for anyone who has been in Search Marketing for over 4 years: The Overture Search Suggestion Tool has been retired. *tear* She needed to be put down, but I'll miss her.
   
3. Avinash posts a great summary on tracking offline conversions as a result of website visits. A must read if you have (or advertise for) brick & mortar stores and want to measure the cross-channel impact.
4. The Google Website Optimizer blog posts a few humorous cartoons demonstrating the golden rules of page testing.
   

Short week, short list. Happy 4th!

Interview: Zak Knudson, Employee #001

An Interview with Zak Knudson, Director of Production

Back in 2004, what enticed you to join a 4-person start up?

• Any company prepared to take a chance on a wet-behind-the-ears, just-graduated hick from Minnesota after a couple phone interviews was definitely the place for me. The free parking helped too. But in all seriousness, I didn’t know what to expect when joining the small founding RM team, but after meeting the crew, seeing how passionate everyone was about the industry and how committed everyone was to the company’s success, it was very evident that I had landed in an excellent position in which to learn and grow.

Is there any wisdom or advice you’ve received in your career that you live by or wish to pass on to others?

• When I was first growing into my search legs, Mr. Jeff Campbell himself instilled in me the idea that at Resolution Media it’s ok to try something and fail as long as you justify yourself and have good reasons for doing what you did. It took the pressure off learning a new industry and allowed me to learn some of my most valuable lessons with respect to both the world of search and business in general. So for any newcomers out there – don’t be afraid to try new things and fail. Sometimes new failures will teach you more than the same old successes ever could.

What is your favorite part about your current role as Director of Production?

• Without question, the best part of this gig is getting to see the members of the Production Team grow, become search experts and take the next steps in their career path. Whether it’s rising in the ranks of Production Supervisor or making a successful move to another team, it’s amazing to see people who once didn’t know how to define CPA or ROAS begin to take on leadership roles and in turn help the next generation of RM’ers begin to take their first steps to that kind of growth.

How do you spot talent in an interview? Any funny interview moments to share?

• I deal with interviewing for a lot of entry-level positions, so finding someone with a good deal of search experience is a rarity. That said, the most important thing to me when interviewing is that the interviewee has an initial passion for the industry and that they’ve done enough homework on the world of search to be able to engage in a meaningful discussion on general industry topics. It’s really that simple. My favorite interview moment came at my own expense when an interviewee had searched my name and brought up a bio-page he found where I embarrassingly referred to myself as “Captain Planet.” Needless to say, he was hired on the spot.

Only Wet Babies Like Change

By Aaron Goldman, VP Marketing & Strategic Partnerships

Today, I had the pleasure of helping coordinate an event in partnership with Google for senior leaders at Omnicom agencies in the Midwest. The theme of the day was “Looking beyond the :30 Spot” and one of the highlights was a keynote from John Greening, Associate Professor at Northwestern University.

Throughout his 90 minute presentation, John peppered in some true gems like the title to this post. Here are some more nuggets from his talk:

Greening’s basic premise was that, in a world that’s customer-controlled, marketers need to think about the relationships they cultivate through their brands. He used the framework of a friendship as what all brands should strive to create.

Thinking about how the digital platform has changed the landscape and how marketers have been slow to react, Greening dropped this apropos analogy -- “In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is King.” In other words, you don’t have to have it all figured out to dip your toe in the water and try something new. It was also with this context that Greening worked in the wet babies quip.

Greening framed the marketing evolution we are experiencing as a process of “unlearning” -- we need to unlearn all our old media habits as the days of one-way (broadcast) communication are dead. To that point, Greening relayed this quote -- “I used to eat a lot of natural foods until I learned that most people die of natural causes.” He then went on to describe the traditional media buying process as “I buy ears and eyeballs and if I say it loud and often enough they’ll succumb to my wishes.”

In thinking about the collision of the old and new media models, Greening observed that “there are no new ideas, only new combinations of existing ideas that arrive at the right time.”
To make his point, Greening referenced a Mensa/Washington Post contest that asked people to combine words. Here were some of his favorites:

• “Reintarnation: Coming back to life as a hillbilly.”
• “Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period.”
• “Caterpallor (n.): The color you turn after finding half a worm in the fruit you're eating.”

Greening preached that we need to evolve from brand communication to brand service. We need to go from “Find Me… Sell Me” to “Know me… Help Me.” To accomplish this, marketers and agencies should:

• “Think like a Publicist not a Message Maker”
• “Use Messages to Serve, Customize and Remind”
• “Understand the difference between Shopping (buying something I didn’t know I wanted) and Buying (actualizing my intentions)”

Greening concluded with some key attributes to strive for in a brand’s pursuit of “friends.” He urged marketers to go “from centralized to scattered, from authority to authenticity, from conduit to content and from spaces to audiences.”

Finally, he listed these 6 takeaways:

1. “Offline and online are inextricable”
2. “Service marketing has never been more important”
3. “Small content can be big”
4. “Don't make people leave their digital environment”
5. “Shut up and Listen”
6. “Remove the filter”

Jolly good show.

Rounding Up This Week's News

by Jeff Campbell, VP Product Development

1. Google's Matt Cutts unveils the secret recipe to top rankings in USA Today. OK, no big surprises - but good reinforcement to what we've been preaching on FindResolution.com
2. Recession what? The IAB announces internet ad revenue up over 18% year over year in Q1, 2008. Behind the $5.9 billion holiday season of Q4 2007, this is the second highest spending quarter ever at $5.8 billion.
   
3. As Mr. Goldman predicted, fear of increased pricing and privacy concerns is causing resistance for the Yahoo-Google deal and has sparked the governments watchful eye.
4. By 2012, 1.8 billion people will be using the internet, according to JupiterResearch. That will be a 44% increase from 2007. China, India, Russia and Brazil will see the highest growth rates. China will overtake the U.S. in internet use by 2011.
5. ICANN, the father figure of internet regulation, has relaxed the domain name naming conventions which should spark another domain name landgrab. Dibbs on "bestblog.ever"
   

Enjoy the weekend!