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Archive for April, 2009
New York Times Loss Widens as Ads Shrink
The WSJ ran a story (subscription required) on the 22nd about this issue. This problem is hitting all print publications:
Ad dollars are leaving print… and fast!
Their Q1 losses for 2009 were worse than expected, around a 27% loss in advertising revenue. This outpaced their efforts to cut costs (not surprising, good journalism is expensive).
Seth Godin, on his blog, is predicting that by 2012 there will be, “no significant newspapers printed on newsprint in the US.”
WOW! and entire vertical market will be gone, or almost gone in less than three years!
These are both interesting reads and worth the effort to see what’s coming for online advertising.
We have seen with with our clients, and in our past, efforts to cut “traditional” media spending and emphasize online strategies. We’re helping our client get better results through email and PPC marketing; things that are measurable and quickly executable.
Small Businesses Seek Solutions Online
Small business is flocking to the online marketing space, why? It’s cheap, it’s easy to measure, and, well, let’s face it, print is dead.
What are local advertisers to do, though? They don’t have the large budgets to go to a “big agency,” they don’t have the technical knowledge (in many cases) to prevent being taken advantage of by small agencies, there are too many options for free or almost free web based services, etc…
They have to do research and they have to trust their network. What do successful small agencies have to do, then?
They have to be good at working with small businesses, they have to treat each of their customers well, they have to be successful, because small businesses can’t afford the expense of a failed marketing effort, no matter how small.
Email campaigns and PPC campaigns are the best entry into online marketing for most small businesses, after getting themselves a quality web site. However, they should definitely use a someone to help them, they do not want to upset their targets with violations of CAN-SPAM, or just over communication.
Read the whole article Small Businesses Seek Solutions Online – eMarketer.
Court Rules Certain Keywords Potential Trademark Violations – MarketingVOX
Court Rules Certain Keywords Potential Trademark Violations – MarketingVOX.
Well, this is scary. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled against Google in a lawsuit (Rescuecom Corp. v. Google Inc.). The summary of the suit is that if a user searches for a trademarked word (or phrase) then results imply sponsorship:
According to Rescuecom’s allegations, when a Google user launches a search for the term ‘Rescuecom’ because the searcher wishes to purchase Rescuecom’s services, links to websites of its competitors will appear on the searcher’s screen in a manner likely to cause the searcher to believe mistakenly that a competitor’s advertisement (and website link) is sponsored by, endorsed by, approved by, or affiliated with Rescuecom.
MarketingVOX also is linking to more lawsuits that are on the same topic over at SearchEngineLand.
This is what happens when courts, judges, and lawyers who are out of touch with reality decide cases that involve technology that they have never seen or used or understand. This is patently absurd and the courts need to move into the current century.