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Online Ad Spend Up 10% In 2010…
Forbes is reporting that online ad spending will get a big boost in 2010, going up by 10%.
Of the $368 billion marketers plan to spend this year, 32.5% will go toward digital; 30.3% to print. Digital spending includes e-mail, video advertising, display ads and search marketing. “It’s a watershed moment,” says the study’s lead author, Outsell vice president Chuck Richard.
This is great news for digital agencies, and firms like Google who are the recipients of these online ad spending dollars. Keep in mind, however, that the majority of this revenue goes to the large ad vendor. Agencies keep only from 5-10% of the total spend.
Microsoft Bing’s Continued Growth ‘Rattles’ Google
MarketingVOX is reporting that MSFT’s Bing search engine is beginning to “rattle” GOOG’s share of the market. No surprise there, updates to IE8 and the MSN toolbar have been “tweaked” to use Bing as the default search engine.
There is nothing really better about Bing, if you’ve used it, you’ll know that it’s a bit on the frustrating side, IMHO. Although, I can’t complain about being #1 when searching for “digital marketing ideas” (we’re #6 on Google). When searching more geo-centric, however, by searching “digital marketing orange county,” we’re #8 on Bing and #4 on Google. There is no PERFECT algorithm. The important thing, for marketers, is to look at where you’re ranking and then make sure you’re doing all that you can, on the SEO front, to rank where you want to rank.
Bing’s Continued Growth ‘Rattles’ Google – MarketingVOX.
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.
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.
Search Marketing Spending and Trends – eMarketer
Search Marketing Spending and Trends – eMarketer
A new story out from eMarketer is showing how search marketing dollars are being spent by clients. The data, from Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO) used research from a Radar Research study.
The short version of the article is that of the $13.5 Billion spent in 2008, 88% went to Search Marketing and 11% to SEO. The assertion, however, is that more money will be flowing into SEO programs in 2009 because it delivers longer term results.
DMIdeas caveat… SEO works as long as you spend the big $$ on an infrastructure that eliminates human error.
The other takeaway from the article is that Search Engine Marketing spending will grow rapidly over the next 5 years as shown in this chart:
Social Network Marketing For Small Business
Social Network Marketing is here to stay. Right now it’s the next “big” thing, soon it’ll be as ubiquitous as email marketing or PPC. So, for those of you that are trying to do it yourself because you want to see what it’s all about, or, don’t think you can afford an agency to help you here are some tips from Perfect Business:
- Write A Killer Profile
- Focus on a Quality Network Rather than Quantity Network
- Establish a Time-Saving Routine
- Respect Your Friends
- Start to SHARE
And then, from us, some advice:
It’s important that your Social Networking profile/site be as professional as your business. Make sure that your copy is well written, that your page is free of typos, that you friends list reflects your potential customers and employees, and, perhaps most importantly, make sure that your profile provides potential customers with a method to contact you, either email or phone or physical address.
Whether you do it yourself, or use an agency to help you, Social Networks are here to stay and having a presence, no matter how small your business, is important.
On a larger scale, the folks at Procter & Gamble (P&G), just held a little “summit” to figure out how to use Social Media to help their business…read more at Cincinatti.com.
And here’s some anecdotal evidence that Facebook has overtaken Google as a source for referrals to some sites…
More Evidence of Print Dying…US Local Ad Market Shrinking
In this article from eMarketer, The Kelsey Group & BIA Advisory Services LLC are projecting a 13.2% drop in local print advertising spending in the next 5 years.
This is huge for the newspaper business. Over the last several years, as national advertising dollars have moved online they’ve increased their focus on their traditional strong point, local & small business advertising.
What is causing this shift in ad dollars from offline to online? Well, the increasing ability of marketers to geo-target their PPC advertising. PPC (both display based and text based) are far superior to offline print advertising competitors in their ability to geo-target, demographic-target, and, in general, perform far better from a conversion perspective. Now, with PPC advertising, you’re not locked into a click through to a web site and then having to convice a user to fill out a form, no, you can have that add drive directly to a phone call to your business or call center. Something that print definitely can not do. This makes the impulsive click a definitive lead generator for both small and large businesses alike.
We’re seeing not just a shift in small businesses, but other, larger, more traditional print advertisers, your regional businesses like car dealers and their networks, medical groups, and other regionally focused (and traditionally print based) advertisers.
Click on over to eMarketer and read the article, it’s a short, but informative piece.
US Local Ad Market Shrinking – eMarketer.
Click Fraud Climbing – eMarketer
Click Fraud Climbing – eMarketer.
This is a great article from eMarketer discussing an increasingly important phenomenon… Click Fraud. Many Search Marketing (SEM/PPC) firms out there use something called “automated bid management.” The problem with these automated systems is that they react only to activity, they’re not looking at the posibilitiy of fraud, etc. It is important, in my opinion, that only a mix of custom developed automated tools and human monitoring can succeed in today’s volatile marketplace.
Marketing Vox had an article on this topic at the end of January, as well.
WPP Takes Stake in Omniture
Well, it’s happened. The analytics company is “in bed” with the “big agency.” Who’s looking out for the client? Almost 10y ago I led a team to build the first ever (that we knew of) metrics system that delivered behavior based targeting as well as analytics for one of our clients. The client asked, “why should I trust your numbers,” and we used a 3rd party to validate our results for them. Now, the 3rd party is just another shill for the agency… Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it,… and in the case of client’s demanding lower fees and more services, this is the kind of thing that happens.
Proof That Print Advertising is Dying?
Foxnews.com is running an AP story, here, breaking the news that Tribune Co., the owner of the LA Times, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Cubs, Orlando Sentinel (they've posted a story as well), etc., is considering filing bankruptcy. The Wall Street Journal reports that they've hired investment firm Lazard Ltd., and law firm Sidley Austin, to help them get through a Chapter 11 filing.
What will this mean for advertising agencies? In my opinion, more of what we've seen in the last few weeks, ad dollars will be moving from the offline world of shotgun style strategies to a highly targeted online world.