You can take the Yahoo out of the country...but you can't take the GoTo out of Yahoo? Labels: ysm
Our industry seems rather talked out these days, but if you look hard enough, there is actually some discussion of Yahoo's recent terms-and-conditions update for the search marketing program, the crazy one that gives Yahoo the right to go in and "optimize" your search marketing account unilaterally. As benign as it may appear internally, and as infrequently as "bad" incursions may take place, a line has been crossed. Why is the line so obvious to the rest of us, and so invisible to Yahoo? Where does the buck stop, there? What spokesperson is willing to stand up and explain or defend this policy?
As difficult as the Google AdWords environment has proven to be for many advertisers, and as revenue-focused and self-serving as some AdWords features may be, I've always defended Google against unfair criticism by comparing their approach to that of their competitors. When it comes to hard-to-follow features, matching options, traffic segments seen as undesirable by many, and so forth, Google has usually gotten around to adding the crucial element to the advertiser-publisher relationship: the opt-out. Know which boxes to check or uncheck? Understand how to get reporting breakdowns by segment? Then you can protect yourself from getting hosed by Google and their partners. A high percentage of advertisers don't know how to protect themselves against things like Automatic Matching (or even what that means), but at least the opt-outs are available.
Although pretty heavy-handed in some cases, this also goes for Google's "optimization suggestions." While Google is pushing the "room for improvement" notifications a little too hard, in my opinion, at least they don't reserve the right to jump into your account and make the changes arbitrarily.
Yahoo has a long history of making it harder to opt out of various traffic segments. Always behind, bringing up the rear, being dragged kicking and screaming into offering superior targeting options to advertisers by the progressive force in the space (Google). Panama was a fine platform aimed at playing catchup, but came very late to the scene. Geotargeting is just one element that Yahoo brought late to the party, and even then, it wasn't ready for prime time.
Why does all this matter?
The search marketing and digital marketing industries have very little going for them if not for credibility and accountability. Today we have a golden opportunity to stand out and contrast with traditional marketing during the present weak-economy-driven "flight to accountability." A shame, then, wherever the story we have to tell has to be tempered with red-faced shuffling of feet: "oh, well, that part's still kind of shady... sorry."
And just look around at the negative examples in other walks of life: folks who clearly didn't get the concept of an opt-out check-box:
Bernie Madoff to investors:
Do you want your life savings to be placed into a Ponzi scheme and stolen by myself?
YES ___ YES ___
Rod Blagojevich to Illinois voters:
Would you like me to make Illinois a laughingstock by transforming this high office into the "eBay of government corruption"?
YES ___ YES ___
It would be a shame to conclude that waning levels of discussion and debate (and outrage) in our industry mean we've become immune to hypocrisies and arbitrary measures, based on a steady stream of "corruption news" in industry and government. Saying nothing is easier. But it guarantees that the imaginary "line" gets blurrier and blurrier, in all of our dealings. At a certain point that makes it difficult to function at all. (Book recommendation on this subject: Stephen M.R. Covey, The Speed of Trust.)
There is some hope. Andy Beal's post about Yahoo garnered the highest number of comments in the blago... sorry, blogosphere. Now if we can call on Danny for a well-placed f-bomb or two, well, all four of us remaining protesters will focus on looking good for the videocams as the digital powers that be bulldoze us six feet under and subsequently remove the evidence from YouTube (for a TOS violation).
Still not convinced this is important?
Let's look at some other billing relationships and how the provider might just "give you a helping hand":
Posted by Andrew Goodman
| | Permalink
 |
 |
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
I can't tell you how many of my favorite blogs aren't on my RSS feed reader. I'm making it a January 1 (one day) resolution to research the 20 or so must-read blogs (the ones I read at least monthly) and actually add them to my feed reader. It's so much easier to keep in touch that way. I don't have 200 feeds on the go like some people (that's too many), but it makes no sense to keep 40 on there and leave another 20 or so favorites in the "sporadic/random" file.
The world leader in keeping me in the loop has to be Mitch Joel. Just when I start to forget about Mitch (which is hard, believe me), he'll post a link from his Six Pixels of Separation blog, on Facebook... and I'll head over and read another highly original post. He's already on my feed reader, but hey, what can I tell you... the multichannel pestering works.
So on that note: you might be one of those Traffick readers that visits here a few times a month, but haven't yet clicked on the ol' RSS button (upper right-hand corner) to actually subscribe to the feed using the feed reader of your choice. It's right there! What are you waiting for!? Thanks for reading. Have a great 2009.
Posted by Andrew Goodman
| | Permalink
|
|
Happy New Year! At least to my friends in the Cook Islands! Welcome to 2009 y'all! Labels: ebay
As we close out 2008 here in the Eastern Standard Time zone (GMT-5), a reflection.
Things that once seemed "complicated" in business and finance often respond very well to explanations a child -- or at least any logical adult observer with a Grade 7 reading comprehension level and a dollop of accurate data -- could understand. It's the adult motivations that make people cling to idiotic premises, even as the evidence points to the contrary.
The obvious example is the subprime mortgage mess, and related credit troubles. On an individual level, guess what's going to happen in an economic downturn when you give out 40-year, no-money-down mortgages to people with poor credit history and limited earning power? And lo and behold, it happened! But anyone could have told you that you don't just buy a half-million-dollar asset when your household's gross income is $60k... right? A child could have told you that?
Let's look at what someone might observe about eBay, without any foreknowledge of market data, financial statements, etc. (On that front, though, the picture isn't really pretty. It's 2009 tomorrow, and the stock is back to the same level it traded at in 1999-2002... and down more than 50% from its low in 2007.)
eBay's strengths? Presumably, diversification is going to drive eBay's financials going forward. If they can sell off Skype for not too much of a loss, or -- mean feat but worth trying -- IPO it, they'll look pretty good on paper. Some of their other brands (particularly PayPal) have strength and don't suffer from, well, the "eBay problems" listed above.
As the eBay business declines, no one should be surprised. Even a child could read the handwriting on this wall.
Bonus complaint: eBay's name sucks. The company grew rapidly and so was forced to grow into the name, which always sounded like a sort of local "beta" moniker, but the brand's legs are affected by the poor name, IMHO.
You could say the same about the name Craigslist. Although an awesome service by many people's standards, such close association with a guy named Craig, and the image of an experiment started mainly for folks in the San Francisco Bay Area, might also reach its high water mark and begin to decay, as eBay has.
Hmm, maybe that explains why eBay has had to pin some of its hopes on a parallel brand: Kijiji.
The winner in all the confusion? It must be Amazon, a company that seems clear about its retailing mission.
Posted by Andrew Goodman
| | Permalink
|
|
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Back by popular demand, Page Zero (speakers: myself and Mona Elesseily, with workshop facilitation help from colleagues) will be delivering an intensive, half-day seminar on the latest paid search marketing tactics. Expect plenty of personalized attention and fresh material along with the core fundamentals. This should be suitable for intermediate-level digital marketers. Labels: page zero, paid search
Last May's event was sold out, so take advantage of our early-bird pricing and book early.
When: Feb. 3, 2009. 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Where: MaRS Centre at University Ave. & College St., Toronto
Posted by Andrew Goodman
| | Permalink
|
|
Thursday, December 25, 2008
I'm waiting for the family to arrive, so you get to enjoy the following bit of trivia: Labels: seo
The Geox website is so unfindable that you cannot find it unless you pretty much search for "Geox.com."
The use of meta description information on this home page could use some work. Look at what the SERP looks like on Google:
Please, get the flash player, click here. P.IVA, Cod. Fisc. e Iscr. Reg. Imp. TV 03348440268 | © 2008 Geox spa - Tutti i diritti riservati.
Sigh. All this from a major international brand. Our work continues.
Posted by Andrew Goodman
| | Permalink
|
|
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
So the frenzy of retail gifting (e- or otherwise) is now nearly finished, save for the post-Christmas bargain shopping, all-important "shop for yourself" me-time, and gift card redemption period of course. The collisions in the liquor store parking lot are slowing to a trickle. Stockings are being hung. Flights are still delayed. Labels: ecommerce
If you're a digital freak you may have found yourself shaking your head even more than usual this year when faced with the madness of real-world shopping. Especially on a day like today. Here in Toronto we had a heavy snowstorm with the usual "no place to put the snow" problem, followed by today's rising temperatures and heavy downpour. Combine with chock-full parking lots and harried shoppers, and you get a true test of holiday spirit.
If you're a digital freak like me, you probably:
On the upside, real world retail has this much going for it: there is, as yet, no "Bromance" section in the physical bookstore. Online, I wouldn't be able to guarantee that.
Brothers and sisters, have a joyous and festive holiday.
Digitally yours,
Andrew
Posted by Andrew Goodman
| | Permalink
|
|
Friday, December 12, 2008
Labels: google adwords book, google adwords guide
While you're waiting for your copy of Winning Results, 2nd ed. to ship, you might want to check out this fun, informative and free PDF Andrew has just put together, boiling down some key current AdWords takeaways (including some wild and crazy stuff about Quality Score), in only 40 pages.
I've already read through it (I did the formatting and design, so I was actually one of the first two people to read it) and I can tell you that it did a great job of explaining the newfangled AdWords regime, as I'm a web developer and SEO director by trade and not as involved with day-to-day AdWords campaign management as many on the Page Zero team.
Totally worth a look! Check it out!
Download Andrew's free Google AdWords guide
Posted by Cory Kleinschmidt
| | Permalink
|
|
Labels: google analytics
For this client, using the "custom segment the most engaged users" method, I isolated the "engaged decile" of site visitors who view many pages and remain on the site for a long time. In the past month, that "decile" is 11.9% of visitors, but anyway... what is remarkable about this group is that they make up well over half the pageviews on the site! In fact, this 11.9% accounts for 56.6% of pageviews, leaving the remaining 88.1% of visitors to generate a pathetic 43.4% of pageviews. Overall, engagement on this site is poor. Many visitors are distinctly unimpressed. The "average" visitor views three pages. The "average visitor" of that engaged sliver views an impressive fifteen pages! (Average time on site: 1:58 vs. 13:22, a difference of more than 6X.) So that sliver of interested folks diverges sharply from the crowd. More proof: your tribe matters a great deal. The rest of the world doesn't give a hoot.
Posted by Andrew Goodman
| | Permalink
|
|
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Labels: google adwords
Well, it took 18 months to gestate and another few months for final proofs, printing, and machinations to unfold, but the totally-updated, hot-and-fresh Second Edition of Winning Results with Google AdWords is now in the house! And available for purchase on Amazon (I expect it to be in stock there by week's end) and in finer bookstores. "This book is a must-read for all marketers over the holidays!"... so says its author.
Posted by Andrew Goodman
| | Permalink
|
|
 |
The Traffick Search Engine Directory :: |
| » Internet Marketing » Internet Tools » Search Engines |
» Web Browsers » Web Portals » Webmaster Tools |
» About the Directory » Add URL » Traffick Report: Flock |
