Newsletter April 2007
Dear readers,
As you can see we have added a new feature to our newsletter – Trends. Since we are constantly moving around search marketing related exhibitions and conferences we would like to share our knowledge with you and will from time to time add this feature to the newsletter.
Håkan Mauritzon, CEO, Relevant TrafficEurope
TRENDS 2007
Personalised Search - Yahoo tracks search results based on the knowledge it has on the person in question and also on the basis of expressed interest for example: Yahoo search results performed from “MyYahoo” or Yahoo Mailbox. The Google approach to personalisation is very much based on search history. Google can know elements of a persons search history through user sessions, use of cookies, as well as the Google toolbar. There are furthermore talks about an approach called Collaborative Filtering which many of us know is an approach from Amazon’s suggestion engine.
Mobile Search – Asia is at the forefront of this trend and it could have a major impact on search interfaces and personalisation in the future. An example is device recognition. Search Engines are already quite good at recognising BlackBerry browser. Search results however are not quite ready for this yet.
Yahoo's Road Shows - Yahoo is doing road shows all over Europe for the release of their new “ Panama ” platform for the management of sponsored links campaigns. They have been presenting the platform in our Stockholm, Paris and Cologne offices so far. Some of the major changes in the release are the adoption of quality parameters in the ranking of sponsored links. This is basically Yahoo adopting the Google approach. Technically speaking this means that the rank of a search ad in relation with a keyword is no longer based exclusively on the amount of the bid but also on the quality of the ad, so the click through rate on the ad will be an important element for the ranking. Google are already taking this a step further with their “Quality score” which is a joint appreciation of the keyword, adtext and landing page integrity. This further increases the synergies between Search Engine advertising and Search Engine optimisation and consorts Relevant Traffic in its strategy as a full Search Service provider
From Relevant Traffic’s head of production and research
NEWS
Google Buys Online Advertising Company DoubleClick
The New York Times reports that Google is buying DoubleClick for USD 3.1 billion. That’s twice as much as Google paid for YouTube last year. DoubleClick is one of the worlds leading online advertising companies, covering areas like display advertising, advertising optimization, rich media advertising, search and affiliate marketing.
Yahoo Under-performs--Again
Yahoo's first-quarter earnings came in below expectations. There has been some investor optimism over the better-than-expected performance of Yahoo's Panama search advertising system, but all that was erased as the company reported an 11 percent profit decline of $958 million on sales of $1.67 billion.
Viacom, Yahoo Strike Multi-Year Search Marketing Deal
Taking advantage of the ongoing rift between Viacom and Google over copyright infringement, Yahoo has scored an exclusive, multi-year deal to provide search and ad services to top-tier broadband sites owned by the media giant. Financial terms of the deal, which could ultimately encompass over 140 sites, were not disclosed.
MORE READING
Yahoo Extends Search Marketing Pact with United Online
Berkowitz Talks About Microsoft Search Strategy As Google Share Keeps Climbing