Pay Per Click Advertising and SEO

On-demand video player to be launched by Microsoft

James Oliver — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 08:43:25 +0000

Microsoft’s latest attempt at world domination has been announced this week – they have revealed their new on-demand video service.

Much like the already popular 4od and iPlayer from Channel 4 and the BBC respectively, the MSN video player will offer viewers more than 1000 hours of popular shows both old and new.

The player was actually given a test run in summer 2009 where it was rolled out with a much smaller library, its relative popularity inspired improvements and a significant increase to the library for its official release this month.

During this time, Microsoft have made agreements with a number of high profile clients including Endemol (the makers of Big Brother). The player will broadcast such current popular shows as 8 out of 10 cats and Skins whilst also showing some ‘golden oldies’ like Doctor Who and Young Ones.

Whilst it may seem a fairly pointless endeavour on the part of Microsoft considering the popularity of 4od and BBC iPlayer, the MSN video player does have a bit more to offer. It will come with ‘Silverlight Smooth Streaming’ which will allow users to watch shows in glorious HD. As well as this it will have entire series of certain shows rather then just offering a simple catch up service from the last week.

Users will be able to create their own personal play-list of shows if they are planning a session of sustained watching and the player will even recommend shows based on what you may have already watched.

It would seem that the MSN video player will be a welcome addition to the market as it offers something slightly different from what we already have, variety is indeed the spice of life.

Microsoft remodels MSN homepage

Matt Thomas — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:42:13 +0000

2010 has been a year of major competition between the internets ‘big 3’ of Microsoft, Yahoo and Google as each of them form partnerships and make new deals in the hope of overhauling the other two. So it comes as no surprise that Microsoft has revealed their new MSN homepage to its 100 million users in the United States.

The company has been previewing the major redesign of its MSN homepage since last year as they quietly went about their business collecting user input in an attempt to perfect the site in time for its 2010 release. This comes hot on the heels of their announcement that they are to integrate MySpace into their Outlook program

“Since the preview of our new home page began in November, we’ve been very busy gathering over 70,000 pieces of customer feedback and introducing over 30 updates in our quest to deliver the best home page to stay in the know,” said an MSN blog post this week.

It would seem that Bing has been the centre of attention for Microsoft as of late as they attempt to take on the Google search engine but it is clear that Microsoft have far from forgotten about MSN which is home to two of its most popular programs in Hotmail and the Messenger service.

The timing for this redesign could not have been better as their main competitors Google and Yahoo have been devoting a lot of their time and money into making vast improvements to their respective services in the hope of attracting users from the other sites.

Just recently Google has added the Buzz social networking application to its Google Mail page whilst Yahoo have added a service that allows social feeds from Facebook and other social networking sites.

By the looks of things it is set to be a year of change and innovation from all three companies.

Microsoft Outlook sends MySpace a friend request

James Oliver — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:39:30 +0000

It is quite rare these days to find an internet user that frequents both the Microsoft Outlook e-mail program and the often forgotten spawn of social networking that is MySpace. The former is often used by people with a lot of e-mail accounts usually for work and the later by teenagers hoping to get their attempt at a chart topper heard.

Nevertheless it has been announced this week that Microsoft and MySpace have created a beta version of a tool that will allow users of their Outlook program to see their MySpace connections and friends within the e-mail client.

Microsoft will be adding an all new ‘social connector’ feature within Outlook that will allow users to connect to a social network of their choosing which will include MySpace, the lesser known Linkedln and inevitably Facebook, which will be added soon. This will work with all versions of Outlook from this decade; 2003, 2007 and the new 2010 edition.

The service will allow Outlook users to view their friends and colleagues in the ‘people pane’, they will also be able to view activity or ‘status’ updates, sync contact lists with Outlook and have one click access to their friends profiles.

Just how popular this will be remains to be seen, but what has become evident is the fact that the big players on the internet have recognized the pull and demand for social networking. It is looking as though constant connection to ones social network is becoming a staple whether being on a computer or a phone, but is that what we really want? It would seem that is what we’re going to get whether we like it or not.

Microsoft get aggressive in marketing of Bing

Jenny Sanderson — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:37:57 +0000

You have to admire the sheer tenacity of Microsoft. It is well noted that Google completely dominate the search engine market with a massive 86% of the global market, whilst Microsoft’s Bing has a meagre 3.4% share. Despite this, Microsoft have embarked on an aggressive advertising campaign in the UK in the hope of at least stealing second place from Yahoo.

In a statement of intent Microsoft have moved to sponsor The Simpsons on Channel 4 in the UK. This comes as a part of their multi million pound campaign to promote Bing across the nation. The Simpsons is one of the most popular prime time television shows in the UK receiving a great deal of the target age viewers that Microsoft have identified as being most important to their success.

The sponsorship will run for 3 months as of this week and can be seen before, during and after the 6pm show on Channel 4. The advert has been especially created for the show as it presents a family happily using the Bing search engine.

This comes soon after the first television advert broadcast by Bing this week during the Manchester United VS AC Milan Champions League match on Wednesday. The ad campaign labelled ‘Bing and Decide’ conveys that whilst other search engines may give you an information overload, Bing functions more as a decision engine offering more of a categorized search.

Time will tell as to whether the millions spent by Microsoft on this campaign are worth while, they have set their sights on second place for now but ‘runner-up’ has never been a tagline the company has associated itself with so I am sure that Bing will have Google in its sights soon enough.

Apple iPad release dates finally revealed…Kind of

Matt Thomas — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:36:57 +0000

Apple sure do know how to create a heavenly aura around their products don’t they? More than a month after revealing the iPad none of us have been able to get our hands on one yet nor have we had the comfort of knowing exactly when this may happen.

Worry not Apple fanatics, as the release dates have finally been released for Apple’s latest slice of brilliance. Well, I say worry not, but that only really counts if you are a customer in the US as the British release information seems to be a bit sketchy.

Apple have announced that British consumers will be able to purchase both the Wi-Fi/3G and Wi-Fi only models of the iPad by the end of April. This is as long as the warnings going around the internet are untrue and there are indeed no unspecified manufacturing problems that could lead to further delays.

Ok, so we know when the iPad will be hitting these shores but Apple have decided not to tell us how much they will cost, they just continue with the claim of an “unbelievable price.” Does this mean unbelievably expensive like most of their products? I suppose we won’t know until closer to the time.

It is possible to hazard a guess however as they have revealed that the entry level (Wi-Fi only 16gb) product in the US will cost $499, so if we use a bit of currency converting maths we can derive that the same model should cost around £389 here.

Customers in the US will be able to get one of the entry level iPad’s from April 3rd meaning that over here we will be treated to endless “un-boxing the iPad” videos on Youtube whilst we sit clutching the screen willing the end of April to come which is when the US (and the UK) will get the more advanced 3g and Wi-Fi model.

So, another 7 weeks or so to see if all the hype is justified while we stare in wonderment at the TV ad Apple decided to release nice and early (during the Oscars), thanks guys.

Google announces yet another shrewd acquisition

Jenny Sanderson — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:50:10 +0000

As the year progresses and we get ever closer to summer it would seem that competition in the online world is really hotting up. Perennial innovators Google are leading the pack with the announcement that they are set to purchase their third company this year.

On their blog, this week, Google announced that the deal was done for them to buy online photo editing site Picnik, as per usual this was for an undisclosed sum, but it is believed to be one of their ‘cheaper’ acquisitions as Picnik is a fairly small company. Started just five years ago in Seattle (USA), Picnik has a modest staff of just 20.

It is one of the earlier incarnations of an online photo editing website. It allows its users to edit their photos online thus enabling them to post them on social networking sites like Twitter or Facebook. The basic service is free or alternatively users can pay a subscription to benefit from more advanced features.

Picnik brings Google’s total number of acquisitions this year to 3 and a staggering 60 in total. More high profile purchases include the likes of Youtube and Android. This comes hot on the heels of Google’s announcement that they have purchased search sites Aardvark and reMail.

If this trend continues it look as though it will be an interesting year as the giants of the online world jostle for dominance in an ever growing world wide web.

Healthy growth for domain name registrations in 2009

Jenny Sanderson — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 09:00:08 +0000

Despite the global economic downturn causing mass panic as we plunge into recession the ever reliable internet has been quietly going about its business and making some very good progress at the same time.

Leading network infrastructure company VeriSign, have announced a rapid growth in the number of domain names purchased in 2009 inevitably resulting in a major increase in the total list of domain names purchased. This month marks the 25th anniversary of the first ever purchase of a registered domain name, assigned way back on March 15th 1985. It was a .com company known as ‘Symbolics.com’.

The latest Domain Name Identity Brief from VeriSign confirms that the number of Top Level Domain Names (TLDs) purchased in 2009 marked a significant increase when compared with 2008. The 2009 tally marks a 7% increase in the total number of Top Level Domain Names registered at the end of 2008.

The total now stands at a staggering 192 million domain registrations, 15 million of which came in 2009. .Com and .net domains are obviously the most popular and more frequently purchased, they account for 96.7 million of the total, other popular ones include .co.uk and .gov.uk.

The final quarter of 2009 proved to be the most fruitful with 7.3million new .com and .net registrations being added according to VeriSign who manage both the .com and .net registries.

Despite the recession crippling many an economy, it would seem that no matter the economic climate the internet still seems to prosper.

Facebook could be making more than $1 billion a year

Matt Thomas — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:27:23 +0000

The ever increasing popularity of social networking site Facebook is showing dividends for the company as this week it was revealed that their finances are even healthier than expected. The site is reported to be well on its way to hitting $1billion in revenue by the end of 2010.

The numbers come from tracking site Inside Facebook, frequently used by the company’s horde of developers and advertisers. Figures from their site indicated that Facebook made $635 million in 2009 which was a massive 15% higher then had been estimated, this would mean that they are envisaging that Facebook will almost double its profits within a year.

Inside Facebook is considered an extremely reliable and methodically accurate source for data regarding the inner workings of the company’s business; they suggest that if Facebook continues to make crucial moves in the market they will remain on course to double their profits every year, a remarkable achievement considering the company’s humble beginnings.

It is often questioned how exactly Facebook makes its money being a free service and all (despite the constant pranks suggesting it will soon become subscription based), the answer is in the advertising. With over 400 million users on Facebook there is a lot of room for brand advertising. With so many people prepared to give up every snippet of information about themselves it is easy to target specific users.

On top of this Inside Facebook have suggested that the biggest and most profitable part of the company’s market is in its ‘performance advertising’ referring to the companies that deploy ads within Facebook in order to promote their own ‘developed for Facebook’ products, like the popular online game Farmville for example.

Despite often being saddled with controversy the future looks bright for Facebook as the company shows no signs of slowing in its progress.

Google admits its SEO needs improving

James Oliver — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 08:15:19 +0000

To many this news will come as a shock, but it would seem that the Google Empire is not perfect after all. Just this week a detailed 49 page report has been published by Google that takes an in-depth look and rates its SEO on its various properties which includes the homepage.

Surprisingly Google did not pass with flying colours, in actual fact the report revealed that the company were failing in a number of categories. Google are planning to use the information garnered from the reports as a springboard to make improvements to its SEO. Also, in a stroke of generosity, Google have decided to share a selection of some of the metrics that they use.

The extensive report covers 100 of Google’s products, highlighting specific areas in need of improvement. One of the main areas in need of change is “search result presentation” which scored a mere 33/100 or lower in 3 different categories the lowest of these being “title tag format and length.”

For those not in the know when it comes to SEO this refers to how much information appears in the big, blue search result links as well as the text descriptions that appear below them. The report suggests different ways of fixing such problems.

The company also scored low on such points as the destination sites where images or logos may lead. The report found that more than half of these logos linked with somewhere they were not supposed to including the infamous and annoying 404 pages, once again the report suggested solutions this problem.

It was not all bad for Google, however, as some aspects of the reports yielded positive results. The company scored well in its offering of a clear main page result and also having proper use of internal anchor text and headline tags.

The full report can be viewed here.

Google set to launch ISP service

Jenny Sanderson — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 08:00:50 +0000

It never comes as a surprise to hear that Google are putting their fingers into yet another pie as they gather pace in their quest to take over the online world. Back in 2005 it was reported that Google had bought up a huge stock pile of fibre optics, this sparked mass rumours that they were planning to release some sort of ‘GoogleNet’ service that was sure to be better then any other Internet Service Provider, five years later and there would appear to be rumblings of this actually coming to fruition.

Google have always sort of flirted with this idea, having offered free Wi-Fi services in airports and select places around the US. This week they have announced that they are planning to launch a fiber optic based ISP service that will apparently offer speeds of 1Gbps at a “competitive price.” But before we get to excited at the prospect of an internet connection that doesn’t at times resemble a snail in treacle the service will only be rolled out to “select markets” according to Google.

They will be having a trial run of the service in an attempt to provide the next-gen service to 50,000-500,000 people to see how fast and efficient it is. Google are asking communities in America to apply for the service that will be a strong representation of the company’s pro-net neutrality efforts.

Launch markets for the service are to be announced later this year, if it is successful as most Google products are it would be welcomed with open arms on these shores and all over the world.

Skype to be made available on HDTVs

James Oliver — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 08:00:58 +0000

Jack of all trades electronics company Samsung have this week announced that we will soon be able to see our long lost relatives or faraway friends in glorious HD on their new range of televisions.

Much like their rivals Panasonic and LG, Samsung will be releasing new 7000 and 8000 series TV’s that will have Skype enabled access. The TV’s will have an ‘apps service’ (where have we heard that before?) that will allow users to access different applications such as Skype and the recently announced BBC iPlayer.

Do not be fooled though, the TV does not actually come with a built-in webcam, Skype will be selling separate HD video processing cameras that will have to be attached separately, meaning that the TV’s come as Skype compatible but not Skype ready, much like the whole ‘HD Ready’ debacle.

These HD video processing cameras will retail from the Skype store at around $200 (£131).

Users will be able to log into their Skype account or create a new one (just like on the computer or phone) using the televisions remote which will control the program.

Skype have said that they will be using their SILK audio codec for voice calls which will give the user the best possible calling experience along with the camera.

Skype is becoming more and more popular with more then 20 million users online at any one time, now that it is being made available on such other platforms as TV and mobile phone we may soon see an end to paid telephone contracts as everyone will be ‘skyping’, whether or not it proves a popular addition to TV’s is yet to be seen though.

iTunes store hits magic 10 billion downloads mark

Jenny Sanderson — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 09:37:16 +0000

It doesn’t seem so long ago that I was sat at my computer desk debating when exactly to click the ‘buy now’ button in the hope of being the lucky individual to have purchased Apple’s 5 billionth song. A year and a half in fact, and once again this week I was sat in that same spot hoping to snag the 10 billionth song, once again it wasn’t to be, but what an amazing achievement for Apple.

On Wednesday (24th Feb) that mercurial 10 billionth mp3 was downloaded on iTunes cementing Apples dominance in the online music world. The song was “Guess things happen that way” by Johnny Cash and it was downloaded by a Louie Sulcer of Woodstock, GA, almost inevitably in the US. Lucky Louie is set to receive an iTunes voucher worth $10,000 enabling him to buy another 10,000 songs.

Eddy Cue, Apple Vice President said in a statement. “We’re proud that iTunes has become the number one music retailer in the world, and selling 10 billion songs is truly staggering.”

Knowing that the question was sure to be asked Apple ranked the top 5 most popular songs downloaded from the iTunes store, they are as follows:

1.Black Eyed Peas – I got a feeling
2.Lady Gaga – Pokerface
3.Black Eyed Peas – Boom Boom Pow
4.Jason Mraz – I’m yours
5.Coldplay – Viva la Vida

This news further validates the fact that iTunes is by far at the top of the digital music realm, streaks ahead of their nearest competitor Amazon. It is surprising to hear that the iTunes store has only been in operation for 7 years but I am sure that this achievement is no shock to Apple as iTunes sold 1 million songs in its debut week.

Off the back of this Apple are looking to roll out an online digital television service that will be based on a paid monthly subscription and after such a successful 7 years I am sure there will be much more to come from the iTunes store.

Yahoo and Sainsburys in advertising deal

Matt Thomas — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 08:00:27 +0000

After you have purchased your shopping at Sainsbury’s and the cashier habitually asks you “do you have a Nectar card”?. Have you ever found yourself wondering what the actual point of them is? Or whether or not the so called ‘benefits’ are worth the hassle of filling out a form or shuffling around your bag/wallet looking for the card?

Well Yahoo and Nectar (Sainsbury’s loyalty card) have agreed on a deal that may well answer the question as to whether or not the Nectar card is a worthwhile investment.

It is primarily an advertising deal that will allow online advertisers to target high-street shoppers based on their purchases. Under the opt-in scheme, Yahoo would be provided with detailed historical data on the purchases made by shoppers. Once this information has been provided by Nectar it can be linked to their Yahoo login details in order to tailor specific advertisements to for each unique user on any of Yahoo’s sites.

These results could then be monitored by Nectar and enable them to show “return on investment data. Amazingly there are 16.8million Nectar card holders and 2000 of these have already decided to opt into the scheme.

This venture could be seen by many as a bit of an invasion of privacy, details of every item that you have purchased on your shopping trip being passed around may not be that appealing. Although if I am going to be forced to have online adverts pop up during my internet surfing time I would rather they be specifically tailored to my every desire.

The campaign known as ‘Consumer Connect’ is going to be used by Yahoo in the hope that it will attract household brands that may have in the past been reluctant to partake in online advertisement.

Cadbury, recently taken over by US cheese company Kraft, have been using a similar service for the last seven years, and have agreed to be part of the scheme.
“The service is a silver bullet to improve brand building,” said Mark Rabe, Yahoo’s UK managing director. “For the first time, UK advertisers will have a simple way to track offline sales from online advertising campaigns, driving accountability all the way through to return on investment.”

David Buckingham, commercial director at Nectar’s insight and communication division, said: “It allows FMCG [fast-moving consumer goods] brands to serve up highly targeted adverts online to an extremely relevant audience.

“We can prove to them what the effect of the advertising was.”

Twitter benefits from traffic boost thanks to Google deal

Matt Thomas — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 08:00:36 +0000

2010 seems as though it’s to be a year of collaboration and co-operation amongst the big players on the web. After seeing positive deals between Microsoft and Facebook, Yahoo and Microsoft and Yahoo and Nectar the first evidence of positive results has arisen from the Twitter/Google deal.

Social networking site Twitter has seen its web traffic increase by 9% since their agreement with Google was implemented at the end of 2009. This deal allowed Google to index tweets into their main search engine allowing separate user ‘tweets’ to come up in a regular Google search.

This increase was measured between December 2009 and January 2010 by ComScore, one of the leading players in web traffic analysis, who found that the number of unique visitors to Twitters site had seen a fairly significant increase over that short period.

Google began integrating Tweets into its main search engine results on December 7th 2009 in the view of making them more ‘real-time’. This has evidently been a fruitful endeavour for Twitter as their number of unique visitors has hit an all time high of 21.79 million in January this trumps their previous best of 21.25 million in July of 2009.

The exact terms of the deal, as per usual, were not disclosed but it is thought that Google must have had to pay a fairly substantial amount to Twitter for allowing the index of its tweets.

In keeping with the theme of collaboration Myspace and Facebook updates are set to be indexed into Google in the very near future as deals were struck by each of the respective companies in late 2009.

As each of these internet fat cats vie to be the biggest and the best these co-operations can only be positive for us as internet users as they are sure to improve our web experience, it will be interesting to see who pairs up next.