Archive for the 'Industry News' Category

Interflora’s legal wrangle with M&S over AdWords Keyword bidding

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on December 9, 2008
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It was widely reported in the online advertising press yesterday within the UK that Interflora were looking to take strong legal action to protect their brand over keyword bidding by the retailer M&S on the Goggle AdWords platform.

A bemused M&S found the action a little heavy and stated that they were doing nothing wrong and their actions fell well within the boundaries of the AdWords protocol and rules.

The key thrust of Interflora’s argument is that while M&S may be acting within Google’s AdWords rules, they may be breaching actual copyright law.

Interflora protect against possible adwords copyright infringement

Interflora protect against possible adwords copyright infringement

Marketing director of Interflora UK, Michael Barringer, spoke with OUT-LAW.com to say;

“The Interflora brand is extremely valuable and we will not tolerate competitors taking advantage of it and infringing our right.

“Throughout its history, Interflora has been forced to use legal means to prevent infringement of its valuable trade marks. This action represents only the beginning of a broader strategy to defend the Interflora mark against infringers.”

This legal action could have other ramifications on how company bid on competitors keywords as well as how they react when being bid against.

Google changed its policy on companies being allowed to bid on their rivals’ trademarks back in May 2008 – the result also had a positive effect on the search giants share price. The change in May allows advertisers to bid on any brand names, but prevents them from using a rival’s trademark in the text of the ad that appears in the sponsored search advertisement.

TTFN to BPF – the end of Google’s Best Practice Funding

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on December 8, 2008
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It is often said that the difference between goodbye & au revoir are often mistaken. In the case of Google Best Practice Funding (BPF) it will more than likely be the former rather than the later.

The BPF programme was a commission based system that allowed Google to pay commissions to 3rd party companies, mainly advertising/media agencies and search specialist agencies, for work they carried out on behalf of their client to help plan, facilitate, execute and report on Google AdWords Advertising. The system was introduced for a variety of reasons though the smart money was on the fact the original commissions paid by Google (alongside other media owners and networks) was being abused and in some case being paid back to clients so certain agencies with buying power could negotiate ‘cost-effective’ deals with their clients - these pigeons have now come home to roost.

Like the credit crunch, the impending demise of the BPF has forced those agencies that integrated their business plan with commission, to think again or take a seriously hard look at the business they’re in – maybe even saying with a bah humbug,  TTFN to the business.

BPF - Volume or Value? Digital Clarity’s view

The imminent demise of Google Best Practice Funding (BPF) is one that for those unprepared will require a period of adjustment. Digital Clarity has always felt that sharp practice by larger players in the market lead to quality and delivery being superseded by those concerned with blurred cost effective media schedules.

Digital Clarity welcomes the move and embraces a new era where client of all sizes can see the benefit of an agencies work over and above volume.

The return of client centered practice alongside lean and value driven pricing models augmented to leading solutions & strategy have always been at the heart Digital Clarity’s thrust and this will continue to be the case – BPF or no BPF.

To have a confidential discussion on BPF or if you wish to discuss how this may effect you business, please contact Reggie James: DCM UK or the Australian office

Australian Businesses Turn to Search…

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on December 3, 2008
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… Lucky as most of the online converters don’t know what all the fuss is about!

Frost & Sullivan Australia released their latest digital media advertising research findings recently - in which the Australian search advertising reached a total value of $870 million during the 2008 calendar year making it the fastest growing segment in the local digital media advertising industry. PPC continue to lead demand accounting for 51% or $442.6 million of the total revenue. This was followed by online directories at $264 million & contextual searches at $163 million.

The study also confirmed that the clear market leader for search advertising remains Google which captured 62% revenue share of the total 2008 online search advertising market.

Foster & Sullivan also identified the vast majority of companies (circa 75%) of advertisers are now spending more than 10% of their total media budget on search related activities which is a large leap of 10% compared to last years figures.

This reallocation of budgets towards search is likely to be accelerated by the current financial turmoil. As companies look to find pure accountability for every dollar they spend, as well as taking advantage of the tremendous cost effectiveness of search marketing.

Interestingly 2008 studies showed that some industries are experiencing signs of weaker returns on investment. Digital Clarity Media’s PPC division have noticed some absolutely crazy vertical market trends within search this year so it is not to be unexpected that those that jump onto the bandwagon and receive positive returns with no real strategy in place will soon suffer, this may affect vertical market returns in the short term, however vertical markets traditionally fall back in line with growth predictions and we certainly haven’t seen any significant decrease in returns for our clients, actually they are all reporting strong growth.

Another interesting fact is that with all the talk of the financial strains on the global economy we keep on expecting to see a decline in online activity & returns for our clients. The reality of the situation is that those that are most affected with this ‘crisis’ are the more affluent - traditionally these people are such a small percentage of online converters that returns with well thought out and managed online strategies shouldn’t be affected. The big online converters - those that are sitting in the middle / low income brackets who should be the targets for the majority of online advertisers don’t really know what the fuss is about, ‘what crisis’ they say, in fact they are benefiting from lower petrol prices & interest rates and are shaping up for a nice Christmas.

It is no wonder that search is predicted to accelerate throughout 2009.

Will Chrome outshine the others for Browser dominance?

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on November 24, 2008
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Bill Gates famously said “The Internet? We are not interested in it” back in 1993. The rest as they say, is history. Also said with equal bravado by Clement Mok, a famous designer & software developer, “Five years ago, we thought of the Web as a new medium, not a new economy”.

The underlying platform that unites these 2 quotes is Google. Google not only proved Bill Gates wrong and led to his continual game of catch up was the company form Mountain View. Equally, the company that created an economy from web browsing was Google.

Now Google has launched ‘Chrome’ it’s new web browser that will go head to head with Microsoft’s new IE8 browser. Microsoft has dominated the Browser market through OEM bundles with all the major PC and Laptop providers and currently has 72% market share, worldwide.

What has spiced the launch of Microsoft’s IE8 and had all the pundits, blogs and forums buzzing is that earlier in the week, Microsoft issued a statement as part of a press release saying that the NEW IE8 would have a ‘privacy’ button that would wipe and block any third party cookies or tracking elements that shows a users history on the sites they visit. This data is used by advertiser to target their communication to the right people at the right time, to ultimately sell more relevant products or services.

The prospective blocking or erasing of this data would have serious repercussions for banner or graphical based advertising that in many ways has kept the internet free for consumers visiting and accessing data, products and information – YouTube, Bebo, MySpace etc are examples of advertising reliant sites that allow fir mass communication without charging the user and entrance fee or membership fee.

So, why would Microsoft launch this bizarre offensive? Simple, to take a swipe at Google’s recent launch of it new graphical based ad servicing technology after their acquisition of DoubleClick. Feeling threatened and having already quietly developed the browser, Google’s launch of Chrome was another stroke of genius that stamped all over the new improved version of what would be IE8.

Currently, IE8 is now a distant memory and all the talk is about Chrome and the various ASP applications that will become available including a spreadsheet package that will apparently make the ubiquitous excel look like an abacus.

by Reggie James ~ November 24th, 2008

On the rebound, Yahoo! goes back to Microsoft

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on November 24, 2008
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It is often said that one should never look a gift horse in the mouth. This little gem of wisdom is always applied with a good dose of hindsight and in this case is applicable to the once mighty search giant Yahoo! and more aptly, to it’s beleaguered Chief Executive Jerry Yang’s attempt at trying to resurrect some form of deal with Microsoft. A deal that Yang and his board walked away from a few months ago.

Though Steve Ballmer, the legendry sales guru and more recently CEO of Microsoft has totally ruled out any takeover, he has left the tiniest of door opening by saying that he may consider some form of tie-up around paid search.
This is a shrewd move by Ballmer who has give the classic corporate stance of ‘Microsoft have moved on’…to knowing deep down inside that any form of collaboration that involved Microsoft taking even the slightest of chunks from mega rival Google’s market share would probably elevate him into demigod status at the Software companies Seattle HQ.

Watch this space…

by Reggie James ~ November 21st, 2008

‘Quality’ Score? More Revenue for Google

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on November 24, 2008
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Google’s recent changes to ‘Quality’ score and Minimum bids again raise questions?

It was only a few months ago that Google removed the restriction of bidding on brand term keywords. This created huge controversy and prompted the reaction from the major brands in the market to join sides and avoid bidding on each others brands. Some kept their word and others didn’t as expected.

However, the fact remains that Google is now generating higher volumes of revenue from this simple move. The advertisers pay more to appear on competitors keywords, Google makes more money.

The next step in this process has now been to remove the minimum bid requirements. These were previously in place to give Google the right to stop irrelevant listings from appearing if their Quality Score was too low. This now means that you can bid on any keyword you want as long as you pay the right price.

Google suggest that the ‘Quality’ Score will still be in place to reward and promote the more relevant advertisers and suppress the irrelevant ones. But how much impact will this now have?

Are Google taking a step backward when it comes to providing relevancy? If users are searching on a keyword they want to find a relevant website not an advertiser who has paid top whack to appear at the top.

by Reggie James ~ November 24th, 2008

Christmas Trading: Online Sores as High Street Suffers

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on November 7, 2008
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Online players were among the clear winners for Christmas 2007, and despite the economic worries this year Digital Clarity Media are finding that our clients are leading up to an even better 2008 Christmas trading season, which historically starts towards the end of September and continues to strongly through to the end of February as retailers benefit from post Christmas sales.

Despite growing economic worries, luxury and premium spending in Australia online has remained strong as shoppers look to indulgent purchases to buoy their mood. Evidence also indicates that consumers continue to follow the UK & US trends of a few years ago as they abandon their reliance on the high street and go looking for value nationwide online.

“We estimate that our clients will continue to grow at an exponential monthly rate online as Australian consumers demonstrate they have continued faith in the online logistics. All of our online retailers are growing beyond targeted projections month on month online; however we are also hearing that they are noticing a dip in offline sales which isn’t to be unexpected given the panic in the media”. Says Nathan Downs DCM Australia

It is not too late for Australian online retailers to benefit, it’s important not to rush, efficiency is the key – Do it right and you’ll benefit quickly.

It takes about 10 days to efficiently set up, test & broadcast a well thought out, researched PPC account from the initial conversation with DCM to the first day your online marketing campaigns go live.

Google annuls Yahoo! wedding via a blog

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on November 7, 2008
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Google’s exit from their proposed search advertising deal isn’t only embarrassing. It eliminates one of Yahoo’s key methods for creating value outside the clutches of Microsoft. Yahoo is back in play as a takeover target, but at a lower price.

Google’s use of a corporate blog to deliver its exit seems abrupt. But the deal, which would have outsourced a portion of Yahoo’s search advertising to Google, had come under intense pressure from advertisers and regulators. It was already amended earlier this week with term and revenue caps to appease the Department of Justice.

The hasty break-up is more than just awkward. Yahoo used the deal to rebuff of Microsoft’s $44.6bn unsolicited bid in February. And it has since cited the agreement as a key driver of its go-it-alone strategy. Moreover, Yahoo estimated that the partnership could have given it an additional $800m in annual revenues.

Now that the Google partnership is removed from the picture, Microsoft could renew its courtship. Indeed Yahoo’s shares ended up 4.3pc at $13.92 on the news of Google’s snub.

But any offer is likely to be a lot less profitable this time around. Yahoo’s value has shrunk nearly 50pc from Microsoft’s $31 per share bid. It has undergone turmoil since snubbing Microsoft, including the departures of key executives and a board shakeup by activist Carl Icahn.

Worst of all, Yahoo no longer has a Google club to beat a higher price out of Microsoft should it come back to the table.

By Jeff Segal, breakingviews.com