Archive for May, 2010

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Google Adwords Certification Program

May 11, 2010

Google recently revamped their Adwords qualification program requirements for both individuals and companies.

Their new qualification process is bundled under the Google Certification Program.

Google Certification Program

Google Certification Program

In order for a company to become qualified an individual associated with the company must have first passed two exams – the Advertising Fundamentals Exam and one advanced-level exam.

Individual Qualification

Individual Qualification

I was one of the first individuals worldwide to pass the original Adwords Qualified Individual exam years ago.

Because my company appears to meet the new qualifications for becoming a Google Certified Partner, I plan to go through the certification process – again.

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Online Consumer Packaged Goods Sales Soaring

May 10, 2010

From eMarketer:

Following some of the dismal failures of the dot-com-crazy 1990s, consumer packaged goods (CPG) e-tailers are making real inroads in e-commerce. The advent of broadband, more efficient online retailing strategies and consumers’ wider acceptance of Internet shopping are driving the resurgence.

Online CPG sales now stand at $12 billion, triple what they were in 2004, according to Nielsen. By 2012, online CPG sales are expected to hit $16 billion. That would account for more than 3% of the total $475 billion in e-commerce sales projected for that year.

US CPG E-Commerce Sales

US Consumer Packaged Goods E-Commerce Sales

“Business models vary, but a successful online CPG selling model must fill one of two key consumer needs: convenience or a shopper’s desire to purchase hard-to-find products,” according to the new eMarketer report “Consumer Packaged Goods Take E-Commerce Path”. “While sticker shock is a no-no, deep discounting is rarely part of the online CPG selling model.”

To learn more about which Consumer Packaged Goods categories sell better online than others order eMarketer’s report.

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Google’s Mother’s Day 2010 Doodle

May 9, 2010

After driving several hundred miles and spending time with my wife and children celebrating Mother’s Day, I have little else to add to the subject.

Google Mother's Day Doodle 2010

Google Mother's Day Doodle 2010

So here is Google’s Mother’s Day 2010 Doodle to commemorate the occasion.

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Google Updates Search

May 8, 2010

In this video learn more about Google’s latest changes, including a left-hand panel with powerful tools that will make it easier to find what you are looking for.

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Interactive Marketing Performance Metrics

May 7, 2010

From eMarketer:

Online marketing has been touted for its measurability, a quality that should make it easy for marketers to determine effectiveness and value for money. Despite widespread recognition that the click-through does not measure the full effect of an online ad—even ones placed with direct response objectives—and calls for better branding metrics, many marketers still rely on the easy-to-track click as their top performance metric.

A March 2010 survey by Chief Marketer showed the click remained on top, with 60% of US marketers reporting they measured performance in click-throughs. Fewer than two-fifths measured overall return on investment (ROI).

Interactive Marketing Performance Metrics

Interactive Marketing Performance Metrics

A marketer’s objectives whether branding or direct response obviously dictate which online action they will value the most.

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Mobile Handset Vendor Market Share World Market Q1 2010

May 6, 2010

From ABI Research:

Global shipments of mobile handsets grew 19% year-over-year during Q1 2010.

In total, 303 million mobile handsets shipped worldwide during Q1 2010. This puts annual global mobile handset shipments on pace to reach about 1.3 billion in 2010. Strongest handset shipment growth was seen in the Middle East and Africa (20% year-over-year) followed by the Americas, particularly the US (11%). Europe, on the other hand, is languishing with single-digit growth. It is also notable that 3G handset shipments eclipsed 2G handset shipments globally.
Nokia held one-third (34%) of global mobile handset market share during Q1 2010. New smartphones such as the N8 are helping Nokia to shore up its handset portfolio, according to ABI Research analysis, as its loss of traction in the smartphone sector hit sales hard. Revamped efforts in Nokia’s Symbian product line are intended to help it regain momentum.

Mobile Handset Vendor Market Share World Market 1Q 2010

Mobile Handset Vendor Market Share World Market 1Q 2010

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Trying Out Brizzly

May 5, 2010

I have seen the Brizzly brand in Tweets over a long period of time and today I thought I would give it a try.

Brizzly

Brizzly

It looks like Brizzly takes all of the actions I have been taking elsewhere and consolidates them into one interface.

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Top 50 Websites March 2010

May 4, 2010

The Top 50 Sites for March 2010 from Compete.com:

Top 50 Websites March 2010

Top 50 Websites March 2010

At its present growth rate, Facebook looks poised to overtake Google in unique visitors sometime in 2010.

Unfortunately for Facebook, their comparable traffic flows will not translate into Google’s level of cash flow..

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Shopping Search Volume

May 3, 2010

From Compete:

Shopping Search Volume

Shopping Search Volume

What Compete’s data tells us:

The fact that the overall search query volume in March is lower than December’s total shouldn’t come as a surprise, given that it’s no longer the season for gift giving.

Shopping search volume did experience a slight lift – 1.0% – from February to March.

Not exactly earth-shattering news; however, interesting trends start to emerge in terms of search market share among the major engines when looking specifically at the shopping vertical.  As opposed to web search overall, where Google dominates, Bing is growing, and Yahoo is declining (or staying steady at least for now) – the picture is quite different:

  • Ask and AOL remain minor players, that hasn’t changed.
  • While Google is still the market share leader, Yahoo and Bing each own over 30% of the total shopping vertical search volume.
  • In fact, Yahoo experienced the highest  M-O-M lift with a 4.6% lift from February.Ask and AOL remain minor players, that hasn’t changed.
  • While Google is still the market share leader, Yahoo and Bing each own over 30% of the total shopping vertical search volume.
  • In fact, Yahoo experienced the highest  M-O-M lift with a 4.6% lift from February.

I’m not sure how Compete arrives at their determination of what constitutes a shopping query but it seems somewhat unlikely that the top three properties could have a nearly even share of shopping search queries while also having significantly different search volume market shares.

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Adwords Search Funnels: Optimize Conversion Paths

May 2, 2010

Watch this video to understand how to use the Search Funnels reports in Google AdWords to identify common search patterns and use assist keywords to optimize your ad text and keywords.

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