Google strengthened its analytics services on June 24th by introducing a new Ad Planner service.   The service provides media planners’ visibility into which Web sites are frequently visited by their target audience.  Ad Planner provides information on a Web sites traffic and demographics, as well as more specific data such as age, gender, education, household income and even keywords used by visitors during searches.

Google’s efforts are targeted directly at media planners that otherwise might not have had access to Web analytics.  Now that the primary roadblock to effective ad targeting has been removed, it is likely that Google will see increased revenue from coming from media planners at smaller agencies.

For eMarketer’s perspective on Google’s new Web analytics service click here.

For information directly from Google regarding their Ad Planner service click here.

Interactive Marketing may be getting a facelift this year according to MediaPost’s “Metrics are the New Black” article. According to a recent Forrester Research Survey, interactive channels are expected to be more effective at “delivering on every marketing goal including selling products or services online, driving traffic to a Web site, generating leads and, most importantly, building relationships and loyalty.”  The survey also shows that the biggest difference between online and traditional marketing is the availabilty of key performance metrics that are not as accessible offline.  However, the tried and true click-through-rate (CTR) may be too simplistic already. Marketers are now focusing on evaluating higher-level metrics–customer engagement, time spent and interaction rates, overall brand sentiment, and true brand conversions on the Web.

 Click here for full article

“Connection between intent & content” was the topic of discussion in a panel moderated by Steven Kaufman (SVP Media Director, Digitas) and included panelists Andrew Goodman (Principal, Page Zero Media), Bill Barnes (Co-Founder & Executive Vice President, Enquiro Search Solutions Inc.), and Anton Konikoff (Founder and CEO, Acronym Media).

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Google now offers a program for Google Analytics users to share their websites performance data.  The data is contributed anonymously on an opt-in basis.  It is then aggregated with data from contributors in the same industry creating an industry average.  This provides insight into how a user’s website performs against others in their industry or vertical.

Click here for the full article.

The Internet has impacted business in a powerful way.  With more information available to the consumer, product options, vendors, and on-demand interaction, the buyer has many options, and so does the seller.  Any business can go global with just a few key strokes.   But, selling via the Internet is more than just putting up a Web site.  As a marketing platform, it poses a challenge for many businesses, whether they are start-ups or established.  It is within this niche that professionals in Search Engine Marketing (SEM) firms provide expertise and leadership in leveraging the Internet as a marketing tool for both online and offline strategic initiatives.
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Don’t get left out of local search results.

Local search is a subcategory of overall search that can give a big boost to your business whether you are a big brand national services advertiser in local markets or a local business looking to expand. Some analysts expect local search revenue to double this year and become even more critical when emerging mobile phone technology allows people to stand on the street corner and ask about a local pizza shop, FedEx or Kinko’s. (more…)

A guide for moving beyond bid-centric strategies and improving all elements of a performance-based program.

Search advertisers who are exercising their budgetary ad muscles on keyword bid management are fighting a challenging battle. While quality scoring implemented by the search engines has helped to level the playing field for search marketers large and small, the dependency on keywords to attract business is siphoning valuable dollars from overall ad budgets. It’s time to move beyond bid-centric strategies and look at ways to improve all elements of your performance-based programs, from sales lead generation through sales conversion.
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