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Best In Show, Waiting for Guffman Director tapped by US Census to Direct a Series of Viral Videos

Monday, March 15th, 2010

It’s not often Hollywood and society come together to achieve a common goal, but when they do, the results are often dynamic, and this is the case with “Snapshot of America,” a video project funded by the US Census Bureau to let American citizens know 2010 is a census year.

‘Census year, what?’ you may be thinking. Is it that important? Well, a lot of people think it is, and the Census Bureau tapped none other than Hollywood mockumentary impresario Christopher Guest (Best In Show, Waiting for Guffman) to direct a series of five videos starring Ed Begley, Jr., Rachael Harris, Michael Hitchcock and Jennifer Coolidge, all whom have worked with Guest before, to get you excited about filling out those census forms!

2 of the five videos are being shown on television with the rest seeded online, and Wpromote is happy to announce our involvement in helping to spread the good word. Check out one of the videos here:

Wpromote’s resident viral marketing machine, Jesse Bouman, gives a little insight into the narrative behind the series:

The story is that major Hollywood director Payton Schlewitt, played by Ed Begley Jr., has come up with the idea to take a ‘Snapshot of America’ and brings his production team together to make it happen. The goal is to get all 300 million Americans in one shot, but an assistant makes it apparent in each video that the U.S. Census is doing the exact same thing already.

The U.S. constitution requires the census to be conducted every 10 years. The purpose? To count every American living in the United States, provide a snapshot of the country in terms of who its residents are and what they do, and help states receive funding for important things like emergency services, bridges, hospitals, job training centers, schools and more.

The census also determines how many seats each state is allotted in the U.S. House of Representatives…pretty crucial stuff.

So, when you receive that census form in the mail, and no doubt many of you already have, take a moment to fill it out — it may seem trivial, but it’s actually very important. Plus, if you don’t fill it out, a census worker could come to your door to interview you, and who wants that??!

For more information on the US Census 2010 video campaign, or to get help with a viral campaign of your own, please contact sales@wpromote.com

Last Call, 2009: Here Are 6 Posts from The Wpromoter That Help Put the Year In Perspective

Wednesday, December 30th, 2009

2009 was a lot of things, but one thing is wasn’t? Boring. As we’ve said before, A LOT happened this year, and the bloggers here at Wpromote worked hard to keep up. We hope we succeeded in providing you a valuable and entertaining mix of content.

As we approach the beginning of a new decade, let’s take a look at six posts from The Wpromoter that highlight some of the most important online news from 2009.

  • The Google Witchhunt

Calling it a ‘witchhunt’ is probably extreme, but let’s face it - everyone had a reason to sue Google this year. Whether Google is at fault is not for us to decide - we’ll let the courts handle that. Get an overview of some of Google’s battles from Michael Block, Wpromote’s VP of Client Services and resident PPC expert, in “Tues News: 6/30 (Google vs. Everyone Edition).”

  • The Quest for Better ROI

A recession year in terms of spending on advertising, everyone was looking for ways to increase ROI. The beauty of online marketing tends to be accountability, but another huge benefit is the ability to make nominal tweaks and notice relatively instant results. Check out this roundup from Wpromote’s President and CEO, Mike Mothner, called “8 Things You Aren’t Doing That Will Boost Your SEM Results.”

  • The Twitter Phenomenon

Twitter made it cool to ‘do you’ in 2009. If you’re still unsure what all the fuss is about or simply want a better understanding of the microblogging service that took the world by storm, check out my post, “Tweeting to Transparency: 4 Reasons to Be Who You Are in 2009.”

  • The Viral Marketing Explosion

It’s effective, powerful, and ‘cool.’ It has that ‘everybody’s doing it and so should we’ cache to it. But viral marketing is not a paint-by-the-numbers tactic, and poorly executed viral campaigns can cause a brand more harm than good. Get some tips from Jesse Bouman, Wpromote’s Viral Marketing and Social Media Manager, in his informative post, “3 Common Viral Marketing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them.”

  • The Broadband vs. Broadcast Battle

Another big development this year was the growing popularity of online video and the effect it had on consumer viewing habits and the broadcasting industry as a whole. Get an overview of the way online video is changing the TV game in my post, “Hulu Desktop App Challenges Cable Networks.”

We hope you enjoyed this recap. Here’s to more great content, and lots of success in 2010! Happy New Year!

Google, Yahoo, or Bing? Take the Blind Search Test.

Monday, August 10th, 2009


If you’ve been paying attention to the Internet world lately, it has likely come to your attention that there is a new player in the search game called Bing and the Microsoft and Yahoo deal which has been discussed ad-nauseum since Microsoft offered Yahoo $45 billion in early 2008 has finally come to a close.

Image courtesy of blog.taragana.com

Image courtesy of blog.taragana.com

What does it all mean? It is going to take time to sort it all out. Whatever the effects of the merger, the effects it has on user experience and advertisers are most significant, and much can be said in that regard. As resident PPC expert and VP of Client Relations, Mike Block, says in his recent blog, Tues News: 8/4 (Big Deals Edition):

Anyone who has spoken to me about my opinions regarding the Big Three (Google, Yahoo and Microsoft) in search knows that I rank the user experience with Google at the top, Yahoo as a distant second and Microsoft as an even more distant third. When Bing came out and made some noise, it was my opinion that Bing would be nothing more than an expensive flash in the pan unless Microsoft could make the user experience better for the advertiser through its adCenter product. As it stands, the stubborn folks over at Microsoft still make bulk changes very difficult to perform, offer a poor quality account editor that is incompatible with Apple computers and employ customer service representatives that have always seemed overworked at best and poorly trained at worst.

Block’s quote sums up looming questions regarding the effects of the Microsoft/Yahoo merger quite nicely. Now, lets assume for the sake of this blog that Microsoft gets its adCenter product together and releases a version up to par with Google’s AdWords interface in terms of ease-of-use and user friendliness. This means the backend experience for the advertiser is equal, and relevancy and ease-of-use on the front end is what matters in determining who gets crowned the king of search. In that case, a tool like the one recently released by Microsoft employee Michael Kordahi could well come in handy.

Its a blind search test and its pretty neat. Not only can you see your search results in all three major search engines at once (the blind test is not the only way to do this but still), you can also get an unbiased answer as to which search engine you prefer.

Not surprisingly, according to a recent post on TechCrunch, it has been found users tend to rate anything with the Google logo as better than its competing product/service/what have you. This means Yahoo results with a Google logo tacked on top will rate better than Google results branded with the Yahoo logo, but the blind search test removes this bias and lets you compare apples to apples.

I’ve done a few tests already. So far, I’m averaging an equal preference for Google and Bing results depending on the search. Try it out for yourself and let me know what you think! Its pretty cool.

Will Bing Give Google A Run For Its Money?

Monday, July 27th, 2009

Microsoft's new search engine, Bing

Did anyone expect Bing to have an impact? The question is becoming moot as studies show Bing users are more likely than Google users to click on an ad. The new question is how and to what extent.

According to a study done by online advertising network Chitika, who analyzed 32 million ad impressions across a network of 50,000 websites, users of Microsoft’s new search engine may be more receptive to advertisements, based on a 1.5% click-through rate for Bing compared to. 97% for Google and 1.24% for Yahoo. The ‘why’ behind Chitika’s findings can be speculated at length, although it seems a bit early in the game to come to any real conclusion. It has been nearly 2 months since Bing’s official June  3rd launch, and heavy promotion to the tune of 100 million ad dollars is likely to have made an impact in driving users to the site. As many have said, it makes sense a user clicking on an ad directing them to Bing is likely to click on an ad within Bing, but this is hardly conclusive evidence and making any sweeping generalizations about Bing users is premature.

Nonetheless, the findings of Chitika’s study are interesting, and help flesh out the argument that Microsoft may have a real shot at stealing some of the paid search market from Google. Looking at ComScore’s June 2009 search engine rankings report, it is clear Bing’s .04% increase in market share in June puts nary a dent in Google’s 65%, and while growth is good at a time when internet activity seems to be reaching a plateau, it is too early to say just how well Bing will fare over time, and whether Google has any reason to worry.

The Microsoft/Yahoo deal may actually happenOn the other hand, if the impending merger between Microsoft and Yahoo materializes, and according to online sources like TechCrunch, a Yahoo/Microsoft merger is likely to happen as soon as this week, it may give Google reason to refine their search strategy.

If the impending MSFT/Yahoo deal isn’t reason enough for Google to step up its game, maybe the fact that my Google search results are becoming less relevant and more convoluted is.

This first struck my attention early last year when I found it was taking me longer to find what I needed online. I figured my disappointment with Google’s search results was the result of algorithm changes and SEO, and I assumed I needed to adjust my approach and use more long-tail keywords. But things just seem to be getting worse.
Today, a search for one of my blog post’s returned a content aggregator site as the #1 result. I clicked, hoping it would take me to my post immediately, and my virus detector alerted me it was blocking the site for malicious activity.

I know this stuff happens, Google, but really? Malicious sites in the top 10 results? Not to mention the random blog posts and reviews returned when I’m looking to buy a product, or the overall proliferation of well-optimized fluff. I used to swear by you Google, but I am ready to try something new.

What do you think? Have you spent any time using Bing? Have you noticed Google search results becoming less relevant? Do you think a Yahoo/Microsoft deal will change the way we search? Post your thoughts below! I’ve added Bing to my list of search engines in my Firefox toolbar, so I’ll let you know how it goes.

3 Online Advertising Trends You Should Know About By Now

Monday, May 11th, 2009

In scanning my Google reader for blog fodder over the past several weeks, I noticed the same three topics coming up over and over: social media, mobile advertising, and real-time search. Some of you may be familiar with these trends, and if you are an online marketer, let’s hope you are. For those late to the party or looking for a little clarification, here is a brief overview of three things  reshaping the way users experience the web and advertisers do their jobs.

1 - Social media is a big deal

courtesy of Mobasoft.com

It’s been in the spotlight for awhile, but the time has come when no marketer can afford to ignore social media, if only for the fact that competition is fierce, and all your competitors are using it.

Campaigns are becoming more integrated and the ad industry must get social or risk being left behind. This is not to say traditional forms of advertising are disappearing while blogging, social networking, and video sharing take over, but traditional campaigns now require an interactive component to be competitive, and that component usually involves social media.

Still don’t believe social media is a big deal? Check out this list of ‘20 Reasons Why You Cannot Ignore Social Media,’ culled from powerhouse media agency Universal McCann.

2 - Mobile advertising

From lab.77agency.com

With smart phone’s becoming the mobile phone of choice,  and the iPhone’s ease-of-use changing the face of mobile search, marketers are becoming increasingly aware of the value in mobile marketing.

According to an article in Mediaweek last month, “smart phone users are clicking on ads (53 percent), requesting more information or a coupon (35 percent) and making purchases via their handsets (24 percent).” If those kinds of stats don’t impress you, they are impressing marketers, and with mobile use predicted to rise over the next several years, optimizing content for the mobile web is a top priority for major brands.

Moreover, innovations like ‘shakable-ads‘ are giving users more compelling reasons to interact with brands while using their phones, making it clear that when it comes to mobile marketing, the possibilities are endless.

3 - Real-time search is on the rise

Twitter real-time search

If you’re an early-adopter or work in the web/tech industry, you’ve probably realized Twitter search is infinitely useful. Likewise, when it comes to accessing real-time, up-to-the-minute data like emergency broadcasts, sports scores, or verdicts, Twitter search beats Google, hands down.

The next logical step? Monetization. And the first to figure out how to make text ads work in real-time search will likely be Twitter. The microblogging service recently announced its plans to begin indexing links included in user tweets, as well as monitor the rank and reputation of Twitter users, and its only a matter of time before Twitter will begin serving text-ads, as well.

I hope this recap was informative. See you next time!

Google China Gives Away Music for Free

Monday, March 30th, 2009

The younger generation isn't used to paying for music...and probably never will

In an effort to gain market share from its shady competitor, Baidu, the search engine that came to dominate the largest online market in the world by offering illegal music downloads to Internet users and has since been sued over copyright infringement and a slew of other things, Google China has officially launched a free and legal music downloading service.

Kai-Fu Lee, president of Google China, speaks at a ceremony in Beijing to celebrate the launch of Google's free music download service  (AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan)

Kai-Fu Lee, president of Google China, speaks at a ceremony in Beijing to celebrate the launch of Google's free music download service (AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan)

The service, which has been in beta release since August 2008, represents a partnership between Chinese website top100.cn, which is partly owned by Google, and major record labels like Warner Group Corp., EMI Group Ltd., Sony Music Entertainment, and Universal Music, along with 14 indepedent labels.

How will it work? Users searching for music will be directed to top100.cn for high-quality downloads, and advertising revenue will be roughly split between the record companies and the website.

Most Chinese Internet users go online looking for entertainment

In a market where the majority of its 300 million Internet users use search engines primarily to look for entertainment, this move could easily shake things up and give Google China a competitive edge over Baidu, but will it be enough?  According to Bloomberg.com, Google China currently has a 27.8% market share, while Baidu holds 62.2% of the market.

Although Google has no plans to launch a similar service outside of China, if it succeeds it could serve as a model solution to a problem record companies and ISPs have been struggling to solve for years.

What do you think? Will this move to offer free music help Google gain some ground in China? And will monetizing the music download industry help the struggling music business recoup revenue lost to years of online and offline piracy?