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Posts Tagged ‘Microsoft’
Tues News: 3/9 (Sweating the Small Stuff Edition)
Michael Block | March 9th, 2010
For the companies most involved with search marketing, it’s not always about the actual dollars and cents. Sometimes, companies focus on auxiliary projects to try and better your user experience, increase your dependence on their products or improve your opinion of their brand. Don’t get me wrong, the hope is that these sorts of investments will pay off in real dollars in the long run, but if a company can do some of the small things well, the return on investment can be both well-deserved and highly profitable. Today, we’ll take a look at three such efforts taken by search marketing leaders (Google and MSN) as well as the provider of the dominant medium for mobile ads (Apple via the iPhone). Let’s get going! Google is the master at sweating the small stuff in order to get the big payoff in the end. Just think about Google Maps. Sure, there are ads on the page but if you think that those ads paid for thousands of cars taking pictures of every street in America, you’re sorely mistaken. Google builds these sorts of products to increase loyalty to the Google brand and to build a positive rapport with the user. And it works! Recently, Google shared it’s search data to show their lighter side, depicting the winners and losers of Oscar night through their stats. As it turns out, the Hurt Locker didn’t just take home the most golden baldies, they also received quite the spike of searches. Thanks for sharing, Continue reading…
Tags: apple, apps, Bing, Google, iphone, Microsoft, MSN, search marketing
Posted in Tues News | No Comments
Tues News: 2/2 (Groundhog Day Edition)
Michael Block | February 2nd, 2010
Today is Groundhog Day, which means that the world’s most famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, came out of his hole to give us a prediction. Well, it’s bad news, unfortunately, as Phil saw his shadow and doomed us to another six weeks of winter. That’s bad news, however, much like in the movie Groundhog Day, starring the irreproachable Bill Murray, it’s just more of the same. Phil, you see, has seen his shadow in ten out of the last eleven winters! It seems that life is imitating art with this sort of repetition. Well, repetition and “business as usual” seem to be the order of the week in the field of search marketing as well. This time, I’ve brought you three stories of what feel like old stories but are actually hot off the presses in honor of Groundhog Day and the eponymous movie. Let’s get going! Microsoft can’t make money online. No, this story isn’t from when Microsoft created the inferior adCenter after breaking away from Overture. No, this story isn’t about Microsoft failing to purchase Yahoo. This story is about how after the big push for Bing, the gains don’t seem to have outweighed the losses. After spending hundreds of millions of dollars in marketing, Microsoft still lost over $2 billion last year. Hey, Microsoft! Maybe if you made adCenter about half as good as Google AdWords, you wouldn’t be in this mess! But no, don’t listen to me; it’s not like I’ve been saying this forever. I just Continue reading…
Tues News: 9/15 (New Stuff Edition)
Michael Block | September 16th, 2009
Whenever people ask me to explain what I do for a living, their eyes generally glaze over faster than a doughnut on a Krispy Kreme assembly line. On occasion, it even seems like I can get bored with the world of search marketing. Sure, it’s an ever-changing industry but really, how much changes on a week to week basis? Well, as it turns out, quite a lot can change! This week, we’ll explore a few new products from the masters of the search world. I hope you didn’t get too comfortable, because this will be quite the revelation! What’s the use discussing any further? Let’s get going! Have you ever heard of Flipper? No, I’m not talking about the charismatic dolphin who is both “King of the Sea” and “Faster than Lightning.” No, in this case, I’m talking about Google, which, strange as it may seem, may actually be king of the sea (and everything, if you’re keeping track) and is certainly faster than lightning. Google recently announced the release of Flipper, a new way to search through the news. That’s right, Google FastFlip makes your news browsing experience a whole lot more natural-looking and normal-seeming. If you use Google News, this will turn your head and make you appreciate your provider, if you don’t use Google news, this new visual interface may make you a believer! [TechCrunch] If you thought that FastFlip was the only new way to search, then you’ve heavily underestimated Microsoft which, as time will tell, Continue reading…
Tags: Bing, fastflip, Google, Microsoft, search marketing, visual search, Yahoo!
Posted in Tues News | 3 Comments
Tues News: 8/4 (Big Deals Edition)
Michael Block | August 4th, 2009
Wow, what a week to skip a Tues News. In the past two weeks, there have been some seriously big deals going on and I was too busy doing a webinar to report about it. Please forgive me! If you’re asking yourself, “What big deals is this guy talking about?” then I have great news for you because I am not above reporting on news from two weeks ago here at the Tues News. So, before you check some real news sources that lack the bias and commentary of the Tues News, let’s get going to big deals! 1) Unless you’ve been living in a particularly poorly appointed cave, you’re aware that Yahoo and Microsoft finally struck a deal. The big question seems to be a combination of “so what?” and “so, what does this mean to me?” Well, for now, you probably won’t notice much of a difference but some big changes are a-coming. First of all, this effectively means that Yahoo is out of the search business. What are they? It’s tough to tell but in the future, Yahoo’s search will be powered by Microsoft’s Bing and showing ads populated by Microsoft adCenter. It also means that Yahoo gets to shed the overhead costs of running their own search engine and ad network. So, who ended up the big winner in the deal? It’s tough to tell but you could argue that it’s Google. After all, this means that Yahoo and it’s properties (i.e. Flickr, del.icio.us and services Continue reading…
Tags: apple, Bing, eric schmidt, Google, Microsoft, search marketing, Twitter, Yahoo!
Posted in Tues News | 2 Comments
Tues News: 7/14 (Abbreviated Edition)
Michael Block | July 14th, 2009
Sorry, folks, I don’t have much time today for a good Tues News, so I thought I make up for the lack of analysis, theme and picture from homestarrunner.com and give you not three but FOUR amazing links, today. Just because today has been a busy day here at the Wpromote office doesn’t mean that amazing things aren’t happening in the world of search marketing. Let’s get going! SEM Showing Signs of Life: The economy is giving everyone a very difficult time and the search marketing industry is no exception. However, there may be a silver lining. According to MediaPost, “The data shows that overall spend declined by 21% from the prior year. But this quarter’s decline demonstrates a slight improvement, compared with the first quarter’s 23% drop in advertising spend.” Don’t be left behind; get your SEM dollars ready, people! [MediaPost] Google vs. Microsoft: What You Need to Know: We talk a lot about Google, Microsoft, AdWords, Bing, Brin & Page, Ballmer, etc. but if you’re new to search marketing, it may all sound a bit like mumbo-jumbo. This article goes over the basics and analyzes the current situation and possible future outcomes with regards to this clash of the titans! [Wired.com] Facebook Employees Get Rich!: We’ve all heard this before but, this time, it appears to be true. Facebook has found an investor in the form of Digital Sky Technologies. Looks like employees might actually get a chance to cash out. The big question, as always, is: “Is Continue reading…
Tags: adwords, Bing, facebook, Google, Internet News, Microsoft, search marketing, sem
Posted in Tues News | 3 Comments
Tues News: 6/23 (Regrets Edition)
Michael Block | June 23rd, 2009
No matter what, all people have one thing in common: we all have regrets. Actually, I guess we all have several things in common like brains and favorite animals and opinions about the DH in baseball. So, I suppose I regret that first sentence to some degree. Anyway, just because we have many things in common, it doesn’t change the fact that we all say and do things that we regret later. This weekend, I accidentally killed a bat with a broom as I was trying to shoo him out of the dorm I was staying in for my five-year college reunion. True story; I swear! Anyway, nothing is going to bring that bat back and nothing is going to stop the barrage of emails I’ll likely get from PETA for having killed it. Would I take it back if I could? Certainly, but hindsight, as they say, is 20/20. Nobody else in the search marketing landscape, to my knowledge, killed any bats in the past week (other than me) but that’s not to say that there won’t be regrets-a-plenty based on some of the recent goings-on. Curious? Probably. Confused? Even more probably! So, without further ado, let’s get to the links: Even big wigs like Steve Ballmer over at Microsoft have their regrets. What would Steve do over if he had the chance? Well, I think it’s no surprise that the answer is search. Bing.com has been a moderate success so far and, if it can successfully get some Continue reading…
