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Posts Tagged ‘MSN’
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: 10/13 (Cause for Optimism Edition)
Michael Block | October 13th, 2009
This economy is just brutal, isn’t it? It seems like whenever there is a hint of good news, bad news isn’t far behind. You might hear a rumor that things are improving but usually that news is followed by “don’t get your hopes up!” talk. Times are tough but things aren’t all bad! In fact, there are plenty of good things going on in the world of search marketing and new areas of opportunity are presenting themselves every week. Today’s edition of the Tues News celebrates some of the developments in search marketing that give us cause for optimism. So, without further ado, let’s get going: If everyone is doing it, it must be a good idea, right? Okay, well, although that’s terrible logic for most things, there is often something to the idea of following trends. If search ad spend was up 10% in Q3 of 2009, that has to mean that there was a reason to spend that money, right? It’s gotta be a good sign. They even say it in the article: “That’s good news as we head into the holiday season.” You bet it is! [Search Engine Watch] You know what gives me cause for optimism? Some good advice! I came across an article today with some great advice about how to best optimize your call to action buttons. Those buttons are so small, yet can be so important to the overall success of your search marketing campaign. It might surprise you! In fact, let it Continue reading…
Tues News: 6/9 (Brady Bunch Edition)
Michael Block | June 9th, 2009
If the three major search engines were represented by the girls from the Brady Bunch, Google would most certainly be Marcia. Always the center of attention, considered by most to be the most elegant and amazing system, Marcia and Google are cut from the same cloth. Can’t you just picture Yahoo as Jan Brady saying, “All I hear all day long at school is how great Google is at this or how wonderful Google is at that. Google, Google, Google!” It’s true that Google is the dominant player in the search game, but perhaps we should focus our attention on some of the other news in the search marketing arena for a change. Today will be a Google-free Tues News. You’re welcome, everyone-other-than-Google. Bing.com, MSN’s new search project, is the hottest topic in search as it’s the first major innovation from one of the big three in quite some time. It may be the first complete overhaul of a major search system since the launch of MSN’s Live project. Well, apparently, all the hype isn’t overblown. TechCrunch reports that Bing.com is off to a terrific start according to preliminary data available to the the public. Watch out, Jan; it looks like Cindy is making a run at number two. [TechCrunch] MSN is getting more compliments and attention on Bing than the new mother of a particularly cute baby. Meanwhile, poor Yahoo has been dealing with obstacle after obstacle and has made the transition for new CEO, Carol Bartz, very difficult. Continue reading…
Tags: apple, Bing, Google, Internet News, MSN, search marketing, Yahoo!
Posted in Tues News | 7 Comments
Tues News: 5/26
Michael Block | May 26th, 2009
I hope that everyone had an outstanding Memorial Day. I, for one, went golfing with some friends and managed to hit no worse than a gentleman’s 15 on any given hole. Impressive, I know. The highlights of the day included two double bogeys that showed that my potential is very likely unlimited. You’d never know that this was my first time on a real course for the purpose of playing golf (note: I’ve walked on several golf courses for the purpose of visiting friends and elderly relatives that live adjacent to golf courses). Yes, it was a relaxing and fun weekend for me and I’m hoping you enjoyed your weekend as well. Well, now it’s Tuesday which is, traditionally, our news day. Despite not having had yesterday to prepare, we (and by we, I mean Amanda again) were able to find three interesting articles to keep you informed. The big news out of Mountain View last week was all the hoopla that Google’s new trademark bidding policy caused. Still confused? Well why not read Search Engine Land’s write up about how this new policy may affect you? [Search Engine Land] Twitter has gone from mini blogging platform to major player in recent months but would Twitter ever go Hollywood? It seems that Twitter might get its own television show about the relationship between celebs, fans and the seemingly unstoppable online updating service known as Twitter. Here’s a tweet you may not see on the show but you might see in Continue reading…
Tags: Bing.com, Google, Kumo, MSN, PPC, search marketing, trademark bidding, Twitter
Posted in Tues News | 6 Comments
Wpromote Vlog Episode 15 – “The Great Debate”
Amir Shoucri | April 23rd, 2009
Join Dom and Lauren as they debate the great questions of our time in this thrilling new episode! Save this Post!
Tags: a league of their own, britney spears, cap'n crunch, cavaliers, cocoa puffs, debate, dom, episode 15, google vs. yahoo, joaquin phoenix, lakers, lauren, madonna, MSN, online pirates, PPC, quicklist, somalian pirates, Video Blog, vlog, Wpromote
Posted in Video Blog | 4 Comments
Tues News: 4/21
Michael Block | April 21st, 2009
It is an absolutely brilliant Tuesday here in El Segundo, California, with temperatures hovering around 78 degrees (down from the mid-90s yesterday). Such a lovely Tuesday deserves and equally lovely news-day, don’t you think? I certainly do and that’s why I’ve assembled three interesting stories from around the world wide web for you to keep you caught up on the goings on in search marketing. With the big three (Google, Yahoo and MSN) all represented, we’ve got a diverse cross section of current events. Let’s get going! The most fascinating new player to the world of online advertising is Digg, the most famous social news aggregator on the net. Digg has recently broken ties with MSN and will begin to doing its own advertising in the style of Facebook. From what I’ve seen, Facebook owning its own ads has been a relative success, insofar that advertisers are pretty excited about using Facebook for due to the ability to micro-target specific niches. However, because Facebook is a site where people are trying to socialize and not purchase products, advertising there has produced–at best–mixed results. We’ll see if Digg faces similar obstacles, however, regardless of user bahavior, owning your own ads is probably a big plus, provided you don’t mess the whole thing up! I’m talking to you, MSN adCenter! MSN broke from Yahoo and hasn’t seemed to manage to catch up in terms of usability ever since. Speaking of Yahoo, I read some very interesting news about the eternal bridesmaid to Continue reading…
