Getting Granular: The DigitalGrit Blog

Forbes.com: Attack of the Blogs

Web logs are the prized platform of an online lynch mob spouting liberty but spewing lies, libel and invective. Their potent allies in this pursuit include Google and Yahoo.

...and so begins the article in Forbes. It's all over the blogosphere already, but you'll get my take on it later! Forbes seems well-prepared to take the blows; I'm prepared to dole 'em out.

Forbes.com: Attack of the Blogs

Web logs are the prized platform of an online lynch mob spouting liberty but spewing lies, libel and invective. Their potent allies in this pursuit include Google and Yahoo.

...and so begins the article in Forbes. It's all over the blogosphere already, but you'll get my take on it later! Forbes seems well-prepared to take the blows; I'm prepared to dole 'em out.

Mainstream media catching up on Search Engine Marketing? USA Today: "Soaring Profits Found in Search Ads"

Seems the  mainstream is really catching onto Search Engine Marketing (SEM) since Google announced it's profits just over a week ago. Cool. Maybe now I won't have to explain what DigitalGrit does (in addition to other online marketing, natch) to my mom for the thousandth time....

LOS ANGELES — It's no wonder Google's profit shot up sevenfold this quarter: Prices are soaring for search ads — those simple text ads that appear next to Internet search results.

Advertisers pay each time someone clicks on an ad. Search ads used to be available for a nickel or dime per click. Now they're costing more than $1, some even $40 or $50.

Google and rival Internet giant Yahoo dominate the $8 billion market for search ads, which are sold in an auction setting. So far this year, Google has reported revenue of more than $4 billion, almost all of it from the sale of advertising.

Read the whole thing.

Mainstream media catching up on Search Engine Marketing? USA Today: "Soaring Profits Found in Search Ads"

Seems the  mainstream is really catching onto Search Engine Marketing (SEM) since Google announced it's profits just over a week ago. Cool. Maybe now I won't have to explain what DigitalGrit does (in addition to other online marketing, natch) to my mom for the thousandth time....

LOS ANGELES — It's no wonder Google's profit shot up sevenfold this quarter: Prices are soaring for search ads — those simple text ads that appear next to Internet search results.

Advertisers pay each time someone clicks on an ad. Search ads used to be available for a nickel or dime per click. Now they're costing more than $1, some even $40 or $50.

Google and rival Internet giant Yahoo dominate the $8 billion market for search ads, which are sold in an auction setting. So far this year, Google has reported revenue of more than $4 billion, almost all of it from the sale of advertising.

Read the whole thing.

Mention Google or Paris Hilton in Your Post Title: Lessons From Blog Tracking Week One

I recently began tracking this blog in WebTrends. TypePad does offer tracking & analytics, but the feature's a bit anemic. (Anil says they're working on it....) WebTrends is, as they say in our industry, a "robust solution."

It's been a little over a week since I started this project, and it's really interesting! First off, as you'd imagine, traffic spikes after a ping. If I don't post, traffic drops to a mere trickle. No shock there, right? Blogs are all about timeliness.

Here's the big surprise, though. Last week, I wrote a post about Google's earnings. That day, right around the time of that post, traffic nearly tripled. TRIPLED! A little more research showed that most of the traffic was direct (feeds from NewsGator or other desktop feed apps?) and that it was going to the main page of the blog, rather than the specific post (so...not feeds. News Alerts for the term "Google?").

I just, coincidentally (really!), posted something else on Google this morning. We'll see if the results are the same.

Similarly, a fellow DigitalGrit-ter runs a popular pet enthusiast blog, Petville. She (shrewdly!) ran a post recently about Paris Hilton's pets --- and saw her traffic skyrocket. So smart really; the post was totally relevant, reporting about the socialite's new pet ferret and how she doesn't actually take care of her own pets. (Do you think they'd still be alive if she did?) But by using one of the hottest celeb names this minute, she got a number one ranking on Google's blog search. I love people who think like marketers. 

Really, it all comes back to our recent post on Best Practices in Blogging for SEO...Rule #3: Post regularly with keyword rich copy. (Don’t forget your editorial calendar to keep you on track). It's something I've resolved to be better about. And now that I've seen how effective this tactic can be...I'll work a little harder at it!

Mention Google or Paris Hilton in Your Post Title: Lessons From Blog Tracking Week One

I recently began tracking this blog in WebTrends. TypePad does offer tracking & analytics, but the feature's a bit anemic. (Anil says they're working on it....) WebTrends is, as they say in our industry, a "robust solution."

It's been a little over a week since I started this project, and it's really interesting! First off, as you'd imagine, traffic spikes after a ping. If I don't post, traffic drops to a mere trickle. No shock there, right? Blogs are all about timeliness.

Here's the big surprise, though. Last week, I wrote a post about Google's earnings. That day, right around the time of that post, traffic nearly tripled. TRIPLED! A little more research showed that most of the traffic was direct (feeds from NewsGator or other desktop feed apps?) and that it was going to the main page of the blog, rather than the specific post (so...not feeds. News Alerts for the term "Google?").

I just, coincidentally (really!), posted something else on Google this morning. We'll see if the results are the same.

Similarly, a fellow DigitalGrit-ter runs a popular pet enthusiast blog, Petville. She (shrewdly!) ran a post recently about Paris Hilton's pets --- and saw her traffic skyrocket. So smart really; the post was totally relevant, reporting about the socialite's new pet ferret and how she doesn't actually take care of her own pets. (Do you think they'd still be alive if she did?) But by using one of the hottest celeb names this minute, she got a number one ranking on Google's blog search. I love people who think like marketers. 

Really, it all comes back to our recent post on Best Practices in Blogging for SEO...Rule #3: Post regularly with keyword rich copy. (Don’t forget your editorial calendar to keep you on track). It's something I've resolved to be better about. And now that I've seen how effective this tactic can be...I'll work a little harder at it!

AOL's Advertising.com Reports that Behavioral Ads Yield Fewer Clicks, Higher Conversions

Here's some interesting news -- we haven't talked our heard about behavioral in some time. We always knew it converted well, but it just hasn't been, well, trendy lately. (See our case study on the topic. It won us an WebAward)

So imagine our excitement when we saw this article in AdWeek. Perhaps the well-done behavioral ad will be back in vogue...

Research from AOL's Advertising.com found that behavioral targeting ads produce lower response rates than run-of-network placements, but those clicking them more often open accounts or complete a registration form.

In the personal finance category, behavioral-targeted ads drew a click-through rate 56 percent below untargeted ads, yet they had a 90 percent higher conversion rate than untargeted placements. Similarly, targeted auto ads had a 64 percent lower click rate but 323 percent higher conversion rate. For education ads, clicks declined 22 percent and conversions rose 105 percent.

"What is happening is the advertising is more relevant to them," said Lauren Weinberg, associate director of research at Advertising.com. "There are less wasted clicks."

Read the whole article (may require registration).

AOL's Advertising.com Reports that Behavioral Ads Yield Fewer Clicks, Higher Conversions

Here's some interesting news -- we haven't talked our heard about behavioral in some time. We always knew it converted well, but it just hasn't been, well, trendy lately. (See our case study on the topic. It won us an WebAward)

So imagine our excitement when we saw this article in AdWeek. Perhaps the well-done behavioral ad will be back in vogue...

Research from AOL's Advertising.com found that behavioral targeting ads produce lower response rates than run-of-network placements, but those clicking them more often open accounts or complete a registration form.

In the personal finance category, behavioral-targeted ads drew a click-through rate 56 percent below untargeted ads, yet they had a 90 percent higher conversion rate than untargeted placements. Similarly, targeted auto ads had a 64 percent lower click rate but 323 percent higher conversion rate. For education ads, clicks declined 22 percent and conversions rose 105 percent.

"What is happening is the advertising is more relevant to them," said Lauren Weinberg, associate director of research at Advertising.com. "There are less wasted clicks."

Read the whole article (may require registration).

Google Running Geo-Targeted Contextual RSS Ads. Who Knew?

According to ClickZ, Google's been running geo-targeted contextual RSS ads for months, unbeknownst to just about everyone.

Google has quietly been running geo-targeted contextual ads in RSS feeds for several months, but many advertisers, agencies, and analysts contacted by ClickZ were surprised to learn about the placements....

"AdSense for feeds is part of the Google content network, so if an advertiser's campaign is opted into the content network, their ads are eligible to show in feeds," Shuman Ghosemajumder, business product manager at Google, told ClickZ News. Ghosemajumder notes that the geo-targeting has been part of the AdSense for feeds distribution since its launch.

There's a lot to talk about here. The geo-targeting aspect is huge, naturally, as it applies not only RSS feeds viewed on the PC, but also those on mobile devices. (The old pipe dream of receiving a timely offer from the Starbucks around the corner is soon to be a reality, I guess.)

But I'm more entranced with the whole advertising in feeds aspect in general. I think it's a cool concept...and even the most devout, old school blogger has to recognize that the feeding frenzy could not stay free forever. For years, since marketers first picked up on blogs, there's been talk about "monitizing" them. This is certainly a lot more exciting to a geeky marketer like me than AdWords or affiliate links.

But adoption of RSS ads by consumers is relatively low right now. Not surprising. The average consumer is just waking up to blogs, and they have no idea what an RSS feed is. Yet.

In fact, I'll bet the vast majority of advertisers aren't aware of the value of blogs and RSS as marketing tools yet. Debbie Weil ran a survey back in January that confirmed this...perhaps she'll do another and compare the two? Debbie???

According to (Jennifer) Slegg, ROI will determine whether they approve or disapprove of their ads being shown on RSS feeds. "From a publisher perspective, CTR is extremely low with RSS ads, so I would be surprised if any advertiser is receiving a significant amount of traffic from RSS, except for cases of high traffic blogs that have been site targeted by an advertiser," she said. "From an advertiser perspective, there hasn't been much buzz about RSS ads at all, either geo-targeted or otherwise. RSS ads are easily trackable in logs, so advertisers can track any clicks coming through RSS ads to determine ROI."

But kudos to Google for running the ads. I'd love to see how they're doing. I'd love to see more of them. You'll be hearing more on the topic from me and the rest of the DigitalGrit team, for sure.

Google Running Geo-Targeted Contextual RSS Ads. Who Knew?

According to ClickZ, Google's been running geo-targeted contextual RSS ads for months, unbeknownst to just about everyone.

Google has quietly been running geo-targeted contextual ads in RSS feeds for several months, but many advertisers, agencies, and analysts contacted by ClickZ were surprised to learn about the placements....

"AdSense for feeds is part of the Google content network, so if an advertiser's campaign is opted into the content network, their ads are eligible to show in feeds," Shuman Ghosemajumder, business product manager at Google, told ClickZ News. Ghosemajumder notes that the geo-targeting has been part of the AdSense for feeds distribution since its launch.

There's a lot to talk about here. The geo-targeting aspect is huge, naturally, as it applies not only RSS feeds viewed on the PC, but also those on mobile devices. (The old pipe dream of receiving a timely offer from the Starbucks around the corner is soon to be a reality, I guess.)

But I'm more entranced with the whole advertising in feeds aspect in general. I think it's a cool concept...and even the most devout, old school blogger has to recognize that the feeding frenzy could not stay free forever. For years, since marketers first picked up on blogs, there's been talk about "monitizing" them. This is certainly a lot more exciting to a geeky marketer like me than AdWords or affiliate links.

But adoption of RSS ads by consumers is relatively low right now. Not surprising. The average consumer is just waking up to blogs, and they have no idea what an RSS feed is. Yet.

In fact, I'll bet the vast majority of advertisers aren't aware of the value of blogs and RSS as marketing tools yet. Debbie Weil ran a survey back in January that confirmed this...perhaps she'll do another and compare the two? Debbie???

According to (Jennifer) Slegg, ROI will determine whether they approve or disapprove of their ads being shown on RSS feeds. "From a publisher perspective, CTR is extremely low with RSS ads, so I would be surprised if any advertiser is receiving a significant amount of traffic from RSS, except for cases of high traffic blogs that have been site targeted by an advertiser," she said. "From an advertiser perspective, there hasn't been much buzz about RSS ads at all, either geo-targeted or otherwise. RSS ads are easily trackable in logs, so advertisers can track any clicks coming through RSS ads to determine ROI."

But kudos to Google for running the ads. I'd love to see how they're doing. I'd love to see more of them. You'll be hearing more on the topic from me and the rest of the DigitalGrit team, for sure.