Search Engine Watch Blog

Yup, Michael Jackson Tops Google's List, Too

Nathania Johnson — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 14:04:03 -0500

Google has released their annual Zeitgeist and yes, Michael Jackson was the fastest rising search term globally. Here's the full list:

michael jackson
facebook
tuenti
twitter
sanalika
new moon
lady gaga
windows 7
dantri.com.vn
torpedo gratis

Here are some category data:

Fastest Rising in Entertainment (Global)

michael jackson
transformers
eminem
naruto shippuden
beyonce
peliculas id
paranormal activity
anime online
natasha richardson
poker face lyrics

Fastest Rising in Food & Drink (Global)

acai berry
picnic
クックパッド
tesco direct
senseo
peanut butter recall
nespresso commande
habibs delivery
mocktail
masterchef australia

In the US, swine flu was the greatest concern on Google's News Search:

swine flu
susan boyle
jon and kate
adam lambert
rihanna (chris brown)
new moon
inauguration
michael jackson
nadya suleman
missing link found

Cyber Monday: We Know You Were Shopping Instead of Working Yesterday

Nathania Johnson — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:31:21 -0500

Millions of people had a big case of the Mondays on the first day back to work after the Thanksgiving holiday. That's why you spent your day shopping - on Cyber Monday - instead of working. Don't worry, we won't tell your boss. (S/he was shopping too, anyway.)

Coremetrics released data on what is thought to be the biggest online shopping day of the year (it's not). Here's what they found:

Cyber Monday 2009 sales were up 24.1 percent compared to Black Friday 2009.
Yesterday's sales were up 13.7% compared to Cyber Monday 2008.
Online shoppers spent more per order on Cyber Monday ($180.03) compared to Black Friday 2009 ($170.19), an increase of 5.8%.
The average dollar amount consumers spent per online order rose 38.2% this year ($180.03) compared to last year ($130.24).
Consumers bought nearly 10% more items per order this year compared to Black Friday last week.
Consumers bought almost 30% more compared to Cyber Monday 2008.
The peak of consumer shopping was 9-10 a.m. PST, but held stronger momentum throughout the day than on Cyber Monday 2008.

Breaking it down by industry....

Apparel and jewelry retailers is where the biggest increase in average dollar amount per ordre, up 26.4% and 14.3% respectively.
Sports apparel and gear retailers were up 55% in new consumers visiting their sites. However, the average dollar per order declined slightly by 3.1%.
Department stores saw a 3% increase in new visitors, but average order value was down almost 10%.

In-store Black Friday sales didn't please Wall Street yesterday, despite an increase in online spending last Friday. Perhaps the death at a Walmart last year and not wanting to get out of bed at butt-ugly early in the morning has driven a shift in behavior.

"We are seeing good online buying momentum because people are looking for the very best deals, and are going online for the most convenient way to shop," said John Squire, chief strategy officer, Coremetrics.

By the way, if you missed yesterday's sales - don't despair.

"We expect to see one more spike in online spending when the final "free-shipping-is-ending" promotions are announced," said Squire. "Until then, retailers will watch consumer behavior very carefully to gauge what's working well and what they need to adjust. The end result will be a boon to consumers, as retailers pull out all the stops to entice consumers to make that purchase."

Ask.com's Top Questions of 2009: Refreshing, Existential and Disturbing

Nathania Johnson — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:20:01 -0500

Ask.com gets a lot of their search queries in the form of a question - more so than any other search engine. So, it makes sense that their end-of-the-year list features questions instead of keywords.

The questions are a refreshing departure from the usual fare seen on the end-of-year lists from other search engines. They're also humorous, curious - and yes, existential.

How much should I weigh?
How do I get out of debt fast?
How do I get pregnant?
What is Twitter?
What is Miley Cyrus' phone number?
What is the meaning of life?
When will the world end?
How long does marijuana stay in your system?
What are the symptoms of Swine Flu?
What time is it?

Ask also broke down top questions by category. And, here they are:

Blogger Disclosure: I Got Bupkis for this Blog Post

Greg Jarboe — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 11:49:24 -0500

Today is the first day that bloggers and others who write online reviews or endorse products using new media must disclose it when they receive free merchandise or payment for writing about an item. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) expects the blogosphere to add a little sentence -- in undersize italics at the bottom of a post -- that reads:

A Girl Must Shop Disclosure: As a Twisted Insider, A Girl Must Shop receives a new, un-released item from Twisted Silver once per month for six months to review on our blog. The same design is also provided as a contest prize for our readers.

The revised FTC guidelines add some new examples to illustrate the long standing principle that "material connections" (sometimes payments or free products) between advertisers and endorsers - connections that consumers would not expect - must be disclosed. These examples address what constitutes an endorsement when the message is conveyed by bloggers or other "word-of-mouth" marketers.

The new guidelines specify that while decisions will be reached on a case-by-case basis, the post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement. Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service.

So, let me the first to disclose that I got bupkis for this blog post. Nuthin', nada. Zip, zero, zilch. Heck, I didn't even get a link in the "Posted by Greg Jarboe" note at the bottom of this item.

So, I figure that this means I'm free to make the following endorsements:

The Boston Red Sox -- I grew up in Michigan as a Detroit Tigers fan -- hating the New York Yankees. So, when I moved to Massachusetts, I fit right in.

The University of Michigan -- Okay, so even I'm getting sick and tired of losing six football games in a row to The Ohio State University Buckeyes, but you gotta stick with your alma mater.

Google News -- When Google News was launched in September 2002, "the tactic known as SEO PR" was born. I owe a lot to Krishna Bharat, the creator of Google News, but no money has changed hands.

YouTube News -- This is one of the best kept secrets in the news industry. It is more "fair and balanced" than Fox News (which isn't hard) and more compelling than C-SPAN (which also isn't hard).

Experian Hitwise -- Okay, so they provide me with insights on how 10 million US Internet users interact with more than 1 million websites, across 160+ industries. But they've never paid me a nickel.

comScore -- They provide me with digital marketing intelligence that enables my readers to better understand, leverage and profit from the rapidly evolving worldwide web. But they've never paid me a dime.

Heck, I don't even get swag or tchotchke for my blog posts. Okay, I should disclose that I got a t-shirt from Acquisio at SES London 2009 that read: "I report to no one." But there was no quid pro quo involved and I've never reviewed their software.

So, according to the FTC guidelines, it's okay to make endorsements as long as there are no "material connections." Get it? Got it? Good.

Remarketing Rated as Most Underutilized Technology in Advertise.com/SEMPO Survey

Nathania Johnson — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 09:25:02 -0500

Advertise.com and SEMPO are releasing the results of a survey about underutilized online marketing technologies. The survey was conducted in August and apparently some of you marketers out there are itching for a chance to remarket your products. Remarketing, also known as retargeting, topped the list of most under-utilized marketing technologies. Here's what else made the list:

Remarketing/Retargeting - 46.3%
Geo-targeting - 18.3%
Traffic source optimization-15.9%
Keyword targeting - 13.4%
Other - 3.7%
Category targeting - 2.4%

And it looks like most of your desires for remarketing are going unrequited. When asked if remarketing had been tried with online advertising, this is what happened:

No - 69.5 percent
Yes - 30.5 percent

The nays should take a page out of the playbook of the yays. 51% of those who have tried remarketing in online advertising said it was impactful.

"We're interested in taking a closer look at why Remarketing is underutilized," Daniel Yomtobian, founder and CEO of Advertise.com. "We know that retargeting can boost ad response up to 400 percent so it's definitely something online advertisers need to stay informed about and use more strategically."

Remarketing wasn't the only focus of the survey. Here are a few additional data tidbits:

Best ROI in Online Advertising:

Search - 70.7%
Cost-per-action (CPA) - 14.6%
Email - 6.1%
Social - 3.7%
Other - 2.4%

On utilizing CPA in online ad strategy:

To drive sales leads - 52.4%
To drive traffic to a site - 13.4%
To drive brand awareness - 6.1%
Other - 1.2%
Do not utilize CPA in online advertising strategy - 26.8 percent

New Bing Photo Contest Begins Today

Nathania Johnson — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 08:50:07 -0500

Bing is launching a new photo contest today and the theme is "Hometown Pride." Those who wish to enter should submit their photos at Bing's Facebook page, which can be accessed at facebook.com/bing.

Entrants' photos will be voted on by the Facebook community. The winning photograph will appear on the Bing homepage on January 6, 2010.

Bing ran a similar contest this past summer. The winning photo, a gorgeous shot of Sydney, was featured on Bing's homepage in August.

I Just Can't Stop Loving You: Michael Jackson is Yahoo!'s Top Query of 2009

Nathania Johnson — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:58:20 -0500

Yesterday, we learned Michael Jackson was Bing's most popular search term of 2009. Today, Yahoo! revealed that the deceased pop star topped their list as well.

Unlike Bing's list, which featured several other deceased celebrities, Yahoo! searchers were apparently jonesin' for Vampires, Wrasslers, and tabloid starlets.

Michael Jackson
Twilight
WWE
Megan Fox
Britney Spears
Naruto
American Idol
Kim Kardashian
NASCAR
Runescape

For top searches on mobile devices, a certain Transformers 2 star took the top spot:

Megan Fox
Mobile Games
Michael Jackson
Movies
Rihanna
Mail
Lady Gaga
NFL
Ringtones
iPhone

SHOP.com Launches Community Hub

Nathania Johnson — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:29:05 -0500

SHOP.com has added a bunch of new features to enhance and encourage social sharing on the comparison shopping site.

The biggest announcement is a new social hub. It's called SHOP.com Community and it features their Facebook and Twitter updates.

Shoppers can already share searches with their social networks, but now SHOP.com is making it rewarding to do so with their new SHOPstar networking program. Members of the program get a little kickback when they refer sales.

Let's say you've come across the perfect snuggie for the LSU and you use a unique URL to Tweet it out to all of your friends - you'll get a little commission on the sales that come in.

SHOP.com is also adding a new lists feature. You can create a list of any type and share it with friends and family.

Launched right at the heart of the holiday shopping season, SHOP.com hopes to develop a few new shopping habits at a critical time.

"With SHOP.COM's new community enhancements and the SHOPstar program, we hope to harness the power of social media and help shoppers with their purchasing decisions in a relevant way," said Mondy Beller, senior vice president of marketing for SHOP.COM.

Happy shopping and sharing!

SES, Chicago, a great showcase platform.

Mike Grehan — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 18:26:47 -0500

I'm back at my desk after an excellent SES conference in Berlin last week. This was the first time in Berlin and the feedback has been tremendous. But now it's time to focus on SES, Chicago December 7 - 11. Fondly known as the freeze-your-ass-off SES, Chicago always attracts a great crowd ready for the final annual gathering of the search community.

The great thing about the show, is that, it's not about reflecting on the past year, it's all about looking forward to the New Year. So it kind of becomes the industry showcase for examining new and emerging trends as well as technologies. And this year is absolutely no different.

We recently started a new channel over at ClickZ called "Conference Call" which is a series of columns written by presenters and moderators giving an overview of their own sessions. This is a great way to get to know more about the sessions and the speakers before you get to the show.

I did a brief overview myself of a few sessions that I really want to be sure to see. And I think it's worth a quick return, because as I think more and more about us beginning to move away from the general purpose search we've become used to and into a new era of what is largely being referred to as "suggested discovery" I think it's worth a closer look.

To be clear, general purpose search has been based around the simple principle of you give us three words and we'll give you a gazillion documents back (but you'll only be interested in the top ten, of course). And so, search engines have been satisfying a short term information need on a repeated basis.

Now, if I was a baseball fan and the Yankees were my team, I'd probably do a lot of searching at search engines about my team. What's the score? Did we buy a new player? When does the new stadium open? You get the idea. And each time my short term information need is satisfied. But here's the thing, if the service delivering these results knows I need this stuff, why do I have to keep asking? Why don't they just give it to me?

So satisfying your long term information need is very high on the search research agenda. And most certainly, one area this can happen already is in social search. In fact, in social search there are many times you'll get the answer to a question before you've even asked it.

One guy who really gets the whole "suggested discovery" idea is Bill Scott. Bill created and led the IBM Digital Media Consulting & Systems Integration practice until he recently left to form his own company, Easel TV. He'll be speaking on two panels at SES, Chicago. The first is Search on the Edge - From Search to discovery. During this session Bill will explain what his company is doing with suggested discovery on the television.

I asked Bill if he could give me broad brushstroke (pun intended) of what he'll be covering.

This is what he told me:

First, I'll be talking about the connected TV in general and how the TV will increasingly get content over broadband as well as over Cable, Satellite, Terrestrial and closed IPTV networks. I'll also talk about why the TV is a very different environment to the PC and why just putting regular websites on the TV won't work. This includes the fact that search on the television is the wrong model and that we need to move towards suggested discovery. No-one is going to type into a Google type search box on their TV when using just a remote control!
Then, I will explain what we're doing with Suggested Discovery and how you can use more and more sophisticated technology to create a more and more simple experience that is appropriate for the television. I'll cover how we aggregate data and results from multi-modal sources to offer consumers a range of appropriate and relevant content that retains the serendipity of television - "Beyond the recommendation engine." And finally I'll talk about how the same concepts can be used to enhance TV programme-making - so that the content itself can be dynamically tuned to the audience based on the audience's response to it.

Yes, when Bill expanded for me on the idea of being able to monitor the audience viewing habits and then begin to create content specifically for that audience segment, you begin to see how beneficial this is to both audience and marketers.

Bill will also be on the " Beyond Googling: 5 Years Later it's a Different Audience" panel. Here he'll give us even more insight to where he sees search going.

In particular he'll be talking about "Relevance" - How will brands deliver a fresh and relevant experience to consumers, in whatever context and on whatever device?

Really, he says, the future of search, discovery or whatever it becomes is all about data, permission & trust and business rules. He also says we need to collect and maintain more data - preferences, behaviour, context, community - from more sources than ever before. This will happen naturally as both devices and the companies that provide services become ever more sophisticated. Of course the generic provider will evolve and become much more intelligent and will aggregate from multiple data sources - not just a crawl - however it is the combination of the two roles (maybe but not necessarily by the same organisation) that will deliver real value to the consumer.

Bill goes on to say that, the consumer is now in control: How do we reach them? How do we raise our proposition above all the others that are fighting to be in the consumers' domain? How do we understand which rules our target market has defined? And how do we conform to those rules in order to reach our target? Can we identify the individuals at the hub of social groupings who have disproportionate influence? Can we offer them something extra in return for endorsement?

A whole bunch of extremely interesting questions to ponder.

I can tell you, after doing some checking around, this Chicago SES is about to be one of the best ever. And there's already a great buzz going on. And BTW, a little birdie (no, not Twitter) told me that there are still some rooms available at the Hilton at this time.

Okay, let me go and cherry pick another session to highlight tomorrow.

Win the largest marketing library next week at SES Chicago 2009

Greg Jarboe — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:18:16 -0500

At SES Chicago 2009 on Wednesday, December 9, at 12:30 p.m., there will be a drawing to give away the "largest marketing library." Attendees of Search Engine Strategies Chicago can enter their business cards up until just before the drawing.

The drawing will take place in the Exhibition Hall, and the lucky winner must be present to claim the prize. (If you are a twin or triplet, use the canonical tag to show that you are the original winner, not a duplicate.)

Here is a partial list of the titles to be given away:

"World Wide Rave: Creating Triggers that Get Millions of People to Spread Your Ideas and Share Your Stories" by David Meerman Scott.

"Twitter Power: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time" by Joel Comm, Anthony Robbins and Ken Burge.

"Taming the Search-and-Switch Customer: Earning Customer Loyalty in a Compulsion-to-Compare World" by Jill Griffin.

"33 Million People in the Room: How to Create, Influence, and Run a Successful Business with Social Networking" by Juliette Powell.

"Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion" by Gary Vaynerchuck.

"Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers Into Friends And Friends Into Customers" by Seth Godin.

"Six Pixels of Separation: Everyone Is Connected. Connect Your Business to Everyone" by Mitch Joel.

"Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust" by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith.

"Landing Page Optimization: The Definitive Guide to Testing and Tuning for Conversion" by Tim Ash.

"Radically Transparent: Monitoring and Managing Reputations Online" by Andy Beal and Judy Strauss.

"Call to Action: Secret Formulas to Improve Online Results," "Waiting for Your Cat to Bark?: Persuading Customers When They Ignore Marketing" and "Always be Testing: The Complete Guide to Google Website Optimizer" by Bryan Eisenberg.

"eBoot Camp: Proven Internet Marketing Techniques to Grow Your Business" by Corey Perlman.

"Socialnomics: How social media transforms the way we live and do business" by Erik Qualman.

"What Would Google Do?" by Jeff Jarvis.

"The Truth about Search Engine Optimization" by Rebecca Lieb.

If you read even a couple of these books, then you will be the smarter than a 5th grader. But wait! There's more!

The day before the drawing, there will be Author Luncheon in the Expo Hall (rear right) on Tuesday, December 8, from 11:45 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

You can have lunch and network with your favorite author and/or SES speaker. This special event includes:

Andy Beal, CEO, Trackur, author of Radically Transparent: Monitoring and Managing Reputations Online.

Cindy Krum, Chief Executive Officer, Rank-Mobile, LLC, author (in February 2010) of "Mobile Marketing: Finding Your Customers No Matter Where They Are."

Dennis R. Mortensen, Director of Data Insights, Yahoo!, author of "Yahoo! Web Analytics: Tracking, Reporting and Analyzing for Data-Driven Insights."

Sally Falkow, President, PRESSfeed.

Andrew Goodman, SES Advisory Board & Principal, Page Zero Media, author of "Winning Results with Google AdWords."

Bill Hunt, President, Back Azimuth Consulting, author of "Search Engine Marketing, Inc: Driving Search Traffic to Your Company's Web Site."

Greg Jarboe, President & Co-Founder, SEO-PR, author of "YouTube and Video Marketing: An Hour A Day."

Yes, yes, I should disclose that I'm the author listed above, but at least I'm listed last.

If this list looks long, it is -- but these are only some of the authors who will be speaking at the event. As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, there will be more than 22 authors speaking at SES Chicago 2009.

And this was just handed to me: It appears that The BuyerSphere Project is now available online!

What is The BuyerSphere Project? Well, if you didn't attend SES San Jose 2009, then you missed the session about a major B2B research initiative, conducted by Enquiro with input from Google, Business.com, Covario, Marketo and DemandBase, that showed most marketers aren't effectively leveraging online assets to their best potential.

Here's my interview with Gord Hotchkiss, President and CEO of Enquiro and author of The BuyerSphere Project.

Gord Hotchkiss, Enquiro at SES San Jose 2009 discussing Buyersphere Project

This is, indeed, a ton of books. Perhaps, this is why Cyber Monday started on Black Friday for Amazon.com, as I reported this morning. Who knows.

'Black Friday' Queries Up 20% on Google

Nathania Johnson — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:09:29 -0500

Keywords related to "black friday" increased by more than 20% on Google last week. The data was culled over a two-day period - Thanksgiving and Black Friday - and compared to the same two days last year.

Two terms, "black friday sales" and "black friday ads," were up by over 50%.

Searchers narrowed their queries by adding a brand name to the keyword phrase. The fastest rising queries were:

"Walmart Black Friday"
"Kohls Black Friday Ad"
"Sears Black Friday Sales"
"Target Black Friday Deals Online"

Some terms pointed to the desire for more information on the in-store shopping experience, such as "Walmart Black Friday Store Map."

Search Gives Back: eZanga Gets Jolly and Donates Thousands to Charity

Nathania Johnson — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 14:11:32 -0500

eZanga is spreading holiday cheer in a big way this year. So far they've donated thousands to the following:

M.O.T. Big Ball
M.O.T. Senior Center
Toys for Tots
Fulfilling wishlists for local kids and seniors

Do you have a "Search Gives Back" story to share? Contact me here and let me know.

Michael Jackson #1 Bing Query of 2009

Nathania Johnson — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 14:06:53 -0500

Bing has released its top queries for 2009. The late King of Pop tops the list, followed by a popular social network and a pandemic disease.

Michael Jackson
Twitter
Swine Flu
Stock Market
Farrah Fawcett
Patrick Swayze
Cash for Clunkers
Jon and Kate Gosselin
Billy Mays
Jaycee Dugard

Cyber Monday: Not the Biggest Online Shopping Day of the Year (Yet)

Nathania Johnson — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 13:51:28 -0500

Over at Focus.com, they've graphed out some juicy data collected by the National Retail Federation and comScore showing that Cyber Monday is not the biggest online shopping day of the year. Not yet, at least.

Every year, the biggest online shopping day of the year becomes earlier and earlier. In 2000, it was December 18. Last year, it was December 9, a Tuesday.

Most of the biggest days of the past 9 years have landed on Mondays.

If this trend keeps up, Cyber Monday could become the biggest online shopping day of the year in about 6-8 years. But it could stabilize in the second week of December. Time will tell.

This year, December 7th is projected to be the biggest online shopping day of the year, and yes, it will fall on a Monday.

By the way - Black Friday is not the biggest in-store shopping day of the year either. The Saturday before Christmas is. This year, that's December 19.

via Consumerist

Google Takes on Ask.com in Deals, Yahoo! in Times Square

Nathania Johnson — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 13:26:25 -0500

Google has launched a new Deals page, almost two months after Ask.com unveiled their new Deals site. Google's Deals page features the 900 retailers included in Google Checkout. The Deals site ain't pretty either:

You can access the Google Deals site at www.google.com/checkout/deals.html

Meanwhile, Google is taking on Yahoo! in Times Square. You might remember Yahoo! is offering free Wifi in Times Square. Google wants people in Times Square to search via Voice by calling 888-376-4336. Answers to the queries appear on electronic billboards. This is part of a campaign to promote the new Motorola Droid, which uses Android.

The billboard campaign doesn't run all day. You can find it going on from 12:30-2pm and 6:30-8pm most days.

(Times Square photo borrowed from the Official Google blog)