Archive for April 26th, 2009

Google wants to know everything you do

Published April 26, 2009 data is a valuable asset , google Leave a Comment

In a recent post, Perry Evans comments on Google’s new Profile feature:

As quoted in RWW, Google’s Joe Kraus responsed on this bigger picture issue, attempting to dispel the notion of a bigger agenda.

“Google doesn’t do a lot of forward looking things; we serve our users’ needs and then we iterate.”

Gimme a break, Joe, this kind of BS really backfires. Own up to the treasure trove you’re building, and be transparent about how you intend to use it. Anything less just adds to the growing pile of reasons for consumers to begin fearing the brand as an opaque, too-powerful monolith.

In fact, just about everything Google does can be seen in terms of how it allows them to learn more about you – to serve you better – and earn more from the advertising you click on when using their services!

Some people seemed to think Google Voice – their evolution of Grand Central’s personal number service – is somehow a bit of a strange departure for Google. In fact, it’s a great way for them to get inside another valuable data stream about you – the people you talk to on your telephone. Android is another way of getting at this data stream (among others of course).

Mobile carriers, who already have the data Google wants, aren’t doing anything with it. Yet, to Google it is so valuable they were willing to buy a company, completely re-write its software and then give it away for free. Just to get access to this data stream.

Link: newspapers deliver for advertisers – more proof please

Published April 26, 2009 advertising , publisher , tracking 1 Comment

Just read this article about newspapers delivering for advertisers.  In my local newspaper.  (I still thoroughly enjoy and read several printed papers most days.)

From the article:

“We see it works. We’re able to track the results,” said Penny Stevens, president of Toronto-based media buyer Media Experts. “We’re very lucky with a bunch of our clients that allow us to see sales on a day- in-day-out basis so we get a very strong sense of what is working and what is not working.”

That’s the key point isn’t it – being able to demonstrate tangible proof that it’s working.  Newspapers need to publish actual metrics.  And do more to help advertisers gather them.

Does the size of a merchant’s SEO budget really determine how right they are for me?

Published April 26, 2009 google , local , search , yellow pages Leave a Comment

Here’s one important way local search is different from web search: there is no ‘right’ or ‘best’ answer.

Web search is optimized for information retrieval and works well for this.  When I’m trying to remember how to find the norm of a matrix to help my daughter with her homework I want the ‘best’ source of information for this.  The way the web is structured and the way search engines utilize this structure means that’s exactly what I get.  The page with the right words on it, that a lot of other people have linked to and looked at in the past, really does provide me with useful information for my inquiry.

But when I’m doing a local search, the right answer depends much more on factors like where I am, what I’m doing and what I care about.  It depends on my context.  But local search engines largely do a poor job of this.  When I search for a plumber, I might get the people who have paid the most to be listed first.  Or I met get results ranked according to who is most astute at local search engine optimization and marketing.

In both cases I’m getting results ranked in large part based on the marketing investment of the merchants.  If I’m using a yellow page directory, it’s based on the size of ad they purchased.  If I’m using Google, it is those who have spent the most on search engine optimization and marketing.

Are either of these a good indicator of ‘fit’ for me?  Is the plumber available?  Do they want to do my mostly small maintenance jobs on an older house or are they really focused on doing new installations in new houses?

Instead of modeling local search after web search we really should be modeling it after dating sites!  The goal should be to match up merchants and consumers who are most compatible with each other.

Publisher strategy: your usage logs are more valuable than your content

Published April 26, 2009 data is a valuable asset , publisher 1 Comment

As local information publishers – whether you are a dedicated review site, an online map provider, a yellow page directory, a directory assistance provider, a newspaper or a local search engine – you have a valuable asset in your content.  Users visit your site to find and access it.

But the information they can collect about how user’s interact with your content will be even more valuable.

First of all, the content itself is being rapidly commoditized.  Information wants to be free – and so it will be.  So over time users will migrate to the sites that do the best job of helping them find the information they actually want and need.  There are many factors that will influence this – including the quantity and quality of data and the quality of the user interface.  But utilizing knowledge about how users interact with the information – and being able to take in to account their needs and situation by analyzing this information – will be a key differentiator.  And whoever has the most users will get the most usage data.  And with more data they will be able to do a better job of serving their users.  It’s a virtuous circle.

And secondly, since this content is usually monetized with advertsing the ability to utilize this usage data to improve the relevance and performance of your advertising will be critical.  Perhaps the single most critical skill a publisher can have.

What it means: If you’re a publisher, make sure you maintain a healthy stream of your own traffic – and please, please, please make sure you’re tracking and recording all that valuable information.  And then, learn how to analyze and exploit it to improve the consumer experience and the advertising performance.

And think about this – if you’re syndicating your data how about negotiating for getting back the information on how it’s used?  The reaction of your syndication partner to this request might give you a pretty good indication on how valuable THEY think this data is.

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