----------------------------------------------------------------- SearchReturn Discussion List "Understanding Internet Search Technology" ----------------------------------------------------------------- Moderator: Published by: Disa Johnson SearchReturn http://www.searchreturn.com ----------------------------------------------------------------- December 01, 2005 Issue #019 ----------------------------------------------------------------- SEND POSTS: ----------------------------------------------------------------- Refer a friend: http://www.searchreturn.com/subscribe.shtml ----------------------------------------------------------------- .....IN THIS DIGEST..... // -- MODERATOR COMMENT -- // "SES Chicago" // -- FEATURED POST -- // "TiVo Does Search Advertising" ~ Bill hunt ~ Moderator Comment // -- CONTINUING DISCUSSIONS -- // "Google Fantasy" ~ Debra Mastaler "Click-to-Call" ~ Andrew Goodman "WebmasterWorld Robot Ban" ~ Don Miller // -- ESSENTIAL NEWS -- // "TrueLocal to Acquire Geosign" "Yahoo! Firefox Partnership" "Personal Search Dead End?" "MSN Classifieds" ----------------------------------------------------------------- // -- FEATURED POST -- // ----------------------------------------------------------------- ==> TOPIC: TIVO DOES SEARCH ADVERTISING "If TiVo encourages users to select their advertising, shouldn't TiVo insert a user's choices into slots during regular programming? Wouldn't users be inclined to watch full length advertising again? What would you pay for keywords in a Sponsored Listing program for TiVo?" From: Bill Hunt Hi Disa, Very interesting question for which I have a very strong opinion... I use TiVo to record and allow me to watch programs when I have time -- many times as much as two weeks after they were recorded and secondly, to zap commercials. I find most commercials today are so far from any value to the actual target market. .Rant... Is it me or the only feature that comes with mini-vans today are how many ways you can fold the seats? ...end Rant. The integration of "additional" interactive promotional segments in TiVo perpetuates the myth that I am somehow interested in that product because I watch that show. I am now somehow even more interested in that product because they have more for me to interact with. I have mastered the "double-click" on TiVo to fast forward past commercials. I am so spoiled by TiVo that it is almost painful to watch live programming -- I find myself trying to fast forward through the commercials. Also, I have never clicked on any of the promotions that TiVo has thought I would be interested in especially the ones for full-sized trucks. I do use the search function in TiVo to find shows related to topics I am interested in watching *not* to find commercials for products I am interested in buying -- that is what search is for ;-). Maybe I am too much of a search geek to really appreciate mass media commercials but I would be very disappointed in TiVo if they thought this is what I wanted. Your questions has prompted me to try to find out more about the habits of TiVo watchers. Everyone I have ever talked to about TiVo or DVR's in general, use them to time-shift and watch the same amount of TV in less time. I have never talked to anyone personally that would want to see more commercials integrated into this experience. An interesting test for an advertiser to see if this concept might work would be to see how many people come to your Web site after you run a commercial where you reference the site, with a simple URL, for more than a blink of an eye. If a large number of people come to the site for more information then maybe it might be a good idea for you to integrate into TiVo. Bill Hunt President/CEO Global Strategies International Co-Author: Search Engine Marketing, Inc. (IBM Press) http://www.globalstrategies.com/resources/book.html Moderator Comment: A website address can display steadily as the user fast forwards through your commercial. This is one way to counteract the otherwise total lack of effectiveness of an ad. Imagine opting in to ads offered by TiVo that displace regular programming ads. You watch neither more nor less ads than live TV, and your choices would make them far better targeted. Would you let the remote alone and begin watching commercials? How fast would TiVo get the legal notice to quit? Could they even do this? Say you search for [Porsche Boxster S] and opt-in for the ads on that keyword. How much might that be worth to Porsche and related advertisers? It might be nice during a break to watch that car. ----------------------------------------------------------------- // -- CONTINUING DISCUSSIONS -- // ----------------------------------------------------------------- ==> TOPIC: GOOGLE FANTASY "The Google datacenter also goes mobile, housed in shipping containers fully deployable as a secondary Internet." From: Debra Mastaler Interesting article by Mr. Cringley ( http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20051124.html ) it gave me an idea....... Hey Google, since you all are in do-gooder mode these days, consider this: How about equipping all airports in the *world* with free WiFi? Think how easy it would be to plop one of those experimental "portable data centers built in 40-foot shipping containers" in airports around the world! You'd make travelers waiting (and waiting and waiting) for flights so much more productive, especially those of us in the SEO industry even though everyone knows SEO's don't travel. Heck, travelers would be so grateful for the opportunity to be extra productive they'll dub it "GoogleTime" and you'll be credited with yet another new verb in our mainstream vocabulary. You may even help change the sour opinions most people have about airports and airlines these days and give people a reason to want to travel again. Now *that* would be quite the legacy. Please, please please start here in Virginia with the Newport News/Williamsburg Airport and then go up to Richmond and Washington DC. You know AOL is up in Northern Virginia, you'd have an opportunity to make quite an impression there. What a terrific branding opportunity for some savvy company out there - free airport WiFi. Yo MSN and Yahoo - *are you listening*? ----------------------------------------------------------------- ==> TOPIC: CLICK-TO-CALL "Google is testing a way to connect advertisers with search users. When a phone icon appears in AdWords listings, a search user can click it to supply their phone number. Google will call the user and connect them with the advertiser." From: Andrew Goodman Doesn't anyone find it funny how online publishers are increasingly being asked to deliver more and more specific outcomes to advertisers, whereas in traditional media, there is no such imperative? Probably, if you did a study, you'd find a wealth of "pay for outcome" models in the offline world, i.e. in some types of classifieds. Measuring the outcomes of phone call centric ad campaigns is important. I'm still unclear on whether listing clients should really have so much power that they can stamp their feet and demand particular business outcomes as a condition for payment. Imagine where the Yellow Pages businesses might be today if they had run on that basis. Maybe better off, but probably worse off. I wonder where this trend will lead. Andrew Goodman Page Zero Media Author, Winning Results with Google AdWords ----------------------------------------------------------------- ==> TOPIC: WEBMASTERWORLD ROBOT BAN "In a tough call, Brett decided to ban all robots from WebmasterWorld. There were large numbers of pages indexed, which quickly dropped to near nothing." From: Don MillerWhile I understand what Brett is attempting to do, it would appear he is doing more damage than good. Besides, I don't think all search bots and spiders obey the robots.txt file so only the ones that follow the rules will be locked out. What about the others or is there a way to stop the bots that don't bother with the robots file? Don G. Miller ----------------------------------------------------------------- // -- ESSENTIAL NEWS -- // ----------------------------------------------------------------- ==> TrueLocal to Acquire Geosign http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/051130/20051130005164.html Essentials: Geosign Data Services supplies data for use in local search, including for Yellow Pages Group, Amazon A9, AOL, Verizon SuperPages, and InfoSpace. This doubles the employee size of TrueLocal, and allows the company to offer API services to more publishers. Any locally focused website should be able to obtain a fully operable turnkey search solution through TrueLocal. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ==> Yahoo! Firefox Partnership http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/051130-153911 Essentials: Yahoo! is the default search engine for Firefox 1.5 in China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. Yahoo! in turn will facilitate distribution of Firefox 1.5 in those markets. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ==> Personal Search Dead End? http://vivisimo.com/docs/personalization.pdf Essentials: Due to pitfalls regarding how tracking search behavior for personal search intelligence is flawed, Raul Valdes- Perez makes a case for clustered results a la Vivisimo. A sobering read for those who've drunk the personalized search potion. When users want an Amazon effect for search though, it is no doubt starting to get offered by major engines. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ==> MSN Classifieds http://www.searchreturn.com/digest/refs019.shtml Essentials: More squarely aimed at Craigslist and Ebay than Google Base, it has strong "social network" aspects to it. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Essential Headlines: http://www.searchreturn.com/newsworthy.shtml Archives: http://www.searchreturn.com/digest-archive.shtml Alternate formats: http://www.searchreturn.com/info-formats.shtml Manage Subscriptions: http://www.searchreturn.com/help/manage-subs.shtml Problems unsubscribing? 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