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SearchReturn Discussion List
"Understanding Internet Search Technology"
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Moderator: Published by:
Disa Johnson SearchReturn
http://www.searchreturn.com
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December 01, 2005 Issue #019
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.....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"
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// -- FEATURED POST -- //
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==> 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.
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// -- CONTINUING DISCUSSIONS -- //
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==> 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*?
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==> 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
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==> 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 Miller
While 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
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// -- ESSENTIAL NEWS -- //
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==> 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.
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==> 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.
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==> 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.
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==> 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.
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