Author Archive - Mohammad Usma
Online Video on the Rise
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Written By Mohammad Usman | August 30, 2007 | Share This
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A recently published study by AOL’s Advertising.com found that 62% of US Internet users watch video content online, of which, 69% prefer to watch short-format news clips. What’s more, of those online video viewers, 69% are above the age of 35.
Lynda Carizio, president of Advertising.com commented:
“The internet is still seen first and foremost as an information resource. With news clips remaining the most popular type of streamed content, video viewing habits reflect that status.”
Ms. Carizio also hinted at future factors that may influence online content viewing,
“But it will be interesting to see how viewership evolves with the rise of social networks, more diverse video content, increased interactive gaming, and other such advances in online entertainment. I think we may see a shift in usage toward recreation; these latest figures certainly hint at that trend.”
According to Advertising.com, In the first of half 2007 62% of consumers viewed news clips online, an 8% increase from the same month last year. The study furthermore found that over 51% of interest users have indicated they would watch a television episode online, if missed on TV.
On that note, major television networks like ABC and NBC now offer video players for past episodes on their websites. NBC and News Corp have even teamed up to build a video player that would hold content from all the networks and be monetized by video advertising. To date, however, NBC & News Corp have produced little more than one failed site (NBBC) and one ambiguous new platform — “Hulu” is scheduled to launch this October as a private beta.
Facebook’s New Profile-Targeted Ad System
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Written By Mohammad Usman | August 23, 2007 | Share This
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The Wall Street Journal reports that Facebook is planning to create an advanced personalized advertising system. The WSJ explains,
“The new service would let advertisers visit a Web site to choose a much wider array of characteristics for the users who should see their ads — based not only on age, gender and location, but also on details such as favorite activities and preferred music, people familiar with the matter say. Facebook would use its technology to point the ads to the selected groups of people without exposing their personal information to the advertisers.”
Unlike Facebook’s typical banner advertising, the new ads will be interspersed within items on the “news feed”– a running list of short updates on the activities of a user’s networked friends. The ads will also show up on pages that feature services provided by other companies.
As VentureBeat points out, this could potentially create revenue-share issues. Matt Marshall writes,
“This could be a slap in the face to those parties because Facebook had previously said it would let them make money by running their own advertisements. However, the sourcing and wording of the article on this matter is vague. It’s quite possible that Facebook may let third-parties access the technology, and agree to some sort of revenue share, letting all parties win. It’s all speculation at this point.”
Because the it will target based on user’s expressed preferences and profile information, the ads raise further questions about user privacy. Though Facebook will keep names anonymous, the idea of having one’s information sold for targeted advertising isn’t likely to draw many fans. Facebook has indicated that it plans to protect privacy by allowing users to set varying degrees of profile visibility.
Despite concerns from 3rd-party developers and users, the profile-targeted ads are expected to bring in significant revenue. As the Times Online calls it, Facebook is opening “a goldmine of data to advertisers.” Said “goldmine” will undoubtedly not only drive up the already high CPM cost of sponsored news feed ads, it will generate (theoretically) a higher number of click-thrus. Facebook, which claims to be valued at 10 billion dollars, desperately needs to generate this type of visible revenue to justify it’s high self-valuation. Given the company’s ambitions to go public, the success of this project is paramount.
According to the WSJ, Facebook has thus far declined to comment.
Google made a Boo-Boo
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Written By Mohammad Usman | August 9, 2007 | Share This
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Oops! On Tuesday, Google accidentally marked it’s Custom Search Blog as spam, causing the site to be temporarily removed. And as a result of its removal the site was hijacked by an individual unaffiliated with Google.
The individual identifying himself as Srikanth posted comments such as “Google Custom Search, is the wonderful product from Google which many webmasters have been looking and dream for,” Srikanth wrote. “Also Google Custom Search is integrated with Ad-sense, which means make money while keeping users on your site for longer time with custom search engine…. Good Luck for all the Custom Search customers(??).” Initially, the comments were perceived to be the result of hacking; however, Google finally realized that it had marked its own blog as spam, which eventually disabled the URL causing the site to be available to the general public, thus allowing for Srikanth to post comments.
Google spokesman Sean Carlson commented “It was a case of “URL squatting” and not a security issue or any kind of hack.” Later Google also posted a response detailing the issue:
“Whoops! We accidentally classified ourselves as spam, and our ever-perceptive Blogger settings caught us. The Custom Search Blog has since been restored, and we’re taking steps to ensure this doesn’t happen with other Google blogs in the future. Other Blogger users can make sure this doesn’t happen to them by reporting any problems to the Blogger support team via the Blogger Help Center at http://www.blogger.com/problem
.g. We can then investigate.”
Overall, though the mistake was realized quickly and Custom Search Blog is up and running again, there is, however, a lesson to be learned: Clearly, even the biggest internet giants can make silly mistakes.
Yahoo! hosts U.S. Presidential Debate
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Written By Mohammad Usman | August 7, 2007 | Share This
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Yahoo! recently announced that it will be hosting its first online
Yahoo! will be hosting the event along with co-sponsors Slate and The Huffington Post.
As Bloomberg reports, these debates signify a turning point for Yahoo!’s online video capabilities. By the end of year, the company plans to completely revamp its offerings, adding music videos, movie trailers, television shows, and sports highlights as well as content created by internet users.
As Mike Folgner, Yahoo’s general manager for video attests,
“One of our strategies is to put video everywhere you are on the Internet…We’re going to build a much better destination for you to access all this different content.”
Given YouTube’s obvious competitive edge in online video, the debates will give Yahoo’s new video services much needed visibility. Perhaps more interesting, however, will be watching if and how the candidates implement online marketing practices to help control the conversation. The speed at which the debate will escalate - both within Yahoo video, and elsewhere - could prove overwhelming for candidates that neglect to properly utilize search and social media marketing.
Answers.com is Searching for its own “Answers”
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Written By Mohammad Usman | August 3, 2007 | Share This
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Recently, Answers.com reported a 28% drop in traffic to their site. Answers places the blame squarely on Google for recent changes in their search algorithm. In a press release issued to the public today, Answers.com criticized Google for making the change and assured investors that they are working hard to resolve the issue.
For Answers, this crisis could not have come at a worse time. The company is trying to raise 100 million dollars for a buyout of Dictionary.com. CEO, Bob Rosenschein said,
“This change only demonstrates the sound business rationale behind our agreement to purchase Dictionary.com, because it underscores a primary motivation for the deal: to secure a steady source of direct traffic and mitigate our current dependence on search engine algorithms.”
Many reports confirm that Google’s algorithmic adjustment caused the drop in traffic for Answers.com, prompting search professionals to criticize Answers for relying too heavily on Google. Danny Sullivan at Search Engine Land writes,
“Indeed, algorithms do change all the time. That’s why it has never been a good idea for any business to be so heavily dependent on search traffic, in case they lose listings driving visitors. Many site owners learned this painful lesson during the Google “Florida” update of 2003 — but even then, many of them should have already known better. Answers.com belatedly understanding it needs to diversify is almost inexcusable.”
Though it is easy to fault Answer.com for their over-dependence on Google traffic, it’s also difficult to find viable alternatives in a Google-dominated search market place. As eBay demonstrated in June, the cost of “boycotting” Google by shifting resources to other engines (in advertising dollars, and otherwise) doesn’t outweigh the benefits.
By virtue of the performance gap between Google and its closest competitors (Yahoo and MSN), it seems that all major websites have an over-dependence on Google. As Om Malik points out, this is yet another red flag that raises questions about Google’s power.
eBay takes on Google
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Written By Mohammad Usman | July 9, 2007 | Share This
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In the ongoing battle between Google Checkout and Paypal, eBay recently delivered another blow by publicly denouncing Google Checkout’s performance. On Friday, Bloomberg published an article quoting eBay CEO Meg Whitman, in which she calls attention to both Google’s poor user ratings and PayPal’s revenue contribution. From Bloomberg,
“In recent surveys, the world’s largest auctioneer found that less than one out of five users of Google’s Checkout online payment service was happy with it. At EBay’s PayPal, the figure was more than double that. Meanwhile, PayPal, bought by EBay for $1.5 billion in 2002, has widened its lead over Checkout since the holiday season.”
Granted, eBay owns PayPal - it’s no wonder they support their own online payment service.
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FAST gets faster?
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Written By Mohammad Usman | July 6, 2007 | Share This
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FAST Search & Transfer, an enterprise search provider, has recently acquired AgentArts a personalization platform and recommendations search engine. The additional technology will be included into FAST’s enterprise of search engine offerings, which contains a variety of site search and monetization options for online publishers. The company also has a mobile search partnership with InfoSpace.
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Google Releases Feedburner Premium Services For Free
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Written By Mohammad Usman | July 3, 2007 | Share This
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Google’s recent acquisition of FeedBurner has stirred up a lot of press for the search giant. FeedBurner is a news feed management provider, which offers custom RSS feeds and management tools to bloggers, podcasters, and other web-based content publishers. Prior to the acquisition, Feedburner custumers had to pay for premiem reporting services; now, Google has made Feedburner’s MyBrand and Stats PRO free of charge.
FeedBurner Stats PRO is an enhanced reporting option that gives users a more detailed look at subscriber numbers, item click-through tracking, CTR optimization, uncommon uses, podcast downloads, feed reach, aggregate item uses, on-site statistics, and more. MyBrand, on the other hand, allows users to create branded URLs for their feeds. Together, they create a comprehensive RSS management and tracking system for professional bloggers.
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Wikipedia ’s Search Engine Optimized Article on Homepage
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Written By Mohammad Usman | July 2, 2007 | Share This
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Recently there has been much controversy over Wikipedia’s reinstituted policy regarding no follow attributes on most external links within the articles. Many critics have described this policy as a double standard, especially since attributions are not implemented across the board.
However, Wikipedia has responded to this controversy by including its Search Engine Optimization article on its homepage. This article explains the need for the policy, and answers many questions asked by site users regarding Wikipedia’s SEO.
This move follows recent debate in the search marketing community, in which marketers have been heavily critical of Wikipedia search engine. Two popular examples of this criticism include a Open Letter To Wikipedia Editors: Yes, Matt Cutts Is Notable and Search Engine Marketing (& Search Engine Land) Not Notable For Wikipedia?.
The question that remains now is: Will SEO’s article will be effective in quelling criticism?
Yahoo Indexing Flickr
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Written By Mohammad Usman | June 26, 2007 | Share This
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Yahoo!’s Image Search announced that it will now include Flickr’s 300 million+ image and user database in its index. Photos drawn from Flickr will be linked to individual Flickr usernames, to allow searchers to find photos not just of a particular subject but also by a particular user.
Yahoo!, which acquired Flickr’s parent company Ludicorp Research and Development in March 2005, is attempting to revamp many of the features and services provided by the website in order to compete with the market leader, Google.
For Yahoo! image users this feature will likely prove to be convenient, especially given Flickr’s great popularity. The consolidation of image search and Flickr is yet further evidence that Yahoo continues to clean up their internal organization.