Rojo

All right, let’s face it: it’s the afternoon before a three-day weekend and your brain is already on vacation. And that’s why we’re here at linky extra goodness—a round up of the marketing news you’ll want to know come Monday.

Oh nm, my bad: Googler JohnMu retracts his previous statements (mentioned yesterday) about banning countries/regions/continents from your website being “cloaking,” as long as you also ban any Googlebots coming from those IP blocks.

Yahoo’s traffic comes from . . . Google? Hitwise reports that even Yahoo Mail (and especially Yahoo Answers) receives more traffic coming from www.google.com than search.yahoo.com. Ouch. But hey, on the plus side, Google’s losing that traffic, right? (Oddly enough, they didn’t look at whether Google was directing traffic to search.yahoo.com…)

Google Street View Hits Europe: It’s now live in France!

FTC Gives Yahoo/Google a Pass, DOJ to Examine Deal: mostly because some people told ClickZ that the government wouldn’t duplicate its efforts and have two bureaus look at it. Um, what? Do these people actually work for the government? The US government? Oookay.

Social Media Algorithms Revealed: Missing calculus, or just wondering how many votes it takes to go hot on your favorite social media site? Danny Dover posts four sites’ algorithms at SEOmoz.

Is Word-of-Mouth Better Offline or Online? Jennifer Laycock takes a look at whether WOM has more impact offline or online, after a study shows that more people make product/service recommendations in person.

Now, whether it’s before, during or after the holiday weekend, you’re all caught up!

Pilgrim’s Partners: Is a blogger attacking your company without you knowing? Monitor your online reputation with Andy Beal’s Trackur–try it for free!

Paul Dunay has finished his Reputation Management for New Media Survey and you can now download the report–for free!

Finding useful stats on for online reputation management can be a chore, so I’m excited to get some insight into how companies are preparing, or not preparing.

Some highlights include:

• 53% of companies are making reputation monitoring a strategic priority in 2008.
• Yet, only 42% have any kind of online reputation plan in place, and
• 55% of those polled say they are not adequately prepared to handle a reputation crisis.
• 63% of companies do not have a formal policy in place regarding employee blogs.

Trackur co-sponsored the report with Marketing Profs and you’ll find a very special Trackur offer inside the report!

Pilgrim’s Update: Learn online reputation management skills directly from Andy Beal. Attend the Online Reputation Management Workshop and save $400 when you register today!

Lots of Picks today, so let’s dive right in!

• Don’t get too excited when you see that Google Talk is now available for your iPhone. It’s browser-based, which means your conversation dies if you switch from Safari.
• In case you were wondering, Firefox did earn the world record for most downloads in a single day.
• Google signed an agreement with Brazil to fight child pornography on its social network Orkut–which, outside of Brazil, has to be Google’s biggest flop ever!
• If you enjoyed analyzing Twitter data, you’ll mourn the death of Twitterboard.
• If you think you’ve been banned by Google, you might want to go through the steps outlined on the official Webmaster Central Blog.
• Our friend and WOM guru Andy Sernovitz is hosting a small-group word of mouth marketing seminar on July 30th. Use the code "welovemarketingpilgrim" and save $250 on registration
• My good friend, ex-colleague, and nomad Ben Wills has launched his new company Ontolo–check out the minimalist design.

By Frank Reed.

Here’s a quick trivia question for you. What was the first video run on MTV back in the early 80’s? It was “Video Killed the Radio Star” by the Buggles (I didn’t need to look that up and two of the Buggles, Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes, went on to play with Yes for all of you progressive rock fans out there). At any rate, the idea was that with the onset of video music, Marconi’s invention (that’s the radio for those of you wondering) would die. There would no longer be any need for an antiquated medium where just voices live. Now, because the music could be seen, the radio would just ride off into the sunset.

Well, let’s fast forward to today’s world. It was announced that Rush Limbaugh (like him or hate him, he’s real so just get over it) signed a new deal with Clear Channel Communications for $400 million for eight years (Wall Street Journal, July 3, 2008) which in net terms tops even the deal that Howard Stern cut with Sirius Radio a few years back.

So with this internet thing taking over the world, how does this happen? How does a company spend so much for someone like Limbaugh? Well, folks it’s because not all marketing happens on the internet (did I hear a collective Gasp! from the MP reader ship?). Limbaugh has roughly 20 million loyal listeners who buy the products that advertise on his show.  Advertisers realize this and don’t care that maybe radio isn’t hip or cool. They care about profits and people like Limbaugh make rain when it comes to bottom line stuff. Oh and by the way, they listen online too (didn’t think those old folks had it in them did ya?).

This quote in the Journal’s article shows just how resilient and cool radio really is:

“Radio reaches about 93% of the population each week, according to Arbitron Inc., with listeners tuning in an average of about 18.5 hours. That is a decline from just over 22 hours per week 10 years ago. Radio advertising, including on radio Internet sites, totaled $21.3 billion last year, down from $21.7 billion the year before.”

How is that cool and resilient when the numbers are declining? Well, it’s simple. Radio has great opportunity to transition into the internet. I would argue even more so than video. Why? Because you can keep it on in the background and still get stuff done. When people are huddled around a desk watching something on YouTube they need to be more engaged thus taking them away from other activities completely. Radio’s ability to be in the foreground and the background all at once is phenomenal.  I am a huge sports fan so I love the fact that when I listen to Mike and Mike in the Morning on ESPN Radio in my car I can easily transition to my desk at work and continue listening online. That is cool. I don’t watch them online (which I could but why –they’re not pretty) I continue to LISTEN online.

To sum it up I would say that as internet marketers we should be looking long and hard at the power of mediums that bridge traditional and new media. The folks at Clear Channel must see some ROI here even though the numbers are staggering. I see how my habits are probably like many others so I should thinking about these things. Don’t think that the internet is the beginning and end all. It’s not. It’s going to be dominant in the very near future but it won’t be the only option.

I can’t wait to see what comes along next to try to kill radio. I bet it fails.

About Frank Reed

Frank Reed is a partner at bnr marketing in Raleigh, NC. bnr provides SEO, PPC and blog marketing services.  In addition, bnr produces SEO tools like SEMCheck for the search marketing industry. Frank’s blog on internet marketing is at www.frankthinking.com.

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Just yesterday, I had a conversation, agreeing that the only thing that could topple Google, would be privacy. The same day, a judge presiding over the Google/Viacom case issued a court order requiring Google to turn over your personal data.

The EFF reports the order requires Google to hand over YouTube’s Logging database. What’s in YouTube’s logging database?

…for each instance a video is watched, the unique “login ID” of the user who watched it, the time when the user started to watch the video, the internet protocol address other devices connected to the internet use to identify the user’s computer (“IP address”), and the identifier for the video.

I’ve bolded the entire text, because this is serious Pilgrims! If Google complies, potentially millions of YouTube users will have their private details handed to Viacom!

The EFF states that the judge has likely broken the law, with his ruling–your video viewing preferences are supposedly protected by the Video Privacy Protection Act.

Over at TechCrunch, Michael Arrington speculates that Viacom only requested this information, so that it may determine who watched copyrighted content, and sue them too.

I’ll close, echoing Arrington’s sentiment:

I say this with the utmost respect, but Judge Stanton is a moron. And Google simply cannot hand this data over without facing a class action lawsuit of staggering proportions.

The ball’s in your court now Google. Throw us users under the bus, and we might just do the same to you!

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You have only until the end of day tomorrow to register for my Online Reputation Management Workshop and get the heavily discounted rate of just $797. After July 3rd, the rate goes up!

Whether you work for an online marketing/PR firm, or handle the branding for your employer, you’ll want to attend the workshop.

Heck, if you’re an SEO, you should attend if only to learn how to manage a client’s Google reputation. If you’re not offering Google reputation management services, you’re missing out!

I hope you’ll join me on August 7th, in Raleigh, NC!

By Frank Reed.

An article in today’s Wall Street Journal by Lee Gomes the Long Tail theory popularized by Chris Anderson’s book “The Long Tail” in 2006 there is now a pretty prominent player saying “Wait a minute now…..is this for real?” The Harvard Business Review has published a study that questions whether this theory actually holds water. Anita Elberse, is a marketing professor at Harvard Business School and in her writing she doesn’t seem as comfortable with handing the mantle of all future economic models to the long tail theory.

Elberse simply states that when looking at online buying patterns of people renting movies and purchasing music are the same as those who buy offline. What?! How are we going to survive as search marketers if the long tail is a myth? Well, hold on just minute before the baby AND the bath water gets tossed here. Elberse goes on to talk about how even in our buying patterns we are social people who like to do what others do for the reason of common interests. There is also a sheep mentality amongst consumers because we like to be led to what to buy by others who have had a good experience. This keeps the experimentation low and the “group think” theory high.

Gomes uses the blogosphere to further prove the point.  While there are many, many, many blogs out there most still go unread and the vast majority of the traffic goes to only the top blogs. Considering the traffic on my personal blog I can certainly attest to that theory! Gomes also takes a funny swipe at Wired magazine in his description of the Long Tail phenomenon that took place following a 2004 for article (which led to the book) saying that “In retrospect, “The Long tail “ seems to have followed the template of many Wired articles: take a partly true, modestly interesting, tech-friendly idea and puff it up to Second Coming proportions”. Ouch.

Chris Anderson’s response which I have not fully read was described by Gomes as being “generous in praising the article and he (Anderson) welcomed the sort of rigorous scrutiny the theory was getting”. To his credit, it appears as if Anderson is keeping his cool.

As for us search marketers, I still firmly believe that the long tail exists but in search it is very different and actually more real. We want to find those people who have more clearly defined what they are looking for. Just because they have been more defined in their search (3, 4, 5 word phrases rather than one word generalities) doesn’t mean they aren’t one of the masses. It just means they are further along in the buying cycle, which means they are closer to the time of purchase this making them most valuable to a lot of marketers. I will pursue search’s version of the theory because it makes sense.

At any rate, a theory is a theory is a theory. There are pieces that we can all apply and use and then there are parts that may simply not work. It is up to us as marketing consumers to use our own experience and discernment to make the right choice for our business. Each case will be different so avoiding blanket statements might just be the “best practice” of the future.

About Frank Reed

Frank Reed is a partner at bnr marketing in Raleigh, NC. bnr provides SEO, PPC and blog marketing services.  In addition, bnr produces SEO tools like SEMCheck for the search marketing industry. Frank’s blog on internet marketing is at www.frankthinking.com.

Pilgrim’s Update: Learn online reputation management skills directly from Andy Beal. Attend the Online Reputation Management Workshop and save $400 when you register today!

It’s the first linky goodness of a new month. Hurray!

• More not-so-good news for Yahoo: the DOJ will reviewing the Yahoo-Google ad deal and plans to consult Y&G’s rivals. Yet another reason for MSFT to celebrate today, I guess.
• Webmaster Central Blog gives a little checklist of things to do before and during a reconsideration request using Google Webmaster Tools, complete with video.
• Has someone at Google misspoken? In a Google Groups thread, Googler JohnMu said that blocking countries, regions or continents from your website is against Google’s cloaking policies. I always assumed that you had to show visitors something for it to be considered cloaking. . . . Michael Martinez takes Google’s logic to task here, too.
• Research indicates that personalization in marketing can often make us actively dislike the message’s sender (cough, Amazon, cough, QUIT EMAILING ME). Said one researcher, “People bristle at personalization just for the sake of personalization.” Now, does this count for Google’s SERPs?

Pilgrim’s Partners: Is a blogger attacking your company without you knowing? Monitor your online reputation with Andy Beal’s Trackur–try it for free!

Sometimes we just can’t let dead horses lie. That’s okay, neither can Microsoft. After months of more drama than a daytime soap (ahem) with the attempted merger/acquisition of Yahoo, Microsoft pulled their offer back in May.

And now they’re saying, “Whoopsiedoodle. On second thought . . . we will be coming back fighting.” The Wall Street Journal reports today that Microsoft is planning another run at Yahoo—and this time they won’t be going it alone. They’re actively looking for partners to dismantle Yahoo. Current candidates include News Corp. (aka Nick on Y&P) and Time Warner (we may call him . . . Tim. He’s Alan (AOL)’s dad).

This isn’t exactly good news for already-beleaguered Yahoo chief, Jerry Yang. But the WSJ article presents a very different image of Yang than the one portrayed in recent lawsuits and power plays at the company.

Carl Icahn and several other stockholders have gone to great lengths to show Yang’s personal animosity towards Microsoft, which they believed was the main impediment to a deal. However, the WSJ article and its inside sources show a Yang who tried to drive a favorable bargain for his company and was ultimately very disappointed in the way the negotiations turned out:

When Mr. Ballmer explained that Microsoft was withdrawing its offer, Mr. Yang’s face fell, according to a person who was present.

Microsoft and Yahoo have already been in talks with News Corp and Time Warner/AOL throughout this year. Will one of them finally be able to reach a deal—and if so, who will be left standing?

Pilgrim’s Update: Learn online reputation management skills directly from Andy Beal. Attend the Online Reputation Management Workshop and save $400 when you register today!