SES Magazine November 2009 by Incisive Media

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Data: Mine Your Own Business Apply web analytics concepts from the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;08 presidential race to your online campaign Q&As with two directors from Obamaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new media team, including SES Chicago keynote Dan Siroker

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contents

features

COVER STORY: Q&A WITH ARUN CHAUDHARY

COVER STORY: Q&A WITH SES CHICAGO KEYNOTE DAN SIROKER

13 22

columns

Obama’s new media road director discusses how the video team tackled production challenges, measured their campaigns, and responded to data gathered throughout the 2008 presidential campaign. §

Obama’s deputy new media director reflects on how the 2008 race changed the political map, both in terms of fundraising and online engagement. Siroker also offers tips on how you can apply similar concepts to your own online campaigns. §

7 8 21

SES CHICAGO Sneak Preview From social to video and local to mobile, the new online marketing frontier is here. Learn how to connect the dots at next month’s Search Engine Strategies conference. Learn about the speakers, sessions, and workshops that make SES Chicago a must-attend event. §

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November 2009

41%

Source: Nielsen VideoCensus A

Find out more at ClickZ Stats.

If display advertising is used in combination with search advertising, a marketer can reach customers again — even after they leave the search results page. §

Bing Local: A New Face in Local Search Local businesses would be remiss to overlook Bing Local, the new face in the neighborhood. Here’s how to get listed. §

Is Your SEM Program Ready for Economic Recovery?

Social Media’s Impact on Local Search

Changing Shopping Behavior: Rethinking Search

Learn more: SearchEngineStrategies.com/affiliate-program.html

U.S. users streamed 41 percent more video content in August 2009 than they did during the same period in 2008.

Search & Banners: Working Together

Google Fights Back With New and Improved Services

Become an SES affiliate today! Are you a blogger or publisher? Do you post about SES events? With 5% payouts, the SES affiliate program helps you monetize the traffic you’re already sending our way — you can easily

Don’t worry — most of the changes are for the better. With economic recovery on the horizon, here’s a quick list of where you can expect to pay more — and why. §

GLOSSARY Terms and acronyms every search marketer should know. §

Ten Reasons You’ll Soon Spend 25% More On Search

A quick rundown of the innovations Google has introduced over the last couple of months — and how you stand to benefit.. §

Identify emerging trends, forecasting different scenarios, and having the automation in place to execute budget and bid strategies are the keys to delivering improved performance. §

Companies can use a variety of tactics to hone in on specific geo-targeted areas through social media and SEO on a local scale. §

Online-sponsored feeds are similar to proven brick-and-mortar approaches, and they also go beyond what’s possible with web search enginebased advertising. §

Staff Matt McGowan VP, Publisher

about SES Magazine

Mike Grehan VP, Global Content Director

Magazine Managing Editor Drew Eastmead Contributors Julie Batten, Mary Bowling, John Federman, Aaron Finn, Byron Gordon, Greg Jarboe, Kevin Lee, Jessica Rowe, Andy Torgerson

SES Magazine is now in its third year and will reach a print circulation of more than 100,000 in 2009. In this issue, you’ll find articles on the latest trends in digital marketing, as well as a preview of our upcoming event, SES Chicago (Dec. 7-11). We are grateful to our contributors and readers alike, and we’re always interested to hear your feedback and learn about what topics you’d like to see (e-mail us at magazine@SearchEngineStrategies.com). For more information on advertising, subscribing, and contributing, or to view past issues, visit www.SearchEngineStrategies.com/ses-magazine. You can also follow us on Twitter: @sesmag.

PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT VP, Content Development Stewart Quealy Senior Program Director Marilyn Crafts Program Coordinator Jackie Ortez

Drew Eastmead | Managing Editor

OPERATIONS Director, Operations Michele McDermott Operations Manager Dan Hoskins

SES Advisory Board

Clickz & SEarch engine watch Executive Editor Managing Editor, News Senior Editor, News Associate Editor

Anna Maria Virzi Zach Rodgers Kate Kaye Kevin Newcomb

SALES & MARKETING Sales Directors Andrew Katz Elaine Mershon Elaine Romeo Peter Westerholm Account Executives Elizabeth Huston Katie O’Hea Event Client Services Mgr. JoAnn Simonelli Marketing Director Angela Man Marketing Manager Christian Georgeou Web Designer Rebecca Holz Online Operations Manager Louise Laberge Online Operations Assoc. Aleksey Gershin

CORPORATE

Comprised of both industry thought leaders and real-world practitioners, the Search Engine Strategies advisory board brings together top players in the field of interactive media and search. The team works to deliver continually cutting-edge search techniques, more integrated and relevant content, and professional development resources to SES attendees. Matthew Bailey President SiteLogic

Andrew Goodman Principal Page Zero Media

Pauline Ores Sr. Marketing Mgr, Social Media IBM Corporation

Ron Belanger VP, Worldwide Agency Sales Omniture

Mike Grehan, Co-Chair VP & Global Content Director Incisive Media

Erynn Petersen Sr. Mgr, Ad Platform Evangelism Microsoft

Brett Crosby Group PPM Google

Anne Kennedy Managing Partner Beyond Ink

Randy Peterson Search Marketing Manager Procter & Gamble

Bryan Eisenberg Bestselling author bryaneisenberg.com

John Marshall CTO Market Motive

Stewart Quealy, Co-Chair VP, Content Development Incisive Media

Jeff Ferguson Sr. Director, Online Marketing Local.com

Lee Odden CEO TopRank Online Marketing

Chief Executive Tim Weller Group Managing Director James Hanbury sneak preview

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SES: Volume 3, Issue 7 | November 2009

Advertiser Index For information about advertising in future issues, please contact sales at sales@SearchEngineStrategies.com or (212) 457-4993.

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iCrossing........................................................ 23

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FOCUS: budget §

Ten Reasons You’ll Soon Spend 25% More On Search By Kevin Lee

f you have a successful, profitable online business or an offline business that gets its leads from online sources, I’m confident you’ll be spending 25 percent more on paid search within the next year. Not every marketer will, but the stronger ones will. If you are like my clients and those of most agencies I’ve spoken to, chances are that your budget has been on a roller coaster ride this past year. Reasons for budget cuts are as unique as the businesses and industries involved. But the advertisers who raised — or even more than doubled — their paid search budgets have a common vision that search marketing will allow them to build their businesses effectively, efficiently, and profitably. It’s amazing how few advertisers (on a percentage basis) are spending within 10 percent of what they spent last year; it’s likely that this volatility will continue. However, for marketers with resources to fund PPC search budgets delivering demonstrable profit and ROI, the budgets will be made available. Even in cases where inventory constraints would seem to limit spending, many marketers will find themselves able to spend anyway. Here are 10 reasons you’ll likely find yourself spending 25 percent more on search engine advertising over the next 12 months.

Search Engines Adjusting Their SERPs

Google’s recent shift of the right-rail ads closer to the organic results within the overall search engine results page (SERP) is the tip of the iceberg. As the engines evolve, they will play with changes to color, backgrounds, and placement of ads to make the ads look fresh, different, and relevant. Clickthrough rates (CTR) will increase, so you’ll pay more if your budget supports it. If those clicks were profitable at a 1.6 percent CTR in position 3, then they should be equally profitable at a CTR of 1.9 percent. It’s just a matter of deciding that you want the extra clicks and making sure your budget settings let you purchase the profitable clicks.

Better Relevance Engines

Billions of searches make it difficult for the search engines to pick the right ad from

thousands of possible matches with diverse match types, domains, and bids. All the search engines are working on how best to select a relevant ad for complex queries or queries for which there is no exact match bidder. For example, imagine how many ads within a shoe store advertiser or across all shoe sellers would possibly be relevant for the search query “men’s size 12 extra wide leather steel-toe waterproof work boots.” Picking the most relevant ad is critical because irrelevant ads are far less likely to get clicked on. Also, imagine whether an ad for a retailer whose footprint in a particular region might be expected to get a higher CTR and therefore be more relevant for searchers within that area. While B&H Photo and J&R Music World sell nationally and even internationally, their brands are better known within a radius of New York City. Expect your ads to get served in more relevant SERPS, resulting in higher CTRs.

You & Your Competitors: Improving Ads & Campaign Structures

The search engines use a carrot-and-stick approach to motivate advertisers and their agencies to improve campaign structure, ad copy, landing pages, and even load time. This means higher CTRs (or in some cases higher conversion rates), which result in higher reserve prices on cost per click (CPC).

Keyword Price Escalation

Yes, some sectors saw a drop in CPCs, but every indication is that CPCs will continue to rise as advertisers improve conversion rates and start to factor in the more difficult to measure benefits of search engine advertising (including its influence over later purchases and lift in branding metrics).

Changes in Consumer Search Behavior

Studies show that consumers are searching more often. This behavior generates additional search query volume. Consumers may also be learning when the sponsored links are relevant.

Expansion of the Definition of Paid Search

If your site gets hundreds of thousands

of organic and paid search visitors, you will likely move into search retargeting sometime soon if you haven’t already. If you are already doing search retargeting, you may start using more than one vendor in an attempt to find the best mix of ROI and scale.

Conversion Rate Improvements

As mentioned earlier, if you improve conversion rates, your reserve price per click goes up. Sometimes you’ll spend that reserve price; other times you’ll let the extra profit fall to the bottom line. Understanding and constantly retesting the elasticity of your marketplace will become key here.

Graphical & Rich-Media Enhances PPC SERP Elements

We’ve seen it with movie trailers, and Google, Yahoo, and Bing are all experimenting with a form of universal search for paid ads involving the intermingling of graphics or rich media into the SERP on a paid basis. Expect the CTR to go up when anything from a logo gleam/favicon all the way to a full product shot are introduced on the SERP.

Economic Recovery

If we have an economic recovery, people will search more and buy more online.

Search Engine Wars

As Microsoft heats up the war with Google, it may actually lift the category of search along with promoting trials of its own product. So, if you have a strong business and want to build it into an even stronger business using search, expect to have to shell out more over the next year, whether you like it or not. § Kevin Lee, Didit co-founder and executive chairman, has been an acknowledged search engine marketing expert since 1995. His “Paid Search Strategies” column for ClickZ is read by thousands; his book, The Eyes Have It: How to Market in an Age of Divergent Consumers, Media Chaos and Advertising Anarchy, has been widely praised; and he is a founding board member of SEMPO. He lives in Manhattan with his wife and daughter. @kevin_lee_qed

SearchEngineStrategies.com § SES

If display advertising is used together with search advertising, a marketer can reach customers again — even after they leave the search results page. This ability makes display ads an especially attractive option for companies unable to compete for priority search page ranking.

search &

Ban n e r s

working together to boost return on advertising spend By Aaron Finn

earch engine marketing (SEM) and pay-per-click (PPC) marketing have exploded in popularity. Services such as Google AdWords, Yahoo! Search, and Microsoft adCenter have grown into a $10 billion industry in just a few years. So, why do advertisers love search advertising so much? Because it delivers predictable results, straightforward targeting, and clear metrics to demonstrate return on advertising spend (ROAS). As a result, the search ad has become king of the online advertising disciplines— and even a standalone strategy, as many businesses have stayed away from display advertising because of its perceived cost and complexity. But display advertising has recently undergone a dramatic transformation, with advances in technology that put it within reach of all advertisers. Display ads are now as easy and cost-effective as search ads, and come with similar metrics that advertisers need to prove ROAS. Display advertising also provides value that search advertising can’t, including the ability to build brand awareness, scale with growth, and reach new customers when they aren’t actively searching.

Fortunately, closing the online marketing loop is incredibly easy: Combine search and display advertising into one cohesive effort. This integrated approach enables advertisers to cast the widest net across online customers, systematically driving up ROAS.

The Search for More Customers

Search ads perform extremely well when properly managed. However, lean budgets have forced advertisers to place their search ad programs under the microscope. Specifically, they’ve found that search ads have four main areas of weakness: The search ad market is a busy, competitive place. More than one million companies use search ads, compared to less than 50,000 companies running display ads. This makes popular keywords very expensive. Search campaigns don’t scale as well as previously thought. Search ads are inherently limited: they only appear on a given search engine site, and they rely on a customer typing in the specific keywords an advertiser has selected. Once you’ve locked down your keywords and paid for prominent placement, further investments show diminishing returns.

SES § November 2009 {Chicago Preview}

Search ads lack branding and awareness benefits. The inability to use logos, images, and other visual elements makes differentiating your business much more difficult. Search ads only work when customers are searching. And they’re only searching about 5 percent of the time, according to the Online Publishers Association’s Internet activity index. The rest of the time (95 percent), customers are browsing websites — usually sites that feature display advertising. Display ads can fill the voids created by search. They can scale with a company’s growth, build brand awareness (with color, images, logos, and other visual elements), and reach new customers when they aren’t actively searching.

Bringing Down Costs for Display Advertising

In the past, display ads have required significant creative resources to produce. Testing and optimizing creative content across different banner sizes has accounted for a large part of this expense, prolonging the launch period of a campaign.

FOCUS: ad strategy §

Negotiating multiple media buys with various publishers and networks also takes time, and advertisers have often faced prohibitive minimum spends. Combined, such hurdles have prevented many businesses from looking beyond search advertising — until now. Advances in display advertising technology have minimized these obstacles, and now even smaller advertisers can take advantage of tested creative templates, centralized access to ad networks, and analytics to prove ROAS (similar to those used in search campaigns). Bigger companies that already had the resources to use display advertising are also benefitting, because building and testing creative is now faster than ever.

Mixing Ad Mediums for Maximum Results

money online overall, and significantly more on product categories related to the advertised brands. While the end goal of search ads and banner ads is the same — to drive sales and awareness — these two approaches target customers in very different ways. Once a customer leaves a search results page, they leave those search ads behind, too. And if a company is not listed on the first page of results, the chance of being overlooked is high. However, if display advertising is used together with search advertising, a marketer can reach that same customer again, after

So can you really get Search Portal better results from using display advertising along with your Your Company Customer current search advertising efforts? Absosearch ads lutely, according to the latest data. The Online display ad click Publisher’s Assoonline search for through to website ciation released “alaska vacations” Competition a study in June Gateway 2009 titled “The Website Silent Click: Building Brands Online,” Customers have a direct path to your website which examined effecthrough your search ads. But if a customer clicks tive ways to measure on a search result instead of your ad, banner ads at the website they go to can steer them the impact of branding back in your direction. campaigns — as opposed to the click-based metrics of services like Google AdWords. In partnership with comScore, the association looked at 80 of the largest branding campaigns across 200 of the most visited they leave the search results page. This sites. They analyzed the behavior of consum- ability makes display ads an especially ers exposed to banner ads over a month, attractive option for companies unable to measuring 1) searches conducted related to compete for priority search page ranking. the advertisers’ brands, 2) the traffic driven to the advertisers’ sites, and 3) consumer Results On Full Display The Atlas Institute agrees that search spending related to the advertisers’ brands. For consumers exposed to branded display and display advertising perform better advertising campaigns, the research found together than when used independently. that one in five conduct related searches and The Institute’s “Atlas Digital Marketing Insight Report” found that online and offline one in three visit the brands’ sites. Users also spent more than 50 percent purchases increased when consumers were more time than the average visitor on these exposed to integrated campaigns. The same research found that display ads sites and consumed more pages. In fact, improve search performance, since interest these users spent about 10 percent more

generated from display advertising carries over to consumer search behavior. For example, the study showed a 22 percent increase in click-through rate (CTR) when companies run search and display campaigns together, as compared to the same programs alone. The data also showed an increase in related trademark term searches (such as product name), and higher clickto-conversion rates in search campaigns, making search clicks more valuable when complemented by display. In a related study, search marketing firm iProspect found that more than half of Internet users actively respond to online display advertising. Their research found that the same number of users respond to display advertising by performing a search as those who directly click on a banner — and about 50 percent of Internet users perform searches related to banners they have previously seen.

Display Advertising Is Here to Stay

All this research makes it clear that display advertising can no longer be ignored by businesses building their brand and sales pipeline on the web. And while it can be used as an alternative strategy to search advertising, display advertising combined with search can deliver a particularly powerful impact. Display ads don’t just continue the sales process started by search engine marketing. They also increase the overall effectiveness of search ads, and they give advertisers a unique opportunity to make a branding impact on potential customers — a key method for driving future purchases. If you’re using search advertising, don’t miss the boat: Integrate banners into your approach to maximize your results. § Aaron Finn is president and CEO of Seattle-based AdReady, a technology company that makes display advertising accessible to advertisers of any size. The company’s unique approach helps businesses build powerful online display campaigns based on proven creative and media plans, dramatically increasing a marketer’s return on advertising spend (ROAS). Prior to AdReady, Finn launched ia Interactive Inc., a traditional online advertising agency. He was also a founding executive of Classmates Online.

SearchEngineStrategies.com § SES

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DATA: MINE YOUR {From videos to fundraising,

Q&A with Arun Chaudhary By Greg Jarboe

Just after the 2008 election, Jose Antonio Vargas wrote an online column for The Washington Post (Nov. 14, 2008) entitled “The YouTube Presidency.” In it, he quoted Steve Grove, head of news and politics at YouTube, who said, “The Obama team has written the playbook on how to use YouTube for political campaigns. Not only have they achieved impressive mass — uploading over 1,800 videos that have been viewed over 110 million times total — but they’ve also used video to cultivate a sense of community amongst supporters.” A key member of the Obama team was new media road director Arun Chaudhary, and I recently asked him some questions for my book, YouTube and Video Marketing: An Hour a Day. Here are excerpts from the interview.

About Arun: A key member of the 2008 campaign, Arun has been called “Obama’s video guru” by Michael Learmonth of Silicon Alley Insider (July 2008). Chaudhary’s title on the campaign was new media road director of Obama for America (OFA). Today, he is the White House videographer.

Greg Jarboe: Who was your target put in your title, description, and tags? AC: We tried to be very specific. Location audience? Arun Chaudhary: Our target audience was and date of the speech was very important voters — all kinds of voters. While YouTube because you really hope that folks who community folks and political activists were weren’t physically able to make the rally are probably vocal commenters on our work, able to find the footage. Topic is very imporI don’t think it would make sense to think tant as well, because a lot of folks looking of them as a target audience. We wanted to for political content online are hoping to find answers to their appeal to a wide varispecific questions ety of folks. When you There was an entire (what is the candihave a candidate as exciting and dynamic section of the new media date’s position on department devoted to health care?) in that as Barack Obama was, way; the candidate’s the most important analyzing all the data. websites are very thing you can do is much a modern update get him in front of as many people as possible. We used to say the of campaign literature, or maybe even a bit YouTube or live stream hits of his speeches like the voting guides that various groups were like adding thousands of extra seats used to publish close to election times. You really can’t be too specific with your in the room. Especially in the early states, the sort of titling, though of course there are only so people you want to watch an many words you can actually have in the event are folks who couldn’t title itself. One of the format rules that was physically make it for some designed and enforced by Kate Albrightreason. Rather than fish- Hanna for BarackObama.com was that the ing for viral success, you’d opening card for every video would be the rather have real prospective date and location. I remember thinking that voters see your candidate it was maybe a little too austere, but she was absolutely right. If you lived in Keokuk, make his or her case. Iowa, and a friend forwarded you a video GJ: Did you optimize your link, the first thing you would see when videos for YouTube? Were you clicked on it would be Nov. 20, 2007, there search terms that you A

SES § November 2009 {Chicago Preview}

continued on page 12

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COVER STORY / FOCUS: analytics §

OWN BUSINESS Obama’s new media team honed in on web analytics}

SES Chicago 2009 keynote speaker Dan Siroker will deliver his presentation on Wednesday, Dec. 9, at 9 a.m.

Q&A with Dan Siroker By Byron Gordon

numbers in perspective. The Obama learn from the McCain campaign about how campaign website had twice as many they ran their analytics? unique visitors than the number of DS: We focused on taking advantage of the people who voted for John McCain. opportunities in front of us and making deciSure, some of the folks who voted for sions based on data that would optimize the success metrics we McCain probably visited The biggest takeaway I’d like defined for ourselves. sure they followed www.barackoto offer to future campaigns I’m a similar philosophy bama.com, is to instill a data-driven to try to optimize and the 140 culture in which decisions their success metrics. million number We didn’t learn much also includes are based on facts. from how the McCain those who are campaign used analytnot eligible to Previously, Dan led the analytics team for vote — either because they were too ics because frankly, we were focused on the 2008 Obama presidential campaign young or lived in a foreign country. optimizing our own campaign, not analyzing and served as a senior member of the But the point remains: tons and tons theirs. larger new media team. He led a team of people came to our website. If you of software engineers and analysts compare the number of Facebook responsible for optimizing the effectiveness friends or YouTube views we had to BG: Talk to us about the e-mail that David of the campaign’s online operations that McCain’s, you would find a consis- Plouffe (Obama’s chief campaign manager) ended up raising over half a billion dollars tent factor of four to five times the sent that raised more than $10 million for and registering more than 2 million voters. the campaign. Why did this e-mail resodifference. Earlier, Dan was a product manager for As much as I’d like to think our nate so much? And did your team have any Google Chrome, the open-source web team was responsible for this huge preconceived notion about which type of browser from Google. He also worked as a online engagement gap, the truth e-mail was going to be the most successful product manager for Google AdWords. He is we weren’t. All we could do was and how it should be targeted to the various recently founded CarrotSticks, a startup take advantage of opportunities to constituencies? using technology to help kids learn. grow and foster this community. The DS: On Sept. 3, 2008, David Plouffe sent out fundamental force driving this was an e-mail to our supporters with the subject, the tremendous amount of interest “What you just saw.” The e-mail was a Byron Gordon: The number of unique and grassroots support Barack Obama response to what had happened that night visitors to the Barack Obama campaign had online. In my talk at SES Chicago, I’ll at the Republican National Convention, website — almost 140 million — trounced talk specifically about some of the things where Sarah Palin mocked Barack Obama’s the number that John McCain’s campaign we did to take advantage of this interest and experience as a community organizer on the website received. How and why do you translate it into real online engagement. South Side of Chicago by saying, “I guess a account for this? Obama had 2.4 million small-town mayor is sort of like a ‘commuFacebook friends compared to half a million BG: The McCain campaign also watched nity organizer,’ except that you have actual for McCain. How did you use analytics to their own online advertising diligently and responsibilities.” This was the capstone on a help facilitate these numbers? employed various metrics and analytics to very negative Republican National ConvenDan Siroker: It is true that the number of measure and optimize. They, too, ran a very tion that left many Americans fuming. All unique visitors to the Obama campaign sophisticated online ad campaign, particu- they needed was a channel to let out their website, nearly 140 million, was far greater larly when it came to search. Do you think outrage. This e-mail offered a call-to-action than McCain’s campaign website, which had the McCain camp used analytics in a way roughly 30 million unique visitors. However, that was smart? What did you observe and/or A continued on page 12 what’s staggering to me is to look at these About Dan: During the presidential transition, Dan was the deputy new media director, responsible for strategic planning of the administration’s use of Internet and technology. He led several online initiatives on change.gov, including a way for the American people to publicly comment on proposed policy, ask questions, or submit ideas — all of which could be voted on and went directly to President Obama and his cabinet.

SearchEngineStrategies.com § SES

[ CHAUDHARY from page 10 ] Keokuk, Iowa, and immediately know why it was relevant to you. GJ: What was the most compelling video content of the campaign? AC: I would have to go with “A More Perfect Union.” We had consistent calls from the public to put up speeches in their entirety. As time went on, we found that some of the effort of finding specific clips and producing them with cut shots was better spent trying to get entire speeches and town halls online. Folks really seemed to respond to being allowed to see the candidate unedited. In a sense, they wanted to see the candidates in the raw and make their own decision — not to feel like they were being fed media. With a candidate as compelling as Barack Obama was, it made a lot of sense to let them see him in this manner. The more people who actually saw him speak and hear his views, the more likely they were to vote for him. With a different candidate one might need to take a different strategy, but for us, Barack Obama was always the star; we were just the backup singers. GJ: What production challenges did you face and overcome? AC: The production challenges were immense. We would often arrive at events with about 10 minutes to go before a speech would start and need to set up our cameras

[ SIROKER from page 10 ] to serve as that channel: “Enough is enough. Make your voice heard loud and clear by making a donation right now.” That call-toaction worked. We raised over $10 million in less than 24 hours. BG: You previously thought that videos would be the best way to encourage people to sign up for the Obama campaign, but that proved wrong. What are the lessons learned from this for future political campaigns and the use of social media? DS: We ran a multi-variate experiment to determine what would be the most compelling form of media and button on our splash page to persuade users to sign up for our e-mail list. We tried three different videos, three different photos, and four different buttons. Turns out the results surprised us all — all of the videos did worse than all of the photos by a huge margin. As interesting as these results were, the bigger lesson we learned from this experiment was to always question assumptions. It turns out the biggest opportunities for optimization tend to be the areas in which decisions had been based on opinions — not facts. BG: How much did you factor in geography? Was it a given that the most populous state, such as California and New York, would

and live-streaming computer as fast as we could. If everything went right, it was just about possible. Editing was just as challenging. The road team edited in the field on laptops and uploaded with aircards. On an airplane, you can only upload to about 30,000 feet before losing all signal, so time was always of the essence. The watchword on our team was workflow. Because we were doing so many events and traveling constantly, we had a lot of opportunity to improve the workflow, see what order things should be done in, what tasks the computer could handle doing at the same time, figure out how to fill what little time we had to its fullest. Redundancy also helped. Every road team member had a camera, a laptop, and an aircard. That way we weren’t reliant on any one person to get the job done; we were all able to do what we needed to do. It was definitely a process. By the end of the campaign, it was taking us minutes to upload what was taking hours at the beginning. There was no magic formula, it was just experience. The thing about doing a process over and over is that eventually you get better. A tip I would definitely offer others is to always worry about the audio first; once you have that, everything else is fixable. Bad video can seem like a choice, while bad audio is always a mistake. GJ: How did you measure your video campaign? Did you use YouTube Insight, contribute the most money to the campaign? And how did that factor in your analytics? DS: Campaigns rely heavily on geography when it comes to targeting and persuasion. When it comes to web analytics, we only scratched the surface of what we could achieved by optimizing by geography. Geography-based segmentation is one of the areas in which there is a huge opportunity to segment users and experiment in order to improve the user experience and optimize our success metrics. BG: As Obama’s new media director, you used analytics to better target Obama’s constituency base, and the end result was you raised more money than McCain. What should future presidential campaigns take from this experience? DS: The biggest takeaways I’d like to offer to future presidential campaigns is to instill a data-driven culture in which decisions are based on facts. Often in large organizations, especially political organizations, decisions get made by “playing politics:” who you are, who you know, who owes you a favor, etc. The more an organization can focus on data and facts, the better it will do. Campaigns of the future need to empower all its staff — from volunteer to field director — to freely question assumptions and make decisions based on data.

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TubeMogul, or other analytics for online video? What feedback did these tools give you that led you to change what you were doing? AC: We did pay attention to the analytics. In fact, there was an entire section of the new media department devoted to analyzing all the data. Seeing that folks would actually watch entire speeches and not just clips was very useful, especially as it is slightly counter-intuitive. Also finding out that our core audience was much older than the 18 to 25 demographic was very interesting. According to the YouTube Insight tool, our main audience was 40 to 50, which is what you would expect from normal political media, but not necessarily online. It has certainly reinforced my notion that online political video was essentially the modern replacement for the printed campaign guides of the past. I think a lot of folks went to all the websites to compare and contrast the candidates’ views and make an informed decision. § Greg Jarboe is the president and co-founder of SEOPR, a search engine optimization firm, public relations agency, and video production company. Greg is a frequent speaker at Search Engine Strategies and is the news search, blog search, and PR correspondent for the search engine marketing news blog at Search Engine Watch. He is regarded as a pioneer and leading authority on online publicity. He book, YouTube and Video Marketing: An Hour A Day, was recently published by Wiley.

BG: Your latest venture is CarrotSticks (www.carrotsticks.com). What is the origin behind this initiative? What are current analytics telling you about how well this website is being used by kids to help them do better at math? DS: CarrotSticks is a social and fun way for kids to practice and compete in math. Parents can give their child an edge in math by signing them up. My ultimate success metric for CarrotSticks is whether it helps kids love learning math. We tested this metric in our most recent classroom trial in a third grade class at an elementary school in Palo Alto, Calif. The kids used it for one hour prior to the recess bell. The teacher told the kids that it’s time for recess, but if anyone wants to stay in the classroom and spend five more minutes on CarrotSticks that they could. Not a single kid went to recess. They all wanted to stay to keep playing. They loved challenging each other to competitions and earning “carrots.” In terms of other quantifiable success metrics, to date, over 20,000 math problems have been solved and growing fast. § Byron Gordon has more than seven years’ experience working in public relations. Today, he works for SEOPR with a focus on blogger outreach campaigns, social media, and facilitating Web 2.0 projects for clients including SEMPO, Nokia, and goBalto. Byron was recently appointed VP of social media programs at SEO-PR.

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Social, mobile, local, video, and more: Discover how they’re connected, where search is headed, and where you need to be. Search Engine Strategies Chicago puts you in front of the experts who can help you determine which emerging technologies and channels fit your goals, and which are just hype. Search Engine Strategies is the pioneer of search education. It’s the conference where industry visionaries and leaders gather each year to discuss the newest trends, share insights, and present the strategic action plans you need.

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Keynote Speakers

Jeff Jarvis

Peter Morville

Dan Siroker

Author What Would Google Do?

President Semantic Studios

Jeff Jarvis is of the most provocative and optimistic voices weighing in on the future of media, technology, and business today. He writes about these topics and more on his blog, Buzzmachine.com. Jeff has been at the forefront of the media world for over two decades.

Peter Morville is acknowledged as a father of information architecture. He has authored the best-selling books, Information Architecture for the World Wide Web and Ambient Findability. As a key innovator, Peter will be bringing ideas on the changing nature of organic and paid search, ensuring attendees with go away with new strategies for implementing their marketing programs.

Former Deputy New Media Director Obama Presidential Transition Founder CarrotSticks Dan Siroker, has been recognized for his prominent role during one of the most historic presidential races in recent history. His ability to hone analytic data, optimizing the effectiveness of the Obama presidential campaign’s online operations ultimately half a billion in donations, goes without question.

Tracks Monday, Dec. 7

Tuesday, Dec. 8

Wednesday, Dec. 9

Search Fundamentals Start at the beginning: Sessions like Site Architecture, Messaging, and PPC-SEO-SEM alphabet soup will get you started on building a successful web presence.

Search Fundamentals Continue your learning experience with the basics, from copywriting boot camp to working with your IT department to reach your business goals.

Blended Search Results Recent advancements in search result multiplicity guarantee that the world of search and marketing will be changing forever. Discover where optimization across video, images, blogs, and feeds in blended search results may require changes in your marketing strategies.

News & Advertising Great search strategies are consistently built around great content. Establish a great story through your marketing messages that will be memorable, meaningful, and translatable into targeted traffic.

In-House Organizing your marketing efforts can often be the difference between your most successful campaigns yet, and wasting marketing dollars on an ineffective campaign. Manage your brand reputation, organize your SEO/PPC efforts, and bring all your search activity in house.

Analytics, Conversions & Attribution The power of search lies in the numbers, so our analytics and measurement track breaks down the complicated walls of conversions and testing to help you gain the most value in your campaigns. The State of Search Search remains the fastest-growing and most costeffective medium to market new products and services. Our experts will help keep you ahead of the game as industry pioneers discuss the future of search. Search on the Edge What’s next in the search landscape? From social to video and mobile to local, we’ll explore the new online marketing frontier.

Search for the Small Business In the world of big business and the need to market smarter, the little guy often gets squeezed. Here we help small businesses owners market smarter and expand their online visibility.

Hybrid Learn how to best mix all the tools available to you, from SEO to PPC. Advanced Issues Not for the faint of heart, this track will take your search campaigns to the next level. Uncover the quality factors that may be most affecting your rankings, study advanced auction theory and campaign expansion techniques, and employ the latest in eye-tracking research.

Geek Speak Not just for the search novice, veterans have much to learn too, and we have the industry pioneers to help satisfy their cravings to solve their technical nightmares.

Vertical, Retail, B2B Explore the latest trends in these rapidly-changing verticals and more.

ClickZ/OMS Get down to the nitty gritty of social media in our ClickZ/ OMS Track. Get help on creating the next big viral marketing campaign, manage all the conversations your customers are having, and hear the newest debate on black-hat versus white-hat marketing.

Clinics Despite all the sessions, speakers, and workshops, individual marketers will always have their specific problems and issues. Our clinics track puts you in front of the pros to help you work through your toughest questions one-on-one.

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Sessions Search Fundamentals Track Introduction to Search Engine Marketing This session will provide a clear and concise overview of the key concepts involved in search engine marketing. This is a must-attend basic session for anyone new to Search Engine Strategies events. Keyword Research Learn how to target the right terms in your paid and organic search marketing, and where these keywords should be used. Link-Building Basics Discover how search engines rely on link analysis as an important component for ranking web pages. Learn how to increase traffic to your site by building quality links in an appropriate manner. DIY SEM: Why You Should Reconsider This lively discussion will cover the pros and cons of DIY SEM so that you will have to tools you need to make your own informed decision. Customer Insights via Search Engine Tools With the volume of information available, search engines can tell you a lot about your customers. This session will cover how to use search engines and search engine research tools to answer critical questions like what your customers are looking for, how their needs are changing and more. Successful Information Architecture This session will provide a fresh look at how to successfully architect your site for search engines and how specific page elements and design technologies may impact your ability to gain good organic listings. Copywriting: 45 Minute Boot Camp Copywriting requires special skills in the search marketing world. Our experts share their top tips to maximize your search campaign performance by choosing the right words to connect with customers and bots alike. Paid Search 101 Every major search engine offers a paid placement program. Learn what’s available in this session that is especially geared toward beginners, with details on programs from major providers and advice on how to succeed. How to Speak Geek: Working With Your IT Department Our master translators offer specific

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strategies for getting the teams to play together on projects related to usability, SEO, paid search measurement, and more. We promise to get beyond the level of “buy the IT team some beers” (if you don’t already know that, you’re cooked). Blended Search Results Track Mixed Media SERPs Search result multiplicity is not a new phenomenon, but recent advancements guarantee that the world of search and marketing will be changing forever. Learn how new blended search results pages are affecting your marketing strategy, and how prevalent they are becoming with users. YouTube & Video Optimization This solo presentation by the author of “YouTube and Video Marketing: An Hour a Day” will provide you with proven, practical guidelines for developing and implementing video marketing for your organization. Images & Optimization Join us as we explore enhanced image search along with image links, geotags, accessibility issues, alt attributes, surrounding text, filtering concerns, file sizes, image-specific search engines and a host of other important considerations for capturing targeted traffic. SEO Through Blogs & Feeds Not yet running a blog? Not syndicating your content through web feeds? Then learn more about the unique advantages blogs and feeds offer to search engine optimization. Analytics, Conversion & Attribution Track Search Analytics Cut to the chase! This session will teach you to use analytics tools to get the specific answers you need about your search marketing campaign’s economic performance, your users’ on-site behaviors, and how to look for major red flags in traffic patterns. How to Turn Your Web Analytics into a Money-Making Machine In this session, each panelist will provide you with 3 solid tips to make money from your web analytics and answer questions about everything you’ve wanted to know about web analytics but were afraid to ask. Meaningful SEO Metrics: Going Beyond the Numbers This panel will discuss a myriad of ways to move beyond Page Rank, indexed pages or linked sites and into metrics that can make you a hero and,

SES § November 2009 {Chicago Preview}

better still, get your budget increased to a respectable level. Why Does Search Get all the Credit? This session will focus exclusively on gaining a better understanding of how, when, and where to attribute revenue gains. The State of Search Track Search Industry Today The paid search marketplace has rocketed from virtually zero to more than $10 billion in the past decade. This panel takes a hard look at the current value proposition of search and how we got to where we are today. Search: Where to Next? When it comes to search marketing, none are better at it than our veteran panel of industry insiders. Join us for an illuminating discussion as we peek into the next generation of digital marketing and predict what search might look like in the following five to 10 years. Search & the Integrated Marketing Mix This session will cover the extent to which search efforts are integrated with a variety of offline marketing channels; the big disconnect between search marketer strategy and search user behavior, the specific search marketing and integration techniques in use today, and obstacles to the integration process. Beyond Googling: 5 Years Later it’s a Different Audience This session is a long-view look at weak signals and trends that appear to point in new directions. Search on the Edge Track Search: A Real Time Paradigm? Search engines strive to have the most up-to-date content on the web, indexed and ready for display to searchers. Fresh content is a high priority for search marketers and advertisers to create and optimize. These experts know how to take you there and will suggest the best ways to become visible. How Search Marketing Can Be Used to Build Overseas Trade This panel will explain how to identify export opportunities using keyword research and how to exploit them using either search engine optimization or pay per click. What’s the Link Between Search and Social? Every day the lines between search

and social media get blurrier and blurrier. In this panel discussion, we’ll learn how Coca-Cola is managing its presence across these converging channels. And the head of search for Organic will share his point-of-view on how future search algorithms will incorporate the social graph. News & Advertising Track Storyteller Marketing This session will show you how the framework of storytelling can be used to deliver real advertising results by generating content that communicates. You’ll learn the five basic story types, how to analyze the stories around your brand, and how to create a solid strategy for generating, changing, or renewing great brand stories. News Search Optimization In this session, we look at how to make use of press releases and news content to tap into the power of news search. Small Business Track Small Voices, Big Impact: Social Media for the Little Guy Find out how small companies with even smaller budgets can freely tap the world of social media to improve business and increase sales. Search on a Dime Come and hear the tips and tricks that will help you pick up the valuable traffic being left behind by your competitors. Learn from the best how to maximize your exposure via organic, paid search and local search without emptying your wallet. Turning Simple Change into Big Profit If you’re a small concern, you are likely leaving business on the table due to easily corrected mistakes in your online marketing plan. This panel will also share free tips and tools on cheap and easy campaign testing. Geek Speak Track Developments in Information Retrieval on the Web This session will showcase practical examples that search marketers and web developers can use to begin participating in the linked data movement. Landing Page Optimization: The Seven Deadly Sins This session looks at ways to test and tweak your landing pages to get that conversion. Note: The session is designed for those who are already familiar with how paid placement works.

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Duplicate Content & Multiple Site Issues More and more site owners are concerned that they might get penalized accidentally or overtly because of duplicate content. This session looks at the issues and explores solutions. Follow the Carrot: Cool Mobile Apps App developers and experts explain how mobile apps hook users, demonstrate their rapid growth trajectory, and explore what might be in store for the future. ClickZ/OMS Track Igniting Viral Campaigns This session unveils the secrets of Web 2.0 techniques and technologies that enable companies to stand out and be talked about. In-House Track Bringing PPC In-House Check www.searchenginestrategies. com/chicago/agenda.html for more information Bringing SEO In-House In this session you’ll learn what you’ll need to do in order to manage a successful in-house SEO program that runs smoothly and successfully. Hybrid Track PPC or SEO? The Ultimate Search Marketing Battle Join us for this no-holds barred session

where the SEO proponents square off against the PPC evangelists. Look for tons of action in this bout. Facebook Rockstars RoundTable: Marketing For the Other Internet For the first time at any conference, this session brings together a true lineup of big brand and small business marketers who’ve experienced groundbreaking Facebook success. Black Hat, White Hat: Does it Really Matter Anymore? Join us for a no-holds-barred Roundtable that will include an discussion of the relevancy of the black and white hat issues. You will hear veteran search engine marketers disclose some of their favorite search engine optimization and marketing tips, tricks, and secrets and there will be lots of time for dialogue and discussion. Advanced Issues Track Advanced Paid Search Brain Candy This solo session covers campaign expansion techniques, advanced ad testing, advanced auction theory, the proper use of relevant analytics reports, ideas for bid rules and campaign automation, techniques for acting on seemingly inconclusive data, and more. Ads in a Quality Score World In this panel, we’ll take a closer look at quality factors and give tips on

increasing the perceived relevancy of your campaigns. How to Cut Your Corporate Budget Without Cutting Leads or Sales If you’ve been asked to cut back on online marketing, and you’re wondering how or where to cut, this session is for you. You will learn how to cut back without cutting sales or leads, meanwhile increasing business at a higher profit. Eye Tracking Research Update This panel will discuss the latest eyetracking research including an update to User Centric’s “Eye Tracking Bing Versus Google” and will also cover new ground in regard to eye tracking of SERPs and the latest on heatmaps. Vertical, Retail, B2B Track Advanced B2B Search Marketing Learn how to turn a complex buying process into an opportunity and competitive advantage for your firm. This session will cover: the buying cycle, ways to reach prospects, and tips on generating leads.

Sessions Clinics Track Ad Copy & Conversion Clinic This interactive session takes volunteers from the audience and examines their websites live to provide general feedback about improving their landing pages and conversion rates. E-Commerce Site Clinic This interactive session takes retailers and ecommerce merchants from the audience and examines their websites live to provide feedback about improving them to gain more traffic from search engines and increase online conversion. Pay-Per-Click Congruency Clinic This clinic will review PPC campaigns offered up by audience volunteers, from ad to landing page and beyond, suggesting improvements at each step along the way. Site Clinic This interactive session takes volunteers from the audience and examines their websites live to provide general feedback about improving them to gain more traffic from search engines.

The Oprah Winfrey Litigation: What Affiliate Marketers MUST Know Attendees will learn how to identify these issues and develop policies and procedures to keep informed about the current technology, marketing strategies and regulatory compliance.

The Venue: Hilton Chicago The Hilton Chicago hotel has achieved an unprecedented fusion of historic luxury and contemporary amenities. When you first step into our magnificent lobby, with its grand scale and splendid detail, you might think you’ve transported back to the early 20th century, when great hotels were built with marble and granite — not glass and steel. Overlooking Grant Park in downtown Chicago, this landmark 1927 hotel is two blocks from Millennium Park, three blocks from the Field Museum, and four blocks from the Loop business district. It features an indoor lap pool, fitness rooms, spa tubs and a running track. Meet your fellow search industry professionals at the Lakeside Green Lounge or the popular Kitty O’Sheas Pub. O’Hare Airport is 18 miles away, while Midway Airport is just under 12. For more information, visit www.searchenginestrategies.com/chicago/venue.html

Training Workshops: Thursday & Friday, Dec. 10 -11 Thursday, Dec. 10 SEO Workshop A search-engine friendly website is a user-friendly, search-friendly, and persuasive site that converts visitors into buyers. Landing Page Testing Hands-On: Developing Your Action Plan Get tips and tricks that will help you pick up valuable traffic left behind by your competitors. Maximize exposure without emptying your wallet.

Advanced Keyword Research Attendees will explore the tools available for identifying, researching, and zeroing in on the right keywords for your SEO or PPC campaign Social Media and Your Business Social media is happening to your business whether you want it to or not. You owe it to your business to understand the social media landscape. Consumers, customers, and clients are demanding accessibility.

Friday, Dec. 11 Bruce Clay: Search Engine Optimization Training Focusing on white-hat search enginecompliant SEO methods, the course covers techniques allowing you to change your sites while avoiding techniques that will get you in trouble. Others who have completed the extended course have raved about it, and this training will be no exception. Get a clear view of the techniques required to beat your competition.

Online Marketing Institute: Integrating Search Across All Online Marketing Efforts SES has partnered with OMI to provide the most comprehensive day of handson education around. Our full-day workshop consists of four subject-specific modules designed to help marketing professionals better integrate their search efforts with the other major online marketing disciplines of website usability, analytics, demand generation, and social media.

SearchEngineStrategies.com § SES

Agenda

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Day 1: Monday, Dec. 7 Track

Search Fundamentals

Blended Search Results

Analytics, Conversion & Attribution

The State of Search

Search on the Edge

Conference Welcome & Opening Keynote: Jeff Jarvis, Author, What Would Google Do?

9-10:15a 10:30-11:30a

Introduction to Search Engine Marketing

Mixed Media SERPs

Search Analytics

Search Industry Today

Search: A Real-Time Paradigm?

11:45a-12:45p

Keyword Research

YouTube & Video Optimization

Turn Web Analytics Into a Money-Making Machine

Search: Where to Next?

New Exporters: Use Search to Build Overseas Trade

1:45-2:45p

Link Building Basics

Images & Optimization

Meaningful SEO Metrics: Go Beyond the Numbers

Online PR: Where to Next?

TBD

3:15-4:15p

DIY SEM: Why You Should Reconsider

SEO Through Blogs & Feeds

20 Secrets of Top Converting Websites

Search & the Integrated Marketing Mix

TBD

4:30-5:30p

Customer Insights via Search Engine Tools

TBD

Why Does Search Get all the Credit?

Beyond Googling: A Different Audience

What’s the Link Between Search and Social?

Day 2: Tuesday, Dec. 8 Track

Search Fundamentals

News & Advertising

Small Business

Geek Speak

ClickZ/OMS

Morning Keynote: Peter Morville, President, Semantic Studios

9-10a 10:30-11:45a

Successful Information Architecture

Google Sponsored Session

Small Voices, Big Impact: Social Media

Developments in Web Information Retrieval

Igniting Viral Campaigns

1-2:15p

Copywriting: 45-Minute Boot Camp

Storyteller Marketing

Search on a Dime

Landing Page Optimization: The 7 Deadly Sins

TBD

2:30-3:45p

Paid Search 101

News Search Optimization

Google Sponsored Session

Duplicate Content & Multiple Site Issues

TBD

4:15-5:30p

How to Speak Geek: Working With IT

TBD

Turning Simple Change into Big Profit

Follow the Carrot: Cool Mobile Apps

Serengeti Sponsored Session

Day 3: Wednesday, Dec. 9 Track

In-House

12:45-2p 2:30-3:45p 4-5:15p

Advanced Issues

Vertical, Retail, B2B

Clinics

Morning Keynote: Dan Siroker, Former Deputy New Media Director, Obama Transition Team; Founder, CarrotSticks

9-10a 10:30-11:45a

Hybrid

Sponsored Session

E-Commerce Site Clinic

TBD

Cut Budget Without Cutting Leads or Sales

Oprah Litigation & Affiliate Marketers

Pay-Per-Click Congruency Clinic

Bringing SEO In-House

Black Hat, White Hat: Does it Matter Anymore?

Eye-Tracking Research Update

TBD

Site Clinic

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SES Magazine readers are decision-making marketers who know they need to boost their online visibility. Rather than being lost…“at sea”… they turn to SES for the help they need. Answer the SOS by advertising in SES. It’s the official program guide for all Search Engine Strategies Conferences and a magazine full of valuable insights for the search industry. SES is an outstanding resource for online marketing professionals, entrepreneurs and small business owners… and those who want to reach them.

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FOCUS: search wars §

Bing Local: A New Face in Local Search

By Mary Bowling y now, search marketers know that Microsoft and Yahoo have entered into a partnership deal. Microsoft’s new search engine, Bing, will power Yahoo’s search results. There are many more questions than answers about what to expect and when to expect “YaBing” or “MicroHoo” to become a reality. It’s rumored that it may take as long as two years before we see any changes, and nothing’s really been said about how this change will affect search results on Yahoo Local. So, while we wait for details to emerge, make certain you are using Bing Local to your advantage in marketing on the Internet.

Get a Bing Local Business Listing

Yes, Microsoft has a small share of the search market and an even smaller share of the local search market. However, local businesses must be where prospects are searching for goods and services. And Bing Local is one of those places. When Bing does begin affecting Yahoo results, its market share will grow. Besides, it takes less than 30 minutes to set up a nice local business listing in Bing Local, so go for it. First, you’ll be asked to enter you business name, address, and phone number. Bing will then tell you whether you already have a listing or not. This is a definite improvement over Google Maps and Yahoo Local, where it’s sometimes hard to tell if you have a listing and how many listings you have. Then, you are prompted to either create a new listing or edit your existing profile. You’ll need a Windows Live ID to do either. The process for setting up or enhancing your business profile is pretty straightforward, and you’ll see a prominent progress bar as you go through it to show you how far along you are. Nice touch. Take advantage of a unique feature that enables you to add extra links (supplemental websites) to your listing. Use these wisely to point to web pages that will be of the most interest and value to your prospective

customers. For a hotel, it may be a link to the great reviews about your accommodations on TripAdvisor. A restaurant might choose to link to its reservation or menu page. A local service business might want to give shoppers a quick way to view its Better Business Bureau rating, whereas a plastic surgeon might want to send visitors to a page outlining her education, certifications, and experience. When you’re finished, Bing allows you to verify your ownership of the listing by phone or snail mail. Why wait? Choose the phone call. You can choose when you’d like to get the call. The options are now, in five minutes, in 15 minutes, or in 30 minutes. When Bing calls, you’ll be given a PIN number to enter to complete your end of the verification process. Your listing will not update as soon as it’s verified, but it doesn’t take too long. For the most part, you can expect your new information to be live online within two to seven days.

it incredibly easy for all users to find out more about you. It also gives you clues about websites where you should check, update, and enhance your business information. million Searchers get a link on the results Number of unique viewers page to get a bird’s who watched a video on eye view of the Yahoo in August. business locaSource: Nielsen VideoCensus A Find out more at ClickZ Stats. tion, which can help them to find the place, see the parking options, tell what kind of neighborhood it’s in, and see what’s nearby. Directly from the results page, searchers can also get streamlined oneclick directions that begin at major intersections, which most of us are familiar with, rather than at a specific address. However, you can get more detailed driving directions if you choose.

What’s Cool About Bing Local?

What’s Next?

For consumers using local search, Bing has some very cool features, which are mostly shown within the entertainment and hospitality niches at the moment. Ratings and reviews appear in a scorecard. The details a searcher might be interested in knowing for that specific kind of business, such as atmosphere, food quality, and value for a restaurant or amenities, or cleanliness and view for a hotel are displayed separately. Bing makes it very easy to see the source of the reviews. Right now, most of them are coming from Citysearch, Yelp, and Judy’s Book, but if it’s smart, the search engine will begin customizing these according to niches. Bing also has “show info from” links within profiles. When you click on these, it may display data Bing has pulled from trusted sources, such as Frommer’s and Fodor’s travel guides for a hotel or infoUSA Healthcare for a dentist — right on the page. It also may give you a link to another web page about the business or both. This makes

28.4

In some respects, Bing Local is already better than Yahoo Local and Google Maps for searchers and business owners. Look for more useful and easy-to-use features as it improves. Google Maps will likely begin adopting the best features just as soon as it can, because that’s what Google does. That will also be good for searchers and businesses. Whether Yahoo Local devotes any resources to improving its system may give us clues to its future. Will we see Bing Local results at Yahoo? I don’t know, but I can’t wait to find out. § Mary Bowling is director of search marketing at seOverflow. She’s been involved in all aspects of online marketing since 2003. She has a special interest in website usability and in SEO, including optimizing all types of media for search engines. Mary has developed specialized expertise in promoting brick-andmortar businesses on the Internet through local search marketing. @marybowling

SearchEngineStrategies.com § SES

§ FOCUS: search wars

Google Fights Back With New and Improved Services By Julie Batten

he Microsoft Bing-Yahoo partnership has really shaken up the search world. And there is perhaps no company that this pending deal stands to impact more than Google. That said, many in the search industry have postured that Google has nothing to worry about and will continue dominating — even if it does nothing to combat this competitive threat. But it seems like Google is feeling the need to innovate and reinforce its leadership in the space. After what seems years of relative sameness (whether this is perception or reality), everything is either “new” or “improved” on the Google front these days. And they certainly want everyone to know it. For example, take the recently released beta of Google’s next-generation search infrastructure, codenamed Google Caffeine. In the official post on the Google Webmaster blog, there’s a call to developers to test out the beta version and provide feedback on the functionality and the differences between it and the “current” Google. Visually, there isn’t much difference on the front-end. But it appears the back-end is being redeveloped. As popular blogger and Googler Matt Cutts put it in his post about Caffeine, the changes are primarily all under the hood. In a video interview done by WebProNews, Cutts elaborated, saying that Google is basically rewriting or

Want to learn more? December’s SES Chicago conference and expo will feature many speakers from the search giant, as well as Google-sponsored sessions.

SearchEngineStrategies.com/chicago 22

re-architecting a large portion of its indexing code. He said it’s quite a big update to the infrastructure, comparing it to the late 2005 “Big Daddy” update. Despite the sizeable scale of the update, he said most site owners wouldn’t notice a big change in their search results or rankings. Basically, the change will be on the users’ end — the goal is for Google Caffeine to be much more powerful, flexible, and robust that the Google we know today. In the interview, Cutts also refuted claims that Google has come up with this update in light of the recent happenings in the industry — namely, the pending BingYahoo partnership. Cutts said this has been happening for months. However, seeing that Google’s last major update to its index was almost four years ago, the timing seems a little too convenient. Whatever the case, it’s doing the trick: Optically, Google is seen as an innovator, and functionally, its users are going to get a better search engine. In addition to the Caffeine update, Google has been busy enhancing many other related areas of its business. Google Labs has seen some new and interesting additions come in recent succession in the past couple months: Google Listen: lets you aggregate and stream a personalized audio news magazine. Google Checkout Store Gadget: lets you set up and install a store gadget on your site. Similar Images: lets you search for images using other images versus keywords. City Tours: lets you identify attractions and itineraries for touring major cities.

SES § November 2009 {Chicago Preview}

Google Insights for Search has also seen recent improvements. Besides now being available in 39 different languages, new features include: Forecasting: Extrapolates historical and current values to forecast future trends. Animated map: Plots the distribution of search volume geographically. Google continues to ride the innovation train across its other product lines and offerings, including: launching social elements on iGoogle delivering a new beta of Google Chrome improving the interaction of Google Groups with applications adding new tools to the Google Services for websites With all of these changes, no one can claim with a lot of muster that Google isn’t innovating. It has effectively asserted its commitment to ongoing improvement and dedication to its core business. So now who should be scared? § Julie Batten is the e-marketing manager at Klick Communications. She develops and manages online marketing campaigns for world-class brands. Having written several white papers and articles, instructed online courses, and spoken at various seminars, Julie is well-versed in all things search.

SearchEngineStrategies.com ยง SES

§ FOCUS: keyword management

Is Your SEM Program Ready for Economic Recovery? By Andy Torgerson

s the economy fell into recession in 2008, many marketers experienced a pronounced reduction in conversions. In reaction to the shift, search engine marketing (SEM) budgets were reduced to preserve ROI or margin goals. The focus shifted from volume toward an increased emphasis on profitability. Economists are now hinting that the worst is behind us. While trailing indicators like unemployment rate continue to worsen, albeit at a slower rate, some predict that the U.S. economy will actually show year-overyear GDP growth in Q3 2009. As the economy stabilizes, search engine marketers and agencies should put position themselves to benefit billion as quickly as Financial services garnered possible from the more online ad impressions ensuing economic than any other industry in recovery. Those August. who manage Source: Nielsen Online, 2009 A Find out more at ClickZ Stats. large programs, complex configurations, and ROIdriven budgets need to ensure their SEM technology will give them the edge necessary to react in the timeliest way to re-emerging positive trends. Most search marketers with large programs and budgets have made investments in SEM tools and technologies to help manage the complexity of their accounts and campaigns. Relying only on the tools from Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft does not provide the utility and flexibility needed to manage budgets and bidding on many accounts or campaigns on multiple engines, hundreds of thousands of keyword and ad copy variations, or geographic and other targeting requirements. Most SEM tools support bidding rules based on historic data for each keyword, consolidated conversion tracking and reporting, and campaign management utilities to configure all search engines from a single interface. To ensure their budgets and bids are best aligned to react optimally to rapidly changing market conditions, SEM managers should also consider additional capabilities offered by leading SEM technology providers, including the following:

35.2

Automated Budget Distribution Across Search Engine Campaigns

Many SEM tools offer keyword-level bid recommendations based on historical performance data. While it’s useful to understand the characteristics of individual keywords, without an overall model of every combination of keyword performance at different bid levels, it remains challenging to determine performance of the entire search program. Marketers need to understand the best distribution of budget across search engines and campaigns to ensure the best possible returns can be achieved. Having technology that automatically resets campaign budgets to appropriate levels on at least a daily cycle is essential when hundreds or thousands of campaigns are active. Those budgets must account for factors such as day of week variability and seasonal shifts, but they still need to be defined with tight tolerances to ensure overspend conditions will be contained.

Controls over Data Recency & Seasonality

It’s not enough to only rely on straightline historical data to predict future performance. Marketers must look at recent data and understand the dynamics of conversion events. To best react to quickly shifting market dynamics, marketers should choose a technology solution that is able to weigh more heavily on the most recent performance characteristics of the campaign’s keywords. As we have all experienced, the marketplace can change dramatically for individual keywords in a very short time frame. Looking at the exact 30-day average for a set of keywords can negatively impact performance, while competitors capitalize on that delayed reaction. Having the ability to adjust your recency factors is critical in maintaining or improving the results. For many businesses, additional importance needs to be placed on how the SEM platform reacts to seasonal data by utilizing history from the same period last year in conjunction with recent trends.

Predictive Modeling & Forecasting

SEM tools that provide timely and accurate forecasts of search volume, bids, expected CPCs, and predicted conversions are critical

SES § November 2009 {Chicago Preview}

for marketers to react quickly to dynamic markets and business goals. Having a clear picture of the trade-offs on spend versus ROI is essential for marketers to communicate the impact of search program changes to management or clients. A tool that clearly shows the impact on conversions at various spend levels will assist marketers and reduce reporting and analysis time.

“What If?” Scenario Management

If armed with a tool that provides the ability to set up “what if?” scenarios, marketers can effectively: look at the impact of different success metrics on the same spend (e.g. what happens if I change my goal from gross profit to margin percentage?) understand the impact of click and conversion volume at different spend levels Having a technology platform that allows the marketer to run different scenarios will help better define the right mix of conversion metrics and determine the best outcomes given changing business objectives. Many marketers who track numerous conversion metrics may find the opportunity in other metrics beyond pure revenue to jump-start their reaction to recovering economic conditions. Newsletter signups, coupon offers, and other events may serve as the right leading indicators that can be modeled into overall performance goals. With the right system in place, marketers will be poised to react quickly and systematically to the dynamic environment. Knowing how to identify emerging trends, having the forecasting and modeling in place to test different scenarios, and having the automation in place to execute budget and bid strategies are the keys to delivering improved performance as the economy accelerates into full recovery. § Andy Torgerson is VP of product management at Efficient Frontier, where he leads a team developing a leading SEM product roadmap. Earlier, Torgerson held VP positions in business development and product management at Mediaplex, a ValueClick company. At ADP, he held various management roles in product, finance, and operations. He has a B.A. in economics from the University of California at Berkeley.

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§ FOCUS: social

Social Media’s Impact on Local Search he evolution of interactive marketing and online campaign development is happening with astonishing speed, fueled by social media platforms. Facebook recently reported more than 200 million registered users, while Compete released data showing that Twitter had nearly 23 million unique visitors in June 2009. The numbers are constantly changing, but the overall trend is upward as social media grows in traffic, users, and sites. As new social platforms are launched and more consumers engage in social networking on a regular basis, seeing social content on the web is nearly unavoidable. Forrester Research data from August 2009 revealed that more than 80 percent of Internet users are creating, participating in, or reading some form of social content each month. Based on these numbers, ignoring the mass consumer migration to the social space is difficult for businesses, which are tapping into social media networks with an onslaught of advertising and promotions to capture the power of online communities and consumer engagement. As an example, print and television ads routinely contain invitations to follow, fan, or friend companies on popular social platforms. As the potential of social marketing continues to raise eyebrows, more business will follow suit and go where the consumers are. Best Buy is one such business leading the charge. Through its advertising on mainstream channels, Best Buy is encouraging its customers to use Twitter to ask the experts support and sales questions. In addition, Dell increased its revenues by more than $3 million by posting offers and responding to consumer inquiries on Twitter. Elsewhere, T.G.I. Friday’s offered free burgers to Facebook users for becoming fans of fictional ad character Woody, adding 655,000 fans in 11 days. Despite the high-profile exposure, brandbuilding potential, and the ROI-enhancing power of social media marketing campaigns, many local companies still question the

Want to learn more? December’s SES Chicago conference and expo will feature dozens of social media sessions and tips on local search.

SearchEngineStrategies.com/chicago 26

By Jessica Rowe

value of an online social presence. Some feel 2008 — 200 million more than Yahoo overwhelmed by the abundance of social received. Other data suggests the searches on platforms or the constant monitoring that and referrals from social platforms are growsocial marketing entails. Others simply feel ing, while the same metrics from the major strapped by a lack of bandwidth or staffing search engines remain steady. The question resources to make social campaigns reali- many speculative business owners ask is, ties in their marketing programs. The wide “Can clients, or potential clients, in my area reach of the Internet also creates the feeling find my company if they are looking for us that these social networking tools are more on their platform of choice?” There is defirelevant for widespread campaigns and do nite value in being discoverable where your not apply to the small-company objective of clients are searching, and the social web provides ways to make those connections. reaching local consumers. Businesses can achieve a desired ROI Based on a study by TMP Directional Marketing in conjunction with comScore, 80 through targeted messaging and commupercent of all purchase transactions happen nity building on social platforms. For local companies uncertain within 15 miles of a about participating on consumer’s home or 80 percent of all the social web, keep place of work, emphapurchase transactions a few things in mind. sizing the need for First, existing and businesses to connect happen within 15 miles potential customers do with local customof the consumer home interact in this space ers more than ever. or place of work. — and ultimately, the In today’s economic goal is to reach your downturn, business owners are constantly assessing how to best target audience. Second, competitors are stretch advertising budgets and receive the already participating on the social web — or biggest possible return on investment. The they will be soon. Establishing a presence businesses that fail to understand the role within the social space is rapidly becoming a that social media plays in reaching local must have, rather than a wait and see. In addiconsumers miss out on engaging opportuni- tion, user-generated content, blogs, online communities and social networks allow ties to grow sales. Companies can use a variety of tactics to consumers nearly instant access to discushone in on specific geo-targeted areas through sions about their favorite topics, includsocial media and SEO on a local scale. For ing brand experiences and opinions. It’s up example, companies can include geo-modifi- to you to have a social media presence, or ers or location tags in their profiles if they are users of the space will absolutely dominate part of a larger franchise. Local and mobile the dialogue about you. Remember, this is social sites such as Yelp, Angie’s List, and the first time in history you can monitor and Urbanspoon are geared specifically toward engage in the conversations among consumconnecting local businesses and consumers about your brand. Sales can, do, and will happen for local ers. Also, Idearc’s Superpages is now crosspromoting listings on Twitter, melding Inter- businesses through social media. Through net Yellow Pages and with social media for strategic planning, messaging, and implementation, local social marketing drives local business results. Consumers tend to research online before results. § buying offline. For a local business to overJessica Rowe is the product manlook this is to misunderstand its customer ager of social media for TMPDM base, which has been transitioning to digital and 15miles and is responsible for media and social platforms. Since consumers the management, implementation, go online in their quest for business inforand strategic direction of social mation, all social platforms include search media marketing and monitoring programs. Her background is in capabilities that are prominently featured overall web strategy, developand regularly used. In January 2009, The New York Times showcased how YouTube ment, web analytics, SEO, and paid search at compahosted 2.8 billion searches in November nies including Cerner Corporation and Sprint.

SES § November 2009 {Chicago Preview}

SearchEngineStrategies.com ยง SES

§ FOCUS: searchandising

Changing Shopping Behavior: How Rethinking Search Keeps You In Front of Consumers By John Federman In the early days of shopping, consumers traveled to stores to learn about the products available to them. Then, print publications filled with advertisements came along to help them discern the difference between highly competitive products. With the advent of the Internet, product data — as well as the actual research and shopping — has moved online. Since this shift, shopping behavior has continued to change: Consumers search retail sites 25 percent more than search engines. More than 70 percent of shoppers click on products in the top 10 slots. Users associate premium placement with top brands. E-commerce is the fastest growing segment for brand marketers. 80 percent of today’s product searches begin online. These changes in the way consumers research and shop have major implications for both retailers and manufacturers. Retailers must capitalize on the behavior shifts providing the information and selection that consumers demand, while keeping them on their site. Manufacturers want to maintain maximum visibility whenever a relevant search is conducted, so they can break through the noise to capture consumer attention. How can both of these challenges be addressed? One way is to combine the measurable cost-effectiveness of paid search marketing with proven placement-based merchandising techniques. In the brick-and-mortar world, manufacturer-sponsored displays are an integral part of the retail/supplier partnership — a lucrative revenue channel for retailers and an unparalleled marketing platform for manufacturers. The practice takes on many forms, including sponsored shelf-level displays, kiosks, and sponsored end-caps, and has continually evolved to embrace technological innovation and address changing shopping behaviors. Multi-channel retailers and pure-play e-tailers have already begun to experiment with ways to adapt this practice to the web, with varying success. Advertising is one way to create a potential revenue stream — monetizing virtual floor space — but it’s often disconnected from a well-crafted customer experience. Worse, it can lift shoppers right out of the online store and send them to a

manufacturer’s direct sales site. Tactics that hasten abandonment don’t exactly make for a mutually beneficial partnership platform. Another approach is through site searchtriggered merchandising, often called searchandising. While not new, leading e-commerce and search platform providers deliver the majority of implementations in the guise of up-sells, cross-sells, and best sellers. Some retailers have taken this approach a step further, introducing manufacturer-specific branded “merchandising zones” typically in the form of banners, custom editorial, and creative — or even, in some cases, branded landing pages. And translating such searchand browse-triggered merchandising into supplier-sponsored revenue is a concept that hasn’t gone unnoticed. A new option enables manufacturers to bid to affect their visibility across a network of retail and comparison shopping sites. This approach leverages the familiar concepts of cost-per-click bidding for enhanced position, and the ROI effectiveness of pay-forperformance media. For the retailer, all product presentation real estate is suddenly monetizable — still ensuring a smooth customer experience, but adding the notion of advertiser bid to the weighting factors used to resolve every search. This would create a vast inventory of virtual end-caps, boutiques, and shelf-level displays that fit seamlessly into a retailer’s well-crafted and differentiated customer experience — benefiting manufacturers, retailers, and customers alike. Here’s how:

Sponsorship in the Context of Customer Experience

Borrowing from tactics of both in-store merchandising and site search, the ways in which manufactured-sponsored feeds are presented can vary and be controlled by the merchandiser, similar to the proven brickand-mortar world approaches while going beyond what’s possible with web search engine-based advertising. Relevancy weighting (“boost”): E-commerce site search specialists have long allowed retailers to use factors like margins, inventory, location, ratings, and conversions rates to influence the order in which products are returned. Relevancy weighting simply applies such a strategy to sponsored terms. As with other

SES § November 2009 {Chicago Preview}

weighting approaches, merchandisers maintain ultimate control on how these factors impact final results delivery. Callout: Adopting a Google-like tactic of clearly denoting sponsored results, this tactic ensures that manufacturers can prominently feature their products on the coveted first results page. Brand-sponsored merchandising zones: These allow the virtual creation of branded displays and boutiques, giving merchandisers new abilities to monetize increasingly large areas of the site.

Lower Barriers to Entry

Today’s advanced site search systems give merchandisers the ability to create contextual promotions, fine-tune relevancy strategies, and even create dynamic landing pages triggered by certain search terms. The prevalence, functionality, and usage of site search tools by merchandisers make site search vendors an obvious complement for the owners of any site search ad or sponsorship network. Retailers already using search-triggered merchandising have seen dramatically lower associated costs and risks, without the need for new staff and with minimal impact on current technology or processes. A cost-per-click approach, combined with the ability to reach consumers through multiple retail channel partners, provides tremendous incentive for manufacturers looking to increase their position “inside” the online store. This demand and network model has the potential to deliver additional benefits to the retailer, beyond significant new revenue. As with search advertising-related revenue-sharing models, when shoppers click on sponsored links on a retailer’s site, the manufacturer pays the associated cost to the network, which in turn pays the predetermined share to the retailer. This means that, unlike virtually every other investment designed to increase or create revenue, multichannel retailers and e-tailers can adopt a site search monetization approach without any upfront costs. § John Federman is president and CEO of Searchandise Commerce, the first online media network for product manufacturers and their retail channel partners. For more information, visit their site at www.searchandise.net.

When you’re serious about winning the search game, you need AdGooroo’s cutting-edge tools on your side. As the leader in Search Engine Intelligence (SEI), we’ll bring you tactical insight no one else can provide. With access to 6 search engines, 19 countries and 5 million keywords, we use unprecedented technology to take your search engine strategies to a whole new level.

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glossary advertising network: A service where ads are bought centrally through one company, and displayed on multiple websites that contract with that company for a share of revenue generated by ads served on their site. algorithm: The technology that a search engine uses to deliver results to a query. Search engines utilize several algorithms in tandem to deliver a page of search results or keyword-targeted search ads. anchor text: The clickable text part of a hyperlink. The text usually gives visitors or search engines important information on what the page being linked to is about. click through rate (CTR): The rate (expressed in a percentage) at which users click on an ad. This is calculated by dividing the total number of clicks by the total number of ad impressions. CTR is an important metric for Internet marketers to measure the performance of an ad campaign. content network: A group of websites that agree to show ads on their site, served by an ad network, in exchange for a share of the revenue generated by those ads. Examples include Google AdSense or the Yahoo Publisher Network. contextual advertising: Advertising that is targeted to a web page based on the page’s content, keywords, or category. Ads in most content networks are targeted contextually. cost per action (CPA): A form of advertising where payment is dependent upon an action that a user performs as a result of the ad. The action could be making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or asking for a follow-up call. An advertiser pays a set fee to the publisher based on the number of visitors who take action. Many affiliate programs use the CPA model. cost per click (CPC): Also called pay-per-click (PPC). A performance-based advertising model where the advertiser pays a set fee for every click on an ad. The majority of text ads sold by search engines are billed under the CPC model. cost per thousand (CPM): An ad model that charges advertisers every time an ad is displayed to a user, whether the user clicks on the ad or not. The fee is based on every 1,000 ad impressions (M is the Roman numeral for 1,000). Most display ads, such as banner ads, are sold by CPM. geo-targeting: Delivery of ads specific to the geographic location of the searcher. Geo-targeting allows the advertiser to specify where ads will or won’t be shown based on the searcher’s location, enabling more localized and personalized results. Googlebot: Google uses several user-agents to crawl and index content in the Google.com search engine. Googlebot describes all Google spiders. All Google bots begin with “Googlebot”;

Below you will find commonly-used terms that every search marketer should know. Keep this list handy! A

for example, Googlebot-Mobile: crawls pages for Google’s mobile index; Googlebot-Image: crawls pages for Google’s image index. inbound link: An inbound link is a hyperlink to a particular web page from an outside site, bringing traffic to that web page. Inbound links are an important element that most search engine algorithms use to measure the popularity of a web page. invisible web: A term that refers to the vast amount of information on the web that isn’t indexed by search engines. Coined in 1994 by Dr. Jill Ellsworth. keyword: A word or phrase entered into a search engine in an effort to get the search engine to return matching and relevant results. Many websites offer advertising targeted by keywords, so an ad will only show when a specific keyword is entered. link bait: Editorial content, often sensational in nature, posted on a web page and submitted to social media sites in hopes of building inbound links from other sites. Or, as Matt Cutts of Google says, “something interesting enough to catch people’s attention.” link building: The process of getting quality websites to link to your websites, in order to improve search engine rankings. Link building techniques can include buying links, reciprocal linking, or entering barter arrangements. meta tags: Information placed in the HTML header of a web page, providing information that is not visible to browsers, but can be used in varying degrees by search engines to index a page. Common meta tags used in search engine marketing are title, description, and keyword tags. pay per click (PPC): See cost per click (CPC). quality score: A score assigned by search engines that is calculated by measuring an ad’s clickthrough rate, analyzing the relevance of the landing page, and considering other factors used to determine the quality of a site and reward those of higher quality with top placement and lower bid requirements. Some factors that make up a quality score are historical keyword performance, the quality of an ad’s landing page, and other undisclosed attributes. All of the major search engines now use some form of quality score in their search ad algorithm. return on investment (ROI): The amount of money an advertiser earns from their ads compared to the amount of money the advertiser spends on their ads. search advertising: Also called paid search. An advertiser bids for the chance to have their ad display when a user searches for a given keyword. These are usually text ads, which are displayed

SES § November 2009 {Chicago Preview}

above or to the right of the algorithmic (organic) search results. Most search ads are sold by the PPC model, where the advertiser pays only when the user clicks on the ad or text link. search engine marketing (SEM): The process of building and marketing a site with the goal of improving its position in search engine results. SEM includes both search engine optimization (SEO) and search advertising, or paid search. search engine optimization (SEO): The process of making a site and its content highly relevant for both search engines and searchers. SEO includes technical tasks to make it easier for search engines to find and index a site for appropriate keywords, as well as marketing-focused tasks to make a site more appealing to users. Successful search marketing helps a site gain top positioning for relevant words and phrases. search engine results pages (SERPs): The page searchers see after they’ve entered their query into the search box. This page lists several web pages related to the searcher’s query, sorted by relevance. Increasingly, search engines are returning blended search results, which include images, videos, and results from specialty databases on their SERPs. social media: A category of sites based on user participation and user-generated content. They include social networking sites like LinkedIn or Facebook, social bookmarking sites like Del. icio.us, social news sites like Digg or Reddit, and other sites that are centered on user interaction. spider: A search engine spider is a program that crawls the web, visiting web pages to collect information to add to or update a search engine’s index. The major search engines on the web all have such a program, which is also known as a “crawler” or a “bot.” title tag: An HTML meta tag with text describing a specific web page. The title tag should contain strategic keywords for the page, since many search engines pay special attention to the title text when indexing pages. The title tag should also make sense to humans, since it is usually the text link to the page displayed in search engine results. universal search: Also known as blended, or federated search results, universal search pulls data from multiple databases to display on the same page. Results can include images, videos, and results from specialty databases like maps and local information, product information, or news stories. web 2.0: A term that refers to a supposed second generation of Internet-based services. These usually include tools that let people collaborate and share information online, such as social networking sites, wikis, communication tools, and folksonomies.

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