Message From Michael -- February 12, 2007

SEEK AND YE SHALL FIND DOLLARS
MORE THAN ONE WAY TO SKIN A SEARCH
RAINING ON THE BROADBAND PARADE
SUPERBOWL FOLLOW-UP
A MILESTONE TO NOTE
THE POWER OF NETWORKING
COCKTAIL CHATTER

We encourage people to pass on copies of Message from Michael. But if you would like to get your own copy, you can subscribe by sending an e-mail to newsconsultant@aol.com with the word “subscribe-MM” in the subject line.

SEEK AND YE SHALL FIND… DOLLARS: $10 Billion to be exact. That’s how much was spent on search marketing in 2006. And the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization says that number will double by 2011 to $18.6 Billion. SEMPO says its survey shows the increased expenditures on search marketing is coming at the expense of magazines (20%), direct mail (16%), website development (15%), TV ads (13%) and newspapers (13%). And instead of buying a vowel from Vanna White, marketers are buying a word on search engines and it’s costing them a pretty penny. Fathom, a company which specializes in SEM and SEO (more on that later) says advertisers are paying an average of $1.51 for a keyword – in essence, buying certain words that people search for so that when consumers type it in, the search directs them to their website. Just like stores used to talk about ‘foot traffic,’ they’re now talking about ‘web traffic’ – basically, trying to get somebody to wander by your online store.

Okay, here comes the disclaimer. I don’t fully understand SEO (which stands for Search Engine Optimization) and SEM (which stands for Search Engine Marketing). But when you read as many articles as I do, and it comes up time and time again – and attached to numbers like Millions and Billions, you need to figure it out. BrandWeek magazine has gone so far as to recommend that companies create a VP/ SEM position. The concept is pretty simple. Everybody (quote-unquote) does it. Type in a few words on your Google, Yahoo or MSN search site and voila! You’ve got 4,657,493 (or some such number) websites where you can find out the latest on Britney Spears. Or the Iraq War. Or nanotechnology. Or whatever. It is a growing phenomenon that seems like it only applies to the behemoths like Google and Yahoo. Think again. First off, as reported in previous MfM’s, Google et al are getting into the local search market which means your local car dealer, dry cleaner and restaurant in Podunk, America, will want to be on the web front page when Mr. and Mrs. Podunk do a search for Chinese take-out, or the cheapest dry cleaner or tries to figure out whether to buy a CRV or Rav4. To make this more disconcerting, Yahoo announced the launch of its new search system, the so-called Panama Project, which tailors search to be more advertiser friendly. Newspapers are already getting the message by partnering with the online giants. But, even more interesting, and the lesson for all of us, CNet reports that some newspapers, like the Boston Globe, are altering their headlines to make sure they are SEO friendly. The Globe is ranked 15th in circulation by the newspaper audit bureau, but Nielsen/Net Ratings ranked it 4th in newspaper websites. The editor of Boston.com says the reason is SEO.
MORE THAN ONE WAY TO SKIN A SEARCH: As we all know, Google has become so dominant that it has become a verbal synonym for search. It, of course, isn’t the only search engine. Sort of like the television networks, there are the Big Four – Google, Yahoo, MSN and Ask.com – which website Read/Write Web only semi-facetiously says account for 99.9% of the searches. The website notes that there are several variations of search engines. One is the recommendation search website. Examples of this are What to Rent, Music Map, or Live Plasma. Another is the metasearch website, which allows you to use multiple search sites. Examples of this are Zuula, PlanetSearch and Goshme. Then there is the continuing effort to develop AI (Artificial Intelligence) search sites. The most famous, or infamous, depending on your point of view, was askjeeves.com. Google even tried it without much success. The latest one, and one that is endorsed by this website, is ChaCha. In any case, the point is that if you have a specialized search, there are alternatives you should consider. If you want a complete list, visit the site: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/top_100_alternative_search_engines.php. (I should note, in the interest of open-ness, that web guru Sree Srinivisan is the one who first pointed out this website.)

RAINING ON THE BROADBAND PARADE: Or, maybe more accurately, this should be titled – Reality Check. Two major news groups, the British Broadcasting Corporation and Reuters, are reporting that concerns about the Internet infrastructure are growing. Both articles rely heavily on a talk by Google’s head of TV technology, Vincent Dureau, who says the web can not scale to meet the demand of online TV. Both also note the explosion of online video. Interestingly, both also cited TV/PC website Joost (reported in a recent MfM) as one of the reasons for concern. The BBC report says that one hour of video can equal one year’s worth of e-mails. The Reuters report quotes overseas Internet groups who appear relieved that Google has admitted to the problem. In the meantime, Wal-Mart is offering a test version of its new video download service offering 3,000 movie titles, and Amazon and Tivo announced a joint project to allow people to download movies and TV series.

SUPERBOWL FOLO: It’s a little ‘different’ watching the Super Bowl and all the ads with a bunch of advertising experts – my colleagues in the Public Relations/ Advertising department of the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. Their comments seemed to echo the sentiments I saw elsewhere. In a word –disappointing. But, despite that, the ads may have proven effective, according to several publications, because of the extensive online viewing. Marketing Vox noted that Superbowl XLI was the first one in which EVERY ad was immediately available online. As noted in last week’s MfM, CBS Sportsline posted every ad after each quarter. AOL and iFilm are streaming all the ads. As usual, Anheuser-Busch scored the top ads, with Carlos Mencia teaching English to immigrants scoring the top spot in both the Wall Street Journal report and Tivo’s report on most watched ads. Anheuser-Busch’s ad showing crabs worshiping a beer cooler topped the USA Today survey. But Nationwide Insurance’s ad with Kevin Federline (aka Mr. Britney Spears), Dorito’s, and GM’s Chevy ad scored made it to the top four with Anheuser-Busch. What makes that unusual is the fact that the Dorito’s and GM ads were consumer created advertisements. And just to show you the power of even bad advertising – The Arizona Republic newspaper reports that the GoDaddy.com ad, which was rightfully criticized for its tackiness and lack of quality, saw sales jump on the Monday after SuperBowl by 55% with 23% more new customers.

THE POWER OF NETWORKING: Two professors writing in the Harvard Business Review say that what differentiates a leader from a manager is “the ability to figure where to go and enlist the people and groups necessary to get there.” A summary of their article in the What’s Offline column of the New York Times says you need to have three types of networks to be successful. An operational network so you can do your work efficiently. A personal network that can help in your personal and professional development. And a strategic network to help you figure out the priorities and challenges your organization will face and help you figure out how to accomplish them. I know this doesn’t seem to have much to do with media, but it does because it talks to you media managers and I just thought it was cool. It does though relate back to earlier articles in MfM. One talked about the use of Wiki’s for specific purposes. For example, the intelligence community has created a Wiki to share ideas. The other article dealt with a form of ‘mob thinking’ in which you hammer out decisions using group discussions and arguments with people related and unrelated.

A MILESTONE TO NOTE: The world’s (let me repeat that – the WORLD’s) oldest continuous publishing newspaper (Sweden’s Post-Och Inikes Tidningar) has dropped its paper edition and will now only publish online. Admittedly it is a small paper (1,000 circulation) and it is of limited interest (publishing mainly official announcements), but it is owned by the Swedish Academy – the same folks known for awarding the Nobel Prize in literature. The Paris-based World Associaton of Newspapers says it will continue to count it as a continuous publication. Also of note, freelance videographer Josh Wolf will assume the redoubtable honor of being the longest incarcerated journalist in America on Tuesday. The 24-year-old refuses to provide video of an anti-capitalist protest in which a police officer was injured.
COCKTAIL CHATTER: According to a study reported in the New York Times by the Journal of Studies on Alcohol, ten percent of beer drinkers account for 43% of reported beer consumption. Using those figures, a “core drinker” would be consuming nearly a gallon of beer a day. Nintendo’s Wii video game device is being used in weight loss and physical therapy programs. For the first time, more women (51%) are living without a husband, reports the New York Times. Several organizations are offering an odd, although unique, Valentine gift – a plaque of your DNA code to give to your loved one. You provide a mouth culture. They do the analysis and then provide genetic coding tablet suitable for framing. (Don’t ask me why.)

SUBSCRIPTIONS: If you wish to stop receiving this newsletter, e-mail newsconsultant@aol.com with the word “unsubscribe-MM” in the subject line. Also, back issues of MfM are available at the website, media-consultant.blogspot.com. You can reach me directly at Michael@MediaConsultant.tv.