Google Analytics Now Available in Google Code
Care to do more with Google Analytics code than just cut and paste a snippet in your website code? Well, you’re in luck. Google Analytics has been added to Google Code.
Now you can do marvelous things like manipulate the length of marketing campaigns and add search engines to be tracked.
If you want more control but don’t have a Google Code monkey on your team, then you can always try one of their Authorized consultants. Of course, Google provides plenty of documentation for Google Code.
Feel like discussing this? Leave a comment!
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Video Interview with Avinash Kaushik of Google Analytics
Google On User Intent in Search Queries
In the latest installment from Google about search quality, the topic du jour is user intent. Google Fellow Amit Singhal is at the helm of the Official Google blog again and wrote about efforts Google makes to help searchers find what they’re looking for.
Singhal writes, “Search in the last decade has moved from give me what I said to give me what I want.” I guess that depends on who you ask. Perhaps the search engines have approached it this way, but users have always been in the give me what I want column. Either way, today it’s all about what searchers want.
Using the example of kofee annan, Singhal says Google knows a searcher is really looking for Kofi Annan, and will prompt the searcher as such. However, in a query for kofee beans, Google knows that the searcher is looking for coffee beans. Basically, Google isn’t a spelling-monger.
Singhal also says that Google knows when Dr means doctor and when it means drive, and that searching for new york times square church is a search for an actual church and not something in the New York Times.
Understanding user intent is also something that drives Google’s initiatives in both personalized and universal search.
Finally, Singhal introduces Cross Language Information Retrieval (CLIR). The technology allows searchers to discover information in a language other than the one they’re searching in and use Google’s translation technology to access it.
What do you think about Google’s understanding of user intent? Leave a comment and let us know!
Microsoft Withdraws Yahoo Offer; Yahoo Responds
Microhoo bid raised aloft; Google-Yahoo Kool-Aid quaffed. “No Mas” cried Ballmer’s Microsoft.
Yahoo drank the Google paid search Kool-Aid to fight off Microsoft, leading the Redmond giant to retract its higher bid to acquire the Sunnyvale search engine. Microsoft reportedly offered $33 a share, and Yahoo held fast at $37 a share. That was too rich for Steve Ballmer’s blood. The prospect of Yahoo outsourcing its paid search to Google was also too much for Ballmer to stomach.
So Microsoft walked. In a letter to Jerry Yang (full text below), Steve Ballmer cited Yahoo’s intention to outsource search as the primary reason he decided to scotch the deal.
Of course that doesn’t mean enraged Yahoo! shareholders won’t sue Yahoo.
Ballmer wrote, “I hereby formally withdraw Microsoft’s proposal to acquire Yahoo!.”
Here’s why, according to Microsoft’s business logic:
Advertisers would use Google rather than Yahoo! Panama to manage paid search, fragmenting not only PPC but display advertising and the Yahoo! advertising ecosystem.
Yahoo then wouldn’t be able to retain talented engineers working on advertising systems – engineers whom Ballmer considers a key aspect of Yahoo’s attractiveness.
The decision would also create a morass of regulatory and legal problems that no acquirer – especially Microsoft – would want to slog through. Ballmer believes search market share of the combined Yahooo-Google deal would reduce competition and advertiser choice.
Ballmer took the argument one step further, stating the deal would “effectively enable Google to set the prices for key search terms on both their and (Yahoo!) search platforms and, in the process, raise prices charged to advertisers on Yahoo.
While it would be hard to prove a keyword-auction would enable Google or any search engine to “set prices,” the deal would increase keyword prices based on Google’s ability to monetize inventory more efficiently.
Yahoo responded by promising (again) to maximize shareholder value and pursue strategic opportunities. Yahoo still maintains Microsoft undervalued the company.
Yahoo! banged the drum (again) about:
“– a refined strategic focus to drive enhanced volume and yield;
– reorganized to focus its efforts on its most promising products and services;
– invested in innovations designed to revolutionize display advertising and facilitate closing the competitive gap in search; and
– enhanced expense and resource management to support improved profitability.”
As Jerry Seinfeld might have said, “Yadda, Yadda, Yadda, Yahoo.”
Be prepared Monday for Yahoo shares to plummet back to earth. (Full text of Steve Ballmer’s statement after the jump.)
Click to read the rest of this post…
DoubleClick Mobile Integrates with Mobile Ad Networks
Just one week after Google announced mobile image ads, the newly acquired DoubleClick is announcing the integration of its mobile ads with mobile ad networks. The networks are AdMob, Google Adsense, and Millenial Media’s Mbrand and Decktrade networks.
“This integration is a great example of how DoubleClick is working with key industry players to bring value to publishers by enhancing the liquidity of mobile display inventory,” said Ari Paparo, group product manager for DoubleClick products. “We believe that the ability to sell mobile inventory directly and indirectly will provide mobile advertisers with more options, ultimately leading to better monetization for publishers.”
Yesterday, Admob was included in a Marchex announcement of its agreement with mobile ad networks to provide pay-per-call services.
“AdMob is always eager to extend our engineering investments in mobile advertising relevance and optimization to new platforms,” said Omar Hamoui, AdMob’s founder and CEO. “We are excited that DoubleClick’s clients will now be able to join over 4000 existing AdMob publishers in leveraging AdMob’s ad liquidity and mobile specific ad serving technologies.”
An estimated $1.7 billion is expected to be spent on mobile advertising this year, up from $878 million last year. Projections have the spend reaching $6.5 billion by 2012.
Pimp My Site: Tweaking High Traffic Landing Pages
When you have a page that is bringing in a lot of eyeballs, it may be tempting to just leave it alone. Cliches become mantras. “There’s no need to stir the pot.” “Let sleeping cats lie.” “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
The problem is that if your traffic isn’t converting, then your landing page is, in fact, broken.
Thankfully, the Google Website Optimizer team is serving up tips on knowing which pages to tweak via a post on their blog.
First up are Landing Pages. Go to the “Content” section of Google Analytics and check out the “Top Landing Pages.” The pages you need to focus on have high bounce rates and high entrance rates. The blog recounted a scenario Avinash Kaushik spoke about at SES. He said he was searching for faucets and the top sponsored result led him to a sinks page. Perhaps the site is experiencing large numbers of site visitors, but they’re just throwing money away if they’re not giving the people what they want.
Secondly, check out funnel pages. These are pages that a visitor arrives at after performing an action such as a purchase, registration or download. In Google Analytics, you can set up a funnel which contains 10 pages pertaining to a goal. Then, you’ll be able to view “funnel visualization” reports that can show you where your site visitors get stuck in the process.
Remember, it’s the conversions that matter the most. Not the clicks or the referrals or the number of eyeballs. If your site visitors are not engaging in the actionable goal you’ve set for them, then it’s time to tweak.
Related Reading:
Your Baby’s Ugly – Why You Need Landing Page Optimization Now
PPC Triage Now! Emergency Action Steps for Dying AdWords
Microsoft Board Meets, Indicates Higher Bid for Yahoo
Late yesterday afternoon, the Wall Street Journal got word of a Microsoft board meeting. And ever since they reported the news, the speculation and rumor mills have been working overtime.
Henry Blodget over at the Silicon Valley Insider got a glimpse of a WSJ story suggesting that MSFT would raise the bid to $32-$33 a share. The story is no longer to be found on the interwebs, which is likely Microsoft’s strategy, according to Blodget. The apparent strategy is to get comment out of Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang on whether or not the upped offer would be accepted.
Earlier reports have both shareholders and Yahoo execs saying “I see your $32-33 and raise you a $35-37.” This is not likely to please the big wigs from Redmond.
But they may have forced their own hand in the matter when they didn’t offer a higher bid sooner. It’s the Yahoo-Google deal that likely tipped the scales in favor of Yahoo in the negotiating process.
Future of Search Marketing? Behavior-AOL
Search retargeting and post-click behavioral targeting is the future of search. The future’s here – now – with the launch of Platform A’s integrated search marketing platform using Tacoda technology.
Call it Platform A.O.L.
ClickZ’s reporting that the use of Tacoda technology will begin in June across the whole Platform A network. That means marketers will have a single software platform for tracking, reporting and delivering, and running behavioral marketing campaigns.
For anyone following innovations in search marketing campaigns, that’s exciting news.
We’re sure some savvy marketer will be the first to design an award-winning search campaign on Platform AOL.
Fredrick Marckini to Give Opening Keynote at SES Toronto
Fredrick Marckini, chief global search officer of Isobar, will be giving the opening keynote speech at SES Toronto on Tuesday, June 17, 2008. Fredrick also gave the opening keynote at SES London back in February.
While he was in London, I interviewed him about his keynote speech on search engine marketing trends and his duties at Isobar. You can get a pretty good idea of Fredrick’s perspective by watching the YouTube video below — which has just been posted in its entirety. (A portion of Fredrick’s interview was included in our Day 1 roundup.)
And, as you’ll see, YouTube’s recent site updates now enable you view the high quality video by just clicking on the television icon below and to the right instead of using the format 18 code.
Fredrick Marckini at SES London on Search Engine Marketing
You can also get a sense of Fredrick’s point of view by reading: Fredrick Marckini iProspect Exclusive SEO Interview with Dan Horton.
Fredrick Marckini founded iProspect in 1996 and is recognized as a leading expert in the field of search engine marketing. He has authored three of the SEM industry’s earliest books, including Secrets To Achieving Top-10 Positions (1997), Achieving Top-10 Rankings in Internet Search Engines (1998), and Search Engine Positioning (2001). He is considered one of the pioneers of search engine marketing and was named to BtoB Magazine’s Top 100 Marketers 2005 and 2006 lists.
Fredrick is a frequent speaker at industry conferences around the country including: Search Engine Strategies, ad:tech, the iMedia Summit, Search Insider Summit and the eMarketing Association Conference. He has written bylined articles for Search Engine Watch, CMO Magazine, BtoB Magazine, iMedia Connection, ClickZ and numerous other publications. He has been interviewed and profiled in a variety of media outlets including The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, New York Times, Washington Post, Financial Times of London, Inc., Investors and Business Daily, Internet Retailer, National Public Radio, and others.
Fredrick serves on the Board for the Ad Club of Boston, and was a founding Board Member of the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO). He earned a bachelors degree from Franciscan University in Ohio.
SEW Experts: Taking the Fear Out of Web Analytics for Your Small Business
Many small businesses are afraid of the perceived complexity of Web analytics. At the same time, they know they can make more money in less time with Web analytics. In today’s Small Business Search Marketing column, “Taking the Fear Out of Web Analytics for Your Small Business,” Carrie Hill simplifies the process by breaking down the four metrics you should be analyzing on your small business web site.
Google Will Bank on VisualRank – PageRank for Images
On Thursday, Google Research engineers presented a paper at the International World Wide Web Conference in Beijing on PageRank for Google Images (pdf) to improve search results for photos, art and graphics. The system promises better image results than are currently available when searching in Google Images and may eventually improve Google Universal Search SERPs.
Key takeaways: Google’s breakthrough uses the “wisdom of the crowd” and contextual signals to rank the relevancy of images. VisualRank does not improve on a search engine’s ability to identify people or determine activities in a photo. The biggest benefits will be reduction of duplicate image content in search results and reduction of “image spam” or inappropriately tagged photos.
This morning The NY Times reported on the new ranking algorithm that identifies and analyzes “authority” nodes and “visual link structure” between a group of images. As with PageRank, images are assigned numbers to define their relevance and relative importance.
Google conducted a series of experiments by retrieving images for 2,000 of the most popular products queries in Google. Users in the experiments were more satisfied by the results and felt they were more relevant.
The Google SERP image shown here displays top ranking results for a group of queries. You can judge for yourself how intuitive and relevant the results are. Google notes an interesting result for the query “Picasso Paintings”; not only are all the images by Picasso, one of his most famous, “Guernica”, was selected first.
We’re assuming the search queries related to the product, “Febreze” were spelled correctly, unlike the typo in the paper misspelled as: “Fabreze.” The current Google image results for keyword “fabreze” are quite different.
Winners: Trademark owners of big brands and commercial products
Losers: All those people who spent innumerable hours tagging photos in Google Image Labeler:
All-time Top Google Image Labeler Contributors
1. SunChaser has 22,961,020 points
2. Zip has second with 22,353,450 points
3. FrD AUTO no car has 15,460,240 points
4. MC DUDE no man has a close 15,350,830 points
5. Mighty is hot on the heels of MC DUDE: 15,339,300 points
Google believes a Web page author will likely choose relevant images for a topic. People, though, don’t typically link to content based on the relevance of images. People link to text.
Google gives an example of an ambiguous query (McDonalds) with a logo that can be identified in photos that link commercial searches. That’s a “visual theme” or ‘visual signal” among all the photos. There may be lots of other themes that can define the relative “strength” of common and commercial images.
In terms of overall performance on queries, the proposed VisualRank displayed fewer irrelevant images than Google for 762 queries. Google’s standard image search producee better results in only 70 search results. In the remaining 202 queries, both approaches tied. Google notes in the majority of these queries, there were no irrelevant images).
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