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Google Analytics Launches New Help Forums

posted on November 26, 2008

By Taylor Pratt

The Google Analytics Blog announced today that they are opening up a new forum within Google Help to assist you in finding answers to your Google Analytics problems quickly. Not only will users be able to get advice from Google Analytics employees, other Google Analytics users will be able to answer your questions as well.

By opening up the forums for all users to contribute, the GA team hopes that problems/questions will be resolved in a more timely manner. The forum will also allow users to vote on the best answers, so that users can easily identify valuable information. A list of “related questions” will also appear as you create a new thread.

I spoke to John Henson of LunaMetrics, a Google Analytics Authorized Consultant, about Google opening up the forums for all users to contribute.

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Press Releases from a Marketing Perspective

posted on November 26, 2008

Vocus, the company that owns PRWeb sponsored a study by the Society for New Communications Research. They talked to over 420 marketing and PR professionals about the different ways they view press releases.

It reminds me of the evolution from getting search results and rankings in Google, to a focus on web site traffic and conversion. From what I’ve seen PR professionals are gradually changing perspective. It’s a tough transition because their clients seem to value seeing their name in print over the incremental benefits of traffic and sales.

The difference in perspective between PR and marketing:

PR Professionals

  • Want to get their clients on the news and value exposure in traditional media.
  • The value is in making the client look good in the right circles.

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SMX London – Buying Websites for SEO

posted on November 26, 2008

Buying Websites for SEO

Having only sold the odd website (and not bought any) this session was of some interest. The increased time and cost in manual link building for new websites has made buying existing websites an obvious choice for some and we were to find out the best ways to buy.

Richard Kershaw – Quality Nonsense – www.qualitynonsense.com

First up was Richard Kershaw, a UK super affiliate. He made it clear from the off that buying websites can help solve some of the problems SEOs face. With the current economic downturn now might be a particularly good time to buy too. Richard then proceeded to attendees through the website buying process step by step.

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Mobile Advertising Has Future Among Teens

posted on November 26, 2008

By Trisha Lyn Fawver

Apparently, teens are not as burnt out on advertising as adults are, according to research reported by eMarketer.  The DMA poll suggests that while more than half of teens wouldn’t be open to advertising even in exchange for something, they are more open to mobile advertising than adults.  They found that 19% of teens ages 15 to 17 and adults ages 21 to 30 have responded to a mobile phone offer, however a dramatic difference of only 7% of young adults ages 18 to 21 have responded to a mobile offer.

emarketer data on teen vs adult receptiveness to mobile ads

This is related to the fact that teens have much different relationships with their cell phones and mobile devices than adults.  Adults use these devices as must-have communication tools for business and family.  They know the value of the tools and how much they cost, so the relationship they have with their phones is a business-like, professional relationship.

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Microsoft and Yahoo! Search Share Tumbles, Google Continues its Rise

posted on November 26, 2008

By Rene LeMerle

The latest US search share rankings by Nielsen Online are out, and the report is an all too familiar story. Google search share grows; Microsoft and Yahoo! fall further behind.

According to the October 2008 report, Google’s share of the US search market reached a 6 month high of 61.2%. That’s a total of just over 4.7 billion searches and year on year growth of 8.1%.

On the other hand, Microsoft and Yahoo! continued their 2008 slide, losing 12% and 19% respectively between October 2007 and October 2008.

Yahoo! search share tumbled to 16.9% (down 7%) while MSN/Windows Live Search eased to 11.4% (down 3%).

Interestingly both Yahoo! and Microsoft bucked their dismal “year on year” performances in September, with both generating reasonable improvements on their 2007 results.

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Jury Set to Deliberate MySpace Suicide Case

posted on November 26, 2008

By Taylor Pratt

A Los Angeles jury is set to deliberate the suicide of a Missouri teen who was emotionally tortured on MySpace and committed suicide. In yet another blow to the human race, a 47-year-old woman posed as a 13-year-old boy to tease and humiliate a 13-year-old girl named Megan Meier.

Lori Drew, the 47-year-old woman, lived just a few houses down from Megan. She was upset that Megan had been teasing her daughter in school, and sought revenge. I’d like to take a moment here for you all to read that sentence again, focus on “sought revenge.” We’re talking about 13-year-old girls here. I know they are mean to each other, but as a parent, don’t you sort of prepare for this type of thing to happen in your daughter’s life? Has there even been a kid who wasn’t made fun of at some point in their life? It is part of growing up. It is what shapes us into who we are. As a parent, you have an ethical responsibility to teach your children to overcome those obstacles, not to retaliate to the degree that Lori did. </rant>

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Did “Lazy Sunday” Really Lead to a $1.65B Price Tag for YouTube?

posted on November 26, 2008

By Taylor Pratt

The growth of YouTube over the last few years has been amazing. According to Hitwise, YouTube has grown from less than 0.05% of weekly US Internet visits to close to 1% over the last three years. 

hitwise chart: youtube marketshare growth over three years

What caused this dramatic shift in YouTube’s popularity? According to Nate Anderson of Ars Technica, NBC claims their viral video hit Lazy Sunday propelled YouTube to its fame. Could NBC be right?

According to Hitwise, the premier of Lazy Sunday in 2005 was the start of an upward traffic trend for YouTube. Prior to Lazy Sunday’s release, traffic had remained level. Once the video was uploaded to the site (and became the viral hit that it was), the site took off. Next thing YouTube knew, they were being snatched up by Google for $1.65 billion dollars. The video was removed from the YouTube website in February of 2007.