theEweekly Wrap - Pepsi goes flat, Google music and MEN launches iPhone app

Flat pop

Pepsi suffered a social media backlash this week after the release of a controversial iPhone application. The app, designed to promote the release of a new energy drink, was condemned on micro-blogging site Twitter as "sexist" and "vile".

The Amp Up application, which saw users attempt to 'date' a number of women, has been criticised for its negative stereotyping of women.

"So is there only one type of man? A neanderthal who needs a cellphone app to talk to women? Here's a hint: put down the cellphone," said one user.

Another user commented:

"It would be nice to see a marketing campaign not completely dehumanizing women as a part of some asinine 'game' in order to promote deodorant or soda pop or body wash, but I guess there isn't an app for that yet."

Pepsi responded to the criticism via Twitter, defending the application as "humorous".



The company later withdrew the software from the Apple app store.

Mandy gets mad

The government aims to introduce strict measures against file-sharers in the coming year, it was revealed. The announcement was made in a speech by Lord Mandelson, the First Secretary of State.

Speaking at the C&binet Forum, a talking shop set up to debate issues in the creative industries, Lord Mandelson said:

"People will receive two notifications and if it reaches the point [of cutting them off] they will have the opportunity to appeal."

"I was shocked to learn that only one in 20 music tracks in the UK is downloaded legally. We cannot sit back and do nothing," he added.

DJ Google

Google has added music tracks to its search listings. Users searching for specific songs, artists or lyrics will be presented with results directing them to sites where they can buy or listen to the material online.

The new feature was announced via the official Google blog on Wednesday. An excerpt from the post read:

"Today, we're rolling out a search feature that does just that by enabling you to search and more easily discover millions of songs, all via a simple Google web search. If you're searching for music, "time to result" is really "time to music.

"Now, when you enter a music-related query — like the name of a song, artist or album — your search results will include links to an audio preview of those songs provided by our music search partners MySpace or Lala."



Manchester Evening Mobile

theEword got to grips with the latest digital venture from the Manchester Evening News this week as the regional publication launched an iPhone application. The new app allows users to keep in touch with the latest regional news, as well as read articles from the printed publication.

Advertisers go social

It can be hard for clients to find out how competitors are divvying up their online ad budgets. This is particularly true when it comes to adverts on social networking sites, which are notoriously difficult to track because of the sheer number of pages and people involved.

Web users are a sociable bunch

Nevertheless, a recent report has underlined that digital marketers and their clients can no longer afford to ignore the opportunities of Facebook and MySpace. According to Ofcom, 41 per cent of UK adult web users now visit a social networking site daily, up from 30 per cent in 2007. And 38 per cent have their own profile as opposed to 22 per cent two years ago. Potential customers are flocking to social media in remarkable numbers.

Total display ad views on social media

But a new study suggests certain industries are following their consumers online – while others are missing out.

Data from the comScore Ad Metrix service shows there were an astonishing 13.8 billion UK display ad impressions on social networking sites in August 2009. The ten sectors with the largest total number of views on social networking sites, in order, were telecommunications, retail, banking, travel, entertainment, online gambling, online dating, online gaming, government and teens. Here's a good example of a display ad from a client in the travel sector on TravelBlog:


Proportion of display ad views on social media

But much more interesting are figures showing which sectors are getting the highest proportion of their display ad impressions on social networking sites:

1. Teens – 37.3 per cent


2. Online dating – 33.8 per cent


3. Retail – 30.1 per cent


4. Government – 29.7 per cent


5. Telecommunications – 27.1 per cent


6. Banking – 20.9 per cent


7. Online gambling – 19.8 per cent


8. Entertainment – 16.9 per cent


9. Travel – 11.5 per cent


10. Online gaming – 11.1 per cent

Those at the top of this list are targeting their display ad campaigns towards Facebook and its peers. Those at the bottom aren't. So who's right?

To get an answer, we'll need to put these figures into some context. Data from comScore shows that more than 25 per cent of all display ad views come on social networking sites. This means that companies specialising in teens (37.3 per cent) and online dating (33.8 per cent) are well ahead of the general population but those in entertainment (16.9 per cent) and travel (11.5 per cent) are way behind. Bearing in mind that social media is growing at an explosive rate, it's a fair bet that display ad impressions will continue to rise, meaning the heavy investment of teen and online dating advertisers will ultimately be rewarded with even more views.

No-show from ents and travel

What seems clear is that certain sectors are missing a trick in terms of social media advertising. Entertainment and travel companies may be among the top ten buyers of display ads on Facebook and its ilk, but even so they are failing to keep up with just how many eyeballs are trained on these ads.

This is even more surprising when you consider that these industries are particularly well served by relevant social media portals. Entertainment companies can focus on MySpace and the countless blogs on TV and celebrities while travel specialists can focus on the ad opportunities of TravelBlog, Blogger, etc. In the following example, you can see how a display ad promotes the US rock band Weezer on the MySpace page for UK group Arctic Monkeys:


Mike Read, managing director of comScore Europe, sums up the message for advertisers rather well. "Given the overall reach and volume of ads delivered on social networking sites, brand advertisers who ignore this channel may be missing a significant opportunity and enabling their competitors to gain a dominant share of voice in the channel," he said. And frankly, it's hard to argue with that.

Richard Frost

Protecting your brand through online marketing

theEword online marketing manager Mark Baker explains how to protect your company brand online.

A brand is one of the most important qualities a business can have. "You're just about anybody without your identity" has been a popular slogan with marketers for longer than I care to remember and it's an adage that still rings true today.

A brand promotes an image of a company and a trademark works its way into the zeitgeist.

John Stuart, the founder of Quaker Oats, had a famous saying:

"If this business were split up, I would give you the land and bricks and mortar, and I would take the brands and trademarks, and I would fare better than you."

Wise words.

It is vital to protect a trademark, particularly online. This morning, I came across an example of a company who had not gone to the necessary efforts to preserve their brand integrity.



Harris Fowler, a personal injury law firm, has been outbid for their own brand term. While they are featured on the top listing for organic searches, they have been displaced by a rival firm – National Accident Helpline – in sponsored links.

As an online marketer for theEword, it is my responsibility to ensure that the client is getting the best return on their campaign. This process involves finding the right keywords, the key generics and the searches will result in the most conversions. This is the basics behind PPC marketing.

Preserving the client's online identity is an essential part of my role and it is my responsibility to ensure that online a company cannot be outbid on a term for their own brand. In a time of belt-tightening, it can be very easy to eject a low-priority PPC campaign such as a company name. However, online marketing professionals should keep in mind that other businesses may not be so restricted in their own budgets and more than happy to hijack brand term traffic.

I suppose what is most painful for Harris Fowler is that this sponsored link hijacking comes in the middle of a nationwide television campaign. The left arm always needs to know what the right arm is doing.

Combining online marketing and organic SEO

The example demonstrates why a company needs to coordinate online marketing and SEO techniques. Paid and natural SEO should give businesses the opportunity to cover both types of user.

Around 30 per cent of users click on sponsored links.

By ensuing a symbiotic relationship between SEO and marketing tactics, a campaign has the best possible chance to catch every possible user. Recently, Google has muddied the water between organic and paid results. Design changes have moved the sponsored links closer to the natural listings and consumers are becoming less picky about their choice of link.

theEweekly Wrap - U2Tube, MCR Blog Awards and Twitter's Google deal

bird eating spiders

Bing and Google will begin displaying results from Twitter in search listings after both struck separate deals with the micro-blogging service. Paul Yiu, head of search at Bing, announced the Microsoft search engine had reached an agreement to display real-time updates from Twitter users. He said: "Twitter is producing millions of tweets every minute on every subject you can imagine. The power of those tweets as a form of data that can be surfaced in search is enormous." Biz Stone, Twitter's co-founder, confirmed the deal in a blog post, stating that he hoped "more working relationships with organisations in the search business will mean even more variety for users". He said: "Twitter is providing Bing access to the overwhelming deluge of public, real-time tweets rushing in from all around the world so they can help you find those that make the most sense right now. While Twitter currently presents tweets based simply on timeliness, Bing is experimenting with new solutions such as 'best match'." A blog post by Marissa Mayer, vice president of search and user experience at Google, later revealed a similar deal had been struck. "We believe that our search results and user experience will greatly benefit from the inclusion of this up-to-the-minute data, and we look forward to having a product that showcases how tweets can make search better in the coming months."

rss carpet awards

The fourth annual Manchester Blog awards took place this week. The ceremony, which was held at the newly reopened Band On The Wall, honoured the city's brightest blogging talent. Hosted by influential blogger Kate Feld – of The Manchizzle fame – the show honoured six of the best blogs in the city. Parent-blogger Emily Morris claimed the top prize in the Best Personal Blog and Best Writing on a Blog award. Other winners included the photojournalistic Lost in Manchester and art-inspired entry Run Paint Run.

with or without youtube

YouTube is to stream a concert by rock band U2 on Sunday. The gig, hosted at the Pasadena Rose Bowl in California, will be broadcast live on the video-sharing website. U2 manager Paul McGuiness said: "Fans often travel long distances to come to see U2 - this time U2 can go to them, globally." UK residents desperate to see the concert can watch live at 3:30am.

blog roll

Legendary industry blog Technorati released its annual State of the Blogosphere report this week. The document, which highlights current trends and patterns in online writing, is an educational read for anyone with an interest in personal blogging. According to the report, the majority of bloggers are male and between 25-44 years old. They are educated – nearly 50 per cent have university degrees – and enjoy a moderate-to-good income. You can read more about the State Of The Blogosphere in Richard Frost's blog for theEword.

Google shakes up listings for new test

Google works in mysterious ways. When the search engine isn't trialing an algorithm to spider Twitter updates or finishing work on its latest communication tool, it's a well-known fact the company is testing new features to add to its listings pages. Generally, these minor tweaks are experimental – small changes designed to observe user-behaviour. Most of the time they go unnoticed by the general public and eventually they slip away after a short period.


Indeed, the recent UK SERPs alteration is a perfect example; a controversy which rocked the SEO community, but barely made a ripple in the outside world.

For those of us who spend their day monitoring Google SERPs, these changes stand out like a position one ranking. They will cause speculation, debate and the occasional-heated argument as SEO professionals across the world discuss the company's actions and try to second-guess the implications of a relatively minor change.

The latest alteration causing a bit of a stir is the inclusion of indented results in Google rankings. This recent test sees Google list three unique pages from a domain in specific brand searches. For example:


This search not only lists the main site for British Telecom, but also the url for directory enquiries and international dialing codes.

These indented listings only appear when users do a search query for a brand name combined with a keyword – for instance, 'British Telecom phones' or 'Manchester United kits'.


It makes sense for Google to implement this feature for specific keyword searches. It stands to reason a user searching for a brand is likely to want a product or service for a specific company. Indeed, many of the tweaks Google makes are designed to give browsers access to the information they may need faster.

We can see an earlier example of this in indented site links – columns of related URLs for brand searches. For example:


Sergey Brin, the co-founder of the company, said Google was the only website which aimed to make the user move on to another website as quickly as possible. Perhaps this indented listing feature is just another way Google hopes to second guess its users.

I blog, you blog, weblog

Digital marketing specialists have just been given a fascinating insight into blogging demographics. The latest State of the Blogosphere report, published by blog tracker Technorati, makes very interesting reading for those investing in this fast-growing sector. Specifically, it tells you everything you need to know about which parts of the population are self-publishing right now.

The methodology

Before we get onto the figures, we should briefly consider where they came from. The State of the Blogosphere 2009 was compiled using a combination of data from Technorati's index and a major English-language survey of 2,900 bloggers from 50 countries around the world. Some 48 per cent of respondents were based in the US, 26 per cent came from the EU and the remaining 26 per cent were from elsewhere. So it's primarily a study of blogging in the west, but not exclusively.

The basics

Looking at the basics of age, gender and social status, it would seem the typical blogger can be clearly defined for marketing purposes. Online publishing is clearly a young man's game with 53 per cent of respondents aged between 25 and 44 years old, and 67 per cent male. Bloggers also lead fairly settled lives with more than half married and more than half with children of their own.


Education and income

Bloggers generally come from academic backgrounds. A whopping 49 per cent have obtained a university degree or completed some graduate work, while a further 41 per cent have had college experience. Just one per cent are high-school dropouts. And turning to spending power, a quarter of bloggers enjoy an annual household income greater than £60,000.


The ABC1 blogger

There's little doubt that blogging is entering the mainstream. Blogger, which recently celebrated its tenth birthday, claims it is used to create a new blog every second of the day. But for now at least, self-publishing remains the preserve of a very attractive marketing segment. Young, male, educated and with plenty of disposable cash, bloggers are prime ABC1 territory. And with more and more blogs incorporating AdSense pay-per-click links and banner ads, that's exciting news for digital marketers.

Richard Frost

UK crime map - an open window for web users

Despite its initial teething problems, the launch of the UK crime map has been met with a warm reaction. The project – a joint venture between the Home Office and the National Policing Improvement Agency – gives browsers the opportunity to compare crime rates across areas of England and Wales.


Policing and Crime Minister David Hanson MP described the site as a crucial way to keep the public informed about crime in their area. He said:

"Crime maps are a key part of delivering neighbourhood policing and giving communities access to information like this not only improves public confidence but ensures police are responding to local people's needs."

theEword copywriter Tom Mason examines four ways the UK crime map utilises the online medium to complete these goals.

Access to information

Online data needs to be presented in a clear and concise format and the UK crime map does exactly that. The site allows individuals to compare the different rates of criminal activity across England and Wales, while those with a morbid fascination for such things can view different data for burglaries, robberies, vehicle crime and anti-social behaviour.


It is also possible to chart the fluctuations in the number of these crimes on a month-by-month basis. Again, this information is presented in a simple format, allowing users to quickly source what they've requested.

Easy access

Websites must allow users to quickly find and access this information and design and layout play important parts in facilitating this process.

The UK crime map comes with a basic, yet effective design. A free scrolling map allows users to quickly move from one local area to the next, while a postcode search in the top left hand corner gives individuals the opportunity to quickly locate specific areas.


What's more, each region offers information about what the police are doing to combat crime. The 'find out more' tab gives individuals the chance to contact the nearest station via email, website or phone. Elsewhere, specific local concerns are listed, with measures taken by the police to tackle the problem.


Meet the team

Presenting a personable face to users is an important part of the online experience. Browsers want to see who they are communicating with.

The UK crime map gives individuals the opportunity to view pictures of every single member of a borough's police force. It is a reassuring feature which gives each constabulary a human face.

The use of social media

The UK crime map has to be commended for its commitment to social media. Each area comes with a link to a number of police channels, most notably on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.


It's positive to see Greater Manchester Police using social media to relate to the public and including links to these pages is a strong indication the authority understands the importance of communicating with the public through these informal channels.

theEword Wrap – Tories Spotifying, Twitter wine and Google's recession dodge...

Rock the vote

The Conservatives are set to become the first UK political party to advertise on the popular music software Spotify. The adverts, which will feature party chairman Eric Pickles, aim to highlight the personal cost of Britain's multi-billion pound deficit.

The advert will be targeted at younger voters in an attempt to encourage youth participation come the general election in May, 2010. The ad is set to play between current chart songs.

Spotify, which boast over one million users worldwide gives individuals the opportunity to immediately listen to any song from its 92,811 track collection (it would take 34 years to listen to every song).
Premium Spotify members – who pay just £9.99 per month to listen to an advert-free service – will sadly miss out on the calming Yorkshire tones of Eric Pickles.

theEword waves hello to Google Wave

The copywriting team at theEword found themselves the centre of attention this week as one of its writers received an invite to try out the new Google Wave application. The news of access to the social-media software quickly filtered around the office and drew a crowd eager to see if the product lived up to the hype. You can read Tom Mason's report on the latest kit from Google Labs on theEword SEO Manchester blog.

Social gathering

Social media marketing may become considerably more interesting after Twitter announced it was launching its own brand of wines.
The micro-blogging service is to begin selling a Pinot Noir and a Chardonnay in partnership with Room to Read, an American charity which aims to improve literacy rates in third-world countries.
Twitter co-founder Biz Stone reveals the initiative in the YouTube video below:

Deal or no deal

Channel 4 has shook hands with YouTube to make its programmes available on the video website. The new arrangement will see a range of Channel 4 shows – such as Teachers and Peep Show – be made available on the video-sharing site. Full program series will be available, although each video will include advertising.

G-shaped recession

The recession is over. At least, according to Google. The search engine giant ambivalently batted away any fears over financial armageddon as it posted its highest quarterly net profit compared to last year. 27 per cent growth, if you're interested. The company also boasted a seven per cent rise in revenue during the third quarter.

Chief executive Eric Schmidt celebrated the news by revealing that Google was planning to make a range of 'strategic acquisitions, both large and small'.

Super-size vs. Super-skinny

theEword copywriter Tom Mason discusses why bigger is always better when it comes to websites

Size zero websites are, like their model equivalents, skinny, unattractive and unlikely to sell a product.

These size zero websites – as the name suggests – are poor, scrawny domains which lack substance. Or to put it another way, content. They're got all the essentials but lack any real information.

To function to its full potential, a website needs to be chunky with words; information, soft pitches and faqs.

In order to appeal to users and search engines, sites need to have some meat on them. A website needs to be a size 14.

Healthy size - healthy website

What size 14 websites can offer users

A voluptuous website offers is far more attractive to users.

• When a user lands on a website, they want to be able to find the appropriate information for their needs. A website with an array of content is more likely to supply information for a specific user query. If a browser has all the information at their fingertips, they are more likely to convert into a paying customer.
  
  
• Content can communicate expertise. A site undernourished with content will be seen as inferior when compared to a domain which is crammed with information and resources. A business needs a website which portrays them as experts.
  
  
• Reassurance is essential if you want to turn a browser into a paying customer. Pages focused on the history of a company and its corporate culture give users the opportunity to indulge their curiosity and discover more about a product or service. This additional information is essential to gain the trust of a user.

A website needs weight

What size 14 websites can offer search engines

Keyword ranking

Content is vital if a site is to rank for a variety of search terms. While a small website may only rank highly for one or two queries, a larger website can cover a number of topics and term.

For example:

Website A ranks for the phrase 'cats'. It has one page of content which talks about the variety of cats customers can purchase from the site.

Website B also ranks for the term 'cats'. It has a number of different pages on the various breeds users can buy. Therefore, it ranks for terms relating to a variety of cat types.

The greater the volume of content, the more opportunities there are to rank for a greater selection of terms. Website B will be found by users hunting out a specific cat breed, whereas Website A will not.

Anchor text

A large website also gives you the opportunity to set your own link anchor text. Anchor text is one of the main features search engines use when deciding what phrase to rank a website page for. Having a large quantity of content allows you to optimise links for an array of search terms.

Feed your website

SEO content needs to balance the demands of the reader with the demands of the search engine. First and foremost, content needs to be well-written as it the user who will be buying your product, not Google. Content needs to persuade and inspire.

Contact theEword for more information about SEO copywriting.

Google Wave - theEword verdict

theEword copywriter Tom Mason explores Google Wave

Depending on where you look, Google Wave, the new social collaboration tool from the search engine, is either 'game-changing' or the 'most-hyped' product on the internet.

A few days ago, I was lucky enough to receive an invitation to preview Google Wave from a fellow user. Naturally, I jumped at the chance to investigate the truth behind the hype.

Here's a look at some of its features:

Creating a 'Wave'

Messages in Google Wave are described, cunningly enough, as waves. For all intents and purposes, these waves are social media emails. In a wave, users can type messages or include attachments and links. Waves can also include data from Google Maps and Google search listings as well as pictures and YouTube videos.

Google Wave introduction video

Users can send these messages to anyone with a Google Wave account. If the recipient is online on Google Wave, they will receive this immediately. If not, the wave will be waiting in their inbox until they return to the programme.

User collaboration

The recipient of this message can then choose to either reply to this wave or edit it. What makes Wave unique is that participants can not only do this in real time, but also that they can all do it at once.

Sharing map information on Google Wave

Why this is useful

Google Wave has been described as a collaboration tool and it quickly allows individuals to share data and collate information.

You can immediately see how the tool could be used for business. Users can quickly share information on group projects, plan meeting agendas and discuss ideas and thoughts in an informal setting. The software offers real time, and more importantly, fluid communication between individuals.

Furthermore, unlike email, it stores every message in one place.

Lars Rasussen, Google's software engineering manager, explained that Google Wave offered much more than traditional email (which he described as an electronic text message). He pointed out that the internet had evolved and individuals needed a system designed for 21st Century web use.

Could Google Wave be it? Potentially.

Could online ads save newspapers?

Traditionally, news has always been supported by advertising. Newspapers worked on the assumption that quality journalism was costly to produce but they could still turn a profit by charging thousands for print ads. But this time-honoured link was broken by the unstoppable rise of the internet. Today, search engines like Google enjoy the lion's share of profits from online ads – including many of those on newspaper websites – leaving media executives desperately wondering how to make ends meet.

Online ads – friend or foe?

There can be little doubt that online ads are pretty unpopular in the newspaper industry right now. But ironically, could they ultimately help the Fourth Estate balance its books? Eric Schmidt, chief executive officer of Google, certainly thinks so and in a recent interview with Search Engine Land he argued that existing online ad models hold the key.

Behavioural targeting

According to Mr Schmidt, changes to how readers consume news will open up whole new avenues for behavioural targeting. He believes most people will switch from reading print to "personalised news-reading experiences on mobile-type devices" in the next decade or so. If that proves to be the case, it could mark the end of newspapers deciding what they think will interest their readers – instead, readers will simply choose for themselves.

"That kind of news consumption will be very personal, very targeted," Mr Schmidt explained. "It will remember what you know. It will suggest things that you might want to know. It will have advertising."

That last clause is crucial. It hardly needs to be said, but online marketers would jump at the chance to deliver highly-targeted ads to readers with a proven interest in their field. Does he read lots of finance news? Perhaps savings account ads may be of interest. Is he regularly scanning the sports pages? VIP match tickets might tickle his fancy. Or has he been trawling the motoring pages recently? He could well be in the market for a new car. Behavioural targeting with this degree of precision would attract a hefty premium.

Display ads

In September 2009, Google launched an experimental customer-facing tool that seeks to provide the best elements of print and online news. Google Fast Flip combines the instant page turns of newspapers with the internet's customisation and ability to learn what subjects, journalists and papers you enjoy reading. Display ads are placed alongside all articles and any revenue generated is shared between Google and the content producers.



Mr Schmidt believes Fast Flip will open up new opportunities for display advertising. "We should be able to get very powerful advertising in display formats that people will like in this new model, invented, built and sold," he said. "Now I don't know how much revenue that is, but it's a lot more than they're getting now."

Why is Google getting involved?

Mr Schmidt said there were two reasons why the search engine giant wants to fix the black hole in newspaper budgets. Firstly, since Google's business model is built around improving access to content rather than producing anything itself, "we need these content partners to survive". And secondly, he argued that newspapers play an important democratic role so Google feels a "moral responsibility" to solve the funding problems it helped create.

Whichever version you believe, one thing is clear. If projects like Google Fast Flip take off, we could soon see highly-targeted display ads placed in front of millions of former newspaper readers. And that would be a huge leap forward, both for newspapers and online marketers.

Richard Frost

theEweekly Wrap - Windows 7, Rio Ferdinand and search market share...

Get the party started

Excitement hit theEword office this week as we took delivery of a package emblazoned with the Windows 7 logo. It turned out to be one of the company's highly coveted party packs, containing a deck of cards, a poster, a puzzle, 10 Windows-branded bags and – this is the really exciting bit – a copy of Windows 7 Ultimate signed by none other than Steve Ballmer. Will the new OS live up to the hype? We'll find out on 22 October when we throw our own demo party, which, hopefully, will be a less staid affair than the one depicted in Microsoft's much-mocked promo. Expect a full report to follow on the blog.

The truth is up there

Forward-looking online marketing teams who want to know what values will be like in five years time could do worse than look to the latest report from Ofcom, which analysed the online habits and opinions of 12-15 year olds (aka the spenders of tomorrow). Choice cuts from the study showed that, while the majority of kids correctly stated that search engines rank results according to relevance, a significant 32 per cent think the order is based on 'truthfulness'. Meanwhile, 14 out of the top 20 most-visited sites among the sample were brand-related. So if you want to be on top in 2014, it seems you better be working with well-known, trusted brand terms.

Share are they now?

The big news at Google this week was all about the company surpassing a 70 per cent search market share for the first time in North America. Hitwise data for September showed that 71 per cent of all searches were made via Google. Conversely, newly aligned tag team partners Bing and Yahoo fell behind in the battle, dropping five and three per cent shares respectively. Those - namely Steve Ballmer and Carol Bartz - who thought the alliance would mount a concerted assault on the market leader will be hoping this is just a temporary wobble.

His name is Rio and he kind of understands

As the news broke that England's qualifier against Ukraine will be screened exclusively via the internet, Rio Ferdinand chipped in to the online Vs traditional media debate, calling the move 'the way forward' after he read about online ad spend surpassing that of television. However, after criticism was posted of the way figures were compiled, a leader published in Marketing Week warned that online advertising is still in its infancy and 'needs to shape up' over the coming years. While things aren't quite as black-and-white as Rio might think, no amount of squabbling could cover up the decline in TV and print advertising, which looks set to hand an extra time victory to online ads.

The rise of the online marketing empire

A recent report from PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Internet Advertising Bureau found the money spent on online advertising has overtaken the revenue committed to television marketing campaigns for the first time.

Over the first half of 2009, online spend grew 4.6 per cent compared to a 16.1 per cent decline in television advertising. Here, theEword online marketing assistant Holly O' Boyle explains why the trend is likely to continue.

Monitoring the campaign

Online advertising offers a complete analytical service. Firms can monitor the success rate of campaigns through programmes such as Google Analytics or Google AdWords. You can check the number of clicks through sponsored links and their ilk and every conversion can be tracked and reported.

This option does not exist in television. Unless a campaign has a direct call to action – 'phone this number or visit this website' – there is no real way to instantly measure the success of a marketing blitz.

Targeting the right audience

Television marketing is a bit like throwing a pie at a dartboard. You know that your advertising message – sent out during a particular programme – will hit a key demographic. However, the nature of television advertising means that it will also splatter other viewers who do not fit the targeted audience; individuals with no interest in your products or services.

Case in point, the demographics for television programmes are vague. ITV Media – the advertising arm of ITV – lists viewers in generic categories such as 'young', 'female', 'upmarket' or 'broad'.

'Miss Marple' demographic information

Juxtaposed with targeted online marketing, television adverts can begin to look a little old-fashioned. Online advertising can hit its intended audience with dart-like precision: a banner ad on a niche website, a sponsored link on a popular search term, a Facebook advert on a particular page. These online advertisements are successful because they target users already searching for a related topic, rather than those who share a general interest a particular soap or documentary.

Viewer habits are changing

People are moving away from conventional viewing habits and television advertising is no longer a guaranteed source of conversions. Viewers can watch their favourite show at a time to suit them and the internet has thrown conventional wisdom regarding television advertising out of the window.

The advent of Sky+ allows users to skip past promotional advertisements, while online media services like 4OD and Hulu presents users with substantially fewer adverts.

Channel 4 On Demand

A survey by comScore showed the average American user watched 9.7 hours of online video last month. A record 25 billion videos were watched online during September in the US and the trend towards internet video is similar in the UK.
The growth in the popularity of online video has seen advertisers flock away from conventional television advertising. TV no longer guarantees a ROI.

Online marketing – the sum of its parts

Lindsey Clay, the marketing director for ThinkBox, the marketing group for the main UK commercial television broadcasters, was understandably bullish about the battle between the two mediums. Talking to the BBC, she berates the data for collating the revenue spent on different elements of online marketing, such as SEO, direct mail campaigns and social media strategies.

"The internet is a fantastic technology and home to many different marketing activities that do different things," she said.

"As such, it is interesting but meaningless to sweep all the money spent on every aspect of online marketing into one big figure and celebrate it."

Although, Clay's point of view, I think her comments fail to take in the full picture. The greatest facet of online marketing is its ability to reach different people through different methods. Advertising on the internet allows you to contact the consumer in a number of different ways. Some people may respond better to sponsored links, some users may convert through natural searches. A good online campaign is spread over different mediums and to say that it all shouldn't be all included in the figures displays a lack of understanding of the nuances of good online strategy.

A temporary solution?

Many will suggest the flock to online advertising is a result of the recession and cost-cutting. Indeed, an online marketing campaign is substantially cheaper than a thirty-second spot during X-Factor.

But this is the point. An online campaign has stamina, establishing a brand over the internet and motivating countless conversions. A thirty-second advert is just as likely to motivate someone to put the kettle on as it is to make them dip into their wallet. In six months, a TV advert may be just as memorable as Shayne Ward.

theEweekly Wrap

Bing not a good sharer

Bing, Microsoft's search engine, has seen its market share decline for the first time since its launch in June 2009.

According to user data from StatCounter, Bing's share of US browsers fell from 9.64 per cent in August to 8.51 during September.

Globally, Bing's share dropped to 3.25 per cent from 3.58 per cent.

"The trend has been downwards for Bing since mid August," said Aodhan Cullen from StatCounter.

"The wheels haven't fallen off but the underlying trend must be a little worrying for Microsoft."

Slim filters for Google

Google introduced a host of new search filters for users. Browsers can now filter pages in a number of new ways, including searches for results indexed in the past hour and those logged between specific dates. Users also have the option to omit sites from results which have previously been visited.

A statement on the official Google blog read:

"In May, we launched Search Options, a side panel that lets you filter, refine and generate different views of your search results. We've received lots of positive feedback, and we're seeing more and more people using Search Options every day."

In other Google news, 100,000 lucky users were the first to experience Google Wave this week as the search engine giant sent out beta invitations to use the hotly anticipated social media application.

Google Wave is a real-time communication platform which allows users to chat, email, instant message and share documents and files.

Ben Parr, editor of popular social media site Mashable, said that users finally had the opportunity to judge the programme on its own merits.

He commented: "Google’s been working non-stop to prep Wave for its debut. Now we’ll find out if Google Wave will change the web as we know it, or if it’s all hype."

Video nation

Data from comScore has revealed that US users watched more than 25 billion videos online in August - the highest monthly total ever recorded by the company.
The survey showed the average online viewer watched 9.7 hours of multimedia content. It was found that nearly 10 billion videos were watched on YouTube, while over 44.9 million viewers watched content on MySpace.

Objection @yourhonour

One unfortunate Twitter user is set to receive an injunction via the service after the UK High Court approved a request from an aggrieved account holder.

The order is to be served against a Twitter user who posts under the same name as a UK blogger. The injunction requests the fake account stops posing as Donal Blaney, the writer responsible for political blog Blaney's Blarney.

It is thought to be the first time a court order has been administered through the social media service.

The fake user will be sent a message which contains a link to the full court order. No word on whether the link will be in bit.ly or tr.im format.

Trends in web design: food for the creative brain

theEword designer Stephen Dixon looks at some prevalent trends from 2009 and discusses what they mean for the creative process...

Design trends represent powerful forces of creative nature, capable of driving designers to push the envelope further and further. Thanks to this, we have the wonderful, expansive nature of web 2.0 – a facilitation of design and functionality that puts users at its core.

It's always great to experiment with the latest trends because new methods of design, development and graphical approach will often lead you to fresh ideas, which in turn can spark the evolution of trends that others will follow, incorporate and expand upon.

Keeping the client in mind

While keeping up with the latest commercial web design trends may be enjoyable, it's vital that we keep in mind that not all trends are useful and relevant. You may have a fantastic idea for a website design that completely contrasts against what the client wants, which, to all intents and purposes, makes it useless. It's up to designers to follow the lead set out by the brief and create a relevant, beautiful and functional design that works well for the client and looks great on your agency's portfolio.

While this process may seem to limit the evolution of design, it actually does the complete opposite. It produces better, user-centric designs which will then be echoed through the industry and become useful contributions. These can be expanded upon, causing a new wave of interesting and relevant trends.

A snippet of the trends of 2009



This year's trends are bountiful - from the use of glossy icons, buttons, backgrounds and a whole slew of other design aspects right through to the more matte, pastel and gradient-themed designs.

The growing use of CSS3

There's been a big push on the use of CSS3 in front-end web development which makes a lot of web trends possible and less time-consuming when in the build process despite the fact that CSS3 isn't fully supported by all browsers.

Big typography and focal introductory paragraphs

Large font is becoming commonplace on many websites. This trend not only looks nice, but it benefits both the user (especially those with a visual impairment) and those that run the website by clearly displaying their corporate message.

With the top-left of a website's home page being the most important section, an introductory paragraph is the best way to quickly transmit the most important message you wish to give to your visitors. Understandably for a company at the forefront of design in what has been dubbed 'SEO Manchester', theEword's website incorporates these two trends.

With three months left until the year's end it'll be interesting to look back and see how the web has evolved in the past 12 months and how we can improve in the next year – restarting the cycle and further contributing to the endless pool of creativity.