Marketing and Technology News

It is no longer just a good idea to add search to your marketing mix — it is imperative for marketers to do so if they want to succeed.
Panelists at the “Putting Search into the Marketing Mix” session at the Search Engine Strategies Conference & Expo emphasized the importance of embracing search and integrating it [...]

With the purchase of DoubleClick Inc., Google Inc. will position itself as the No. 1 company in the online display advertising space. Couple that acquisition with its lead in search marketing and Google becomes the one-stop shop for most of your online advertising needs. An added bonus: it beats Microsoft to the punch yet again.
Google [...]

Google has released a site optimization product it’s calling the “third leg” in a stool that includes its flagship AdWords product as well as Google Analytics.
Previously available in limited beta, the company’s Website Optimizer is a free tool to test and switch out Web site offers and other content with the goal of producing the [...]

In report published on Wednesday, sources indicated that Microsoft was leading the way in negotiations to buy ad-serving provider DoubleClick from the private-equity group Hellman & Friedman for an estimated $2 billion. Why?
An acquisition of DoubleClick would drive home the point that Microsoft’s build-not-buy strategy just isn’t working via Web-based advertising. DoubleClick, however, “is right [...]

The results of recent research by DoubleClick Inc, of 300 online video ad campaigns, shows that audiences click the “Play” button more than they click on image ads, video ads are typically played two-thirds of the way through, and video ad click rates are far higher than those of image format ads.

Rick Bruner, [...]

So Google is moving into the cost-per-action (CPA) business, which means marketers will now only pay for those ads which lead to a specific action, such as a phone call for a service provider, or a sale for a retailer. The new service could be Google’s answer to click fraud, which occurs when a business [...]

Here are the top 20 Internet display advertisers ranked by parent company for the year 2006, TNS Media Intelligence reported Tuesday.
1. Vonage Holdings Corp.
$185,660,200
2. AT&T Inc.
$166,394,500
3. Dell Inc.
$136,889,900
4. Walt Disney Co.
$132,699,600
5. General Motors Corp.
$129,520,300
6. Experian Group
$128,042,100
7. Verizon [...]

Though continually branching-out, Google remains primarily a search company, posting Q4 profit exceeding analyst expectations, stemming mainly from search ad revenue. Google reported revenues of $3.21 billion for the quarter ended December 31, 2006, an increase of 67 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2005, and an increase of 19 percent compared to [...]

Spending on online advertising will grow 17.9% this year, dwarfing the projected 5.8% growth in overall U.S. ad spending, according to a new report by Outsell, Inc.
Total, online is expected to account for around 20% of all ad dollars, Outsell reports. But before online publishers get too optimistic, they should keep in mind that Outsell [...]