c|net takes a look at paid inclusion services and says search engines are rethinking the controversial practice.”
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The Vancouver Sun says that “despite recent hype and the buzz about e-ordering, e-billing and e-payment, Canadian businesses are looking to five years from now for significant adoption of electronic commerce.”
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Protecting brands is increasingly complicated by the emergence of adware and keyword bidding, according to trademark experts.
Adware programs present trademark problems because adware programs often serve competitors’ ads over the pages of brand retailers or travel services, sometimes with customized offers based on user’s past surfing behavior.
Keyword bidding, another issue for companies looking to protect their brand, is the process by which advertisers bid against each other on various search terms for the right to have their relevant text ads placed prominently in the sponsored links section of major search engines like Google, MSN, and Yahoo! None of these providers has a policy that prohibits competitors from bidding on trademark terms. As a result, many brands lose out to higher bids on their trademark, which can ostensibly send traffic to competitors’ web sites even though a consumer might have originally had a certain brand name in mind.
Ask Jeeves has added some brand new features to its search engine. Most notably the “Binoculars” thumbnail screenshots and the “Smart Search” result box.
The Binoculars enable searchers to see what a website looks like without having to visit the site. By hovering your mouse over the binoculars icon, a small thumbnail of the website appears.
The Smart Search is a special result box that shows up for the top search terms. According to CBS Marketwatch, “if a user were to type “Shrek 2″ in the search box, the top result would be a big, banner-like box that has a picture of the movie, and links to reviews and the trailer.”
A new search engine designed for business professionals lauched this week. The engine, called Find.com, delivers search results from three different sources.
According to ClickZ, “Results from business sites that charge for their content, such as Gallup and Frost & Sullivan, appear at the top of the search results pages. Users can then buy the content. Results from a list of 3,000 business sites appear in the free organic listings, along with results from a variety of search engines.”
Many of the most successful online retailers are shifting their marketing spending to online efforts, particularly search engine marketing, says Heather Dougherty, senior analyst for research company Nielsen/NetRatings. ???We???ve seen a shift from traditional advertising to search and e-mail,??? Dougherty says.
iMedia Connection: Write Search Copy that Gets Clicks
You can buy great placement, but great copy is what really drives users to click on your search ad. This article offers some great tips on how to write your ads for maximum effect.
Clickz: Trademark Bidding on Google
Looks at the issue of trademarks when it comes to search engine advertising and what your company can do to protect itself.
For example, should Ford be able to show their search engine advertisement whenever someone types in the keyword “Chevy?”
Publish.com offers some suggestions on how to ensure your email marketing isn’t blocked by spam filters.
Two students from Sweden want to live the dot com hey day all over again.
“The mission is to create a dotcom business from scratch in 24 hours. That means designing and programming a complete and useful web application, recruiting people, doing marketing, creating investment programs and much more. After 24 hours, the complete business will be sold on an eBay auction, and everyone involved will be rich!”
