The old saying, “there is no such thing as bad publicity,” may not always be true, but it is very useful to track buzz and seasonality in the world of search. To look at the popular search queries, we can get an interesting (and sometimes sad) look at what society is thinking about. In the past, it has been much harder for marketers to predict this type of information, much less react to it quickly. The good news is that both Yahoo! and Google are making it easier to measure search buzz for industries, brands, and even specific keywords.
The Yahoo! Buzz Index (YBI) measures the pulse of consumers by analyzing search activity on the Yahoo! network and measuring search trends and fluctuations. Users can subscribe to an advanced YBI and leverage search data on Yahoo! to gather insights on consumers' engagement with brands, products and other commonly searched items. It is most frequently used to identify search trends over time, but can also be used to examine the relationship between brands and products using an Affinity search feature.
Affinity searching allows users to track keywords and how they relate to other popular search terms. You can search for a single term and view other popular search terms containing the input keyword. If you perform an Affinity search for “Ford,” you may find that others are more likely to search for “Ford Mustang” or “Ford trucks” at that time. This information is valuable as it gives marketers more information to base their organic and paid keyword research around.
Google Trends is another tool which allows users to find the news and search volume of specific keywords. Google Trends displays search volume over time and ties it with news results in order to suggest possible causes of search spikes and falls. Google also includes the ability to narrow results by time and location. Location trend information is very valuable because it allows marketers to determine which cities and regions are searching the most for particular search terms. This information can be utilized for geo-targeting paid search campaigns and press releases, as well as for local search and for determining which location specific keywords to use in content copy.
Having such powerful trend information allows marketers to be nimble in forming their strategic plans. With recent concerns over the environment and a strong push in the media to be “green,” terms like “hybrid cars” have seen a large increase in their buzz ratings and search volume. Automakers like Ford can take advantage of this buzz by creating more content around their hybrid cars and by driving traffic to their site through paid search.
Burt’s Bees recently did a good job of utilizing trend and buzz information. The Yahoo! Buzz Index shows that the term honey bees has seen a 10% increase in their buzz rating due to “Bee Movie” and concerns over Colony Collapse Disorder. By creating content and a program around Colony Collapse Disorder, Burt’s Bees was able to benefit from the recent buzz (no pun intended) and increase their own buzz rating by 28%.
By giving a direct look into user’s search patterns, marketers can leverage this information to determine which terms to optimize organically and buy through paid search.
Article by Jenny Popov
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Widgets and gadgets are taking over, but what are they exactly? A widget is allegedly short for “window gadget” which is a chunk of HTML code that can be used by an end user within a website, blog, or even a desktop. Google (Google Gadgets) and Yahoo! (Yahoo! Widgets) both have its own library of widgets for users to browse and use as they wish.
These applications that can add a new, rich creative layer to a campaign or promotion as well as get you on a consumers desktop – talk about prime real estate. Google has reported in a few case studies that interaction rates are up to 0.3% and reaching nearly 100MM impressions across the Content Network.
How can these customizable mini-websites be useful to my online marketing campaign? With Google Gadgets in particular, a brand can:
Tell a richer and more interactive story without hosting or serving fees.
Allow for creative flexibility while supporting a variety of ad sizes and also available in CPC and CPM pricing models.
Track results (within Google) with full reporting if important interaction metrics
How can you market your widget to get consumers interacting with it and possibly getting a viral consumer reaction?
Run your widget as a creative parameter across the Google Content Network, which is claimed to be the world’s largest online ad network. Users can then share the gadget with friends and pass along a gadget from person to person and website to website.
Utilize targeting capabilities to pinpoint your target audience by using contextual, geographic, demographic, and time-of-day targeting controls.
Once the Google gadget is live on Google’s gadget list, consumers can automatically add the gadget to their iGoogle pages, websites, blogs, etc.
Google and Yahoo! are both using traditional optimization methods in order to rank Gadgets in their engines. We are working with several clients to not just create Gadgets, but to also optimize them within the Gadget engine.
From a Travel Booking gadget to a branded Recipe directory, gadgets can be another source of consumer interaction and brand awareness that your campaign is looking for.
Go Go Gadgets!
Article by Lindsay Blankenship
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