Saturday, June 21, 2008

Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim

Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim

Up, Up and Away! Internet Ad Revenues Realize Second Highest Quarter Ever.

Posted: 20 Jun 2008 04:56 PM CDT

…and the PPC and banner ad crowd goes wild! The IAB has announced that Internet Advertising Revenues are up over 18% year over year, or $5.8 Billion smackaroos for the first quarter of 2008. That's just off the pace of the $5.9 Billion record set in Q4 '07.


Source: (excluding Borat) PwC/IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report (www.iab.net)

The really good news for internet marketers? Growth is expected to continue. Just listen to what Randall Rothenberg, president and CEO of the IAB and Daniel Silverman, partner, Assurance, PricewaterhouseCoopers have to say, respectively:

"We continue to experience significant growth and vitality in interactive marketing, media and advertising. We expect growth to continue, as consumers spend more and more time online, and marketers find more – and more innovative – ways to reach them through digital media."

"The fundamentals of interactive advertising spend continues to be positive and I would expect to see continued growth in the future. The cyclical fourth quarter to first quarter drop in traditional media advertising spend, combined with an overall economic slowdown, resulted in a not so unexpected first quarter slowdown in the growth of online advertising."

IAB results are considered the most accurate measurement of interactive advertising revenues. Data is compiled directly from information supplied by companies selling advertising on the Internet. Surveys include data relative to online advertising revenues from Web sites, commercial online services, free e-mail providers, and all other companies selling online advertising. In other words - you can take this information to the bank.

The Bottom Line? Internet advertsising is probably the single most cost effective means of advertising available today and companies continue to up their budgets to capitalize.

Hmmm….no wonder Andy Beal is taking so much vacation lately. ;) This might be a good time to thank all of the wonderful Marketing Pilgrim sponsors. Thank you sponsors!

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Linky Goodness, June 20

Posted: 20 Jun 2008 03:41 PM CDT

Happy summer solstice (or for you in the Southern hemisphere, happy winter solstice)! It’s the longest (shortest) day of the year, and it’s a Friday—what could be better?

Oh, I know, some linky goodness!

Now go do a summer dance!

Google Launches Trends for Websites

Posted: 20 Jun 2008 02:17 PM CDT

Today Google launched Google Trends for Websites.

This is the search giants first foray into competitive research, and comparisons are being drawn to Alexa and Quantacast.

Barry Schwartz points out a good use for the new tool at SearchEngineLand.com:

Now, if you think like a link builder - you can use this tool to find sites that are within your “neighborhood” or industry. So if I want to find link partners for the Search Engine Roundtable, I enter in seroundtable.com, look at the related sites and ask all of them for links. Then I go to all of those sites and see who is related to them. You can, theoretically, keep expanding that list, as far is it makes sense.

Some think that the tool is a misuse of Google’s data, sighting the ability for anyone to gain a new competitive edge. This of course was possible before, when for a fee you could snoop out information on your competitors via Hitwise and Comscore.

I see some great applications for the tool in terms of link building and competitive analysis on the cheap. Its competitive reporting at the best price point, free.

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Barack Obama Will Win The US Presidency - Guaranteed!

Posted: 20 Jun 2008 02:02 PM CDT

The 2008 US Presidential Election truly represents the first time the Internet will push a specific candidate "over the top" and on to the glory of being endlessly criticized by the public, roasted on SNL and all of the other wonderful benefits that come with the office.

So, why am I predicting guaranteeing that Barack Obama will reign supreme (thanks to you no less)? Because you represent one of the record-breaking 46% of Americans that have used the internet, email or cell phone text messaging to get news about the campaigns, share your views and mobilize others. Guess which candidate is the most savvy in online politics? Can you say Barack Obama?

Consider these political race related internet statistics:

35% of Americans say they have watched online political videos–a figure that nearly triples the reading the Pew Internet Project got in the 2004 race.

10% say they have used social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace to gather information or become involved. This especially applies to younger voters: two-thirds of internet users under the age of 30 have a social networking profile, and half use social networking sites to get or share information about the campaigns.

6% of Americans have made political contributions online during the primaries, versus 2% during the entire 2004 campaign.

39% of have used the internet to access campaign materials; including videos of candidate debates, speeches, announcements, position papers and speech transcripts.

In a true showing of the impact Barack Obama is having, 12% of online 18-29 year olds have posted their own political commentary or writing to an online newsgroup, website or blog. To whom do you think the majority profess their allegiance? You guessed it – Barack Obama.

Still not convinced? Check out these primary statistics:

74% of wired Obama supporters received political news and information online, compared with 57% of online Clinton supporters.

Versus John McCain, Obama’s backers are more likely to get political news and information online (65% vs. 56%).

Obama supporters outpace both Clinton and McCain supporters in their usage of online video, social networking sites and other online campaign activities.

When you consider everything, no matter how you slice it and dice it, in today’s internet world, Barack Obama appears wired in for victory.

What say you Pilgrims?

Full Disclosure – I happen to be a registered Republican, so please don't misconstrue this as a Marketing Pilgrim endorsement for Barack Obama. It's not.

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