Flickr Makes Creative Commons Image Search Easier
Flickr has quietly rolled out a change to its search interface that makes it a lot easier to find images that are licensed through Creative Commons. There’s a new “License” dropdown menu that shows at the top of the search results page, as shown above. It brings Creative Commons…
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
PPC Management: Your Past, Present & Future
Don’t get stuck in the mire of the present and always putting out fires within your account. PPC managers need to reside in the future, past, and present simultaneously in order to get the full scope of their campaigns and optimize them successfully.
Google Helpouts Twitter Spam (Beta)
Google is desperate to promote Helpouts. I first realized this when I saw the following spam message in my email inbox.
Shortly after a friend sent me a screenshot of a onebox promoting Helpouts in the SERPs.
That’s Google monopoly and those are Google’s services. It is not like they are:
- being anti-competitive
- paying others to spam other websites
Let’s slow down though. Maybe I am getting ahead of myself:
Google has its own remote technology support service similar to Mr. Gupta’s called Google Helpouts. Mr. Gupta’s complaint alleges Google may have been blocking his advertisements so Google Helpouts could get more customers.
Oh, and that first message looked like it could have been an affiliate link. Was it?
Hmm
Let me see
What do we have here?
Google Helpouts connects you to a variety of experts–from doctors, parenting experts, tutors, personal trainers, and more–over live video call. The Google Helpouts Ambassador Program is a unique opportunity to spread the word about Helpouts, earn money, and influence a new Google product–all on your own schedule.
As an Ambassador, you will:
- Earn extra income–receive $25 for each friend you refer who takes their first paid Helpout, up to $1,000 per month for the first 4 months.
- Give direct feedback and help shape a new Google product
- Join a community of innovative Ambassadors around the country
- Receive a Helpouts gift and the chance to win prizes
We all know HELPFUL hotel affiliate websites are spam, but maybe Google HELPouts affiliate marketing isn’t spam.
After all, Google did promise to teach people how to do their affiliate marketing professionally: “We will provide you with an Ambassador Toolkit with tips and suggestions on creative ways you can spread the word. You are encouraged to get creative, be innovative, and utilize different networks (i.e. social media, word of mouth, groups & associations, blogs, etc.) to help you.”
Of course the best way to lead is by example.
And lead they do.
They are highly inclusive in their approach.
@homosexualwentz Help is here! Use the code IFOUNDHELP for $20 off a 1-on-1 session w/ a trusted tech expert today: http://t.co/OtiePzjOIS— Helpouts by Google (@Helpouts) May 12, 2014
Check out this awesome Twitter usage
They’ve more Tweets in the last few months than I’ve made in 7 years. There are 1,440 minutes in a day, so it is quite an achievement to make over 800 Tweets in a day.
@Helpouts did google helpouts really just reply to a tweet of mine?— Emma Klinger (@Emma_Klinger) May 15, 2014
You and many many many many thousands of others, Emma.
Some minutes they are making 2 or 3 Tweets.
And with that sort of engagement & the Google brand name, surely they have built a strong following.
Uh, nope.
They are following over 500 people and have about 4,000 followers. And the 4,000 number is generous, as some of them are people who sell on that platform or are affiliates pushing it.
Let’s take a look at the zero moment of truth:
@Helpouts I really don’t want to pay for support.— Krishna M. Sadasivam (@pcweenies) May 14, 2014
Thanks for your unsolicited commercial message, but I am not interested.
@baileyboo612 @Helpouts what the heck??— logan™ (@logangaspard) May 13, 2014
You’re confusing me. Some context would help.
@Helpouts Hi, who can help me? , do u have an email for talk there?— Pamela López (@karlismkt) May 15, 2014
No email support, but support “sessions”? What is this?
@Helpouts $1.00 a minute? No thanks…— (@Owennn_Marsh) May 14, 2014
Oh, I get it now. Is this a spam bot promoting phone sex?
RT “@Helpouts: Help is just a click away! Helpouts by #Google has Apple tech experts who can help out today.” … No, just no— Johnny Blanchard (@JonnBlanchard) May 15, 2014
Ah, so it isn’t phone sex, but you can help with iPhones. Um, did we forget that whole Steve Jobs thermonuclear war bit? And why is Google offering support for Apple products when Larry Page stated the whole idea of customer support was ridiculous?
@Helpouts MAN I’VE ALREADY TRIED GOOGLE— mya ☪ (@gleebegay) May 15, 2014
OK, so maybe this is more of the same.
@Helpouts hahaha I’m not going to pay money for things that probably won’t even help me.— Nate Morse (@nt4343) May 16, 2014
Cynical, aren’t we?
@Helpouts no, that’s too expensive— Mahalah (@Mahalah_faye) May 16, 2014
And cheap?
@Helpouts im not paying— ononnah❄ (@ononnahh) May 15, 2014
Really cheap. :(
@Helpouts fu I’m not paying for help— Sam (@ttihweimmas) May 14, 2014
And angry?
@Helpouts Chill out!— Atsuro Kihara (@atsuro_enbot) May 15, 2014
And testy?
@Helpouts then why the fuck arent you fixing my mentions if youre such “trusted tech experts”— bianca // KIAN 4/6?? (@lawlorfflower) May 13, 2014
And rude?
@Helpouts no— Abby Williams (@abbywilliams96) May 15, 2014
And curt?
@Helpouts no— spongebobs weave (@googlingcraic) May 15, 2014
Didn’t you already say that???
@Helpouts fuck you— Samuel (@SamuelJones69) May 14, 2014
Didn’t you already say that???
@Helpouts what the heck— hey cal (@holycalum) May 14, 2014
It seems we are having issues communicating here.
@Helpouts ok I fucks with it. Next time try not to spy on my tweets lol— E (@Easy_Eli) May 14, 2014
I’m not sure it is fair to call it spying a half day late.
That was 11 hours ago @Helpouts pic.twitter.com/jRVV7rgtdW— 28 (@5SOSmaryam) May 14, 2014
Better late than never.
@Helpouts I fixed it already maybe? Thank you tho automatic message— Megar (@AH_Megan6) May 15, 2014
Even if automated.
Good catch Megar, as Google has a creepy patent on automating social spam.
@Helpouts Sorry, but I’ll just ask my friends because they are free and I need to do the homework right now.— Emma Raye Mosier (@EmmaRayeMosier) May 15, 2014
Who are your real Google+ friends? Have they all got the bends? Is Google really sinking this low?
@Helpouts Classmates over corporations, Google. I’m not interested.
BTW please don’t censor the European internet.— Hash (@saikorhythm) May 15, 2014
Every journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
@Helpouts This is hilarious. If I ever need it I know you guys have this, thanks!— Gabriella (@Gaby441) May 14, 2014
Humorous or sad…depending on your view.
@Helpouts thanks! is there also a Helpout on how to shameless self promote yourself through twitter? just wondering— Etta Grover (@ettafetacheese) May 14, 2014
There’s no wrong way to eat a Reese’s.
Google has THOUSANDS of opportunities available for you to learn how to spam Twitter.
As @Helpouts repeatedly Tweets: “Use the code IFOUNDHELP for $20 off” :D
++++++++
All the above Tweets were from the last few days.
The same sort of anti-social agro spamming campaign has been going on far longer.
@Helpouts fuck off— Dagger Anderson (@daggeranderson) May 8, 2014
When Twitter users said “no thank you”…
@Helpouts THIS SHIT AINT FREE— mariam / 20 (@psychoticamila) May 8, 2014
…Google quickly responded like a Marmaris rug salesman
@Helpouts leave me a lone— mariam / 20 (@psychoticamila) May 9, 2014
Google has a magic chemistry for being able to…
We need to fight spam messages (with MOAR spam messages).
@shelleyamybeth Lets try to get rid of all those Spam messages. Check out #Helpouts by Google for Wordpress help. http://t.co/eTTOMnpIhF— Helpouts by Google (@Helpouts) March 25, 2014
In a recent Youtube video Matt Cutts said: “We got less spam and so it looks like people don’t like the new algorithms as much.” Based on that, perhaps we can presume Helpouts is engaging in a guerrilla marketing campaign to improve user satisfaction with the algorithms.
Or maybe Google is spamming Twitter so they can justify banning Twitter.
Or maybe this is Google’s example of how we should market websites which don’t have the luxury of hard-coding at the top of the search results.
Or maybe Google wasn’t responsible for any of this & once again it was “a contractor.”
Categories:
Five key insights from our Search Engine Marketing Benchmark Report
Companies see the need for marketing budget flexibility
Effective digital marketing means seeing what works and what doesn’t, and switching tactics as appropriate. It seems that companies are increasingly using this approach.
Only 13% of responding companies have marketing budgets that are rigidly split by channel. This is good news given the increasingly integrated and agile nature of effective marketing.
The majority of companies either have flexibility to shift budget across channels based on ROI (43%) or have no channel splits in their digital marketing budget (44%).
Do you have separate budgets for different digital marketing channels? (company respondents)
CRO budgets are set to rise
Companies will be the most likely to increase their budget for conversion rate optimisation.
This backs up our Conversion Rate Optimisation report last year, which found that 87% of marketers believe that CRO has become more important over the last five years.
CRO can work well and deliver a greater ROI than other options, as these case studies show.
Three in five companies expect to be allocating more financial resource to CRO, while 58% and 55% (respectively) will be doing the same for paid search and SEO.
Do you expect your budgets to increase or decrease in the next 12 months? (company respondents)
Effective measurement is a problem
It appears that measuring the impact of investment in digital channels has become more problematic.
Only 36% of companies stated that they have ‘a definitive tracking solution to measure consistently across different digital channels’.
Do you or your clients have a definitive tracking solution to measure consistently across different digital channels?
Just 44% are currently able to measure paid search return on investment (ROI) effectively, down from 53% last year.
Measuring ROI for search engine optimisation has been even more problematic, with a 14% drop in the proportion of companies effectively tracking return on investment in this area.
Meanwhile, companies were most likely to select measuring success as the key barrier to success in their social media marketing and display advertising efforts.
Sentiment towards Enhanced Campaigns is far from positive
Enhanced Campaigns were introduced by Google last year, and were not universally welcomed. Despite the name, many search marketers felt that this move made their lives more difficult.
The removal of the ability to target campaigns to specific devices was a major gripe, as was the increased costs of the new system.
A year or so on from its introduction, we asked marketers and it seems that sentiment towards Enhanced Campaigns isn’t too positive.
What impact has Google’s introduction of Enhanced Campaigns had on your / your clients’ paid search marketing?
Only 14% of companies say that Enhanced Campaigns have had a positive effect on paid search marketing, mostly due to improvements to mobile search.
Meanwhile, a quarter of responding companies say impact has been non-existent and more than half (53%) are still yet to make their mind with regards to the service.
Companies that felt Enhanced Campaigns had a negative impact seemed to be uncomfortable with the forced inclusion of mobile campaigns and the general increase in cost.
Here are some comments from respondents:
This is a mixed bag. When the adverts went live, Google defaulted it so that they made more money which is not good. However, once you get to grip with the filters they do allow for better targeting.
Customers are currently unable to purchase our products on mobile and tablet, and as such we are wasting 20% of our PPC budget on tablet advertising.
Few marketers are making extensive use of Google+
This year’s research illustrates most marketers’ apathy to Google’s social endeavours.
Though some brands are making efforts with Google+, most companies are making limited efforts to exploit the opportunities which are available.
- 65% of companies reported that they have created Google+ brand pages.
- 26% are adding video and images to Google+ local pages.
- 28% are encouraging customers to engage and share content on Google+.
- 19% have encouraged staff to create accounts on G+.
Some marketers have been exploring its impact on search-related activities. 26% have researched the impact of search engine visibility, while 22% have linked their Google+ accounts to AdWords campaigns.
Bearing in mind that more companies use paid advertising opportunities on Facebook (74%), Twitter (37%) and LinkedIn (37%), it is fair to assume marketers are generally unconvinced about the benefits of Google+.
It’s all about the Apps: The Planet of The Apps
Apps, apps, apps. Infinitemonkeys looked at the statistics and facts around apps and came up with this infographic.
Post from Bas van den Beld on State of Digital
It’s all about the Apps: The Planet of The Apps
UK Search Engine Marketing Benchmark Report 2014
The UK Search Engine Marketing Benchmark Report 2014, carried out in association with Latitude, contains a comprehensive analysis of the UK search marketing environment.
The report, covering search engine optimisation (SEO or natural search), paid search (PPC), social media marketing and display advertising, is based on an online survey of more than 700 client-side digital marketers and agencies.
This research, also available in summary as a PowerPoint presentation, gives a unique and thorough insight into industry trends, how much companies are spending and the challenges they are facing.
The survey findings are divided into the following sections:
- Digital marketing disciplines and resourcing
- Budgets (paid search, SEO, social media marketing, display advertising)
- Bid management technology
- Effectiveness and ROI
- Integration of marketing activities
- Impact of Enhanced Campaigns and Google+
- Use of social media sites for paid advertising
- Barriers to search, social and display
Highlights includes:
- Increased competition driving paid search budgets
- Struggle to measure impact of investment
- ‘Not provided’ keywords are a source of frustration for marketers
- Companies recognise need for marketing budget flexibility
- Few marketers are making extensive use of Google+
- Impact of Enhanced Campaigns concentrated arouund mobile
Table of contents
- Executive Summary and highlights
- Foreword by Latitude
- About Latitude
- About Econsultancy
- Methodology and sample
- Respondent profiles
- Findings
- Digital marketing disciplines and resourcing
- Digital marketing disciplines and resourcing
- Types of digital marketing activity
- Agency focus
- How companies resourcing their marketing activities
- Length of agency contract
- Types of agencies used
- Multilingual and multi-territory search campaigns
- Budgets
- Flexibility of marketing budgets
- Percentage of overall budget spend on digital marketing channels
- Change in digital marketing budgets
- Paid search budget
- Annual paid search budget
- Annual change in paid search budgets
- Percentage of paid search budget spent on local search
- Percentage of paid search budget spent on mobile search
- Percentage of paid search budget spent on management fees
- Percentage of Google ad spend on Google Display Network
- SEO budget
- Annual SEO budgets
- Annual change in SEO budget
- Social media marketing budget
- Annual social media marketing budget
- Annual change in social media budgets
- Percentage of social media spent on paid advertising
- Display advertising budget
- Annual display advertising budget
- Annual change in display advertising budget
- Percentage of display budget spent via real-time bidding
- Use of bid management technology
- Criteria for selecting bid management technology
- Effectiveness and ROI
- Impact on brand
- Effectiveness of ROI tracking
- Factors affecting search marketing ROI
- Types of search engine marketing and related activities
- Integrating search and display
- Integration of search engine marketing and content strategy
- Use of social media in search engine optimisation
- Impact of Google on search marketing
- Enhanced campaigns
- Effect of Google+
- Which social media sites are being used?
- Barriers to search, social media and display activity
- Barriers to paid search
- Barriers to SEO
- Barriers to social media
- Barriers to display advertising
- Appendix: Respondent profiles
- Business sector
- Geography
- Annual company turnover
Download a copy of the report to learn more.
A free sample is available for those who want more detail about what is in the report.
The Myths & Realities Of How Of The EU’s New “Right To Be Forgotten” In Google Works
Depending on what you read, a “Right To Be Forgotten” court ruling in the European Union this week means that now anyone can ask for anything to be removed from Google, which will soon collapse under an overwhelming number of requests. In reality, it’s far more limited than it…
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
The Google State Of The Union: Strong Yet Vulnerable
Earlier today Google published its annual Founders’ Letter. This is a kind of “Google State of the Union” missive that Google has published annually since it went public. Many bloggers picked up on the following remark in the document penned by Google CEO Larry Page: “[I]n…
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
What if Your Ugly Website is Holding Back Your Marketing Efforts? – Whiteboard Friday
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With New GDN Ad Format, Text Ads Will Compete In Display Auctions
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Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
MarTech: The Marketing Tech Conference – Agenda & Speaker Roster Now Live!
Search Engine Land parent company Third Door Media, Inc. introduces MarTech, a conference for people pioneering the field of technology-powered marketing, which will be held in Boston August 19-20, 2014. View the list of speakers & session descriptions on the agenda. Learn how technology can…
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
India Opens Second Google Antitrust Investigation Over AdWords
Google is in the midst of an antitrust, anti-competition investigation in India. Not long ago the company was fined by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for not cooperating in that investigation: “not providing information and documents required.” Now a separate…
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
#HEROCONF Predicting the Future with CRO: Achieving ROI through Content
Jasmine Aye recaps Stefan Wiechowski’s HeroConf 2014 presentation on his opinion of the future of CRO, and how we all can grow businesses without the use of averages.
Post from Events State of Digital on State of Digital
#HEROCONF Predicting the Future with CRO: Achieving ROI through Content
Yahoo Switches To SSL & hsrd.yahoo.com Referers Increase
A few months ago, many publishers and webmasters began noticing a huge spike in referrers from hsrd.yahoo.com.
Scanning through the Yahoo Answers and Microsoft Answers threads…
Bizarre Video: How Much Wood Can A Matt Cutts Cut
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Google Readies For Flood Of Removal Requests After EU “Right To Be Forgotten” Ruling
The floodgates have opened. According to a Reuters story, following Tuesday’s European Court ruling establishing a Europe-wide “right to be forgotten” (RTF), Google is preparing for an anticipated “flood” of removal requests across the 28 country jurisdiction. The…
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
All SEO Theory WordPress User Accounts Will Be Deleted
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Were You Really Hit By A Search Engine Penalty, Or Is It Something Else?
Often, I’ll speak to prospective clients who think they’ve been hit by an algorithm update or a penalty. They’ve lost a lot of organic traffic, so they immediately think that a search engine change is to blame. Unfortunately, I’ve also run into many situations where SEOs are…
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.