Archive for the ‘Research’ Category

To App Or Not To App? The rise and rise of mobile

October 31st, 2011

Where is your mobile right now? Are you using it to read this blog? Are you looking at an app? Are you browsing a web page? Are you on a call? Are you texting? Is it on the table next to you?  Has your five year old got their hands on it? When did you last let your mobile out of your site for more than two minutes? How many of us take our mobiles to the bathroom with us? How many of us will actually happily let another person use our mobile and not check it upon its return? Wherever your mobile is right now it can’t be denied that we have become entirely dependent upon the device. And yet brand and businesses have yet to capitalise on this.

Is it safe to say mobile apps are currently the way to go or should businesses and brands spend extra building an efficient optimized mobile site? Are we going to see mobile web take over apps down the line? Probably, yes, however apps seem to be where the hearts of the purse holders are right now.

So what do the numbers look like? Nielsen published data showing that 36% of US mobile consumers have smartphones, and ComScore research shows that the average mobile in the US has 34 apps with an average of only four used daily. App downloaders with Apple iOS and Android OS smartphones have more applications on their mobile phones than those with other kinds of smartphones, with an average of 48 apps on iPhones and 35 apps on Android phones.

There are positives for both apps and mobile websites. The latter offer a wider customer reach as they aren’t as phone model specific, and the barriers to use are lower as customers aren’t required to download anything. A mobile-optimised site also often allows more search functionality and more scope for being unrestrained in terms of design. It is also arguably easier to make relevant changes and updates whenever you like on a mobile website.

The advantages of having an app are bedded in the fact that the iPhone and smartphones are dominating the mobile internet space currently. An app is more appealing to iPhone and smartphone owners, and with the location based services available these apps provide fantastic visibility for the brand. Apps can redefine usability and interaction on mobile phones; act as a container for traditional content such as videos or games; provide an economical avenue for additional marketing exposure; and be a direct connection to festival goers (for example), keeping them informed and up-to-date with schedules, announcements, and alerts.

With the mobile industry heading towards mobile web and with generic top level domains (GTLDs) fast approaching surely it is going to change the way we discover and experience brands via our mobile.  The app v mobile website argument will continue to rumble on. What’s important is to look closely at your customers before making any decisions. Which is more appealing to them? At Reform we can advise your business on which option is the best for you. We don’t just tell you to build one but prove to you with research which is best for your business or brand.

Blog post by Anthony Dobson, Business Development Executive at Reform

The untapped potential of online video

October 21st, 2011

Recently I had the privilege of jumping across the pond to attend the online media, marketing and advertising expo, OMMA. Not only was it two inspiring days of serious talks and discussions with all the most up-to-date news, information and ideas in the world of online marketing but plenty speculation on the future of digital.

My focus for the two days was to understand more about online video. The statistics, courtesy of comScore tell an interesting story:

In the US alone there are 108 million people watching online video with 1.3 billion videos been watched daily. Video has seen a 1,290% growth since January 2006. An amazing stat, and yet this fast growing internet segment is increasingly under-monetized. In 2010 the US spent $1,440 million on advertising and had 441 billion videos viewed as opposed to a $324 million ad spend and 63 billion videos viewed in 2006. So a 334% increase in spend but an astonishing 600% increase in videos watched. In August 2011 there were 185 million online videos viewed, 162 million of those were on YouTube alone. That is an average of 228 videos per person per month. For the average person that is, 17 hours a month.

When looking for examples of countries getting video right one needs to look at Canada, the US and China. China and the US both manage to get over 150 million unique views per month. Canada and the US both have over 180 videos viewed a month per viewer with the majority of the videos viewed are homemade and funny. However we can learn something from that. People like to be entertained and want funny content.

The heaviest consumers of online video are 18-34 year olds, with 49.7% being female users and 50.3% male. Men watch 1.7 times as many videos online as women, a ratio that has remained constant for the past two years.

Between 2009 – 2010, the growth among long-term TV programming sites of videos viewed increased 104%. So why then are advertisers not jumping in and making the most out of online video? Is it because we are still wary of the unfamiliar content, unsure of the true effectiveness, trying to put video into the TV model of storytelling?

I’m particularly excited to see the next stages of online video and how brands rise to the challenge to harness its potential. It’s already a big opportunity and growing by the day.

Blog post by Anthony Dobson, Business Development Executive at Reform

Apple or Android? Coca Cola or Fizzy Drink?

April 11th, 2011

I can’t work out if I find flexibility or certainty more comforting. With the fight for democratic freedom raging in North Africa it is easy to feel that freedom of choice aka flexibility is what we really really want. The idea of being straight jacketed in an autocratic regime where there is no choice and you consciously and sub-consciously follow a predetermined path sounds very unappealing to the typical western democrat.

Yet in the most liberal of western societies where consumerism is championed and celebrated we are often quick to disregard the flexibility that our society allows and we opt for ‘choices’ that provide the most certainty. Supermarkets stack their shelves high and wide with a multitude of different products yet when we head up the fizzy drink aisle it is all too easy to grab the slab of Coca-Cola. Do we appreciate the fact that we had the opportunity to choose from 100 alternatives or do we tend to fall back on the ‘certainty’ of the product that we will consume.

The same debate prevails on the supply side. As a manufacturer or service provider should you organise yourself in a ‘walled garden’ (where for example the apps or the plug for your phone chargers only fit your phones) or should you be ‘open source’ (where the U in USB stands for universal)? If you visit a potential supplier’s website to establish the credentials for the service they are offering are you impressed or put off by the number of additional services that they purport to deliver?

The Brand marketer will always go for the closed shop certainty claiming businesses and consumers will always revert to type and if they can make their brand the ‘type’ that people revert to then they have done their job. “Nobody got fired for buying IBM” as they used to say. Scientists and statisticians will recount theories of natural laws that suggest people are intuitively creatures of habit and generally crave some certainty.

But we don’t all drive Ford cars, surf on Dell computers and support Manchester United. Indeed if a farmer planted the same crops in the same field year in year out his yields would collapse. Fields like people can have too much of a good thing. So whether we are looking at human psychology, business models or agricultural best practice it appears that variety may just be the spice of life.

We live in an ever changing world which suggests that we need more than certainty to thrive, but where a good brand is a lazy man’s saviour. Probably no right or wrong answer but something to ponder upon in the shower in the morning.

Blog post by James Kilpatrick, non-executive director at Reform.

Update on International Search Review 4 – India

December 28th, 2010

Well, our review on the Search Market in India was the fourth in our series of International Search Reviews from Reform. It was an interesting piece, but I figured the best way to learn how the market really works and to generate insight is to actually go there (for a holiday of course). So here are some things that I inadvertently learned while in India, from a search and web perspective.

Things I learned in India:

1) The Market – As we’ve all been hearing, India is a market that’s barely tapped when it comes to internet usage, and the online population is set to explode, like it has in China.

Now that I’ve been there, I’m not sure if I agree 100%. While things like food and transportation were much cheaper in India than in the west, broadband was actually pretty much the same price as in the west, if not more expensive in some places. Many “offers” were still in the 15-45 dollar per month range, at the very least.

Considering that buying a home is significantly cheaper in India and an average salary is about $3.5k (though figures online do vary quite a bit, so to put it in perspective, some of the top jobs in India are in IT and they still make under 10k USD on average), broadband is proportionately an expensive offering and only for the well off. And from being outside the major cities part of the time, it felt even more far fetched (mainly because broadband was not available everywhere yet).

Though I did see a fair few billboards advertising “high speed internet access coming soon”. So at least it will be an option outside the major cities soon.

2) Google Billboards – Speaking of billboards. Google buys billboard advertising spaces on the highways of Delhi. However it took a few passes to realise it was a Google advertisement, and considering how manic the traffic is in India, with constant horns blaring and cars cutting in from all angles in their attempt to convert a three lane road into eight lanes – I doubt anyone even notices it.

Plus, they probably shouldn’t encourage speed on these roads anyway. By that I mean, the ad is for Google Chrome and it’s mainly a picture of a Windows-esque folder that says “Install Speed” on it – with Chrome’s logo in the bottom right corner. Google does dominate the search market here, perhaps because the search market is mainly those who are quite internationally savvy to begin with. Ask the regular people on the street and some of them will have no idea who Google is.

So putting an ad up that is mainly for people who already know who you are is a bit misleading.  The ad looked too subtle perhaps.  Where as every other ad on the road had the brand name in big letters, pushing the big brand name as much as it can.

3) Use PPC and Affiliate Networks To Make Money At Home! – I did manage to get a camera shot of this (shown below), seen all over trains and lampposts especially in Mumbai. Yes, perhaps some of the stereotypes are true unfortunately. Just click away on affiliates, fill surveys, click PPC ads, enter data, etc and make money at home! Ezeeincome.com was one of several sites advertising here, the shot above was from an “economy car” in one of Mumbai’s overland trains, which were busy as expected, but still worth using, though perhaps not during rush hour.

Beyond search, big name sites like TripAdvisor.in will “reimburse” you for reviews, with credits and vouchers one can use elsewhere.  On a computer in India, I saw a pop-up saying I could earn money with each review made on tripadvisor.in, but taking a screenshot was the last thing I was thinking of at that moment (plus it wasn’t my computer!).

4) Mobile Phones – The government is discussing a national broadband plan for the coming years. But with current offerings costing a fair portion of many people’s monthly salary – hopeful predictions like http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/infotech/internet/237-mn-internet-users-in-India-by-2015-Report/articleshow/6479094.cms are still far away. However, mobile broadband will make it much more possible.

Everyone seemed to have a mobile phone out there. Some looked like the one I had ten years ago. But I also saw many phones that were perhaps newer than my current phone. Even outside the cities, I saw kids calling and texting away – while piled on a 3 seater vehicle that had more than ten people in it, so this is definitely a market ready for mobile broadband. But 3G mobile broadband is not readily available yet, especially outside the big cities.

So why the big mobile takeup? Well, it doesn’t require a full computer, and it’s cheaper. Basic plans started from under $6 per month, with text messages costing less than two pennies. Calls were also about one cent a minute. But again, adding wireless internet access to the mobile phone was expensive. And 3G wireless access is just being launched – so even though many people had 3G compatible phones, they were using them for traditional means such as phone calls! Chances are the mobiles might have came with the plans, as the actual mobile device costs are again similar to that in the west, which means too expensive for most.

Articles like http://www.domain-b.com/industry/telecom/20101227_mobile_network.html are perhaps misleading. Yes, there are more mobile phone subscribers and their phones are connected to a wireless network, but the network is not necessarily one with any real internet access, let alone 3G. Major provider Tata only launched 3G in November 2010, while Airtel delayed their launch till 2011.

So will people be using their 3G phone for things like video chats and internet access when ready? Not if the Indian government have any say, as they look to delay plans further – http://www.slashgear.com/india-faces-3g-data-video-call-ban-over-real-time-security-fears-22120687/

On a side note, I didn’t see a single iPhone.  Everyone had Nokias!  I even looked this up when I got back and turns out that most of the top phones in India are in fact Nokias and iPhones are not nearly as popular here.  There’s an interesting report by Google/Admob at http://metrics.admob.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/AdMob-Mobile-Metrics-May-10.pdf if you’re interested in more details.

Summary – Is India a booming market with loads of potential in the internet marketplace? Yes. But it might take a little longer than expected before it fully expands across the country’s population.

How does it look today? Take a look at our India search market review (with downloadable PDF). Or view information about other countries in our series of international search market reviews. Thanks again to all those who commented and gave us feedback and help in 2010, Issue five of our series is set for release in early 2011.

Searching for the answer: The IPA Search Certificate exam

September 24th, 2010

This week I have been among the first set of delegates to sit the exam for the new IPA Search Certificate. After a 20 hour learning programme over the last 3 months, including e-lessons, walkthroughs, video snippets from industry experts, and downloadable key reading learning materials, came this two hour online exam of multiple choice questions and free writing long form answers. Reform wrote the content for the learning and the exam questions – before I started working here, sadly… any tips about things to focus on for the exam were unforthcoming despite my best efforts – so I have to admit to a certain pressure to do well!

Billed as an opportunity to ‘find everything you need to know about search in one place’, the twenty coursework modules covered themes from making the case for search with clients, to taking a brief and campaign planning, PPC and SEO basics, forecasting, technology and measuring success. To its credit the Search Certificate takes a wide perspective, focusing beyond Google, and could be considered to be complementary to the search engines’ own accreditation schemes. While the GAP exam, for example, is designed solely for practitioners and focuses on their particular systems and processes, the elements of the IPA Search Certificate that discuss streamlining workflow, managing time and clients, and integrating search with other channels, all make it stand out as full training programme.

The long form essay style section of the exam – which accounts for 60% of the overall mark – also means that any inclination towards, ahem, let’s call it a ‘collaborative’ approach to sitting the exam, is thwarted.

This is a the first independent qualification for search in the UK, and is designed to instil a high level of knowledge and service provision across the industry, encouraging those new to search to understand the challenges and opportunities posed by the channel from early on in their careers. From my own perspective, the learning content is of a high quality (though you could argue that I have to say that given Reform’s involvement…), and put together in a slick and compelling form.

Let’s hope that when the results come out in a few weeks’ time my score reflects that!

Blog post by Penny Anderson, Search Consultant at Reform

Google Instant Creates a New Type of Query: Incomplete Match, AKA Short Tail Search

September 12th, 2010

As you may have read over the last week – be it on Amanda’s blog post or the general buzz on the web – Google Instant search was heralded, hated, mocked, loved, loathed, etc. In fact the only common opinion was that everyone had an opinion!

Now that the dust has settled, the new feature exceeds the initial shock value. No, SEO results didn’t change (although they did get pushed down a bit and number one rankings may have even more value now), and PPC impressions won’t go through the roof due to their being a set amount of time of three seconds needed for the result to display in instant search (but they will go up, as people look at their query and refine further before even clicking anything). And is Google is trying to make users customise their searches in a way that their ads can appear across a greater percentage of search queries – perhaps also forcing an increase in keyword query totals for certain queries, and reducing them for others? That remains to be seen.

So what have we discovered so far? Well, you can now get traffic for keywords you do not even rank for!

What? Yes, Google Instant has brought about a new type of search query. We have had brand search queries, market sector queries, generics and local search queries, along with the ever evolving “long tail” of search that has been an industry buzz word for years.

And the new type of search query? You heard it here first: “short tail” search. Or perhaps “incomplete match”!

Already, since the launch of Google Instant, some US sites have reported a slight growth in “incomplete keywords”. For example, one of the top volume driving keywords for our client Angel Investment Network in the last few days has been “angel inve”. Yes, by then, the main site was top of the results. And the user, well I guess the user couldn’t be bothered to type “angel investment”, saw the result they wanted and clicked away! Still, this example is quite relevant. But what about an example where the word the user intended to type is quite competitively different…

Let’s say am looking for “photography”, but by the time I get to “Pho” I see Photobucket ranked 1st – it sounds relevant to me, and I click it (as it’s a site about photo sharing, and yes while if you read the details it may not be the right site for me, first impressions are big, the site name seems relevant, and most users are impatient – so I click away).

However, this is a site that does not rank for the term “photography” yet it got a semi-relevant click that now tells the user “OK, we’re not about photography, but if you ever want to share photos online, now you know where to go”. So photobucket.com can now steal potential clicks for a term they didn’t even compete well for! And there are several other examples of this I’m sure. The whole ability to click via an incomplete keyword query opens up a new dimension to how we study keyword targeting. And that is what we call, the “short tail” or the “incomplete match” (if you have a preference, do let us know!) keywords of search.

If you’re still new to Google Instant, check out Google’s explanation of how Instant Search works here: http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2010/09/google-instant-impact-on-search-queries.html

Blog post by Niall Madden, Search Director of Reform

Is it an art or is it a science?

June 25th, 2010

Albert –László Barabási is probably not well known in the world of search and that is not necessarily surprising as he is a physicist living in Boston, USA. But he is a physicist with a difference, who employs detailed scientific modelling to help understand social behavioural patterns.

In his research he maps the daily movements of millions of mobile phone users over many months. His latest study of a random 50,000 person subset has concluded that 93% of human mobility patterns are predictable. If he is right, and there is no reason to believe otherwise, that is a big number – in fact that is a huge number.

At this point he seems to be most excited about the prospect for using his ‘data burst’ analytics to model the spread of viruses or road traffic engineering. From a marketers point of view these individual and collective physical travel habits will be of interest, but people’s virtual travel habits are likely to prove even more interesting.

With Google and Facebook representing the most travelled sites online, the brands that can best analyse the ‘data bursts’ of search and social media activity will be best able to ensure that their products and services lie in wait as each consumer makes the next click with their mouse.

But better still, a little bit of reverse engineering will actually inform brands as to the moves that their competitors are most likely to make. This is where the art of pursuing means reversion or trend acceptance will force the data analysts to take a back seat as the business tacticians plot their course.

Blog post by James Kilpatrick, non-Executive Director of Reform

The State of Search Marketing Survey – guest comment from Ed Stevenson, MD of Marin Software

May 21st, 2010

Congratulations on your recent State of Search report.  I thought it provided some extremely valuable insight into the big issues facing our industry.

In particular, I was interested in the things that advertisers want to see more of from their agencies. Here’s the full list from the report:

• More insights from performance data, not just impression levels and basic daily reporting
• Better recommendations that can be implemented quickly
• More transparency of data
• More pro-activity overall
• More advice and assistance planning with ATL activity
• Direct access to tools for data without waiting for agency to provide it
• Ability to do more structured testing
• More meaningful (not necessarily more detailed) reporting and analysis
• Better understanding of the client’s company and its products to make PPC campaign changes easier
• More integration between SEO and PPC

What I think shines through here is a growing desire for control: advertisers want more of it; agencies have not always been able to demonstrate they can provide it.

Of course, advertisers have always wanted to know how their search campaigns are performing, but – as the report clearly shows – search spend has increased dramatically both in absolute terms and as a share of the overall marketing mix in recent years. With this growth inevitably comes greater scrutiny and a desire for more intelligence around how search is directly impacting the business.

The report also shows where this appetite for greater control can logically end up – with search being taken in house. Almost a third (32%) of clients are now taking this option and over half considering doing so. Clearly, in some cases this can make very good sense and certainly knowledge of ‘how to do search’ is no longer confined to a small niche of agency specialists – the basics are becoming commoditised.

But I still strongly believe that in many cases agencies can play a vital role in giving an outside perspective and adding creativity to search campaigns that advertisers can benefit from. And in a world where demand for exceptional search talent still outstrips supply, agencies can help clients access the skills of the best people available.  As I’ve written about before on my own blog, I think to succeed agencies need to directly address the issue of control. They need to be more transparent in their reporting. And they need to offer not just information, but insight and intelligence about campaigns and relate that back to the businesses they are serving in a language they understand.

A third of clients already see search as too important to outsource – and they may well be right.  The key to the future of agencies is to develop such a deep understanding of their clients, combined with outstanding creativity, so that an agency relationship no longer feels like outsourcing at all.

Guest blog: Ed Stevenson has worked in the search industry since the early days of AdWords and is now the Managing Director of Marin Software in Europe. Read more about his take on the rapidly expanding world of big search marketing at http://www.bigsearchblog.com.

You can read more about this State of Search Marketing Survey and download the full report here: http://www.reformdigital.com/reform-search-marketing-survey.

Search Engine Marketing in Russia – International Search Review Issue 2

February 16th, 2010

Thanks to everyone for their feedback on the first issue of Reform’s International Search Review. Issue number two is now available, as we move north into Russia.  Like China, Russia is a large market where Google is not the search engine of choice, playing second fiddle to Yandex.ru.  As a result, SEO and general search marketing strategies from international companies looking to expand into Russia often find obstacles here.

For instance, it can be difficult for foreign companies to do PPC advertising on Yandex. Their PPC service is known as Yandex:Direct – which has a user interface for accounts that is entirely in Russian. Unless you have a fluent Russian PPC person on your team (and even then), potential advertisers are advised to let Yandex manage the PPC accounts on your behalf. This is known as the “Yandex.Direct Carefree account” – which their site says will provide you with a dedicated, English speaking account manager who will help you create and run your campaign (assistance with keywords selection, composing the ad text and advertising strategy consulting).

The initial take up of broadband was behind the pace of many other markets, but in the recent years Russia has started to really experience a steadier increase, becoming one of the top countries in regards to take up and usage of Mobile internet usage and Social Networking.   Russia is currently the eighth largest country in terms of internet user population, and is set to overtake the UK into seventh place.

Download a copy of the full “Russia Search Review” issue here

Take a look through the PDF and hopefully we can answer any questions about the search market share in Russia, along with the habits of the local internet user population there.

We look at the Yandex natural search algorithm, along with recent changes in Gogo.ru and Mail.ru, which had made an agreement with Google to use their natural search results, but instead opting to build their own algorithm first and using Google’s as a back up. Gogo.ru and Mail.ru do however use Google’s PPC results, which has helped extend its reach (and earnings) there. Considering Google had a 5% market share in Russia only 4 years ago, it has come a long way. But like in China, there are many factors which will try hard to make sure it never crosses the 50% line.

The overall search market share in Russia currently (along with other key stats from the PDF include):

- Yandex – 54.5% (62% when including Mail.ru) / Google 34.5% / Rambler – 1.9% / Bing – 0.4% (Source: Comscore, August 2009)

- 42,000,000 Internet users as of Jan 2010 and only a 33% estimated internet penetration.

- The average user in Russia spent 6.6 hours per month on social networks (highest in the world out of 38 countries that were reported), compared to a worldwide average of 3.7, 4.6 in the UK and 4.2 in the US. (World Metrix / Comscore: July 2009). The top choice of social network was Vkontakte.ru, followed by odnoklassniki.ru and mail.ru – while Facebook was a distant seventh.

- Twitter integration into search results was done on Yandex first in 2009 (before Google or Bing), yet Twitter usage in Russia is still relatively low, holding less than 0.5% of the overall global Twitter market share.

To get more details on this and everything else, download a copy of the full issue here – and let us know any comments / feedback.   Contact us, and we’ll get the next issue out to you before anyone else gets it!

You can also leave a comment below too.

Blog post by Niall Madden, SEO Director of Reform

Looking Into China’s Search Market & Social Networking Usage

January 7th, 2010

To kick off the new year, Reform is releasing the first of several in a series of their “International Search Reviews”.  The first one concentrates on the search market in China, which is rapidly evolving as we speak – even in the past week or so, where we’ve seen Microsoft announce how its making the market a major priority for 2010 – and how they plan on trying to get a better understanding of what Chinese users need.  Download a copy of the full “China Search Review” issue here (updated 13/01/10 with recent info regarding Google’s threat to leave the Chinese market).

And lets not forget Baidu’s announcement earlier this week to team up with Providence Equity Partners, who are an investor in U.S. video-viewing site Hulu – as they look to make a move in the online video marketplace.

We felt that the International Search Review series would be a good way to consolidate research and our own insight into these markets – and also helps answer the many questions people have when trying to find out the market share in China, the user internet population, or the effect of mobile search and social networking in China, the latter of which has proven not only profitable, but to be a lot different than how we may perceive it in the west.   For example – we look at how Social Networks in China have found a way to become profitable, without relying on advertising, and how the reasons users go on to social networks are quite different than why people in the UK or US might do so.

The SEO and PPC insights about China takes a look at Baidu’s natural search algorithm, along with their recent change of handling paid search campaigns – via their “Phoenix Nest” platform, along with how search works in the Chinese market, and local perceptions about what SEO and PPC are in the first place.  For example, “paid placements” were considered part of SEO.

We also look at what might lie ahead for this market in 2010, as big brands and technologies from the west focus stronger on what is now the biggest internet market in the world.

Of course, if you just want the stats, we’ve got that too - here’s some recent stats about search usage in China.

Baidu 64% / Google 21% / Others 15% (China Daily)

Baidu 62% / Google 29% / Bing 1% (Analysys International)

Baidu 76% / Google 20% / Yahoo & Bing 1% (Comscore – July 2009)

360,000,000 Internet users as of Sept, 09 and only a 25% estimated broadband penetration.

To get more details on this and everything else, download a copy of the full issue here – and let us know any comments / feedback.   Contact us, and we’ll get the next issue out to you before anyone else gets it!

You can also leave a comment below.

Blog post by Niall Madden, SEO Director of Reform