Google, Linked Data and Swine Flu

Visit Internet World

It was interesting to read about Larry Page talking yesterday about how Google’s saved searches helped predict swine flu. Now, first off, it’s necessary to understand that there is a heavy dose of PR spin in his position, as Google is under pressure from many quarters about the volume of data their servers keep in storage. But, scraping away the PR gloss, there is a very serious point in there. Which is this – can a private company which aggregates huge quantities of search data predict an epidemic or pandemic better than bodies like the World Health Organisation or the Centers for Disease Control?

I imagine it works something like this – Google would be able to pick up on localised searches in, let’s say, the Mexico City region around “flu”, “flu symptoms”, “flu remedies” etc (in Spanish of course!). By piecing this together with anecdotal evidence and media reports, someone with no public health training would be able to make an educated inference that there is indeed an outbreak of disease happening before hospitals and doctors were able to feed the same data into public health monitoring systems.

A valid point that can be made in response to Larry Page is that he has clearly picked an emotive and highly topical issue that has generated a huge amount of public concern around the globe, and it is difficult to see how storing searches longer than 6 months is at all necessary – for a good response, check out this link

What IS clear is that the evolution of the internet will make it possible to map all sorts of data (a current example of a mash-up that maps shootings in the Vancouver metro area against Google Maps would be of great value to police, politicians, community activists, health professionals and those looking to buy a house in Vancouver (!) http://is.gd/BEsg). At this point, I would like to refer you the granddaddy of the World Wide Web, Mr. Tim Berners-Lee, and a fantastic piece of video footage from the TED series – it’s about 16 minutes in length and well worth a watch)

Interesting stuff, no?

By Endaf Kerfoot

Visit Internet World

Guest blog: Tsafrir Peles, co-CEO DSNR Media Group – Do branded content sites get the best ROI?

Visit Internet World

By Tsafrir Peles, co-CEO DSNR Media Group

The answer is probably not, however the real answer is it depends!
Concerning the question of advertising on branded sites, it would appear that there has been little discussion of the key criteria used to judge success. A Results-Based approach to online advertising would suggest that if dollars spent on advertising are not directly translated into clear and measurable sales, then nothing useful is being done.

In this regard, the metrics for campaign success, which influence ROI, are:

1. Actual Cost (CPM / CPC rates)
2. Conversion rates (and cost of conversion)
3. Customer’s value – from the said media

Context in this debate is critical. Branded related benefits such as favorability and purchase intent are important, but, at the end of the day, they need to contribute, or be translated into actual purchases to realize their value to the advertiser. These are the major factors that define the campaign’s success.

It might be correct to suggest that higher advertising costs on branded content sites /channels are acceptable, but only if the added value they bring is relatively or substantially higher, either in conversion rates for the same acquisition cost, or in customer value, justifying higher customer acquisition cost.

Advertising on the Internet requires investment and planning, so getting the best possible ROI should be at the forefront of any business decision.
What is absent from this debate is the data that proves how smaller amounts of investment can realize high profits when allocating them effectively to running on non-branded site, ad network and portals. Alternatively, we need supporting data that shows spending larger amounts on branded web properties yields higher ROI.

Sales and profitability is and always will be the only criteria for success.

Visit Internet World

Guest blog: New Techniques in Online Lead Generation by Simon Wajcenberg, CEO of Clash-Media

Internet World

Internet advertising remains a key focus for today’s businesses and the rapid evolution of Internet-based technologies has resulted in a wide range of new approaches to online marketing. Proactive Online Lead Generation (OLG) is just one of them. Simon Wajcenberg, CEO of global Online Lead Generation specialist Clash-Media explains.

Online advertising is growing tremendously – in fact, if there hadn’t been a 43 per cent rise in online advertising last year, the overall value of advertising would have fallen by 19 per cent. Online advertising is keeping the industry moving in the right direction and the benefits for marketing managers means that almost everyone is now using the Internet in some form as part of their marketing strategy.

The Internet has made it easy for businesses to reach a global audience and for consumers in turn to reach any company they want to, regardless of location.

Proactive Online Lead Generation takes this a step further. Not only can companies reach this massive global audience, they can also target the people most relevant to them. Proactive OLG means companies don’t have to wait for customers to come to their door – they can go out and find the most relevant prospects, which makes it extremely effective at generating hot new leads.

Creatives for a Proactive OLG campaign are designed to be highly flexible so they can be adapted to any website that might want to use them. Previous forms of ad placement may not have fitted with the branding of the original website, so Proactive OLG carries huge benefits for website owners.

For marketing managers, they need to know how many leads they have generated, how many converted and how much they cost. With Proactive OLG clients only pay for relevant leads, so managers can be confident their data is good quality. They can also see the source of the data, identify which source provided the leads with the highest conversion rates, and build that into their next campaign.

As budgets are going to be at the forefront of most marketing departments’ minds for the foreseeable future, managers need to start looking into methods that are going to provide them with the best Return on Investment. New online methods can do just that, but the most important thing is to refine the campaign once it is implemented – once a company has new data, it is theirs to use for the future to set up an ongoing marketing effort.

Companies should never do just one follow-up action – a new lead can be contacted immediately by phone, sent a relevant catalogue, sent a follow-up email or be built into any other marketing activity. Creating a long-term campaign to make sure consumers keep coming back will dramatically increase the ROI that a Proactive Online Lead Generation campaign can offer.

Clash-Media are exhibiting at the upcoming Internet World show (28th-30th April 2009) at Earls Court 2. See them on stand E1175

Google Street View – Cool or Sinister?

Internet World

This went live this morning – it offers people the chance to check out all sorts of views of London from the point of view of a Mini Cooper (well, a camera mounted on a rod above a Mini Cooper, so about 2m above the ground).

It is awesome in its power – check out the view for SE1 9UY (the postcode for Ludgate House)

The potential applications for this are incredible – once geographic/locational tags are added to enrich this resource, this could be a fantastic way of enhancing local search and the ability of service businesses such as pubs and shops to deliver messaging to people expressing a clear interest in their area.

I suppose the real prize would be integrating all the vast information resources of Google in such a way that content can be delivered to a mobile device on demand for a given location. Which, in itself, raises interesting questions for how exhibitions can make use of proximity technology to enhace the exhibitor and visitor experience.

But my main question was – if you toggle left on the street view of Ludgate’s main entrance, you will see me innocently strolling along in a beige blazer (thankfully not up to anything embarrassing on THAT occasion!). Is this cool, or is it sinister? How would YOU feel?

By Endaf Kerfoot

http://twitter.com/endafk

Internet World

TFM&A 2009 – what we learned

Visit the Internet World website
Follow Internet World on Twitter

So, the visitors have gone home, the exhibit stands have been dismantled, and the Technology for Marketing & Advertising team can breathe a sigh of relief after some serious hard slogging in the run-up to the show.

And what a show it was – attendance up over 20%, a broad consensus amongst the exhibitors that the show could be considered a great success in any circumstances, let alone in the teeth of a severe economic slowdown, and massive interest in the seminar programme.

So what did we at Internet World learn from last week? Well, first and foremost, digital solutions had an increased prominence right across the TFM show – with more and more SME’s coming forward looking for solutions to enable them to compete more effectively online. Also, one of the sessions I managed to catch was around Marketing Resource Management – essentially about creating marketing materials more efficiently and executing marketing campaigns more effectively. This was given by Frans Riemersma, who is co-author of a recent book which was distributed to all VIP attendees, alongside Robin Collyer of Aprimo (www.aprimo.com).

This led me to speculate – what kind of frameworks do leading organizations have for measuring the effectiveness of their digital marketing activities? We hear a lot about different solutions for email marketing, the best tips for search engine optimization, why you should adopt a social media marketing strategy and how best to integrate your online and offline campaigns. What we don’t hear as much about is projects where a marketing director has made a conscious decision to measure return on digital investment across the board, covering all online activities. The ultimate aim of this would be to create a digital marketing “dashboard” which would show all ongoing digital activities around the globe, what kind of results are being achieved, and what is perhaps not working out as effectively as anticipated.

Can anyone point to any examples of best practices with this kind of initiative? It would be great to hear back. Particularly in the sphere of social media, where one of the questions that comes up again and again is what kind of returns can be expected from getting involved in building online communities (see my earlier piece “What is the Point of Social Media?”).

It would be great to hear back – join in, get involved, share your thoughts!

http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/661127

Visit the Internet World website
Follow Internet World on Twitter

Online retailing predicted to grow by 27.8% in 2009

Verdict research recently predicted that online retail will grow 27.8% in 2009, accounting for 8.5% of total retail sales. Despite this there is much evidence that retailers in general do not have a robust and effective online presence, with one horror story citing a certain retailer losing 700,000 a day over three day period when their site went down.

Not good at any time, but imagine suffering that in the current climate…

So the question is: how can retailers ensure that they are…
1. Capitalising on the surge in online retail sales?
2. Ensuring they do not lose potential revenues?

Well they’d do well to start by visiting Internet World this year (29th – 30th April at Earls Court). I’m not saying it will solve all their problems or answer all their prayers, but it’s the best place to find out everything you need to know about ecommerce and selling online:

There you will be able to learn from the people who have already succeeded such as:

David Walmsley, Head of Web Selling at John Lewis Direct will be imparting his 6 rules for smarter e-retail, an insight that any retailer would be foolish to miss.

Justin Moodie, Head of Online at HMV will be talking about multichannel retail, giving his views on how to successfully market and sell across high street and online stores – another must.

In addition to this there is an entire theatre dedicated to the entire ecommerce cycle from customer acquisition, user experience, ecommerce platforms, payment systems, fulfilment and CRM.

And there will be hundreds of exhibitors all eager to show you the latest technologies and solutions that can give you the tools you need to captialise on this growth in online retail.

And all of this is free if you click here and register online now.

You can see the ecommerce Theatre line up here
And check out more about ecommerce at Internet World here

James Drake-Brockman

Guest Blog: Jamie Riddell from Cheeze on harnessing Twitter for Brands

Visit the Internet World website
Follow Internet World on Twitter

So in answer to my last blog posting we’ve got expert and enthusiast Jamie Riddell to explain how Brands can use Twitter.

Top Five tips on harnessing Twitter for brands
Author: Jamie Riddell, director of innovation, Cheeze
www.twitter.com/jamieriddell
www.twitter.com/cheeze_agency

The world’s gone Twitter crazy! You can’t visit a website or turn a page without reading about it – whether it’s Jonathan Ross’ banter or Nipp Tweeting from the Schipol air crash.

Of course brands are keen to follow this trend and harness it to their own benefit. Some have been active for a while – smaller ones like eSpares are doing a great job of harnessing the channel, larger brands like Canterbury of New Zealand are just starting; and then you’ve got huge global brands like Dell that have already seen over $1m of revenue from the channel. Charities are at it too – Dogstrust and Hearing Dogs are two that I’ve got closer to through Twitter.

Set to grow even further, Twitter may also spin out with the associated growth of similar ‘tools’ like www.Identi.ca, www.plurk.com and www.jaiku.com – owned by Google. Having a presence on Twitter now will help you understand the medium and benefit your brand and the consumer.

So for if you’re looking to harness Twitter – where to start? Here are five tips to get you going.

1. Get on there! There’s no better place to start than with yourself. Sign up for an account, follow some people – you can start with me – www.twitter.com/jamieriddell – and get tweeting a little. Find some people or brands in your sector and watch what they’re doing. You can gain a lot from interacting and watching before you reveal a brand presence.

2. See what people are saying about your brand using search.twitter.com

- grab the feed and watch it for a while. Is the conversation positive or negative? This will help you define what your presence on Twitter needs to be. It may also help you quickly find brand ambassadors who can amplify your presence. Don’t forget the detractors – connecting with them on Twitter and helping them may create a rapid turnaround in their opinion.

3. Work out what you’re going to say, and who’s going to manage it. In some cases an agency can help get you off the ground and hand over the running once you ’re familiar with the process. You can stick to a content theme, or reason why you’re on Twitter, but don’t use it as a broadcast channel. All tweeting and no listening will lose you credibility – very fast!

4. Get your brand onto Twitter. Grab a name – ideally www.twitter.com/yourbrandname, set up your logo and a template design and start twittering. If you can reference your brand on your own corporate page that will help establish credibility for the brand on Twitter. At this time there are no regulations or checks – it’s up you to manage your brand on Twitter. Connect it to your other channels – you can feed your Twitter feed into a Facebook Fan Page or your own website.

5. Start talking – follow people you find interesting. If you’re sending links to your site, think about adding tracking tags. URL etiquette in Twitter’s 140 character dialogue is to use a tinyurl type conversion, so add your tracking in before converting the url. This can help you understand what value this channel is delivering for you, over and above interaction.

Visit the Internet World website
Follow Internet World on Twitter

Twitter is for nosey people and people with big egos

Ok so I’m a little behind to curve here but I did some Twitter investigating today and even though I am an enthusiast for all things internet it has raised some questions in my head that I’m sure will make me unpopular in the twittersphere.

First of all, some people do this on an extraordinarily regular basis: How do they find time? I can’t see how anyone can have the capacity to be such enthusiastic Tweeters and still do the job they are paid for effectively…

Secondly, what really is the business application for this? The only practical use I have come across is Dell selling $1.5m of stock via Twitter. Now that is impressive but what other successes are there?

Thirdly, my initial reaction to this is that it is only really used by people who have big egos and only read by individuals more interested in other peoples’ lives than their own…

Fourthly, and this ties in with points 1,2 & 3, if the demographic of user is as suggested, surely the real value in marketing terms is extremely limited…

So as you may have worked out I’m playing devil’s advocate here, but none the less I have yet to be converted to Twitter. That said, I am leaving my mind open to be changed…

James Drake-Brockman

Visit Internet World

Can Barack Obama transform the US government into an administration open to interaction with the populace and wider world via social media?

Visit Internet World

I read a piece today in Wired about the challenges facing President Obama in maintaining the momentum generated during his campaign in the social media space. Leveraging social media to generate new ideas, raise funds ($500m!), and find out more about voters’ concerns for a presidential campaign is very different from government, and this article usefully outlines the challenges an Obama “social media tsar” would face, from the technical to the political.

For example, there are so many pieces of legislation that potentially scupper web initiatives – one law (the Presidential Records Act, enacted after Nixon) forces all government written communications to be preserved, making it problematic to update websites. When a hyperlink to the Red Cross was inserted into the transcript of a speech President Bush made during Katrina urging people to seek help from them, it had to be removed because the government cannot endorse private sector organisations.

The question can in fact go deeper, and the article hints at this – are politicians ready to embrace the power of mass interactive communication inherent in almost-universal web connectivity (in the developed world at least)? Any thoughts/feedback welcome – here in the UK, what social media initiatives in the government sector are you aware of?

By Endaf Kerfoot
Visit Internet World

being let down by public service websites – just when it matters

Visit Internet World

The Internet World team were not able to make it in yesterday because of the snow (boo hoo!) but it did give me pause for thought on Monday morning as I stared at the snow falling outside the window and frantically searched for information about whether any trains would be running.

All the websites I would normally use were down. Southwest Trains and Southern Trains were the ones I checked for my partner and me, as well as National Rail Enquiries. Full marks to the BBC website – that one seems to be the proverbial cockroach after a nuclear holocaust, although it did wobble on the dreadful morning of 7/7. Unfortunately, the BBC specialises in news rather than accurate travel information – it was enough to get the big picture that few people would be making it into London on February 2nd 2009.

Transport for London – the website stayed up but I would personally prefer if the entire site changed to reflect a major travel incident – a different colour perhaps or different layout to let users know that there are some big problems out there. In all fairness though the site was up and running – just wasn’t painting a happy picture for those of us who don’t enjoy daytime TV.

As for the Train Operating Companies – well, frankly, it’s unacceptable. The websites are back up and running now in much reduced text-only format, but that decision could have been made overnight given that it was obvious the entire South East would wake to a thick blanket of snow and would be checking online whether there was any point getting down to the station.

The broader point is this – why do websites fall over when hit by these surges? It’s precisely at these moments that the internet comes into a world of its own, and latency needs to be built in to ensure access to information is maintained at all times.

Or am I being naive? Has anyone out there had to design a site to cope with this kind of surge? Fair enough, it’s harder to predict when millions of people will suddenly want to check a travel website – is BAA any better (I wasn’t flying so didn’t check, rather unscientifically). Even John Lewis fell over when their online Christmas sale started.

But surely now would be a good opportunity to focus thoughts on ensuring public service websites do just that – provide a public service when they’re most needed?

By Endaf Kerfoot
Visit Internet World