search
Tablet Paid Search Spend Continues to Grow as Engagement Tops PCs
Search advertising spending on tablets increased by 113% year-over-year in Q1 2013, representing 64% of mobile search spend, per results from a new IgnitionOne study. Smartphones also saw strong spending growth (+112%), with both devices cannibalizing PC budgets, as overall paid search spending increased by only 2%. For the quarter, tablet users spent an average of 17% more time on site than PC users.
Smartphone users accounted for a larger audience than tablet users, but showed lower overall engagement than tablet users relative to PCs. Smartphon! e users s! pent 4% more time on site than PC users, but had an Engagement Score that was 14% lower.
The study notes that it is more difficult to track smartphone than PC or tablet users: 59% of smartphone users do not allow themselves to be tracked, compared to 9% of tablet user and 18% of PC users.
report
Source: http://econsultancy.com/us/blog/11198-mobile-marketing-mainly-used-for-customer-acquisition-report
However, as search is second only to email as the most popular smartphone task, there is certainly value in using mobile for customer acquisition and awareness.
The survey also asked respondents which mobile marketing tactics they use.
Reflecting the fact that social media is a hugely popular activity on smartphone, 66% of marketers said they invest in social mobile advertising.
Display was the second most popular activity (44%) followed by mobile web landing pages with promotions and location-targeted advertising (both 37%).
Interestingly, only 22% said they invest in mobile paid search, which suggests advertisers are missing the opportunity presented by this channel. We’ve seen numerous surveys which show that although mobile search spend is increasing rapidly, it’s still a relatively untapped area for marketers.
For example, data from Marin Software revealed that mobile devices accounted for 13% of search spend in June 2012, yet took a 20% share of clicks.
This is despite the fact that separate surveys shows that search spend increased 250% in Q1 and 333% in Q2 2012 compared with the same periods in 2011.
KPIs
Forrester also asked respondents what KPIs they use to assess their mobile marketing initiatives.
The most common answer was web traffic and visitors (63%), followed by CTR (58%), brand awareness (54%) and revenue (44%).
The report takes this as further evidence that too many mobile advertisers are using desktop marketing tactics and haven’t yet adapted to the opportunities presented by mobile.
It recommends that marketers use mobile to deliver highly contextual, relevant information that directly engage individual consumers.
For further information on this topic check out our blog posts on whether your mobile strategy is fit for purpose and seven best practice tips for mobile marketers.
Google Adds Detailed Medication Info to Its Smart Search Results
Source: http://lifehacker.com/5965139/google-adds-detailed-medication-info-to-its-smart-search-results
If you’ve just come back from the doctor with a new prescription and want to know a little more about it—maybe you forgot what your doctor told you about the side effects—Google has added medications to its smart Knowledge Graph, showing detailed information next to your results.
Google’s data comes straight from the FDA Library of Medicine, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and a few other places. In fact, they’re probably quite similar to that sheet of paper you get with your medication, but it’s nice to have it right at your fingertips with Google. Hit the link to read more.
Look Up Medications More Quickly and Easily on Google | Inside Search
Google’s Search Results Page Looks Different Now
Source: http://gizmodo.com/5958651/googles-search-results-page-looks-different-now
Google search results are like the old beat up recliner of the internet. Your butt’s always there, and if anything changes, you notice. Well, Google changed the way its search results look. It’s a relatively small change, but you’re going to notice.
The biggest difference is that the bar along the left hand side of your searches is gone. This is where you used to break your search down into News, or whatever else. That function is now at the top of your results, along with the also relocated Search Tools. Search Tools moving means you don’t have those two butt ugly calendars with custom dates in your line of sight, which is a plus. This change has been live a day or two, and should only be a negative if you’re running a ton of searches (it’s been killing me).
Google is also featuring information from Google’s Knowledge Graph for popular searches, like “barack obama”, “mitt romney”, and “presidential election”, for example. So! Google’s a little prettier, and it’s rearranged the furniture a bit. Seems like a nice, small change, right? [BuzzFeed]
Behind The Predictive Future Of Search
Source: http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/29/3569684/google-now-android-4-2-knowledge-graph-neural-networks
For decades, visions of the future have played with the magical possibilities of computers: they’ll know where you are, what you want, and can access all the world’s information with a simple voice prompt. That vision hasn’t come to pass, yet, but features like Apple’s Siri and Google Now offer a keyhole peek into a near future reality where your phone is more “Personal Assistant” than “Bar bet settler.” The difference is that the former actually understands what you need while the latter is a blunt search instrument.
Google Now is one more baby step in that direction. Introduced this past June with Android 4.1 “Jelly Bean,” it’s designed to ambiently give you information you might need before you ask for it. To pull off that ambitious goal, Google takes advantage of multiple parts of the company: comprehensive search results, robust speech recognition, and most of all Google’s surprisingly deep understanding of who you are and what you want to know.
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Yahoo’s Search Business Is Imploding, Taking Yahoo’s Profits With It
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/RokgGiS8kxA/yahoo-search-share-2012-10
Pound the alarm!
In September, Yahoo’s search business shrank 25 percent from last year’s number.
That’s according to ComScore numbers analyzed by Ben Schachter of Macquarie Securities.
Yahoo’s share of search queries dropped from 15.5% in September 2011 to 12.2 percent last month. In August, its share stood at 12.2 percent.
Over the past year, Google has gone from 65.3 percent to 66.7 percent. Microsoft went from 14.7 percent to 15.9 percent.
“[T]he downward trend remains very well-established and supports our view that the long-term trajectory of YHOO’s search share is a significant concern,” Schachter wrote. “Most importantly, and unfortunately for YHOO, we see no obvious structural bottom for YHOO’s search share. This is a significant problem in our view given the fact that search is a very high-margin business for YHOO and likely represents the significant majority of the company’s EBITDA.”
The ComScore numbers don’t include mobile, which is an area where Yahoo is likely even weaker than on desktop searches.
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Dr. Augustine Fou is Digital Consigliere to marketing executives, advising them on digital strategy and Unified Marketing(tm). Dr Fou has over 17 years of in-the-trenches, hands-on experience, which enables him to provide objective, in-depth assessments of their current marketing programs and recommendations for improving business impact and ROI using digital insights. 
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