Performics Performance Marketing Blog: SEM, SEO, Social & Display

The Search Engine Results Page (SERP) of the Future

Posted by Dan Malachowski, Product Marketing Manager (Search and Perf. Media)

The search engine results page (SERP) is evolving before our eyes. Most importantly, the SERP is continually becoming more relevant to consumers—its content is more integrated, social, mobile/local and personal. Advancements in usability and relevancy that are driving these SERP changes can be grouped into three content categories:

• Paid Content-paid search ads
• Owned Content-native website, video, social, local and blog content
• Earned Content-user-generated content (UGC) like YouTube videos, tweets and consumer reviews

  
Performics has reviewed and weighed in on many of the influences that are either already changing the face of the SERP – or will change the SERP within the next couple years. As brands implement SERP domination strategies, it is important to consider these eight key trends:

1. Embedded Rich Media
Image and video search results increase user engagement. For instance, a Performics’ electronics retailer client using Yahoo! Rich Ads in Search (RAIS) saw a 774% clickthrough rate increase (CTR) and a 504% increase in conversions over traditional paid search ads. We believe that the SERP will continually incorporate more rich media—video paid search ads, product ads with images, more video natural search results, and more image natural search results. Going forward, brands must leverage all their rich media assets in paid and owned SERP listings.

Search Happenings: Weekly Search Headlines

Posted by Dan Malachowski, Product Marketing Manager

From the Engines:

• Schmidt- Google decided to do Super Bowl ad because of the positive reaction the ad got on YouTube.
• Facebook’s revamped social search engine.
• Google acquires Aardvark social search engine.
• Google to become an ISP.

Other Topics of Interest:

• User-generated ads score during the Super Bowl.
• Many top web retailers have no presence on Facebook.

Some Fun Stuff:

• Vicious pheasant holds entire town hostage.

Ask an SEO Expert, Not a Journalist: How News People Get Things Wrong about the Internet

Posted by Sam Battin, Senior Search Strategist

Mark Twain is reputed to have said, "If you don't read the newspaper, you are uninformed; if you do read the newspaper, you are misinformed."   Some things never change!

It’s often the case that one of our clients reads a particularly shocking news article related to search marketing and comes to us with questions.  The article might relate to subjects such as major infrastructural change in the Google index, or an announcement about the personalization of natural search results.  As with all things media-related, you can't always believe what you read, and you certainly can't expect journalists to be experts on all of the topics they cover.

We like setting the record straight; there’s always new information about search engine optimization, and we do our best to stay on top of things so we can give our clients conclusive answers where a news article only tells half of the real story. 

Case in point: WCBS TV recently posted a news story about how there are a large number of videos of teenage girls brawling with each other on YouTube. 

To some Web users, this may be a newsworthy topic.  To others, this is not really news, it’s more a “life in the 21st century” kind of thing.  The article headline, however, startled me:

 

Super Bowl Advertisers Support Campaigns by Bidding on Themes in Paid Search

Posted by Dan Malachowski, Product Marketing Manager

It’s always important to support major offline ad campaigns with paid search.  This means bidding on your brand and product name, as well as the themes around your campaign.  Bidding on campaign themes is particularly important because you’re not likely to have coverage on those themes in natural search, like you would on your brand or product names. 

For instance, E*TRADE supported its baby commercials by bidding on the term “milkaholic,” a term that ETRADE.com is not likely to rank for in natural search.  By bidding on “milkaholic,” E*TRADE was able to capture the search demand created by its ad by helping consumers easily find what they were looking for through paid search:

 

Search Happenings: Weekly Search Headlines

Posted by Dan Malachowski, Product Marketing Manager

From the Engines:

• Google updates patent filings: gives us view of the future of online profiling, video advertising, and real-time ads within Google Street View.

Other Topics of Interest:

• Google wins street view lawsuit—for now.
• Facebook adds 5 million US users in January.
• Compete: In-store pick up stats for holiday.
• Pepsi skips Super Bowl, dedicates dollars to social media.

Some Fun Stuff:

• Top 10 Super Bowl commercial animals.

Support Guerilla Marketing with Paid Search

Posted by Jeff Licciardi, Account Manager & Brian Aubert, Account Director

Paid search is an important tool for maintaining the buzz of guerilla marketing efforts.  Specifically, four paid search opportunities nicely complement guerilla marketing campaigns.  These include mobile, local, the Content Network, and Facebook cost-per-click (CPC) ads:

Mobile
Guerilla marketing is often place-based—a stunt, an event, a surprise appearance.  If people exposed to the guerilla campaign want to learn more, they often search Google on their iPhones, Blackberries, or other mobile devices.  Search engines are the first place consumers go to get information, and mobile is immediate gratification.  For instance, if a person is walking down the street and sees a crazy stunt, they’re likely to turn to their phone and start searching for keywords associated with the stunt to see exactly what’s going on.  Mobile search allows advertisers to capture this consumer interest where and when the stunt occurred.

Local
Guerilla marketing is often location-based.  Therefore, advertisers can use paid search geotargeting to ensure that only people within the vicinity of the guerilla marketing campaign are exposed to search ads.  Advertisers should set geo parameters on their search campaigns prior to the stunt to better target their ads.  This ensures budget is not wasted in locations where the guerilla marketing campaign does not reach.