It can’t be argued that Facebook is a dominant force due to users as well as engagement figures, with an active 845MM monthly user base.  We know that from an advertising perspective, that just placing an ad on the social platform’s pages alone is a commanding feat compared to TV, Radio, and Print with targeted impressions, and potential clicks.

Many in the online world are making comparisons between Facebook and pre-IPO Google. In a lot of ways, those comparisons are completely legitimate. When looking at strictly the numbers, Facebook is actually much larger now than Google was nine years ago. One the Facebook IPOs go live, most assume they will use the increased revenue to ramp up their search functionality, and rake in the associated profits that come with paid search advertising, similar to Google and AdWords.

However, one of the clearest and most obvious differentiations between Google and Facebook is that Google has perfected search advertising.  Whether its laser point ads that target queries directly on their search platform or familiar remarketing ads via content partners; search marketing is on point due to user behavior and actual intent being type in the search box.

So will Facebook modify their model and try to reach new territories via targeted search?  Let’s look at their options (Pros and Cons):

Profile based: The search experience has to be different on Facebook since their site way is organized differently.  Yes, it can provide relevant search by organizing profiles in such a way that it answers user intent queries.  If I want Starbucks information or news, I should be able to land on the Starbucks profile directly, not a Starbucks fan’s profile.  They need to perfect this, if they can’t, then Google+ has an advantage. (Pro and Con)

Registration Wall:  I have to log into my account in order to experience the world of Facebook.  Nuff Said’. (Con)

Bing/Microsoft Partnership:  While focusing more on social integration, likes and comments drive a lot of the interaction within the Bing search world.  As of late, it seems that we have yet to see the real impact of Bing and FB joining forces.  Then again, going public might just give Facebook a total excuse to sever ties and go head first and build out their own search engine. (Pro)

Facebook Analytics: One of the downsides with Facebook right now is that it lacks a robust web analytics tool.  Right now, compared to Google, the conversion tracking is still heavily driven via by demographic types of metrics via profile segmentation.

In conclusion:
If Facebook does decide to play the search game, there is a whole new world that opens up to them.  Pay Per Click advertising has yet to be fully fleshed out, but they do have the right ingredients to get them to a Yahoo, Bing, and even Google search level.

With Google “Play” being added to the navigation on Google pages Monday, the search engine giant has created a portal to highlight the “Best of Entertainment”.

Google Play is really not that new, with a rebranded take on the Android Market, Play integrates the various moving parts of what the company has built out over the last decade.  From Google Checkout, Books, Wallet, to Andriod Apps; like a well tuned engine, all the various pieces seem to fit perfectly.

Marketers often wonder how they can still continue to utilize Google to help their companies grow and succeed on the Web.  With its ever-changing algorithm, people can go crazy at the shear thought of trying to rank on the search platform.

Google Play offers a unique opportunity to have your content promoted.  Here’s a helpful guide to ensure that you always maximize visibility on search and the not so new products platform:

Top 5 Google Play Optimization Tips:

1. Focus on Quality.  Focus on your Product. – Play is music, book, movies, and app centric.  If you offer any of those, then Google Play is the platform for you.  Above everything else, focus on your product quality.  No matter how well you promote your product, if people don’t like it, then what’s the point of promoting it right?
2. Learn from iTunes and Amazon.  Relevancy. – iTunes and Amazon have been doing this for years, and have perfected it.  These types of systems rely heavily on quality and user behavior.   Products that perform well are highlighted because they are popular. Properly labeling and tagging your products when submitting to Google clearly address the supply to the demand (search). For example, with Google Books; if you have a recipe book, what type of genre does it fit in?  Is it, Italian, Vegan, etc.?  Same rules apply if you’re submitting an App.  Make sure it’s relevant; don’t tell Google that you have a puzzle game if it’s an arcade game.  Mis-labeling or mis-tagging will lead to: 1. A poor user experience and will probably backfire with negative comments and low rankings. 2. Even worse, Google’s algorithm is pretty smart. Don’t get penalized.
3. Don’t try to game the system.  The Market Wins. – Google already won this battle.  It’s a popularity contest and a lot of different components play (no pun intended) a role to help showcase the top Google Play listings.  Google Checkout, Wallet, Google+, etc. all play a role.  For example, the Top 3 Featured Paid Book Ranks are for Suzanne Collins’s books; Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay.  These results rely heavily on Google’s book searches, as well as Checkout purchases.
   
   Since the system can’t be gamed we are brought back to producing quality products.  Whether it’s a book, an album, an app, the Market chooses.  If you follow tip 1, then you’re already one step ahead.
4. Use Google+ As a Marketing Vehicle – Google+ is a very valuable tool.  It’s a medium for individuals to network and share information.  This ties very closely to Tip 2…treat Google+ like you would any other marketing vehicle; whether direct mail, TV ads, or word of mouth; highlight the products rather than trying to rank for a keyword or search term.
   
   People who are logged into their account are likely to see personalized messaging via Play, so make sure you take advantage of this medium.
5. Personal Branding – It’s not just pull communication, but Play can also be used as a way to push ideas and stories.  Whether you have a personal or company Google+ profile, commenting and adding reviews in Play is a good way to get some visibility and also network with other members.  Just don’t be spammy!  Everyone hates that person that talks about their random site, adds useless URLs, or being just plain shady.  Please don’t be shady.

Have you had success promoting your content within Google Play?  Let us know in the comments below!

Going viral. It’s something every cutting-edge company strives for. Seeing your own advertising campaign spreading like a wildfire all over the world’s most popular sites like YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter is a marketing team’s ultimate achievement…almost comparable to cavemen inventing the wheel or Benjamin Franklin discovering electricity with a kite. Going viral is an absolute game changer for a business, one that takes it to unforeseen and unprecedented heights.

Of course, going viral is also something that is much easier said than done. It is a true “catch lightning in a bottle” scenario. For every successful viral marketing campaign, there are hundreds upon thousands of marketing campaigns that hope to go viral, but instead just fizzle out without making a sound. However, in the event that a campaign does indeed blow up online, every company would clearly be prepared to handle the huge spike in popularity…right?

Enter Dollar Shave Club; a brand new company with a mission to have razors regularly delivered each month, for a simple low price of just $1. Wow, sounds like a great idea! How was this potentially great concept even discovered in the first place? That would be through Reddit, one of the most popular social news sites around. On the front page of Reddit was a link to a Dollar Shave Club commercial that had literally just been uploaded not even 24 hours prior. This commercial was not just good, it was amazing.

Dollar Shave Club had just achieved something few companies before it had done. They had gone viral. Not only did they have a great business model selling razors for $1 a month, but they also had now become cool and relevant in the online world almost instantly. Surely sales would go through the roof.

With no telephone number linked to the video on YouTube, all potential Dollar Shave Club customers would have to be funneled through the website. Only one problem: the website crashed.

Taking a look at the comments on YouTube, people were both puzzled and outraged.

Upon further inspection, I found out DollarShaveClub.com was hosted on (drum roll please)…GoDaddy! Don’t get me wrong, GoDaddy is a perfectly acceptable web host for, say, a Mom-and-Pop coffee shop. But if a company comes up with a brilliant commercial with a goal to take down heavyweight companies like Gillette and Shick, using GoDaddy is like riding a scooter and expecting to win a NASCAR race. Not only is it ever going to happen, it’s shocking that it was even attempted in the first place.

Dollar Shave Club, I want you to be successful. I really do. But in the future, please have the foresight to take your website seriously. You will be extremely glad you did!

Course students included diverse marketing and business majors, many of whom are already working in the field. Some were new to SEM, others were very technically sophisticated.

“Any time we speak, the most important message we can convey is how dynamic SEM is. You can’t set-it-and-forget-it,” said Nelson. “Major shifts like Google’s Panda update and continual algorithm changes are continually shaking things up in this business. Anyone who is going into SEM needs to understand that environment to be successful.”

Panda is the name of Google’s latest major algorithm update that radically changed how Google ranks websites. The new algorithm puts far more emphasis on content quality and other characteristics that align with actual user priorities.

“Google changes their algorithm nearly 500 times each year, so we must continually adjust our clients’ search strategies to maintain their rankings,” adds Nelson. “There are literally hundreds of content, linking, and architectural factors that go into the ranking formula – and I think that came as a surprise to some of these students.”

Not surprisingly, the Georgetown students were particularly intrigued at how social sites such as Facebook and Twitter, and emerging social media such as Google+ are becoming increasingly influential to search results.

“Our goal was to leave these students with a basic understanding of today’s search landscape and to start a smart conversation that could hopefully bring some real value to their careers as future marketers,” says Welsh. 

SMX East Review and Tips

This week I made my way up to SMX East 2011 with two others from the Silverback crew.  It’s no secret that conferences can get very pricey and if you throw in travel expenses, food, and lodging the cost can get even more extreme. That’s why before any large conference it seems the same question always pops up: Is this conference worth going to?

After spending the day up in New York we decided to share some of our likes and dislikes of SMX East. We also answer the infamous question of "if it’s worth it" and thrown in a few conference tips in case you decide to check it out for yourself.

SMX Review

The Likes:

SEO and PPC Specific

There are thousands and thousands of conferences out there, and they cover all different topics. The amount of information you pull from a digital marketing conference compared to a search marketing conference can be drastic. If you are in a very niche specific industry you should go to a very niche specific conference. SMX did a great job staying on track with SEO and PPC.  

Up-to-Date Topics and a Look at What’s to Come

Many sessions were about the current and future Google+ implications throughout the industry. They also preached on the huge impact schema.org could play within the next year (which I completely agree with.) One of the most impressive sessions I sat in on actually walked through dynamic page creation based off visitor information mined from Facebook.

The Great Speakers

Many of the speakers gave incredibly useful information in a compelling and attention grabbing way.

Representatives Speaking from Large Companies

What do Adobe, IBM, Dell, Citibank, AOL, Bloomberg, Intuit, and Yahoo have in common? They all had representatives presenting while we were at SMX.

Food, Drinks, Coffee, and Even a Little Booze

It’s an all-day conference so kudos to SMX for providing an endless supply of coffee and snacks to help people stay focused. The lunch was also above average for a conference and at the end of the day everyone was able to use their two alcohol drink tickets to help wind down the day.

Free WiFi

I know, I know…it’s a search marketing expo and providing free WiFi should be common sense. That doesn’t mean it always happens.  

Didn’t Overly Self Promote

The SMX conference is put together by Search Engine Land. I’m a big fan of SEL as a resource, but I’m always wary of conferences that may be partial to pushing their own products, services, and information. I was overly impressed with this aspect of the conference. SEL did a great job using their website to promote SMX, but they specifically made sure not to turn around and use the conference to promote their own company. SEL kept it a one-way street which gives the conference even more credibility.

The Dislikes:

Smaller Turnout than Expected

I was planning to see a larger number of people and vendors at SMX. Granted, this was only SMX East. I suspect that SMX West or SMX Advanced which is in Seattle are both probably larger conferences.

The Not-so-Great Speakers

You have to take the good with the bad, and not everyone there was a professional speaker. This comes with the territory, but it still had to be mentioned. I wonder if some people were asked to speak solely based on their company and title, rather than seeing if they had any public speaking experience.

“Advanced” Sessions Giving Very Basic Information

I set up my day trying to target only the advanced SEO sessions. One thing I notices was many of the sessions spent valuable time covering very general and simplistic concepts.

Speakers Didn’t Prep with Each Other

We all know that SEO is an ever-changing concept and there are very few definites, that being said, it would be nice if some of the speakers had collaborated more to come up with group game plans for each session. I sat through one session where a person spoke for twenty minutes and then the following speaker began by telling everyone to never do any of the things the first speaker recommended. I’m all for some constructive disagreements, but when people walk out more confused than when they walked in…it’s never a good sign.

Was it worth it?

In my opinion, it definitely was. I would say about 80% of the information I heard were things I either already knew or could easily find rummaging around online. The other 20% was information that was both extraordinarily useful and not readily available. This chunk of information was enough to make the entire conference worthwhile. There was also the added benefit of making quality connections through networking.

Conference Tips:

Diversify if you’re with a Group

If you go with other people, make sure to split up. Each time slot has multiple unique sessions. Splitting up allows you to cover as much ground as possible so you can regroup later to collaborate on what you’ve learned.

Research the Speakers

How good a speaker is will make or break a session. Your goal is to find sessions that:

1.) Cover topics that are relevant to you

2.) Are conducted by speakers who actually impart valuable information

Find out if they have ever presented before. See if they’re recommended. Maybe you can even find a past presentation on YouTube. You will definitely get a lot more value out of the conference if you do a small amount of scouting ahead of time.

Expand your Network

You are in a building with some of the smartest people in the industry. Don’t leave before doing a little shaking hands and kissing babies. Conferences are social gatherings of people who have a common interest…so be social, and whatever you do, don’t run out of business cards.

Sure, businesses could try to set up a Google+ profile now if they really wanted to, but it probably won’t be sticking around for too long, as Google has already begun deleting non-human profiles.

After the huge success companies have seen on other popular social networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn, how could Google overlook the impact business profiles could potentially bring?

As it turns out, they’re not overlooking them at all.

They have already started the process of testing a select number of “non-user entities,” more commonly known as company profiles. If you’re a business, you have to be elated by this news. Need a reason why? Just think about the integration Google has done with businesses lately in the form of Google Places. Concept images like the one below show many, many more possibilities.

Google said they hope to release Google+ for businesses sometime this year. When they do, companies will not want to miss out on it.

To our Clients, Friends, Family, Vendors, Blog Readers, Tweeps, and Facebook Friends, 

I hope everyone's having an amazing Thanksgiving Day.  I wanted to take the time today and just reflect and give thanks to everyone for making 2010 amazing.  It's been an awesome and productive year at Silverback Strategies and we're looking forward to making 2011 even better.

This morning, our Director of Paid Search, Andrew Nelson informed me that we've been awarded the 2011 Top 2 spot for PPC Management Firms globally by TopTenReviews.com:  

http://ppc-management-review.toptenreviews.com/

We are truly grateful and honored.

We will post a more formal blog about the award soon.  For now, it's time for the 3 Fs (family, food, and football).

Once again, wishing you all a wonderful Thanksgiving.

-Joe Erfe

Vice President

Silverback Strategies

What is Ad:Tech?

Ad:Tech is an interactive advertising and technology conference and exhibition. Worldwide shows blend keynote speakers, topic driven panels and workshops to provide attendees with the tools and techniques they need to compete in a changing world.

via: ad-tech.com

Ok, so who goes to this event?

Every year, tens of thousands flood Ad:Tech conferences all over the world to learn about the latest and greatest in the world of interactive advertising and technology.  Although the show floor is open to the public, Ad:Tech caters primarily to brand advertisers, agencies, portals, online publishers, and technology providers.  On their website, Ad:Tech provides a breakdown of their typical attendants:

Attendee Primary Job Function

Attendee by Type of Company

Wow! What do these people learn at Ad:Tech?

Simple put: A lot.  Speakers come from all over the world to discuss just about any topic relevant to the digital marketing field.  Some of the topics include Search, Brand Building, Integrated Marketing, Email Marketing, Mobile marketing, Affiliate marketing, Blogging, Video, Marketing Metrics, Media Buying, Web Analytics, Behavioral Target Marketing, Viral Marketing, Creativity, and oh so much more.  This would be overwhelming for even the most seasoned digital marketer, but luckily Ad:Tech broke these topics down into tidy learning “tracks” with titles such as “Brand Track,” “Social Media Track,” Digital Demographics Track,” among many others.  These tracks are then broken down into several, hour –long learning sessions that tackle specific areas of interest within the larger track.

Overall, Ad:Tech provides a balanced blend of:

• Keynote speakers sharing frontline experiences and an executive level perspective
• Panel discussions focusing on best practices and economic opportunities
• Hands-on workshops delivering immediate, take-away value

Cool, sounds like there is a lot to learn!  But who teaches/runs these “learning sessions” anyway?

Only the best and brightest in the industry!  Each learning session is run by a leader with several supporting speakers.  Although the list of speakers is huge, some of particular interest were Dennis Crowley, Co-Founder and CEO of Foursquare, Richard Jalichangra, President and CEO of Technorati, and Limore Shur, Executive Creative Director of Eyeball NYC, among many, many others.

Sounds like a busy couple of days!

It was!

Now that I know what Ad:Tech is, what do you actually take from it?

Keep checking in on our blog, over the next couple weeks we will posting all sorts of cool experiences and information we took from Ad:Tech, including interesting sessions we attended, interesting things we learned, interesting people we heard from, and interesting people we met and spoke with!

"We are proud to introduce an innovative service that gives consumers the ability to access and enjoy their digital lives from anywhere. With MiMedia, all of your photos, videos and music are instantly available to you," said Founder and CEO Erik Zamkoff. "MiMedia offers consumers a high-quality and intuitive media access experience, while also providing security for all of their files. We recognize that people love to enjoy and share their digital lives and they understand they need to secure it."

MiMedia optimizes the initial upload process and secures digital media and other files online in multiple data centers. Once online, MiMedia presents and organizes digital media logically by media type in a single, elegant user interface, MiMedia Online. Users can login to MiMedia Online from any computer or iPhone to listen to music, including their favorite playlists, watch videos and view all of their photo galleries. In addition, MiMedia makes it very easy to privately share photos and videos with friends and family.

Features of MiMedia Online include:

• Digital Media Player & Library:
  • Music: Enjoy your DRM-free music anywhere. Play songs continuously, in shuffle mode, or by song list. Sort by song, album, artist, or decade. Album art is presented for each track.
  • Photos: Browse and manage your photo library in thumbnail or view full-screen mode. Slide show presentation is in high-resolution. Photos can be sorted by gallery, slideshow, date or title, and can be shared with friends.
  • Videos: Share and enjoy videos in full resolution, sorted by date, title, or topic, with high-quality streaming in either small- or full-screen mode.
• Backup Dashboard: The dashboard is organized in the same structure as the home device which makes accessing and downloading files easy.
• (m:) drive: The superior alternative to the flash drive, the (m:) drive is an online drive that follows consumers everywhere to provide a secure place to store important files. Any file stored on the (m:) drive can be accessed or downloaded from any web-connected device.

In addition to MiMedia Online, the free MiMedia Mobile App gives iPhone users instant one-click access to their entire personal media library on the go. With the MiMedia Mobile App, users are no longer limited by the storage capacity of the device so they never have to choose which memories or music to take with them.

To improve the consumer's overall experience, MiMedia has developed a new and patent pending approach to initial backups. Users can either backup their files over broadband or use MiMedia's free Shuttle Drive service for faster upload. The Shuttle Drive service leverages a specialized and encrypted hard drive sent to the user shortly after signup. Attached to the PC by USB, the Shuttle Drive encrypts and backs up all selected files automatically. The drive is then returned to MiMedia in the same box using the enclosed label. Post initial backup, new and changed files are secured automatically over broadband. Therefore, consumers never have to schedule a backup again.

"The Shuttle Drive allows users to get all of their files online in little time while avoiding tedious broadband uploads that can make backup a painful process," added Zamkoff. "We believe that the value of instant digital media access is enhanced when users have their complete library online."

A subscription-based service, MiMedia offers monthly and annual options, starting at $5 per month or $50 per year for 25GB storage. MiMedia is currently in Beta and will be formerly launching its service soon. A Mac version is also in development.

via: Mimedia.com

The two main comnponents of the search engines are Organic Listings, and Paid Listings.  Last month, Yahoo! began the testing of displaying organic search listings from Microsoft on Yahoo! search result pages.  Later this week, Yahoo! announced that they will begin the final back-end transitioning for Yahoo! to display Microsoft organic listings, and will update us when it is complete.

As for the paid listings, Yahoo! will begin to test displaying Microsoft paid ads on Yahoo! searches later this week, a transition they hope to complete by the holiday season.

But what does this mean for Pay Per Click Management companies, SEO management companies, and even more importantly, businesses?  Well, a lot.  It's time to start (if you haven't already) keeping close track to those organic rankings and paid search performance on Yahoo!.  As the algorithm shifts from Yahoo!'s to Microsoft's, changes are sure to occur.