Search Sense

You may have heard that the IAB and DMA have got together to create the first charter aimed at search marketing agencies. They hope to establish best practice for the industry. At Spannerworks we think it is about time that something like this is in place and welcome the compliance.

Striking the right balance can often determine the success of such charters. As a first step, the IAB and DMA seemed to have come in at the right level. The charter isn’t too detailed and criteria for compliance not too tough so it should be successful in gaining support from the search engines and industry.

I certainly hope that this will help make it easier for people to manage their search campaigns and report things like click fraud and trademarking issues. The only area there is likely to be hot debate around is search engine optimisation. While we don’t support the link-buying, it is normal practice for some markets so acceptance of certain codes of best practice may not be as straight forward.

On the whole, this move aligns the search marketing industry with standards accepted in other forms of marketing and can only help the industry progress as it should.

Dax Hamman comments on Glastonbury’s decision to sell more tickets by phone next year, in light of this year’s festival being ‘too middle-aged’. Why? Because older internet users are more likely to have broadband, and therefore stand a better chance of getting through online. On the other hand, Dax wonders if broadband might be one way to tempt more teenagers into libraries. (more…)

Last week was pretty exciting for Spannerworks’ Content & Media team, with the launch of the first Social Space for one of our clients. It was also announced to the world that Spannerworks has recruited two journalists, a fact that has caused a small ripple of discussion. (more…)

Google on the 16th of May announced the launch of “Universal Search” on their official blog, http://googleblog.blogspot.com. Universal Search is a combination of all of Google’s search offerings (Google Images, Video, Local, Blog, & News), displayed together within the natural search results. Marissa Mayer, Vice President of Search Products and User Experiences at Google commented on the launch, saying Google “want to help you find the very best answer, even if you do not know where to look”.

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When most of us hear about digital and the music industry it is usually connected with downloads, declining CD sales or itunes. The recent news that all album tracks are now eligible for the singles chart caused a bit of fuss for the Arctic Monkeys last week, and is the latest in a long line of press around the subject.

However, we think there is another side to digital marketing that labels should be paying attention to.

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Hot on the heels of news that Linden Lab, the firm behind virtual world Second Life, are setting up in our hometown of Brighton & Hove the Financial Times yesterday ran a piece noting the city’s vibrancy as a new media hub:

With a trendy reputation that appeals to creatives and mavericks, a younger population than the regional average and a well-educated workforce boosted by an uncommon number of university graduates that remain in the city after their studies, Brighton has all the attributes of a creative hub.

We’re looking forward to Linden Lab’s arrival in the city of Brighton & Hove - it will strengthen the ecosystem of web businesses in the city and is a great validation of the vibrancy of our technical and creative community.

So for fun, here are the top five things I think Linden Lab employees will have to tempt them out of Second Life and into RL while working in Brighton when the office opens:

1. The beach: it may be pebbled, but Brightonians know that that is a user-friendly feature which means you can spend lunchtime on the beach without getting sand everywhere. Plus it’s WiFi’d up if you need to continue trading your Linden dollars and checking on your latest Second Life creation.
2. The Duke of Yorks Cinema: for some big screen action the town’s arthouse cinema is a legend. Big seats, impeccable sound and innovative shows - they’ve taken to broadcasting live HD broadcasts of opera from New York recently as well as satirising films like March of the Penguins by having comedians do voice overs for them.
3. The Lanes and the North Laine: you have to love the Lanes and the boho North Laine - a few steps from the office door and you’re able to lose yourself in the bustle of cool shops, bars and cafes.
4. Red Roaster: Seattle may have given birth to Starbucks, but Brighton’s keeping Red Roaster all to itself. The cafe roasts and brews its own blends of what many are happy to claim is the best coffee in the world. It also hosts the RSA-inspired Coffee House Challenge debates for those who feel like exercising their rhetoric after a coffee or two (I know I often do).
5. The Brighton Festival: if they’re hiring now the first employees should be able to be in Brighton for the festival in May which makes the most of the City’s eclectic charms and foibles, kicking off with the rag-tag children’s parade and often including street theatre spectaculars like people strapping massive pyrotechnic rigs to their backs.Those are some of my favourites. Would love to hear of any others fellow Brightonists would like to add…

: : By the way, for more of Brighton & Hove, check out the Brighton Daily Photo blog by our Dean Harvey.

It’s a big day for us at Spannerworks as we officially become part of iCrossing and unveil our shiny new brand look on our website.

You can check out our press release for more details or take a look at the article in the Sunday Times from yesterday. For a broader look at the context of this deal in the search engine marketing sector from a US perspective, Adweek’s run a feature today called: As Search Explodes, Agencies Expand.

It’s also great to see iCrossing’s hometown newspaper, the Arizona Republic, carrying the story.

We’ll be keeping an eye on the news today, for sure!

With over 98% of our staff recommending Spannerworks as a great place to work, we are very pleased to have that recognised by being voted into the top 30 of marketing employers in the Marketing Employer of the Year awards.

A phenomenal 2900 marketers from 292 organisations (a 45% increase in respondents from the 2005 survey) were canvassed on a range of issues affecting their working lives.

Culture, management style, and personal development were important issues along with working environment, benefits and the vision of a business.

Spannerworks were the top search engine marketing company in the list and a staggering 34 places higher than the only other SEM in there, who had plummeted over 44 places from their previous position.

We’re naturally proud of our business, the exciting environment, the phenomenal growth that all Spannerworkers have contributed to, the way we service clients and the cool, supportive, family style environment that brings out the very best in people.

We’d like to thank everyone who completed the survey - it’s not only great to have the encouragement and support from our people, but their suggestions on how to improve are invaluable. We’ll strive hard to keep Spannerworks a great place to work and act on those recommendations and opinions to make it even better.

We have high expectations for the 2007 survey.

Oh, and by the way, if you’d like to be part of our exciting adventure , we are still on the lookout for enthusiastic people with a passion for online - do check out the marketing jobs in the careers section of our site.

Search marketing - so say Dell, Hitwise and David Beckham.

Especially if the PPC is the weapon.

I read with interest Heather Hopkins’ analysis in NMA this week on using search marketing to counter negative PR.

She recalled Dell happily sitting top of natural search listings and suddenly their laptop batteries started exploding. Dell were slow to react and found themselves displaced by Google News and blogs who quickly picked up on the story.

Heather proposes using paid search as a counter to this negative PR. If Dell had bid on the term “Free Battery Replacement”, they may have been able to use the story to positive effect.

Last year I was involved in looking at this very possibility for a certain celebrity. They were experiencing problems with personal life rumours ranking above their own site.

Tactical use of paid search for reputation management seemed like an interesting angle and we set about designing a service for celebrities and corporations to help manage their reputations.

My current business, Spannerworks, is very active in helping corporations and individuals understand and map out their social networks through some pretty smart technology. It provides insights into the key influences and authorities within a network.

That insight is key to using tools like paid search in a tactical fashion and also to rapidly identifying the network effects of ‘X’ – where ‘X’ is breaking news, a marketing campaign, a rumour, a product launch, etc.

The insight helps focus and target a paid search response, and if that response is helpful, engaging, and in your natural voice, then you not only limit the damage of “negative PR”, but it can strengthen customer relationships, create loyalty and increase sales.

Ignore it at your peril…

If you’d like a look at our network mapping or brand management services give Antony Mayfield or myself a call or post something on our blog.

Google Earth has a great set of old maps in it which let you see various parts of the globe as they were recorded in centuries past. If you’re planning a retro-refit to the office, these could inspire some excellent art for your corporate HQ reception…

Here’s a view of our local area in 1790…

As the French Revolution raged across the channel, Spannerworks’ hometown, Brighton, still wasn’t on the map, although its neighbour and and one half of the future city, Hove was.

Actually there was a fishing village here called Brighthelmston, which you can just make out on the crease of the map. Despite many of the grand Regency buildings here already having been built, the town apparently hadn’t re-branded yet or put itself properly on the map.

This look back in time comes from a layer in the latest version of Google Earth - a map of the UK in 1790. You can find this and some other fascinating historical maps under the layers / Rumsey Historical Maps section.