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After several years of making cuts, B2B marketing leaders are increasing their budgets 6.7% in 2011 over 2010 levels, with tech-services companies driving much of the expansion, according to a report by Forrester Research. more
Yahoo Sites comprised the top-ranked Web property in March 2011 with 179.5 million visitors, followed by Google Sites with 176.8 million and Microsoft Sites with 176.4 million, according to comScore Media Metrix service. FoxNews.com (ranked No. 41) joined the top 50 ranking for the first time in March, as did ... more
In a recent Search Agents post, Mary Hayes reports that Forrester Research forecasts "marketing spend on mobile display ads and search will surpass $1 billion in 2011." She advises marketers that, if they haven't already done so, now is the time to jump on the mobile bandwagon. But Hayes also ... more
Online advertising appears to be back on track: US Internet ad revenues reached an all-time high of $26.0 billion in 2010, up 14.9% from $22.7 billion in 2009, fueled by growth in display-related formats, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). more
Nearly one-half (49%) of mobile searchers—people who use the mobile Web at least weekly—say they have made at least one purchase via mobile device in the previous six months, according to a study by Performics and ROI Research. more
Global ad expenditure is now forecast to grow 4.2% in 2011, down from the 4.6% forecast in December 2010, due to the effects of political instability in the Middle East and the earthquake in Japan, according to projections by ZenithOptimedia. Even so, online advertising is expected to continue surging worldwide, ... more
In a video interview with Web Marketing Today, Bryan Eisenberg offers a 7-minute primer on what he terms the Five Rs of search engine marketing. "I really wanted to demystify [the five core principles], especially for a lot of small and midsize businesses," he explains. "They hear so much conflicting ... more
More than two-thirds of marketers (67.5%) say they plan to invest more dollars in display advertising over the next 18 months, and 59.0% plan to invest more in mobile over the same period, according to a new survey from Bizo. more
More than two-thirds of marketers (69%) and one-half of agency professionals (55%) say they plan to grow their digital video advertising (DVA) spending 22% on average in 2011, according to a study by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). more
Just as fixing technical issues at your website is an important part of search engine optimization, notes Joost de Valk in a recent post at the Yoast blog, so, too, is optimizing your site's overall structure. Site structure helps search engines understand your site's "topic" and more easily find and index ... more
Most women use Facebook to keep their friends informed about what they are doing, but few have tolerance for friends who use the site to brag or over-share, according to a survey from Eversave, which also explores group-buying preferences among women. more
Total measured advertising expenditures increased 6.5% in 2010 over 2009 levels, to $131.1 billion, according to data released by Kantar Media. Ad spending in the fourth quarter of 2010 was up 7.0% compared with the same period a year earlier, driven by small advertisers ranked outside the Top 1,000. more
When I saw this ad, I thought it was a joke. A parody, a satire, a lampoon... anything but what it really is—totally legit and serious. If ever there was a marketing message completely unaware of the modern zeitgeist (and offensive), this ad is it! Here's what not to do ... more
QR codes are popping up in more and more places, from billboards to business cards, and mobile consumers are responding: 32% of smartphone users say they have used a QR code and 70% say they would be interested to do so, either for the first time or again, according to ... more
In an environment saturated with new and evolving media platforms, TV is still king: 71% of Americans rate watching TV on any device among their favorite media activities, according to Deloitte's annual survey on technology and media. Meanwhile, smartphone and social-networking use continues to increase. more
The New York Times recently noticed something odd when performing Google searches on terms as diverse as bedding, skinny jeans, area rugs and grommet-top curtains. "You could imagine a dozen contenders for each of these searches," writes David Segal. "But in the last several months, one name turned up, with ... more
Although a brand's coolness is important to up-and-coming Millennials, most surveyed Gen-Y Americans say a brand should be up-to-date (36%) and should have its own style (33%) to be appealing, according to a study conducted by InSites Consulting and MTV. more
People who own smartphones are most likely to be hyper users of email and Facebook: 45% of smartphone owners check email constantly during the day (via multiple devices) and 28% check Facebook with the same frequency, according to a survey from ExactTarget. more
Yahoo Sites comprised the top-ranked Web property in February 2011 with 177.5 million visitors, followed by Google Sites with 175.2 million and Microsoft Sites with 168.8 million, according to comScore Media Metrix service. Expedia (ranked No. 43) joined the top 50 ranking for the first time in February, as did ... more
A recent edition of "Which Test Won" recounts an A/B test in which DIYthemes, a template system for WordPress, invited visitors to sign up for email newsletters. Version A used the headline "Get Email Updates (it's free!)," and used social proof messaging to encourage registration: "Join 14,752 others and get ... more
Celebrities can be valuable to advertisers, but so too can the people who follow them on social media sites: 64% of US adults who follow a celebrity also follow a brand, according to a survey from The Nielsen Company. more
Is duplicate content causing indexing issues for your site? In a recent post at the State of Search blog, Nichola Stott describes how multiple instances of similar pages, especially at the product level, are a common problem for larger sites. According to Stott, duplicate content doesn't necessarily mean that an exact ... more
Only 13% of B2B interactive marketers say they have increased online display budgets in 2011 relative to 2010 levels, in large part due to perceptions of ineffectiveness, according to a new report from Forrester. more
Filmmakers and marketers migrate toward one another because the key to their success is the same: story. Learn how Apple successfully created an emotional bond with its customers that transcends commerce and lives on. more
Despite a lack of investment in marketing technologies and staffing over the past two years, many small businesses are now stepping up investments in digital channels such as social media, search, and online advertising, according to a survey from Network Solutions and the University of Maryland's Smith School of Business. more
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