May 1, 2013 at 9:00am ET by Lionel White

In April 2013, the IAB released a report that revealed double-digit growth for both search and display. Additionally, within digital, video was named the fastest-growing sector, reaching $2.3 billion. I spoke with three industry experts in display, search and video to gain deeper insights into how and why search, display and video will continue to show a positive curve. Display: Audience Buying In Prime Time When it comes to display, it’s obvious that the driving force behind its growth is data. Gerry Bavaro, Chief Strategy Officer of Resolution Media, says, “Audience-based planni [...]

Top 5 Mobile SEO Tips For M-commerce & Retail

Apr 29, 2013 at 10:20am ET by Bryson Meunier

Clearly I've broken my own resolution when it comes to not talking about responsive Web design, as I've done so for the past two months. This month, I'm taking a break so I can focus on resolution #1: giving more tactical advice on how to do mobile SEO well. Today's column will focus on mobile SEO tips for m-commerce and retail -- the topic of a webinar I’m doing this month for Mobile Commerce Daily. Tip #1: Make Pages Accessible To Mobile Searchers This tip may seem like a no-brainer in a world where at least 25% of all search traffic comes from mobile devices and 90% of consumers use [...]

Study: U.K. Mobile Search Survey Reveals U.K. Consumers In Less Of A Hurry To Make Purchases Than U.S. Mobile Users

Apr 11, 2013 at 2:27pm ET by Amy Gesenhues

Mobile-location based advertising network xAd joined forces with mobile call measurement provider Telmetrics to release their first U.K. Mobile Path-to-Purchase study, focusing on U.K. mobile search behavior. Conducted by Nielsen, the online study, surveyed 1,500 U.K. smartphone and tablet users to measure consumer search activity on mobile devices. While price comparisons and reviews were the leading mobile research activities in the U.K., users performing restaurant and automotive searches on smartphones were most often looking for location or local contact information. According t [...]

Report: Tablets Yield 15% Lower RPC Than PCs; (Another) Rebuttal To AdWords Tablet/PC Combo

Apr 10, 2013 at 10:09am ET by Ginny Marvin

The proliferation of tablet devices has begun to lower the value of the tablet segment overall for paid search marketers, even as competition heats up. That's according to the Q1 Digital Marketing Report by RKG, which finds that tablets generated 15% lower revenue per click than traditional computers. Revenue Per Click by Device Type vs Computer "Discrepancy is More Likely to Increase" Much has been made of Google's decision to combine tablets and PCs in enhanced campaigns. The RKG report is not alone in challenging Google's claim that usage behavior and ad performance among the devices [...]

Mobile Growth Highlights Importance Of Comprehensive Local Strategy

Apr 1, 2013 at 11:44am ET by Natalie Wuchenich

This week, the Local Search Association is releasing our “Local Mobile Search Study,” which overviews the evolving mobile environment in the U.S. and the growing role of smartphones, tablets and other connected devices in the local search experience. The 2013 study, which features 2012 data compiled from several comScore digital and mobile metrics databases, demonstrates a significant shift in how consumers are accessing the Internet and emphasizes the importance of local businesses embracing mobile platforms as yet another venue to reach consumers. Rise Of Connected Devices Provides [...]

Google Says No To Phone Numbers In PPC Ads, Forcing The Use Of Call Extensions

Mar 22, 2013 at 11:48am ET by Ginny Marvin

You may have missed Google’s quiet and brief announcement that starting in April, AdWords ads with phone numbers in the text will be disapproved. Advertisers who want to display phone numbers will have to use the call extensions feature instead. Google states in the announcement, “We are making this change to foster a safer, more consistent user experience across desktop, tablet, and mobile devices.” As others have stated, what this change really does is allow Google to charge for mobile ad engagements as part of its transition to enhanced campaigns. With call extensions, advertise [...]

When Responsive Web Design Is Bad For SEO

Mar 4, 2013 at 10:46am ET by Bryson Meunier

In my January column I resolved not to discuss the responsive Web design issue anymore, as the One URL versus multiple URL issue is moot now that Google has announced a way to consolidate link equity for equivalent mobile URLs. Unfortunately, the rest of the SEO community isn’t following suit, as responsive Web design still seems to have the undeserved reputation for being the best option for SEO. In reality, mobile URLs could be the best option for SEO, depending on your circumstances. The Madness Of Crowds For example, though I praised her in my last column for sharing her mobile SEO [...]

AdWords Enhanced Campaigns: New Bidding Tools Announced

Feb 21, 2013 at 9:59am ET by Ginny Marvin

Google AdWords has begun providing more specifics about the new bidding tools and mobile bid settings for enhanced campaigns. The AdWords interface for enhanced campaigns includes a new bid adjustment calculator designed to show you what the final bid adjustment will be when using multiple bid settings. Bid adjustments for mobile, day, time of day and location are made within the Campaign Settings tab. The calculator shows you what the implications will be when applying multiple bid adjustments. [...]

The Big AdWords Update: Enhanced Campaigns Puts The Focus On Mobile

Feb 6, 2013 at 3:00pm ET by Ginny Marvin

“If we were going to build AdWords today, what would it look like?” That’s the question Google’s Nick Fox, VP of Product Management, and his team began asking last year. The result is AdWords enhanced campaigns, a major update announced today that is designed to simplify campaign management across multiple devices, and to increase adoption rates of mobile advertising among small and medium sized businesses. PPC managers have become accustomed to the time-consuming workarounds needed to target ads by device type and location by cloning campaigns and managing granular settings and bid [...]

Comparing Mobile Blog Designs: What Works Best?

Jan 28, 2013 at 12:27pm ET by Sherwood Stranieri

One area of mobile site design that is particularly important for mobile SEO is the blog. Blogs get special treatment in search engines, as sources of fresh content and easily-digested RSS feeds. In the mobile space, blogs are also one of the few areas where users expect to find lengthy text -- so, the pressure to abbreviate content for a small screen gets dialed back, making blogs even more useful for mobile SEO. Cobblers’ Shoes To take a closer look at the different approaches available to mobile marketers, I decided to look at the blogs of mobile phone manufacturers. As a writer cove [...]

Report: 25 Percent Of Search Clicks Now From Mobile Devices

Jan 22, 2013 at 10:54am ET by Greg Sterling

The Search Agency has released its "State of Paid Search Report" for Q4 2012. It follows similar reports from Marin Software, IgnitionOne, RKG and Kenshoo and contains a range of data based on US client campaigns. Overall The Search Agency observed that paid search is experiencing a "healthy growth rate." Impressions, CPCs and paid clicks all grew in Q4. But, consistent with findings in other reports, the share of searches generated by smartphones and tablets grew significantly in Q4. Unlike some other reports The Search Agency says these did not come at the expense of the PC: Desktops [...]

Reports: Tablet Paid-Search Spend Surpasses Smartphones

Jan 10, 2013 at 10:55am ET by Greg Sterling

Two reports out this morning from Marin Software and IgnitionOne capture a range of Q4 paid search ad spending data. For purposes of this article I'm going to focus only on the mobile component of the reports. Both show paid search spending on tablets surpassing smartphones. The IgnitionOne report, focused on the US market, shows that mobile devices now account for 18 percent of total paid-search budgets. However in Q4 tablet metrics grew dramatically faster than those for smartphones. Right now IgnitionOne says CPCs are lower on tablets, while impressions and clicks are much higher for tab [...]

Stats On Mobile Content & Impact On Google Rankings

Jan 7, 2013 at 8:18am ET by Barry Schwartz

Bryson Meunier from Resolution Media posted an update on his personal blog about the correlation between mobile content and ranking in Google. The study came out with three findings: (1) Having mobile optimized and rendered content is still highly correlated with getting organic traffic from Google. The study showed that 89% of the sites in the study that rank, all have either mobile URLs, dynamic serving, responsive web design, or some hybrid. But 89% of the sites that rank well, have some form of mobile rendered web site available to mobile users. (2) [...]

eBay Offers A Mobile Search Shortcut For Online Stores

Dec 31, 2012 at 11:52am ET by Sherwood Stranieri

Last month, I touched on several ways that businesses could use apps as an alternate channel to reach mobile searchers. Online retailers have a couple opportunities to use apps in this way, by tapping into the eBay and Amazon marketplaces. Let's take a closer look at eBay, and some strategies for using it to extend the reach of your existing catalog. Starting At The Desktop Before mobile was part of the equation, there was a well-established practice for leveraging eBay for online retail. Of course, it goes without saying that many retailers use eBay as their sole storefront, taking advantag [...]

Mobile SEO Is Not A Myth: 8 Popular Claims Refuted

Dec 10, 2012 at 1:38pm ET by Bryson Meunier

Last year at this time, I refuted 7 myths in mobile SEO, saying mobile SEO isn’t a myth, but there are myths in mobile SEO. As we near the end of 2012, there are still too many SEOs who put mobile SEO in the same category as Santa Claus and his elves: good story but entirely mythical (sorry, kids!). I’m seeing mobile search and mobile SEO on too many “let’s stop talking about this next year” lists, and I think that’s a shame. To illustrate why, here are eight of the most popular reasons given for mobile SEO’s nonexistence, refuted: 1. Mobile Search Behavior The Same As Desk [...]

Mobile Search Beyond Google: In App Search Tools

Dec 3, 2012 at 2:49pm ET by Sherwood Stranieri

A couple months back, I covered the rise of a new generation of Windows Phones, and how they will slowly bring more mobile search market share to Bing. But, there's more to mobile search than just Google and Bing. The app stores for iOS, Android and Windows offer countless of downloadable apps that offer built-in search engines. Some of these apps are from major players in their respective verticals and may have a more direct impact on your business than the general search engines. Let's look at a few business types and the apps that provide good search opportunities. [caption id="att [...]

Google Offers Tips For A Search Engine Friendly Tablet Experience (Not Recommendations)

Nov 12, 2012 at 9:22am ET by Barry Schwartz

Google posted some tips for building a search engine friendly mobile tablet experience for users and search engines. Google is clear to point out these tips are NOT specific "recommendations for building search engine friendly tablet-optimized websites." Google does not have guidelines or official recommendations for tablet-optimized web sites but they did want to offer some tips based off their official smart phone recommendations. The tablet-optimized tips include: (1) Unless you offer tablet-optimized content, users expect to see your desktop site rather than your site’s smartpho [...]

Does Mobile Search Matter In A Multiscreen World?

Nov 12, 2012 at 9:14am ET by Bryson Meunier

This is my 25th mobile search column and my 30th post for Search Engine Land in almost four years. Mobile search has evolved quite a bit since I started writing this column in 2009, and even more since the iPhone turned everything on its head in 2007. In my first column, I argued that the iPhone didn’t kill mobile SEO, saying that it instead made mobile searching mainstream, and ushered in a whole new type of searching that Google and SEOs would have to account for at some point. I still believe this is true today, almost four years after that first article; but, there are many still w [...]

3 Mobile Trends Every Search Marketer Must Know

Nov 8, 2012 at 12:59pm ET by Siddharth Shah

When I last blogged about mobile trends in 2011, I had predicted that mobile, i.e., smartphone + tablet traffic would be 10% of all paid search traffic by the end of 2011. I had also predicted that mobile traffic would be between 16-22% of all traffic. It turns out, at least for a few categories, that I had under-predicted the rise of mobile. An analysis of mobile traffic of a cross section of advertisers reveals up to 25-30% of all paid search traffic is now mobile. It is now more important than ever before to pay attention to your mobile targeted search campaigns. In this post, I shall ta [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEM | Enterprise SEM | Search Marketing: Mobile

Last Minute Tips To Use Mobile Search To Ramp-Up Holiday Sales & Beyond

Nov 5, 2012 at 12:53pm ET by Sherwood Stranieri

This holiday shopping season is predicted to the the biggest ever for mobile commerce. A new survey from Deloitte expects that holiday sales from mobile devices will hit $36 billion this year, accounting for 5.1% of the $925 billion online total. Your Holiday To Do List So, if you have a mobile store up and running, you'll want to make sure your mobile store is ready to attract, inform, and convert incoming shoppers. Here are some great tips from past columns that should be part of your to-do list: If you have a responsive design mobile site, you'll want to take a second look at the Tune [...]

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