http://marketleap.com/report/default.htm The Marketleap Report is your source for straight talk about the economy of the new millennium. We won't cut corners. It might be rough on the edges sometimes but only because we think you care enough for us to say it. Someone has to. en 2003 Marketleap.com, Inc. 2004-04-06T10:00:00-08:00 Paul Owen http://marketleap.com/creative/newsite/mL_logo_btm.gif http://www.marketleap.com 165 30 http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_51.htm In the first part of our two-part guide to staying alive in 2004, we talked about understanding keywords and the major avenues to be aware of for getting into search engines. This issue we focus the light more closely on the biggest search engines you need to know about, their position in the market and how you can use the knowledge you have for each of them. http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_50.htm Today, Yahoo launches a new commercial paid inclusion program through Overture that feeds quality reviewed web pages into Yahoo's new search engine. Overture Site Match™ is now live at Marketleap to help marketers ensure their web pages are in the index that powers search results in Yahoo! Search and other web portal partners including Yahoo! Search, AltaVista, AlltheWeb, Excite and About.com. Site Match ties together Inktomi's, FAST's and AltaVista's paid inclusion programs into a single point of submission for Yahoo's index. http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_49.htm We've written a lengthy two-part report, giving you a solid guide to the things you absolutely need on your radar for 2004 and beyond. In 2003, search engine marketing accounted for 2% of the US advertising and marketing spend, the same amount as all billboard and outdoor advertising. 2004 promises to take search engine marketing beyond the signs dotting the roads and highways. http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_48.htm When the numbers began pouring in from Nielsen for the fall TV season on the major American networks, you could feel the gasps for air from the lungs of choking, old-world marketers. They were experiencing that most dreaded moment…the drowning feeling of having spent money advertising to ghosts that would never appear. Make goods from the networks won't correct where this luxury cruise liner is headed." http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_47.htm Recently Andrew Goodman of Traffick.com took over as the new moderator for I-Search, an email newsletter from MarketingWonk.com comprised of moderated discussions around search engine marketing. In his inaugural issue as moderator, Andrew dropped the following comment for discussion, "Be it resolved that paid inclusion is not search!" http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_46.htm The emergence of search engines as the most innovative model to match people with products, services and information, heralds an evolution of the idea that dynamic business webs will gather spontaneously on the Internet. The search engines help guide consumer choices, as Internet users turn to them to light their darkened way. http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_45.htm Marketleap is always amazed at the amount of effort people spend trying to trick or manipulate their positioning in search engines. People love to focus on the shortcuts to success and not on their website or the value their content provides to their audience. In the spirit of educating marketers about best practices, we present this list of ten things you can do to sabotage your search engine marketing project in no time at all. http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_44.htm There's always discussion in the search marketing world about how to define success. Derrick Wheeler, VP of Search Engine Marketing for Marketleap, came up with an acronym several years ago to help marketers understand exactly what they should be measuring to define success. He calls it simply, IRTA. http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_43.htm Indexed means listed, listed means available, available means more people can find you. Marketleap has created a free search engine marketing tool that checks your Search Engine Saturation, or the number of pages you have indexed at each of the major search engines. http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_42.htm Mention the word spam and people automatically jump to thoughts of their email inbox overflowing with smut, Nigerian bank scams, and thousands of products they never knew they needed. It’s not until they experience search engine spam that they realize that other online mediums suffer from being duped by mischievous marketers as well. http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_41.htm Is free file-sharing through networks like Kazaa on the brink of extinction? Looking at recent legal actions and government posturing, the shift to legitimize online media is happening now. Technology is catching up and in order to protect copyrights, media producers will have to sell and control files online, forcing file traders to the underground chasms of the web. http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_40.htm Have you ever wondered where you'd be without those first years of guidance? If my mother hadn't taught me how to clean a wound and put on a band-aid, it's likely I might not have made it through some of the rough and tumble patches my adolescence dragged me through. Scraped knees and bloody messes turned from pain and tears into childhood war stories and lessons about how to take control of my own health. http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_39.htm Search engines are driving online business like never before. Most marketers seem to believe that a Google listing is the Holy Grail for being successful. But are you getting the full bang for your buck from just focusing on Google? http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_38.htm Dragging myself through the desert without water would be a sure start to my demise. Jumping into marketing a website without knowing much about search engines can have the same effect. Websites expecting to find a wonderful world of opportunities often dry up faster than an imaginary oasis because they didn't plan their search engine marketing strategies wisely. http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_37.htm The anticipation of something is often more exciting than the event itself. When you work yourself up over an idea, emotion, or event, your body produces an exhilarating sensation of pleasure mixed with a keen sense of anxiety. It reminds me of the night before Christmas as a child, slightly modified for the adult mind where growth in business easily substitutes for new toys and candy. http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_36.htm t’s hard to believe that the 2002 holiday season is upon us. Once the Halloween costumes and candy started popping up in the aisles in August, you knew January 1st, 2003 would be here faster than a priority overnight delivery from FedEx. http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_35.htm Every birthday I remind myself that I've traveled one trip around one sun in a never-ending galaxy of cosmic soup. Life seems simple and slow. And then a month goes by like soft butter melting into hot toast. http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_34.htm People don't like to be hunted. You never want to feel that someone has tagged your ear like an elk and now your migration pattern is available to be traced and studied. It's unsettling. http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_33.htm It seems I'm not crazy after all. Many of you wrote in to say that you see service and attitudes getting worse. I was encouraged to get a response from India suggesting that good customer service is a key component in their growing economy. And we were lucky enough to get a response from AdBumb, the original reason I wrote the article. I think my favorite response was the simplest. http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_32.htm Respect is a sacred trust amongst those who do business together. Customer service sits in that shrine as the ultimate form of reverence. Value those who patronize you and they will often act as disciples for your cause. http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_31.htm The invasive flood of ads never stops. Like a raging thunderstorm parked over a prairie, the torrent of pop-up/under pages is endless. A few issues back, I talked about some of the newer techniques that online ads are using to take over your web browser. http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_30.htm Traveling like a viscous fluid across the network, a zone of information flows. Approaching my workstation in the morning, fuzzy-headed and loose, I’ve permanently lost the thought that I am actively typing and monitoring a screen. A mental step removed. http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_29.htm The force gripped my throat, feet dangling in the air like a Rebel Commander, and held me hostage these past few weeks. My anticipation for the new Star Wars movie loomed over me like a Dark Lord's shadow. Marketing, search engines and other realms fell from my mind, clouded by something bigger...elusive. Those who know me know my mind became an imagination machine the night I saw the first Star Wars as a kid. http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_28.htm A few weeks back we covered the emergence of more definition for marketers between digital marketing and online advertising. Definition in this case helps us all because marketers are beginning to understand the subtleties between their online marketing choices. Smarter buyers mean smarter markets. It also means internet marketing firms can layout a variety of options for their clients and show where they fit into a bigger picture. http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_27.htm When X10 started the pop-under ad craze, like some mutant, hula-hoop fad, you knew that marketers were poking our belly. The jab was being softened just enough because you could "close the window" and it wouldn't be "that" annoying. http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_26.htm The road waited patiently as we finished loading the truck. The prospect of driving a moving truck, car in tow, over two thousand miles in a just a few days lay before us like some Herculean task given to mortals. My mind raced with the thoughts of the sights and sounds we might encounter. http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_25.htm Customer acquisition is a hot topic for growing businesses online. Marketers look to the meadows of green customers grazing on the Internet and salivate. Cost-per-acquisition is a hot topic as companies look to effectively manage their cost to attract new clients. But what about keeping your customers once they get there? If you look at the survivors in the market, customer service completes their marketing cycle. http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_24.htm The Internet marketing landscape has grown rapidly over the past few years, spreading out over the Internet like warm saltwater in the sea. Initially focused on banner advertising and search engine submissions, the environment has grown considerably in terms of tools and sophistication of the techniques that Internet marketers are employing. http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_23.htm The online marketing campaign for AI, Steven Spielberg's movie from last summer, changed the way that marketers approached the term viral. The games epic feel, homegrown appeal, and rich story made it a unique force on the web. The excitement and buzz it created for an online promotion was unheard of (Artificial Intelligence - Viral Marketing and the Web). http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_22.htm The Super Bowl dot com ad glut from a few years ago left everyone wondering what in the nether region was going on. How had a new interstellar class of online businesses stepped into the economy, and within a year captured the imagination and momentum of nearly everyone backing the stock markets? Irreverence, bad taste, anything that could shock was employed to capture "mindshare" in a moment that felt like a bit of capital euphoria. http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_21.htm "We'll tie them all together. All of the networks, no matter how small. Into a seamless maze of digital unity. Pulsing with humanities exploits in every form. Driven by our code and a frenetic energy beyond belief," dreamt the wispy muse. http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_20.htm Sometimes day to day business can be the worst distraction from looking ahead. One project turns to another quickly and suddenly the voice dries up. Unplugged like a bad power strip, surging ahead ceases. http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_19.htm The Internet is only as good as what it connects to. Good networks rely on authentication. Authentication provides reliability, accuracy and trust. Companies that focus on search engine strategy, at the same time they work on their web business strategy, find success because they know how to communicate with the network. http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_18.htm Permission is a sacred trust between the consumer and the intelligent online marketer. Break it once and you’ll likely be remanded. Break it a second time and the consumer will strain, grasping at reasons to remain civil. Violate that trust a third time, and likely the mutual relationship will end, the consumer now determined to rid herself of the unwanted message. http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_17.htm Americans' affinity for advertising captivates whole industries. The American consumer consumes enough due to exposure to advertisements that it warrants great study and reflection. The frequency, style and effectiveness of various types of ads continue to pace ahead of the general consciousness, slowing only to tantalize those ready for a taste of something new. http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_16.htm Search engines help people make sense of the web. In terms of pervasiveness, their influence on Internet users ranks second only to e-mail. If you use the web, you use search engines. As dot-com advertising continues to dry up, search engines must find alternative ways to sell ad space. http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_15.htm With all the coverage surrounding Microsoft and Windows XP, Marketleap felt it would be valuable to shine the spotlight on alternative ways of computing that aren’t bought and sold by the behemoth from Redmond, Washington. http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_14.htm The topic of freedom stirs something in people. Not quite the passion that it used to, but in this inundated world it's easy to understand why. We don't have time to consider all the options. Too busy earning a living and surviving, we allow the markets to guide our needs. http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_13.htm “It will take over everything. All privacy will be gone. Large parts of the web and digital infrastructure of the economy will live in that cloud.” Speaking to one of the computing giants, I trusted enough to know it was real. http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_12.htm If you’ve visited sites like MSN, Alta Vista, the L.A. Times and the N.Y. Times over the past few weeks, you’ve been exposed to the X10.com pop-under ad. Taking a cue from the porn industry (windows opened behind a browser don’t feel as intrusive), X10.com is using the campaign to skyrocket traffic ratings and uncover new buyers for its web cameras. http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_11.htm Animated gangster girls modeled after the original Strawberry Shortcake and gang are headed to MTV in the fall. Based on a tasty Macromedia Flash cartoon created by Bullseye Art Studio and available on their website, Miss Muffy and the Muff Mob has been a personal favorite for the past few years. http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_10.htm The ad blocking software community and its users are a maturing movement within the web that continues to grow as others discover its value. Much to the chagrin of companies that thrive from selling online advertising, Internet users are becoming sophisticated enough to stop the message. http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_09.htm Techno-organisms and the network meet too often. Viruses continue to evolve and spread throughout the web. Unprotected networks and computers are either infected or being watched. http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_08.htm Your sacred e-mail address is a haven. Away from the other mailboxes, where mail piles up for a once weekly cleaning, rests a place you call your own and share with very few. But when your friend attaches a game called Elf Bowling to a quick note, your space suddenly becomes the brand space. http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_07.htm A stiff gate can push you back. Conversely, a frantic ride into the night, dodging road hazards like a guided missile, can really pull you in. It was a strange image, waiting on the web like I would in line at the cineplex for the new BMW film series. Having read some of the coverage about the premiere of five short films featuring award-winning directors like Ang Lee, John Frankenheimer and Guy Ritchie, my anticipation was high. http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_06.htm IBM is one of the most well known corporate brands. Their technology and consulting practices make them a powerhouse in the computing world. But when you think of IBM, you picture workers in pinstripe suits and well-groomed hair, conservative, calculating - not exactly risk-takers. http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_05.htm Murder, threats, intrigue, sentient robots and a future very close to our own. If you thought a description of the latest hit science fiction book would follow, sorry to disappoint. Instead these are all themes of the online "marketing" for the upcoming summer movie "AI". http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_04.htm My youthful fingers weren't fast enough. Sitting in front of the radio for hours, finger on the 'record' button, my reaction speed never matched the clarity of my planning. Instead, the first two seconds of my favorite song were cut off, the recording ruined. Saturdays floated in frustration and the top forty singles in America. http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_03.htm As the guardian of 40 million+ e-mail addresses and records of 3.5 billion transactions conducted by over 90 million households, DoubleClick is one of the largest collectors of consumer tracking information on the web. http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_02.htm Hunger for information and sports fever left the web servers exhausted from the load. ESPN.com struggled to keep pace with the requests. College basketball fans expected to find the usual depth of analysis and statistics that made ESPN one of the leading sports information brands. http://marketleap.com/report/ml_report_01.htm Money begat money. You would have thought that everyone had won the lottery. Business plans without a plan soared through finance meetings with the ease of drugs crossing our borders.