Alliance Blog Reviews

Advertising is morphing and evolving at a rapid pace. That pace still hasn’t moved the online space too far down its own evolutionary road yet. That is at least according to Nikesh Arora, president of Google’s sales operations. In an interview with the Financial Times he gave some insight into how the online advertising world is shaping up and the role that Google intends to play in it. Oh, the reference to Barbie? Here is how Mr. Arora sees the current state of online advertising when he compares it to the history of advertising as a whole. He has been watching – on Google’s YouTube video site – a 1959 television ad for Barbie dolls. “There’s still a guy moving the Barbie doll in the ad and a radio jingle playing. We all say: ‘How could they think that was a good TV ad?’ – but that’s sort of where we are. We’re still moving the Barbie doll with our hands.” I get that. Sometimes I even wish we might go back to that every once in a while. Essentially, Arora and others at Google are convinced, and probably rightly so, that right now the online space is simply repeating what TV has done but that this attempt at ‘advertising’ is selling the Internet medium short. In other words, there is so much more that can be done. As you might expect Google intends to be there at the forefront. Some more of Arora’s thoughts Mr Arora is keen to recast the online advertising debate in a way that could increase the share of advertising budgets available to the search engine operator. “The whole idea of online advertising is going to go away in the next few years,” he says. “We’ll stop talking about online advertising and talk about advertising. Radio, print, TV are all getting distributed over [internet protocol], so those distinctions will vanish at some point in time.” That will be a brave new world for marketers, advertisers and consumers alike. With purchases like DoubleClick and more including mobile play Admob ( which has its own issues apparently ) Google is positioned to be a leader in the movement. And, as will likely be the modus operandi of all Google interactions with the press, Mr. Arora talked about relationships with publishers improving and that Google is the ultimate partner. “We give $5bn-$6bn away to partners of the $20bn we make,” Mr Arora notes, adding that it has stepped up its “research online purchase offline” studies, which analyse how search behaviour affects buying. How thoughtful! And to wrap up that thought so that no one will get too suspicious about Google’s plans for world domination Mr. Arora goes all “Aw shucks!” on us with this one. “Fundamentally, we’re a tech company . . . You show up with a huge technological problem, we’re going to get totally turned on by it.” I am no code cracker but I think “technological problem” is Googlespeak for “huge pile of money”. Your thoughts?

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As Advertising Evolves Google Talks About Barbie

Many people use press releases to get their business noticed. While anyone can publish a blog or use other marketing tools, press release writing takes a special knack. It has been around for decades, and the use of online press release distribution services has created a growing trend of PR for marketing online.

Your press release needs to make a statement. It needs to have valuable content and not just be full of fluff and filler. You need to make sure that you have newsworthy information or that you can at least project that image. One idea is to write press releases about things that relate to your industry, even if you have no news to report. Your information will be in the ‘contact’ section, giving you the visibility that you need.

Press release distribution can be used in many ways, and can market a business well. Make sure that you choose topics and outlets properly, and that your timing is correct. You will need content that is direct and easy to read, and headlines that grab the attention of people passing by.

With so many new social tools popping up in the marketing world, many people are seeking other solutions however, press releases are still effective. In fact, these are a timeless part of marketing success and will probably continue to be around for many more years.

Press release distribution relies on the channels that you use to get your message out there. While some people will try to tell you that anywhere is fine, you really need to use keywords and posting locations that suit your business so that people can find you. If your marketing looks shoddy or rushed, so will your company.

When you have customers who aren’t into social media or who need a more professional approach to information, press release distribution can be invaluable. Make sure that you take advantage of it when you can for this reason.

Ultimately, you need to be using a variety of marketing tools in your strategy to get your target audience’s attention. The tools should be combined to work effectively, and press releases can be a part if they fit. They might be an old classic, but they’re still alive and kicking.

To learn more about press release distribution or to find your own marketing solutions for business, you can visit www.Majon.com today.

When the world looks at areas where the pure numbers are pretty staggering it’s the sheer size and potential of the Chinese market. Let’s face it there are a lot of Chinese folks. So it would only be natural that Google would like a piece of that pie. What is not normal though is the fact that Google is second fiddle by a considerable margin to Baidu, which is acting like the Chinese version of Google in its homeland. CNNMoney.com reports that Baidu is pretty much putting it to Google. As one should expect though it is probably not wise to count Google out on this one. At first glance one might readily declare “game over” in the China online search war. Beijing-based Baidu (BIDU) dominates: According to Jennifer Li, Baidu’s chief financial officer, Baidu’s market share for search in China was about 77% in the third quarter, up from 75.6% in the second quarter. Google (GOOG), she says, lost share in China, dropping to 17% in the third quarter, from about 19% in the second quarter. So what’s the cause of this disparity? Apparently it’s not Google’s handling of the Chinese language. In fact, they receive pretty good marks on this one. What is likely the biggest contributor that can be seen (meaning there might be, just maybe a little bit, of Chinese government stuff going on here but that is PURE speculation on my part) is something that even Google can’t overcome: time. Google came to the Chinese marketing in 2006 while Baidu has been at it since 2000. That’s a lot of time to get a head start. What might be interesting to watch is the battle that is developing as Baidu makes a play in the growing mobile market. Google has fared well there but Baidu is making some serious waves in that pool. And Baidu is trying to extend its search dominance on mobile phones, an area where Google has done well in China, thanks to a search deal with China Mobile, the nation’s largest carrier. In October Baidu announced a deal to provide mobile search to customers of China Unicom’s (CHU) 3G services, and it also is testing a mobile app that features Baidu’s some most popular online tools, including a message board service. This market will be interesting to watch for sure because the political side of opportunity is one that the world watches very closely. Remember all the Internet ‘issues’ around the Beijing Olympics of 2008? Missteps by anyone outside of the Chinese market are likely to happen and it will likely keep foreign competition at a serious disadvantage. Once again, this is just me thinking out loud based on what has happened in the past. Baidu is saying that Google is on their radar and not being overlooked. But no one, least of all Baidu executives, assumes Google is content with its position in China today. “We don’t underestimate their technology or their ability,” says Baidu CFO Li. As for Google’s plan of attack? Maybe it looks a lot like the ne that it has for Apple elsewhere. Google’s ambitions in China go well beyond traditional online advertising and search. The company is widely believed to be looking for multiple ways to introduce its Android mobile operating platform in China, and recent reports suggest it may look to open an Android application marketplace in China. Google most certainly has its work cut out for it. How it fares in China may very well tell a lot about what the company is made of since it is one of the few places where it will need to fight from behind rather than defend from the top.

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Google Still A Distant Second To Baidu in China

I trust you had a great Christmas! As our minds dream of how fantastic 2010 will be, it’s time to look back at the hot topics of 2009. Here are Marketing Pilgrim’s top ten most read posts in 2009. Bing.com; Is it Worth Switching from Google? – A home run for Microsoft? While Bing certainly deserves credit for being the first serious challenger to Google, it didn’t hurt that 2009 was the year that Microsoft stepped-up its media outreach to us. Social Media Monitoring Tools: 26 Free Online Reputation Tools – This post was written in 2007 and has been in our top five for the past 3 years! Social Media Marketing Beginner’s Guide – A great guest article by Jon Rognerud and it still stands-up as a great primer for social media marketing. 8 Essential Free Social Media Monitoring Tools – A smart blogger knows not to simply update a popular post. Instead, you think of ways to expand on it–with a new post! This post from December 2008, added 8 more great monitoring tools for reputation monitoring. 200+ Internet Marketing Gurus on Twitter – Back before there Twitter Lists were just a twinkle in the eye of Twitter’s founders, Brian Chappell authored the definitive list of marketers on Twitter. If we hadn’t introduced a policy to close comments on older posts, I believe this one would have easily broken 1,000 comments by now! 21 of the Best WordPress Plugins for New Blogs – Just a little over a year ago, I spilled the beans on the plugins that power Marketing Pilgrim. Look for a new, updated list, in the New Year! Google Offers Cheap Online File Storage With a Catch – How in the world did this benign looking post from 2007 make it into our top ten list of 2009? Good keywords! The Five Pillars of Social Media Marketing – My good friend Ben Wills authored this post in 2006–which at the time was groundbreaking. In fact, I blatantly–with his permission–used it to frame an entire chapter of Radically Transparent! Google Reputation Management: Fix Your Google Reputation & Remove Negative Results – Do you get the feeling that we have a good grasp of reputation management issues? This post is over 2 years old, but, aside from the Google Pages reference, is still remarkably relevant. Facebook Really Does Make Mone y – When it comes to Facebook, I tend to defer to Jordan’s critical eye. She never fails to deliver! Some observations: As of today, Marketing Pilgrim consists of 6,792 (make that 6,793 with this one) posts and more than 45,000 comments! That’s a lot of words! Traffic was up 17.54% in 2009 compared to 2008. Not a bad growth rate! Referrals from Twitter were up 120%!!! Referrals from Yahoo were down 13%. Our own URL shortener– Gri.ms –let us track the origination of around 10,000 visitors! We know where you live! Want to see previous years’ top posts? Check out 2006 , 2007 and 2008 .

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The 10 Most Popular Marketing Pilgrim Posts of 2009

You have a business. You have a website. Now you need a marketing plan. Why? Because even though it might be easy for customers to find you offline, it’s not going to be so easy online. There is no roaming around or ‘happening upon’ certain pages online. With billions of websites out there, customers aren’t just going to stumble in that often. You need a solid plan that you can rely on.

Social networking, article marketing, link building, blogging, and keyword optimization are going to be important tools in your marketing. You can find a variety of tools to use and use them how you’d like. The only thing to figure out is what works best and what you like.

If you choose, you can hire professional marketing services to help you out. Internet marketing and running a business give you so much to think about that it can easily become overwhelming. However, hiring someone else to take care of your marketing could prove to save you a lot of stress.

Choosing a marketing company isn’t really complicated. You just need to find a company that you can get along with and who is going to do what is in your best interest when it comes to marketing. The marketing service should help you to determine which marketing tools are best, and understand how each one works.

Without proper marketing, you cannot have proper success. People won’t come visit your site unless you tell them that it’s there. You can’t throw a party and invite no one, and then expect to have guests. You have to send out invitations. Marketing works the same way. The tools are your invitations, and often your only link to potential customers.

Targeted marketing works better than general marketing, too. What is targeted marketing? Well, it’s a tool that you can use that focuses on marketing quality instead of quantity. When you focus on 50 people who WILL use your product/service, you will get better results than if you focus on 200 people that might or might not use it.

Advertise where your audience is. Even if it cuts down your visibility, it will actually be more helpful because more people will actually see your advertising. It doesn’t matter which tools you use, either, as long as you choose the tools that suit you best.

To learn more about internet marketing or to find services to help market your business, visit www.Majon.com today.

Of all of the different types of marketing available, email advertising is the one that you have to be the most careful with. Since the majority of email that people receive is junk or spam, you want to make sure that you don’t wind up there. It can be an effective way to market your business, but only when used carefully so that you avoid getting tossed out with the trash.

Email marketing isn’t as popular as it used to be. Before people were inundated with spam emails and junk mail, they actually took the time to read the messages that they signed up for. Now, too many people just delete away messages like it’s nothing, and don’t pay attention to what they get. This is causing many businesses to find other ways to market their products.

If used properly, email advertising can be very effective. Email marketing campaigns will be different for everyone, but you need to make sure that you take the time to check them out for yourself and find the ones that work best. Use catchy titles and headlines so that your message isn’t tossed out.

If you’re looking for the best results with email marketing, consider working with professional marketing companies. These companies will be able to help you get the best marketing possible and develop a marketing plan that works. Any business can benefit from these services.

What email advertising does is it allows you to contact your customers on a personal level. You can talk to them one-on-one, make them feel more important, and tell them about special deals or great information in a forum where they truly feel appreciated. This is a great way to market if you use it to your advantage.

You should have a clear message in your email marketing. You also need a friendly demeanor and a direct purpose for sending messages. If people wanted a sales pitch, they’d go to a car dealer. They want a trusting person to tell them things that they need to know. That’s where you come in.

When you market your business effectively, your profits will benefit. You will see marked success from email marketing and other tools that you can use to promote and sell your business online. You can’t just build it and expect people to find it, because there are millions out there just like you, and you have to prove that you’re the best.

To learn more about email advertising or to find your business marketing solutions, visit www.Majon.com today.

To have a successful business in today's business world you almost have to have a blog. Even in highly technical and professional businesses a blog is still a must have. The possibilities of what blog marketing can do for a company are endless.

A blog is a space where a business can connect to their clients on a personal level. Not only that, but a blog is an ideal place to promote sales and other important events for the business. Blog marketing is an essential tool that allows a business to communicate on the level of the customer. The personalization that goes into a businesses' blog helps make it unique and possibly unforgettable in the customers’ eye.

Blog marketing is a versatile tool that can be used in many different ways. You can decide to use the blog as a communication forum or as an informative tool or one of many other purposes. With a blog you can communicate without limitations, say whatever you need or want too. You can use the blog to talk more about your business, or about your customers, or you can talk about yourself if you wish. The possibilities are endless and the only limitations are your own creativity.

Many find it difficult to start a blog or learn how to blog so that it makes a difference. Sadly, not everyone will have the time or skill to use blog marketing to the best of its abilities. For those individuals there is help. There are professional marketing services that can provide everything that a business may need for a successful blog.

Blog marketing services can help any business with building and maintaining their blogs. A business just needs to find the services available, choose which one they would like to work with, and then they can help you get your blog running successfully.

Why should you use a blog? The answer is simple: because the blog is a perfect marketing venue. A blog can boost your positions in search results, which increases traffic, and your business will get noticed on social book marking sites. A blog is an easy and affordable way to increase traffic for your business. You should start yours today!

Any website or business can have a huge improvement just by starting a blog. Blogs can be technical and detailed and professional in every sense of the word which is great for some customers. Everyone in a business can come together with a blog. Whatever your business is, whoever you are, you can benefit from blog marketing.

To learn more about blog marketing, or to get started with your own blog today, visit www.Majon.com.