Alliance Blog Reviews

New data from Chitika indicate that Microsoft users—both browser and operating system— click on online advertisements more often than other users. And considering what a significant portion of the market those segments constitute, that’s pretty dang good news. From a sample of over 130 million impressions, Chitika saw a click-through rate of 1.05% from Internet Explorer users, versus 0.66% from Firefox users, 0.50% from Safari users and 0.21% from Chrome users. Similarly, Windows users outclick their Mac and Linux counterparts, 0.92% to 0.52% to 0.46%, respectively. According to TechCrunch, even Bing has higher click-through rates than other search engines. So why is this large audience clicking so much? Are they “gullible,” as TechCrunch asks, not savvy enough to switch browsers or recognize an ad, or simply more engaged? For whatever reason, this large group of the market certainly constitutes a valuable segment for marketers. What do you think? Why do Microsoft users click more?

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There’s Something about Microsoft Users?

Ow, brain freeze! Brain freeze! You know that sensation. It usually accompanies the consumption of too much of a good thing, such as ice cream, milkshakes, or…Google updates?!? Yeah, apparently we’re at that time of the year when Google initiates its own “brain” freeze–effectively shutting down innovation until the New Year. Writes TechCrunch … …people at Google are still working, but apparently Google has a “code freeze” policy that goes in place sometime in December. If you don’t get your product/service out the door by then, it gets pushed til when the freeze is lifted, likely sometime in the new year. A few Googlers confirmed this policy off-the-record, but all seemed concerned about publicly acknowledging it. It certainly makes sense–based on the recent flurry of new Google updates–but I’m not entirely convinced that we won’t see any updates over the next 4 weeks. All it would take is some big announcement from Microsoft, and Google will be just a matter of hours behind it–with its own announcement. You can take that to the bank!

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Ow! Ow! Google Brain Freeze!

Friday brought Microsoft and Yahoo one step closer to the search deal they announced in July . The terms of the deal received final approval from two very important groups— Microsoft and Yahoo . Although the two were supposed to have the details hammered out by late October, they took a few extra weeks to refine their agreement. This agreement still needs regulatory approval, and such agencies as the US Department of Justice are on the record as saying they will scrutinize the deal closely . Meanwhile, the deal isn’t projected to warrant much concern from the European Commission —but the DOJ is probably the bigger concern. Not only are both companies headquartered in the US, but also scrutiny from the Department of Justice—and threats of anti-trust action—ultimately killed a search ad deal between Yahoo and Google last year—will the Bingahoo deal suffer the same fate? Should the DOJ treat Microsoft and Yahoo differently since they’re not the dominant search engine, or would that be unfair? Is the Yahoo-Microsoft deal the lesser of two evils, and the only chance to unseat Google in the near future? Or does the deal merit more scrutiny from the DoJ? Pilgrim’s Partners: SponsoredReviews.com – Bloggers earn cash, Advertisers build buzz!

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Microsoft and Yahoo Seal the Deal

Two years ago, Microsoft bought a 1.6% share of Facebook for $240M . In exchange, Microsoft Live (and now Bing) provided web search for the most popular social network in the world. Two months ago, the two companies entered another deal with Bing to integrate public updates on the social network into Bing search results on real time searches. Okay, this time, it’s not really that big a deal, but Bing and Facebook are here yet again , reminding us all how buddy-buddy they are (and thus how cool Bing is, really, guys, can I play now?). As part of their continuing $100M marketing blitz , Bing is running a contents with Facebook. The theme is “hometown pride.” (I’ve got this great picture of my son. . . .) and the winning image will be featured as the Bing background on January 6. This is similar to a contest run this summer. Maybe this time they can break 100,000 Facebook fans. What do you think? Will Bing’s efforts net them more popularity?

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Bing Wants In with the In Crowd

As I mentioned yesterday, I love Bing’s shopping engine . In no small part because I can earn some serious cashback . As long as I make sure I’m getting the lowest price in the first place, the cashback makes it worth using Bing. So, Google Product Search can wave all the new fancy features in front of me that it wants, if I ain’t getting a kickback, I ain’t using Google! OK, maybe some of you aren’t quite so price conscious as me. Maybe for you, shopping is more about the journey, than the destination. If that’s the case, you’re going to love the scenery Google just added. First, we have a new gallery view: We also have new review summaries: Nearby stores: Video product reviews and a mobile friendly interface complete the list of new features. But, what it doesn’t have is this: And, until it does, I’m sticking with Bing! Note: This is not a paid post, but someone, somewhere at Microsoft PR just got a raise.

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Google Product Search: Give Me Cashback or Give Me Death!

A confession. Sometimes I use Bing.com. Stop looking at me that way. I said I “use” Bing.com. I didn’t say I enjoy it! In fact, I “use” Bing.com when I’m shopping online and want to get the best price. Bing has a pretty cool shopping engine and I can get up to 10% cashback with its cashback program . See? I use Bing.com. The problem is, that use does not result in me using the search engine for any other task. And that is the issue I see with rumors that Bing is willing to pay News Corp and other news organizations to provide their content exclusively to the Microsoft search engine. The FT reports : Microsoft has had discussions with News Corp over a plan that would involve the media company being paid to “de-index” its news websites from Google, setting the scene for a search engine battle that could offer a ray of light to the newspaper industry. OK, so let’s say this deal comes together–which I really doubt–but let’s say it does. What will happen? I, and many others, will know that in order to read an article on the Wall Street Journal, we have to go to Bing.com and not Google. We conduct our search, read the article, then decide to keep Bing as our default search engine …go right back to using Google! While Bing does need to get some exclusives like this, I just don’t see them being enough to fully switch the masses away from Google. If I know that my favorite bread is only available at Trader Joe’s, I’ll occasionally buy my bread there. The rest of the grocery shopping will be done at Harris Teeter…technically by my wife, but you get the idea. What do you think? Will deals like this convince you to switch to Bing? Forget you–you’re smart–will it convince the average search user to switch? Pilgrim’s Partners: SponsoredReviews.com – Bloggers earn cash, Advertisers build buzz!

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Why a Deal With News Corp Would Make Bing the Trader Joe’s of Search

( via ) So, ever since I came back from Vegas, I have had a pretty bad head cold. But, I have been diligently applying my favorite remedy: Watching mindless YouTube videos! Seriously, it makes me feel better. I am not sure why, but I am sticking to it! One thing I have noticed is that the most popular videos have at least one of two things; authentic, original content, or very well polished and produced material. Basically, if the video has authentic, original content then it doesn’t really matter if it’s “put together” well, because the content alone will sell it. However, if you are trying to replicate something someone has already done, then you need to do it better than them, make sure that your presentation is polished and your delivery is spot on. Which brings us to the video above. Here we see employees at a Microsoft store dancing to Chris Brown’s “Forever”. This is an obvious attempt to ride on the popular Wedding Entrance meme that started this summer. Unfortunately, the content of this video isn’t authentic or original and it was put together pretty poorly. I mean, take a look at those buffoons! Their own customers are trying hard to ignore how awkward they look. This is the type of video I would normally find at failblog . So instead of creating a viral video that helps promote their brand, the only attention they get is snarky bloggers (like me) making fun of them! This same lesson can be applied outside of viral video. Take for example MySpace and Facebook. For a long time MySpace was the only mainstream social network. Because they had an original concept they didn’t have to worry about having a polished interface and enforcing tight security standards, and they didn’t. As a result, Facebook gained massive popularity over MySpace because they offered everything MySpace did plus a clean interface and a barrage of privacy options. So, to sum things up: When developing a product or a new idea ask your self, is this original? If the answer is no, then spend as much time on presentation and working out the kinks as possible.

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Cup of Joe: How Not To Go Viral and Look Like an Idiot