This week in the blogosphere we came across four blog posts that focus on the evolving nature of Search, specifically in the integration of Search and social media, and the use of targeted advertising based on consumer behavior. Below are some of the highlights from these articles:
- One of Twitter’s Promoted Tweets advertisers recently claimed seeing as much as a 50% increase in engagement across a sample of Promoted Tweets when compared to regular tweets.
- Search engine Topsy asserts that they maintain a collection of past tweets dating as far back as May 2008, putting them ahead of Google and Twitter in terms of archive search.
- Google’s revised ranking algorithm now allows one brand to dominate a single page of search results.
- 72% of online users report that they find behavioral targeting disconcerting.
Promoted Tweets Are Super Effective, Advertiser Says
TechCrunch | Robin Wauters | 8-25-10
According to Zecco, an online brokerage firm and one of the few companies currently advertising through Twitter’s Promoted Tweets program, they experienced (on average) a 50% boost in engagement across a sampling of 50 Promoted Tweets over a two-month period in comparison to their other tweets. Some of the company’s Promoted Tweets (like, product release-focused tweets) resulted in as much as a 200 to 300% increase in terms of engagement. Zecco claims that they plan to utilize the ad platform to highlight real-time insights from their user community and to suggest investment-focused material to their followers. Promoted Tweets, which kicked off this past April, essentially serves as paid advertising for a small group of companies (selected by Twitter) and allows them to buy specific tweets and keywords, which then appear at the top of Twitter Search results when users search for those particular queries.
Main Takeaways:
- Zecco, one of the few companies invited to participate in Twitter’s Promoted Tweets, claims that they’ve seen a 50% rise in engagement in a two-month sample of 50 Promoted Tweets when compared to the company’s other tweets.
- Some of Zecco’s tweets, such as those centered around product releases, saw as much as a 200-300% boost in engagement.
Topsy: Now Searching Tweets Back To May 2008
Search Engine Land | Danny Sullivan | 8-24-10
Topsy, a tweet-powered search engine, recently claimed to offer the most comprehensive Twitter archive search with more than 5 billion past tweets, dating back as far as May 2008. This puts Topsy ahead of major players in Twitter archive search, like Google and Twitter itself, which only search tweets as far back as February 2010 and four to seven days, respectively. Topsy began gathering tweets in May 2008 by sifting through and selecting all tweets with links via search.twitter.com. Topsy states that they recently entered into a contract with Twitter to index the entire Twitter stream. The post’s author emphasizes that Topsy’s tweet search is far from infallible and contains some major bugs, such as difficulty in tracking down a user’s first tweet. Topsy and Google really run the show when it comes to archive search for past tweets, says the author. Twitter has stated that they don’t plan to invest time in archive search, but plan to move in a unique direction that other companies haven’t tapped into yet.
Main Takeaways:
- Topsy made the claim recently that they now offer users the largest Twitter archive search, with over 5 billion tweets from as early on as May 2008.
- Twitter says that they’ve made no plans to go up against Topsy or Google in terms of archive search for past tweets, but plan to focus on search product innovation that others haven’t begun work on yet.
Official: Google Now Lets One Domain Dominate Search Results
Search Engine Land | Barry Schwartz | 8-20-10
Google has confirmed a recent change to their ranking algorithm that allows one brand to dominate a single Google search engine result page (SERP). Before now, Google only permitted up to two results from one brand to appear on any given result page. Google has responded that this will allow users who demonstrate interest in one specific brand to uncover numerous search results from that domain in a single search, as well as to offer more than just surface-level results from a single domain–all while maintaining diversity in results on any given SERP. The post’s author points out that in the past, Google has emphasized that users want diversity in search results, and suggests that this change from Google means that the search engine is now claiming that there can still be diversity in search results, even if they’re from the same domain.
Main Takeaways:
- Google’s revised ranking algorithm now allows one brand to dominate a single SERP.
- While in the past, Google only allowed up to two results from a single domain on any given result page, they now claim that there can be enough diversity among search results, even if they come from the same domain.
Behavioral Targeting Brings Clear Benefits to Publishers
eMarketer | Jared Jenks | 8-23-10
Seventy-two percent of publishers provided audience targeting (aside from contextual) to their clients, according to a May 2010 survey by DM2PRO and AudienceScience. These U.S. online publishers claim a range of benefits from this strategic audience targeting, including the ability to sell inventory at a higher CPM (according to 15.9% of publishers), improved performance (13.4%), more inventory sales (12.2%) and gaining new customers (9.8%). Consumers take a different perspective, however, with 71.5% of U.S. Internet users taking issue over the amount of personal information sites were gathering about them, 22% claiming indifference and just 6.5% stating that they didn’t have any concerns. A study authorized by PreferenceCentral found that once consumers discovered that particular ads they encountered were specifically designed based on their past Internet activity, they were far less inclined toward those targeted ads. At the same time, though, respondents in the study appeared relieved once they learned that their personal information would be kept anonymous and once they were given the ability to determine how this collected information would be used.
Main Takeaways:
- 72% of publishers report providing their clients with audience targeting and believe there to be a range of benefits in doing so, whereas 71.5% of Internet users in the U.S. find behavioral targeting disconcerting and worry about how their personal information is being used.
- Consumer demand for insight as to how their personal information is being used and for more control over how their online behavior is tracked will only continue to grow, and marketers must acknowledge this and meet consumer concerns.
Promoted Tweets: Does It Have a Future Beyond Beta?
We’re interested to hear your thoughts and comments on this blog post. To receive this weekly summary, or any other Optify updates, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or subscribe to our RSS feed. Here’s one question we’d like to hear your feedback on:
- While Zecco has offered Twitter high praise for their Promoted Tweets ad platform, critics will inevitably question their small sample size and regard their assessment as skewed. Some people also suggest that if and when the program is opened up to to all advertisers, the prominence of Promoted Tweets will cease to exist and consumers will perceive them as part of the regular tweet stream. Do you think there’s much promise in Zecco’s endorsement for the effectiveness of Promoted Tweets, or do you believe Twitter hasn’t quite figured out how to make a profit out of tweeting just yet? Share your thoughts with us.
