By Will McInnes

Google testing widget advertising marketing platform

This is incredibly important.

Google is adding to its advertising capabilities a new widget style 'Google gadgets' format:

Advertisers will incur no serving or hosting costs to run Gadget Ads, which come in standard IAB ad formats. The ads will be placed through the existing auction system, allowing marketers the option of bidding by publisher's site or content theme. With either CPC or CPM pricing, Gadget Ads can be integrated into an existing AdSense budget.

The article at Online Media Daily continues:

Marketers using Gadget Ads will be able to determine which features users are clicking on the most--whether a 'how-to video,' a 'savings calculator,' or a live feed--and then edit them accordingly. As "user engagement" evolves into a key accountability metric for measuring digital ad strategies, it will also become increasingly important for advertisers to track these statistics.

This - once again - blows open a new channel in online marketing, and delivers a marketplace advertising opportunity using widgets, a new marketing channel that has excited me for some time now. V.Exciting!!!!!

Sidenote: Importantly for the online marketing industry and agencies specifically this again blows the doors off business as usual - how supposed 'full service agencies' can claim to provide a deep enough level of expertise to deliver effective services in every new channel, I don't know. Long live the specialists I say.

Widget marketing case study - PollDaddy

I just wrote the latest chaper in our extremely useful (we hope :) ebook series on Widgets and their usefulness in marketing.

If you didn't BELIEVE, oh lawd, in the power, amen, of the miiighty Weeeee-jet, read this case study on how PollDaddy is kicking ass across the whole of the Internet, mostly via widgets: http://www.vecosys.com/2007/05/04/whos-your-polldaddy/

(via - obviously - the excellent Vecosys)

Old gobbles up new as Experian buys Hitwise

Interesting to see the information giant Experian has bought up web data darling Hitwise for $240m. Hitwise is heavily used now by search savvy clients and kinda came from nowhere to everywhere about 18 months ago in terms of people referring to it.

I found this out from an email from Hitwise but here's a blog post detailing the deal.

Web agencies using geographical SEO tactics

A long time ago I noticed TAMBA, a web agency in Birmingham, using this tactic, and I thought 'cheeky, but I don't think Google will let it work for long'.

At least 18 months later, and I notice that more web agencies are employing the simplest of SEO tactics to rank for towns and counties across the UK beyond their local geographic base.

A simple search on Google for 'web agency crawley' (a big city near where my business is based, but where we've never really done any business) brings up on the first page:

Result #1 - an agency based in Sunderland
#2 - an agency based in Worcester
#3 - an agency based in Guildford
#4 - TAMBA, who are based in the Midlands

Then some irrelevant listings.

It's only result #9 which is a web agency based in Crawley!

The tactic itself is very simple, and is purely a content play - no black hat skullduggery (not that my untrained eye can spot anyway).
And hey, it's not shocking - I mean isn't this what the Internet and digital marketing is sposed to be about? Lowering barriers, crossing geographical boundaries?

See how untied shoes do it:

Quite simply, a site area called something like 'Web design by Town and County' and then lower level content for every town! 'Aberdeen; Accrington...etc etc'.

The question is: is this what Google's users want?

I don't believe so, personally, because I believe when people use a geography in a search phrase, they are looking specifically for a physical source to filter out the millions of 'you can buy it from here too' results.

Maybe the ongoing introduction of Google Local / Maps and integration with pure search will turn the tide on these tactics?

Certainly though its fair that a web agency can offer services and market themselves nationally and internationally, and shouldn't be restricted from doing so - it's just we have to be user-centric and think what are they really looking for here?

The real story here, with Crawley, though, is that the local players have been caught sleeping. From my experiences at the fringes on SEO (we are website design and build specialists rather than an SEO team) I would think that a good content rich, long-standing and established website by a web design agency in Crawley, which was search engine friendly, would beat the pants off the 'single page per town' approach of these cunning Northern invaders.

This is proven by the fact that Brighton - the other big city in our county, and where our web design agency is based - is a recognised digital media hub with shed loads of freelancers, micro agencies and established bigger independent agencies, and a Google search for 'web agency Brighton' brings up 3 pages of listings (and some local results on the first page, plust lots of PPC ads) all from Brighton-based outfits.

But certainly a proven tactic to be aware of, and if you want to broaden your national client base, to take advantage of where the competition are sleepy.

Interesting post on Attention Data and Google's use in search results

'Google and Digg are paying closer attention' on Vecosys.

StumbleUpon: Best web browsing is serendipitious

StumbleUpon has been out for a while.
Essentially the service helps you go on crazy little web journeys - you tell SU your overall areas of interest ('Music', 'Japan', 'Internet' etc), and then just click the little StumbleUpon icon and - boof - you're off to the first website it selects.

I was cynical about the service - I like good over random (e.g. a restaurant recommendation rather than pot luck random choice of an unknown) but I think I misunderstood StumbleUpon, because the first website it took me to was perfectly captivating:

Have a play with maninthedark.com

Superb :)

I didn't realise that StumbleUpon was built on a recommendation engine basis - that once taken to this website I can vote thumbs up 'like it' or thumbs down, which presumably helps weight the likelihood of other SU users being taken there.

Ultimately one of the strands of beauty in internet experiences for me has always been that sensation of going on tangenital little journeys and having the good fortune to 'stumble upon' web gems.

StumbleUpon is playful, and in these timescarce 'did you get my email?' times perhaps we should be doing more web playing.

Worth a play if you're interested in clever web tools and serendipitous web browsing, which after all, is often the best form of browsing that interweb fing.

Good job for young, keen types looking for first job in Sussex online marketing community

Trainee Search Engine Marketer

2 big deals: Why the Brighton digital media shakes binary booty

Big deal #1 - Top US agency iCrossing buys Spannerworks (Brighton-based) as European launchpad

Big deal #2 - SecondLife creators Linden Labs opens Brighton office

These deals represent a superb start to 2007 for Brighton's superb digital media community.

I have lived in Brighton & Hove since I was 8 years old.
I am a participant and business owner in Brighton's digital media community.
And I love this shit.

Brighton's media community already has a good national reputation, but doubters say there's more hot air and lifestyle businesses than real substantial activity.
Bollocks, I say.

We intend to build on on our national reputation significantly, and them some - by building recognition for this uniquely excellent city internationally too.

Come to Brighton. It's nice.

Interesting post by Paul Doleman, Spannerworks, on latest Google link building policies

Links, Lies and Google Posts

SEOMoz opens the financial books for 2006

The highly regarded SEOMoz website/business, run by a guy named Randfish, has written a superb blog post breaking down in detail the company's finances.

If you're in online marketing or the creative agency world I suggest you give it a quick read. Nothing shocking or too inspiring, but as a small business owner I find it interesting and beneficial to benchmark and be aware of other businesses finances.

Kudos to Randfish for having the balls to open the books - we do it at Nixon McInnes with our team, everyone knows what everyone else earns for example, and I think it's a great way to run a business.