On Webex, Mishaps and the Google Search Appliance

The best laid plans of mice and men etc. etc.

Robbie Burns knew what he was talking about. Many readers will know that NLC and Google had planned to hold a webinar last Thursday to discuss some of the lessons the NLC team has gleaned from recent deployments.

There was a great turn-out – more than 100 people signed in before the 2:00 start time. Unfortunately, no one (including NLC-ites and Google folk) was able to start the session. I’m still not entirely sure what happened, but technical difficulties of some sort with the Google Webex account prevented anyone from logging in. Frustrating for all concerned and for that we apologize.

Download the NLC whitepaper on Proven Approaches for Success with the Google Search Appliance (registration required)

As I noted in a blog last week, this webinar covers some of the material we address in the latest addition to the NLC Thoughts series – Proven Approaches for Success with the Google Search Appliance. We are formally releasing the white paper on May 10. Drop me an email at gsa-tips@nonlinear.ca and I’ll make sure you receive a copy.

Tip Two: Define Success – Then Measure to It

In my previous post I touched on scenario-driven design as a key to driving return on your Google Search Appliance investment. The second tip in our whitepaper describes best practices for demonstrating the business benefits the deployment generates.

Demonstrating success is important to you and your CFO. It lets you justify expenditures and plan future budgets in a way that makes business sense.

Specific metrics will vary by organization and type of deployment. For example, measuring success in an intranet requires different numbers than demonstrating ROI for search on a public site. We have, however, found that one metric is useful in almost all engagements – the percentage of searchers who end their visit from the search results page.

This helpful number is easy to track. Most web analytic tools (including Google Analytics) provide this information out of the box. It is also powerful because it is a perfect analog for visitor satisfaction with the search experience. If they search and find something useful, they click on the link. If they search and don’t find helpful results, they try again. Or they become frustrated and abandon the site.

By comparing this metric before and after Google Search Appliance deployment, you can easily demonstrate progress. The graph below shows the outcomes of a recent NLC engagement in which we deployed and tuned the Google Search Appliance on an intranet. The improvement is immediately obvious.

(Click for a larger, legible image)

There is a new kid in the blogoshere. Well not really new… the Beta was released in July 2006 but recently it seems Jaiku is beginning to gain momentum and we are likely to see more of it over the coming months.

Everyone seems to be asking “What is Jaiku?”

Jaiku is a Twiteresque micro-blogging tool that allows users to create and share a “life stream”. Similar to Twitter’s speed blogging model Jaiku is a place for users to mini-blog their movements and thoughts. The big difference is the ability to import your feeds into the service.

By adding your Flickr photos, songs playing on your computer, your Twitter feed or blogs keep Jaiku becomes more about presence than chatter. The addition of feeds let’s you see at a glance what a person doing beyond Jaiku-ing.

While Jaiku has that slick, Web 2.0 graphical feel isn’t the easiest thing to jump into. I still like Twitter for it’s simplicity and usability. It only does one thing and it does it well. With Twitter I was up in running in a matter of minutes. Jaiku is going to take a bit more commitment.

The other limitation is that while you can Twitt from almost any cell phone while Jaiku limits you to a Nokia S60 type phone.

I am told if I had a Nokia phone I would be able to download a small program and my cell phone’s contact list becomes alive, as anyone on my Jaiku contact list will be folded into my cell list and their Jaiku information updated in my phone. I will never know for sure as I am deeply attached to my new LG VX8500 Chocolate cell phone. Having to use a Nokia phone limits the appeal of Jaiku outside the office.

As a marketing tool the value of Jaiku is similar to what Helen outlined in her recent post Twitter for Marketers. “It is a social broadcasting platform that can enable users to see what is generating buzz right now and could be used to increase awareness of a product or service in a new audience, it’s real value could be in sustaining an existing relationship.”

Jakui is based in Helsinki, Finland and right now it is hard to tell how much penetration there is in the North American Market. Certainly when you scan the public board there is a wide variety of countries and languages represented. Both Twitter and Jakui are still niche markets but growing quickly. We will definitely be keeping an eye out to see if Jaiku catches on with the same force as the competing social networks.

I happened to be in Google Maps today, and I noticed a few changes in the familiar system. Let’s round them up briefly after a quick investigation…

The first change you may notice is that entering something into the search box brings up a Google Suggest-like drop down menu. The results in this box appear on first glance to be drawn from previous searches made on Google Maps.

There is also a new link in the search results, as you can see in the screenshot below. When you scroll to the bottom of the results, you may be able to see a new link that reads “See user-created content”.

Clicking on the link allows you to see a variety of listings in the area. Most of these listings appear to be drawn from the Google Earth community. A few of the listings appear to be from Google base. It is also possible that some of the listings are coming from Google Maps Saved Locations.

For some of the listings, you can click on the link where you see “Untitled Document” above, and you may see related listings:

These are interesting options in addition to the recent “My Maps” feature that appeared not too long ago in Google Maps. Overall, these are some great new options available in Google Maps

Our enterprise search team has just completed several significant Google Search Appliance implementations. (My hat is off to the development team - some of the time lines were insane!) Sharing success is a key part of the non-linear culture. We recently held a de-brief on the Google Search Appliance deployments and identified the key factors that drove success.

Download the NLC whitepaper on Proven Approaches for Success with the Google Search Appliance (registration required)

The initial list of lessons learned had 22 entries, but we quickly realized that six items are most significant. Interestingly, the most important tips are the least technical - they have much more to do with understanding search users (and protecting your job) than with hard core coding.

We’ve found that paying attention to these six tips, will ensure that your Google Search Appliance implementation:

• Meets the needs of your key users groups
• Meets these needs better over time
• Leverages other elements in the technical ecosystem
• Let’s you keep your job by keeping information that should be hidden, hidden

Between now and the release of the white paper, I’m going to write a few blog entries that give the sense of the most important lessons we’ve learned.

Tip Number One: Know Your Users

Anyone typing anything into a search engine is seeking something. That sounds obvious, and it is. But it’s also a powerful idea.

Understanding what motivates a person to search lets you anticipate the kinds of searches they’ll perform, the types of content they’ll need to access, and the barriers they might face.

As our whitepaper goes into considerable detail about the importance of scenario-driven design when contemplating a Google Search Appliance implementation but the central idea if very simple:
put yourself in the shoes of your most common or most value audiences and think through what they need search to do for them to declare success.

It requires you to exercise your mental muscles, but scenarios need not be driven entirely by your imagination. Web analytics, search analytics and customer support centre calls can help you identify what your most important visitors seek when they arrive at your web site or extranet or log in to the intranet.

Later this week I’ll discuss Tip Number Two - Defining Success and then Measuring Towards It.

The Deal

Google announced on Friday, April 13th, that they will be acquiring DoubleClick Inc. for $3.1 billion in cash. The deal, which includes Search marketing and affiliate agency Performics, as well as DoubleClick’s DART technology, strengthens Google’s position as the gorilla of online advertising. You can read more about Google’s position on the deal in a 5-page FAQ from Google.

Microsoft had been rumoured to be interested in purchasing DoubleClick for $2 billion until Google jumped in at the beginning of April.

Background

As most people are no doubt aware, currently Googles’ two main advertising channel are AdSense, a contextual advertising system, and AdWords, a search engine advertising system. Google also provides Pay-Per-Action (PPA), print and radio ads, as well as other promotional offerings such as potentially video ads and in-game advertising (as per a deal with AdScape Media on March 16th/07).

Doubleclick operates a large network connecting advertisers and publishers online. It’s DART division serves more than 60 billion ads per month and is used by many top agencies. Its’ Performics Search division provides Search Marketing services, including paid placement, paid inclusion, and optimization services. Its’ Performics Affiliate Marketing division connects publishers and “tens of thousands of affiliates”.

Competition Concerns

There have already been voices of concern in regards to the deal, including Microsoft, AT&T, Time Warner Inc., AOL, Yahoo, and others.

Microsoft, who lost out on the sale to Google, has indicated that it will be asking regulators to scrutinize the deal. Brad Smith, Microsoft’s Senior Vice President and general counsel, said that all together, “Google and DoubleClick would handle more than 80% of the advertisements served up to third-party Web sites”.

Mr. Smith goes on to say “This proposed acquisition raises serious competition and privacy concerns in that it gives the Google DoubleClick combination unprecedented control in the delivery of online advertising, and access to a huge amount of consumer information by tracking what customers do online. We think this merger deserves close scrutiny from regulatory authorities to ensure a competitive online advertising market.”

Microsoft is not the only voice requesting increased scrutiny of the deal. Jim Cicconi, senior executive vice president for external affairs at AT&T expressed some concern regarding the deal to the New York Times, “We think antitrust authorities should take a hard look at this deal and the implications…The danger here is that Google could be in a position to pick winners and losers.”

What it means for Marketers

The good news is that if DoubleClick’s technology is eventually integrated into Google’s existing ad platform, the result could be an extremely effective product for advertisers and publishers. Marketers could theoretically control Search, contextual, affiliate, and perhaps even behavioural advertising campaigns all from the one control console. Reporting for all the campaigns could be consolidated, resulting in increased agency cost-effectiveness and better overall targeting. This could be especially true if Google also integrates radio ads from it’s deal with Clear Channel Radio, officially released just this morning.

As marketers and agencies find it easier to sell advertising inventory, publishers may benefit from an increased market for their ad space. More ad formats and options, such as rich text ads, may be available to advertisers who were previously only familiar with Google’s AdWords system. Combine this with Google’s deal with PennySaverUSA.com the same day last week, which could see PennySaver representatives selling AdWords services, and the potential advertising market may have just gotten a lot brighter for publishers.

Round-Up

If you are interested in reading more about this story, here is a round-up of some interesting articles and posts:

• Google Blog: The next step in Google advertising
• PC World: Google to Buy DoubleClick for $3.1 Billion
• ZDNet: Why Google will NOT rule the world!
• MP3 Download: GoogleClick: Execs Explain $3.1 Billion Deal
• SEW: Google/DoubleClick Deal Shakes Things Up
• Charlene Li: Google “closes the loop” with Doubleclick acquisition
• WebProNews: Has Google Crossed the Line?
• SEL: Google In Radio Ad Deal With Clear Channel

Some of you may have noticed. Some of you might not have. Google has recently changed the way they are presenting top sponsored listings.

In the past, a click anywhere in the box would register as a click. It is often that these boxes have been clicked on unintentionally, resulting in wasted advertising dollars and an annoyance for users. This problem should no longer exist now that Google has restricted the clickable regions to only the ad titles.

In addition, after years of using a blue background, Google has opted for a yellow. In my opinion, the yellow contrasts with the color scheme that Google uses, which helps these ads stand out. It will be interesting to compare the click through rates before and after change. (Let us know your findings! We’ll report our findings later on as well.)

As a search engine marketer, I spend most of my days looking at SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages), but these features have seemed to eluded my attention until now. A quick glance at Yahoo’s SERPs reveals how Google’s SERPs USED to look like; the blue background and the large clickable regions are all there.

This move makes sense for Google from many perspectives. It’s an improved user experience, a new fresh look, better performance for advertisers and most importantly, it helps Google differentiate itself from its competitors.

If Google’s change proves to be a successful move, we as users and advertisers would hope to see similar changes with Yahoo and MSN. Actually, it would be surprising if they didn’t respond. However, this would inevitably provoke yet another battle of who copied who.

By now, you may have heard about the new service called Twitter, since it’s been getting an increasing amount of buzz lately. The service is basically “speed blogging”, where people answer the question “what are you doing now?” in 140 characters or less.

My SEM colleagues and I here at NLC spent about an hour or so recently sitting around a computer saying “it’s fun, but what do you do with it?

“What is Twitter For?” is the multi-million-dollar question that many people seem to be having trouble answering.

Recently, I was explaining to a few people what you can do with Twitter, and how it could be monetized. The guy that I was speaking with asked me if I could please go and explain this to Twitter, as they were having some trouble explaining how to monetize their own service to his VC-type friends.

Most people haven’t used Twitter yet and may not understand how it works. Basically, after signing up for the service, you have 140 characters to answer the question “what are you doing right now?”. If you choose to allow “anyone” to view your updates, then each update may be shown briefly on the “public timeline”. Updates from friends that you add, or people that you “follow” are shown on your home page. Other people who choose to “follow” you can see when you add an update.

Several Internet news services are already using Twitter to broadcast current news stories. Sites such as Techmeme, Search Engine Land, and Mashable are adding news stories, as they happen, to Twitter in order to capture more audience and increase their visibility as up-to-the-minute news services. The fast, brief updates that is the heart of Twitter allows an audience to quickly scan headlines and follow the stories that seem important.

But what is Twitter, really? At it’s heart, it’s a one-to-many text messaging & IM system. One message comes in, many go out. As such, it’s true value lies in being a social broadcasting platform. It can be used for friends to keep in touch, especially busy, hyper-connected tweens. It can be used by news hounds to find new stories and see what is generating buzz right now. It can be used in the same spirit as reality TV, by those who are interested in the lives of others.

From a marketing point of view, Twitter is best used as part of a wider strategy. While theoretically Twitter could be used to increase awareness of a product or service in a new audience, it’s real value could be in sustaining an existing relationship. There are already services out that allow you to add Twitter to your blog or website. Twitter can be a great way to remind people that you are there, with very little effort.

For those of you who are still unsure of why Twitter exists, think of it this way: It has taken me about an hour to research, write and post this blog entry about Twitter. It will take me about 10 seconds to add a note and a link to this post in Twitter. My Twitter entry could appear instantly (though briefly) to thousands of people with a fraction of the effort. That’s why Twitter has potential.