Archive for April, 2008
Did Google peak last November 6th, when its share price hit an all-time high of $742? Some people on Wall Street seem to think so. They now value the firm at around 40% less. Part of the blame belongs to the general turmoil in the stockmarket. But the bigger part, investors fear, is that Google, at the ripe old age of nine, might already be over the hill.
First, the company missed Wall Street revenue forecasts in the fourth quarter for the first time. Then a pair of reports from market researcher comScore (SCOR), the latest on Mar. 26, said U.S. growth in the number of clicks on the paid ads appearing next to Google’s search results essentially flatlined for two months running compared with a year ago. Six months ago, paid clicks were growing up to 40% annually.
However over the last couple of months Google is improving their add system in two ways. First, it offers fewer ads on each results page, and often none at all. This reduces visual clutter and pleases both users and any remaining advertisers. Second, Google seems to be trying harder to weed out those advertisers who bid low in the auctions it conducts for advertising slots linked to particular keywords. in short, with less space devoted to ads, and only higher-bidding advertisers getting through, there are fewer ads to click on.
If Google is really over the hill we will find out in the upcoming months. For now stay tuned.
Sphere: Related Content
Dennis Bergkamp will return to Ajax. The former pro has been asked by Marco van Basten to do a traineeship with the club. “I think that Dennis can make players better”, Van Basten said. Read more.
Sphere: Related Content
Web video. Some believe it’s all about low quality, edgy clips which you can graze on at your laptop - others see the internet as simply a way of delivering quality content in high definition to your plasma screen. Or perhaps you want to be able to click onscreen and get a wealth of information from the web about what you’re watching? That’s what Blinkx, a company launching a new online video service, is betting can make it stand out from an increasingly desperate crowd.
Its BBTV application promises to take a ragbag of content, from news clips to documentaries to independent films, and present it to you online with Blinkx’s added ingredient - clickability. The idea is that you are watching a news item about monks in Tibet, you click and get the entire commentary on screen, use that to navigate to the section which interests you, and then click again to draw down all that rich information that the web can provide.
While watching blinkx BBTV, viewers can access transcripts of a program’s audio track and background information on everything from actors and personalities to reviews and locations shown within the video (MediaPost, 2008)
But isn’t it too late for another video wannabe to enter this market? As far as I can see, the audience has decided that it wants either YouTube or mainstream television - and the likes of Blinkx may fall through the gap in the middle.
Sphere: Related Content
Oslo (Norway) is the priciest city in the world to live in according to the Economist Intelligence Unit. In its latest twice-yearly index of over 130 cities, in which 160 items are assessed, Norway’s capital has been the costliest since 2005, when it toppled Tokyo from the top spot.
European cities dominate the list, reflecting the weakness of the dollar. New York is still the most expensive city outside of Europe or Asia, but it has slipped from 28th to 39th in a year. Relocating to Latin America or India would get you a lot more for your Euro.
The highlights of the ranking can be found here. More on the methodological approach of the conducted survey can be found here.
Sphere: Related Content
Look past the yakkers, hobbyists, and political mobs. Your customers and rivals are figuring blogs out. Our advice: Catch up…or catch you later (Social Media Will Change Your Business, BusinessWeek Online)
“Blogs werethe heart of the story in 2005. But they’re just one of the tools millions can use today to lift their voices in electronic communities and create their own media. Social networks like Facebook and MySpace, video sites like YouTube, mini blog engines like Twitter—they’ve all emerged in the last three years, and all are nourished by users. “
A good primer for business executives that are just starting out in social media initiatives. We’re just standing at the beginning of the social media revolution. In the next three to five years the entire media world will be turned upside down and advertising, communications/PR, market research, etc will be performed in ways never seen before.
Sphere: Related Content
Recent Comments