In a few years time we'll all be browsing the internet on a regular basis on our mobile phones and millions of people in emerging markets will be surfing the net for the first time through their mobile handsets.
At the rate we're going, there will be 5 billion people 'connected' by 2015.
All this I can believe. However, the notion of Augmented Reality was, I thought until recently, confined to the movies for some time yet.
Augmented Reality I think of as being 'Terminator' vision. When Arnie looks at someone, he gets all their vital stats, history, address, name etc. And that is exactly the future of mobile phone technology.
We can already get GPS on our phones, so surely it's just simple sums:
GPS + WWW = Terminator vision (Augmented Reality).
Can't wait!
Friday, July 11, 2008
Monday, June 09, 2008
Recruitment and the human factor
Finding the right job in London is like walking along a really long tightrope. Whilst juggling. Thankfully there are agencies to offer support and guidance along the way. Whatever their reasons for helping, it works for me.
For employers, finding the right candidate for a position generally comes at a hefty price. So you can understand why companies are looking to use latest technologies to cut out the middle man. Last year recruitment accounted for a quarter of all online advertising, and brands continue to experiment with new technologies to gain direct access to potential candidates.
Last year a virtual recruitment fair was held on Second Life which was hailed as a success by the companies participating. Blogging has become quite important in attracting candidates, as have PPC campaigns and (some would say) Social Networking sites like Facebook and MySpace.
I tried using Facebook to search for jobs and I found it confusing and unprofessional. However it's not a bad place for recruiters to advertise, as ads can be targeted towards the right candidate profiles. Having said that, most people I've asked aren't even aware of any advertising on facebook - a phenomenon known as 'banner blindness'. An innovative approach to advertising is needed for this kind of advertising to pay.
From my perspective recruitment agencies are in no danger of being ousted for now. They provide a valuable service to people like me, and it's in their interest to get it right for all parties. They connect the right people to the right jobs and it seems to work.
It's certainly the right thing to do for companies to divert their ad spend from offline to online. And there is a great deal of untapped potential for recruiting using new media methods. But the loss of recruitment agencies would mean a loss of the human factor, and isn't that what the recruitment industry is all about?
Video CV's - a novel approach, but not always the right one.
Monday, June 02, 2008
Simply semantics
In my quest to appear knowledgable in interviews I've been trying to stretch my geekness as far as it will go. My latest quest is to understand the semantic web and what it means to the future of the web. Here are some of the definitions that I have found:
1. Semantic web - 'the meaning of the web'. Huh?
2. Semantic web - 'an extension of the web'. Ok. Still not understanding.
3. Semantic web - 'a way of sharing data and content'. Right, similar to mashups or something, yes? Well, sort of. Not quite. Mashups use web applications to pull in data from different sources and present it in a single form, making potentially dozens of Web calls (for example: www.flickrvision.com).
On the other hand, the Semantic web is a web of data. It needs no application and makes no web calls. The data is the web and the web is the data. It doesn't use javascript or HTML, it uses a different language altogether. Semantic web is potentially the most powerful and efficient way of distributing data and content.
It uses a language called RDF (Resource Description Framework), which is apparently even difficult for developers to understand. RDF was designed to provide a common way to describe information so it can be read and understood by computer applications. Go any deeper and you start getting into terminology that sounds like something out of Harry Potter so I'm going to stop there.
In my research I also stumbled across SWOOGLE, a semantic search engine. This actually left me more confused than I was before, and more convinced that this technology is not for the likes of me to concern myself with for the time being at least.
The semantic web is a work in progress and has the potential to transform the web into one giant, immensely powerful database.
Keep up the good work, Superbrains - rather you than me.
1. Semantic web - 'the meaning of the web'. Huh?
2. Semantic web - 'an extension of the web'. Ok. Still not understanding.
3. Semantic web - 'a way of sharing data and content'. Right, similar to mashups or something, yes? Well, sort of. Not quite. Mashups use web applications to pull in data from different sources and present it in a single form, making potentially dozens of Web calls (for example: www.flickrvision.com).
On the other hand, the Semantic web is a web of data. It needs no application and makes no web calls. The data is the web and the web is the data. It doesn't use javascript or HTML, it uses a different language altogether. Semantic web is potentially the most powerful and efficient way of distributing data and content.
It uses a language called RDF (Resource Description Framework), which is apparently even difficult for developers to understand. RDF was designed to provide a common way to describe information so it can be read and understood by computer applications. Go any deeper and you start getting into terminology that sounds like something out of Harry Potter so I'm going to stop there.
In my research I also stumbled across SWOOGLE, a semantic search engine. This actually left me more confused than I was before, and more convinced that this technology is not for the likes of me to concern myself with for the time being at least.
The semantic web is a work in progress and has the potential to transform the web into one giant, immensely powerful database.
Keep up the good work, Superbrains - rather you than me.
Sunday, June 01, 2008
How do you win online?
How people use the internet is changing every day. Users are becoming blind to banner advertising and tend to tend to engage more with interactive ads or games.
Right now silver surfers are the fastest growing online population, although they tend to use the internet to stay in touch with family rather than shop online. Men use mobile internet more than women and nearly all of all internet users in europe read the news online.
However tomorrow's metrics may well tell a different story.
How then to digital marketing agencies know what's best for their clients? Perhaps the truth is that they don't, which is exactly what makes the industry such an exciting one to be a part of. Marketing and advertising agencies cannot rely on tried and tested methods any more - instead, they are much more likely to go for an integrated and innovative approach if they want to succeed. Take a look at Pot Noodle's latest effort as a good example.
Right now silver surfers are the fastest growing online population, although they tend to use the internet to stay in touch with family rather than shop online. Men use mobile internet more than women and nearly all of all internet users in europe read the news online.
However tomorrow's metrics may well tell a different story.
How then to digital marketing agencies know what's best for their clients? Perhaps the truth is that they don't, which is exactly what makes the industry such an exciting one to be a part of. Marketing and advertising agencies cannot rely on tried and tested methods any more - instead, they are much more likely to go for an integrated and innovative approach if they want to succeed. Take a look at Pot Noodle's latest effort as a good example.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Writing for the web? Suppress your ego!
I spent today at an excellent course ran by the Neilson Norman Group, the web usability experts. Before the course I believed that I wasn't half bad at web copywriting. I don't use UPPER CASE, I don't centre align, I put keywords in bold (sometimes) and I never put a hyperlink from click here (as oppose to meaningful text).
Not that simple.
There are principles to writing content for the web, the most important of which is this:
Keep it short.
Why? Because people don't read the text on websites the same way that they'd read a book or a newspaper. They scan it. Research proves it. People visit websites for the purposes of research, not entertainment. So make it easy for them to find what they want. How?
Short paragraphs, short sentences and short words.
If you're a website owner, here's what to do to make a start today:
1. Get the metrics - find out the most visited page on your website (ask your web agency if you're not sure).
2. Reduce the number of words on that page by 50% - bullet points or a table might help you get your message across more succinctly.
3. Split the content into short 'chunks' with meaningful headings.
Writing for the web is not a chance to show off. It's not about big words, cheeky headlines and artistic licence. Like all things to do with website usability, it is about the audience and giving them what they are looking for. Get that right and you'll find that you've probably ticked a fair few the SEO and accessibility boxes as well.
Not that simple.
There are principles to writing content for the web, the most important of which is this:
Keep it short.
Why? Because people don't read the text on websites the same way that they'd read a book or a newspaper. They scan it. Research proves it. People visit websites for the purposes of research, not entertainment. So make it easy for them to find what they want. How?
Short paragraphs, short sentences and short words.
If you're a website owner, here's what to do to make a start today:
1. Get the metrics - find out the most visited page on your website (ask your web agency if you're not sure).
2. Reduce the number of words on that page by 50% - bullet points or a table might help you get your message across more succinctly.
3. Split the content into short 'chunks' with meaningful headings.
Writing for the web is not a chance to show off. It's not about big words, cheeky headlines and artistic licence. Like all things to do with website usability, it is about the audience and giving them what they are looking for. Get that right and you'll find that you've probably ticked a fair few the SEO and accessibility boxes as well.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Trademark bidding - not so bad after all
I've been reading about the recent change in Google's trademark bidding strategy and it made me wonder. Will this change in the rules only affect people who have trademarked a search term, or will it push prices up across the board? In 1 months time, people will be able to start bidding against each other for trademarked keywords. For instance, coca-cola may start bidding for 'pepsi'. In fact, every man and his dog might start bidding for Pepsi, pointless as that may be.
One way of looking at it is that Coca-cola would be essentially burning money by advertising using this method. This is because people searching for Pepsi WANT Pepsi, so all Coca-cola has managed to do is frustrate the customer. On the other hand, the customer might click on the link and realise that Coca-cola has a special offer on, so they'll buy Coca-cola in future. In that case, was it worth it for coca-cola to pay £20 for pinching that 1 Pepsi customer? Added to that is the power of Pepsi being number 1 in the natural listings anyway.
And what about other Big Brands? Adidas could put a bid in for the keyword 'Nike', so that when people search for Nike trainers, up comes an advert for Adidas trainers. Hang on - that already happens. Why? Because Nike haven't 'trademarked' their brandname with Google. There wouldn't be any point because Nike allows its resellers to sell their brand over the internet, probably together with other sports brands.
And what about the resellers - are they likely to suffer? Lets take The Biz - they're selling a wide variety of surf brand clothing, and they might decide to bid on the keyword 'billabong t-shirts'. My first reaction to that would be MORE FOOL THEM. Even before Google changes it's rules, they'll be paying a fortune for such a vague keyword with very low conversions.
However, if they were to bid on 'mens red billabong t-shirt' (with a phrase or exact match), it's unlikely that Quicksilver will be bidding against that for a keyword so in that scenario, trademark bidding isn't going to make much difference to The Biz's Adwords spend. On top of that, if they take the searcher directly to a targeted landing page, the likelyhood of converting that click to a sale shoots up.
So the answer is this: As long as you're doing it right, Google's introduction of trademark bidding won't affect your adwords spend. We have just finished developing a product that ensures you do it right and takes the soul-destruction out of keyword targeting so that you can create specific keyword ad campaigns for every single one of your ecommerce products (whether you have 100 or 1 million products) that take people directly to a targeted landing page. In the click of a mouse. No laborious filling in of 200,000 fields required.
One way of looking at it is that Coca-cola would be essentially burning money by advertising using this method. This is because people searching for Pepsi WANT Pepsi, so all Coca-cola has managed to do is frustrate the customer. On the other hand, the customer might click on the link and realise that Coca-cola has a special offer on, so they'll buy Coca-cola in future. In that case, was it worth it for coca-cola to pay £20 for pinching that 1 Pepsi customer? Added to that is the power of Pepsi being number 1 in the natural listings anyway.
And what about other Big Brands? Adidas could put a bid in for the keyword 'Nike', so that when people search for Nike trainers, up comes an advert for Adidas trainers. Hang on - that already happens. Why? Because Nike haven't 'trademarked' their brandname with Google. There wouldn't be any point because Nike allows its resellers to sell their brand over the internet, probably together with other sports brands.
And what about the resellers - are they likely to suffer? Lets take The Biz - they're selling a wide variety of surf brand clothing, and they might decide to bid on the keyword 'billabong t-shirts'. My first reaction to that would be MORE FOOL THEM. Even before Google changes it's rules, they'll be paying a fortune for such a vague keyword with very low conversions.
However, if they were to bid on 'mens red billabong t-shirt' (with a phrase or exact match), it's unlikely that Quicksilver will be bidding against that for a keyword so in that scenario, trademark bidding isn't going to make much difference to The Biz's Adwords spend. On top of that, if they take the searcher directly to a targeted landing page, the likelyhood of converting that click to a sale shoots up.
So the answer is this: As long as you're doing it right, Google's introduction of trademark bidding won't affect your adwords spend. We have just finished developing a product that ensures you do it right and takes the soul-destruction out of keyword targeting so that you can create specific keyword ad campaigns for every single one of your ecommerce products (whether you have 100 or 1 million products) that take people directly to a targeted landing page. In the click of a mouse. No laborious filling in of 200,000 fields required.
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