• 70% go online to find information on brands, especially for travel, leisure, and recreation
• 83% say online reviews had at least some level of influence in their buying decision

Businesses today exist in an era in which its nearly impossible to escape the likelihood of being evaluated…theres nowhere to hide, said Linda Shea, SVP and Global Managing Director of Customer Strategies for Opinion Research Corporation. Companies must be extremely mindful of the power of proliferating online forums and their ability to shape consumers perceptions about brands. Even a single negative review, when posted in a very public forum, can have a significant impact on a prospective buyers decision to purchase.

So when does the internet first enter the decision-making process?

• 38% use the internet from the start
• 27% go online when trying to decide between 2-3 options
• 21% are at the narrowing-down phase

And here’s what’s being researched, along with the percentage of those surveyed who go online to research the various categories:

• Travel/Recreation/Leisure 82%
• Electronic goods 80%
• Household products/services 66%
• Clothing 55%
• Automotive 55%
• Personal care 40%
• Food 24%

What do you think of these numbers? Does it affect your view of how important SEO is? Give your thoughts in the comments.

Related Reading:
Get in on the Conversation about the Future of SEO
What’s In Your Travel Tool Bag?
What’s In Your Travel Tool Bag? - Part 2

Read More…

[Source: Search Engine Watch Blog]

Additionally, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that a separate tool will be launched to show how web users respond to online ads.

Audience measurement is already an established field with players such as comScore, Hitwise and Nielsen. Though, comScore did come under fire earlier this year for their measurements of search advertising, which Wall Street used to devalue Google, which ended up posting strong first quarter results.

And as we reported yesterday, Google is taking on sites like Compete and Alexa by offering a new website comparison tool as part of its Trends product.

We expect to have more details about the new media measurement tool when the official announcement is made later today.

Read More…

[Source: Search Engine Watch Blog]

Here’s the data that will be available through SpyFu UK:

• Natural search competitors
• Paid search competitors
• Competitors’ Keywords
• Competitors’ Cost per click
• Rankings

SpyFu launched in May 2007 and says it already sees 1 million visitors per month.

“With our tremendous growth over the past year, we were considering several opportunities for expansion,” said Michael J. Roberts, president of Velocityscape, the creator of SpyFu. “We found that UK data was the most-requested feature in the SpyFu.com forums. Listening to our customers and addressing their needs is always our first priority.”

Related Reading:
Tools for Competitive Search Intelligence
Avinash Kaushik Talks About Competitive Intelligence Tools

Read More…

[Source: Search Engine Watch Blog]

Earlier this month, IDC released data showing that online advertising was up 23.9% in the first quarter of 2008 over the same period in 2007.

“Compared to more mature types of advertising, Internet advertising is growing at a phenomenal rate,” said John Gantz, chief research officer at IDC. “But Internet advertising is still relatively new and growing from a much smaller base. By the end of the forecast period, spending for Internet advertising will trail direct mail the third largest form of advertising by more than $30 billion, while spending on TV and print ads will each be nearly twice as great as for online ads. The long-term opportunity for Internet advertising can be seen in the disparity between per capita spending. Total advertising revenues equate to more than $105 per inhabitant of the planet, while Internet advertising revenues are less than $50 per active Internet user.”

Read More…

[Source: Search Engine Watch Blog]

Ad Planner was developed for media planners in the hopes of creating a better connection between advertisers and publishers. Here’s how it works: Media planners enter their target audience demographics as well as sites that their audience already visits. Ad Planner will use the data to determine what other sites the target audience is visiting. The list of sites will include those on and off the Google Content Network.

The data can then be used to create plans, which can be exported via CSV. You can also export data to DoubleClick’s MediaVisor, another media planning platform. Google completed its acquisition of DoubleClick earlier this year.

Here’s what the Ad Planner platform will look like:

What do you think of Ad Planner? Will you request an invitation? Let us know by leaving a comment.

Read More…

[Source: Search Engine Watch Blog]

In order to use Conversion Optimizer, you must have AdWords Conversion Tracking enabled and have accrued 200 conversions over the past 30 days. Conversion Optimizer uses several factors to determine an optimal CPC bid based on the maximum CPA set by the user. Factors include broad matching, content network or search partner site where an ad is displayed, and where the user is located.

Writing on the Inside AdWords blog, Trevor Claiborne explained, “The keyword “flowers” may have a 2% conversion rate while the keyword ‘roses delivery’ may have a 7% conversion rate. That doesn’t mean that you don’t want any clicks on ‘flowers,’ but you probably wouldn’t want to spend as much on that keyword as you might be willing to spend for clicks on ‘roses delivery’ The Conversion Optimizer uses information like this to adjust your bids based on how valuable each click is for you.”

What do you think about Conversion Optimizer being supported by AdWords Editor and API? Let us know in the comments.

Read More…

[Source: Search Engine Watch Blog]