Indian Eye

Search for the right media mix (pun intended)

The Internet has transformed from a mere information resource, to an active ground for businesses looking for leads or sales. The inherent dynamism of the media, coupled with measurability is making it a favorite with advertisers. It is no surprise that more and more advertisers are visible online. For an advertiser, there is a bouquet of options, that include portals, search engines or even third party inventory aggregators.

But when it comes to cost or performance, search engine based advertising is the clear winner hands-down. This has historically been the case, and I can vouch from my experience managing a multitude of campaigns over the years. If an average banner ad campaign fetches you leads at Rs. X, a well managed search engine  sponsored ad can get you the same for 1/3rd the cost. And the same is for performance. The lead-sale conversion from a sponsored search ad-campaign is almost twice that of a regular campaign. And amongst search engines, Google has the edge in terms of the volumes (almost 90% of the leads) but Yahoo is at par or better than Google when it comes to conversions.

For conventional banner based advertising or variants, the only way to catch up is by introducing a dynamic, preemptive and context-intelligent ad delivery model. As for media aggregators or media-buyers, its in the interest of their consumers that they make course corrections in their campaign based on real-time monitoring, and campaign intelligence.

The demand for better performing ad-units is intense, and so is the competition amongst them. And competition is always a good thing to have.

Tags: Advertising, Internet

Posted in Advertising, Business, Google, Internet, Marketing, Search | No Comments »

Microsoft Bids US$ 44 billion for Yahoo!

Software giant Microsoft bids US$ 44 billion for Yahoo! in cash and stocks, a 60% premium over current market price. The search engine market is dominated by Google with an impressive 56% dominance (in the US). Yahoo and Microsoft account for about 31% of the pie, and the rest scattered across the multitude of search engines. But even with the merger, it isn’t such an exciting deal, and I suspect the combined market share to dip even further. Unfortunately for Yahoo, business hasn’t been very good off late and with declining profits and margins, it would seem like a good deal from Microsoft.

The combined entity may however pose a semblance of a threat to Google, and may get Google on its toes. Will Yahoo exist as a seperate entity, or will it remain a skin powered by Microsoft Live search waits to be seen.

Tags: Google, Microsoft, Search, Yahoo

Posted in Business, Google, Search, Technology | No Comments »

Google Android - The beginning of the end for legacy phones

Rumours of a GPhone (similar to an iPhone) have been floating around, after Google acquired a mobile phone software start-up. Well, in November 2007, those rumours were quashed when Google officially launched the Android, not a phone, but even more powerful - an Open Mobile Platform.

“Android is the first truly open and comprehensive platform for mobile devices. It includes an operating system, user-interface and applications — all of the software to run a mobile phone, but without the proprietary obstacles that have hindered mobile innovation,” announced Andy Rubin. Android was launched as part of the Open Handset Alliance, an alliance of some very prominent players like NTT DoCoMo, Sprint, T-Mobile, HTC,  Intel, NVIDIA, LG, Samsung, Nextel, Motorola, eBay, China Mobile, Texas Instruments and several more.

Is it revolutionary? Hell Yea! Watch out for this space. In the meanwhile, check out the Android introduction video.

Tags: Android, Google, Mobile Phone

Posted in Google, Internet, Technology | 1 Comment »