March 24, 2009

SES New York is a Search Expo as well as an SEM Conference

Most of the attention at SES New York is focused on the SEM conference. But the must-attend industry event is a search expo, as well.

If you look over the list of participating sponsors and exhibitors, you'll see Premier Plus Sponsors like iProspect and Google as well as Premier Sponsors like Ask Sponsored Listings, iContact, Microsoft and WebTrends. But as you scroll down the list of close to 100 sponsors and exhibitors, you'll see lots of other names, too.

As I mentioned yesterday, I plan to visit the booths of the SES sponsors and exhibitors. I always find useful products and services -- not to mention the trade-show tchotchke and promotional swag.

In fact, I generally discover a couple of under-reported stories in the Expo Hall.

For example, at SES New York 2008, I thought one of the under-reported stories was LifeTips, which is a content design and content development company working on ebooks and other products. They had just launched an SEO content grader. So, I invited Byron White, the founder of LifeTips, to give us his escalator pitch. (This is a lot like an elevator pitch, except the escalators at the Hilton New York are a lot faster than the elevators.)

Lifetips Escalator Pitch, SES NY 2008

However, there's no way to know in advance which booths will contain under-reported stories at SES New York 2009. (Although, it won't hurt to check out Booth #1302, because WebTrends and Business.com are sponsoring the ultimate conference give-away: A brand new Smart Car.)

Nevertheless, it turns out that some of the exhibitors have submitted proflies to Business Wire's Virtual Press Office (VPO). So, that increases the odds that there is gold in them thar hills. Check it out for yourself.

Company: Click Forensics, Inc. Booth: 1108 Click Forensics is the industry leader in scoring, auditing and improving traffic quality for the online advertising community. By optimizing every step in the online advertising process, Click Forensics maximizes ROI for advertisers, publishers, and ad networks. Click Forensics' traffic quality management solutions are relevant for advertisers seeking to reduce costs and improve conversions rates, ad networks seeking to attract and retain advertisers and improve overall eCPM, and publishers seeking to attract quality advertisers and increase earnings per click. For over 5 years the online advertising industry has relied on Click Forensics as the independent authority on traffic quality and click fraud.

Company: DOCLIX Booth: 225 DOCLIX owns and operates AdSide, a pay-per-click ad network which brings search-level performance to content-targeted ads. It provides advertisers and publishers with tools to maximize revenue and growth. AdSide places user-activated text ads on premium sites. Its patent-pending Two-Step Click™ lead qualification model ensures that advertisers pay only for twice-qualified leads, generating higher conversion rates and ROI. AdSide expands publishers' real estate, providing them with a new revenue stream that does not dilute user experience. Our custom ad formats and yield optimization technology maximize click-through rates and effective CPMs. Premium publishers are pre-screened for content and are required to have over 1 million unique visitors. Company: Ektron Booth: 120 Ektron, a global leader in Web content management software and services, empowers organizations to maximize their business performance online. With tools and functionality that maximize SEM, SEO and social media optimization strategies for SMBs and enterprises alike, Ektron CMS400.NET delivers organizations' valuable content to the people who are looking for it. Ektron empowers developers and non-technical business users. Developers can take advantage of built-in Server Controls to deploy a Web site out of the box or customize the deployment using CMS400.NET's API, addressing all of the business's SEO needs. Business users benefit from an intuitive user interface for managing Web site content and messaging. In addition to SEO tools and core content management, CMS400.NET ships with a wide array of functionality, including social networking, Web 2.0, SEO and synchronization tools.

Company: Emailvision Booth: 322 Emailvision has become the global market and technology leader in on-demand software for email marketing automation. Used daily by over 1500 companies worldwide, the Emailvision flagship product, Campaign Commander, is the benchmark tool for e-commerce and publishing. Sold as a subscription service it enables clients to improve message deliverability, lower costs and focus on their online retention marketing strategies without important technology investments. The company has offices in major international markets including the US, UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Netherlands and Spain. Emailvision (ALEMV) was founded in 1999 and is listed on the Euronext/Alternext stock exchange.

Company: eZanga Booth: 121 eZanga (www.eZanga.com), a search engine marketing company and search engine founded by Beth and Richard Kahn in 2003, provides online advertisers with local, regional, and national advertising focused on generating high return on investment and users with access to a search engine powered by eZanga's proprietary Meta Search technology, which pulls data from numerous, unique content sources and displays the results in an easy-to-read and relevant fashion. In 2008, eZanga was recognized by Inc. magazine's Inc. 500 as the fastest-growing company in its home state of Delaware.

eZanga Escalator Pitch, SES NY 2008 Company: GoECart Booth: 213 GoECart is the clear choice for serious merchants focused on creating and rapidly growing a successful online business. With integration with industry-leading partners like Google Checkout, Paypal, Amazon.com, Linkshare, UPS, Google Analytics, Campaigner and LivePerson, GoECart is the most connected e-commerce solution on the market. GoECart combines 250+ powerful features and On-Demand Tier 1 hosting with a delightful shopping experience for customers - all at a surprisingly affordable price. GoECart is THE MOST Search Engine Friendly Ecommerce Software on the market, bar none! GoECart serves a diverse customer base ranging from small- and medium-sized enterprises to Fortune 500 companies. www.GoECart.com

Shopping Cart Software SEO with goecart.com

Company: iCrossing Booth: 100 iCrossing is a global digital marketing company that combines talent and technology to help world-class brands find and connect with their customers. The company blends best-in-class digital marketing services - including paid search, search engine optimization, Web development, social media, mobile, research and analytics - to create integrated digital marketing programs that engage consumers and drive ROI. iCrossing's client base includes such recognized brands as Epson America, Toyota, Travelocity and 40 Fortune 500 companies, including The Coca-Cola Company and Office Depot. Headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, the company has 580 employees in 12 offices in the U.S. and Europe.

Company: ideaLaunch Booth: 202 Valuable, relevant content is what your company needs to attract and retain customers. ideaLaunch offers a suite of content marketing services that hundreds of clients are using to gain the trust and win the business of online customers. From content creation to content optimization to content testing to content performance to content sponsorship, ideaLaunch offers a full range of content marketing services, solutions and resources. Start delivering fresh, relevant content to your customers with the revolutionaries at ideaLaunch. And improve your company's mind share, market share and profit share.

Company: Ingenio Inc. Booth: 315 Ingenio, Inc. pioneered Pay Per Call in 2004 as a way to connect millions of buyers and sellers around the world through the combination of the Internet and the telephone. Today Ingenio partners with leading providers in Web and mobile search, online directories, vertical content, and directory assistance to deliver live phone leads to any type of business. For more information, please visit www.ingenio.com.

Company: Local.com Booth: 1110 Local.com (NASDAQ: LOCM) is the largest local search network in the United States. The company uses patented technologies to provide over 19 million consumers each month with the most relevant search results for local businesses, products and services on Local.com and over 700 regional media sites. Businesses can target ready-to-purchase consumers using a variety of advertising products. To advertise, visit http://corporate.local.com/advertisewithus or call 1-888-857-6722. For more information visit: www.local.com or http://corporate.local.com/.

Company: Marchex, Inc. Booth: 201 Marchex, Inc. is a leading local search and performance advertising company. Marchex's innovative advertising platform delivers search- and call-based marketing products and services for local and national advertisers. Marchex's local search network, one of the largest online, helps consumers make better, more informed local decisions through its content-rich Web sites that reach tens of millions of unique visitors each month.

Chad Schott of Marchex on Local Search at SES NY 2008

Company: Onward Search Booth: 309 Onward Search is the nation's leading provider of internet marketing and creative services talent. Onward Search specializes in placing search marketing, graphic design, web development, and related creative services and technology professionals to companies nationwide. Onward Search provides their customers with the ability to rapidly source the best talent in the marketplace, so they can successfully deliver against their creative services, online marketing, and technology initiatives. Onward Search offers a full range of recruiting, staffing, and talent management solutions to include temporary staffing, consulting, and permanent placement options to ensure our customers have access to the right talent to get the job done.

Company: SearchIgnite Booth: 320 SearchIgnite is a leading provider of paid search and performance media optimization solutions that enable large, sophisticated marketers to achieve their online goals faster and smarter. The company's platform gives advertisers an advanced suite of tools to manage, optimize and report on their paid search campaigns in one central dashboard. In addition, marketers who use SearchIgnite have the ability to gather insights into the relationship between media channels, enabling them to spend smarter. Some of the world's leading brands and advertising agencies depend on SearchIgnite technology to power their online marketing campaigns. More information can be found at http://www.searchignite.com/.

Company: SLI Systems Booth: 303 SLI Systems provides site search, site navigation and user-generated SEO services for online retail and content-rich websites. These solutions are built with patented Learning Search technology - an intelligent search system that learns from customer behavior to increase sales and conversions. Learning Search enhances the user experience while delivering valuable insights on visitor activity, and provides ecommerce sites with advanced merchandising capabilities and intuitive navigation. SLI's Site Champion service creates optimised pages to increase a retailer's visibility in natural search engine listings and increase site traffic. Customers like FTD, Tupperware, ULTA, and hundreds more benefit from SLI Systems' search technology.

Company: TMP Directional Marketing Booth: 209 TMP Directional Marketing (TMPDM) is the largest local search marketing agency, offering online, offline and mobile local advertising solutions to top national brands. Providing clients search with a local focus, the agency understands the local nuances that help national merchants reach local customers. Combining its years of success in Yellow Pages advertising with online search expertise gained as a former unit of Monster Worldwide, TMPDM serves hundreds of national advertising clients, including nearly 100 Fortune 500 companies. TMPDM (www.tmpdm.com) is headquartered in New York with more than 500 employees and 15 offices in the U.S. and Canada.

Company: Wpromote Inc. Booth: 112 Wpromote prides itself in Superior Search Engine Marketing. From two employees in 2001 to over forty the company has experienced unwavering growth and continuous recognition for its exceptional service to each and every client. As a two-time Inc. 500 honoree, Google Adwords Qualified Company and recipient of countless other accolades, clients are assured that The Best Search Starts Here, at Wpromote. Since its inception Wpromote has dedicated itself to a single mission statement: help businesses succeed on the web. With unmatched experience in search marketing and an unrivaled dedication to our clients' results, Wpromote always stands out above the crowd.

Company: YELLOWPAGES.COM Booth: 321 "Need something?" For more than 125 years, consumers have trusted the Yellow Pages to deliver comprehensive local business information. And today, wherever, however and whenever they "Need something" local, they use YELLOWPAGES.COM. YELLOWPAGES.COM connects consumers to local businesses across the three screens they use most - Web, mobile and TV through AT&T U-verse services. As one of today's leading local search sites, YELLOWPAGES.COM provides comprehensive local business information, maps, driving directions, videos, user reviews and more. And new mobile features make it easier than ever to find information on the go.

Posted by Greg Jarboe at 6:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

July 7, 2008

Compete Unveils Premium Version of Analytics Product

Compete.com has released a PRO version of its analytics product. Compete PRO is available in three different price levels: $199/month for Intro, $299/month for Standard, and $499/month for Advanced. Enterprise editions are also available.

Included in the PRO version:

• Search analytics: new search term, site and market category report packages so brands and agencies can ascertain competitors' strategies and then adjust their own.
• Site analytics: new metrics, daily updates and a full 25 months of history reporting on Reach, Page View and Visitor Engagement for more than 1,000,000 websites.
• Ranked lists: downloadable lists of up to 500,000 sites for the fastest-growing, most influential sites across multiple categories delivering the most comprehensive view of Internet traffic.

Stephen DiMarco, chief marketing officer at Compete had this to say about the announcement:

Compete PRO gives marketers a single place to go for premium-grade online metrics, something that until now was available to only a select few. We designed the platform around the way online marketers work, addressing their feedback that other data providers are too costly, don't enable them to drill down into critical segments and aren't built to translate what they see into revenue-generating results.

Last summer, Compete launched a pay-as-you-go analytics service, enabling users to purchase credits that would allow them to view a set number of results. Earlier this year, Compete was acquired by London-based market research firm TNS.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 11:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 23, 2008

Google Trends for Websites Adds to Comparison Sites Confusion

If you want to see how your site is doing compared to the competition, then the new Google Trends for Websites is yet another option to conduct your research. Following the lead of sites like Compete.com and Alexa, Google Trends for Websites allows you to see a graph of traffic to the sites you designate.

But Google Trends for Websites is only adding to the confusion caused by Compete and Alexa. I used all three to compare SearchEngineWatch.com, SearchEngineLand.com, and SEOmoz.org, three of the leading search blogs. I got three very different graphs. Check out these screenshots.

With all three, there are definite seasonal dips. But these graphs may speak more to the popularity of Google, Alexa and Compete than they do of the websites you may search. Alexa makes the sites look like they've seen traffic decline, and Compete makes the sites look like the traffic has increased, beginning with a big jump last June. Incidentally, almost any site related to internet marketing seems to have a big jump last June on Compete, which was discussed at search marketing conferences and made known to a wider audience.

Furthermore, Google Trends for Websites does not offer numerical values to give you a ballpark figure of how a site is performing. Alexa and Compete do. Still, Google Trends will likely become the most authoritative source for comparison data since Google has access to far more data than Compete or Alexa.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 9:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

March 3, 2008

Compete Acquired by TNS

Today, London-based market research firm TNS announced its acquisition of web analytics and digital intelligence company, Compete Inc. The price tag comes in at a whopping $75 million dollars with a possible $75 million in additional earn-outs.

Both TNS and Compete are boasting the ability to achieve the unprecedented marriage of online and offline consumer behavior data.

Compete grossed $14.9 million in 2007, a 50% increase over the previous year. Despite the significant growth, the company still lost $4.5 million last year, reportedly due to developing its industry expertise.

According to Morgan Stanley research and Jupiter Research estimates, clickstream data in the U.S. web analytics market is expected to grow from $325 million in 2007 to $500 million in 2009.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 2:07 PM | Permalink

August 20, 2007

Compete Launches Pay-as-You-Go Pricing

Compete today announced the upcoming launch of a new pay-as-you-go search analytics service designed to give smaller companies access to competitive research data for a per-usage fee.

Compete Search Analytics, set to launch on September 12, will offer data on a site's keyword referrals, site referrals, and site comparisons, which will be charged for by the number of reports and results needed. Users will pay online by credit card, purchasing $2 credits, which are good for the first 50 results of a report, for example.

"If you have a Web site, you have to know how to utilize search, or else you're going to be behind in the game," Jeremy Crane, Compete's Search Expert, told SEW. "A lot of people have not had access to this kind of data. There are some keyword tools that offer query-level data, but that's not the same thing. Since about 40 percent of searches go unanswered, and don't create referrals, we take those out of the picture for marketers."

Referral data is available to larger clients from the big market research companies, but the cost can be prohibitive to small and mid-sized companies, he said.

At launch, Compete Search Analytics will not separate out referrals from organic search and search ads, but Crane expects that to be implemented in a future release. Since many consumers are not differentiating paid and organic clicks in their searches, the combined number is an accurate representation of consumer intent, he said.

"From a consumer's perspective, they're looking for search results. They don't necessarily think in terms of paid vs. organic." Crane said. "We recently surveyed our panel, and found that 20 percent of users had no idea that sponsored links were ads."

The service uses the same panel-driven data that Compete has used for custom analytics clients for six years, but will not allow the page-level reports available to custom clients, and will not include the behavioral segmentation of data or other interpretation of results which Compete offers its clients.

Later this year, Compete expects to expand the program to include features more suitable for large agencies and enterprises. A company will be able to purchase credits in bulk, and allocate them among employees or clients. An API is also planned for early in 2008, which will allow integration of the report data directly into bid management and other tools.

The service is not intended to replace the tools those larger companies and agencies are using, but rather to augment them with more data, Crane said.

Compete's data comes from about a dozen sources, including ISP data, ASP data from applications like Weatherbug, Compete's own private-label desktop apps and toolbars, and the Compete.com toolbar. Those sources include more than 2 million consumers.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 10:49 AM | Permalink

January 16, 2007

Compete Reports December Search Market Share

According to Compete's December Search Market Share report, only Google and Ask improved over December 2005, and Ask just barely did so. The biggest loss was seen by AOL, then MSN/Live, then Yahoo and Dogpile.

Compete analyst Jeremy Crane notes that AOL seems to have turned the corner back in August, and has grown market share for each of the past 4 months. "Unfortunately for AOL there's a pretty substantial climb to get back to year-ago market share levels," he said.

Ask had the biggest month-to-month slide, after a steady climb in previous months. Yahoo had a big slide in November, which lessened in December.

ComScore's December report came out this week as well.

Compete is also starting a new feature in its monthly reporting: ranking the top ten retailer-related searches. The terms are ranked in relative order, according to where they appear in the overall list of search terms used in the market on each of the engines. Then Compete compared that to the relative ranking according to each associated site's unique visitors.

The top two terms were the same across the engines: eBay and Walmart. The 3,4 and 5 spots were held on one or another engine by Best Buy, Target and Amazon. When correlated with overall traffic, it becomes apparent that Amazon and Sears did not fare as well in search results as they do in overall traffic. Crane leaves that topic to discuss another day.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 11:45 AM | Permalink

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