Doug’s Mouthpiece – Droug.co.uk

Google to launch comparator

Google written by Doug Scott

Its happened:

http://www.google.co.uk/help/merchantsearchbeta/compare.html

Now this makes life interesting for anyone who owns a comparator business, like ourselves.

Does it now mean that Google have now legitimised our business models and we should just wait for the companies who have large traffic but don’t wish to run comparators to knock on our doors to buy us or use our feeds?

Also how does this effect Google and it’s core ppc business. The beauty of ppc is that the price gets driven up to a point that merchants make little cash, and in many cases loose money….either by being stupid or wanting branding. PPC in some cases also comes out of a companies marketing budget. CPA models such as many comparators use comes out of a companies sales channel and hence is tracked for profit.

Anyone know how google are charging?

Doug thinking

Popularity: 2% [?]

Google wants your medical records – very serious

Google written by Doug Scott

Google have launched google health, so you can give them more of your life:

Google Steals your health records???

Doug getting paranoid

Popularity: 1% [?]

Google Friends Connect – give me your soul

Google written by Doug Scott

So Google launches Google Friends Connect and the world gets even more scary.

Now you can add a bit of google code to your site and create a social network type function on your own site. Some snippets from their press release:

Visitors to any site using Google Friend Connect will be able to see, invite, and interact with new friends, or, using secure authorization APIs, with existing friends from social sites on the web, including Facebook, Google Talk, hi5, orkut, Plaxo, and more.

My concern with this stuff is the more and more it happens, and it will because as a human race we can’t stop it, then the more personal data becomes available to large companies. This data can be data mined in so many ways, so as to allow companies to control the masses. If I have your browsing patterns I can take your mind anywhere I want it to go.

Doug concerned

What we going to do to control

Popularity: 1% [?]

Google algorithm has to change

Google written by Doug Scott

Contents and links is all you need to rank – rubbish!!!!

It may work now but it can’t work much longer.

Content auto generation is now just too easy………or employ really cheap Indians or old people

Putting links on blogs/articles/etc automatically is now just too easy….

Whats next?

Doug

Popularity: 1% [?]

Trademark brand bidding is legal today – let the madness begin

Google written by Doug Scott

Trademark bidding rules on google change today…….their are no rules any more

Google no longer wants to be the trademark police, so if you have a problem get your cheque book and pay those lawyers.

Doug…

Popularity: 1% [?]

Top brand names are main google searches

Google written by Doug Scott

Firstly thanks to Lee for finding this.

Simply of the top 2000 searches on google 76% of them were for brand names.

This is from the hitwise report:

Navigational search = Brand Name search

So we know that there is lots of traffic for brand names.

Now lets look at what proportion of traffic on google when searching for a brand name lands on the brandname site:

EG. Expedia, a brand that is strong both in the UK and USA. 95.7% of people searching for ‘expedia’ in the UK ended up on an Expedia property, compared to 88.6% in the US – a 7.1% gap.

The difference is that in the US brand name bidding is allowed on google, in the UK it is not. All changes on May 5th.

Doug

Hitwise data here

Popularity: 1% [?]

Its ok to Spam google – Matt said so

Google written by Doug Scott

www.doug-is-sexy.com

keyword rich domains are good so says the high priest:

Doug-is-sexy

Popularity: 1% [?]

Drug Cartels – oh sorry Travel Cartels and google adwords bidding

Google, Online Stuff for Saddos written by Doug Scott

Isn’t this illegal?

Straight from Travolution:

A number of UK travel companies would consider “gentleman’s agreements” to prevent escalating keyword costs as a result of Google’s decision to scrap trademark protection.

Travolution has learned that discussions have already taken place between major travel companies from a variety of sectors after Google reversed a long-standing policy to protect bidding on company brand names.

Some travel companies are also seeking legal advice in a bid to ensure rivals and other travel agencies do not exploit the switch.

It is feared that a sudden open playing field will produce an extremely costly bidding war between major players in the industry.

As a result, it is believed that informal discussions have taken place behind the scenes between rival companies to agree not to bid on one another’s brand names.

Other senior executives across the industry contacted by Travolution have confirmed they would be interested in an informal arrangement to prevent escalating keyword costs.

Travolution reported last week that one leading UK travel brand estimated that 25% of its current PPC budget might be needed to protect its brand name in Google search.

Another major company executive suggested a similar figure this week if the widely expected “feeding frenzy” takes place.

One senior figure told Travolution: “There is a desire for this to not to get completely out of hand and therefore it makes sense for like-minded companies to come to some agreement.”

It is widely feared that a similar situation to that which occurred in the US in 2004 will take place in the UK when the trademark ban is lifted in early-May.

“There was so much money blown in those first few weeks it was incredible. We do not want to be in that situation again,” an executive who worked in the US at the time said this week.

A Google spokesman said: “Brands have always been able to come to an agreement amongst themselves and this new policy does not change that position.”

How will it effect our little old travel agency?

Doug not bidding

Popularity: 1% [?]

Take the money and run – buy.at is that ethical?

Affiliate Money Grabbers, Google written by Doug Scott

Affiliate Networks are encoraging brand bidding groups with the new adwords changes……you are taking the p**. What happened to honour, integrity etc etc etc.

Merchants if they are advising you to do it then your network has no integrity….Read Buy.at’s official line for Tyson here. Come off it mate we all know the game. Scam a stupid merchant. As a merchant ask yourself:

As a merchant you should easily be able to work out a way to protect your brand with these changes. Shane the pie man is no fool and always been a guy good at seeing an opportunity to exploit but he is even astonished. Read his views on what should happen here.

When I was a merchant we said no brand bidding groups as we thought it unfair to the affiliates who do the real work and find the ppc traffic you can’t find or the content players who bring related traffic from organic.

As a large affiliate we don’t bid on our partners brands intentionally even though we know it works well. We just feel it’s not correct and it leaves a sour taste in our relationships.

My concern here becomes the ones where affiliates who drive traffic that a merchant would have not being credited with a sale, but a brand bidding affiliate getting the sale.

If I was a “true” affiliate in that area I know I would not be promoting merchants who allowed brand bidding affiliates. The simple economics are that I would be loosing sales that were rightly mine.

Another interesting story

Doug

Popularity: 2% [?]

Yahoo to show Google Ads

Google, Online Stuff for Saddos written by Doug Scott

Yahoo in an effort to stick their fingers upto the Microsoft deal are now in talks to show Google ads on Yahoo.

I ain’t kidding….full story here

Doug

Popularity: 1% [?]