Hi folks,
Keyword research is the most crucial part of the entire search engine optimisation process in bulding a well optimised website. It is the same as laying a strong foundation for a beautiful mansion. What amazes me most is that many sites are built with swish designs and coolest scripts doing funkly things. When it comes to choice of keywords used to target the audience for the industry in which the business operates, it turns out to be an absolute disaster. Continue reading
Just a quick one to point out this post on the official Google blog by one of their ‘Google Fellows’, Amit Singhal. Of course it doesn’t dive too deep, but it is a good read if you are interested in the way Google works. I also find it interesting because it seems to signal an intent to be a bit more communicative with the marketplace…
As part of our effort to discuss search quality, I want to tell you more about the technologies behind our ranking. The core technology in our ranking system comes from the academic field of Information Retrieval (IR)…read more.
The post goes on to talk about one of my favorite topics, searcher intent, but one of the take aways for me was the reminder that Google not only has to solve the problem of indexing and understanding the content of pages on the web, but they also have to solve the problem of understanding search queries, which might be mispelled, have double meanings or be otherwise non-specific. Amit gives some great examples to illustrate these.
Baidu.com is the leading search engine in China with over 60% market share. Baidu also ranked third largest worldwide search property according to comScore, just behind Google sites and Yahoo! sites. China now has the largest Internet population in the world. By the end of 2008, China will reach 300 million Internet population and about 240 million search engine users. The Internet penetration rate is still low (about 20%), so I guess China could reach 400-500 million Internet users easily in the next few years to catch up to its 600 million mobile phone users.
Thus, Google won’t let Baidu take such a big piece of cake and remain happy with its current 20% market share in China. Google has partnered with China’s largest portal site Sina.com who used to use Baidu’s search technology and has also been the mobile search provider for China Mobile. Google is also going to invest a lot this year and beyond on advertising in China. They now have about 800 staff in China, but they will hire 200 or 300 staff each year in the next few years.
Last week Google teamed up with China’s most popular dictionary software – iCiba. iCiba has been the market leader for 10 years in the field and selling the dictionary software for about US$20 per copy. It has about 30 million loyal users. Google has bought it and started to offer the software for free. The 30 million user base will help Google to gain some market share and Google will also get some ad revenue from the built-in Google search function.
Yahoo! is a little quiet in the Chinese search market at the moment, although its partner Alibaba is doing great on B2B portal (Alibaba.com) and C2C auction site (Taobao.com). Microsoft is investing US$280 million to build a new research and development center in Beijing. The new R&D center is expected to accommodate 5,000 employees. There is a rumor that Microsoft is willing to invest in Baidu after its failure with Yahoo!.
It’s an interesting battle happening in China :-). At Netconcepts we’re keen to watch the developments as they unfold, but also keep our clients aware of the upcoming opportunities available in that online marketplace.
March usually means it is time for end of previous year research and figures. We now have plenty of statistics on offer from 2007! Very few people like statistical figures, but I love them :-)
There were 6.6 billion world population in 2007 and about 1.15 billion (17.5%) were regular Internet users.
In 2008, Asia Pacific region will top 500 million Internet users and we’ll see China overtake the US as the most popular Internet nation in the world.
According to eMarketer, by 2012, almost 50% of the world’s Internet population will live in the Asia Pacific area. The share of the world’s Internet users in North American and Europe will fall, although absolute numbers will continue to grow, as the share of users in Latin America and the Asia Pacific region both grow.
Countries including China, Russia, India, Brazil and Mexico will be the primary drivers of worldwide Internet user growth over the next five years. As I manage international PPC campaigns, I have found strong growth in those countries in the last couple of years.
Let’s take a look at the New Zealand online market… Online advertising spending in 2007 hit $135.16 million, or 5.8% of the total advertising market, according to IAB. However, online advertising share is over 10% in the US and over 15% in UK. Well, we’re growing, but still have plenty of room to catch up!
In New Zealand, online advertising is now the fifth largest advertising channel after newspaper (35.4%), TV (28%), radio (11.7%) and magazines (10.9%).
We’re confident that in 2008 there will be continued growth in online advertising. We believe that online advertising spend will continue to grow in NZ and the Asia Pacific region will become stronger and stronger in the online world market. Go NZ! Go Asia Pacific!
Images by Onlinemarketer
The first World Internet Project New Zealand (WIPNZ) survey was conducted in September/October last year by the Auckland University of Technology (AUT).
The WIPNZ surveyed a sample of 1,529 New Zealanders about their usage of and attitudes towards the Internet. The questionnaire focused on areas such as online buying habits, e-commerce, identity, socialising and content creation on the web.
The findings revealed that New Zealanders are changing as a nation as a result of the Internet. In particular, New Zealanders are becoming more sociable with friends and family online, with most believing the Internet is considerably enhancing their social contacts rather than diminishing them.
Also revealed was that Internet access, usage, capability and attitudes are all strongly graded by New Zealanders’ age, income and area of residence. The younger, wealthier and more urban respondents were, the more connected they were, and the higher a household’s combined income, the more important the internet was rated in daily life.
The key findings identified in the WIPNZ survey are:
The results of the survey will contribute to an international collaborative project, the World Internet Project, which investigates the social, political and economic impact of the internet in nearly 30 countries.
Further research based on this New Zealand data is to be carried out later this year to investigate further detail and explanation behind the findings.
Google New Zealand announced its findings from an independent survey regarding New Zealand’s online search behaviour on 13th November 07. The presentation was made by Paul Webster, Senior Sales Manager Google New Zealand at the inaugural Search Engine Room Conference.
Key findings:
The survey involved 600 kiwi Internet users who had purchased online in the previous three months. This group of people are a sample representative of New Zealand’s online population.
Search engines and Google in particular are extremely important to businesses in New Zealand. The survey supports Netconcepts message that a “search strategy” is vital to any company that is marketing its business online. Although Google New Zealand are in the business of selling advertising, Netconcepts recommends that both a natural search and paid search strategy is undertaken to support online initiatives.
Search marketing enables New Zealand businesses of any size to connect and conduct business with customers in local and international markets. Netconcepts has a strong knowledge of New Zealand, Australian and US online markets supporting clients with their export endeavours.