OTOinsights

First Page Search Engine Listing Provides Brand Lift

Today, the Center for Media Research has highlighted a study conducted by Jupiter Research that revealed 62% of search engine users click on a search result within the first page of results, and a full 90% of users click on a result within the first three pages of search results (These figures were just 48% and 81%, respectively, in 2002).

High-level findings include:

• 36% of search engine users believe that the companies whose websites are returned at the top of the search results are the top brands in their field.
• 41% of search engine users who continue their search when not finding what they seek, will change engines or their search term if they don't find what they seek on the first page of search results.
• 88% will change engines or their search term if they don't find what they seek on the first three pages of search results.
• 82% of search engine users re-launch an unsuccessful search using the same search engine as they used for their initial search, but add more keywords to refine the subsequent search.
• In a 2005 Jupiter Research, quoted in the report, 87% of commercial clicks take place on the natural (not sponsored) search results.

VCEL - Social Networking via Cell Phone

VCELL (aka, Virtual Communication Expression and Lifestyle) has developed a social networking service for your mobile phone.  To join, all you need to do is sign up via their website, download a Java application to the phone (20+ phones currently supported), and you're in business.  You can exchange messages, pictures, plan activities, and even leave voicemails using a Java applet on the VCELL site. 

Cool Hunting Video

Video compilation of great guerilla and outdoor marketing from JWT's cool hunting community.

Impulse Buying Goes Mobile

Paypal has announced it is supporting the use of secured text messages as a payment method for retail purchases.  This will support Internet purchases and is expected to penetrate OTC as a strong competitor in the next 12-18 months.  With a little targeted consumer data, this could lead to either push- or on-demand generation of coupons and promotional information via your phone.  This technology has proved to be very popular in the Far East, where you can walk by a music store, Text Message to a number listed on the store window, receive an instant coupon within moments, then walk in and perform an entire transaction over your phone.  Aram Sinnreich, an analyst with Radar Research, expressed concern that this will increase spontaneous purchasing habits for many people, but I see little difference between this and a credit card, other than the cool novelty of buying via phone.

Check out Paypal's site for a demo of the technology.

The Internet Through 2014

A colleague sent me this movie yesterday, I highly encourage everyone to check it out. It's a Flash animation which, in 6-8 minutes, narrates the past, present, and future of the internet. While I seem to be alone in believing Microsoft will be dominating Google in two years, the ideas proposed are nonetheless fascinating.

The feature that has always gotten me behind the future of Amazon is their automated customization engine. Their ability to provide recommendations based on viewed pages is amazing in that (A) the recommendations are often actually relevant, and (B) the engine is uniqely able to do its job with little to no need for users to fiddle with settings. I have no idea why the rest of the internal retail universe hasn't at least tried to mimick their highly functional ease of use, but the idea of Amazon taking their ace and joining forces with Google to cover all forms of content? Pure brilliance.

And besides, the video's music just made me happy.

Blogs, Podcast, & RSS Advertising on the Rise

According to the Center for Media Research and the PQ Media's Alternative Media Research Series, ad spending withing blogs, podcasts and RSS feeds grew to $20.4 million by the end or 2005, a 198.4% increase over the 2004 level. Spending on blog, podcast and RSS advertising is projected to climb another 144.9% in 2006 to $49.8 million.

The executive summary of the report goes on to highlight the following key findings:

• User-generated media remains primarily national in scope with 98.1%, or $20.0 million, of all advertising spending coming from the broader market in 2005
• Advertising networks and click-throughs are the largest ad insertion methods, generating $8.0 million and $7.8 million, respectively
• Blog advertising accounted for 81.4%, or $16.6 million, of total spending on user-generated online media in 2005, but blog ads will comprise only 39.7%, or $300.4 million, of overall spending in 2010
• Podcast advertising totaled only $3.1 million in 2005, but is projected to reach $327.0 million in 2010, when it will account for 43.2% of all user-generated media advertising
• Spending on RSS (Really Simple Syndication) advertising totaled $650,000 in 2005 and will grow to $129.6 million in 2010
• Total spending on user-generated online media is forecast to grow at a compound annual rate of 106.1% from 2005 to 2010, reaching $757.0 million in 2010
• Technology was the largest single category at $4.0 million in 2005, due primarily to the technology-savvy early adopters of user-generated media
• Auto was the second largest marketing category, generating $3.9 million in 2005, as car manufacturers utilized user-generated media to market their higher-end models to the "influential" demographic
• The media industry spent $3.2 million to advertise in user-generated media in 2005, as the industry tried to capitalize on its advanced knowledge of the consumer shift away from traditional media

Top drivers of the above trend include continued media fragmentation, perceived ineffectiveness of traditional advertising, and the desire to more effectively reach the 18-34 year old market.

Trendwatching.com | Infolust

Mobile TV Driven by Young Adult and Male Segments

According to a recent study by Telephia, adoption of mobile video and television broadcast has been greatest among the young adult and male segments.  Currently, 1.5% or roughly three million wireless subscribers in the U.S. streamed TV or played video content via their wireless handset.  Of that audience, those age 18-24 have the highest penetration,doubling since the beginning of 2005 (see chart below). Overall, men are more likely to stream TV and play video content on their wireless devices than women, showing a penetration rate of 1.8 percent or more than 3.5 million wireless subscribers during Q4 2005.

Penetration Rates (%) of Mobile TV/Video Activity in the US
Demographic Segment	Q1 2005	Q2 2005	Q3 2005	Q4 2005
All Subscribers	1.4%	1.4%	1.4%	1.5%
Youth Subscribers	1.8%	2.9%	2.9%	3.3%
Male Subscribers	2.2%	1.9%	1.7%	1.8%
Female Subscribers	1.1%	1.0%	1.2%	1.2%
Source: Telephia, Q1 2005-Q4 2005

The report says that VCAST and MobiTV subscribers spend roughly $40 more per month as compared to non-TV subscribers. During Q4 2005, V CAST and MobiTV subscribers spent an average of $94 in total monthly charges in comparison to non-TV subscribers who had an average total monthly spend of $54.