the Web Chef's e-Bytes

Search Engine Market Shares all over the Place

There have been some conflicting reports on search engine market shares by different analysts. CNET is reporting that Nielsen Megaview Search research results for August 2008 show that Google's market share in the U.S. was at 64.6% in contrast to StatCounter reporting a 77.83% market share for the same period of time.  While ComScore did not appear to have August data yet, their reports for July 2009 more closely parallel those of Nielsen, with Google reported to have a 64.7% market share.

Source: StatCounter Global Stats - Search Engine Market Share

Given the emerging battle between Bing and Google, not to mention other search engines, this discrepancy in data analysis and reporting could have significant repercussions for advertisers, investors and consumers alike.

Testing an e-mail blog posting

Typepad is adding some shortcuts for blogging that allow you to blog a link directly from your browser, e-mail a blog posting to a specific e-mail address or post from your Smartphone to a specified address. This is a test of the e-mail blog posting of an article that I just wrote for IBMadison. The article "What's the Buzz? Tell Me What's A Happening" can be accessed here.  The article reviews social media monitoring tools and includes some case studies of the same.

You can follow me on Twitter @thewebchef

Paul J Gibler
the Web Chef & Principal Consultant
CONNECTINGDOTS, higher resolution marketing
consulting, training and public speaking
629 south shore drive
madison, wi 53715-1705 USA
608 255 4092

Update
The links in the original e-mail did not go through. As such I still had to update the posting.

Update 3: Saving on the Web - Tweets, Coupons & Deals

Coupons.com, has a new commercial that they are running promoting "a better place to save" by using their service - click, print and save.  The ad shows a humorous approach to saving by eating the free samples in the grocery aisles. Beyond Coupons.com, if you are looking for savings you can sign up for deals and coupon Tweets from savings aggregators like these:

• BargainTweeter
• Coupon Cabin
• CouponSources
• CouponTweet
• CheapTweet
• DealTweets
• Poor Man's Guide

If you are a retailer and have deals to share consider expanding your network by communicating the deals through these Twitter sources.

New content
Webware author Don Reissinger has put together a review of a couple of the services listed above and adds a couple more:

• JustBoughtIt - Where users tweet the price they've just paid for something
• Schmap - track user reviews for a particular city
• TinyMassive

Update 2
TechCrunch announced that Savings.com has been re-designed along with a new addition to their board. They also have a database listing at Crunchbase with 48 companies with online coupon opportunities.  Other sites referenced in the comments at Techcrunch are Savingg, SlickDeals, FatWallet and DealTherapy.

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New Posting on IBMadison "Advancing by Retweeting"

Are you interested in learning how to use Twitter as part of your social media strategy?

If so, you might find my new blog posting at IBMadison -"Advancing by Retweeting" interesting.  The posting gives you 12 key steps to get going with Twitter.  It also analyzes some of the local, national and international businesses in Madison, Wisconsin that are using Twitter and briefly looks at some of the credit unions around the United States that are using Twitter.

Still confused about Twitter terminology? 

See this very informative post "The Non-Fanatical Guide to Twitter" from Deanna Zandt, that defines a tweet, retweet, #hashtags, followers, following, direct messaging, etc.  For additional resources related to Twitter see Scott Williams' blog posting "105 Twitter Tools".on BigIsTheNewSmall and for ideas on how to use Twitter in business, see Meryl Evans posting "62 Ways to Use Twitter for Business" at Web Worker Daily.

Happy tweeting!

Paul J Gibler, MBA
the Web Chef
@thewebchef

Large Company Digital C-Suites Rare

Two recent studies point to the lack of adoption of digital tools in the C-Suite.  One study conducted by Forbes Insights found a significant difference in Internet utilization based on the age of the respondents.  Not too surprising this study found that C-Suite participation in social media tools was lowest among those 50 and over.  Among the 50+ crowd only 4% were likely to blog weekly compared to the under 40 segment where 56% of executives did the same.  Using newer microblogging tools like Twitter was common with the under 40 group, where 56% read or generate posts daily, compared to the 50 plus segment of only 3%.

Meanwhile UberCEO looked at Fortune 100 CEO participation in social networks and found it to be very slim according to MarketingVox.  Of the total only 2 had Twitter accounts (with one being basically inactive), 13 had LinkedIn Profiles (only 3 with more than 10 connections) and 19 personal Facebook pages.  UberCEO found that no CEO in the Fortune 100 group had a blog that could be easily located by searching on their name.  Here's a slide presentation of their research along with some recommendations that Fortune 100 and other C-level executives should note as they develop their social media strategies with their corporate communications teams.

Fortune 100 CEOs and Social Media

View more documents from Sharon Barclay.

Why B2B companies need social media too - iMediaConnection.com

B2B companies need to be personable, responsible, and communicative. Here's why they can't afford to neglect blogs, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other social channels.

View >>

Forrester Projects Growth of Interactive Marketing

Forrester Research has released research results projecting that interactive marketing spending will increase to about $55 billion by 2014.  The interactive portion of total marketing spending is projected to grow from today's 12% to 21% of all advertising spending in the same period.

According to MarketingVox, the report shows that social media spending will grow at the fastest rate over this five year period, reflecting a projected 34% compound growth rate. Search marketing will maintain its lead in terms of total dollars spent, but will grow at a slower rate of 15%.  e-Mail marketing will have the slowest growth rate over the 5 year period.

Forrester also is projecting that overall ad spending will be declining as more dollars are shifted into lower cost interactive channels and marketers continue to watch their spending.

Evian Viral Video Explodes onto Scene

In yet another example of the power of babies following the successful eTrade baby campaign, Evian has launched a viral video campaign with roller skating babies. The campaign has been placed on YouTube and as of today had almost 3.5 million views. Hitwise reported on the success of the video campaign in a recent blog posting.

Viral Video Takes on United Airlines

Companies often don't get it when it comes to customer service. Airlines are big culprits in this regard. From fees for bags to snacks to possibly even using the toilet (one proposed revenue generator) they fail to remember that they are in the service business. In a video that has gone viral, the Sons of Maxwell, a band traveling on United Airlines to Nebraska, takes on the airline for breaking their Taylor guitar and for the lack of responsible customer service. The video is catchy and is not what you want to have happen to your brand.

Happy July 4th!