Search accounts for half of digital ad spend in first half of 2018, finds IAB UK

Search accounted for half of all digital ad spend in the UK in the first half of 2018, according to the latest Digital Adspend report published by the IAB UK (Internet Advertising Bureau) and PwC.

In total, digital advertising saw a 15% year-on-year increase amounting to £6.36bn. Enjoying the same rate of growth, spend on search advertising amounted to more than half of that (52%), amounting to £3.3bn.

Non-video display spend was next highest at £1.33bn, a...

10 October 2018 | Advertising

‘Project Dragonfly’: Google’s rumoured censor-friendly launch in China

It’s common knowledge that Google, as present as it is in our daily lives, does not enjoy the same ubiquity in China, and hasn’t done for eight years.

Leaked meeting minutes from the corporation, however, suggest that could be about to change.

Codenamed ‘Project Dragonfly’, the search giant is allegedly in the midst of a bid to launch in China in an iteration that would play ball with Beijing’s hardline censorship policies.

According to a...

10 October 2018 | Advertising Technology

Google+ finally ‘sunsetted’ for consumers following data privacy breach

Not quite the dignified end we would have expected for Google’s long-ailing social network, Google+ is finally being closed down following a software breach that left hundreds of thousands of users’ private data exposed.

Up to 500K users were allegedly affected by a software bug in the Google+ API, which meant data that people had believed to be private was made accessible to third parties.

According to an internal memo at Google published by the Wall Street...

9 October 2018 | Best Practice

Forget AR: Visual search will be the hottest eCommerce tech among millennials

It’s been a big week for visual search.

In a partnership with Amazon, Snapchat announced it was testing a new tool allowing users to take a photo of a product or barcode and, if recognised, launch an Amazon product page to learn more and (hopefully) make a purchase.

On 20th birthday week, meanwhile, Google announced the integration of its AI-driven Lens into searches, the goal of which is to help users find information visually and improve specific image-oriented...

27 September 2018 | Advertising Technology

Advancing the integration of digital discovery into the mainstream retail experience

As another busy summer winds down, retailers are preparing for those consumers that hit reset on certain aspects of their life by making thoughtful changes to their routines. People often think of this particular time of the year as going ‘Back to Life’ and an ideal time for starting fresh habits and making new purchasing decisions. It’s also a mindset that retailers can leverage beyond the usual back to school push.

We continue to see the gap between online and...

30 August 2018 | Branding

Less than half of businesses in the US claim to use SEO

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is falling out of favour with marketers, a new study by Clutch suggests, with less than half of businesses claiming to invest in the channel.  

A US-based survey of more than 500 digital marketers found that just 44% claim to invest in any kind of SEO strategy, despite 83% of respondents claiming to be satisfied that their digital marketing efforts were paying off in achieving their goals.

Comparatively, the three most popular channels were...

21 August 2018 | Content Marketing

Amazon’s advertising revenue could triple in less than three years

In its recent record-breaking quarterly earnings call, Amazon reported that its “other” revenue, which chiefly comprises that of ad sales, had grown by a massive 132%, accounting for a $2.2bn injection that was enough the firm’s CFO to concede that advertising was “starting to make an impact” on profits.

According to analysts, however, things could be about to get a lot bigger, very quickly.

First reported by CNBC, Piper Jaffray’s analyst...

15 August 2018 | Advertising Technology

The new search trends eCommerce marketers should embrace

From search engine algorithm updates, to new technology permanently altering user behaviours, the search marketing landscape is constantly evolving.

These evolutions keep us on our toes and, for savvy marketers, present an opportunity to ensure their clients always have the edge over their competitors. Recently, the biggest disruptor to the industry has almost certainly been the advent of voice and visual search – changing SEO forever.

These new search technologies are...

13 August 2018 | Content Marketing

What does voice innovation mean for search marketing?

The upsurge in the use of voice-controlled devices has rocked the way we, as people, behave. So many households now rely on gadgets like Alexa to play music, check the weather and turn out the lights. They’ve introduced a newfound level of convenience – and some would argue laziness – to consumers’ lives.

These same innovations have changed how some people buy – albeit usually simple commodities – online, and they’re even being used to settle...

1 August 2018 | Search Marketing

Four key aspects of customer review management that marketers need to know

Every day the customer experience becomes more important to brands who aim to capture their audience’s attention. A better CX can be the competitive advantage a brand needs to push themselves above the crowd, considering the fact that 86% of customers would be willing to pay more for a better experience with a business.

Smart marketers know that honest customer reviews are the best resource for identifying kinks in the current CX and improving future conversion rates. Yet,...

1 August 2018 | Content Marketing