Google’s 2011 revenues were a total of 37.9 billion dollars… yes, 37.9 billion, with a B. The most interesting fact is that 96% of the revenue came from advertising.

Thanks to companies like StateFarm, Progressive, Amazon, Macy’s, Sears, Quicken Loans, Lowe’s, Booking.com and many others like them that spend millions of dollars per year bidding for keywords like “new york hotels” with average CPC of $7.68 (used by Booking.com), “zumba dance dvd” with average CPC $5.18 (amazon), “self employed health insurance” with a extremely high CPC of $43.39 (eHealthInsurance), “cheap hybrid cars” bidding for average CPC of $15.57 (Cars.com) Google made its billions.

Below you can find the infographic with all the breakdowns and stats…

Source: http://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2012/01/23/google-revenues

A feature in today’s Wall Street Journal talks about how Skype has been utilized as a tool for dissenting parties.  Many citizens know of Skype as the software to execute free and low-cost international calls over a live Internet wire.  Youth groups in Egypt cite its effectiveness in leveraging their movement to topple the Mubarak regime.  Skype was designed with a high level of security encryption, making it a fortuitous dissident tool.  The web application runs multiple calls through one computer. Other nations in the region, however, are making efforts to block certain content with negative sentiment, then store said content in government records.  Smaller technology firms like Gamma and HackingTeam have developed programs to circumvent those firewalls. Law enforcement agencies are sitting back to accept all offers.

The interesting development is where the benchmark lies in future regional conflicts. We are seeing the convergence of public and private elements with interactive marketing, an embryonic, largely public forum.  These energies are testing censorship, especially in the voice communication sector.  Research In Motion has run into conflict with Middle Eastern and Indian government bodies for maintaining proprietary control worldwide of their user storage content, despite being in Canada.  They seem to have the customer’s interest in mind when it comes to protecting intellectual property.  With Microsoft’s purchase of Skype, it will be interesting to see which strategy they pursue when it comes to data storage.  As a leader in business software technology, the private sector would welcome some data storage protection. What are your thoughts?

Danuloff goes into more depth to unveil that the true value of a quality score is more than meets the eye.  I’ll explain a couple of his insights in the following paragraphs.

The Visible Quality Score

This is a simple approximation of a quality score that offers different metrics by range and distribution.  That simplicity is good for novices to PPC advertising strategy and web analytics, but is limiting to all involved.  The visible score does not draw out enough details to make it commensurate for a user.  Quality score only the performance of a search query that is relevant to the keyword.  A keyword with a broad match, for example, surfaces from 100 different searches.  Only 5 of them are identical to the keyword in question.  Here is a clearer example.   You type ‘green sneakers’ into the search box.  Your result index shows landing pages from footwear, shoes, sandals, etc on the first page, rather than a site with “green sneakers” in the list.  That lack of detail can cost a marketer critical revenue.

Critical Details That Visible Quality Score Does Not Monitor

The visible quality score does correlate with click-through rates, also an essential metric for your e-commerce strategy.  It does not, however, monitor these statistics:

Search Query Performance

Geographic Performance

Ad Copy Differences

Details are answered by clicking here.

As I’ve reported on this page, the marketplace pits Apple’s proprietary software standards with Android’s open source platform. Web developers have created programs for both companies.  Marketers also are aggressively investigating through industry associations on scaling personal information. Facebook’s spread into a personal hub of digital content factors into the equation.  Certain renowned companies have been subpoenaed, as you will see in a video installation below.  In the same vein, consumers must read firewall disclosures very carefully before accepting allowance of certain applications.  The source should appear credible in your mind before making the decision.  Identity theft is a terrible thing to experience.  I’ve been a victim, and would prefer to not experience it again.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau, the Association of National Advertisers, and the American Association of Advertising Agencies are collectively taking the matter into their own hands.  I admire this level of aggressiveness because trade bureaus are the gatekeepers to an industry. They understand the purchasing habits, the ecosystem, and the neuroses.  The Federal bureaus have stepped in to regulate the transfer of content through net neutrality.  It will be the first of several legislative acts bandied around Capitol Hill.

This report has the finer details of the initiative named, “Making Measurement Make Sense”.  It will be interesting to see how these trade organizations conduct their research.  As the release states, the purpose is to give a benchmark for digital buyers to organize their finances and set currency for cross-channel content.    

It will be interesting to see the end result for several reasons. Will greater priority be given to nascent industries like mobile, especially with smartphone technology enabling content to travel between the laptop? Apple and Google are prime players in software for both the software and hardware marketplaces for consumers.  Who will they align with?  How will the trade association handle the growing chasm of ISP service quality between metropolitan centers and agrarian landscapes?  Do they have the clout to lobby for federal involvement? It is a neglected marketplace where growth is possible.

I am also curious about the currency.  Will small digital marketers have a say when new metric categories arise that may better accurately reflect demographic habits?  Are advertisers willing to be flexible for that education to see the light of day, enabling a marketplace to set the price for those technologies? We will stream content live for the answer.

Bloggers and publishers are making money with this interactive service.  Shouldn’t you? Click below for more information.

I think that with the continued emergence of tablets into the marketplace, you will see much more creative digital video in development that can be shared across multiple channels.  Third party ad service is a big key in the burgeoning movement of online video advertising.  Third party ad service pushes advertising out to websites and enables the manager to track their performance.  These performances, as we know, are measured through banner ads, interstitials (pop-up ads, full-page ad between sequential content), and paid search listings.

According to eMarketer daily,  video spending will have the highest growth from 5.5% a share in 2010 to 11.3% in 2013.  Brand managers continue to shift their ad budgets online as the hardware market spreads across devices.  This bar chart here illustrates strong movement.  Therefore, brand managers are heeding the transforming of viewing habits to maximize their online advertising revenue.  Television still has strong results for long-term gain.  Nevertheless, a change to online is coming. Professional video spots, please apply.

Our friends at Software Advice have designed a new website, Marketing Automation Software Guide, that aims to achieve your solutions with aplomb.  As I recently noted on the blog, consumer behavior towards e-commerce is making waves onto the cyberspace and it is crucial for businesses to use the proper to engage them.  We know that social media is growing as a means of intimate communication for managers wishing to solve customer issues.  We also know that web analytics are becoming a measuring platform to gage online activity.  Marketing automation, however, plays a larger part in synchronizing the cycle between seller and purchaser.

Marketers will get an embarrassment of riches from a solid market automation system.  They can track online behavior, manage sophisticated campaigns, and sales intelligence applications.  All these systems operate under the umbrella of Revenue Performance Management (RPM).  RPM seeks to optimize the transaction cycle for a more efficient level of engagement with consumers which leads to brand loyalty, resulting in consistent sales growth.  The marketing automation website will also improve forecasting for chief marketing and executive officers.  Some particular features should strike not only officers, but managers. Here they are, courtesy of Lauren Carlson, CRM Market Analyst.

• User Reviews – We write original reviews of leading marketing automation software systems. We’re kicking off the site with 12 reviews, including Marketo, Pardot and Aprimo, to name a few. Visitors will also contribute reviews if they have first-hand experience with a product.
• Technology Guides – Instructive articles and primers on the latest technologies for B2B marketers. These guides will help you get up-to-speed fast on the market. For example, “Best Practices for Success with Marketing Automation Software.”
• Side-by-Side Comparisons – Detailed, side-by-side comparisons of the leading products for each market segment. We’re kicking off the site with comparisons of lead nurturing systems and marketing automation software.
• Software Advisory Board – We welcome industry experts and end-users to share their opinions and experience with our visitors. If you or one of your colleagues is interested, please let us know.

Click on the logo above for more insight into this promising software.

We know that the days of clipping images onto a cork board and rubber cement are over.  Nowadays, you have programs like Adobe and Avid to brush up images.  Web analytics help corporations become more accountable with their account strategies.  You can gain an understanding through pay per click advertisements, unique page visits, the percentage of time spent on a site, and conversion rates (linked sale transactions).  These are just a few metric categories.  Carl Warner wrote a reflective piece on AdWeek discussing the nature of today’s advertising philosophy.  He warns that “metrics can illuminate things we couldn’t dream of being able to see 25 years ago, but the science should complement the ‘art’ in a decision, not supersede it”.  This is the danger of viewing metrics too closely. Numbers can fill in a space, but they don’t tell the story.  Hastiness can also hurt your business twice as much.  Be careful when pulling the plug.

At Blueliner, we are using analytics to improve client campaigns and website performance, but a report will never tell you everything. It takes a person analyzing the numbers to determine what they really mean and what the implication is. This is our mission, and we carry it outside of the box daily.

1.  Microsoft Kinect Launches Nationwide

The Kinect was released yesterday by Microsoft, and it aims to promote a whole new interactive experience where entertainment and communication merge to free consumers from gadgetry.  I spoke yesterday in more detail about the product, which can be found in the title. Microsoft has been aggressive in promoting their new products on several channels, through social media and e-commerce stores such as Amazon.  As the holiday season approaches, we’ll see the effectiveness of their efforts.

2.  Blekko Arrives To Slash

Blekko is a new beta search engine that aims to reduce spam content in your search list by using the slashtag.  I discussed the search engine in greater detail this week, and although the premise is good, I feel like it is more of a specialized engine for digital professionals.  In order to segment your searches properly, one must create their own slashtag by linking it to a specific URL, which seems to counter the current search trends which are running algorithms for consumers to interact less e.g. Google Instant.  I am not sure that the average person is interested in taking those steps to have a deeply personalized search.  One must also be careful of making sure that their slashtag is public or private. After you designate the tag public, it is permanent.  Beta sites always have funky glitches to be mindful, so it will be interesting to see their future development.

3.  H&M Launches Lanvin Collection Online

This week, the new collaboration between H&M and the French house Lanvin set the blogosphere on fire.  H&M has done these collaborations the last few Novembers to spur foot traffic and generate visibility for haute couture designers.  For Lanvin, they are using a higher price point for the collection pieces, which will improve profit margins but may decrease unit sales.  If unit sales beat expectations, then a good earnings report should surface come early 2011.  This time, H&M opened the lookbook to its fans with a vivid display of the collection in a dollhouse setting.  The website design is a tour de force of Flash, although the subject headings on the top right and left margins blend in with the color scheme and overlap messily.  H&M does not run an e-commerce store online in the States, but word is that will change in the near future.

4.  Privacy Breach Tops Google Index List

Google is guilty of crossing the line of personal data collection from wireless networks.  The cars that Google uses to catch Street View footage collected data from sources such as emails, usernames, passwords, and the like.  The FTC made a ruling that Google should halt the campaign immediately, but Google has yet to formally comply in public and private.

These incidents are appearing in the headlines constantly as consumers uses several channels to collect information on goods and services.  Technological firms are trying to keep up with one another in this race to tailor their online advertising campaigns, which will increase traffic, reset PPC rates, and so forth. Google may have taken a clandestine methodology in its acquisition of personal data.  Now, the search giant gets subject to further blockage in the European market, which has not been welcoming to the penetration of Google’s local strategy.  Be careful what you type for.

5.  Facebook Deals A Hand to Places

Facebook added further segmentation to its burgeoning application, Places.  The new “Deals” feature looks to align corporate entities with consumers that are purveyors of their products.  Gap started a promotion of giving away 10,000 pairs of free denim for those who check in with their iPhone or Android smartphone.  Currently, the four types of deals include these subjects:  Individual, Friend, Loyalty, and Charity. Facebook executives are seeking future partnerships that will manifest themselves into more chances over time.  At the moment, deals can be found with Chipotle, McDonalds, and 24 Hour Fitness.  For iPhone users, a quick refresh enables you to score by location, location, location.

That’s the Blue news this week.  See you next time.