In a promotional video, Google highlights the fact that YouTube is, in effect, the number two search engine as well as being the third largest website in the world. Clearly there are plenty of viewers out there and Google is keen to give you a method of reaching them with your own video ads. Videos will also appear on the Google display network.

There are four methods of video advertising open to advertisers: in-stream, in-search, in-slate and in-display, all of which are branded ‘TrueView’.

TrueView in-stream ads are described as playing as a ‘pre-, mid- or post-roll of YouTube partner videos of all lengths’. You will probably have seen these ads before. Once they have played for five seconds, the user has the option of skipping them. However, advertisers will be pleased to hear that they will only have to pay for complete views.

TrueView in-search ads appear among video results after the user has searched. The ad will appear at the top of the results page, much as an ordinary AdWords ad would on a traditional results page. These ads are highlighted and again, the advertiser will only have to pay if the user chooses to view their ad.

TrueView in-slate ads are a slight variant on the in-stream ads, but they appear only on videos over 10 minutes in length. The user is presented with three different options (all ads) before their video plays, or they can select conventional ad breaks during the video instead. For advertisers, they again only have to pay when their video is played.

Finally, TrueView in-display ads are promoted videos which appear alongside related content on YouTube and the Google display network. As you may by now have guessed, advertisers only pay if their video is played.

For those interested in this new form of advertising, Google are initially offering a $100 coupon for new users. Even though that’s not the right currency, it’s still a decent offer and it is open to UK users. Of course, first of all you’ll need to get some video ads produced.

An SSL certificate is a crucial element that you require if your site wishes to obtain personal information such as credit card data. Any issues with an SSL certificate will dramatically reduce sales as browsers will inform their users that the connection is not secure. Recently researchers have found a weakness with sites that use versions 1.0 and lower. The exploit uses JavaScript and sniffers to detect encrypted cookies that websites use to grant access to online accounts. This attack has caused havoc with online security across thousands of site.

If you are running an ecommerce site it is essential that you review the version of your SSL certificate and update your version to above version 1.0. For ecommerce site owners who run internet marking campaigns through SEO, PCC, Affiliates or any other form of online marketing this is even more important. SSL issues will lower conversion rates and sales on your site. To review the impact contact your SEO Company or review the conversion rate data in Google Analytics.
For more imformation about the security vunerability please follow this link

Bartz’s deputy, Tim Morse, has stepped up to head the company temporarily, but headhunters have been hired to find a permanent replacement. However, the question many of us find ourselves asking is does it even matter who takes over the ailing web giant?

Bartz’s tenure

Bartz was named as Yahoo CEO in January 2009, succeeding its founder, Jerry Yang, who had been criticised by some for failing to increase revenue or the stock price. Pretty much her first step was to drastically slash costs and a number of jobs were lost as part of this, which greatly affected her popularity with staff. Profits doubled during her tenure, but revenue fell by more than 25 per cent and confidence in her was lost.

Yahoo’s focus?

One of the main problems with Yahoo is that no-one is quite certain of its main focus– and that includes those within the company itself.

In its earliest days, it was an internet directory and this naturally led to it becoming a web portal (not exactly a search engine). As a doorway to the internet, it made sense for it to start producing its own content and as its search influence has waned, this aspect of the business has taken on greater prominence.

However, even here the company’s weaknesses are apparent. Bartz was often pilloried for not being from a web background and while that needn’t have been an Achilles heel, it does seem like she lacked a feel for the industry. When a CNBC reporter suggested to her that Facebook were a competitor back in March last year, she responded: “Remind me, what’s their revenue?”

Such an attitude seems naïve at best when the social networking site is now carving out ever-larger slices of the display advertising market. It also mirrors what happened with Google and the search market, where Yahoo were left for dead.

While Yahoo is still the second-largest search engine worldwide, it merits little attention here in the UK when carrying out SEO. According to Experian Hitwise figures for the month of July, Google commands 91.04 per cent of the UK search market, Bing 3.84 per cent and Yahoo just 3 per cent.

Does Yahoo matter any more?

Yahoo is still a major web company and can boast of being the fourth most visited site on the web with an estimated 590m visitors a month, according to Doubleclick. However, the facts are that it has repeatedly conceded ground to competitors and that it lacks focus.

This informs a view that whatever it does, the company really doesn’t matter all that much any more. This is especially true in the search market, where it has given a clear statement of lack-of-intent by allowing Bing to power its results in recent years. If there are signs of revival, the industry will respond, but the Wall Street Journal is reporting an insider as saying that Yahoo is “open to selling itself to the right bidder.”

Google AdWords mobile targeting can help you create campaigns around specific mobile platforms and networks which helps you in finding out where your ideal customers come from. Moreover, if you have a mobile website, then running mobile campaigns will help you optimise your AdWords account more effectively.

Many of our clients who run mobile PPC campaigns have seen an increase in click-through rate (3 to 4%) compared to normal search. Mobile keywords are costly but with a growing mobile market, it’s better to structure your campaigns in such a way that it gives you a complete overview over your market.

If you plan to run mobile campaigns for your account, you should look at positioning strategy as most of the traffic will click the first paid mobile result due to limited space in the browser. The mobile market is booming, targeted and it’s going to be more competitive in the next few years. Whosoever is not there yet, it’s an ideal time to stand out and generate some good sales.

Adil Jain
PPC Account Manager

First of all, I hope you are all enjoying the holidays and enjoying a well-deserved break!

I thought I would put together some of my predictions in the SEO industry for next year:

1. Although Matt Cutt’s has mentioned Google are using Tweets in their search algorithm, I assume the weight of this will increase highly and Bing will also start to incorporate this.
2. Microsoft will make numerous updates to Bing and strongly integrate a social aspect into is (such as the recent Facebook integration)
3. Google will use CTR in their Algorithm. Bing already uses this.
4. The Local Search business will increase and more sites will optimise for local sites.
5. Google will begin to use certain nofollow links in for ranking sites
6. More SEO blog posts will include data analysis
7. SEO optimisation will go beyond mobile and web. It will move to Google TV/Apple TV, Videos, audios etc.
8. Microsoft will be more accepted in the SEO World

According to Specific Media’s chief executive, Tim Vangerhook, Timberlake will have a significant role to play in the future of the ailing social network. Apparently, he will lead the business strategy and have an office at Myspace, although Vangerhook concedes he is unlikely to be there every day.

Timberlake famously played Facebook investor, Sean Parker, in The Social Network and Parker himself this week described Myspace’s spectacular fall as being a consequence of it being a ‘junkheap of bad design’.

However, in a statement, Timberlake nevertheless sounded enthusiastic about the site:

“There’s a need for a place where fans can go to interact with their favourite entertainers, listen to music, watch videos, share and discover cool stuff and just connect. Myspace has the potential to be that place.

“Art is inspired by people and vice versa, so there’s a natural social component to entertainment. I’m excited to help revitalise Myspace by using its social media platform to bring artists and fans together in one community.”

The Olympic Charter bans political demonstrations, so the social media guidelines reflect this. Similarly, athletes cannot write for commercial purposes. Any breach could lead to the accreditation of a person or organisation being withdrawn.

Still photographs are also permitted, unlike in Beijing ni 2008, but these shots cannot be sold. Video from inside the venues cannot be broadcast, although video diaries and the like, recorded elsewhere, are perfectly acceptable.

The Olympics symbol cannot be used and references to anything being ‘Olympic’ must be factual. The IOC will also have to approve the use of any domain names featuring the word ‘Olympic’ or ‘Olympics’.

There have been various cases where sportspeople have found themselves in trouble as a result of the use of Twitter. Often, it has involved criticism of senior figures within their sport. This is a major reason why so many sporting organisations are so wary of the popular microblogging platform.

Twitter was spawned from The Obvious Group and this company is being reformed with Stone again joining Evan Williams and another Twitter co-founder, Jason Goldman. Stone will remain an advisor to Twitter, however.

Writing on his blog, Stone said:

“My work on Twitter has spanned more than half a decade and I will continue to work with the company for many years to come. During this time – especially lately – it has come to my attention that the Twitter crew and its leadership team have grown incredibly productive. I’ve decided that the most effective use of my time is to get out of the way until I’m called upon to be of some specific use.”

Stone has spent some time recently helping develop the Huffington Post’s ‘social impact strategy’ and will doubtless not lack for investors in his new venture. He also plans to work helping schools, non-profits and company advisory boards as well as continuing with the Biz and Livia Stone Foundation which supports education and conservation efforts in the state of California.

Facebook too saw significant growth, finally overtaking MSN to become the second most popular site in the UK behind Google in terms of user numbers. It recorded 26.8m unique users. LinkedIn had 3.6m UK users in May, a 57 per cent increase on the same period in 2010.

Twitter’s audience in the UK rose by around a third from April to May and interestingly, the number of female pensioners using the site doubled during this period.

Nielsen believes that it is over-50s who are currently driving social networking growth. Twitter saw a 65 per cent rise in male users aged between 50 and 64 as the gagging order story played out compared to the previous month.

UKOM general manager, James Smythe, said:

“Just a few years ago, this group may have found itself out of place on these sites. Now, on Facebook, for example, they account for more new adults visiting the site in the last two years than the under-50s.”

This is despite the fact that half of us admit to using the same password for multiple accounts. We also tend to go for something that is both easy to remember and easy for fraudsters to work out.

Around 12 per cent of people use their pet’s name as a password; 10 per cent use our date of birth; and nine per cent use our mother’s maiden name. Passwords such as this are, unfortunately, less secure.

A large number of people, around 18 per cent, struggle with online banking information; around 16 per cent of us have issues with online shopping sites; and roughly seven per cent of us have problems remembering our logins for work computers.

Martin Ott, co-CEO of Skrill, said:

“Passwords, PINs and codes go a long way to help protect people. Consumers may find it annoying to be constantly asked to prove who they are, but unfortunately there will always be scammers out there attempting to trick people into handing over their hard-earned cash.”

Apparently, the average person needs to remember around 10 passwords a day.