Go Good Wind

Without a doubt online video is the hottest trend in the online industry. Most web sites now have an online video presence. While Youtube only scratched the service of online video’s potential with free public storage for amatuer video authors, the real action and potenial is in the commercial industry.

The rise of video is a direct result of the increase in inexpensive high speed (broadband) Internet connections which recently passed the 50% mark in the US. The cable companies are currently in the driver seat to deliver high quality video due to their existing infrastructure. Hollywood studios are being careful not to let Apple gain control of this industry in a similar manner that Apple succeeded in the music industry with their Ipod/Itunes combination.

From an online marketing perspective it should be noted that consumers of online video are 47% more likely to click on advertisements which naturally leads to increased purchasing. Online customers are targeted customers while television advertisements are much less effective as they are delivered to a general audience.

Without a doubt online video is here to stay and will only increase in importance over the next few years as the use of online video skyrockets. The real challenge concerning online video is creating video content that is both effective and high quality.

The hard-work of the longest portage [project]; the skill to handle the toughest rapids [technical abilities]; and the willingness to have fun around the fire at the end of the day [we enjoy our work]”… this is the Voyageur story. So when I read a recent article in the Minnesota Conservation Volunteer about the (Eastern) Savanna Portage — a portage that required “real” voyageurs to glop their way through waist-high water while carrying their horribly heavy loads to dry safety for continued trade efforts– I was taken by the lore of it all. The story is made even better for me, as the author (Gus Axelson), is a family friend and “up north” neighbor.

Read the article here:
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/volunteer/janfeb08/vanishing_footsteps.html

An excerpt: “The east of the portage, for a distance of a mile and a half runs through a tamarack swamp, which was flooded with water, and next to impassable. It is generally considered the worst ‘carrying place’ in the Northwest,” wrote J.G. Norwood, a geologist who surveyed the area in 1848. “And judging from the great number of canoes which lie decaying along this part of it, having been abandoned in consequence of the difficulty experienced in getting them over, its reputation is well deserved.”

Suzanne

Is 2008 finally going to be the year that mobile marketing takes off? Experts have been predicting this for the last several years and little has changed. Most of us find the thought of having advertisements on our mobile phones revolting. This marketing channel is still too early to exploit although it is important to keep informed as the market potential is huge.

The obvious conclusion is the online industry continues to grow strongly at the expense of traditional media

Growing

Internet 27%
Games 39%

Declining

Television (Network only) -5.3%
Magazines -3.8%
Newspaper -2.4
Radio –0.3%

Due to the changing nature of the Ecommerce industry every business should review their Ecommerce strategy annually to ensure it remains competitive. Here are some recent facts, trends and ideas:

The online advertising industry continues to rapidly change which is not surprising considering the growth of the Internet. In relative terms the online marketing industry is still in it’s infancy. Listed below are some recent trends you may find interesting.

• Search Engine Stats - The average search engine entry is approximately two words while only the top ten results are likely viewed out of any average 600,000 returned results.
• Display or Banner Advertising Results Declining – An interesting trend over the last year is the continued decline in the effectiveness of display or banner ads. These are the advertisements you see on most web sites which provide free content in exchange for advertising revenue. The negative trend is the decline in the number of people who click on these ads. Banner ads average click through rates, which measures the percentage of people who click on the ads, declined from an already small 0.75% to a dismal 0.2% last year. This decline is due to the surge in new ads on the Internet and the overall growth in quantity of web pages diluting the industry.
• Search Engine Advertising Remains Strong – The search engine advertising market continues to grow and produce positive results. The word Google has morphed into a verb as search engine advertising has grown to be a $20 billion dollar industry. The search engine advertisement market, consisting of ads positioned on the top and right hand side of all popular search engines, continues to be dominated by Google with a 55% market share, Yahoo with 23% and Microsoft at 12%. Being on the first page of any search engine results for keywords is vital as studies continue to show that 90% of the people searching never make it to the second page. It is also proven that customers are much more likely to search or click on a company’s search ad if they have previously viewed one of the company’s display ads.
• Spending - Spending for online advertising grew 27% over the last year which from a percentage basis not as rapid as previous years growth which is a sign of a maturing market. Almost all small and medium businesses are increasing their online spending at the expense of traditional media advertising strategies such as the Yellow Pages, magazines, industry events, etc which are declining in sales. This is simply due to the fact that the average person now spends more time online that with any other media option. For example 20% of US household with high speed Internet watch television shows online and in areas with higher speed Internet access such as Hong Kong the figure rises to 60%
• Targeted Advertising Trend - The most significant recent industry trend is the strategy to move to targeted advertising. Technology can easily measure trends and demographics making which is extremely attractive to advertisers. It is proven that targeted Ads have 100% - 1,000% higher success rates. In a few weeks of tracking your browsing habits these sites probably know you better than your mother does. Facebook, a leading social engine site likely used by your children if they are school aged, is aggressively trying to exploit this trend with a new targeted ad strategy based on the demographic and interests profiles they have of their customers. Consumer or Privacy groups are fighting back by pushing the FTC to enact “Do not track laws”. Where all of this will end up is anyone’s guess but it is sure to shape the industry for the future.

Welcome to Go Good Wind, the new Voyageur Blog. We will use this site to share online technology industry trends with our clients to ensure they are aware of opportunities in the online industry.

Where did that name come from? Go Good Wind is a traditional French Voyageur song over 300 years old.