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Tech companies great and small always have a gimmick or two up their sleeve, and Google has been known for their screen adaptations and their playful renderings of their logo on the main Search page. But this year’s “Let It Snow” frosting of the search result page takes the icing on the cake.
Just do a search for “let it snow” and watch the flakes fall across your screen until the search result window gets completely ‘snowed’ over and the blue ‘Search’ button at the top becomes ‘Defrost’. What’s even cooler is that once your screen gets completely fogged up you can also draw on the Google search results page like a finger on a window.
As of today (three days past Christmas) the trick is still on, and it may be a nice idea for Google to keep this on through the cold season. So, yes, even in Dubai, we can sit back at our offices or at home and enjoy the snow.
We hope you had a good 2011 and are celebrating the arrival of the New Year. At Innovations_Digital we wish you all the best for the Season. So, let it snow…
Sourced from our digital content and strategy agency: Innovations_Digital blog
Google has launched its news reader app on Android and iOS with titles including CNet, Huffington Post and Forbes among the initial publishing partners.
The app, dubbed Google Currents, lets publishers customise their content for the platform and is also integrated with Google+ so readers can share content.
Publishers can also monitor how their readers are accessing the content via the app by associating their account with Google Analytics.
By linking the Google Currents and Analytics accounts, publishers can track users’ content preferences, what devices their content is being viewed on and geographic distribution via the app.
Google Currents is currently available to US mobile users but remaining country launch dates has been publicly discussed at present.
Mobile users can download Google Current from the appropriate app store, choose the publications they want to subscribe to free of charge and also add RSS, video and photo feeds, public Google+ streams and Google Reader subscriptions.
The launch was confirmed by a post on the Google Mobile blog.
“We’ve worked with more than 150 publishing partners to offer full-length articles from more than 180 editions including CNET, AllThingsD, Forbes, Saveur, PBS, Huffington Post, Fast Company and more,” read the post.
The launch sees Google join the list of other content aggregator apps, such as Flipboard, AOL’s Editions and Yahoo’s Live stand, which are an increasingly popular way for mobile users to consume media.
posted by Debi Hickey, Media Director, UM Dubai
from a post on Innovations_Digital
While Search Engine Marketing is growing by leaps and bounds (specially here in the Middle East), brand managers need to have a simple check list when working with their SEM strategy agencies to make sure Search yields the results they need.
A typical scenario we come across often is when a consumer in Dubai jumps on to google and searches for a LCD TV. Typically, within 0.17 seconds he gets around 6 million + results, but we know he will probably look through only the first few pages. The Search Engine will quickly look through its list of advertisers and place the most popular ones immediately as ads. And, of course, depending on how well the brand or retailer has done on their organic search strategy (SEO), their listing will appear on the page. And fight for attention with review sites, auctions sites, an Amazon or two, and a blog by a geek. This is where good SEM strategy can kick in to ensure that the consumer is empowered and enabled to make a positive decision for a particular brand, and a particular model being marketed.
1. Each specific search term (keyword, model name, key descriptor, brand, feature etc) should lead to a specific landing page. When I am searching for ‘lcd tv’ I should not have to trawl through a Home Page and try and locate Products > TVs > LCD > Brandname etc. How often have you searched for a ‘car loan’ and been proudly introduced to a “Our Leadership” feature on a Bank’s silly home page?
2. The specific landing page should be a sales tool for that specific offering. If I am looking for a 18 megapixel camera in my search query, oh, please don’t lecture me on the benefits of high megapixel. Sell me the D900. It’s not about persuasion in general (time is precious online), it’s about specific empowerment information. Don’t waste the consumer’s time, and don’t waste your budget.
3. On the specific landing page you take them to, reiterate the offer you made in your ad copy in the search result. If you have brought them in to your site with a lure of “lowest interest rates on car loans”, talk about it clearly, re-sell and shout about that specific feature. They did not click on “free credit card with loan” – so why put that in your landing page headline? Scream “Lowest Interest Rates on Car Loans”.
4. Be clear on context (see above) and be clear on content. Make all the information easy to understand, the offer transparent and clear, and the benefit of a purchase decision easy to see and understand. Gather the information you need – ask nicely, and give the consumer what they are looking for – which for the most part is a sense of direction, assurance and the enablement of a positive decision in your favor.
5. You’ll be tempted to say a lot since you have already started a conversation per se, but here brevity is key. Try not to provide dozens of links to your main company home page, other product pages, corporate mumbo jumbo etc. When you’re saying too much you end up not saying what’s really key. And what you say should be relevant – locally contextual, available, and immediate.
Do, of course ake sure that your organic search works hand in hand with SEM, and that your website content – particularly the landing page you created (yes! specific to the keywords you bought) has all the right words in there.
When working with your Search agency, or even developing a basic strategy, set goals and tick the 5 SEM Tips above. You’ll be five steps closer to the consumer making the decision that you want him or her to make – in your favor – right there. And armed with that, hopefully, he’ll click through to buy, or head off to the nearest retailer. Or bank, as the case may be.
Innovations_Digital is part of UM, and a digital marketing specialized agency that delivers online, mobile, search and social media solutions. Published in a blog post on InnovationsDigital.com :
(http://www.innovationsdigital.com/2011/10/5-sem-essentials-for-brand-managers/)
