Digital Marketing 22 March

22-03-2006

by Ciara O'Brien

Generic terms win search battle | Web analytics goes deeper

Generic terms win search battle: Bad news for brand names -- apparently search engine users prefer to use generic terms for their searches. According to a study from DoubleClick, online users are opting for more generic terms to search at first, rather than going straight for the brand name.

Although brand names are not being left out of the picture completely, they only make up a small proportion of searches. Consumers will often return to brand names later on, but only after they have done their research on the generic terms.

This means that some advertisers may have to rethink their search strategies, buying generic terms as well as their own trademarks when they are implementing search marketing.

This latest finding ties in with a Comscore/Overture study from 2004, which found that the closer searchers are to making a purchase, the more likely they are to use brand- or product-specific keywords.

Web analytics goes deeper: A web analytics firm is offering a new service that will help marketers improve their online campaigns and direct marketing. WebTrends new Marketing Lab will help measure the impact of campaigns, offering a consistent metrics framework for all demand channels, including performance measurement tools, and data exploration and customer targeting capabilities.

The service includes an updated version of WebTrend Analytics 8, the company's web analytics product, and a data warehouse product. The warehouse project allows data exploration and segmentation of customer and online business event information, allowing marketers to implement targeted and relevant campaigns to their opt-in customers.

According to WebTrends, this is apparently the first marketing performance management (MPM) solution for the industry. "The shackles of traditional web analytics reporting are coming off," said Greg Drew, CEO and president, WebTrends.