Flash in Google's pan

Flash is now searchable - that's official. But does that mean that Flash sites are redeemed and are back on the agenda for those of us who want users to find our sites through search engines.

There are a few of things to bear in mind.

First, Adobe's Flash Player technology has, it seems, only been released to Google and Yahoo! And so far, only Google seems to have done anything with it.

Secondly, it's all very well knowing that a particular Flash movie has your keyword in its text, but how do you get to the particular part of the movie you're looking for?

Thirdly, I'm sure there's a thirdly, but I can't think of it yet. Please add a comment if you can, as you should always have a thirdly!

So my conclusion is that this is all well and good, but I don't think it effects current best practice that says that if you want search engines to find your content, you should write it in good quality html.

Internet marketing seen as a safe pair of hands

Internet marketing budgets used to be the first thing to be cut when the going got tricky. Seen as a avant garde playground where you could experiment with your spare advertising budget, there was no justification to keep it going when the purse strings were tightened.

The latest figures from the IPA suggests that Internet marketing has now become the last bit to go (full story). High cost activity like TV is being cut, while investment online is still continuing to grow.

Why? In a world that is driven by ROI marketers know what value the Internet delivers and are acting on that knowledge. What will be interesting when the purse strings are loosened again is whether the increased budgets go back to old media, or whether new media will cement its growing dominance.

Times really have changed.

Mobile over hyped - again!

The BBC has run a year long test of TV by mobile phone, which peaked at just 580 users in a day. And monthly content consumption was only 13 minutes. In short, very few used it and those that did, didn't use it very much.

Given the BBC's share of viewing accounted for around 24% on Orange and 51% on T-Mobile, this is not exactly a ringing endorsement of the mobile phone the next great entertainment channel.(Full story)

Back to reality and a bit of logic. The viewing experience on a mobile phone screen, coupled with the usually slow speed that is actually delivered (even when my phone says it's got a 3G connection standard html pages can taken an age to download!) don't deliver.

Comment: E-Mail is The Most Effective Form of Direct Response

COMMENT ON Study: E-Mail is The Most Effective Form of Direct Response

The article highlights 2 points:

- E-mail is used primarily by 35% of companies compared to 25% which use traditional direct mail and 21% who use package, statement stuffers or free standing inserts

- The finding echoes a study from last fall from MarketingSherpa, where participants reported that "house e-mail marketing" delivered the best return-on-investment in terms of direct response.

My comment is that success of email marketing is down to the nature of the relationship between the sender and the recipient. Permission and effective targeting are key. If someone has asked for an email, then they will read it. If it interests them, then they will read the next one.

Room for the Long Tail

The Long Tail took the online world by storm in 2006. The theory holds that society is "increasingly shifting away from a focus on a relatively small number of 'hits' (mainstream products and markets) at the head of the demand curve and toward a huge number of niches in the tail."

New research now suggests that the far from diminishing, the "head" is infact amplified by the Internet. The ease of sharing combines with the desire to be part of the same thing.

Certainly some of the tools do work to amplify this effect, just as in the offline world. Surfers find the same lists and are more tempted by the endoresement to click on the number 1, than they are to pick their own way through the endless content available.

BUT there is surely room for both effects. At the head, there are the followers who want an easy recommendation. But there are also the leaders who are prepared to explore the long tail because they are looking for something different. The web empowers them to find it more easilty and to share it with others.

As ever, the world is rarely black and white.

Web spend to overtake TV in 2008

Outsell Inc's report claims that in 2008 companies will spend $105.3 billion on online activity (including their own websites) as against $98.5 billion TV, radio and movies.

Interestingly, it isn’t quite as much as the $147 billion they’re likely to spend on print media, up 12% from the previous year.

It seems that this is an individual approach to the numbers, but its surely a pre-cursor to more similar headlines in the not too distant future.

Full story...

Social networks - a recipe for success

There has been a lot in the press lately about social networks (no change there, then). And the news at the moment all seems to be good.

- Consumers are using them.

- Advertisers are spending on them.

- Investers are backing them.

A recipe for success! For more have a look at The rise and rise of social networks