In a recent report published by AccuStream iMedia Research, it is said that User Generated Video (UGV) is expected to yield 34 billion views in 2008. The report further goes on to quantify that the average views per video in 2007 was an impressive 10,695 views.

Source: AccuStream iMedia Research, January 2008

written by Beverly Crandon

Yesterday, comScore released its 2007 U.S. Internet Year in Review report and the findings, well, they were not awakening by any means because the leaders in 2007 were clearly marked, very early on in the game.

Search: Search in 2007 increased by 15% to 9.6 billion searches. The search engine rank order, in terms of market share, was of course Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft sites, Time Warner Network and then Ask. Google was on top with a reported 56% market share.

Classifieds: The comScore report also pegs Craigslist as the fastest growing classified site, as it grew by 74% in 2007 to 24.5 million visitors. Online classifieds as a whole, they reported, had a strong 2007, as this vertical grew by 31%.

written by Beverly Crandon \\ tags: 2007 online, comScore, craigslist, online classifieds, search market share

According to Private Equity Hub, This Next, an online media and social shopping site, has received another 5 million in second round funding. Via This Next, people can recommend their favorite products and suggest where purchases can be made, both on and offline. The concept blends online shopping and word-of-mouth recommendations and both, we know to be very powerful when looking for consumer adoption.

This Next is not the only site of its kind – Style Feeder who recently received 2 million in funding, also prides itself in allowing their users to share links to items, find others with similar tastes, and of course peruse what products they have recommended in the past.

The success stories of This Next and Style Feeder show that the old adage still rings true - people love the comradery in shopping, especially because it allows them to get a second opinion, from someone that they trust. What these two sites have done is made it easier for online shoppers to communicate within their forum and get that second opinion without leaving the site. No more “email this ad to a friend” and wait to get their opinion offline. With that being said, there is no reason why some of the same concepts could not be applied to a generalist-classified site. Pairing the two worlds of classifieds and social media will produce the following results, guaranteed

• You will create reasons why those who shop on or visit your site should stay around longer to play
• You will create a double-edged value proposition for your advertisers (listings and commercial ad space in the social areas of you site, in addition to the classifieds).

These are two guaranteed results (retention and increased revenue) that any webmaster would love to have!

written by Beverly Crandon \\ tags: Generalist Classifieds, Style Feeder, This Next

Earlier I blogged about the Wall Street Journal and their opening up parts of their site, free of charge and that in addition to this, Rupert Murdoch was actually thinking about making the entire site free access, with hopes to attract more commercial advertising revenues.  Well…in a more recent interview, Murdoch contradicts his earlier indication of a free based site.  He was quoted in the Journal as saying, “The really special things will still be a subscription service, and, sorry to tell you, probably more expensive.” 

written by Beverly Crandon

Enquiro Research conducted a series of surveys measuring the effect of search marketing and premium positioning. They specifically used Honda ads as test ads, placing the ads in the side ad placement position, top organic placement, top sponsored ad listing, and then in the top sponsored and top organic placement positions collectively.

Enquiro tracked and reported results from 100 Internet users, with the aid of Eye Tracking tools and Surveys. Below is a synopsis of what they found:

• A 16% point increase in brand association when the brand is in the Top Ad and Top Organic Listings position
• A 2.2x lift in aided brand recall when the brand is in the Top Ad and the Top Organic Listings position
• When the brand is in the Top Ad and Top Organic Listings position, purchase consideration increases by 8% points

In closing, Enquiro gives advertisers a piece of advice: “Ad listings appear to have a greater opportunity to lift brand affinity among new customers; write and target them as such – especially for upper funnel queries”

Don’t believe that search marketing works on large search engines only. Think of your site as a miniature search engine, with your content being listings served on a search results page. Sell ‘listings like’ positions to work and integrate with your organic site searches. Local advertisers will be apt to participate, as they will see your Web property (newspaper site), as a concentrated advertising source, serving a niche product or niche market.

written by Beverly Crandon \\ tags: Search Engine Marketing, SEM

The Wall Street Journal has begun to make more of its content available online for free. Visitors can enjoy perusing through editorial and opinion content, as well as view Fox News clips, another one of Rupert Murdoch’s properties.

What’s the next step for the Wall Street Journal? Already Murdoch has publicly stated that he is thinking of making the entire site free access. Undoubtedly, making WSJ.com a free web property will increasing traffic for the site, providing additional value to advertisers and another notch in their competitive landscape.

written by Beverly Crandon \\ tags: Rupert Murdoch, Subscription Fees, Wall Street Journal

Analysts Goldman Sachs told the newspaper industry that they foresee a 7.9% decline in newspaper revenue in 2008. This is far worse an outcome than their previously predicted 2.6%.

Classifieds are expected to lead the pack in declines, as was the case in 2007. Goldman Sachs said: “We expect the classified categories to be very weak with the real estate, help wanted and auto categories particularly sensitive to broader economic activity.”

Advertiser and consumer surveys and statistics, further solidify what analysts are saying. Realtors have placed print at the bottom of the list when creating their advertising plans for 2008 and instead are focusing on building their own online entities. In automotive, we have seen a 15% increase in consumers sourcing auto information online and a 1% decline for newspapers (CNW Marketing, NAA). In the US, for the period of January to July, 75% of those looking for jobs did so using the Internet.

As a result of the revamped predictions, Goldman Sachs cut earnings forecasts for the New York Times Company, McClatchy, Gannett, Belo, Journal Communications, and E.W. Scripps.

written by Beverly Crandon \\ tags: Automotive, Employment, Newspapers, Real Estate, revenue decline

This is a great example of an European newspaper using video in fabulous way to self promote. You will enjoy this!

written by Beverly Crandon