The Crowd Source is a blog about Web culture and its impact on search activity, brought to you by the digital strategists at Ketchum.
May 2009
Bottom Line: Google's Making Big Bing Bling
by Gur Tsabar | Thu, 05/28/2009 - 15:31
Say what you want about the potential of Microsoft's new seach engine Bing -- and many are -- but a hidden story in all of the hoopla has got to be that a good portion of Microsoft's planned $80-$100 million ad budget could be going to chief rival, Google. In fact, it already is (towards Google Sponsored Links).
Just worth noting...
Googling Your Feelings
by Gur Tsabar | Wed, 05/20/2009 - 14:26Not unsurprisingly - given the state of the economy - the relative number of search queries for they keywords "i feel depressed" have risen dramatically worldwide over the past year.
Interestingly, the UK, Australia, the US and Canada (in that particular order) lead the world in this particular query.
Much like the Google's Flu Trends tracker, seems like the opportunity is ripe here for pharma companies (among others) to track symptoms related to their diseases.
Just a thought...
Know What Slurpees, Ice Cream and Cheesecakes Have In Common?
by Gur Tsabar | Mon, 05/18/2009 - 12:54
As it turns out ... a few things. First, each of these delicacies has a full calendar day of observance devoted to them in July; and secondly, we know today - in advance - that each of these days will generate heavy consumer search activity online.
Towards that end, check out the July version of the Search Matters calendar - a predictive calendar of recurring events that have strong search histories. You can now know in advance the topics consumers will be searching for online in the coming months -- and can program your marketing activities accordingly. It's a very easy way to stay ahead of popular market trends.
You can read more about the origins of the Search Matters calendar here. As it is still very much a work in progress -- please don't hesitate to feedback to us your thoughts and/or any suggestions for improvements you may have.
Four Essential Firefox Extensions for Communications Professionals
by Fernando Rizo | Mon, 05/11/2009 - 12:57Firefox has been my Web browser of choice for years (let's not talk about my rebellious Opera days) The best part about Firefox at work, of course, is that once it's installed you don't need to be an administrator to add extensions to it, saving you and the IT guys a lot of hassle. There's a few extensions that I've really come to lean on at work, cutting down on repetitive, time-consuming tasks when I'm researching or preparing presentations.
Traditional Media Placements Move Consumers to Act Online
by Gur Tsabar | Mon, 05/04/2009 - 10:24
One aspect of media we're starting to study a bit more is the impact that the more traditional media placements have on online consumer search behaviors. Obviously, knowing in advance which television programs (for example) are more likely to generate consumer search activity makes those media placement that much more valuable.
Fundamentally, it means that marketers can position their clients online in ways that engage with this search activity and further extend the life of their stories. And one such placement, for example, which consistently generates search traffic around its subject matter is 60 Minutes.
Last night 60 Minutes re-ran a fascinating profile of the Antinori family of Italy which has operated wineries for over 600 years. This re-airing landed "Antinori Wines" and "Antinori Family" in the 3rd and 43rd spots (respectively) of Google's Top 100 search queries for all of yesterday. And when the show first aired on October 12, 2008, "Antinori Wines" finished in the #1 spot that day. Needless to say, this is a trend we see repeatedly with 60 Minutes. (read more after the jump)