This week was a hot news week for internet marketing. From headlines about SES Chicago to an emerging social display ad being tested by Mountain Dew, here's a look at some of the most compelling and widely-read marketing stories.
SES Chicago commenced on October 18 and ends today, and a steady stream of updates have been hitting Twitter, the blogosphere and news sites throughout the week. One big discussion topic from the conference is the future of search in an increasingly social internet. Views increased for a YouTube video from SES NY on this subject as the debate carried on in the Windy City. Google's Maile Ohye – a keynote speaker – also made the news for discussing issues from the most recent developments in Google search to Google TV.
Google TV has made a lot of headlines in the past few days. Less than a week after its release, it's getting ample coverage for its user-friendliness and search-from-the-sofa capabilities. Search Engine Land has also been reporting on television networks trying to block Google TV, which seems to position this development as a catalyst for online video marketing to overtake traditional television ad slots. Also, Google released some tips on optimizing websites for televisions, which Brafton reported this morning.
The search giant also generated buzz with its recent test of socially enhanced results, covered by Brafton on Wednesday. Following the alliance between Bing and Facebook, Google seems to be getting in on the social search action by testing "Shared By" and "Recent Update" features on results pages, which should prompt marketers to seed their social sites with compelling content.
Yahoo created headlines in social search news as well with Y Connect. Though the company made no official statements about it, Brafton reported that an insider spoke to the WSJ about a widely circulated theory that Y Connect will make sharing content easy for Yahoo users. The news broke Monday, and the topic is still getting heavily tweeted, according to Google Realtime social search results.
Speaking of social sharing, another top news item this week was the development of Facebook Like button integration in display ads (reported by Brafton on Tuesday). Mountain Dew and JC Penney are among the first to try the new socially plugged-in ad units, and whether their campaigns perform well or not, they're certainly getting press for using an innovative platform marketers may want to watch.
Looking ahead to next week, we might expect stories about paid search powered by Bing, as Monday, October 25, is the deadline for marketers to migrate their campaigns to the Microsoft adCenter. Internet marketers, stay tuned!
