Hitwise have released some interesting statistics for search engine trends and usage in Australia (see the detailed facts and figures on Hitwise Research Director Alan Long’s blog) and for anyone who isn’t up to date with current trends, this post will shed some new light on how to gear your SEM for the new year. Social media sites are set to overtake traffic from search engines. Search Engines (such as Google and Yahoo) attributing 12.8% of all sites visited, social media sites (such as Facebook and MySpace) closely follow with 11.8%. It is estimated that social media will soon overtake search engines as the most popular websites to visit – especially so over the Christmas break. Facebook and MySpace must be licking their lips at the prospect of being the most visited sites in Australia and therefore an increased potential advertising revenue. Much like the television stations of traditional media, more people watching equals a larger audience for advertisers and therefore more advertising potential in terms of raw numbers and targeted demographic reach. Another interesting fact to note is that Australians uses search engines more (12.8%) than the Brits (UK-12.6%), the kiwis (New Zealand 12.2%) and the yanks (U.S.-10%). Google Dominates Search Engines-Bing the mover Google- 87.1% ( – ) Bing- 4.7% ( + 0.6%) Yahoo- 2.3% ( – ) The amount of advertising dollars spent on launching Bing and creating brand awareness has been apparently significant enough to warrant an increase in market share. However, it is not nearly as big as what the big coffers at Microsoft would have hoping for.  It is expected that Bing will increase their market share slightly over the Christmas period and into the new year. Users Love Brands One of the largest changes in users’ search behaviors is the rapid increase in brand name and brand related searches. In 2006, brand related searches accounted for 8.75% and in 2009 it accounts for 14.22% of all searches. This is an important development for search marketers as it shows the benefit of using brand related keywords more so now than ever before. Searchers More Refined Than Ever Before Whether it has to do with demographics shifting, or users becoming better practiced in the art of searching, users are using more words to search than ever before. 1-2 word searches have decreased and 3-5 word searches have increased from their 2008 figures. When 3-5 Word Searches now account for 52.8% of all queries and it is becoming increasingly important that long tail keywords are a part of any AdWords campaign. 1 Word Searches- 18.6% (Decreased) 2 Word Searches- 28.6% (Decreased) 3 Word Searches- 24.2% (Increased) 4 Word Searches- 14.3 % (Increased) 5 Word Searches- 14.3% (Increased)…(more...)

Tags: Australia, Google, Internet, Online, Online Advertising, Search Marketing, SEM, Statistics

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Rupert Murdoch, one of the world’s most iconic media tycoons, has fired off another salvo against online search engines that aggregate news stories. The main culprit drawing Murdoch’s ire is Google, which grabs the headlines and summaries from online news websites and blogs and ranks them on the Google News service. The print mogul’s complaint stems from the traffic Google generates on the back of content generated by media outlets. As part of his battle against the world’s largest search company, Murdoch is attempting to broker a deal with Microsoft that would see News Corp content suppli…(more...)

Tags: Bing, Google, Google News, Internet, News Corp., Online, Rupert Murdoch, web technology

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A few weeks ago Facebook developer Joe Hewitt announced that he would stop making iPhone applications because he was fed up with the way Apple is running its App store. The main problem facing Joe, as well as many other developers, has to do with Apple’s policies on the applications. “My decision to stop iPhone development has had everything to do with Apple’s policies. I respect their right to manage their platform however they want, however I am philosophically opposed to the existence of their review process. I am very concerned that they are setting a horrible precedent for other software p…(more...)

Tags: App Store, Apple, Apps, Facebook, iPhone, Joe Hewitt, Online, Technology

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The world’s largest internet company has announced the acquisition of California-based AdMob for $806 million (US $750 million) worth of Google stock. The mobile advertising pioneer is a Silicon Valley success story that emerged in 2006, when Omar Hamoui founded the company after being frustrated by a lack of ways to generate traffic for his mobile site, claiming it was too hard to engage users. “I’ve been working in mobile for over seven years now. Before AdMob, I founded two separate mobile startups that never got significant traction. It was so frustrating to build what I knew was a…(more...)

Tags: AdMob, Advertising, AdWords, Google, iPhone, Online, Online Advertising, Search Marketing, web technology

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There have been two clear winners that have emerged from both the technology industry and the economy in the last twelve months: the Apple’s App Store and fast food. Thanks to Apple’s prodigious marketing of their iPhone smartphone, and the global financial crisis ushering people to reach for their pizza coupons rather than their dinner jackets, both iPhone and pizza sales have gone up spectacularly since the beginning of the financial crisis. Domino’s Australia has made an ambitious first attempt to finally marry the two in a free iPhone app suitably named “Domino’s”…(more...)

Tags: 3G, Apple, Delivery, Domino's Pizza, Financial Crisis, Food, Internet, iPhone, On Demand, Online, Pizza, Pizza Hut, Recession

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