Aussie named 8th Biggest Search Geek in the world

by Marketing ON 20 March 2013

Australian agency exec Lawrence Yang has earned himself the title of eighth ‘Biggest Search Geek’ in the world in a global search marketing contest.

The performance director at FirstClick Consulting competed against a global field in Marin Software and Search Marketing Expo’s (SMX) ‘Biggest Search Geek Contest’, placing eighth with a score of 65%.

Yang says he hopes to take out next years’ title. “As a professional marketer, winning the next annual Biggest Search Geek title would truly be a testimonial of my skills in the industry. I think I can bring home the gold for Australia later this year.”

The contest comprised an online quiz of 20 questions about some of the most granular aspects of search marketing. An American, Adlucent account manager Renato Del Vento, took out top honours with a high score of 84%, finishing the quiz in five minutes and 39 seconds.

Marin Australia is calling for more Aussies to enter next years’ competition. “It would be such a coup to see an Aussie take the title out later this year so we are encouraging more Australians to step forward and get their geek on,” managing director at the digital ad management software provider, Nick Gill, says.

As winner, Renato picks up a return trip for two to SMX West and an iPad mini. Second- and third-place getters, Ashley Kennedy of Amplify and Michael Freeman of Shoretel, also received iPad minis.

A record number of competitors entered this year. The quiz is still live for search marketers wanting to test their SEM knowledge.

Mobile search leapfrogs desktop with higher CTR and lower CPC

by Marketing ON 18 February 2013

Smartphone and tablet search ads result in higher click through than desktop search, with Australia the leading market globally for share of clicks from tablets.

Marin Software’s ‘Mobile Search Advertising Around the Globe’ study found Australian advertisers spent 9% of search budgets on smartphones and 8% on tablet devices, making us the most prolific mobile search advertiser in the world.

Managing director, Australia, at the digital ad platform provider, Nick Gill predicts this will rise even higher in 2013, with favourable click-through rates (CTR) and cost per click (CPC) figures currently offered on mobile devices.

“Right now Australia is demonstrating a slightly different trend than what is occurring in the rest of the world with Marin’s data indicating that the average CTR in Australia for campaigns on mobile devices is on par with that of desktop computers,” Gill says.

“However, I predict this is going to change with mobile devices continue to show great promise for advertisers in Australia given the strong CTR and lower CPC than desktop computers.

“Solid user engagement combined with favourable performance characteristics make search ads on tablets hard to resist for advertisers.”

With high click through rates, share of clicks from mobile devices was higher relative to spend, with 79% of clicks coming from desktop compared to 12% from smartphones 9% from tablet.

CTR was highest on smartphones at 4.7%, followed by 4.0% on tablets and 3.4% on desktop. Conversely, CPC was higher on desktop than on mobile devices, at US$0.95, compared to US$0.78 on smartphone and US$0.68 on tablet.

This gap will see costs of search ads served on mobile devices rise, as conversion rates from tablet ads in particular surpass those of desktop ads, Marin predicts.

Google recently revamped its AdWords platforms to help advertisers manage multi-screen campaigns. Rolling out throughout the first half of the year, the new system will enable advertisers to alter campaigns depending on where, when and via which device the consumer searches on in order to tailor message to the context of the searcher.

Marin’s report, compiled by analysing search spend on Google, predicts ad spend on tablets and smartphones to double this year, with a jump from 10.7% in December last year to 20% in December 2013 expected in the US.

The study was conducted in December 2012 and analysed more than $4 billion in annualised paid-search spend among Marin’s clients which are skewed towards large advertisers spending upwards of $100,000 per month on paid-search.

Google’s paid shopping listings boost CTR, cheaper than text ads: study

by Marketing ON 12 February 2013

Google’s paid shopping listings, which are set to come into effect in Australia this week, boost the share of clicks on product listings by 210%, a study has found.

Global analysis conducted by digital ad platform provider Marin Software found click share of Product Listing Ads (PLAs) as a percent of total search clicks increased 210% in the past year.

Google transitioned Google Shopping to a commercial model in October 2012 in a number of markets, and has scheduled the switch in Australian for 13 February. The change means that previously free listings will now only be available on a paid basis via an enhanced sponsored placement similar to AdWords.

The new system has paid dividends for retailers and boosted consumer engagement, says Nick Gill, managing director, Marin Software Australia. “Google’s decision appears to be paying off with increased user engagement and advertiser investment,” Gill says. “During the fourth quarter of 2012, we saw some retailers allocate as much as 30% of their spend towards PLAs.”

According to Marin’s findings, advertisers increased their share of search budgets directed towards PLAs by nearly 600% in the last quarter of 2012. The study indicates users of Google search are seeing PLAs more often, and are increasing their engagement with the ad format. In the last quarter of 2012, the impression share of PLAs jumped 60% as holiday shoppers used the ads to make purchase decisions.

Concerns have been voiced that if not used correctly, the ads could become costly for retailers. But PLAs ended 2012 with a higher click-through rate (CTR) than text ads, and an average cost lower than of traditional text ads, Marin found.

Read: “The transition is both a challenge and an opportunity for retailers” – Mark Gray, managing director, Australia and Asia Pacific, ChannelAdvisor.

Aus marketers differ to US, UK in mobile search budget split

by Marketing ON 29 January 2013

Australian marketers are investing more in search advertising than ever before, says digital advertising management firm Marin Software’s quarterly report on global online advertising trends, which finally includes data specific to Australia.

With international advertisers reaching record levels of investment in search on tablets and smartphones during the final quarter of 2012, the report discovered that Australian advertisers allocated their spend equally between the devices. Advertisers in the UK and US markets favoured tablets over smartphones, reflecting consumer preferences, but it was Australia who had the highest percentage of clicks from mobile devices, with a combined 26 percent from smartphones and tablets.

With impressions trumping the click volume, Marin found that paid search click volume rose 34%, with a 65% increase in impression volume. This suggests that while Australian advertisers are spending more on search advertising, “there is still vast opportunity for them to optimise their SEM campaigns,” says Nick Gill, managing director, Marin Software Australia.

“Finally Australian marketers can benchmark their campaigns against local spends and underrepresented channels,” he adds.

In another interesting discovery, Marin’s data indicates that the average click-through rate in Australia for campaigns on smartphones is on par with that of desktop computers in a unique trend to what is happening globally.

Australia has also experienced a higher average CPC than its global counterparts in click-through rates from Facebook. In this instance the social network is viewed as a cost-effective alternative that when pitted against traditional search and display.

The full report can be downloaded here.