This week our communities are talking about Microsoft’s acquisition of LinkedIn, the specter of the online advertising bubble, marketing to women, Net Neutrality, and more!
We’ve got some great stories from WebmasterWorld, Cre8asiteforums, Threadwatch, and SEO Chat – all the usual suspects. Here’s the scoop:
Microsoft to Acquire LinkedIn For $26.2 Billion
By the end of this year, Microsoft will be the proud owner of a shiny new LinkedIn. Microsoft will be paying $196 per share and both the chairman of the board and the current CEO of LinkedIn have said they support the deal. Users on WebmasterWorld expressed their surprise – both at the idea of the purchase and at its price.
Admin engine writes,
“…it does seem like a great deal of money, but it’s based on the $196 per share stock valuation. Microsoft wants the business market, and it’s clear it’ll give it a way to introduce all the other services from Microsoft.”
User smilie, though, says
“The amount of money is insane. LinkedIn is not worth 1/4 of the amount. Probably a defensive acquisition. MS will try and push its Office 365 for business there…Access to quality labor that can be hired by Microsoft is another angle.”
Or, smilie goes on to wonder, is it actually about MS moving money around to avoid taxes? It’s a curious case and it has some people up in arms. What do you think?
YouTube’s CEO On Marketing To Women…
Users on Cre8asiteforums are discussing YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki’s recent remarks about empowering ads and their effectiveness on YouTube. You can read the full quote and article through a link on Cre8asiteforums, but it basically boils down to this:
Wojcicki says that because more women are being hired as creative directors, marketing towards women is becoming more effective. User tam doesn’t think that holds water:
“I don’t think gender has anything to do with it. In fact sometimes it’s disparaging to say it does. Why credit the campaign’s success to the fact the audience and creative director share a gender rather than just the creative director was particularly skilled at their job?”
User glyn draws a comparison between the spirit of the advertisements and the reality of the services:
“…unless your brand is delivering on the vision right through to when the customer calls you with a problem, for me you are wasting your money or simply trying to keep your stock price high.”
Class Action AdWords Lawsuit Will Proceed
The plaintiffs in this case allege that Google should have better disclosed where its ads would appear on their sites. In particular, they’re upset that Google ads started appearing on error pages and parked domains. Users on WebmasterWorld are divided. Some say that the case is, overall, “silly.”
Others say that it’s important for Google to be pushed and make improvements to its terms. User randle writes,
“…A lot of new people that used AdWords got smoked in the beginning because they had no idea that ‘AdWords’ meant you’re enrolled in the world of ‘AdSense’ unless you turn it off…The ethical set up should have been ‘it’s off unless you turn it on’.”
Is the Advertising Bubble Ready to Burst?
Here’s a fascinating discussion from WebmasterWorld! This is a high level, meta-theory kind of topic. So, of course, when you put it in front of the experts you get a real firework of a forum thread. The premise of the article under discussion is that an advertising crash, similar to the one that happened in 2000, is on the way.
Declining ad efficiency and quality, lessening of ad space, ad blockers, and a generally better ability to detect fraud will leave today’s most popular methods in the dust. User Marshall writes that
“…the general public understands that advertising is a necessity…but it is like anything else: it needs to be done in moderation.”
User graeme_p writes,
“A period of decline is likely. My biggest fear is that even good quality small sites will lose out, as it becomes simpler for advertisers to only deal with known quantities.”
Martinibuster and Edge say that the bubble isn’t popping – it’s evolving. Martinibuster writes,
“I’ve long been of the belief that the advertising model online publishers labor under has been a mistake. The Internet advertising model was founded on the belief that it could be sustained in a similar way to the print advertising model…There is no advertising bubble to pop. Only bubbles of expectations.”
What are your predictions for the future of online advertising?
Vanity TLD Domain Names Don’t Impart a Ranking Boost
Last week, we highlighted a story from Threadwatch about new TLDs. A Threadwatch reporter highlighted a sponsored post in Search Engine Land where the author claimed that switching domain names could result in a boost in organic traffic.
The confusing thing was that, despite their limited evidence and single example, the author of the SEL piece seemed to be claiming that everyone and anyone would benefit from a domain change.
This week, The SEM Post followed up with an investigation. Jennifer Slegg asked Gary Illyes about it and he replied that,
“I think in many cases, those who are recommending businesses to get those .attorney and .travel and .events TLDs have their hands in the honeypot as well. So probably they are getting some commission off recommending these… truth is we can’t give a flying crap abouty what the TLD is if it is a gTLD.”
Hands in the honeypot – that was certainly true for the SEL piece! Turns out the sponsored post was authored by a group that sells new gTLDs. So don’t believe everything you read!
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit backed “strict Internet regulation,” in favor of net neutrality this week. AT&T and others pushing against neutrality say that the fight isn’t over yet, though.
They’ll keep pushing to get their way. All across the Internet, people who support net neutrality are gearing up for the fight, too. You can get all the details in this Cre8asiteforums thread full of great reading and resources!
Any bitcoin people here? Looks like bitcoin is breaking out again!Click To TweetSEO Chat users are chatting about Bitcoin in this thread! Forum founder Darrin Ward returned for a light-hearted discussion around the Water Cooler. Ward writes,
“Looks like bitcoin is breaking out again – currently up over $600. From what I can tell, most of the trading volume is in the Yuan denominations. Very interesting to see the various ways in which capital has been leaking out of China.”
Whether you’re a bitcoin aficionado or just eager to learn something new, drop by this thread for a good discussion!
The post Net Neutrality, Vanity TLDs, and More: Weekly Forum Update appeared first on Internet Marketing Ninjas Blog.
from Internet Marketing Ninjas Blog http://www.internetmarketingninjas.com/blog/sem-industry/net-neutrality-vanity-tlds-weekly-forum-update/
via IFTTT
No comments:
Post a Comment