Google has released a new tool to make mini-websites. The Google Page Creator which lets you throw up a quick set of pages without a ton of hassle. The problem is, it is just a web builder, and all the pages are hosted with Google. While this may seem like a good idea, it is like working with handcuffs on. This isn’t for your serious webmaster. I would advise that you pass on this, however, there was so much interest that Google has suspended any new accounts.

The following are results from a survery conducted in December 2005.

• 67% of the adult American population goes online, including 68% of men and 66% of women

• 86% of women ages 18-29 are online, compared with 80% of men that age.

• 34% of men 65 and older use the Internet, compared with 21% of women that age.

• 62% of unmarried men compared with 56% of unmarried women go online

• 75% of married women and 72% of married men go online

• 61% of childless men compared with 57% of childless women go online

• 81% of men with children and 80% of women with children go online.

• 52% of men and 48% of women have high-speed connections at home

• 94% of online women and 88% of online men use email

Source: Pew Internet & American Life

Jen Slegg will be speaking about contextual advertising at Microsoft’s Mix06 conference in Las Vegas. She also has the scoop on the new MSN Contextual Advertising ANSWER TO GOOGLE ADSENSE AND YAHOO PUBLISHER NETWORK, ContentAds after reading a session description from Mix06.

MSN ContentAds is their contextual advertising program name and a launch date will be sometime in 2006.

Introducing adCenter – Microsoft’s Next Generation Advertising Platform Speaker(s): David Jakubowski, Jed Nahum Session Type(s): Breakout adCenter is the next generation of online advertising that will allow you to conveniently plan, execute, and adjust your online advertising programs. Get the insider view of our current search advertising pilot in the U.S., our plans for ContentAds in 2006 and a preview of the innovations we’re testing at the Microsoft adLabs.

While it is extremely likely ContentAds will only be in beta for a soft launch in 2006, similar to AdCenter starting off with a small beta, the fact that MSN is planning their program to launch relatively soon in the contextual advertising timeline is very good news to hear. With YPN taking over two years to launch after the introduction of Google AdSense, it wouldn’t have been surprising to see MSN not offer their own contextual program until 2007 or 2008.

Posted by — Loren Baker

Nielsen//NetRatings reports that the number of sponsored link advertising impressions on the Google and Yahoo! ad platforms grew 16 percent, from 55.4 billion to 64.3 billion, between August 2005 and January 2006. “Despite the overwhelming market share that Google and Yahoo! search enjoy, they continue to see strong growth in the volume of sponsored links,” said Ken Cassar, chief analyst, Nielsen//NetRatings.

“While Google, in particular, seeks to diversify its revenue, it is a positive sign that its core search advertising business remains robust,” continued Cassar.

The 64.3 billion sponsored link impressions include the Google and Yahoo! Web sites as well as their respective search and contextual advertising networks.

Nielsen//NetRatings notes that although Google had more sponsored link impressions in January, Yahoo! is gaining ground. During the last six months, Yahoo’s sponsored links have grown 21 percent to 23.2 billion, while Google’s have grown 14 percent to 41.1 billion.

Top advertisers – January 2006

The Nielsen//NetRatings research shows that eBay is the primary sponsored link advertiser on both sites. eBay’s Shopping.com is Google’s No. 2 sponsored link advertiser, followed by Local.com, Target Stores and Expedia, respectively. Shopping.com is also Yahoo’s No. 2 sponsored link advertiser, followed by University of Phoenix, Lending Tree and Target Stores, respectively.

“E-commerce advertisers, eBay chief among them, represent the top advertisers on both Yahoo! and Google. It is becoming increasingly clear that sponsored link advertising is a necessary cost of doing business for e-commerce companies,” Cassar concluded.

Nielsen//NetRatings’ AdRelevance collects impressions from over 1,000 top U.S. Web properties.

A newly released study ranks the median order conversion rates for the top four search engines. The research was conducted by website analytics company, WebSideStory, Inc.

For the month of January, AOL Search generated the best conversion rate at business-to consumer e-commerce sites (6.17 percent), followed by MSN (6.03 percent), Yahoo (4.07 percent) and Google (3.83 percent), according to the WebSideStory Index, a new statistical barometer that features techno-graphic and e-commerce trends culled from the millions of users that visit web sites using the company’s award-winning web analytics technology, HBX Analytics.

The study includes traffic from both organic and paid keywords.

Ali Behnam, Senior Digital Marketing Consultant for WebSideStory, analyzed the results, ”One way to explain the difference in conversion rates is demographics. With portals rich in content and services, AOL, MSN and Yahoo may tend to appeal toward a more buyer friendly demographic. Google, meanwhile, may appeal to more browsers – those with less of an intent to buy. All of this suggests search engine marketers may want to consider demographics in allocating their budgets.”

Each of the major search engines posted conversion rates well above the median average for all search engines, which was 1.97 percent for the month of January, according to the index. This compares with a median average of 2.30 percent for the last three months of 2005, which WebSideStory reported on last month.

One other important consideration to note in this study, WebSideStory officials said, is that the conversion rates are likely higher than industry averages because the sample sites are using best-of-class web analytics to improve their search engine marketing and optimization.

According to Jeff Lunsford, Chairman and CEO of WebSideStory, ”Our clients are steeped in web analytics best practices and are not buying search engine traffic that does not deliver. In addition, they understand how to convert visitors into buyers once they arrive at the site.”

HBX Analytics is an award-winning, on-demand web analytics solution that provides actionable information about online visitor customer behavior. It is part of the WebSideStory Active Marketing Suite, a suite of integrated, on-demand digital marketing applications including web analytics, site search, web content management and, later this year, keyword bid management.

Median Order Conversion Rate by Major Search Engine
at Business to Consumer E-Commerce Sites, January 2006

Search Engine Median (All Categories)
AOL 6.17%
MSN 6.03%
Yahoo 4.07%
Google 3.83%

Notes:
— Study examines only the conversion rate, not the ROI generated by each
major search engine
— E-commerce sample: The select business-to-consumer e-commerce sites
used in this study generate more than $3 billion in annual online sales

No comments were made on how the testing was done, which industries and what parameters were used. Without that information, the results can be suspect.

From SearchEngineLowdown: Nielsen/NetRating’s latest data indicates that the number of searches continues to grow at a more than healthy pace, totaling about 5.1 billion in December 2005, an increase of 55% from the almost 3.3 billion searches made in December 2004. Meanwhile, the number of Internet users rose just 3%, clearly showing that searching is becoming an ever more significant online activity.

Read More.

Time for me to vent for a bit. I’ve been an affiliate for Yahoo! for years, and I have promoted their Search Marketing team for a long, long time. They called me last week to offer me a special promotion that they were running. Essentially, their Fast Track Service for their Pay Per Click model (Overture) which is normally $199.00, they were waiving the setup fee but for just two days. I mentioned that we would probably bury their department because the deal is so good.

Their response? “Bring it.”

And bring it we did. On three separate occasions during this two day process, we filled up the voice mail of those taking the orders. We promoted this hard for them and we had a great response. When Monday rolled around, I was informed that all the customers that we referred to Yahoo! who were not contacted on Thursday or Friday due to the response would NOT get the offer: “They are just out of luck,” said my contact (basically repeating management).

This is a clear example of how Yahoo! just doesn’t understand the merchant /affiliate relationship. I hope that Yahoo! decides to make good on this offer, as in the meantime, I have a group of people that are highly unhappy with dealing with a large corporate head. I don’t blame them.

If this doesn’t get worked out, I will be recommending AdWords only – unless Microsoft can get it in gear and launches their PPC model. Honestly, are we really surprised by Yahoo!’s response?