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Straight from the Horsesmouth

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North and South: The UK Digital Media Divide

Recent research has highlighted a clear regional split across the UK in the use of online media as a business tool. New Media Knowledge spoke to some regional players from the four corners of the country to get a true reflection.

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Business Briefing: Where Next for Venture Capitalists?

Despite the economic downturn venture capitalists are still looking at investment opportunities in digital media. New Media Knowledge spoke to one to get the low down on what VCs want.

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Ignore search marketing at your peril

A report released this week by Advertising Age indicates that 80 per cent of internet traffic begins at a search engine and that 41 per cent of web users use search engines to navigate the web. Marketers can ill afford to disregard such statistics.

A report released this week by Advertising Age indicates that 80 per cent of internet traffic begins at a search engine and that 41 per cent of web users use search engines to navigate the web. Marketers can ill afford to disregard such statisitcs.

Last week's news that Google was well on its way to take over Channel 4 in the league of revenue gained through advertising, wasn't initially that shocking. Google's name has been everywhere in the last few weeks. Yet stop for one moment and think: an internet company based in the US is expected to make more money than a UK television company with several channels to its name. An internet company, whose ads can cost from just a few pounds, is going to make more money than a television company whose cheapest adverts can cost thousands of pounds. What’s going on?

The news is just one element in a huge shift in the advertising industry, that has some scratching their heads coming to terms with the situation. Done correctly, search marketing can provide more feedback about your customers than most television advertising. Granted, text adverts aren't very pretty and pay-per-click advertising never feels that far away from a classified ad. But as an advertising medium it is flexible and offers a very low spend entry-point. Add to that the ease in which campaigns can be tweaked and you have an attractive and powerful marketing tool. Yet, how many marketing departments have information at their finger tips telling them the top search categories, or essential information regarding the search engine companies that you are about to invest a percentage of your precious marketing budget in?

It is for this reason that the fact pack on search marketing released by Advertising Age this week could come in handy. Although it focuses on the US, the information within the report is essential reading for anyone wanting to get more acquainted with search marketing and how it can best be harnessed to help you reach your customers.