Online Marketing News & Blog

• Google Gets Your Gmail Sorted!

  The world of email marketing gets another hurdle to face as Google announce the launch of a ‘priority inbox’ for its Gmail. If you want to get your messages through and read then you need to know how the new system will sort the incoming mail. Google algorithms have evolved over the years to become sophisticated learning mechanisms. The approach to evaluating Gmail will be not unlike the process the search engine spiders adopt to assess and index website content according to criteria based upon authenticity, importance, relevance and value. The automatic capture and instant organisation of ‘important’ emails will demote other email in a process similar to spam filtering. This means that essentially, Gmail will operate by identifying the email that’s important to you, based upon what it has ‘learnt’ from analysing who you send email to the most, how often, and which keywords appear frequently in the emails you read. For businesses, these indicators will be further essential items of information to carefully assess when compiling future email marketing campaigns and the focus on SEO keywords , even within general mail traffic, can only serve to reinforce their importance. The upgraded system will highlight ‘starred’ messages, relegating all other mail to a third category called 'everything else'. The ability for a message to make it to the ‘priority inbox’ will require considerable upping of the online marketing game where every word absolutely counts from the left hand side, demanding to be read! The good news is that there are built-in manual controls to override and tune the system as well. If Priority Inbox makes a mistake, there are  +  ?  buttons to correctly mark a conversation as ‘important’ or ‘not important’, and Priority Inbox will quickly learn current mail reading behaviour. Gmail allows you to toggle between the ‘priority view’ and the conventional ‘inbox view’, in chronological order - and the entire function can also be turned off! The emphasis is again on adopting marketing strategies to put your brand identity in the best possible light by refraining from the monthly or quarterly mass email out by the lazy use of mail merge software that just simply personalises the intro line! Today’s online engagement process is defined by social media and that means connecting or reconnecting with your niche audience so that they will ensure that your incoming mail messages or newsletter will be allowed access to priority inbox status. Read more »

• Google TV Is Coming!

  Rumours that Google is looking to go into broadcasting have been leaking through online over the last few months, with Autumn set for the first appearance of Google TV-powered devices. The exciting crossover opportunities for businesses of all sizes and how website design and online marketing will be transformed, lies tantalisingly just weeks ahead. According to the world’s No.1 search engine, Google TV will be an “open platform”, aiming to unite search and browse capabilities, integrating web search results and TV content, side by side. Google TV will support Flash and make the “full internet” available through set-top boxes and “integrated” TV screens. Formatting website accessibility for the new channel could be an issue - the TV browser is Chrome - although Google TV is intended to work with existing TV screens but either TV or the set-top box will require an HDMI input or output, respectively. Google TV ( GTV) will be built and remote controlled on the Android platform, not Chrome OS, and will run Android apps. Users will not require a cable TV subscription, although they will need WiFi in their home to access GTV and for those who simply wish to use Google TV to get internet content and web video as an alternative to paying for a cable subscription. The present arrangements for advertising from traditional TV sources or existing internet sources/publishers/networks will continue but the likelihood of new and specific GTV ad formats to eventually be produced. According to Google, there will be the same privacy options and controls as available for Chrome online and an indication that there will be tracking and data collection. Partner companies involved, in addition to Adobe, will include amongst others, Intel (chip), Sony (TV) and Logitech (set-top box), Logitech says its box will have a remote which also integrates a keyboard. Google have yet to give any indication of pricing. As and when Google TV finally hits a viewing screen, and we enter the next era of integrated online and broadcast interactive content, the possibilities for marketing strategies and optimising brand identity presence across the new interchangeable platform could be very attractive indeed! Read more »