Posted by Mark Brousseau
Smartphones are changing the way people shop, bank, communicate and travel. Now, these types of mobile devices are set to have a profound impact on how knowledge workers organize, access, and use business content, Anne Valaitis, associate director of image scanning trends for Infotrends, said during a keynote presentation this week at Capture 2011 in Dallas. In fact, the integration of mobile technology with data capture processes was a hot topic throughout the Capture 2011 conference.
“Mobile devices are changing how we read and work,” she said, noting that respondents to an Infotrends survey said they read 60 percent of their business documents on a screen versus paper. “As a result of mobile devices, we are accessing more content, in different ways,” Valaitis explained.
“Mobile technology is blurring the line between home and office and business and personal,” she said. Sixty percent of respondents to an Infotrends survey said they purchased their own smartphone or mobile handheld device, about half of the apps on these devices are for business, Valaitis noted.
The challenges facing data capture technology vendors and service providers today is to provide mobile tools and services that enable workers to easily plug into the existing IT infrastructure and business processes without increasing additional layers of complexity and cost, Valaitis explained.
Similarly, corporate IT departments must come to the table as an advocate for the mobile worker and help build bridges that will enable productivity, Valaitis said. “To this point, IT has had a hard time supporting these mobile technologies,” Valaitis said. But there is no time to waste. About half of the respondents to an Infotrends survey said they expect the amount of business-related work they conduct on their mobile phones to increase. What’s more, as knowledge workers return to the workforce, it’s likely they will rely on mobile technologies, Valaitis said: “It’s not clear whether they will work in an office, what tools they will need to be productive, or who will support their IT needs.
Workers already are increasingly mobile. Nearly 40 percent of respondents to an Infotrends survey said they were away from their primary work location at least once a month on business, she said.
What’s more, the evolution of technologies such as GoogleDocs will likely drive mobile adoption. “As some point, GoogleDocs will make it easier to create and edit documents in the cloud,” she said.
Valaitis also foresees growing acceptance of consumer technologies such as social media in the workplace. “Facebook is not just a personal media anymore,” she said, pointing to Goldman Sachs abolishing its policy forbidding Facebook use at work. “It is increasingly being used for business.”
What do you think?
Showing posts with label Google. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Google. Show all posts
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Google giveth then taketh away
Google’s test of “streaming search” not so short lived
Google has just announced its “streaming search” service, Google Instant, is coming out of limited beta testing and going live for all users.
According to Adam Bunn, head of search at independent search and social marketing agency Greenlight, when it comes to search engine optimisation campaigns (SEO), some websites may now suffer a drop in traffic. This service could also potentially result in complications for rank checking software and impact on search demand figures given by Google’s keyword tools, Bunn says.
With regards to paid search, Matthew Whiteway, director of campaign management (paid search) at Greenlight, says it could play havoc with an advertisers Google Quality Score. Whiteway also says Google’s motives for doing this must be questioned. Given the “longtail” is becoming increasingly important, with search queries, the cost-per-click (CPC) Google can charge for “longtail” keywords is significantly lower than that on one or two keyword search queries, Whiteway says. Therefore the more people search for “longtail” search queries, the less money Google can charge the advertiser, he explains.
Google’s development uses AJAX to dynamically serve search results as you type, Greenlight notes. Each time a new recognizable word or phrase is typed that changes the results set in a meaningful way, Google will fetch the search results for that word – without you having to hit “search.” So, if you’re intending on searching for ‘scary books suitable for children,’ Google might first fetch results when you’ve finished typing ‘scary,’ then ‘scary book,’ then ‘scary books,’ then finally ‘scary books suitable for children.’
Bunn says this is a mightily impressive display of processing power on Google’s part. Now, for every search you do Google may have to process anywhere from a couple to half a dozen different searches. It has got to do this fast enough to keep up with your average typing speed. This, on top of the fact that retrieving and sorting thousands of documents in a split second is already a modern marvel - admittedly one that few people spend much time thinking about, Bunn adds.
What of the impact for SEO?
According to Bunn, SEO campaigns including long multi-word keyword variants may see a drop in traffic for those keywords as a result of streaming search. Why? Users may now find something to click on before completely typing their originally intended search term (depending, of course, on Google being able to provide accurate enough results at an earlier stage in the search). Consequently, to be visible/show up in search results, it may become more important for websites to optimise for the shorter, constituent parts of longer keywords, Bunn says.
“For example, if a website has optimised for and holds good rankings for ‘cheap car insurance UK,’ that term may lose search traffic as UK users find that the shorter ‘cheap car insurance’ returns several relevant looking results, negating the need to finish their sentence,” Bunn says.
Bunn points out that the constituent parts of longer keywords are often the types of generic keywords that are typically dominated by big brands and powerful sites with the cash to maintain rankings in an extremely competitive keyword space.
“So for smaller websites, this could well be a case of first Google giveth (the 'May Day update') then it taketh away (streaming search results). We’ll have to hold tight for the exact repercussions, which could also extend to complications for rank checking software (if AJAX is involved in retrieving search results) and impacts on the search demand figures given by Google’s keyword tools (if each stage in the streaming search counts as an impression)," Bunn says.
Ramifications for paid search
In relation to paid search, the question is whether Google will count each refresh/change of the search engine results pages (SERPS) as an impression for the advertiser. While some advertisers will believe increasing the number of impressions/eyeballs that see their ad will help improve brand awareness and brand recall, from a pay per click (PPC) marketing perspective, this increase in unwanted impressions could play havoc with an advertisers Google Quality Score, Greenlight says.
“At Greenlight, we are constantly looking for ways of reducing wasted impressions for our clients with the objective being to improve click through rate (CTR) and therefore relevancy, one of the most important factors of Google’s Quality Score,” says Whiteway. “If Google is going to count these dynamic changes/refreshes to the SERP then should we also expect to see some fundamental changes to the Quality Score algorithm, the keyword Match Types, or do we simply need to increase the number of negative keywords in the account to several hundred thousand? Only time will tell.”
Whiteway says Google’s motives for doing this must also be questioned. It has been suggested that as users become more and more internet savvy, the number of keywords used for each search query is increasing, he adds. For example, users looking for low annual percentage rate (APR) credit cards historically may have simply searched for “credit cards” and then conducted the filtering process manually, whereas in recent years the “longtail” has become increasingly searched for and important, with search queries such as “credit cards with low APR” for example, growing in popularity, Whiteway explains.
So why would the “Google financiers” not like this “longtail” trend? Money, says Whiteway.
“The CPC that Google can charge for ‘longtail’ keywords is significantly lower than that on more generic (one or two keyword search queries). Therefore the more people search for ‘longtail’ search queries, the less money Google can charge the advertiser," Whiteway says. "With ‘streaming search’ therefore, Google is potentially ‘helping’ users find relevant results with less search term queries, thus increasing the number of clicks on generic terms and therefore increasing the CPC for the advertiser.”
Many would argue Google Instant is an example of Google flexing its technological processing power and helping users get results quicker, Greenlight notes. However there must also be some form of financial benefit for Google in making such a dramatic change to the way it finds and displays the results. Which explanation is true? Greenlight says we are unlikely to ever really know.
What do you think?
Google has just announced its “streaming search” service, Google Instant, is coming out of limited beta testing and going live for all users.
According to Adam Bunn, head of search at independent search and social marketing agency Greenlight, when it comes to search engine optimisation campaigns (SEO), some websites may now suffer a drop in traffic. This service could also potentially result in complications for rank checking software and impact on search demand figures given by Google’s keyword tools, Bunn says.
With regards to paid search, Matthew Whiteway, director of campaign management (paid search) at Greenlight, says it could play havoc with an advertisers Google Quality Score. Whiteway also says Google’s motives for doing this must be questioned. Given the “longtail” is becoming increasingly important, with search queries, the cost-per-click (CPC) Google can charge for “longtail” keywords is significantly lower than that on one or two keyword search queries, Whiteway says. Therefore the more people search for “longtail” search queries, the less money Google can charge the advertiser, he explains.
Google’s development uses AJAX to dynamically serve search results as you type, Greenlight notes. Each time a new recognizable word or phrase is typed that changes the results set in a meaningful way, Google will fetch the search results for that word – without you having to hit “search.” So, if you’re intending on searching for ‘scary books suitable for children,’ Google might first fetch results when you’ve finished typing ‘scary,’ then ‘scary book,’ then ‘scary books,’ then finally ‘scary books suitable for children.’
Bunn says this is a mightily impressive display of processing power on Google’s part. Now, for every search you do Google may have to process anywhere from a couple to half a dozen different searches. It has got to do this fast enough to keep up with your average typing speed. This, on top of the fact that retrieving and sorting thousands of documents in a split second is already a modern marvel - admittedly one that few people spend much time thinking about, Bunn adds.
What of the impact for SEO?
According to Bunn, SEO campaigns including long multi-word keyword variants may see a drop in traffic for those keywords as a result of streaming search. Why? Users may now find something to click on before completely typing their originally intended search term (depending, of course, on Google being able to provide accurate enough results at an earlier stage in the search). Consequently, to be visible/show up in search results, it may become more important for websites to optimise for the shorter, constituent parts of longer keywords, Bunn says.
“For example, if a website has optimised for and holds good rankings for ‘cheap car insurance UK,’ that term may lose search traffic as UK users find that the shorter ‘cheap car insurance’ returns several relevant looking results, negating the need to finish their sentence,” Bunn says.
Bunn points out that the constituent parts of longer keywords are often the types of generic keywords that are typically dominated by big brands and powerful sites with the cash to maintain rankings in an extremely competitive keyword space.
“So for smaller websites, this could well be a case of first Google giveth (the 'May Day update') then it taketh away (streaming search results). We’ll have to hold tight for the exact repercussions, which could also extend to complications for rank checking software (if AJAX is involved in retrieving search results) and impacts on the search demand figures given by Google’s keyword tools (if each stage in the streaming search counts as an impression)," Bunn says.
Ramifications for paid search
In relation to paid search, the question is whether Google will count each refresh/change of the search engine results pages (SERPS) as an impression for the advertiser. While some advertisers will believe increasing the number of impressions/eyeballs that see their ad will help improve brand awareness and brand recall, from a pay per click (PPC) marketing perspective, this increase in unwanted impressions could play havoc with an advertisers Google Quality Score, Greenlight says.
“At Greenlight, we are constantly looking for ways of reducing wasted impressions for our clients with the objective being to improve click through rate (CTR) and therefore relevancy, one of the most important factors of Google’s Quality Score,” says Whiteway. “If Google is going to count these dynamic changes/refreshes to the SERP then should we also expect to see some fundamental changes to the Quality Score algorithm, the keyword Match Types, or do we simply need to increase the number of negative keywords in the account to several hundred thousand? Only time will tell.”
Whiteway says Google’s motives for doing this must also be questioned. It has been suggested that as users become more and more internet savvy, the number of keywords used for each search query is increasing, he adds. For example, users looking for low annual percentage rate (APR) credit cards historically may have simply searched for “credit cards” and then conducted the filtering process manually, whereas in recent years the “longtail” has become increasingly searched for and important, with search queries such as “credit cards with low APR” for example, growing in popularity, Whiteway explains.
So why would the “Google financiers” not like this “longtail” trend? Money, says Whiteway.
“The CPC that Google can charge for ‘longtail’ keywords is significantly lower than that on more generic (one or two keyword search queries). Therefore the more people search for ‘longtail’ search queries, the less money Google can charge the advertiser," Whiteway says. "With ‘streaming search’ therefore, Google is potentially ‘helping’ users find relevant results with less search term queries, thus increasing the number of clicks on generic terms and therefore increasing the CPC for the advertiser.”
Many would argue Google Instant is an example of Google flexing its technological processing power and helping users get results quicker, Greenlight notes. However there must also be some form of financial benefit for Google in making such a dramatic change to the way it finds and displays the results. Which explanation is true? Greenlight says we are unlikely to ever really know.
What do you think?
Monday, May 18, 2009
Business Leaders Embrace Online Networking
Posted by Mark Brousseau
With the employment market feeling the effects of a global recession, recent research from ExecuNet, a professional network for business leaders, reveals executives from across all industries are turning to technology to improve their networks and career prospects - with mixed results.
According to a recent survey of 4,680 business leaders, executives are more likely to have updated their profile on a public networking site (71%) than updated their resume in the last three months (60%). However, when asked to identify the most effective activities for creating and identifying career opportunities, posting a resume in an online database and maintaining an online profile trailed networking by a wide margin.
Top Five Tactics For Finding Career Options
... Networking (70%)
... Responding to online job postings (14%)
... Posting resume in online database (5%)
... Maintaining an online profile (4%)
... Researching target companies/cold calling (3%)
“The growth of large social networking sites helps to underscore an increasing awareness of the value of networking,” says Lauryn Franzoni, Executive Director of ExecuNet. “However, relying solely on an online profile to build trust, a critical component in developing and maintaining an effective network, isn’t a productive strategy.”
To help executives strengthen their online networking strategies, ExecuNet offers the following advice:
Don’t Confuse Quantity With Quality - Networking is not a numbers game. While some large social networking sites provide a place to create a public profile page, anecdotal evidence suggests that they don’t always facilitate a meaningful level of interaction among members. When evaluating online networking resources, professionals should look for niche networks that foster the exchange of information and insight in a trusted environment. This level of interaction is critical to strengthening the quality of your contacts – online or off.
Avoid “Needworking” - A contact or friends list of thousands of people is useless if you only reach out to them when you’re in need. Striving to meet the needs of others on a consistent basis will not only help you earn the appreciation and respect of others, but your actions will often be quickly reciprocated.
Know Your Contacts – If you are looking for new opportunities, don’t blast generic emails out touting your skills and announcing your availability. Tailor your message to the needs of the recipient. Want to connect with a corporate property manager? Learn more about the company’s expansion plans and contact that individual offering an article or advice from your own personal experience. Share your knowledge – not your need.
Be Reputation-Vigilant – When networking, you can expect that new contacts will immediately “Google” your name. Be sure that you know what they will find when they do. For example, some 44% of recruiters tell us they have ruled out candidates based solely on what they found in online searches.
“Create a Google Alert for the most common forms of your name and be sure you can’t be confused with someone with a similar name. It is as important to be cyber-visible as it is to have a crisp online presence,” Franzoni said.
What strategies are working for you?
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Alternative Payments Going Strong
Posted by Mark Brousseau
Online buyers turn to alternative payments
An interesting item from the Pacific Business News:
A growing number of online shoppers are turning away from traditional credit and debit cards and moving toward cash-based alternative payment options, according to a retail forecast survey released this week by Javelin Strategy & Research.
Alternative payments — such as PayPal, Google Checkout, Nacha SVP and Revolution Money — will become preferred choices for online consumers and will continue to grow over the next five years, increasing to one-third of online retail transaction volume by 2013, the survey said.
This year, alternative payments will reach $148 billion and rise to $268 billion by 2013.
The growth will be strong for companies that build brand awareness, said the survey.
As the trend grows, the survey urges banks and traditional card brands to expand their own prepaid card products and partner with alternative providers.
This holiday season, alternative payments will comprise $7.8 billion in purchases compared to $35 billion in traditional online payment methods.
What do you think? Post your comment below.
Online buyers turn to alternative payments
An interesting item from the Pacific Business News:
A growing number of online shoppers are turning away from traditional credit and debit cards and moving toward cash-based alternative payment options, according to a retail forecast survey released this week by Javelin Strategy & Research.
Alternative payments — such as PayPal, Google Checkout, Nacha SVP and Revolution Money — will become preferred choices for online consumers and will continue to grow over the next five years, increasing to one-third of online retail transaction volume by 2013, the survey said.
This year, alternative payments will reach $148 billion and rise to $268 billion by 2013.
The growth will be strong for companies that build brand awareness, said the survey.
As the trend grows, the survey urges banks and traditional card brands to expand their own prepaid card products and partner with alternative providers.
This holiday season, alternative payments will comprise $7.8 billion in purchases compared to $35 billion in traditional online payment methods.
What do you think? Post your comment below.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
The Bedrock of Alternative Payments
By Mark Brousseau
The ACH Network began as a low-volume network transmitting large recurring transactions between well-established entities. However, changes in rules and business models have brought about significant changes in the nature and volume of ACH activity.
More than 18 billion ACH payments were made in 2007, representing a 12.6 percent increase from the total number of transactions generated in 2006, according to Mercator Advisory Group. Much of the growth in ACH volume can be attributed to fundamental changes in payment methods consumers and businesses use, with the network transforming into a high-volume platform of relatively low-value, non-recurring transactions. These transactions are originated from a rapidly expanding number of merchants, aggregators, corporations, and financial institutions, Mercator Advisory Group says.
Alternative payment providers such as Google Checkout, Bill Me Later and, of course, PayPal leverage the ACH to provide consumers and merchants with a secure and efficient means of payment and in doing so are experiencing phenomenal growth.
Non-financial institutions have been beating the banking industry to the punch of developing unique and cost efficient payment solutions, especially in the e-commerce space. Ironically, alternative payment providers have succeeded using the banking industry's own infrastructure to capture interchange-like revenues.
However, a new solution has emerged from NACHA that could level the playing field for banks to compete against alternative payment providers and push the ACH network in a new direction, Mercator Advisory Group says. NACHA's recently released Secure Vault Payments (SVP), an e-commerce payment solution not only enables customers to move payments from their direct deposit accounts to merchants and service providers, but transactions occur with real-time authentication and authorization from the consumer's bank Web site. The push method ensures merchants and service providers that payments are being made with “good funds,” thus reducing concerns about fraud, charge-backs, and non-sufficient funds.
Although signature debit and credit card usage online has yet to be hugely impacted by alternative payment solutions, in many cases, non-traditional payment providers offer significantly enhanced value propositions including discounts, sales and loyalty tools, and the ability for merchants to cross sell on non-competitive merchant Web sites. These value added services create significant competitive pressures for traditional payment types and are giving alternative payment methods solid traction, Mercator Advisor Group believes.
“As alternative payment methods continue to evolve and more players step into the space, the use of traditional payment cards for online transactions will continue to decrease. It is foreseeable that merchants will increasingly promote alternative payments and consumers will become more accepting of new payment types,” said Brent Watters, senior analyst of Mercator Advisory Group’s Prepaid Advisory Service. “Mercator believes that in the next five years, 35 percent of payments made online will be in the form of alternative payments, including prepaid cards, new forms of credit and programs leveraging the ACH.”
Other findings from Mercator Advisory Group include:
… The ACH continues to show solid growth and transaction volume will continue to escalate as more alternative payment schemes leverage the network.
… The ACH is moving to push versus pull method of payment thus creating direct competition for EFT networks that have been eager to develop a PIN-less debit solution for online transactions.
… The ACH's eCheck services continue to fuel the networks' transaction volume and penetrate markets currently targeted by debit and credit cards.
… NACHA's Secure Vault Payment (SVP) creates an opportunity for banks to compete in online alternative payments.
The ACH Network began as a low-volume network transmitting large recurring transactions between well-established entities. However, changes in rules and business models have brought about significant changes in the nature and volume of ACH activity.
More than 18 billion ACH payments were made in 2007, representing a 12.6 percent increase from the total number of transactions generated in 2006, according to Mercator Advisory Group. Much of the growth in ACH volume can be attributed to fundamental changes in payment methods consumers and businesses use, with the network transforming into a high-volume platform of relatively low-value, non-recurring transactions. These transactions are originated from a rapidly expanding number of merchants, aggregators, corporations, and financial institutions, Mercator Advisory Group says.
Alternative payment providers such as Google Checkout, Bill Me Later and, of course, PayPal leverage the ACH to provide consumers and merchants with a secure and efficient means of payment and in doing so are experiencing phenomenal growth.
Non-financial institutions have been beating the banking industry to the punch of developing unique and cost efficient payment solutions, especially in the e-commerce space. Ironically, alternative payment providers have succeeded using the banking industry's own infrastructure to capture interchange-like revenues.
However, a new solution has emerged from NACHA that could level the playing field for banks to compete against alternative payment providers and push the ACH network in a new direction, Mercator Advisory Group says. NACHA's recently released Secure Vault Payments (SVP), an e-commerce payment solution not only enables customers to move payments from their direct deposit accounts to merchants and service providers, but transactions occur with real-time authentication and authorization from the consumer's bank Web site. The push method ensures merchants and service providers that payments are being made with “good funds,” thus reducing concerns about fraud, charge-backs, and non-sufficient funds.
Although signature debit and credit card usage online has yet to be hugely impacted by alternative payment solutions, in many cases, non-traditional payment providers offer significantly enhanced value propositions including discounts, sales and loyalty tools, and the ability for merchants to cross sell on non-competitive merchant Web sites. These value added services create significant competitive pressures for traditional payment types and are giving alternative payment methods solid traction, Mercator Advisor Group believes.
“As alternative payment methods continue to evolve and more players step into the space, the use of traditional payment cards for online transactions will continue to decrease. It is foreseeable that merchants will increasingly promote alternative payments and consumers will become more accepting of new payment types,” said Brent Watters, senior analyst of Mercator Advisory Group’s Prepaid Advisory Service. “Mercator believes that in the next five years, 35 percent of payments made online will be in the form of alternative payments, including prepaid cards, new forms of credit and programs leveraging the ACH.”
Other findings from Mercator Advisory Group include:
… The ACH continues to show solid growth and transaction volume will continue to escalate as more alternative payment schemes leverage the network.
… The ACH is moving to push versus pull method of payment thus creating direct competition for EFT networks that have been eager to develop a PIN-less debit solution for online transactions.
… The ACH's eCheck services continue to fuel the networks' transaction volume and penetrate markets currently targeted by debit and credit cards.
… NACHA's Secure Vault Payment (SVP) creates an opportunity for banks to compete in online alternative payments.
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