I sat through the first MSN AdCenter Roadshow of the year yesterday in Seattle and was “re-introduced” to the MSN AdCenter AdLabs and I think it is the future of Keyword research for both SEO and Paid Search. AdCenter takes the thinking about what keywords mean and puts real thought behind who is typing them in and why they are typing them in. There are still major shortcomings with the system due to a lack of data (it uses just MSN data), quite a few of the tools don’t have a refined level of words and there is some obvious reports missing in terms of competitiveness, but there is a lot of good thinking and potential here.

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Just checked out the new, expanded, free tool from Wordtracker for keyword research. Looks like it replicates the functionality of the Overture Tool (which is a good thing!) but seems more reliable as the Overture Keyword Tool has been as flaky as a box of dried potatos for the last year. Here is the URL http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com/ or click here to give it a go.

The decision to allow or not allow affiliates to buy your trademarked keywords in paid search is a difficult one. Here are the pro’s and con’s to allowing this:
Pro’s for letting affiliates buy trademarked/branded keywords:
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For the last few weeks, I have had to focus on all of my knowledge and background within Digital Marketing. I have had to look at everything that has transpired in the last 10 years and how much Digital Marketing has changed during that time and this has led to a few random thoughts that have been regularly going through my mind.

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In my quest to understand social networks better, I just read an article in the Feb 12th issue of New York magazine which I found very interesting. The underlying premise is that the under 30 generation that is the driver in the growth and sustainability of social networks is OK with giving up their privacy in order to gain an audience and that this is creating a true generation gap not seen since the early days of Rock n Roll. You can read the full article here for yourself but here are some points and thoughts:
1) I think she is right about the privacy angle. While the older gens tend to be highly concerned about our images, personal space, right to no phone solicitations and desire to be left alone, the younger gens are willing (and able) to expose much more of themselves to public scrutiny. Some of the reason may be that at 22 yrs old, there is not a lot to lose while at 40+ with a family and kids and a house - there is more on the line. Another reason is that the younger gen hasn’t found their groove in life and having pictures, diaries, friend circles, etc. means that they are better connected than just a college, high school or neighborhood cirlce. The internet is huge after all.
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Outsell, Inc. recently released a report based on a survey of 1,000 U.S. advertisers stating that online advertising as a whole will grow 17.9% in 2007 with Internet search advertising driving the engine with a 39% growth rate. According to Outsell, Inc. advertising on TV and Radio will decline 3.5% while print media will grow 2.7%.

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