Internet Marketing Weekly News Update #030 January 13, 2010

Final score: e-commerce holiday spending up 4%.

ComScore released final numbers for all of November and December, and the results were up 4% over 2008. This is a slightly lower increase than had been measured previously, and significantly where 2009 came up short was in the post-Christmas time frame. This may reflect the fact that retailers discounted so aggressively that shoppers did not find it necessary to wait for after-Christmas sales.

Google's browser moves past Apple's.

In the same week that Google launched its new Nexus One device to compete with the iPhone, Google passed Apple in browser popularity. Google's Chrome browser moved past Apple's Safari into the #3 slot, behind Internet Explorer and Firefox.

E-Marketer projects smartphones as leading the online future.

In 2009, smartphones pulled even with notebook PCs into second place for the number of newly-shipped internet-enabled devices, behind only 3G conventional cellphones. E-marketer projects smartphones to grow into the number one spot by 2012, with shipments of 491 million new units that year.

Google adds "Near Me Now" feature to mobile homepage.

Google has added a "Near Me Now" feature to its mobile homepage, which allows users of GPS-enabled devices to receive search results for the geographic area where the device is located. This is a short-cut to existing location-based searches, which require the entry of a specific location prior to conducting a search.

Yahoo expands the scope of its television-based Internet tools.

Yahoo is seeking to capitalize on the convergence between television and the Internet by expanding the availability and functionality of tools which allow consumers to view web-based content on their television sets. Yahoo's TV Widget Engine has expanded its working relationships with both device makers and content providers.

Google moves toward click-to-call ads for mobile devices.

Google is test marketing an ad feature that allows smartphone users to call a business simply by clicking on an ad for that business. The business would pay for any resulting clicks on the ad. This would be another step in the direction of proximity marketing, and a feature which tailors Internet advertising uniquely to smartphone users.

AOL appears to be in global retreat.

While online leaders are resuming their aggressive growth plans as the economy improves, AOL still appears to be retrenching. Citing highly unprofitable international operations, AOL will cut back on some of the 40 international markets in which it operates. CEO Tim Armstrong is gamely trying to spin a decline in home page advertisements (from 17 to 1) as a positive, citing faster page load and higher rates for the remaining ad.

Recent studies yield insights about e-mail deliverability by country and by volume.

A Silverpop study found that Germans are more receptive to advertising e-mails than Americans or Britons, with higher open and click-through rates. A separate study by Pivotal Veracity found that blocking of e-mails peaks when the volume of advertisements increases, giving marketers reason to re-think their saturation strategies for peak holiday shopping seasons.

How targeting can backfire, according to one theory.

A study from MIT's Sloan School of Management proposes that using online information to target increasingly specialized audiences could backfire for advertisers. The theory is that as advertisers narrow their audiences, price competition within each limited segment will become more intense, blunting the profitability of these campaigns.

Google grows disillusioned with China.

Recent cyber attacks on Google appear to have been intended to gain access to the g-mail accounts of Chinese political activists. Besides directly addressing the attacks themselves, Google has announced it is no longer willing to play along with Chinese censorship requirements. This stance could ultimately force Google's withdrawal from the Chinese market.