The war between Interflora and Marks & Spencer has been on-going for some time now, here is a quick wrap up of the situation:

There has been a flurry of news surrounding both Microsoft’s Bing and the UK’s Yell organisation in the last two weeks. Firstly, at the end of last week, Microsoft’ Bing and the Yell organisation announced that they were doing [...]]]> There has been a flurry of news surrounding both Microsoft’s Bing and the UK’s Yell organisation in the last two weeks. Firstly, at the end of last week, Microsoft’ Bing and the Yell organisation announced that they were doing a deal to form a “Broad, global strategic alliance, taking advantage of their complementary strengths.” This deal is intended to bolster the performance of both by giving Microsoft better sales support in the UK and Latin America and by Yell benefiting in some way in the UK results of Bing. Here’s the FT.com’s story.

At more or less the same time, Yell also announced a deal with Bazaarvoice. Apparently, the Bazaarvoice deal will bring “enterprise social management to small and medium businesses across the globe.” Cough.

This was announced before the results of both organisations came out later in the week. Microsoft was able to announce a stellar performance with record revenues of $69.94 billion and a 23% jump in profits to $23.15 billion. Outstanding. However, the search arm of the business, namely the Online Services Unit, increased sales by 16.5% but managed to post a whopping loss of $728 million — all a result of trying to do everything it can to keep up with Google. Here’s the BBC summary of Microsoft’s results.

So the Bing part of the Bing-Yell deal is losing $728 million per year — what about the Yell part? Back to the FT.com for their descriptive headline, “Poor print advertising revenues drag on Yell.“. What an understatement. Yell’s first quarter turnover dropped by 11%, the number of print advertisers dropped 7.9%, the average revenue per print advertiser fell 8.7%, turnover from print and directory revenues dived by 18.5%, even the digital internet directory saw turnover fall by 7.1%. Is it any wonder that shares dropped 13% in value bearing in mind that Yell still has a debt burden of £2.7 billion to service?

So what’s the real story? The real story is that Yell is that the print side of Yell’s business is dying on its feet and Yell has moved online extremely late in the day. The only bright spark in Yell’s figures was its non-directory digital services — but it was tiny in the context of the total business. Meanwhile, it’s partnering up with everyone it can based on its historic print directory virtual monopoly — a monopoly which does not exist for it online. Yell itself has said that its turnround plan will take four years!

Back to that deal with Microsoft’s Bing. Basically, in return for Yell selling cloud services and Microsoft software to its customers in the UK, Spain and Latin America, Bing will help Yell in some way not specified with “search solutions” which the FT.com interprets as “favouring Yell in Bing’s results.”

The Microsoft-Yell deal is a deal of desperation in my view and one which ultimately lays bare the weaknesses of both organisations — both struggling for UK share.

Declaration Of Interest:
WebCertain Local Ltd, part of the WebCertain Group Ltd, runs “Yellowtom.co.uk” which could be considered by some a competitor of Yell.

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Today Monday November 29th is ‘Cyber Monday‘. The biggest shopping day of the year?

Or is it Monday December 6th 2010 referred as ‘Mega Monday‘ where sales are expected to hit over €uro 1million per minute…

October 2010, IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales [...]]]> Today Monday November 29th is ‘Cyber Monday‘. The biggest shopping day of the year?

Or is it Monday December 6th 2010 referred as ‘Mega Monday‘ where sales are expected to hit over €uro 1million per minute…

October 2010, IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index is expected to increase by 16 per cent in 2010 vs. 2009 for online Christmas sales, reaching £6.4billion.

Different forecasts come from various sources. For instance, Hi Media expect the European online Christmas sales to represent over 10 per cent of the European overall Christmas sales, representing respectively €uro 32 billion of the overall €uro 313 billion.

The UK, Germany and France will represent the highest total spend for the Christmas 2010 season, accounting for 65 per cent of the overall European Christmas spend:

1. UK – €uro 77.2 billion
2. Germany – €uro 64.5 billion
3. France – €uro 62.5 billion
4. Spain – €uro 31.2 billion

Denmark, Norway and Sweden are forecasted to spend the least overall at €5.4bn, €6.1bn and €9.6bn respectively.

How strong is online Christmas shopping in Europe?

1. UK – highest in Europe with €uro 13 billion – i.e 17% of the overall 2010 UK retail Christmas sales
2. Germany – €uro 8.2 billion – i.e 13% of the overall 2010 Germany retail Christmas sales
3. France – €uro 6.3 billion – i.e 10% of the overall 2010 France retail Christmas sales
4. Spain – €uro 624 million- i.e 2% of the overall 2010 Spain retail Christmas sales

Norway will spend €uro 0.73 billion online and Denmark €uro 0.61 billion.

Pierpaolo Zollo, from Kelkoo says: “Internet sales across Europe are set to be more important than ever this Christmas, with consumers spending record amounts online, and online commerce acting as the primary driving force for overall retail growth during the festive season.”

Don’t forget to track your online audience thanks to free simple tools such as Google Analytics and make sure you run an online reputation management program.

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Everyone in the online world depends on having good data in some way or other. Until ComScore rolled out qSearch in 150 countries, there was very little comparable data available to compare activities in different countries. Frequently, people [...]]]> Everyone in the online world depends on having good data in some way or other. Until ComScore rolled out qSearch in 150 countries, there was very little comparable data available to compare activities in different countries. Frequently, people would ask me what I thought of Hitwise and mostly I had to reply that I had very little to do with it (difficult if most of your work is not in English to consider an English-only tool). Now Experian is changing that by launching Hitwise in France. So that means we will know what’s going on in France right – or “Now You Know” to coin a well known phrase.

Well it’s not really quite like that. Note that in the introduction above I’m talking about ‘compare’ as opposed to measure. What the Hitwise move will do is to give us a different basis for comparing activity in France. It does not mean that we have either not been able to measure things before OR that there is no data available on French websites as the Xiti tool from AT Internet has been around for a long time. Whilst AT Internet does have operations outside France – France is its home base.

There is also the famous Baromètre which measures the shares of French, German, Spanish and UK search engines. Currently, this is showing Google advancing against all-comers – though when you are Google and you have 94.2% in Germany, 92.8% in Spain, 89.2% in France and 90.8% in the UK – are you really worried about Bing which performs best in France with 3.6%. Time will only tell.

Experian launches Hitwise Internet measurement services for France

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ContactLab has released the results of a new study on the use of Email amongst European users. Habits, trends, and use of newsletters is examined for the following markets:

The results are organized [...]]]>  

ContactLab has released the results of a new study on the use of Email amongst European users. Habits, trends, and use of newsletters is examined for the following markets:

• Italy
• Spain
• France
• Germany
• UK

The results are organized in different reports and in local languages (and English), along with a European Report released in all languages (English, Italian, French, Spanish, German)

You may download the reports here – Email validation is required

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The AT Institute has just published a report at Xitimonitor showing that on average 53% of visits to UK websites have been generated by online marketing campaigns. The UK is followed by Spain 45%, Germany 40% and then [...]]]> The AT Institute has just published a report at Xitimonitor showing that on average 53% of visits to UK websites have been generated by online marketing campaigns. The UK is followed by Spain 45%, Germany 40% and then just 29% in France.

In the UK the greatest number of visits results from sponsored links. The article carries some fascinating tables and the report covers just these four countries. The key conclusion is that there are significant variances between advertising techniques which will work effectively in each market.

Rider: You do have to bear in mind, however, the Xitimonitor is originally a French organisation and so may well be tracking more French than UK sites and UK site owners who spend money on ppc may well be more likely to acquire the system.

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WebCertain, where I work, is often classified as being in the North East of England and though it’s actually in Yorkshire, the business does have clients in the North East. Today, the UK’s Telegraph is touting a story [...]]]> WebCertain, where I work, is often classified as being in the North East of England and though it’s actually in Yorkshire, the business does have clients in the North East. Today, the UK’s Telegraph is touting a story entitled “People in North East are most timid internet users’. Having worked with, and for, companies based in the North East, I simply don’t believe a word of this story. The idea of linking this social engagement statistic with ‘class’ has been produced by someone in a time warp or, possibly, looking to create publicity through headlines. To get me to take any of this seriously, I’d need to see detailed statistics. The fact that the Telegraph let’s stories go live with ‘typos’ like ‘anthologist’ – meaning someone who compiles anthologies rather than ‘anthropologist’ – is another indicator that you should perhaps look to other newspapers for more serious analysis.

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When speaking about the BBC, I immediately see a huge company with a massive turnover and a very big marketing budget.

With a guaranteed £3.5 billion revenue each year, the BBC holds a strong position in the market obviously, making its [...]]]> When speaking about the BBC, I immediately see a huge company with a massive turnover and a very big marketing budget.

With a guaranteed £3.5 billion revenue each year, the BBC holds a strong position in the market obviously, making its competitors struggle. It is said that the BBC has been paying Google – as part of a £100m marketing spend – to improve its search ranking. The corporation itself recognised the importance of high Search rankings and stated:

‘ Promoting content like the Mercury Prize online is an effective way to inform the licence fee payers who will want to watch it or read about it’

The BBC sees a huge opportunity in capitalising on Search and making sure it is achieving top organic search results.  Having said that, it is not the first time that BBC deals with Google directly. The previous agreements led to the exposure of BBC content on Youtube.

You may have a different opinion, but is that really fair ? What does that make of genuine SEO work and SEO effort? Surely this is not fair on the rest of the competitors, which probably can not afford these sort of deals, and working very hard on their SEO. All I can say, it is quite scary to think that money is now influencing Online Search in such a ‘direct’ and ‘obvious’ manner.

(source :  thisismoney.co.uk)

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Following the expansion of their trademark policy to the UK last year, Google has widened its looser trademark policy which basically allows all-comers to bid on trademark keywords increasing the cost of trademark advertising via the number one search [...]]]> Following the expansion of their trademark policy to the UK last year, Google has widened its looser trademark policy which basically allows all-comers to bid on trademark keywords increasing the cost of trademark advertising via the number one search engine and allowing competitors to aggressively buy each others ‘marks. The new change expands the ‘we won’t intervene’ approach to a total of 190 countries. The change comes into force on June 4th.


However, Google has sidestepped the key European countries with the strongest legal rules and where cases have cost Google most in fines (see list below). From calculations, the removal of protection for trademarked terms increases advertiser costs by as much as 80% – as well as taking revenue from additional advertisers on those terms. The policy, therefore, enables Google to increase its adverising take from advertisers. The approach also affects major global brands most significantly – because they generally spend proportionately more on advertising their brands because it is those brands – and the associated products – which have made them global.


Google has long struggled to persuade blue chip advertisers to move more of their advertising budgets to Google Adwords – this is step which leaves them with no choice. However, it is a dangerous move as it could also contribute to tipping the ROI see-saw towards other newer forms of promotion such as social media and Twitter.


Having received no significant kick-back from its UK change of a year ago – it’s no surprise that this is being rolled out now. Probably, another year will pass before more countries – especially European ones – are added. I predict that France, where the courts have levied the largest fines against Google, will be the last to go.


So the following countries (European Union countries in bold) will not see the change – at least yet. Via Search Engine Land

• Austria
• Belgium
• Bulgaria
• Czech Republic
• Cyprus
• Denmark
• Finland
• France
• Greece
• Germany
• Hungary
• Italy
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Netherlands
• Poland
• Portugal
• Romania
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Spain
• Sweden
• Australia
• Bahamas
• Brazil
• China
• Iceland
• Macau
• New Zealand
• Norway
• South Korea
• Switzerland
• Taiwan

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]]> http://www.multilingual-search.com/google-expands-new-trademark-policy-but-sidesteps-europe/07/05/2009/feed/ 3 http://www.multilingual-search.com/smx-london-sees-increased-demand-for-uk-advanced-topics/05/05/2009/ http://www.multilingual-search.com/smx-london-sees-increased-demand-for-uk-advanced-topics/05/05/2009/#comments Tue, 05 May 2009 22:52:59 +0000 Andy Atkins-Krüger http://www.multilingual-search.com/smx-london-sees-increased-demand-for-uk-advanced-topics/05/05/2009 : 

In response to demand from UK and European delegates, the agenda for the upcoming SMX London has been adjusted to focus even more heavily on advanced search engine optimsiation and marketing topics providing a solid training opportunity for European-based [...]]]> In response to demand from UK and European delegates, the agenda for the upcoming SMX London has been adjusted to focus even more heavily on advanced search engine optimsiation and marketing topics providing a solid training opportunity for European-based search marketers. Chris Sherman, the host for the conference, has always focused on good content and whilst SMX Advanced in Seattle is supposedly the most ‘advanced’ SMX event, London is undoubtedly a bright spot on the calendar.


It’s always a privilege to be invited to speak at these conferences and I’ll be speaking and moderating several sessions – but here’s some star speakers to look out for based on my personal experience of seeing them speak – just to demonstrate the strength of the line-up – and to give you the very best reason to go!

• Dixon Jones - Long term moderator on long term forums – Dixon knows his way around SEO and can answer any question.
• Brian Clifton - Ex-head of Google Analytics Europe – Brian should really be called ‘Brain’ Clifton. Read his Google Analytics book – you’ll see what I mean!
• Barry Lloyd - Listen to Barry speak – but try and speak to him in the bar too and get him to tell you stories about the search industry to make your hair curl.
• Shari Thurow- Boy what doesn’t Shari know about search and usability combined – no contest. She’s also a great presenter.
• Mikkel Demib Svendsen - Famous for his loud suits – Mikkel is a passionate SEO who is terrifyingly good at site clinics (I once tried to moderate a clinic with Shari and Mikkel – scary – ask me when you see me).
• Richard Zwicky - Mr Click Quality. He knows better than anyone how many clicks are good – and how many are, well, not quite so good.
• Kristjan Mar Hauksson - organiser of the Reykjavik Internet Marketing Conference – Kristjan is one of the liveliest presenters on the circuit with a Viking twist (no they didn’t have horns in their helmets) – and a Multilingual-Search editor.
• Christine Churchill - Has been speaking on keywords since keywords were invented – well almost.
• Mike Grehan - Mike invented search – in fact he wrote the book – ’nuff said!
• Rand Fishkin - Seattle-based Obama of the search marketing industry (sorry Rand ), Mr Fishkin is always supremely informative and entertaining. Don’t miss him.

As for me, I’ll be speaking on the Industrial Strength SEO, Analysing & Converting Paid Search Traffic and Advanced Keyword Research Tactics panels as well as moderating on a few other sessions. And there are other great speakers too – the above is just a sample – sorry for not mentioning anyone I missed.


My main point is – that the combined experience of the people above = added ROI on your campaigns. Don’t miss it.

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]]> http://www.multilingual-search.com/smx-london-sees-increased-demand-for-uk-advanced-topics/05/05/2009/feed/ 5 http://www.multilingual-search.com/uk-sees-the-return-of-jeeves-the-butler-for-ask/20/04/2009/ http://www.multilingual-search.com/uk-sees-the-return-of-jeeves-the-butler-for-ask/20/04/2009/#comments Mon, 20 Apr 2009 09:32:51 +0000 Andy Atkins-Krüger http://www.multilingual-search.com/uk-sees-the-return-of-jeeves-the-butler-for-ask/20/04/2009 : 

Three years ago I attended the Jeeves retirement party in New York when IAC showed the famous ‘Jeeves’ butler frozen in ice – the implication was always that Jeeves would one day be back. And back he certainly is [...]]]> Three years ago I attended the Jeeves retirement party in New York when IAC showed the famous ‘Jeeves’ butler frozen in ice – the implication was always that Jeeves would one day be back. And back he certainly is in the UK as reported by non-less than the BBC – and he’s offering prizes and answers to questions once more. The askjeeves domain and Ask.com in the UK are directing you to a UK page which features the question “Why am I back?”.


The site’s answer: “I popped out three years ago to travel the world in a quest for knowledge and I’ve returned to Blighty armed with answers. During my sojourn research showed the public wanted me back, which I found jolly touching. And in that time the engineers toiled hard to make the site look better, work harder and be more personal…just like yours truly! I realise the questions are different now. Back in 2006 you wanted to know about spending money, now you want to know about saving it. That’s why I’ve teamed up with TV’s moneysaving expert Jasmine Birtles to bring you ten ways to save money, if I may. And don’t forget to pop back and see me on the site throughout this week, I have some terrific prizes to give away!” For those not totally conversant with UK English – Blighty is a war time term for the UK!


There are two possible options for Jeeves – test in the UK or use in the UK as a UK specific brand. I’m guessing it’s the former. It’s always dangerous to dump a brand which has seen so much investment and personally I believe it is the right move for Ask – Jeeves should never have been ‘fired’. His character may be odd and out of worldly – but at least he’s a character implying service whilst the Ask home page is as dull as dishwater! Or as we marketers say, the brand characteristics of the Ask.com home page hold few differentials to Google. So yes, as dull as dishwater!





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]]> http://www.multilingual-search.com/uk-sees-the-return-of-jeeves-the-butler-for-ask/20/04/2009/feed/ 1 http://www.multilingual-search.com/search-marketing-expo-in-london-for-the-3rd-time/13/04/2009/ http://www.multilingual-search.com/search-marketing-expo-in-london-for-the-3rd-time/13/04/2009/#comments Mon, 13 Apr 2009 22:12:57 +0000 Kristjan Mar Hauksson http://www.multilingual-search.com/search-marketing-expo-in-london-for-the-3rd-time/13/04/2009 : 

SMX will be held in London for the third time, the conference is lead by Chris Sherman and is a two day event taking place on the 18th and the 19th of May this year. Among speakers are several Multilingual [...]]]> SMX will be held in London for the third time, the conference is lead by Chris Sherman and is a two day event taking place on the 18th and the 19th of May this year. Among speakers are several Multilingual Search Editors and keynote is the Chairman and CEO, OgilvyOne Worldwide, Brian Featherstonhaugh. For me the SMX is a premium event for those seeking to learn the latest techniques in search marketing and hear from the best experts in their field.

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]]> http://www.multilingual-search.com/search-marketing-expo-in-london-for-the-3rd-time/13/04/2009/feed/ 0 http://www.multilingual-search.com/google-initiates-trademark-bloodbath-in-the-uk/05/04/2008/ http://www.multilingual-search.com/google-initiates-trademark-bloodbath-in-the-uk/05/04/2008/#comments Sat, 05 Apr 2008 20:10:12 +0000 Andy Atkins-Krüger http://www.multilingual-search.com/google-initiates-trademark-bloodbath-in-the-uk/05/04/2008 : 

Google has changed its trademark policy for the UK and Ireland bringing it into line with its policy for the US and Canada. What this means in practice is that for trademark complaints relating to its Adwords programme, from now [...]]]> Google has changed its trademark policy for the UK and Ireland bringing it into line with its policy for the US and Canada. What this means in practice is that for trademark complaints relating to its Adwords programme, from now on Google will take NO further action relating to the trigger keywords. It will, however, continue to support requests relating to the use of trademarks in the creative – in other words in the sponsored links. See a typical notification below. The new policy comes into force from the 5th May – but the deadline for new trigger keyword applications was effectively the 4th April.

What does this mean in practice? For the last few years, Google has had a Europe-wide policy which enabled trademark owners to restrict the use of their trademark by others in the Adwords programme. However, Google has steadfastly avoided implementing this in the US and where any case has been brought against them – they’ve generally settled out of court.

Google didn’t offer a registration system in Europe out of the kindness of its heart or through respect for the different European cultures; it was prompted through a number of legal cases – notably in France – where Google was fined for trademark infringement.

So let’s just look at what Google is saying now. A UK or Irish company that invests in products offering a certain value represented by a name or brand and registered as a trademark – such as ‘webcertain’ (registered as a trademark throughout Europe) – find that people search for ‘webcertain’ in Google. It’s a route to find the supplier which offers a known service or product. Until this week, it was not possible for competitors to use this trademark to promote themselves either in the trigger keywords or in the creative.

From now a competitor offering copycat products can use that registered trademark in its keyword bidding – just not in the creative. It’s a complex area and ‘webcertain’ is relatively straightforward and specific – not all trademarks are single word specific words such as this. However, is it right that people searching for ‘webcertain’ are diverted to alternate suppliers. Coca Cola would not accept customers requesting Coca Cola being offered Pepsi Cola. Disney would not accept customers looking for it being sent to some other cartoon producer.

What this also means is that if I bid on my trademark – the price I have to pay per click will be elevated by anyone being allowed to compete to appear on the screen. So as the trademark owner – I will have to pay MORE to bid on my own trademark.

Behind the decision is the idea that Google cannot be held responsible for policing other people’s trademarks. In their statement, they say “Our trademark complaint investigations will no longer result in Google monitoring or restricting keywords for ads served to users in the UK and
Ireland.” Google is trying to say, “We won’t investigate this any more – it’s not our fault.”

The majority of cases I have been involved with concerned advertisers inadvertently bidding on their competitors because Google placed the sponsored links on the trademark term via its ‘broad match’ system for broadcasting sponsored links against a wider set of terms than the advertiser originally specified.

More worrying is the fact that Google has made this change in policy for the UK and Ireland as a separate step before doing so for the whole of Europe. Why? The law in Europe – particularly in this area – is largely developed at European level by European Directives and then implemented by national parliaments. The only possible reasons are that Google thinks that legislation in the UK is different or the response would be softer than in continental Europe. Either way, Google is saying “The UK is a softer touch”. In fact, there is very little difference between the legislation in European countries thanks to the European Union.

What’s the consequence? Bizarrely, the very advertisers most targeted by Google for development – the blue chip corporate organisations with large advertising budgets – will be the most affected as they hold the greatest number of trademarks. They will now have to invest more in their search budgets to stay where they are now. The intellectual property lawyers will have a very busy time and IP costs will increase for budgets dramatically – and it is highly likely there will be high profile cases against Google because their broad match system – once the lawyers understand that fully that is. And Google will see if it can get away with it in the UK before expanding to the continent. If Google, the most successful global search engine succeeds, there may no longer be anything for trademark owners to protect and intellectual property won’t be the ‘property’ of anyone. Is that good for the consumer?

THE ANNOUNCEMENT:-

Hello,

We’re writing to inform you that we’re changing our trademark complaint
procedure in the UK and Ireland. This change may affect how we handle the
trademark complaint you currently have on file with Google.

If you’ve submitted a complaint letter requesting that we prevent
advertisers from using certain trademark terms anywhere in their ad text, we
will continue our efforts to support your request. However, from May 5,
2008, our trademark complaint investigations will no longer result in Google
monitoring or restricting keywords for ads served to users in the UK and
Ireland. This will bring our procedure in line with the approach taken in
the US and Canada. Complaints received on or after today will be processed
under our revised procedure.

You do not need to file your trademark complaint with us again unless you
would like to amend it based on the new guidelines. For more detailed
information regarding our trademark complaint procedure, we invite you to
review our revised complaint procedure, posted online at

http://www.google.co.uk/tm_complaint.html.

To learn more about this trademark policy revision, please visit
http://adwords.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=92877&hl=en_US.

Sincerely,

Advertising Legal Support Team

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]]> http://www.multilingual-search.com/google-initiates-trademark-bloodbath-in-the-uk/05/04/2008/feed/ 13 http://www.multilingual-search.com/forrester-research-inc-data-on-mobile-instant-messaging-im-in-europe/25/01/2008/ http://www.multilingual-search.com/forrester-research-inc-data-on-mobile-instant-messaging-im-in-europe/25/01/2008/#comments Fri, 25 Jan 2008 10:16:50 +0000 Sante J. Achille http://www.multilingual-search.com/forrester-research-inc-data-on-mobile-instant-messaging-im-in-europe/25/01/2008 : 

A recent study from Forrester Research, Inc. indicates mobile instant messaging (IM) on the rise in Europe with 26.7 million users in 2007 and a projected 80 million users in 2013.

The survey was conducted on a sample of 22.000 consumers [...]]]> A recent study from Forrester Research, Inc. indicates mobile instant messaging (IM) on the rise in Europe with 26.7 million users in 2007 and a projected 80 million users in 2013.

The survey was conducted on a sample of 22.000 consumers in:

• France
• Germany
• Holland
• Italy
• Spain
• Sweden
• UK

Three years after the launch of IM mobile operators appear less than enthusiastic about this technology, fearing cannibalization of profits deriving from text messaging services (SMS), however the growth of IM is seen as “inevitable”

Niek van Veen, analyst di Forrester Research identifies IM as a means to differentiate mobile operators services and improve user experience.

All this will have a significant impact on web and search technology as mobile devices become an integral part of work and leisure.

Source: Spot and Web – N.15

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]]> http://www.multilingual-search.com/forrester-research-inc-data-on-mobile-instant-messaging-im-in-europe/25/01/2008/feed/ 3 http://www.multilingual-search.com/subject/07/01/2008/ http://www.multilingual-search.com/subject/07/01/2008/#comments Mon, 07 Jan 2008 15:49:16 +0000 Andy Atkins-Krüger http://www.multilingual-search.com/subject/07/01/2008 : 

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]]> : 

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]]> http://www.multilingual-search.com/subject/07/01/2008/feed/ 0 http://www.multilingual-search.com/eurid-suspends-10000-eu-names-squatted-in-china/10/09/2007/ http://www.multilingual-search.com/eurid-suspends-10000-eu-names-squatted-in-china/10/09/2007/#comments Mon, 10 Sep 2007 09:14:09 +0000 Andy Atkins-Krüger http://www.multilingual-search.com/eurid-suspends-10000-eu-names-squatted-in-china/10/09/2007 : 

The .EU domain registrar management organisation, EURid has suspended 10,000 EU domain names which have been apparently legally registered by a Chinese woman – reports out-law. EURid has the power to remove the domain names from the woman [...]]]> The .EU domain registrar management organisation, EURid has suspended 10,000 EU domain names which have been apparently legally registered by a Chinese woman – reports out-law. EURid has the power to remove the domain names from the woman – but has said that it would prefer a court to do it.

According to reports, the woman was buying the names to sell on to other parties at higher prices – nothing new in that then. EURid says that is has received complaints – not particularly new either. One key point is that only European-based organisations are allowed to hold .EU domain names.

Out-law carries this great quote from EURid, “When we screen our data bank we see that some people have an amazing amount of names. Nobody needs 10,000 names.” Strange. You’d have thought that EURid had a little more knowledge and insight about the industry in which they operate. Perhaps that’s why there were so many complaints at launch!

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]]> http://www.multilingual-search.com/eurid-suspends-10000-eu-names-squatted-in-china/10/09/2007/feed/ 3 http://www.multilingual-search.com/european-telecoms-operators-threaten-us-search-hegemony/04/02/2007/ http://www.multilingual-search.com/european-telecoms-operators-threaten-us-search-hegemony/04/02/2007/#comments Sun, 04 Feb 2007 19:51:32 +0000 Andy Atkins-Krüger http://www.multilingual-search.com/en-GB/?p=699 The UK’sTelegraph online reports that 12 of Europe’s largest telecoms operators – with one American firm – are planning to launch a mobile phone search engine to rival Google and Yahoo.

The companies concerned include Vodafone, France Telecom, Telefonica, Deutsche Telekom, Hutchison Whampoa, Telecom Italia and US firm Cingular. Combined, they have a user base of 600 million people – with some 20% in the UK expected to have broadband speed mobile phone access by the end of 2007.

According to The Telegraph, declining mobile phone revenues are forcing telecoms operators to look at all angles – and the lucrative search advertising market is clearly attractive. For telecoms operators it is very appealing to keep a larger percentage of the revenues rather than ’sharing’ with Google, Yahoo or Microsoft.

However, both Google and Yahoo have already done deals with mobile phone operators and it is not clear what impact this will have!

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]]> http://www.multilingual-search.com/european-telecoms-operators-threaten-us-search-hegemony/04/02/2007/feed/ 1 http://www.multilingual-search.com/12-of-uk-web-users-adopt-firefox-rather-than-ie/20/12/2006/ http://www.multilingual-search.com/12-of-uk-web-users-adopt-firefox-rather-than-ie/20/12/2006/#comments Wed, 20 Dec 2006 11:12:12 +0000 Andy Atkins-Krüger http://www.multilingual-search.com/en-GB/?p=663 : 

Heavier users of the internet are switching to Firefox in greater numbers in the UK, says Nielsen//NetRatings. According to their latest report, by September 2006 almost 12% of UK users had adopted Firefox.

Whilst for web marketing campaigns, 12% [...]]]> Heavier users of the internet are switching to Firefox in greater numbers in the UK, says Nielsen//NetRatings. According to their latest report, by September 2006 almost 12% of UK users had adopted Firefox.

Whilst for web marketing campaigns, 12% isn’t a huge number it still cannot be ignored. Which retailer would willing stop 12% of its customers from walking through the done – none! Added to that, the figures show that Firefox users see 24.4 pages per person per month – compared with just 19.1 pages for Internet Explorer – a difference which reduces the Internet Explorer advantage.



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