Yahoo just launched the next phase of its open strategy by releasing BOSS or “Build Your Own Search Service”.  This new service allows developers to use Yahoo’s search technology and build upon it to create search engines on their own sites. This begs the question: Why would Yahoo open its technology to allow others to take its market share?

The answer, quite simply, is advertising. In order for developers to use Yahoo’s search technology, they must agree to place Yahoo’s ads next to or within the site’s search results. This appears to be a very bold move by Yahoo to help it compete with Google but, when you are lagging so far behind in the search race, it takes an out-of-the-box idea to get you back in.   

What does this mean for advertisers? In the short term, not too much; Google owns the market right now, and Yahoo and MSN are a very distant second and third. What could it mean in the long run? If enough developers take Yahoo up on its offer, the long tail of the Internet could start to be dominated by Yahoo, thus increasing the reach of its advertising.

Meanwhile, EGC will be keeping an eye on BOSS as this bold step could, in fact, help Yahoo make inroads on Google.

As most everyone knows, the Apple iPhone 3G releases tomorrow. To support its launch, Apple has offered a 30-minute “guided tour”of the product. However, AdWeek reports that this is not simply a product tour, but more of a half-hour product advertisement

Though it’s not the first time the company has used long-form videos to tout the virtues of its products, this is its longest video thus far. Despite that, we speculate that users are staying tuned in—right through to the end of the thirty minutes. We know this to be true as EGC’s Senior Art Director, and iPhone fanatic, Steve Comando watched the full thirty minute video – TWICE!

We asked Rich D’Amico, The EGC Group’s Brand Strategist, what he thinks of Apple’s online video effort: “Winning and keeping the hearts and minds of broth brand loyalists and newcomers is the key to brand growth. Nothing does this better than the launch of a leading edge new product, so rewarding [the public’s] interest with an informative sales message is a win-win strategy for both the brand and the consumer.”

With that in mind, why not take a lesson from Apple? Because consumers have loyalty to brands, your brand’s website offers a place where you can display video that will help sell your product.

Anyone who has built a website—or searched for anything online, for that matter—knows that those great rich media or flash websites don’t tend to appear in results of major search engines. As of today, that will begin to change.

Adobe has just announced it will be offering optimized Adobe Flash Player technology to Google and Yahoo to improve the search engines’ ability to index the Flash file format (SWF). The new technology indexes through each runtime of a Flash application and translates it into something that can be read by the search engines. Google has already adopted this capability, so its users will immediately start seeing Flash files in search results.

At EGC, we have worked around the inability of search engines to read Flash files by integrating Flash presentation areas into HTML-based websites, for a combination of rich media and search-engine friendly content. Rob Cortigino, Interactive Manager at EGC, reports that this new technology can assist those all-flash websites in getting some rankings on the search engines. But, he cautions, it’s still best to keep your navigation and most copy elements outside of Flash.

Students are strongly encouraged to obtain internships to enhance our chances of securing jobs after graduation in an increasingly competitive market, as well as to give us a solid foundation in a particular area of interest. I agreed that getting hands-on experience in the field I am studying was crucial, and I was fortunate enough to secure an internship at EGC.

Although I’ve been here only a few weeks, I have already learned a great deal about advertising and about working at an agency in general. The atmosphere here is great—everyone has been very welcoming, which I think is of the utmost importance for a newcomer. The staff has gladly answered any questions I’ve had, making sure I am confident in the projects I undertake and keeping me busy—something not all internships do. It has been reassuring to see how dedicated every member of EGC is to their work. At the same time, they make this a very fun and amiable environment to work in.

My first project here was very interesting. The task I was given was to take part in a mapping project. It required using the Internet to conduct a significant amount of research about a client’s competitors, including the names and locations of all the locations that sell competing products nationwide. Through this project, I’ve learned the importance of gauging one’s competition and the amount of research that goes into doing so.

Aside from that, I have gained a true understanding of the amount of time and work that goes into advertising—between research, strategic planning, production, media planning and everything else that takes place here. I’m also getting a solid grip on what I can expect as a member of the workforce…and I’m having fun!

I look forward to continuing my internship here for the weeks to come and am confident that this opportunity will help me succeed in the advertising field.

The New York Times reported this week that newspapers are seeing a double-digit loss in ad revenue so far this year, coming off a decrease of nearly 8 percent the prior year. The losses have been attributed to a variety of factors, including the slow economy, decreased circulation, increased costs for newsprint and a sluggish real estate market that has translated into a loss in classified advertising.

However, despite their newsstand woes, newspapers have seen online ad revenue grow between 20 and 30 percent a year for most of this decade, according to the report. This did not surprise us. It has been our experience that some of the websites belonging to local newspapers can perform as well as—if not better than—the printed versions.

In fact, during the recent World Newspaper Congress, observers noted that newspapers still have several opportunities to connect to the online community, thereby reinventing themselves. The fact that local newspapers may rethink the way they do business—and, in doing so, become more accountable for advertising results—is not necessarily a bad thing for local advertisers.

EGC has seen advertising programs in print work harder and perform better by offering packages that include, online components, targeted local programs, and packages that include better placement and positioning.

BizReport noted yesterday that Facebook now can target advertising based on a user’s profession. Although there has been no official report about it on Facebook’s blog, Nick O’Neil, who founded and writes for a blog about—but not affiliated with— the social networking giant, shows a screenshot of the new initiative.

While the popular social networking site has already been offering demographic and interest-based targeting, advertisers now can reach even more specific populations. For instance, if you are selling inserts that are designed to make shoes more comfortable, you can choose to target professionals who spend a great deal of time standing and walking, such as tour guides, teachers, food service personnel and hairdressers, among others.

We at EGC believe this enhancement is good news for advertisers for a number of reasons: First, it enables you, the advertiser, yet another way to refine your audience; second, because of this, it ensures that your advertising dollars are being spent as efficiently as possible.

Stay tuned for more.

After months of on-and-off negotiations, Yahoo has finally rejected Microsoft’s bid for its search business and just today agreed to pursue a deal with Google

Basically, the proposed agreement would allow Yahoo to be the reseller of Google ads. On its blog, Google explains that the arrangement “will provide Yahoo with access to our AdSense for search and AdSense for content advertising programs on [its] U.S. and Canadian web properties.”

A press release from Yahoo notes that the deal applies only to paid search and content match, not to algorithmic search. And, as it is non-exclusive, the bargain does not bar Yahoo from displaying its own ads or those from other third parties. The pact would not be implemented for another three to four months to allow the Department of Justice time to review its terms.

In its coverage of the announcement, PC Magazine quotes Senator Herb Kohl, chairman of the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee, as saying: “This collaboration…raises important competition concerns. The consequences for advertisers and consumers could be far-reaching and warrant careful review, and we plan to investigate the competitive and privacy implications of this deal further in the Antitrust Subcommittee.”

If the deal is approved, the short-term benefit for existing Google advertisers would be that its paid campaigns would extend to Yahoo, as well; however, the long-term result would be to virtually eliminate competition for the search giant, meaning that its rates and added value would not need to be as competitive. And, as we have noted in the past, we would love to see other programs begin to compete with Google, like Microsoft’s Cash Back Program

As advertising dollars have been increasingly migrating to the Internet (in part because of its ability to target specific audiences and quantify results), the cable television industry has been quietly planning to coax some of them back.

It will unveil its strategy—a joint venture designed to create a national platform for more accurately pinpointing the medium’s audience—next Tuesday. The project, Canoe Ventures, is the result of cooperation among six of the leading cable providers: Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications, Cablevision Systems, Charter Communications and Bright House Networks.

The effort will aim to develop a single technology platform that the companies can use to enable advertisers to reach specific groups of customers; for example, a car manufacturer can target people whose auto leases are about to expire or a diaper company can aim its spots directly at households with newborns. The technology will have an interactive component, as well, whereby viewers watching a commercial may be able to use their remotes to request a brochure, see different endings to various ads and make purchases.

At EGC, we love to have an array of tools and new technology at our disposal to help us target and measure our clients’ audiences across a variety of mediums. This enables us to deliver the sales results our clients want.

For instance, we have enjoyed tremendous success targeting specific customers by using our Web marketing expertise. We also profile customers using trusted market research tools, such as Claritas PRIZM®NE. We are, needless to say, thrilled about the possibility of soon having another tool to help us more accurately reach our customers’ customers through television!

Author: Ernie Canadeo

With the penetration of digital video recorders (DVRs) in households nearing 25%, how can marketers make sure their message is seen?

Some are becoming more and more creative in making sure their message looks as much like entertainment as possible. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that TBS will begin airing “Commuter Confidential,” a two-minute advertisement program, during commercial breaks of Sex and the City today. Sponsored by Match.com and Revlon, the “microseries” intends to retain Sex and the City viewers by keeping them entertained with a similar type of mini-series.

In addition, according to Adweek, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live recently announced that—subject to interest on the part of advertisers—the show will be integrating live commercials into each episode. The advertising is intended to look like a skit.

The New York Times reports that there are some who argue that DVR viewers are not as inclined to skip through commercials as you may think. It cites a recent report from Nielsen, which reveals that people who own DVRs still watch an estimated two-thirds of the ads.

According to the report, many people who use DVRs watch about half of their shows at the scheduled start times and therefore have no choice but to sit through commercials. Perhaps surprisingly, the report states that, many who choose to watch their recorded programs at a later time are not skipping through the ads. In fact, Nielsen discovered that DVR users—for whatever reason—watch nearly half of the commercials they could skip.

However you look at it, there are some simple rules that even local marketers can follow to make their TV spot more “TiVo-friendly.”

-       Consider local news and sports as part as your media buy—most viewers are less likely to fast forward through local news than any other style of programming

-       Demand first local break placement

-       Emulate the increasing number of TV spots that are keeping the logo and phone number throughout the spot, making the call to action noticed by people who may not be seeing the spot from start to finish

-       Take a page out of Visa’s book, which decided to use brighter colors in its recent “Life Takes Visa” spot in an effort to catch more attention

-       Above all, use great creative that is entertaining and relevant to help your spots withstand DVR viewers’ temptation to hit the fast-forward button

And remember, the technology that affects your advertising is changing every minute. To stay abreast of the latest trends and get continuing advice on improving your marketing efforts, stay tuned to EGC’s Fresh Report.

In an effort to chip out a share of Google’s dominance in the search advertising market for itself, Microsoft announced that it would offer cash rebates to consumers who purchase a product they found using Microsoft Live Search cashback.

The obvious attraction for consumers would be the promise of instant savings. To entice advertisers, Microsoft will offer a cost-per-acquisition (CPA) model rather than a traditional search engine cost-per-click (CPC) model. No program like that currently exists on Google.

“We believe search can offer much more value to consumers and advertisers than it does today, and we see Live Search cashback as an important opportunity to deliver additional value,” said Bill Gates, when announcing the new initiative at advance08, Microsoft’s Annual Digital Conference.

For consumers who use the new cashback search, the savings can range between 2% and 30% off products sold online by retailers like BarnesandNoble.com, Sears.com, Overstock.com, HomeDepot.com, and JR.com (J&R Electronics).

We at EGC think that the new initiative may help to boost Microsoft’s standings in search, especially in today’s economy, when consumers are more open to cash rebates and discounts. However, catching up to Google will be an uphill battle for Microsoft. According to reports, Google has a healthy 60% of the search engine market share, while Microsoft trails Yahoo with just 10%. It’s not often that a company like Microsoft is the underdog, and this move may help it steal the share it needs.

For advertisers, Live Search cashback could mean a more accountable model than what we’ve been used to, and—if Microsoft can make the search as functional as Google—it has a good chance at winning our hearts.