Yahoo to get into Web analytics business with acquisition
Yahoo recently announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire most of the assets of Tensa Kft., more commonly known as IndexTools. The deal includes IndexTools' Web analytics business and technology, which gives Yahoo an entry into that market. Rivals Google and Microsoft Corp. currently provide analytics tools and products.
Yahoo said the first group of customers to benefit from the analytics tools would be more than 150,000 small and midsize businesses currently marketing online with Yahoo. The transaction is expected to be completed this quarter.
Google has hit an all-time high in market share, commanding 67.25% of all U.S. searches in March, according to Hitwise, an online competitive intelligence company. That was up from 64.13% in March 2007.
Yahoo Search, MSN Search and Ask.com last month had shares of 20.29%, 5.25% and 4.09%, respectively.
Hitwise’s findings were based on data collected from a sample of 10 million online users.
Blended search optimization a must-do in online marketing.
Marketers would do well to make sure their online images, video and press releases are optimized for natural search.
A new study, published Monday by search agency iProspect, indicates searchers using the major engines are more likely to click on image, video or news link within the main, blended search results page than vertical-search results. (An example of a vertical search would be searching within the Google Images tab for a photo of Warren Buffett.)
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Marketing Minute
Online advertisers seek ROI
Publishers say customers more interested in performance than particular advertising types.
With the overall economy in an uncertain state in the early months of 2008, what are b-to-b advertisers looking for from publishers, particularly online? As marketers consider tightening their belts, publishers agree, one consideration is paramount: return on investment.
"It's easy to feel defeated about losing subscribers who opt out," says AWeber's Tom Kulzer. But don't get discouraged. Instead, use Kulzer's list of why customers unsubscribe to make improvements!
With the overall economy in an uncertain state in the early months of 2008, what are b-to-b advertisers looking for from publishers, particularly online? As marketers consider tightening their belts, publishers agree, one consideration is paramount: return on investment. 
"It's easy to feel defeated about losing subscribers who opt out," says AWeber's Tom Kulzer. But don't get discouraged. Instead, use Kulzer's list of why customers unsubscribe to make improvements! 
