September
04, 2006
Copyright Mediaware Infotech Pvt. Ltd. |
The
last few years has seen print magazine circulation & readership steadily declining.
And the world over, this trend has been more pronounced for general interest newsmagazines
(who have lost the most readers to the Internet & electronic media).
Time-tested
methods of selling print ad space relied on circulation & readership figures -
especially for large, general interest publications . At the same time, the publications
which competed with these leaders (because of their lower circulations), typically
highlighted factors like reader focus, brand loyalty, reader engagement & editorial
content like special pages, regular features & sections.
For example, Indian
daily DNA (one-year old challenger to leader Times of India in Mumbai) relies
heavily on ongoing market research to highlight special areas of reader
engagement & loyalty to media buyers.
Circulation
Pressures
As
the overall circulation of news magazines is declining steadily, the leaders seem
to adopting the methods of the challenger. Consequently, the total reliance on
circulation figures may be diluted with reader engagement metrics.
Recent
reports indicate that international news magazine Time (last reported circulation
4 mn) is planning to deploy new methods of selling ad space to its advertisers.
In other words, it will develop & deploy metrics that track reader engagment &
audience levels.
As one of the world's largest & well-known magazines,
Time will be taking a bold step, to say the least !
At face value, it makes
good sense. After all, in today's Internet age of the 24 hour News Channel, any
advertiser would be interested in more than sheer numbers. Like for example, the
detailed profile of the reader & (if possible) tracking whether he buys the products
advertised.
Games
Google Plays
Google
has recently released a new game called Google Image Labeler. Designed
for "time pass", the purpose behind hosting this game is anything but that !
Here's
how you play the game: as soon as you register, Google randomly pairs you with
any other online player (while maintaining anonymity). Both players are then shown
images from Google's vast image search database. And both are asked to type associated
words which describe each image. Players can make multiple attempts for each word
until 90 seconds elapse or when both players type the same word. (Or of course,
when players quit.)
Google Image Labeller is clearly an experiment. Having
mastered the word with its text search engine, Google should now naturally look
towards images, audio & video. And what better way to re-inforce itself in the
brave new world (of image, audio & video search) than by collecting data on the
correlation between images and words?
On a serious note, playing Google
Image Labeler immediately makes you realize that the foundation of Google's empire
is based on Search Engine Marketing. The "relevance" of a keyword will vary from
person to person. Because every individual possesses different levels of language
literacy, education, exposure, mental prowess, linguistic skills, vocabulary,
etc. etc. (We suppose, that's why different people react so differently to the
same word.)
For Google Image Labeler to be successful, there should be
a 'critical mass" of users who play the game. And Google may even have to make
some adjustments for factors like ethnic bias, regional skews, etc. Not to mention,
the game must be attractive enough for people to come back & play again!
Fundamentals
of SEM
Translated
to Search Engine Marketing (SEM - Google's main plank), it means that every entity
like brand, brand-feature, brand-marketer, etc. evokes unique reactions from different
people. Leading to myriad expectations from the same Search Engine for the same
keyword !
Everybody knows that most Internet Search Engines routinely save
search query information to be able to optimize their software logic. (Fact is,
such data can seriously compromise individual privacy. And as if to prove this,
less than a month ago, AOL's Search Engine team inadvertently exposed complete
personal data of a few million AOL members to all & sundry! )
All things
considered, it may not be far-fetched to say that Google Image Labeler is a part
of Google's ongoing attempts to enhance techniques for Search Engine Marketing.
Track Me Not
Years ago, most Web users learned that cookies were a threat
to their privacy & security. That's when learnt to delete cookies after they surfed
web-sites.
Now life is not so simple anymore! Yesterday's Web surfing has
been replaced with today's Web Searching. And most of today's Search Engines systematically
track & store all search queries and (most probably) expose these for profit.
So we see new tools designed to block such activities. One new software
called "Track Me Not" was developed by New York University faculty members Helen
Nissembaum & Daniel Howe. TMN randomly submits meaningless queries to search engines
with the intention of adding garbage to Search Engines' database of surreptiously
collected search queries!
Other tools help people to cover their online
tracks by masking their IP addresses.
As Search Engines like Google, AOL
and others insist on saving information that potentially compromises individual
privacy, we may expect more such tools to foil those plans. |
Mediaware Infotech Pvt. Ltd.
The New Mahalaxmi Silk Mills Premises,
Mathuradas Mills Estate, Opp Kamala City, Senapati Bapat Marg,
Lower Parel
(West), Mumbai 400 013.
Tel: 6660 2634 Fax: 24923765 Email : response@mediawareonline.com
Mediaware Gulf
P.O.Box No. 182620, Dubai Media City, U.A.E.
Tel: +9714 3681655 Fax: +9714 3688058 Email : m-e@mediawareonline.com
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