It pays to be at the centre of attention

Jonathan Bowers, October 20th 2008, 5:13PM

Rural communities in the UK have come to the end of their tether with broadband providers and their deceptive claims, reports this week say. Broadband firms overstating the ‘speed’ of their packages is not new and the fact the rural communities always seem to feel the most disgruntled is also not new. However the critical mass of calls for the authorities to do something is novel.

Countryside dwellers, such as those in Huntingdon, Cambridge, are hitting back with concerted pressure on the Government and Ofcom to bring the misleading broadband providers to heel.

The classic problem is the ‘up to’ capacity advertised by broadband companies. Most, not surprisingly, state the maximum speed available on their network prominently. Meanwhile, talk of possible geographical limitations is relegated to the small print. The result is disappointed customers in areas that are a long way from the main local exchange, such as any rural community.

Residents in Huntingdonshire believe that instead of the 8MB broadband that is promoted, they are in reality only getting 512KB, one sixteenth of the headline speed.

All this grief and disappointing performance is because Huntington is not located on a broadband superhighway and that got me thinking about the parallels to the ecommerce industry. Quick and reliable service is essential for any Web business. Customers will not wait for slow loading sites.
Furthermore, Google rankings partly rely on speed ratings, so again slow websites will lose out due to poor Google listings.

So the lessons for ebusinesses are to ensure that their server power is up to the job and that their hosting company is located on a major hub of the broadband network. ISPs, such as UKFast, who occupy a position right on the broadband superhighway can offer more.

So to be in the ecommerce fast lane make sure your hosting provider is right in the middle of the action.

Tags: broadband, e-commerce, google, hosting, internet, websites
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Don't kick Google StreetView to the curb

Jonathan Bowers, July 18th 2008, 5:02PM

Last week Google made front page news with the revelation that its StreetView mapping cars had hit the roads of UK cities.

For those of you who don’t know what Google StreetView is, it is the 360 degree photographing of urban layouts to produce a complete online photographic record of any given point within the StreetView map network.

Currently, a host of cities in the US and France have been photo-mapped and uploaded to the Google Maps website, allowing any internet user to view any street included in the network at any time.

With the arrival of the mapping cars in the UK, the same visual access to our streets is imminent and this has resulted in the previously mentioned front page headlines. Privacy campaigners are appalled by the StreetView concept and they argue that it is a massive invasion of people’s privacy.

However, Google has responded by saying it will blur the faces of anyone captured on film and that it will abide by all relevant UK laws.

So are the privacy issues really a concern?

I don’t believe so. Our identities will not really be betrayed by StreetView and while the opponents do have some valid points, I strongly believe that the positives significantly outweigh the negatives.

One quick test of the new application and the fantastic potential of StreetView leaps out at you. I found myself looking at US cities to get a flavour of whether they would be interesting to visit in person. So this technology is a great way to research potential holiday destinations or even to research home purchases. It can also be used to locate sites or to visualise journey routes.

And of course the potential going forward is immense. An interactive feature could expand the possibilities vastly, while StreetView could even become a totally new concept in communication.

As long as the understandable privacy issues are fully respected then I believe StreetView will be an exciting addition to the ever expanding potential of the internet.

One more thought. Whatever happens with the development of this technology, what is sure is that companies employing it will have to ensure that they have the server power to support it.

Increasingly companies are turning to dedicated server solutions to meet increased processing requirements. As a global leader Google will undoubtedly be running its StreetView technology on dedicated servers, so those looking to capitalise on the exciting new potential should definitely consider a dedicated server solution.

Tags: google, hosting, internet
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Viacom/YouTube battle threatens to trample web user's privacy

Jonathan Bowers, July 4th 2008, 2:05PM

This week a US court delivered a landmark ruling that raises questions about internet users’ rights to privacy. The ruling comes from the high-profile and very bitter legal dispute between YouTube and Viacom.

In case you are not familiar with the case here is the background.

US broadcasting company Viacom alleges that YouTube infringes its copyright law by allowing parts of its programmes (such as the Late Show with Jon Stewart) to be shown on the YouTube website.

To prove its case Viacom had asked the US courts to grant it access to YouTube’s data. In response YouTube’s owner Google argued that granting this request would compromise end-user’s privacy.

So which got its way? Both and neither it seems!

This week Judge Louis Stanton from the New York district court ruled that Viacom can have “full access” to the YouTube logs. However he rejected Viacom’s request to see the YouTube source code.

So limited access has been granted. Does this represent a well balanced decision? Google, not surprisingly, is not happy and to be fair I think it has a point. Although the US courts have denied access to certain data it is not clear what end user information will be exposed.

The logs to be divulged include information on when each video gets played. However, attached to each entry is each viewer's unique login ID and the Internet Protocol address for that viewer's computer.

Viacom says it will not see this information but as Google is still petitioning to mask the personal data, this aspect of the situation is clearly not yet fully resolved.

The key point is not whether Viacom wants to see this data or not. It is that it may be afforded access to it anyway by the US courts and that sets a troubling precedent.

Upholding user privacy is vital for the continued viability of the internet. If users think that their personal data may be accessed either directly or as a by-product of lawsuits and alike then confidence in the internet will take a hit and that would be a hugely detrimental development.

Tags: viacom, google, internet, video, youtube
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Tesco takes moral stand against Google Awords?

Jonathan Bowers, May 9th 2008, 11:19AM

UK supermarket titan Tesco has announced that it is not bidding on rivals’ names despite the introduction of Google Adwords changes. If true what are Tesco’s motivations?

Immediate reactions have been that Tesco does not want to dance to Google’s tune and that the move is designed to keep the cost of search engine advertising down. And Tesco would not be the only company in the UK commercial sector showing defiance to the US goliath.

Or does Tesco have something else on its mind. Naturally, if it appears to take the moral high ground and does not bid on names such as Sainsbury’s or Asda, it will want them to do the same. Just maybe, the market leader’s concerns of rivals diverting its intended online customer base are the real motivation.

This falls in line with Asda’s belief. According to Brand Republic , Rick Bendel, marketing director at Asda, said: 'Tesco believes everything is for sale, except when it doesn't suit it.' This supports the view that Tesco thinks it will ultimately lose out from the adoption of Adword changes and is trying to manoeuvre to prevent it. However, Asda is not playing ball as it has not ruled out bidding on rival trademarks.

Search engine traffic diversion has become a major issue. The new rules allow companies to bid on rivals’ trademarks for the first time. While advertisers are not allowed to pass themselves off as their competitors, they can now appear quoting their own URL at the top of a search for a rival if they are the top Adwords bidders.

For example, a searcher who wants to do some online grocery shopping puts Tesco in as their search criteria. Asda has top bid on the Adword ‘Tesco’, so its advert appears top of the Google search list. This online shopper just wants groceries and is happy to click on the first link. The searcher looked for Tesco but ended up shopping with Asda. Tesco has lost out despite being the initial front runner.

It is surprising that Tesco would be that concerned about a price war on Adwords. It is the dominant supermarket in the UK and most likely to have the resources to win an Adwords price battle. However, as it operates in a convenience retail sector where customers are likely to opt for the path of least resistance, the possibility that Google’s new Adwords system will divert custom away is a serious concern.

This is also backed up by brand new research suggesting that under the new system search engine users get to their original search destination 8% less often compared to the old system.

I believe that Tesco’s true concern with Google’s new rules is not that it will have to spend more but that its competitors will now profit from piggybacking on its hard fought brand positioning.

Tags: adwords, brand, e-commerce, google, search_terms
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Google now the top global brand

Jonathan Bowers, April 28th 2008, 12:23PM

Google is once again the biggest brand in the world, well according to one report at least. Admittedly, the said report is from highly respected market research agency Millward Brown and it has the online search engine titan as top dog in the corporate branding stakes for the second year running.

The new Millward Brown list of top 100 brands is once again dominated by technology companies with 6 of the top 10 coming from the IT field. However, previous brand king Microsoft has fallen to third to leave Google as the undisputed brand leader. Or has it, according to an alternative list by Interbrand Google ranked only 20th in 2007.

The discrepancy seems to be down to just how rapidly the Google brand is growing. While the Interbrand 2007 list has Google in 20th place it also says the brand had grown by 44% over the previous 12 months, a figure that blows all of the other top 100 brands out of the water. It is therefore perhaps understandable that a year on Google would be the top brand worldwide.

The Millward Brown list is compiled by evaluating both tangible financials and intangible customer opinion. In terms of the tangibles, Google certainly made big waves last year. Profits were up 40% to $4.2 billion in 2007.

Meanwhile, what about the intangibles? Well ask a random person on the street to name an online search engine and chances are they will say Google. Similarly, ask them to describe the Google logo and, again, the likelihood is they can.

It certainly seems Google is king at the moment. Its impressive profits, extremely recognisable profile and market sector dominance undoubtedly makes it the Tiger Woods of brands.

Meanwhile, looking just at the UK sector, Vodafone has taken over as the top British brand and in doing so has provided a useful example that brand success and profits are not necessarily mutual. In fact, ironically Vodafone's bottom line has taken a bit of a beating lately partly because it has been pursuing an aggressive acquisition policy to expand its brand strength globally. Time will tell if boosting its brand will work for Vodafone.

Also of interest is the continued recovery of Marks & Spencer. The British retailer has had an iconic brand for a long time, however its value has fluctuated a great deal in the last few years. Happy for it, the brand is looking in good shape again as M&S is the top British retail brand and the fourth highest overall.

The recover has been multipronged. To rebuild its reputation M&S has revamped its stores, refocused on core product lines and, of course, delivered a highly successful ad campaign that reports suggest brought in £2.5 for every £1 spent. Other successful strategies included a remodelling of the company website, which resulted in a 78% increase in online Christmas sales last year. The morale of the M&S story seems to be: keep it fresh and current.

Tags: adwords, brand, google, internet, search_terms
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