The Google Keyword Tool now offers estimates of numbers of searches - this is similar to what Overture used to offer - you can compare number of searches by customers (and marketers) on your brand and competitor brands or general keywords in a country so you know which to prioritise for SEO. It will also generate target keyphrases for your site or competitor sites from the "Website content" tab. You may also be interested in my tutorial on using the keyword tool or the Official Google announcement Web site benchmarking with Google Trends Hitwise and Harvest Digital have an analysis on impact on search traffic of open brand bidding. Essentially it has increased paid search activity by 22% amongst the UK's top 100 brands - apparently they have been defending the threat. Brand hijacking has been limited, but Google will be pleased I imagine. Pay Per Action Closes…

Many companies are now turning to Multivariate and AB Testing to meet their goals, typically increased conversion rates or revenue per visit. Use of multivariate and AB testing is certainly going to increase with the Google Website Optimizer recently coming out of beta (see below). To find out more about best practice and future trends in these testing techniques I recently talked to Mark Simpson, Managing Director of Maxymiser, a UK-based supplier of advanced Multivariate testing tools. So, straight to the interview with Mark, MD of Maxymiser. You can read more from Mark on approaches to structured testing and experiments on the Maxymiser blog. This month there is also a great case study out of how Lovefilm uses structured testing to improve it's results .

Principles and differences between AB and multivariate…

When, as marketers, we discuss personalised web communications everyone always talks about Amazon "€œCustomers who bought X also bought Y"€, yet this is old technology dating back 10+ years. Here is an update on the options from one of the leading providers. So to catch up on the latest on web recommendation options, I was keen to talk to Frank Lord, Regional VP, EMEA for ATG, one of the best known providers of software for personalised web messaging to find out about the latest approaches different companies are using to deliver more relevant web communications to their audiences. For me, the most exciting development is on-demand web services such from the acquisition by ATG of eStara which appears to give a lower-cost entry point for personalised recommendations and another…