If you've ever run a Google Adwords campaign you'll have thought about bidding on your competitors' brand name. An interesting legal case involving Interflora and Marks & Spencer has come to a semi conclusion at The Court of Justice of the European Union. I say "semi" conclusion because I'm not entirely sure what's been concluded as both sides could appear to be claiming victory. Read More

Last month I delivered a seminar on internet marketing to a group of about 40 or 50 independent retailers. Whilst discussing mobile commerce I asked them how many of them had used QR codes in their marketing and no hands went up. So I then reversed my thinking and asked how many of them knew what a QR code was. Less than half of them did. I was a bit surprised but then again maybe I shouldn't have been. Read More

I've just got back to my desk from the eCommerce Expo at Olympia. It was a bit of a bunfight (which means success in exhibition organiser language). I could'nt fight my way in to any of the seminars but I spoke to quite a few exhibitors. Quite illuminating to keep on hearing the same things from everybody. What are the main takaways? Read More

Steve Jobs has passed away but his legacy in the tech sector, giving us things we didn’t know we needed, remains. I’ve been having a look at Simply Tap a new service launched by Mobile Money Network (MMN). MMN is a new mobile services business that brings together a network of retailers, advertisers and banks to provide consumers with a simple way to find and purchase goods and services from their mobile phone. Read More

When we start planning internet marketing campaigns for our clients, one of the first questions we ask is “where are you sending people who respond? What’s the Landing Page content?” This is the same whether the source is an email, paid search, banner ads or a content link. Read More

According to the British Retail Consortium, total retail search volumes grew 35% in the third quarter compared with the same quarter last year. A number of factors have driven this increase, including a rise in mobile search (+168%) and more overseas consumers searching for UK sites (+34%). In addition, there has been a growth in search volumes for multi-channel retailers of 26%. Read More

I was sitting on the tube last night reading the Evening Standard and came across an article entitled "As brands get social, they must listen more than talk". No knew insight there I guess. For me what's interesting is that this is a regular article in the Business section of the paper. There is no doubt that how brands interact in social media is a mainstream marketing issue. Even a year ago that may not have been the case. Read More

I posted a comment a couple of days ago about an article in the London Evening Standard which suggested that brands should use Twitter just for “listening” to what consumers had to say about them. I found that rather odd advice as the real benefit comes from engagement. I’ve now come across some research which backs up my thinking. Read More