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Longstanding investor in Looksmart (and a 68 yr old ex-tradesman), who has a passionate interest in the problems of newspapers along with their success in all their monetisation attempts made, on the web. For the "times are indeed, a changin", I feel. [17th of Aug, 2011 - Print media... More
  • Looksmart And PLAs. Change In Search Engine Traffic Noted ~ Feb.19th 5 comments
    Feb 24, 2013 12:43 AM

    Brands Can Soon Get To Maximize The Role Search Can Play with new styled PLAs or, Product Listing Ad Units.

    ............"Google Product Listing Ads served on Google Shopping and in search query listings are no longer free - - in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Japan, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Brazil, Australia, Switzerland and Czech Republic."

    "DataPop's Creative Optimization platform tests what the viewer sees and the merchant's or manufacturer's product data feed.

    The technology aligns the product data feeds with keywords searched. When optimized, the platform claims merchants can see between 40% and 50% of their search traffic from PLAs."

    ALL, ready and Waiting?

    "Aside from DataPop, platform providers and agencies have not taken the step to break out PLAs into a separate business unit, although Covario, Didit, IgnitionOne, Kenshoo, and Marin support the ad unit."

    Read more: http://tiny.cc/f9xxsw

    DataPop: http://bit.ly/Xvuwhm

    .........."DataPop gathers information on products, services, promotions and other relevant data from customer web sites; it then automatically presents ads for those products, etc., when someone searches for something related on Google or Microsoft; the ads appear as if a human wrote them, not just a collection of keywords."

    gigaom.com/2012/04/24/datapop-scores-7m-.../

    "Offer Driven Search"

    DataPop Video (2 mins) tiny.cc/w6wzsw (copy/paste)

    If not already partners (Looksmart/DataPop) it would appear that, as Looksmart is dealing with billions of actual pieces of 'search intent' data (all, in real time) daily, they must surely be made for each other?

    Is Looksmart's marketplace 'involved' in this, as yet? (Just who is DataPop receiving it's RT- real time keyword search data from? ........And that there's the need for that independent marketplace - for all to ultimately operate friction-free within, should become obvious.)

    This may well be the case (at least to some degree) if the recent rise in the 'Estimated percentage of visits to looksmart.com -- that came from a search engine', is any indication. (This is some 'spike'.)

    Trailing 7 Days/3 months/6 months

    (All) February19th

    Upstream Sites

    Which sites did users visit immediately preceding looksmart.com?

    % of Unique Visits Upstream Site
    9.26% google.com
    3.38% protection-searcher.com
    3.11% discount-find.in
    2.96% market-find.com
    2.85% busines-search.in
    2.81% feedsmixer.org
    2.77% shopguidefinds.com
    2.58% bike-finder.in
    2.58% easycashesfinder.in
    2.47% answerherefinders.in

    Downstream Sites

    Where do visitors go after leaving looksmart.com?

    % of Unique Visits Downstream Site
    14.75% google.com
    2.65% yahoo.com
    2.57% feedsmixer.org
    2.38% siteadvisor.com
    2.34% protection-searcher.com
    1.97% busines-search.in
    1.89% topmarket-search.com
    1.78% bike-finder.in
    1.78% discount-find.in
    1.78% shopguidefinds.com

    Google PLAs : http://tiny.cc/zlyxsw

    The Looksmart RTB Global (intent based) Marketplace

    I can only suggest (at this stage) for Looksmart's 'neutral' intent-based global marketplace, that Google (alone) is involved with PLAs (along with a number of minor search engines- in RTB) with both Google and Yahoo having enabled users to get be found in real-time (14.75% & 2,65% on or, across Looksmart's condensed total marketplace), respectively.

    Is only, my own unqualified opinion.

    LOOK: $0.9105 Down 0.0195(-2.10%) Feb 22, 11:09AM EST

    LC

    pps; (Facebook have now acquired Atlas.)

    FACEBOOK (Looksmart) And That (Microsoft's) Atlas Acquisition

    ps; Estimated percentage of visits to looksmart.com that came from a search engine: [February 20th]

     Search %Change
    7 day12.0%+88%Change in Search % over the trailing 7 day period
    1 month9.3%+82%Change in Search % over the trailing 1 month period
    3 month5.7%-3%Change in Search % over the trailing 3 month period

    www.alexa.com/siteinfo/looksmart.com#

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  •  
    .
    Adotas asks the following question:

    Today our panel of ad-tech honchos weighs in on the following question:

    “What is your reaction to Facebook’s pending acquisition of Microsoft Atlas?”

    http://bit.ly/VeOznO

    My own comment (submitted in reply), is as follows:

    ............In ‘real time’ (and from within an RTB search intent based independent marketplace) it will allow Facebook’s own advertisers to find users displaying RT buying intent, as is directly coming from SE queries’ data.

    ......This then creates a ONE robust RTB auction as advertisers (including Google’s own), all get to compete ‘blindly’ against each other for all of these unique, single impressions.

    Users can next be found either on Facebook or, within/across an eventual combined one publisher base, - and in what becomes, the ‘ultimate’ in marketplaces.

    The anticipated (robust) bidding ‘action’ ensures a stronger ROI for publishers from off a CPC 'share', that includes (no surprise), Facebook.

    What I feel is – is that PLAs are coming (not just on RT search engine SERPS), as they’ll get to appear across this one huge publisher base within what is or becomes a one, global, ‘intent’ marketplace. – http://tiny.cc/7rg8sw

    LC
    .
    28 Feb, 03:56 PM Reply Like
  •  
    You really haven't got a clue by using Alexa to make decisions.

    Basically a lot of Looksmart traffic comes from "partners" that hijack browsers via spyware, that is why they have partners - otherwise good publishers would use Yahoo or Google as partners.

    You are seeing a spike as there was a spike of spyware hijacking that has caused a massive problem - and Looksmart partners are involved.

    The hijack means that the referrers are in fact Google and Yahoo etc. so seeing those in the Alexa list are expected.

    What about the rest you don't highlight - spam crap from india etc. - the traffic profile of Looksmart is horrendous, very very low quality sources.

    Looksmart partners are spammers that couldn't get a Yahoo or Google contract.

    That is why they are in the quite obvously bad situation they are in.

    That is not up for debate.
    28 Feb, 07:59 PM Reply Like
  •  
    I can tell you now that ALL Google and Yahoo publishers are BANNED from advertising with Looksmart due to spyware and poor quality traffic.

    Looksmart are not even a tier 2 network - they are bottom of the pile now.
    28 Feb, 08:04 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Yahoo have been crediting back all advertisers that spend went through publishers that go through Looksmart.

    There has been a big statement made by Yahoo and Google - they won't take the crap traffic sent via Looksmart.
    28 Feb, 08:06 PM Reply Like
  •  
    .
    Hi swanson1 ....I've been thinking of you. Have you finished building that program that you said you could easily do, that "handles" up to 100 billion 'events' per day?

    ..........."Shareholders were also told in a conference call following Q2 results, that Looksmart's technology was now capable of 'handling' up to 100 billion 'events' per day within an OPEN, independent Marketplace."

    http://bit.ly/MpWYM5

    LC
    .
    1 Mar, 03:08 AM Reply Like
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