Comments on: SEM Thoughts : From an Abacus to AI and Beyond http://blogs.webtrends.com/blog/2008/11/03/sem-thoughts-from-an-abacus-to-ai-and-beyond/ We strongly considered calling it The Weblog Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:07:52 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Barry Parshall http://blogs.webtrends.com/blog/2008/11/03/sem-thoughts-from-an-abacus-to-ai-and-beyond/comment-page-1/#comment-52 Barry Parshall Tue, 04 Nov 2008 21:04:28 +0000 http://webtrendsinc.wordpress.com/?p=345#comment-52 Hi Cory, As I see it in any economic condition, let alone the one we have now, and no matter what your marketing budget, you want to spend responsibly. Bidding up a few brand terms for strategic purposes is fine, but I doubt any organization can bid for top position for 10's or 100's of thousands of keywords. $50K was mostly a made up number, but it is indicative of the sweet spot for solutions like WebTrends Ad Director. Despite my apparent animosity for them, bid management tools are perfectly fine for small businesses or any organization with a reasonable number of keywords and a modest budget. There comes a point, though, where the amount of ad spend coupled with the number of keywords (and ads, and possible landing pages, etc.) becomes too burdensome for a human with a bid tool - you either have to throw more people at the problem and/or accept sub-optimal results. $50K/month is clearly above that threshold where automated optimization is needed, though surely companies spending less would benefit too. I suppose in a future post I could go into greater detail on determining when an automated solution makes the most sense. I hope this helps. - Barry Hi Cory,

As I see it in any economic condition, let alone the one we have now, and no matter what your marketing budget, you want to spend responsibly. Bidding up a few brand terms for strategic purposes is fine, but I doubt any organization can bid for top position for 10’s or 100’s of thousands of keywords.

$50K was mostly a made up number, but it is indicative of the sweet spot for solutions like WebTrends Ad Director. Despite my apparent animosity for them, bid management tools are perfectly fine for small businesses or any organization with a reasonable number of keywords and a modest budget. There comes a point, though, where the amount of ad spend coupled with the number of keywords (and ads, and possible landing pages, etc.) becomes too burdensome for a human with a bid tool – you either have to throw more people at the problem and/or accept sub-optimal results. $50K/month is clearly above that threshold where automated optimization is needed, though surely companies spending less would benefit too. I suppose in a future post I could go into greater detail on determining when an automated solution makes the most sense.

I hope this helps.

- Barry

]]> By: cory huff http://blogs.webtrends.com/blog/2008/11/03/sem-thoughts-from-an-abacus-to-ai-and-beyond/comment-page-1/#comment-51 cory huff Tue, 04 Nov 2008 15:59:09 +0000 http://webtrendsinc.wordpress.com/?p=345#comment-51 If your company has the money, why not just bid to be up there 24/7? You can call the time branding spend and justify it that way. Also, what about small businesses that perhaps cannot afford software like mention, or don't have the proper training to make it effective? In other words, how does this affect a company that doesn't have $50k to spend on SEM each month? If your company has the money, why not just bid to be up there 24/7? You can call the time branding spend and justify it that way.

Also, what about small businesses that perhaps cannot afford software like mention, or don’t have the proper training to make it effective? In other words, how does this affect a company that doesn’t have $50k to spend on SEM each month?

]]> By: Michele Warther http://blogs.webtrends.com/blog/2008/11/03/sem-thoughts-from-an-abacus-to-ai-and-beyond/comment-page-1/#comment-50 Michele Warther Tue, 04 Nov 2008 15:43:39 +0000 http://webtrendsinc.wordpress.com/?p=345#comment-50 For some additional insights on how Ad Director works, you can also visit the "Waste-o-Meter" site. See how much money has been wasted since Jan 2008. Visit the site here >> https://www.webtrends.com/ms/waste-o-meter/default.asp For some additional insights on how Ad Director works, you can also visit the “Waste-o-Meter” site. See how much money has been wasted since Jan 2008. Visit the site here >>
https://www.webtrends.com/ms/waste-o-meter/default.asp

]]> By: Rathna http://blogs.webtrends.com/blog/2008/11/03/sem-thoughts-from-an-abacus-to-ai-and-beyond/comment-page-1/#comment-49 Rathna Tue, 04 Nov 2008 09:58:50 +0000 http://webtrendsinc.wordpress.com/?p=345#comment-49 Excellent read. Thank you for sharing this excellent article. Excellent read. Thank you for sharing this excellent article.

]]> By: Jeff Cram http://blogs.webtrends.com/blog/2008/11/03/sem-thoughts-from-an-abacus-to-ai-and-beyond/comment-page-1/#comment-48 Jeff Cram Tue, 04 Nov 2008 06:15:56 +0000 http://webtrendsinc.wordpress.com/?p=345#comment-48 Good points Barry. I was also glad to see you qualify the size of account at the end: "...if you spend more than $50,000 per month in paid search and use a bid management tool (either on your own or through an agency) you might as well be shoveling cash into a furnace...." The technologies are indeed there, but the starting point (price) for many organizations is still far too steep. I'm anxious for this technology to reach the mid sized firms that have the same or greater) strategic needs as the ones that have the large spend. Jeff Cram ISITE Design www.isitedesign.com Good points Barry. I was also glad to see you qualify the size of account at the end:

“…if you spend more than $50,000 per month in paid search and use a bid management tool (either on your own or through an agency) you might as well be shoveling cash into a furnace….”

The technologies are indeed there, but the starting point (price) for many organizations is still far too steep. I’m anxious for this technology to reach the mid sized firms that have the same or greater) strategic needs as the ones that have the large spend.

Jeff Cram
ISITE Design
http://www.isitedesign.com

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