News: January 2009 Archives

Most emails I get from people back home in the U.K. contain references to the 'credit crunch' and many conference calls with U.S.-based clients and partners also touch on the financial crisis. Budgets are being cut, jobs are being lost and everyone seems to be in some way personally affected.

We're often asked how it's affecting business and Search in Japan. Although there is talk of the international crisis in the Japanese news and you do see the same "50% off" sales here and there on the streets of Tokyo and online, the ROI we're seeing from Japanese PPC campaigns is showing no sign of slow down. I'm also frequently told that it is the Japanese part of global accounts that currently stands out in terms of performance against other geos.

I wanted to confirm that I wasn't alone in my opinion, and found this New York Times article "In Japan, Financial Crisis Is Just a Ripple."

All of this got me to thinking that if you are seeing ROI trending down for your domestic campaigns, now might be a very good time to invest more intensively instead in your Japanese Search efforts. Especially with SEM being such a measurable, and controllable investment, it might be the least risky path to take whilst trying to sustain online profitability in uncertain times.

(Posted by Stacey Ward)

A Happy New Year!

This tool has not a thing to do with SEM.  Think of it as a little fun break before getting back to work...

spicebox LABORATORY has released an online aura reading tool.

It's easy.  Enter your name and send a picture.  Within a minute, it tells you what color your aura is along with your personality traits.

 I just had to try it..