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From the week of November 23.

Talk of Exclusive News Corp – Bing Deal Continue
Stories continue of Rupert Murdoch’s threat to remove its publications – including the Wall Street Journal – from Google’s search and news pages and provide them exclusively to Bing, which is willing to pay for it. That’s one way for Bing to increase its share of the search market. Read more at The Daily Finance.

US Online Ad Spending Down in 3rd Quarter – or Up
Depending on how you look at it, online ad spending in the US was either down or up in the 3rd quarter. It was down 5.4% from the same period a year ago, but up 1.7% from the 2nd quarter. And Google reports a 7% increase in search revenue. Bottom line – search spending is increasing while other online spending such as banner ads is decreasing. The dip in non-search spending is enough to drop overall online ad spending for the first time since 2002. More at Media Post.

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Google drops Page Rank.

Tech industry set to rebound.

Yahoo does away with Search Submit.

From the week of October 12

Paid search spending on the rise.

Data from Efficient Frontier show growth in paid search spending from July to September, but it’s still 5% lower than this time last year. Watch for costs on some keywords to begin rising. More details at MediaPost.

Top keyword nears $100 a click.

Curious? It’s “mesothelioma” – a type of cancer caused by long-term exposure to asbestos. Who’s paying that much? Lawyers of course. But maybe this will make you feel better about paying higher prices for your keywords. (Source: AdGooroo Search Engine Advertising Update: Q309)

LinkedIn Hits 50 million users.

Okay so that’s nothing compared to FaceBook’s 300 million users or Twitter – which is gaining “users” at the speed of light. But 50 million is a lot of (primarily) business people connecting out there. Are you part of it?

SMBs are adopting social media en mass.

According to a new study from Opus Research advisory service Internet2Go, nearly half — 45% — of small businesses have now established a presence on Facebook or Twitter. Speculation is that the economic barrier to entry is so low – what business could not afford to be visible here. More details at MediaPost.

From the week of October 5, 2009

Bing search traffic appears to be dropping. Two web tracking services (StatCounter and NetApplications) released reports showing Bing’s Q3 market share had dropped to the 4% range. Read more at TechWorldNews.

Internet advertising passes TV advertising in the UK. The Guardian reports that UK advertisers spent more on online advertising that television advertising in the first half of 2009. This is the first major economy to spend more on web ads than TV ads. Read more at the Guardian.

State of the SMB IT Market. A new report from Spiceworks reveals much about small and mid-sized business’s IT buying plans. The report is available free from Jill Konrath’s Selling to Big Companies blog.

FTC “recommends” bloggers disclose freebies. Why should you care? Because according to Online Media Daily, the FTC guides also say that marketers who have deals with companies that hire bloggers to write reviews might be liable if the reviews contain unsubstantiated claims. Read more at MediaPost.

Time and dollars spent on social media and blogging site on the rise. The Neilson Company reported this week that time spent on social media and blogging sites in August 2009 was triple what it was last year. Money spent on advertising on these sites more than doubled. (From MediaPost Research Brief).

If you’re interested in the money spent by different industries, here’s what it looks like:

The Washington Post made national news last night, and sadly, this time it wasn’t because of their outstanding journalism. Their integrity was called into question because of a marketing flyer distributed last week.

Publisher and CEO Katharine Weymouth addressed the issue directly through a “Letter to Our Readers” published on Sunday July 5th. In it, Weymouth apologized for the new venture which she said went off track, and she apologized for any cause they may have given their readers to doubt the Post’s independence and integrity.

Weymouth went on to say the flier was not approved by her or her newsroom editors, and it did not accurately reflect what they had in mind. The suggestion that the Post would hold and participate in an off-the-record dinner with journalists and power brokers paid for by a sponsor, she says, was wrong.

I don’t doubt that, but I couldn’t help but feel her explanation (e.g. the flier wasn’t approved) was somewhat of a cop out. Sure, marketing has always been perceived as living in an ivory tower, but here’s a case where a fellow writer may have hurt the integrity of the paper.

Is it possible that writers on the marketing side of the house don’t fully understand and appreciate the importance of maintaining journalistic integrity? Maybe, but I believe we all have a responsibility to bear when it comes to accurately representing our companies.

So what really went wrong, and what can we marketers learn from their mistake?

Whatever their reasons, it appears the Post lost sight of the core values that made them what they are today. Moreover, the marketers at the Post forgot the power they wield when they serve as the “public voice.”

The truth is, one marketing mistake that undermines our company’s credibility can be catastrophic. I suspect Weymouth understands this, which is why she swiftly nipped the issue in the bud with her open letter. Will it be enough? Only time will tell, but my guess is they will recover from this incident because their long-standing history of integrity far outweighs this one incident.

So what about us B2B marketers who don’t work for powerhouses? We must be far more careful in our messaging.

To serve our companies well, we must first understand the core values that distinguish us from the competition. Second, we must never waver or allow our marketing enthusiasm to erode the principles that made us great. Third, if we’re living in an ivory tower, it’s time we get out and start engaging with the people who create the wonderful products we market.

Yes, we all have a responsibility to bear when it comes to accurately representing our companies. I propose marketing be the catalyst for change.

Sue Anderson
Marketing Lure, Inc.