Well, we’ve just about (but not quite!) recovered from the first ChannelAdvisor Insite event of 2007 which took place yesterday in central London.

Over 30 UK online retailers joined ChannelAdvisor and Google (who were Platinum Sponsors) for an information-packed day of presentations, discussions and workshops about the current opportunities for online retailers in the UK.

The day started with a look at recent UK eCommerce Trends followed by an introduction to the fundamentals drivers of success on marketplaces (such as eBay and Amazon Merchants@), shopping comparison websites and paid search campaigns.

After lunch the group then split into two ’streams’ to dive into some more advanced strategies for optimising each of these channels in preparation for the rapidly-approaching Q4 busy season. Attendees also got the opportunity to hear first-hand from Aidan O’Curry and Richard Keelty from Google Europe about how Google Checkout and Google Product Search can drive more sales and reduce costs for online retailers.

A big thanks to our sponsors: Google (Platinum), PayPal (Gold), Cybersource (Gold) and FOEB (Silver) without whom the Insite series of events wouldn’t be able to happen. We look forward to the next events up in Manchester on the 5th September, and then on to Glasgow, Birmingham and finally Dublin.

If you were at the event yesterday - thanks for coming - we’d love to hear your comments!

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Google posted this afternoon that the announced changes to the Top Ad Placement formula are now in effect. From discussions we have had this change has been difficult for many retailers to understand and has caused some confusion about the impact. In short:

Old method

Top ads (above the natural results) were placed based on a combination of the quality score and the actual CPC paid.

All other ads (right hand rail and beyond page one) were placed based on a combination of the quality score and the amount the advertiser was willing to pay (the max CPC).

New method

All ads are placed based on the combination of quality score and max CPC.

In talking with a couple folks at Google last night at the Google Dance one of the reasons for this change was that good, quality ads that did not have “auction based pressure” were not getting elevated to the top spots. In Google’s view the presence of this is out of the advertiser’s control and as a result the ability to get to the top could be constrained by a factor that was out of your control. This change should allow ads to get to the top even if they are the only advertiser bidding on that keyword. Google is encouraging advertisers to watch their results closely which is always a good idea.

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Several of us from ChannelAdvisor are attending the Search Engine Strategies (SES) conference this week in San Jose. SES San Jose is historically the largest search conference and this year is no exception.
Highlights thus far:

Keynotes - very solid keynotes from Jim Lanzone, CEO of Ask.com and Marissa Mayer, VP Search Products & User Experience at Google. Both stressed that search technology still has a long way to go to help users find what they want faster. Search is an “impatient activity” and both sites are changing how they display results with the goal of getting users what they are looking for, faster. Interesting to see how this develops as they have taken very different approaches to solving this problem. Google believes the best way is to integrate other types of search results (maps, books, images, etc) in the core search results and rank them based on relevancy - this is Universal Search which was rolled out in May of this year. Ask.com has taken a different approach and places different types of results in different places on the page using a columnar approach with what they call Ask 3D. Look for some new commercials from Ask starting next week that attempt to really set them apart in this regard.

Google Dance - as always, Google knows how to throw a party and last night’s Google Dance lived up to high expectations. Between product demos, food from the Google Kitchen, meeting with the Google engineers or just a full on dance party there was something for everyone.

Catching Up - SES is a great event to catch up with customers, partners and other friends in the business not to mention just getting a pulse on what everyone else is talking about.

More sessions and meetings to get to before heading back to the office and putting all we have learned to work.

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Back by popular demand, we’re excited to announce the expanded 2007 series of ‘ChannelAdvisor Insite‘ conferences, taking place in cities all over the UK and Ireland this summer.

If you’re an online retailer, planning your strategy for Q4 and beyond, then take a day away from the distractions of the office, and come to one of these highly informative one-day events.

Join ChannelAdvisor and industry experts, and your peers as we focus on some of the most effective strategies and techniques for boosting sales and improving the profitability of your online business. We will cover topics such as eBay, Amazon Seller Central, Google Checkout, PayPal Express Checkout, Paid Search Marketing and Shopping Comparison engines and, with a combination of presentations and workshops, equip you with the tools required to go back to your business and make an immediate impact.

This summer we shall be visiting a total of six cities with the Insite event - starting in Bristol on the 16th August, then London, Manchester, Glasgow, Birmingham and finally Dublin in mid-October.

And, thanks to generous sponsorship by Google (Gold), Cybersource and the FOEB (Silver), we are able to keep the cost to a minimum - only £49 + VAT per person for a full 8-hour day of learning! I think you’ll agree this represents tremendous value-for-money - in fact, as we’re limiting places to 25 delegates per event, we expect all six events to be oversubscribed. So if you’re interested in taking your online business to the next level this Christmas, be sure to sign up straight away and reserve your place.

Here’s a link to the official Insite website where you can see more details on the agenda and register to attend. Hey, why not bring someone else from your company as well so you can bounce ideas off each other during the day and take action when you’re back in the office?

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I was recently in London for ChannelAdvisor’s Catalyst UK Conference and we joked a bit about the ever present “Mind the Gap” phrase which is broadcast in the Tube stations. As I watched Google’s Searchology event last week I couldn’t help but think that this phrase also applies to the technology and business of search. With each release of search query share statistics Google continues to add share and increase its lead on Yahoo and Microsoft. We see this in the results our clients get each month in Paid Search. Searchology and the release of Universal Search just reinforced the fact that Google is a search company and fundamentally Yahoo and Microsoft are not. Making large acquisitions will not change that – it is either part of a company’s DNA at all levels or it is not. Yes, Google is moving into Apps and other areas but search remains at its core.

So, does this matter to a retailer? I mean after all retailers are not choosing to advertise on Google because they offer the best search results or paid technology (I have often said that even if Google had the Overture platform advertisers would still be there). They go where the traffic is and providing a superior search experience will ultimately be where users start their web experience. If you believe that we are only 5% of the way towards perfect search technology then Google clearly is much further along. Mind the gap indeed.

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