A bloggers view on search in Europe: Heini van Bergen

Tue 9 December 2008 14:32, Heini van Bergen

[Editor]Today we like to introduce you to a new Searchcowboy: Heini van Bergen. As you may know we asked our bloggers to write a post about their view on the European Search Market. What are their thoughts, how do they see the future of Search in Europe and what is the difference between US and Europe.

This way we want to introduce you to our writers. Today Heini van Bergen makes his debut on Searchcowboys. Heini is Operation Manager at Tribal Internet Marketing and is a speaker at conferences like the last SMX London. Enjoy his posts, I know I’m looking forward to them!

Let’s start with saying that in The Netherlands we have quite an easy job in search. Actually it’s not that easy, but compared to, for instance the UK market, the competition is a lot less. On the other hand, when you achieve top rankings in the UK, the potential volume is great. This was confirmed by several attendees of the most recent SMX event in London.

On a global scale, we have quite an exciting time ahead of us. First of all the down economy we’re right in the middle of. For everybody this is an uncertain period, which we could get out of pretty soon, or it could really get worse. I won’t be surprised if this economic situation turns into something far scarier than just job cuts.

A second development we came across is the way Google (and other search engines) displays its search results. We we’re already used to he blended results which incorporates “other” media like video, images, news, etc.. in the SERP’s, but now it finally looks like Google is really going for personalized search with their SearchWiki.

These developments require a different approach from a search perspective. Yes, these developments can be a threat to our business, but they also contain some huge opportunities.

The major advantage that we as search marketers have is the possibility to measure almost everything. Where other channels often have a grey area of visitor numbers, we have them all and can even track back to what keywords they have used. Even in a down economy sales must go on, because we can prove that our efforts really drive profit, clients can’t ignore search marketing anymore.

The advantage of personalization is that it will make it harder for black hats to spam the SERP’s. The power is in the user’s hands, so they will determine what’s best for them. With this in mind, SEO will transfer more from solely rankings in supporting companies to be the best in their industry and translate this to the web.

So, I’m very curious to know where we are in about six months, but what I’ve learned from almost 10 years in the search industry; It will never be boring ;-).

<Nikesh Arora says ‘don’t wait fo...

Marissa Mayer live on Searchcowboys>

Comment

Google’s New Privacy Policy

Fri 27 Jan 2012, Vitto Christaldi

1 comment

Internet privacy has recently become the hottest topic worldwide. Not to be outdone by the news, Google announced a big change in their privacy policy last Wednesday, ...... read more

The trouble with measuring integ...

Fri 4 Mar 2011, J-P De Clerck

0 comments

The trouble with measuring integrated search and display ads

For years, developers and service providers have worked to provide more and more ways for marketers to track their online marketing budgets. This has built a reputatio...... read more

Search University in Brussels - ...

Fri 25 Feb 2011, Gabriel Goldberg

0 comments

The third edition of the acclaimed Search University in Belgium : a full day intensive search marketing program with real tips, tricks, and cases. Search University gives you concrete insights from International and Belgian Search Marketing professionals, including a keynote speaker from Google US in Mountain View. The initiative and program are supported by Google and Microsoft which contribute with confirmed speakers. This unique event presents real tips, tricks, and cases ...... read more

First Belgian Performance Platfo...

Mon 17 Jan 2011, Gabriel Goldberg

1 comment

First Belgian Performance Platform Launched for Search

Brussels, Tuesday 18 January 2011 - Today, Semetis launches Semetis Intelligence, an innovative web-based performance management platform for Google AdWords campa...... read more