"Wearables data will undoubtedly enhance the search experience": Andrew Jones, head of search account management, Yahoo
The latest judge for this year's The Drum Search Awards to answer questions on the development of the sector is Yahoo's head of search account management, Andrew Jones who talks about his company's paid offering, the impact of wearables and the relationship between programmatic and search.
How did you get into working in search?
I was approached by Overture in 2004 while I was working in the digital sales team at ITV. Talking to contacts in the agency world I was fully aware of paid search and how it was beginning to grow and demand a lot of attention from marketers. When the exciting opportunity came in from Overture to join the team I could not wait to get involved.
Search has quickly become a crucial component to every marketer's brand strategy - but where do you feel it is still falling down generally?
Paid search is still evolving and developing very quickly. New products are being released ever more frequently. It is sometimes difficult for marketers to keep pace, however it is hugely important for everyone associated with the market to continue to develop knowledge of what exactly different products can offer and how they can drive value across different clients and verticals. One size does not fit all in the search marketplace.
Spend through search has become a normal approach over the years, are we near an end to seeing people truly attempts to game the SEO system or will that never go away?
No, SEO will not go away, it is a hugely important way of engaging with audiences. It is important to remember that both SEO and PPC are hugely complimentary of each other. Marketers should not choose one over the other but work on a strategy that encompasses both disciplines to drive engagement. The aim for brands should be to own the search engine results page. Effective SEO and PPC campaigns running alongside each other will undoubtedly help them to do this.
Google dominates the search landscape - in your opinion, how does this affect the sector?
Undoubtedly search marketer's realise there is a quality high converting audience available elsewhere in the search marketplace. The challenge for everyone is to find the time to focus on unlocking the value that exists outside of Google. We are absolutely determined at Yahoo to ensure we provide exceptional service to our paid search advertisers, offering the insight's and optimisation strategy that will make it very easy for them to reach our valuable audience. We are hugely confident that the Yahoo Bing Network provides impressive ROI for all our search advertisers across the sector.
Will wearables or the Internet of Things impact the search sector and if so, how you see that evolving?
The key with wearables will be the data that is gathered on the user during the user's daily routine. The wearable will compile data on where the user shops, where they go for lunch, what station they commute to, etc. This data will undoubtedly enhance the search experience making any search a lot more accurate, personalised and unique to the wearable user. It should enable search marketers to be a great deal more targeted in terms of the audience, identifying key prospects and ensuring that they receive the appropriate message at the most relevant time.
What will you be looking for while judging The Drum Search Awards?
Activity that has used all the insight and data available to ensure that the right consumers have been targeted and reached. Campaigns should be innovative and developed by dynamic, focused and highly motivated teams. I'm also very keen on cross media collaboration that compliments the search activity that is being judged, it is often important to remember that search is often one very important component in a much larger advertising plan.
Programmatic and search are growing in importance to marketers. What do you see the relationship between the two being and how do you see this progressing?
I view programmatic as the searchification of online display advertising. Finally in the display environment the technology is available to enable advertisers to leverage data in a real time environment to ensure they reach the right audience for a particular campaign. As search, native and display converge into a biddable marketplace the skill sets that have been traditional attributed to search marketers are increasingly required in the world of display.
More details on The Drum Search Awards can be found on the dedicated website.