Q. What is search engine optimisation? How does it work? Who does it? How are the deals struck for the same? What are the parameters of judging its performance?

A. Search engine optimization involves techniques to improve how a Web site ranks in the search engines. It could be done by the web site in house or use services of professional firms who specialize in search engine optimization. Professional firms that specialize in search engine optimization charge around $2000 for a small site and around $10,000 is common for big companies. The ranking of your website on search engines is the judge of the search engine optimization exercise.

Q. Could you please explain, what is the role of radio or audio on the internet?

A. There is nothing like hearing a real voice to enhance one's experience on the net. The good news is that unlike video, audio on a website does not come with the bandwidth demands of video. A connection speed of 28.8k or higher is good enough to enjoy FM quality sound without buffering and other problems that beset video.

Internet Radio, or audio on the site is increasingly finding use on websites today, for business as well as purposes that involve improving the user experience. Thus, you can archive key training pitches in audio on your site, for your sales force to access wherever they are.

Audio descriptions of products can also make a real impact on marketing, and sales conversions on websites.

Expect to hear a lot more on websites, in the coming months.

Q. Who decides on banner sizes on the net? Is there a ready source with demos available?

A. Banners, stamp slots, buttons and the whole lot of creative billboards you see on websites have come through a process of evolution, until a few sizes and features were found to be better than most.

A good reference for the usual sizes is iab.net, or the website of The Internet Advertising Bureau.

You will find most websites using banner sizes as laid down in the IAB standards pages. What the IAB does not recommend is banner weights, and the simple rule there is, the lighter, the better, without compromising on the creative idea of course.

Q. What is WAM?

A. WAM stands for "Web Ad Machine", offered by some sites. It is an interactive program that allows you to order a Web ad over the Internet. You select the options you would like, enter the applicable text, and submit your order. The particular site will post your ad according to the timeline you have requested. You will then be billed accordingly.

Q. What is clickstream analysis?

A. On a Web site, clickstream analysis (sometimes called clickstream analytics) is the process of collecting, analyzing, and reporting aggregate data about which pages visitors visit in what order - which are the result of the succession of mouse clicks each visitor makes (that is, the clickstream). There can be two kinds of clickstream analysis, traffic analysis and e-commerce analysis.

Traffic analysis tracks how many pages are served to the user, how long it takes pages to load, how often the user hits the browser's back or stop button, and how much data is transmitted before a user moves on, etc.
E-commerce analysis is used to keep track of the shopping behavior of the surfer like what pages he lingers on, what the user puts in or takes out of their shopping cart, and what items the user purchases, etc.

Q. What is Blog?

A. A frequent, chronological publication of personal thoughts and Web links. It is like a personal diary on the Web.

People maintained blogs long before the term was coined, but the trend gained momentum with the introduction of automated published systems, most notably Blogger at blogger.com. Thousands of people use services such as Blogger to simplify and accelerate the publishing process.

Blogs are alternatively called web logs or weblogs. However, "blog" seems less likely to cause confusion, as "web log" can also mean a server's log files.

Q. Do cell phones actually trasmit electromagnetic radiation? Being in a sales job, I am a heavy user of cell phones. How can I protect myself from such radiation?

A. Yes Avijit, cell phones really do emit electromagnetic radiation, but its effect on human health is widely debated. Here's how cellphones emit radiation: When you talk on the mobile, a transmitter encodes the sound of your voice into a "sine" wave, which radiates out from the antenna. However, since most users place the phone against the head during a conversation, it is believed that there is a good chance that some of the radiation will be absorbed by human tissue. for heavy mobile users, continuous exposure to radiation can also heat up this tissue.

However, how much of this radiation is unsafe, and if there are any potential long-term effects of cell-phone radiation exposure, is still being debated by scientists. No study to date has provided conclusive evidence that cell phones can cause any adverse health effects.

Meanwhile, to reduce your risks, you must use a hands-free headset. Some experts also suggest that you must limit phone use inside buildings and make call in open spaces as often as possible.

Q. Marketers have long been talking directy to their potential consumers through the snail mail and email. When do you forsee marketers targetting people through their mobile phones? What kind of technology will be required for that to happen?

A. Sukanaya, mobile phone marketing is already emerging as a popular marketing tool for companies. And the reasons are simple. It is cheap, and doesn't really require heavy, high-end technology -- it can be done with something as simple as mobile messaging!

With text, rich video, audio, music, colour or graphics, mobile messages are already playing an important role in companies' marketing strategies worldwide, and are beginning to gain a stronghold in India as well.

How does mobile marketing work? Very simply, messages aren't sent directly to users, but are stored and forwarded via networks or small message service centres. Users opt in to receive SMS, either registering for free or subscribing to fee-based services (just like they do to e-mail newsletters or ad campaigns).

Mobile-messaging services are expected to top $5 billion by 2008, according to Frost & Sullivan, a US-based marketing consultant.

Q. Which is the most popular form of internet advertising?

A. The most widely used form of online advertising is banner ads. In fact, they have become nearly as ubiquitous as the Web itself. Advertisers generally hope a banner ad will do one of two things. Ideally, a visitor to the publisher site, the Web site that posts the banner ad, will click on the banner ad and go to the advertiser's Web site. In this case the banner ad has brought the advertiser a visitor they would not have had otherwise. The banner ad is a real success if the visitor not only comes to the site but also buys something. Failing a click-through, advertisers hope that a publisher site visitor will see the banner ad and will somehow register it in their heads -- an effect normally referred to as branding.

Banner ads have come under a lot of fire of late and their effectiveness has been doubted. However, banners still remain the mainstay of online advertising. The development of alternative advertising units which supplant the banner is something which is being considered, yet, it will need something phenomenal to root out the most popular form of online advertising.

Q. What is Shoshkele in internet advertising?

A. It is an online advertising technology created by United Virtualities. Named after the company founder's daughter, this browser driven, interactive ad technology allows marketers the flexibility to create very sophisticated online advertisements that can include high-quality animation and stereo sound. This technology is the original "layered ad technology" first in the market since 1999.

The technology has attracted several offline brands since it successfully allows TV commercials to be converted into high-quality, engaging online ads. Not only does this maintain consistency of the brand message but is also minimise cost by not having to develop ads for the Web only.

This technology also gets rid of another online advertising disincentive which is ads impeding the download of web pages. Shoshkele uses 'polite download' which means that the ads download after the site content has been downloaded.

Coming to the question of effectiveness of this technology in generating response for the advertiser, click-through rates for these ads averaged between 5 and 25 percent.

Q. Is the net an integral part of the media mix of brick and mortar companies in India?

A. The Internet is now not just an integral but an essential part of the media mix of brick and mortar companies in India. Despite the hoopla of the dotcom boom and the subsequent crash, the Internet is now increasingly being used by marketers to add the interactive dimension to their marketing communication mix. The reason is simple. The Internet allows accountability, flexibility and interactivity at costs which is incomparable with any other media. Not to mention the minimal spillover effect and narrow casting possibility this media brings to marketers and advertisers. The medium is also the medium of the young with the youth spending more and more time on the Internet. This is validated by all research studies conducted on the Indian consumer's media consumption habits.

Today all major FMCG companies, automobile and banking organisations, beverages, you name it, are using the Web to reach out to its audience effectively. Nestle, Britannia, Coke, ICICI, Foster's, Colgate to name a few have like many others used the Internet to launch products, conduct promotions, generate sales leads with significant success.

Q. What are ad serving networks? What is the advantage of using one?

A. If a site is large in terms of traffic and advertising is the primary source of revenue, it opts for an ad serving network which is primarily an outsourced process for ad scheduling, serving and targeting. An ad serving network also allows advertisers the option to view reports online on a real-time basis.

One option is to purchase a commercial software ad server like NetGravity or Real Media's Open AdStream etc. These will allow managing the process of ad serving tasks in-house, which implies using your own in-house resources. On the other hand an ad network like DoubleClick are professional outfits which will not only provide the software but also handle the entire ad serving process. These networks apart from providing professional services for ad serving, also buy advertising space in bulk and in turn sell it to their clients. In India, an example of such an outfit will be Media Turf.

Q. Where will SMS be ten years hence?

A. SMS has taken Asia and Europe by storm, and the potential in North America is nothing short of staggering. With WAP solutions moving slower than many had envisioned, SMS may be poised for a quantum leap forward. With the right vision, and bold, forward-thinking strategies, SMS providers stand to realize enormous gains. Of course there will be competition from other mobile messaging offerings such as WAP-based email, paging services, instant messaging, and short-range radio. SMS however emerges time and again the winner, especially as the service evolves into Enhanced Messaging Services and Multimedia Messaging Services. On the revenue front, the predictions are that from SMS services, it is poised to increase 7 fold by 2005.

The following are areas where SMS has great potential and is likely to evolve in

• Customized SMS applications for niche markets, similar to developments in GPRS and WAP.

• A variety of low cost and/or free SMS services will be directed at mass markets in order to retain customers and to address the high churn rates of the operators. Competition will force the market into this direction

• Permission based marketing

Q. "How is media planning and media buying done in the case of internet advertisements? Does any agency specialises in it?"

A. The basic for media planning and buying are the same for most media. For the online I feel advertising is truly the perfect marriage between art and science. In Online advertising, we apply very structured testing matrices into our campaigns that allow for immediate action and optimisation to improve the performance of a campaign. The target audience can be narrow-casted depending on the campaign requirement and there is more accountability built into the campaign. There are new media planners who specialise in this job. All big ad agencies are now realising the potential of Internet advertisng and have established specialised interactive divisions. Some of them are:

Q. 'If a company (A) is handling the IT infrastructure of another company (B) across the country, what are the communication tools that they can adopt to get to the users (Employees of company B) and highlight the effort that that goes behind the scene?'

A. Company A can set up an Extranet to communicate with the employees of company B. Setting up an extranet requires skilled IT professionals so as to take care of security concerns and accessibility controls. It involves developing a customer interaction management system for both inbound and outbound multi-channel communication system that captures and tracks contacts, profiles, activities and interactions across all channels and third party systems.

Q. What effect will the recent merger between Idea and Escotel have on the Indian telecom industry as a whole?

A. The Idea –Escotel merger will result in the Indian telecom market controlled by large integrated players including Bharti, Reliance, Hutch or BSNL. This situation is typical of an oligopoly market that has it advantages and disadvantages.

Q. The choice of selection of media has changed enormously-what are the new and innovative options available in this context?

A. The advent of mobile net and the internet has led to an increased level of personalization and customization. As compared to print and television media, mobile net and the internet are a two way communication medium that can get immediate customer feedback. Companies can reach their target audiences through mobile phones, e-mail with customized offers. Ex. Banks have the income status data of its customers. Based on this data it can send through sms, schemes it has for each income group. Thus leading to a more concentrated and targeted marketing effort.

Q. '1. What are the strength, weakness, opportunity and threats for the cellular operators?
2. What is the health and status of their product lines/brands?

A. 1) Strengths:

· Technically educated, motivated and intelligent workforce, who if given proper incentives like quality living and benefits, can be retained in India.
· India possesses cheap labor to attract foreign investments.
· Telecom software, telecom professionals, telecom infrastructure and telecom services are the key players in shaping today’s economy.
· Revenue sharing strategies are leading to mergers and acquisitions, helping companies to enter new business opportunities, and generate employment, boosting the country’s economy.
· Government has already started relaxing rules for foreign participants.
· Software exports from Software Technology Parks are a huge potential business.
· Though global telecom picture looks gloomy but India possesses the competitive advantage in terms of its huge market size and many undeveloped areas.

Weaknesses:

· Bureaucracy and politics tremendously affects the business policies
· Slow reform process and slow liberalization affect the changes and makes the progress slow
· Foreign companies wanting to invest in India are put off due to continuously changing rules and lax policies
· Since 1994 reform process, telecom density has only gone up to 3 as compared to the global average of 14.

Opportunities:

· Lot of new entrants in the telecom business are bringing investment opportunities
· Economic liberalization is bringing a significant amount of progress
· Telecom educational institutes are coming up to keep the professionals at par with the changing technology
· New opportunities are generating more employment and creating a knowledge-based economy
· Bundling of services has lot of potential in today’s market.
· Increased availability of bandwidth has opened doors to new schemes making efficient usage, providing value added services and generating profits.

Threats

· Regulatory and tariff changes especially in the cellular operations are constant threats.
· China’s early liberalization and the fast growing economy may prove to be a hindrance for India
· Price regulations based on pre-set rate of return hinder the growth
· Young, hardworking and intelligent workforce want to leave the country due to poor economic conditions and exploitation.
· Indian businesses take time or can’t survive due to the constantly changing technology and fast-paced nature of telecom business.

2) Cellular mobile telephony industry was opened to the private sector in 1992. Several new entrants have done well, and the industry is quickly moving to maturity, due to the attractive technology, marketing and competitiveness. Stiffer competition, new entrants, and developments in the limited-mobility industry have given opportunities as well as posed challenges, generating appropriate responses. India's cellular phone industry is considered as one of the world's fastest growing markets.

Q. How do you come to know the readers profile for a particular web site, I mean age group, qualification, economic status etc., and what are the sources and parameters for

A. Generally all websites have registration forms through which they capture the profile of their users. Once this data is captured, websites can study the movement of their surfers with the help of software’s like Web Trends. These software’s assist websites in determining surfer behaviour so as to deliver as per surfers requirements.

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