International Search Engine Marketing
Google Korea adds new design
Google Korea added a new site design this week. The new design includes pix of hot celebrities & leads to articles on the web. Google which doesn’t have dominance in Korea may be on to something by trying out new things. Maybe they will turn into a search engine for fan sites etc.
You can see the new design yourself at http://www.google.kr
Yahoo & Microsoft Deal Japan & Korea
I’m glad that Yahoo & Microsoft have finally ironed out the search deal between the two companies. Yahoo will eventually switch to using Microsoft Technology for the search engine & Yahoo’s worldwide sales force will head sales for both Bing & Yahoo. Yahoo also is stating that Yahoo’s Panama system will be switched to Microsoft’s Adcenter.
I was asked a few time from individuals across the globe about when will Japan switch over to the Microsoft Adcenter platform. To say it frankly I have a better chance of becoming Japan’s top pop idol compare to Yahoo Japan switching over to Microsoft’s Ad Center.
Unlike other Yahoo corporations Yahoo Japan & Korea are totally seperate companies that actually dominate the market. The word from Yahoo Search Marketing reps is a switch won’t be happening. Microsoft’s Adcenter isn’t even tested in the Japanese market. Yahoo’s paid listings already power Bing. There would be no advantage at all for Yahoo Japan to switch to another technology platform out of their contol.
Korea is in the same situation. It becomes easier to understand the fustration that Yahoo goes through when suddenly developers in the US decide to do system updates in the middle of the nite US time but it’s still daytime here in Tokyo.
Long story short… They might switch technology but it won’t be to Microsoft’s technology for paid listings.
Mixi Update January 2010
Mixi the largest SNS in Japan posted an annoucement that the PC version of the site will be updated on January 6th 2010. Their timing makes perfect since because traffic in Japan will be down from January 1st to the 4th because of New Years Holiday.
Some of the improvements include
Profile changes updates shown as icons to other users
Comment history from community posts, & other people’s posts will go together. (separate might have been better)
My Mix feed a feed of changes updates that friends have made.
For being a long time user of Mixi I think recently they’ve been adding a bit too much features & not concentrating on improving features. They once had a place where I can keep notes on the people who I am connected with & easily write something like user “Far X” is My friend Yugo & when he changes his Icon which never is his face & the user name I can still understand it’s my friend Yugo. They got rid of this memo feature which was very useful.
They also can update the event or community features. Or how about search through your My Mixi to manage the friends? I have 990 people do they know how hard it is to find just one person especially on mobile?
Anyway Mixi will continue to do well I don’t think facebook or twitter will take away from Mixi. Something made in Japan can though.
Is the net divided?
I own a lot of IDN domains related to Japan & really have seen a lot of comments on why people are afraid of using domain names written in other scripts such as Chinese, Japanese, Russian etc.
A few of the most constant comments seem to be
1. For example if the web address is totally in Chinese no one from the US can access the site.
2. If the site owner goes on a business trip to the US, etc he can’t show his site etc.
3. How will the site owner “Expand” his business globally?
4. This will divide the internet.
Well for me the questions all lead up to the last one of dividing the internet.
I have shocking news for you…
The internet is already divided.
SEO, SEM, marketing etc it is all usually targeted towards specific groups in certain countries.
Many people think there must not be many sites in other languages because they don’t come across them.
This is done on purpose. English sites rarely come up for Chinese users because sites in Chinese would much better suit them. Companies in Japan can really make services just catered to Japanese & live well. Not every business needs to go aggressively global. If they do they can get a team in the US, or Europe to build their brand their for them.
It is common for companies in Japan to concentrate online spending with Japanese creatives, targeting Japanese users. Yes you might see some English on creative media but it’s usually a design element. This is the division. Think about it. Are you going to open your business in LA with an English site & target users in Germany? Unless you have great expendable budget & you have a track record of conversions from that area… Probably not.
In the end though division is not always bad. It keeps things uncluttered.