Friday, April 29, 2005

AK Works Returns

AK Works took a break from publishing this blog but now we're back!

Since our last post, the interactive marketing industry has been very active with Yahoo and Google pumping out new products almost neck to neck.

Saved Search Histories
Google came out with My Search History and a week later Yahoo came out with My Web. Both are versions of saved search histories which saves your searches as you surf the Internet. In essence, instead of bookmarking your favorite sites, Google or Yahoo can save it automatically for you.

Ads in RSS, XML Feeds, and More!
Google also made news with a new AdSense beta-test: AdSense in RSS feeds! Currently in testing with only 1 site, Google is testing if AdSense can work in RSS feeds at Longhornblogs.com. Unlike previous tests by Google competitors, this test includes the ad within the post, not in a separate ad-only posts.

Yahoo has already been experimenting with RSS ads and earlier this year, Kanoodle and Moreover teamed up to offer RSS ads.

Contextual Image Ads
Google and Yahoo continued head-to-head competition by announcing new contextual image ads testing. Google's plan allow advertisers to choose publishers for ad placement. While some feel this option will be great for advertisers, there are already detractors who say advertisers can go directly to the publishers themselves and cut out the middleman - Google.