Red Bricks Media’s News Blog

by Craig Hordlow, Chief Search Strategist

Google’s introduction of “Universal Search” in May 2007 caused great buzz. Sergey Brin called it one of Google’s largest updates in years.

Google’s main index now includes video, news, images, maps, and books. Marketers are buzzing with excitement.

Google News results
If you have news, you submit your site for inclusion in Google News (they manually approve publishers). You can do so at:
http://www.google.com/support/news_pub/bin/request.py

Google Mobile News
If you’d like to suggest a site for inclusion in Google News for mobile devices, you can send your submission to mobilenews-source@google.com

Google News Alerts
Here is what Google has to say, followed by my comments:
“In order for a site to be included in Google News Alerts, a couple of things have to happen. First, the site needs to be included in Google News. To see if the site is included in Google News, use our “site:” operator. Simply type [ site:url.com ] into the search box and click “Search News.” For example, to search for Lemur News, you’d type [ site:lemurnews.com ] into the Search Box. Second, the article (the specific article being sent out in the news alert) needs to make it into the top ten Google News results for a particular search term (the term that triggers the email alert). For example, if an article appears in the top ten Google News results for the search term [ primate ], then anyone who’s signed up for the News Alert [ primate ] will receive that article (along with the nine other articles in the top ten).”

My comments:
Google doesn’t want to comment on the second criterion. I have observed that articles with keywords in their titles are more often selected. It is logical, though speculative, that Google will consider news more newsworthy if an article is linked from the homepage.

News Archive Results
Historical news content (available for free or by subscription) can submitted for inclusion in the News Archive Search (http://news.google.com/support/archivesearch/).

Image Results
The best way to get images in Google’s index is to opt-in to the enhanced image search program (http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=48367),
which is in Google Webmaster Tools.

Google has an “Image Labeler”, which is less of a technology than a means of having humans tag images. Your submitted images will be served randomly to users, who will tag the image with keywords. Based on matching criteria, Google will identify and serve the most popular tags.

One last note about images: avoid placing text in images. If you must, use accurate alt attributes. Do not keyword stuff.

Local Results
People like to search geo-specifically. It is valuable to be in the Local Results.

You do so by applying
(http://www.google.com/local/add/lookup?hl=en-US&gl=US). Google verifies your physical presence by sending you a postcard with instructions for verification.

Video Results
Everyone is talking about getting video into Google.
The misconception that abounds is that Google will find “tagged” videos on your site and include them in their index.

Google is only pulling videos from “trusted” video sites such as Google Video, YouTube, and Metacafe. They claim this is for copyright reasons.

When you upload your videos, make sure that descriptive keywords are used in its title.

Final Thoughts
Universal Search represents a significant change in Google’s index, however, marketers should scrutinize each Universal Search channel. It is easy for a new buzz channel to have allure, and therefore it is the marketers’ responsibility to approach Universal Search with reason and not emotional exuberance.

by Ben Kou, Account Manager

Whether you’re an Armageddon scholar or not, you can’t help but notice that the price of gas keeps climbing, Vladimir Putin is sending submarines to claim the North Pole, and China is slowly kicking America’s butt economically. Throw in some radical Middle Eastern terrorist groups and it’s not completely absurd to imagine all these elements fomenting another world war over the most precious resource on the planet – oil.

In fact, such a scenario is so easy to imagine that THQ built their latest first-person shooter, Frontlines: Fuel of War, on this exact premise. It’s the Red Star Alliance (China, Russia and a handful of former Soviet States) against the Western Alliance (read – US, England, and Europe) in another war to end all wars.

What does Red Bricks Media have to do with all this? In order to build interest in advance of the official release of Frontlines: Fuel of War, THQ contracted Red Bricks Media to concept, design and manage an alternate reality game allowing players to experience the frontlines of tomorrow, today.

After signing up to play at http://www.exeoinc.com, players become involved in an online search to uncover just how another world war could come to fruition. After reading blogs, discovering secret YouTube channels, befriending characters on Facebook and phoning in covert rescue missions, players discover the who, what, where and when in the world of Frontlines: Fuel of War.

“We wanted people to interact with real online channels like Facebook, Flickr and Google search in order to feel like all this is really happening, that there is a real Exeo Incorporated out there developing futuristic weapons and peak oil research and selling it to the highest bidder,” related Red Bricks Media CEO, Ed Kim.

Red Bricks Media upped the reality factor by using paid search as the backbone of the campaign. “You might be searching for real world news, say things like ‘North Pole oil reserve’ and you would come across one of Exeo Incorporated’s ads and click on it thinking it was real. Almost immediately, you become aware that something’s not right,” noted Media Director Andrew Leinicke. “It’s all just part of the game.”

Even fictitious characters in the Frontlines: Fuel of War game get in on the action. War journalist Wayne Andrews has his own blog on Wordpress (www.wayneandrews.wordpress.com) which describes his mysterious disappearance after discovering a secret Exeo Incorporated facility in the deserts of Iraq.

“I kind of feel like Orson Welles reading War of the Worlds over the radio,” said copywriter Peter Vaughan. “I hope people don’t get too freaked out by all this, but at the same time I think we all wanted to create a concept that would raise some eyebrows.”

To get in on the Countdown to War action, visit http://www.exeoinc.com – but remember, it’s only a game.

by Lauren Quan, Associate Marketing Manager

Guests who attended our recent NYC Open House party saw our first mobile marketing campaign in action. We set up a simple text messaging trivia game to test our guests’ knowledge of our New York-based clients for the chance to win an iPhone.

To start the game, guests text messaged the keyword “Applecado” to a predetermined short code. The contest, a series of five questions, was conducted entirely via automated text message. After receiving the first question, guests could text message their answers. They continued on in the game only if they got the previous question right.
Red Bricks Media’s mobile vendor tracked campaign data in real-time, keeping detailed statistics of phone numbers, dates, and times that messages were sent and received.

Red Bricks Media’s CEO Ed Kim predicts mobile marketing will become increasingly popular over the next few years. “Mobile marketing is a trend to watch in 2008,” he says. “A challenge for marketers has always been reaching consumers while they are on the go, and with mobile marketing you can bridge that gap.”

Although mobile is a new service offering for Red Bricks Media, mobile marketing strategy is similar to that of a current service line – email. “People may not realize that mobile marketing and email marketing are actually very similar,” explains Ed. “Both channels can be used to acquire new customers and market to in-house lists. More than half of our senior management team came from a background in email, and our experience will undoubtedly help shape our mobile strategy. ”

In addition to trivia-based campaigns, Red Bricks Media can set up more complicated campaigns including polls, voice and image messaging, and ringtone giveaways. Contact sales@redbricksmedia.com today and learn how you can use mobile to captivate your audience while they are on the go.

by Bain Smith, Lead Copywriter

Red Bricks Media recently completed a video project for San Francisco SAFE (Safety Awareness for Everyone), a non-profit organization that helps organize and educate the communities and neighborhoods of San Francisco about crime prevention and personal safety.

In the spring, Red Bricks Media approached San Francisco SAFE to present employees with information about crime prevention and personal safety in the San Francisco office. In discussing Red Bricks Media’s needs, it also became clear that SAFE had a need of its own that Red Bricks Media could help with: creating a video for SAFE’s fundraiser on October 11, 2007.

Red Bricks Media CEO, Ed Kim, elaborated. “Social responsibility is one of our core values. We really want to use our marketing know-how, creative expertise and overall enthusiasm to support local non-profits, organizations, charities and schools. This video project was a perfect way to help this incredibly unique non-profit by producing a video that helped them raise money at their fundraiser.”

With San Francisco’s murder rate on the rise despite expanded law enforcement efforts and budgets, the community organizing and policing that San Francisco SAFE spearheads have become more important than ever in helping neighborhoods come together to combat crime and create more close-knit communities in San Francisco.

I volunteered to oversee the production and filming of the video. We filmed most of the footage of SAFE events, Neighborhood Watch meetings and San Francisco scenery over the course of three months, and I conducted numerous interviews with the indispensable help of designer Josh Borgschulte and fellow copywriters Kathy Guis and Peter Vaughan. Interactive designer Alan Peng also contributed an excellent Flash intro using the SAFE logo in the opening credits.

San Francisco SAFE showed the seven-minute video, titled One City, Many SAFE Neighborhoods, at their gala fundraiser on October 11th, attended by San Francisco Chief of Police Heather Fong, and San Francisco supervisor Ross Mirkarimi. The gala successfully raised money for San Francisco SAFE to continue growing and improving its crime prevention efforts in San Francisco. Specifically, the money raised at the event will help San Francisco SAFE start at least 50 new Neighborhood Watch groups across the city in 2008.

Reached for comment about the video, Oona Gilles-Weil, program director for San Francisco SAFE, stated, “Everyone’s feedback about the film has been very positive. People loved the film and it added so much to a very successful evening! Thank you Red Bricks Media!”

You can watch the video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UHZBhAj8vQ

About San Francisco SAFE
San Francisco SAFE helps residents, police, and community groups work together to create safe, vibrant neighborhoods by providing violence prevention education, public safety information and community organizing services. San Francisco SAFE believes that everyone who lives, works and visits in San Francisco has the right to be safe.

Visit SF SAFE’s Website