Omniture and Facebook in Ad and Analytics Tie Up
Omniture and Facebook in Ad and Analytics Tie Up
It is reported that today Omniture/Adobe will announce a tie up with Facebook making Facebook more than just a social networking tool. Now how is this going to affect other analytics companies and more importantly non-Omniture clients? Is this an anti-competitive tie in? Will the government intervene (or will they even understand the implications?).
According to Laurie’s article the main purpose of this tie in is to ‘automate .. media buying and access analytics that measure customer engagement.” Omniture is certainly pushing its bid management tool hard these days and this alliance with Facebook could be their crowning glory. However, what are the implications for others? What about Google? What about
“Facebook will allow advertisers to buy the media through Omniture tools. Through the tools, advertisers can also track how the campaign performs. Tools like SearchCenter Plus, that combine search engine marketing application with functions that allow marketers to purchase Facebook ads and compare campaigns.
The analytics and optimization tool enables marketers to see the opportunity to build and reward customer loyalty on Facebook. The platform generates reports specifically designed to understand ad effectiveness for some of the unique elements from Facebook Pages.”
extract from MediaPost Article
So where does this leave WebTrends, AT Internet, Google and Yahoo Web Analytics?
Will Omniture now be the sole company responsible for allowing tagging of fan pages, apps and other marketing efforts via their pages? This causes me a lot of confusion because of the massive impact that this will have on fans. For example AT Internet has been awarded the contract for Britain’s 2018 World Cup bid site, now I know they are only providing the analytics platform and consultancy. However, if the digital strategy managers at London 2018 want to tag up a page will this Omniture/Facebook alliance make it difficult for them to do this?
As web analytics consultants / social media marketeers and Search Marketeers (and the wider forums) need clarification of what limitations will this bring to those using other tools? Tracy Falke, a fellow SES London 2010 speaker and friend, highlights the benefits of this alliance and predicts the end of Google’s internet dominance. However, doesn’t answer what will happen with other analytics vendors.
With the announcement of Facebook’s successful monetisation, their upcoming partnership with Twitter, and their ability to deliver some of the deepest segmentation & profiling available to marketers, it’s no surprise they’ve joined forces with Omniture to tighten up their offering. The proposed changes will make the channel friendlier for everyone using the platform, from SMEs to global corporations. By providing more insight & better metrics, proving ROI on the channel will be a dawdle.
More importantly, as digital marketers, this move will help us offer people what they want, when they want, how they want it. We can find out everything from what films they love, to the times of their peak usage of Facebook. So we’re looking at truly specific and targeted marketing.
For our clients, these moves promise to trim down the costs and time associated with the ‘spray and pray’ approach that the industry has depended on for so long.
Gather ye round, analysts far and wide. Here’s my five year prediction: Facebook will push Google aside. Facebook will be the way we search the internet. ‘Social media’ is dead. It’s no longer a separate set of channels and networks, it’s just the way we do the internet now. People will choose the interfaces they love and are familiar with. As Google scrambles to keep up, Facebook is delivering themselves into the hands of people who will help them most: digital agencies & marketers.
Tracy isn’t the only one that thinks that this is a good thing: 
very nice deal for both parties I would say. And a logical step for Facebook to take. Will make them even a more interesting platform.
Bas van den Beld – State of Search
So far everyone seems to be for this alliance. One additional thing is – will this have a significant impact on the ad impressions for Google? I’d be interested to see how much revenue Facebook contributes to Google’s bottom line…. Wouldn’t you?? Is Mark Zuckerberg and the investors rubbing their hands at the opportunity of topping great Google? Remember who is a $240million dollar investor? Yes it’s Microsoft…and they did this against a counter offer from Google. Was this the strategy all along? Microsoft joining forces to topple Google?
What about the Government? Well the Government recently stopped Project Kangaroo which was canned in 2009 by the Competition Commission because it was a project involving all the major UK broadcasters and therefore was anti-competitive. Then in late 2009 YouTube announced that it was starting to show television series and yet the British Government did nothing (perhaps because it was under US legislation) but, if they are doing this for UK firms then how are we supposed to compete? I wonder if this alliance and the potential impact on advertising revenues will even show up on the Government’s radar or whether they will classify this as anti-competitive. If we go by Bas van der Beld and Tracy Falke (two well respected experts) it looks like my thoughts / opinion are in the minority.
However, lets come back to the question of how it is going to affect other bid management and analytics companies? Webtrends CEO, Alex Yoder, was kind enough to give us a quote following reading the article (Thanks Alex). Clearly he isn’t concerned that is going to upset his roadmap for WebTrends development. However, I do feel that the agencies large/small and the small tool developers are going to be affected negatively.
We are innovating ahead of the curve, others are following. We have the best in class solution focused on helping the marketer easily understand their channels, including Facebook, and maximize their return. From what I can ascertain, Omniture’s announcement is PR for a services offering yet to come. We will continue to innovate and release new solutions before this announcement becomes a reality.
Alex Yoder President & CEO Webtrends Web Analytics Company
Conclusion
Yes this alliance could have probably been predicted it is likely to mean cost effectiveness for Facebook and Omniture is generating a serious revenue stream (which is probably what the Adobe board and its investors want – after all $1.8 billion is a helluva lot of money).
However, as a tool agnostic web analytics consultant I have my reservations about the impact and more importantly what will this mean for Google. They’ve held the dominant position for so long that no one seems to mind and with the release of their Facebook competitor – “Buzz” – recently (despite various privacy flaws). Are we going back to the old ‘Nintendo’ and ‘Sega’ battle in the 80s and 90s when we were kids. Or for another analogy VHS versus BETAMAX – each with their own following and each with their own ad serving technology…. methinks interesting times are ahead.
Related Articles
Laurie Sullivans Article on Omniture and Facebook tie in – MEDIAPOST
Omniture’s Press Room (no announcement currently there – 10am GMT 03/03/10)
Facebook’s Press Room (no announcement currently there – 10am GMT 03/03/10)
AT Internet’s Press Release for 2018 Fifa World Cup Bid – London
Microsoft invest $240 million into Facebook – MSN
Quotes from:
Bas van der Beld @state_ofsearch
UPDATE:
04/03/10 I’ve received a link to the WebTrends Facebook Metrics Landing Page. Strongly suggest that you go have a look and see what they are able to do with tab measurement and more. However, this still doesn’t answer the question whether Omniture will monopolise the analytics and more importantly what is the cost for this analytics solution (even it you’re using another tool like Webtrends, AT Internet, Yahoo Web Analytics or more).
WebTrends Facebook Marketing Measurement.
Miles, this “deal” is not exclusive access to the advertising API. It’s an announcement of capabilities to come “later this year”. If you want the most comprehensive Facebook measurement capabilities, including Facebook ad conversion tracking today, you have to go with Webtrends.
Thanks Justin. I can certainly see that effective Facebook (app, fan pages etc) is going to be a key marketing requirement for 2010 and the future. WebTrends certainly do seem to have a good set of tools and looking forward to learning more about them. However, Ben Gaines has been telling me that Omniture’s toolset is just as effective. I think a whitepaper beckons