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Should Internet Access be a Public Utility?

Posted by Gerad Hoyt on January 30th, 2013 at 1:37 pm

Click to View the Full Infographic

We live in a country that generates the second largest amount of web traffic in the entire world, yet a startling 100 million people in this country, or one-third of the population, do not have broadband Internet access. This compares poorly with countries like South Korea, where 94% of residents have high speed Internet, and yet only 70% of Americans have it. How is it that the United States government is not recognizing the importance of the Internet to communications by making it as accessible as a public utility?
The US is lagging behind in three important areas:

Providing high speed Internet access to rural areas
Providing affordable high speed Internet, so even those with a low income have access
Providing speeds that meet the needs of today’s Internet users.

The Reasons for Limited Access
Despite the fact that the United States was the country to introduce the Internet to the world, it has not kept up with providing adequate access to the masses. Part of the problem lies in the geography of this country. Running wires to provide high speed Internet access in every part of this huge country is a very pricey endeavor. However, this is only the tip... Read more

Posted in Opinions, Wireless | 2 Comments »

Are Super Bowl Ads Worth it For Advertisers?

Posted by Gerad Hoyt on January 28th, 2013 at 1:59 pm

Every year companies spend more and more on advertising. The big names that consistently advertise in
the Super Bowl, like Anheuser-Busch, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola General Motors and Walt Disney keep coming
back, so there must be significant value in doing so. In fact the exposure that comes from a Super Bowl
ad comes down to about 3 cents per viewer, which is actually a very smart investment.

Posted in Ad Networks, Media Planning & Buying | 1 Comment »

Relationship between Sales and Site Speed

Posted by Gerad Hoyt on December 12th, 2012 at 8:07 am

Much like trending topics on twitter, conversion is a huge topic of conversation for e-commerce business. How can we increase traffic and conversion rate are the top two things an online company is usually focused on. One of the most overlooked aspects of both of those is site speed. Not only does site speed affect the way search engines crawl your site, but it also affects conversion rate.
Typical aspects that may affect site speed are server issues, internet providers, bandwidth and a huge topic is load time. Shoppers expect your page to load fast, whether they are shopping on a typical desktop or laptop, as well as mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. With nearly 10% of shopping now done via mobile device, you're going to want to make sure your site is up to speed.
Here are some quick tips to improve site speed.
1) Use a CDN or content delivery network- For those unfamiliar, these are web servers in separate locations that react to the needs of the content. The server responds based upon which can react the quickest and most accurate.
2) Minimize redirects- It is best to only keep redirects that are absolutely necessary, otherwise remove the page in... Read more

Posted in Opinions, Websites | 2 Comments »

Mobile Insights from Cyber Monday 2012

Posted by Gerad Hoyt on December 11th, 2012 at 3:13 pm

Most of us in the digital marketing field have heard plenty about how big Cyber Monday was this year - online sales reached a record $1.98 Billion according to Adobe's Digital Index.

          View the full infographic from Broadband Blue

While interesting, the thing that truly stood out to me was the explosion of sales via mobile devices. In just one year from 2011 to 2012 mobile sales increased by 234% to $436 Million! This jump to seems to be more than just the march of progress to a more mobile consumer but a foreshadowing of a larger movement that every digital marketer needs to be thinking about. While consumer usage of smartphones is very high, the purchasing power and behavior have yet to catch up, however the data from Cyber Monday as well as various reports is beginning to show that the tide is turning.
Purchasing behavior is on the verge of exploding
Over the past 3 years the percentage of eCommerce dollars spent from mobile devices has steadily climbed as a result of 1.) Rapid developments in smartphones and evolution in their functionality and 2.) More consumers using their mobile devices as their first or only form of internet access, especially those in... Read more

Posted in Emerging Platforms, Opinions, Research, Websites, Wireless | No Comments »