Welcome to our latest update on international digital marketing news. In this week’s update: the relative costs of PPC marketing around the world; Digital the only type of advertising on the up in Russia; Alibaba makes logistics grab; Japan distrusts mobile payment; and the EU discussing stringent security laws.
Study reveals cost per click around the world
Though limited to Google data and search specifically in English, this study over at Searchengineland.com provides an interesting look at cost per click around the world. Based on 15,000 high-volume English search keywords across 20 different industries, the study finds that the most expensive PPC market in the world is the United Arab Emirates – where CPC is 8% higher than the next most expensive market, the United States.
Meanwhile, CPC in Italy, Canada and Germany is as much as 25% cheaper than the United States. The cheapest on the map include several Eastern European countries, Russia and parts of South Africa where the data is likely skewed by the popularity of local engines. Data on China is particularly conspicuous in its absence.
Russian advertising market in decline – except Digital
Russiansearchtips.com notes that the Association of Communication Agencies of Russia (AKAR) has published its quarterly analysis of advertising market trends. According to the data, total advertising spend shrank by 16% year on year in the first two quarters of 2015.
Purse strings are being pulled tighter across TV, radio, print and outdoor advertising: only Internet marketing is seeing greater investment against the background of economic instability. Year on Year growth in the first half of 2015 is 10%, with around 42 billion roubles spent. This shift from branding-focussed spend towards performance measurable advertising is typical of marketing spends in tougher economical climates.
Alibaba ramps up physical presence
Alibaba has announced a $6.9 billion partnership with Suning Commerce, amounting to a 19.99 per cent stake in what is China’s largest consumer electronics retailer. Suning will simultaneously acquire $2.28 billion in Alibaba Shares (a 1.1% stake). The cooperation between the two brands will likely lead to Alibaba using Suning’s logistics network and the brand’s 1,600 stores (in 700 cities). Predictably, Suning are set to open a new store on Tmall.com
Japanese consumers avoid mobile payment
As emarketer.com describes, Mobile shopping may be growing but it is still mostly a “top of funnel” activity in places like the US. Users are content to browse product ranges and narrow down their purchase choices on mobile, but security concerns and usability are keeping them from hitting the “buy” button. The same is apparently true in Japan – even at the most optimistic end of the scale, 64% of 20 to 29 year olds still prefer to use a desktop PC. 94% of 50 to 59 year olds state the same.
Further to this, the survey states that six in 10 respondents said they are “somewhat” concerned about making any kind of digital payment. 13% stated they were very concerned. Reasons cited included privacy and security of personal information (82.6%) and payment fraud (75.1%)
EU draft legislation to propose strict security measures
New rules being targeted at “Digital service providers” by the EU are likely to oblige larger internet companies to implement the highest possible security measures when handling user data. The likes of Amazon and Google would have to implement measures similar to those primarily intended for energy and financial firms. The laws would additionally oblige the companies to report any breaches that could lead to their customer’s information being compromised.
As usual with any EU laws weighing in on data privacy and protection, dissenting voices have expressed that they feel that the Union is out of touch with the realities of doing business on the internet. There are concerns that data protection will take precedence over smaller business’ reliance on so called “big data” – which would be stringently controlled.
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Image credits
Dubai Sunset photo by Flickr user the_dead_pixel
Neo SocRealism 2014 Moscow photo by Flickr user Artem Svetlov
Bike parking photo by Flickr user leighklotz
Untitled, Kyoto 2015 photo by Flickr user Ken Walton