Google Chrome Address Bar Search Generates Internal Site Search Queries

I stumbled across a feature in Google Chrome today that I wasn't aware of.  First off you can use the address bar for search, everyone knows this, type something in and it displays a Google search results.  Today I was doing some SEO testing and typed in - Sears.ca Lawn Tractor - to see where we ranked.  To my surprise the result was the Sears.ca search results page not the Google Search results.  It seems that when you type in a URL and a keyword after it Google then executes a search query on that site.  A great user experience but I wonder how, if and when Google will monetize this.  It takes queries away from the auction and, for us retailers, it dives the customer into a deep relevant landing page - the internal search results for the query.  Maybe in the long run it will be treated like a brand term but for now this is a very interesting advancement for Chrome and the overall browser experience.

Here is an example:

Starting a search in the address bar on Google Chrome - notice that the second option is an internal search query.

When I add the keyword, in this case lawn tractor, the sears.ca keyword turns into a "Search sears.ca" icon:

I complete the search and instead of the expected Google search results page I am delivered the internal search results for the lawn tractor query just if I had done it on the site:

So far it seems to work on most of the major sites but not all are included.  In Canada, from an eCommerce perspective, it seems to only work on a few sites - Sears, Amazon & eBay.  Not sure what triggers it to work and I haven't found any info about this online, yet, so we will have to keep our eyes open.  All in, it is an interesting browser addition, improves the user experience and helps drive relevant results to the consumer.

Failure is a Good Thing - Fail Fast, Learn and Try Again

One of the stumbling blocks that many retailers have when growing their online channel is the fear of failure.  The idea of this post is not push the idea that you should not fear failure, but that fear keeps you sharp and we need to challenge the idea of failure within an organization.  In the end what we all want to do is fear and avoid total failure but small failures can be good. In fact by encouraging the small failures you may be reducing the overall risk of the business / project failing.


First off you need learn from failures, it means you are pushing the envelope, trying new things out and driving the business at a fast pace.  Things happen, even the best laid plans, the deepest analytical model or the most detailed project plan will see unexpected change.  Analysis paralysis is the enemy here, best is to understand the opportunity, have the talent in place to understand how to take advantage of it and get an execution plan that makes sense for the business.  If this fails then learn from it so that: A. You don't fail again in the same manner, and B. The learnings are applied to drive the business forward.


Secondly, if you fail you need to fail fast.  Ensure that you have built an agile model and organization that can support fast failure.  This means than you are willing to walk from projects that are not showing the expected results.  Failing fast reduces the overall organization risk and ensures that good dollars are not thrown after bad.  It is much harder than you think to build an organizational culture to support this and I'm sure we all have experiences where a dead project was kept on life support.


Thirdly, you need to ensure that the team understands it is OK to fail if the first two points are embraced.  A team that is afraid of failure becomes bureaucratic, slow and not willing to take chances or ownership of initiatives.  This will hurt your business.  To avoid this you need to champion fast failure and call out the success of what was learned and applied.  A failure shouldn't be treated like the plague or swept under the carpet, it should be openly talked about, the learnings shared and the team involved acknowledge for their drive to grow the business.


The above three points have limits, but it provides a framework from which you can build and reform your culture for success.  Changing the fear of failure can have massive impacts on a organization and the best way to see if your company is setup for success is to ask yourself the question "When was the last time you failed?"

Is Google Wave a Tsunami for Social Media Plays?

Today Google announced Google Wave - What is a Wave you ask?  Google defines it as "A "wave" is equal parts conversation and document, where people can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more."  


From what I take, from the limited information they have posted on their site / blog, is that Google Wave is a tool from which you can consolidate all of the conversations you have going on and use it as a personal hub online between friends, other social sites / feeds and content.  They promote it as a platform which supports real time conversations and allows for injections from other social media platforms.

This is still in the very early stages but this really could be a tsunami on the social media space.  Being able have all of your conversations on one dashboard really changes the game and could mean that Google doesn't need to acquire any players in the space (insert today's Twitter rumor here) while still gaining a dominate position in the social media marketplace. 


In the end it will all come down to relevance and utility for the user.  This is more than just a friend or networking application but potentially a hard core productivity tool.  It will be interesting to see how this plays out, like Android this is an open source platform so development could come pretty quick and if we see mass adoption it allows Google to be a very strong hub for social media, and, just think, not long ago Open Social launched making it easier to share between platforms....I wonder if they where thinking ahead .


If you want to sign-up for the pilot you can do it here, but as of now a launch date is not set.

Lesson from Lost Generation Video

A great video, a great message and something we all need to think about.  Change just isn't happening in the world around us but it requires change in how we choose to interact with it.

The creators of the video deserve credit, it is one of the better put 

together ads I have seen in a while.  

Finished Second place in the AARP U@50 Challenge and was 

based on a concept from a political advertisement from Argentina. 

Google Profiles - Helping Control Your Brand Online

We all search our name to see what shows up on Google, now we have the ability to influnece the results with Google Profiles.  It is an very interesting play for Google, everyone wants to control their personal brand and this allows Google to continue to get more of a foothold in the Social Media / Networking space.  The profile, at this point, is pretty simple. A basic bio, the ability to add images, contact info and links out to all of the other social networks, blogs and / or sites the user is affiliated with.  But you can imagine where they can take this.

One interesting feature is that Google, at least with the other Google products, suggest links that help with building your social graph, expanding on this with Open Social and the opening of Facebook Google could continue to evolve profiles as a kind of master dashboard for an individual online.  They would be able to drive this by the plain fact that the profile would show up high in search results giving it value to the user, hence answering the question why would I want to build another profile and provide information to Google.

Here is how they are showing profiles in the search results, although I haven't been able to replicate it yet.

Here is my profile http://www.google.ca/profiles/simonrodrigue and as you can tell from the way your name is included in the URL you don't wait to set yours up .

Analytics in a Retail World - eMetrics Presentation

I've attached the presentation delivered at eMetrics on April 1st in Toronto.  The main point is that the role of the analyst is to grow the business, so stop running reports and start telling stories.

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Presentations & Spre analytics emertics toronto

Building a Dynamic eCommerce Team

Bryan Eisenberg and I had a chat last week regarding building an eCommerce team, take a look we would love to have your comments.

In the end one of the themes that seemed to resonate is that it is about the people and not the positions. Great people make great businesses so you shouldn't be afraid of bringing people onto your team even if you don't have a matching position at the time.

The other side of this is that you need to always be looking and seeing who is on the market, looking to make a change or a star that can help take your business to the next level. Talent is the base of any successful business and this is just as important in our industry as any other.

Building up the Sears.ca Team

At Sears.ca we are continuing our quest to build the best eCom team in Canada.  So if you enjoy working in an innovative fast paced environment where you can make a difference while being part of one of the top eCommerce players in Canada then take a look at the positions we have open below:


French Translator Online Copywriter:Responsible and accountable for translating or writing of online marketing messages, call to actions, and information pages. Must ensure translation or copy provided is consistent, and follows Company brand style guides. Provide guidance and direction on best practices for Marketing in 'French' to ensure that the 'translated' marketing messages provide the optimum customer experience.



Online Copywriter:Responsible and accountable for writing compelling response driven online marketing messages, call to actions, and information pages. Must ensure messages are consistent, follow Company brand style guides and strike the right balance between style and substance.



Web Designer - e-Commerce:  Sears Canada websites are updated on a weekly basis based on different marketing objectives and goals. The Designer is responsible for creating assets to be used on the website including assets for (but not limited to) the homepage, category landing pages, product pages, banners, emails etc. These may include photo retouching and enhancements and the design animated GIFs and Flash animated banners.



Internet Business Process Manager: The purpose of this position is to effectively manage team resources to ensure three key areas of excellence. Projects, Quality Assurance (QA) and Site Performance. Direct and coach the team in the co-ordination, planning the execution of all project and business processes driven activities within ecommerce towards the achievement of business goals / objectives. Lead the QA team to ensure issues are identified and addressed as well as certify deployments across all sites and ensure site performance is optimized at all times.



Online Project Manager: Communicate with eCommerce leadership team regarding overall project plan health through an overall project management scoreboard and a weekly PM update. Understand the current progress of all projects from a timeline, deliverable and project perspective. Overcome obstacles to ensure all projects are delivered on time and on budget. 



Senior Web Designer:The purpose of this position is to create visual site creative (both flash and static), that address business, brand, market, and user requirements. Participate in user- interface design initiatives and design prototyping including flowcharting, navigation, communication of conceptual ideas, design rational and execution of prototypes. Provide mentoring to other interactive team members who will execute the specific detailed creative elements for the site.



Site Merchandiser: The purpose of this position is to own the product merchandising for Sears.ca, working within the process and systems the Site Merchandiser ensures the site is correctly merchandised, measures results and make changes as required. Assists the producer in the production of the flight / promotions plan for Sears Canada's web businesses. Use analytics to make merchandising decision and works on a daily basis to optimize sales.



E-Mail Deployment Specialist: The purpose of this position is to manage the execution of the sears.ca email marketing program, including but not limited to: email deployment, email deployment testing, database management, list segmentation, multivariate testing, web analytic analysis, reporting and evaluation.



French Search Engine Marketing Analyst: Create and implement Search Marketing campaigns for each marketing campaign that the company is intending to offer in the French Canadian Market. Lead the development, review, analysis, and continuous improvement of the Sears.ca processes / practices to ensure a maximized profitability through improved margins, increased customer satisfaction, and improved market share. Improve ad relevancy through taking anticipated events / promotions into consideration when creating ads. Examine and monitor the Return on Investments / CPA goals and data, media buying cycles, Web site architecture, marketing philosophy, target demographics, etc. 



Interactive Marketing Specialist:The purpose of this position is to be responsible for strategic planning, program management and program execution. The Specialist is concentrated within the email marketing and affiliate marketing spheres.



Online Community Specialist:The purpose of this position is to develop and grow the Sears.ca social media environment. The role involves three main objectives: build online communities on Sears.ca, build partnerships with stakeholders to increase participation within the communities and communicate valuable information to internal stakeholders from insights gained from the online community.

Senior Site Deployment Specialist: Work with various business teams to develop and create banners and online advertising in order to maximize the effectiveness of the pages and services that sears.ca offers, which will assist in meeting the business' project deliverables. Review and analyze web site content and determine the appropriate content to be published. Provide facilitation and support, as needed, to ensure the most cost effective programs and processes are utilized.