Browser Widgets That Increase Web Traffic by Kevin Dwinnell

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Think of widgets as little single-serving pieces of your web content – easy to pull from your web site and put them wherever they can best boost traffic to your web site.  When you first go to create your own browser theme at BT:Engage, you’ll discover a features tab called Widgets.  You’ll also uncover how powerful a browser theme can be at increasing traffic and visits to your web site.

Here’s what you need to know.

Read the rest of this page »

Posted in BT:Engage | Tags: browser theme, Clearspring, Facebook, Twitter, Web browser, Web traffic, Website, Widget, Widgetbox, widgets, Yahoo | No Comments »

Brand Thunder Unveils “Canvas” and the Ability to Add Any Photo or Image to Your Browser Theme with Just a Click by Patrick Murphy

COLUMBUS, OH (May 28, 2009) — Brand Thunder LLC (http://www.brandthunder.com), the custom browser specialists, today announced the beta release of Canvas, a major advance in Internet browser personalization. This lightweight browser enhancement puts the look and feel of the browser fully in the hands of the user by allowing any picture on their computer, or any image on a web page, to be set as the theme for their Internet browser. Canvas is available for download at http://brandthunder.com/Canvas and represents the easiest method to customize the browser on such a personal level.

“Brand Thunder was built on the premise of allowing users to personalize their browser experience,” said Patrick Murphy, founder and CEO of Brand Thunder. “Today, with Canvas, we radically redefine what that means. There’s no other tool that’s as easy to use and gives this amount of visual control over the user’s existing browser.”

With Canvas installed, users may instantaneously wrap the browser with images or photos found on sites like Flickr and Facebook, even animated gifs by right-clicking the image and selecting “Add to Image Canvas.” Any image added to Canvas becomes part of the “MyPix” button, the equivalent of a browser photo album where the user can switch browser themes any time they wish. Clicking the Manage button allows the user to add and remove images, or to modify the look by changing image position, background color and tiling.

“The browser theme offers one of the most visible customizations for the computer,” Murphy said. “Wallpapers and screensavers have been available for a long time, but once software is opened the wallpaper is hidden. The screensaver is primarily on when you’re not at your computer, so you don’t get to enjoy it much. We’ve put the same kind of personalization and ease of use into an application that is open for hours at a time, the browser.”

Brand Thunder’s browser Booms are free, lightweight active customizations that can include themes, toolbars, sidebars and other content or functionality. With a Boom!, users can switch real-time between any of the browser looks they created without restarting their browser. Canvas works with Brand Thunder’s other Booms! offering a custom browser experience as often as users like.

About Brand Thunder:
Formed in April 2007, Brand Thunder creates custom-browser experiences. Brands enjoy a more persistent connection to their Internet consumer through the custom browser Boom!, which increases website visits and revenue. Through a software installation, end users change the look and feel of their Internet browser into an immersive experience from their favorite sports team, entertainment franchise or Internet site. The custom browser Booms! feature official logos, colors, content and functionality, but can also extend capabilities including video, music players or other Internet widgets. Current business partners and clients include the Huffington Post, Major League Soccer, NASCAR, NBA, NCAA, NHL, Universal Music and Yahoo!. Samples found at http://brandthunder.com/gallery/.

Contact:
Patrick Murphy, CEO
Brand Thunder, LLC
614-408-8202

###

Posted in Press Releases | Tags: brand thunder, Brand Thunder Boom, Branded Browser, browser boom, custom browser, Facebook, Flickr, Huffington Post, Major League Soccer, Patrick Murphy, Yahoo | No Comments »

Oscar Weekend and Leveraging Events for your Company by Kevin Dwinnell

Do you know the event calendar that impacts your business? If not, it’s worth a good look because it can have a material impact on your business, and there are tools that can help.

Sadly, Brand Thunder is not going to the Oscars. Is an entertainment-award Boom (branded browser) in our future? Almost certainly, but we’re not there this year because we have to choose wisely where to spend our limited resources. So, when we mapped out the year of development and our goals, we expected major brands to sign (Thank you NASCAR Nationwide Series, Major League Soccer, Dartmouth College and a host of others). We also expected pockets of development time to build our “non-branded” Booms.

For the non-branded versions, we focused on the holidays knowing they would give us an ongoing deadline and multiple opportunities to refresh a build, maintain an audience and attract a new one. (Self Promotion Warning: Check out our Gallery to see the St. Patrick’s Day Boom. Not only will it get your Irish up, but you can choose one of two styles – Shamrock or Pub.)

If you want to find the relevant events for your business, it’s worth spending time in tools like Yahoo! Buzz or Google Trends. Search volume is a great way to understand consumer demand, and there’s a cyclical nature to this. The patterns of searches for recurring events tend to repeat each year. This will provide you not only with the topics of interest, but when they surface in the mind of the consumer. It’s crushing if your product arrives before the event, but after consumer interest has passed.

Good luck with your special events, and next year we hope you’ll join us at the Oscars.

Posted in Commentary | Tags: Academy Award, brand thunder, Branded Browser, custom browser, Dartmouth College, Google Trends, Major League Soccer, Yahoo, Yahoo Buzz | No Comments »

Why Search Advertising Works in Internet Applications by Patrick Murphy

There are two primary ways to make advertising revenue on the internet – display advertising and search. For our browser themes, search is a natural to include, so it should come as no surprise that Brand Thunder is announcing its relationship with Yahoo! Search, a premier provider in this space (view the press release here). But the question you may ask is “why is search the dominant advertising vehicle for internet applications like browser themes and toolbars?”

Available real estate is the short answer. A search box is small and a critical function that launches a full web page. There’s simply not enough real estate to make banners a significant element for advertisers in most applications. Naturally, there’s a deeper answer that can be explored.
Search enjoys heavy use and includes contextual and relevant search advertising. The ad is directly related to the search term used, or at least it should be, and the advertiser only pays when the user clicks on the ad, not when they view it.

With display ads, when the web page loads and the ads appear, the advertiser is charged – regardless of whether any one looks at or clicks on the ad. (Yes, were ignoring the whole remnant advertising category for the sake of this discussion) Now, think about an application that is open all the time. The potential number of ads that can be served is immense. Combine that with the limited space available in the application itself and both of these elements suppress the power of this space.

What helps the advertiser in the case of custom browser themes is knowledge of the type of person using the theme. Since the browser themes are centered on a single brand, there’s existing data on the demographics of that brand making it more valuable to the advertiser. So, we expect our partners demand some form of placement and anticipate it will come first as a value-add to sponsors that are already buy an advertising package (think sports team sponsorships) to establish a benchmark of performance. Fortunately, the flexibility of our product will allow us to meet whatever the next request is.

Posted in News | Tags: advertising, firefox, search, Yahoo | No Comments »