A few thoughts on the iPad…

From Gareth Owen, Head of SEO…

“Calls to action in TV ads will be hugely important for SEO – the iPad will be sat on someone’s lap while they watch TV and it will be SO easy to get them to do a search for ‘LCD TVs’ and click on the Dixons result. Even if it is in P5 you can still ask people to do it – the clickthroughs from that alone are a massive ranking factor.

Beyond SEO, I think this does cement a whole new way of advertising to people on TV – ‘Download our app now’, ‘play our quiz game now for 10% off’. 

What the iPad really introduces, more than anything else is the world of micropayments. If someone asks me to put in my card details to pay 60p so I can view some content I won’t bother. If it asks me to do it through my iTunes via a one-click ordering system, I might. The success of this can be demonstrated by Amazon, with an enormous conversion rate and sales via the mobile version of their site that would put anyone to shame.”

From Betina Bell, Account Manager…

“As its mobile predecessor experienced, the announcement of the iPad has come under intense scrutiny for all its perceived failings as a kind of computer, kind of mobile. However, what these non-believers fail to comprehend is that it isn’t masquerading at all. In fact, it is plugging a gap and fulfilling a demand where there previously was none – an achievement in itself. Providing wider accessibility with its simple aesthetic and promising covetability from those around you, including, albeit through gritted teeth, those disapproving non-believers.

For Display, it remains to be seen whether it will enjoy the same success and cult status as its smaller kin. We’ll be eager to segment and target to understand the demographic of its users and keen to see how advertisers react to its lack of Flash support. Our challenge as marketers is how to engage users, if this is to be a coffee table product. Given that the first model doesn’t allow a machine to machine connection, the iPad is very much challenged by the all-consuming TV.”