As detailed by Brent Csutoras on Search Engine Land, the company responsible for bringing them back is popular social discovery service StumbleUpon:

...on all content pages within StumbleUpon, you have a single button saying ‘Stumble This’, which when clicked takes you to an iframed version of the content.

Not only are they now iframing all content from the site, but if your logged into StumbleUpon, they are not even offering a way to remove the iframed toolbar, leaving you in stuck in the iframed version of the site. If you are not logged in, then there is an option to click X in the right side of the toolbar to remove it.

Csutoras observes that there hasn't yet been an uproar about StumbleUpon's change, despite the fact that iFrames have caused so much angst before. In the case of the DiggBar, to placate angry users, Digg founder Kevin Rose was forced to backtrack and admitted, "Framing content with an iFrame is bad for the Internet."

Is the lack of widespread anger here an indication that StumbleUpon's relevance has declined? Perhaps, even though unique visitors are apparently way up year-over-year. But regardless, there are more than a few publishers who still get a meaningful amount of traffic and link love from StumbleUpon. And they can't be too happy about this.

At the end of the day, you have to hand it to the iFrame. While it does have uses, it has arguably been one of the most abused 'features' of HTML. But you can count on companies ignoring internet history and using it in the worst ways imaginable.

Econsultancy's Marketing Budgets 2012 Report, published by Econsultancy in association with Experian Marketing Services, shows increasing levels of investment across a range of digital channels and disciplines.

According to the research, based on a survey of more than 500 companies and agencies, more than two-thirds (68%) are increasing their digital budgets for 2012, compared to 45% of companies increasing overall marketing budgets but only 16% saying the same for 'traditional' marketing budgets.

Three-quarters (74%) of companies are investing more in digital marketing technology this year, up from 67% who expressed similar intent a year ago. 

The research also shows an encouraging commitment to address the skills gap within many companies, which we have previously described as 'a ticking digital time bomb'. More than half (56%) of companies say they will recruit more people into their digital teams this year, up from 52% a year ago. 

Despite this progress, 'lack of staff' is still cited as one of the most significant barriers preventing further investment in digital marketing. 

The chart below shows the proportion of companies planning increased investment for specific areas of digital, with more than half of organisations planning to boost budgets in almost every area. (Groupon investors should look away now.)

What best describes your budget plans for the following digital marketing channels or disciplines in 2012?

Commenting on the findings, Mark Zablan, Managing Director, Experian Marketing Services, UK & Ireland, said:  

While spend is increasing, it is little surprise that much of the dynamic growth has been in companies trying to understand, interpret and measure customer behaviour within this increasingly complex marketing ecosystem.

The key to success is turning huge quantities of data into insights which show behaviour not only across channels, devices and platforms, but which also span both the online and offline worlds and drive customer engagement.

Marketers are therefore investing in the tools, technology and people to allow them to deliver greater returns on their campaigns and present insight and results back to the business in a meaningful and incisive way.

The report also looks at levels of investment in offline channels such as printed media and direct mail. Television is the only 'traditional' marketing channel where investment is holding steady rather than declining.

The research shows significant investment in mobile, as businesses seek to engage with the vast numbers of people now consuming information on devices such as smartphones and tablets.  

Zablan added: 

While social networks may dominate media headlines, and are gaining ever-increasing shares of marketing budgets, strong performances by channels such as mobile and TV highlight the vital importance of a multichannel strategy.

The Marketing Budgets 2012 Report, published by Econsultancy in association with Experian Marketing Services, looks in detail at how companies are allocating their online and offline marketing budgets in 2012. 

The report compares spending trends - and ability to measure ROI - across different 'traditional' and digital channels.  

More than 500 companies, mainly from the UK, participated in this research, which took the form of an online survey between December 2011 and January 2012.

The report includes the following sections:

• Marketing budgets
• Investment in technology and resources
• Marketing effectiveness and ROI
• Barriers to further investment

We have identified six key trends:

1. Digital continues to be a key priority for marketers in 2012
2. Companies are recruiting more staff, but shortage of talent is still preventing them from fully harnessing digital marketing
3. More companies embrace digital marketing technology, with a focus on measuring and optimising business performance
4. The big paradox: social media marketing is the fastest-growing channel in terms of investment, but remains the hardest to measure
5. Television remains one of the most enduring media for brand advertising
6. Mobile penetration and engagement have reached a tipping point, but ad spend still lag behind

Table of contents

1. Executive Summary and Highlights
2. Foreword by Experian Marketing Services
3. About Econsultancy
4. About Experian Marketing Services
5. Methodology and Sample
   1. Methodology
   2. Respondent profiles
6. Findings
   1. Marketing budgets
      1. Proportion of budget spent on digital
      2. Proportion of revenue derived from digital marketing spend
      3. Plans for overall marketing budget
      4. Increase in overall marketing budget
      5. Plans for digital marketing budget
      6. Increase in digital marketing budget
      7. Plans for traditional (offline) marketing budget
      8. Increase in traditional (offline) marketing budget
      9. Change in budgets for digital marketing channels
      10. Change in budgets for offline marketing channels
   2. Investment in technology and resources
      1. Investment in digital marketing team
      2. Plans for digital marketing technology spend
      3. Investment in digital marketing technologies
      4. Investment in mobile channels or technologies
   3. Marketing effectiveness and ROI
      1. Understanding of ROI from digital channels
      2. Understanding of ROI from traditional marketing channels
      3. Ability to measure ROI from digital channels
   4. Barriers to further investment
7. Appendix 1: Respondent Profiles
   1. Geographic location
   2. Job roles
   3. Type of companies – supply-side respondents
   4. Industry sector
   5. B2B / B2C focus
   6. Annual company revenue
   7. Annual marketing budget
8. Appendix 2: Marketing Budgets by Region

Learn the Best Practices of SEO Marketing From UK’s Top Digital Marketing Research & Training Company! 

Equip yourself with the latest 2012 SEO knowledge in this 2-day course, and unleash the power of SEO in the increasingly competitive online space.

This SEO marketing course will enable you to build an organic/natural (SEO) search engine marketing strategy that will mean more of the right kind of visitors to your website, boost online conversions and stand out in today's fiercely competitive online marketplace, ensuring the best possible return on investment.

E-commerce in figures 

Figures from comScore show that British mums were 82% more likely to visit an online toy shop in October 2011 than the average internet user, and 64% more likely to shop for cosmetics and fragrances online.

In the same month, the UK outranked all other European countries in terms of hours spent online per person, at 37.5 hours, almost 10 hours more than the European average, and 13 hours higher than the global norm.

Clearly there is an appetite for web content among British consumers, and marked trends relating to who shops where online. 

SEO for your local market

The internet is truly global, but that doesn't rule out geography as an important factor in securing a sale.

Some shoppers want to know their goods will be delivered quickly, or are concerned about racking up too many carbon-hungry delivery miles, particularly in B2B sales.

Knowing the size of your local market is an important step towards tweaking your SEO efforts.

For instance, in 2011, English Google users searched for queries including the word 'London':

• Four times as often as 'Manchester'.
• Five times as often as 'Liverpool'.
• Six times as often as 'Birmingham'.
• tTen times as often as 'Sheffield'.

(source: Google Trends)

So, unsurprisingly, the capital has a much greater potential search audience, but also much greater competition.

How do you get around this, and target your website at both your local customers and the wider market?

Long-tail localised keywords

Long-tail keywords are the answer to a number of SEO issues. They are naturally less competitive, but much more specific, meaning your landing pages should appear much more relevant when they appear on search engine results pages.

This helps your conversion rate to rise, and can achieve greater profits in spite of the smaller number of queries conducted by would-be buyers.

In terms of local SEO, you can make almost any short-tail key phrase into a long-tail one simply by adding 'in [your location]' to the end. This should have no detrimental effect on your ranking for the shorter phrase, but can help your landing pages to rank highly if people search for a provider of a particular product or service in your area.

It is a flexible and dual-layered approach to SEO that can give your site an added edge over your local rivals.

Top tips on website optimisation

Website optimisation goes beyond search engine optimisation; it is not just about making your pages appear more often, or higher up, in search results.

It is also about ensuring your website is easily navigable, that your product descriptions are compelling, and that your checkout process is reliable and secure enough that you do not lose customers at the last minute.

Put yourself in the customer's shoes. Is it clear, on every product or service page of your site, exactly what they are buying and for how much?

Remember, arriving via a search engine means your would-be buyers might not have seen your homepage or other pages of product information. Optimise for both search and shoppers, and you have the rest of 2012 to watch your conversion rates rise.