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April 2008

Future of Search Marketing? Behavior-AOL

Search retargeting and post-click behavioral targeting is the future of search. The future's here - now - with the launch of Platform A's integrated search marketing platform using Tacoda technology.

Call it Platform A.O.L.

ClickZ's reporting that the use of Tacoda technology will begin in June across the whole Platform A network. That means marketers will have a single software platform for tracking, reporting and delivering, and running behavioral marketing campaigns.

For anyone following innovations in search marketing campaigns, that's exciting news.

We're sure some savvy marketer will be the first to design an award-winning search campaign on Platform AOL.

Posted by Kevin Heisler on April 30, 2008, 3:04 PM | Permalink

iGoogle: O Pop, Where Art Thou? Jeff Koons, Wiggles, La Cicciolina

iGoogle%20jeff%20koons.jpg

Google commissioned Jeff Koons, the controversial modern artist, to create graphic images for iGoogle backgrounds. Koons' Google Doodle today features his interpretation of (chrome) tulips. "Where art thou?" asks Marissa Mayer, VP of search products & user experience, in her official blog post this morning:

"Did you notice the chrome tulips on Google's homepage today? They are part of a special Google doodle done by renowned artist Jeff Koons. And that isn't the only art appearing anew on Google today. As part of our iGoogle Artists project, we have collaborated with almost 70 artists in 17 countries on 6 continents to create special iGoogle themes -- works of art that appeal to all ages and interests."

Our response: "O Brother, Google, where art thousands of dollars going?"
Or perhaps, "O Pop, Where Art Thou?"

Most of the time, the controversy about Koons -- at 53-years old modern art's aging bad boy -- centers on whether he's a brilliant artist or the emperor's new clothes.

Jeff Koons isn't the only Google artist designing for iGoogle: non-artist artists like UK rockers Coldplay and U.S. kiddieboppers The Wiggles (shown below); fashion designers Mark Ecko (rhino logo) and Diane von Furstenburg (wife of Ask.com owner Barry Diller of IAC); architects Phillipe Starck (W Hotels) and Michael Graves; and New Yorker cartoonist Robert Mankoff.

Why in the world would a world-famous artist like Jeff Koons hire himself out for graphic design work?

It seems the multimillionaire artist and ex-husband of an ex-porn star may need the moolah.

Jeff Koons famously married a European porn star, La Cicciolina ("fleshy one"), after hiring her as his muse for photos, paintings and sculptures.

The artwork Koons spawned from their union was graphic but not graphic in a Googley design way. Think NSFW: sexually explicit in a flashy, fleshy Paris Hilton - Britney Spears - Lindsay Lohan kind of way. The only difference? Koons' sculptures starred Jeff and (as Brit wits might say) his naughty bits.

A few weeks ago, La Cicciolina, AKA Ilona Staller, sued her ex-husband, Jeffrey Koons, for $2.4 million dollars (1.5 million euros) in child support for their 15-year old son, Ludwig Maximilian Koons, according to papers filed in Manhattan State Supreme Court.

iGoogle Art - The Wiggles

Child support payments of 15,000 euros a month were ordered by an Italian court in June 2007. Koons has only paid 191,426 euros for child support during the roughly nine year period (Oct 1998 - Dec 2007), leaving a balance owed of about 1.5 million euros.

Staller starred in X-rated films in Italy as La Cicciolina before she was elected to serve as a member of Italy's parliament for five years.

After the jump we have a two-minute clip from the Sundance Channel: fashion designer "Tom Ford on Jeff Koons" from the Iconoclast series. You can see what Jeff Koons Safe-For-Work art is all about in a SFW video.

AP reported that after their divorce in New York in 1994, Koons was given custody of their infant son. A judge ordered that the child remain in New York. In June of 1994, Staller slipped away from Koons' security guards and escaped to Italy with the boy.

When the divorce and custody issues were litigated again in Italy, Staller, an Italian citizen, was granted a divorce. After appealing, she received custody of the boy.

Koons piled up legal bills of almost $4 million trying to bring his son back from Italy. So maybe we can call this Google's "No Child Left Behind" Pop Art campaign.

Here's Tom Ford explaining the art of Jeff Koons, whose work has been displayed at London's Royal Academy, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney and at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Spain:

Posted by Kevin Heisler on April 30, 2008, 12:47 PM | Permalink

Jerry Yang's Anything-But-Silent Life

While many are saying how Jerry Yang seems to be silent on last weekend's come-and-gone Microsoft ultimatum, his life is anything but silent. Kara Swisher reports that his wife had a baby!

But I'm not sure why people expect Yang to pull himself away from his new bundle of joy to simply repeat what he's said all along: Yahoo is undervalued by Microsoft's bid and the answer to the offer as it stands is No.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 30, 2008, 11:31 AM | Permalink

Marchex's Local Advertising Branches Out into Mobile Market

Marchex today announced the expansion of its local advertising services into the mobile market. The new offering will include call-based advertising, which is a result of its acquisition of VoiceStar. The call-based services will be part of agreements with three mobile advertising providers: AdMob, Ringleader Digital, and 4INFO.

Call tracking will accompany the new agreements and offer up the following features:

1. Track the calls generated by advertisements on their network
2. Determine exactly which advertisements delivered the calls
3. Track and report key information including the duration, time of day and geographic location of callers
4. Record the calls.

“Marchex is focused on partnerships with leading aggregators of local advertisers across all channels: online, offline, and mobile,” said John Keister, Marchex President and COO. “We believe that the mobile advertising opportunity is significant and is poised to realize tremendous growth over the next five years. Our call tracking and pay-per-phone-call capabilities provide a significant advantage for Marchex in the mobile search advertising market.”

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 30, 2008, 11:14 AM | Permalink

Microsoft's $1.5 Billion Plan to Retain Yahoo Employees

While we await the news of Microsoft's next move in its pursuit of the unsolicited Yahoo acquisition, the Wall Street Journal has learned that the software giant plans to spend $1.5 billion to retain Yahoo employees should a merger - or takeover - occur.

The plan was revealed in court transcripts regarding a suit by shareholders against Yahoo's directors. The shareholders who filed the suit feel that Yahoo hasn't responded in good faith to Microsoft's bid. The suit was brought forth by two Detroit pension funds. The lawyers for the funds argued that a recent expansion of Yahoo employee benefits make it difficult for shareholders to get maximum value should an acquisition take place.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 30, 2008, 10:28 AM | Permalink

Google Analytics for Bloggers - Google Relaunches Measure Map

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As Twitter microblogging captures the mainstream media's imagination, Google Analytics has quietly relaunched Measure Map analytics for bloggers. Email invitations went out this week to alpha users of the blog tracking software.

The bad news for Measure Map bloggers: historical analytics data from the original Measure Map can't be imported into the Google Analytics / Measure Map platform.

We reported on the acquisition of Adaptive Path's Measure Map by Google back in February, 2006. Since then Jeffrey Veen and his team have redesigned Google Analytics and integrated new features such as Website Optimizer with great success.

Sitepoint's Technical Editor Andrew Tetlaw posted a question on April 11, 2008 in a dormant Google Groups forum for Measure Map:

Is it just me or does anyone else get the feeling MM has been abandoned?
Performance is terrible, the browser report still doesn't even
recognize Firefox 2.0....

That post seems to have spurred the Google Analytics team to email all the original users of Measure Map to test the newly rebuilt analytics software for bloggers. You can ask the MM team questions in the resuscitated Measure Maps Google Group.

Andrew also told me that to convert to the new and improved Measure Map you need to sign up for a Google Analytics account and add GA tracking code to your site. For an update, check out Andrew's excellent post today in Sitepoint: Measure Map Redux.

We're not sure whether the original MM "Date Slider" will be reinvented but it was one of the original cool tools for Analytics that had wide appeal (even if it seems clunky by today's Web 2.0 standards).

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Posted by Kevin Heisler on April 30, 2008, 8:01 AM | Permalink

Fredrick Marckini to Give Opening Keynote at SES Toronto

Fredrick Marckini, chief global search officer of Isobar, will be giving the opening keynote speech at SES Toronto on Tuesday, June 17, 2008. Fredrick also gave the opening keynote at SES London back in February.

While he was in London, I interviewed him about his keynote speech on search engine marketing trends and his duties at Isobar. You can get a pretty good idea of Fredrick's perspective by watching the YouTube video below -- which has just been posted in its entirety. (A portion of Fredrick's interview was included in our Day 1 roundup.)

And, as you'll see, YouTube's recent site updates now enable you view the high quality video by just clicking on the television icon below and to the right instead of using the format 18 code.

Fredrick Marckini at SES London on Search Engine Marketing

You can also get a sense of Fredrick's point of view by reading: Fredrick Marckini iProspect Exclusive SEO Interview with Dan Horton.

Fredrick Marckini founded iProspect in 1996 and is recognized as a leading expert in the field of search engine marketing. He has authored three of the SEM industry's earliest books, including Secrets To Achieving Top-10 Positions (1997), Achieving Top-10 Rankings in Internet Search Engines (1998), and Search Engine Positioning (2001). He is considered one of the pioneers of search engine marketing and was named to BtoB Magazine's Top 100 Marketers 2005 and 2006 lists.

Fredrick is a frequent speaker at industry conferences around the country including: Search Engine Strategies, ad:tech, the iMedia Summit, Search Insider Summit and the eMarketing Association Conference. He has written bylined articles for Search Engine Watch, CMO Magazine, BtoB Magazine, iMedia Connection, ClickZ and numerous other publications. He has been interviewed and profiled in a variety of media outlets including The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, New York Times, Washington Post, Financial Times of London, Inc., Investors and Business Daily, Internet Retailer, National Public Radio, and others.

Fredrick serves on the Board for the Ad Club of Boston, and was a founding Board Member of the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO). He earned a bachelors degree from Franciscan University in Ohio.

Posted by Greg Jarboe on April 30, 2008, 7:00 AM | Permalink

SEW Experts: What Are You Converting?

Many people view conversions as large-scale events, such as product sales or sign-ups for a service. But a conversion can mean many things, depending on the site. In today's Web Analytics and ROI column, "What Are You Converting?," Tim Ash defines conversions as events that move a visitor toward the mission critical activities that you've identified. Measure those smaller events, and you'll know much more about what your visitors are doing than if you only focus on the end results.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on April 30, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink

SEW Experts: Visually Impaired Search

Like search ads, PageRank, and blended search, Google's newly launched VisualRank image search technology has the potential to change the way SEO is done. In today's Searching for Meaning column, "Visually Impaired Search," Kevin Ryan explains that while the game hasn't changed yet, it will very soon.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on April 30, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink

Sunrgi: Stealth Tech Startup May Transform Search Engine Industry

Nick Carr (The Big Switch) created the framework to view the transformation of the search engine industry (the world's information indexed) into a knowledge grid that companies and people can plug into, the same way a century ago companies stopped generating power from steam engines and dynamos and plugged into the newly built electric grid.

Sunrgi, a new solar energy system startup just out of stealth mode today promises to produce cheap electricity at wholesale prices: 5-cents per kWh (kilowatt hour). Google

XCPV (Xtreme Concentrated Photovoltaics) concentrates the equivalent of more than 1,600 times the sun's energy onto hyper-efficient solar cells, was announced today by Sunrgi, a solar energy system designer and developer, at the National Energy Marketers Association's Annual Global Energy Forum in Washington, DC.

The technology may enable utility companies, corporations, and residents to produce electricity from solar energy at a lower cost than has ever been possible.

Google (GOOG) spent $842 million on infrastructure in Q1 2008, its largest capital expenditures (CAPEX) ever for a single quarter, according to Data Center Knowledge. The record capex investment will acceleration increase Google's need to generate vast amounts of cheap power efficiently.

Google announced four major data center projects in the U.S. in 2007, including facilities in North Carolina, South Carolina, Oklahoma and Iowa. Google says its capital expenditures are "related to IT infrastructure investments, including data centers, servers, and networking equipment."

The green technology isn't vaporware but it may be a couple years before widespread adoption.

"In a little more than a year we were able to develop and successfully test XCPV," said Bob Block, co-founder and Sunrgi principal in a statement. "We expect the Sunrgi system to become available for both on and off-grid power appplications, worldwide, in twelve to fifteen months"

The price is right: 5-cents is on par with the wholesale cost of producing electricity using fossil fuels. That would make solar power as affordable as coal, natural gas or other non-renewable sources, without requiring a subsidy. Plus, it's a fraction of the cost of producing solar energy now.

At a nickel per kWh, NEMA (National Energy Marketers Association) calls solar power, "a world-changing breakthrough."

Posted by Kevin Heisler on April 29, 2008, 5:27 PM | Permalink

Social Media Marketing for Small Business

Are there really opportunities for small business to succeed using social media?

Absolutely, if one factors the strengths and weaknesses of the media with the strengths, weaknesses, and goals of the company.

The reality of the matter is that various social media have different strengths and weaknesses. While it is true the most obvious benefit of social media is branding and traffic, the truth is that social media can also:

generate lots of good, quality, relevant links, which we all know can help a site perform better in the search results
help to forge relationships. Not necessarily relationships with potential clients, but with those who help to influence potential client decisions i.e. indirect sales
generate direct sales
build a company's authority in an industry

In order for a small business to utilize social media to its fullest, and to determine which social media it should be using as part of its effort, it must understand the trade-offs it faces. Without being able to commit time or money to social media, many small businesses will seriously need to question their commitment to winning in their space in the foreseeable future.

What are the variables to consider:
a. available client time vs. available client $
b. complexity of client product/service information
c. client goals (direct sales, improved positioning, authority building, etc.)

As is the case with search, those social media sites offering the most potential for traffic, also contain the most competition. The more competition there is, the more thought and effort must go into being successful in that medium.

Does that mean that small business should avoid search? Not at all. Same with social media. It just means that small business must assess their desire and means, and find reasonable opportunities where competition is not too intense for their means. Precisely as with search ... though rather than looking for keyword opportunities, you're looking for content and medium opportunities!

For example, would you ever suggest to an SME client that you would try to rank for a generic, ultra-competitive, one-word term such as "weight loss"? Never. Though you may consider "weight loss san diego," right? Precisely!

That said, here are the strengths and weaknesses of several major social media sites, as they relate to small to medium sized businesses:

1. Yahoo Answers:
Yahoo Answers will not require much money to engage in, making it an attractive option for small business. Since in most cases, SMMs (Social Media Marketers) won't/can't play a large role in Yahoo Answers, as they're not experts in the space, it will require client time and expertise.

Yahoo Answers is a great tool for generating direct sales, rather than links or even indirect sales ... an anomaly amongst social media sites.

* Some SMMs may offer Yahoo Answers training solutions, designed to get SMEs up to speed quickly, and teach a few inside tricks. It will also be important to make the system as efficient as possible, so senior-level involvement is not necessary in identifying and answering each question. Instead, relevant questions should first be identified (and answered where a simple answer will suffice) by a junior-level person, then handed to more senior-level people as the questions become more in-depth and technical.

2. Wikipedia:
Wikipedia is another great solution for companies with more time than money. This is often a do-it-yourself solution for companies, though a good SMM can greatly aid with training, planning, and implementation, and can save companies a great deal of time. Securing a presence on relevant pages on Wikipedia isn't necessarily intuitive.

As Wikipedia doesn't like companies adding information about themselves (as it's likely biased), having information added by an experienced SMM with a solid reputation is worth its weight in gold.

Wikipedia is great for generating links (not direct as they are nofollow, but indirect through copied text), but is not exceptional at generating either indirect sales via forged relationships or direct sales.

3. Digg:
Having a submission go hot on Digg is equivalent to ranking on an ultra-competitive keyword on Google, in terms of the number of links generated. Digg is, in reality, the Google of the social media world in terms of those looking to build links, which means Digg itself has had to become very cautious and difficult as a result of being gamed so frequently.

As Digg's algorithm favors larger, more trusted sites, SMEs cannot expect to do well on Digg routinely without a substantial investment of either time and/or money in the effort. The cost of doing so is therefore beyond the means or commitment of many small to medium sized companies.

Beyond its biggest benefit (links), Digg can also be utilized to forge strategic relationships with key influencers such as reporters, DJs, and the like.

4. Reddit:
Reddit is capable of generating significant volumes of links, although somewhat less than Digg. It is like Digg, except on a lesser scale. Though it generates fewer links, the results are greater, given the lesser level of effort required compared to Digg. That said, Reddit still requires a significant time and/or money investment from the client. It still involves a commitment to win!

5. Propeller:
Propeller (formerly Netscape.com) is also like Digg and Reddit, though generating fewer links again. This is in essence what makes it so attractive though ... it's the MSN of the social world. Most companies focus so heavily on Digg, that Propeller is often overlooked. Accordingly, small business can still win on Propeller with reasonable effort.

Time needs be invested in Propeller to determine how the system works, identify the types of posts that are successful, and to forge the necessary friendships to seed posts properly on the Propeller network. SMM Training solutions can again expedite the process, and engaging the services of an experienced quality SMM will trade money for time where time is very limited.

6. Delicious:
Delicious is a good option for small businesses, though it does require a commitment. SMEs need to spend time creating resource, research, and/or instruction type blog posts. These posts take time, often 8-10+ hours of research per post. Special insight into topics that might be successful on Delicious will absolutely be aided by the guidance of an experienced SMM. Otherwise, much time and effort can be spent creating content that really has no chance of being successful.

Posts that do well on Delicious typically attract a good many links, albeit typically less than those on Digg or Reddit, and more than Propeller.

7. StumbleUpon:
StumbleUpon is capable of driving large volumes of traffic (more than Reddit and less than Digg) to a site, given the right content. For whatever reason though, it generates substantially fewer links than either Digg or Reddit on average.

For companies with brand new, innovative products and services, StumbleUpon is a great way to gain exposure and build awareness. It is not however, good at generating direct sales unless the item is an impulse type item.

8. YouTube:
YouTube is unlike any of the other social media mentioned above. While video itself has the ability to generate substantial quantities of links via other social channels, the YouTube medium essentially attracts all links for its own purposes, leaving the video creator with virtually no additional link power.

What YouTube can do when great content is created is attract additional quality search traffic via the search results (YouTube videos are often included in the search results of major engines), and can help to forge relationships with key influencers.

Summary:
In the end, success with any of the above social media sites is still largely based on the quality and creativity of the content. For companies without the time to dedicate to creating such content, it will require a financial investment. In this situation, hiring experienced SMMs skilled in the art of choosing topics is very important, as they can likely aid real quality content be successful on numerous platforms.

This is why I say it takes a commitment to winning. It's going to require either time and/or money from the small business perspective, but success is absolutely achievable, given appropriate amounts of either, and proper selection of media.

Posted by on April 29, 2008, 10:54 AM | Permalink

Online Promotions: The Sleeping Beauty of Online Advertising

Much has been written, theorized, and analyzed about search and online display advertising. But companies are increasingly turning to the Cinderella of online advertising: Promotions.

Douglas Quenqua at ClickZ looked into a recent study by Borrell Associates that says spending on online promotions could triple in the next five years. Last year, a whopping $8 billion was spent on promotions.

For now, national companies are the ones accounting for most of the promotional spend. But local companies may want to take notice. Since the spend is expected to increase so dramatically, while display advertising is expected to decline, then something must be working in this arena. And that's no big surprise as contests, coupons and giveaways are great methods for lead generation.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 29, 2008, 10:47 AM | Permalink

Mobile Marketing Association Issues New Display Ad Standards

Last week, the Mobile Marketing Association updated its standards for mobile display ads. In doing so, it automatically outdated Google's brand spanking new mobile ad formats.

The new MMA guidelines are:

300 x 50 pixels
216 x 36 pixels
168 x 28 pixels
120 x 20 pixels

Google's new banners are:

305 x 64 pixels
215 x 34 pixels
192 x 34 pixels
167 x 30 pixels

According to ClickZ, Google said that its ads are compliant with MMA's previous recommendations. While mobile industry leaders differ on the need and implementation for mobile ad standards, most agree that innovation by both MMA and companies like Google are good for the industry.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 29, 2008, 10:37 AM | Permalink

Fast Search Acquisition Completed by Microsoft

In January, Microsoft announced it's $1.2 billion offer for Norway-based enterprise search company, Fast Search. Last Friday, Microsoft completed the acquisition.

“With our companies combined, we'll be uniquely able to offer customers what they've been telling us they want most — a strategy for meeting everything from their basic to most complex enterprise search needs,” said Jeff Teper, corporate vice president for the Office Business Platform at Microsoft. “I'm incredibly excited to have the talented team from FAST joining us.”

Fast Search CEO John Markus Lervik will become Microsoft's corporate vice president of Enterprise Search.

“From the moment I started talking to Microsoft about the prospect of bringing our talent and technology together, I realized what a powerful impact we could have on the way companies use search to drive new revenue streams and improve productivity,” Lervik said. “Together we'll deliver better technologies that make enterprise search a ubiquitous tool, central to how people find and use information.”

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 29, 2008, 10:04 AM | Permalink

Price Check! Products Added to Mobile Live Search

When you're shopping online at home, it's easy to check a bunch of different sites for the best price or read reviews to see if that new gadget you have your eye on is really a dud. But when you're out in the brick and mortar stores, it can be a challenge to get the same answers quickly.

Thankfully, team over at Microsoft's Live Search wants to make it easier for you to conduct that all-important product searching while you're on the go. Product search has been incorporated into Mobile Live Search. The results include prices and a starring system to reflect reviews. Obviously, you can click on individual results for more info.

Another feature being rolled out with the update is "Find My Location." By using this feature, you'll get results close to the nearest cell towers.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 29, 2008, 9:47 AM | Permalink

Google Custom Search Offers Creative Commons Labels

The Google Custom Search team has announced the addition of four labels to enhance searches for Creative Commons content. The four labels are:

* free_use_share (by-nc-nd)
* free_use_share_commercially (by-nd)
* free_use_share_modify (by-nc-sa)
* free_use_share_modify_commercially (by-sa)

These labels can be used to restrict all custom search content to Creative Commons results or to help refine searches. The CC labels are filter labels.

Google also took the opportunity to remind us of how to document Creative Commons license. They gave four examples of the many ways licenses can be documented on an HTML file:

1. with ... in the HTML head or body
2. using
3. using
4. using ... in a comment

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 29, 2008, 9:22 AM | Permalink

SEW Experts: Conducting a Redirect Audit on Your Web Site

A redirect audit looks at the server redirects that are happening on your site, and which sites are sending visitors to links on your site that are being redirected. It also looks at 404 errors (file not found), as well as other server status codes appearing in your site's log files. In today's Organic Search Engine Optimization column, "Conducting a Redirect Audit on Your Web Site," Mark Jackson shows you how a redirect audit can take care of many issues that search engines might be having with your Web site, and may help you recover visitors you may be losing due to technical issues.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on April 29, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink

SEW Experts: Taking the Fear Out of Web Analytics for Your Small Business

Many small businesses are afraid of the perceived complexity of Web analytics. At the same time, they know they can make more money in less time with Web analytics. In today's Small Business Search Marketing column, "Taking the Fear Out of Web Analytics for Your Small Business," Carrie Hill simplifies the process by breaking down the four metrics you should be analyzing on your small business web site.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on April 29, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink

Court Orders Negative Keywords Used To Block Trademark Terms

Eric Goldman reported a Florida court made a default judgment that requires including negative keywords in search advertising to ensure broad match does not include their trademarked term. Obviously this only applies to the specific instance but there is a dangerous precedent being allowed.

Goldman sees the suit applying to just expanded match in broad match - but it is restricting the use of a trademarked term as just a keyword and not in the ad as Google currently allow and requires the use of negative keywords to ensure they get blocked - or at least then passing the culpability to Google.

With the isolation of responsibility to Google by following these rules - if that is the case - I wonder if Orion Bank will be going after them next... this one I don't see them having a no show for a defendant.

The requested ruling that won by default (no one showed to contend it) included:

a) from any and all use of the term ORION, ORION RESIDENTIAL
FINANCE, or any other confusingly similar term;
b) from using any sign, advertisement, slogans, internet domain name,
promotional material, promotional communication, and/or printed or electronic
matter containing the term ORION, or any other confusingly similar term.

That would stop them from using orion as a term, the domain they own (but they could be a registered company with the name Orion Residential Financein Florida as the suit lists) OrionResidentialFinance.com, and much more.

Beyond the one to one defendant - the suit did allow for it to apply to any other company by including:

ORION RESIDENTIAL FINANCE,
LLC, a Florida limited liability co.,
and VARIOUS JOHN DOES,
JANE DOES and ABC COMPANIES,

Does ABC Companies mean any future people trying to use Orion?

This has to get taken back to the courts soon.

Posted by Frank Watson on April 28, 2008, 7:11 PM | Permalink

Google Wins Appeal - Most Bizarre Lawsuit Ever Filed Against Search Engine

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Anyone who knows the best conspiracy theories of the 20th century can't blame Dylan Stephen Jayne for trying to sue Google.

Every good conspiracy theorist knows that playing certain songs on LPs backwards is a Satanic chant. The number of clues on the Beatles' Abbey Road and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover that "Paul is Dead" (Paul McCartney) are too numerous to mention.

So it must have come as a shock to the Conspiracy Theory community that Google prevailed in an appeal of the most bizarre lawsuit ever filed against the search engine.

In September of 2007, Dylan Stephen Jayne filed a (handwritten) suit against the founders of the Google internet search engine, alleging that his social security number when turned upside down is a scrambled code that spells the name “Google.”

He was asking for $5 billion for Google's alleged "crimes against humanity."

The District Court reviewed the lawsuit and dismissed it sua sponte (on its own will or motion") for failure to state a claim. In other words, the judge made a decision without having been asked by either party. (ie. never happened: "Your honor, the defendants, Larry and Sergey, move to dismiss!")

The ever-resourceful Jayne filed a timely appeal. His case was on appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania and guess what? He lost the appeal a couple months ago.

To prevail on his claim, Jayne needed to demonstrate the Google founders acted "under color of state law" and deprived him of Constitutional rights or rights secured by federal law.

The judges concluded, "It is clear that neither of these criteria is satisfied here. As explained by the District Court, Google and its founders are not state actors, and Jayne's allegation concerning his coded social security number does not constitute a violation of the Constitution or federal law."

Making it a particularly bad day for Jayne and sending a shiver down the spine of many a conspiracy theorist, the judges noted, "We also agree that any amendment of the complaint would be futile."

Posted by Kevin Heisler on April 28, 2008, 3:33 PM | Permalink

Clinton, McCain, Obama: Drilling Down on Local in Campaign '08

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Seattle is the place to be for Drilling Down on Local Marketplaces this week (April 30 - May 2). For the first time, The Kelsey Group will provide a deep dive into how local search and local media buys will impact political campaigns.

ClickZ Campaign '08 editor Kate Kaye (just promoted to ClickZ senior editor), will speak on two panels during the Kelsey Drilling Down Local conference.

Kate's going to discuss why Buckeye and Lone Star news sites scored big. Of the three main primary contenders, she also found Senator Barack Obama's campaign has done the most local online advertising, some of it especially innovative. A more compelling local Web effort involved big multimedia ad buys on local news homepages.

Obama is also leading the pack in innovation with expandable video billboard ads.

A few savvy congressional candidates have started to place online ads for this year's election. You'll also learn why the majority of congressional, statewide and local candidates lag far behind presidential campaigns when it comes to even considering advertising online.

Posted by Kevin Heisler on April 28, 2008, 11:35 AM | Permalink

Google Will Bank on VisualRank - PageRank for Images

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On Thursday, Google Research engineers presented a paper at the International World Wide Web Conference in Beijing on PageRank for Google Images (pdf) to improve search results for photos, art and graphics. The system promises better image results than are currently available when searching in Google Images and may eventually improve Google Universal Search SERPs.

Key takeaways: Google's breakthrough uses the "wisdom of the crowd" and contextual signals to rank the relevancy of images. VisualRank does not improve on a search engine's ability to identify people or determine activities in a photo. The biggest benefits will be reduction of duplicate image content in search results and reduction of "image spam" or inappropriately tagged photos.

This morning The NY Times reported on the new ranking algorithm that identifies and analyzes “authority” nodes and "visual link structure" between a group of images. As with PageRank, images are assigned numbers to define their relevance and relative importance.

Google conducted a series of experiments by retrieving images for 2,000 of the most popular products queries in Google. Users in the experiments were more satisfied by the results and felt they were more relevant.

The Google SERP image shown here displays top ranking results for a group of queries. You can judge for yourself how intuitive and relevant the results are. Google notes an interesting result for the query “Picasso Paintings”; not only are all the images by Picasso, one of his most famous, “Guernica”, was selected first.

We're assuming the search queries related to the product, "Febreze" were spelled correctly, unlike the typo in the paper misspelled as: "Fabreze." The current Google image results for keyword "fabreze" are quite different.

Winners: Trademark owners of big brands and commercial products

Losers: All those people who spent innumerable hours tagging photos in Google Image Labeler:

All-time Top Google Image Labeler Contributors
1. SunChaser has 22,961,020 points
2. Zip has second with 22,353,450 points
3. FrD AUTO no car has 15,460,240 points
4. MC DUDE no man has a close 15,350,830 points
5. Mighty is hot on the heels of MC DUDE: 15,339,300 points

Google believes a Web page author will likely choose relevant images for a topic. People, though, don't typically link to content based on the relevance of images. People link to text.

Google gives an example of an ambiguous query (McDonalds) with a logo that can be identified in photos that link commercial searches. That's a “visual theme” or 'visual signal" among all the photos. There may be lots of other themes that can define the relative "strength" of common and commercial images.

In terms of overall performance on queries, the proposed VisualRank displayed fewer irrelevant images than Google for 762 queries. Google's standard image search produce better results in only 70 search results. In the remaining 202 queries, both approaches tied. Google notes in the majority of these queries, there were no irrelevant images).

Posted by Kevin Heisler on April 28, 2008, 9:57 AM | Permalink

Microsoft's Deadline Passes Without Yahoo Deal

Steve Ballmer's "Deal or No Deal" utlimatum has passed without a deal and the analysts are all-a-flutter with predictions and speculations. If you read all the reports, the possibilities for what will happen next can seem dizzying. So, let's keep it simple and gossip-free. There are only 4 likely outcomes:

Microsoft pursues a hostile takeover
Microsoft presents a higher bid
Microsoft withdraws from proposal altogether
Microsoft buys another company (AOL?, Ask?)

With analysts predicting all four outcomes, depending on who you read, all the speculation means squat. The only thing matters is action, and rest assured we'll keep you posted should anything resembling action occur regarding Microhoo.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 28, 2008, 9:52 AM | Permalink

Microsoft Prepares Push into Chinese Search Market

When it comes to search, Microsoft is ever the egg while Google remains the chicken. Just a week after news of Google amping up its efforts in the world's largest nation, Microsoft is revealing its plans to make headway into China.

But just how serious is Microsoft about this oh-so-important market? Only 100 employees are currently dedicated to Chinese search while Google will be adding 200 to its existing 600 person staff this year with expectations to continue adding to its numbers along those lines in coming years.

No doubt, acquiring Yahoo is part of Microsoft's overall Asia strategy. Yahoo has a strong showing in Asia, something the Sunnyvale search engine wishes Microsoft would have taken into consideration when making its recent unsolicited bid.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 28, 2008, 9:20 AM | Permalink

SEW Experts: Killer Site Targeting: PPC Content Scrape & Bake Tools

Successful placement-targeted content campaigns depend on showing your ads on all the right sites. In today's Content Advertising column, "Killer Site Targeting: PPC Content Scrape & Bake Tools," David Szetela outlines a new tool and methodology for finding the right destinations for your ads.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on April 28, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink

Top 10 Toughest Jobs to Fill? The Top 3 Are In Search Engine Marketing

toughest%20job%20to%20fill%282%29.jpg

Here's the best example of misleading statistics we've seen, outside of the ads skewering the mythical Cable Corp: "DirecTV - Cable Corp Inc. - Statistics" directed by Christopher Guest) "Whip up some numbers that make it look like we have, like, I don't know, a thousand HD channels."

Today the WSJ blogged about the hardest jobs to fill based on an annual employment survey conducted by temp firm Manpower Inc. We all agree with the famous German ad shown here, "Life is too short to be in the wrong job."

Not surprisingly, the very temp-to-perm jobs Manpower specializes in ended up high on the Top 10 list of the 42,500 global companies surveyed.

Based on the response to SEW Experts columnists Ron Jones (SEM.edu), Fionn Downhill, and William Flaiz, we know better.

In fact, rather than linking to all their columns about learning SEM or how to attract and hire talent, I asked John Skroly, vice president of business development for Onward Search what jobs Fortune 500 companies and top search marketing firms can't easily fill.

Here's what Skroly had to say:

Based on feedback from clients this is what we are finding:
1) Qualified Web Analytics professionals – Omniture, Web Trends etc
2) Organic SEO experts with e-commerce experience from top tier IR's (Internet retailers)
3) Paid Search with vertical experience

So what gives?

Manpower asked companies, "What is the one job you are having most difficulty filling due to a lack of available talent?" The categories were so broad they practically broke down into the age-old categories of white collar and blue collar:

1. Skilled Manual Trades (carpenters, welders and plumbers)
2. Sales Representatives
3. Technicians (production/operations, engineering and maintenance)
4. Engineers
5. Management/Executives
6. Laborers
7. Secretaries, PAs, Administrative Assistants & Office Support Staff
8. Drivers
9. Accounting & Finance Staff
10. IT Staff (primarily programmers/developers)

Do those jobs sound like the future of the American economy?

Has that been your experience? Discuss your career here.

Posted by Kevin Heisler on April 25, 2008, 4:00 PM | Permalink

Social Media Power: UC Berkeley Student Twitters Out of Egyptian Prison

CNN is reporting that Student James Karl Buck twittered his way out of jail with single-word text messages after being arrested. The "twit" (messages) communicated to his "tweeple" (friends) on micro blogging platform "Twitter," resulted in pals hiring a lawyer. Buck twittered all during the experience, the transcript of which is visible here. This is yet another case study speaking to the societal power of modern networking tools.

There is a lot of passion regarding Twitter in the search marketing community, with top SEOs/social media pros like Lee Odden and DoshDosh having dozens or even hundreds of "followers."

Respected link builder Jennifer Laycock has written extensively regarding applications of the platform. Others use Twitter (on their computer and/or phone) to stay in constant touch with family, customers and friends throughout each day. Twitter deployed recently in Japan with advertising in an attempt to leverage the channel. Stay tuned...

Other Twitter Resources:
The Many Uses of Twitter
techipedia

Twitter: Different Ways to Use Twitter
Lifehacker

200+ Internet Marketing Gurus on Twitter
Marketing Pilgrim

5 1 Favorite SU, Sphinn, Twitter & Facebook Posts of 2007
SocialDesire

Posted by Marty Weintraub on April 25, 2008, 12:39 PM | Permalink

Londoners faceoff online in support of their candidates for the Mayoral Election

If the popularity of Facebook fansites was an indicator of how Londoners will vote on May 1st then Boris would be a clear winner with 7466 supporters whilst Ken and Brian trail behind with 2152 and 2130 respectively. Thankfully it seems that Londoners will vote with their feet rather than faces but latest results from a social media study reveal that online PR strategies could count for something in the electoral race.

Nielsen Online revealed today that London Mayoral candidates Ken and Boris are top of the blogs, dominating 80% of the social media conversation. Liberal Democratic candidate Brian Paddick is third with 9% of comments, followed by the Green Party's Sian Berry with just under 4% and the BNP's Richard Barnbrook with 2%.

According to Alex Burmaster, Internet Analyst from Nielsen Online, Londoners penchant for social networking continues to thrive and users are taking their opinions mainly to non-political forums, blogs & message boards including those of national newspapers and sites like Twitter and Facebook.

“Ken and Boris are the two leading candidates, neck and neck in the polls and the levels of conversation in the social media space utterly reflect this. If conversation levels were a guide, Ken would narrowly pip Boris to win. However, it's when we look at the sentiment of these conversations that a far more interesting and revealing picture emerges.”

Controversy, positivity, negativity: sentiment towards the five leading candidates in social media

• Controversy: Boris is the ‘marmite' candidate – being the most likely of the top five to generate some form of opinion either way. Only 30% of posts relating to him were of ‘no opinion'

The Green Party's Sian Berry generates the least controversy / most apathy – having the highest percentage (54%) of ‘no opinion' posts

• Positivity: Whilst Boris is most likely to generate positive sentiment, 29% of posts being ‘positive' – Sian Berry had the highest overall ‘net' positive score of 15% (positive sentiment % minus negative sentiment %). Brian Paddick is the only other candidate to come out with a ‘net' positive score (11%)

• Negativity: Richard Barnbrook is most likely to generate negative sentiment, 38% of posts being ‘negative'. He also had the lowest overall ‘net' positive score of -19%

Indeed Nielsen's results seem to suggest that, shock horror, actually participating in blogs, forums and social media is effective in helping other people to form opinions on issues that affect them. The most active candidates online garnered a net positive score in total comments posted on social media sites. Brian Paddick employed a web ace, signed up to twitter, where he hosted a policy debate and also broadcasted himself via uStream.tv.

“Of the three leading candidates in the polls it's not surprising that Brian Paddick is the only one to have an overall positive sentiment score in social media. His campaign, involving a US web strategist firm, has focused the most heavily on social media including a pioneering British political use of sites like Twitter, Facebook and UStream.TV – and it certainly seems to have paid dividends.

However, judging from the sheer levels of social media conversation on the election, it may not be enough to grab victory over Boris or Ken. If social media were a crystal ball it might tell us Boris is likely to get more votes than Ken. However, positive comments on Boris more often centre on personality rather than policies and only time will tell if this is a strong enough factor for voters when faced with putting the cross in his box to change the status quo.”

So, positivity is not the cure for apathy and clearly Londoners like myself, vis-a-vis this post, whether online or on the underground, don't know what we really really want but we sure do love a good rant!

Posted by Jonathan Allen on April 25, 2008, 12:33 PM | Permalink

Q1 2008 Click Fraud Down from Last Quarter, Up from Last Year

Click Forensics has released data showing a decline in click fraud rates in the first quarter of 2008. The overall industry number came in at 16.3%, which is down 16.6% quarter-over-quarter but up 14.8% year-over-year.

Search engine content networks saw a higher average click fraud rate at 27.8%, which is down 28.3% from last quarter but, again, up from last year by 21.9%.

Botnet click fraud traffic was up 8% year-over-year.

Search engines are addressing the click fraud problem head on. Yahoo recently announced the provision of Click Filter Reports, which show advertisers the number of discarded clicks in their PPC campaign. The Sunnyvale search engine also announced a partnership with Click Forensics to address their click fraud woes. Lycos has announced a similar deal with Click Forensics.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 25, 2008, 11:45 AM | Permalink

So You Wanna Be a SearchMonkey?

Yahoo is creating some wide open spaces for web developers. This is no API playground, people. It's a zoo.

SearchMonkey will let developers go hog wild with search results. Simple links are so old school. Listings could now include photos, reviews, ratings and contact information via developer mashups. Want portability? You got it.

And if you don't want it, you should. Yesterday, I reported that search is integral in finding social media results that affect a consumer's opinion about brands. SearchMonkey should be a tremendous tool to help influence your online reputation.

The launch party for SearchMonkey is May 15th. Here are the details:

When:May 15, 2008, 5:30 – 8:30 p.m.

Where:Yahoo! Headquarters – Url's CafÃ©, 701 First Ave, Sunnyvale, CA 94089

RSVP: Register at upcoming.org AND send your full name and company name to searchmonkeyevent@yahoo-inc.com. Space is limited.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 25, 2008, 10:24 AM | Permalink

T-minus 1 Day: Last Minute Rhetoric from Microsoft and Yahoo

On yesterday's earnings call, Chris Liddell, Senior VP and CFO, affirmed recent statements by Steve Ballmer to focus on the online advertising market. He said that the strategy was based on three pillars:

To drive innovation and search

To increase value to advertisers and publishers

To grow user engagement across MSN and Windows Live properties

Liddell said that Yahoo would accelerate that strategy. But later, he made this statement:

We've yet to see tangible evidence that our bid substantially undervalues the company. In fact we see the opposite.
Yahoo continues to lose search share and profitability continues to decline year-on-year. The results that they announced on Tuesday were in line with the guidance that they gave on their last earnings call on January 29, after which their stock price closes at $19.05 and Wall Street analysts' consensus on value was significantly decreased.

Just how is Microsoft expected to accomplish their three pillars if Yahoo is as awful as they say?

Perhaps Liddell and Ballmer are beginning to ponder that exact question. Earlier this week, Ballmer suggested that Microsoft would go forward without a merger. During yesterday's call, Liddell suggested that an alternative to Yahoo's “no” is to withdraw the proposal.

Meanwhile, Yahoo remained consistent in what they've been saying all along – that they're worth more than Microsoft's original offer. Speaking on Yahoo's earnings call on Tuesday, CEO Jerry Yang reinforced his confidence in the overall value of his company:

Yahoo! has a unique and valuable combination of assets that include our global brand, our large worldwide audience, our leadership in online advertising, our strategic positions in Asia, our mobile and emerging market franchises, and our scales, tools, and technology.

Yang stated that Yahoo's Q1 revenues were particularly remarkable in the light of uncertainty caused by Microsoft's unsolicited offer. He also said that Yahoo remains open to its options, including a deal with Microsoft.

Then Yang zeroed in on what he felt was his most important statement on the matter:

If you take only one thing away from this brief discussion, I hope it will be that our board and management are committed to choosing a path to maximize stockholder value and will not enter into any transaction that does not recognize the full value of this company.

Tomorrow, the ultimatum comes. Decisions will be made and actions will be taken. But the rhetoric still has just begun.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 25, 2008, 9:54 AM | Permalink

Microsoft Earnings Key Takeaways: Where's the Search?

The biggest acquisition news yesterday wasn't Microsoft-Yahoo but Arby's-Wendy's. In both cases, search marketers are asking, "Where's the beef?"

Better yet, analysts on the Microsoft conference call should have asked, "Where's the search?"

Microsoft search queries and page views are up year-over-year. By how much? No Wall St. analysts asked the question.

Microsoft reported $4.4 billion in net income for the quarter.

Microsoft's online services business increased revenue 40 percent to $843 million, including $143 million from aQuantive, which added 96 new publishers this quarter to the Atlas Publisher Solutions, the ad management platform that competes with Google's DoubleClick division.

Online advertising for Microsoft grew 39 percent. If aQuantive ad revenue ($47 million) is excluded, Microsoft was up 29 percent. Microsoft's online audience is still growing. Live IDs increased to 18 percent to 448 million.

Microsoft remains focused on the online advertising market (doubling by 2010 to $80 billion).

Yahoo would accelerate growth but the core strategy won't change: drive innovation and search, increase value to advertisers and publishers through innovation and scale and grow user engagement across MSN and Windows Live properties.

The weak U.S. dollar may be Microsoft's best friend. While about half of Google's revenue comes from the U.S., two-thirds of Microsoft's revenue is derived from users abroad. In addition, about 15 percent of revenue is in high-growth emerging markets.

Microsoft's strategy of reinvesting existing business, pursuing organic and acquisition growth opportunities makes the company a formidable competitor with or without Yahoo - except in search.

Posted by Kevin Heisler on April 25, 2008, 7:43 AM | Permalink

ComScore CEO Fires Back at Google, Wall St, and Bloggers

Google CEO Eric Schmidt took an indirect shot at comScore paid click data during Google's (stellar) Q1 earnings call this week, referring to the inaccuracy of "third party data" that led Wall St. analysts to reduce earnings estimates for Google based on softness of the paid search advertising market.

This afternoon, comScore CEO Dr. Magid Abraham fired back, defending the validity and accuracy of comScore aggregation of Google paid click data.

"When Google announced strong Q1 earnings last week, some financial and media analysts wrote that comScore's reports of slowing growth in Google's paid clicks missed the mark. That conclusion is patently false," said Abraham in a statement to the press. "Following several historical quarters of strong sequential domestic revenue growth (including the seasonally equivalent Q1 2007), Google's Q1 2008 revenue growth was essentially flat, which represented a significant change for Google's domestic business."

The trend comScore identified shows the relationship between comScore's domestic paid click trends compared to Google's domestic revenue trends.

comscore%20google%20paid%20clicks.jpg

The comScore chart isn't a "perfect correlation" because comScore doesn't account for changes in Google's average CPC (cost-per-click). Nor does comScore data include paid clicks from partner sites (AOL, Ask, Washington Post) or from the AdSense network, where Google paid out $5.4 billion to publisher sites in 2007 based on Google Content Advertising click volume.

Abraham warns (analysts) against extrapolating from a single data point. That's excellent advice for bloggers as well.

Earlier, comScore provided an apples-to-apples comparison of the data sets. Google doesn't release specifics on paid click data or partner revenue. Nor does the search engine giant provide guidance to Wall St. analysts.

The key takeaway: only Google can verify the accuracy of comScore data, and Google will never do so. So third party data (such as Google Analytics) is crucial for marketers to track.

Google paid click data for comScore did not include international paid search click data so Google's strong global growth (supported by comScore research on increased paid search spending in non-U.S. markets)

Posted by Kevin Heisler on April 24, 2008, 4:47 PM | Permalink

We Still Don't Rely on Video Search

While video content continues to skyrocket, people still don't rely on video search. Over half of people, in a recent ClipBlast! survey, said they find videos through their own exploration (53%) or recommendations from others (52%).

However, a sizeable amount (40%) searched for specific videos. What's surprising are the differences based on sex, as 45% of males searched while 35% of females did so.

There was a racial divide reported too: nearly 60% of non-Whites and 35% of Whites reported search activity. It's hard to say why there's such a spread, even accounting for survey size.

Bucking the tide, the youngest adults didn't search videos the most. Some 66% of 25-34 year-olds searched more, as compared with 48% for 18-24; 39% for 35-44; and 28% for 45-54 year-olds.

Other forms of video findability were lower, including 18% following online recommendations from people they didn't know; 10% via unsolicited email; and 9% via email or RSS feeds.

For now, browsing and sharing are still more important than searching videos. As new and better approaches emerge, perhaps these behaviors will shift.

Survey Details: Synovate conducted this research for ClipBlast! between March 3-5, and reached 1,000 adults through their national online panel.

Posted by on April 24, 2008, 3:30 PM | Permalink

Ballmer Wears Poker Face in Advance of Ultimatum Deadline

Yahoo earnings? What Yahoo earnings? Steve Ballmer doesn't seem to care about no stinking Yahoo earnings. Or their Google Adwords test. Or their three year revenue projections. Or their talks with Time Warner. Or forming the OpenSocial Foundation with Google. Or planning to make IndexTools free (like Google analytics).

Ballmer wants Yahoo at $31 a share and that's that. He's talking tough, saying he'll go forward without a merger. But almost no one believes him. Analysts still think the bid will be raised to anywhere from $32 to $34-ish per share.

Which brings us to Jerry Yang. He's got a poker face too, according to the analysts. Yahoo has already said No to Microsoft's bid and then issued a reminder after Ballmer's eviction notice. But many think Yahoo will indeed go for the sale should the bid be increased.

Increase or no increase, Wall Street seems to want this deal to go through. Unlike Google, Yahoo's positive earnings were followed by loss on stocks on the Street. Though Google is a pesky reminder that Wall Street doesn't always know what it's talking about.

Culture clashes could cause huge problems for Ballmer's goal of giving Google a run for its money. And, this will be especially true if it turns out that there is no bluff to call.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 24, 2008, 11:13 AM | Permalink

Study: Search Plays Key Role in Brand Loyalty, Customer Care Research

A new study about social media customer care had some interesting finds about how search factors into brand loyalty. While 59.1% of study participants use social media to vent about customer experience, 90% said search was valuable in finding information about customer care.

This data is among the initial findings of a new study conducted by the Society for New Communications Research entitled, “Exploring the Link Between Customer Care and Brand Reputation in the Age of Social Media.”

“This study indicates that there is a growing group of highly desirable consumers using social media to research companies: 25- to 55-years old, college-educated, earning $100,000+ - a very powerful group in terms of buying behavior,” said Dr. Ganim Nora Barnes, senior fellow, Society for New Communications Research. “These most savvy and sought after consumers will not support companies with poor customer care reputations, and they will talk about all of this openly with others via multiple online vehicles. This research should serve as a wake-up call to companies: listen, respond, and improve.”

Customer care was a key determinant in brand loyalty.

• 72.2% of respondents research companies' customer care online prior to purchasing products and services at least sometimes
• 84% of respondents consider the quality of customer care at least sometimes in their decision to do business with a company
• 74% choose companies/brands based on others' customer care experiences shared online
• 84% of respondents consider the quality of customer care in their decision to do business with a company at least sometimes
• 81% believe that blogs, online rating systems and discussion forums can give consumers a greater voice regarding customer care, but less than 33% believe that businesses take customers' opinions seriously

“With consumers increasingly using social media to share feedback on their care experiences, it has become increasingly difficult for businesses to ignore or hide from bad experiences,” said Lynda Kate Smith, vice president, Care Business, Nuance Enterprise Division. “As this research highlights, the consumer's voice is louder and travels further than ever before. One poor customer interaction can have a very significant impact on a public impression of a brand.”

If you want examples of how to do it right, look to Dell and Amazon. They were cited more frequently than any other company in using social media to respond to customer care issues. Breaking it down by industry, technology, retail, and travel companies were reported as doing it well, but utilities, health care, and insurance have some catching up to do in the brand loyalty department.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 24, 2008, 10:27 AM | Permalink

Yahoo! Local Adds Dynamic Radius Circle to Maps

Yahoo Local has added a nifty little feature that lets you interact with their maps. Their new dynamic radius circle helps you narrow down the area that you are searching in.

When you're on Yahoo Local, look on the right side of your results for a map. Click “Expand Map.” Then you can drag the circle around, as well as zoom in and out.

The only thing I didn't like is that when you zoom in, the circle stays in proportion to the page instead of expanding or contracting with the zoom on the map.

Here's a screenshot of a search for “coffee” in Washington, DC:

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 24, 2008, 9:49 AM | Permalink

Dogpile.com Updates Search Algorithm, Design and Content

Dogpile.com has been doing a little spring cleaning and has come out the other end with an updated search algorithm, design and new partner content. Don't worry. Arfie, the cute spotted Dogpile mascot, still greets you on the homepage.

Here's what to expect from Dogpile's updates

• Improvements in the blending of results
• Tabbed search categories on the home page
• The launch of a SearchSpy social networking widget for Netvibes or iGoogle
• Deep links (think Google sitelinks)
• Integrated content from new partner agreements

“Search is now the primary focus at InfoSpace and we are committed to enhancing Dogpile.com, our flagship site,” said Mark Whidby, director, search product management of InfoSpace, Inc. “We've listened to our users and have conducted additional research to bring them an enhanced search experience at Dogpile. We look forward to continuing to upgrade the site and offering our users improved features and technology.”

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 24, 2008, 8:44 AM | Permalink

Yahoo's Adwords Test Continues, Raises Justice Dept's Eyebrows

After reporting great success with the test of Google Adwords, Yahoo's test continues. But that's making a few people in Washington just a little bit nervous. It seems the Justice Department is checking into the all-too convenient relationship to see if there's any antitrust violations going on.

The test is slated to run just two weeks and was reported to the Justice Department in advance, according to Reuters. The first week brought great results, according to Yahoo. Though, the timing of the announcement is surely mangled up in the whole Microsoft-unsolicited-bid fiasco. With the test ending at around the same time as Microsoft's ultimatum, it's no wonder we heard about the success early.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 24, 2008, 8:32 AM | Permalink

Google Launches Mobile Image Ads

Google has announced the addition of images to their mobile ad service. They compare the ads to a smaller version of desktop web pages. The ads run on the mobile content network.

Only one image ad per mobile page will be displayed. Google says the ads will be great for branding and have shown solid clickthrough rates.

Google assured mobile users that the ads will be relevant and unobtrusive. Contextual targeting will be used to place the ads and they hope that only one ad per page will be acceptable to mobile web surfers.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 24, 2008, 8:19 AM | Permalink

Google Says ‘No' to Ecocho

Last week, we reported the launch of Ecocho, a custom search engine that promises to plant up to 2 trees for every 1,000 searches. Users could choose to search either Yahoo or Google in their quest to help the planet.

But just one day after Earth Day, word has come that Google isn't so cool with Ecocho's modus operandi. It seems the mission of the green-minded site doesn't jibe with Google's Adsense policy, which prohibits the compensation of third parties through the promise of performed searches.

Searchers can still embark on “green” searches using Yahoo via Ecocho, and now there's even a “black version,” meaning it displays a dark background (and not a niche search site for African-Americans), which some think uses less energy.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 23, 2008, 11:37 AM | Permalink

Twitter Expands to Japan, Includes Ads

Popular social media network, Twitter, has announced its expansion to Japan. But this time, ads will be rolled out with the launch of the service. The Twitter blog said that users will see “media from two clients.” So far, it seems as though the Japanese ads are display ads placed on the Twitter site, while rumors of contextual ad testing in the US have creeped up on blogs in recent weeks.

Part of Twitter's appeal is social search. Users are finding that asking their followers for recommendations often yields better or quicker results than using a search engine.

Twitter as a utility offers only limited search – providing users the ability to search user names and locations for keywords. But third-party applications like Tweetscan enable searching actual tweets for keywords.

It will be interesting to see if any search functions will eventually include the inevitable contextual ads and if social aggregators such as FriendFeed will end up including them in their search results as well.

For now, it's just hurry up and wait.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 23, 2008, 11:14 AM | Permalink

New Yahoo Feature Reports Number of Discarded Clicks

Yahoo has been throwing out bad clicks on search ad campaigns, but now a new feature will give further insight into those clicks. The new “Click Filter Report” will show how many bad clicks Yahoo is discarding.

Users can customize the report to display the data across various metrics including time, impressions, invalid clicks and average cost-per-click. Additionally, data can be viewed across an entire account or by individual campaign.

Using the report in conjunction with third-party analytics (or the forthcoming IndexTools?) will help you should you need to submit a “click investigation report.”

To access the report, click on the “Reports” tab, then go to “Traffic Quality Reports” and select “Click Filter.”

Yahoo says it typically discards 12-15% of all clicks, but advises that the mileage may vary from one ad campaign to another.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 23, 2008, 10:38 AM | Permalink

212 Interactive Advertising Club Tonight: Kevin M. Ryan on Search

212%20ad%20club.jpg

If you're in Manhattan tonight (or even in Weehawken, NJ for the SEMPO Board meeting) stop by Ogilvy Worldwide HQ at 6pm and meet up with the 212 Interactive Ad Club. SEW Expert Kevin M. Ryan, VP & Global Content Director for Search Engine Strategies, is the featured speaker on search marketing.

212 is NYC's forum for ad agencies and publishers to interact, network and learn. Some events are for members only; others are free and open to the public. This one's free and open to all marketers and publishers.

Here's an excerpt from the 212nyc.org site promoting the event:

Back by popular demand, Kevin Ryan returns to share his unabashed, unedited and uncensored views on search marketing. In addition to the latest research on blended search results and listing multiplicity, Kevin will cover the differences between Paid Search, Paid Inclusion, and SEO and how to effectively incorporate search into your marketing program.

When: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Where: Ogilvy Worldwide Headquarters
309 West 49th St.

Membership in 212 is open to all advertising agency or online publishing professionals, as well as related technology vendors and research companies in the New York area.

Posted by Kevin Heisler on April 23, 2008, 10:37 AM | Permalink

Microsoft Goes Deep with Search Results, Competes with Google's Sitelinks

The team at Live Search as announced the addition of a deep links feature to its search results. Similar to Google's Sitelinks, the feature lists prominent internal links for the #1 result on certain searches.

I did a comparison of this feature for both Live Search and Yahoo. My first search is for the “State Department.”

As you can see, Live Search lists the deep links in a single column, indented underneath the home page of the State Department's website.

While Google lists more results in 2 columns, and offers a search within a search box underneath the Sitelinks.

Next, I did a search for Starbucks. Live Search listed a paid search link, followed by local listings and then served up the first organic results with deep links. It's pretty far down on the page, especially since the closest Starbucks to me is not one of the three local listings provided by Live Search. Also, it provides Related Searches on the Sidebar, one of which is a search for a link provided in the deep links.

Google had a much more simple results page for Starbucks. The paid search ads are only on the sidebar and you get to the corporate Starbucks website right away.

For the most part, Google seems to turn up more Sitelinks than Live Search. Also, Google provides Sitelinks for sites that Live Search doesn't. Searches for both “Search Engine Watch” and “Nike” both returned Sitelinks in Google but no deep links in Live Search.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 23, 2008, 9:27 AM | Permalink

Turning Sensationalized Content into a Resource

Over the past couple of weeks, I've talked in-depth about types of blog content, and types of social media content.

One interesting observation was that on generic social media sites such as Digg and Reddit, Resource/Educational content typically doesn't perform as well as Sensational/Entertainment type content does.

On the other hand, after the initial burst of traffic to Sensationalized/Entertainment pieces via social media, traffic typically declines to very low levels, while Resource/Educational based content tends to maintain much more stamina over prolonged periods of time.

Of course, Resource/Educational posts typically take much more time to create, often to the point of seeming prohibitive to many small and medium sized businesses.

Solution:
Launch with a fun News or Sensationalized/Entertainment type post to attract lots of traffic initially, and recruit the readers gained through the social media success of this post to add much more content ... hopefully to the point where the post becomes a resource.

Sometimes this is possible organically, but other times an incentive must be given. Incentives not always need be financial either. Some additional ideas are:
a. limited recognition (acknowledge their contribution)
b. links (link to the contributor's blog or site)
c. coupons (offer coupons for products
d. interviews with the person (if the reader appears very knowledgeable, perhaps award an interview)

Wouldn't it be great if we could transition a post from a Sensational piece to a Resource piece using little of our own time. Well, it can be done, and here's how.

At the end of your Sensationalized piece, ask the readers for more examples on the same topic (you may find that you want to reward people to do so). In any case, as social media readers contribute and add more resources, the piece becomes more of a resource. Ultimately, if it was a top 10 list to begin, and ends with 100 ... it has now become a tremendous resource.

Posted by on April 23, 2008, 7:00 AM | Permalink

Forget Google's 20% Jump, Baidu UP 78% In Month

The strength of Chinese search engine Baidu in the Asian market - beating Google in the valued China market - has been reflected in investor confidence it seems. While Google made back some of their recent drop in value, it is the 78% rise in Baidu over the past month that is truly impressive.

The Motley Fool asks "Do You Believe in Baidu?" And seem to present a good argument to do so.

"Baidu has been on the move in many ways, expanding outside its search engine stronghold with recent forays into instant messaging, consumer auctions, online games, and even a bold leap into the mature yet lucrative Japanese search engine market," they report.

Nice to see another engine growing in a Google like manner, both financially and corporately.

Posted by Frank Watson on April 23, 2008, 1:03 AM | Permalink

Ebay Suing Craigslist For 'Diluting Investment' In Company

Minority interest holder, EBay is taking Craigslist to court for actions that have yet to specify have "diluted" their investment, the New York Times reported.

NYT reported:

“The recent actions by the Craigslist directors have disadvantaged eBay and its investment in Craigslist,” said Mike Jacobson, eBay's senior vice president and general counsel, in a written statement. “Since negotiating our investment with Craigslist's board in 2004, we have acted openly and in good faith as a minority shareholder, so we were surprised by these recent unilateral actions. We are asking the Delaware court to rescind these recent actions in order to protect eBay's stockholders and preserve our investment.”

Sort of like the Coke commercial. What actions will be interesting to know given the wise stewardship the Craigslist officers have shown over the years. Though their continued mainly free service may not be popular with investors, it is a well-used and enjoyed destination for many web users.

Posted by Frank Watson on April 22, 2008, 11:58 PM | Permalink

Google Retains Top Brand, Microsoft Third

For the third straight year, Google has topped Millward Brown's annual ranking of top international brands, with Microsoft coming in third behind GE. The 2008 Brandz report reflected a growth of technology companies growing recognition.

This global survey "measure(s) the intangible value of a brand using customer interviews, market data and financial information," SFGate.com stated.

Posted by Frank Watson on April 22, 2008, 11:29 PM | Permalink

Google Sued for Ad Fraud; Another Class Action Settlement?

Today Google was slapped with a an advertising fraud lawsuit that will be fascinating – and important – for AdWords advertisers to watch.

The lawsuit, which seeks class action status, was filed by the firm of Kabateck Brown Kellner, on behalf of David Almeida, a Massachusetts-based private investigator. The lawsuit claims that Google defrauds advertisers by obscuring the fact that new AdWords campaigns are set by default to display ads on both Google's search results pages (and like pages served by partners like AOL) and pages owned by site publishers who display AdWords ads via Google's Adsense programs.

Readers of my weekly SEW Content Advertising column are familiar with this phenomenon, and my suggested best practice of creating separate search and content campaigns.

At the risk of making life harder for my friends at Google, I need to point out that the suit seems to get one important fact wrong. Reports today in CNET, Yahoo! Finance, Wired and other outlets imply that advertisers are presented with the ability to “opt out” of displaying ads on the content network during campaign creation. Here's the way Yahoo puts it:

“During this process, users encounter two adjacent boxes. Into the first, customers enter the amount they wish to pay per "click" of an ad displayed on Google.com. The second box is marked "optional." Into this box, a user can enter the amount they would be willing to pay per "click" of an ad appearing on a third party web page. But leaving the box blank does not prevent ads from appearing on third-party sites.”

The truth is, advertisers don't see this option during campaign creation. The only way for them to opt out of displaying ads on the content network is for advertisers to explicitly edit the settings of their campaign after creating it, and un-check the box labeled “Content Network” – which is checked by default. Some would reason this makes Google even more exposed to fraud charges.

Another irony: some of the reporting claims the content network is inherently flawed in some way. Here's how Yahoo! puts it:

“Ads on third-party sites are widely-acknowledged to be far less effective (and therefore less valuable to the advertiser) than ads on Google.com.”

Readers of my column know that the content network is not “less effective;” savvy advertisers realize that great, profitable results can be obtained by advertising on content sites. The rules and best practices for creating effective content campaigns are, however, much different than for search campaigns. To Google's credit, they've been trying to make these differences more clear.

I'll dig into this subject more deeply in the next installment of my column. Meanwhile, my predictions, no matter which way the lawsuit is decided:

1. Google will finally make opting out of the content network much more straightforward, with clear instructions during campaign creation.

2. Google's advertiser education efforts, via their tutorials and help files, will much more explicitly teach the differences search and content ad campaign best practices.

Posted by David Szetela on April 22, 2008, 7:53 PM | Permalink

Yahoo Earnings Beat Estimates

Yahoo reported its quarterly earnings today, beating previous analyst estimates. It's probably the most important earnings report Yahoo has ever had to make, since a weak showing would almost certainly lead investors to agree to a speedy acquisition by Microsoft at its current $31 per share offer.

Yahoo reported $121 million operating income on $1.35 billion in net revenues. Earnings per share of $0.11, above $0.09 estimates.

"We believe we can significantly accelerate our revenue growth, return to our historically high margins, and double our operating cash flow by 2010," co-founder and CEO Jerry Yang said in a statement. "This quarter's solid performance underscores the fact that we are executing on that plan. Yahoo! is beginning to realize the benefits of the very substantial and deliberate long-term investments we've made to capitalize on the opportunities ahead in display and to recapture momentum in search.”

Microsoft's three-week ultimatum to Yahoo expires this weekend. After that point, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has said the gloves will come off, and Microsoft will take its case directly to shareholders in a proxy fight.

Yahoo is still not out of the woods, since its full-year revenue guidance remains the same, though its operating income guidance was upped by $50 million.

Ballmer already began minimizing the importance of Yahoo's earnings before they were even reported. "We think we can accelerate our strategy by buying Yahoo and will pay what makes sense for our shareholders," Ballmer said earlier today at an MSN launch event in North Africa. "I wish Yahoo all the success with its results but it doesn't affect the value of Yahoo to Microsoft."

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on April 22, 2008, 4:30 PM | Permalink

GreenDimes & Google Earth Gang Green: Sic Google Transit Gloria Mundi

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Happy Google Earth-A-Palooza Day! As the search engine with the biggest carbon footprint on the planet, Google celebrates Earth Day with more green than a Green Day concert.

But first, GreenDimes of Palo Alto, CA, will help you stop junk mail and earn cold hard cash: $1.00 USD.

Go to GreenDimes, the largest full-service company that removes you from catalog mailing lists and gets rid of junk mail. Fill out the online form, save trees, and earn a dollar. It's that easy. To date, GreenDimes has stopped 3.5 million pounds of waste paper. (Shhhh, don't tell the DMA.)

Google Transit is now available in 9 new cities: San Francisco, CA; Denver, CO; Millwaukee, WI; Ann Arbor and Holland, MI; Kansas City, MO; Framingham and Cape Cod, MA; and the entire state of Rhode Island (RI).

Google Transit in Google Maps allows users to find info on public transportation. Public transit directions appear as an alternative to driving directions. Bus stop, subway and train station icons will do the Googlescape. Google Transist currently provides data for more than 50 agencies in 9 countries, including nearly 40 in the United States.

Web 2.0 start-up Hop-Stop just hit the 1.5 million monthly visitor mark.

To celebrate Earth Day: The Energy Saver gadget for Google Desktop. This gadget enables and optimizes power management settings on PCs, euthanizing them when not in use:

Google SketchUp has launched a new Web site for green design professionals, with a case study from Michelle Kaufmann Designs.

Google for Educators offers recommendations for teachers who want to use Google Earth and Maps to teach about environmental issues in the classroom.

Google's Green Energy Czar, Bill Weihl, rallies the troops and helps others go green on Google's blog. We like to think of Bill as the leader of Google Gang Green.

Posted by Kevin Heisler on April 22, 2008, 3:34 PM | Permalink

Google Xooglers Launch Social Search Engine Mechanical Zoo

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Everyone knows that the Google search engine no longer wants to be a social donut.

But the first true social search engine may have already escaped the innovation machine at the Googleplex.

CNET reporter Stefanie Olsen scooped the industry on the launch of Mechanical Zoo, a stealth search engine currently in alpha with several hundred users.

Led by Nathan Stoll, former product lead of Google News, Mechanical Zoo may launch in beta as early as May, 2008. Search Engine Watch readers may remember Stoll's Google News presentation at SES San Jose in 2005.

San Francisco-based Mech Zoo was co-founded by Max Ventilla, a former Google business development manager; and computer scientist Damon Horowitz, former lead engineer of Perspecta, a search software firm. Former Google Firefox app-security engineer Fritz Schneider, is on staff.

Ex-Yahoos joined the team, too: Winton Davies, (Yahoo Research Labs), and Bob Zoller (Yahoo 360).

mechanical%20zoo%20rhino.jpg

Sep Kamvar, founder of search technology company Kaltix (sold to Google) is an adviser.

Mechanical Zoo is building products that enable "social search" by accessing the knowledge of people in your network. It's not too far from the old Bebo space.

Their plan is to develop several experimental offshoots built around their core technology.

The 12-man team is looking for a few good people. So what skills would you need? AJAXy web development; rapid prototyping and development with rails; new paradigms of data availability and access (OpenSocial); distributed systems and large datasets; statistics; algorithms; NLP and machine learning; recommendation systems; usability research; online community building; and data-driven marketing.

Sounds like there's more than a one-trick pony search engine at the Mechanical Zoo.

Posted by Kevin Heisler on April 22, 2008, 12:03 PM | Permalink

Nielsen Releases March 2008 U.S. Search Data

We've already seen the numbers from Hitwise, Compete, and comScore. Now it's Nielsen's turn to serve up its March 2008 data for top U.S. search providers.

Google, of course, took the top spot with 58.7%, up 25.5% year-over-year. Yahoo came in second at 18.1%, a decline of 4.5% year-over-year. MSN rolled into third with 12%, a 36.6% increase while AOL experienced a decrease of 19.4% to get just 4.1% of the market. Ask.com came in at just 2.4% but that's a 52.4% increase from last year.

Here's the big breakdown/comparison for each of the top 5:

Google

Hitwise 67.25%
Compete 69.4%
comScore - 59.2%
Nielsen – 58.7%

Yahoo

Hitwise - 20.29%
Compete – 14.8%
comScore – 21.3%
Nielsen – 18.1%

MSN

Hitwise – 6.65%
Compete – 10.2%
comScore – 9.4%
Nielsen – 12%

AOL

Hitwise – N/A
Compete – 1.5%
comScore – 4.8%
Nielsen – 4.1%

Ask

Hitwise – 4.09%
Compete – 3.7%
comScore – 4.7%
Nielsen – 2.4%

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 22, 2008, 10:08 AM | Permalink

Yahoo Updates Search Algorithm, Fixes Delete URL Bug

Recently, search marketers have been noticing changes to Yahoo rankings. And now, Yahoo has plans to roll out updates to its crawling, indexing and ranking algorithms, as reported on the Yahoo Search Blog. Expect to see the changes unfold over the next few days as the updates are rolled out.

Yahoo also took the opportunity to announce a fix to the Delete URL function on its Site Explorer tool. Previously, some search marketers were experiencing problems with submitted URLs remaining on “pending” status for a bit too long.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 22, 2008, 9:39 AM | Permalink

Marchex Develops Partnerships with Several Local Content Providers

Local online advertising and content publishing company Marchex has announced local content partnerships with several content providers, including Yelp and Avvo. The separate agreements will add more than 5 million reviews and ratings to Marchex's local network, bringing the total to over 8 million.

The content partners include the following:

• Yelp.com: A site where people read and write reviews of their favorite neighborhood businesses and had more than 9 million unique visitors in the month of March.

• Avvo.com: An attorney rating service

• HealthGrades.com: Provides detailed listings for more than 750,000 physicians and will be adding more than 5,000 hospitals nationwide.

• lilaguide.com: Contains more than 150,000 user-generated reviews and recommendations for parents on local shopping, baby gear, activities, restaurants, daycare and other parenting resources.

• Restaurant.com: Online dining resource providing reviews, restaurant photos, wine lists, links to menus and discounted gift certificate offers from thousands of restaurants across the United States.

• Gusto.com, Urbanspoon.com, Frommers.com and Priceline.com: Restaurant and travel sites providing tens of thousands of customer reviews of restaurants in select markets across the United States.

The content from these sites will be integrated into Marchex's local network, which sees more than 26 million unique users per month and features more than 150,000 local Web sites.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 22, 2008, 9:13 AM | Permalink

Coremetrics Announces Advanced Attribution Management

Yesterday Kevin Heisler and I spoke with Chad Baldwin, a product manager at Coremetrics. We learned about the announcement being made by Coremetrics today. There is some very interesting stuff in this announcement.

For those of you who are heavy into PPC, you may also be used to treating your campaigns in a direct response model. Someone came in by clicking on your ad after searching on a particular keyword within a search engine. So did they convert? Did enough convert to justify the cost for the keyword?

But the world has changed, and dramatically so. More and more purchases are being made only after multiple visits, and multiple purchases. A classic sequence of searches may be "digital camera", followed by "Sony digital camera", followed by "Sony cyber-shot DSC-W70". Only after that 3rd search did the customer in this example finally purchase.

One of the clasic bid management problems has been that we have always provided all the credit to the last click (in this case Sony cyber-shot DSC-W70). However, if the user came to your site for all 3 of these searches, surely some credit should go to the earlier searches. Yet classic web analytics packages and bid management systems don't allow you to handle this.

How this hurts you in your PPC campaigns is that your bid management solution might tell you to turn off that broad keyword (digital camera) because it is not profitable in a direct response model. But, when you do, your total margin goes down.

With this new announcement by Coremetrics, a unique new solution to this problem is available. Now you can associate the revenue with the last click, the first click, average it across all clicks, or setup a custom allocation across the various clicks. This allows advertisers to balance the allocation of revenue in the manner that best fits their business.

Better still, Coremetrics' announcement also includes detailed tracking and attribution of clicks that come in from display advertising campaigns, including those that come through from Google AdSense advertising you might be doing. So, if you are running AdSense, and a click on your ad comes in from About.com, you can attribute some of the revenue to that campaign, even though the purchase does not occur until 2 visits later after 2 click throughs from regular search ads.

This is really cool too. A while back I did an article on Search Engine Watch with the help of Dustin Engel of Range Online Media. This article outlined one element of the relationship between display advertising and search advertising. It recommended a cyclical approach to emphasizing display versus search spend. It just illustrated one element of how diplay and search advertising interact. Now with this Coremetrics announcement you can begin to truly measure some of the interactions.

Ultimately, the key to this announcement is the recognition that user sessions may in fact span multiple visits. You want to be able to track the cumulative behavior across all of a user's visits, and to understand the interactions between them. This is a new frontier that top marketers are major brands are already embracing. Coremetrics is now offering the tools to be able to look at this more closely than ever before.

Posted by on April 22, 2008, 8:00 AM | Permalink

Online Advertising Shifting from Branding to Direct Response

Advertisers are increasingly turning to ad networks with their online advertising dollars, according to the New York Times. Ad networks sell display advertising across a variety of sites and can be targeted or vertical (focusing on a niche like sports or travel).

The appeal of ad networks lies in their price and improved targeting technology. Paying $4 for a highly targeted ad on a lesser-known site is garnering better results than many, generalized eyeballs seeing a $40 ad on a big site like MSN.

This should come as no surprise to seasoned search marketers. Conversions are a more important metric than clicks and ad networks enable advertisers to enact that strategy in their online campaigns.

But advertisers should buy while the getting is good. With the rising popularity of ad networks, expect prices to rise in a competitive marketplace.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 21, 2008, 10:14 AM | Permalink

MySpace Launches Beta Version of New Advertising Platform

Social media networks have struggled to produce confidence in their advertising options, but MySpace is hoping to change that with the beta launch of Community Builder, the social networks' new advertising platform. According to Bryce Emo, Senior Vice President of Sales, the new platform, “enables marketers to fulfill long-term communication strategies with consumers who engage in and friend their communities. It's an opportunity to connect with users faster and easier than ever before.”

Emo added, “Community Builder is the next evolution of the MySpace brand profile -– a more flexible solution that puts creative freedom and control into the hands of advertisers to ensure that a community stays dynamic and interesting in between major campaigns and projects.”

There are two versions of Community Builder: Self-Service and Full-Service. Self-service is for advertisers with advanced coding skills in CSS and XHTML, while Full-service is for the coding-challenged. Both versions offer advertisers 24/7 access to update community elements (blogs, bulletins) as well as increased analytics (via Hitbox) and profile functionality.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 21, 2008, 9:51 AM | Permalink

Google Pursues the Baidu-Dominated Chinese Search Market

In an effort to catch Baidu, the dominate search engine in China, Google has plans to add 200 employees to the 600 it already has dedicated to efforts in the world's largest country. Some estimates have Baidu as enjoying a 62% market share there, comparable to the share Google has in the United States.

Google will also increase its ad spend on promoting Google Maps and Gmail, as well as boost the online advertising revenues. The advertisements will appear on Chinese web sites and hopes to develop profit-sharing partnerships with Chinese web sites similar to the partnership it has with Sina.com.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 21, 2008, 9:21 AM | Permalink

Survey Finds Search Engine Marketing Budgets in UK to Increase

According to the UK Search Engine Marketing Report 2008, released today by E-consultancy in association with Search Engine Marketing agency Neutralize (*\*), the industry is thriving in the UK with 63% of companies planning to increase their paid search (PPC) budget and 61% planning to increase their search engine optimization (SEO) budget.

In a press release, Lucy Cokes, the Managing Director of Neutralize (*\*), said, "It appears evident that search engine marketing is now cemented in the minds and therefore budgets of UK marketers. It is fantastic to see a greater understanding of the benefits of a well managed search marketing campaign and budgets being increased accordingly across both paid and organic search."

Now in its second year, the UK Search Engine Marketing Report is based on the results of a survey completed earlier in the year by more than 1,000 respondents from both agencies and companies with first-hand experience of search engine marketing.

One of the key trends found in the report is this one: Since 2007, the proportion of companies conducting PPC and SEO exclusively inhouse has declined. Correspondingly, the proportion of respondents using an agency for both disciplines has gone up.

For more information, go to http://www.neutralize.com/media-centre/research-reports.htm.

Posted by Greg Jarboe on April 21, 2008, 9:04 AM | Permalink

SEW Experts: B2B Advertising Brilliance: Word Frequency Techniques for Killer PPC Campaigns

Creating ad groups for a business-to-business (B2B) content advertising campaign can be done by examining the pages that show up high in the results for your targeted keywords. In today's Content Advertising column, "B2B Advertising Brilliance: Word Frequency Techniques for Killer PPC Campaigns," David Szetela explains how to create top performing content ad groups for a B2B ad campaign.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on April 21, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink

Avinash Kaushik, iPerceptions Offering 4Q: Exit Popup To Survey Visitors

Avinash Kaushik is one of the most knowledgeable people in the analytics space, but his newest venture 4Q with iPerceptions may have a problem. One of the pet peeves of Web users is that popups suck.

The idea of a survey to find out what people thought of your site is a good one, especially in a world where site owners are just starting to understand the need for analytics. The survey goes back to the old direct marketing system where restaurants and other brick and mortar services would poll their customers.

But while the information may be invaluable the bad taste exit popups leave in a visitor's mouth is something iPerceptions may have wanted to survey first. The few people discussing the product on the site's forum mention this problem and the drop in conversions the popup may be causing.

True, the message is not a pitch for a sale (well not directly), and many large companies still use the feature (log out of any travel booking site and you will see what I am talking about).

The feature itself can be written with a simple javascript and a landing page, so the outsourcing of it may be more for the novice. But it does give some aggregated information to 4Q and I have yet to read through the privacy policy to see how that may be used in the future.

There are a few features to this that make it a little different. You can actually set the percentage that see it - so you are not pushing it to everyone and could test it on say 10% of your exiting traffic.

I am on the fence right now but still remember how effective those exit popups used to be in grabbing email addresses when I used them a few years ago. One warning, don't put them on any of your pages where you are using AdWords... it is against the T&Cs.

Posted by Frank Watson on April 18, 2008, 3:57 PM | Permalink

We May Not Need Standards But FTC, FCC Want To Gives Us Regulations

While the standards debate rages on, our industry is fast coming under the influence of government regulations. This week has seen discussions about behavioral marketing at the FTC and the FCC weighing in on ISPs filtering sites.

The behavioral regulations being looked at by the FTC had Google, Yahoo and Microsoft commenting from different angles.

Google wanting to make sure their method of selecting ads was not rolled into the mix stated "our AdWords program allows us to provide ads on Google.com in response to search queries… . We believe this type of advertising should not be considered behavioral advertising, even if such analysis takes into consideration previous search queries." (from Alan Davidson, Senior Policy Counsel and Head of U.S. Policy, Google, Inc.).

Yahoo's VP Global Public Policy David Hantman stated: "The information they will receive when they click through for more information will include an explanation of how customization works, how they can participate in the NAI opt-out, and a link to our privacy policy where they can find more comprehensive information"

While Microsoft provided a list of ways to possibly address the issue:
Sensitive Personally Identifiable Information Advertising - Opt-in Consent;
Personally Identifiable Information Advertising - Propsective Use: Opt-out Choice;
Retroactive Use: Opt-in Consent; Behavioral Advertising — Opt-out Choice;
Multi-Site Advertising - Pass-through Notice;
Online Advertising - Prominent Notice, Security, Data Retention.

Posted by Frank Watson on April 18, 2008, 3:04 PM | Permalink

Case Sensitive Google Search Results Being Found

Chris Silver Smith over at NetConcepts found case sensitive results in Google SERPs. Let's hope this is just some error and not a change that will see many people scrambling to make wholesale changes to their SEO efforts.

Talk about ways to further pollute the results.... rewritten copy saying the same thing but geared towards upper and lower case search results... does anyone win here?

Posted by Frank Watson on April 18, 2008, 2:28 PM | Permalink

Guess Who's Skin Deep in The New York Times?

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You're never going to guess which SEO rockstar was in The New York Times yesterday... Oh. You guessed. Right. Well then. Carry on.

Rand Fishkin , CEO of SEOMoz, appears on Oprah more than any other SEO. So we weren't surprised to see Rand Fiskin and SEOMoz debut yesterday in The New York Times Fashion & Style section.

Come to think of it, we were surprised. We didn't see the Times story mentioned in the growing search blogosphere. SEOMoz blogger Rebecca Kelley didn't mention the citation in her weekly news roundup but fortunately, Rand "tweeted" the link to the NY Times article on Twitter today.

"Skin Deep: To Cut or What? The World Butts In" a feature by NYT reporter Anna Jane Grossman suggests, "Gone are the days of making beauty look effortless. Instead everyone wants confirmation in the form of numbers, like so many singers vying for the love of the world's Simons, Paulas and Randys. And it seems public approval trumps personal choice, or the advice of friends."

The SEOMoz blog, (where SEW Expert Eric Enge and CEO, Stone Temple Consulting), has been guest blogging, received a coveted link from NY Times Digital.

So here's the scoop on the author of The Desire for Fame in the SEO World:

For Rand Fishkin, 28, opening up questions about his appearance seemed like a natural — and entertaining — extension of crowd sourcing, by which companies or Web sites let users create and manage content. In September 2007, Mr. Fishkin, the chief executive of SEOmoz, a company that does search engine optimization, posted six photos of himself on his blog, seomoz.org/blog and let readers vote for their favorite.

More than 400 nameless readers weighed in on the matter of goatee versus a full beard versus a clean shave. The next month, when Mr. Fishkin arrived in Stockholm for a conference unshaven and bristly, strangers approached him to tell him he had made the right choice.

'For a reader, it's compelling to be able to have a more personal connection with a person than just a blog-content connection,' Mr. Fishkin said."

Posted by Kevin Heisler on April 18, 2008, 1:47 PM | Permalink

Globalization of Content Theft - A Personal Story - Part II

A few hours ago, before I went to bed, I blogged about someone who stole my SEW column content for their own online marketing blog within hours of its publication. I also commented on their blog and asked them to remove the offending content.

This morning, things look different:

The offending entry has been removed and is now a permanent server-side redirect back to my column
An apology of sorts was posted on the blog (see below)

The reply starts with an excuse: "my blog has very little content as I am only testing it at the moment" - as if the perpetrator's low readership makes their actions justifiable. It goes on to say that the blogger "didn't mean to leave your part copied article on the site". That's what a small child might be expected to say if caught doing something wrong. It further states "I was surprised to see that Google had indexed it". Isn't that why we blog in the first place? If the content was good enough to post on a public website to promote their business, there should not be any great surprise when Google picks it up.

I find all of this in keeping with the original theft of my content and do not view it to be a satisfying explanation.

However, by the end of the response the person had apologized, removed the stolen content, and promised not to do it again.

Here is what I have done for my part to edit my original post:

Removed the URL to the offending website
Removed the URL of the stolen blog post content
Anonymized the screen shot
Edited out their name and city from the public disclosure at the end of the post
Cross linked to this follow-up blog post

So what are my take-aways from all this?

The Internet is a very responsive medium
Public exposure of wrongdoing can be effective at rectifying some situations
We have to be okay with everything we do on the public Internet because it is completely transparent
Some things can't be undone - there may be electronic echoes of this incident for a long time
This type of situation will probably happen again and must (unfortunately) be monitored for continuously

Posted by Tim Ash on April 18, 2008, 12:40 PM | Permalink

Microsoft Hires Lobbyists in Anticipation of Yahoo Acquisition

Microsoft is preparing for the best in its unsolicited bid for Yahoo. The AP is reporting that the software giant has hired lobbyists to address the inevitable regulatory concerns that will arise should the deal go through. Bryan Cave Strategies LLC will represent the Redmond-based Microsoft in what would likely be a hostile takeover.

Just one week remains before Microsoft's ultimatum deadline rears its ugly head. Yahoo releases first quarter revenues on Tuesday, and has been doing everything it can to resist the deal or raise the bid to a higher price tag.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 18, 2008, 11:21 AM | Permalink

Visual, Mobile Search Engine Coming to iPhones in Japan

Evolution Robotics is preparing to introduce a new mobile search engine, dubbed ER Search, that incorporates visual search. Expected to be available for iPhones in Japan as early as June, the technology makes cameras an integral part of the mobile search process. Here's how it works:

1. Users take a picture of a DVD cover, book cover or CD cover.
2. They email it to Evolution Robotics server.
3. Evolution Robotics sends an email to the iPhone with information about the product.
4. Users have the option to buy the product. For example, a link to the iTunes iPhone store will bring up a list of tunes associated with the product.

Words can't really do this justice, so take some time and watch this video demo of ER Search:

via Mobile Whack

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 18, 2008, 11:10 AM | Permalink

New SEMPO Chairperson Dana Todd Has Big Dreams for Organization

Last month, SEMPO selected the officers for their 2008 Board of Directors, and Chairperson Dana Todd is sharing her vision for the organization.

"Because the internet marketing industry changes so rapidly, it's becoming more important to hiring managers to know that the people they're bringing on board have more than a passing knowledge of the tactical aspects of Search Marketing. It's very learnable, but you can't take shortcuts in learning a complex science such as Search," said Chairperson Dana Todd.
Specifically, Todd wants to help search marketing practices be applied to other sectors such as online advertising, information architecture, and PR.

The Board of Directors will also focus on finding new ways to support the three primary legs of SEMPO's mission , which are education, research and global expansion. New initiatives include defining standards and best practices, building local presences, and expanding the role of the SEMPO Institute to bring a higher baseline of education to search marketers.

Todd co-founded SiteLab Interactive in La Jolla, California. The company has been integral in the launch of Newsforce, which provides new media distribution tools for Public Relations professionals.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 18, 2008, 10:18 AM | Permalink

Yahoo Implements Minimum Bid Price Change

In February, Yahoo announced that minimum bids for Sponsored Search will no longer be fixed at $.10. And yesterday, they announced that the change has taken effect.

Buyers may find that new minimum bids may be set lower or higher than $.10 for Sponsored Search ads. However, Content Match minimum bids will stay fixed at $.10.

Comparing the new minimum bids to auction house reserve prices, Yahoo said that two main factors will drive the price – quality and value. High quality ads could be rewarded with lower minimum bids, while value will be determined by how many advertisers are bidding on a particular keyword and how much they're willing to pay for it.

Ads become eligible for display when a buyer's bid is equal to or greater to the minimum bid. Users will be notified through their Account Dashboard if the minimum bid goes above their current bid. A grace period of several days will be given to raise bids.

The implementation came in the wake of news that Yahoo's testing of Google ads was successful. Yahoo releases first quarter revenues next Tuesday.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 18, 2008, 9:48 AM | Permalink

Microsoft Acquires Travel Search Site Farecast

Microsoft has acquired Seattle-based travel search site Farecast for an estimated $115 million, according to published reports. Both parties are remaining largely mum on the matter, which resolved April 9.

Farecast uses predictive technology to offer its users comprehensive results on hotels and airfare prices. It also uses historical data to let searchers know if they're really getting a deal.

All 27 of Farecast's employees will become Microsoft employees as a result of the acquisition.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 18, 2008, 9:27 AM | Permalink

Globalization of Content Theft - A Personal Story

[This entry has been edited since its original posting. Please read the follow-up post after reading this one.]

I worked for many years to build up my expertise and reputation in online marketing. I considered my recent addition as a "By The Numbers" expert columnist on Search Engine Watch as an honor. My first column on Landing Page Neglect just appeared yesterday and I wanted the whole world to see it.

Unfortunately at least one reader and member of the Global Village did more than that. An unscrupulous so-called online marketing expert in the U.K. stole my column and posted it on his on own blog.

I have asked him to remove it. In case he does, here is a screenshot of the original entry and my comment asking him to rectify the situation.

So what are we to do in this friction-free Internet world? If stealing is as easy as cut-and-pasting, and there is no legal or financial leverage over a thief who is in another country or legal jurisdiction, then what recourse do we have?

I think that one answer may be to use the medium itself against the offenders.

It is easy to steal. But it is also easier than ever to detect such theft, and expose it. It seems like the days of public shaming are a quaint relic of yesteryear. But I vote to bring them back. We should not tolerate liars and cheats in our midst and should use the very medium that enabled the transgression to help rectify it.

Do not do business with [Name edited out] of [Location edited out] - he is not an honorable man.

Please see my follow-up post.

Posted by Tim Ash on April 18, 2008, 2:04 AM | Permalink

Google Earnings, Earnings Whispers, and What In the World?

google%20Q1.jpg

Google frustrated Wall St. bears, earnings whisperers, and the world's most bearish bloggers today by beating analysts' earnings estimates.

Listeners on the Google conference call could virtually hear the sound of much gnashing of teeth from naysayers who cried doom and gloom this quarter.

The news was so good you'd think Quattrone was in the house.

Google blew away all revenue predictions, posting $5.19 billion for the first quarter, a 42% increase over the first quarter of 2007 and an increase of 7% compared to the retail and holiday-driven fourth quarter.

We'll have more on what the Q1 call means to search marketers later. (It's all good.) But first: the biggest dissappointment was the early departure of Paul Kedrosky of Infectious Greed fame who had to drop off the call early to catch a flight in the middle of live-blogging commentary.

Paul showed how far off the mark Citigroup analyst Mahaney was:

"Here is how Google came in versus one cheat sheet (Mahaney's at Citi) floating around out there:

* Net revenues -- Forecast $3.54b / Actual: $4.0b
* Earnings -- Forecast: $1.76b / Actual $1.83b
* EPS: -- Forecast: $4.50 / Actual: $4.84"

Paul also had some of the best and funniest con call commentary on his blog, so we'll share a few blog bytes with our readers (and the few remaining GOOG bears out there). Paul's capital expenditures (CapEx) comment came pre-call just after Google announced earnings results to the media (and the world):

What. in. the. world. are. these. GOOG. guys. building?
Google CapEx in Context. Moon base Theory, Redux.

For you conspiracy theorists -- Google's building a moon base! Google's building a moon base! -- here is the last five quarters of Google's re-spiraling CapEx ...

Sergey tipping 100 improvements in search introduced in quarter. Not to be rude, but does this deserve so much time?This is awfully inside search-baseball for the opening of an earnings call.

Wait. Sergey talking mobile. Something coming? News? Oh, language versions. Mobile search traffic "growing rapidly". Great, glad to hear that. I was so worried. YouTube? "Mobile video traffic growing rapidly" too. Another load off my mind. Not.

Ten hours of new video going up onto YouTube every minute. No idea what that actually means in monetization, but it's a great stat for future presentation porn. Whoa, and Dunkin' Donuts uses YouTube.

Catch Paul on CNBC tomorrow morning -- and for breakfast?

Rumor has it Google will be serving crow for any bears who wander by the Googleplex.

Posted by Kevin Heisler on April 17, 2008, 8:28 PM | Permalink

If Search Is Recession-Proof, Watch Out For Newbie Bidders

Reprise Media Partner Joshua Stylman wrote a piece about search advertising and the impending recession detailing how search should be the last advertising method to have spend cut backs. Add the fact that search is more measurable and it seems the obvious way things should develop.

In another article looking at the situation, Search Mojo warns to watch out for the newbie search marketers that could increase bid amounts with overly aggressive minimum bids.

This could be a very real problem and I will definitely be using some of their tips to counter the situation.

Posted by Frank Watson on April 17, 2008, 4:10 PM | Permalink

Google Engine Discussed At Popular Mechanics

Google Search Guru Udi Manber answered 20 questions over at Popular Mechanics, and they were not discussing gas mileage or horse power. The questions covered the future of search and Google's role in the industry.

Manber, "a computer science professor at the University of Arizona, then a senior vice president at Amazon and Yahoo's chief scientist, Manber is now vice president in charge of search quality for Google, where he makes sure results are engineered to the utmost (near) perfection."

Go Wildcats - I thought all the Jedi Search Knights came from Stanford!

One question's response was very interesting.

Do you find that the content on the Web is evolving to be more search-engine friendly?
It's hard to say. It's definitely still lacking. I wish people would put more effort into thinking about how other people will find them and putting the right keywords onto their pages.

Now is that a recommendation of keyword stuffing or just an instruction that specific keywords on a page influence placement?

The article is well worth the read to get an understanding of how a senior Googler sees the search space.

Posted by Frank Watson on April 17, 2008, 3:31 PM | Permalink

Search Gains on Social Media in Share of Online Video Referrals

Hitwise is reporting data showing that search and social media are virtually equal when it comes to the share of referrals to online video.

In the week ending April 12, 2008, the share of search referrals were up 35% year-over-year, while the share of social media referrals was down by 20%.

Within search referrals, Google's share increased by 44% and Yahoo's increased by 13%. Within social media referrals, the share of MySpace.com referrals declined by 25%.

The increase in search referrals is likely attributed to universal and blended search.

Still, online videos are gaining in popularity. comScore is reporting that over 10.8 billion online videos were viewed in the month of February alone, up 3% from January and 66% from February 2007. And Hitwise adds context with reporting that viewers spent an average of 16 minutes and 12 seconds watching online videos last week, up from 15 minutes and 14 minutes year-over-year.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 17, 2008, 11:48 AM | Permalink

Urban Mapping Unveils Geotargeting and Local Search Platform

7% of searches are local, including a zip code, city or neighborhood term. With over 10.8 billion searches conducted by Americans in the month of March alone, 7% is a lot of searches.

Now Urban Mapping is making it easier for search marketers to improve the effectiveness of their online advertising and paid search campaigns for local search. Today, the neighborhood data provider announced the launch of its Geomods platform, designed to “deliver more geographically-relevant results for users.”

Here's what you can expect from the new platform:

• Platform utilizes standard web protocols and serves geographic terms relevant to a specified area.
• Provides a custom service area based on a variety of demographic, spatial and business factors (via a separate module)
• Leverages the installed user base of its neighborhoods boundary database, providing many of the same geographic keywords that power search portals, Internet yellow pages and mapping platforms.

“This geotargeting platform is a radical departure from traditional IP-based geotargeting,” said Ian White, Urban Mapping CEO. “It has been proven again and again that traditional geotargeting does not provide a high degree of confidence for local search, where granularity is of paramount importance—blocks, not ZIP codes or metropolitan areas matter.”

Urban Mapping's GeoMods services includes US, Canadian and European coverage. The company currently counts SuperPages.com, YellowPages.com, MapQuest, Microsoft's Live Search, Ask.com as customers.

Clickable's SEM Software Gets Positive Reviews

Clickable is the latest Software-as-a-Service offering for Search Engine Marketers. SmallBusinessComputing.com's Gerry Blackwell had the chance to get insight from one of the private beta testers selected to test the product.

Pam Emery, marketing specialist at outdoor gear supplier Backcountry Edge, found that Clickable streamlined her SEM efforts, which are just a part of the four-year-old companies' overall marketing strategies. Emery engaged in a learn-as-you-go method when it came to paid search advertising. But now she's finding that Clickable helps her manage PPC campaigns with ease.

Clickable is able to explain tricky paid search analytics in plain English. It can make suggestions such as “Bidding more for this word will improve your return.”

Emery says that instead of dealing with different interfaces for different search engines, she can now rely on just one – at least for Yahoo and Google. Clickable has a plugin for both of the top two search engines with one for MSN on the way.

Clickable's interface is web-based and uses the company's servers, relieving customers of additional IT burdens. Emery told SmallBusinessComputing.com that it's too soon to tell if Clickable improves sales over her previous efforts, but it has given her confidence in her newly gained paid search strategies.

Search Engine Promises to Reduce Carbon Footprint

If you want to “go green” while conducting your searches, then a new search engine is right up your alley. Echocho promises to grow up to 2 trees for every 1000 searches. The search engine allows users to choose whether they wish to conduct searches on Yahoo or Google.

As of this post, Ecocho had planted 2,873 trees which they say offsets 1,436,710 kilos of C2. The trees are purchased using 70 percent of advertising revenue. Echocho also has a toolbar which is available to download for Firefox or IE6 and IE7.

The design of Echocho features a white background, which may prove controversial for some eco-evangelists. Last year, Blackle launched as a Google custom search engine with a black design, which they said would reduce the amount of watts used during searches. As of this post, Blackle claims to have saved the earth 567,579.120 Watt hours.

The “big” search engines are no stranger to green initiatives. Last summer, Yahoo was trying to find the “Greenest City in America” while Google hosted a “Summer of Green” site that listed environmentally-friendly hotels and vacation destinations.

via The Daily Telegraph

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 17, 2008, 10:20 AM | Permalink

Yahoo's Test of Google Ads is Successful, Partnership Progresses

Yahoo's two week test of Google's search advertising has proved successful, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing “people familiar with the matter.” As a result, a partnership between the two search engines is increasingly likely.

Earlier this week, SearchIgnite released data that Yahoo made gains on Google in the search advertising game. But Yahoo has a long way to go in making significant strides in the search ad game, and they have more immediate issues at hand, namely Microsoft's unsolicited bid to acquire the company.

A partnership with Google appears to be one of many moves in what appears to be an attempt by Yahoo to fend off Microsoft in its unsolicited bid for the company or to raise the offer. Previously, Yahoo released positive revenue projections for the next three years, talked with AOL about a merger, and teamed up with Google to form the OpenSocial Foundation.

For its part, Microsoft began to grow tired waiting, and issued Yahoo an April 26th ultimatum, despite receiving a “no” from Yahoo shortly after the bid was made. And Microsoft may be feeling the pressure, as it has reportedly been talking to News Corp. about assisting in the hostile takeover.

Yahoo releases its first quarter earnings next Tuesday, April 22 at 2pm EST. Google releases its first quarter earnings today at 4:30pm EST.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 17, 2008, 8:47 AM | Permalink

Google Analytics Launches "Urchin 6"

At ad:tech San Francisco, Google Analytics today announced the full launch of Urchin Software, Google's advanced - but not free - Web analytics package, aka Urchin 6. Urchin Software is the update to Urchin 5, and anyone can now download a 90-day free trial, at Urchin.com.

For the moment, Urchin is only available in English, but nine other international versions are expected to be available soon.

For search engine marketers who remember the name, Urchin formed the basis of Google Analytics, which was released in 2005. But, Google Analytics is a Google-hosted service, while Urchin is software that users install on their own servers.

This makes Urchin the better option for certain applications. You might use it if you need to:
* analyze your firewall-protected content, such as an intranet;
* review 5 years' worth of old server log data to analyze;
* check if your site's visitors are getting "Page Not Found" (404) errors;
* audit your site's traffic by a third party;
* create custom reports or integrate with other tools, like a CRM system; or
* integrate your e-commerce logs directly with Urchin.

That said, Google continues to recommend Google Analytics for most users and most circumstances, as its marketing-oriented reports are more advanced than Urchin's. You can even use Google Analytics and Urchin together at the same time and get the best of both worlds.

An Urchin license is $2,995. The license allows you to analyze traffic for up to 1000 domains, any number of load-balanced servers, and any number of log files (including access, e-commerce, cost-per-click, and other types of logs).

More information is available on the Google Analytics blog.

Posted by Greg Jarboe on April 16, 2008, 8:08 PM | Permalink

Google Website Optimizer Tool is Out of Beta!

Google Website Optimizer is out of beta

Bye-bye beta!

Google announced today that its Google Website Optimizer (GWO) landing page testing tool is finally out of beta. GWO is a free tool for running A-B split and multivariate landing page tests.

As a charter GWO Authorized Consultant, my company watched its development from the beginning. It started out in the shadow of AdWords, and was only available as a tab in your AdWords account. Even though you did not have to spend any money on AdWords to use it, it was still seen as an add-on to the PPC advertising platform and did not initially get the attention that it deserved.

With today's announcement, GWO steps into the spotlight in recognition of its important role in Google's future. The company is committed to investing significant resources behind this product. As an example, GWO is now available in 27 languages worldwide: Czech, Danish, Dutch, English (Australia, UK & U.S.), Finnish, French, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil & Portugal), Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Tagalog, Thai and Turkish).

If a landing page has a higher conversion rate it clearly had more relevance for the person who clicked on the PPC ad, so Google can properly trot this out under the banner of improved relevance and a better user experience. At the same time, increased adoption of landing page optimization and testing can only benefit Google since more efficient advertisers will be willing to spend more per click while still maintaining their CPA targets.

Several key enhancements will make GWO even more powerful and useful to the wider online marketing audience:

Easier sign-up outside of AdWords - Google is making it easier for anyone to sign up and use Website Optimizer. In addition to accessing the tool through AdWords, people can now access it with any Google Account, such as the one they may use for Google Analytics or Gmail. They will see only the stand-alone testing tool features, uncluttered by other applications. Existing AdWords and Google Analytics users can still continue to use it as before (as part of their AdWords interface).

Easier Multivariate test setup - Based on user feedback, Google has improved the setup flow for multivariate experiments, with more straightforward tagging instructions and a sample tagged page for users to examine.

New Website Optimizer website and resources - The Website Optimizer site will be globally revamped to include more educational information, including archived webinars, articles on optimization, testing strategies, and best practices. Google Website Optimizer main site.

New Blog - Google is launching a new Website Optimizer product blog that will discuss the latest product news, industry insights, and testing strategies.

After the jump: free Google Web Optimizer Tool chapter (pdf) from my book, Landing Page Optimization.

For additional background I am making the full 25-page GWO appendix from my Landing Page Optimization Book available as a PDF - download the Google Website Optimizer Appendix.

Posted by Tim Ash on April 16, 2008, 12:20 PM | Permalink

Google Releases Updates to Google Earth; Includes Street View

Less than a week after Microsoft released updates to Live Maps and Virtual Earth 3D, Google announces updates to its Google Earth product. The most anticipated update is the addition of Street View, previously available on Google Maps.

Here are more updates straight from the Official Google blog:

• New navigation includes improved zoom control, so you can swoop down from outer space to street level in a single seamless motion. And with the addition of the "look" joystick, you can look up at buildings or across a mountain range.
• More, faster 3D buildings - Navigate through a lot of new 3D content. Besides adding thousands of buildings contributed by people around the world, they've added dozens of photo-textured cities and towns in the U.S. and elsewhere.
• Street View - The popular and sometimes controversial Google Maps feature has now been integrated to Google Earth.
• Sunlight feature – Watch the sun rise over the Alps, for example.
• New languages - 12 new languages are included in the update and they are: Danish, English (UK), Spanish (Latin American), Finnish, Hebrew, Indonesian, Norwegian, Portuguese (PT), Romanian, Swedish, Thai, and Turkish.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 16, 2008, 12:19 PM | Permalink

Facebook Adds "Lexicon" to Arsenal: A Potent Buzz Pocket Mining Tool

Search Marketers interested in mining data about users' behavior in Facebook have a new weapon with the arrival of "Lexicon." Lexicon measures the "overall usage of words and phrases on profile, group and event Walls." Enter up to 5 terms consisting of multiple words, letters, and numbers and Lexicon returns relative community chatter levels.

Check out this Lexicon comparison of soccer, baseball, and football:

Buzz Pocket Mining means using available tools to measure interest nodes in social communities. It's the rapidly growing little brother to classic keyword research.

Previously the best method for harvesting demographic data from Facebook was their Social PPC Ajax ad creation tool, which offers serious insight to those sizing up users for conversational marketing and social PPC.

Google's "Open Social" API will likely facilitate related techniques applied to other major and niche social sites soon. This makes understanding these types of research tools an essential learning curve for SEMs.

Posted by Marty Weintraub on April 16, 2008, 11:59 AM | Permalink

Paid Click Growth Slows, Declines in Q1 2008

Following a less-than-luster February, paid clicks were weak across the board in the first quarter of 2008, according to published reports of a report by comScore.

Google's paid clicks slowed to a growth of just 1.8% in the first quarter. While March's growth was still a year-over-year increase of 2.7%, these numbers are nothing close to the double digit growth that we've seen from Google in the past.

The news was not better for Google's competitors. In March, Yahoo was down 3.1%, Microsoft was down 15.1% and AOL was down by 2.3%.

Google releases Q1 revenues ~~later today~~ Thursday, April 17 at 4:30pm EST/1:20pm PST.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 16, 2008, 11:48 AM | Permalink

Divorce by YouTube: Tricia Walsh-Smith Searches for Revenge?

Tricia%20Walsh-Smith.jpg

Google's YouTube is the dominant video search engine in the world. So if you're looking for a "divorce" where else would you search? YouTube divorce, naturally.

Divorce by YouTube? Sure, we can think of lots of ways online video could lead to marital dis-bliss. But using YouTube to prevent a divorce? Brilliant.

Apparently that's the thinking - or lack thereof - behind UK actress and playwright Tricia Walsh-Smith. She lives in New York (Park Avenue!), sometimes with her husband, Schubert Organization President Phil Smith, the broadway impresario who's evicting her from their posh apartment.

That's the set for this UGC reality show. Getting picked up by one of the cable networks, though, or another millionaire is a likely outcome for Ms. Walsh-Smith, who joins the short but impressive list of women scorned who exacted their pound of flesh online.

In the late '80s, "Trish the Dish Best Served Cold" wrote the now quite appropriately named play, Bonkers. Several of her plays, including' "Addictions," "Change the Day" and "The Last Journey," are scheduled to open in London this year.

Her rant replaces what the UK Telegraph journalist Aislinn Simpson revealed as a bizarre but effective revenge plot - at least to Desperate American Housewives: "stuffing fish fingers" in the curtain rod.

Of course in the Battle of the Ex-es and Sex(es) in the City, men aren't sitting idly by while women take over the search engine world. (Unless you're the famously eBay-ted Jimmy "Jimbo" Wales who had his wiki waxed by ex-girlfriend airing his dirty laundry on eBay.)

Try a YouTube search for keyword ''crazy ex-girlfriend voicemail."

See the full uncensored and unexpurgated video rant after the jump:

If you're outraged by this Search Engine Watch investigative report on YouTube divorce, send me a message (140 characters or less) at: http://twitter.com/kevinheisler

Posted by Kevin Heisler on April 16, 2008, 11:47 AM | Permalink

Windows Live Search Offers Google News Alternative

Windows Live Search has added a News component, according to a report by CNet's News.com blog. A meme tracker design has been employed for the front page of the news section. (If you don't know what a meme tracker is, check out Techmeme.com or Megite.com).

Also on the front page is a search box and an aggregate of local news in a sidebar to the right. Scroll down just below the fold and you'll find a row of news videos from mainstream media sites such as USA Today, AP Video, Reuters Video and Fox News.

When conducting a search, the results page loses its meme tracker feel. There's a listing of headlines with the first paragraphs of the stories. Thumbnail photos with stories accompany the articles in the listings.

On the sidebar of search results are options to refine the search geographically or conduct recommended related searches.

Like Google news, there are no ads on either the home page or search results page.

There's no official word yet from the Live Search blog. The feature comes a week after the release of updates to Live Search Maps and Virtual Earth 3D.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 16, 2008, 11:02 AM | Permalink

Search Startup Announces $25 Million in Second Round Funding

Search startup Cuill has announced $25 million in venture capital as part of a second round of funding. Among those behind the new search engine are search experts from Google, IBM, eBay, Alta Vista, Xerox PARC, the Internet Archive and Stanford University.

Chief Executive Officer and co-founder Tom Costello said that Cuill "is using breakthroughs in search architecture and technological advances to create a new paradigm in search, and we now have the resources to reach the next level in pure search."

Previously, Cuill raised $8 million from Tugboat Ventures and Greylock Partners.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 16, 2008, 10:25 AM | Permalink

Blended Search Increases Your Visibility - Jupiter Research

Jupiter's recent study confirmed what we all suspected: search engine users click specialized content within general search results more than they do within vertical search results.

* 36% click "news" results within blended search results
* Only 17% click a "news" result after conducting a news-specific search
* 31% click "image" results within blended search results
* Only 26% click an "image" result after conducting an image-specific search
* 17% click "video" results within blended search results
* Only 10% click a "video" result after conducting a video-specific search

Images are the most clicked type of result after a vertical-specific search, but news items are the most clicked type of result within blended search results. Even in blended search images are the number two choice. With 36 percent clicking news and 31 percent clicking images this is a huge PR opportunity.

Many marketers have thought that since searchers don't pay that much attention to vertical search there's no need to optimize news and images. It's definitely time to rethink that one.

"Marketers have a great opportunity to claim more search shelf space by optimizing their news, image, and video assets," says Robert Murray, President, iProspect.

The study also revealed where searchers click:

* 68% of search engine users click results on the first page
* 8% review more than the first three pages prior to clicking on a result

PR takeaway: Optimize all your news content for search and make sure it is visible in the search engines. A news story on page 4 or 5 does you no good. Add images to all your news content. Optimize any images you already have on your website.

"Blended search increases a marketers' available inventory and their chances of being found amongst the clutter," said Murray.

Posted by on April 16, 2008, 10:22 AM | Permalink

It's Unofficial: Google's a Monopoly (Googolopoly)

We've had our fair share of fun with Google, so we thought you should too.

The best original linkbait we've seen in a while can be found on the Box.net blog. Box.net is a web-based service that lets you store files online, share them, and collaborate on projects. The unrelated linkbait is a free downloadble pdf of the Monopoly board game with a Google twist.

The board game idea stemmed from animated discussions at Box HQ about Google acquisitions and new products ranging from Google Health, AppEngine, and Knol to Android, OpenSocial, Sites, and the rumored Skype acquisition.

So they created Googolopoly, a game where players can rule the internet even if they don't work in Mountain View. The winner uses Google shares to buy as many properties as possible without landing in the deadpool and losing shares.

Dice sold separately.

We're not sure how long it will be before Google, Hasbro and Parker Brothers cry copyright violation and trademark infringement. So if you want your copy, click quick.

In the meantime we've deconstructed the Googolopoly board so you don't have to read upside down and sideways to see the board tiles - or look silly turning your monitor on its side.

googolopoly%20monopoly%20board.jpg

Boxnet says the game's all in fun. The devil with a pitchfork Wall Street cartoon character will have a lot of "Do No Evil" Google engineers laughing all the way to the bank.

Posted by Kevin Heisler on April 16, 2008, 10:11 AM | Permalink

comScore Releases March 2008 Search Engine Rankings

comScore's March 2008 Search Engine Rankings are in and it will surprise no one that Google continues to dominate the search market. The search engine giant extended its lead by .6% from February 2008. Here's the raw data.

In month-over-month numbers, Google increased from 59.2% to 59.8%, while Yahoo saw a dip from 21.6% to 21.3%. Microsoft also declined from 9.6% to 9.4%, and AOL dropped from 4.9% to 4.8%. Ask was the only other of the top-five search engines to see an increase, from 4.6% to 4.7%.

Americans conducted 10.8 billion searches in the month of March. And here's how those searches broke down, with the month-over-month changes:

Google – 6.4 billion, 10% increase
Yahoo – 2.3 billion, 7% increase
MSN – 1 billion, 6% increase
AOL – 521 million, 7% increase
Ask – 503 million, 12% increase

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 16, 2008, 9:10 AM | Permalink

Lycos Partners with Click Forensics to Improve PPC Quality

One month after Yahoo announced its partnership with Click Forensics, Lycos is announcing a similar agreement with the click fraud firm. Today, at the ad:tech conference in San Francisco, Lycos will announce the new deal, which they hope will improve the quality of their PPC traffic.

“Because Click Forensics has access to critical PPC traffic data that search engines don't, its solutions enable us to maintain the highest quality of the search traffic we send to our advertisers and partners,” said Ed Noel, General Manager of Search Products for Lycos, Inc.

Click Forensics offers a service that is similar to a spam filter. Their technology uses patent-pending analytics and live campaign data across various search engines to identify sources of bad traffic and click fraud. That information is updated in real-time and then delivered to clients via an API. The delivered data is tailored to the specific needs of Click Forensic's clients.

Now this technology will be used to serve the Lycos paid search program.

“Lycos is one of the oldest and most widely-known Internet brands in the world – reaching 10 percent of the global population with 72 million unique visitors,” said Tom Cuthbert, president of Click Forensics. “They understand advertisers will no longer tolerate low quality traffic or click fraud often missed by search engines, ad networks and online publishers. By teaming with us, Lycos is taking a leadership role to proactively block low quality traffic before it affects client campaigns.”

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 16, 2008, 8:32 AM | Permalink

Zvents blends local search with current events

One of the companies exhibiting at Ad:Tech San Francisco this week is Zvents, a local search engine company that specializes in things to do in big cities big and small towns. According to Paul O'Brien, VP of Marketing for Zvents, his local search engine is helping businesses draw foot traffic to their stores, restaurants and events all across the county.

That's a bold claim -- so I asked to see a demo for Boston events. My bad. It turns out Boston.com is one of the publisher partners for Zvents, along with the San Jose Mercury News, LA.com, and the Detroit News, to name a few.

So, then I asked to see upcoming events for Nevada City, CA. Umm. My bad again. It turns out that The English Beat is playing Saturday, April 19, at Miners Foundry.

Paul told me that Zvents is built on the premise that the Internet is rich in searchable experiences — until you want to find out what's happening where you live. Then it often falls flat.

Let's face it, Yellowpages.com provides listings, but it doesn't provide “news” about those businesses. Meanwhile, TV and newspaper ads contain information about upcoming sales, product deliveries, lectures and in-store events, etc., but this useful information is generally not searchable on the Internet.

Zvents has jumped into this gap to solve this problem.

How? Zvents has scooped up hundreds of media partners such as ones mentioned above along with more than 250 other media channels to create the Zvents Media Network. In a two-way exchange of information, Zvents' collects partner content, and at the same time uploads its own listings on partner sites. It also collects event and business information from the open web, and the user-generated content to create one of the most comprehensive localized search indexes on the Internet.

Zvents built its platform using their own technology (Gordon Rios, the CTO, worked at Inktomi). And the company recently launched "Federated Local Search," making Zvents the first to provide a localized version of Google's Universal Search. Federated (or blended) search presents results that include images, text, local reviews, events, news, and business listings for a comprehensive search experience.

Large companies like REI benefit. Just Google REI Saratoga and you'll find the first search results page is littered with Zvents and its partners' listings.

And small companies benefit, too. Patric Douglas, the owner of Sharkdiver, is sold on Zvents. For his adventure shark tours, he doesn't need to spend a dollar on advertising, because he's an Internet-savvy marketer. One of the key resources he uses is Zvents. “When I post my excursions on Zvents, Sharkdiver jumps to the top of the Google search page. It's like being the only swimmer wearing a pink swimsuit in a pool full of blue bathing suits.”

At Ad:Tech, Zvents is unveiling its paid advertising platform. Businesses can now run display ads and enhanced listings, and Zvents' partners will share in the advertising revenues. Check 'em out. Their booth is # 5684.

Posted by Greg Jarboe on April 15, 2008, 8:46 PM | Permalink

AOL's Platform-A is Top Ad Network for March

Reaching 9 out of 10 Internet Users, AOL's Platform-A was the top ad network in March, according to comScore. The network includes Advertising.com, Quigo and Tacoda and served ads to 170 million U.S. Internet users in March. Advertising.com alone reached more than 167 million Internet users.

Rounding out the top five were the Yahoo! Network with 160 million, the Google Network with 152 million, Specific Media with 145 million and ValueClick Networks with 140 million. The top 15 ad networks each reached at least half of the total U.S. Internet audience in March.

But niche advertisers are beginning to emerge and delivering the ability to target audiences with precision and reduce wasted ad impressions. Notable niche ad networks include Snap Shots Network with a reach of 18 million, AdOn Network at 16 million, GoFish Networks at 9 million and WidgetBucks Networks, also at 9 million.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 15, 2008, 10:10 AM | Permalink

YouTube Videos Now Part of Google Maps Search Mix

If you've been wondering if your local business should utilize online video, wonder no more. Google Maps is adding embedded YouTube videos in the maps. The videos can viewed under the “Photos and Videos” tab.

On the Google LatLong blog, an example of a bakery in San Francisco is given. The video showcases the amazing artistry of the cakes at I Dream of Cake.

Here's what you need to know in order to get your video embedded with Google Maps.

1. Upload the video to YouTube. Make sure the “embed” option is selected.
2. Then use Google's Local Business Center to associate your video with your business listing.

Since the Photos and Videos tab lies right along with the Reviews tab, an online video is also great online reputation management strategy.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 15, 2008, 9:45 AM | Permalink

IndexTools is Made Free by Yahoo

Recently I helped break the news that Yahoo acquired IndexTools. IndexTools has long been one of the industry's best kept secrets. It's a really powerful web analytics application that allows you to do some amazing stuff. Now Dennis Mortensen has let me know that the IndexTools Enterprise Version will be free.

As Dennis puts it, 80% of the functionality of Omniture at no charge. Whoa baby! This is very exciting news for the industry. This move by Yahoo, which should not be a big surprise in light of what Google and Microsoft has already done, will rip the covers off IndexTools as an industry secret, and truly bring it into the limelight.

Look for a lot of people to closely evaulate IndexTools as their analytics solution from this point forward. And don't think that it stops there. You just might see more announcements coming from IndexTools as their integration with Yahoo progresses.

Posted by on April 15, 2008, 9:34 AM | Permalink

SearchIgnite Releases Q1 Search Marketing Data

SearchIgnite has released search marketing spend data for Q1 2008 and the news is good for Yahoo, and so-so for Google and Microsoft. Year-over-year, same advertiser spending was up across all engines by 28.5%, but a slowdown in March spending growth is raising concerns for Q2.

Yahoo demonstrated the largest gain with a 57.6% increase in search marketing spend from last Q1. However, since Q1 2007 was a rough one for Yahoo, due to Panama's delay, those numbers should be examined with caution.

Breaking it down by month, Yahoo saw a 79.2% gain in January, 37.3% gain in February, and 43.9% increase in March.

In quarter-over-quarter numbers, Yahoo's share of the market grew from 19.6% to 24.2%, while Google dropped from 74.5% to 70.4% and Microsoft dropped from 5.9% to 5.45%.

SearchIgnite tracked over 22 billion impressions and 391 million clicks on Yahoo, Google, and MSN from January 1, 2006 through March 31, 2008 across more than 500 marketers, all of whom are clients of SearchIgnite directly or via its sister company 360i.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 15, 2008, 9:01 AM | Permalink

PPC Search Engine ABCSearch Partners with AdWatcher on Optimization

ad:tech San Francisco 2008 gets underway today and a whole slew of announcements are expected to be made at the event. ("Whole slew" is a journalistic term meaning more than I plan to cover.)

Among this morning's announcements is one that will be of interest to search engine marketers: ABCSearch, a PPC search network, is partnering with AdWatcher, a third party service that helps small to mid-size businesses track and optimize their online advertising campaigns.

Through the partnership, advertisers in the ABCSearch network can receive extra, independent feedback on the quality and conversions of the traffic to their sites. Adwatcher will assist ABCSearch to monitor and boost traffic quality for advertisers on its network, improve campaign conversion rates and provide greater transparency.

In a social media press release, Daniel Yomtobian, president and CEO of ABCSearch, is quoted as saying, “Our intent with AdWatcher is to help our advertisers get a better picture of their campaigns and further improve their results on our network.”

It's also worth noting that ABCSearch's proprietary technology, ClickShield, identifies and removes suspicious PPC traffic across the network. ClickShield has been certified by ClickDefense, a leading tracking, optimization and click fraud detection company.

Posted by Greg Jarboe on April 15, 2008, 8:32 AM | Permalink

When Social Media Content = Great Blog Content

Is great social media content necessarily great site content? Absolutely not!

To illustrate, think of posts or articles that you know intuitively would perform exceptionally well on major social media sites. How many of these would you feel comfortable putting on your corporate site? Very few, right?

Accordingly, we need to look for the conceptual common ground shared by successful social media content and quality blog content. Ideally, that content should be woven into one cohesive strategy that will:
a. reinforce key messages to clients
b. help to further perceptions of authority
c. aid in attracting new clients
d. attract links from relevant high quality sources

Types of Quality Blog Content:
To begin, lets look at blog quality on a conceptual level. Professional blogger and marketing consultant Chris Garrett has a great post on the subject titled Diggbait, LinkBait, Flagship Content, and Authority . In this post, Chris defines the Content Value Ladder in order of ascending importance:
1. Filler content – The me-too stuff that many blogs copy and paste from press releases and other blogs.
2. Good, original content – Anything that delivers on the blogs promise in an original and valuable way
3. Authority building content – Content that positions the blogger as an authority in the niche
4. Pillar content – A blog's solid foundation of resource posts and tutorials (coined by Yaro Starak)
5. Flagship content – Articles and reports that go above and beyond, creating significant value in a way that draws in readers for years to come.

Obviously, the goal is to create as much pillar and flagship content as possible. I'm going to disagree with Chris about authority building being a rung on his ladder. My belief is that authority is another dimension entirely, and can be layered like a filter atop most types of content.

Types of Social Media Content:
As mentioned in my last post Types of Social Media Content - A Conceptual Overview, there are essentially 3 types of social media content, each with its own strengths and weaknesses:
1. News
2. Sensational/Entertainment Submissions
3. Resources/Educational Submissions

Combining Both Types of Content:
By combining Chris Garrett's Blog Content Value Ladder with the 3 types of Social Media Content, we can begin to understand which types of combinations perform well on both blogs and social media. This is the ideal!

1. News Content
Unless you're an official news site, placing existing news stories related to your industry on your own site would qualify as the lowest form of blog content quality (Filler Content according to Chris). From a social media perspective also, news from non-primary sources is also not recommended, so there is really very little possible gain to be had. At the same time, these types of news stories certainly do not help you to establish authority either.

That does not mean that all news is a lost cause however.

Instead ask yourself:
a. Can you spin the story differently than has been done until now?
b. Can you provide an analysis of the implications of the news to your target market?

If the answer to these questions is "yes," then the story has a good chance to be successful on related social media. In fact, capitalizing on media hype about a specific topic can help you get attention, and increase the probability of a related piece that you write being successful. Internally, we call it "just-in-time blogging", because you've got to create the post in real time based on the major related news of the day.

This is a really good approach to social media, but also to blogging and quality content in general. The simple reason is that you are forcing yourself to expand on a concept. At the lowest possible level, it qualifies as good original content, but may well be pillar or flagship content if you put enough thought and research into it. Posts like this can also build perceptions of authority among potential clients.

2. Sensational/Entertainment Content
These entertainment/sensational-focused submissions typically perform very well on general social media sites like Digg, Reddit, or Stumbleupon, but do more poorly on industry/vertical sites.

From a blog content perspective, such posts would typically be classified as filler content, and offer very little real opportunity to demonstrate authority or exceptional knowledge. In fact, this type of post could possibly harm perceptions of the blog, if it creates confusion or reduces perceptions of professionalism (depending on the personality of the blog).

Accordingly, if this type of content is to be employed as part of a linkbaiting effort, it should be done carefully. First, it should not be done in place of a quality piece on content. If you do create this kind of content, consider the potential impact before placing it on the actual blog. Consider instead posting it as a separate page, and referring to it from a blog post.

3. Resource/Educational Content
Resource type posts typically attract many links, and often qualify as either pillar or flagship content, especially when comprehensive or supported by significant facts. This type of post performs exceptionally well at helping to define someone as an authority in subjects relating to the topic of the piece, though often require substantial time to create. They also do well in many types of industry specific social media ... though often not as well in the generic social media (eg. Digg, Reddit).

What's interesting about Resource/Educational posts versus Sensational/Entertainment type posts is that while Sensational posts drives lots of traffic in the short term and Resource type posts not as much, Resource type posts show stamina in continuing to drive traffic over time where Sensational often posts do not.

Authority Building and Content:
Earlier, I suggested that I disagree with Chris Garrett about listing "authority building" as a separate rung on his Content Value Ladder. I think it's possible to insert authority-building content into posts in any of the other categories, and not simply as separate posts. For instance, fact-based, editorialized content may be included in a sensationalized piece to help explain how certain elements were made possible (like a water filtering company explaining why water can taste different amongst the 10 sources identified in a piece called "The 10 Best Tasting Glasses of Water on the Planet"). By doing so, a company can demonstrate their knowledge, and build their authority, even in a highly sensationalized piece.

Conclusions:
Using this model as a conceptual framework, my next few posts can now speak to specific recommendations and action items designed to help you accomplish your online objectives. Stay tuned ...

Posted by on April 15, 2008, 7:00 AM | Permalink

Is Search Recession-Proof?

The online advertising industry hasn't been immune to recession fears, and online advertising will probably suffer if there is a recession. But search will likely be the last place from which marketers pull their ad dollars. In today's SearchDay, "Is Search Recession-Proof?" Reprise Media's Joshua Stylman explains why: paid search is accountable, efficient, and built on a cost-controlled model, making it the most recession-proof medium in the ad world.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on April 15, 2008, 6:56 AM | Permalink

Yahoo! Slurp 3.0 Replaces Yahoo! Slurp Search Engine Crawler

yahoo%20slurp%203.0.jpg

The official launch of the new version of Yahoo! Search crawler comes as no surprise to members of Digital Point forums, readers of Search Engine Watch and attendees of SES New York, who saw Yahoo Chief Scientist Andrew Tomkins' keynote speech on the future of search.

Yahoo! Slurp 3.0 won't change the content Yahoo crawls on your site: the new Yahoo! Slurp 3.0 recognizes the same user-agent and all robots.txt directives for Yahoo! Slurp. The primary difference will be in your log files where you'll see Slurp 3.0.

Yahoo shared that the new bot (phased rollout over several weeks) will start crawling from a different and smaller set of IP addresses. No change of location, though. Yahoo! Slurp 3.0 will originate from the crawl.yahoo.net domain. So any reverse DNS checks to ID Yahoo's crawler will still work.

The big change: Yahoo's recommendation to stop using IP-based recognition and use reverse DNS identification instead.

Here's why:

Yahoo warns you might see a drop in crawl and coverage if you're using IP-based recognition. Best bet: switch to reverse DNS-based identification of Yahoo! Slurp if you're using any other method. The current set of IPs will disappear from your log files in the next few weeks.

Crawlers that similarly respect the Yahoo! Slurp directive but identify themselves more specifically, such as Yahoo! Slurp China and others, will not be impacted.

Posted by Kevin Heisler on April 14, 2008, 4:03 PM | Permalink

Rubicon Enters Free Ad Server Arena

Rubicon is the next ad serving company to enter the free services arena, the company announced.

"Ad Network Ad Server is compatible with more than 300 ad networks--including Google's AdSense and the Yahoo Publisher Network, as well as networks with CPC, CPM and CPA-based pricing. The platform offers publishers the ability to serve and track ads across multiple networks, with a point-and-click dashboard interface that allows them to pull performance reports from each network," MediaPost reported.

Frank Addante, CEO of the Rubicon Project, told MediaPost that because "the platform spans multiple networks that makes it a formidable Google Ad Manager challenger".

"We've created an ad-server specifically designed for managing ad networks," Addante said. "Many of the free products like Google's Ad Manager were primarily designed to address direct sales for publishers."

Posted by Frank Watson on April 14, 2008, 3:01 PM | Permalink

Microsoft To Use Domain Age in SEO Ranking

Our industry's leading authority on search patents Bill Slawski found another interesting patent submission. Apparently Microsoft is looking at, if not using, domain age as an algorithm factor.

This has been discussed in conversations in many forums and no doubt this new information will start them up again.

The idea that new domains will have to overcome this hurdle is a factor that marketers will have to consider when developing sites. Also the impact of inbound links based on age of referring sites will also come into play.

Posted by Frank Watson on April 14, 2008, 2:04 PM | Permalink

UK Govt. Want To Flog Floggers

The UK will roll out a new set of advertising and marketing regulations May 28th. The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 include some interesting laws that will impact web marketing as Judith Lewis of London-based SEO Chicks reports.

The big law many SEO marketers may have to be careful about is the use of flogs - fake blogs or reviews by employees or other profit motivated people. Without disclosing that these reviews etc are being posted by motivated writers can end up being legally dangerous.

Apart from the fines involved there is also the possibility of jail time. How that would work for a US based company that happens to find themselves in UK search results is yet to be determined. What about companies that are global marketers, will they need to filter what content is sent to UK traffic?

This could be a major impact on web marketing and how things play out should be watched closely by all global marketers.

Posted by Frank Watson on April 14, 2008, 1:44 PM | Permalink

Changes to Yahoo Updates Noticed

Just over a week after changes to Google SERPs were seen, over at Webmaster World, forum participants are noticing some changes going on in the Yahoo results.

Jgold454 kicked off the conversation:

I am noticing some changes/shuffling going on in my niche. Anyone else?

Textex also noticed a change:

I did some more thorough investigating and these results are really bad....

BillyS was finally seeing some relief since the last update:

Yahoo is like clockwork, pretty much rolling out a new update every 4-5 weeks. This update was right on time. The last one was announced on March 3rd.
We lost about 50% of our Y! traffic during the last update and we noticed a nice lift today.

FrankWeb wasn't thrilled with the wikis turning up in results:

Looks like an update to me. See wiki pages climbing to the top for many results. Why do they even want for each term a wiki to turn up. If I want a wiki explanation or information, I'll go to it myself. I find it a step back for search results.

Hat tip to Barry Schwartz

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 14, 2008, 10:52 AM | Permalink

Verizon Chooses AOL's Platform-A for Online, Mobile Web Advertising

Verizon has chosen AOL's Platform-A for its online and mobile advertising inventory. Platform-A will account for all of Verizon's online inventory and a majority of their mobile web ad inventory. Additionally, Platform-A has exclusive rights to guaranteed placement within the Verizon network. Other partners will sell on a blind-network basis.

Third Screen Media, Platform-A's mobile ad serving platform, will manage sales of Verizon's mobile web advertising. The platform offers geographic, demographic and content targeting through display and sponsorship opportunities.

“We're pleased to have the opportunity to work with a great partner like Verizon to manage and monetize their online and mobile advertising inventory,” said Lynda Clarizio, president of Platform-A. “More wireless customers choose the Verizon brand than any other, and Verizon has the fastest-growing fiber optic Internet service in the country, and we look forward to helping marketers reach the right people in engaging and measurable ways.”

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 14, 2008, 10:15 AM | Permalink

SEW Experts: Content Ad Campaign Keyword Strategy Revisited - Part 2

A keyword-targeted content ad group's keywords should describe the pages/sites where an ad should appear. The best keyword list is composed of words/phrases that appear most frequently on the target sites' pages. In today's Content Advertising column, "Content Ad Campaign Keyword Strategy Revisited - Part 2," David Szetela goes through this keyword research process with an imaginary site.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on April 14, 2008, 12:42 AM | Permalink

Exclusive Interview with Craig Newmark about SEO

So I ran into Craig Newmark, of the eponymous CraigsList.org at The Marker's Com.Vention conference today outside of Tel Aviv, and I got to sit down with him for a few minutes and discuss SEO. Craig is generally known as no-BS kind of guy, so he was a great guy to speak to about how SEO and the SEO community have affected his site, which was one of the first user-generated content sites online.

Eli: What has CraigsList done--or not done--in terms of SEO?

Craig: As long as our guidelines are met, our users provide us with good SEO. But we do have people who spam our site for SEO purposes.

Eli: How do you deal with those spammers?

Craig: Usually, we just get rid of the spam. Some spammers are persistent, so we discuss it with them--or with their ISPs. Basically, we're trying to enforce honest behavior. SEO is a good, legitimate busines; just treat other people well.

Eli: And how do you catch dishonest behavior? Is it just users reporting spam or do you have technology in place?

Craig: We use a combination of techniques. Users find them. Sometimes a smart person on CraigsList will notice a pattern of spam and email us about it. The community helps us out.

Eli: Craig, you're famous for keeping CraigsList a small operation even as the size of the site has grown. Any advice for people who want to keep their businesses small and profitable?

Craig: Try to find ways to enlist the community to help, as we do with flagging. Listen to community; find out what they want. Don't waste time and resources on something your community doesn't want.

So, in that spirit, what do the readers of SEW want? Let us know.

Posted by on April 13, 2008, 10:22 AM | Permalink

Google: A Clear & Present Danger to Corporate Data Privacy

UPDATE: Editors' Note: At the request of Google, we've removed the photo of Google engineer Jayant Madhavan, co-author (with Alon Halevy) of the Google Webmaster Central blog post, Crawling through HTML forms, posted by Maile Ohye, Senior Support Engineer at Google. The photo was deleted at Google's request to respect the privacy of Google's corporate data and the personal privacy of Jayant Madhavan.
-- Kevin Heisler, Executive Editor, Search Engine Watch

google%20logo%20med.jpg
A few hours ago, Google announced to the world that the company has been crawling forms on "high-quality" Web sites to index "Invisible Web" content in the Google.com search engine.

Google's intention (as always) aims to improve the quality of search results for users of Google's search engine.

Crawling Web site forms, though, constitutes a sea change in terms of data privacy; specifically, the privacy of corporate data.

"In the past few months we have been exploring some HTML forms to try to discover new web pages and URLs that we otherwise couldn't find and index for users who search on Google," according to Jayant Madhavan and Alon Halevy, from the Crawling and Indexing Team on an official Google blog.

Here's how Googlebot does it, according to Google engineers:

"We might choose to do a small number of queries using the form. For text boxes, our computers automatically choose words from the site that has the form; for select menus, check boxes, and radio buttons on the form, we choose from among the values of the HTML. Having chosen the values for each input, we generate and then try to crawl URLs that correspond to a possible query a user may have made. If we ascertain that the web page resulting from our query is valid, interesting, and includes content not in our index, we may include it in our index much as we would include any other web page."

Last year, as the search marketing analyst for JupiterResearch, I said that the biggest issue in 2007 would be the threat to the privacy of corporate data.

I was wrong, 2008 is the year corporate IT departments worldwide will be forced to spend time, money and resources to ensure that search engine spiders do not inadvertently index data a company would prefer to be private.

The same holds true for non-profit organizations and other institutions.

From a personal standpoint, I have confidence in Google's data security systems, despite the recent departure of Google CIO, Doug Merrill.

I have full confidence that Google practices "good Internet citizenship."

I'm confident Google has paved the road to relevance with good intentions.

This is not simply a "pioneering move" by Google.

That the robotic filling-in of forms has already been practiced by AOL's Quigo, according to SearchEngineLand, does not reassure me.

I'm sorry, Sergey, Larry, Eric. I can't in good conscience defend Google's decision to our readers. The costs to CEOs, CIOs and CTOs at corporations far outweigh the benefits to consumers.

Please, reconsider.

Do not make the robotic querying of Web site forms the default spidering practice for Google. As a search engine, Google has become the gateway to the Internet and with great power comes great responsibility.

End this experiment now.

Stop this experiment before the backlash against Google develops. It's not a question you want to answer when Wall St. analysts quiz you on the company's performance on April 17th during the First Quarter earnings conference call.

Posted by Kevin Heisler on April 11, 2008, 6:29 PM | Permalink

Search Headlines & Links: April 11, 2008

Want a snapshot of the day's search marketing news? Here we've collected today's top news stories posted to the Search Engine Watch Blog, along with search-related headlines from around the Web:

From the SEW Blog:

We May Not Want Standards But FTC May Give Us Some
The standards debate may be in full swing in our industry - but the decisions may be soon taken out of our hands if the FTC continues to define allowable advertising practices.
Yahoo Execs Bad Mouthing AOL!
Guess Yahoo does not want to partner with anyone these days... well apart from their biggest competitor Google.
AdWords Launches New Conversion Tracking Tool
A new update to AdWords tracking has been reported by the guys over at AccuraCast. Seems they have improved the conversion tracking allowing users to separate different things to track to conversion.
As Wifi expands, local and mobile search continue to emerge
Lately, there have been a swarm of announcements regarding Wifi coming to some previously unconnected spots. So what does this mean for Search Engine Marketers?
Microsoft Updates Live Maps and Virtual Earth 3D
Microsoft has announced 11 major updates to their Live Maps and Virtual Earth 3D.
Trellian Acquires Addme.com
Trellian, the company behind SEO Toolkit and Keyword Discovery, has announced its acquisition of SEO tools provider Addme.com.
SEW Experts: Standards? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Standards!
We don't need SEO standards to define our operation for us; we simply need to hold ourselves to a higher standard of business.
SEW Experts: SEM Tools of the Experts
There are a variety of SEM tools available to search marketers. You should be able to find something to fit every need, and every style.
SEW Experts: Think Universal, Act Local
Much of the discussion around Universal search, or blended search, focuses on video and images. But local search may be a more important factor; one that has the greatest impact in blended search results.

Headlines & News from Elsewhere:

Branding as a Direct Response PPC Search Byproduct, ClickZ Experts

Marketing to the Media, ClickZ Experts

The Creation of Draft SEM Standards, Ian McAnerin

How Web Application Developers Can Ensure Their Sites Are Findable in Search Engines (SEO for Webdevs), Vanessa Fox

Is Yahoo the Odd Man Out?, NY Times Bits

38 Things I Wish I Knew When I Started In Marketing, Conversation Marketing

Sixty Cent Branding: How One Minute of Effort Sparked This Post, Search Engine Guide

How To Excite People About Web Analytics: Five Tips., Occam's Razor

The 5 Biggest Mistakes I Made In My First Year Blogging, Court's Internet Marketing School

Spite is Not a Marketing Strategy, Search Engine Guide

SEM Job Criteria of the Not So Distant Future, SEMpdx

Powerset: Don't call us a search engine, VentureBeat

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on April 11, 2008, 4:55 PM | Permalink

We May Not Want Standards But FTC May Give Us Some

The standards debate may be in full swing in our industry - but the decisions may be soon taken out of our hands if the FTC continues to define allowable advertising practices.

MediPost has a good overview of the developments of behavioral targeting and how they can be used. "Ad industry players are urging the FTC not to impose any new regulations — and also argue that the proposed voluntary guidelines are too restrictive," they reported.

Where this gets close to our industry comes from the people seeking greater regulations. "Privacy advocates, on the other hand, want to see rules that will require companies to honor Web users' preferences about whether they wish to be tracked online and to receive targeted ads," MediaPost notes.

If this occurs then search is on the horizon of these groups. And we better be aware of them if consumer advocacy groups are claiming they "want to see new rules, rather than rely on voluntary compliance with trade groups".

MediaPost quotes both Google and Microsoft at the end of the article and they have opposing views.

"Google, meanwhile, is especially concerned that the standards could affect search ads. In comments to the FTC, Google said it's testing personalized search results, and argued that search ads shouldn't be considered “behavioral” even when the ads displayed to users are based on their search history.

“We are currently experimenting in our Search service with providing ads based on both the current query and the immediately previous search,” Google wrote. “For example, a user who types ‘Italy vacation' into the Google search box might see ads about Tuscany or affordable flights to Rome. If the user were to subsequently search for ‘weather,' we might assume that there is a link between ‘Italy vacation' and ‘weather' and deliver ads regarding local weather conditions in Italy.”

Google rival Microsoft, on the other hand, said it supports the FTC's goals and that the proposed guidelines should be extended “to include the full array of online advertising activities.”

Funny about the Microsoft position given I have been in a pitch for increasing our budget where they used competitors advertising information to suggest other terms and ads..... anonymous of course but not hard to reverse engineer.

Posted by Frank Watson on April 11, 2008, 4:33 PM | Permalink

Yahoo Execs Bad Mouthing AOL!

Guess Yahoo does not want to partner with anyone these days... well apart from their biggest competitor Google. The Wall Street Journal blog, All Things D, just posted an entry by Kara Swisher, that details the grumblings of some top Yahoo managers overheard at a luncheon CEO Jerry Yang was having with his SVPs and others.

Swisher overheard them "talking about the unhappiness they felt over the possible deal Yang was concocting with AOL, as an alternate to the unsolicited bid made by Microsoft."

Am sure Jerry will not be pleased by this story, considering he had the AOL idea. Will more senior staff be leaving Yahoo if this partnership goes forward? We wsill have to wait and see.

Posted by Frank Watson on April 11, 2008, 3:47 PM | Permalink

Are Google Search Results Going Wacky?

I had heard about a week ago that Google's search results were throwing off some odd listings, but Navneet Kaushal over at SearchNewz gives more details of what has been happening.

Seems it is not just the titles and descriptions of results that are going awry but even link checks are throwing off wrong answers. Good find guys.

Update: Seems Barry Schwartz had this first.... and articles are very similar.

Posted by Frank Watson on April 11, 2008, 3:20 PM | Permalink

AdWords Launches New Conversion Tracking Tool

A new update to AdWords tracking has been reported by the guys over at AccuraCast. Seems they have improved the conversion tracking allowing users to separate different things to track to conversion.

This ability to track email, sales, and other conversion elements individually will be a great help for online marketers. Plus they can be seen in summary form of overall conversion total and the unique conversions to the elements a user sets up.

Good job Google, now if you could only ban my competitors....

Posted by Frank Watson on April 11, 2008, 2:32 PM | Permalink

As Wifi expands, local and mobile search continue to emerge

Lately, there have been a swarm of announcements regarding Wifi coming to some previously unconnected spots. Jet Blue is testing limited wifi on one of its planes. California has installed Wifi in several of its state parks. And major metropolitan areas are adding Wifi to their transit systems. So what does this mean for Search Engine Marketers? A focus on local and mobile search.

Imagine this. A family has gone camping at a California State Park, but they didn't pack enough food or they need additional supplies. Will your business come up in the search results?
Recently, Google released information that the average search query had increased from three to four words. It's quite possible that the fourth word turns a general search into a local one by adding a city, state or other location.

With so much attention given to universal search, personalization and social media these days, it might be easy to overlook local and mobile. But the expansion of Wifi is just further proof that SEO and paid search campaigns need the care of a constant gardener.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 11, 2008, 10:51 AM | Permalink

Microsoft Updates Live Maps and Virtual Earth 3D

Microsoft has announced an update to their Live Maps and Virtual Earth 3D. There are 11 major updates including:

1. Export your Collection to Your Navigation/GPS device.
2. Improved 3D cities.
3. 3D modeling with 3DVIA
4. Labels for Birds Eye imagery
5. 1-Click Directions (Party Maps)
6. MapCruncher Integration (MapCruncher is a raster map mashup tool.)
7. Enhanced Explore of Map Content from across the web contributed by other People
8. Neighborhood Subscribe via GeoRSS
9. Tour Enhancements including Hi-Def Movies.
10. Directions and Traffic Enhancements
11. Improved display of KML files including Google MyMaps links

According to the Virtual Earth Team blog, the update involved a bigger release than originally planned. They are also upgrading Map Control, an SDK for developers, to version 6.1.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 11, 2008, 8:51 AM | Permalink

Trellian Acquires Addme.com

Trellian, the company behind SEO Toolkit and Keyword Discovery, has announced its acquisition of Addme.com. Since 1996, Addme.com has been a source of information for webmasters and new
website owners specializing in internet marketing, including SEO, as well as search engine
submission.

"Addme.com has for many years been a great source of new clients for Trellian, that is why we were very excited to acquire Addme,” said Trellian President David Warmuz. “Trellian now plans to substantially develop Addme and add new SEO tools to the current Addme offerings, including many of the Trellian in-house tools developed over the years."

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 11, 2008, 8:24 AM | Permalink

SEW Experts: Standards? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Standards!

The SEO community has been foaming at the mouth lately over whether or not we need standards for the industry. In today's SEM Agency Issues column, "Standards? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Standards!," William Flaiz says that we don't need SEO standards to define our operation for us; we simply need to hold ourselves to a higher standard of business.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on April 11, 2008, 2:00 AM | Permalink

SEW Experts: SEM Tools of the Experts

There are a variety of SEM tools available to search marketers. You should be able to find something to fit every need, and every style. In today's SEM Crossfire column, "SEM Tools of the Experts," Frank Watson shares some of the favorite tools of top search marketers.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on April 11, 2008, 2:00 AM | Permalink

SEW Experts: Think Universal, Act Local

Much of the discussion around Universal search, or blended search, focuses on video and images. In today's Vertical Search column, "Think Universal, Act Local," local search expert Michael Boland explains why local search may be a more important factor; one that has the greatest impact in blended search results.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on April 11, 2008, 2:00 AM | Permalink

SEO Mos Def Busted by WA State Atty General: $450,000 Penalty Looms

SEO%20lawsuit.jpg

SEATTLE – A Washington-based company that sells search engine optimization (SEO) services to small businesses is prohibited from selling or advertising them to new customers under the terms of a settlement announced by Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna.

While the SEO standards debate rages, the search marketing industry continues to be perceived as purveyors of snake oil and predators of small business owners.

SEOMoz honcho Rand Fiskin denies that SEO standards are needed while raging against Internet Advancement to no avail for more than two years:

"All in all, this is one of the most despicable players I've seen in the spam/scam SEO game. It disgusts me to think of the thousands of dollars companies are paying every day to these clowns to get services that carry no business or marketing value whatsoever. These guys are going on my big time sh-t list."

That was in February, 2006 before hundreds of additional complaints were filed against SEOMOz competitor, Internet Advancement.

Under the agreement filed in King County Superior Court, Internet Advancement must allow its customers to exit existing contracts. The SEO firm's Web site is still online so advertising apparently doesn't include a Web presence.

So will the lawsuit put the SEO firm out-of-business?

Amazingly, no.

The agreement allows Internet Advancement to offer search-engine optimization services to existing customers. The company may provide Web site design services to new customers, as well, provided such services don't include the creation of metatags or keywords or submission to search engines.

The agreement states that Internet Advancement cannot:

* Advertise or offer search optimization (SEO) services to new customers;

* Misrepresent its success rate, ability to provide top search-engine rankings or increase Web traffic or its number of repeat customers;

* Fail to disclose all material contract terms before customers have agreed to pay for services;

* Fail to respond promptly to consumer complaints, refund requests or other requests for services or information;

* Charge customer credit cards without authorization;

* Fail to process requests to cancel service or bill consumers after they have cancelled contracts;

* Represent that a customer isn't entitled to a refund because the customer performed changes to the source code of his/her Web site unless a third-party technical expert confirms that the changes were made or authorized by the customer.

More astonishing: Google, Yahoo, MSN , AOL and Ask have allowed their logos to be used on the Internet Advancement Web site.

seo%20seattle%20lawsuit.jpg

Internet Advancement of Redmond, which also does business as 4GreatBuys.com, was accused of misrepresenting its ability to provide top search engine rankings and increase Web traffic, even after being sued by Washington State.

The defendants admitted that some of the violations had occurred and agreed to the new settlement filed today in King County Superior Court, but denied that all of the alleged violations were part of a repeated pattern. They will pay a $118,386 civil penalty and $35,959 in attorneys' fees. The defendants also agreed to comply with a lengthy list of injunctive provisions or else be slapped with an additional $450,000 penalty.

According to today's settlement, Internet Advancement guaranteed that a customer's Web site will appear within the first 25 links on major search engines, such as Google, Yahoo and AOL, when Internet users search for specific keywords.

Customers paid $999-$3,000 in “set-up” fees and a $149 monthly fee.

SEOMozzer Rand Fishkin disagreed with SEW Expert Chris Boggs, blogging that "I think you (Chris) need to have some statistics to back up the point that the public is 'increasingly victimized by unscrupulous practitioners of SEO.' To be honest, my personal anecdotal experiences suggest that it's actually falling from a height in 2004-5, but without data to back it up, it seems like a fallacy to claim that 'fact' to help bolster your argument."

Small businesses filed 82 complaints about Internet Advancement with the Attorney General's Office between Oct. 28, 2004, and March 10, 2008. The Federal Trade Commission and Better Business Bureau also received complaints.

All righty then.

REFUND REQUESTS
Internet Advancement agreed to a refund program. Customers eligible for refunds fall into three categories:

1. All current and former customers who filed complaints filed complaints with the Washington Attorney General's Office between Aug. 11, 2004, and the settlement date. The company must contact these customers and offer them a full refund of all funds paid to defendants, including fees for past and future services.

2. Existing customers who signed contracts within the last nine months. They will be offered the opportunity to cancel their contracts and receive refunds of all pre-paid fees. Customers in this category will be contacted by e-mail within one week and must respond within 30 days to be eligible for a pro-rated refund for set-up fees and all pre-paid fees for future services.

3. Existing customers who signed contracts more than nine months ago have until June 7, 2008, to contact the Attorney General's Office request a refund. They are eligible for a pro-rated refund for set-up fees and all pre-paid fees for future services. Washington customers who fall into this category should file a complaint online or contact the Attorney General's Office at 1-800-551-4636 (in-state calls only) or 206-464-6684 to be included in the refund and cancellation program. Out-of-state customers can call 206-464-6684. The Attorney General's Consumer Resource Centers are open to take calls Monday-Friday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. PDT. their office between Oct. 28, 2004, and March 10, 2008.

“The Attorney General's Office has repeatedly proven that we won't tolerate deceptive advertising by companies that sell products or services online,” McKenna said in a statement. “Despite our 2004 lawsuit against Internet Advancement and the company's promise to provide good customer service, small businesses steadily complained about its services. Today's settlement forbids Internet Advancement from advertising search optimization services to potential customers and requires it to comply with a refund program for unsatisfied businesses.”

The Attorney General's Office sued Internet Advancement in August 2004, accusing the company of violating the state Consumer Protection Act and Unsolicited Electronic Mail Act.

The parties settled with a stipulated judgment in which the company promised to change its business practices. But the state alleged the company continued to engage in essentially the same unlawful acts that gave rise to the original lawsuit. In November 2007, the Attorney General's Office filed a petition to enforce the court order issued three years earlier.

The petition accused Internet Advancement and three of its officers, CEO Todd Wickham, president Ken Committee and secretary and treasurer Ernesto Villamor, of misrepresenting the company's ability to provide top search engine rankings and increase Web traffic.

They were also accused of making unauthorized charges to consumer credit cards, failing to honor guarantees and refunds, unfairly structuring cancellation policy terms and making false statements concerning the company's standing with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and the Attorney General's Office.

Senior Counsel Paula Selis, an assistant attorney general who leads the Consumer Protection High-Tech Unit, said she believes the company will comply with the new terms.

“Internet Advancement can continue to do business provided it complies with our consumer protection laws,” Selis said in a statement. “To be sure that happens, our settlement contains very specific terms and conditions on how Internet Advancement should operate and provides for substantial financial penalties should the company commit another violation.”

But then each and every time Charlie Brown believed Lucy wouldn't pull the football away at the last second.

Posted by Kevin Heisler on April 11, 2008, 1:42 AM | Permalink

Search Headlines & Links: April 10, 2008

Want a snapshot of the day's search marketing news? Here we've collected today's top news stories posted to the Search Engine Watch Blog, along with search-related headlines from around the Web:

From the SEW Blog:

Google CEO to MicroHoo: We'll Bank on Frank
Google CEO Eric Schmidt has reportedly named legendary Bubble 1.0 i-banker Frank Quattrone as an adviser to help reverse engineer the Yahoo-AOL and MSN- MySpace entanglements.
Video Search Is a False Messiah
Video search is not about words, optimization or getting into the traditional web search engines. Instead, he says we must look to video consumers and more collaborative approaches.
Digging deeper into the social press release
A fair portrait of the social press release -- warts and all.
Majority of U.S. Adults Uncomfortable About Search Engine Data Collection
A majority of U.S. adults are uncomfortable about search engine data collection practices.
eMarketer Releases Mobile and Online Advertising Projections
This year, US mobile ad spending is expected to reach $1.7 billion, up from $878 million last year. Meanwhile, online spending is expected to continue growing, but the rate at which the growth will occur will decline, at least for a few years.
IAC to Launch a Flurry of Niche Sites
IAC, parent company of Ask.com, is planning to launch several new niche sites that incorporate search and social media. First up is RushmoreDrive.com, which has already launched and is targeted at the African-American community.
Microsoft to Fight Search Spam by Analyzing Email
Microsoft was awarded a patent it applied for nearly 4 years ago, to fight search spam based on external elements, like "electronic documents," or email.
SEW Experts: Link Building Strategies: Apprentice Edition
Great content is only half the battle. Don't forget the other half: getting the word out about your great content.
SEW Experts: Bringing the SEO Teacher to You
Besides SEO books, online training, and in-person training, there's another option for teaching your staff about SEO: bring a consultant to you.

Headlines & News from Elsewhere:

Is Social Going Mobile?, ClickZ Experts

Five Fundamentals of Integrated Marketing, ClickZ Experts

Ex-Yahoo Exec Banks on Small Site Ad Platform Trend, ClickZ News

Predictive Advertising Targets Consumers on Purchase Data, ClickZ News

Blended Search: A Year Later, Search Engine Land

The Open Way Yahoo Could Do a Search Deal With Google, NY Times Bits

Start making sense: The semantic Web, The Economist

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on April 10, 2008, 6:53 PM | Permalink

Google CEO to MicroHoo: We'll Bank on Frank

frank%20quattrone%20google.jpg

Google CEO Eric Schmidt has named legendary Bubble 1.0 i-banker Frank Quattrone as an adviser to help reverse engineer the Yahoo-AOL and MSN- MySpace entanglements, according to the NYT blog DealBook .

For eagle-eyed readers of press releases, the news should come as no surprise. As Dealbook noted, Eric Schmidt gave a testimonial for the recently launched financial services venture last month:

"The launch of Qatalyst is an important development for the technology industry," said Eric Schmidt, Chairman and CEO of Google. "Frank and his team bring unparalleled industry knowledge, a unique 25-year market perspective and candid, insightful judgment that CEOs greatly value on important strategic initiatives. I look forward to working with him again and am very enthusiastic about Qatalyst's prospects for success."

Quattrone has advised tech companies globally since 1981 while building technology banking departments for Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse. He was also the superstar banker who faced 18 months in jail but won his appeal in a U.S. court in Manhattan.

Qatalyst Group is a technology-focused merchant banking boutique based in San Francisco. Qatalyst Partners, its investment banking business, will provide high-end M&A and corporate finance advice to technology companies globally.

Qatalyst Capital Partners, its investing business, will make selective principal
investments, typically alongside leading venture capital and private equity firms.

Posted by Kevin Heisler on April 10, 2008, 6:13 PM | Permalink

Diggers Digg YouTube, according to Search Engine War Blog

Teddie Cowell over at Neutralize (*\*) just emailed me about a new bit of research that's just been posted on the Search Engine War Blog which shows Diggers are more likely to Digg YouTube than any other domain. Using data from SocialBlade.com, MarkeD took a quick look at the last 5,000 front page stories on Digg. YouTube was the top domain, followed by Ars Technica, The New York Times, BBC News, and The Huffington Post.

So, what can search engine marketers do with this new data? Well, you can start creating YouTube videos. But, with more than 65,000 videos being added to YouTube per day, you need to do more than just post a video to YouTube.

Now, the magic formula hasn't been patented yet, but we've tried some things that try to meet the "man bites dog" definition of news. For example, at SES New York, we asked exhibitors to give us their "escalator pitch." This was much shorter than their "elevator pitch" -- especially considering the frequent delays waiting for elevators in the Hilton New York.

Some of these escalator pitches worked better than others. One of the most popular was the Sendori Escalator Pitch, SES NY 2008, which had 768 views as of this afternoon.

Sendori Escalator Pitch, SES NY 2008

On the other hand, the "Global Strategies Escalator Pitch, SES NY 2008" only had two views as of this afternoon.

Global Strategies Escalator Pitch, SES NY 2008

And Bill Hunt, the CEO of Global Strategies International, is a friend! So, what can a say. So, things work and some don't. All you can do is create content. If it gets Dugg, cool. If it doesn't, well, it doesn't.

As Chris Boggs recently observed, "Social Media: One Size Does NOT Fit All."

Posted by Greg Jarboe on April 10, 2008, 4:11 PM | Permalink

Video Search Is a False Messiah

"Video search is a false messiah," claimed Steven Chao at this week's Video Search Summit in San Francisco. Video search is not about words, optimization or getting into the traditional web search engines. Instead, he says we must look to video consumers and more collaborative approaches.

It's telling that Chao, who's all about our cultural zeitgeist, is currently running an online portal for How-To videos. Chao is best-known as the originator of America's Most Wanted and Cops, and later served as USA Network's president.

According to Chao, we're just at the beginning of video consumption on the web. Today, average Americans are still attached to their televisions and he believes it's only a matter of time until Americans shift and become “internet viewing zealots.” Improving findability is critical for this transformation.

Video search is more about emotions than words. That's why Chao advises to think differently and transform video search into a push rather than pull experience -- and to find ways to push relevant video results and answers before there is a query.

“There will be a place for good quality,” said Chao. “In that huge amount of video, this room has the secrets.” At the Summit, the room was filled with web video search insiders, including Blinx, CastTV, ClipBlast, Dabble, Everyzing, Pixsy, and Truveo/AOL.

Chao identified Amazon's collaborative filtering for books as a starting point. He encouraged the video searchers to develop approaches which take advantage of community interests. He wants us to incorporate consumption behaviors but not depend on popularity contests. All these insights should support video search and discovery.

Of course, I applaud Chao's statements and also acknowledge we have some work ahead. With all the video search engines, we are relying on words, tagging and textual approaches today. There's no doubt that we will have to harness people's behaviors and interests, in more implicit ways, to really improve video findability.

Posted by on April 10, 2008, 2:25 PM | Permalink

Digging deeper into the social press release

First of all, a tip of the cap to Drew Kerr over at Four Corners Communications for emailing me about a new post by Mark Glaser on the MediaShift weblog at PBS, which is entitled, "The Social Press Release: Multimedia, Two-Way, Direct to the Public."

Mark interviews Laura Sturaitis, senior vice president of media services & product strategy for Business Wire, Andy Beal, a marketing consultant who writes the Marketing Pilgrim blog, and others about the evolution of press releases.

Mark also includes links to a number of articles on the topic, including: Is the Social Media Press Release a Meatball Sundae? and The 100th Birthday of the Press Release at Search Engine Watch at Search Engine Watch.

Mark's post is a fair portrait of the social press release -- warts and all.

Posted by Greg Jarboe on April 10, 2008, 12:28 PM | Permalink

Majority of U.S. Adults Uncomfortable About Search Engine Data Collection

A majority of U.S. adults are uncomfortable about search engine data collection practices, according to a survey conducted by Harris Interactive. 59% are uneasy about the ads that are based on search behavior.

Search engines maintain that the targeted ads help them keep services free, and introducing that concept to survey participants did seem to alter the majority opinion. In light of that information, a 55% majority said it was ok after all to have those ads based on collected user data.

But that doesn't mean searchers don't retain some reservation. Only 9% are very comfortable with the ads knowing that they help produce free products, an increase from 7% without that knowledge.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 10, 2008, 11:07 AM | Permalink

SEO Spam is Good

TechCrunch recently had a post lamenting the fact the Barnes and Noble's new How-To site, Quamut, is being spammed by SEO guys looking for some free link juice. The B&N site wasn't adding nofollow to their external links, so it's been open-season for SEOs. (Before you get all excited, they've now changed the links to nofollow.)

To many people, that SEO spamming may look like a bad thing. I think it's the best thing that could ever happen to Quamut.

Unlike other types of spam, good link spam carries with it a wealth of benefits for the site being spammed:
1. It brings users. When a new social site debuts, especially when it is a "me-too" site like Quamut, getting users is tough. Unless you offer some special incentive, or your site provides something necessary that other sites don't, you have to fight a tough battle for users. If someone wants to add link spam to your site, they need to sign up. The thousands of SEO Spammers out there can quickly become thousands of new members of your site. And when the spammers sign up under multiple accounts, they can quickly become tens of thousands of new members.
2. It adds content. It might not be the best content ever written, but SEO spammers do know how to write content that, at the very least, is unique, keyword-rich and geared to any user that might stumble upon it. Contrary to popular belief, SEO spammers are not interested just in backlinks, but also in filling up the SERPs. If they can get a page on your site to rank by combining their content with strength of your site, and then convincing the user to shift to their site, the bottom line stays the same.
3. It raises stature. When your brand spanking new social network has 10,000 members and 50,000 UGC articles after only one month, your site starts to get noticed--even if most of those members are spammers and that content is primarily spam. There's a reason companies like MySpace and YouTube didn't crack down on spammers--and even explicitly allowed spam in their original Terms of Service. If you want to grow--and grow fast--no one will help as much as spammers.

SEO Spammers contributed to padding out Wikipedia; for every great article that was written to insert a spammy link, Wikipedia got a great article. They helped get YouTube to critical mass; for every YouTube embed done to get a YouTube backlink, YouTube got more video views. SEO Spammers keep MySpace growing. Do you still know anyone with a MySpace account? Can you tell me how their growth keeps skyrocketing? Check the inbox of your old MySpace account and you'll see how.

In short, SEO Spammers are helping the internet continue to grow. As each once-spammed site gets big off of the shoulders of spammers, they introduce methods to lock the spammers out, and the spurned SEOs move on to new sites. The cycle continues--and, with it, innovation in the social and user-generated content fields.

If popular sites are suffering under a flood of spam, I sympathize with their decision to add nofollow their links and put barriers to stop spammers--as long as they don't forget who made them popular to begin with.

Posted by on April 10, 2008, 10:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

comScore launches Video Metrix in Canada, France, Germany and UK

comScore today announced the availability of comScore Video Metrix in four new markets: Canada, France, Germany and the UK. comScore Video Metrix, which was first launched in the US more than two years ago, now provides online video measurement across all five of these countries.

This enables search engine marketers "to better plan advertising to a highly-engaged, but often elusive audience, that typically spends less time with traditional media,” Jack Flanagan, executive vice president of comScore, said in a press release.

Of interest to search engine marketers planning to attend SES Toronto, comScore found that Canada has the heaviest online video viewing activity.

Of the five countries currently reported by comScore Video Metrix, online video had the highest reach in Canada, where 19 million viewers viewed a video online in December, representing 89 percent of the total online population age 15 and older. The UK was next with an 87 percent reach, followed by France with an 84 percent reach and Germany with an 81 percent reach. Penetration was slightly lower in the US, where online video reached 78 percent of the total online population.

Canada's online video audience also viewed more videos than any of the other reported countries, averaging 112 videos per viewer for the month of December, followed by the UK with 108 videos per viewer, Germany with 92 videos per viewer, and France with 89 videos per viewer. Again, US activity was slightly lower, averaging 77 videos per viewer in December.

Driven largely by video viewership at YouTube, Google Sites led as the most popular online video destination in all reported countries. However, beyond this there were strong performances from key local players, with BBC Sites ranked second in the UK, DailyMotion.com ranked second in France, and Vivendi ranked second in Germany. Microsoft Sites was amongst the top 5 ranked video sites in the US, UK and Canada, but not in France and Germany.

Many search engine marketers have started creating online video on a much larger scale this year.

For example, the Search Engine Strategies Conference and Expo channel on YouTube now has more than 80 video interviews with speakers and exhibitors posted from SES London and SES New York 2008. Combined, they've received 10,932 views across all the videos as of this morning.

The most popular video in the SES channel is my interview with Nick Carr, the author of "The Big Switch," conducted before his keynote presentation at SES London.

The Big Switch by Nick Carr -- SES London 2008

And more video interviews are planned for SES Toronto 2008. So, stay tuned. Don't touch that dial. Film at 11.

Posted by Greg Jarboe on April 10, 2008, 10:19 AM | Permalink

eMarketer Releases Mobile and Online Advertising Projections

If you love advertising projections, then have we got some numbers for you. eMarketer has released new projections for both mobile advertising and online advertising.

This year, US mobile ad spending is expected to reach $1.7 billion, up from $878 million last year. By 2012, it will reach $6.5 billion in the US, but it's the Asia-Pacific market that's expected to dominate the mobile landscape by then, with the middle class in China and India making up the bulk of that demographic. Worldwide, mobile ad spending is projected to reach $19 billion by 2012.

Meanwhile, online spending is expected to continue growing, the the rate at which the growth will occur will decline, at least for a few years.

In 2008, eMarketer projects online ad spend to reach $25.9 billion, a 23% increase over 2007 spending. It's slightly lower than their previous 2008 projection set at $27.5 billion, released in October 2007.

But in 2009, expect to see the growth rate drop to 15.8%, followed by 16.7% in 2010 and 17.1% in 2011. Things start to look robust again in 2012, when a recovered economy is projected to boost the online ad spend up by 24.4% and reaching a whopping $51 billion.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 10, 2008, 9:56 AM | Permalink

IAC to Launch a Flurry of Niche Sites

IAC, parent company of Ask.com, is planning to launch several new niche sites that incorporate search and social media. First up is RushmoreDrive.com, which has already launched and is targeted at the African-American community.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Green.com will be developed into a virtual world for children and "tweens" that will focus on environmental issues and encouraging good deeds. FiLife, currently a personal finance blog, will revamped as part of a partnership with News Corp.'s Dow Jones & Co., which publishes the Wall Street Journal.

Past IAC sites have been hit or miss. Pronto.com saw 9.1 million visitors in February 2008, up from 816,000 in February 2007. But comedy news site 23/6 saw numbers drop month-over-month from January to February 2008, with 52,000 and 36,000 respectively according to comScore. IAC disputed the numbers, claiming the site saw 685,000 visitors in March.

Meanwhile, Ask.com recently announced cuts to its workforce, eliminating 40 workers, which amounts to 40% of total employees.

Launching new sites isn't the only change IAC is seeing. Recently, a Delaware court granted permission to pursue a breakup of the company, which will spin off 4 of its largest businesses into public companies.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 10, 2008, 9:08 AM | Permalink

Microsoft to Fight Search Spam by Analyzing Email

Here's a story I missed when it broke. On March 25, Microsoft was awarded a patent it applied for nearly 4 years ago, to fight search spam based on external elements, like "electronic documents," or email. The prevailing theory is that similar indicators will show up in spammy emails and spammy blog comments and other SEO spam.

Given the resurgence of spam from SEO companies, Microsoft may also want to use the spam filters built into Outlook to highlight potential SEO spammers, working on the theory that spammers are spammers, in any and all fields. No question that this approach may be susceptible to some level of abuse, but given the amount of people using Office, it's unlikely that subscribing your competitor's newsletter and then tagging it as spam will really affect them. SeoByTheSea wants to take it even further, and suggests that the URLs in spam emails get tagged as SEO spam as well.

But before we get all that excited about what direction Microsoft (or MicroHoo) can take this innovation, we need to remember how poorly Microsoft has used this to deal with SEO spam in the past 4 years. A Google or MSN group with any keyword in the title will still rise, almost automatically, to the top of Live.com SERPs, regardless of its relevance. Let Microsoft fix that loophole first, and then go after email/SEO spam convergence.

Posted by on April 10, 2008, 7:59 AM | Permalink

SEW Experts: Link Building Strategies: Apprentice Edition

Great content is only half the battle. Don't forget the other half: getting the word out about your great content. In today's Link Building column, "Link Building Strategies: Apprentice Edition," Sage Lewis shares his past mistakes when building a blog for The Apprentice, and neglecting to tell anyone about it.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on April 10, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink

SEW Experts: Bringing the SEO Teacher to You

Besides SEO books, online training, and in-person training, there's another option for teaching your staff about SEO: bring a consultant to you. In today's Search Marketing Education column, "Bringing the SEO Teacher to You," Ron Jones notes that if you're looking for SEO training experts to come to your place of business, you might be surprised to find local resources readily available.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on April 10, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink

Search Headlines & Links: April 9, 2008

Want a snapshot of the day's search marketing news? Here we've collected today's top news stories posted to the Search Engine Watch Blog, along with search-related headlines from around the Web:

From the SEW Blog:

Yahoo to Test Google Ads – Take That, Mr. Ballmer!
Yahoo announced today that it will begin a limited test of Google Inc.'s AdSense for Search service.
Google Will Not Kill the Agency Star, Says Publicis CEO
While the business model for advertising agencies needs change, Publicis CEO Maurice Levy says that agencies will adapt and not become obsolete. Levy says that agencies are the ones who develop the creative, something that companies like Google, Microsoft and Yahoo do not provide.
Yahoo Gets Investor Support on Efforts to Fend Off Microsoft
Microsoft's gamble that Yahoo investors will support their takeover of the search engine may already be backfiring. According to published reports, Legg Mason, Yahoo's second largest investor is standing behind Yahoo in its efforts to fend off Microsoft.
IndexTools acquired by Yahoo!
Yahoo has acquired IndexTools, a leading web analytics company.
Why search engine marketers should attend SES Toronto 2008
Search engine marketers on both sides of the Canadian – American border should attend Search Engine Strategies Toronto, which is being held at Metro Toronto Convention Centre June 17-18, 2008.
SEW Experts: Making Yahoocrosoft a Reality
The quibbling of two secondary competitors, while another lengthens its lead, has resulted in the downfall of many in the past. Yahoo and Microsoft would be wise to learn from those past mistakes.
SEW Experts: How to Measure Customer Satisfaction with Web Analytics
In a world where more Web transactions require multiple site visits, a measurement of satisfaction can tell you the likelihood of a visitor coming back to your site when they're ready to buy.
Yahoo Flickr Flicks: Who's Got Short Shorts?
Yahoo Flickr launched videos tonight with a press release and a small yellow badge - an asterisk that adds "AND VIDEO" to their tagline: "Share Your Photos."
Others' Trademark Terms In Meta Tags Illegal: Georgia Court Rules
The 11th Circuit Court of Georgia ruled the use of others' trademarks in meta tags infringes trademark laws.

Headlines & News from Elsewhere:

Content Optimization: Keyword Effectiveness Indicators, ClickZ Experts

The Invisible Back Channel, ClickZ Experts

Seven Step Interactive Marketing Analytical Framework, Part 1, ClickZ Experts

Yahoo Makes Ultimate Concession, Tests Google Ads, ClickZ News

Yahoo Buys IndexTools, Could Leapfrog Google Analytics, ClickZ News

U.K.'s Online Ad Spend Continues Steady Climb, ClickZ News

Six Mistakes B2B Marketers Continue to Make With Organic Search, Search Engine Land

5 Steps To Develop In-House SEO Functionality, Search Engine Land

Why Are We Still Talking About Click-through Rates?, Socialized

Web Developers: Please Stop Using the Hx Tag as a Design Element, E-Marketing Performance

How to Target the Right Social Media Sites, Problogger

What Happened To "Fake It Until You Make It"?, Bruce Clay Blog

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on April 9, 2008, 4:53 PM | Permalink

Yahoo to Test Google Ads – Take That, Mr. Ballmer!

Yahoo announced today that it "will begin a limited test of Google Inc.'s AdSense for Search service, which will deliver relevant Google ads alongside Yahoo's own search results."

The test will affect about 3 percent of Yahoo search queries, and will only apply to search traffic from yahoo.com in the U.S. and will not include Yahoo's publisher network or other partners. The test is expected to last up to two weeks.

This can be seen as Yahoo thumbing its nose at Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who basically implied in his ultimatum letter last weekend that Yahoo had no other options than to take Microsoft's offer. But this test is not really an indication of anything concrete, as Yahoo specifically says, "the testing does not necessarily mean that Yahoo will join the AdSense for Search program or that any further commercial relationship with Google will result."

According to the Wall Street Journal, the test is "designed for the two sides to evaluate the revenue potential of a broader search ad outsourcing arrangement. They have been discussing such an arrangement as part of Yahoo's pursuit of alternatives to Microsoft Corp.'s unsolicited acquisition offer, according to people familiar with the matter."

Stay tuned to the ongoing saga of Microhoo. In our next episode, Yahoo will announce that it's teaming up with Apple to put Yahoo ads on the iPhone. At least that's what "people familiar with the matter" have told me.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on April 9, 2008, 4:41 PM | Permalink

USA Today Launches Message-Based Application

While many newspapers struggle to adapt to the web, USA Today is proving that they are one of the ones who get it. Today, the McLean, VA-based newspaper announced a new message-based application that allows users to receive IM updates of stories that interest them.

Initially available on AIM, all users have to do is add "USA TODAY" as a buddy and insert keywords into the dialogue box to receive messages about stories related to those keywords. The message will contain a brief summary with a link to the article. The application was developed by InfiniteAgent, a provider of instant messaging and SMS logging services.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 9, 2008, 11:53 AM | Permalink

Why search engine marketers should attend SES Toronto 2008

Search engine marketers on both sides of the Canadian – American border should attend Search Engine Strategies Toronto, which is being held at Metro Toronto Convention Centre June 17-18, 2008.

Why?

If you are one of the 1,250 alumni who attended SES Toronto in 2007 from Canada, the United States or another country, then you will find that more than 70 percent of this year's 28 keynotes, panels, sessions, workshops and training classes are brand new. And, since more than 70 percent of the 27 sessions in 2007 were “different” from the ones in 2006, even industry veterans like me – who have attended every Search Engine Strategies Toronto since 2004 – need to keep coming back year after year to keep up with the latest developments.

If you have never attended a Search Engine Strategies conference before, then plan on going to SES Toronto 2008. There is no better time to start learning the key strategies for maximizing the search visibility of your web site. As I mentioned in “Introduction to Search Engine Marketing at SES New York 2008,” the most popular method used to improve search engine rankings back in 2000 was “changing metatags.” Today, Google uses over 200 signals for ranking. And that doesn't even count the complexities of their paid search program, Google AdWords.

And, if you register before Friday, May 30, you can take advantage of the Early Bird Special, which will save you $150 CAD on a Platinum Passport.

Whether you are an SES alumni or a first time attendee of Search Engine Strategies Toronto you may want to bring a couple of colleagues along with you to this year's conference.

Why?

A quick look at the conference at a glance will show you that SES Toronto 2008 features 21 sessions and workshops in three concurrent tracks. Since no one person can attend every session and workshop, can your organization afford to miss two-thirds of what the marketing team needs to know to compete successfully in the coming year?

And, if you sign up together, you can qualify for the Special Group Discounts. While the first conference registrant pays full price, the second and subsequent person from the same organization, registering at the same time qualifies for 50% off their registration fee (of equal value).

As you can see from the conference agenda below, each of the sessions has been designed for different members of the marketing team. There are three tracks: Get Me Up to Speed, Practical & Actionable, and Advanced.

SES Toronto Conference Chairman, Andrew Goodman, and SES Global Content Director, Kevin Ryan, have created tracks for those who have never attended a Search Engine Strategies event before, those who want become – and remain – a top performer in their field, as well as SES Toronto alumni who are search engine marketing experts.

Day 1 - Tuesday, June 17, 2008
8:00-9:00am Morning Coffee

9:00-9:15am Conference Welcome & Orientation

9:15-10:00am Opening Keynote

10:00-11:00am Expo Hall Grand Opening

11:00am-12:15pm
Get Me Up to Speed: Introduction to Search Engine Marketing
Practical & Actionable: Search Around the World: UK, Europe, Asia Pacific & Latin America
Advanced: Universal & Blended Search

12:15-1:15pm Networking Lunch

1:15-2:15pm Orion Panel: All Star Analytics Team

2:15-2:30pm Session Interval

2:30-3:45pm
Get Me Up to Speed: State of Search Marketing in Canada
Practical & Actionable: Getting Found in Maps & Local Search
Advanced: Paid Search - Advanced Issues

3:45-4:15pm Afternoon Break in the Expo Hall

4:15-5:30pm Workshops

5:30-6:30pm Networking Cocktail Reception in the Expo Hall

Day 2 - Wednesday, June 18, 2008

8:00-9:00am Morning Coffee

9:00-10:00am Keynote Presentation

10:00-10:30am Morning Coffee Break in the Expo Hall

10:30-11:45am
Get Me Up to Speed: Search Advertising 101
Practical & Actionable: What's Different About B2B? Tailored Strategies
Advanced: User Search Behavior

11:45am-12:45pm Networking Lunch

12:45-2:00pm
Get Me Up to Speed: Keyword Research: Purpose, Tools and Tactics
Practical & Actionable: SEM Toolkit: Marketers Share
Advanced: Social Media Success

2:00-2:30pm Afternoon Break in the Expo Hall

2:30-3:45pm
Get Me Up to Speed: Link Building: The Basics & Beyond
Practical & Actionable: Accessibility, Usability & SEO
Advanced: Web 2.0 & Search Engines

3:45-4:00pm Session Interval

4:00-5:15pm
Get Me Up to Speed: SEO Don'ts, Myths & Scams
Practical & Actionable: Site Clinic
Advanced: Giving Credit Where It's Due: Which Campaign Sold What?

If you want a second opinion about why you should attend Search Engine Strategies Toronto, check out my interview below with Andrew Goodman, SES Toronto Chairman and founder of Toronto-based Page Zero Media.

Andrew Goodman, PageZero, SES London 2008 Universal Search

Andrew is also co-founder of Traffick.com, an award-winning industry commentary site, and frequently quoted in The Wall Street Journal, National Post, The New York Times, Globe and Mail, Marketing Magazine, New Media Age and other publications. He is author of Winning Results with Google AdWords (McGraw-Hill), with the 2nd edition due out in July 2008. He lives in Toronto with his wife Carolyn.

Andrew insists that I disclose that I was one of the top-rated speakers at last year's SES Toronto – among other top-rated speakers such as last year's keynote, Seth Godin. Hey, if that's his idea of “arm twisting,” then I'm looking forward to being there again this year. It's always a great experience and you're always in great company.

Posted by Greg Jarboe on April 9, 2008, 11:15 AM | Permalink

Google Will Not Kill the Agency Star, Says Publicis CEO

While the business model for advertising agencies needs change, Publicis CEO Maurice Levy says that agencies will adapt and not become obsolete. Levy says that agencies are the ones who develop the creative, something that companies like Google, Microsoft and Yahoo do not provide.

Agencies do need to gain a better understanding of new media in order to develop better creatives for channels such as video games and cell phones, according to Levy. Publicis may be well on its way to doing just that, having acquired digital agency Digitas Inc for $1.3 billion last year.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 9, 2008, 9:28 AM | Permalink

Yahoo Gets Investor Support on Efforts to Fend Off Microsoft

Microsoft's gamble that Yahoo investors will support their takeover of the search engine may already be backfiring. According to published reports, Legg Mason, Yahoo's second largest investor is standing behind Yahoo in its efforts to fend off Microsoft.

Recently, Microsoft gave Yahoo an ultimatum to accept its offer or face a hostile takeover. Yahoo has been trying to demonstrate its value by releasing 3 year revenue projections and announcing details about its forthcoming AMP advertising platform.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 9, 2008, 7:59 AM | Permalink

IndexTools acquired by Yahoo!

Yahoo has acquired IndexTools, a leading web analytics company. For another take on this, check out Eric Peterson's post on the topic. As Eric notes, one of the interesting things about this is that IndexTools is a tool that arguably has the power of the top tier tools (see my review of IndexTools here), but has been offered traditionally at a much lower price point.

However, IndexTools has been slow to gain broad market exposure due to its headquarters location in Hungary. But now that has changed in a fundamental way. Yahoo can bring a new level of visibility to IndexTools, and could quite possibly take the E-Business edition of IndexTools away as a free product. Such a move would put a powerful stake in the ground in competition with Google Analytics and Microsoft's Gatineau solution. You can also imagine what will happen when the IndexTools Enterprise edition gets pushed through Yahoo's sales channels.

So congratulations to Dennis Mortensen and his team. I have gotten to know the IndexTools team quite well over the past year, and they truly have earned this new opportunity.

Posted by on April 9, 2008, 7:40 AM | Permalink

SEW Experts: Making Yahoocrosoft a Reality

The quibbling of two secondary competitors, while another lengthens its lead, has resulted in the downfall of many in the past. Yahoo and Microsoft would be wise to learn from those past mistakes. In today's Searching for Meaning column, "Making Yahoocrosoft a Reality," Kevin Ryan humbly offers some advice for both sides.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on April 9, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink

SEW Experts: How to Measure Customer Satisfaction with Web Analytics

In a world where more Web transactions require multiple site visits, a measurement of satisfaction can tell you the likelihood of a visitor coming back to your site when they're ready to buy. In today's Web Analytics and ROI column, "How to Measure Customer Satisfaction with Web Analytics," Eric Enge looks at a new survey tool that allows you to measure customer satisfaction.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on April 9, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink

Yahoo Flickr Flicks: Who's Got Short Shorts?

flickr%20videos.jpg

Yahoo Flickr launched videos tonight with a press release and a small yellow badge - an asterisk that adds "AND VIDEO" to their tagline: "Share Your Photos."

Call it the yellow badge of courage: the asterisk serves to warn the flickrverse that only videos that last for a minute-and-a-half or less can be uploaded. Max 150 MB.

After reading in Technology Review (registration) that videos were coming soon to Flickr, we were disappointed to find that Flickr will only host 90 second video clips for Pro members.

The unreleased Microsoft Photosynth app still being tested promises will likely offer a better video experience. We'll take Photosynth virtual video made from Flickr photos any day of the week.

Until then we can't wait for the first Flickr video of the dual oven pizza cooking two pies at 790 degrees and more cheesy deliciousness in 90 seconds or less.

Posted by Kevin Heisler on April 8, 2008, 11:06 PM | Permalink

Are Library Internet Filters Electronic Book Burning or Child Protection?

The Sacramento Public Library Authority Board upheld the action of the city's libraries filtering access to the internet on library computers, despite challenges from the ACLU, the Sacramento News and review reported.

While there are those that see this as censorship - electronic book burning if you will - many people within the community see it as protecting family values. Both sides have validity and combined they reflect part of the difficulties of what can be accessed on the web.

The anti-censorship group say the filters stop access to legitimate health and sexuality information, while their opponents see the filters as protectors of children. The libraries do allow the filters to be turned off for adults and children with written permission from their families.

One member of the council summed up the anti-web position.

"It would probably break every rule in the book, but I'd say go and unplug every computer in every library,” SN&R quoted.

Posted by Frank Watson on April 8, 2008, 10:38 PM | Permalink

SalesForce, Google "Deep Integration" May Improve Google Analytics

Tech Crunch reported the soon to be launched "deep integration" of SalesForce and Google which they see as SalesForce selling Google services though their apps.

But the bigger part of a deep integration to me would be the combination of Google Analytics with SalesForce. This integration would allow people to track conversions offline and bring GA current with the most advanced analytics packages that are already doing this, though the ability has been available to manage AdWords accounts from inside SalesForce since last year.

Though Tech Crunch's earlier comments, on the SalesForce partnership started last year, contributes another benefit - Google gets a sales team for the offline apps.

The speculation will be answered when SalesForce makes their announcement Monday.

Posted by Frank Watson on April 8, 2008, 9:50 PM | Permalink

Others' Trademark Terms In Meta Tags Illegal: Georgia Court Rules

The 11th Circuit Court of Georgia ruled the use of others' trademarks in meta tags infringes trademark laws, according to North American Medical Corp. v. Axiom Worldwide, Inc.

How this eventually gets applied across the country remains to be seen but it is the start of legal interpretation of search optimization. How far this can be pushed is what our industry should be thinking about right now.

If applied to the use of trademarked keywords used in Google - though there is another ruling that supported Google's method - could make things hard for non-branded companies who produce products basically known by the trademarked term like Kleenex etc.

Funny Google just launched the ability to use trademarked keywords in the UK last week.

Eric Goldman's Technology and Marketing Law blog gives some insight into the ruling.

"Unfortunately, it's hard to parse this case because the court is imprecise about which metatags were used. I've looked through the defendant's appellate brief and they don't clarify the technology for the court at all--I'm wondering if any of the attorneys involved in this case know that there are multiple types of metatags. We only have the following three facts to work with:
* Axiom included competitive trademarks in the metatags
* Axiom appeared as the second organic search result in Google for the trademarked terms (following the plaintiff, which was #1 in the search results)
* The trademarked terms appeared in the search results descriptions"

Since there is always the possibility Google took the description from other sources apart from the site's description the ruling seems to be potentially overruled if further challenged. As Goldman mentions the "court does not exhibit any understanding of anchor text or the fact that Google sometimes automatically assembles search result descriptions using third party content (such as DMOZ)"

This one could have major impact on all levels of search marketing, I wonder how Google plans to react to this interpretation of their actions. Funny the results in Yahoo or Microsoft were not mentioned.....

Posted by Frank Watson on April 8, 2008, 9:00 PM | Permalink

Search Headlines & Links: April 8, 2008

Want a snapshot of the day's search marketing news? Here we've collected today's top news stories posted to the Search Engine Watch Blog, along with search-related headlines from around the Web:

From the SEW Blog:

Could the Term "SEO" Become Trademarked?
If you read the headline and thought it was just a teaser to get you to read this post, think again. SEOs really do have a new trademark issue to worry about.
Google Responds to FTC's Self-Regulatory Principles
When concerns over data collection and behavioral advertising arise, it seems that the glass half empty people are the loudest. But in a recent response to the FTC's Self-Regulatory Principles, Google has pointed out the impact that online advertising has had on the economy.
adCenter Advertiser Blog Explains Keyword Match Types
If you've been in need of an explanation of keyword match types for your PPC campaign, you're in luck. The adCenter Advertiser blog has published a post that offers up a detailed explanation of keyword match terms as well as some tips for your paid search strategy.
March Search Market Share Numbers Begin to Trickle In
Search engine marketers love their data, so grab a cup of coffee and mull over the numbers released by Hitwise and Compete.com for the search market in March 2008.
Types of Social Media Content - A Conceptual Overview
If social media success = 1/2 social network + 1/2 quality content ... an understanding of both social network building and content development is necessary.
SEW Experts: How to Tell if Your Domain is Banned
Oftentimes it is difficult to tell whether a domain name is banned or penalized by a search engine. Or perhaps the domain name is neither banned, nor penalized. It could be, you just managed to screw up your site.
SEW Experts: Keep the Lines of SEO Communication Open
In large organizations, development teams don't always retain what they've learned about SEO. Without regular communication about SEO issues, you're destined to repeat past mistakes.
SEW Experts: Google Road Kill: Will the Pulitzer Prize Live to Be 100?
On the 92nd anniversary of the Pulitzer Prize, prizewinners and publishers are fiddling while the newspaper industry is burning.

Headlines & News from Elsewhere:

What Online Engagement Means to Your Web Site, ClickZ Experts

New Index Reveals Surprising Ad Pricing Trends, ClickZ News

No Optimizer Left Behind, Graywolf's SEO blog

Introduction to Memetics: What is a Meme?, Dan Zarrella

The Difference Between Rock Stars and Rockers, Social Media Butterfly

Engagement: What Is It?, SiteLogic

Engagement: What Is It?, Web Analytics Demystified

Why Most SEOs Can't Do Reputation Management, Search Engine Journal

Best of the Web Adds DMOZ Editors to Directory Team, Search Engine Journal

Search Marketing By The Book, Search Insider

Legitimate, Useful Subversion For Search Engine Marketers, Search Engine Land

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on April 8, 2008, 5:53 PM | Permalink

Is Google App Engine HuddleChat a Campfire Rip-Off?

huddle%20google%20apps.jpg

Of all the App Engine apps in all the developer joints in all the Google universe, Google walks into a land mine: HuddleChat.

There's only one problem: HuddleChat is a dead ringer for 37signals Campfire, the leading web-based group chat for business.

Why would Google endorse an app that's the spitting image of one of the world's most popular business chat products? Google prides itself on UI design. When we logged into Google's App Engine poster boy, HuddleChat, we were surprised to find a Campfire carbon copy.

"We're flattered Google thinks Campfire is a great product," said Jason Fried, 37signals CEO and co-founder. "We're just disappointed that they stooped so low to basically copy it feature for feature, layout for layout. We thought that would be beneath Google, but maybe its time to reevaluate what they stand for."

How important is the Google App Engine product preview launch? Let's see:

Google's first-quarter earnings call will be on April 17, after market close.

Wall St. expects Google revenue to disappoint based on comScore CTR data.

App Engine marks the first full-frontal Google assault on Amazon.

The success of Google App Engine depends on developer trust in Google.

So it would seem either Salar Kamangar, Vice President, Product Management had no clue HuddleChat was an "Attack of the Clones" app or he gave the greenlight for a product launch knowing many in the developer community would likely view Google App Engine as a Xerox machine for copycat product developers.

We've asked Google and Salar for a statement. We'll keep you posted.

The reaction in the developer community seems to be astonishment: calling Google's choice "obviously ethically wrong" and a "straight-up copy." One blogger wrote, "OMG, the Clone feature in Google App Engine is amazing. Turned Campfire into Huddle, a la peanut butter sandwiches."

Or in the case of Google's Campfire One, S'mores.

Posted by Kevin Heisler on April 8, 2008, 12:33 PM | Permalink

Could the Term "SEO" Become Trademarked?

If you read the headline and thought it was just a teaser to get you to read this post, think again. SEOs really do have a new trademark issue to worry about. According to a post by Sarah Bird on SEOmoz, a man named Jason Gambert has applied for a trademark of the term, "SEO." It would be my pleasure to write this next sentence saying that Trademark Office isn't complying with Gambert's wish, but that isn't the case.

On March 25, the Trademark Office notified Gambert of the following news:

"The mark of the application identified appears to be entitled to registration. The mark will, in accordance with Section 12(a) of the Trademark Act of 1946, as amended, be published in the Official Gazette on the date indicated above for the purpose of opposition by any person who believes he will be damaged by the registration of the mark. If no opposition is filed within the time specified by Section 13(a) of the Statute or by rules 2.101 or 2.102 of the Trademark Rules, the Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks may issue a certificate of registration."

And let it be a lesson to those who quit easily, Gambert has actually been rejected several times during his application process. But he has persevered, and his persistence has paid off.

If you feel you would be harmed by the issuance of a trademark for the term SEO, it might be in your best interest to contact the Trademark Office and let them know.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 8, 2008, 11:43 AM | Permalink

Google Responds to FTC's Self-Regulatory Principles

When concerns over data collection and behavioral advertising arise, it seems that the glass half empty people are the loudest. But in a recent response to the FTC's Self-Regulatory Principles, Google has pointed out the impact that online advertising has had on the economy.

Google highlighted that in 2007, they paid out $4.5 billion to publishers utilizing the Adsense network. These monies either supplements or provides full-time income to many site owners including bloggers. They pointed out that many people have opportunities that just weren't available 10 years ago.

Additionally, the revenue that Google generates enables them to provide services for free to the general public.

Google wrote that these innovations only occur within a self-regulatory framework:

"To be effective and credible, however, self-regulation must have as its foundation agreed-upon fair information practices and must be informed by ongoing dialog with and input from consumer advocates, the Commission, and other stakeholders. The FTC staff's draft self-regulatory principles for online behavioral advertising provides an excellent foundation for developing the most effective consumer protection, while maintaining an online environment in which innovation and competition can thrive."

But Google is careful to distinguish its advertising from being labeled "behavioral advertising."

"As currently drafted, the proposed principles would apply to contextual advertising, which we define as advertising that is provided in response to the current activities of a user. For example, our AdWords program allows us to provide ads on Google.com in response to search queries entered by our users. In addition, our AdSense product allows us to provide ads to visitors to the web sites of third-party publisher partners based on the content of pages visited. In essence, then, our contextual advertising allows for the delivery of advertisements based on search queries or our analysis of the content of a web page being viewed. We believe that this type of advertising should not be considered behavioral advertising, even if such analysis takes into consideration previous search queries."

These comments also come in the wake of news from Europe of a policy adopted by the Article 29 Data Protection Working Party, which would reduce data collection by search engines to just 6 months. Such a regulation could greatly impact the ability of search engines to provide relevant ads, which could have a ripple effect on the greater revenue streams generated by their ad networks.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 8, 2008, 11:22 AM | Permalink

adCenter Advertiser Blog Explains Keyword Match Types

If you've been in need of an explanation of keyword match types for your PPC campaign, you're in luck. The adCenter Advertiser blog has published a post that offers up a detailed explanation of keyword match terms as well as some tips for your paid search strategy. Let's dig in:

Exact match - Your ad only shows for an exact match of your keyword phrase. so if you're bidding on "big red dog," then your ad only shows up if someone searches for that exact phrase

Phrase match - This is when your ad will show up for a phrase that contains your keywords. For example, if someone searches for "big red dog for sale," then your ad will show up.

Broad match - In this scenario, your ad will show up if the three words in your keyword phrase are in any search. So if someone searches for "red house with a big yard for a dog," then your ad will show up. Also, adCenter will sometimes expand to include "puppy" to maximize your searches.

Lauren Taft-McPhee, author of the blog post, recommends bidding on all three match types unless you have a very narrow target audience. In that case, you might want to use exact match only, though she advises that your traffic volume will be low despite the better quality.

Once a bidding strategy is in place, Taft-McPhee recommends running a keyword performance report and including the "delivered match types" column. This will help you know if your keyword is matching up with what searchers are querying.

When you've established a bidding strategy that maximizes ROI, then you might try bidding on the adCenter content network to extend your paid search reach even further.

Like organic optimization, paid search should be monitored on a consistent basis. Be prepared to make tweaks as needed due to changing search queries and bid competition.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 8, 2008, 10:37 AM | Permalink

March Search Market Share Numbers Begin to Trickle In

Search engine marketers love their data, so grab a cup of coffee and mull over the numbers released by Hitwise and Compete.com for the search market in March 2008. Of course, both have Google as possessing the mammoth share of the market, with Hitwise attributing 67.25% and Compete showing 69.4%.

Hitwise has Google gaining 0.84% over February 2008 and 3.12% over March of 2007. Compete.com has Google losing 0.6% month over month and gaining 4.7% year over year.

Both reports saw losses for Yahoo. Hitwise reports 20.29% for March 2008, 20.59% for February 2008, and 21.26% for March 2007. Compete has Yahoo at 14.8% for March 2008, 15.7% for February 2008, and 19.7% for March 2007.

But the two reports differ dramatically when it comes to MSN. Hitwise has MSN at 6.65% in March 2008 down from 6.95% in February 2008 and 9.01% in March 2007. Hitwise has MSN at 10.2% up from 8.4% in February 2008 and 9.5% in March 2007.

Compete also released data about the number of search queries. And this is where everyone but Yahoo shines. In year over year stats, Google saw an increase of 51.9%, MSN 51.8%, Ask 57%, and AOL 43.5% in search query volume. Yahoo only saw a 6.1% increase over last year.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 8, 2008, 9:34 AM | Permalink

Types of Social Media Content - A Conceptual Overview

If social media success = 1/2 social network + 1/2 quality content ... an understanding of both social network building and content development is necessary. I've written extensively about developing a social media network previously, so now I'll focus more on social media content with a view to finding ways and means to assess quality of content. More specifically, in this post we'll look at segmenting social media into different types of content.

In its simplest form, there are 3 types of social media content:
1. News Content
2. Sensational/Entertainment Content
3. Resources/Educational Content

1. News Content
This is content that is time-sensitive, and is based on facts, events, and happenings. As thousands of news sites exist, the latest news is almost always syndicated and distributed to these thousands of additional sites within minutes of its release. This makes the news itself a commodity ... and ultra-competitive. Only the original source of the story typically gains.

News content does exceptionally well in the realm of most social media sites. In reality, there are two types of news in terms of social media opportunities:
a. the news you read about from other sources ... and submit
b. the news you make (by using research, scoops, etc.)

2. Sensational/Entertainment Content
This type of content is most often not based on fact, but rather on personal opinion or speculation, and is designed to entertain or attract attention. You've seen the thousands of submissions to this effect, many of which are "Top 10" type lists, staged videos (e.g. BrideZilla), majestic images, and the like. These entertainment-focused submissions typically perform very well on general social media sites like Digg, Reddit, or Stumbleupon, but do poorly on industry/vertical sites.

3. Resource/Educational Content
Resource/educational posts are based on research and facts in most cases, or at the very least professional opinion. These types of posts are typically well researched, and where conclusions are drawn, they are based more on deductive reasoning than inductive. Conclusions need not be drawn in these posts, as the posts/articles can also take the form of very large and relatively comprehensive lists (e.g. U.S. Universities Offering MBA Programs by State).

The fact-based nature of these posts, and the depth and comprehensiveness of information, increases the likelihood that they'll be bookmarked or saved for future reference. As a result of the time and effort invested, these types of posts are relatively rare, and perform exceptionally well on certain types of social media but not others.

Second Level Combinations:
Obviously, people do not necessarily think in terms of these categories when creating content. Accordingly, most social media submissions will involve some combination of the above types. All tolled, there are 4 additional possible types based on combinations of the original 3:
1. News/Entertainment - this would be the type of content piece that might make the National Enquirer (you know ... Brad Pitt meets Jennifer Aniston [the News] for a secret rendezvous [the Entertainment])
2. News/Resource - an example of this type of content might be a post on a recent sighting of a Tasmanian Tiger (the News), in which it shows a comprehensive list of the locations of all sightings since the late 50s (the Resource).
3. Entertainment/Resource - a post of this type might be "the definitive guide for alternative uses of a power nail gun" wherein a number of the uses are more humorous in nature.
4. A combination of all 3 - cannot think of any examples at the moment, and they are rare, but where there's a will, there's a way.

Why Do Types Matter?
Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the 3 types of social media content (and the 4 additional combinations), is important for many reasons, including:
a. selecting the right type of content to fit your blog's purpose and personality
b. selecting the right type of content to fit the medium (Digg, Delicious, Flickr, Stumbleupon, etc., all differ somewhat)
c. selecting the best type of content pieces for your industry

In future posts, I'll delve much deeper into each of the above. Next week's post will look specifically at finding good blog content that also performs well on social media. Stay tuned ...

Posted by on April 8, 2008, 7:00 AM | Permalink

Cry w00t! and Let Slip the Dogs of Search Engine WarGames

google%20host.jpg

Will you be one of "The 10,000?" Remember the flick "The 300?" Well Google App Engine wants to make those guys look like a bunch of sissy Amazons with their new Web services platform.

That's the open platform where Open Social common APIs took the developer world by storm.

The preview release of Google App Engine is restricted to the first 10,000 developers to sign up.

Not a developer? Let's try another metaphor: Have you seen the Japanese flick "The Host?" Well now you don't have to. Google wants to do the hosting for you. Then you can hire developers to create mutant software apps on the GOOG infrastructure.

If you are a developer, you already missed the latest edition of Google Campfire One, the developer get-together at the Google campus.

(Yes that's the invitation-only S'Mores roast held at the Googleplex, hence the, uh, unique brown Google Campfire logo.)

The bennies of Google App Engine:

1. Write code once and launch.

2. Absorb traffic spikes with automatic replication and load balancing. Think Bigtable.

3. Integrate with other Google services with built-in components and Google's library of APIs for plug-and-play functionality.

Based on Google's aggressive product marketing roadmap, we anticipate Google App Engines to be out of beta no later than 2012.

So cry w00t!!! and let slip the dogs of search engine war games!

Posted by Kevin Heisler on April 8, 2008, 2:16 AM | Permalink

SEW Experts: How to Tell if Your Domain is Banned

Oftentimes it is difficult to tell whether a domain name is banned or penalized by a search engine. Or perhaps the domain name is neither banned, nor penalized. It could be, you just managed to screw up your site. In today's Organic Search Engine Optimization column, "How to Tell if Your Domain is Banned in a Search Engine," Mark Jackson shows you how to find the answer.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on April 8, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink

SEW Experts: Keep the Lines of SEO Communication Open

In large organizations, development teams don't always retain what they've learned about SEO. Without regular communication about SEO issues, you're destined to repeat past mistakes. In today's Big Brand Search Marketing column, "Keep the Lines of SEO Communication Open," Aaron Shear discusses the importance of training your employees about SEO.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on April 8, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink

SEW Experts: Google Road Kill: Will the Pulitzer Prize Live to Be 100?

On the 92nd anniversary of the Pulitzer Prize, prizewinners and publishers are fiddling while the newspaper industry is burning. In today's Search Engine WarGames column, "Google Road Kill: Will the Pulitzer Prize Live to Be 100?," Kevin Heisler looks at the plight of the newspaper industry.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on April 8, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink

Search Headlines & Links: April 7, 2008

Want a snapshot of the day's search marketing news? Here we've collected today's top news stories posted to the Search Engine Watch Blog, along with search-related headlines from around the Web:

From the SEW Blog:

News Flash: A Google Product Came Out of Beta!
Google has announced that its AdWords API is out of beta.
European Group Wants to Cut Search Engine Data Storage
Almost a month after the EU approved Google's DoubleClick acquisition, officials from 27 EU nations have unanimously adopted a proposal that could force search engines to reduce the amount of time they store personal information.
The Offline Benefits of Online Advertising
The offline effects of online advertising has been a curious issue in the search engine marketing industry over the years. But according to published reports, new study conducted by comScore is shedding more light on the issue.
Yahoo Unveils Details of New AMP Advertising Platform
In the midst of firmly responding to Microsoft's ultimatum, Yahoo has released details of the new AMP advertising platform.
Yahoo to Microsoft: We Already Dumped You
After Microsoft issued its ultimatum to Yahoo this weekend, giving them three more weeks before things get ugly, Yahoo's board of directors responded this morning, reminding Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer that it already rejected Microsoft's offer, and Yahoo still thinks Microsoft's offer is too low.
Microsoft Gets Tired of Waiting
Microsoft is apparently tired of waiting for Yahoo to respond to its unsolicited takeover bid, and has issued a deadline of April 26 for Yahoo to come to terms on an acquisition agreement, or face a hostile takeover.
SEW Experts: A Look at Demographic Bidding for AdWords
Google's new demographic bidding for content campaigns seems to promise much better control over where ads are served, and hence better ROI.
How to (Actually) Earn Money (Now) with Social Media (Really): Part 2
Short term financial success in social media can be a multi-layered enigma, ranging somewhere between daunting and infuriating.
HackerSafe & The Power of Trust
There are no universal truths about what to test on a landing page. However, there are common themes that work well across a range of industries. One of these is the use of trust and credibility indicators.

Headlines & News from Elsewhere:

Yahoo Names Ad Network Platform, Signals Summer Rollout, ClickZ News

Spock.com Pacts With Google, Plays With Ad Networks, ClickZ News

A Deeper Dive Into adCenter, ClickZ Experts

The Future of Advertising: A Conversation With Jeff Einstein, Part 2, ClickZ Experts

Average Search CPC Data by Category for March 2008, ClickZ Stats

Spy On Competitors, But Don't Copy Their Mistakes, Search Engine Land

SEO Standards Debate is Back - But Something's Missing, SEOmoz

Google - Long Term Thinking in an ADD World, Marketing Pilgrim

Using Site Search Keyword Data to Create Related Content, SEO Book

Latest Interview: Kirsten Rasanen, Stone Temple Consulting

New Compete.com search share numbers show surprising surge for Live Search, LiveSide.net

Keyword Match Types, AdCenter Community

Keyword Segments within the Conversion Funnel, Shimon Sandler

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on April 7, 2008, 5:47 PM | Permalink

News Flash: A Google Product Came Out of Beta!

Like a dog owner registering for the Westminster Dog Show, Google has announced that its AdWords API is out of beta. With months of grooming, trimming, obedience classes, and agility exercises, the API is ready to show the world that it is officially the best of its breed.

Google beta services

Google is famous for its lengthy grooming process. There are at least 13 Google products which remain in beta, with many more products being cooked up in Google Labs. The thirteen are:

1. Google Alerts
2. Google Blog Search
3. Google Book Search
4. Google Finance
5. Google Patent Search
6. Google Product Search
7. Google Scholar
8. Google Video
9. Gmail
10. Google Talk
11. Google Custom Search
12. Google Calendar
13. Google Docs

It's difficult to know just how many Google products and services are in beta. For example, Adwords and Analytics are out of beta, but have new features that are in beta. Sometimes you learn that something was in beta only when it was announced that it has been released from beta. Prior to today, the most recent beta release was Google Conversion Optimizer.

Because of this, we recommend that Google introduce a new search product: Beta Search.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 7, 2008, 11:32 AM | Permalink

European Group Wants to Cut Search Engine Data Storage

Almost a month after the EU approved Google's DoubleClick acquisition, officials from 27 EU nations have unanimously adopted a proposal that could force search engines to reduce the amount of time they store personal information. The Article 29 Data Protection Working Party met for 2 days in Brussels last week and agreed that six months should be the maximum amount of time data is stored.

Last year Google cut its data storage to 18 months to comply with EU rules. Microsoft and Yahoo followed suit by reducing their storage to 18 and 13 months respectively.

Experts think this could have implications for online advertising. The booming industry is expected to see tremendous growth in the coming years, but relies heavily on personal data to target ads.

In the U.S., efforts have been made by various state officials to limit the way search engines collect information but to largely no avail. Most recently, state officials in New York and Connecticut introduced bills to thwart data collection.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 7, 2008, 10:50 AM | Permalink

The Offline Benefits of Online Advertising

The offline effects of online advertising has been a curious issue in the search engine marketing industry over the years. But according to published reports, new study conducted by comScore is shedding more light on the issue.

The study was conducted on a retailer that does $15 billion in annual revenues. Most of the revenues come from brick and mortar stores. During a three month period, sales increased 50% offline, which coincided with a display and search advertising campaign. Online sales also saw a boost of 40%.

This isn't the first comScore study looking at offline ROI of online ads. A study from the summer of 2007 showed that consumers who "pre-shop" online spend up to 41% more in-store. Also, 82% of searchers conduct an offline activity to follow up on their query. 61% of them make purchases.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 7, 2008, 9:27 AM | Permalink

Yahoo Unveils Details of New AMP Advertising Platform

In the midst of firmly responding to Microsoft's ultimatum, Yahoo has released details of the new AMP advertising platform, designed to streamline and automate online advertising across a variety of target markets, publishers and ad type. The platform will feature an open API and will also include Yahoo! owned-and-operated inventory and more than 600 U.S. newspapers in the Newspaper Consortium.

Some of the newspapers have already been given access to the platform. Jay Smith, President, Cox Newspapers said, "We are highly enthusiastic about the potential of this platform. We're blown away by how Yahoo! is working with intensity and commitment to create a collaborative and very efficient platform that we expect will have a significant impact on our sales capabilities. This is a turning point for our industry."

This is exactly what Yahoo was hoping to hear. Hilary Schneider, EVP, Global Partner Solutions, Yahoo! said, “AMP! from Yahoo will enable advertisers and publishers to connect with each other and their exact target audiences across the increasingly fragmented Internet, in a way that's not possible with current solutions. We believe AMP! will deliver a faster, easier, and more automated and integrated way to create, buy, and sell advertising and do so across a transparent global marketplace."

AMP is still a few months away from being released to the general public. The company expects to go live with the new platform in the third quarter of this year.

The releasing of details about AMP came in the wake of pressure from Microsoft for Yahoo to agree to their unsolicited bid for the company at $31 a share. Yahoo has until April 26th to agree to that price. With the recent positive forecast for the next 3 years of revenues and today's announcement about AMP, Yahoo appears to be pulling out all the stops for either a better bid or more confidence from analysts about the future of the Sunnyvale search engine.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 7, 2008, 8:43 AM | Permalink

Yahoo to Microsoft: We Already Dumped You

After Microsoft issued its ultimatum to Yahoo this weekend, giving them three more weeks before things get ugly, Yahoo's board of directors responded this morning, reminding Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer that it already rejected Microsoft's offer, and Yahoo still thinks Microsoft's offer is too low.

"Our Board's view of your proposal has not changed. We continue to believe that your proposal is not in the best interests of Yahoo! and our stockholders. Contrary to statements in your letter, stockholders representing a significant portion of our outstanding shares have indicated to us that your proposal substantially undervalues Yahoo!. Furthermore, as a result of the decrease in your own stock price, the value of your proposal today is significantly lower than it was when you made your initial proposal."

Yahoo's letter says that discussions between the two have been constructive, discussing potential integration and regulatory issues. It also notes that Ballmer was present at two of those meetings.

Yahoo's board insists it is the best group to evaluate a deal, and says that it's not averse to talking to Microsoft, if the price is right:

"In conclusion, please allow us to restate our position, so there can be no confusion. We are open to all alternatives that maximize stockholder value. To be clear, this includes a transaction with Microsoft if it represents a price that fully recognizes the value of Yahoo! on a standalone basis and to Microsoft, is superior to our other alternatives, and provides certainty of value and certainty of closing. Lastly, we are steadfast in our commitment to choosing a path that maximizes stockholder value and we will not allow you or anyone else to acquire the company for anything less than its full value."

Read the full text of the letter, after the jump.

Dear Steve:

Our Board has reviewed your most recent letter with regard to the unsolicited proposal you made to acquire Yahoo on January 31, 2008.

Our Board carefully considered your unsolicited proposal, unanimously concluded that it was not in the best interests of Yahoo and our stockholders, and rejected it publicly on February 11, 2008. Our Board cited Yahoo's global brand, large worldwide audience, significant recent investments in advertising platforms and future growth prospects, free cash flow and earnings potential, as well as its substantial unconsolidated investments, as factors in its decision.

At the same time, we have continued to make clear that we are not opposed to a transaction with Microsoft if it is in the best interests of our stockholders. Our position is simply that any transaction must be at a value that fully reflects the value of Yahoo, including any strategic benefits to Microsoft, and on terms that provide certainty to our stockholders.

Since disclosing our Board's position with respect to your proposal, we have presented our three-year financial and strategic plan to our stockholders, which supports our Board's determination that your unsolicited proposal substantially undervalues Yahoo. Those meetings with our stockholders have also provided us an opportunity to hear their views.

We have continued to launch new products and to take actions which leverage our scale, technology, people and platforms as we execute on the strategy we publicly articulated. Today, in fact, we are announcing AMP! from Yahoo, a new advertising management platform designed to dramatically simplify the process of buying and selling ads online.

Finally, our Board has been actively and expeditiously exploring our strategic alternatives to maximize stockholder value, a process which is ongoing. All of these actions have been driven by our overarching commitment to maximize stockholder value.

Our Board's view of your proposal has not changed. We continue to believe that your proposal is not in the best interests of Yahoo and our stockholders. Contrary to statements in your letter, stockholders representing a significant portion of our outstanding shares have indicated to us that your proposal substantially undervalues Yahoo. Furthermore, as a result of the decrease in your own stock price, the value of your proposal today is significantly lower than it was when you made your initial proposal.

In contrast to your assertions about the effect of general economic conditions on our business, Yahoo's business forecasts are consistent with what we outlined in our last earnings call. As you know, we recently reaffirmed our Q1 and full year guidance, which is a testament to our ability to perform in line with our expectations despite the current economic environment. In addition, our three-year financial and strategic plan which we have made public demonstrates significant potential upside not previously communicated to the financial markets. This plan has received positive feedback from our stockholders, further strengthening the view that Yahoo is worth well more as a standalone company than the value offered in your proposal, and would be even more valuable to Microsoft. Your own statements have made clear the strategic importance of Yahoo's substantial assets and capabilities to Microsoft.

We regret to say that your letter mischaracterizes the nature of our discussions with you. We have had constructive conversations together regarding a variety of topics, including integration and regulatory issues. Your comment that we have refused to enter into negotiations to conclude an agreement are particularly curious given we have already rejected your initial proposal, nominally $31 per share at the time, for substantially undervaluing Yahoo and your suggestions in your letter and the media that you are considering lowering the value of your proposal. Moreover, Steve, you personally attended two of these meetings and could have advanced discussions in any way you saw fit.

As to antitrust, we have discussed with you our concerns. Any transaction between us would result in a thorough regulatory review in multiple jurisdictions. As a follow up to a recent meeting among our respective legal advisors we had on this topic, and at your request, we provided to you on March 28 a list of additional information we would need to further our understanding of the regulatory issues associated with any transaction. To date, you have still not provided any of the requested information.

We consider your threat to commence an unsolicited offer and proxy contest to displace our independent Board members to be counterproductive and inconsistent with your stated objective of a friendly transaction. We are confident that our stockholders understand that our independent Board is best positioned to objectively and knowledgeably evaluate our Company's alternatives and to maximize value.

In conclusion, please allow us to restate our position, so there can be no confusion. We are open to all alternatives that maximize stockholder value. To be clear, this includes a transaction with Microsoft if it represents a price that fully recognizes the value of Yahoo on a standalone basis and to Microsoft, is superior to our other alternatives, and provides certainty of value and certainty of closing. Lastly, we are steadfast in our commitment to choosing a path that maximizes stockholder value and we will not allow you or anyone else to acquire the company for anything less than its full value.

Very truly yours,
Roy Bostock, Chairman of the Board
Jerry Yang, Chief Executive Officer

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on April 7, 2008, 8:25 AM | Permalink

Microsoft Gets Tired of Waiting

Microsoft is apparently tired of waiting for Yahoo to respond to its unsolicited takeover bid, and has issued a deadline of April 26 for Yahoo to come to terms on an acquisition agreement, or face a hostile takeover. On Saturday, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer sent a following letter to Yahoo's Board of Directors, outlining Microsoft's displeasure with Yahoo dragging its feet for the past few weeks instead of jumping into Microsoft's arms.

Given these developments, we believe now is the time for our respective companies to authorize teams to sit down and negotiate a definitive agreement on a combination of our companies that will deliver superior value to our respective shareholders, creating a more efficient and competitive company that will provide greater value and service to our customers. If we have not concluded an agreement within the next three weeks, we will be compelled to take our case directly to your shareholders, including the initiation of a proxy contest to elect an alternative slate of directors for the Yahoo board.

Text of the entire letter is after the jump.

Dear Members of the Board:

It has now been more than two months since we made our proposal to acquire Yahoo at a 62% premium to its closing price on January 31, 2008, the day prior to our announcement. Our goal in making such a generous offer was to create the basis for a speedy and ultimately friendly transaction. Despite this, the pace of the last two months has been anything but speedy.

While there has been some limited interaction between management of our two companies, there has been no meaningful negotiation to conclude an agreement. We understand that you have been meeting to consider and assess your alternatives, including alternative transactions with others in the industry, but we've seen no indication that you have authorized Yahoo management to negotiate with Microsoft. This is despite the fact that our proposal is the only alternative put forward that offers your shareholders full and fair value for their shares, gives every shareholder a vote on the future of the company, and enhances choice for content creators, advertisers, and consumers.

During these two months of inactivity, the Internet has continued to march on, while the public equity markets and overall economic conditions have weakened considerably, both in general and for other Internet-focused companies in particular. At the same time, public indicators suggest that Yahoo's search and page view shares have declined. Finally, you have adopted new plans at the company that have made any change of control more costly.

By any fair measure, the large premium we offered in January is even more significant today. We believe that the majority of your shareholders share this assessment, even after reviewing your public disclosures relating to your future prospects.

Given these developments, we believe now is the time for our respective companies to authorize teams to sit down and negotiate a definitive agreement on a combination of our companies that will deliver superior value to our respective shareholders, creating a more efficient and competitive company that will provide greater value and service to our customers. If we have not concluded an agreement within the next three weeks, we will be compelled to take our case directly to your shareholders, including the initiation of a proxy contest to elect an alternative slate of directors for the Yahoo board. The substantial premium reflected in our initial proposal anticipated a friendly transaction with you. If we are forced to take an offer directly to your shareholders, that action will have an undesirable impact on the value of your company from our perspective which will be reflected in the terms of our proposal.

It is unfortunate that by choosing not to enter into substantive negotiations with us, you have failed to give due consideration to a transaction that has tremendous benefits for Yahoo's shareholders and employees. We think it is critically important not to let this window of opportunity pass.

Sincerely,

Steven A. Ballmer
Chief Executive Office
Microsoft Corp.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on April 7, 2008, 1:02 AM | Permalink

SEW Experts: A Look at Demographic Bidding for AdWords

Google's new demographic bidding for content campaigns seems to promise much better control over where ads are served, and hence better ROI. In today's Content Advertising column, "A Look at Demographic Bidding for AdWords," David Szetela explains why he considers it a "must try" tool for content advertisers.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on April 7, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink

How to (Actually) Earn Money (Now) with Social Media (Really): Part 2

Short term financial success in social media can be a multi-layered enigma, ranging somewhere between daunting and infuriating. As the socialized Internet explodes it has become increasingly difficult for companies to ignore the ramifications of not tuning in to deal with SMO vernacular & channels.

We all hear buzz words like "reputation management," "social news," "blogs," and "Wikis" but exactly WHAT the heck does all this mean to a business? How do I convince my boss or client that forays into the social media universe will actually pay cash-money any time soon? How DO we engage visitors? Where's the revenue?

In Part One we discussed ideas for Facebook social PPC, the PR tactic of pinging sales prospects with outbound links, increasing landing page conversion by mashing in "evidence of human life" and touched on the Tao of one-on-one conversational marketing.

In this installment, we'll talk about using blog comment threads to create uber-targeted micro-topical email lists, a tactic which can easily result in short term sales and cash. ("Thread" simply means the ongoing exchange of comments in a blog type CMS structure.)

At base, a blog is an open source (free) content management system (CMS) with built in goodies like RSS feeds, automatic content archives, easy WYSIWYG publishing and many other friendly features designed to engage visitors. A staggering percentage of websites incorporate blog-type software for some purpose. What's important to understand is that blogs are much more than the stereotypical perception thereof.

Everyone knows email marketing works. I'm not talking about the junk-spammy kind, rather nice clean opt-in lists that companies build over time. Responsible and compliant email marketing is a component of many a corporations' array of marketing tactics and proving ROI is not difficult. Email just works. Benefits include great "open" and conversion rates, customer loyalty, predictable results, low costs and repeat sales.

It's true that payday loan email blasts are not going to convert at the same level as $1.50 bagged cereal coupons but it's all good. Email is a timeless and undeniable SEM tactic. That said, building great targeted lists takes time and ingenuity. Conversations that take place using blogging software like WordPress are an excellent source for harvesting incredibly focused segmented lists quickly by inviting user interaction, mining the data, and using the thread's mini-list to send email blasts now and later.

Blogs and Email: Anatomy of a Comments Thread
When a site visitor comments in a blog, they automatically subscribe by email to the conversation if you've set it up properly. Then with each new comment, including yours, every previous visitor magically receives the new comment by email. Think about it. The pot of gold at the end of successfully engaging users in blog-type comments-dialog is the ability to email all of the conversation's participants simply by commenting yourself. As with all of social media, there is profitable power in marketing to micro-targeted highly specific demographics.

Perhaps you'll return comments by answering users' questions, refuting incorrect assertions, clarifying a situation, explaining a product, or just indulging in a little ol' fashioned meet & greet. Bottom line: get users to converse with each other in a blog and you'll have the entire group at your fingertips to exploit just by commenting again yourself and pressing submit. Everyone who has participated in the thread to-date gets an email! It's so easy.

Now that you understand the theory, the obvious question is "how DO we engage users in comments-thread conversations?" The answer is only limited by your team's creativity. Since every product is different somehow, there is no "one size fits all." However here's a couple of examples from clients aimClear works with to provide insight into the "market think" required to start conversations like a pro. These are all real examples of opportunity turned into creative comments-thread solutions for engaging users for micro-email list building purposes.

Opportunity: Your company publishes service manuals for devices you sell. In the existing website hosts about 4000 daily visitors search for and access .pdf product manuals spread across 57 previous and current products.

Solution: Install the ability for customers to comment or ask specific questions in a publicly posted thread prominently featured just to the left (and outlined in red) of the .pdf download. New visitors see prior questions and have the ability to directly engage previous commentors.

Seed the interaction by encouraging visitors to post questions for the product's design team with a promised response time of 24 hours. Respond by...you guessed it...commenting. Over time hundreds or thousands of users will engage as they likely own or are considering purchasing the device. Just about anyone looking for a product manual has some kind of question they need answers for. NOW you have a very targeted micro-list of those interested in specific devices. The list is worth it's weight in gold. The next time you announce an add-on, upgrade, or other news about the device, all you have to do is comment. Everyone who has previously participated gets an email until they opt-out of the thread.

Opportunity: Say the regional niche' music production school you market has a staff of experts in their respective fields. Organic traffic brings tons of unique visitors for searches directly related to the academic offerings. The success metric is information-requests from qualified prospective students. The site harvests organic leads each day at a nice conversion rate from which any sale could be worth tens of thousands of dollars. Out of the organic visitors who do not convert, over half come back within 90 days. That's a lot of potential customers just waiting to be engaged. There are millions of dollars on the table.

Solution: Set a cookie for every organic visitor based on the incoming query and only delete the cookie if they convert. The next time the visitor shows up, read the cookie and direct them to a landing page which has headlines from thread featuring teacher-experts discussing topics specifically related to the user's original search query. Invite the return visitor to ask a question themselves, in public, and promise a response. You guessed it! Everyone who has previously engaged gets an email with the visitor's question and your response.

The next time the college announces a new program, wants to highlight a student's success, or announces a famous instructor, all you have to do is comment and everyone gets an email. (BTW, this tactic is called SMO post-search retargeting.)

Blog comment threads are a great way to harvest highly targeted micro-email lists which can earn money in a relatively short amount of time. Developing strategy and tactics to exploit the turnkey capabilities of free blogging software is only limited by the creativity of the SEM team. An excellent approach is to analyze site traffic that already exists, engage users, track behavior over time, and continually serve up opportunities to interact until they just can't resist. Such is the power of social media.

Posted by Marty Weintraub on April 6, 2008, 11:38 AM | Permalink

Govt. Funded Health Search Engine Blocks "Abortion"

Now this seems to be a story that would get attention if it weren't for the fact President Bush is a lame duck and soon out of office. The government funded health search engine Popline run by John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health was not returning results when searching for the term abortion Thursday, Wired reported.

Interestingly, I was getting results in Amsterdam that listed the reports mentioned by Wired. So they either changed back to avoid controversy or they are using geoIP recognition and just blocking US traffic.

Either way... bad move George W. and shame on you John Hopkins.... did you sell out to the Republicans when Bloomberg got on board?

Posted by Frank Watson on April 5, 2008, 11:17 PM | Permalink

HackerSafe & The Power of Trust

I am often asked by people what sorts of items I would recommend testing on a landing page. There are no universal truths and your mileage may vary. However, there are common themes that work well across a range of industries. One of these is the use of trust and credibility indicators. These reduce anxiety for your visitors and increase their confidence when interacting with your landing page.

11% increase in revenue per visitor

simply by changing the position of the trustmark in the header

Read the LuggagePoint case study here.

As a McAfee HackerSafe partner SiteTuners.com will run a free multivariate test on any site with certain minimum traffic levels to determine which placement on the page (out of 4 possible positions) and HackerSafe trustmark image (out of 6 possible versions) results in the best performance.

Posted by Tim Ash on April 4, 2008, 7:46 PM | Permalink

Search Headlines & Links: April 4, 2008

Want a snapshot of the day's search marketing news? Here we've collected today's top news stories posted to the Search Engine Watch Blog, along with search-related headlines from around the Web:

From the SEW Blog:

Google Updates Trademark Rules for UK/Ireland AdWords
Beginning on May 5, 2008, the AdWords trademark policy for the UK and Ireland will change. The new policy will be aligned with the current one established in the United States and Canada.
Optimization Tips for PDFs: Great Advice for B2B Search Marketers
PDFs are particularly significant in B2B marketing, which makes optimizing them for the web is an important piece of SEO strategy in that sector. Thankfully, Galen de Young of Francis Marketing has a new post on optimizing PDFs on their B2B marketing blog.
Google Opens Up About Spectrum Auction
The gag order on details surrounding the recent FCC spectrum auction has been lifted, and Google is revealing some behind-the-scenes information about their participation in the bidding.
Microhoo's Second Date Doesn't Go Very Well
Executives from Microsoft and Yahoo reportedly met this week, but both sides came to the much anticipated second date with stubborn stances.
SEW Experts: SEO Standards Signal the Maturing of Our Industry
Call them standards, rules, advice, best practices, or whatever you want, but they're a necessary step in the evolution of the search industry.
SEW Experts: Recruiting the Right People for Your SEM Business
If you've been a one-man operation until now, hiring your first employee is a major milestone. However, making the wrong choice can seriously impact your business.
SEW Experts: Leveraging Traditional Media Placements in an Online World
Online media and Internet-based search continue to grow at the expense of their offline counterparts, newspapers and magazines. Because media placement options are continuously growing, smart local marketers need to leverage this major transformation of how people consume media in some creative ways.

Headlines & News from Elsewhere:

Is Organic Search Enough?, ClickZ Experts
SES Toronto Speaker Info - Reminder, Traffick
Human Hardware: Dunbar's Number, Search Engine Land
New Middle-of-page Google Onebox Type?, Google Blogoscoped
Are You Giving Users Features They Don't Want?, Bruce Clay Blog
Risky Advice on Evading Adwords Display URL Rules, SEO Fast Start
7 Questions to Ask When Planning a Website Redesign, SEO Space

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on April 4, 2008, 4:48 PM | Permalink

Google Updates Trademark Rules for UK/Ireland Adwords

Beginning on May 5, 2008, the AdWords trademark policy for the UK and Ireland will change. The new policy will be aligned with the current one established in the United States and Canada.

AdWords users in the UK and Ireland will be able to bid on keywords that contain trademarked words, but will not be able to include trademarked names in their ad text. Until now, accounts in those countries could not bid on trademarked terms.

The U.S. policy has sparked controversy in the courts, which can't seem to agree on the use of trademark in PPC bidding. The change comes in the wake of recent reports that clicks on Google paid search results have been declining.

Optimization Tips for PDFs: Great Advice for B2B Search Marketers

PDFs are particularly significant in B2B marketing, which makes optimizing them for the web is an important piece of SEO strategy in that sector. Thankfully, Galen de Young of Francis Marketing has a new post on optimizing PDFs on their B2B marketing blog.

Here are the key take away points from Galen's post:

Make sure your PDFs are text-based. Creating a PDF from a Microsoft Word document should be ok, but when you get into other programs like InDesign or Quark, then you run into text-based issues. And, as always, optimize the copy to reflect the targeted keywords.

Pay attention to Accessibility. The accessibility tools can be found under the advanced options. With them, you can order the priority of text on a page and create alt tags for images.

Customize your PDF properties. The title in the properties becomes the title tag, not the title of the file, so be sure to write an optimized title for your PDF properties. This is what searchers will see in the results of their favorite search engine.

Don't forget about usability. Optimization of a PDF is only good if web users can read it. Be aware that not everyone has the latest version of Adobe Reader. Save your PDF at a version lower than the most recent update. Also, make sure file sizes are as compressed as possible and use properties to see if you have a "fast web view." If not, go to your General Settings panel under preferences to make it web-friendly.

Specify the reading order. This helps search engines know which part of the text is most important on your page. Also, if your first paragraph wouldn't make a great description tag, consider creating a footer and making it number 1 in the reading order.

Other quick tips include:

Build links into PDFs (and be sure to verify them!)
Keep links to PDFs closer to the root level of the site's file structure
Use keyword-rich anchor text to link to PDFs
Don't do anything in a PDF that you wouldn't do in a web page

PDFs can be forgotten when developing or redesigning a web site and lost in a greater SEM strategy. But when properly optimized they can be a powerful content tool for your business.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 4, 2008, 10:00 AM | Permalink

Google Opens Up About Spectrum Auction

The gag order on details surrounding the recent FCC spectrum auction has been lifted, and Google is revealing some behind-the-scenes information about their participation in the bidding.

While some had speculated Google only made the minimum $4.6 billion reserve price to force the C block into accepting open applications, Google said that it did bid above the reserve. They also said they were winning for several days, but in the end Verizon won the C block auction.

All was not lost, however, as the FCC did agree to 2 of the 4 "open" conditions Google was pushing for. And Google is lobbying the FCC to auction off "white spaces" on the TV spectrum to make more options available for mobile users. Plus, they re-affirmed the expectation that the first Android handsets will be released later this year.

And in case you've ever thought that bidding on a high-ticket item on eBay was nerve-wracking, consider this: Google says, "Bidding took place electronically, and literally billions of dollars were at stake with every mouse click."

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 4, 2008, 9:39 AM | Permalink

Seesmic Acquires Twhirl, Taking Video Chat to a Whole New Level

Video chat startup Seesmic has acquired Twhirl, an Adobe AIR Twitter client. Twhirl is the most popular Twitter client, boasting over 100,000 downloads and accounting for 7% of daily Tweets. Seesmic does plan on blending video chat into Twhirl, which is a Twitter user's dream come true!

According to Seesmic founder Loic Le Meur, Marco Kaiser, founder of Twhirl, was already in the process of incorporating Seesmic into Twhirl. Kaiser contacted Seesmic about his plans, and the rest is history. Twhirl and Twitter were, of course, used a great deal during their negotiations.

Is Twitter the New Google Alternative?
Twitter: Welcome to My Google Nightmare
Twitter and Search

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 4, 2008, 9:15 AM | Permalink

Microhoo's Second Date Doesn't Go Very Well

Executives from Microsoft and Yahoo reportedly met this week, but both sides came to the much anticipated second date with stubborn stances. Microsoft wouldn't raise their original bid price of $31 per share and Yahoo wouldn't delve into details of the acquisition unless the bid was raised, according to published reports.

This should come as no surprise to anyone who has been following the negotiations since Microsoft made the unsolicited offer for the Sunnyvale search engine on February 1. Yahoo recently tried to show the world just how much its worth by releasing positive revenue projections for the next three years. Meanwhile, this week Microsoft already said it wasn't interested in raising its original bid price.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 4, 2008, 7:47 AM | Permalink

SEW Experts: SEO Standards Signal the Maturing of Our Industry

Call them standards, rules, advice, best practices, or whatever you want, but they're a necessary step in the evolution of the search industry. In today's SEM Crossfire column, "SEO Standards Signal the Maturing of Our Industry," Chris Boggs advocates a move toward creating a document outlining the majority of the methods used in SEO, and providing a risk assessment so marketers can make informed decisions.

Join the discussion in the Search Engine Watch Forums.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on April 4, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink

SEW Experts: Recruiting the Right People for Your SEM Business

If you've been a one-man operation until now, hiring your first employee is a major milestone. However, making the wrong choice can seriously impact your business. In today's Business of Search column, "Recruiting the Right People for Your SEM Business - Part 1," Fionn Downhill warns that the success of your search marketing business depends on the quality of the staff you hire. Getting the right people will largely depend on how you go about the recruitment process.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on April 4, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink

SEW Experts: Leveraging Traditional Media Placements in an Online World

Online media and Internet-based search continue to grow at the expense of their offline counterparts, newspapers and magazines. Because media placement options are continuously growing, smart local marketers need to leverage this major transformation of how people consume media in some creative ways. In today's Vertical Search column, "Leveraging Traditional Media Placements in an Online World," local search expert Gregg Stewart explains that fragmenting media options will continue to force smart marketers to stitch together sales opportunities from an ever-increasing number of sources.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on April 4, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink

Search Headlines & Links: April 3, 2008

Want a snapshot of the day's search marketing news? Here we've collected today's top news stories posted to the Search Engine Watch Blog, along with search-related headlines from around the Web:

From the SEW Blog:

Is Google Looking to Kill Affiliate Marketing?
Google had started their version of affiliate marketing some time ago with their CPA ads. But grabbing experienced affiliate marketing consultants could turn this into the hope they once saw in it.
Recent Google Updates Have SEOs Scrambling
Like a celebrity sitting down with Barbara Walters, Google News has decided to clear up rumors surrounding how articles are included and ranked.
Former Citysearch CEO Heads to Idearc
Former Citysearch CEO Briggs Ferguson has been tapped to become President of Internet/Web products and pay-for-performance advertising at Idearc.
Yahoo Unveils Upgrades to Mobile Search Platform
Yahoo has announced upgrades to its mobile search platform, oneSearch. The 2.0 version of the service includes brand spankin new features to make searching on the go a little easier.
Yahoo! also Loses Rock Star; Music VP Ian Rogers Moves to Start-up
Two months after acquiring FoxyTunes, and setting in place a bold new plan for Yahoo Music, Vice President Ian Rogers has resigned from Yahoo Music to join stealth start-up TopSpin Media.
SEW Experts: Afraid to Link Out? Think Again
Both people and search engines place more value on information that cites multiple sources. By refusing to link to other sites you are harming your site's relevance and ability to gain links.
SEW Experts: Don't Be Afraid of Social Media -- Your Customers Aren't
Savvy big brand marketers know that the junction of social media and e-commerce, or "Socialommerce," is the next big thing. But many are wary, and want to sit back and see how it plays out.

Headlines & News from Elsewhere:

Data Assumptions, Part 1: The Big Three, ClickZ Experts
Do You Need SEO Standards For Your Company?, Search Engine Land
Diagnosing Site Infrastructure Issues: The Big List Of The Best Firefox Plugins, Vanessa Fox
Is the Influence of Bloggers Overrated? Umm....No., Search Engine Guide
Search Engine Marketing Bootcamp: Make Sure the Search Engines Can Read Your Site, Search Engine Guide
Is Your SEO Firm Outsourcing Your Work?, Online Marketing Blog
SEO Aware Wordpress Publishing, John Andrews
The Only 4 Web Analysis Questions You Need, Digital Alex

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on April 3, 2008, 4:48 PM | Permalink

Google LookingTo Kill Affiliate Marketing?

Okay we know that Google is divesting itself of Performics.... well the search arm anyway. They are keeping the affiliate marketing arm.

Google had started their version of affiliate marketing some time ago with their CPA ads. Sign up through AdSense and you could use the creatives and get paid on conversions, while advertisers could offer amounts for conversions and Google tracked to see if it was a better financial deal for them.... this has not taken off.

But grabbing experienced affiliate marketing consultants could turn this into the hope they once saw in it.

Unfortunately it is a move similar to the push into analytics and ad serving - if it works Google will provide some serious competition to all other affiliate programs. They have the ability to be the nexus between a lot of publishers and a lot of advertisers and to really make an impact in the space.

I am at the Casino Affiliate Conference right now in Amsterdam and plan on asking the large vendors here how they see the possibility of Google competing in their space. Will keep you posted.

On the other side, ValueClick has shown an interest, according to ClickZ.. Now ValueClick pumps up its already global services. They offer ad serving management, SEO, affiliate marketing (maybe do a trade), display advertising, behavioral.... well equipped and adding an additional search force possibly ....

Posted by Frank Watson on April 3, 2008, 2:21 PM | Permalink

Recent Google Updates Have SEO Scrambling

Google recently made a change to their algorithm, and SEOs are seeing significant changes in their SERPs. On a check of the Search Engine Watch forums, it seems that some are seeing the algorithm changes affecting their sites.

smulligan writes:

"We have been in the top 3 results for 'charlotte web design' for a long time. This week I've noticed we have dropped tremendously. The sites that are being listed above ours are:
1. Much newer
2. Have a lower PR
3. Don't have as much relevant content"

WarrantiesForLess saw similar changes:

"I have seen the same thing in last couple weeks. What is more strange is my other sites which were not on top have rotated up replacing the ones with better rank, content, etc., so this has me real confused."

Meanwhile, SEOENG hypothesized as to what Google changed:

"If you view a list of non editorial links and compare that with editorial links, you'll likely notice a drastic difference. This is in an effort from G to eliminate paid links. Even though you may not be paying for links, all those non editorial links at the bottom of pages are not providing the link flow they were a month ago and that is not likely to change."

Jazajay reminded forum participants that before you blame SERP changes on algorithm changes, to pass your sites through his 12 point inspection:

"Well lets just cover the basis.

When you say a big drop, how big exactly?

1. Have you changed anything recently - css files on page etc...
2. Linking - recips, one way or a combination? What's the percentage of recips to one way linking?
3. Whats you anchor text like? All simliar?
4. Do you use JavaScript redirects for good purposes?
5. Spammy titles or alt text?
6. Any link building recently?
7. Any onpage linking done recently?
8. Been hacked recently?
9. Content? Do you have any?
10. Nesercary directories blocked?
11. Any redirects gone up?
12. Any URL rewritting done in the last few weeks?"

If you've noticed any big changes, head over to the Search Engine Watch forums and chat with other SEOs about the recent Google update.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 3, 2008, 11:30 AM | Permalink

Google News Truths and Myths

Like a celebrity sitting down with Barbara Walters, Google News has decided to clear up rumors surrounding how articles are included and ranked. In a post on the official Google News blog, software engineer Andy Golding addressed some assumptions floating around about how articles are indexed.

Here are the Myths:

* Having an image next to your article improves your ranking
* Timing the publication of your article improves your article ranking
* There's no way to see why my articles weren't included in Google News
* Publishing a sitemap helps my rankings
* If I put AdSense on my site, my article rankings will improve

And now the Truths:

* Redesigning my site may affect my coverage in Google News
* Articles that are just images or video won't be included
* Updating an article after posting it will create problems with Google News

Things to keep in mind:

* Google News only visits each URL once. If you make updates, it won't be reflected in Google News results. This could change in the future, however.
* If you try to game the system with duplicate content or constantly rewriting stories, you might get flagged in the system as spam.
* Use Webmaster Tools to help analyze your coverage
* A sitemap helps Google News find your content, but not rank it

Other Google News, um, News you might be interested in:

Google News Unveils Two Updates to Comments Feature
Newsknife finds dramatic changes in Google News ratings
What Do Users Get on Google News Local Search? Zip.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 3, 2008, 9:59 AM | Permalink

Former Citysearch CEO Heads to Idearc

Former Citysearch CEO Briggs Ferguson has been tapped to become President of Internet/Web products and pay-for-performance advertising at Idearc. Prior to his five year stint at CitySearch (which he left a year ago), Ferguson held executive level positions at Yahoo, Launch Media, and EMI Music Group.

"I am excited about the opportunity to lead Idearc's Internet business," said Mr. Ferguson. "The local search landscape is evolving, and we can continue shaping that evolution with cutting-edge products and services and industry-leading strategies."

Idearc owns several online advertising platforms including Superpages.com, Superpages Mobile, Switchboard.com, LocalSearch.com, Verizon Yellow Pages, and Verizon White Pages.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 3, 2008, 9:24 AM | Permalink

Yahoo Unveils Upgrades to Mobile Search Platform

Yahoo has announced upgrades to its mobile search platform, oneSearch. The 2.0 version of the service includes brand spankin new features to make searching on the go a little easier.

A major new update is the addition of voice search. Yahoo is partnering with vLingo, a speech recognition company, to provide the service. The more a searcher uses the voice search, the more the technology recognizes an individual's voice and can adapt to it. Initially, the voice search will only be available for select Blackberry devices, including the Curve and the Pearl. In coming months, the service is expected to expand to include more devices.

Other new features to oneSearch include predictive type completion and contextual recommendations as you type in a search query. For example, as you start to type in "apple," oneSearch will guess what you're trying to type as you enter the first few letters. And users also may get suggestions to search for "apple iphone," "apple stock price," or "apple stock price."

Yahoo is also opening up the platform to publishers and developers. By doing so, the company hopes to:

-- Turn web search results into answers - the usefulness of the results increase as more actual content is returned versus traditional web links

-- Unlock the power of the Semantic Web - results integrate more helpful content, much that otherwise is not usually surfaced in search results

-- Provide more relevant content - consumers receive richer information, into which they can dive deeply
Marco Boerries, executive vice president, Connected Life, Yahoo! said about the updates, "With Yahoo! oneSearch 2.0, we are fundamentally changing the way consumers use the Internet on their mobile phones."

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 3, 2008, 9:20 AM | Permalink

Yahoo! also Loses Rock Star; Music VP Ian Rogers Moves to Start-up

Two months after acquiring FoxyTunes, and setting in place a bold new plan for Yahoo! Music, Vice President Ian Rogers has resigned from Yahoo! Music to join stealth start-up TopSpin Media, which aims to use software to help artists earn money from their music. Rogers had some serious plans in mind for Yahoo! Music and it's sad we won't see them come to fruition. Yahoo! has had some great success in the media market--pictures at Flickr, the new web-based Yahoo! Media Player--while continuing to fall behind Google in search share. Yahoo! needs to start looking for a replacement ASAP if they want to stay relevant.

Posted by on April 3, 2008, 3:47 AM | Permalink

SEW Experts: Afraid to Link Out? Think Again

Both people and search engines place more value on information that cites multiple sources. By refusing to link to other sites you are harming your site's relevance and ability to gain links. In today's Link Building column, "Afraid to Link Out? Think Again," Justilien Gaspard outlines the benefits of linking out, for both humans and machines.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on April 3, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink

SEW Experts: Don't Be Afraid of Social Media -- Your Customers Aren't

Savvy big brand marketers know that the junction of social media and e-commerce, or "Socialommerce," is the next big thing. But many are wary, and want to sit back and see how it plays out. In today's Building Brand Equity column, "Don't Be Afraid of Social Media -- Your Customers Aren't," Erik Qualman explains that while waiting is a good idea, waiting too long is not.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on April 3, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink

Search Headlines & Links: April 2, 2008

Want a snapshot of the day's search marketing news? Here we've collected today's top news stories posted to the Search Engine Watch Blog, along with search-related headlines from around the Web:

From the SEW Blog:

Google Gets Out of the SEO Business
Google is getting itself out of a somewhat sticky situation by deciding to sell Performics Search Marketing, which it acquired as part of the DoubleClick deal.
Work With Your IT Staff, Not Against Them
By equipping IT with SEO knowledge, they can truly understand the problems that search engines face with your site, and then come up with their own solutions that are technically feasible (and they are willing to implement).
Title Tag Copywriting Tips for Newbie SEOs
The title tag is one of the most important pieces of content when it comes to search engine optimization.
Medio to Add Mobile Content Partners
Mobile search and advertising company Medio Systems has announced the launch of a new content partnership. The Medio Mobile Content Partner Program will add high-quality content to the over 300 existing feeds on Medio by signing companies who are strong in a given niche.
Reinstalling My PC, Part 1: Top Timesavers
Since I'm rebuilding my home PC, I've come up with a list of about 15 programs I really need on my computer to be good at my job.
Google Loses Rock Star CIO to EMI Music
Douglas Merrill, Google CIO and VP of engineering, has accepted a new gig: president of digital at struggling EMI Music, home of the Beatles and former home of Radiohead.
SEW Experts: How to Survive a Recession In Search
If you listen to the media, you'd know that a recession is nigh, and you should be locking yourself up in an underground bunker and hiding out for the next year. If you're a bit more selective in what you choose to believe, you may be thinking it would be wise to be prepared, in case an economic downturn does come.

Headlines & News from Elsewhere:

When Does Social Media Matter in SEM?, ClickZ Experts
AzoogleAds Becomes Epic, But Retains Azoogle Product Name, ClickZ News
Ask SEMpdx: In-house or Outhouse? What Criteria Should a Company Use to Decide How to Handle its Search Marketing Needs?, Search Engine Guide
Rumor: eBay to Sell Skype to Google?, Praized
Megachart & Analysis: Google Management Changes, 2000-2008, Search Engine Land
Google Update Dewey - Google Confirms Algorithm Change, Search Engine Land
How to Prevent SEO Bloat from Overcrowding Your Marketing Campaign, Search Engine Guide
Foundation Friending - Step 2 of the Authority Building Process, Search Engine People
Are You Building Your Personal Brand?, Bruce Clay Blog

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on April 2, 2008, 9:43 PM | Permalink

Google Gets Out of the SEO Business

Google is getting itself out of a somewhat sticky situation by deciding to sell Performics Search Marketing, which it acquired as part of the DoubleClick deal. It will retain the affiliate marketing portion of the DoubleClick Performics business.

Since Google announced its intention to acquire DoubleClick last year, Google had faced criticism of the potential conflict of interest that would be created by Google owning a search marketing firm. After all, why wouldn't customers assume, even if it weren't the case, that a Google-owned agency would have inside information?

According to Tom Phillips, director of the DoubleClick integration at Google:

It's clear to us that we do not want to be in the search engine marketing business. Maintaining objectivity in both search and advertising is paramount to Google's mission and core to the trust we ask from our users. For this reason, we plan to sell the Performics search marketing business to a third party. We believe this will allow us to maintain objectivity and the search marketing business to continue to grow and innovate and serve its customers. While we have not yet identified a buyer, we've received preliminary interest from a number of our current partners. Search Marketing will continue to run as a separate entity until the division is sold.

So that only leaves one major search engine who's also in the SEO business: Microsoft, which acquired Avenue A | Razorfish and its SEO business with the aQuantive acquisition.

In the meantime, the New York Times is reporting that Google will lay off 300 at DoubleClick. This comes as no surprise, since CEO Eric Schmidt hinted at cuts when the acquisition closed last month.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on April 2, 2008, 8:46 PM | Permalink

Work With Your IT Staff, Not Against Them

If you're like most in-house or agency SEOs, you've had your share of challenges with convincing the IT department to implement your SEO-related changes. The traditional approach is for an SEO to make a very specific request to IT, then IT meets, discusses it and rejects it for various reasons. Then the SEO grumbles in frustration.

In today's SearchDay, "IT Roadblocks? Try Some In-house SEO Training," Jessica Bowman outlines a better plan: in-house SEO training for IT staff. By equipping IT with SEO knowledge, they can truly understand the problems that search engines face with your site, and then come up with their own solutions that are technically feasible (and they are willing to implement).

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on April 2, 2008, 6:21 PM | Permalink

Title Tag Copywriting Tips for Newbie SEOs

The title tag is one of the most important pieces of content when it comes to search engine optimization. There are two reasons why:

It's the first thing searchers will see when they scour results on a search engine
Search engine spiders tend to give some weight to title tags for indexing purposes

Title tags might be difficult for some copywriters to embrace because there's such a short amount of space to work with. But there's tremendous opportunity here to drive visitors to the web site you're optimizing and here are some tricks to get the job done.

Blend Keywords

Let's say you need to cram "boys bedding" and "baseball bedding" into the same title tag, as well as include the company name. You can combine the two keyword phrases into one phrase. Try "boys' baseball bedding" or "Baseball bedding for boys."

Company Name Placement

Unless you're keyword is the company name, the brand name should always go at the end. If a searcher is looking for "baseball bedding" – then you want that term to come as close to the beginning of the title tag as possible. The first words of the title tag should match the searchers words as much as possible. Companies resist this tactic, but it's good for usability and some would argue it's good for search engine placement as well. So, now our title tag looks like "Boys' baseball bedding at Company Name."

Calls to Action

Incorporating a call to action into your title tag is a great way to help searchers know what to do next. You know this because you place calls to action in your copy. Now, use this tried and true tactic in your title tags.

Following along our bedding theme, possible title tags could be:

"Boys' baseball bedding now 15% off at Company Name."
"Great deals on boys' baseball bedding at Company Name."
"Durable boys baseball bedding at Company Name."

As you can see, incorporating a call to action with blended keywords can help your title tag stand out from all the other search results, which is especially useful in a competitive niche.

If you're just starting out, or only have limited time to devote to on-page SEO, then writing good title tags is a great place to start. Don't overlook this opportunity to both tell search engines what your page is about, and to communicate directly to searchers as they scan the search results page.

For more on Title Tags, check out:

HTML Title Tag Defines Your SEO Strategy
Meta Tags As Persuasive Content

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 2, 2008, 11:48 AM | Permalink

Medio to Add Mobile Content Partners

Mobile search and advertising company Medio Systems has announced the launch of a new content partnership. The Medio Mobile Content Partner Program will add high-quality content to the over 300 existing feeds on Medio by signing companies who are strong in a given niche.

The content program will complement Medio uSearch, the company's universal search offering, available later this year. Medio says uSearch will simplify mobile search by enabling users to quickly find the on- and off-deck content from a single search box. Personalization and analytics technologies will power this new mobile search service.

"The Medio Mobile Content Partner Program is the first step in creating the most intuitive, user-friendly universal search experience available," said Brian Lent, CEO of Medio Systems. "We have enlisted category leaders to provide the information that mobile users want. The caliber of these partners is a strong indication that our universal search will provide the best content experience in mobile."

Medio has been making significant headway into the mobile content industry. Last October, CBS chose Medio for mobile search and advertising capabilities on its mobile sites. And in March 2007, Medio launched a mobile PPC text ad platform.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on April 2, 2008, 10:07 AM | Permalink

Reinstalling My PC, Part 1: Top Timesavers

My home PC has started running, to paraphrase an Election Night Dan Rather, slower than a lame horse in molasses on a January morning. So I need to reinstall, prompting quite a bit of soul searching on my part: what operating system (OS) do I install; what programs do I really need; what do I need on my computer to be good at my job?

I've come up with a list of about 15 programs I really need, but so as not to make this post go on forever, I've divided the list into categories. Let's start with those programs that save you time.

Top 5 Timesavers

1. Launchy - If you have Launchy, you understand why I can't live without it. If you don't have it, prepare for your life to change. Launchy is a keystroke launcher, which basically means it's a better way of doing everything on your computer: launching programs, finding files on your desktop, performing web searches; visiting web sites. It can even give you local weather and perform calculations. All you need to is press whatever shortcut key you've assigned to Launchy, start typing, and whatever program or file you want comes up. Forget the Start Menu; forget Windows Explorer; forget your browser. Launchy will change all that--and save you a considerable amount of while doing it.

Like this screenshot? I used two of the tools on this list to do it!

2. X1 - A few of these tools, like Launchy above and Ergo below, perform desktop search. But none of them do it as well as X1, which includes live searching abilities, numerous advanced search options, extensive previewing tools, and active email abilities. I'm organized (on the computer at least), but with hundreds of emails daily, along with reports for numerous clients, desktop search is a must-have time saver. No one does it better than X1. And, believe it or not, X1 is still free! You may not know that going to their site, as they only offer a preview of the newest version, but you can download older versions, which still work better than any other option, in the X1 Forums.

3. Ergo - The last search tool I use is Ergo. It's a cool visual search engine that combines a bunch of web search options with desktop search. What I really use it for is the annotation tools it has to mark up and share websites, and the cool grouping options it has to parse or organize search results. Truly smart search may still be a dream (especially for us SEOs, as it would mean the end of keyword research), but visual search tools like Ergo and SearchMe and clustering tools like Vivisimo's Clusty provide the next best thing: the ability to find what you are actually looking for before you go through results. Trust me; when you can search without browsing, you'll find the site you need in half the time.

4. Snag-it - Last but not least, Snag-it has proved invaluable for me when it comes to reporting. If you take as many screenshots as I do--of great search results, YouTube honors, social bookmarking and networking standings and occasional snafus--you know the hassle of trimming shots in Word or PhotoShop. And if you need to blur something out or add any effects, a 1-minute task blooms into a 10-minute endeavor. If you work with more than one monitor, double those estimates. Snag-it solves all that; copy only what you want from the screen and add effects on the fly. It's the only piece of software on this list that isn't free, but it's worth it.

Posted by on April 2, 2008, 4:24 AM | Permalink

Google Loses Rock Star CIO to EMI Music

douglas%20merrill.jpg

Douglas Merrill, Google CIO and VP of engineering, has accepted a new gig: president of digital at struggling EMI Music, home of the Beatles and former home of Radiohead.

So who's Douglas Merrill?

As Caroline McCarthy of The Social noted in this very funny exhange: "Doug Merrill is leaving Google." "Doug who?" "The Google exec who looks liike Ethan from Lost." "Ohhhh."

As only the second senior executive to leave Google, Merrill and his departure won't cause a panic in the Googleplex Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg was the first senior exec to leave Google. As the former VP global sales and operations, Sandberg, who left last month, is tackling a major problem that Google's largest social search competitor hasn't solved: monetization.

Not that EMI doesn't have problems of its own. Widespread piracy has taken its toll on sales and the company's future appears to hinge on offering free music downloads supported by ad revenue with all-you-can-eat iTunes.

Will EMI be able to retain its top talent? That may be a tougher challenge than Google faces.

When Ms. Sandberg left, we noted that Google has a deep bench:

While Ms. Sandberg will be missed at Google, the company boasts a strong executive bench.

The New York Times, Miguel Helft

“We have a deep bench and work hard to grow leaders within the company,” Google said in a statement to The New York Times. “We are attracting immensely talented people around the world, every day.”

Google has long been hiring at a fast and furious pace with its pick of rising stars in a range of industries.

The supposition that Google faces attacks on the mothership by former employees is considered by many in the industry as absurd at best. If anything, the strong relationships and ex-Googler ties with current Google executives make alliances more likely than the forging of an axis of "Do No Evil" enemies.

Posted by Kevin Heisler on April 2, 2008, 2:08 AM | Permalink

SEW Experts: How to Survive a Recession In Search

If you listen to the media, you'd know that a recession is nigh, and you should be locking yourself up in an underground bunker and hiding out for the next year. If you're a bit more selective in what you choose to believe, you may be thinking it would be wise to be prepared, in case an economic downturn does come. In today's Searching for Meaning column, "How to Survive a Recession ... In Search," Kevin Ryan offers five steps to help you improve the chances of your business surviving, and thriving, during hard times.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on April 2, 2008, 12:03 AM | Permalink

YouTube Crime Scam Solved on April Fool's Day

A 24 year-old woman who used a YouTube video to accuse 3 male youths of raping her has been arrested by Scotland Yard after it was determined the video was a scam and the woman is now charged with suspicion of underage sex and perverting the course of justice.

YouTube had been criticized for allowing the video to be published and how long it took them to get it down.

Two of the boys accused were 16 and one was 14, their arrest for rape had been dismissed and no further action will be taken, according to the UK Sun.

In the video the woman looked like she was drugged and then assaulted, the Sun stated.

Posted by Frank Watson on April 1, 2008, 11:17 PM | Permalink

Search Headlines & Links: April 1, 2008

Want a snapshot of the day's search marketing news? Here we've collected today's top news stories posted to the Search Engine Watch Blog, along with search-related headlines from around the Web:

From the SEW Blog:

ChaCha Refocuses Business Model on Mobile Text Search
ChaCha is refocusing its business to center around its mobile voice and text search business.
Microsoft to Stay Firm in Original Yahoo Offer
According to published reports, Microsoft is unlikely to raise its bid for Yahoo. It seems that Microsoft doesn't think Yahoo's recent projected revenues provide any reason to raise purchase price from the original $31 per share offer.
SEW Experts: Should Your SEO Strategy Target the Head or the Long Tail?
If you're focused on ranking for that one major keyword, having a deep Web site full of great content is necessary to achieve authority in the eyes of the search engine.
SEW Experts: Small Business SEM Takeaways from SES NY
Search Engine Strategies New York had something for everyone, including tips for small business marketers.

Headlines & News from Elsewhere:

Digital Marketing Optimization: Conversion, ClickZ Experts
Internet Ad Spend Grows in 2007 as U.S. Lags Overall, ClickZ News
Social Media Marketing Tactics and Resources, Online Marketing Blog
Making Sense of the Numbers, Endless Plain
Recessions Can Teach Valuable Marketing Lessons, Stepforth SEO
Keeping Clients After the Bulk of the On-Page SEO Work Is Finished, Stephan Spencer
Event-Based SEO - Fish Where The Fish Are, Local SEO Guide

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on April 1, 2008, 4:43 PM | Permalink

Dana Todd and Sarah Holoubek on SEMPO at SES NY 2008

Anne Kennedy, Manager and Managing Partner of Beyond Ink, interviewed Dana Todd, the CMO of Newsforce, and Sara Holoubek, a Free Agent Consultant, about The SEMPO Survey: 2007 State of the Market. Kevin Newcomb also covered the results of the survey in a post entitled, “Search Spend Seems Healthy Despite Slowing Economy.” And ClickZ Expert Kevin Lee added his two cents in a column entitled, “It's the PPC Search Economy, Stupid!”

This year marks the fourth year of SEMPO's “State of the Market” survey and subsequent report – a bellwether of search market trends. The Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO) released these findings of the latest survey at SES NY and Dana and Sara presented the top-level findings from the 2007 report during a session at the Search Engine Strategies conference.

They highlighted key market indicators such as budget growth, search engine optimization (SEO) versus advertising allocations, price elasticity and market mix tactics. SEMPO also outlined recent implications of market contraction versus marketers' opinions and key differences between the 2006 and 2007 data.

Dana Todd and Sarah Holoubek on SEMPO at SES NY 2008

Dana Todd is one of the most passionate and entertaining voices of the search marketing industry today. A highly sought-after speaker for international conferences such as Search Engine Strategies, DMA, Ad:tech, OMMA, and the Online Marketing Summit, Dana regularly takes on the industry's hottest topics and goes head to head with search heavyweights.

With more than 10 years of experience building brands online, Dana is considered an SEM pioneer. A search evangelist, she helped found the industry's largest trade organization, SEMPO. She served two terms as president of SEMPO starting in 2005 and currently is chairperson of the board of directors. She also serves on the board of advisors for YPA and Ad:tech. As a co-founder of SiteLab International, a full-service interactive agency, Dana's extensive knowledge of search engine marketing has helped grow the company into a top U.S. interactive agency.

Sara Holoubek is a free agent consultant, advising growth firms and investors in the interactive technology and advertising sector for the past 2 years. She is also contributing editor of the DM News' SearchBuzz column and a general contributor to Marketingprofs: Daily Fix. In 2008, Sara was elected to the Search Engine Marketing Professionals Organization (SEMPO) board of directors for a third term where she co-chairs the Marketing Committee.

From 2003-2005, Sara served as iCrossing's Chief Strategy Officer, building the firm's New York office, repositioning the iCrossing brand and critical to raising a VC round of $13 million. Prior to this experience, Sara held posts in client strategy with interactive agencies Organic and Blue Dingo. Her vertical expertise covers over 10 sectors and includes names such as Levi Strauss & Co, Bloomingdales, LexisNexis, Texas Instruments, Colgate-Palmolive, Century 21 Real Estate, Martha Stewart Omnimedia, Symantec and Genworth Financial.

SEMPO (Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization) is a non-profit association with over 780 members in 30 countries, representing thousands globally, working to increase awareness and promote the value of search engine marketing worldwide. Member benefits include research, SEMPO Institute and event discounts, job board, networking opportunities, webinars, membership committees and regional working groups, and more.

You can watch dozens of other YouTube videos from SES NY 2008 at the Search Engine Strategies conference and expo channel.

Posted by Greg Jarboe on April 1, 2008, 11:41 AM | Permalink

Yahoo! Open Search Platform Recap with Andrew Tomkins

At last month's SES New York, Kevin Newcomb covered the Thursday morning keynote by Andrew Tomkins in an article entitled, “Chief Scientist at Yahoo! Search, Where's Search Heading? Ask Yahoo's Chief Scientist.” In addition, John Mulligan of SEO-PR interviewed Tomkins right after his keynote speech on Day 4 of the event.

Yahoo! Open Search Platform Recap with Andrew Tomkins

Andrew Tomkins joined Yahoo Research in 2005 from IBM. His research over the last eight years has focused on measurement, modeling, and analysis of content, communities, and users on the World Wide Web.

Prior to joining Yahoo Research, he managed the "Information Management Principles" group at IBM's Almaden Research Center, and served as chief scientist on the WebFountain project. Andrew received bachelor's degrees in mathematics and computer science from MIT, and a Ph.D. in CS from Carnegie Mellon University.

Check out scores of other YouTube videos from SES New York at the Search Engine Strategies conference and expo channel.

Posted by Greg Jarboe on April 1, 2008, 11:37 AM | Permalink

New gDay algorithm threatens future of search marketing

There's very few questions Google has not been able to answer and, equally, there have been very few loopholes that SEOs have not been able to exploit. However, hot on the heels of techcrunch, I have discovered that the latest update from developers in Australia threatens to change all that.

Google's new MATE technology is designed to view relevancy as an entirely self consistent timeline, rendering link building a thing of the past. It simply wont be possible to exploit the rate of change of inbound links pointing to a site as it's relevancy will have already been historically determined.

So what is an SEO to do? The only possible way around this will be to implant 'site suggestions' within cache of sites linki