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June 15, 2008 - June 21, 2008

Recruiting SEM Employees: Job Boards, Headhunters & Account Planning Boot Camp

One inescapable reality of the SEM industry is that finding great employees is a challenge, even if one knows precisely where to look. Mainstream and niche job sites, specialized SEM job boards, trade organizations and word of mouth are common channels for recruiting. However with demand growing sometimes it's necessary to get creative in recruitment efforts.

Whether seeking employees in-house or for an agency, as offline channels continue to fold into the 'net at a dizzying pace, finding incredibly smart staffers to service growing task lists can be a problem in this competitive environment.

Here's a 24 point list of of SEM/SEO recruitment channels and ideas, including classics and a few off-the-beaten-path sources with which aimClear and our partner agencies have had some luck. They're not listed in any particular order of importance:

SEW Job Board
Free for SEM job seekers, employers pay between $375.00 and $4750.00 (multi-post packages). SearchEngineWatch is an important SEM industry player and parent of the ubiquitous SearchEngineStrategies conference series. There are many cross-over users who come from more traditional marketing industries and mainstream businesses.

Marketing Pilgrim Job Board
Free for SEM job Seekers, posting costs employers $57.00 for 30 days. Andy Beal's audience is all about reputation management, natural search and his audience is comprised of well respected industry players and up-and-comers.

StuntDubl Job Board
Free for SEM Job Seekers, posting costs employers $30.00 for 30 days. Todd Malicoat is well known on the SES, SMX and major trade publication circuit. His blog is frequented by industry insiders and newbies alike.

SEMPO (Search Engine Marketing Professionals) Job Board
Free for SEM job seekers, posting reserved form members @ the $1000.00 annual level and above. SEMPO is as close as the SEM community gets to a consensus trade organization. They also offer training programs for SEM types.

Marketing Sherpa Job Board
Free for SEM job seekers, free for employers to post. MarketingSherpa is a case study research team surrounded by some of the industries brightest minds. Advertising to this community may serve your needs.

SEOMoz Job & Contract Position Listings
Free for SEM Job seekers, Join SEOmoz to build your company profile and post jobs. Rand Fishkin's venerable SEOmoz is the gold standard for "street cred" and his recommendations mean a lot. Marketplace, an SEO services directory, is a very sweet resource.

Miami Ad School
This ad, design & and account planning school turns out cool copywriter-specialists focused on branding across multiple channels including interactive. Miami Ad School trains promising graduates of other design/marketing colleges, professionals in other fields (like lawyers and accountants) and helps designers build "books" (portfolios). With locations Miami, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Hamburg, Madrid and Sao Paulo the placement department emails job listings to all current and previous graduates around the world-at no charge to the employer.

OASEO
An "SEO Job Community," OASEO is free for SEM Job seekers, posting costs employers $99.00 for 30 days.

ProBlogger Job Board
Free for SEM Job seekers, posting costs employers $50.00 for 30 days. This site is especially strong for recruiting writers who are blog savvy and understand the game.

SEOBook Job Board
Free for job seekers, free for employers. Aaron Wall is one of SEOs pioneers and the blog remains tremendously popular. SEOBook attracts a large audience of SEM insiders and other potential employees crossing over from other industries.

SEM Jobs @ Monster.com
Interestingly enough, Google allows this hardwired search result to index. Everyone in the HR world knows about Monster. See site for pricing details.

Jobster hardwired SEO jobs search result. See site for pricing details

Harry Joiner – Marketing Headhunter
A dominant recruiter in multi-channel client side e-commerce space and a player in the SEM recruiting trades.

Cii Associates – SEO recruiter in Raleigh-Durham
A regionally focused SEM recruiting firm. The Raleigh-Durham IT market is hot and these folks are local.

Onward Search
Recruiting, staffing and temporary contract, temp-to-hire and direct-hire placements at search marketing agencies, & advertising firms. Check out VP Josh Gampel's LinkedIn profile and meet a power player in the SEM recruitment field.

Most college graduates these days are plugged into the social Internet and can use basic office tools. Journalism majors seem to excel @ SEO and social media, accountant school grad's are natural PPC wizards and don't forget to check out he marketing club of your local university's Facebook group.

English teachers are wired for keyword research and traditional media buyers (like the ones getting laid off from local network affiliates) can be terrific at account planning and media seller.

Find an Associate degree IT grad' who's freakish about blogging and APIs and keep in mind that Paralegals make awesome SEOs. Here's the best tip of all: Musicians make fabulous SEOs and link builders.

There's tons of demand out there for SEM and SEO employees from office helper to executive. Hopefully these resources provide a good starting place for your company in growing your department or agency. Please feel free to join in and suggest any additional recruitment channels by commenting.

Posted by Marty Weintraub on June 20, 2008, 11:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

Google Porn Lawsuit Tossed in Manhattan

A New York Supreme Court judge has tossed out a $100 million lawsuit against the ex-employees a doctor blames for associating his name online with hard-core porn Web sites - and creating his own obsession with Googling his name, according to the New York Post.

SEW Expert Chris Boggs has written about the benefits of Googling your name in "Confessions of an Online Reputation Management Junkie." But Chris never warned readers of the hazards. It may be an incurable disease.

The three ex-employees sued Dr. Arden Kaisman for sexual harassment last year. Since then, Google searches under his name lead to hundreds of raunchy Web sites.

Dr. Kaisman claimed the trio and others "conspired" to have his name linked to the porn sites, and that the anesthesiologist has lost business and developed a strange form of mental distress as a result.

"I find myself obsessed with 'Googling' my name," Dr. Kaisman said. "The Internet, the great information equalizer, has been corrupted to hurt me. . . . I'm told I have an 'incurable Internet disease.' "

State Supreme Court Justice Jane Solomon didn't buy Dr. Kaisman's diagnosis and said there's no evidence the three former employees are linked to the postings.

Even if there was, Kaisman couldn't sue over having his name linked to pornography. It seems the women complained about - and Kaisman has admitted to - e-mailing employees "sexually explicit images."

Kaisman's lawyer, Sidney Segall, said there's a big difference between the types of e-mails his client was sending and the types of sites he's now linked to.

Solomon said there are "qualitative differences" between the sites and Kaisman's e-mails, but ruled in favor of the employees.

Posted by Kevin Heisler on June 20, 2008, 2:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Microsoft Adds Record Number of Employees, Rules Out Acquisitions

Last year, Microsoft added a record 11,200 employees last year, according the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Many of those employees were gained through acquisitions that are part of Microsoft's attempt to make a land grab in the search market.

The acquisition of aQuantive added 2,600 employees to Microsoft's payroll. Travel search site Farecast and enterprise search company Fast Search & Transfer out of Norway were also acquired by Microsoft in the past year.

But don't expect any more internet acquisitions anytime soon. Microsoft is ruling out buying up major internet real estate, such as Facebook, in the wake of its failed attempt to acquire Yahoo, according to the Financial Times. Steve Ballmer and Kevin Johnson told FT that search is a part of the larger goal of generating revenue from advertising.

Now it seems those goals will be pursued internally. Microsoft just announced plans to build a search technology center in Europe. And recently, they rolled out the Cashback program, which rewards searchers who conduct online shopping at Live Search.

Microsoft did make an ad-related acquisition recently, but it was for television ad solutions provider Navic Networks. Still, this looks like an attempt to catch Google, which released opened up its Television Ads in Adwords up to everyone last month after being in private beta since last summer.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on June 20, 2008, 12:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Summer Solstice is First Day of Summer and Google's Hot

Today is the first day of summer. Google is celebrating the summer solstice with a hot, new Google Doodle.

"When does summer start?" is always one of the most popular questions people ask. Today is the longest day of the year.

There are lots of ways to celebrate the summer solstice. Here are a couple proven ones handed down through the ages:

Modern-day druids (no, not the Grail Movement) meet at England's Stonehenge to celebrate the summer solstice. Many still wear Celtic attire, even though a civilization known as the Beaker People finished Stonehenge a millennium before the Celts were known to exist.

The Tropic of Cancer—the latitude on Earth where the sun is directly overhead at noon on the summer solstice—got its name because the sun appeared in the constellation Cancer.

Posted by Kevin Heisler on June 20, 2008, 12:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Yahoo Releases Three Updates to Traffic Quality Center

If you notice a change to the volume of clicks on your Yahoo paid search account, the Traffic Quality Center can help you figure out what caused the change. Now, there are three new updates to help you figure out what's going on.

The three updates are:

A submission form to initiate a click investigation
• ”Ask Ace“: A new question-and-answer column written by one of our traffic quality experts.
• Animation on the homepage highlighting our stance on “bad clicks.” Refresh your browser to watch different versions.

Reggie Davis, VP of Search Quality wrote on the Yahoo Search Marketing Blog that there are several reasons why your clicks may fluctuate. Here are several examples he gave for a change:

• Changes to an ad's ranking in search results
• A change to the match type used for your ads
• Keyword seasonality
• A new distribution partner added to the Yahoo! network
• Yahoo! Buzz placement, where searches on certain popular keywords can be performed directly from the page content.
• Yahoo! Front Page placement, where searches on certain popular keywords can be performed directly from the page content

What do you think of these updates? Have you had success with the Traffic Quality Center? Let us know in the comments.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on June 20, 2008, 11:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google News Testing Updates

Google News has announced that they will be testing updates in the coming weeks. Only a few users will see the "experiments," which will be based on research and feedback. Expect any changes to be related to the design of the site and the "evolving state of online journalism."

Back in 2006, Google explained its testing process. "To learn more, we sometimes randomly select a group of people to see a possible improvement to search options. Or we may select a group of people and try out a new element while they're searching. If you ever wonder why your Google site looks slightly different from that of the person sitting next to you, this is why."

If you see any changes to Google News, let us know in the comments!

Related Reading:
Google News Clusters: Keep 'Em Un-Separated
Google Finally Copies Microsoft, Adds 'Related Searches' to Google News
Google News Unveils Two Updates to Comments Feature

Posted by Nathania Johnson on June 20, 2008, 11:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yahoo Re-Organizes, Execs Drop Like Flies

Carl Icahn may not have to worry about the Yahoo! severance plan as much as he originally thought. Yahoo is reorganizing and execs are bailing left and right, and they're not even waiting for a proxy board takeover to make their moves.

Earlier this week came the news that Jeff Weiner was leaving the search company. Now, Qi Lu, Yahoo's Executive Vice President of Search and Advertising Technology is headed out the door. So is Vish Makhijani, Senior Vice President of Search, is also exiting.

Brad Garlinghouse, author of the (in)famous Peanut Butter Manifesto, is "considering alternatives" but is widely expected to bolt as well.

Lu, Makhijani, and Garlinghouse were all moved to the newly created Global Products group, to be headed by Ash Patel, the current Exec. Vice President of Yahoo's Platforms and Infrastructure, according to Kara Swisher. Patel has been with Yahoo since 1996 and is not seen as the type of leader needed to jumpstart the company.

However, the LA Times reported that Lu was already planning to move to China while Makhijani is heading over to Russia's leading search engine, Yandex, to lead SF-area operations.

Another move expected in the reorganization is the expanded responsibilities of Hillary Schneider, Executive Vice President of Global Partner Solutions. Schneider and Patel will be peers and report directly to Yahoo President Sue Decker, who is said to be largely responsible for the re-organization.

Still, the founders of at least 2 acquired companies aren't sticking around for the new arrangement. Flickr co-founders Stewart Butterfield and Caterina Fake and del.icio.us founder Joshua Schachter are saying, "Adios!" to Yahoo.

At least, that "Now Hiring" notice from a few weeks ago is finally starting to make sense.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on June 20, 2008, 10:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Google Website Optimizer Offers Flexible Service Plans

Google Website Optimizer has announced three flexible service plans that will be offered through their Authorized Consultants. The plans can help users with the design, implementation, training and analysis of Website Optimizer tests. Here are the details of the three plans:

• $250 for 1 hour: For specific questions and quick answers. Maximum 1 call per hour. No commitment, no obligation.
• $600 for 3 hours (in increments of 30 min): For more complex issues at discounted hourly rates. The three hours must be used within 6 months after first hour of service is used.
• $1,200 for 8 hours (in increments of 30 min): The 8 hours must be used within 12 months after first hour of service is used.

Earlier this week, I spoke with Tom Leung, Senior Product Manager of Website Optimizer. He told me that some companies paid upwards of $10,000 a month for testing. He also said that if your competitors are doing testing and analytics and you're not, that it's like going into a gunfight with a knife.

The new service plans are certainly more affordable and accessible to small businesses and startups, and can help you be more competitive in your industry or niche.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on June 20, 2008, 9:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

comScore May 2008 Search Engine Rankings Data is Out

comScore has released their May 2008 U.S. Search Engine Rankings and no major changes have occurred. Google sites came in first, at 61.8% up .2% from April. Yahoo and Ask also saw .2% gains, and they came at the expense of Microsoft and AOL, which suffered .6% loss and .1% decline respectively.

10.8 billion searches were conducted in May, a 2% increase over April. Google sites saw 6.7 billion of those searches while Yahoo saw 2.2 billion. Microsoft sites saw 920 million searches on their sites. Check out the charts below for a breakdown of the data.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on June 20, 2008, 9:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

SEW Experts: Step into the Ring for a SEM Pitch

Search marketing business strategists live for the thrill of the pitch. And with a slew of services that can confuse even the savviest client, they have their work cut out for them. In today's SEM Agency Issues column, "Step into the Ring for a SEM Pitch," William Flaiz takes you inside the pitching process, where it takes a shrewd intellect and steady hand to deliver the knockout pitch that makes the client wonder how they ever got along without your firm.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on June 20, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SEW Experts: Stop the Web, I Want To Get Off! Drop Me at the Global Village

Web 2.0? Web 3.0? It's time we take a bigger view. With all the innovations that are available to the online world, it's about time we dropped thoughts of categorization and departmentalization. In today's SEM Crossfire column, "Stop the Web, I Want To Get Off! Drop Me at the Global Village," Frank Watson and Chris Boggs wonder, if the Web is an integral part of our homes and work, isn't it time we embraced it? And that means all of it, not just the parts we profit from.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on June 20, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SEW Experts: Travel Search 2.0 -- Know Your Audience

The online travel industry has the benefit of being one of the most mature verticals in the Web today. In today's Vertical Search Marketing column, "Travel Search 2.0 -- Know Your Audience," travel search expert Elisabeth Osmeloski explains that because of that, any new entrant has to seriously consider their value proposition and how they fit into the Travel 2.0 space, and remain laser-focused on their core differentiator.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on June 20, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SEM Industry Exceeded 2007 Projections as SEMs Look to Video, Mobile

The SEMPO 2007 State of the Market Survey Results are in, and the data shows robust growth in the North American SEM industry year. Spending reached $12.2 billion in 2007, exceeding projections of $11.5 billion. In 2006, the spend came in at $9.4 billion. As a result, the projection for 2011 is now at $25.2 billion, up from the $18.6 billion projection set a year ago.

Now that marketers are getting the hang of traditional search, many are looking to new channels, including video and mobile. 43% of participants are interested in contextually targeted advertising attached to video search results, while 40% are interested in mobile search. But most respondents said pricing would need to be the same as or less than it is for traditional search advertising.

Pricing was also an issue in paid search. About three quarters of those surveyed could afford a price increase, but it would need to be an increase of 30% or less.

Other stats from the survey include:

• Marketers found more search dollars by grabbing from print magazine, website development, direct mail and other marketing budgets.
• Organic SEO's popularity was up to 89% in 2007, from 80% in 2005 and 76% in 2006. Agency respondents offering organic SEO rose to 91% in 2007, up from 80% in 2005 and 87% in 2006.
• 4 out of 5 respondents would increase their budget in order to add behavioral targeting to their pay-per-click campaigns.
• 57% of online advertisers would spend an average of 11% more on demographic targeting, such as age and gender.

The numbers are on par with revenues posted by the search engines. Earlier this year, Google beat analysts estimates by posting strong Q1 2008 revenues, despite data indicating a slowdown in paid search growth. Yahoo and Microsoft also held steady financially despite declining search shares and the acquisition drama.

What do you think about this data? Are you looking to video and mobile? Let us know in the comments.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on June 19, 2008, 11:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Dogpile.com Releases a Searcher's Best Friend, a Desktop Widget

Dogpile.com has released a desktop search widget. The widget features a single-search bar, which blends results from Google, Yahoo, MSN, and Ask.com. Dogpile's SearchSpy, which features searches conducted all over the world, is also included on the widget.

But this isn't your average search widget. Dogpile's mascot, Arfie, is featured on the widget and you can pet him and play fetch with him. Awww!

“Offering a little fun with your search is one critical element our team is focused on as we continue to improve Dogpile.com,” said Mark Whidby, director, search product management of InfoSpace, Inc. “Our users have always loved Arfie, and now we're giving them a way to take him home with them. This widget is the first of many new engaging and useful tools we hope to launch in the coming months. A top priority as we continue to upgrade Dogpile.com is to engage and entertain our users while providing a superior search experience.”

To download the Dogpile widget (and Arfie!), visit www.dogpilewidgetdownload.com.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on June 19, 2008, 10:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Quality Score Now Affected by Landing Page Load Time

Google warned us this would happen and beginning today, landing page load times will affect Adwords Quality Score. The reason behind the change is something that Google often touts: it's what's best for the user. Google argues that faster load times are better for users, so pages that load faster will be rewarded accordingly.

In May, the Adwords team launched a load time metric to help you evaluate your pages.

And you might be surprised what you can do to improve your load times - and increase your conversions. Recently, the Website Optimizer team suggested testing best practices. They gave an example of a page that removed an image of a customer service rep. Best practices said leave the picture up, but the tests showed conversions increased by leaving the picture out. Of course, images generally increase load times.

Before you do any drastic changes to your pages so they'll load faster, testing your new page can help you know whether or not your changes will convert.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on June 19, 2008, 9:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Semantic Search Engine hakia Launches Syndication Web Services

Semantic search engine, hakia, has announced the launch of Syndication Web Services. The new service will allow third parties to use hakia search on websites, mobile applications and document management systems. Site owners can offer hakia's generic search, implement a custom search, or utilize a vertical search on their websites.

I spoke with hakia CEO Dr. Riza Berkan, and he says that the advantage with hakia's web search is the focus on the quality instead of popularity when it comes to delivering search results. hakia targets precision and accuracy in the goal of providing relevant results on a searcher's first attempt at a query.

Today's announcement includes 7 different ways in which third parties can utilize hakia's Syndication Web Services:

• Web Search – Brings search results from the World Wide Web
• News Search – Brings news articles for a given query
• Vertical Search – Brings search results from a vertical (for example, health) or from a particular database (such as PubMed.org)
• Summarizer – Provides a summary of a given text block or URL, ideal for content management systems
• Categorizer – Identifies categorical terms from a given text (URL or text block
• Characterizer –Identifies and expands descriptive phrases, keywords or tags. Ideal for SEM professionals and publishers
• TMR (Text Meaning Representation) – Provides text meaning representation of a given text block, suitable for core technology development

Have you checked out hakia? Would you be inclined to use their new Syndication Web Services? Give your thoughts in the comments.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on June 19, 2008, 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Top stories and blog posts from SES Toronto Day 2

Search Engine Strategies Toronto wrapped up yesterday. I'll be analyzing some of the new trends that I spotted in Canada over the next couple of weeks. But I wanted to share the top stories and blog posts for SES Toronto Day 2 this morning, so you can get a sense of the highlights from the SEM conference.

Fredrick Marckini, the Founder of iProspect and Chief Global Search Officer of Isobar, gave the opening keynote. Mona Elesseily, the Director of Marketing Strategy of Page Zero Media, interviewed Marckini for the Search Engine Strategies Conference & Expo Channel on YouTube right after his keynote.

Fredrick Marckini of Isobar on Tracking Offline Conversions

Accordion Guy Joey deVilla provides a full set of notes from the keynote in a post entitled, “Fredrick Marckini's Keynote at Search Engine Strategies 2008 Toronto.”

Bryan Eisenberg, the Co-Founder of Future Now Inc., gave the keynote presentation on Day 2 of SES Toronto. Mitch Joel, President of Twist Image, interviewed Eisenberg about the impact of the economy on search engine marketing.

Bryan Eisenberg on Site Metrics and Optimization

Jennifer Laycock of the Search Engine Guide Blog says, “If you only read one link from today's Puppy's Picks, you should check out Chris Winfield's fantastically creative Twitter presentation from SES Toronto.” Winfield made his presentation at the “Twitter: Ultimate Time Waster or Great Tool?” session.

Rahaf Harfoush, aka The Foush, also weighs in on this session in a post entitled, “SES Toronto - Is Twitter A Time Waster?”

Chris Ragobeer of The Toronto Marketing and Technology Blog covered “SES Toronto 2008 Day 2 : Web 2.0 & Search Engines.”

Lisa Tarticchio of the aimClear Blog covered the “Introduction to Search Engine Marketing” session in a post entitled, "SES Toronto: Essential Return To Basics."

Jim Crocker of the Boardroom Metrics CEO Blog “took a break from reality” to attend the Search Engine Strategies Conference in Toronto and reports his observations in a post entitled, “SES Toronto Day 2.”

Naoise of NVI's Blog also provided some perspective on the conference in a post entitled, “SES Toronto - There's something sticky going on here.”

Stephan Spencer shared some Social Media “Hacks” (at SES Toronto) in his presentation on the “Social Media Success” panel and commented on them in his Scatterings blog.

Meanwhile, south of the border, The Austin Business Journal reported that Austin-based Apogee will open an office in Toronto, Canada, in an article entitled, “Apogee Search sees big potential in Canadian office.”

Posted by Greg Jarboe on June 19, 2008, 8:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Scott Richter Is the $6 Million Man of MySpace

Call Scott Richter the $6 Million Man of MySpace. For the self-proclaimed "Spam King," lawsuit losses are becoming just another cost of doing business.

"Spam King" Scott Richter must pay $6 million in legal fees and damages to MySpace for spamming subscribers in August 2006. The judgment was handed down in arbitration.

Richter's company, Media Breakaway, won't appeal because the judgment is much lower than MySpace had originally sought. Earlier this month MySpace won a record $230 million in damages against spammers Walter Rines and Sanford Wallace, who fled before judgment was handed down.

MySpace had accused Richter sending unsolicited emails to thousands of MySpace customers purporting to be from MySpace friends promoting a website called consumerpromotionscenter.com.

The social networking site said that Media Breakaway used phishing tactics to obtain the email addresses.

MySpace sued Richter in January 2007 for damages under California's Can-Spam Act. The legislation awards $100 per email sent, which would have run into hundreds of millions of dollars.

Richter's previous company, OptInRealBig.com, declared bankruptcy in 2005 after Microsoft and the New York Attorney General sued Richter for spamming. They were asking for $50 million, but Richter settled with Microsoft for $7 million and the New York Attorney General for $50,000.

Posted by Kevin Heisler on June 19, 2008, 8:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

SEW Experts: The Link Bait Recipe

A good link building philosophy is to always start with great, compelling content, and let the links follow naturally. But it's difficult to garner links by being positive, helpful, and excellent. In today's Link Building column, "The Link Bait Recipe," Sage Lewis shows how links will come easier if you're negative, conniving, and base.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on June 19, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SEW Experts: SEO Educational Standards: the Aftermath

Most people agree that there should be some kinds of educational standards for SEO in place for various reasons. In today's SEM.EDU column, "SEO Educational Standards: the Aftermath," Ron Jones explains that the big questions surround how those standards would be created, implemented, and if or how they would be enforced.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on June 19, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google Earth Pool-Crashing Parties Latest Teen Craze

Tech savvy UK teens are using Google Earth's aerial shots to create the latest summertime craze – pool crashing. The Register Hardware site confirmed several pool trespassing cases with local UK police.

Google Earth is used to locate suitable pools and then Facebook is used to organize the pool crash parties.

Teens begin by surfing Google Earth's satellite images to find houses with swimming pools. Once a target has been identified, teens then use Facebook to arrange an organized, but uninvited, pool-crash.

A spokesman for Devon and Cornwall Police has already told the Daily Mail that owners of swimming pools should be on their guard. The spokesman reminded any readers planning to google for swimming pools on Google Earth that “using someone else's pool is trespassing and therefore illegal”.

Owners of several upscale poolside properties have already returned home to find teenagers "taking a dip in their man-made lakes or their spoor: beer cans, dog-ends and vomit floating atop their once crystal-clear pools," according to RegHardware.com.

Mobile phones, of course, seem to be an invaluable tool for a good pool-crash. Apparently, mobile numbers were doled out on Facebook for the organizers of one such event held earlier this week between midnight and 3am – the late hour because, well, it was a school night.

Posted by Kevin Heisler on June 18, 2008, 12:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Microsoft Continues Pursuit of Google with Navic Acquisition

Microsoft continues on in their pursuit of Google, this time enhancing their digital media advertising offering. The Redmond-based software giant has announced the acquisition of Navic Networks, a provider of television advertising solutions.

"Television media represents the largest percentage of advertisers and agencies' media budget today," said Brian McAndrews, senior vice president of the Advertiser and Publisher Solutions Group at Microsoft. "Together, Navic and Microsoft will deliver addressable television advertising solutions to help our partners better manage media spend by increasing advertiser reach and ROI, and maximizing publisher yield on television advertising."

Navic Networks will join Microsoft's Advertiser and Publisher Solutions (APS) Group. The group developed Microsoft's comprehensive advertising platform that includes television and video advertising.

Related Reading:
Microsoft to Acquire AQuantive

Posted by Nathania Johnson on June 18, 2008, 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google Doesn't Kill People, People Do

Kate Knight, 28, from Wirral, was convicted of attempting to murder Lee Knight by lacing his food with ethylene glycol, had her appeal rejected by the Court of Appeal.

The jury heard Knight used internet search engine Google to find a method of killing, settling on anti-freeze.

Knight served the anti-freeze in red wine and Indian takeout on their wedding anniversary.

In a separate murder trial:

A detective testified in a US court that a laptop computer taken from the home of a British man accused of killing his wife and nine-month-old daughter was used to search online on "how to kill with a knife", four days before the slayings.

Medford police Detective Lawrence James, a computer expert, said the Google search was done on January 16, 2006.

Neil Entwistle has pleaded not guilty to murder charges stemming from the killing of his 27-year-old wife, Rachel, and their daughter, Lillian Rose, in their rented home in Hopkinton, Massachusetts on January 20, 2006.

Posted by Kevin Heisler on June 18, 2008, 9:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Paid Search Key in Projected Online Overtake of TV in UK Ad Spend

Paid search will take a lead role in online overtaking TV in the UK ad spending this year, according to Enders Analysis. Search ads are expected to surpass £2 billion, making up 60% of the online ad spend this year. The projections are in line with an e-Consultancy survey where 63% of companies said they planned to increase their paid search budget.

Google will see 80% of the search spend, possibly more with the recent announcement of an ad deal with Yahoo. 85% of search ads went to Google in the first quarter of 2008.

The total online ad spend is expected to reach £3.56 billion, while TV ad spend is expected to be £3.39 billion. Online ads will make up 19% of total advertising in the UK.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on June 18, 2008, 9:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Local.com Launches Ratings and Reviews Engine

Local search engine Local.com has announced the addition of ratings and reviews to their offering. Users can create a free account and give their opinion on businesses listed on the site. Ratings will use a 5 star system and users will be allowed to make comments to accompany their ratings.

“According to Jupiter Research, 77 percent of online shoppers use ratings and reviews when making a purchase,” said Kim LaFleur, Local.com vice president, product management. “We are pleased to launch our own ratings and reviews engine to allow consumers visiting Local.com to both add and access important information on local businesses throughout the U.S., enabling them to make more informed purchasing decisions. In addition, this allows our business customers to more proactively manage their own reputations and understand their customers' opinions (both good and bad) of their own products and services.”

The news comes at a time when data is showing that searchers are looking for answers. Additionally, search engines are beginning to move toward more comprehensive search results.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on June 18, 2008, 8:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SEW Experts: Social Networks: We Are All Animals

People don't talk anymore. They misinterpret information, fly off the handle, and dehumanize the people around them. To them, people on the receiving on end of communications aren't people at all. In today's Searching for Meaning column, "Social Networks: We Are All Animals," Kevin Ryan says that a lot of human complications could be reconciled by being forced to experience the tears, smell the anguish, and see the bloody devastation that one has created, live and in person.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on June 18, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SEW Experts: 4 SEO Tips for Higher Search Rankings

Search engine optimization is tough, and the rules for ranking vary from site to site. In today's Web Analytics and ROI column, "4 SEO Tips for Higher Search Rankings," Eric Enge explains that authority, domain age, penalty factors, and freshness all play an important role in your Web site's ranking. Is your site ready for greatness?

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Posted by Kevin Newcomb on June 18, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Top stories and blog posts from SES Toronto: Day 1

Weather delayed my arrival in Toronto for the start of Search Engine Strategies, but I was able to catch up quickly by reading what other journalists and bloggers were saying about the SEM conference. Here's a roundup of the top stories and blog posts that I found this evening:

SES Toronto Day 1: State of Search Marketing in Canada
Andrew Goodman of Traffick provides a brief update from conference-land.

Hello from Search Engine Strategies 2008 Toronto!
Joey deVilla, aka The Accordion Guy, covered Fredrick Marckini's Opening Keynote and the best thing in the goodie bag given to attendees.

Notes From SES Toronto 2008: Day One
Toronto Mike's Blog threw down a quick entry with some thoughts about search engine marketing.

Going to Search Engine Strategies (SES) Toronto 08
nicolask7 of Montreal Social Media covered some of the panels as well as the other Montrealers at SES Toronto.

SES Toronto 2008: Opening Keynote
Louis-Dominic of Adviso covered the opening keynote.

SES Toronto 2008: Universal and blended search
Simon Lamarche of Innovation Web is covering the SEM conference in French: "Nous sommes actuellement à Toronto pour le SES Toronto 2008."

Updates - Exciting News on the Foush!!
Rahaf Harfoush is live-blogging the Toronto Search Engine Strategies Conference.

David Snyder
As a result of both Twitter and SES Toronto 2008, Mike of Drop the Mike Blog had the pleasure to meet up with and spend some time with a very good up and coming Internet Marketer, David Snyder.

Getting Authoritative Online Mentions (SES Toronto)
Stephan Spencer came in late to the "Beyond Linkbait: Getting Authoritative Online Mentions" session, but he did have notes from Jim Hedger's presentation for Scatterings.

SES Toronto - Day 1
Evan Carmichael of the YoungEntrepreneur.com Blog outlines the sessions that he's selected to follow at SES Toronto.

Posted by Greg Jarboe on June 17, 2008, 11:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google Code Jam Rocks Summer '08

Registration opened today for Google Code Jam 2008. Programmers will use their coding skills, creativity, and ingenuity to solve a series of challenges. The top 500 contestants will win an all-expenses paid trip to the semifinals at regional Google offices, with the top 100 advancing to the finals at Google's Mountain View headquarters.

"Google Code Jam is an incredible opportunity for the most talented computer scientists in the world to come together and compete on an international stage," said Vic Gundotra, Vice President, Engineering in a statement. "Google is proud to support these coders as they take on some of the world's most challenging programming problems, and we're pleased to have the chance to introduce them to our research and offices around the world."

This year marks the first year with regional semifinal playoffs in over ten countries. "It's an incredible opportunity to introduce the best of the programming world to our offices across the globe and demonstrate the incredible diversity of experiences that Google offers engineers worldwide," said Nelson Mattos, Vice President, Engineering, EMEA, in a company statement.

This year's Google Code Jam will be powered by tools created by a 20%-time team that includes previous Code Jam winners, and will allow contestants to program in any language.

In addition to the trip to local engineering offices and Mountain View, finalists will also divide over $80,000 in prize money, ranging from $10,000 for the grand prize to $250 for the 76th to 100th place winners.

Participants can register throughout the qualification round, which ends July 17.

In 2006, more than 21,000 competitors from over 100 countries took part in the Google Code Jam, and Petr Mitrichev of Russia won the grand prize.

Posted by Kevin Heisler on June 17, 2008, 12:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

iWidgets Launches Public Beta, Makes Widget Development Easier

To compete in social media or with open source search applications, widget development is key. But it can be costly if you don't know what you're doing. iWidgets is demystifying the widget development process by launching their platform into public beta. The service is free to use and brings widget creation to a wider audience.

“Private beta users were so enthusiastic about iWidgets, we knew the market was ready,” said Peter Yared, CEO of iWidgets. “Our robust tools provide an unmatched ability to display personalized content from a source website without requiring experienced programmers. The result is incredibly viral - a fun, interactive application people want to use and share.”

Widgets created through iWidgets can be used on iGoogle, Facebook, MySpace and others.

If you've been holding back on widgets, are you inclined to check out iWidgets? Give us your thoughts in the comments.

Related Reading:
Testing Applies to Widgets and Accessories, Not Just Landing Pages

Posted by Nathania Johnson on June 17, 2008, 10:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SEMPO Institute to Develop Career Opportunities for Young Chicagoans

The SEMPO Institute is teaming with SIM Partners and i.c. stars to create search marketing career opportunities for young adults in Chicago. The president of SIM Partners, Jon Schepke, sits on the board of the SEMPO Institute. His company has been working with i.c. stars for over four years.

“As co-chair of the SEMPO Institute, it made perfect sense to connect these two organizations when the SEMPO Institute launched in 2007,” says Schepke.

i.c. stars is a nonprofit organization designed to develop community leaders in Chicago. The organization uses project-based learning to groom adults (who have at least a high school diploma or GED) for careers in business and technology.

“The i.c.stars partnership with SEMPO and SIM Partners has enabled a new and growth-oriented career option for graduates in the area of Internet Marketing,” states Eric Lannert, vice president of i.c. stars. He continues, “the volunteer efforts of SIM Partners have enabled us to modify our internal curriculum so students can manage their own Google Adwords campaigns for startup websites and gain experience. At a time of economic uncertainty, we see this partnership as a strategic initiative to continue providing meaningful and challenging job opportunities for our students.”

Earlier in the year, SEMPO Chairperson Dana Todd included expanding the Institute's baseline for education in her mission for the industry organization.

Related Reading:
Top 10 Toughest Jobs to Fill? The Top 3 Are In Search Engine Marketing
Search Engine Marketing Career Development
Search Marketing: A Rewarding Career Path

Posted by Nathania Johnson on June 17, 2008, 9:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's Official: Weiner to Leave Yahoo

Last week, rumors were rampant that Yahoo's Network Division Executive Vice President, Jeff Weiner, would be leaving the Sunnyvale search engine. The news is now official, with an announcement of Weiner's new role as an Executive in Residence at Accel Partners and Greylock Partners, two venture capitalist firms.

Weiner will split his time evenly between the two firms, advising leadership on their existing tech portfolios as well as consulting on new investment opportunities.

“Jeff's operational experience in scaling products, teams and revenue will help Greylock enhance our capabilities and add value to our investments,” said David Sze, General Partner at Greylock.

“We are thrilled to have access to Jeff's perspective on web product strategy and operations,” said Theresia Ranzetta, General Partner at Accel. “Additionally, we look forward to leveraging Jeff's expertise regarding the convergence of media and technology for existing and future Accel portfolio properties.”

Posted by Nathania Johnson on June 17, 2008, 9:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Microsoft to Build Search Technology Center in Europe

Ever since the Yahoo! acquisition deal fell through, many have wondered what Microsoft will do to make headway in the search market. Shortly after, they launched Cashback, which seemed to indicate a dedication to build search internally. Then Bill Gates said that one of his post-retirement projects would be seach. Today, Microsoft is showing its commitment to developing Live Search with an announcement to build a Search Technology Center in Europe.

"Today Microsoft has 68 percent reach to Internet users throughout Europe through our online assets and strengths in display advertising; however, we're not yet where we'd like to be in search in this critical geography," said Kevin Johnson, president of the Platforms and Services Division at Microsoft. "Success in search in Europe is paramount, and we see the investment in this new Search Technology Center as an important step in doubling down on our long-term investments."

Though no city was named, Microsoft said the European center will be modeled after their Search Technology Center in Beijing. Additionally, engineers may work from multiple locations to contribute to the search technology efforts conducted at the European hub.

"Searchers have different expectations and experiences in every geography in the world, so we believe it is critical to make deep investments in physical locations in multiple markets to ensure that we're applying the best local expertise to our research and development efforts," said Satya Nadella, senior vice president of the Search, Portal and Advertising Group at Microsoft. "We're already doing some great work in Europe in the enterprise search space through our January 2008 acquisition of Fast Search & Transfer SA, and we're looking forward to opening the European Search Technology Center to further our investments."

What do you think about Microsoft's announcement? Do you think they have what it takes to develop a more robust search product? Leave a comment and let us know.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on June 17, 2008, 8:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Yahoo! Mobile Expands Partnerships in Asian/Pacific Region

Playing on their popularity in the region, Yahoo! Mobile has announced the expansion of its search and advertising partnerships with Asia/Pacific companies. Yahoo! has scored 5 new partnerships with mobile operators agreeing to include oneSearch in their mobile search offering. Over 60 oneSearch partnerships have been developed over the past 18 months.

Yahoo! Mobile is also rolling out new mobile widgets for the region including Yahoo! Answers, Yahoo! India Movies, MTV Asia, and Yahoo! Cricket.

In Singapore and India, oneSearch with voice for English now recognizes accents spoken in those countries, and there are new localized versions of Yahoo! Go 3.0 for Australia, India, and Southeast Asia.

In Malaysia, Yahoo struck mobile advertising partnerships with two mobile operators. The deal includes graphic ads and are similar to deals struck with AT&T, T-Mobile International and Vodafone UK.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on June 17, 2008, 8:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Download Firefox 3 Today: Firefox Download Day to Set a Guiness World Record

Firefox 3 will be released today which makes today Firefox Download Day 2008.

To build its user base, Mountain View-based Mozilla will attempt a Guinness World's Record for the most software downloads in 24 hours.

You can download Firefox 3 here.

Firefox 3 promises exciting new features, including one-click bookmarking, the smart location bar and lightning fast performance. Other features include built-in spell checking, session restore and full zoom.

Firefox 3 will also offer more than 5,000 add-ons, including Shareaholic which allows you to share, bookmark, and e-mail web pages quickly via a wide array of web 2.0 social Web sites. Shareaholic currently supports: digg, del.icio.us, facebook, foxiewire, friendfeed, google bookmarks, google reader, healthranker, kaboodle, magnolia, mixx, myspace, pownce, reddit, simpy, stumbleupon, streakr, truemors, tumblr, twitter, ycombinator, bzzster and others.

Firefox 3 release time is 10 a.m. PDT today. You can pledge to join the World's Record attempt on the site and receive a reminder when Firefox 3 is officially released.

Or you can follow "mozillafirefox" on Twitter for status updates.

Posted by Kevin Heisler on June 17, 2008, 7:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

SEW Experts: SEO Issues with Global Expansion

When a U.S.-based company expands globally, they typically spend little or no time with their expansion plans overseas. In today's Enterprise Search Marketing column, "SEO Issues with Global Expansion," Aaron Shear explains why that's a mistake. Big business is commonly lost with their overseas Web sites.

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Posted by Kevin Newcomb on June 17, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SEW Experts: Domain Strategies for Search Engine Optimization

You're optimizing your Web site. You're working on building links to your site. But are you paying attention to your domain name strategy? In today's Organic Search Engine Optimization column, "Domain Strategies for Search Engine Optimization," Mark Jackson describes the importance of developing and instituting a domain name strategy for your Web site.

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Posted by Kevin Newcomb on June 17, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SEMPO Holding 'Great Debate' on Agency or In House

If you are in or near New York Wednesday you may want to stop by Stich to see SEMPO's first 'Great Debate' - and I am on one of the sides (has not been determined since I have both backgrounds).

RSVP here if interested.

There will be a solid turn out of search people, so could be a fun event. I am sure there will be people there blogging it for those who can't make it.

Stich is at 247 W 37th St and the event starts at 6:30 - come early and grab a drink.

Posted by Frank Watson on June 16, 2008, 11:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Planet Google: How One Company is Transforming Our Lives: Sold!

The most talked-about book in the search engine industry was just bought by Atlantic Books' editor-in-chief Ravi Mirchandani. He bought the investigation into internet superpower Google by New York Times columnist Randall Stross.

Planet Google: How One Company is Transforming Our Lives looks at the company's story so far and its impact on business and culture.

Rights in the UK and Commonwealth, excluding Canada, were acquired from Free Press / Simon & Schuster. Atlantic will publish in October.

News comes courtesy of Tom Holman over at Bookseller.com, which just awarded the annual "oddest title" to "Want Closure in Your Relationship, Start With Your Legs" was crowned the winner of the Diagram Prize for Oddest Title of the Year, after a record-breaking 8,500 votes online.

The runner-up is "I Was Tortured By the Pygmy Love Queen" (20%) and in 3rd place is "Cheese Problems Solved" (19%).

Posted by Kevin Heisler on June 16, 2008, 11:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Associated Press Wants To Set Rules For Blog Usage

Seems the Associated Press wants to meet with members of the blogging community to set rules for how their content is used online, following the 'interaction' between AP and the Drudge Retort over usage.

AP had sent a letter to the Drudge Retort - part of the larger Drudge Report group - demanding that they take down 7 stories that heavily referenced AP stories. On saturday AP sent a follow up letter dropping the request and apologizing for the "heavy handed" letter.

The New York Times reported:

Jim Kennedy, vice president and strategy director of The A.P., said in an interview that the news organization had decided that its letter to the Drudge Retort was “heavy-handed” and that The A.P. was going to rethink its policies toward bloggers.

The quick about-face came, he said, because a number of well-known bloggers started criticizing its policy, claiming it would undercut the active discussion of the news that rages on sites, big and small, across the Internet.

Since then AP has reported it will hold a meeting with bloggers - specifically "to meet Thursday with Robert Cox, president of the Media Bloggers Association, as part of an effort to create standards for online use of AP stories by bloggers that would protect AP content without discouraging bloggers from legitimately quoting from it."

Criticism of the original action of restricting use of AP stories has been extensive in the blogosphere - do a blog search.

Everyone should be on the side of the Drudge Retort on this one - especially given they link out to news sources and track comment numbers that give people an idea of the popularity of various stories.

The fact that AP is now 'meeting' with bloggers - well the Media Bloggers Association - whose site seems motivated:

"The Media Bloggers Association is a nonpartisan organization dedicated to promoting, protecting and educating its members; supporting the development of "blogging" or "citizen journalism" as a distinct form of media; and helping to extend the power of the press, with all the rights and responsibilities that entails, to every citizen."

Shows they want to control how their information is used - understandable given they are paid by newspapers and other sources for providing that news that bloggers grab for free.

Short passage quotes with attribution have always been a standard use of other sources of news even in the print medium - especially in editorials.

What AP is missing is that most of the users are giving links back to their source and thus giving more authority to them as a permanent web news reference. Hope that gets tabled by the bloggers they speak with.

As the print industry continues to shrink there are many stories of their efforts to reach out to the online world, guess AP is a little slow on reading their own articles.

Maybe they read some of the blog posts about the controversy and decided it was time to reach out. The growth of Google News as a source could have had an impact.

Posted by Frank Watson on June 16, 2008, 10:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Gary Price of ResourceShelf Wins SLA President's Citation

The former news editor of Search Engine Watch just won one of the nation's most prestigious awards granted to library professionals at the annual Special Libraries Association (SLA) conference in Seattle.

Gary Price, the founder of ResourceShelf and a former executive with search engine Ask.com, won the first President's Citation, granted at the discretion of the SLA president. Gary was honored for “raising the visibility of librarians.”

The SLA was founded in 1909 in the state of New York and is now the international association representing the interests of thousands of information professionals in over eighty countries worldwide.

Onstage at the conference, Charlie Rose interviewed Google's Vinton Cerf, who said his goal is to get affordable infrastructure in place so the number of Internet users will double by 2010, to three billion users. This milestone will depend significantly on the further penetration of mobile phones.

Cerf said he's deeply concerned about digital preservation and the “born digital” challenge; he hopes to avoid a “bit pile” of inaccessible, extinct content and urged companies to open up development for digital preservation applications.

Posted by Kevin Heisler on June 16, 2008, 10:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Former Search Technologist and Yahoo Investor Mark Nelson Supports Icahn

Even though Carl Icahn has said the Yahoo-Google deal might have merit, former search technologist Mark Nelson has announced his support for Icahn's proxy board, according to Barron's. Nelson founded search technology company Ovid Technologies and sold it to Wolters Kluwer for $200 million in 1998.

Today, Nelson is a partner at Mithras Capital, which holds 1.7 million shares of Yahoo.

In a letter addressed to Jerry Yang, Susan Decker and Roy Bostock, Nelson explained the reasoning behind his difficult decision to sell a company he built:

"Despite my emotional commitment to the company, and despite 10 years of enviable growth and profitability, in 1998 the Board and I came to the conclusion that selling the company was the best way to fulfill our fiduciary responsibility to maximize value for all shareholders."

The letter continued on with much of the same arguments we've heard from Icahn in his letters, including references to the poison pill.

Earlier, investor Eric Jackson announced his support for a combo board, that would keep 5 of Yahoo's current board and bring in 4 from Icahn's board. Jackson leads a shareholder group with 3.2 million shares.

Former Search Technologist and Yahoo Investor Mark Nelson Supports Icahn

Posted by Nathania Johnson on June 16, 2008, 10:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Q&A Interview with Google's Matt Cutts

Here's a must-read for the week: a great interview with Google's Matt Cutts by Eric Enge, CEO of Stone Temple Consulting, in his blog this morning.

There's terrific information on link building from Google's perspective, among other topics.

What Google looks for are links that will stand the test of time. In Matt's words:

So, what are the links that will stand the test of time? Those links are typically given voluntarily. It is an editorial link by someone, and it's someone that's informed. They are not misinformed, they are not tricked; there is no bait and switch involved. It's because somebody thinks that something is so cool, so useful, or so helpful that they want to make little sign posts so that other people on the web can find that out.

Matt also clarified Google's views on links originating with Digg:

Whenever you pay money to a social media consultant to try to show up on Digg, you are not paying for links. You are funding some creativity; you are sponsoring your page for some creativity.

It's not like you held a gun to anyone and said “Okay, you have to link to me.” The people who link to the site are linking because it's something compelling instead. So, there is still some editorial choice there.

Don't miss Matt's take on widgets either. For that you'll have to go to the interview.

Posted by Kevin Heisler on June 16, 2008, 10:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Icahn Goes Soft on Yahoo-Google Deal, Investor Urges Combo Board

Carl Icahn has gone soft in the wake of the Yahoo-Google deal, telling Reuters that the deal "might have some merit." Icahn hasn't made any actions (such as withdrawing his proxy board) or written any more letters.

Meanwhile, Yahoo investor Eric Jackson is urging other shareholders to vote on a board that would keep 5 of the existing board members while bringing in 4 of Carl Icahn's proxy board, again according to Reuters. Jackson leads a group of 146 shareholders with a collective 3.2 million Yahoo shares.

Eric Jackson has been vocal in his disapproval of Yahoo's failure to strike a deal with Microsoft. But his fears may have been exaggerated. Once the deal fell through, he expected Yahoo shares to fall back to their pre-Microsoft bid levels of $19-20 per share. While the stock fell, it never has returned to those lower levels, instead hovering in the $23-25 range.

Perhaps Mr. Jackson is softening just a bit as well?

Posted by Nathania Johnson on June 16, 2008, 9:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google Dominates Mobile Search Market Share in Q1 2008

Continuing its dominance in search, Google saw 61% of mobile searches in the first quarter of 2008, according to data released by Nielsen Mobile. Yahoo came in second at 18%, while MSN lagged behind at third with 5%.

65% of Google searchers were male while 63% of Yahoo searchers were male.

When it comes to what mobile searchers are looking for, Google and Yahoo users are alike:

Google searches:
Information 33%
Local listings 29%
Websites/navigation 27%

Yahoo searches:
Information 33%
Local listings 24%
Websites/navigation 26%

But finding satisfactory results is still a bit of a challenge when it comes to mobile search. Only 44% of Google searchers and 40% of Yahoo searchers rated their experience in the 8-10 range on a scale of 10.

Last week, Google announced that it updated its mobile search offering to make it faster for searchers on the go.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on June 16, 2008, 9:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SEW Experts: Google Mobile Advertising on the Content Network

Creating a mobile ad campaign that displays banner ads on Google's mobile content network can be ideal for businesses that rely on phone calls to start or close a sale. In today's Content Advertising column, "Google Mobile Advertising on the Content Network," David Szetela explains how to do this without requiring a mobile Web site design, because clicks on the ad will be directed to a Google-supplied mobile-friendly page describing your business.

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Posted by Kevin Newcomb on June 16, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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