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July 27, 2008 - August 2, 2008

What Search Quality Means to Search Engine Google

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In the boldly headlined blog entry, "Search quality, continued," Googler Ben Gomes explaines in greater depth what search quality means to Google.

It's too bad Google didn't publish the post before the Un-Search Engine, Un-Cuil, launched.

Gomes has written a clear overview of factors that Google considers to improve search user experience. Those are some of the same factors SEOs take into consideration when consulting on site design:

1. A small page. A small page is quick to download and generally faster for your browser to display. This results in a minimalist design aesthetic; extra fanciness in the interface slows down the page without giving you much benefit.

2. Complex algorithms with a simple presentation. Many search features require a great deal of algorithmic complexity and a vast amount of data analysis to make them work well. The trick is to hide all that complexity behind a clean, intuitive user interface. Spelling correction, snippets, sitelinks and query refinements are examples of features that require sophisticated algorithms and are constantly improving. From the user's point of view search, almost invisibly, just works better.

3. Features that work everywhere. Features must be designed such that the algorithms and presentation can be adapted to work in all languages and countries.

4. Data driven decisions - experiment, experiment, experiment.

We're looking forward to the next installment when Google discusses some of the specific experiments they've done to improve search quality.

Posted by Kevin Heisler on August 1, 2008, 4:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Yahoo Board Meeting: 60 Second Summary

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Jim Goldman, who writes Tech Check at CNBC, is live blogging the Yahoo shareholder meeting.

The turnout was light and much lower than expected. So far there have been no fireworks, with only a facetious request that Yahoo Board members punch time cards to prove how long they're working. (Roy Bostock said, no problem.)

Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock reiterated the standard Yahoo strategy and said the company was hitting its targets.

He noted, "Microsoft's initial $31 bid was the only written proposal ever received by the company...In an offhand comment, (Microsoft said to one of our executives), 'There may be a few more dollars on the table. It was never explicitly communicated to the board, and never communicated in writing."

On Yahoo's partnership with Google, Bostock said, "After Microsoft withdrew the offer, and only after they withdrew the offer, we entered into a deal with Google."

Jerry Yang talked about how he's (still) excited to transform the company (again) given its tremendous assets and online audience. Sue Decker will discuss new display advertising algorithms (which sound suspiciously like Panama Redux).

Why did so few shareholders attend? Have they resigned themselves to a $20 stock or do they think there's nowhere to go but up?

Posted by Kevin Heisler on August 1, 2008, 3:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Yahoo Sets Yelp, LinkedIn, and Yahoo Local SearchMonkey Apps to 'Default On'

Last month, Yahoo launched the SearchMonkey gallery, where searchers can go and add applications to their Yahoo search. Now, Yahoo is making three of those apps automatic for all users.

The Yelp, LinkedIn, and Yahoo Local SearchMonkey apps are now set to 'default on.' The three apps have been part of a test Yahoo conducted where they set the app to default on for select users. Yahoo says they saw click-through rates increase as much as 15% as a result.

Yahoo has also added a sharing feature with the apps, so you can email results to friends.

SearchMonkey, which allows third party developers to develop applications for Yahoo's search product, launched in May.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 1, 2008, 11:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

7 Location-Based Social Networking Applications for the iPhone

Earlier, I wrote about the estimates for location-based social networking to reach $3.3 billion in revenues by 2013. The iPhone is leading the way with several new location-based social networks developed by third parties for the new iPhone 2.0 software.

Here are 7 social networking apps that use location-based technology:

Twinkle is a Twitter app that incorporates a location-based feature. Not only can you view your usual Tweets from the people you're following, but you can also view Tweets from people nearby who you might not already be following. They're kept on a separate tab, so you don't have to worry about them getting mixed in with your established following.

Twittervision lets you see Tweets from all over the world.

Zintin simply lets you interact with people nearby. It has "walls" like Facebook, and you can scribble on the photos of your friends.

iFob is designed to help users find other members nearby, and by nearby, they mean people in the same coffeeshop as you. iFob has an app for Windows and is working on an app for Mac OS X.

WhosHere helps you find people close to you with the same interests.

Loopt lets you find out where your friends are and what they're up to at that location.

Limbo also lets you find where your friends are, but also has a group chat feature.

What do you think of location-based social networking? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 1, 2008, 11:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Location-Based Social Networking to Generate $3.3 Billion by 2013

Location-based social networking is projected to generate worldwide revenues of $3.3 billion by 2013, according to ABI Research. But the business model may not be advertising driven.

“Location-based mobile social networking revenues will reach $3.3 billion by 2013, but successful business models may differ from what many observers expect,” says ABI Research principal analyst Dominique Bonte. “While location-based advertising integrated with sophisticated algorithms holds a lot of promise, the current reality rather points to licensing and revenue-sharing models as the way forward for social networking start-ups to grow their customer base and reach profitability. Recent evidence: the agreements between GyPSii and both Garmin and Samsung. Similarly, Loopt has established partnerships with all major US cellular carriers.”

This brand of social media has already started to take off with the recent release of the new iPhone platform. Users are now allowed to download applications designed specifically for the device. This has generated a slew of location-based social networks (as well as search apps).

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 1, 2008, 10:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

comScore: No Clients are Leaving Us for Google

During their conference call announcing second quarter results, comScore addressed whether or not a new Google research product is impacting their business. Google announced their new media measurement tool, Ad Planner, in late June. So far, the program is open by invitation only (though companies can apply for an invite).

comScore CEO Magid Abraham said, "We really haven't seen an impact so far on our business, we haven't heard any client who's said well use [the Google product] instead of comScore," according to Marketwatch.

A conflict with comScore's data doesn't seem to be hurting the measurement company either. Earlier this year, analysts used comScore's search advertising numbers, showing a decline for Google, to underestimate the search giant for the first quarter of 2008. But Google beat Wall Street in Q1. Google says that the improved quality of their ad product decreased clicks but improved revenues.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 1, 2008, 9:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ChaCha Launches Enterprise Mobile Answers Service

Human intelligence-based search company ChaCha has announced ChaCha 1:1, a mobile answers service designed for corporate mobile marketing campaigns. The service allows companies to utilize ChaCha's SMS search product to initiate conversations with consumers.

“Through our sophisticated technology and human intelligence, we're enabling anyone to harness the power of our mobile answers service,” said ChaCha co-founder and CEO, Scott A. Jones. “Now, ChaCha 1:1 Mobile Marketing Solutions ushers in the era of truly personalized mobile marketing which empowers companies to engage their target audience much more effectively.”

One of the first companies to utilize the service is Coca-Cola. The company kicked of their campaign at a NASCAR event, the Allstate Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 27, 2008. Coca-Cola saw a 5.2% click-through rate, much higher than the industry average of 1-2 percent.

“You need the right partner to truly make mobile marketing work for your brand. Coca-Cola is excited to work with ChaCha and see its interactive mobile marketing service effectively reach consumers in a more personal and engaging way,” said Meghan Berigan, operational marketing manager at Coca-Cola. “We are excited about this collaboration and the opportunity to work with a market innovator such as ChaCha.”

Earlier this year, ChaCha launched SMS based search at the Sundance Film Festival. ChaCha also said they're surpassing Google SMS as the fastest growing mobile search application.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 1, 2008, 9:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SEW Experts: Look Out PageRank, There's a New Algorithm in Town

Search Engine Watch Expert - Frank Watson Microsoft recently published research on a new algorithm it calls BrowseRank, which is based on user behavior instead of linking patterns. Microsoft thinks this could be the answer to increased relevance in search results. But is it? In today's SEM Crossfire column, "Look Out PageRank, There's a New Algorithm in Town," Frank Watson and Kevin Newcomb share their thoughts on BrowseRank's potential, and potential pitfalls.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on August 1, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SEW Experts: Has Mobile Local Search Finally Arrived?

Search Engine Watch Expert - Michael Boland Can the iPhone and Google's Android fix the limitations that have plagued mobile advertising and mobile search? In today's vertical search column, "Has Mobile Local Search Finally Arrived?," local search expert Michael Boland notes that it could take a couple years to really get moving, but after a long period of being rusted shut, it appears that the wheels are finally starting to creak forward on local mobile search.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on August 1, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SEW Experts: Universal Thoughts on Local Search

Search Engine Watch Expert - William Flaiz Local search is showing up in your Web browser, at your desk, on your phone, and on your GPS devices -- and these are just the easy examples. In today's SEM agency issues column, "Universal Thoughts on Local Search," William Flaiz explains that the number of devices and locations for local search will continue to grow as more things become connected to the Internet.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on August 1, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google VP Marissa Mayer Appears on Fox Business Network

This morning Google VP Marissa Mayer appeared on the Fox Business Network. She talked about what's next at search, privacy, working at Google (including 20% time), being a woman in tech, and how mobile is the next hot thing.

Check out the video below to see the interview.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 31, 2008, 12:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Is SEO the Real Google Killer?

This morning the Guardian UK published a scathing analysis of Google, SEO and the launch of Cuil. In his article, Chris Williams claimed that the greatest threat to Google is spam. No argument there.

But Williams takes the argument one step further and states:

Plenty of digital ink has been needlessly spilt this week over the launch of the suicidally-monikered new search engine Cuil.com. But the only threat to Google is itself and, in a roundabout way, the legion of spammers and "search engine optimisation" (SEO) consultants that buttress its dominance.

It's clear that Williams is crying over "spilt ink." He's right in saying that Web sites have adapted their design and structure to accommodate Google.

But Williams would like to think that all companies - including competing search engines - are in the business of "reverse engineering" Google.

The people at the vanguard of reverse-engineering Google are not its jealous search rivals. They're the spammers and SEO consultants. They have driven an ever-closer relationship between the quirks and whims of Google's algorithms and policies, and the structure and content of the web. It's a feedback loop that was unavoidable once Google's early rivals proved unable to respond to its better search results and presentation.

He feels that techniques such as "adding needless internal links, creating PageRank-friendly URLs and distorting normal grammar" are all widely deployed with varying degrees of dastardliness.

While grammar may be distorted, the fault doesn't lie with SEOs but with writers lacking sufficient command of the English language.

Somehow Williams connects Google's share of searches with SEO efforts, rather than user preference. If that's the case, then SEO must be producing superior SERPs.

Williams writes, "Thanks to the mutualistic process driven by spammers and SEO consultants, that dominance is only going to increase, and it's the only 'Google Killer' on the horizon."

Williams envisions a future "when the favours spammers and SEO consultants have been doing for Larry and Sergey will become dangerous, anti-trust style." He believes regulatory intervention now seems the only bar to a complete Google autocracy over the Web economy.

Posted by Kevin Heisler on July 31, 2008, 11:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (12)

JupiterResearch Acquired by Forrester for $23 Million

After being owner-less for a little over a year, JupiterResearch has been acquired by Forrester Research for $23 million. Previously, JupiterResearch had been sold by Jupitermedia to Kagan Research, but then Kagan got acquired by financial business intelligence firm SNL Financial.

"We are very excited to be joining the Forrester brand, culture, and community," said David Schatsky, president, JupiterResearch. "For a quarter of a century, Forrester has been a trusted advisor to many of the top businesses and organizations in the world, and we are honored to bring the best of JupiterResearch to the Forrester name."

JupiterResearch is the source of a ton of great online marketing data. Check out these posts covering data released by Jupiter:

1.8 Billion Internet Users by 2012, China to Overtake US Internet Use by 2011
Blended Search Increases Your Visibility - Jupiter Research
Marketers Increasingly Turn to Social Networks
Jupiter Research Report Says Most Search Marketers Happy with ROI

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 31, 2008, 9:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Yuil Is Dead - Long Live Yuil

Today TechCrunch reported on the birth of a new search engine: Yuil. Now Yuil is dead.

Yuil (pronounced yule) was a short-lived Yahoo-powered mashup designed to look like Cuil.

Apparently the Yahoo Boss mashup -- something of a search engine Frankenstein monster -- was destroyed by its inventor.

Yuil was designed by Yahoo VP of Platforms, Sam Pullara. Yuil was a brilliant marketing move designed to show off the new Yahoo BOSS API. BOSS gives developers a high level of control over SERPs generated by Yahoo's search engine.

The primary difference between the Yahoo Boss API, and the standard API-based engines is the ability to manipulate and reorder the results.

Posted by Kevin Heisler on July 31, 2008, 9:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Google Opens Up About Customized Search

Google is helping its users understand what's behind customized, or personalized, results (as opposed to Google Custom Search). They're rolling out a new feature that explains why results may be tailored to a particular user.

The feature will be rolled out over the next few days. When it does, you'll notice a new link for "More Details" in the top right corner. Clicking on the link will take you to an explanation of customized results. The explanation says that location (IP address), recent searches and web history to serve up the personalization.

Google noted that this feature does not change how they compile results.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 31, 2008, 9:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Microsoft Adds Image Hotspots to Live Search Design

Microsoft has launched a new concept for Live Search. Now, when you visit the search engine, you'll see a background image with "hotspots."

Hotspots are small boxes that highlight a portion of the image. You can rollover them with your mouse to find out what is being highlighted, and click on the hotspot for more information.

Look quickly though, the hotspots appear quickly upon loading and then disappear. While you can still rollover the hotspots, you'll have to remember where those boxes appeared.

Below are some screenshots. Take a look, visit Live.com to check it out for yourself, then come on back to leave a comment about your impressions.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 31, 2008, 8:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SEW Experts: The Future of SEM Education

Search Engine Watch Expert - Ron Jones Online advertising continues to grow in both good times and bad. That's good news for search marketers. In today's SEM.edu column, "The Future of SEM Education," Ron Jones shows how it also highlights the ongoing importance of search education.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on July 31, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SEW Experts: Link Building: Understand Where You Are To Know Where You're Going

Search Engine Watch Expert - Sage Lewis In link building, if you don't know where you're going, you'll probably end up someplace else. In today's link building column, "Link Building: Understand Where You Are To Know Where You're Going," Sage Lewis looks at some tools to help you discover and monitor inbound links.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on July 31, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Italian Broadcaster Sues Google, YouTube for $779 million

Google is facing another YouTube law suit, this time from Italian broadcaster Mediaset, which is controlled by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. The suit was filed in Rome and seeks 500 million Euros in damages (approx $779 million USD).

The suit is similar to others, including the one brought by Viacom, citing illegal use of copyrighted materials.

Mediaset says a June 10 analysis showed 4,643 videos equaling more than 325 hours were found on the popular online video site. The broadcaster claims the videos amount to a loss of 315,672 days.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 30, 2008, 12:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Marchex Launches Integrated Local Advertising Platform

Marchex is integrating online and offline lead generation methods in its launch of Marchex Connect 2.0. The local advertising platform offers three products: online advertising, call-based advertising, and Business Profile Pages

With today's launch, Marchex subsidiaries VoiceStar and Traffic Leader have been unified under the Marchex Digital Platform Group to leverage the Marchex Connect platform and provide integrated, locally-focused advertising services including:

Full Advertising Campaign Management – All campaigns are managed by a dedicated team of online marketing and call-based advertising experts.
Strategic Consulting for Resellers – Leveraging Marchex's unique intellectual property regarding pricing and product strategies to appropriately balance and expand the total offline and online spends of an advertiser, and to maximize ROI goals.
Sales Channel Training – Custom in-field and Web-based training programs to equip Marchex partners' local sales forces with the knowledge and sales materials they need to successfully migrate their local advertisers' spend online.

“We have invested heavily to build a performance-based, local-centric advertising platform for local resellers and advertisers that integrates online and call-based advertising products and services at scale, all supported by sophisticated reporting and analytics,” said John Keister, Marchex President and COO. “Our goal at Marchex is to accelerate the adoption of local online advertising and to deliver the highest volume of quality local leads to our advertisers at the most reasonable cost in the marketplace.”

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 30, 2008, 11:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yellow Pages Beat Other Local Media in Online Sales in 2007

Local directories made 9% of their gross revenues online in 2007, while other local media such as newspapers and TV only made 5% online. Douglas Quenqua, over at ClickZ, has the full write up from the data released by Borrell Associates.

While search has threatened the industry, selling ads on the cheap has kept yellow pages companies competitive. And they aren't resisting the digital change.

Gordon Borrell, CEO of Borrell Associates, said, "We don't think yellow pages will disappear," said Borrell. "Eighty to 85 percent of people still use them at least once a year. They're eroding, but they won't completely collapse. They will just transform."

What do you think about the future of local directories? Read Quenqua's full article over at ClickZ and then come on back and leave a comment.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 30, 2008, 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ask.com and IAC Beat the Street:: 2Q 2008 Earnigs

Some skeptics have publicly predicted the death of Ask.com. With IAC planning to spin off its properties into four units, that's a bold prediction indeed.

For the divisions that will become the new IAC, including Internet services such as Ask.com and Match.com, revenue rose 11% as earnings improved 3%.

The Ask-Google partnership is already paying dividends. More people are using Ask more often.

Here's how the IAC Search business breaks out:

Media & Advertising consists of proprietary properties such as Ask.com, Fun Web Products, Citysearch and Evite and network properties which include distributed search, sponsored listings, and toolbars.

Proprietary revenue grew strongly during the quarter and now represents 75% of total Media & Advertising revenue.

Media & Advertising revenue growth was driven by improved economics associated with the renewed partnership with Google, which resulted in an increase in revenue per query across all proprietary search sites.

Revenue per query at Ask.com grew, even excluding the benefits of the renewed contract.

Ask.com continued to grow its core user base which searches most frequently, while queries declined overall due largely to significantly reduced marketing.

Media & Advertising profit benefited from lower marketing spend at Ask.com and higher margin traffic resulting from the ongoing shift in query mix towards proprietary and away from the partner network.

Posted by Kevin Heisler on July 30, 2008, 9:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ask.com Parent Co. IAC Posts 7% Growth for Q2 2008

IAC, the parent company of top-5 search engine Ask.com, has posted a 7% year-over-year growth in revenue for the second quarter of 2008.

IAC is preparing for a transition, spinning off various assets into different companies.

"We are now right around the corner from the separation of IAC into five separate companies and the dissolution of the complexity surrounding the combined structure," said IAC's Chairman and CEO, Barry Diller. "Besides the detailed numbers contained throughout this release, focusing on consolidated results is only about the past, and I would think it far more productive for the future to analyze and judge the entities on their own merits ... as a large shareholder in each that is certainly what I intend to do."

Earlier this year, Ask.com changed up their management and cut 8% of their workforce. IAC also announced a bunch of new niche sites that serve up a mix of search and social media.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 30, 2008, 9:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

SEW Experts: What's Wrong With Being Cuil?

Search Engine Watch Expert - Kevin Ryan Cuil may be a good search engine...someday. But launching it as a "Google-killer" was a mistake. In today's Searching for Meaning column, "What's Wrong With Being Cuil?," Kevin Ryan outlines two lessons to learn from this: First, make sure it works before you launch it. Second, make sure you can live up to your claims or you'll suffer the consequences.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on July 30, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

SEW Experts: Google vs. Yahoo on Paid Links

Search Engine Watch Expert - Eric Enge Google created a firestorm in the industry with its Paid Links directive. So where does Yahoo stand in the Paid Links debate? In today's Web analytics and ROI column, "Google vs. Yahoo on Paid Links," Eric Enge looks at Yahoo's stance on buying links for SEO value.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on July 30, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Cloud Computing Unites Yahoo, HP, Intel

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Yahoo, Intel and Hewlett Packard announced an alliance to advance "cloud computing," backing a global trend that threatens Microsoft's iron-fisted grip on packaged software installed on computers.

Earlier this year Google and IBM teamed up to advance research into providing SAAS (software as a service) on the Internet hosted by data centers.

Cloud computing isn't as futuristic as it sounds. Web-based email (Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Hotmail) offered by Google, Yahoo, Microsoft is an example of cloud computing. Google has expanded its online software offerings to include word documents, spread sheets and more under the Google Docs brand.

The cloud computing initiative falls in line with Yahoo's goal of open systems. Results of research done at the centers will be made public to make it easier for software developers to write applications for cloud computing.

"We believe this collaboration will do a great deal to take the research to the next level," Yahoo Research chief Prabhakar Raghavan said during the conference call.

"We are really fueling the ecosystem here... Inevitably an application developer will build more readily for the cloud."

Posted by Kevin Heisler on July 29, 2008, 3:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The Real Reason No One Can Beat Google

When it comes to beating Google, many entrepreneurs attempt to have what they consider better results than Google. Whether its indexing a trillion pages, advancing semantic search, or harnessing social search, everyone's looking for their Unique Selling Proposition.

I have conducted a great deal of thinking on the matter and have concluded that technology or financial backing has nothing to do with it. The real reason no one can beat Google is all in the name.

Think about it. It's quite easy and acceptable to say, "Google it." I say this to my kids. Despite the fact that Google does not prefer that their brand name is used as a verb, we do it all the time. It even happens in the movies!

But if I were to say "Cuil it," it, of course, would sound like "Cool it." That may even sound offensive in some cultures. Like you're telling someone they have an attitude and they need to chillax. Next thing you know, you're engaged in a nasty brawl on the Jerry Springer show. Or worse, face to face with Omarosa.

Cuil isn't the only search engine to face this problem. Microsoft doesn't need to buy Yahoo, they just need a better name for their search engine. Do they really think anybody is really going to "Live Search it"!?!?!

I'm not going to "Mahalo it" or "Wikia it" or even go old school and "Lycos it."

Sure, I could say "Look it up on hakia" - but that's just so many syllables!

No, dear readers, the only way to beat Google is to come up with a cooler name. So, get those thinking caps on and don't forget to call me before you IPO.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 29, 2008, 11:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (13)

T. Boone Pickens Sells Entire Yahoo Stake, 10 Million Shares

I was literally in the middle of writing a post entitled "All Quiet on the Yahoo Front" when news broke about T. Boone Pickens selling off his entire stake in Yahoo.

I was pondering whether or not the calm was more like a relaxing day at the spa or an eerie moment in a M. Night Shyamalan movie when the famed Texas oilman took the latter route.

Pickens, known most recently for his alternative energy plan, bought 10 million shares back in May when he decided to throw his support behind Carl Icahn.

Now that Carl Icahn is somewhat in cahoots with Yahoo, with the announcement that he will join an expanded Yahoo board, Pickens is selling of his shares.

Telling the San Francisco Chronicle, "I think that Yahoo management was pathetic," Pickens was adamant about Yahoo agreeing to Microsoft's offer to buy the company.

Yahoo's annual shareholders meeting will be held this Friday.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 29, 2008, 10:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

20% of Primetime Television Now Watched Online

Online video consumption has been on the rise for a while, and now Integrated Media Measurement Inc. (IMMI) is releasing demographic and behavioral data to show the details of the trend.

20% of primetime television programming is now viewed online. The audience is comprised of 55% female and 45% male. Households earning $80,000 a year or more are 56% more likely to watch a network show online. Those earning $40,000 a year or less are 75% more likely to watch a primetime show live. The largest segment of online television viewers are white, affluent, well educated, working women aged 25-44.

There's also been a shift in what's being watched. In May 2008, for the first time, a big chunk of those watching primetime TV online are NOT also watching some of the show on TV. In other words, more people are turning to online to watch TV than just catch a part of a show they missed or simply replay a scene they found funny.

41% of those surveyed first watch a show on TV, then catch another episode online.
31% of those surveyed first watch a show delayed (DVR/TiVO), then watch online.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 29, 2008, 9:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

SEW Experts: Press Releases and Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Watch Expert - Mark Jackson Issuing press releases without regard for SEO is a wasted opportunity. In today's organic search engine optimization column, "Press Releases and Search Engine Optimization," Mark Jackson shows that combining press releases with SEO efforts can help gain presence in the editorial results of the search engines, even if it's not a direct presence for your actual domain.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on July 29, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SEW Experts: When's an Outage More than Just an Outage?

Search Engine Watch Expert - Aaron Shear In SEO for major sites, one of the most overlooked factors is uptime. In today's enterprise search marketing column, "When's an Outage More than Just an Outage?," Aaron Shear looks at how a server outage can impact your SEO efforts.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on July 29, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SEW Experts: Google's Sergey Brin on Local Mobile Search

Search Engine Watch Expert - Kevin Heisler In 2005, O'Reilly proclaimed it the "Year of Local Mobile Search," but that didn't work out. In today's Search Engine WarGames column, "Google's Sergey Brin on Local Mobile Search," Kevin Heisler points out that while this year may not merit that title either, Google sees 2008 as a key year in the battle for multiplatform search dominance.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on July 29, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Social Networking and Employees: Where Do You Draw the Line?

With the rise of social networking, employers are left wondering if or how the trend affects their bottom line. Many have decided that Facebook and MySpace in the workplace are not appropriate (for content or productivity reasons) and have banned the sites from being accessed at their offices.

To which I say: Good luck with that!

With the onslaught of iPhones, resisting social media (and I don't mean for marketing purposes) will prove to be futile anyway. Go ahead. Fire someone for accessing their Facebook iPhone app. But don't be looking for any "Best Places to Work" awards anytime soon.

And when morale is down, productivity goes down. Call it anecdotal, but the places I've worked at with low morale lose productivity to gossip and office politics. What they're really looking for is support in a difficult workplace. So ban social media all you want, your employees will still find ways to "waste time." Or as I like to call it, not go completely mental.

On the flip side, social networking more often than not helps your business. Think of all the contacts that your employees have. All those college and high school pals now have careers in a variety of industries. Perhaps there are great partnerships to be had in these vast social networks.

Or when its time to hire a new employee, these networks are a great place to start.

Social media is also a great way to stay on top of your industry - to learn about things that are happening, what's new. You can't do it all yourself - or even with just your marketing team. What if a guy/gal in IT catches wind of a new program being implemented at a competitor? Chances are, they'll find it out via a social network, blog, Twitter, etc.

I say kill those largely unfounded fears and allow social networking in the workplace. Like the rest of business and life, it won't be perfect. But it can be reasonable.

By the way, one of the new hot things in social media is internal social networking, sometimes referred to as enterprise social media. This can foster genuine channels of good communication among departments across your company.

What's your opinion? Yay or nay to social media for employees? Leave a comment and tell us how it is!

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 28, 2008, 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Yahoo Updates Ad Performance Reports for Sponsored Search Accounts

Yahoo has released updates to the ad performance reports for sponsored search accounts. First up, three columns have been added to the report. They are:

Ad ID column – This column displays your Ad's ID number.
Ad: – This column provides a visual representation of your ad, including its title, short description and display URL.
Destination URL

The columns are available in report downloads as well. Additionally, Yahoo has consolidated ad statuses into a single column.

The updates have been made across global markets and Mobile Sponsored Search.

What do you think of the updates? Let us know in the comments.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 28, 2008, 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

China's Sohu.com Posts 600% Jump in Profit

Chinese internet portal Sohu.com has announced $40.2 million in second quarter profit, up 600% over the same quarter in 2007. The news comes in the wake of results posted by Chinese search engine Baidu, which saw profits rise 87% in Q2 2008. The big boost in profits for both companies come as the 2008 Beijing Olympics approach.

Check out this display ad from Lenovo on the Sohu.com.

"The growing momentum reflects the overall expansion of the China Internet market, increased shift in advertising budgets from offline to online, the robust pace of advertising spending leading up to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, as well as our significant traffic increase," Belinda Wang, chief marketing officer of Sohu said in a statement.

via Reuters

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 28, 2008, 9:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Microsoft's Navic Networks Partners with Mediabrands

Microsoft's recently acquired Navic Networks has announced a new partnership with Mediabrands, a new group of four companies: Initiative, Universal McCann, MAGNA and IPG's Emerging Media Lab. The media companies will have access to Navic's Admira, a national media planning tool that includes audience behavior data and real-time viewership reporting.

“We are seeking new technologies to deliver unparalleled accountability to clients, and aligning with Navic was a natural fit,” said Nick Brien, CEO of Mediabrands. “By combining the power of television with the accountability of the Web, we're able to offer our world-class clients cutting-edge technology to help them maximize the ROI for their advertising dollars.”

“Navic is fully committed to offering innovative technologies that provide one of the most effective and accurate metrics available,” said Chet Kanojia, CEO of Navic Networks. “The industry has come a long way from defining keywords for targeted clicks, and we're excited to align with forward-thinking companies that make bold moves and, like Navic, are on the cusp of new trends and technologies.”

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 28, 2008, 9:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Liana Evans of KeyRelevance on social media optimization (SMO)

One of the people that you will want to hear speak at SES San Jose is Liana Evans of KeyRelevance. Li is the director of Internet marketing at KeyRelevance and a member of the “Successful Tactics for Social Media Optimization (SMO)” panel on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2008, at 1 p.m.

I'm bummed out because I'll be speaking at the “News Search SEO” session at the same time, so I won't be able to hear what she has to say in San Jose.

So, through the magic of YouTube video, I've interviewed Li – so I won't miss her keen insights entirely – although there is no substitute to hearing her first hand.

Li is a search marketing guru (literally), especially on topics like social media optimization (SMO). So, here's a sneak preview of what she has to say.

Why Your Social Media Campaigns Should Socialize More

Liana is also famous for her Flickr photos from sessions, panels, exhibits, the night life, and everything in between at Search Engine Strategies conferences and she won one of the Flickr photo sharing awards for SES London 2008.

Li specializes in social media marketing, blog optimization, link building and viral marketing. I like to hang out with her at SES conferences because Li has a background in both public relations and information technology.

Li is the creator and main contributor to Search Marketing Gurus and has assembled a well rounded group of professional search marketing professionals to contribute to the blog. Oh, and she's shared her secret for finding the best cheesesteak in Philly with me – not that this has influenced my favorable opinion of her at all.

Posted by Greg Jarboe on July 28, 2008, 9:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Cuil New Search Engine Launches

Cuil, pronounced "cool," has officially launched.

All the kool kids are talking about it. The question is whether anyone will use it.

As a new search engine, Cuil is a longshot. It's no Google Killer.

Check out Cuil.com. Google needs the competition. But don't expect a revolutionary search experience. The results page looks very much like Guy Kawasaki's Alltop.com.

Cuil was created by former Google engineers Anna Patterson, Russell Power and Louis Monier, who picked up $33 million in venture capital to launch the search engine.

So how is Cuil different than Google? They're claiming bragging rights for search index size: 120 billion Web pages. While Patterson says that's 3X the size of Google's index, most people acknowledge that size doesn't matter.

As Google's official blog notes, many pages not indexed either point to similar content or would diminish the quality of its search results in some other way. T

Of course, Cuil can't use PageRank to organize results. So Cuil apparently assesses the actual content of a page.

Cuil's results are most similar to universal search, displaying photos horizontally across the page. Sidebars can be clicked on to learn more about related topics.

In a nod to privacy, Cuil promises not to retain users' search histories or surfing patterns.

Posted by Kevin Heisler on July 28, 2008, 7:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)

SEW Experts: More Killer Keyword Techniques: Personas and Buckets

Search Engine Watch Expert - David Szetela Successful PPC advertising campaigns are composed of perfect keyword lists, ads and landing pages. In today's Profitable PPC column, "More Killer Keyword Techniques: Personas and Buckets," David Szetela shows you how to create landing pages using keywords built around personas.

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Posted by Kevin Newcomb on July 28, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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