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August 2008

Google Proceeding with Yahoo Deal in Early October

Google is proceeding with its deal to serve ads on Yahoo's search results. CEO Eric Schmidt told Bloomberg TV that they were moving forward on the deal despite regulatory concerns.

"We are in the process of talking to the government. They've not indicated one way or the other how they're dealing with us," said Scmidt.

Do you think the Google-Yahoo deal will be stopped? Let us know in the comments.

via Reuters

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 29, 2008, 11:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Does Today's Live.com Image Upset Over 50% of the U.S.?

Recently, Microsoft started putting images as the background design of Live.com. For two glorious weeks, the images were of Olympic events. Now, they've switched to politics.

Today's image is a closeup of Democratic Presidential Nominee Barack Obama at his big acceptance speech last night. But with less than half of those polled supporting Barack Obama, could such an image deter people from using Live.com?

We can say the same thing if/when a McCain picture appears on the site.

It's not that political events shouldn't be on Live.com's site. But perhaps a wider shot of the event would help visitors see the image as a news photo. Plus, with the hot spots that Live.com is using to help visitors explore searches - today's photo it has 2 boxes on the blurry audience background and one on Obama's collar. Kind of awkward.

How do you think Microsoft should handle political photos in its new design? Sound off in the comments.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 29, 2008, 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Microsoft to Acquire European Price Comparison and Shopping Site

Microsoft has reached an agreement to acquire Greenfield Online, the owner of Ciao, a European price comparison and shopping site. This seems to be in line with Microsoft's strategy of focusing on building up focused areas of search.

Ciao also includes consumer reviews and ratings with its search results. They boast a multimillion-user-strong online community and see more than 26.5 million unique visitors per month across seven countries. So far, more than 5 million product reviews have been generated.

Ciao joins Farecast, FAST, and Powerset in Microsoft's portfolio of search-related acquisitions for 2008.

“Ciao's success has been led by a team of talented people who took a unique combination of intuitive technology and the insight that comes out of their passionate consumer community to become one of Europe's leading shopping comparison sites,” said John Mangelaars, vice president, Consumer and Online, Microsoft Europe, Middle East and Africa. “This makes the company a fantastic asset to the future of our search offer. Integrating Ciao's capabilities into Live Search will provide a strong launchpad for our commercial search offer in Europe and enhance our e-commerce offering on MSN.”

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 29, 2008, 8:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SEW Experts: For Local Search, It's All About the Online-Offline Gap

Search Engine Watch Expert - Michael Boland Though search volume continues to rise and capture a growing percentage of product research, more than 95 percent of actual purchase behavior in the U.S. still takes place offline. In today's vertical search column, "For Local Search, It's All About the Online-Offline Gap," local search expert Michael Boland explains that the need to bridge the gap between the online and offline worlds is a key issue in local search.

» Full story

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

SEW Experts: Looking for Answers in a Search Marketing Forum? Be Specific!

Search Engine Watch Expert - Frank Watson Search Engine Watch Expert - Chris Boggs If you're a newbie looking for guidance in search marketing, there are plenty of places to find it, if you know how to best phrase your request for information. In today's SEM Crossfire column, "Looking for Answers in a Search Marketing Forum? Be Specific!," Frank Watson and Chris Boggs remind us that search marketing has grown into a very broad field, but if you take the time to ask specific questions, you're much more likely to get you the answers you need.

» Full story

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

SEW Experts: There's No Secret Recipe to SEO

Search Engine Watch Expert - William Flaiz Some marketers are looking for a secret, step-by-step recipe to SEO success. But while a general framework is necessary to be effective, the search engine optimization process must be adaptable. In today's SEM agency issues column, "There's No Secret Recipe to SEO," William Flaiz shares some tips for guiding you down the path to SEO success.

» Full story

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

How Search Marketers Can Use Landing Page Testing to Influence Offline Ad Campaigns

Search marketers deal with landing pages everyday in their work, but not all landing pages are created for paid search campaigns. Many landing pages, or sometimes entire sites are created for offline advertising on television, radio, and magazine ads.

Should these landing pages be tested as well? I talked to Google Website Optimizer's Tom Leung to get his thoughts on how testing can influence offline campaigns.

Leung said there are two ways that tools like Website Optimizer can be used in offline campaigns:

As already mentioned, to test landing pages created for traffic coming in from offline ad campaigns.
Using paid search or display ad campaigns to make informed decisions on creatives designed for offline ad campaigns.

The second point really got my attention. Leung expanded by saying that SEM's can use landing page testing as a "bargaining chip to get a seat at the table with other marketers in your organization."

This information gained from testing is highly useful to marketers planning offline campaigns. As a search marketer, you can use testing and analytics tools to be the one in their department or agency who knows the most about a target audience. That knowledge is highly useful to your colleagues, and can help you work more as an integrated team.

Even though offline and online campaigns can generate interest from consumers with different expectations, at the very least, testing can rule out things that don't work. An image, text, or highlighted feature that just doesn't resonate can be discovered through landing page testing. Marketers can test these factors in a paid search or other online ad test, and use the results to develop creatives for offline ads.

Online ad tests can also be used in advance of an offline-to-web ad campaign.

For offline traffic driven to landing pages, you can use those preliminary tests to narrow down the number of landing page options for the initial traffic driven from the offline ad. When the offline traffic begins to arrive (and you're expecting enough traffic to run a test), you can test the first visitors. You don't want to test more than 1 page per 100 conversions. Multivariate testing should generally be reserved for large, national campaigns.

WiderFunnel Marketing used Website Optimizer for Tourism BC's TV-to-Web ad campaign for HelloBC.com. According to a published case study, the campaign targeted the Los Angeles and San Francisco markets. Tourism BC experienced a 52% conversion rate (filling out a web form), up 7% from the previous year.

Even though search marketing has been gaining ground for years, SEMs still may find themselves struggling to lend their insight to traditional marketing methods that have been around for decades. Landing page testing is not just a must for SEMs in their own work but can be a strength to participate in the greater strategy at hand.

What do you think about landing page testing and integrating marketing campaigns? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 28, 2008, 11:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Realtor.com Reveals Increase in Local Market Searches

Though the housing sector has been in turmoil for about a year now, last month showed a glimmer of hope with new home sales up 2.4% month over month in July.

Real estate search site Realtor.com is reaping the benefit of the little good news there is out there for the real estate industry. In July, Realtor.com saw increases in searches for certain local markets around the country, and they are:

Stockton-Lodi, CA 140.9%
Las Vegas, NV 93.9%
Fort Myers-Cape Coral, FL 69.5%
Detroit, MI 51.8%
Washington, DC-MD-VA-WV, VA 49.1%

As a result, traffic to the site is up 9.5% year-over-year, despite an overall industry traffic slump declining 1% year-over-year.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 28, 2008, 10:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Judge Throws Out Copyright Infringement Suit Against Online Video Site Veoh

A California federal court judge, Judge Howard Lloyd, has thrown out a copyright infringement suit against online video site Veoh. The suit was brought by adult entertainment company IO Group.

The judge's reasoning was that Veoh is protected by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's (DMCA) safe harbor provisions. Since Veoh takes quick action in light of copyright issues, they are not acting illegally.

“Veoh has a strong DMCA policy, takes active steps to limit incidents of infringement on its website and works diligently to keep unauthorized works off its site,” wrote Judge Lloyd.

Guess who loves this ruling? Google. It's currently facing its own copyright infrigement suit brought against YouTube by Viacom. Because the Veoh case was heard in California, it doesn't set precedent for the YouTube case in New York. But Google hopes the Veoh ruling is still influential.

via NYT

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 28, 2008, 9:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Market Motive Search Marketing Certification Program

Market Motive announced today that they are launching a new search engine marketing certification program. The program is designed to complement their existing online training programs. Certification programs will cover SEO, web analytics, and paid search. All courses leading up to the certification are taught by known industry experts.

More details for the search engine marketing certification program can be found at http://www.marketmotive.com/search-marketing-certification.php. This web page includes a 2 minute introductory video by Michael Stebbins, CEO and co-founder of Market Motive.

Costs of the program begin at $299. Existing members of Market Motive get access to the practitioner level testing and certification at no extra cost.

Posted by on August 28, 2008, 8:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SEW Experts: Get Links Now: Make a Difference, Make Connections

Search Engine Watch Expert - Sage Lewis Want to solve the link building riddle? Stop thinking about money and start thinking about something bigger. In today's link building column, "Get Links Now: Make a Difference, Make Connections," Sage Lewis shows you how getting outside of your own little world can expand your horizons, as well as your link portfolio.

» Full story

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

SEW Experts: Leveraging Social Media to Educate

Search Engine Watch Expert - Ron Jones There's been lots of hype about social media lately. But what's it mean from a business perspective? How can it help you educate potential clients or customers, or spread the word about your product or idea so that people are talking about it among themselves? In today's SEM.edu column, "Leveraging Social Media to Educate," Ron Jones explores the basics of social media, and tells you how to get started using it to help spread that awareness you seek.

» Full story

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

Google's Search Experiments are Sometimes Subtle

Have you ever been around a friend who points out a flaw about themselves and you say, "I would never have noticed that if you hadn't pointed it out?"

Google is doing the same thing sans flaws.

On the Official Google Blog, Ben Gomes explains that sometimes Google's search experiments are very subtle. They'll test things like white space in the search results or how big the plus box should be next to a stock quote link.

The differences among the options being tested are very difficult to detect without being told what's going on. But the results of tests show that even a small number of pixels can make a big difference. For example, it could mean the difference between a searcher spending a lot of time on one search result - and not necessarily the first one - or a searcher being able to scan the results more easily. And then Google has to decide which is better.

All in all, Google's search experiments are not always about the alogorithm. What do you think of these experiments? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 27, 2008, 11:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Searches for Hybrids Up 43% from March to July 2008

Recently, CarMax released a new search feature allowing car buyers to search for vehicles by Miles Per Gallon (MPG). Now, they're releasing data shedding light on that decision.

From the period beginning March 2008 and ending in July, searches for hybrid vehicles increased by 43%. The spike is, of course, driven by high gas prices during that time, and hybrids get great gas mileage.

CarMax is also pointing out that cost alone isn't a reason to switch to hybrids. It can take years to make up for the extra cost, and thousands of non-hybrid cars in its inventory can get up to 25 to over 30 MPG.

This is such a great example of what a company can do by paying attention to analytics and what consumers are searching for. It also shows the importance of investing in a solid site search.

How does this inspire you to do the same in your search marketing efforts? Give us your ideas in the comments section.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 27, 2008, 10:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Ask Relaunches AskKids.com with Updated Design, Cool Drawing Feature

As a new homeschooling parent, finding online learning resources that are safe, well-designed, and fun for my kids is important - but inexplicably difficult. That's why I was thrilled to learn about Ask.com's expansion and redesign of AskKids.com.

I've already found Ask.com itself to be a great search engine for my kids, with its suggested searches and images in the sidebars.

But AskKids.com gives me even more confidence. Plus, there's a SUPER FUN feature on the front page.

At the bottom right corner, there's a box with a pen, pencil and highlighter. You can grab one of the utensils with your mouse and draw directly on the page! It rocks. There's also a tab for "stickers" that you can put on your drawing.

Moving on to the search side of things, on the front page, in addition to the traditional search box, there are 5 categories kids can go directly to: Schoolhouse, Movies, Games, Video, and Images.

Clicking on one of the categories brings up even more options along with traditional search results.

Conducting a traditional search was much like doing so on Ask.com There's only one sidebar, on the left, and no images.

I do have two criticisms:
1. The design theme is built around a traditional school setting. Kids are so much more than school. The background design of notebook paper is not a great way to reach kids, who learn much better through visual and interactive approahches and are far more tech-savvy than traditional, old school (pun fully intended) educational methods.

2. The search results have ads taking up a good portion of the space. The same criticism can be made of the Ask.com page. Being user-friendly and not ad friendly almost always wins the day and it would be nice if Ask could figure out a more user-friendly way to make the moolah.

Still, the homepage design is at least better than the old version:

What do you think of the new AskKids.com? Leave us your impressions in the comments.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 27, 2008, 10:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

AdWords Report Center Will Remove Older Reports September 2

Google AdWords will remove older reports from its Report Center beginning September 2. Reports that are 6 months old or older, or before March 2, 2008, will be removed.

The data will not be removed, just the reports.

Until September 2, you can export these reports to Google Spreadsheets or .CSV files, Excel, HTML or another format.

Expect the purging of 6 month old or older reports to happen periodically going forward.

via Inside AdWords

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 27, 2008, 9:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Microsoft Top Display Advertiser for June 2008

comScore has released display ad data for June 2008. Microsoft was the top display advertiser, while Fox Interactive Media, with its ownership of MySpace, was the top publisher.

180 million unique visitors were exposed to display ads in June. On the publisher side, Yahoo reached 130,680,000 and Fox reached 83,714,000. On the advertiser side, Microsoft reached 126,367,000 of them. Ask Networks advertised to 102,565,000, coming in as the 10th top display advertiser.

Here are the charts:

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 27, 2008, 9:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SEW Experts: Rehabilitating SEO

Search Engine Watch Expert - Kevin Ryan Search marketers are some of the most passionate and dedicated people I've ever encountered. Those seeking to advance their position within search results can easily become obsessed (to the point of addiction) with checking results and positioning. In today's Searching for Meaning column, "Rehabilitating SEO," Kevin Ryan asks, when considering how your SEO time is spent, what's important and what isn't so important? What kinds of things are OK to obsess over? Are there ways to improve or correct obsessive SEO behavior?

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on August 27, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

SEW Experts: A Challenge to our Attention-Challenged Generation

Search Engine Watch Expert - Eric Enge Nothing important ever gets invented, created or built without putting in some serious time. In today's Web analytics and ROI column, "A Challenge to our Attention-Challenged Generation," Eric Enge reminds us that if we want to get some real work done, we need to stop accepting interruptions from the Internet, e-mail, cell phone, texts, IM, and other technologies.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on August 27, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SES San Jose 2008: Top 10 Stories

Over the past few days, more and more articles and posts from SES San Jose 2008 have been written. I'm sure there will be more stories to come out of the event, but this seems like a good time to recap the conference.

Google%20versus%20Yahoo%20Foosball%20Match.jpg A quick Google News search for “SES San Jose” finds 276 articles from the past month – 138 when the duplicates are removed. A search in Yahoo! News for “SES San Jose” finds 114 articles from the past month. A query in Google Blog Search for “SES San Jose” finds 5,554 blog posts that mention “SES San Jose” from the past month, 337 when the duplicates are removed.

A little content analysis reveals the top 10 stories from the past month that were triggered by a keynote, panel, session or workshop at the 10th annual SES confence. Seven of these stories were ones that I predicted in my post on the Search Engine Watch Blog entitled "SES San Jose tip sheet for bloggers and journalists." But three of the top stories came as surprises -- even to an SES veteran like myself. Here, in order, are the Big Ten.

Kevin Ryan, VP, Global Content Director, SES & Search Engine Watch. (Twenty-three articles and 72 unduplicated blog posts, including “SES San Jose Photos – Paparazzi Style” by Lee Odden of TopRank's Online Marketing Blog.

Tuesday Morning Keynote by Satya Nadella, SVP, Search, Portal & Advertising Platform Group, Microsoft. (Nineteen articles and 69 unduplicated blog posts, including “Is Microsoft's Vision of Search Enough to Catch Google?” by Rob Hof of BusinessWeek. Rob wrote, “It would be dangerous for anyone to write off Microsoft. Its determination was on display today at the Search Engine Strategies conference in San Jose. Satya Nadella, Microsoft's senior VP of search, portal, and advertising platform group, told the crowd that he sees searchers moving from merely typing keywords into Google to getting tasks done.”

Matt Cutts, Software Engineer Guru of Google. (Ten articles, 74 blog posts and a YouTube video entitled “Matt Cutts on Big Brand BlackHat Sites” on the ChrisDaviesCa Channel. Chris happened to be sitting next to Matt, Google's head of webspam, when Matt weighed in about big brand sites that have been banned for black hat seo practices during the Black Hat/White Hat session during SES San Jose 2008.

Danny Sullivan, Editor-in-Chief of Search Engine Land. (Eleven articles, 41 unduplicated blog posts and a video interview by Mike McDonald of the WebProNews Video Blog entitled, “SES: Staying Focused On Search.”) Danny said that social marketing and all sorts of other things can be useful, but it's important to get back to the search marketing basics.

Universal & Blended Search. (Four articles, 42 unduplicated blog posts and a video interview for the SESConferenceExpo channel entitled, "Johanna Wright of Google on Google Universal Search." Johanna gives some insight into how vertical search results are blended into universal search results and advocates a thoughtful approach to making information accessible to Google through use of sitemaps and detailed descriptions.

Keynote Roundtable: Why Does Search Get the Credit for Everything? (Four articles and 38 blog posts, including “SES roundtable: Search shouldn't take all the credit” by Ellen Keohane of DM News. Ellen wrote, “Search marketing often gets credit for the final sale or conversion, even when it shouldn't, according to a roundtable discussion today at Search Engine Strategies in San Jose.”

Opening Keynote Presentation by Lee Siegel, author of Against the Machine. (Two articles and 27 unduplicated blog posts, including "Trust: The Backbone of Consumer Satisfaction" by Kevin Lee of ClickZ.) Kevin wrote, “In an afternoon keynote, Lee Siegel, author of "Against the Machine," predicted a backlash against the Internet as it has evolved. His book (which I've partially read) discusses how there are unforeseen consequences due to technology, and the Internet is responsible for largely unforeseen positive and negative effects on individuals and society.”

Thursday Morning Keynote: Dan Heath, author of Made to Stick. (One article and 27 unduplicated blog posts, including “Dan Heath 2008 SES San Jose Keynote” on WebmasterRadio.FM.) Listen to Dan explain Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die as he delivers his 2008 SES San Jose Keynote. Dan offers six key factors for sticky ideas, plus offers numerous supporting examples.

Orion Panel: How Much Search is Enough? (Three articles and 19 unduplicated blog posts, including “SES San Jose 2008 - Where's Money For Search Going?” by Manoj Jasra of WebProNews. Manoj wrote, “How much Search is enough? Aaron Goldman of Resolution Media, Steven Kaufman of Digitas, Robert Murray of iProspect and Bob Tripathi of Discover Financial Services were posed that very question by SES's own, Kevin Ryan.”

Orion Panel: Technical & Information Giants. (Six articles and 15 unduplicated blog posts, including “Technical & Information Giants Keynote - SES San Jose 2008” by Jason McElweenie of The SEM Blog. Jason wrote, “WOW. Let me repeat that. WOW….This was a great panel of some very huge icons on the web today. Bravo SES!”

Posted by Greg Jarboe on August 26, 2008, 1:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Social Media is Key Component of Back-to-School Marketing Supply List

More retailers are turning to social media as part of their back-to-school marketing campaigns, according to Jupiter Research. From Facebook to widgets, from virtual worlds to online video, retailers are targeting youth, who may not share the same feelings as their parents about a tough economy.

“The back-to-school season has grown in importance for retailers and leads into the all important fourth quarter sales period,” explained Patti Freeman Evans, Research Director and Online Retail Analyst at JupiterResearch. “With the shaky economy expected to impact the amount of money consumers spend on back-to-school shopping, retailers are using social media to capture the attention of younger consumers.”

Examples of social media back-to-school implementation are JC Penny and Sears. Both retailers used integrated marketing campaigns, using tv ads to drive youth online where they can view tips on getting the same looks seen in the campaigns.

To promote its two new clothing lines, department store J.C.Penney created an online game called "DorkDodge" in which a girl has to navigate through a number of undesirable boyfriends to find her dream date. The retailer also launched an integrated marketing campaign showing teens how they can “get that look” with an array of clothing brands sold at J.C.Penney stores, featuring the theme of “The Breakfast Club.”

According to David Schatsky, President of JupiterResearch, “Retailers experimenting with Web 2.0 experiences will largely find benefit from them in the form of branding and awareness building rather than direct sales as social media has shown little direct impact on actual online retail sales.”

What do you think of using social media in your seasonal campaigns? Let us know in the comments.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 26, 2008, 10:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Newegg Defies State of New York with New Tax Policy

Electronics merchant Newegg.com has decided to not charge taxes in accordance with a new New York state law requiring e-commerce sites to collect sales taxes. The law, which went into effect June 1, is highly controversial. Amazon.com is suing the state of New York, saying the law is illegal and unconstitutional.

Opponents of the sales tax point to a 1992 Supreme Court ruling that said a mail-order company only has to pay taxes in the states where it has operations. Newegg only charges sales taxes in California, where the merchant is headquartered as well as Tennessee and New Jersey, where it has operations.

What do you think of Newegg's defiance? Is New York's tax law illegal? Sound off in the comments.

via Internet News, hat tip to Al Scillitani

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 26, 2008, 9:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Google Suggest to Be Set as Default on Homepage

Google is adding a feature that brings up suggested searches as you type, Google Suggest, as default on Google.com in the coming weeks. Google Suggest has been working on this feature for years, and it has been available to users in Google Labs.

Google has already added Suggest to the toolbar and YouTube.

Yahoo, Live.com, and Ask.com already offer search suggestions.

Like many updates and features, expect it to be rolled out to a few users first and then more and more as the days pass.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 26, 2008, 8:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SEW Experts: SEO Success -- Guess What...Content Works!

Search Engine Watch Expert - Mark Jackson You've heard it before, but that doesn't make it any less true: content is king. In today's natural search column, "SEO Success -- Guess What...Content Works!," Mark Jackson notes that while fixing problems and implementing some search engine-friendly practices can have an immediate effect on a site's search engine rankings, but for long-term improvement, no search engine optimization technique works better than creating quality content.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on August 26, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SEW Experts: Weapons of Mass Optimization

Search Engine Watch Expert - Aaron Shear Building an in-house SEO team can be a daunting task, especially for large organizations. With proper planning, the experience becomes more manageable, and success becomes more likely. In today's enterprise search marketing column, "Weapons of Mass Optimization," Aaron Shear reminds us that when planning such a big project, the key is to start small, and pay attention to the smaller details within the larger project.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on August 26, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

AOL, Live.com, and Ask.com Best Search Engines for Democratic National Convention Info

With the Democratic National Convention starting today in Denver, I thought it would be prudent to see which search engine is handling the highly anticipated event the best. Of course, Microsoft rocked the Olympics and outpaces everyone in mapping Georgia, but who's got political game?

Microsoft proved again that it's on top of current events, but it's AOL that takes the cake in my book. First, AOL makes use of its design as a portal to serve up content on the homepage, which eliminates searching for today's biggest US story.

Then, AOL makes use of its news and content networks to provide relevant links in its search results. Something that caught my eye is a link to News Video. I would have thought YouTube would dominate online video for the conventions, especially considering their involvement in the debates. But YouTube left a lot to be desired, while AOL News Video served up relevant, organized video.

AOL Homepage

AOL convention search results

AOL News Video results

YouTube results

Ask.com didn't have to do anything different. Their usual results, which includes a right sidebar with images, provided a nice offering of convention-related content.

Ask.com search results

Microsoft's Live.com could have made use of their new design, making the image of the day related to the convention. But they still have an Olympics-themed image up. Still, a search provides the latest convention news results at the top, and I like how their links to image, video, and other types of search are below the search box instead of on top. That helps users find what they're looking for even better. Searching for video via Live.com brings up results from AOL, YouTube and other sources such as the AP. The videos are organized like image results, which makes for quick browsing - probably quicker than AOL or YouTube. However, some of the videos are from past conventions.

Live.com search results

Live.com video search results

As I was writing this, Yahoo changed its results. Before, it showed News Results about halfway down the page, now news results for the convention are at the top. This puts it on par with Microsoft. Yahoo does take slight advantage of being a portal to provide content right on the front page so no searching is involved. But today's headline is the new Dancing With the Stars cast and whether Kim Kardashian's foot injury will prevent her from participating.

Yahoo convention search results

Google offered nothing special. They both provided News Results, but placed them about halfway down the page.

Google results

Yahoo front page

But don't take my word for it. Do some searching of your own and then leave a comment giving your vote for best search engine for Presidential politics.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 25, 2008, 11:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Trulia Rolls Out Three New Interactive Features

Real estate search engine Trulia today announced three new features to assist home buyers, sellers and agents. Personalized news feeds, mobile applications, and a blogging platform are now available to those in the home buying and selling process.

The personalized news feed can be found on Trulia's homepage and includes new property listings, home prices changes, upcoming open houses, median sales price trends, recently sold properties, relevant blogs and Q&As from our Trulia Voices Community.

New mobile apps are available for iPhone and iPod touch users as well as owners BlackBerry, Blackjack, Sony Ericsson, Nokia and many more mobile phones.

The iPhone/iPod touch app can search via price, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, square footage, color photos and local open house information. The app can detect location for the 3G phones based on the location-aware technology, or other users can simply input their location.

For other mobile phone users, you can use an interactive mobile map. Search options include property details, color photos and updated open house dates and times.

Trulia has also partnered with Dash Navigation to provide real estate search via their GPS device, Dash Express. The device is Internet-connected, providing users with real time search results.

Last but not least, the new blogging platform enables agents as well as home buyers and sellers to communicate about the real estate process. From home renovations to open houses, users can blog to their hearts desire, with the opportunity to reach Trulia's 5 million users right off the bat.

What do you think about Trulia's new features? Let us know in the comments.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 25, 2008, 10:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

MapQuest Partners with Citysearch for Comprehensive Search Results

In February, AOL announced a partnership with Citysearch to distribute its data across its network. Now, MapQuest has announced that it is integrating Citysearch's data to provide more comprehensive search results. Features such as reviews, menus, and photos will be available for select listings.

When you conduct a search, if you see an gold icon with a star on it, that's your clue to click for the new results. I was unable to find an icon after several searches, but here's a screenshot from MapQuest:

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 25, 2008, 9:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SEW Experts: Killer PPC Ads: The Fundamentals

Search Engine Watch Expert - David Szetela Writing small, punchy ads requires plenty of art and science. In today's Profitable PPC column, "Killer PPC Ads: The Fundamentals," David Szetela offers some guidelines to help you get more clicks and stymie your competitors.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on August 25, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Implications of Google's AdWord Changes

Google quietly announced the changes to AdWords on Thursday through their blog. Last day of Search Engine Strategies conference may have been a strategy in itself.

I had not heard of this during the conference - though it was a hectic one to say the least.

But from what I have read, Google is about to turn back on all inactive keywords - that is a lot of accounts that will suddenly see a spike in spend. So long as the bids are low enough it may not be too big of an impact - but if the rest of the words in the account have a high default bid it could be creating some major spends.

Add to that that we are now seeing bids required to occupy front page positions, it sounds like a push to the former Overture bidding system - is being attempted.

Google has become a lot more aggressive in its promoting of its products. The new Ad Placement tab was a major effort to reignite interest in the content network. Is this an attempt to ignite bidding on the main paid search listings?

We need to make sure we are not going through another let the customers paying for our tweaking of minimum bids. Now that many people leave terms that have gone inactive still in their groups, this turn on could net Google a nice spike in income.

Add that to the spike in CPCs when bidding for front page takes off and I think the shares I have in Google will be going up a little in the near future.

Posted by Frank Watson on August 22, 2008, 6:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Yahoo! Launches oneSearch Shortcut on Nokia Devices

Yahoo! is rolling out a new mobile search feature for Nokia devices. The feature is a shortcut that allows users to access oneSearch via one click on the downloadable mobile search client.

The feature is available on Series 60 Nokia devices North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and South America.

Yahoo says a key integration of the shortcut is Search Assist, which is search suggestion technology for oneSearch. Search Assist was launched last October and made its mobile debut this past April at CTIA.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 22, 2008, 12:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Women More Likely Than Men to Begin Real Estate Search Online

41% of women are likely to begin their search for a new home online, compared with just 25% of men, according to a survey released by Obeo. 52.6% of women and 45% of men research 21 or more homes online at some point during the process.

95% of women said photos of a home are very helpful in searching for a home and 70% of them said 360-degree panoramas are useful.

Obeo is a provider of interactive online marketing tools for the real estate industry.

"We know that today's home buyers are more knowledgeable about the process in general and have higher expectations of information provided regarding the homes in which they are interested," said Obeo CEO Glade Jones. "What this survey provides with its in-depth demographic analysis is a map to better serving that end consumer."

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 22, 2008, 11:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Google to Roll Out AdWords Quality Score Improvements

The team at Google AdWords has announced that they will be rolling out improvements to Quality Score in the coming weeks. There are three major improvements to expect:

Quality Score will now be more accurate because it will be calculated at the time of each search query
Keywords will no longer be marked 'inactive for search'
'First page bid' will replace 'minimum bid' in your account

Google gave an example of how the improvements all work together:

Nancy's Dairy advertises on the keyword 'milk.' Nancy's ads perform better on the keyword 'milk' in the U.S. than in Canada. Her ads also perform better on the query 'milk delivery' than on 'milk,' and better on certain search network sites than on others. Instead of one static Quality Score and minimum bid that determines whether the keyword 'milk' is eligible to trigger an ad for all search queries, we will now determine eligibility dynamically, based on factors such as location, the specific query, and other relevance factors. For that reason, Nancy's keyword 'milk' will be able to trigger an ad for search queries where it's likely to perform better, i.e., in the U.S., on 'milk delivery' and on certain search network sites.

The updates will be rolled out to a few users in the coming days before they're rolled out to everyone. Also, Google is hoping to update AdWords Editor and the AdWords API to support first page bidding, but for now, it still just supports minimum bidding.

What do you think of the announced improvements? Give us your reaction in the comments.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 22, 2008, 9:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Yahoo Releases New Version of Site Explorer

Yahoo has released a new look for Site Explorer. Currently, the new version can be found at https://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/new, but will be made default in the future.

The new look also comes with an update that increases the number of rules for Dynamic URL Rewriting from 3 to 10. Here are some screenshots of the new look:

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

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 22, 2008, 9:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Google Tops comScore Search Engine Rankings for July 2008

Google increased their market share of searches by 0.4% in July, coming in at 61.9%, according to comScore. That gain came at Yahoo's expense, who dropped 0.4% to 21.5%. Microsoft also dropped 0.3% to 8.9%. Both Ask and AOL picked up that gain. Here's the data:

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 22, 2008, 9:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SEW Experts: 6 Tips for Aligning Your National, Local SEM Efforts

Search Engine Watch Expert - Gregg Stewart With local search on the rise, it's important to keep your local campaigns in tune with your national efforts. In today's Vertical Search column, "6 Tips for Aligning Your National, Local SEM Efforts," Gregg Stewart discusses how to go after the local long tail, including customization, keyword lists, and tracking.

» Full story

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 22, 2008, 8:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

57% of Ad and Marketing Executives are Okay With Web Surfing at Work

The idea that surfing the web at work is taboo might largely be a myth. 57% of executives say it's alright that their employees browse non-work related websites during the work day, according to a survey by The Creative Group. 41% say it's not okay and 2% aren't sure.

Just how long can you surf before turning that yes into a no? The mean average is 32 minutes.

The survey was conducted among advertising and marketing executives, traditionally a field with more creative types.

"In the creative field, surfing non-work sites may be considered part of the job because it allows professionals to keep up with trends and seek new sources of inspiration," said Megan Slabinski, executive director of The Creative Group. "Also, many employers recognize that making appointments and attending to personal tasks online might actually improve productivity, since professionals can quickly take care of needs while in the office instead of stepping out."

What do you think about web use at work? Is that a completely ridiculous question to ask a bunch of SEOs? And just what is up the butt of the 41% who say no? Tell us in the comments.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 21, 2008, 11:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google News Enables Cross-Language Search

Lately, Google has had a global focus. Recently, they gave tips on developing a multi-lingual site. Now, they're enabling cross-language search in Google News.

Users most likely to notice the change reside in countries where there are few online news resources or where multiple languages are traditionally spoken. Despite the heavy influx of people from Spanish-speaking countries, Google says US users will primarily see English. So will users from the UK. However, if you sort your results by date, you may see sources from a foreign language.

If you type your query in another language, then your results will be from that language no matter where you're typing from.

In June, Google announced that it was testing new features in Google News, as "part of the evolving state of online journalism."

What do you think of enabling cross-language search in Google News?

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 21, 2008, 10:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

CitySquares.com is Fastest Growing Search Site

Hyper-local search site CitySquares.com is the fastest growing search site, according to Quantcast. Launched in 2005, focusing on Boston, CitySquares opened up to more locations this past June. Now the site features 1.5 million businesses in New York City, eastern New York State and all of New England.

Since the switch, traffic has increased by 1500%. If you're an SEO or SEM in the New England/New York area, you'll be happy to know that businesses are able to fully customize their CitySquares.com advertising campaign with SEO tools, content management, content syndication tools, email newsletters, video, etc and so on.

CitySquares also incorporates social media, with user reviews and ratings and other user-generated content.

Ben Saren, CEO of CitySquares.com, says this growth proves that consumers are finding the value of using a true hyper-local search site. “This kind of organic growth demonstrates that our model works and that we're addressing a shortcoming in the marketplace. Consumers are finding what they want and businesses are seeing excellent results. We are proud so many businesses refer to us as a trusted online resource.”

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 21, 2008, 10:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

IAC Completes Spinoff of Four Companies

IAC, the parent company of Ask.com, has completed the spinoff of four companies: HSN, Inc. (HSNi), Interval Leisure Group, Inc. (ILG), Ticketmaster and Tree.com. For every one share of IAC common stock held on August 11, 2008, the record date for the spin-off, or bought in the due bill period, holders received one-fifth of a share of common stock of each of HSNi, ILG and Ticketmaster, and one-thirtieth of a share of common stock of Tree.com. Immediately following the spin-off on August 20, 2008, IAC also effected a one-for-two reverse stock split.

Here are the new symbols for the companies being traded on the NASDAQ:

HSNi - HSNI
ILG - IILG
Ticketmaster - TKTM
Tree.com - TREE

Shares of IAC common stock will trade under the symbol "IACID" until September 19, 2008 in compliance with NASDAQ rules. Afterwards, IAC will trade again under its current symbol, IACI.

"Armed with outstanding management teams, appropriate capital structures and their own currencies, HSNi, Ticketmaster, Interval and Tree.com are now ready for independent futures ... while the Internet businesses that make up new IAC can operate with a collective purpose and common goals," said Barry Diller, Chairman and CEO of IAC. "The work is done and our focus now is moving forward."

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 21, 2008, 9:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yahoo Wins Gold Medal for Online Olympic Traffic

As U.S. workers continue to check out the Olympics online during the work week, Yahoo is beating the competition in drawing eyes to its Olympic content. But if your in management, don't freak out. Peak time for your employees' daily Olympic fix is lunch time. Check out this data from Nielsen Online.

Now, if you'll excuse me, the gold medal match for women's soccer is about to begin - US versus Brazil. Should be a good one!

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 21, 2008, 8:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SEW Experts: NBC's Olympic Fool's Gold; Google Comes Home Empty-Handed

Search Engine Watch Expert - Erik Qualman In the last days of the Olympics, many are taking stock of the unprecedented online coverage. In today's Brand Equity column, "NBC's Olympic Fool's Gold; Google Comes Home Empty-Handed ," Erik Qualman explains why NBC left a lot to be desired, and why Google was left in the dust.

» Full story

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 21, 2008, 1:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SES San Jose 2008: Top stories for Day 3 of SEM Conference & Expo

So much was taking place on Day 3 of SES San Jose 2008, even attendees needed to use news and blog search engines to keep up with more than 75 articles and posts coming out of the SEM conference & expo. Here are the top stories that represent just the tip of the iceberg:

Report: Bill Gates Remains Tied To Search
Doug Caverly of WebProNews reports, “The latest Nielsen stats put Microsoft's share of the search market at an unimpressive 11.9 percent. What's more (or to be accurate, less), its year-over-year growth is negative. But Microsoft's search team has an interesting ally in its corner, as it turns out Bill Gates may still be lending some sort of hand.”

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Google Dance 2008 (Photo by Byron Gordon)

SES roundtable: Search shouldn't take all the credit
Ellen Keohane of DM News reports, “Search marketing often gets credit for the final sale or conversion, even when it shouldn't, according to a roundtable discussion today at Search Engine Strategies in San Jose.”

Tools teach owners about Web site traffic
Deborah Gage of the San Francisco Chronicle reports, “Most people who search the Web are really stumbling in the dark. So said a couple of Google evangelists who spoke Tuesday to a packed audience, all looking for advice on how to light the path to their Web site's door.”

SEO Through Blogs and Feeds SES San Jose
Darrell Long of Search Engine Journal reports, “I am here at the first session of the day, yes I am up on time after the Google Dance! We have Rebecca Lieb, Contributing Editor, ClickZ moderating this morning.”

SES San Jose: News Search SEO
Jessica of TopRank's Online Marketing Blog writes, “News search engines offer a great way to receive targeted traffic related to breaking topics or to help with a public relations launch. In this session, industry experts Lee Odden, CEO of TopRank Online Marketing, Lisa Buyer, President & CEO of The Buyer Group and Greg Jarboe, President and Co-Founder, SEO-PR look at how to make use of press releases and news content to tap into the power of news search.”

Getting Vertical Search Right
Susan Esparza of the BruceClay.com SEO Blog writes, “Day 3 of SES San Jose and everyone looks a little tired from partying at the Googleplex last night. The coffee shop was out of bagels. That's a crime. I'm going to starve. My kingdom for some scrambled eggs. But enough about me. Moderator Lauren Vaccerello (FXCM) and panelists Philip James (Snooth, Inc), Jonathan Dingman (Digitally Imported, Inc) and Paul Forster (Indeed) are ready to go. On with the show!”

Measuring Web 2.0 with Star Trek - & SiteLogic's Matt Bailey
Matt Bailey of SiteLogic Marketing talks Trekkie lore and web analytics with Jamie O'Donnell of SEO-PR about his SES San Jose 2008 panel on Web 2.0 measurement. Matt's famous Star Trek/Web Analytics mashup played well at the show as he explained the increasing likelihood of Enterprise ensigns' chances of survival given various circumstances, including the color of their shirts, shuttlecraft landings, and the captain's amorous liaisons.

Blended Search Demands Blended Marketing and PR
Sally Falkow writes in her Website Content Strategy Blog, “At the session on Universal and blended search at SES San Jose we heard from all the search engines. Johanna Wright of Google, Cris Pierry of Yahoo! Erik collier of Ask and Todd Schwartz of LIve search all gave their insights and predictions about how search is displayed and how searchers view a results page.”

SEO Sucks at SES San Jose & The Google Dance
Jeremy Schoemaker of ShoeMoney writes, “I thought I would spice it up a bit and wear my ‘Seo Sucks' t-shirt as a bit of a social experiment to see what kind of reaction it would get. Being at the largest and most respected SEO gathering/conference I was curious to (see) the reaction.”

Search Marketing Agencies: Why Can't They Sell Themselves?
Julia Hyde of Creative Search Media reports, “If I was a prospect looking for an agency to represent my company, I'd throw my hands up in the air and make the decision to handle search marketing in house.”

AdGooroo Debuts Online Competitor Keyword Report
MarketingVOX reports, “Online keyword intelligence firm AdGooroo announced the release of the "Top Ad Copy Report," part of its SEM Insight offering. The report went live at the SES conference in San Jose this week.”

Posted by Greg Jarboe on August 21, 2008, 12:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

SEW Experts: The Beginning of the End? Or the End of the Beginning?

Search Engine Watch Expert - Kevin Ryan The state of the search marketing industry is almost always in flux. In today's Searching for Meaning column, "The Beginning of the End? Or the End of the Beginning?," Kevin Ryan takes a look at decline in CTRs and what it means for the future of search advertising.

» Full story

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 20, 2008, 3:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SES San Jose 2008: Top Stories from Day 2

There were more than 70 news articles and blog posts on Day 2 of SES San Jose 2008. And that doesn't include the video interviews from Day 1 which are being posted as we speak. Here are the some of top stories for those of those of you trying to glimpse the highlights -- when you really need to be here to get the full impact of the conference.

Is Microsoft's Vision of Search Enough to Catch Google?
Rob Hof of BusinessWeek writes, “It would be dangerous for anyone to write off Microsoft. Its determination was on display today at the Search Engine Strategies conference in San Jose, Satya Nardella, Microsoft's senior VP of search, portal, and advertising platform group, told the crowd that he sees searchers moving from merely typing keywords into Google to getting tasks done.

Matt%20Cutts%20at%20SES%20San%20Jose%202008.jpg
Matt Cutts, Software Engineer Guru, Google, draws a crowd following the Orion Keynote Panel: Technical & Information Giants at SES San Jose 2008 (Photo by Kelsey Jarboe)

Microsoft sees tailored search as way to pierce Google's armor
Stephen Shankland of CNET reports, “Microsoft believes it's found a way to gain an edge against Google's dominant search engine: a deeper understanding of what people are searching for and what's on Web pages. Specifically, the company believes examining a full sequence of user queries can lead to more useful results. Today, the company only keeps track of the immediately prior search, but often users use search engines to explore subject areas broadly, said Satya Nadella, senior vice president of Microsoft's search, portal and advertising platform group, at the Search Engine Strategies conference here."

Search engines under the spotlight this week
Sam Diaz of ZDNet writes, “I'm spending most of this week at the Intel Developer's Forum but also wanted to give some time to another show happening in the Bay Area this week: Search Engine Strategies, being held at the San Jose Convention Center in Silicon Valley. Monday was one of those unofficial days of the show - a handful of sessions and an opening keynote but no expo yet - so it was hard to gauge the sort of impact the show will have. But based on a few hours of hanging around and popping in and out of sessions, it's clear that search remains a hot sector with a lot of moving parts.”

Search Is No Longer an Afterthought for Brands
Anna Maria Virzi of The ClickZ Network, reports, “Unlike eight years ago, paid search campaigns are no longer a hard sell. Still, search marketers say they are haven't reached the equivalent of marketing nirvana -- ensuring that search is always part of an integrated campaign. However, search marketers and others speaking at the Search Engine Strategies conference this week in San Jose, CA, pointed to inroads being made.”

SES San Jose: Microsoft dedicated to investment in search
Ellen Keohane of DMNews reports, “Delivering the best results is the key to growing Microsoft's search marketing business, said Satya Nadella, SVP of Microsoft's search, portal and advertising group. In his keynote speech this morning at the Search Engine Strategies conference in San Jose, CA, Nadella said that Microsoft has to ‘build a search experience that's great. We've made decent progress but have a long way to go.'”

SES: Thumbnails, Thumbnails, Thumbnails!
Optimizing video content isn't really much different from optimizing textual content. In fact, as YuMe.com vice president Bob Bahramipour told Mike McDonald at SES San Jose, most video content is still found the old-fashioned way: via textual search engines.

Small Business Viral Marketing Tips, SES San Jose 2008
Jennifer Laycock and Andrew Goodman of Page Zero Media follow up their SES San Jose 2008 ""Igniting Viral Campaigns"" session with a discussion of the best tips on viral campaigns and social media marketing, especially for small business who want to make the most of their business online without spending too much money. The two talk about using social media sites like Linkedin and Twitter to communicate one's marketing message to a dedicated and enthusiastic audience.

5 Things No One Will Tell You About SEM
Sheara Wilensky of Promediacorp is blogging for Search Engine Roundtable. She writes, “Finding keywords, trying different ad copy, testing landing pages, bid managing – blah blah blah. You already know what managing SEM is about. But if you crave the new SEM tactic, the unknown search story, the changing market dynamics of SEM that few understand and even fewer talk about, come to this session, where Omniture and an SEM "dream team" panel will push the conference envelope and make you — yes, even you— all-stars: better, more knowledgeable, and aware of what's really going on in search.”

SES San Jose Expo Hall Photos
Dana Larson of the TopRank Online Marketing Blog writes, “Today the Expo Hall at SES San Jose opened. Time to collect astronomical amounts of swag and drop your business card to win a free iPhone! The expo hall every year is full of some of the best products and services available for any online marketing team, and this year was absolutely no different.”

SES San Jose Photos - Day 2
Andy Beal of Marketing Pilgrim captures Day 2 of SES San Jose 2008 in photos.

Quote Of Day 2 - SES San Jose 2008
Mel Carson's Internet Marketing Blog captures the quote of the day from SES San Jose 2008, which is a quotation from Samuel Johnson (1709 - 1784), “The trade of advertising is now so near perfection that it is not easy to propose any improvement.”

Posted by Greg Jarboe on August 20, 2008, 12:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

American Airlines Launches In-Flight Internet Access Service

American Airlines today began offering in-flight internet access on select flights. For $12.95, passengers flying Boeing 767-200 aircraft on non-stop flights between New York and San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles, and New York and Miami can browse to their heart's desire.

The mobile broadband service is called Gogo and is provided by Aircell. Passengers can access the internet once the plane has reached 10,000 feet. Cell phone and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services are not included.

“We are pleased to provide our customers with the unprecedented ability to stay connected to their family, friends and business associates on the ground via the Internet while traveling at 30,000 feet above the United States,” said Dan Garton, American's Executive Vice President – Marketing. “With today's launch, American Airlines makes history as the first and only U.S. airline to offer customers full inflight Internet connectivity, demonstrating once again our industry leadership and focus on our customers.”

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 20, 2008, 11:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Local Online Advertising Does Best on Local Media Sites

When it comes to local advertising, the best conversions come from local media sites, such as newspaper and tv station sites, according to a new report from the Online Publishers Association (OPA). Local media sites see a higher percentage of visitors taking actions on local ads compared to a user review site or a portal.

Local Newspaper Site: 46%
Local Television Site: 44%
Local Magazine Site: 42%
User Review Site: 39%
Portal: 37%

2,069 local online content consumers were selected randomly for the study conducted by Jupiter Research for OPA.

“With strong brands and trusted environments, local media sites deliver concrete results for local advertisers,” said OPA president Pam Horan. “Our analysis of the Jupiter data finds that consumers are more likely to act on the ads they see on local TV, newspaper and magazine sites. Just as we see on a national scale, media sites outpace portals and all other online media at delivering meaningful advertising results.”

What do you think of the data? Does it change the way you think about local advertising? Give us your perspective in the comments.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 20, 2008, 10:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

SearchIgnite Releases Version 3.0 of Media Optimization Platform

SearchIgnite has announced the release of the next generation of its media optimization tool. The updates featured in Version 3.0 are:

Full multi-channel media tracking and reporting: Track and report on paid search, display, paid inclusion, organic search, e-mail and more to better understand the consumer sales funnel and properly attribute online media channels that lead to a sale.
Assist keyword reporting: Run assist reports to view which keywords play a role in the customer search cycle - from generating interest up to a conversion.
Custom KPIs: Input specific metrics or formulas to generate custom metrics in standard SearchIgnite reports.
44 new reports available: 44 new reports that can be run with the push of button, including creative and landing page testing reports.
One page access to all reporting functionality: All reports and reporting functionality accessible through a central dashboard, with everything available in one click in both a graphical and “data only” view to make reporting on campaign performance faster and more efficient.

“We are pleased to release what we believe is simply the most advanced optimization and reporting technology currently offered for sophisticated marketers,” said Roger Barnette, President of SearchIgnite. “For marketers with large or complex search campaigns, SearchIgnite offers unmatched algorithmic, manual and rules based optimization to save time and improve ROI. The latest platform now provides the most comprehensive and actionable reporting available within the industry for measuring campaign performance across all major online media.”

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 20, 2008, 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Website Optimizer Enables Pruning and Offline Validation

Google has released a major update to Website Optimizer, which contains new features that will have users breathing a sigh of relief.

First up, you can now disable combinations that just aren't working out for you. Dubbed "Experiment Pruning," the feature allows users to eliminate combinations that are poorly performing or just don't make sense for your campaign. This can help you achieve faster results as well as set up a reasonable number of combinations relative to the traffic you expect to receive.

Next, offline validation is now available for pages that aren't accessible to Website Optimizer. Simply upload a copy of the tagged page and Website Optimizer says everything will be tagged properly.

Finally, reporting has been updated to better show which combinations are performing well and which ones aren't. Google hopes this will prevent false conclusions and prematurely ended campaigns.

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

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 20, 2008, 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SEW Experts: What Are You Converting?

Search Engine Watch Expert - Tim Ash Think a sale is the only conversion worth measuring? You might want to think again. In today's By The Numbers column, "What Are You Converting?," Tim Ash goes through the various events worth measuring, showing that reaching a customer can take on many forms.

» Full story

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 20, 2008, 1:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

AdGooroo Founder Authors Search Advertising Book

Richard Stokes, the founder of search marketing firm AdGooroo, has announced the publication of his new book, Mastering Search Advertising – How the Top 3% of Search Advertisers Dominate Google AdWords. In the book, Stokes walks through the basics of setting up a PPC campaign and uses graphs and case studies to demonstrate successful marketing strategies. Stokes bases his information on 15 years of search marketing experience as well as competitive intelligence data from AdGooroo.

"Readily available marketing tips and tutorials, accessible on the Internet and other public forums, tend to be outdated or incorrect, while the techniques that really deliver results are kept close to the chest of those in the dominating minority,” explains Stokes. “This doesn't have to be the case, and the book provides the majority of search marketers with the tools and insights they need to improve their performance and level the playing field.”

The book is available through major retailers. You can read samples from the book here.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 19, 2008, 1:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Introducing Google Without All the Google

Want to search Google for results that don't include sites under the Google umbrella? Try Google Minus Google. The site shows YouTube-less, Knol-less, and Blogger-less results.

The site was started by Finnish blogger Timo Paloheimo, who was inspired by an article in the New York Times asking the question, Is Google a Media Company? Paloheimo claims he received 3,000 visits the very first day.

via NYT

Related Reading:
Is Google Becoming a Portal?

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 19, 2008, 1:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Microsoft adCenter Updates Credit Card Options

Over the weekend, Microsoft rolled out an update to adCenter. The update released new credit card options for users.

One of the changes has to do with paying your adCenter bill. Now you can pay an outstanding balance anytime - not just during the regular monthly payment.

Another change has to do unused credit cards. You're now able to remove credit cards that you're not using for adCenter payments.

Last but not least, Microsoft says the process for adding a new credit card has been streamlined.

What do you think about these updates? Tell us your perspective in the comments.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 19, 2008, 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Yahoo Buzz Now Open to All Publishers

Earlier this year, Yahoo launched a content discovery and voting site that it dubbed Yahoo Buzz. The content was only collected from select publishers.

Now, that all has changed.

Last night, Yahoo opened up Buzz to all publishers. Kind of like Technorati, you can now submit your site content as well as place Buzz buttons on your site.

Yahoo says sites saw their traffic soar as a result of being Buzzed. The site has already seed 5 million members, and now it's your turn to get their attention.

What do you think of this announcement? Will you get your site Buzzed? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 19, 2008, 10:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Friendster Deploys OpenSocial API

Friendster has today announced the deployment of the OpenSocial API. Friendster is encouraging developers to make use of the API to reach its 75 million members. Google launched OpenSocial, a set of APIs, last fall. Earlier this month, Friendster named Richard Kimber, former regional managing director of South Asia for Google, as its new CEO.

"With widespread support throughout the industry, OpenSocial has become a de facto standard for developers of social applications. OpenSocial makes it easier than ever for developers to build and distribute their applications across multiple destination sites like Friendster. Developers can spend less of their time on integrating and more of their time on building interesting, useful, fun, and/or compelling features," said David Jones, vice president of global marketing for Friendster. "Everybody wins - users gain access to new features, developers can introduce their innovations to the massive user bases of social networks, and social networks gain third-party features to continue to drive up user engagement on social networks."

"We are pleased that Friendster has deployed OpenSocial APIs for the benefit of users and developers alike," said David Glazer, director of engineering at Google. "Friendster's launch is another major milestone in the adoption and deployment of OpenSocial throughout the social web and around the world. We're particularly excited that OpenSocial is helping Friendster bring new social applications to users in Asia, and we look forward to seeing users embrace these apps."

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 19, 2008, 10:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

WebTrends Launches New Service to Reduce Wasted Ad Dollars

WebTrends estimates that $4.5 million will be wasted in search advertising this year. That's why they're launching a new service: Ad Director. Debuting at SES San Jose, Ad Director uses self-learning technology to optimize millions of combinations of keywords, landing pages and ads across the major search networks. WebTrends says that companies using the solution have seen their return on ad spend increase an average of 44 percent.

“We have customers that are realizing over 1,500 percent return on ad spend after switching from their old bid management tools,” said Alex Yoder, the newly minted WebTrends CEO. “But more importantly, all WebTrends Ad Director customers have seen substantial gains over bid management, while reducing the manual overhead associated with these outdated solutions. With WebTrends Ad Director, we have struck the optimal balance between what machines can do best — repetitive analysis, testing and updates on a massive scale — and the insight and perspective humans bring to search marketing decisions.”

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 19, 2008, 9:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Web Analytics Association Adds Yahoo's Mortenson to Board of Directors

The Web Analytics Association has announced the addition of Yahoo's Dennis Mortensen to their board of directors. Mortensen is Director of Data for the Sunnyvale search engine, arriving there from IndexTools, which was acquired by Yahoo earlier this year. He will serve through 2010.

WAA Chairman Jim Sterne said, "Dennis Mortensen is a pioneer and expert in the Web Analytics industry, having worked in the field of internet analysis and statistics since 1996. He is a thought leader in web analytics and online marketing, and we are delighted to have him on board. I know that he will be a tremendous asset to the Board as we work, lead and support the online marketing analytics profession in the years ahead."

"I believe the WAA is in a position to become a much larger and more prominent voice in the industry on such items as privacy, standards, member qualification and certifications," Dennis Mortensen noted. "I look forward to working with Jim and fellow Board members to move these issues forward."

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 19, 2008, 9:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SEW Experts: Search Engine Optimization: Back To Basics

Search Engine Watch Expert - Mark Jackson With students everywhere preparing to go back to school, now is a good time to (re)visit SEO's foundational principles. In today's Au Natural column, "Search Engine Optimization: Back to Basics," Mark Jackson is teaching SEO 101, and class is now in session.

» Full story

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 19, 2008, 8:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SEW Experts: SEM Success In 10 Minutes A Day

Search Engine Watch Expert - Carrie Hill If you're a small business owner, it can be difficult to juggle your responsibilities. In today's small business SEM column, "SEM Success In 10 Minutes A Day," Carrie Hill gives you 10 search marketing tips that take just 10 minutes a day or less.

» Full story

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 19, 2008, 8:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SES San Jose 2008: Top Stories from Day 1 of Conference

There have already been more than 65 news articles and blog posts from SES San Jose 2008 – and it's just Day 1 of the conference. Looking through the event coverage, here are the top stories for those of you who are trying to keep up with the latest news and developments.

SES San Jose: Kevin Ryan
WebProNews spoke with Kevin Ryan at SES San Jose 2008! Watch the first video of the conference.

Opening Keynote Presentation: Lee Siegel
According to Virginia Nussey of the Bruceclay.com Blog, “The programmers decided to wrap up day one with a bang. Author and critic Lee Siegel will present on the fascinating topic of his latest book, a critique of current Web culture called “Against the Machine: Being Human in the Age of the Electronic Mob”. I'm intrigued...”

Lee%20Siegel.jpg
Lee Siegel, author of Against the Machine, was the opening keynote speaker at SES San Jose

Orion Keynote Panel: How Much Search Is Enough?
Dana Larson of the Online Marketing Blog writes, “Right after lunch today (which was pretty darn good ) was the first of the Orion Keynote presentations - a panel entitled “How Much Search is Enough?” Moderated by Kevin Ryan, this keynote panel discussed issues facing marketing budgets for search and traditional media, and how to make each piece of the marketing pie come together.”

Universal and Blended Search Panel at SES San Jose
Darrell Long of Search Engine Journal writes, “Hey everyone, I am here at Search Engine Strategies San Jose, sitting here in the universal and blended search panel. Mr Tawadros talks about how universal search is only a year and a half old and is still a baby.”

Search Industry Update - SES San Jose 2008 Coverage
Over at the adCenter Blog for Advertisers, Mel Carson reports on the Search Industry Update session. According to Mel, “There's no better way to kick off a convention than with an industry update from experts in the know, so we're in the ballroom at the Marriott and are promised an in-depth dive into the latest research and trends in the search engine marketing industry.”

Video Search Engine Optimization (VSEO)
Blogging for Search Engine Roundtable, Avi Wilensky of Promediacorp writes, “According to comScore, nearly 139 million U.S. Internet users watched an average of 83 videos per viewer in March 2008, viewing a total of 11.5 billion online videos during the month. However, the average YouTube video receives only 100 views a year. This makes optimizing video for YouTube one of the biggest opportunities in the fast-changing and complex world of search.”

43 Killer Viral Tips from Top Marketers: SES Day 1
Jennifer Osborne of the aimClear Search Marketing Blog writes, “‘Tis budget season and marketing people are all a flutter trying to decide how to spend their 2009 dollars. As the American Economy gives more and more recession indicators, marketing budgets are going to hold even at best and most likely will shrink this year. Smart marketers know that Viral Marketing aka Word of Mouth Marketing (WOM) can be an inexpensive yet HUGELY effective means of getting your message out.”

Everything But Google - SES San Jose 2008
Jason McElweenie of The SEM Blog writes, “Last panel of day 1 before the closing keynote is dedicated to other forms of search out there besides the big three. Moderated by Andrew Goodman of Page Zero Media and featuring Sage Lewis of SageRock.com, Jay Sears of ContextWeb Inc, Jonathon Ewert of LookSmart, Dustin Kwan of Ask Sponsored Listings and Mary Berk of Microsoft.”

Yahoo! at SES San Jose
Yahoo! Search Blog team writes, “With Search Engine Strategies starting this week, we get a sneak peek from Vice President Larry Cornett on his panel on how searchers interact with search engines on Wednesday at 1 - 2:15 p.m. Also you'll find a glimpse of where the entire Yahoo! Search team will be throughout the show.”

Left Behind For SES: Top 10 Things To Do Back In The Office
Frank of the SEOMFG blog writes, “Everyone on the Internet is talking about SES. Everyone at my office is at SES. But I am here at my desk. As I eye the list of seminars that I will not be going to I started thinking; I have to get in on the show somehow. Luckily, some people I know just created this crazy blog and made the horrible mistake of handing me a login. So, for all of you out there who are in the same boat as me, here are some things to pass the time while you are NOT at SES.”

Posted by Greg Jarboe on August 19, 2008, 1:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Carmax.com Launches Miles Per Gallon Search Feature

After a summer of high gas prices, Carmax.com is helping consumers find used cars that are easier on the wallet. They've launched a new search feature that allows car shoppers to search their inventory by MPG or miles per gallon.

They've also added an MPG "quick link" feature, enabling site visitors to click on available cars that reach over 30 mpg.

“Since gas prices remain high, people are looking for vehicles that offer better fuel efficiency,” said Ann Yauger, director of carmax.com. “The new mpg search feature on carmax.com makes shopping for fuel-efficient vehicles as fast and easy as a few simple clicks from our homepage.”

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 18, 2008, 11:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

HelloMetro Wins Trademark for 'Hyperlocal'

HelloMetro has also won trademark approval for the term Hyperlocal. HelloMetro now uses the term to describe their search results on HelloLocal.com and hopes to maximize the term in the internet advertising space.

If the industry isn't careful, even more of these widely used terms could also become trademarked. Earlier this year, we learned that Jason Gambert applied to trademark 'SEO.' Many marketers took the opportunity to address the U.S. Patent office in order to derail the effort.

Do you think HelloMetro should have been awarded this trademark? Sound off in the comments.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 18, 2008, 10:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

ConnectU Co-Founders Place 6th in Olympics Rowing

Facebook competitor ConnectU's co-founder twins, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, placed 6th in men's pair rowing in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Their time was 7:05.58 on a 2,000-meter course. Australia won the gold with a time of 6:37.44.

How they find time to train and run a startup is beyond me.

The Winklevoss twins along with co-founder Divya Narendra are suing Facebook for stealing their idea. The three recruited Facebook founder Mark Zuckerburg during their time at Harvard.

via CNET

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 18, 2008, 10:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Rosetta Translation Launches Website Localization Service

If you want to go global or develop your content in other languages, you're likely in need of a good translator. But just copying and pasting text into an online translation page isn't going to do the job. You need human intelligence that knows the culture of the audience you're aiming to reach.

Rosetta Translation is looking to serve that need by launching website localization services. Rosetta defines this service as "process that makes a website accessible, functional and culturally suited to a specific market."

Rosetta's website localization services aren't just about language translation. They will help site owners understand what is offensive in a certain culture or what the typical speed of internet access is in an area.

"The Internet is now being used as a medium for everything from accommodation bookings to research on zymology," says Luke Blackwell, Head of Information Technology at Rosetta's London headquarters, who is also responsible for developing Rosetta's website localisation services. "New uses are added daily and it makes sense for companies to have website visibility and function at the heart of their international marketing strategy."

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 18, 2008, 9:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

VeriSign Now Supports International Domain Names

VeriSign has announced that their SSL certificates will now support International Domain Names (IDN). These domain names display website addresses in local language characters such as Kanji symbols in Japan. This will come as welcome news to those who are looking to globalization marketing efforts or developing a multi-lingual site.

"Internationalized domain names are gaining traction with the introduction of IDN-enabled browsers like Internet Explorer 7 and Firefox," said Michael Lin, vice president of SSL product management at VeriSign. "Providing the latest security protection is a key step toward achieving a globally interconnected Internet that serves linguistically diverse populations. For its part in this effort, VeriSign is pleased to extend the protection of VeriSign SSL Certificates to sites using IDNs."

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 18, 2008, 9:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SEW Experts: Tightly-Themed Ad Groups: The PPC Pro Advantage

Search Engine Watch Expert - David Szetela Any serious collector of keywords chooses to display their valuables in Ad Groups. In today's Profitable PPC column, "Tightly-Themed Ad Groups: The PPC Pro Advantage," David Szetela continues his series of posts on keyword lists and how to organize them.

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Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 18, 2008, 1:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A message from Becky Ryan - Social Queen of SES San Jose

"Yayyy!! I will be covering the big Search Engine Strategy Conference 2008 in San Jose! Check back for the best of the best events and while you are in San Jose follow me on Twitter for the latest SES events info! Webmoxy email:webmoxy@gmail.com are now "Our Events"!

Quick Overview:

Monday, August 18:
1:30 – 2:30 pm Orion Keynote Panel and SES Awards
4:30 – 5:30 pm Orion Keynote Panel and SES Awards
8:00 - Midnight IMCharity Event! (limited tickets see info below)

Tuesday, August 19:
9:00 – 10:00 am Microsoft Keynote and SES Awards
1:30 – 2:30 pm Orion Keynote Panel and SES Awards
5:15 – 6:30 pm Networking Reception by Surehits in the Exhibit Hall
6:30 pm – the Google Coaches line up!
7:00 – 11:00 pm Google Dance 2008 The annual Mecca pilgrimage for SEM's

Wednesday, August 20:
9:00 – 10:00 am Keynote Roundtable and SES Awards
11:30-11:45 Women's Lunch at Grill on the Alley by Fairmont
5:30 - 7:00 pm First SES Live Domain Auction by Moniker
7:00 pm - until late: WebmastRadio.FM SearchBash 2008 http://www.searchbash.com

Thursday, August 21:
9:00 – 10:00 am Author, Chip Heath about "Made to Stick" Keynote and SES Awards.
TBA – John Marshall's After-Party with Pizza and BBQ in Santa Cruz!

Now with SES San Jose only days away and the huge 4 day event contains break out sessions which are jam packed and always a firehouse of information overload! I have looked over the 4 day schedule numerous times and think SES has out done itself once again.

But the sessions only cover œ of what you need to leave SES with. Fill up on Red Bull you need to hit the events after the sessions, this is where you can elbow up and chill with the industry guru's. You name them they will be at one or all of the events. Such as Matt Cutts, Neil Patel, Greg and Barbara Boser, Rae Hoffman, Bruce Clay, Kevin Ryan, Vanessa Fox, Frank Watson, Lisa Barone, Shoemoney, Meg Walker, Lee Odden, Jenn Slegg, Li Evans, Tamar, Dave Naylor, Monte Cahn, Brandy and Daron Babin, Heather Lloyd-Martin, Mikkel deMib, Chris Boggs, John Battelle, Erica Schmidt, Chris Hooley, Jim Hedger Andrew Tompkins, Kendall Allen, Jeen Laycock, Matt Bailey, Dixon Jones, Todd Malicoat, Jim Boykin, Michael McDonald, Todd Friesen, and many more, including the one-and-only Danny Sullivan. etc.. check out Becky Ryan's SES 2007 Pictures.

You have a lot of parties, events and networking opportunities to share, so fill up on Redbull, keep the SES Parties link and/or follow me on Twitter (myevents)!!

THE LOW DOWN ON THE EVENTS:

SES Awards

SES Awards 2008 - deadline July 18, 2008 register now http://www.searchenginestrategies.com/sanjose/awards/
winners will be announced during the Orion and keynote panels!

Women's Lunch at Grill on the Alley by Fairmont

With SES San Jose fast approaching it seems my day job work keeps piling up! But no fear, Li Evans (http://www.searchmarketinggurus.com) managed to pull together another nice luncheon for the women of the search marketing industry to come together and have some fun!

Here are the details.

* WHERE: The Grill on the Alley 172 S Market St San Jose, CA 95113 (This restaurant is inside the Fairmont Hotel about 2 blocks from the conference center)
* WHEN: Monday August 20th, 12:30 to 2:00 p.m.
* MENU: Right now I have three to choose from they range in price from $20 to $30 (each menu has more for the entrees). Tip of 20% is extra.
* SPACE: We have space for about 40 people, so please RSVP as we filled up very fast at our last event.
* RSVP: Send an email to smg -a-t- searchmarketinggurusDOTcom

IMCHARITY EVENT

Who: First 500 people!
When: August 18th 8pm to MIDNIGHT
Where: Agenda Lounge (1 block from the Marriott and Convention Center)
What: IMCharity We are going to be raising money for 2 great causes - The Leukemia and Lymphoma Foundation and the Childrens Hospital.

How much: Get tickets now! www.imcharityparty.com/

Details: $40 at the door (thanks to our sponsors,all of which is going to one of these great charities) will get you open bar from 8pm to MIDNIGHT! Space is limited to 500 people so I would suggest buying tickets in advance. You can do this by donating to the team in training page ( http://pages.teamintraining.org/sf/n...imcharityparty). When you donate at least $40, specify in the notes section that this is for the SES San Jose Charity Event

Google Dance 2008

Around the globe search marketers come to make their annual homage to the Google Plex. Get ready early around 6pm the Coach buses line up outside the convention center and thousands line up! The site of thousands give can give you that tingly feeling, but not when you at the end of the line

Last year, Google had the rock 'n roll theme, tattoo inspired artwork, mega buffet and drinks. Once you make it to the Google Plex immediately get a shirt!!! If you are early definitely go to "Meet the Engineers" last year, I think 25 Google engineers were on hand to answer many questions and discuss new products. On the campus you will have the opportunity to try dozens of activities and my favorites are making videos. Crazy Google Dance 2007 Video.

As the evening ends many SEM's have a Google high and you if you feel like partying later there's almost always something going on back in San Jose afterwards.

SES Live Domain Auction by Moniker!!

Is a proper domain name strategy part of your traffic acquisition plan? If not, it should be. In this Live Domain Auction presented by Moniker, you can acquire some of the best domain name real estate on the Internet, giving you an instant advantage in your SEO, SEM, and brand building initiatives. Investing in the right set of domain names can pay off in many ways, including increasing search relevancy, blocking the competition, protecting your brand and preserving your keyword budget. Stop by theMoniker booth to pick up the auction catalog and to ask for tips on how a complete domain name strategy can enhance your ability to acquire traffic and keep a step ahead of competitors. Plus, if you own domains you'd like to turn into cash, Moniker can provide an appraisal and help get them listed at auction.
For general information about the auction, visit:
http://marketplacepro.moniker.com/au...auction_id=195
To submit names for consideration, visit:
http://www.moniker.com/pub/Login.sn?...kerEventId=195

WebmasterRadio.FM Presents: SEARCHBASH 2008

The ultimate networking and party event!! Anyone who has been in search, domains or affiliating knows WebmasterRadio.FM, their superstars and their legendary events! This year is going to be totally off the hook and will be taking SEARCHBASH to a whole new dimension!! SEARCHBASH is orchestrated and produced by the Brandy and Daron Babin of WebmasterRadio.FM and their supreme cast of sponsors. Each year they put together special events to entertain tens of thousands! This is the ultimate party event! With refreshments, great surprises and music, SearchBash begins at 7:00 p.m. at San Jose's Vivid Nightclub (formerly Studio 8), just five minutes walk from the conference center.

Check out SearchBash for all updates and RSVP's

Posted by Frank Watson on August 16, 2008, 8:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Special Events at Next Week's SES San Jose

If you are coming to SES San Jose next week, there are several special events in the evenings -- after the conference wraps up each day -- that you won't want to miss.

The first is The Internet Marketer's Charity Party, which is raising money for the Children's Hospital of Aurora, CO, and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. The party starts at 8:00 p.m. Monday evening and is being held at the Agenda Lounge, which is located at 399 1st Street. Donations are $40. For more information, go to the Internet Marketer's Charity Party Site.

St.Patricks%20Day%20Pub%20Crawl%20at%20SES%20NY%202008.jpg Tuesday evening, there's Google Dance - Glow in the Dark! All SES attendees are invited to attend the 7th annual Google Dance. Buses will depart from the San Jose Convention Center beginning at 6:30pm and run continuously until 11pm. Parking will also be available at the Shoreline Amphitheatre parking lot "C", across the street from the Google campus. SES San Jose attendees will need to bring their badge, a printout of your RSVP confirmation, and a photo ID to get into the special event. I'm bringing my wife and daughter to the Google Dance in San Jose next week. They saw the Flickr photo on the left of Li Evans, my oldest son and I at the St. Patty's Day Pub Crawl at SES New York back in March. And, for some strange reason, they no longer believe my geeky description of the Google Dances in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 or 2007. Man, one Flickr photo can screw up your whole search engine reputation management campaign.

And on Wednesday evening, there's the WebmasterRadio.FM SearchBash. It starts at 7:15 p.m. -- just blocks from the Convention Center. For the secret, undisclosed location of this special event, visit the WebmasterRadio.FM, Bruce Clay, Moniker, or PRWeb booths on Tuesday or Wednesday.

But wait! There's more!

For a complete list of all the special events at SES San Jose, click on the anchor text link in this sentence. Or, check out the list compiled by Party Queen Becky Ryan over in the Search Engine Watch Forums.

Yes, it's a dirty job. But someone has to do it.

Posted by Greg Jarboe on August 15, 2008, 6:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Q&A with Jamie Welsh of 10% Solution

Jamie Welsh, the founder and CEO of 10% Solution, will be speaking at the session on "Non-Profits & Socially-Responsible Companies With Global Interests in a 2.0 World" during next week's SES San Jose.

Jamie%20Welsh.JPG 10% Solution is a social responsibility certification and consulting company. In a previous life Jamie was a highly accomplished executive with a diverse background in, ISO certifications, process consulting, marketing, organizational management and software development. She has worked with fortune 500 companies, start-ups and for the top homebuilders in the country.

Jamie has held executive roles, as the VP of Marketing for Hilton Hotels Corporation, as an executive consultant to start-ups and as President and CTO of Your Design Center. She has been in marketing and consulting for the past 12 years and in the interactive space for 16 years. She holds a Master's in organizational management and a Bachelor's in television and film. She also works with several non-profits including Habitat for Humanity. She is on the board of Team Kids and is an executive board member for the Centennial Heritage Museum.

To provide attendees of SES San Jose with a sneak preview of the upcoming "Non-Profits & Socially-Responsible Companies With Global Interests in a 2.0 World" session, I asked Jamie some questions that she was happy to answer.

Q: What role do Web 2.0 tools and/or applications play for a company like 10% Solution that seeks to certify companies as socially responsible?

A: Web 2.0 tools are an intractable part of our abilities to communicate our message and value proposition to our customers. As we move forward it will become an ever increasing core business tool, as we bring together, individuals, organizations, non-profits and groups to enact change at the local and global level through our Giving Networks ™. The web is finally becoming the means of production. It is a great equalizer in giving everyone a voice.

Q: If a company wants to be 10% Solution certified, what types of communities should they be involved in?

A: The hallmark of a good organization is one that has a core group that is dedicated to change and action. This is not a one size fits all equation; each company needs to research and partner with organizations that match their organizational direction.

Socially responsible companies need to embrace and reach out via multiple channels with engaging content and ideas, and thereby empower consumers to engage with their business, products and services directly. If they give consumers more tools, they will get more engagement and hence more collaboration in meeting social responsibility goals.

Q: Web 2.0 implies social networking and the use of blogs and wikis, for example. What are some of the Web 2.0 tools you strongly recommend a company should be integrating into its business model if it wants to become socially responsible?

A: Either before or after certification the companies should be looking at, RSS feeds, facebook groups, twitter, and social bookmarking as well as creating custom YouTube channels to create meaningful content that engages consumer.

A blog or wiki will can be a face to your public relations CSR front, and it will allow employees to also be abreast of company programs and contribute their take on the program. A certification in any arena would be helpful to verify the credibility and authenticity of the blog and wiki posts for both customers and employees. It also demonstrates a level of transparency and openness.

Q: Companies that want to become 10% Solution certified have to meet strict financial and time commitments. For example, a company must commit 1% of sales or 5% of pre-tax profits. How difficult is it for companies who approach you for certification to meet these commitments? Are they effectively using Web 2.0 tools and /or applications in order to meet these commitments?

A: Every organization approaches the social responsibility path with their unique set of opportunities. We typically find that companies that are ready to move down this path are eager and ready to get started. They see it as a platform for engagement and an opportunity to participate in transparent business practices that will have a positive impact on their internal and external business. For companies that are not ready for certification we offer a baby step in our Social Responsibility Program (SRP). This program is a straightforward service that helps you enact socially responsible business practices today. We organize and create an integration path for your charitable giving, volunteerism and green sustainability efforts. 10% makes it easy to track your current contributions of time and money, as well as the activities you engage in every day to help protect the planet and carry out sustainable business practices.

Q: Philanthropy and local action are core beliefs that drive and sustain 10% Solution's goals and actions. How is Web technology helping to further this value-set in companies that are trying to integrate such beliefs into their business plan?

A: Our on-line community is where individuals, groups and neighborhoods can connect through Giving Network™. Our Giving Networks are a forum for the sharing of ideas, information and empowering local change. They provide a system for people to combine their time, monies and resources to create a dynamic evolving collective impact.

10% Solution also believes measurement and accountability are keys to the long term growth and success of the Social responsibility movement. We are creating measurement tools to allow certified companies to measure their return on investment (ROI) for their CSR programs. Results can be used internally and externally to support the business case for social responsibility programs on a quantitative level.

Q: What are some online resources you might recommend to your clients who are committed to becoming 10% Solutions certified?

A: Here is a sample of sites that would be a good place to start.
- Research and compare your company CSR programs to others within the same industry: http://www.betterworldshopper.org/
- Keep up to date on the latest CSR information: http://www.csrwire.com/
- Finding the best non-profit to connect with for donations and employee volunteerism that align with your corporate values: http://www.justgive.org/, http://www.networkforgood.org/, http://www.volunteermatch.org/

Posted by Greg Jarboe on August 15, 2008, 3:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google Now Offers AdSense for Feeds

Google is now offering AdSense for Feeds, after announcing that Feedburner would not be accepting any more applications to the Feedburner Ad Network.

No official announcement has been made, but many publishers are able to access the feature in their AdSense accounts. I was able to do so with mine. Below is a screenshot of the process for signing up a feed:

via Google Operating System

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 15, 2008, 10:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google Close to 71% of Searches in July 2008

Google was the recipient of 70.77% of U.S. searches in July 2008, up from 69.17% in June, according to Hitwise. Yahoo and Microsoft continued to drop, at 18.65% and 5.36% respectively. Ask.com dropped month-over-month but gained year-over-year, coming in at 3.53%.

Here's the breakdown of niche traffic:

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 15, 2008, 10:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

AOL Confirms SocialThing Acquisition

While not yet complete, AOL has confirmed that they will acquire SocialThing. The FriendFeed competitor is still in private beta.

No word on the price for the acquisition, but expect it to be small. Still, AOL seems to be going after the social media world, having recently acquired social network Bebo for $850 million.

Bebo has 40 million users, doubling AOL's media reach via the acquisition.

The push towards social media is likely part of a larger re-focus of AOL's business model around advertising. AOL parent company Time Warner recently confirmed that AOL will be split into two businesses: internet access and media/advertising.

via The Social

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 15, 2008, 9:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ben Ling Becomes Ex-Ex-Googler

Two days ago, we brought you news that Ex-Googler Ben Ling was leaving Facebook. Now, we know where he's headed - back to Google.

Ling will be taking on the difficult task of monetizing YouTube, Google's popular online video sharing site (acquired in 2006 for $1.65 billion).

via BoomTown

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 15, 2008, 8:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Frank Biondi and John Chapple Join Yahoo Board of Directors

In accordance with the terms of the settlement with Carl Icahn, Yahoo has added two more board members to complete the expansion to 11. Frank Biondi and John Chapple, who previously were members of Icahn's proxy board, have been appointed just two weeks after Icahn's appointment was made official. 8 of Yahoo's previous board stayed on for the deal.

Here's the lowdown on the new dudes:

Frank Biondi has served as senior managing director of WaterView Advisors LLC, a private equity limited partnership focused on media and entertainment, since 1999. From April 1996 to November 1998, Mr. Biondi served as chairman and chief executive officer of Universal Studios, Inc. From July 1987 to January 1996, Mr. Biondi served as president and chief executive officer of Viacom, Inc. Mr. Biondi is a director of Amgen, Inc., Cablevision Systems Corporation, Hasbro, Inc., The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation and Seagate Technology.

John Chapple has served as president of Hawkeye Investments LLC, a privately-owned equity firm investing primarily in telecommunications and real estate ventures, since October 2006. Prior to forming Hawkeye, Mr. Chapple served as president, chief executive officer and chairman of the board of Nextel Partners from January 1998 to June 2006, when the company was purchased by Sprint Communications. From 1995 to 1997, Mr. Chapple was the president and chief operating officer for Orca Bay Sports and Entertainment in Vancouver, B.C., which at the time owned and operated Vancouver's National Basketball Association and National Hockey League sports franchises in addition to the General Motors Place sports arena. From 1988 to 1995, he served as executive vice president of operations for McCaw Cellular Communications and subsequently AT&T Wireless Services following the merger of those companies. Mr. Chapple serves on the board of directors of several telecommunications companies: Cbeyond, Inc. (Nasdaq: CBEY) an integrated service telephone company, and privately held companies Seamobile Enterprises, which provides integrated wireless services at sea, and Telesphere Networks, Inc., a VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) company providing service in 44 states. In addition, he has served as a member of Syracuse University's board of trustees since 2005 and as chairman since 2008.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 15, 2008, 8:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SEW Experts: The Evolution of SEO

Search Engine Watch Expert - William Flaiz We've seen a natural progression from back rooms to boardrooms -- from the basement to the mainstream. SEO has not simply shed its dubious roots; it has become a legitimate, reputable component of a proper client marketing mix. In today's SEM agency issues column, "The Evolution of SEO," William Flaiz outlines the continuing growth of search marketing.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on August 15, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SEW Experts: Google SERP Bias? Google Knols Best

Search Engine Watch Expert - Frank Watson Search Engine Watch Expert - Chris Boggs If you need some lift, start dropping pages into Google Knol and Google pages. They show up in the organic results faster than you can get them through Webmaster Central. In today's SEM Crossfire column, "Google SERP Bias? Google Knols Best," Frank Watson and Chris Boggs discuss the limitations of Google's algorithms, and its hypocritical stances on some web spam topics.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on August 15, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Search Engine Foosball Smackdown

In a battle for universal search engine foosball domination, Google and Yahoo are meeting in a clash of the titans at SES San Jose. Microsoft has also been invited, and is trying to put together a team. This could determine the future of the search industry (well foosball-wise at least).

foosball table

So come to the Networking Cocktail Reception on Tuesday. Play will start as close to 5:15 PM as possible, so we can get the games done prior to the end of the reception. Bring your cameras, bring your loyalties, and cheer for your favorites!

We will also be holding our usual Beat the Pros Foosball Challenge. This will take place at the following times:

Tuesday morning from 10 AM to 11 AM PT (in the Expo Hall)
Wednesday afternoon 2:15 to 2:45 PM PT (in the Expo Hall)
Wednesday afternoon 5:30 to 6:30 PM PT (in the registration area)

Of course, if you see us (John Biundo and Eric Enge) at the table any time prior to Wednesday afternoon, we will be glad to play you in a Beat the Pros challenge match right then and there. We will be there at lunch on Tuesday and Wednesday for example.

By 6:30 PM on Wednesday, we will announce which team has performed the best in playing against us (scored the most points), and that team will win a brand new pair of iPod Touch's. Any ties will be resolved by a random drawing (or a head to head matchup if that is possible).

Hey Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft - think you can take us? You are eligible for the prize too, and we will be there and ready to play at any time, including right after the smackdown is complete ...

Posted by on August 14, 2008, 4:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Online Olympic Traffic Soars; Mobile Viewing Habits Form

As people returned to work on Monday after the first weekend of the Beijing Olympic games, many went online to keep track of events as they unfold, according to Nielsen Online. Traffic to NBC's Olympics video site jumped a whopping 85% on the first day of the work week, while other sites enjoyed a nice boost as well.

Yahoo's unique audience nearly doubled to its Olympics site on Monday, helping it top the list of most trafficked Olympics sites for August 11. Here's the data:

Meanwhile, NBC has been observing new habits forming with mobile users, according to the AP. Many who are viewing coverge via their mobile devices are doing to for the first time. Nearly half a million people viewed Olympics video on a mobile device on both Sunday and Monday, many of which have never watched video content on their phone before.

"To some extent, the Olympics are beginning to influence how people use new technology," said Alan Wurtzel, research president for NBC Universal.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 14, 2008, 11:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Real Estate Search Engine Zillow Launches Geo-targeted Ads

Zillow, a vertical search engine aimed at the real estate market, has announced the launch of Showcase Ads, geo-targeted ads for realtors and other real estate advertisers. Within a given zip code, advertisers can buy 25, 50, 75, or 100 percent of the ads, giving them the ability to target just the local areas they are interested in selling to. Showcase Ads will have a different pricing structure than Zillow's other local ad offering - EZ Ads.

"Zillow is committed to offering local professionals affordable and easy- to-use tools to get in front of our large audience of consumers interested in real estate and buying and selling homes," said Greg Schwartz, vice president of ad sales at Zillow.com. "We strongly believe that the more targeted an ad can be, both at a national and local level, the more useful the consumer will find it and the more successful the advertiser will be."

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 14, 2008, 9:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google AdSense Video Units Add 3 Languages, 4 Countries

Google AdSense has expanded the availability of its Video Units to include support for 3 more languages and 4 more countries.

The languages are:

French
German
Spanish

The countries are:

Brazil
Germany
India
Mexico

Previously, video units were available in English and Japanese to users in Australia, Canada, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Spain, United Kingdom, and the United States.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 14, 2008, 9:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Microsoft's Live Maps Schools Google, Yahoo, Ask and AOL in Georgia Mapping

If you've been keeping up with the conflict in South Ossetia, perhaps you were curious about where the contentious events were occurring. I hope you ended up at Microsoft's Live Search Maps, because it is the only map of the top 5 search engines that could find both Tskhinvali, South Ossetia's self-declared capital, as well as Abkhazia, another separatist region where Russia has opened a second front.

Live Search Maps - Ts'khinvali

Live Search Maps - Abkhazia

Yahoo was the second best map. It found Tskhinvali after I typed in Microsoft's suggested spelling of Ts'khinvali. But the map was extremely zoomed in and you didn't have a sense of where you were until you zoomed out. It found Abkhazia with ease.

Yahoo Maps - Tskhinvali (can't find)

Yahoo Maps - Ts'khinvali (Microsoft's suggested spelling)

Yahoo Maps - Ts'khinvali zoomed out

Yahoo Maps - Abkhazia

Google found Ts'khinvali (even without the apostrophe), but an initial search for Abkhazia landed me in Glendale, California, at a business listing for an institute dedicated to policy in the Georgian region. Eventually, after searching for Ts'khinvali, a subsequent search for Abkhazia at least landed me in the correct region. But the problem was there were several results sprinkled across the troubled Georgia. Google has said it has had a hard time finding satisfying data for the region. They might want to try whatever Microsoft is having.

Google Maps - Ts'khinvali

Google Maps - Abkhazia, Glendale California

Google Maps - Abkhazia, Georgia

Ask.com's Maps and AOL's MapQuest couldn't find either city.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 13, 2008, 1:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Google Adds Places Layer to Google Earth; Talks Mapping and Georgian Conflict

Google has added a "Places" Layer to Google Earth. Content from Wikipedia, Panaramio, YouTube and the Google Earth community have been wrapped up into a "single, multifaceted layer."

The Places layer is found in the Geographic Web layers section on Google Earth.

Meanwhile, Google is also addressing the difficulty of mapping in tumultuous regions of the earth, such as the countries along the southern Russian border that were previously states in the former Soviet Union.

Google says they haven't been confident in the data culled thus far, so they've been waiting until they have more comprehensive data for the region. While some have pondered whether or not that data was previously there and now removed as a result of the conflict in Georgia, Google assures users that the data was never there in the first place.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 13, 2008, 12:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ex-Googler Ben Ling Becomes an Ex-Facebooker

If you're looking for drama, go watch the Olympics or an episode of the Hills. Ex-Googler Ben Ling is leaving Facebook, but it's not for any rumored internal squabbles.

Instead, he's got a new opportunity on deck that is apparently great enough to leave the hottest social network in the world right now.

I don't know what opportunity is out there for a guy with Google and Facebook experience, but it had better be a doozy.

via AllThingsD

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 13, 2008, 11:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google Streamlines Analytics Log-In Process (Kinda, Sorta, Not Really)

For a long time, I have been befuddled as to why I must log-in to Google Analytics when I'm already logged into Gmail in the same browser.

Now, Google is claiming they have streamlined the process. If you're signed into your Google account, all you have to do when you arrive at the Analytics page is click on a bright blue button that says "Access Analytics."

This is not truly an improved, streamline process as there is still a page and an action you have to take before accessing your Analytics.

Disagree? Leave me a comment and tell me how it is!

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 13, 2008, 11:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

“Always Be Testing: The Complete Guide to Google Website Optimizer”

The new book, "Always Be Testing: The Complete Guide to Google Website Optimizer," is hot off the press. Written by Bryan Eisenberg and John Quarto-vonTivadar, with contribution from Lisa T. Davis, the book will help you understand how to set up website optimization tests and improve your conversion rates.

And, if you are going to SES San Jose next week, head over to the "Pay Per Conversation" session on Monday, Aug. 18 at 11:15 a.m. and get Bryan to sign a copy of the book, which is being provided as a courtesy by Google.

(Get there early since Google will only be giving away a few hundred books.)

I confess that we've been sitting on this story since June, when Mitch Joel of Twist Image and Six Pixels of Separation blog interviewed Bryan about his new book for the SES Conference Expo Channel on YouTube. If you want a sneak preview, check out the video interview below.

Bryan Eisenberg, "Always be Testing: The Complete Guide to Google Website Optimizer"

If you want more information, read "Always Be Testing Unleashed" on the GrokDotCom blog.

Posted by Greg Jarboe on August 13, 2008, 10:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Yahoo Adds Speed, Smarts, and Languages to Safari Plug-In, Inquisitor

Just 3 months after acquiring the assets of the Safari search plug-in, Inquisitor, Yahoo is announcing updates to the add-on.

Using the recently launched BOSS technology, Inquisitor is now faster in providing Yahoo results. Eight additional languages can use Inquisitor now, as well. They are Japanese, Korean, Traditional Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, and German.

The Inquisitor client got a fresh redesign and so did the home page for the plug-in.

What do you think of these updates? Do you use Inquisitor? Let us know in the comments.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 13, 2008, 10:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Yahoo Launches Location-Based Open Source Application, Fire Eagle

With the onslaught of the iPhone and the increasing popularity of mobile search and social networking, platforms that aid the development of location-based applications are highly useful to the process.

Yahoo is throwing its hat into the ring with the release of a new open source program, FireEagle. Yahoo sees FireEagle as making geo-location apps easier for developers by eliminating the need to build the location-aware infrastructure. Users will benefit from the ability to turn on and off the location-aware feature.

"Fire Eagle is about making everything on the Internet more useful, fun or interesting by adding the element of location," said Tom Coates, head of product at Yahoo! Brickhouse. "We're here to help people take their location to the Web by giving them the ability to control how much detail about their location they want to share and which applications they want to share it with."

You can check out FireEagle here.

What do you think about FireEagle? Let us know in the comments.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 13, 2008, 8:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SEW Experts: Search Ad Tools Help Manage Complexity

Search Engine Watch Expert - Kevin Ryan Search advertising tools have been unhappily married to search providers since they first appeared on the scene. But there's new hope for search marketers. In today's Searching for Meaning column, "Search Ad Tools Help Manage Complexity," Kevin Ryan notes that increasing consolidation and acquisition of search advertising tools by big holding companies is slowly opening a window of opportunity for independent providers.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on August 13, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SEW Experts: Real-Time Analytics with Woopra

Search Engine Watch Expert - Eric Enge Want a souped-up analytics package that allows you to track individual users, and potentially interact with them in real time? In today's Web analytics and ROI column, "Real-Time Analytics with Woopra," Eric Enge explains why Woopra may be exactly what you're looking for.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on August 13, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Terry Plank of SEMPO Institute Teaching SEO Training Class at SES San Jose

On Friday, Aug. 22, SES San Jose is offering half a dozen Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Training Workshops. Two of them are being offered by the SEMPO Institute: "Successful SEO: The Essential Elements - Part 1 and Part 2."

(I should disclose that SEMPO is a client, but I'm also teaching a half-day SEO training class that is being held at the same time as Part 1 of the SEMPO Institute's full-day workshop.)

One of the three people teaching the SEMPO Institute's SEO training class is Terry Plank, the SEMPO Institute Curriculum Dean. Byron Gordon of SEO-PR caught up with Terry last week and asked him a couple of questions for the SES Conference Expo's YouTube Channel about the importance of keywords and website design to successful search engine optimization.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Discussion with Terry Plank

Byron also asked Terry about the importance of SEO copywriting and using directories to build links, which are also essential elements of successful SEO.

SEO Copywriting and Linking with Terry Plank

Speaking of SEMPO (how's that for a smooth segue?), The Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization is hosting a Speed Networking Reception at SES San Jose. It will be held Monday, Aug. 18, 5:30-6:30 p.m. and will provide members and non-members alike with the opportunity to schmooze with SEMPO bigwigs and other search engine marketers, hear about SEMPO's research projects and SEMPO Institute's courses, and learn how to develop and join SEMPO working groups in their area.

Hey, SEMPO is a global non-profit organization serving the search engine marketing industry and marketing professionals engaged in it. So, I have no problem if I'm accused of a little “shameless promotion.” This group has 830 members representing over 2,000 individuals, including some of my closest friends and competitors.

Posted by Greg Jarboe on August 12, 2008, 2:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Facebook and Hi5 Lead Global Growth Among Social Networks

comScore has released data showing explosive growth rates for social networking sites Facebook and Hi5 globally, with 153% and 100% respectively. With worldwide social networking growth rates at 25%, that certainly is a big piece of the pie.

Facebook's biggest percentage growth came in Latin America, at a whopping 1055%. Meanwhile, Facebook added the most members in Europe, at 27 million newbies. This should come as welcome news to Microsoft, who recently announced a search partnership with the social network and owns a 1.6% stake in the company.

Here are all the charts and data to keep a numbers junkie happy:

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 12, 2008, 12:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Broadband Subscriptions Drop 51%; Cable Sells More than Phone Co's

Broadband subscriptions dropped 51% since last year, according to data released by Leichtman Research Group. Only 887,000 subscribers were added to a group of companies comprising 94% of the market. Cable companies accounted for 670,000 of those additional subscriptions.

The numbers also seem to support research from the University of Minnesota suggesting that internet traffic growth claims by the cable companies and other internet service providers are largely overblown.

There are now 65.1 million broadband subscriptions among this group of companies. Cable enjoys 35.1 million of the subscriptions, while the phone companies have over 29.7 million of them.

Here's the breakdown among the top cable and phone companies:

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 12, 2008, 10:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google Opens Up Cryptography Toolkit, KeyCzar

Google has released its cryptography toolkit, KeyCzar, into open source. They hope the move aids developers in conducting the difficult task of providing solid security on their web sites.

"Cryptography is notoriously hard to get right and if improperly used, can create serious security holes. Common mistakes include using the wrong cipher modes or obsolete algorithms, composing primitives in an unsafe manner, hard-coding keys in source code, or failing to anticipate the need for future key rotation."

Download KeyCzar here.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 12, 2008, 9:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MIVA Reports $6.5 Million Second Quarter 2008 Loss

MIVA, who yesterday rejected an acquisition bid from online video search engine blinkx, has posted a $6.5 million loss for the second quarter of 2008. MIVA CEO and President Peter Corrao tried to keep things in perspective for shareholders and Wall Street:

“The most recent quarter has been a transitional one for our business. We are encouraged by the results of the growth initiatives that we've been working towards, such as the continued roll-out of our ALOT toolbar and homepage brand and the continued growth of destination sites like Spill.com. In addition, our new MIVA Media technology platform remains on schedule for a US release in the fourth quarter of this year.”

While significant, the loss is at least less severe than last year's $16 million loss for the same quarter.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 12, 2008, 8:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SEW Experts: Proper SEO and the Robots.txt File

Search Engine Watch Expert - Mark Jackson There are many good reasons to stop the search engines from indexing certain directories on a Web site and allowing others for SEO purposes. In today's organic SEO column, "Proper SEO and the Robots.txt File," Mark Jackson shows that by taking a good look at your Web site's robots.txt file and making sure that the syntax is set up correctly, you can avoid some search engine ranking problems.

» Full story

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

SEW Experts: Content? Content. Content!

Search Engine Watch Expert - Aaron Shear Content. It's become the mantra for SEOs, and the standard advice for all site owners, regardless of the Web space they're in. In today's enterprise search marketing column, "Content? Content. Content!," Aaron Shear explains that it's high time we review the advantages of content, and where it may be applicable.

» Full story

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

Yahoo and Google to Launch New Privacy and Ad Capping Features

Yahoo has announced that it will be offering an opt-out function for customized advertising to searchers by the end of the month.

The announcement comes as Yahoo has responded to a Congressional letter seeking information about data collecting and online advertising practices. You can read Yahoo's full response here.

Google has also responded to the letter with features expected to be rolled out in the future. One feature is ad capping, which allows advertisers to limit the number of times a user sees a targeted ad. Ad capping is a DoubleClick feature that Google will be integrating to their Content Network. They say this will benefit users, since they won't be seeing the same ad over and over again. You can read the full context of Google's response here (pdf).

Microsoft is still working on their response, and it will be largely based on Mike Hintze's testimony before congress last month.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 11, 2008, 1:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Online Publishers Turning to Ad Networks to Sell Unused Inventory

Online publishers are increasingly turning to ad networks to sell unused inventory, according to a study released by the International Advertising Bureau (IAB) and Bain & Company.

In 2007, ad network accounted for 30% of total ad impressions, up fro 5% in 2006.

Two reasons were given for the growth:

Interviews with online publishers, conducted as part of the study, indicate that the lack of adequate pricing tools and inventory management discipline contributed to the growth in available ad space. This is causing publishers to seek out ways to sell large inventories of unsold ads. Publishers often lack basic information on realized prices and inventory sold by client and channel, limiting management's ability to make effective decisions.
Large marketers continue to shift significant portions of their advertising budgets online and view ad networks as an effective way to achieve greater buying scale and drive down CPMs.

“What this benchmark study tells the industry is that there is a need for more sophisticated yield management on the part of premium publishers, for stronger partnerships between publishers and ad networks, for development of best practices, and more focus on the value of interactive advertising,” said Sherrill Mane, senior vice president, Industry Services of the IAB. “Our industry is at an important juncture and now is the time for publishers to adopt strategic approaches to the use of ad networks who themselves have become critical players in the digital ecosystem.”

Here are additional nuggets of information from the study:

Overall, online publisher revenues grew by a healthy 32% in 2007 versus 2006, yet ad network revenues grew more rapidly (in excess of 50%), as marketers boosted online spending
High demand for premium video inventory resulted in CPMs 2-3 times greater than display ads on average.
Most publishers in the study lack information to closely measure the impact of cross-platform sales, though most indicate focus on using cross-platform to drive volume, not price.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 11, 2008, 12:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Yahoo Snags Search Ad Marketshare Gain at Google's Expense

Analytics firm Covario says Yahoo gained paid search advertising at the expense of Google in the second quarter of 2008.

Covario also said that paid search has gone through a "compression" period, where growth has declined from 52% to 43%.

“Our client roster inspired us to launch this analysis series due to our customers' unique positions in the advertising ecosystem – they are US-based, but also global in the scope regarding their paid search advertising programs, so they tend not to be retailers or ecommerce vendors who focus on one geographic region,” said Craig Macdonald, vice president of marketing and product management at Covario. “It is very exciting for us to be able to observe first-hand such trends as the bucking of the biggest losing streak in the paid search market – the loss of market share by Yahoo to Google.”

Of course, Google has seen a decline in clicks and search ads they attribute to increasing quality of their ads. That reasoning worked for Q1 results, which blew away Wall Street expectations, based largely on analytical data. Q2 disappointed the street, but so did Microsoft and Yahoo.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 11, 2008, 10:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

IAC Split Will Occur August 21; 'When-Issued' Trading Begins Tomorrow

Ask.com parent company IAC announced last November that they would spin off four of their properties and become 5 separate companies. The other four companies will be HSN, Inc., Interval Leisure Group, Inc., Ticketmaster and Tree.com, Inc.

Now, Reuters is reporting the split will occur on August 21.

Meanwhile, the NASDAQ has advised IAC that 'when-issued' trading will begin for the five companies tomorrow at the opening bell. NASDAQ defines 'when-issued' trading as this:

"A trade is done on a "when-issued" basis because there are no physical certificates available evidencing the securities being traded, therefore a delivery date cannot be determined at the time of execution."

IAC recently posted a 7% growth for the second quarter of 2008.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 11, 2008, 10:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MIVA Rejects blinkx Acquisition Offer

Last week, online video search engine blinkx, apparently feeling inspired by Microsoft, made an unsolicited bid to acquire online advertising company, MIVA.

MIVA has responded by saying Thanks but No Thanks. Here's the official word:

"After careful evaluation, the MIVA Board believes that blinkx's proposal significantly undervalues MIVA's assets, including our technology, brand recognition and network," said Larry Weber, MIVA's Chairman of the Board. "We don't believe that the proposal, as currently constituted, is in the best interests of our shareholders. The Board of Directors continues to evaluate all of MIVA's strategic options in the context of our industry and the broader business environment and remains committed to evaluating and considering offers that maximize shareholder value."

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 11, 2008, 10:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Video Search Engine Optimization (VSEO) session at SES San Jose

SES San Jose 2008 gets underway in a week. One of the sessions on Day 1 that may draw a crowd is the one on Video Search Engine Optimization (VSEO).

To give you a sneak preview of the session, Byron Gordon of SEO-PR interviewed Matthew Scheybeler, the CTO of blinkx, who will be one of the speakers. Byron asked Matt about how to classify a video in its many parts to enable more viewers to find the video of their choice.

Video Search Engine Optimization (VSEO) with Matthew Scheybeler

blinkx has been in the news lately. On Friday, Nathania Johnson reported that "blinkx Seeks to Acquire MIVA for $1.20 Per Share."

In a letter to MIVA CEO Peter Corrao and Chairman Larry Weber, Suranga Chandratillake, the CEO and Founder of blinkx wrote, "blinkx believes that a combination of the two companies would be mutually beneficial to both companies' shareholders, employees, and customers. blinkx and MIVA have complementary businesses that could benefit greatly from blinkx's technology and MIVA's distribution network."

So, in addition to SES San Jose attendees, I suspect that there might be some MIVA shareholders, employees, and customers might want to watch the video interview with Matt to see where he thinks video technology is headed.

Posted by Greg Jarboe on August 11, 2008, 10:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google Sits Out Olympic Search Results; Microsoft , Yahoo Take Home Medals

On Saturday night, while watching the Olympics, I learned that there is a British swimmer named Hannah Miley. As a mom of a 10 year old, I found this amusing as my daughter has been thoroughly obsessed with the Disney show Hannah Montana where the lead character is played by Miley Cyrus.

I was curious as to how the search engines would handle a search for Hannah Miley. Would the results be completely dominated by the increasingly scandalous teen queen? Or would there at least be one mention of the Olympic athlete?

First, I checked out Google. After all, they're the best search engine in the world and everyone knows it except people in China (who prefer Baidu) and southeast Asia (who prefer Yahoo). Perhaps we should learn something from this year's Olympic hosts and their neighbors.

Google had ZERO results for Hannah Miley the swimmer on their front page. They didn't even pull results from their news search product, which does have results about the swimmer - during the Olympics! Tsk. Tsk.

Next, I moved onto Microsoft's Live Search. I was greeted with an photo of an Olympic event as the background and part of their new home page design. The first result for Hannah Miley was about the British swimmer!

The main link was to NBCOlympics.com, who is partnering with Microsoft for the Olympics. Then there were several site search links below to send searchers automatically to more detailed information they might be looking for.

You might say that's cheating, that it's not part of some supreme algorithm. I say, it's useful and relevant information for searchers and most will not particularly care how it got there.

Plus, Microsoft did include a link to Hannah Miley's wikipedia page as part of their "regular" result, something the googlebot ignored.

Last, I headed to Yahoo. They served up some news results for the Hannah Miley search. The first one was for the British swimmer and the second was for the Disney star. Then the organic results are dominated by the latter, save for one result from Zimbio.com about the athlete.

So that's how the "big three" search engines are handling the 2008 Olympics. Microsoft clearly takes the gold, Yahoo is half-heartedly participating, and Google is sitting out the games altogether.

And if you think it's unfair of me to use a search for "Hannah Miley" as the basis for such a statement. Check out the screenshots below for a search for American superstar swimmer Michael Phelps and tell me who's serving up the best results. (This time Yahoo wins the gold!)

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 11, 2008, 8:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

SEW Experts: Dynamic Keyword Insertion: Friend or Foe?

Search Engine Watch Expert - David Szetela Dynamic Keyword Insertion (DKI) can sometimes help improve ad campaign results. But you'd be surprised how often it's a bad move.In today's Profitable PPC column, "Dynamic Keyword Insertion: Friend or Foe?," David Szetela shows that indiscriminate use of DKI can result in generic ad copy and diluted messages that fail to match the searcher's intent or need.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on August 11, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

John McCain Outspending Barack Obama in Search Engine Advertising

According to an exclusive story in the National Journal Online, John McCain has outspent Barack Obama for two consecutive months in search engine advertising.

Written by Lucas Grindley, the story, entitled, "McCain buys his way to top of Google," cites Nielsen Online data that shows McCain bought 7 million "sponsored search link impressions" in June and 5.4 million in May, compared with 1.15 million for Obama in June and 1.8 million during the previous month.

Since search engine advertising is sold on a cost-per-click (CPC) basis instead of cost-per-thousand impressions (CPM), it's unclear if McCain's dramatic lead in impressions generated equally dramatic number of clicks.

It's worth noting that one of the top five sites where McCain bought image-based banner impressions was ... the National Review. However, the other five included Topix and The Washington Post, so it's not clear that you can read anything between the lines here.

By comparison, the top five sites where Obama bought image-based banner impressions included Yahoo, CNN and MSN. Plus, Obama bought 80 million banner impressions in June, compared with McCain's 16 million.

So, what's all this mean to search engine marketers?

For his story, Grindley interviewed Peter Greenberger, who manages the "small but growing" elections and issue advocacy team at Google. Greenberger speculated that the Presidential campaigns were in a "persuasion phase," where candidates might be more interested in banner advertising.

"You are not looking for that active voter who maybe knows who he or she is voting for," said Greenberger. "You are looking for that more passive voter who is reading information but not quite ready to commit."

Hmmm. I wonder if Greenberger has seen the new study conducted by Enquiro Research with Google in Europe that found the ability of unclicked search ads to build brand. If he hasn't, he can click on "Digging Still Deeper Into The Search Branding Question" and read the blog post by Gord Hotchkiss, the CEO of Enquiro.

Of course, Gord would be the first one to tell you that the debate over the search branding question is far from over.

But, if I were working in the McCain or Obama campaigns, I would run, not walk, to get my hands on the latest research. Gord is a Canadian, so he doesn't have a horse in this race. And, if this upcoming election is as close as the latest polls indicates that it is, then neither presidential campaign can afford to leave even a small amount of search branding value on the table.

As for the search engine marketers who read this blog, I would also encourage you to run, not walk, to get your hands on this latest research. As Gord says, "search can be the most important brand tool in a marketer's arsenal, if it's used in the right place. It's a matter of understanding what search can do and what it can't. And, even more importantly, understanding how to measure that value."

Posted by Greg Jarboe on August 9, 2008, 5:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Google Offers Guidance on Starting a Multi-Lingual Site

Do the Beijing Olympics have you thinking global? If so, you may be considering whether or not to offer your site content in another language.

Google understands and they have offered up three points worthy of consideration when making the decision to go multilingual.

Site Structure

First, you need to decide if you want to feature other languages because you want to target another country (geo targeting) or because you simply want to reach an audience that speaks a specific language. If geo targeting is the case, then you may want to set up your content on a country-specific TLD (top-level domain, i.e. co.uk).

If you're focused more on just the language, Google has these two tips:

Put the content of every language in a different subdomain. For our example, you would have en.example.com, de.example.com, and es.example.com.
Put the content of every language in a different subdirectory. This is easier to handle when updating and maintaining your site. For our example, you would have example.com/en/, example.com/de/, and example.com/es/.

Webmaster Tools for Geo Targeting

In Google's Webmaster Tools, you can set geographic targets for different subdirectories or subdomains, if you choose to host the multilingual content on your original site.

Content Organization
When it comes to organizing your content, Google says straight out of the gate that the same content in two or more languages is not considered duplicate content.

Moving on from there, keep navigation and content on a subdirectory or subdomain to one language. Mixing up the languages could confuse the googlebot.

What are your tips for creating multilingual sites? Share them in the comments.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 8, 2008, 11:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)

New Yahoo BOSS Applications: Smells Like Cuil Spirit

Yahoo recently launched BOSS, aka Build your Own Search Service. Third party developers wasted no time making use of the API to build their version of what search should look like. Yahoo featured four BOSS applications on their Yahoo Search blog.

The first one was 4 Hour Search. Named for how long it took developer Sam Pullara to build the BOSS API/YUI design mashup. It looks a lot like newly launched search engine Cuil.

And just like Cuil, 4 Hour Search is experiencing errors this morning. The above screenshot is Yahoo-supplied. And that's not the only BOSS app that was struggling.

Newsline didn't work for me at first. I conducted a search comparing the coverage of the situations in South Ossetia, Georgia and the coup in Mauritania. At first, I got error pages. Then, I was able to get results, but not that many from today or the past week. And that's after I found the current news. The page brings up a dynamic timeline (which is cool), but it loaded news from 2 years ago front and center.

3D visualization search app Tianamo crashed my Firefox browser, then loaded just a dark blue screen in IE. But here's the screenshot Yahoo posted:

There was one app that did just fine - PlayerSearch. This BOSS app is great for sports fans - especially Fantasy Sports fanatics. This site worked just fine. Have at it, sports junkies.

It's likely that the developers weren't prepared for so much traffic to come their way, but Yahoo should have known better before it told the world about the new apps.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 8, 2008, 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Hit Me While I'm Down: Google Warns on AOL Investment Loss

Google has filed a quarterly report with the SEC that includes information about its 5% stake in AOL. The news is not good for the Time Warner owned internet company, which has already posted a loss of $230 million in the second quarter of 2008. Google said that their stake in AOL may be "impaired," an accounting term that explains a significant loss stemming from an investment.

Google invested in AOL to stave off a Microsoft advertising partnership, which would have replaced the one AOL had with Google. The question now is, was it worth $1 billion to keep the 3rd place Microsoft with a 10-ish% market share at bay?

And Yahoo should be wondering if their new Google partnership will really be enough to keep the company afloat.

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

via AP

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 8, 2008, 9:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

blinkx Seeks to Acquire MIVA for $1.20 Per Share

Online video search engine blinkx has sent a letter to digital advertising company MIVA, seeking to acquire it for $1.20 per share. Yesterday's closing price for MIVA stock, which trades on the NASDAQ, was $0.78.

MIVA has certainly had its share of trouble of recent years. The company has gone through reorganizations and a management shakeup in the hopes of stabilizing the business, which includes a pay-per-click offering.

Here's the full text of the letter for your consumption.

August 8, 2008
MIVA, Inc.
5220 Summerlin Commons Boulevard
Suite 500
Fort Myers, FL 33907
Attention: Peter Corrao, CEO
Larry Weber, Chairman
Members of the Board of Directors

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,
Re: blinkx and MIVA Combination

I am writing on behalf of the board of directors of blinkx Plc to make a proposal for the business combination of blinkx and MIVA. Under our proposal, blinkx would acquire all of the outstanding shares of MIVA common stock for $1.20 in cash per share. Our proposal is not subject to any financing condition. The transaction would be funded from existing cash resources of the two companies.

Proposal. Our proposal represents a 54.0% premium above the closing price of MIVA common stock of $0.78 on August 7, 2008, and a 36% premium over the average closing price for the one month prior to August 7, 2008.

By whatever financial measure one might use, we believe this proposal represents a compelling value realization opportunity for your shareholders and the quickest and most secure way to see such value, particularly given the several challenges MIVA faces in the near term, including: risk and cost associated with the new technology platform, a deteriorating cash position, continued deterioration of the Media EU business and continued decline in revenue and profitability.

We believe that MIVA's shareholders would not be well-served by any delay in negotiating or completing the merger process, and that time and/or another round of restructuring plans will not significantly increase MIVA's valuation.

Background. Having worked together for a number of years you will be aware that blinkx is the world's largest and most advanced video search engine. Founded in 2004 by Suranga Chandratillake, the company completed a successful IPO on the London Stock Exchange (AIM) in May 2007 and currently has a market capitalization of approximately $160 million, with headquarters in San Francisco, CA and the UK. With an index of over 26 million hours of searchable video and more than 350 media partnerships, including national broadcasters, commercial media giants, and private video libraries, blinkx has cemented its position as the premier destination for online TV. blinkx pioneered video search on the Internet, enhanced by $150 million in R&D over 12 years, and is now protected by 111 patents.

Rationale. blinkx believes that a combination of the two companies would be mutually beneficial to both companies' shareholders, employees, and customers. blinkx and MIVA have complementary businesses that could benefit greatly from blinkx's technology and MIVA's distribution network.

blinkx has worked with MIVA as a customer and partner for a number of years and has a great deal of respect for MIVA's success in building a global keyword advertising network and growing the MIVA Direct consumer offering. We believe, however, that with the Internet's continued progression towards rich media and newer forms of advertising, more advanced technology will play a fundamental role in achieving success.

blinkx already has in place a proven and growing video-driven revenue engine, and enjoys an unrivalled technology portfolio which is applicable across many aspects of the online market. A combination of the two companies - fusing MIVA's advertising network with blinkx's ability to leverage its technology portfolio into the online market - presents an exciting and compelling opportunity.

Specifically, blinkx's advanced and scalable matching technology will enable immediate platform improvements for MIVA. As a result large portions of relevant search traffic from MIVA's search ad network will be monetizeable at higher rates through blinkx's technology. Furthermore blinkx's technology holds the potential to build on MIVA's existing toolbar network, adding the latest functionality and an entirely new revenue stream. Finally, MIVA's consumer sites and portals, that already attract large audiences, will immediately benefit from blinkx's advanced video technology and AdHoc advertising platform.

Process and Employees. We would value the opportunity to further discuss with you how to optimize the integration of our respective businesses to create a leading global technology company. We believe that the management and employees of MIVA are critical to realizing a successful transition and foresee an important and central role for MIVA employees in the combined company.

Any acquisition of MIVA would be subject to the opportunity to conduct a limited confirmatory due diligence investigation, the negotiation of a definitive merger agreement containing customary terms and conditions, including customary conditions to closing; no material adverse change to MIVA's business; appropriate shareholder approvals; and any regulatory requirements. Given our participation in the industry and MIVA's public status, we envisage an efficient due diligence process appropriate to a public company. We are prepared to deliver a draft merger agreement to you and begin discussions immediately.

Due to the importance of these discussions and the value represented by our proposal, we expect the MIVA Board to engage in a full review of our proposal and discussion of its contents with MIVA's shareholders. We are prepared to meet at a time and location of your convenience to complete due diligence and commence definite agreement negotiations.

We believe this proposal represents a unique opportunity for MIVA's shareholders to realize value, and the combined company will be well positioned for future growth. We hope that you and your Board share our enthusiasm, and we look forward to a prompt and favourable reply.

Yours sincerely,

Suranga Chandratillake

CEO and Founder

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 8, 2008, 8:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

SEW Experts: Oil and Water? SEOs vs. Content Owners

Search Engine Watch Expert - Chris Boggs Search Engine Watch Expert - Frank Watson When it comes to bringing an outside SEO consultant in, content owners need to pay attention to the role corporate politics and the review process play in planning SEO projects. In today's Search Marketing Crossfire column, "Oil and Water? SEOs vs. Content Owners," Chris Boggs and Frank Watson remind us that while most SEO consultants expect to have some sort of clashes with internal designers and developers, uncomfortable meetings can also occur when SEO meets content creator.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on August 8, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SEW Experts: Getting Vertical Search Right: A Sneak Preview

Search Engine Watch Expert - Elisabeth Osmeloski At SES San Jose later this month, a panel of experts will discuss vertical search in a Googlized world, where we've created more advanced users by simplifying search. In today's vertical search marketing column, "Getting Vertical Search Right: A Sneak Preview," vertical search expert Elisabeth Osmeloski notes that, in the search for the next big thing, it's about providing a search service that is just above that highly set bar.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on August 8, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Is John McCain or Barack Obama Winning the YouTube Vote?

Yesterday, Rasmussen Reports said that the "news you watch says a lot about how you'll vote." According to the pollster, 87 percent of Fox News viewers say they are likely to vote for John McCain, while 65 percent of those who watch CNN and 63 percent of those who watch MSNBC plan to support Barack Obama in November.

Those who read a print newspaper during the week were fairly evenly divided between the two candidates, but among those who read the same papers online, Obama had the edge. On the other hand, more than 60 percent those who listen talk radio plan to vote for McCain.

Today, the Times of India reports that the McCain campaign strategy of hammering away at Obama in funny videos has pushed the McCain YouTube channel to the sixth most watched sites this week. Overall, however, Obama's YouTube channel still dominates, with 51 million all-time video views.

OJR%20chart.gif And what about the news search engines? Four years ago, the Online Journalism Review (OJR) reported that "non-traditional sources cloud Google News results." Searching on the term “John Kerry,” several stories from “second-tier” online-only news and commentary sites appeared to have a conservative tilt. Among them were headlines such as “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth Expose John Kerry's Lies.”

What about this election cycle? Unfortunately, the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication suspended publication of OJR in June after a decade of helping mid-career journalists make a successful transition from other media to online reporting and production.

So, I will be watching this fall to see if there are any patterns to the news search engine rankings for John McCain and Barack Obama. But that's a big effort. So, send me an email if you see something before I do.

Posted by Greg Jarboe on August 7, 2008, 1:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Omniture's SearchCenter Now Integrated with Chinese Search Engine Baidu.com

One day before the Olympics in Beijing, Ominture has announced that its SearchCenter integration with Chinese search engine Baidu.com is now available.

"Successful search management strategies are paramount for enterprises and interactive agencies that do global online marketing," said Josh James, CEO and co-founder at Omniture. "SearchCenter gives businesses increased advantages by managing search marketing campaigns to the vast Chinese Internet audience that predominantly uses Baidu.com for search."

Baidu recently posted an 87% profit for the second quarter of 2008. By the time of the next summer Olympics, China is expected to exceed the U.S. in internet use. Baidu currently enjoys 76% of the Chinese language search market.

"While the Chinese Internet audience has continued to grow, so has the interest in targeting this large economy through paid and natural search marketing," said Haoyu Shen, Baidu.com's vice president of business operations. "By integrating Baidu.com's search metrics with Omniture, we believe online marketers can better measure campaigns and increase conversion by making the search experience more relevant."

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 7, 2008, 11:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Internet Traffic Growth Rates May Be Lower than ISPs Claim

Internet service providers love to talk about how much traffic is rapidly increasing by the year and how they'll either need to charge more or create a different business model for it. Even Time Warner is running a test in Beaumont, TX to meter internet use and charge by usage.

But the claims by cable companies and other service providers may be overblown. Researchers at the University of Minnesota have released data showing that traffic growth is actually slowing.

In spite of the widespread claims of continuing and even accelerating growth rates, Internet traffic growth appears to be decelerating. In the United States, there was a brief period of "Internet traffic doubling every 100 days" back in 1995-96, but already by 1997 growth subsided towards an approximate doubling every year CO1998, and more recently even that growth rate has declined towards 50-60% per year.

They called out Cisco (and I hate to do this since a friend works there), whose CEO said they were experiencing 100% growth, while their white papers said they were experiencing 50% growth.

The natural conclusion by ISPs has been that increased traffic means increased costs. But researchers say not so fast:

Traffic volumes are a very crude measure of the state of the Internet. Investment is driven by profits, and those have only a slight relation to traffic.

Still, the cable companies clearly want to go after internet companies like Google, who stepped on their turf by offering TV ads. They've even been collaborating on "Project Canoe," designed to create a national advertising platform as an alternative to Google.

But when it comes to the internet, innovation is almost always the route to beating the competition. The cable companies are trying to keep consumers in the past, but they won't win that game.

What do you think of this data? Are ISPs trying to pull a fast one on us? Sound off in the comments.

via Ars Technica

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 7, 2008, 10:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Google to Update Content Network as Part of DoubleClick Integration

Google has announced new features that are coming to the Content Network. They said the new features are part of the integration process with DoubleClick, since finalizing the acquisition of the company earlier this year.

The new features are:

Frequency Capping: Enables advertisers to control the number of times a user sees an ad. Users will have a better experience on Google content network sites because they will no longer see the same ad over and over again.
Frequency Reporting: Provides insight into the number of people who have seen an ad campaign, and how many times, on average, people are seeing these ads.
Improved Ads Quality: Brings performance improvements within the Google content network.
View-Through Conversions: Enables advertisers to gain insights on how many users visited their sites after seeing an ad. This helps advertisers determine the best places to advertise so users will see more relevant ads.

Yesterday, Google announced the sale of DoubleClick's search engine marketing arm of Performics, to Publicis.

In May, Google integrated DoubleClick mobile with its Adsense program, as well as other mobile ad networks.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 7, 2008, 9:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Let the Games Begin: Yahoo and Icahn Make it Official

Yahoo has officially appointed Carl Icahn to its board of directors, and board member Robert Kotick has officially resigned. The moves were all part of a previously reached agreement by Yahoo and Icahn following months of drama resulting from an unsolicited bid by Microsoft to buy Yahoo.

But with the track record of Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostick, Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang, Icahn and Microsoft, this game is not nearly over. Instead, the first six months of 2008 were more like announcing the starting lineups at the NBA championships.

Or maybe an elementary schoolyard where the bullies are picking teams.

Either way, expect to see more posturing and smear campaigns, not unlike this year's presidential election.

via Reuters

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 7, 2008, 8:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Pew Internet & American Life Project: 49% Use Search Daily

How often do people use a search engine?

The percentage of Internet users who use search engines on a typical day has soared from about one-third of all users in 2002, to a new high of just under one half (49%), according to the latest study from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

How often people search is one of the key questions in understanding the success of Google and other search engines. Search has become embedded in our daily lives.

Key finding: Search is gaining fast on email as the most popular Internet activity.

The number of people using a search engine on a typical day has gained ground on the 60% of internet users who use email, arguably the Internet's all-time killer app.

How does the growth rate of search compare to the growth rate of email over the same time period?

Underscoring the dramatic increase over time, the percentage of internet users who search on a typical day grew 69% from January 2002 to May 2008. During the same six-year time period, the use of email on a typical day rose from 52% to 60%, for a growth rate of just 15%.

The Pew Internet & American Life Project concluded that these new figures propel search further out of the pack, well ahead of other popular internet activities, such as checking the news (39%) or checking the weather (30%) on a typical day.

As our readers know, search engine users more likely to be upscale, with at least some college education and incomes over $50,000 per year.

Posted by Kevin Heisler on August 7, 2008, 5:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

SEW Experts: Link Building with Customers, Part 2

Search Engine Watch Expert - Justilien Gaspard Customers are one of your most valuable link building resources, because they're already sold on your product or service. In today's linkbuilding column, "Link Building with Customers, Part 2," Justilien Gaspard shows that cultivating positive relations with clients is the key to getting them to help with link development and word-of-mouth marketing.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on August 7, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SEW Experts: Avoiding Online Missteps with Generation Y and Millenniums

Search Engine Watch Expert - Erik Qualman Often, millions of dollars are spent on tailoring a marketing message to a youth audience, and not enough is spent to tailor the actual product or service we're delivering. In today's building brand equity column, "Avoiding Online Missteps with Generation Y and Millenniums," Erik Qualman explains that marketers need only look to the simplicity of Facebook and Craigslist to see that success with young people doesn't need to come in a fancy package.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on August 7, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Microsoft Webmaster Tools Update

Microsoft has just released an update to their Webmaster Tools. It's a significant update, with lots of new functionality in it. My guess is that a large number of SEOs will adopt this new tool as a part of their tool set. Let's take a look at the opening screen:

As you can see, you start with a nice clean look. Note that this is a screen shot for Microsoft.com. Not every site has 186 million pages indexed ...

One of the new features is the "Crawl Issues" report. This provides information on 404 errors, pages blocked by the Robots Exclusion Protocol, and dynamic URLs that have excessively long query strings. One interesting sub-note is that the review guide I received says: "Live Search flags URLs that have exceptionally long query string that could lead our crawler into an infinite loop trying to crawl all the variations due to the large number of potential parameter combinations."

I though that the note about a potential infinite loop was pretty interesting. Clearly that would be a scenario that would dramatically affect the crawling and indexing of your site in a material way.

The Crawl Issues report also provides information on unsupported Content-Types. This will help webmasters pages that are not being indexed by Live Search because of the Content-Type returned by the pages.

Next up is the backlinks report. First, let's take a look at an example:

Once again, a nice clean look. Just being able to get at this data and download it is powerful. SEOs will want to make use of this for analyzing the backlinks of the site(s) they are working on. However, if you look more closely at the screen shot, you will see an example of the filtering capabilities in the product. Our example shows the backlinks for Microsoft.com being filtered to show only the links received from latimes.com.

Other filters are available. For example you can also filter the data based on top level domain. Overall the filtering capability allows you to dig a bit deeper into the content of your backlinks. Results in Webmaster Tools can also filter data by up to 2 subdomains or 2 sub-folders. This again can lead to faster analysis of the data.

The program does provide a download option, but it is limited to 1000 results. For sites with over 1000 backlinks, this will be a bit frustrating. Nonetheless, the ability to get at the data, and into a spreadsheet is an important addition.

In summary, this looks like a solid upgrade to Microsoft's Webmaster Tools offering. I think many SEOs will adopt this. The access to the backlinks data alone justifies giving the product a close look.

Posted by on August 6, 2008, 4:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google Sells Performics to Publicis Groupe

Google has sold its Performics search marketing business to the Publicis Groupe.

Chicago-based Performics has about 200 employees in Chicago, San Francisco, New York, London, Hamburg, Sydney, Singapore and Beijing. The business will report into Curt Hecht, president of Paris-based Publicis' VivaKi Nerve Center. Hecht is the former EVP Chief Digital Officer, GM Planworks, a unit of Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG)

"Publicis Groupe has been a leader in the advertising industry for decades, and we believe Performics' growing business will benefit from being part of it," said Google Chairman and Chief Executive Eric Schmidt in a statement. "We look forward to working with Performics as a partner."

The financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed.

The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter.

Posted by Kevin Heisler on August 6, 2008, 1:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

New News Search Engine: Newsflashr

Newsflashr.com launched a new type of search engine for news stories today. Users are prompted to enter keywords and the search results are polled and displayed in real-time from many of the leading news services such as MSN Live, Ask Big News, Google News, Yahoo News, MSNBC, Digg and Twitter to name a few.

Newsflashr will also feature the Techmeme Leaderboard.

The site is the first to add a social twist to news reporting, in an attempt to leverage contributions of citizen journalists and the collective intelligence. For the first time, we'll be able to determine whether Twitter is actually a news source. Plus, Digg - one of the key drivers of searches on Google Hot Trends - will be featured as a news source.

The sites is shooting for a hip, ironic image. The front page graphic is no Google Doodle. It's a pic of The Joker superimposed on nuclear missiles, with the caption the Joker's line from The Dark Knight, "Why so serious?" (see below)

"As a small company, we think that we can challenge the big guns with our new approach that pulls from all their results and pushes them on to a single results page. Say someone is really thirsty for any news updates on a given person or company, using Newsflashr, they'll never miss a beat," said Gal Arav, founder of Newsflashr.com, in a statement.

The new service complements Newsflashr's existing free news portal launched in February 2008. The existing portal is a news interface that highlights keywords (topics) representing the "collective intelligence" of hundreds of the top news editors as it updates throughout the day for a wide variety of mainstream news and blog categories.

newsflashr%20image.jpg

Posted by Kevin Heisler on August 6, 2008, 11:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Time Warner to Split AOL Media and Access Divisions

After months of speculation, Time Warner has confirmed that it will split AOL's media and internet access divisions. Despite TW's revenue increase of 5%, the internet property's operating income dropped a whopping 36% in the second quarter of 2008, a loss of $230 million.

The loss is due primarily to a decline in subscription revenues. Subscriptions are down based on AOL's decision to allow members to keep their emails for free. They lost 604,000 subscribers quarter-over-quarter and 2.8 million year-over-year.

Of course, this was all initially driven by a desire by consumers to have broadband internet access in their homes, provided by the cable companies. Time Warner is a provider of cable services.

The silver lining is AOL's advertising, which was up 2%, an $8 million increase. Even then, there was a slight decline in display advertising across AOL Network sites.

Still, AOL has been refocusing its business model on advertising as opposed to internet access subscriptions. This is an obvious move, especially considering its Platform-A digital advertising division is #1 in online advertising networks.

It is widely rumored and expected that Time Warner will sell off AOL altogether to a buyer in the online advertising space. They've talked to both Yahoo and Microsoft in attempts to strike a deal, but much like the aforementioned companies, an agreement has yet to be reached.

via CNET

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 6, 2008, 10:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google Updates Search Appliance, Now Holds 10 Million Documents

Google has released a new version of their hardware product, Search Appliance. The new version can hold up to 10 million documents in a single box, as much as a previouis version held in a 5 box rack.

The box holds Google software that powers search services and runs on Dell storage hardware.

Other new features in the updated version include greater encryption powers and notifications of new documents stored by colleagues.

via Reuters

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 6, 2008, 9:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Perhaps Paris Hilton Should Run Yahoo

If you keep up with politics, then you know that a recent McCain ad portrayed as Obama as simply a celebrity, and included pictures of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton.

Paris Hilton has responded to the ad with a hilarious video on FunnyOrDie.com, a popular online video sharing and voting site, where many celebrities have appeared before.

Hilton broke from her normal persona to reveal the intelligent side of herself. Yes, you read that correctly. She was poised (albeit in a bathing suit by the pool), and spoke with more clarity about politics than any Washington official.

But her energy plan is where the genius is truly revealed. Perhaps, Paris Hilton should run Yahoo? Hey, Carl Icahn is looking for a two people to join him on the expanded board, especially after TimeWarner nixed Jonathan Miller's chances of being part of Icahn's coup d'Ã©tat. After watching this video, I'm convinced Paris could broker a deal with Microsoft that will leave everyone happy. Well, except Bostock and Yang. But they had their chance.

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 6, 2008, 9:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google Launches New Metric Tool, Insights for Search

Google has launched a new metric geared towards marketers: Google Insights for Search. The tool is very similar to Google Trends, but includes "Rising Searches" and a map representing Regional Interest, which is also broken down by ballpark figure numbers.

Check out these screenshots for a better idea of what the tool is like, then go try it for yourself. (Don't forget to come back and leave a comment about your first impressions of the tool!)

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 6, 2008, 8:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Yahoo Confirms Vote Error, Yang and Bostock Not Liked So Much After All

Yahoo has confirmed that a 'tabulation error' occurred in the shareholder vote count conducted by Broadridge Financial Solutions, the independent firm hired to do the job. Turns out, just over half of the shareholders felt the need to vote Chairman Roy Bostock and CEO Jerry Yang. It's probably a good thing (for them) that they reached that settlement with Carl Icahn, or else the vote may have turned a worse outcome for the two.

Here's the new tally:

Here's the old tally:

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 6, 2008, 8:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SEW Experts: How Long Should My Landing Page Test Run?

Search Engine Watch Expert - Tim Ash What's the right length for a landing page optimization test? In today's By the Numbers column, "How Long Should My Landing Page Test Run?," Tim Ash notes that that's a bit like asking 'how long is a piece of string?' But there are some guidelines to follow to help you know when enough is enough.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on August 6, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SEW Experts: Woohoo for Yahoo

Search Engine Watch Expert - Kevin Ryan Even after the vote re-count, a majority of shareholders voted Yahoo's board in, and Carl Icahn settled for the right to propose two board seats and a spot for himself. In today's Searching for Meaning column, "Woohoo for Yahoo," Kevin Ryan asks what, at the end of the day, is more important than rebuilding the Web's biggest brand?

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on August 6, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Planet Google - Everything You Always Wanted to Know

planet%20google%20stross.jpg
There's one book every search engine marketer will be reading this fall:

Planet Google: One Company's Audacious Plan to Organize Everything We Know.

Based on unprecedented access he received to the "Googleplex," New York Times columnist Randall Stross takes readers deep inside Google. His revelations demystify the strategy behind the company's recent flurry of bold moves, all driven by the pursuit of a business plan unlike any other: to become the indispensable gatekeeper of all the world's information, the one-stop destination for all our information needs.

Will Google succeed? And what are the implications of a single company commanding so much information and knowing so much about us?

As ambitious as Google's goal is, with 68 percent of all Web searches (and growing), profits that are the envy of the business world, and a surplus of talent, the company is, Stross shows, well along the way to fulfilling its ambition, becoming as dominant a force on the Web as Microsoft became on the PC.

Google isn't just a superior search service anymore. In recent years it has launched a dizzying array of new services and advanced into whole new businesses, from the introductions of its controversial Book Search and the irresistible Google Earth, to bidding for a slice of the wireless-phone spectrum and nonchalantly purchasing YouTube for $1.65 billion.

Google has also taken direct aim at Microsoft's core business, offering free e-mail and software from word processing to spreadsheets and calendars, pushing a transformative -- and highly disruptive -- concept known as "cloud computing." According to this plan, users will increasingly store all of their data on Google's massive servers -- a network of a million computers that amounts to the world's largest supercomputer, with unlimited capacity to house all the information Google seeks.

The more offerings Google adds, and the more ubiquitous a presence it becomes, the more dependent its users become on its services and the more information they contribute to its uniquely comprehensive collection of data.

Will Google stay true to its famous "Don't Be Evil" mantra, using its power in its customers' best interests?

Posted by Kevin Heisler on August 5, 2008, 11:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Dogpile.com and Petfinder.com Agree to Search Partnership (Plus, Tell Us Your Pet Story!)

Infospace's Dogpile.com has been selected as the search partner for Petfinder.com. Additionally, the partnership will see both parties producing and promoting widgets and toolbars for Dogpile as well as promoting Petfinder's listing of over 250,000 pets.

“This partnership is a great extension of the Dogpile brand,” said Bruce Allenbaugh, Chief Marketing Officer of InfoSpace. “By working closely with Petfinder to introduce Dogpile's search experience and our pet-affinity to their pet-loving audience we'll encourage cross-traffic between the Dogpile and Petfinder sites.”

Did you use search to find your pet? (I found my bengal kitty Cinnamon on Craigslist.org and rescued my other kitty on the side of the road near a local Walmart). Yeah, that's right. Matt Cutts isn't the only one with adorable cats!

Now it's your turn. Tell us your pet story in the comments!

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 5, 2008, 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Yahoo's Right Media Exchange to Feature LucidMedia Contextual Advertising

Today, Yahoo announced that Right Media Exchange will feature LucidMedia's patented ClickSense contextual advertising. The targeted ad solution has been testing since May, culminating in a partnership between the two. Buyers and publishers will be able to contextually categorize 60 vertical channels in Right Media Exchange's display advertising inventory.

"LucidMedia's ClickSense technology will significantly help increase the prospective yield of a publisher's available inventory and improve an advertiser's ability to contextually target ads to relevant content and categories through the Right Media Exchange," said Bill Wise, General Manager, Right Media. "We are excited to bring this capability to Exchange participants and look forward to working with the LucidMedia team to deepen the use of ClickSense across the Exchange."

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 5, 2008, 11:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Friendster Names Googler as New CEO

Friendster has named Google's regional managing director of South Asia, Richard Kimber, as its new CEO. It has also raised $20 million in funding.

Despite the waning of its popularity in the United States, Friendster is the #1 social network in Asia, and the 9th largest website in the world.

"Friendster is growing at an enormous rate in Asia Pacific and is clearly leading the competition. I believe this is partly because the Internet is transforming the lives of everyone, and it will probably become one of the greatest liberators of our time," said Kimber. "Utilizing the Internet to connect to your friends is one of its greatest benefits, and is changing the way relationships work globally. With more than 75 million users, it is clear that Friendster has already made a dramatic impact. I look forward to growing our business further as we continue our global growth and strong focus on Asia."

via NYT

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 5, 2008, 10:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SES Awards Finalists Announced

SES%20Awards.jpg

Search Engine Strategies today named 43 search engine marketers as finalists for the SEM conference's first annual SES Awards.

The 16 winners will be announced throughout SES San Jose during Orion and keynote panels, which are being held August 18-21 at the San Jose Convention Center.

The SES Award Finalists in the following categories are:

Best Search Engine Ad Platform
Call Genie's CG Advantage
LookSmart AdCenter
SendTec - SearchFactz

Search Engine with Most Relevant Search Results
Expert System's Cogito Focus (Shift Communications)
Local.com (Madison Alexander)
Yahoo!

Most Innovative New Search Engine
YellowBot (Young & Associates)
Expert System's Cogito Focus (Shift Communications)

Technology Platform Search Marketers Can't Live Without
Enquisite (Maven.com)
Covario, Inc. (JHG Townsend)
Kenshoo Search - SEM Platform (Kenshoo Ltd)

Best SEM Technology Platform for SMBs
LocalLaunch
Enquisite (Maven.com)
Marchex

Most Innovative Use of Search Engine Optimization
NikeStore (Range Online Media)
DoubleClick Performics
Where 2 Get It Search Locator

Most Innovative Paid Search Campaign
SearchAdNetwork
Building Blocks for LEGO's Paid Search Media (iCrossing)
Four Seasons Hotels and Resort (Acronym Media)

Best Social Media Marketing Campaign
Alberto-Culver Nexxus (iProspect)
SEO-PR
Beaches of South Walton (USDM.net)

Best Business-to-Business Search Marketing Campaign
Microsoft Small Business Center (iProspect)
SEO-PR
Enquiro Search Solutions, Inc.

Best Multi-National Search Marketing Campaign
WebCertain
iCrossing Integrates Global Search Campaign for iCrossing
Acronym Media/SAP

Best Use of Local Search
The Container Store (Range Online Media)
Storage West Self Storage (Young & Associates)
US Small Business Administration-Business Gateway Initiative

Best Integration of Search with Other Media
SEO-PR
The Tudors/Showtime (Outrider)
Jaguar XF Oscars (MEC Interaction)

Most Effective Use of Web Analytics
World Travel Holdings - CruisesOnly.com (iProspect)
iCrossing Measures Results with Mazda Analytics (iCrossing)
Four Seasons Hotels and Resort (Acronym Media)

Best Web Analytics Platform
Omniture
Coremetrics (Lewis PR)

Most Advertiser-Friendly Search Engine
Call Genie Interact Voice
7Search.com
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Editor's Choice
(The Editor's Choice award winner will be selected
exclusively by the SES Awards editorial staff.)

Posted by Kevin Heisler on August 5, 2008, 10:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Yes, There is a New Yahoo Update

If you're noticing changes in your Yahoo rankings, you're not alone. Yahoo has released an update to their search index.

The last update was released about a month ago.

One commenter on the Yahoo Search blog said that Yahoo's results look a lot like Microsoft's Live Search results. What are you seeing?

Leave a comment and tell us what you're seeing!

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 5, 2008, 10:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Superpages.com Parent Idearc Media Partners with HelloMetro's Network of 1500+ .mobi Sites

Idearc Media, which owns Superpages.com and publishes the Verizon Yellow Pages, has announced an advertising partnership with .mobi network HelloMetro. The two already have a partnership to extend advertising across HelloMetro's .com pages.

“We have received great results in our current agreement with HelloMetro.com and the new agreement can only bring more visibility and more leads for our advertisers on Superpages.com,” said Robyn Rose, vice president of Internet marketing for Idearc Media.

HelloMetro owns over 1,500 city-based Web sites that see more than 2.7 million unique visitors a month combined. HelloMetro serves up your typical content of interest in local guides - attractions, restaurants, special events, movie show times, lottery results, real estate, jobs, phone directories.

“As we continue to add cities to our list of Web sites content becomes increasingly important,” said Clark Scott, CEO of HelloMetro.com. “Superpages.com's local business content will provide an added bonus to our robust city-specific content.”

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 5, 2008, 10:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Will Yahoo Be Counting Hanging Chads?

With so much disappointment in the Yahoo board among shareholders, how did Chairman Roy Bostock and CEO Jerry Yang manage to get more votes this year than at last year's shareholders meeting? That's a question on the minds of Capital Research & Management, which sent proxy committees to represent its two funds that own a big chunk of Yahoo stock. The proxy committees recommended that votes for Bostock and Yang be withheld in order to demonstrate their disapproval of Microsoft's bid.

Capital Research & Management has talked with Broadridge Financial Solutions about investigating the vote to see if some votes were not counted. The way the votes stand now, it would appear that if CR&M's votes were counted - and they withheld them, they were among the only to vote against Bostock and Yang, which seems a bit odd given the current climate

Additionally, fewer votes were cast than last year, which only adds to the drama. On the one hand, perhaps fewer people wished to vote when they were so disappointed with the current board. On the flip side, wouldn't more people want to show up during such an important year and make their voice heard? An investigation into the vote count could answer this question.

Yahoo has said they have played no part in a possible error in the count. Yahoo doesn't perform the vote count, but instead a third party is required to do so.

via BoomTown

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 5, 2008, 9:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google and Microsoft Gain in UK Search Engine Shares for June 2008

comScore has released UK search engine share data for June 2008. Here's how it breaks down:

Other notable findings from June 2008:

There were 3.9 billion total searches conducted in the U.K. during the month.
31 million U.K. Internet users conducted at least one search.
U.K. searchers conducted an average of 124 searches per searcher during the month, or 4.1 searches per day.
U.K. searchers made a combined total of 937 billion visits to a search engine in May, with an average of 4.1 searches per visit.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 5, 2008, 8:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

SEW Experts: Top SEO Firms Paid for by the Following...

Search Engine Watch Expert - Mark Jackson Our industry still has a lot of growing up to do. Participating in advertising programs masquerading as objective ratings services is not going to help us do that. In today's natural search column, "Top SEO Firms Paid for by the Following...," Mark Jackson issues a plea for the SEO industry to mature, become more responsible corporate citizens, and educate the masses, in a non-commercial way. Perhaps, then, we can see more companies putting faith (and budgets) behind SEO efforts, so that every SEO firm will benefit from the growth of the entire pie.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on August 5, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SEW Experts: Increase Web Site Conversions with the Scientific Method

Search Engine Watch Expert - Carrie Hill It's so simple in description, but has unlimited potential. The scientific method can apply to any type of experiment, be it chemistry or Web site marketing. In today's small business SEM column, "Increase Web Site Conversions with the Scientific Method," Carrie Hill outlines the process involved, and shows you how it can help improve your SEM campaigns.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on August 5, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Live Search Cashback Launches Back-to-School Rebates

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Microsoft launched a limited time promotion today called Back-to-School Deal Days for Live Search cashback. The promotion lets customers save big (and in some cases double the rewards) from hundreds of participating online retailers.

The back-to-school season is the second largest retail season of the year. That bodes well for Microsoft's share of searches as they continue to compete with Yahoo for (a distant) second place.

Live Search cashback offers ad-funded cash rebates to customers using the service. Live Search also offers price comparisons, making side-by-side price shopping quicker and easier.

A recent survey from Deloitte found that during this back-to-school shopping season, 71 percent of households plan on spending less on back-to-school items than they have in previous years. With consumers feeling financial strain from higher gas and food prices, Live Search cashback is offering back-to-school shoppers extra savings to stretch their dollars further.

Back-to-school savings start today and will run for a limited time during the month of August.

How It Works: Online shoppers can search, shop and get cashback rebates from hundreds of participating online stores through the Microsoft Live Search cashback program, which launched in May. Current retailers include Barnes & Noble.com, Overstock.com, Sears, Foot Locker and Zappos.com, among many others. This month, the cashback return is even higher with Deal Days.

Here are a few examples of the bargains:

Rebate of 36 percent on Jordan Men's AJF 12 basketball shoes from Foot Locker
Rebate of 18 percent on Lenovo ThinkPad X61 Tablet PCs from Zappos.com
Rebate of 30 percent on The North Face Doubletrack backpacks from eBags

Consumers can save money each time they use Live Search cashback. For every qualifying purchase, the shopper will be sent an e-mail message confirming the Live Search cashback savings. Consumers' cash can be claimed when their Live Search cashback balance hits at least $5, 60 days after the purchase. Microsoft will provide the rebate one of three ways: via PayPal, check or direct deposit into a bank account.

Posted by Kevin Heisler on August 4, 2008, 2:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google Translate Goes Live with Human Translators

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Google Translate is going live. The world's most comprehensive set of translation technologies will now be aided by human beings translating documents upon request.

Google employees won't be in the business of translating documents. Rather, Google will offer volunteer and professional translators the opportunity to use Google tools and technologies to translate. In previous columns, we've discussed the need for localization in translation. It looks as if Google will take the lead on using local translators to aid machine translation.

Google Translation Center will enable users to upload a document, choose a translation language, and select from Google's registry of professional and volunteer translators. If a translator accepts, users will receive the translated content back as soon as it's ready.

The potential for use by SEOs and Internet marketing managers is huge. The service may offer affordable ways to translate not only URLs but entire Web sites.

Google's translation search feature matches a current translation with previous translations, so it won't be necessary to translate a document more than once.
In short, Google could create the world's largest repository of completed homework assignments for students taking a foreign language.

We'll keep you posted as Google's human-assisted translation service officially launches.

Posted by Kevin Heisler on August 4, 2008, 1:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

'Twas the Monday After the Yahoo Shareholder Meeting

The Yahoo shareholder meeting has come and gone without much fanfare, thanks to the settlement between the Yahoo board and Carl Icahn to keep the current board but expand it by 3 seats post-meeting. But there are a few interesting tidbits you'll want to know.

Firstly, TimeWarner has stepped in to prevent Jonathan Miller from joining the expanded Yahoo board. Yahoo had requested that Miller be placed on a list created by Carl Icahn for 2 of the expanded seats, the other one taken by Icahn of course. TimeWarner says Miller is under a no-compete contract with AOL.

And even though the current board was re-elected, that doesn't mean shareholders have been appeased. Many are still furious with Yang and the gang for turning down Microsoft's sweet $33 per share deal. The stock, once up in the high 20's has gone back down to the $19-20 level, where it was when Microsoft initially made its offer.

At least one shareholder, the outspoken Eric Jackson, is holding out hope for an eventual Microsoft buyout. He believes the software giant will come back for another grab in 2009.

But will the offer be as sweet? Tell us your predictions for the Microsoft-Yahoo saga in the comments.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 4, 2008, 11:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Microsoft Partners with Zvents for MSN City Guides

Microsoft today announced a partnership with Zvents, a local search and advertising network, to integrate with MSN City Guides. Through the partnership, local advertisers will be able to target audiences with specific information about events and promotions.

Zvents has over 250 media partners, which will provide content to MSN City Guides, accessed by web crawler. User-generated content will also be part of the mix, which will include blended local search results.

This seems to fit with Microsoft's recent talk of focusing on search niches and really developing them through innovation. It's part of the grand plan to catch up with Google.

"Our goal is to deliver an incomparable local event experience to MSN users," said Manu Vij, Channel Manager for the MSN Local group at Microsoft. "With Zvents, our users can now quickly and easily find any event happening in their local area -- whether a hot rod car show, concert in the park, back-to-school sale, or celebrity book signing -- virtually whatever suits their interests is presented in detail and immediately accessible."

"Together with MSN, we're now able to provide millions of people with the most complete and robust index of local content," said Ethan Stock, Zvents CEO and founder. "As a part of the Zvents network, MSN adds tremendous value to local advertisers trying to both broaden their reach and more precisely target customers with timely information across the web."

What do you think of MSN City Guide's partnership with Zvents? Will it help Microsoft conquer a niche in local search? Sound off in the comments.

Related Reading:
Universal Thoughts on Local Search

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 4, 2008, 10:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

SES San Jose tip sheet for bloggers and journalists

Many bloggers and journalists don't need a tip sheet to find the most newsworthy sessions at SES San Jose. Either they will bring a team along to live blog or report five concurrent conference sessions, or they will blow into the San Jose Convention Center to listen to one of the keynotes and depart mistakenly thinking that they've covered the entire show.

But a number of bloggers and journalists will have to make choices – trying to cover the most important sessions over the four-day Search Engine Strategies 2008 Conference & Expo. I'm a member of this little band of ink-stained wretches.

Well, I really haven't had any serious problems with ink stains since the media world went digital. But, even bloggers feel fairly wretched after covering a week-long search engine conference from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.

So, to help my colleagues keep their editors or bosses from muttering that they missed the big story, I've put together this tip sheet for SES San Jose. These are my predictions for the top ten news stories that will come out of the event.

Day 1 - Monday, August 18, 2008

9:45am-11:00am
Universal & Blended Search
Moderator:
• John Tawadros, Chief Operating Officer, iProspect
Speakers:
• Shashi Seth, Chief Revenue Officer, Cooliris
• Johanna Wright, Director of Product Management, Google
• Cris Pierry, Senior Director of Product Management, Yahoo! Search
• Erik Collier, VP, Product Management, Ask.com
• Todd Schwartz, Group Product Manager, Live Search

1:30pm-2:30pm
Orion Keynote Panel: How Much Search is Enough?
Moderators:
• Kevin Ryan, VP, Global Content Director, Search Engine Strategies & Search Engine Watch
• Anne Kennedy, Managing Partner & Founder, Beyond Ink
Speakers:
• Robert Murray, President, iProspect
• Aaron Goldman, VP, Marketing & Strategic Partnerships, Resolution Media, an Omnicom Media Group Company
• Steven Kaufman, SVP, Media Director, Digitas
• Bob Tripathi, Search Marketing Strategist, Discover Financial Services

4:30pm-5:30pm
Opening Keynote Presentation:
Lee Siegel, Author of “Against the Machine” and a senior editor at The New Republic.

Day 2 - Tuesday, August 19, 2008

9:00am-10:00am
Morning Keynote:
Satya Nadella, Senior VP, Search, Portal & Advertising Platform Group, Microsoft

11:00am-12:15pm
Measuring Success in a 2.0 World
Moderator:
• Richard Zwicky, Founder & CEO, Enquisite
Speakers:
• Jim Sterne, Target Marketing & Chairman, Web Analytics Association
• Matthew Bailey, President, SiteLogic
• Avinash Kaushik, Author, Blogger, Analytics Evangelist, Google
• Marshall Sponder, Senior Web Analyst, Monster.com

1:30pm-2:30pm
Orion Keynote Panel: Technical & Information Giants
Moderators:
• Kevin Ryan, VP, Global Content Director, Search Engine Strategies & Search Engine Watch
• Mike Grehan, Global KDM Officer, Acronym Media
Speakers:
• Matt Cutts, Software Engineer Guru, Google
• Danny Sullivan, Editor-in-Chief, Search Engine Land
• Tim Westergren, Founder, Pandora
• Robert Scoble, Managing Director, FastCompany.TV
• Kirsten Mangers, Co-founder & CEO, WebVisible
• Rich LeFurgy, General Partner, Archer Advisors

Day 3 - Wednesday, August 20, 2008

9:00am-10:00am
Keynote Roundtable: Why Does Search Get the Credit for Everything?
Moderator:
• Bill Hunt, CEO, Global Strategies International
Speakers:
• Randy Peterson, Search Marketing Innovation Manager, Procter and Gamble
• Terry A. Cox, Manager, Search Engine Marketing, Walt Disney Parks & Resorts Online
• Mikel Chertudi, Sr. Director, Online & Demand Marketing, Omniture
• Sharon Gallacher, West Coast Managing Director, Neo@Ogilvy

2:45pm-4:00pm
War of the Search Worlds: Unifying Your Global Search Marketing Program
Moderator:
• Kevin Heisler, Executive Editor, Search Engine Watch
Speakers:
• Olivier Lemaignen, Group Manager, Global Search Marketing, Intuit
• Jay Middleton, Senior Manager, Worldwide Search Marketing, Adobe
• Mark Scholz, Interactive Manager of IPG Worldwide, Hewlett-Packard
• Russ Mann, CEO, Covario
• Dan Quinn, Manager of Global E-business, Research In Motion

Day 4 - Thursday, August 21, 2008

9:00am-10:00am
Morning Keynote:
Chip Heath, Author of “Made to Stick” and Professor of Organizational Behavior in the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University

2:45pm-3:45pm
In House SEO: Lessons Learned & Victories Won
Moderator:
• Jessica Bowman, SEO Strategist & in-house SEO Expert, SEMinhouse.com
Speakers:
• Marshall D. Simmonds, Chief Search Strategist, New York Times / About.com
• Derrick Wheeler, Senior SEO Architect, Microsoft
• Kara Jariwala, Search Marketing Strategist, Cisco
• Laura Lippay, Group Program Manager, Search Strategy, Yahoo!

If you want a second opinion, I recommend that you read “15 Things Not to Miss at SES San Jose 2008” by AshleyB or “Do You Know the Way to San Jose” by Jessica over at the Online Marketing Blog, or “What To Look For At SES San Jose” by Thomas McMahon at WebProNews.

Of course, any good blogger or journalist will investigate other potential top news stories in the hopes of getting a real scoop at the search engine conference. But, the list above represents my handicapping of the pre-show favorites that will dominate the headlines from Aug. 18-21, 2008.

Posted by Greg Jarboe on August 4, 2008, 10:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Google Releases Update to Ad Planner

Google just launched Ad Planner a little over a month ago, and already the media measurement and planning tool is getting an update. The new features are based on user feedback. Here's what you can look forward to, straight from the horse's mouth:

New metrics and dataWe've added additional metrics for site visitation including average time on site, total visits, and average visits per visitor. These metrics can be useful in understanding how engaged users are with a particular site. In addition, we've upgraded our content categorization algorithms and have improved content category labels.
Direct-add functionalityIf you have an idea about some sites you'd like to include in your media plan, you can now add them directly to your plan rather than having to locate them using the research function.
In-plan indicatorThe research tab in Google Ad Planner now indicates the sites that are already in your media plan, to help prevent sites from being added multiple times.

Have you been using Ad Planner? Will this update be a welcome one? Let us know in the comments!

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 4, 2008, 10:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

AOL Sheds Tacoda, Launches Third-Party Mobile Ads, Buys SocialThing

AOL has been busy lately, building on their renewed focus on a business model built around online advertising with social media to boot.

First up, AOL is shedding Tacoda and folding it into Ad.com, part of Platform-A, AOL's ad division. The division recently began integrating Tacoda's behavioral targeting across its network.

Platform-A is also opening up its mobile ads to third parties. Third Screen Media, Platform-A's mobile ad provider, will offer mobile publishers the opportunity to access multiple ad networks for monetizing their advertising inventory, letting them fill more of their available inventory and create additional revenue streams.

Finally, TechCrunch is reporting that AOL has bought FriendFeed competitor, SocialThing, which is still in private beta. This seems to be another move by AOL to play in the social media space. Earlier this year, AOL bought social network Bebo for $850 million.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 4, 2008, 9:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SEW Experts: Awesome Ad Groups: Small is Good

Search Engine Watch Expert - David Szetela Trying to fit all your keywords in one ad group is not going to get you the results you want. In today's search advertising column, "Awesome Ad Groups: Small is Good," David Szetela shows you how to get those double-digit click-through rates with small, tightly-themed ad groups.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on August 4, 2008, 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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)

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