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July 2009

Google Rolls Out Search Options to Image Search

Remember back in May when Google launched Search Options as part of its Searchology day? Well, now they're rolling it out to Image Search as well.

If you don't remember, Search Options provides a panel on the left side of the results page which helps you filter the results. Search Options originally launched just on the main Google web page.

As pretty much all of Google launches, this one is being rolled out. I wasn't yet able to access it.

How about you? Have you checked out Search Options on Google Images yet? Tell us what you think of it in the comments section below.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 31, 2009, 11:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google Removes Beta Label from New AdWords Interface

Recently, Google removed the "beta" label from a bunch of apps, including GMail. Now they're at it again. The new AdWords interface is the latest to say goodbye to beta.

If you haven't made the upgrade, you'll eventually be required to. But you can do so now, and here's what to expect when you do:

• Performance graphs: Quickly recognize trends in your account performance via custom graphs on every page
• Roll-up tabs: Identify top priorities by viewing and editing all keywords, placements or ads in an account on a single tab
• In-line editing: Make faster adjustments with single-click editing that doesn't require loading a separate page
• Networks tab: Improve performance on the content network by looking at site-level statistics and making changes directly from your reports
• Filters: View only the keywords, ads or other parts of your account that meet or miss the performance thresholds you specify
• Spreadsheet editing: Make efficient bulk edits to keyword lists by using spreadsheets directly in your account
• Location extensions: Make ads locally relevant by including business addresses with your ads
• Custom alerts: Flag real-time changes in key metrics to stay on top of trends in your performance and quickly take corrective action

Search marketers are already seeing improvements in their paid search efforts as a result of the new interface.

"The new AdWords interface has given us huge gains in efficiency," said
Alex Mann, CEO, ClickTime. "We're spending less time navigating the
system and more time making good decisions."

What do you think about the new interface? Let us know in the comments section below.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 31, 2009, 1:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

SEW Awards Finalists Named

The editorial team here at Search Engine Watch is proud to announce the finalists for the 2009 Search Engine Watch Awards. We had a great turnout this year, with nearly 100 entries for the 14 categories.

We've winnowed down the entries to three finalists in each category. Once our judging panel completes their deliberations, we'll announce the winners in each category at Search Engine Strategies San Jose.

Look for my smiling face, along with several of our SEW Experts, in Booth 327 of the Expo Hall. We'll be announcing the winners throughout the day on Tuesday and Wednesday, August 11 and 12.

And so, without further ado, let me congratulate the 2009 SEW Awards Finalists:

Most Innovative Use of Search Engine Optimization

• Procter & Gamble
• Washington Post Digital
• Wharton EMBA/Acronym Media

Most Innovative Paid Search Campaign

• Adobe Systems/Covario -- Acrobat 9 Release
• ADT/Razorfish
• Pictage/Wpromote

Best Social Media Marketing Campaign

• Endless Vacation Rentals/iProspect -- "Your Fat Chance"
• Grasshopper -- "Advanced Phone Numbers"
• Pepsi/Eyeblaster -- "Refresh Everything"

Best Business-to-Business Search Marketing Campaign

• All Metals & Forge/TopSpot Internet Marketing
• Kelly Services/TMP Directional Marketing
• PTS Data Center Solutions

Best Use of Local Search

• ARS & Rescue Rooter/TMP Directional Marketing
• Reliant Energy/Range Online Media
• Storage West

Best Integration of Search with Other Media

• Embarq/iCrossing
• Intel -- "Sponsors of Tomorrow"
• Malibu Boats/PRWeb

Most Effective Use of Web Analytics

• Helzberg Diamonds/Rosetta
• PRNewswire/iCrossing
• World Travel Holdings -- CruisesOnly.com

Technology Platform Search Marketers Can't Live Without

• ClearSaleing
• Lyris HQ
• Marin Search Marketer

Best SEM Technology Platform for SMBs

• Marchex Connect
• ReachLocal
• WebVisible Geneva

Best Social Media Platform for Marketers

• Facebook Ads
• YouTube Promoted Videos

Best Web Analytics Platform

• Omniture Online Marketing Suite

Best Search Engine Ad Platform

• blinkx AdHoc
• Jumptap tapMatch
• LookSmart AdCenter

Search Engine with Most Relevant Results

• Local.com
• Yahoo Search

Most Innovative New Search Engine

• COGITO Focus
• FanSnap
• TapTu

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on July 31, 2009, 1:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Yahoo! Updates UI on Local Search Results

Yahoo! has made some UI changes to their local search results. The update is centralized around the idea of reducing clicks.

When you're viewing a result, the links to Yahoo! Shortcut information (reviews, photos, etc.) now load the content directly on the page you're viewing.

Additionally, when you do a category local search on Yahoo!'s main search, a local section will pop up, enabling the Yahoo! Shortcut content to be accessed in the results page.

Raleigh must be in some kind of vortex, though, because I couldn't get this feature to work for my hometown. But I can get it to work for other cities of varying populations.

What do you think of Yahoo!'s local search updates? Let us know by leaving a comment.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 31, 2009, 1:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

YouTube, Sony, and Chris Brown Make Money Off 'JK Wedding Entrance' Video

A bright young couple decided to have a non-traditional beginning to their St. Paul wedding. The entire wedding party, bride and groom included, danced down the aisle of a church to "Forever" by beleaguered R&B singer Chris Brown. They put the video up on YouTube and it currently has received over 12 million views.

While watching the video, links pop up allowing users to buy the song from Amazon or iTunes. Many have done just that.

Google took to their Official Blog to tout this YouTube is touting this as proof YouTube does can indeed make money. Amazon and Apple are benefiting from links guiding people to buy the song. Sony and Chris Brown are making money from song purchases as well.

Everyone is making money except the couple. None of the above companies would have made this money without their content.

Anyone else see something wrong here?

Ironically, many times videos with unauthorized use of music simply get taken down here. I guess it's a good thing for the companies monetarily that this was allowed to stay up.

Hopefully the next step in the evolution of their education is to let content makers profit from their creations as well. After all, this entire money-making situation is nothing without it.

But that's just my opinion? What's yours? Share it below in the comments section.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 30, 2009, 8:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (13)

Yahoo! Doesn't Know What Will Happen with BOSS; YUI, YQL and Pipes Unaffected by Deal

One of the biggest questions regarding the new Microsoft-Yahoo! deal is what will happen to Yahoo!'s search offerings in its Developer Network. Yahoo! is known for being pretty open, which was a major reasons that many thought last year's Microsoft acquisition offer was a bad idea. The cultures just didn't seem to mesh.

Fast forward to yesterday and the deal was severely watered down from 2008 proposals. Yahoo! will maintain the UI in its search pages and the two companies will essentially engaging in a revenue-sharing agreement, powered by Bing.

But what will happen to Yahoo! offerings like BOSS, which allow developers to harness Yahoo! search technology for their sites and applications. The answer: even the BOSS team doesn't know. Not yet.

Chris Yeh, head of the Yahoo! Developer Network (YDN), did take to the YDN blog to ensure that YUI, YQL, and Pipes will remain unaffected by the deal. But the deal is just too new to know how it will affect YDN's search offerings.

Hopefully, Microsoft will adopt BOSS and SearchMonkey into Bing.

Around the beginning of the year, Microsoft snagged a bunch of former Yahoo! execs with experience in search. It won't be surprising if their influence encourages Microsoft to incorporate more openness into search there.

Actually, Microsoft is much more of an open company than people think. For example, the Windows Mobile operating system was been open to developers for years before the iPhone came on the scene. They don't approve or reject apps (like Apple does), and there are many sites on the web where you can get the apps. When you think about it, it's a big strange that Live Search was so closed.

What do you think should happen to BOSS and SearchMonkey? Leave a comment and give your opinion.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 30, 2009, 6:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Microsoft and comScore Partner Up to Develop Online Branding Measurement Tool

Microsoft and comScore are teaming up to create a new digital ad planning tool. Dubbed the Reach and Frequency Planner, the tool will enable advertisers to predict reach, frequency and audience composition at the ad placement level. Audience measurement will combine ad serving data from Microsoft with demographic information from comScore.

After the ad is placed, tracking will be enabled to see how closely the end result reflected the prediction.

Ultimately, the Reach and Frequency Planner is designed to measure branding efforts in digital advertising.

"The perception that traditional branding metrics are not possible or meaningful for digital media is misguided," said Scott Howe, corporate vice president of the Advertiser and Publisher Solutions group at Microsoft. "We believe online advertising won't maximize its appeal to brand marketers until the basic metrics they've relied on for years are available in digital media plans. This requires the cooperation of digital publishers and panel measurement organizations, which our collaboration with comScore will accomplish."

One aim of the tool is to help which demographic opportunity is best. If you're reaching women aged 18-34, will an opportunity to get 10 million impressions on one group of placements perform better or worse than another group that gets 5 million? The tool will help you decide. In the end, this should help advertisers with budgeting issues as well.

"Brand advertisers need the ability to evaluate reach and frequency by audience composition in ways that are actionable and accountable," said Gian Fulgoni, comScore chairman and co-founder. "Current online reach and frequency metrics are typically computed at the site level. Measuring reach and frequency at the ad placement level is more precise because it shows the reach of the ad campaign that can actually be achieved, the true potential frequency and the specific demos of that audience."

All of this will help digital marketers gain street cred with execs who are attached to traditional advertising measurement methods.

" This new hybrid approach to digital media planning offers the granular campaign-level analysis and streamlined planning capabilities upon which brand advertisers have long relied in the traditional media environment," added Fulgoni.

The Reach and Frequency Planner will immediately open to a closed beta.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 30, 2009, 6:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Charity Party Will Be A Blast - Are You Coming

The IM Charity Party will be another great event this year. Where else can you find an open bar for 4 hours where you can meet on an intimate level all the major speakers at SES San Jose?

The organizers are asking people to sign up through the website so they can be fully prepared.

Remember this is a charity event and the donation is a tax deduction. There will be some great people and raffles of all types of cool industry prizes.

Sign up today! And even if you can't attend feel free to make a donation for a worthy cause.

Posted by Frank Watson on July 30, 2009, 1:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Search and Community Case Study at SES San Jose: NACA's Save the Dream

The Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA) Save the Dream tour will arrive in St. Louis on Thursday, July 30. Their buses will pull in front of St. Louis University's Chaifetz Arena at 2 PM filled with hundreds of staff and volunteers. St. Louis is the third stop on NACA's 10-city tour to help homeowners take advantage of an historic opportunity to make their mortgage affordable.

About 35,000 people attended the first Save the Dream event in Cleveland. About 50,000 people attended the second Save the Dream event in Chicago. This is a dramatic increase over the 25,000 people who attended NACA's first two Save the Dream events last year in Columbia, SC, and Washington, DC.

One of the reasons why turnout has increased this year is NACA's use of optimized press releases, blog outreach, and YouTube videos to let people know that the national non-profit community advocacy and homeownership organization offers unprecedented solutions for homeowners caught up in the current mortgage and economic crisis. During the Save the Dream events, borrowers can get mortgages restructured the same day.

The Obama administration just finished its meeting with mortgage servicers this week to get them to modify hundreds of thousands of home loans for Americans so borrowers can avoid foreclosure. But even before that, NACA secured legally binding agreements with all the major servicers to restructure loans to what homeowners can afford based on a documented affordability analysis.

I will be showcasing this case study during the session, "How to Optimize for Search & Engage the Community," which will kick off the Search & Community Track at SES San Jose 2009. During the "What Works: Best Practices / Case Studies for Online Video" session at the Social Media & Video Strategies Forum, I'll also be taking a closer look at the documentary video about last year's tour that was uploaded to YouTube on July 1 of this year.

Documentary: NACA's "Save the Dream" - Mortgage Restructuring and Renegotiation Rescues Homeowners

To date, there have been 338 posts about NACA's Save the Dream events -- 170 on Twitter, 151 in blogs, 10 in mainstream news, 3 comments, 3 forum replies, and 1 video. In other words, NACA's story has been retold 338 times this month.

But NACA's success story isn't over. After spending July 31 to August 3 in St. Louis, NACA's Save the Dream tour continues to the World Congress Center in Atlanta, GA, August 7 to 10. For more information, go to NACA.com.

Posted by Greg Jarboe on July 29, 2009, 9:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Search Industry Reacts to Yahoo!-Microsoft Deal, and They're Not Holding Back

Here at Search Engine Watch, we wanted to reach out to the search community to get their reaction to the long-awaited search deal between Microsoft and Yahoo! Not surprisingly, marketers, search engine representives, and agencies had a lot to say on the matter. Below you'll find their initial reactions to this morning's announcement.

The deal is good for marketers and advertisers

Most agree with Search Engine Watch editor Kevin Newcomb, who earlier wrote today that the MSFT-YHOO deal is good for advertisers.

Ted Shergalis, co-founder and chief strategy officer of [x+1] thinks the deal raises the profile of search marketers, who, on the flip side, must be diligent in learning the terms of the deal as they unfold.

Ultimately i think it makes SEMs more relevant. Now, instead of doing the bulk of the work on each search engine, search marketers will now need to dedicate a bulk of time understanding new Bing/Yahoo! environment. At [x+1], we specialize in display, landing pages, and website personalization, so it will be interesitng to see if different type of user is coming through using the new Bing/Yahoo!

Brian Lewis, vice president at Engine Ready, emphasized the need for this type of improvement for search marketers, while recognizing the difficulty of capturing additional market share, which requires habitual change.

Although many specifics remain to be disclosed, my initial thoughts are that this alliance is just what the search industry needed to continue to provide improvements in the search experience for users as well as an advertising medium that offers profitable returns for savvy marketers. I think one of the biggest challenges for Yahoo/Microsoft will be changing user habits of automatically jumping to Google for search, and slowing the perception that Google and search have become synonymous.

Not an alternative to Google

Combining the number 2 and number 3 search engines may help advertisers in terms of traffic, but will the search landscape truly change? Other search engines know that to truly make waves in search, you need to provide value to searchers, which is not a guarantee in this deal.

Dr. Tomasz Imielinski, executive vice president of technology at Ask.com hints that their could be room for other players to move ahead while Microsoft and Yahoo! spend time implementing the terms of their deal.

This news is a solid indication that the search market is healthy and growing across the board, and a core foundation of the online medium. But as far as Microsoft and Yahoo are concerned, the primary focus for both for 2009 and into 2010 will need to be on search integration - and not on search innovation. At Ask, our core focus will continue to be innovating for success by putting consumers - and search products - first.

Ryan Hardy and Dan Giulvezan , Co-founders of Unurthme, echo that sentiment.

Everyone in the search industry has the same thing on their to-do list: beat Google. At Unurthme, we believe the more significant opportunity is to add value and innovation to search, thereby delivering users a superior search experience.

SEW Expert and WebCertain CEO Andy Atkins-Krüger thinks its a good time for smaller search engines to partner up with Google or Microsoft.

This deal is the best of both worlds. It creates a stronger competitor for Google, and an opportunity for regional search engines - such as Baidu, Yandex and Seznam - also to enter the fray thanks to the distraction this will create for Google and the negotiating position it opens up with them to partner with Microsoft or Google.

hakia CEO Dr. Riza Berkan thinks that Google has nothing to worry about, at least from this deal.

Our perspective is this deal does not really change anything from the search precision point of view. We think that Yahoo! is actually more precise. From the business point of view, it will create more advertising opportunities, since the share will be at 30%. The advertisers will feel better because the exposure is wider. But as for business as usual, I don't think there's a significant change. The search problem is still there and google is still dominating. this won't make a big diffference.

hakia, of course, employs Yahoo! search technology. Will this deal harm the semantic search engine? Berkan says no.

We don't rely on it. It helps us, but from what i have read so far, those services will be intact. But even if it wasn't, it really won't affect us at all.

It's natural for competitors to challenge the idea that the deal will work, but they're not alone. Vern Rowe, client strategy manager at OneUpWeb wonders if innovating existing search is even the answer. Perhaps the efforts seen lately in social media are the true future of search?

The Microsoft/Yahoo! deal is interesting from many aspects. Is it really about partnering to battle an adversary, or are we perhaps seeing a glimpse into a struggling profit center at Microsoft and a new Yahoo perspective that search is a dying technology (time to move on to the next thing-maybe social)? Whatever cord finally struck to get these two together, it might be a long road ahead of them with the Department of Justice before the deal is done. Then, if and when it gets cleared, there will most likely be another several months before there is a significant change from an advertiser's perspective.

So, you're telling me there's a chance?

Still, there are a few optimists out there who know what Microsoft and the technology community are capable of. Underdogs have been known to upset giants before.

Ben Saren, Co-Founder and CEO of CitySquares thinks perserverance is the answer.

Microsoft is taking some hard swings at Google and its just a matter of time until they make contact. Their most dominant days may not be in their past, rather coming very shortly. This kind of competition is entirely necessary and is ultimately going to be a very good thing for search and its cottage industries. Seems to me that the battle drums in the search wars are growing louder and more intense.

Joshua Palau, vice president of the search engine marketing office at Razorfish (an interactive ad agency acquired by Microsoft in 2007) sees an opportunity ripe with potential for Microsoft now.

I think it now sets up MSFT to do what Yahoo failed at - combine search and display in an advertiser friendly way. With 30% search share and a boatload of impressions that can leverage BT, MSFT now becomes a more compelling option.

A wide sentiment is that Yahoo! has given up on search. According to Mark Kelly at Chair 10 Marketing, Yahoo! may have given up a long time ago, and getting rid of the dead weight might just be the ticket for Microsoft.

Yahoo stopped improving its pay-per-click platform, while Microsoft and Google have continued to improve. Advertisers need a stronger competitor to counter-balance Google's power, and Yahoo and Microsoft on their own weren't providing that. With this increased search traffic, Microsoft has a much better shot at competing effectively.

Rick Kahn, CEO of eZanga, thinks combining the technologies will inject fresh ideas into the search industry.

Well it's about time. By pairing up and using each other's technology, I believe Microsoft and Yahoo are going to have what it takes to slowly close the gap between their companies and Google. The old saying of 'Two heads are better than one' will be hard at work, as both Yahoo and Microsoft have some interesting technologies. I think by using Yahoo's system, but adding the new traffic available at Bing, it's going to be a winning combination for both companies. By putting them together there can be some interesting synergies created and new functionality that can benefit people searching as well as advertisers. I look forward to tracking the results of this deal over the upcoming months and years.

What is YOUR reaction to the Microsoft-Yahoo! deal? Continue the conversation by leaving a comment below.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 29, 2009, 4:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Apple Seeks to Improve App Search (Without Google?!)

Say you're searching the App Store on iTunes, but you can never find what you want. That's because Apple, who has thus far stayed out of the search game, has enjoyed profits from iTunes despite a despicable search experience.

iPhone developers have had to get pretty creative to get the word out about their apps. (Full disclosure: I've marketed a couple of my husband apps and it ain't easy.)

Now, things are getting easier if word from Apple Insider is true. According to the blog, Apple is asking developers to submit up to 255 characters containing keywords related to their app. The keywords will be used for searches conducted via the iPhone or iPod Touch devices. (If the iTunes desktop software is seriously left out of this update, it makes no sense to me.)

I've felt for a several months now that Apple should seriously look at getting involved in search. They've missed their chance with Yahoo! now that Microsoft sealed the deal, unless it unravels in an antitrust investigation (wink, wink).

Sounds like a job for Google CEO Eric Schmidt who currently sits on Apple's board and maintains close ties with the White House. Last year, Google backed out of a deal with Yahoo!, which was clearly designed to keep Yahoo! from being bought by Microsoft's initial acquisition offer. Google will no doubt lobby the DOJ in an attempt to kill the MSFT-YHOO deal.

In fact, they could potentially kill two birds with one stone. Since Google and Apple are themselves under antitrust scrutiny, Schmidt could agree to leave the Apple board in exchange for Apple doing a Yahoo! deal. While there would still remain Google's large search market share open for antitrust regulators, Google hasn't done anything to force their search on anyone and they can always just point the finger right back at Microsoft anyway.

I know this is a far-fetched conspiracy theory, but stranger things have happened. Besides, Google's coming out with an OS and software giant Microsoft is going after search. There is enough of an argument for Apple to be pursuing search, creating three strong and innovative companies who compete across several niches.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 29, 2009, 2:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Ask.com and Citysearch Parent IAC Revenues Down in Media and Ad Division

IAC released quarterly earnings today and the news is a little dim. The media and advertising division, which includes Ask.com and CItysearch saw Q2 2009 revenues of $168.6 million, down from $186.3 million in Q2 2008, a 9.5% decline.

Revenue per query declined on Ask.com, which IAC is attributing to an improved search experience. They say users are finding what they're looking for with fewer clicks. As a result of all of this, cost per click has declined.

Additionally, Ask.com experienced increased expenses related to their NASCAR partnership as well as increased marketing efforts in the UK. (Jeeves is an expensive mascot.)

Citysearch's revenues are down due to the implementation of a relaunch of the site and new ad serving platform. User registrations and reviews were up for the quarter.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 29, 2009, 12:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Yahoo-Microsoft Deal from Searchers' Perspective

So by now, you've probably heard about the Microsoft - Yahoo search deal. You may even have read my take that this will be good for advertisers. If not, go back and start there, so we're all caught up.

I got responses from several other search marketers saying the deal looked good from their side too. We'll be putting up a collection of industry responses later today. In the meantime, I wanted to look at the deal from a searcher perspective. Is it good for them too?

For most searchers, Google = search. They don't know or care about the fact that Microsoft just launched a search engine, and unless they have Yahoo as their home page (likely decided by their ISP), they don't have much use for Yahoo Search either.

Will a combined Microsoft-Yahoo search change any of that? Not likely.

"The deal is both good and bad for searchers. Bad in that there will be less choice. I personally prefer to have more options rather than less. Good for searchers in that Bing is actually a pretty good search engine," said Amanda Watlington, owner of Searching for Profit.

Basically, it's going to depend on just how good Bing is, and how good it will become, given the additional volume pumping through its platform. That volume should generate more relevant ads, since there will be more competition. It should also allow Microsoft to innovate with its algorithms faster, since it will have more data to work with.

Andrew Goodman, principal at Page Zero Media, agrees: "It's a good deal for searchers. Running a high-quality consumer search property is expensive and requires constant innovation. By consolidating resources these companies can focus on their strengths," Goodman said. "Microsoft has done a great job developing a consumer-oriented search engine in Bing. They may also have access to data from Yahoo that can help them to refine it."

Microsoft has proven with Bing and adCenter that they can not only keep up with Google, but actually improve on what's already out there in the marketplace. With a huge surge in traffic through those platforms, they should theoretically be able to improve on their ideas, refining their algorithms, adding features and improving relevance.

But, as has been said many times before, it's going to take something more than just "a little better" than Google to get searchers to switch. What may happen is that Yahoo-Microsoft becomes a more credible number-two. That in itself could be good for searchers, if only because it forces Google to innovate a bit quicker, given that it's nearest competitor will be quite a bit nearer than it's used to.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on July 29, 2009, 12:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Microsoft Yahoo Deal Makes SES San Jose 2009 Must-Attend Event

So, I'm sure you've already about the Microsoft-Yahoo deal. If you haven't, check out the news stories and blog posts below:

It's Official: Microsoft and Yahoo! Finally Strike Search Deal

It's official: Microsoft-Yahoo ink 10-year search pact

Microsoft-Yahoo Search Deal: The Most Important Facts (And Some Opinion)

But if you want to figure out what MicroHoo means for your search engine marketing campaign, including your search engine optimization and pay per click advertising programs, then Search Engine Strategies San Jose 2009 is a must-attend event. It was already the right place to be and August 10-14 was already the right time to be there. But now it is the hottest ticket in town.

For example, you might want to attend the session entitled, "Don't Call it a Comeback: Semantic Technology and Search." Among the speakers who will be there for Q&A are: Othar Hansson, Software Engineer, Google, Kevin Haas, Senior Engineering Manager, Yahoo!, Mark Johnson, Program Manager, Bing, and Dr. Tomasz Imielinski, EVP, Global Search & Answers, Ask.com. I imagine they are all busy preparing for the event.

Or, there's the session entitled, "SEO Tools of the Trade: What's in YOUR Toolbox?" Among the speakers are Rajesh Srivastava, Principal Group Program Manager, Bing, and David Roth, Director of Search Marketing, Yahoo!, Inc. Will they play nicely and share the same advice?

Or, there's the session entitled, "Keeping it Local: The Convergence of Phones & Local Search." Among the speakers are Josh Siegel, Product Manager, Mobile Local Search, Google, and Justin Jed, Group Product Manager, Bing Mobile. Will we see the SES version of PubCon's Search Engine Smackdown?

Or, there's the session entitled, "Keywords & Content: Search Marketing Foundations." Among the speakers are Marc Canabou, Senior Director, Product Management Leader, Yahoo! Search Advertising, and Ari Levenfeld, Manager Client Services, Ask Sponsored Listings. Do you think they are updating their presentation as you are reading this?

Or, there's the session entitled, "Credit Crunch: The Death of Last Click Attribution and its Impact on Paid Search Advertising." Among the speakers is Mark Grote, Sr. Search Advertising Manager , Microsoft. Do you think you should be taking notes?

Or, there's the session entitled, "Duplicate Content & Multiple Site Issues." Among the speakers are Greg Grothaus, Search Quality Team, Google, Sasi Parthasarathy, Program Manager, Bing, Ivan Davtchev, Lead Product Manager, Search Relevance, Yahoo! Search. The moderator may need to keep this from turning into a tag-team wrestling event.

Or, there's the sponsored session entitled, "Bing Toolbox: Your One-Stop Shop for Better ROI." The speakers are Rajesh Srivastava, Principal Group Program Manager, Bing, and Alessandro Catorcini, Senior Program Manager, Bing. This has just become a must-attend session.

Or, there's the afternoon keynote by Nicholas Fox, Business Product Management Director, AdWords, Google. I wouldn't skip this one, if I were you.

Or, there's the session entitled, "The BuyerSphere Project: Understanding B2B Buyer Patterns." Among the speakers is Mark McMaster, Senior Planner of B2B and Technology Markets, Google. This was a must-attend session already, but now you will really need to run, not walk, to get a good seat.

Or, there's the session entitled, "Real World Multivariate Testing." Among the speakers is Trevor Claiborne, Product Marketing Manager, Google. What new messages will he be testing at this event?

Or, there's the session entitled, "Ads in a Quality Score World." Among the speakers are Tomaso Pozzi, Product Manager, Core Model & Optimization, Yahoo! Search Marketing, and Jonathan Alferness, Group Product Manager, Google. I want a ringside seat for this one.

Or, there's the session entitled, "The New Search ROI: Measuring More than Conversion." Among the speakers is James Colborn, Director, Microsoft Advertising, Microsoft. I know James. I'm sure he'd rather be invited to the White House for a beer with the Google guy, but I don't think that's going to happen. So, he may just have to make the best of it at this pivotal time in the industry.

Or, there's the session entitled, "Images & Search Engines: Getting the Full Picture." Among the speakers are R.J. Pittman, Director of Product Management, Google, Todd Schwartz, Group Product Manager, Bing, Microsoft Corporation, and Kaushal Kurapati, Director of Product Management, Yahoo! Search. I want photos taken of this panel discussion.

Or, there's the session entitled, "In-House SEO: Structuring the Organization for Success." Among the speakers is Laura Lippay, Director of Technical Marketing, Yahoo! Do you think it's too soon to ask if Microsoft-Yahoo are structuring their organizations for success?

Or, there's the session entitled, "Search Becomes the Display OS." Among the speakers are Rajas Moonka, Group Business Product Manager, Google Inc., and Josh Jacobs, Vice President and General Manager, Advertising Technology, Yahoo! Inc. Oh, boy, this is going to be great.

Now, the last time that "Microsoft-Yahoo deal" was a search term was back in February 2008. Microsoft Corp. had just announced that it had made a proposal to the Yahoo! Inc. Board of Directors to acquire all the outstanding shares of Yahoo! common stock for per share consideration of $31 representing a total equity value of approximately $44.6 billion.

Since it was an unsolicited bid, nobody wanted to talk about MicroHoo when they turned up at SES London 2008 two weeks later.

But, this time the Microsoft-Yahoo deal is a done deal. So, I'm betting that everyone wants to talk about what MicroHoo means for the search engine marketing industry.

And since I was already planning to be at SES San Jose 2009, now I'm going to have to scramble to get seats in the front row.

Posted by Greg Jarboe on July 29, 2009, 12:12 PM | Permalink

Stephane Panier Named by AOL as Global Head of Bebo

To fill the top position of global operations at Bebo, AOL (which acquired the social network last year), promoted from within. VP and COO Stephane Panier will now oversee advancing the social network worldwide.

"Stephane is a proven strategist and operator with executive experience from some of the world's leading brands and businesses," said Brod. "He is the ideal leader to build on Bebo's existing successes, to chart a course for its future, and to execute against that vision."

Prior to joining Bebo this past January, Panier worked at Google for six years, holding upper level management positions in Finance and Operations. Before the Google stint, Panier was a management consultant for Booz & Company where he focused on energy and hi-tech.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 29, 2009, 10:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's Official: Microsoft and Yahoo! Finally Strike Search Deal

Don't adjust your screen folks, it's finally official. Microsoft and Yahoo! have finally struck a search deal. No, Microsoft will not be acquiring all of Yahoo! No, Yahoo! will not be slicing off search and selling it off to Microsoft.

Under the 10 year agreement, Bing will power Yahoo! search, creating a Google competitor that last month reached a combined 28.4% of the search market share, according to comScore. Microsoft will also be able to integrate Yahoo! search technologies into its web search platform.

Meanwhile, Yahoo! will sell the search advertising for the newly combined entities. AdCenter will be the self-service search ad platform. This will take a long time to implement as they adjust relationships with thousands of advertisers.

Display advertising will not be affected by the deal. Both companies will maintain their programs separately.

Microsoft will pay Yahoo! 88% of search ad revenues generated by Yahoo! sites. Yahoo! expects to see $275 million operating cash flow as a result of the deal.

"This agreement comes with boatloads of value for Yahoo!, our users, and the industry, and I believe it establishes the foundation for a new era of Internet innovation and development," said Yahoo! Chief Executive Officer Carol Bartz.

Yahoo! will now focus primarily on their media sites, many of which are #1 in their categories. Sites like Yahoo! Finance and Yahoo! Sports are very popular and bring in millions of unique visitors per month.

"Users will continue to experience search as a vital part of their Yahoo! experiences and will enjoy increased innovation thanks to the scale and resources this deal provides," continued Bartz. "Advertisers will also benefit from scale and enjoy greater ease of use and efficiencies working with a single platform and sales team for premium advertisers. Finally, this deal will help us increase our investments in priority areas in winning audience properties, display advertising capabilities and mobile experiences."

For its part, Microsoft is finally getting what it wants: an increased search market share to take on rival Google. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer hopes that combining the resources of the #2 and #3 search engines will help innovation, which he says is needed to steal share from Google.

"With our new Bing search platform, we've created breakthrough innovation and features," said Ballmer. This agreement with Yahoo! will provide the scale we need to deliver even more rapid advances in relevancy and usefulness. Microsoft and Yahoo! know there's so much more that search could be. This agreement gives us the scale and resources to create the future of search."

Antitrust issues will likely rear their ugly head, with Microsoft poised to seek the blessing of the DOJ. Expect Google to lobby against the deal, but keep in mind that Christine Varney, Assistant AG at DOJ Antitrust is on record saying she wants to go after Google for antitrust issues. She has also said that Microsoft antitrust issues are, like, so 1990s.

Alright, SEW readers, time to unleash your initial reaction to this deal. That's what the comments section below is for. What do you think of this deal? Will they be able to take on Google? Do you want to use AdCenter to for search ads on Yahoo!? Let us know!

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 29, 2009, 7:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (19)

AOL Advertising Revenue Down by 21% in Q2 2009

AOL parent company Time Warner released its quarterly earnings this morning and the news is not pretty.

Revenue came in at $804 million, a decrease of 24% over Q2 2008, which brought in $1.06 billion. The decline was almost evenly split among online advertising ($111 million, a 21% decrease) and internet access subscriptions ($135 million, a 27% decrease).

Time Warner has spent $20 million so far in the process of prepping AOL to become a separate, independent company. Earlier this week, Time Warner bought back Google's 5% stake in AOL for $283 million, a big dip from Google's original $1 billion investment back in 2005.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 29, 2009, 7:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

20 Authors of Business, Marketing, PPC and SEO Books Speaking at SES San Jose

Bring a couple of book bags to Search Engine Strategies San Jose 2009 because there will be more than 20 authors of business, marketing, PPC and SEO books and speaking at the conference. I should disclose that I'm one of them.

Now, there are a lot of great conference speakers who haven't written a book -- yet. I should know. I've been speaking at SES conferences since 2003, six years before I wrote a book. And writing a book isn't like Doc Ostrow getting a Krell brain boost in the movie Forbidden Planet (1956).

Nevertheless, getting a book published does indicate that you've got more than 12 minutes of PowerPoint slides to share with attendees. And, it's "something that never looks bad on your permanent record," according to Greg Marmalard in the movie Animal House (1978).

As a new author, I'm also beginning to learn that tracking where you rank on Amazon.com is almost as addictive as tracking where you rank in Google. Now, Google guidelines do not recommend the use of products to check rankings. However, Amazon.com welcomes them. For example, Rankforest provides sales rank tracking for authors and publishers. They can view historical charts, export rankings, compare items, create alerts, and more.

So, as you look over the agendas for SES San Jose, the Social Media & Video Strategies Forum, and the Local Search Summit, you might want to know about the subjects that the conference speakers have written about as well as the topics that they are going to address.

Here are the 20 authors that I know will be speaking at one or more of these events:

Clay Shirky, author of Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations.

Charlene Li, co-author of Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies.

Tim Ash, author of Landing Page Optimization: The Definitive Guide to Testing and Tuning for Conversions.

Optimizing Landing Pages -- Tim Ash's Tips and... Footwork

James Colborn, author of Search Marketing Strategies: A Marketers' Guide to Objective Driven Success from Search.

Bryan Eisenberg, co-author of Call to Action: Secret Formulas to Improve Online Results, Waiting For Your Cat to Bark?: Persuading Customers When They Ignore Marketing, and Always Be Testing: The Complete Guide to Google Website Optimizer.

Bryan Eisenberg Always be Testing: Google Website Optimizer

Mona Elesseily, author of Mastering Panama.

Eric Enge and Stephan Spencer, co-authors of The Art of SEO.

Dave Evans, author of Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day.

Andrew Goodman, author of Winning Results with Google AdWords.

Andrew Goodman- Winning Results with Google AdWords

Mike Grehan, author of Search Engine Marketing: The Essential Best Practice Guide.

Bill Hunt, co-author of Search Engine Marketing, Inc.: Driving Search Traffic to Your Company's Web Site.

Greg Jarboe interviews Bill Hunt about his new book

Greg Jarboe, author of YouTube and Video Marketing: An Hour A Day.
http://www.amazon.com/YouTube-Video-Marketing-Hour-Day/dp/0470459697

Greg Jarboe - Mysteries of Online Video

Avinash Kaushik, author of Web Analytics: An Hour a Day.

Rebecca Lieb, author of The Truth About Search Engine Optimization.

Rebecca Lieb, eConsultancy, on her new book about search engine optimization at SES NY 2009

Lance Loveday, co-author of Web Design for ROI: Turning Browsers into Buyers & Prospects into Leads.

Robert Scoble, co-author of Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers.

Ayat Shukairy, co-author of Landing Page Optimization: The Complete Guide.

Shari Thurow, author of Search Engine Visibility and When Search Meets Web Usability.

Amanda Watlington, co-author of Business Blogs: A Practical Guide.

Now, I'm probably missing a few authors -- especially a couple of conference speakers who are still writing books that haven't been announced yet. Still, if you review the list above, you could fill a bookshelf with all the titles that have already been written by speakers at SES San Jose, the Social Media & Video Strategies Forum, and the Local Search Summit.

So, if you will be attending Search Engine Strategies San Jose 2009 for the first time, then imagine entering Flourish and Blotts for the first time. It's the popular bookstore in Diagon Alley where most Hogwarts students purchase their schoolbooks.

Who knows. Maybe famous wizard author Gilderoy Lockhart will be holding a book signing at the store.

Posted by Greg Jarboe on July 29, 2009, 6:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (15)

Google Analytics Enables Advanced Segment Tracking for Events

If you have events set up to be tracked in Google Analytics, you can now view advanced segments to view traffic data related specifically for the events. To make it happen, first, define an advanced segment to show only traffic from events. Then, activate the defined segment to compare event traffic to overall traffic.

Image via Google Analytics blog

You can view as many segments as you are tracking for events.

Google created a handy video for setting up the advanced segment tracking for events. Check it out below:

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 29, 2009, 12:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Search Stars in Redesign of Twitter Homepage

Twitter has unveiled the redesign of their homepage and it's clear they're dedicated to search. (You'll have to sign out to view it.) They now serve up a central search box as the main feature with trending topics below in almost a tag cloud style. The top row, with the biggest font features current hot topics. The second row with slightly smaller font features hot topics from the past day and finally the third row with topics from the past week.

I think it would be nice to incorporate the design more inside the sign-up wall. It looks sharp and the main reason I go to the Twitter site is to see what's trending or to conduct a search. I use a desktop and mobile client to do my actual Tweeting.

Twitter does have plans to keep working on the entire site, so they remain a site to watch as they continue to incorporate their strategy.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 29, 2009, 12:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Time Warner Buys Back Google's 5% Stake in AOL

When the Time Warner board voted in late May to spin off AOL, buying back Google's 5% stake in the company would be a prerequisite for the sale. This week, Time Warner did just that.

The return on investment, however, was not so hot. Google invested $1 billion in 2005 to acquired the 5% stake. They only got back $283 million.

Other statements made in the filing are quite telling of the possibilities for AOL's future. Google currently powers the search on AOL (including paid search). That will be in place until December 19, 2010, but they're leaving open the possibility of ditching Google after that.

They may then strike up an agreement with an alternate search engine, such as Yahoo! or Microsoft, or Microhoo. Though, with former Google exec Tim Armstrong now running things at AOL, I'd prefer to see AOL go for broke and develop their own search engine.

AOL also plans to maintain some licensing agreements with Time Warner.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 28, 2009, 2:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

When Bloggers Attack: Retaliation is Not the Answer

George Smith Jr. took to his blog to offer up a cautionary tale for both marketers and bloggers. He was recently at BlogHer representing Crocs (a footwear company), when one of the conference attendees walked up to him and struck up some small talk. Then she made clear she wanted some free shoes. When she didn't get any, she threatened to take to her blog and trash the company.

While many are praising Smith for the way he responded, it might not be one you want to replicate.

Smith responded to the woman with his own form of blackmail. He threatened to use his connections to essentially shut down her blog. While the bloggers actions were appalling, I find it hard to empathize with Smith when he retaliated with the same type of threat.

Smith didn't publish the name of the blogger. He said he couldn't remember it. He called her a nobody (in his blog, not to her face) because he claims to be so connected that he knows who the big bloggers in his space are. (He later "clarified" that she was only a nobody as a blogger, but that's not much better in my mind.)

I see this kind of defense all the time. I understand it and used to do it all the time, but I've come to despise it. We try to make ourselves feel better by talking about how awesome we are - a hollow lie that can eventually make us stop trying. But the truth is that no one is so comprehensive in their job that they might not have missed something. Plus, Smith couldn't remember her name, so no one can dispute him.

Search Engine Watch is a well known blog in the search industry, but no one really knows who the heck I am (I prefer it that way). I never imagined I would write about Crocs, but here I am. Marketers can't discount people just because they've never heard of them.

I'm not saying Smith shouldn't have blogged about this. This situation needed a response because she could concoct some lie about Crocs being sleezy at the BlogHer conference and really do some damage to the brand.

But marketers aren't in the clear. In fact, Crocs did give away shoes at BlogHer. They had a limited number of shoes and ran out of swag, leaving the blogger Croc-less.

If Crocs goal was to improve their brand image in the minds of women bloggers, essentially the opposite of blackmail, isn't that bribing? Will the blog posts about Crocs be fair in their opinion or enhanced due to free product?

Would Smith have arranged for a free pair of Crocs for the blogger if she had been "somebody" in the blogosphere?

At the end of the day, both marketers and bloggers have frustrations about the nuances of their jobs. But we need to find ways to work together instead of blackmailing and bribing.

How would you have handled the blackmail blogger? Share your thoughts on the matter by leaving a comment below.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 28, 2009, 12:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Category Vs. Product Pages: Which One Tests Better? (You Might Be Surprised)

When Al Scillitani set out to do a little landing page testing, he was convinced he knew which page would win. But when the results came in, he was suprised.

Scillitani conducted an A/B test to see whether category pages or product pages would test better. He used email and homepage promotions to drive traffic to his test. He guessed that product pages would fare better. But it was the category pages that won the day.

The promotion involved 6 products that were on sale. In test A, the image of the 6 products was broken down to link individually to the product page. There was also a link to the category page. In test B, the image was kept as a whole and linked directly to the category page.

The email results didn't show much of a difference in conversion rates, but the order size was 40% higher for test B.

Meanwhile, test B was also the winner for the homepage promotion, but in a different way. The conversion rate was 15% higher and brought in 10% higher revenues. However, test A actually did produce a higher order size, by 5%.

So, why did the category page test so well?

"The products we were offering were way below our competitors. I feel this is the reason B performed better," wrote Scillitani on his blog. "Once the B people clicked and went to the category page, they not only saw the product they clicked on, but 100's of other products priced way below the competition. This combined with the "only a few days and limited quantities" messaging triggered more sales."

Of course, you can't use this test and assume it will work for your site.

"Run your own A/B tests. It is the only way to really evaluate what works and what doesn't work based on your product prices, product availability, the marketing message, and your customers, concluded Scillitani. "There are very few absolutes when it comes to online marketing."

Full disclosure: Al Scillitani was the boss of me at a North Carolina-based search engine marketing firm a few years back. I still meet him for coffee at Starbucks, where everybody knows his name.

Do you have a search marketing story to share? Contact me here.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 27, 2009, 2:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

hakia Unveils Commercial Ontology

hakia is unveiling their new approach to the semantic web by introducing Commercial Ontology. Dr. Riza C Berkan, CEO, took to the official hakia blog to explain.

Commercial Ontology is able to recognize phrases and terms as opposed to typical ontologies which Berkan says only look at one word. The word Commercial must be taken broadly - extremely broadly. You could be looking up a phrase like "Ricky Henderson statistics," with no intention to buy anything. But it's still considered commercial because of Henderson's career in Major League Baseball, which is a commercial entity.

Berkan used the word "road kill" to demonstrate the difference between Commercial and traditional ontologies. (Road kill is disturbingly commercial, btw.)

Traditional ontologies search the word road and the word kill separately before making a connection. hakia's Commercial Ontology recognizes the phrase "road kill" from the beginning. Here's a graphic that maps out the differences:

According to Berkan, another major difference is that traditional ontologies use manual work while hakia's Commercial Ontology can be automated.

The Commercial Ontology will be released at some point in the future. No further details were given.

In the meantime, what do you think about Commercial Ontology? Is it the future of Natural Language Processing? Share your opinion below.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 27, 2009, 12:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

53% of Women Bloggers Willing to Share About Marketing to Women

A new survey by Ketchum shows that 53% of attendees to the popular BlogHer conference are willing to share information or feedback they've gathered from their blog to help better market to women.

It won't be easy, though. Almost half of those surveyed are contacted by a public relations professional at least once a week. 30% are contacted daily. Keep in mind that many of these women are very busy outside of writing their blog.

They're also not (necessarily) hard as nails journalists that PR and marketing professionals are used to pitching.

If you want to reach them, you need to offer a personal approach. Here's what survey participants had to say about being pitched:

• Take the time to read their blogs and understand their areas of focus. Many women bloggers said they would like to hear about news and products that better match their specific interests.
• This applies to location, too. A number of respondents said they receive communications about products and events not available in their regions or even their countries.
• Know that they are "more than their blog" -- they have other roles in addition to being a mom or a blogger, say respondents, including jobs outside the home.
• Similarly, don't assume that all women bloggers are "mommy bloggers."

What do you think of Ketchum's survey? Share your thoughts on marketing to women in the comments below.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 27, 2009, 1:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

PPC Click Fraud Rate Drops to 12.7% in Q2 2009

Click Forensics has released data regarding pay-per-click (PPC) fraud for the second quarter of 2009. The news is good. Not only is click fraud down from the first quarter of 2009, it's down year-over-year as well.

This year's second quarter click fraud rate came in at 12.7%, which is an almost 8% decrease from the first quarter, which was 13.8%

The second quarter of 2008 came in at 16.2.%, which means Q2 2009 came in 22% lower than the year prior.

Click fraud did increase from certain programs and sources.

"The increased diligence of online ad networks to detect and block invalid traffic sources has contributed to the decline in the overall click fraud rate this quarter," said Tom Cuthbert, president of Click Forensics. "However, increasingly sophisticated attacks, such as publisher collusion fraud, continue to be a concern. Ad networks should pay close attention to such threats in the coming months."

Publisher collusion fraud is when publishers use things like botnets to click on ads on their own sites to generate income. This happens to ads on unprotected networks.

What do you think of the click fraud data for Q2 2009? Drop us a comment and let us know.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 27, 2009, 1:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Google Maps Provides Street View Zoom Via Panoramio Pics

When you're traipsing around the earth via Google Maps, you now have a new option to get a little closer. Google is incorporating photographs from Panoramio, a travel photo sharing site, to assist with Street View zoom.

Let's say, for example, that you're checking out the Eiffel Tower in Street View from Avenue de la Motte Picquet. To access the new feature, click the user photos box in the top right corner (yes, this was added back in February, hold your horses, I'm getting to the new stuff.)

Once you've done that, check out the shapes on the image of the Eiffel Tower. (Or click one of the images in the carousel.)

Mouseover one of the polygons to select an image to view. Then, double-click to actually view it.

The new image shows a zoomed in look at the area you selected:

Then you can select yet another polygon on the new image:

And see yet another image that's zoomed in a little more:

You can keep doing this until you're as zoomed in as Panoramio photos provide.

What do you think of this new Google Maps zoom feature? Let us know by zooming below to leave us your comment.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 27, 2009, 12:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Shoemoney Must Have Taken Hit To Head: SES Blog Post Seems Petty and Wrong

Jeremy Shoemaker aka Shoemoney has been involved with Search Engine Strategies conferences for the past five years - it is where he came to build a large part of his network. But it seems now he is writing about how the conference is no longer effective.

Jeremy is now doing well and may no longer need to attend this conference - Elite Retreat and other smaller conferences are now more productive for him. But I think he does a disservice to his lesser skilled readers by making such a personal attack and publishing of misinformation.

I have just finished an article about 'yellow journalism' that discusses this very subject. We need to step away from the sensational story and provide real facts. Individual shots at people are not needed - they should be done in the privacy they deserve - we have all been less than saints at some time.

But what about the information in his article?

The speakers at SES San Jose are a list of industry leaders. There is variety and expertise from many fields and all have valuable information to share with attendees. Many of the speakers are also active at the other conferences - so suggesting there is a lack of quality speakers just shows the statement inaccurate and must have been made to have a shot at SES,

This is not the last year of this conference. Venues are booked and the conferences are set. The comment was just wrong and very much not like Jeremy to allow such inaccuracies. You could have called Matt McGowan for verification and found out the truth.

The Google Dance is not to be this year, true; but to tie Google's action ot the future and success of SES is just bad logic. More, it is an indication of how Google is no longer valuing industry insiders helping them build the brand and the sharing of goodwill to the people who helped monetize search.

For the purpose of full disclosure Jeremy and I have been friends/acquaintances for most of the 5 years he has been attending the conferences. There are many conferences - and in some cases rivalry between them - but in reality there is room for everyone, as they are held all over the United States and the world. Travel and time convenience is the big determiner.

Have sponsors left SES - yes - but others have taken their places. Any sponsor that leaves, for lack of ROI, really needs to examine their marketing first. Have they saturated the industry? Is their product maybe being offered cheaper or with more bells and whistles? Is their message unclear? Are they spending too much time late night with Jeremy and I?

Kevin Ryan is no longer involved with the conference. The rest you two can discuss privately.

I am speaking at Affiliate Summit - it is a much smaller show and more specific. Interestingly a large contingent of the speakers there are all flying to the West Coast right after they finish their sessions.

The funniest thing is the email comment. You join communities and you get emails from them. I get them from Shoemoney and interestingly got one very similar from ThiankTank - the nonconference conference headlining Jeremy himself.

Mate I hope you are well - the blow to the head before the post must have been a good one. Hope not to see you were badly injured at our next conference.

As you said SES San Jose was your first conference. You learned a bunch from it and made some friends that you now do business with and are your close friends. There are many new people attending San Jose and I am sure they will walk away with the same feeling you had at your first. I think we tend to get a little jaded when we have done some things over and over, but we should not deny others the opportunity to feel the enthusiastic enjoyment we once had.

Posted by Frank Watson on July 24, 2009, 6:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Google AdWords Location Extensions to Dynamically Add Addresses

Google AdWords is introducing Location Extensions. The feature allows local businesses to connect their business address to their search ads. They can either connect it via Google's Local Business Center or add it manually in AdWords.

AdWords will then include the address automatically. This feature is being rolled out, so if you don't have it right away, hang on, it's coming.

With the new feature, local business ads in AdWords will no longer have a separate ad format. Existing ads will run as they have until they are edited. Once they are edited, they will be converted to the traditional text ad. It will look the same when published and it will appear in the same places, but the format will just be different.

What do you think of Location Extensions? Let us know by leaving a comment.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 24, 2009, 4:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Yahoo! Launches Travel Refiner for Image Search

If you're searching for images of locations around the world, Yahoo! has a new feature to assist you in your effort. Now, when you search for locations, a sidebar will appear on the left that has narrowed-down categories.

For example, if you're searching for images of Miami, FL, Yahoo! offers up options to refine your search by Port of Miami, the University of Miami, Miami Heat, etc.

Check it out:

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 24, 2009, 4:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Google Latitude on the iPhone: There's an App for That (on Safari. Ew.)

Google has announced the launch of Latitude for the iPhone. If you're not familiar, Latitude is a tool that lets you share your whereabouts and find friends geographically (because Facebook and Twitter haven't gotten TMI enough).

You won't find it in the App Store, and it's not a native app like Google Maps. No, dear iPhone readers, you must browse to it on the mobile Safari browser.

A native app was developed, according to the rumoriffic TechCrunch. It's not clear why that wasn't at least released in the App Store.

Unless...

Apple and Google are trying to show how anti-anticompetitive they are. After all, they are under investigation for possible monopolistic ties.

For now, you'll have to launch the good-ol Safari browser to reveal your current location and to stalk your friends.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 24, 2009, 12:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Zillow Adds Mortgage Cost Comparison Feature

Real estate search engine Zillow has added a new feature to help consumers with the process of buying a home. 'True Cost' is a price comparison tool that allows borrowers to search anonymously for loans.

"Truly shopping for a loan and comparing terms and costs on an apples-to-apples basis is excruciatingly difficult for the average consumer to do. This is why so many consumers find themselves in loans they don't understand," said Lloyd Frink, Zillow president.

True Cost takes into consideration the down payment as well as interest and mortgage payments for potential buyers over the course of time they plan to live in the home.

"With True Cost, we've taken this comparison shopping a step further, and calculate for consumers not just what they're paying up front or every month, but the true cost over the timeframe they plan to live in a house. This level of transparency has never before been available in mortgage shopping, online or off," added Frink.

Transparency is crucial in the aftermath of the subprime lending crisis. A tool like this can help consumers avoid getting into mortgages they can't afford down the road.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 23, 2009, 11:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Microsoft Online Services Division Sees Loss from Stronger Dollar, Weaker Online Ads

On a day when the stock market rose above 9,000 and everyone but the short sellers were in good spirits, Microsoft provided reason for pause. Their quarterly earnings were painful. Recently, Google and even Yahoo! earnings plus non-search and non-tech earnings seemed to show that perhaps the we've-seen-the-bottom pundits just might be right after all.

• Quarterly revenues declined 17% to $13.10 billion.
• Quarterly net income declined 29% to $3.05 billion
• Diluted earnings per share declined 26% to $0.34

Digging into the Online Services division, quarterly revenue declined 13% to $731 million. Online ad revenue decreased 14% to $529 million, primarily reflecting a decrease in display advertising. However, currency issues contributed to $28 million of the loss.

The dollar has become stronger, which affects global sales. Microsoft says foreign currency exchange rates accounted for an overall $219 million or one percentage point decrease in revenue.

What do you think of Microsoft's earnings? Share your opinion below.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 23, 2009, 4:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Barnes and Noble Make Public Domain Titles Free on Google Book Search

Barnes and Noble will now be offering over 500,000 public domain titles with a new agreement from Google Book Search. The titles can be accessed via BarnesandNoble.com as well as B&N's reading applications.

B&N recently announced a new eBookstore as well as new mobile reader applications for the iPhone and Blackberry.

This isn't the first time Google Book Search has reached such an agreement. Back in the spring, they reached a similar agreement with Sony for their eReader.

What do you think about these eReader/public domain arrangements? Let us read your public opinion in the comments below.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 23, 2009, 4:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

AT&T Interactive to Sell Yahoo! Display Ad Inventory

Yahoo! and AT&T Interactive have announced a new partnership in which the telecom will sell the search engine/media portal/email giant's display advertising. AT&T's 5,000 sales people will sell the inventory to local businesses.

Here's the official corporate-speak from Yahoo!

"Local businesses are looking to drive in-store traffic, and our alliance with AT&T Interactive will help them reach a local audience of highly-engaged potential customers on Yahoo!," said Jim Schinella, Senior Vice President, North America Region, Yahoo!. "As local businesses shift their advertising spend to reach the growing number of Internet consumers, AT&T Interactive and Yahoo! can equip them with the tools and expertise they need to be successful online."

And here it is from AT&T:

"Our local advertisers are focused on growing their business so they look to us to help find the most comprehensive and effective ways to reach consumers," said Matt Crowley, Chief Marketing Officer, AT&T Interactive. "Adding Yahoo!'s reach through highly targeted display advertising enhances our existing portfolio of local advertising products, allows our advertisers another way to raise their visibility and reach more online consumers. This joint effort is a natural extension of our existing relationship with Yahoo! and takes advantage of each company's assets in the local market."

It's not the first teaming up by the two companies. For example, Yahoo! Local is powered by content from YellowPages.com.

What do you think of the latest partnership between AT&T and Yahoo!? Sell us on your opinion below.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 23, 2009, 3:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

TripFit.com Combines Travel Search with Coupons

A new travel search site has launched. The name is TripFit.com and their unique selling proposition is that they feature travel coupons. The coupons are provided through a partnership with CouponCabin.com.

"Our mission is to make your trip fit your budget," said Scott Kluth, Founder of TripFit, Inc. "Whether it's business travel or a dream vacation, TripFit.com makes it easy to get the most out of your travel dollars."

Like all the other travel websites, TripFit.com offers comparisons of the, um, other travel websites so you can do the comparison thing.

Check out TripFit.com for yourself and then come back and let us know what you think.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 23, 2009, 2:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google Makes Conversion Optimizer More Widely Available

Google has opened up Conversion Optimizer to more advertisers. The AdWords tool is now available to those who've had at least 15 conversions in the past 30 days.

If you're not familiar with Conversion Optimizer, Search Engine Watch expert David Szetela did a nice write-up of the tool last January. Basically, it's a bid automation tool that uses conversion data to place ads in AdWords auctions.

Google says that their data is showing the average advertiser increasing conversions by 21% when they use Conversion Optimizer. Also, their CPA (cost-per-acquisition) costs dropped by 14%.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 23, 2009, 2:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Zappos CEO Letter To Employees On Sale

As the news item below tells us Amazon has bought Zappos. In very quick order the Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh sent a letter to all his employees and the press.

A smart move by a smart CEO. Take the conjecture out of the equation is part of the Zappos culture. The prompt response was like the prompt responses their customers receive on Twitter.

No employees will be let go - in fact they are looking for more. No offices will be closed or moved. And with the investors, employees will benefit, Hsieh told them.

Posted by Frank Watson on July 22, 2009, 11:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Amazon.com to Aquire Zappos

I love Amazon. I love Zappos. I love how they compete against each other. That's why I'm kind of disappointed that Amazon is acquiring Zappos. It would be like Duke acquiring UNC or the Red Sox acquiring the Yankees.

Alright, alright, here's the details.

Amazon is buying Zappos for 10 million AMZN stock, which is currently worth around $807 million. Also, Amazon is providing Zappos employees with $40 million in cash and restricted stock units. Cha-freaking-ching.

Don't worry, Zappos.com won't be 301-redirecting to Amazon.com anytime soon.

"We are joining forces with Amazon because there is a huge opportunity to utilize each other's strengths and move even faster towards our vision of delivering happiness to customers, employees and vendors," said Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos. "We will continue to build the Zappos brand and culture in our own unique way, and we believe Amazon is the best partner to help us do this over the long term."

Alright, Tony. I hope this is the right decision. Don't mess with 6pm.com. I want to get Oakley sunglasses on the cheap!

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 22, 2009, 5:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Bing Launches Back-to-School Backpack Contest

Bing is giving away 7 backpacks with $500 Visa cash cards in a new back-to-school contest. It begins tomorrow and you need to be following @bingcashback on Twitter to win. Each day, a trivia question about Bing Cashback will be asked via the Twitter account. Those who respond within an hour with the correct answer will be entered into a drawing to win one of the 7 backpacks.

I must admit, when I read the title of the blog post, Fill a Backpack with Bing Cashback, I was hoping for something else entirely. I'm so used to seeing charitable efforts to fill backpacks for children from low income families, I thought that's what the announcement would be about.

And call me crazy but I think my idea would bring more people into Bing and the Cashback program. The above contest doesn't require any purchases. But I know a lot of people would use Bing Cashback to give to underprivileged kids - and they would probably donate the Cashback to charity as well.

It's not that Bing is doing anything wrong with the actual contest. In this economy, these seven backpacks will come as a great resource to the individuals who win them. But hey, I just like my idea.

What do you think about Bing's new contest? Will you be entering?

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 22, 2009, 4:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Lee Odden of TopRank Chats About Intersection of Search and Social Media

Lee Odden, CEO of TopRank Online Marketing and a member of the SES Advisory Board, discussed the intersection of search and social media today with AdWeekMedia Connect. The chat topic: How marketers are leveraging the SEO and search advertising opportunities within social media.

Odden has embedded the recorded chat stream on his Online Marketing Blog.

At SES San Jose 2008, I challenged Odden to wear his best Tommy Bahama shirt at this year's event. He may have forgotten the challenge, but I haven't. That's right, the Tommy Bahama shirt challenge is still on.

Odden is teaching a DMA Certification Workshop entitled, "Social Media Marketing and SEO - Working Together for Dramatic Results," on Monday, August 10.

He will also be moderating a session at the Social Media & Video Strategies Forum on Tuesday, August 11, entitled, "In the Now: Conversational & Real Time Marketing."

On Wednesday, August 12, Odden will be speaking at a session at SES San Jose entitled, "Social Media: White Hat vs. Black Hat."

He will also be speaking at a session at SES San Jose entitled, "SEO Through Blogs & Feeds," on Thursday, August 13.

At SES Toronto last year, I asked Odden and Dave Snyder, search strategist and marketer for JRDunn, whether Twitter was the ultimate time waster, or a great tool? You'll want to check out their answers below.

Twitter and its Uses & Abuses for Marketing at SES Toronto

Posted by Greg Jarboe on July 22, 2009, 4:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Search and Community Track at SES San Jose: NACA's Save The Dream Tour Update

I've just been told that 35,000 people attended NACA;s Save the Dream event in Cleveland July 17 - 20. And the Search Engine Watch community played a role in the record turnout.

On Friday, July 3, I posted "Search and Community Track at SES San Jose: NACA's Save The Dream Tour" to this blog. In my post, I embedded a documentary video created by DigiNovations of Concord, MA, that provided background on NACA's Save the Dream program, which has helped homeowners across America restructure and renegotiate home mortgages and home loans they can no longer afford.

Documentary: NACA's "Save the Dream" - Mortgage Restructuring and Renegotiation Rescues Homeowners

Despite the fact that this was the Friday before the July 4th holiday, more than 75 of your tweeted about the post.

Then, on Saturday, July 18, I posted an update: "Thousands Turn Out for NACA's Save the Dream Event in Cleveland." I mentioned that Jeff Maynor of WKYC-TV, Channel 3 in Cleveland, had reported that thousands turned out for NACA's Save the Dream event.

Again, despite the fact that fewer people read this blog on weekends, more than 45 of you tweeted about that post.

And, since the event continued through Monday, July 20, the "thousands" that had already turned out ended up becoming 35,000. To put this in context, a combined total of 25,000 homeowners participated in the first three Save the Dream events in Columbia, SC, Stamford, CT, and Washington, DC.

Oh, and NACA's Save the Dream tour isn't over. It's now headed to McCormick Place in Chicago, IL, where over NACA 500 staff and volunteers will help homeowners from July 24 to 27 avoid foreclosure, restructure home loans, and reduce mortgage rates. Then, it continues to Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis, MO, from July 31 to August 3. After that, NACA's Save the Dream tour heads to the World Congress Center in Atlanta, GA, from August 7 through 10.

Simeon Lewis of Chicago is one of the thousands already helped by NACA. "My home was all but lost until NACA stepped in and reduced my adjustable interest rate from 8.625% to 2% fixed. I'm saving nearly $600 a month."

If you know friends or neighbors who need mortgage relief, then spread the word. Tell them to go to the Neighborhood Assistance Corporate of America website at NACA.com and sign up.

At SES San Jose 2009, attend the How to Optimize for Search & Engage the Community session on Tuesday, August 11, at 10:30 a.m. I'll feature NACA's Save the Dream tour in my solo presentation. You'll learn how a national non-profit community advocacy and homeownership organization headquartered in Boston used YouTube videos, optimized press releases, blog outreach, media relations, and Twitter to offer unprecedented solutions for homeowners caught up in the current mortgage and economic crisis.

It's a story that deserves to be retold.

Posted by Greg Jarboe on July 22, 2009, 12:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Measuring the Marketing ROI of Attending SES San Jose

If you register to attend SES San Jose 2009 by Friday, July 24, you can save up to $200. But you already knew that.

The bigger question that you -- and other Chief Marketing Officers -- are looking to answer is this: How do you measure the return on investment in going to a search engine marketing conference?

Now, measuring marketing ROI isn't a hard science. It's more of a social science. But there some reasonable approaches that you can use to figure out the value of attending SES San Jose 2009.

Ask yourself this question: Can I afford to skip this event? The answer will depend on how rapidly you think the search engine marketing industry is changing. And, unless you've been cryogenically frozen for the past year, you'll know that a lot has changed since SES San Jose 2008.

That will be the theme of the Opening Keynote by Clay Shirky, the author of the new book, "Here Comes Everybody." Shirky is a writer, educator, and consultant on the social and economic effects of Internet technologies. He is an adjunct professor at New York University in the graduate interactive telecommunications program, where he teaches courses on the interrelationships of social and technological networks, particularly how they shape culture and vice versa. He consults to a variety of organizations on network technologies, and is an acknowledged expert on collaboration tools, social networks, peer-to-peer sharing, collaborative filtering, and open source development. Shirky has spoken and written extensively on the Internet since 1996, with regular columns in Business 2.0, FEED, OpenP2P.com and his own shirky.com blogsite. He has appeared in The New York Times, Time, The Wall Street Journal, the Harvard Business Review, and others. In his new book, Shirky explores how organizations and industries are being upended by open networks, collaboration, and user appropriation of content production and dissemination.

Shirky's keynote will be followed by a session on Day 1 of the conference entitled, "The Adaptive CMO: A New Paradigm for Digital Marketing." This session sets the stage for the C-Suite track and provides a strategic view of how marketing is constantly evolving and will define the critical role that search must play. The rules have all changed and all bets are off. Brian Featherstonhaugh, chairman and CEO of OgilvyOne Worldwide, will present his point of view on how brands are built, why the "four Ps" are no longer valid, how corporate cultures are created, and what happens as the world goes digital.

The next session in the C-Suite track is entitled, "The View From the CMO's Office." Search marketers and non-search marketers have traditionally had difficulty communicating in the language of their disciplines, often creating friction and unnecessary conflict. This session will walk you through the day-by-day challenges of the CMO from two viewpoints: the traditional CMO and the CMO who has made the move to digital. This session will explore how both disciplines can educate each other and explore such issues as the nominal percentage of marketing spend that is allocated to search.

During the afternoon on Day 1, there is another session in the C-Suite track entitled, "Integration: The New CMO Imperative." With the popularity of sites like Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, and Twitter, brands increasingly need to engage with their customers outside their website. The portability of content and viral connectivity that occurs online requires a new approach to branding. If you attend this session, you will learn strategies for increasing brand awareness and protecting brand equity in today's socially connected web as well as tactics that can be implemented in today's resource and budget constrained environment.

Next in the C-Suite track is a session entitled, "Budget Migration: Going Digital Without Impacting Your Brand." The move to a predominantly digital marketing strategy can be overwhelming. Migrating from staid traditional channels to the open waters of the web can be daunting -- especially for companies that are unsure of how to properly measure search, display, email and social media. This session will arm you with the information you need to know about migrating budget to digital without impacting your brand awareness or the equity you have built up in your brand. If you attend, you will learn from companies that have started moving significant resources away from TV, radio and print and into search, social, display and email. Lessons learned will be discussed as well as the metrics and tools need to gauge the success of a balanced digital marketing program.

Finally, the C-Suite track wraps up on Day 1 of SES San Jose 2009 with a session entitled, "Performance Pricing Models: What Every CMO Must Know!" With many marketing organizations feeling the pain of financial pressures, pay for performance pricing models are gaining popularity in search today. At this stage of the game, chances are that you've either thought about trying this type of pricing model but held back because you were unsure of what's involved or perhaps you tried to pursue it in the past, but had trouble making it work for you and your vendor. Designed to maximize results, a performance based compensation model can truly be a win/win for you and your search engine marketing partner. Not only will it help to drive results and bring your partners' goals in alignment with your own, it will also allow you to reward your search partner for superior performance while keeping your overall ROI in mind. In this session, the panelists will cover the keys to developing a successful pay for performance pricing model including a thorough overview of the concept, how it can be applicable to both PPC and SEO, the chief benefits it offers, and why marketers should consider it. In addition the panelists will delve into what marketers need to know before adopting a pay for performance model, including how to assess if it's right for you, popular misconceptions, and the common problems that can arise along the way. If you attend, you will be provided with actionable advice on the critical success factors needed to make a pay for performance model work, including the role of goals, benchmarking, performance metrics, historical data, scenario analysis, and tracking.

So, what's the marketing ROI of attending the first day of SES San Jose? Well, ask yourself this question: What's the cost of skipping this event?

Now, if you've done the risk benefit analysis of attending SES San Jose for a day, what are the incremental costs and benefits of attending for two days?

Take a close look at the SES San Jose agenda overview for Day 2 and you'll see lots of sessions that a CMO who is making the move to digital should attend.

Here are a few that I would recommend:

Igniting Viral Campaigns: Leveraging Consumer-Generated Content -- How can businesses leverage social platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and more to break through and create buzz, encourage word of mouth, and establish relationships with potential customers? This session unveils the secrets of Web 2.0 techniques and technologies that enable companies to stand out and be talked about.

Facebook Ads: Reaching Prospects Earlier In The Decision Cycle -- You know how powerful search marketing ads are. They get in front of consumers who are already raising their hands for more information about your business. But wouldn't it be great to influence that decision earlier to a much larger target audience? With over 200 million active users sharing authentic information, you can precisely reach the right people before they start searching. Learn how to target your exact audience, create compelling ads, optimize for the greatest ROI and generate demand for your business on Facebook.

Afternoon Keynote -- Nicholas Fox, a business product management director on Google's AdWords team, is giving the afternoon keynote. Fox leads product management for Google's ads quality efforts, focused on optimizing the end user experience with ads displayed through Google's AdWords program. He is responsible for the development and improvement of the algorithms that determine the display, ranking, and pricing of AdWords ads on Google and its partners. Fox also leads product management for AdWords bidding features, which enable advertisers to maximize their ad performance and simplify their bid management. Prior to joining Google in 2003, Fox was a consultant with McKinsey & Company in Palo Alto, Calif., focusing on corporate finance and strategy for technology companies. He studied economics at Harvard College, from which he graduated magna cum laude.

Four Paths to Success in a Tough Travel Economy -- Travel marketers discuss the challenges of smart search marketing in tough economic times, when leisure travelers are hard to come by and businesses slash budgets. Experts in four key areas of travel search marketing - Organic, Paid, Social and Local/Mobile - share successful strategies and creative campaign ideas to attract and increase traffic, proving that it is possible to generate positive ROI with limited resources.

The BuyerSphere Project: Understanding B2B Buyer Patterns -- A major B2B research initiative, conducted by Enquiro with input from Google, Business.com, Covario, Marketo and DemandBase, showed that most marketers aren't effectively leveraging online assets to their best potential. Among other things, the notion of a strictly followed, traditional buying funnel is simply not accurate in many instances, risk dictates buying behavior, search is incredibly important as an integrator across online and offline channels and face-to-face persuasion is still necessary in many high risk, complex purchases. The BuyerSphere project looks at how online strategies became artificially separated from traditional best practices, how they can be more effectively integrated and the part search plays as a major influencer. This panel will review the research from over 100 face-to-face interviews, hundreds of eye tracking sessions and over 3,000 survey responses in total. The project represents a major step forward in understanding B2B buyer patterns and the part online marketing can play in influencing them.

Okay, if you are in for a penny, are you in for a pound? What is the marketing ROI of attending SES San Jose for a third day?

Again, take a close look at the conference agenda and decide for yourself. Nevertheless, here are some sessions that you might want to consider attending:

How to Prepare for the Future of Search -- The morning keynote will be given by Charlene Li, an influential thought leader on emerging technologies, with a specific focus on social technologies, interactive media, and marketing. She is the co-author of the business best-seller, Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies, published by Harvard Business Press in May 2008. Named "one of the most influential women in technology" by Fast Company, Li is the founder of Altimeter Group, which provides speaking and consulting services to organizations looking to understand and thrive in a new economy driven by social media tools and techniques. She is one of the most frequently-quoted industry analysts and has appeared on 60 Minutes, The McNeil NewsHour, ABC News, CNN, and CNBC. She is also frequently quoted by The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, Reuters, and The Associated Press. A sought-after public speaker, she has presented frequently at top technology conferences such as Web 2.0 Expo, SXSW, and ad:Tech. Most recently, Li was a VP and principal analyst at Forrester Research. She joined Forrester in 1999, after spending five years in online and newspaper publishing with the San Jose Mercury Newsand Community Newspaper Company. She is a graduate of Harvard Business School and received a magna cum laude degree from Harvard College.

SEO Through Blogs & Feeds -- Not yet running a blog? Not syndicating your content through web feeds? Then you're missing out on an important area that can help your overall SEO efforts. Learn more about the unique advantages blogs and feeds offer to search engine optimization.

The New Search ROI: Measuring More than Conversion -- Search marketing has a great advantage over other forms of marketing: It is extremely measurable and actionable. Advertisers have access to detailed click and conversion data about their campaigns, so they know which keywords are leading to the most sales. But smart search marketers today realize it's not enough to simply measure conversion to get an accurate picture of the overall ROI of their paid search programs. Internet sales typically account for 5 to 20 percent of a company's revenue (depending on the industry), but influence as much as 40 percent of sales. Therefore, measuring paid search ROI in relation to only online transactions significantly underreports SEM's overall contribution to company revenue. Also, remember that paid search conversions are influenced by more than just the last click; many times a conversion happens a few hours, days, or weeks after a series of clicks and searches. This practical and informative session will focus on best practices and practical techniques that marketers can use to get started with "multi-conversion" measurement. If you attend, you will walk away with actionable strategies for using industry-tested approaches that can help you effectively analyze key performance metrics of their campaigns -- whether a click results in a purchase online, a purchase offline, a call to a call center, or another conversion metric. You'll learn how to use freely available techniques to make sure you're measuring the real effectiveness of every click, to make better, more accurate keyword buying decisions, and more accurately gauge the real ROI of search programs.

Advanced Keyword Research -- Mark Twain famously said that the difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug. When it comes to effective keyword research, nothing could be more true. Carefully tailored keyword research not only helps determine the success or failure of your entire search marketing campaign, but it can also provide a way of better understanding your visitors and their intentions. This in-depth discussion will move beyond the basic keyword research tools to zero in on advanced tips and techniques for taking your SEO or PPC campaign to the next stage.

Extreme Makeover Live! Why Am I Not Making Enough Sales? -- There are many companies out there for which traffic is not a problem. Are you one of those companies that gets plenty of visitors but only about 2% of those that visit convert into a sale or a lead? This session takes volunteers from the audience and examines their websites live to show you why you aren't making enough sales. Do you know the main issues holding your website from converting visitors? The panel of experts will make sure you walk away from this session with a great deal more insight about the factors that cause your website to act like a leaky bucket and what to do about them.

Okay, spending three days at a search engine marketing conference is a serious investment of your time. And measuring the marketing ROI of attending SES San Jose isn't trivial.

But that's why CMOs get paid the big bucks. And with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke seeing signs of an economic recovery, now is the time for you to chart a course to the digital world that is reshaping marketing as we know it.

So, if you are going to attend SES San Jose 2009, then register by Friday, July 24. Save up to $200. But that's small potatoes compared to the even bigger benefits to be gained from learning how to navigate through the ever-changing search engine marketing industry.

Posted by Greg Jarboe on July 22, 2009, 10:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Rumor: Yahoo! Might Sell Job Search Site HotJobs

Reuters is reporting that Yahoo! is considering a sale of job search site HotJobs. Purportedly they are seeking a buyout from a competitor such as Monster.com or CareerBuilder.com.

The rumor is floating at an interesting time. In the past week, chatter has been stirred up about Microsoft and Yahoo! once again talking about a search deal. If Yahoo! truly is looking to get out of the search game, then dumping HotJobs makes sense.

And although Microsoft has been focusing on winning over niche areas of search, I guess job search isn't one of them. Otherwise, they would seem a more obvious suitor.

What do you think? Should Yahoo! shed HotJobs? Share your opinion in the comments section below.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 22, 2009, 4:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Google Updates Webmaster Tools

Google's Webmaster Tools has received an update. Google is calling it the "Summer Shine" update. Here are some of the changes you can expect:

• Site selector lists all of your verified sites and allows you to search for the sites while you type.
• Blocking non-homepage sitelinks is enabled. Previously you couldn't block sub-directory sitelinks.
• View URL removal requests submitted by others for any of your sites. You also have the ability to revoke them if necessary.
• Webmaster Tools homepage is easier to navigate. There's a distinction between verified and unverified sites.

What do you think of these updates? Let us know by leaving a comment.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 22, 2009, 3:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yahoo! Rolls Out New Homepage, Releases Second Quarter Earnings

Yahoo! is doing a couple of rather newsworthy things this week and you have to wonder if they were attempting to cancel each other out.

Yahoo! released quarterly earnings yesterday. Net income rose 8% over the second quarter of 2008, even though revenue fell by 13%. That's likely due to periodic layoffs conducted to nix the bloated workforce.

"I'm pleased with our results this past quarter. We established a clear, simple vision to be the center of people's lives online, and we're backing that vision with important initiatives to create 'wow' experiences for our users," said Yahoo! chief executive officer Carol Bartz.

The new homepage released this week (which is still technically in beta and you have to opt in by going to here) is supposed to be part of that "wow." It's been in the works for nearly a year and slowly has been unveiled to users since the announcement last September.

"We're confident that this vision will put us on the right path to growth and profitability long term. Our new homepage is a perfect example of our efforts to create innovative products aimed at increasing user engagement while offering the most compelling advertising proposition in the industry."

However, I'm not personally feeling the wow factor. I do use Yahoo! sites quite frequently and I won't deny their strength. But there's nothing wrong with being strong on stability instead of trying to impress the cool kids. (Geek is the new cool and Silicon Valley is Geekdom.)

All in all, I think Yahoo! is doing pretty darn good. They're certainly not steps from the grave like some in the media and on Wall Street (those who are left) would like you to think.

What about you? How do you feel about the new Yahoo! homepage? What about Yahoo!'s earnings? Let us know by leaving a comment.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 21, 2009, 7:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

SES San Jose Preview: A Conversation With Metric Voodoo

Readers of this blog are aware that we're less than a month away from SES San Jose (Aug 10-14). In anticipation of some of the mobile local content that will be featured at the show, I was able to catch up with Michelle Moore, director of search engine strategies at Metric Voodoo. We'll be sitting on a panel on Day 1 of the show, entitled Keeping it Local: The Convergence of Phones & Local Search. Here's what she had to say:

MB: What are the biggest market factors that you see driving mobile search adoption on the part of both users and content owners or advertisers? (i.e. smart phone penetration? Better device standards? Etc.)

MM: Technology adoption with regard to smart phones is outstripping most previous major technology adoption rates, including touch tone phones, cassette tapes, hi-def TV and DVD video players. There's an entire generation in high school right now who's never known a time without cell phones. This ubiquitous adoption is already causing a measurable trend where smart phones are replacing computers, especially with regard to localized searches. People's habits are changing - when that happens, it forces market adjustments all the way around, not only with how advertisers will get their messages in front of consumers, but also what sorts of targeting these users are willing to accept. Phone searchers love being "helped" but they hate being "tracked."

MB: What are some of the fundamental differences of mobile marketing and SEO, compared to online marketing and SEO?

MM: I think the main difference now (which I'm single-handedly trying to rectify, heh) is that mobile marketing is a better proving ground for what I call "pervasive SEO." You're already dealing with limited screen space. How much more impactful do you think it is to be mentioned on the first 15 search results on several other sites when someone searches your chosen keywords, than to just be number three and show up once for your own domain name. Even if you're number one, if you're only there once someone else placing pervasively on ten or twelve OTHER sites will look more appealing, or more like an expert, or more prevalent. Internet users aren't naïve anymore. They know that what's on your web site was put there by you. If a dozen other sites are also saying good things about you, that's much more effective in terms of earning consumer trust.

MB: What are some of the most common mistakes or misconceptions of companies entering the mobile space (media companies, app developers, web publishers, advertisers, etc.)? What about misconceptions preventing companies from playing in the mobile sandbox?

MM: I think there's still a disconnect between the left and right brain that prevents advertisers from recognizing opportunities in the mobile space, especially for small to medium-sized business. For example, local search - which is one of my main prongs of attack with any business that has a physical location... it takes me about a dozen repetitions and even demonstrations over several weeks of the immense practicality of local business search on a phone before the little light bulb starts to glow. Ultimately, I have to sit back and wait for my clients to actually use their phone in this manner to make a decision or a purchase or answer a question, and then point out to them afterward why they ended up using the vendor they selected. "Do you remember why you ended up calling CVS Pharmacy?" "Yeah, the first phone number I found for Foster's Pharmacy wasn't in service anymore." "OK, so what happens when you change your business phone number and no one bothers to update all your local business listings that are floating all over the internet?" It's as if small business owners think that because they have a web site with their name and address and phone number, that's all they need. They don't think far enough down the smart phone path to realize that their site might be all in Flash, or that the average local business search through a smart phone portal may put results from CitySearch or Superpages above your business' own domain name... and oddly, SMBs are who absolutely need to succeed in this arena or get overrun by the big chains.

MB: Is the state of the economy currently having an effect on this adoption, any more so than other media? In other words is mobile's "experimental" nature preventing companies from utilizing it as a content and/or ad delivery platform in uncertain economic times?

MM: I think this depends on who you're asking. I don't know a single consumer who's given up their mobile phone. But I read all the time about companies abandoning or "back-burnering" their mobile marketing initiatives. It makes me want to ask marketers, "why are you doing this when that market is one of the only markets not shrinking?" Fewer and fewer people read printed newspaper, but more and more people use cell phones.

MB: Conversely, is mobile's targeting capabilities, greater ad performance (CTRs etc.), and measurability making it resonate to a greater degree during these times when advertisers are demanding more concrete ROI?

MM: You'd think, wouldn't you? I'm not sure about national numbers, but in the South where most of my work is done, it seems that there's a different barrier to entry. Much like with social media, there's a general lack of awareness (and therefore, confidence) in mobile marketing. I'm constantly preaching a reduction in faith-based advertising models like television, radio and newspaper, and a shift to trackable advertising, whether it's plain old PPC or mobile advertising. But there seem to be a lot of marketing execs who lack experience with the medium, making it harder to convince the rest of the C-suite to support mobile marketing initiatives. It's like the fact that you can measure ROI at all doesn't matter - they're not willing to dabble in mobile unless you can prove ROI to start with. It makes no sense to me.

MB: It's my contention that mobile and local are so closely related. Online, searches with explicit local intent are about 10% of overall searches. On mobile, it is currently about 2x-3x more than that, and growing. Do you agree?

MM: Yes, I do agree. Every statistical report I've seen in the last 8 months indicates that at least 25% of all searches on phones are local business searches. This is why I start my discussions by showing folks the Sprint commercial that was released in May - "Right now, 6000 people are researching restaurants in the back of a cab." How many "right nows" are there in a typical day... times 6000.

MB: What are the capabilities of the mobile device that will force advertisers to think differently when it comes to marketing or content delivery? Too many advertisers are porting over existing strategies (i.e. display ads) to a smaller screen. Will this change and "grow into" the capabilities of the mobile device including portability, location awareness, etc..?

MM: I think what consumers react most strongly to in the mobile arena is the gradual return of instant gratification. That's why local business search volume is soaring. What businesses are slow to realize is that searches on phones are not in any way, shape or form about your web site. They're about your physical location. This is why porting existing ad campaigns from the web will not be sufficient. I'm waiting for someone to fully develop an app that lets you not only research the restaurant, but see a layout, pick your table, and make your reservation without making a traditional phone call or sitting on hold or even talking to another person... then tie into Match.com and hook you up with a dinner date too.

MB: What kind of search models and ad formats will we see as a result? More location targeting? More cost per action? Actionable ways to drive local conversions, such as coupons?

MM:Oh I guess I got ahead there... I've always wanted to ask - how do you use a coupon on a cell phone? Do you just flash it like an FBI badge? I'd love to be able to walk through my kitchen with a phone [example] and flash it at stuff I'm low on and see which store has the best current price on that exact item or something - not traditional ads at all, but access to the most up to date info that allows me to make the best decision.

The item in the video [example above] is a wearable cross between a smart phone, a web cam, a projector, and a massive instantly accessible "google" to let you immediately interact with everything. I think the roadblock along the path to better technology is that people won't let go of the outmoded ideas that are associated with traditional advertising. In the example in that video, the gentleman is accessing environmental data on the fly with regard to a toilet paper purchase in the grocery store. There's no traditional advertising message opportunity here - but there's tons of opportunity for companies who tap into what consumers are really interested in - and the newsflash is the consumer isn't interested in hearing corporate schpiel. They want honest information so that they can come to conclusions. It's great to know that the consumer is in the store on the toilet paper aisle, but I doubt that flashing a Charmin ad will have any effect. I think product marketing will become more about product awareness and corporate reputation as inventions like these progress.

MB: Who is doing it right? Any mobile sites or apps that you admire for delivering content in a way that is fitting to the mobile device and the way people are using it?

MM: The most awesome new phone app I've seen was on a Nationwide Insurance commercial. You have a wreck? You click an app that's connected to everything you need - it calls emergency services for you, it gives you a checklist for your information exchange, locates the nearest agent or office for you, takes pics of the damage for you, starts your claim process for you, and even includes a flashlight function! This is an example of the total 180 that major companies are going to have to learn to do. This app is all about the consumer. Of course, it doesn't do you a lot of good unless you are a Nationwide customer but this app is all about helping the consumer handle a difficult situation. Companies have got to figure out that they will get a lot farther when their advertising models are more focused on the consumer, not all about the company. On another note, I've seen the television commercial announcing this iPhone app ONCE - it made that much of an impact that I defied all "repeat seven times" advertising advice and remembered it after one viewing... I cannot begin to count how many Allstate, Geico, Liberty Mutual and Progressive commercials I've seen. I have no idea of the estimated cost of all those commercials compared to the one airing of the Nationwide commercial that I saw, but I can guarantee you that when my insurance renewal rolls around, I'll be getting a quote from Nationwide for good measure. The return on the investment in more efficiently serving the customer will most definitely pay off with a higher ROI than those 6 million untrackable television commercials for the other major carriers.

MB: Some of the money spent at the local level (online and off) is national advertisers targeting locally. About a $17 billion chunk is the SMB segment. Very fragmented and hard to wrap your arms around. How will mobile advertising be bought and sold to this SMB segment? Self serve a la AdWords? Local sales channels like newspapers, and yellow pages?

MM: I think a handful of the major online advertising sources will be the obvious choice. SMB doesn't have the resources for a lot of research and due diligence so they're more likely to allow their traditional marketers or PPC management firms to take on the task of local business advertising. I think that will translate to more ad business for Google. SEO really has never lent itself well to local business presence, despite a decade of SEO "experts" telling us it works. I don't see traditional printed ads gaining share.

MB: Any other advice for companies entering the mobile space or online publishers trying to seek out opportunities in mobile?

MM: Be proactive. Buck the old traditions and hire some new blood (says the 40-some-odd year old). Take steps to build an online reputation before you are forced to take steps to correct it. Be an expert in your area and make sure to let people know about it. Put yourself everywhere you can afford in order to have the best chance of being found - be that online yellow pages, paid ads in a search engine, paid sponsorship of a mobile portal, name on a bus stop bench, name on the back of a little league jersey, where ever you can get publicity without offending people's sensibilities. If you can associate that with a topic consumers are passionate about, so much the better.

Posted by Mike Boland on July 21, 2009, 2:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

New LookSmart Tool Automatically Optimizes Best-Converting Ads

LookSmart is releasing a new tool that automatically serves up the best converting ad in a campaign group. Think of it as landing page testing, except for search ads. The tool is dubbed SmartRotation and bases the optimization on a conversion tracking script that informs ad rotation. The conversions could be based on sales, sign-ups, downloads, registrations or the like, depending on advertiser goals.

The idea behind the tool is to increase conversions by serving up the best performing ad.

"€œIt doesn'€™t matter how many clicks you have if it doesn'€™t convert,"€ said Michael Schoen, Vice President and General Manager of Advertising Platforms at LookSmart.

Schoen says the industry has had the feature that SmartRotation uses for awhile now, but they're the first to take put the peanut butter with the jelly.

"€œWhile other platforms only offer even ad rotation or optimization by click-through rate (CTR), LookSmart'€™s SmartRotation analyzes conversion rates and serves the best-converting ad creative, giving advertisers a better rate of return on their search investment."€

What do you think of LookSmart's new tool? Will you try SmartRotation? Let us know in the comments below!

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 21, 2009, 12:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Marketers and Optimizers and Videographers! Oh, My!

Imagine a room full of internet marketers, search engine optimizers, and professional videographers! Oh, my!

And I'm not talking about the room where Clay Shirky, author of Here Comes Everybody, will give his opening keynote on the first day of the SES San Jose conference, which will run concurrently with the Social Media & Video Strategies forum on August 11, 2009.

No, I'm talking about last night's meeting in Dedham, MA, of the National Professional Videographers Association of New England. It featured a presentation on social media by Tom and Reiko Beach of TRB Design, Inc., followed by a sneak preview of YouTube and Video Marketing: An Hour a Day by me.

Tom and Reiko talked about how they doubled sales of gymnastics training videos and DVDs on their Gym Smarts website by creating a GymSmarts Community blog, a GymSmarts Community - Gymnastics page on Facebook, Thomas Beach and Reiko Beach profiles on LinkedIn, GymSmart's and The Gymnastic Minute's channels on YouTube, and a GymSmarts account on Twitter.

After their presentation, I talked about my new paperback book, which is being published by Wiley next month. Mike McDonald of WebProNews Videos asked me to reveal the secrets of online video that can be found in YouTube and Video Marketing: An Hour a Day earlier this year at SES New York 2009.

Greg Jarboe - Mysteries of Online Video

At last night's meeting of National Professional Videographers Association of New England, I also talked about some of the topics that I'll be discussing during:
(1) How to Optimize for Search & Engage the Community at the SES San Jose conference on Tuesday morning, August 11;
(2) What Works: Best Practices / Case Studies for Online Video at the Social Media & Video Strategies forum on Tuesday afternoon, August 11;
(3) News Search SEO at the SES San Jose conference the Thursday, August 13; and
(4) YouTube and Video Marketing Workshop at the SEM Training San Jose on Friday, August 14.

It doesn't take a whole lot of complex market trend analysis to see that professional videographers are just as interested in learning more about social media and search engine optimization as search engine optizers are in learning more about social media and video marketing. Why? As last night's audience learned from Tom and Reiko, you can double your business by combining all of these digital marketing tactics into an integrated marketing strategy.

Now, it might seem frightening at first to get out of your comfort zone and explore new categories. Perhaps there are wild animals over there -- even ones that know...SEO.

Lions and tigers and bears! Oh, my!

But, that's the only way you are going to get to the Emerald City -- which is the only way you are ever going to get back home to Kansas.

Let me put it another way.

Recently, Scott Kirsner of The Boston Globe wrote an article entited, "Where the jobs are in anxious times." He talked with some local recruiters who focus on the innovation economyu, specializing in sectors like technology, life sciences, and energy. He asked them about specific jobs and industry clusters where they've been seeing demand lately -- as well as jobs and industry clusters where demand has died off.

Clark Waterfall of the Boston Search Group told Kirsner, "engineers and salespeople are always perceived as must-have team members, but marketers and PR and business development can tend to be nice-to-haves in times like these."

Kirsner also heard that a new role being created at many companies is a social media expert, who can help the company communicate with customers and prospects using new channels like Twitter, Facebook, and blogs.

"Sometimes that job is called 'community manager' or 'community rep,'" Tom Summit of Catalyst Recruiting Corp. told Kirsner, adding, "But the people who can get hired are the ones who can relate online activities to quantifiable metrics. What are you doing for the company, aside from just starting a blog?"

What Kirsner didn't address in his article is where this new community manager's position fits in the org chart. In other words, does this new position report to the marketing director, the public relations director, or the digital media director? And is this new community manager position being created in addition to or instead of more search engine optimization jobs?

If the community manager is helping a company to communicate with customers and prospects using Twitter, Facebook, and blogs, who is responsible for using YouTube, Flickr and Digg? If the community manager is supposed to relate online activities to quantifiable metrics, will he or she have access to the company's web site analytics?

For answers to these questions, you'll want to attend The View from the CMO's Office at the SES San Jose conference on Tuesday morning, August 11, and Integration: The New CMO Imperative on Tuesday afternoon.

The SEM training workshop, Getting Fluent in Search Marketing: A Fast-Track for Senior Managers, which will be taught by Amanda Watlington of Searching for Profit on Friday afternoon, August 14, also tackles these questions.

Oh, and don't even ask who the professional videographer reports to in the org chart. As Michael Kolowich, the President and Executive Producer of DigiNovations, said during the Q&A part of last night's meeting, corporate videography is generally assigned to the marcom manager, who often sees it as an isolated marketing tactic and not part of a broader integrated marketing strategy.

So, it looks like we're going to have to bring back the broomstick of the Wicked Witch of the West before we get where we want to go. Don't you hate it when that happens?

Posted by Greg Jarboe on July 21, 2009, 11:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Search Spend Projected to Grow Despite Fears

The latest projections are showing that ad spend on search will continue to increase in the coming years. But those projections come with data showing marketers are not so confident in the performance of search.

First up, the projections. Search tops the list of interactive marketing categories for projected ad spend and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. The following numbers are from Forrester.

The next set of projections are from [x+1]. It shows that the majority of marketers plan to maintain or increase SEM spending this year.

But, as mentioned above, marketers aren't feeling great about search. The lack of confidence data also comes from [x+1]. Survey participants were asked to rate their expectation of search ad performance on a scale of 1-7, with 7 being the best.

Ouch.

How are you feeling about search ad performance? Share your projections by leaving a comment.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 21, 2009, 2:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

The Online Newspaper Paywall: You Can Build It, But They Won't Come

If history repeats itself then the newspaper industry is like a freakin' hamster wheel. When papers first hit the web, many had their content locked up tight behind paywalls. I remember because I worked in politics at the time and I hated coming up against that #&$^#& wall when I did research.

Gleefully, over time that wall came down. But now the print editions of newspapers are coming down with the wall and the industry is F-R-E-A-K-I-N-G out. One by one, newspaper execs are calling for the bricklayers to come back to work.

Of course, that will only work if all newspapers go the paywall route. If the New York Times goes back to premium content, who cares? I can still get what I want from the Washington Post. Sure, I have to hand over my email, but they don't bug me, so who cares? So, it's all for one and one for all in order for paywall to make its comeback.

Small problem. If the newspapers get together and all agree to implement a paywall, that would be a whopper of an antitrust violation.

And that's okay with Columbia Journalism Review's David Simon. An antitrust violation is perfectly acceptable if you look at the big picture: saving journalism. In his mind, the only true journalism is with existing, traditional media companies.

He thinks papers should become like the cable industry. And don't you just love the cable industry? All those options and choices? The price wars? The quick expansion of technology to rural areas? Yeah, they don't exist. It's quite monopolistic.

But thanks, Mr. Simon. Thanks for reminding me that I already pay extra for the news. I get CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News. I get the business channels and sports channels. Why should I shell out even more for papers....to get the same news?

Even if it wasn't an antitrust violation, there's no way that news bloggers and the new brand of citizen journalists (who publish online) are going to abandon their business models, which is based on advertising. That means people will still be able to get their news for free.

With that scenario, the only thing that would support the paywall would be if companies and the government made a pac with the newspapers to not allow bloggers and citizen journalists to attend pressers or receive press releases.

It's hard to see how the current administration, which is doing quite a bit of antitrust investigation, would support any ounce of this. Plus, since bloggers and new media were so crucial to Obama's election, which was won by reaching out to community after community after community, it would certainly be a slap in the face to them, which is unlikely.

And you better hope that unlikelihood stays in place. Because the papers are talking. They'll deny it, but they are. If When the papers make a pact, they will then become the news (antitrust violations are always news). But do you think they'll report on themselves? Without bias? Not a chance. Why do you think the Columbia Journalism Review is promoting paywalls to save journalism?

Go ahead, newsies. Build the paywall. Think of yourselves so highly that news can't exist outside the Times or Post. But don't be surprised if you find yourself tearing it down faster than you can say bankruptcy.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 20, 2009, 11:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Finally Google Competitors Realizing Content Is Way To Go

Both Microsoft and AOL have laid out plans to concentrate on building their content channels. Yahoo should be joining suit.

Google is now the most visited site on the web, according to Alexa, a spot Yahoo maintained for years. Interestingly, Yahoo has more hot pages over at Alexa. When I looked a little while ago it was a sports page and news page. If Yahoo concentrated on their content as CEO Carol Bartz has mentioned previously and their new redesign is supposed to address, they may be joining Microsoft and AOL.

Microsoft is building out five verticals, yje Wall Street Journal reported. "In a new focus that will start to be apparent in the next month, MSN will heavily add to its News, Sports, Finance, Lifestyle and Entertainment offerings, weaving more data from Bing into the mix," Kara Swisher noted.

Meanwhile, AOL is going for complete domination and this Friday will "unveil the early stages of a plan to become the internet's largest provider of original content within two years," the Financial Times stated.

If anyone is going to find a way to challenge the dominance of Google it seems content is the best approach.

Posted by Frank Watson on July 20, 2009, 9:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

More Layoffs At Google Following Radio Advertising Automation Sale

Looks like Google will be laying off employees assigned to their radio automation business, according to Web Guild. The soon to be laid off employees should number about 100.

"The layoffs will primarily be related to employees working directly on the product as well as extend support for the product. Google Radio has software and hardware components," Web Guild reported.

Posted by Frank Watson on July 20, 2009, 9:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

More Chinese Internet Users Than US Population

The number of internet users in China has surpassed the population of the United States, according to the China Internet Network Information Center. Last year their use of broadband passed US numbers, so the level of service and number seems to be growing at a much more rapid rate than people had predicted.

The percent of users - when population numbers are considered - is still much higher in the US, which suggests China will soon become the focus of online marketers. The willingness of the search engines to censor themselves in order to gain access to this growing population is understandable given these statistics.

Chinese usage of mobile phones is also growing, the new tech revolution may be happening in China.

Posted by Frank Watson on July 20, 2009, 9:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Engagement Index Busts Social Media Myths, Finds Financial Performance Correlation

A new engagement index is showing correlation is busting up some long held beliefs about social media. One of the myths is that social media can't be measured. The release of this report alone proves that it can. They measured the top 100 brands, as seen in the BusinessWeek / Interbrand "Best Global Brands 2008"rankings. The index was calculated by Wetpaint and Altimeter Group.

They looked at a variety of channels (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs, etc.), the interaction that took place via those channels and the participation levels within company staff.

It should come as no surprise that brands who engaged with the most depth in the most channels scored best in engagement. Generally, media and technology brands did better than other niches, likely due to their early adaptability.

The report also challenged the idea that social media doesn't work for B2B niches. SAP has been busting that myth for 6 years with their SAP Community Network (SCN). It consists of 1.7 million members. Of those, 5,000 are bloggers. Mark Yolton, Senior VP of SCN, says that opening up the site to bloggers was a great way to scale the community. As a result, the site helps facilitate sales and get valuable feedback on new products.

Take a look at another successful brand using social media: Starbucks. They're on Facebook and Twitter (you know about free pastry day, right?), and also have their own suggestion site, MyStarbucksIdea.com.

Starbucks Chris Bruzzo, VP of Brand, Content and Online explained the value of social media. Bruzzo says that for every 4 people who interacted with a news item, 3 people are added virally as a result.

Another interesting finding was a correlation between social media and financial performance. It's quite interesting to note this during a rough economy. While companies look for efficiency, those who've dug in deep to social media seem to be staying afloat better. However, the report (found here, PDF) is careful to point out that a correlation does not indicate cause and effect. Don't just put up a Facebook page or start a Twitter account and expect a magic potion to cause great third quarter results. That's not how it works. Remember, this is an engagement index.

If you're a smaller brand or if you haven't yet launched a social media effort, the idea of launching such a campaign may sound daunting. But Wetpaint and Altimeter urge that you start now. Do what you can. It's more important to have depth in one or two channels than to spread yourself thin across many. Last but not least, the most successful brands all talked about developing relationships instead of just making social media another marketing outlet. It takes some time. Plan it out. Once you've started, you can't really turn back.

That might sound scary, but the numbers show that it's far worse to stay away than it does to get your feet wet.

What do you think about this report? Let us know by leaving a comment.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 20, 2009, 4:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

FriendFeed Updates API with Real-time, Oauth, File Attachments and Sharing Options

Social media aggregator FriendFeed has updated its API with a bunch of features that are relevant to current online social and search behavior. The updates are:

• Real-time APIs - Get feeds in real-time by sing long polling. This includes search.
• Flexible sharing options - Allows direct messages and sharing to multiple feeds.
• File attachments - Attach images, pdfs, spreadsheets, etc.
• OAuth support - Use this to let people sign into your application with their FriendFeed account
• Simplified response format - When you don't need/want your application to have to differentiate between the nuanced features of FriendFeed (users, groups, friend of a friend, etc.) This API provides authenticated responses which include a list of possible commands on every feed, entry, and comment.

What do you think of the API update? Tell us in the comments below.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 20, 2009, 4:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google Earth Adds the Moon on the Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Landing

Today is the 40th anniversary of the first landing on the moon. The mission was carried out by the Apollo 11 crew which carried Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin. Armstrong and Aldrin actually walked on the moon, while Collins orbited.

Celebrating the significant event, Google Earth has added the Moon. You can explore the terrain and check out layers that inform about missions to the moon, both manned and non-manned.

Also, for you uber-geeks and history buffs, the History Channel tonight is showing the late Walter Kronkite's coverage of the 1969 landing. Tune in at 8:30pm. My very geeky family is going to.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 20, 2009, 2:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

All Work and No Play at SES San Jose? Not!

I know, I know, I've been focused on what you will learn by attending SES San Jose 2009 from August 10-14, the Social Media & Video Strategies Forum on August 11, and/or the Local Search Summit:09 on August 13. You'd think that I was some kind of Puritan from New England!

Well, there will be a number of special events, too. For those who want to be certified in search marketing, there's a Live Certification Gauntlet on Tuesday, August 11 at 4:30 p.m. And for those who believe (correctly) that all work and no play make Homer something, something, there's WebmasterRadio.FM's SearchBash on August 11 at 8:30 p.m.

WebmasterRadio.FM will be throwing its largest, wildest and most dazzling SearchBash ever! At least, that's what I've been told. Even if this turns out to be hype, SearchBash San Jose'09 will be the premier party event of Search Engine Strategies San Jose -- at least on Tuesday night. But, hey, it's all inclusive and always fun.

Now, for those first time SES attendees who want a preview of SearchBash, click on the link above and check out the photos from other events around the country. Or, play the video below -- which doesn't show people at SearchBash, but it does capture the Zeitgeist of WebmasterRadio.FM's event at SES New York earlier this year.

The SearchBash 2008 Jim Hedger of Webmaster Radio

And if you don't get enough networking done at SearchBash, then check out the hottest networking party for internet marketers on Wednesday, August 12: The IM Charity Party at SES SJ, which gets underway at 6 p.m. Most of the conference speakers and top internet marketers will be there and all the money raised goes to charity! So, make business connections, have fun, and help save the life of a sick child.

And if you look a little beat up when you get back to work, just tell your boss that it happened while you were running the Live Certification Gauntlet.

Get it? Got it? Good!

Posted by Greg Jarboe on July 20, 2009, 12:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thousands Turn Out for NACA's Save the Dream Event in Cleveland

Back on July 3, I posted "Search and Community Track at SES San Jose: NACA's Save The Dream Tour." The story resonated with many of the readers of this Search Marketing News Blog, because it generated 75 tweets over the following 24 hours.

Well, I want to update you on the story as it unfolds. As Jeff Maynor of WKYC-TV, Channel 3 in Cleveland, reports, thousands turned out for NACA's Save the Dream event.

Accordiing to Maynor, "Everywhere you looked in the arena at the CSU Wolstein Center downtown, there were cheers. And there were tears. People facing foreclosure on their homes learned that their mortgages were being modified to something they can afford, and they will not lose their homes."

Check out his news video, which is embedded below.

Cleveland: Thousands turn out for NACA 'Save the Dream' event

So, yes, I plan to feature this case study in my solo presentation at SES San Jose 2009, "How to Optimize for Search & Engage the Community." But, the story doesn't end in Cleveland.

If you go to the NACA home page, which has been updated to make it easier to find information about the nationwide Save the Dream Tour, you'll see there will be more Save the Dream events in Chicago, IL, July 24 - 27, at McCormick Place; St. Louis, MO, July 31 - Aug 3, at Chaifetz Arena; and Atlanta, GA, Aug 7 - 10, at the World Congress Center. And NACA is still working on locations and dates for Save the Dream events in nine more cities around the country.

And there are lessons here for attendees of SES San Jose 2009 as well as attendees of the Social Media & Video Strategies Forum and Local Search Summit:09.

The biggest lesson is that NACA didn't rely on just SEO, or video, or press release optimization, or blog outreach to generate these kind of results. They used a combination of marketing tactics -- in what can be called "an integrated marketing strategy."

Search engine marketers, YouTube directors and entrepreneurs have always demonstrated a talent for out-of-the-box thinking. Well, the top out-of-the-box thinkers may be speaking at one of the other three events being held in San Jose August 10-14, 2009. It won't hurt to look beyond the McEnery Convention Center to check out what's being presented at the San Jose Marriott.

Posted by Greg Jarboe on July 18, 2009, 11:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Confessions of an SEO Copywriter (You don't need a lot of copy)

One of our very own SEW experts, Tim Ash is featured on the cover of the summer edition of Online Strategy Magazine. In it, he talks about the short attention span of web users and how too much copy or flashy graphics can detract from conversion goals.

These are things Tim has learned as a landing page consultant. And in your gut, you know he's right. You skim web pages. You abandon pages that are difficult to navigate easily. You don't feel like reading a dissertation about a new pair of shoes. Do they look good? Yes. Where's the "Add to Cart" button?

You might think it strange for a copywriter and blogger such as myself to even talk about the idea that there can be such a thing as too much copy. After all, we copywriters often charge by the word. More words = more money. (Even when we charge by the hour, longer copy means more hours = more $.)

But I have a confession to make. I know you have a short attention span. I know you're probably skimming this post right now. Many of you comment without reading the entire post you're commenting on.

I know that I need to bust out 125-250 words to attract the Googlebot while making copy work with the design and also use my magical psychological powers to compel you to click the purchase button.

I like to use bullet points (when clients allow, which is sadly not often enough) and get straight to the point because I assume that readers are smart and don't need every nuanced point explained to them.

Of course, you know what they say about assuming.

That's why landing page testing is so crucial. Don't just assume your assumptions are correct. Test them. Develop pages designed around best practices and then test, test, TEST!

Despite all of the above, there are still some niches where a good deal of copy is necessary. Generally, the higher the price or the commitment involved in a purchasing decision, the more education a consumer will want. They get their desired information through copy. But even then, there could be niches where a busy businessman simply wants someone to call them. He'd rather chat it out and then decide. That's when short copy and a contact form might be needed instead.

The only way you'll know for sure is through landing page testing. I can't emphasize this enough. Yes, analytics are good. Yes, keeping an eye on your campaigns are good. But you won't know if you could squeeze even more money out your ad campaigns until you test.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 17, 2009, 3:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)

Local Search Summit:09 Joins SES San Jose and Social Media & Video Strategies

Right after I posted Optimized Schedule for SES San Jose Plus Social Media & Video Strategies I discovered that there's going to be another event that week. It's was like hearing Ron Popeil tell me, "But wait! There's more!"

That's right, I just found out that Local Search Summit:09 will be held on Thursday, August 13, 2009, at at the San Jose Marriott. To put this in context, SES San Jose 2009 will be held next door at the McEnery Convention Center from Monday, August 10, to Friday, August 14. Meanwhile, the first Social Media & Video Strategies Forum will be held on Tuesday, August 11, at the San Jose Marriott.

Get it? Got it? Good!

The featured sponsors of Local Search Summit:09 are Localeze, which powers some of the most successful Internet Yellow Page companies on the net, and Citysquares, one of the premier local community sites on web. Other sponsors who made the event happen include:Search Influence, Universal Business Listing, David Mihm, and eLocal Listing.

The speakers at Local Search Summit:09 include: Atif Rafiq from Yahoo! Local, Steve Stukenborg from Google TV, Steve Espinosa from LocalSearchNews, and Jason Calacanis of Mahalo. Other featured speakers include: Greg Sterling, a local search analyst and blogger, Andrew Shotland, former VP of Product of InsiderPages and former head of Showtime.com, and Court Cunningham, CEO of Yodle.

The agenda for Local Search Summit:09 kicks off at 9:00 a.m. with a keynote by Stukenborg. At 10:30 a.m., there is a session entitled, "Local Search Ranking Factors." At 11:05 a.m., there is a session entitled, "What Kind of Online Products do SMBs Need?" At 12:45, there is a panel discussion entitled, "Q&A: Google Maps, Yahoo! Local, and Bing." At 1:30 p.m., there is a panel discussion entitled, "Using Facebook and Twitter to Drive Local Leads." At 2:15 p.m., there is a session entitled, "LBS and Mobile: What to Realistically Expect." At 2:50 p.m., there will be a conversation entitled "Up Close and Personal with Yelp!" And at 3:45 p.m., the final session is entitled, "Local Search: Where Are We Today?"

Okay, so there's going to be a lot going on in San Jose that week. Earlier this week, I joked about getting a Segway Personal Transporter in order to ride back and forth between the co-located events. Well, now I'm actually looking into renting one!

But, if you think about it for a moment, the multiple events reflect both the growth and segmentation of the market. We've come a long, long way since my first Search Engine Strategies, which was held in Boston in the Spring of 2002.

Back then, everything you needed to learn fit into one keynote and 27 sessions, organized into three conference tracks over two days. Today, SES San Jose 2009 consists of three keynotes, 65 conference sessions, and 12 training workshops organized into five conference tracks over five days. Add to that the Social Media & Video Strategies Forum, which consists of a shared keynote and six conference sessions, plus the Local Search Summit, which consists of one keynote and seven conference sessions.

Yes, this makes optimizing your schedule even harder, but it also reflects the expansion and specialization of our industry. What it really drives home is this message: You can't do it along anymore.

Let me try to put this in human terms: A team of three people could attend Search Engine Strategies 2002 Spring and learn everything an organization needed to know in two days. Now, a team of seven people could attend SES San Jose 2009, the first Social Media & Video Strategies Forum, and Local Search Summit:09 and learn everything an organization needed to know in five days.

Frankly, I think this is a good thing ... even if it means that I have to start looking for a Segway PT.

Posted by Greg Jarboe on July 17, 2009, 3:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Groundhog Day: Yahoo! and Microsoft Said to Be Nearing a Search Deal

Yahoo! and Microsoft are reportedly at it again. According to Kara Swisher's mole at Yahoo!, a team of Microsoft search execs (some of which used to be Purple People) have flown to Sunnyvale (sans Ballmer) to hash out the finer points of technology involved in the deal.

Now, there's all sorts of speculation flying, from how much Microsoft will dish out to Yahoo! to which roles each company will have in the deal. Apparently, Microsoft will take over Yahoo!'s search advertising while Yahoo! will handle display.

For a few months now, Yahoo!'s new CEO Carol Bartz has been touting the strengths of Yahoo! Search is often left out while the focus is on their portals, which rank #1 in several categories.

Somehow, though, it feels like this deal could just end up handing an even bigger search share over to Google. Microsoft hasn't (yet) proven that they should be taking over an even larger competitor in this niche. I want to trust Bartz's judgement on the matter based on what she did for Autodesk, but I kind of wish she powered up some of that fiery tenacity to stay in the search game.

What do you think? Should Yahoo! keep plugging away in search? Let us know in the comments.

Do you like this post? If so, click "like" in your Google Reader.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 17, 2009, 1:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

SEW Awards Deadline Extended - Now July 21

My phone has been ringing off the hook today with last-minute submitters to the Search Engine Watch Awards asking for an extension to today's deadline.

In an effort to get all these great submissions included in our awards, we've decided to extend our deadline through Tuesday, July 21. Besides that, it will allow me to get something done today without answering my phone or e-mail about this every few minutes. :)

To make your submission, or for more information, visit the SEW Awards page.

Anyone that rushed their submission to meet today's deadline and would like to add more to theirs can do so by contacting us and letting us know which submission you'd like to revise.

Thanks again for your interest in the SEW Awards. I hope this extension will help you all get your best submissions in for consideration.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on July 17, 2009, 1:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Twittergate: Hacked Docs Stir Up Questions of Ethics and Security

Recently a hacker obtained confidential documents containing information about Twitter's business plans as well as user accounts and passwords. The hacker sent the documents to two blogs: Silicon Valley's TechCrunch and Korben, a tech news site in France.

TechCrunch has spent the better part of a week publishing a few of the documents one blog post at a time. (Can we just call them TwitterCrunch at this point?) They claim to be working with Twitter and their legal team to determine which ones to post, but Twitter has denied giving permission for publication of any of the documents. Many comments left on TechCrunch's blog were in opposition to the publication, as well.

Twitter and TechCrunch have agreed on one thing - the documents were not ready for prime time. Many of them were handwritten notes, for example.

I personally haven't read the documents that have been released, though obviously it's been hard not to catch a whim of what was included here and there. They were stolen. They're confidential. I suppose that makes me a bad blogger/journalist, but I've got this "Do unto others" philosophy that I try to live by.

Taking ethics out of the question, I'm primarily more interested in what IS rather than is hoped for. After all, "The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray." (Have you seen Pirates of Silicon Valley? What were Jobs' and Gates' original plans? Where was Apple in the late 1990s?)

What would you have done if you had received the documents? Publish them? Blackmail Twitter? Let us know your gut reaction in the comments below.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 17, 2009, 12:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Google Reader's New Sharing Options (Plus a Shared Items Twitter Sharing Tip!)

Google Reader unleashed new sharing options this week, continuing the slow but steady trend of turning the newsreader into a social media platform.

Let's say I'm reading the Search Engine Watch expert column feed. I now have the option to "Like" the post. Google Reader tracks the number of people doing so and places the tally under the subject line.

If you click on the number of people liking a post, you'll get a list of those people. Click on a name and you'll be taken to their Google Profile page. From there, you can connect with that person depending on what they have shared. Users can share their Facebook, Twitter, FriendFeed accounts and more.

This is a great way to find followers on Twitter. I've started to follow those of you liking SEW posts. And I'm getting return follows as well.

If you want to share your Google Reader shared items with your Twitter followers, I recommend using Twitterfeed.com. Just use the RSS feed from your shared items page.

Do you like Google Reader's new sharing options? Click "Like" to this post in Google Reader if you do.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 16, 2009, 11:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Zobrist Offers Search Friendly URL Service for IBM Websphere Commerce Customers

E-commerce sites are prone to be developed by systems that employ dynamic URLs. You know, those long URLs with numbers and gobbledy gook. Now, Zobrist Consulting is offering a SEO friendly service for customers of IBM Websphere Commerce.

One of their customers is The North Face. An example of how Zobrist's service works can be found on the Jackets & Vests page in the Women's section, on the U.S. site. Check out this short but sweet URL:

http://www.thenorthface.com/catalog/sc-gear/women-s-jackets-vests.html

It gets even better. Clicking on the "W Grace Jacket" takes you to this gloriously SEO-friendly URL:

http://www.thenorthface.com/catalog/sc-gear/womens-jackets-vests/womens-grace-jacket.html

Now, I know there's debate on whether such "little" things like dynamic URLs really hold that much weight in the SEO game anymore. But if you don't want to take your chances, this service from Zobrist is great for those of you using IBM Websphere.

But, hey, what's YOUR opinion? Leave it in the comments section below.

Like this article? Reading Google Reader? Click the "Like" button and share it with your contacts!

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 16, 2009, 11:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google Revenues Increase 3% Year-Over-Year in Q2 2009; Paid Clicks Hold Steady

Google released second quarter earnings for 2009 today, and the news was relatively positive. Revenues increased by 3% year-over-year, coming in at $5.52 billion.

Paid clicks were 2% lower than Q1, but 15% higher than the second quarter of 2008. Meanwhile, the average CPC (cost-per-click) increased 5% over Q1 2009 but decreased 13% from Q2 2009.

Revenues shared with partners, primarily Adsense partners, totaled $1.45 billion in the second quarter, which was down ever-so-slightly from Q2 2008's $1.47 billion.

Considering the volatile economy going on around the world, you would think this earnings report was good news. But after hours trading on Wall Street was punishing GOOG:

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 16, 2009, 4:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google PSA: News Publishers Can Use Robots.txt to Block Us

Google is once again reminding news publishers that they do not have to be indexed by the search engine. All they have to do is slap some simple code on a robots.txt file to block the Googlebot.

News publishers, for whatever reason, can't seem to understand that Google doesn't host their content. Perhaps they think that the web is a system of interpipes that are built high in the clouds where they're burning holes through the ozone layer or something. Sigh.

The truth is that news publishers want to charge for access to their sites, just like they charged for print editions. So, they want Google to pay to index their site. If they were truly concerned about the Googlebot, they would simply block it. But they know how much Google sends traffic to their sites. They're just playing dumb.

Remember when newspapers did charge for access to online content? And that didn't work out? So they offered it free with ads? Because they don't own the news and it's going to spread around the interpipes no matter what they charge?

So here's my PSA to news publishers: The web has largely been built on the path of least resistance. And thou protesteth too much.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 16, 2009, 2:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Microsoft Steals Tiny Share from Yahoo! in comScore's June 2009 Rankings

comScore has released their June 2009 rankings and the search market share landscape looks the same as it has for a long time. Yahoo! lost 0.5% of share, which Microsoft picked up the majority of, presumably with the launch of Bing.

Another little nugget of hope for Microsoft: while the volume of search queries declined for Google and Yahoo!, Microsoft saw a 3% increase in June.

Here's the raw data:

Search Market Share

Query Volume

YouTube is continuing its trend of surpassing Yahoo! in search query volume:

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 16, 2009, 1:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Optimized Schedule for SES San Jose Plus Social Media & Video Strategies

One of my Twitter followers, b_young of California, asked me to put together an optimized schedule for both the Search Engine Strategies (SES) San Jose Conference & Expo, which will be held at the McEnery Convention Center August 10-14, 2009, as well as the Social Media & Video Strategies forum, which will be held next door at the San Jose Marriott on August 11.

My first optimization tip is to get a Segway Personal Transporter ("Segway PT") in order to ride back and forth between the two co-located events. If that's not possible, then look closely at the agendas for the two events because it's going to be hard to schedule every session that you will want to attend.

It's also important to understand that an optimized schedule for you may differ significantly than an optimized schedule for b_young. The SES Advisory Board and Search Engine Watch, which organized SES San Jose, as well as ClickZ, Google and YouTube, which organized Social Media & Video Strategies, have tailored different tracks for people with different levels of experience and different search or social media specialties.

So, which sessions would I recommend for b-young, who is interested in advanced-level search engine optimization (SEO)?

On Monday, Aug. 10, I'd recommend checking out a couple of the Partnered Training Workshops. One is a full-day Search Engine Optimization Training workshop taught by Bruce Clay of Bruce Clay, Inc. In addition, I'd recommend the two half-day DMA Certification Training workshops taught by Matt Bailey of SiteLogic and Lee Odden of TopRank Online Marketing.

On Tuesday, Aug. 11, I'd recommend "Search: Where to Next?" at 10:30 a.m. (SES San Jose); "In the Now: Conversational & Real Time Marketing" at 11:45 a.m. (Social Media & Video Strategies); "How to Turn Your Web Analytics into a Money Making Machine" at 1:45 p.m. (SES San Jose); "Meaningful SEO Metrics: Going Beyond the Numbers" at 3:00 p.m. (SES San Jose); and "Launching a Global Website" at 4:30 p.m. (SES San Jose).

On Wednesday, Aug. 12, I'd recommend "Duplicate Content & Multiple Site Issues" at 9:00 a.m.; visit the Expo Hall and take in the added bonus of an Express Site Clinic at 10:45 a.m.; "Google Analytics and Website Optimizer, Secrets Revealed!" at 2:30 p.m.; and "The BuyerSphere Project: Understanding B2B Buyer Patterns" at 4:00 p.m.

On Thursday, Aug. 13, I'd recommend "SEO Through Blogs & Feeds" at 10:30 a.m.; "News Search SEO" at 12:45 p.m.; "Advanced SEO Roundtable: What is it Really? And Where is it Going?" at 2:15 p.m.; and "In-House SEO: Structuring the Organization for Success" at 3:45 p.m.

Finally, on Friday, Aug. 14, I'd recommend two SEM/SEO training workshops. One in the morning is the "Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Workshop" taught by Shari Thurow of Omni Marketing Interactive, and the other in the afternoon is "Managing Complex Search Programs" taught by Bill Hunt, formerly with Global Strategies International.

The conference sessions and workshops should provide the advanced SEO best practices and techniques that b_young needs to remain a top performer in the field.

Remember, your mileage may vary. So, look at the SES San Jose agenda and the Social Media & Video Strategies agenda very closely.

Posted by Greg Jarboe on July 16, 2009, 7:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Scour Incorporates Real-Time Results into Regular Results

Real-time search is all the rage lately, with Twitter fueling the movement via its search of user feeds. Of course, this all really started with universal search and the addition of news results to timely keywords.

Social search engine Scour is getting into the real-time search game with a rather nice approach. Instead of revamping their site or having a separate little section for news-y results, they're simply notifying users of a real-time result with an icon containing an exclamation mark. Otherwise, the results just hang out with the "regular" results.

Check out this search for Tiger Woods. You get the Wikipedia page, his official site, and his PGA tour profile. Then you see the first "real-time" result, a press release on the PGA site for July 14, 2009.

A few links down you see a result for one of many articles talking about how Woods is favored to win this week's British Open.

Despite the pleasantness of the integration, it would be nice to see Twitter results. Perhaps a widget on the sidebar or something.

What do you think of Scour's real-time results? Let us know in the comments.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 16, 2009, 2:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Welcome to Your Google-Branded Life

It's 6:30 am. Your alarm goes off. On your Android phone. You turn it off, roll over and check your GMail before dragging yourself out of bed.

You get ready to leave but learn that your normal bus line is off schedule. You use Google Transit to navigate a different way to work.

Finally, at the office you turn on your Chrome OS-powered notebook, which provides access to company information using Google Apps. Can't find something? No problem. The Google Search Appliance is fueling enterprise-wide search for your entire company.

Getting on with your day, you open up Google Calendar to check your schedule and then it's back to GMail for a look at Tasks you need to tackle.

You open up a Google docs (that is shared with several coworkers) and contribute. Then you check the Google Sites intranet to get updates on your department and the company.

It's lunchtime. Your buddy wants to meet up for lunch so he texts your Google Voice phone number and you arrange to meet at that new Italian restaurant for lunch.

You're not quite sure where it is so you look it up on Google Maps.

In the afternoon, you work on some Google Spreadsheets and upload pictures of the company picnic to Picasa.

A message pops up on Google Talk. It's your wife. She uploaded that cute video of your daughter (recorded on her Google Android phone) to YouTube and then posted it on your family's Blogger blog.

An email arrives from your family care practitioner. Those labs from your doctor's visit the other day are in. You check them in your Google Health records.

After work, you go home. Your son needs help with his homework. You get out the Android-powered netbook and use Google search to look up the information you need to help him out. You explore Google Earth to assist with his geography and help him with SketchUp to complete a social studies project due the next day.

Before settling down for the night, you check Google News, your feeds in Google Reader and Google Finance to stay informed with what's going on in the world and your portfolio. You watch a couple of shows on YouTube and then finally hit the hay.

This all might sound extreme, but it's completely possible - right now. These are all items and offerings that currently exist in the Google product line.

Would it really be farfetched to add a few things like a Google TV, a Google gaming console, or a Google personal media player? No, not really. After all, think about the competition.

Apple has the iPod, iPhone, and Apple TV. Microsoft has the XBox 360. Yahoo! created a Widget Channel to enhance Internet on TV.

Actually, come to think of it, Google has already begun their journey onto TV. Gaming devices, the Apple TV and Vudu offer the ability to access YouTube on your television.

Then there's Google's connection with the government: their close relationship with NASA, Eric Schmidt's appointment to the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), and the White House's YouTube channel. There's the support for a national broadband plan and their involvement in spectrum auctions.

For the most part, it makes sense for Google to grow as they do. They're a public company headquartered in a democratic, capitalistic society. It's their duty to their shareholders to generate profit and to preserve their role in the marketplace as best as possible.

But Google now has a lot of power. It's probably more power than any of the first hundred or thousand employees ever anticipated when Google was just a startup. Let's hope that power never becomes absolute.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 15, 2009, 11:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Hunch Adds Shortcuts to Help Users Navigate Topics

Hunch, the decision engine that launched just after that *other* decision engine, has already added an update to their site. They've added "shortcut topics," which aid in navigation.

If you haven't visited Hunch yet, then you need to know that the site serves up a decision by asking you a bunch of questions. Say, for example, you're trying to decide what type of coffee you want to buy. You type in "coffee" to the search box. A list of suggested questions and topics comes up:

As you can tell, if you already know you want to buy organic, you can select the question with ">Organic" in order to skip ahead to that narrowed-down category.

Then you can embark on a series of questions to help Hunch find the right answer for you. Here's the first question:

Conducting a number of searches, I came across few shortcuts. However, there may obviously be more in subject areas I personally am not interested in. The other factor is that Hunch is based on community contributions. So, substantive topics depend upon the users submitting content.

What do you think about Hunch's shortcuts? Tell us your thoughts by leaving a comment.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 15, 2009, 10:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

BingTweets - integrated twitter search

Microsoft is upping the ante in Twitter search with its new (though still in BETA mode) BingTweets. In cooperation with Federated Media and Twitter, this new Twitter search tool is supposed to herald the beginnings of an integrated Twitter search. Bing's search results are at the center of the site, while a real-time Twitter feed appears in a sidebar on the left. I tried using it but quickly found it limited in scope. When you try searching via bing, the Twitter feed is not updating to reflect the new Bing search you just implemented. Instead, the Twitter feed is updating and featuring the latest tweets on the trendiest twitter topics (in a column up at the top of the page).

But wouldn't it be nice if Bing's search engine tapped directly into Twitter's search engine and gave you real-time Tweets on your specific search request. Too much to ask for at this stage, I guess.

Nevertheless, Microsoft's foray into Twitter search reflects heavily upon the need for, in the words of Gord Hotchkiss, CEO of Enquiro, a need for an "arms race" in search. And if you want to hear more about what Gord has to say on the topic, have a listen to this interview I conducted with him:

Posted by Byron Gordon on July 15, 2009, 7:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google Voice Launches Mobile Apps for Android, Blackberry

This past March, Google rebranded the acquired GrandCentral as Google Voice with the promise of expanded service and features in the future. They're making good on that promise with the release of mobile apps for Android and Blackberry phones.

The app incorporates contacts and enables phone calls and text messaging directly from the app. It uses Wifi or data capabilities to conduct calls and SMS.

Google Voice touts its major benefit as being able to have one phone number to forward all your phone calls, voice messages and text messages to. The idea is that you don't have to worry about changing phone numbers. But since porting phone numbers is possible among carriers, I'm not sure how much value this really is. It's likely more convenient, but, of course, it will be personal preference if shelling out the moolah for the service is worth it.

Another feature Google Voice highlights is visual voicemail, but this is hardly revolutionary at this point, since the iPhone has been offering it since inception two years ago.

The real value is in the ability to transcribe messages, which of course enables search of messages. And this is where Google's strength really lies, no?

If you don't have an Android or Blackberry, you can access Google Voice via web at http://www.google.com/voice. It's only currently available to U.S. users and is also only available by invite, which you can request.

What do you think of the new Google Voice apps? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 15, 2009, 2:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Facebook Boasts 250 Million Members Worldwide

Facebook just keeps growing and growing and growing.... They've reached the milestone of 250 million members. That's a global number, but it's still very impressive - even more so considering it took just a year to double their numbers.

I was thinking just yesterday about Google Connect versus Facebook Connect and how the latter probably makes more sense. A greater percentage of my friends use Facebook than either Google or Twitter (Google Connect supports Twitter). So many of my friends use non-GMail emails such as Yahoo!, Hotmail or their work account.

With Facebook continuing to grow at skyrocketing numbers, it's funny that they feel the need to compete with Twitter. But it's also a smart thing, doing things like experimenting with search for the live feed. Staying ahead of the game is something that has failed other social networks (er, hmmm, MySpace, cough cough, Friendster). But it looks like for now, Facebook is steady as she goes.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 15, 2009, 2:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Could Twitter Impact On "Bruno" Box Office Numbers Create More Work For Social Media Companies?

Seems the movie industry has seen the impact of the trust Twitter users have in others comments. As Time magazine suggests "Brüno could be the first movie defeated by the Twitter effect. "

Bruno opened Friday with good numbers - $14.4 million - and was predicted to break $50 million, but then came Twitter. Seems the 140 character reviews took a bigger toll on attendance numbers than anyone could have thought. The weekend number was just over $30 million - a $20 million dollar swing is huge. And now shows the type of money that can be lost and what can be saved by a good social media effort.

Will this have the movie studios running to social media agencies to help with other film launches? Hey we already have reputation management, why not audience attendance management.

If I was a studio head I would be looking for a good social media company to help spin the buzz about a movie during opening weekend to the positive. If that happens will be worth watching for.

Posted by Frank Watson on July 14, 2009, 8:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Study Shows Old Media Beat Bloggers To News

While Twitter may break the occasional sensational news story, traditional news sources do not need to feel too threatened by bloggers just yet, according to a Cornell University study, that shows "old media" beat blogs to news by an average of 2.5 hours.

The death knoll of professional journalism and mainstream news providers may not be as close as people seem to think.

"The classic function of journalism to sort out a true and reliable account of the day's events is being undermined. It is being displaced by the continuous news cycle, the growing power of sources over reporters, varying standards of journalism, and a fascination with inexpensive, polarizing argument. The press is also increasingly fixated on finding the 'big story' that will temporarily reassemble the now fragmented
mass audience," according to Warp Speed: America in the Age of Mixed Media.

Interestingly the study found "information mostly propagates from news to blogs, we also found that in only 3.5% of the cases stories first appear dominantly in the blogosphere and subsequently percolate into the mainstream media."

The web may be able to disseminate news quickly, but it seems it is not really out there finding it, except in isolated or extraordinary cases.

Posted by Frank Watson on July 14, 2009, 7:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

BingTweets Mashes Up Trending Tweets with Search Results (UPDATE)

UPDATE: BingTweets was showing old trending topics earlier, but as has been noted in the comments, that has been fixed and now is current.

Ever noticed a trending topic on Twitter and then headed to a search engine to learn more? A new site from the Bing team makes that process even easier.

BingTweets is a new site that pulls in trending topics on Twitter and offers Bing search results right on the same page. BingTweets is not found at Bing.com but rather has its own standalone site at BingTweets.com.

When you click on one of the topics, search results are automatically and immediately triggered with no extra clicks.

However, there's one issue and it's a biggie: The topics seem to be delayed. Under the popular right now tab, Wimbledon was trending despite the finals being almost 10 days ago. Wimbledon is no longer trending on Twitter.

BingTweets trending topics July 14, 2009

Twitter trending topics July 14, 2009

Overall, though the UI is nice.

Another thing I would adjust is the Twitter stream down the left side. When I selected "Andy Murray," the Tweet stream brought up Tweets that had the word murray but not andy. If I'm interested in Tweets about Andy Murray, then Tweets about Bill Murray are largely irrelevant.

What do you think about BingTweets? Give us your first impressions in the comments below.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 14, 2009, 6:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Google Friend Connect Adds Support for 47 More Languages

Google Friend Connect has announced support for 47 new languages. (It's already supported in English.) The new languages are......(drum roll please).....

• Arabic
• Bengali
• Bulgarian
• Catalan
• Chinese
• Croatian
• Czech
• Danish
• Dutch
• Filipino
• Finnish
• French
• German
• Greek
• Gujarati
• Hebrew
• Hindi
• Hungarian
• Indonesian
• Italian
• Japanese
• Kannada
• Korean
• Latvian
• Lingala
• Lithuanian
• Malay
• Malayalam
• Marathi
• Norwegian
• Oriya
• Persian
• Polish
• Portuguese
• Romanian
• Russian
• Serbian
• Slovak
• Slovenian
• Spanish
• Swedish
• Tamil
• Telugu
• Thai
• Turkish
• Ukrainian
• Vietnamese

Google Friend Connect launched last year and is a tool for web developers to add social networking to websites. It simply allows people to log into the network via their Google account. Then they can connect with others using the site.

If you come across comments in another language, no problem. This past May, Google Friend Connect added a Translation Widget to help you connect with users speaking a language foreign to your own.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 14, 2009, 4:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Branding, Online Reviews, and Word-of-Mouth Most Trusted Forms of Advertising, According to Nielsen

Nielsen is releasing data showing that recommendations from friends and family top the list of most trusted forms of advertising, with online reviews and branding topping the list as well.

Here's how ad trust has changed over the past two years:

But what is the reason for the change?

"The explosion in Consumer Generated Media over the last couple of years - we are now tracking over 100 million CGM sources - means consumers' reliance on word of mouth in the decision-making process, either from people they know or online consumers they don't, has increased significantly," says Jonathan Carson, President of Online, International, for the Nielsen Company."

You can read the entire report here (PDF).

What do you think is the cause for the shifts in ad trust? Share your opinion in the comments below?

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 14, 2009, 4:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Google Site Publishers Can Now Display AdSense

Google Sites is a free product that makes it easy to create websites. It's pretty basic, and it's designed primarily to be a group site or intranet, where you can share documents, calendars, etc.

Now, Google is allowing AdSense to be displayed on these Sites. Publishers have the option to place AdSense in the sidebar as well as the main content of each page.

Check out this video for more details:

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 14, 2009, 4:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Dictionary.com Reaches 2.3 Million iPhone App Downloads

Dictionary.com is experiencing great success with their iPhone app. It has been downloaded 2.3 million times and has now been listed as one of Apple's 30 favorite apps. Plus, they're the #2 app in the reference category.

With over 60,000 apps in the iTunes App Store, it's certainly difficult to stand out. That makes Dictionary.com's accomplishments with their app all the more meaningful.

The App Store turns one year old this month. Over 1.5 billion downloads of apps have been recorded and reported by Apple.

Dictionary.com is owned by search engine Ask.com, which acquired the site in May of 2008.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 14, 2009, 1:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Google Adds Creative Commons Filter to Image Search

Google has added a Creative Commons filter to Image Search. In order to use the filter, you'll need to use the Advanced Search option in Google Image Search.

Once on the Advanced Search page, look for the "Usage Rights" option, which is the second from the bottom. You won't see "Creative Commons" listed as an option. Instead, you'll see options for:

• labeled for reuse
• labeled for commercial reuse
• labeled for reuse with modification
• labeled for commercial reuse with modification

Google's not the first to do this. Of course, Flickr has had Creative Commons search for a long time. Yahoo! added a Creative Commons filter to its Image Search last May.

For its part, Google added Creative Commons filtering options to Custom Search plus YouTube began offering Creative Commons licensing this past February. However, YouTube doesn't yet offer Creative Commons search in its Advanced Search yet.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 14, 2009, 12:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Adgooroo Q2 2009 Search Ad Report Shows Market Stability, Despite Bing

Adgooroo has released their quarterly search engine advertising report, and despite the launch of Bing in June, things have remained pretty much the same.

Keep in mind that quarter two includes April and May, during which Microsoft's search was still Live Search. However, the report lobs them all under the title of Bing, and is comparing past data to Live Search. Let's dive in.

For the year ending June 2009, Microsoft grew advertiser base by 35%, but Google still outpaced them by growing theirs by 52%. Yahoo! fared worse than both by only growing their base by 14%.

The share of advertisers among Google, Yahoo!, and Microsoft has remained largely unchanged.

The number of first page ads on Microsoft search products dropped by 24%. Meanwhile, the number of ads per keyword are still on the rise for Google and Yahoo! internationally. In the U.S., Microsoft and Yahoo! are seeing declines in the average number of ads per keyword while Google remains on the rise.

Keep in mind that a reduction in ads per keyword could indicate better ad quality.

Below is a list of the top 25 advertisers per search engine for June 2009, according to Adgooroo. The list is in alphabetical order and is calculated on impressions and not ad spend.

What do you think of the Adgooroo Q2 2009 report? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 13, 2009, 11:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

One Month Old Bing Brags About Success

Over at the Bing Search Blog, they're sharing a few nuggets of success that Microsoft's new search product has seen in the first month since launch.

• Bing Shopping has seen amost 3x increase in site visits
• Bing Cashback has experienced a 5.42% increase in transactions
• Bing Travel traffic has increased by 90% month over month since launch. (Remember, it was formerly Live Search Farecast.)

Some advertisers are seeing great things since Bing's launch:

• TigerDirect's sales and order volume has tripled. Both the conversion rate and average order size has increased significantly. Because of this, TigerDirect increased its search marketing spend with Bing by twofold.
• An IT provider reported 36% higher click volume, 43% lower cost-per-click and 400% higher click-through rates in June.
• A large wireless communications company received 28% more clicks compared to previous weeks.
• One PC manufacturer's (hmmmm) impressions have gone up 46%

The Bing API has been getting some action too. The number of developers using the API has doubled (over the LIve Search API) to more than 11,000.

What do you think about these stats from Bing? Do you have Bing stats to report? Share in the comments below.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 13, 2009, 3:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Eye Tracking Study Shows Sponsored Ads Attract Social Media Searchers

A new eye tracking study from Oneupweb shows that search is a core element of social media sites. They did studies on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, arguably three of the most popular social networking sites right now.

The study is especially relevant when you consider that search queries on Facebook grew 5% in May of 2009.

Search marketers will want to take note: Despite the prevailing idea that social media ads are worthless, the Oneupweb study found that 65% of participants engaged with sponsored ads within the first 10 seconds of their search.

Participants in the study were asked to navigate the social networks as they normally would. Check out where the red spots are, indicating heavy attention areas. The search box on all three sites is red. (Note that the images for Facebook and Twitter show live feed pages, which users see once they've already signed in.)

Facebook - search box is in the top right corner

Twitter - search box is on the right sidebar, a quarter of the way down.

YouTube - search box is at the top, just left of center

The participants were then asked to conduct some search tasks. Twitter was not included since the objective was to compare organic to sponsored ads and Twitter does not have sponsored ads (hello, monetization opportunity!).

Here's what happened when they arrived on search results for Pepsi on Facebook. Notice that the first result and the sponsored ad gets attention while the other results are left in the dust.

Here's a search for Pepsi on YouTube. Notice how the top 6 organic results get attention while the first sponsored ad gets attention, with the second sponsored ad sneaking in there as well.

Oneupweb also determined areas of interest (AOI) within the eye tracking data.

Notice how the sponsored ad gets the primary AOI in the search for Pepsi on both Facebook and YouTube.

What do you think of this eye tracking study? Let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 13, 2009, 1:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Is TechCrunch Calling For Search Regulations or Running Test of Social Media, Link Building?

Okay, TechCrunch publishes an anonymous article calling for the regulation of SEO and SEM aimed squarely at the monopoly that is Google.

The hue and cry is being heard around the world, mainly through comments being posted on Twitter. But is the article really just a way for TechCrunch to do a test of Twitter traffic and its impact on link building, and ultimately on Google's search algorithm?

Our industry has weighed in on this article as if it were another installment of Dave Pasternak's annual controversial traffic generators. But what is it saying and what will this article achieve?

As many of the comments on the article have stated, an anonymous post about transparency is an oxymoron -- you can't tell the search engines to be open when writing without accrediting the author. This is not some revolutionary tract aimed at overthrowing the British, written anonymously for fear of being shot. Even Google does not retaliate against those that criticize them -- I have not been shot, and I give them grief all the time.

There are two paths to look at involving this article: the information it contains, and the motivation behind TechCrunch publishing it.

Let's look at the information first. Using anecdotes of countries and companies controlling access is really distracting -- at first I did not know if this was discussing Google's different country based search or the company as a whole. Google is a multinational conglomerate -- a huge corporation that operates in every country on the planet because of its internet existence.

Google is not the only search engine -- but they are the big dog when it comes to being a gatekeeper of where and how people find information online. We recommended them, we helped make them the most popular source of information on the web. And now we are bitching about it because they were smart enough to monetize it and we are now at the mercy of any change they decide to make.

Yes, we really can't go anywhere else -- they have the searchers we're trying to reach. But you can't complain when a company does its job too well. Asking for someone to come in and regulate it now is like wanting to take your ball back because you are not getting everyone to pass it to you during a game.

Funny how I do not see the industry shouting from the roof tops that Bing or Wolfram/Alpha is a great search engine that makes searching easier or more accurate. The only way the market share will shift is if people evangelize other search engines -- and that means a lot of people.

I have suffered through the changes just like everyone else, and could add several to the list in the article. But sadly, yet realistically, we have to adapt to these changes.

Countries can stop you from entering based on any rules they want. Companies have the right to refuse service, change their prices, the layout of their stores, what products they offer and promote etc. etc. etc. At least that is the case in democratic, free countries.

Getting the government to force Google to show everything will -- as the comments to the article express in the majority -- allow the people with deep pockets to just grab even more of the prime positions.

Do the big spenders at AdWords get preferential treatment? Yes -- and I know that from personal experience. When I was spending over a million dollars a month with AdWords, I got all kinds of help -- including advice on SEO.

Mr. Anonymous, you really lost me at this statement. "It's now conventional wisdom that search engine optimization, representing the organic result sets on any search query, is more voodoo than science."

Sounds exactly like Dave Pasternak. And when it was bandied about two years ago there were some great replies. Barry Schwartz's counter was good, as was Aaron Shear's reply about C execs thinking SEO was voodoo.

So beyond the basic complaint that many of us have about Google's position as gatekeeper of information, let's look at the second point.

What has motivated this article's publication at TechCrunch?

Apart from the huge amount of traffic it is now getting through Twitter and everywhere else, could it be a test of social media traffic? Or is it a clever way to grab links?

TechCrunch has lost a lot of its traffic from search engines, if you can believe Alexa numbers.

Since 2008, it appears TechCrunch has lost almost 50% of its search traffic numbers. Have the algorithm changes finally impacted them, and this is a case of sour grapes? (I am sure that will get some reaction).

Interestingly, TechCrunch does not seem to have been impacted if you look at pageviews. Quite the contrary: they have increased even while getting less search traffic.

So where is all this new traffic coming from? I wonder why this was not added to the post? How to grow numbers despite dropping search traffic would be a much more interesting piece. But that one may not get the huge spike in traffic this one is getting right now.

Michael Arrington is a sharp guy. Like Guy Kawasaki and Jason Calacanis, he recognizes the power of Twitter and has jumped on it as a new source of large amounts of traffic.

So what are we to infer from all this? I don't have a definitive answer, but I'm hoping TechCrunch is running a test of social media, and Twitter in particular. I hope that I will soon see the definitive article on the power of retweets and the global wave of viral social marketing.

I really am hoping this was not a ploy to garner a huge number of links. Either way, you are getting them Michael, and I will watch closely how those search numbers over at Alexa are influenced. Could there be a huge jump in the next few months and get you back where you were a year ago?

Now that would be a clever play. Increased traffic from Twitter -- no doubt getting huge followers today -- and a return to the larger numbers from search would be one hell of a trick. Almost worthy of a Voodoo priest!

Posted by Frank Watson on July 13, 2009, 12:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Sign Up for Chance to Win Extreme Site Makeover at SES San Jose

You know you need it. So, what are you waiting for?

SES San Jose, which will take place at the McEnery Convention Center on August 10-14, 2009, is offering extreme makeovers for the sites of three contest winners. The drawing will be held prior to the event and entries must be received by this Friday, July 17.

Now, the winners will be featured at a session entitled, Extreme Makeover: Conversion Edition. Maybe that's why you are hesitant to enter. You are afraid people will see what you site looked like "before" it had an extreme makeover. But, image what people will see "after" the experts -- Bryan Eisenberg, the Co-Founder of Future Now, and Ethan Giffin, CEO of Groove Commerce -- have analyzed your metrics, usability, and persuasion ability.

If anyone laughs at the "before" pictures of your site, remember, living well is the best revenge.

The conversion experts will work with three companies pre-selected for the session to redesign a key page and then set up that redesign in an A/B test. Session attendees will learn how to identify the crucial barriers to success on the sites selected and how Eisenberg and Giffin would remedy them in less than 48 hours.

So, who will look "wicked smart" to be featured in one of these rags to riches stories? That's right, you will.

So, enter the drawing for a free site makeover by visiting the SES San Jose website and filling in the extreme makeover form by July 17. All paid conference attendees are eligible to become one of three lucky companies whose sites will be optimizing right there during the presentation. Winners of the drawing will be notified prior to the event.

Get it? Got it? Good.

Posted by Greg Jarboe on July 13, 2009, 7:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Internet Retailer Conference and Exhibition Interviews on Webmaster Radio

Brandy Shapiro-Babin, the co-founder of Webmaster Radio, and Jorge Hermida (aka Brasco), the director of programming and production, asked me to cover the Internet Retailer Conference and Exhibition (IRCE) in Boston last month.

Now, I'm more comfortable with a video crew in tow behind me. But, once upon a time, I was a radio reporter and newscaster. So, I figured that I could figure out how to use the digital audio recorder that Brasco shipped me before the event. Wrong!

Nevertheless, with apologies for my tendency to blink at the dawn of the digital media era, the folks at WebmasterRadio.FM just posted my eight interviews from IRCE. You can check them out by clicking on Internet Retailer.

In you scroll to the bottom of the list, you'll find Keynote Overview Part 1 and Part 2. I interviewed Nacho Hernandez, CEO and Founder of iHispanic Marketing Group, to do color commentary and analysis of the keynote presentations. This included opening remarks by Kurt Peters, Editor in Chief of Internet Retailer, plus keynotes by Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com, Gian Fulgoni, Executive Chairman and co-founder of comScore, as well as Jeff and Bobby Beaver, co-founders of Zazzle.

In Part 2, Nacho and I discuss Fulgoni's presentation, which included data that showed unemployment-related searches spiked in March 2009 compared to the same month in 2008. He added that consumers feel it will take more than a year before the unemployment rate will begin to show signs of improvement.

Fulgoni also presented data that showed older mid-to-upper income households are showing softness in online spending, presumably reflecting an increased savings rate. However, younger households continue to spend incrementally. This means internet retailers should segment their audience and target those 18-44 years old.

Finally, Fulgoni said search engines remain the most important sites when shopping, but online coupon sites and jumped into second place ahead of comparison shopping sites.

You will also hear my interview with Hernandez about MexGrocer.com at the end in Part 2. MexGrocer.com is the largest online grocery store for authentic Mexican food. Nacho, who is a regular speaker at Search Engine Strategies conferences, talks about the family business founded by his father.

But wait, there's more!

I interviewed Bizresearch President Laura Thieme, who discusses her new web-based search analytics platform called Bizwatch.

I asked Angela Nguyen of Microsoft to give a verbal demonstration for WebmasterRadio.fm listeners about the four things to "look for" in Bing.

Abe Mezrich, Communications Manager for Didit, discusses display search retargeting, why he recommends you do it, and how it works for considered purchases and/or impulse buys.

Stephan Spencer of NetConcepts, tells us about GravityStream 2.0, search engine optimization software for online retailers.

Matt Pace, managing director of retail and consumer products for Compete discusses the latest retail trends coming out of the IRCE 2009 conference.

And Michael Briggs, VP Search Strategy at @WebsitePublicity, discusses pay-per-click trends, and his background of PPC going back to the sale of Overture.

Now that I've listened to it, I did do as bad a job as I had feared. Who knows, maybe I "look good" on radio ... in my blue shirt. (Now, that's a funny story that I'll save for another time and another place.)

Posted by Greg Jarboe on July 12, 2009, 8:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Google Product Search for Mobile Updated for More Languages and Devices, Adds Google Suggest

When Google Product Search for Mobile was launched, it was only for the iPhone and Android phones. Now, it's available for all internet-enabled devices in the US, UK, Germany and South Korea.

Additionally, Google Suggest, a query suggestion feature, has been added to Product Search for Mobile, but it is limited to iPhone, Android and Palm Pre phones in the U.S.

To use Product Search for Mobile, simply browse to google.com on your mobile phone and conduct a search. Then clcik on "Shopping results" to view products.

You an also access Product Search for mobile directly by browsing to www.google.com/m/products.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 10, 2009, 3:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Bing Powers New Quick Add Feature for Hotmail

If you're a Hotmail user, you now have a new feature called Quick Add. The feature allows you to include a variety of goodies to your emails including restaurant reviews, movie times, images, videos, and maps. Quick Add is availalbe to users in Australia, Canada, China, India, US, and the UK.

To use the feature, begin a new email message. Then make a selection from the Quick Add, which you can find on the right pane. Search the Bing search box and then insert your result into the email.

What do you think of Quick Add? Any Hotmail users out there try it out yet? Let us know your experiences in the comments below.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 10, 2009, 1:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Google Adds Images Next to Maps in Location-Based Universal Search Results

Google has updated the universal search results for location-based queries. Now, next to the map included at the top of the search results are images.

It doesn't work for all location-based searches, however. A search for Kota, India shows image results but they are further down and no map is included.

A search for Nassau, Bahamas returns a map but not images:

It's not a problem with international searches altogether because a search for Brasilia, Brazil returns the new results:

Still, if you're invested in travel or local search, you'll want to spend some time optimizing for image search, since they're now a big part of Google location-based results.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 10, 2009, 12:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The BuyerSphere Project: Understanding B2B Buyer Patterns

One of the session that I plan to attend at SES San Jose is "The ByerSphere Project: Understanding B2B Buyer Patters" on Wednesday, August 12, 2009, at 4:00 p.m.

The moderator of the session is Gord Hotchkiss, President & CEO, Enquiro. I started speaking on panels with Gord way back at SES New York 2004.

And I can't tell you how many search engine marketers -- including me -- have taken his eye tracking research and presented it to their clients over the years. Although I always give Enquiro credit for the findings, if Gord were getting residuals, he'd be rich.

At SES San Jose 2009, the speakers at Gord's session are:
-- Mark McMaster, Senior Planner of B2B and Technology Markets, Google
-- Ben Hanna, VP Marketing, Business.com
-- Chris Golec, Founder and CEO, Demandbase
-- Jon Miller, VP Marketing, Marketo
-- Dr. Matthias Blume, Chief Analytics Officer, Covario

All of them have just concluded a major B2B research initiative, which was conducted by Enquiro with input from Google, Business.com, Covario, Marketo and DemandBase. The so-called BuyerSphere Project showed that most marketers aren't effectively leveraging online assets to their best potential. Are you shocked, shocked by these findings?

Among other things, the notion of a strictly followed, traditional buying funnel is simply not accurate in many instances, risk dictates buying behavior, search is incredibly important as an integrator across online and offline channels and face-to-face persuasion is still necessary in many high risk, complex purchases. The BuyerSphere Project looks at how online strategies became artificially separated from traditional best practices, how they can be more effectively integrated and the part search plays as a major influencer. That's worth knowing, don't you think?

Now, this panel at SES San Jose will review the research from over 100 face-to-face interviews, hundreds of eye tracking sessions and over 3,000 survey responses in total. The project represents a major step forward in understanding B2B buyer patterns and the part online marketing can play in influencing them.

So, I couldn't wait get a "sneak preview" because, well, I'm a competitive kind of guy. And if Enquiro's research is worth borrowing, I mean, worth understanding, then it's worth finding out about ahead of time.

So, I was delighted when Byron Gordon of SEO-PR interviewed Gord Hotchkiss earlier this week and uploaded the video to SESConferenceExpo's Channel on YouTube. Gord discussed Enquiro's three phase research project that incorporated interviews with more than 100 BtoB buyers before the survey was even put together. The goal was to discover how purchasing decisions get made within a company.

Gord says it was previously thought that BtoB purchasing is based on rational decision making but this is not always the case. He says influences maybe online or offline but they all play a part in determining how purchasing decisions are made.

Gord also discusses the advance of a generational shift in behavior, described as the "digital natives" and the "digital immigrants." Online usage differs between the two segments. Hey, you might as well watch the video interview below to hear for yourself what he has to say.

Gord Hotchkiss, Enquiro, on the BuyerSphere Project in advance of SES San Jose 2009

And if you want even more details, the head over to the Enquiro site and click on New Research on B2B Buying: The BuyerSphere. You will find White Papers, webinars, and other information.

Why am I plugging this now when you could just attend the The BuyerSphere Project: Understanding B2B Buyer Patterns at SES San Jose 2009? Let's just say that I -- like many, many other search engine marketers -- owe Gord big time for all the research we've borrowed from Enquiro to persuade a B2B client to rethink his or her assumptions.

Hey, a plug and a link is the least that I can do to "repay" Gord for his groundbreaking research on B2B buying and B2B marketing. And it's a lot more affordable than paying residuals.

Posted by Greg Jarboe on July 10, 2009, 8:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Bing's Search Engine Share on the Rise, Has a Long Way to Go

Hitwise has released their search engine share data for the month of June 2009. This is significant because it's the first month that Microsoft's Bing.com has been around. Of course, it essentially took over for Live.com, so there are a few factors to look at.

Now, normally we wouldn't look (or even get) the week-by-week data. But that is quite possibly the most significant for this particular month. As you can see, Bing saw growth every week in the month of June.

But when you average the weeks together, Microsoft search engines still saw a slight loss year-over-year. This contrasts the data from the less authoritative Statcounter, which was released July 1.

Still, it's no doubt who's still sending traffic by way of search referrals: Google.

Perhaps overall search referrals would be higher if only searchers could really find what they're looking for. The keyword length is on the rise, possibly indicating that searchers really have to do a lot of work to find what they're truly searching for.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 9, 2009, 4:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Google Adds My Location to Desktop Version of Maps

Google Maps for Mobile users have had access to a feature called My Location that does exactly what you would think: marks your current location. Now, the desktop version of Google Maps has access to that feature.

You've got to be using a compatible browser. So, if you haven't upgraded to Firefox 3.5 or Chrome 2.0 (or any browser installed with the current version of Google Gears), then it's time to get your download on.

Then when you load Google Maps, look for a teeny tiny new box between the zoom in/out bar and the compass circle. Click that box and you'll be prompted to give permission to share your location.

My Location seemed to figure out that I was in the greater metropolitan area of Raleigh, NC, but there was no indication via the famous blue circle that the feature had worked to find my general location. It certainly couldn't pinpoint the location of the public library whose Wifi I'm currently schlepping. Google uses nearby Wifi points to determine location, but the LatLong blog did say it may not be able to provide one every time. Though, I'm always flabbergasted when new tech like this doesn't work in such a high-tech area as the Raleigh-Durham area.

Were you able to get a more precise location detection from Google Maps? Do tell in the comments.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 9, 2009, 2:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

StumbleUpon's Su.pr is Now Available to All; Update SU, Twitter and Facebook Simultaneously

Last month, StumbleUpon unveiled Su.pr, a tool that shortens URLs but also enables the submission of links to StumbleUpon while also offering the option to simultaneous update Twitter and Facebook.

Now, Su.pr has been made available to anyone. To access it, you must become a registered user of StumbleUpon. You'll also need to authorize Twitter and Facebook to use the tool, if you plan to use the simultaneous updating. (And seriously, why wouldn't you?)

Like other URL shortening services, you can see how many times the link has been clicked on, which is highly valuable.

Especially useful is the bookmarklet that you can use to make the process of submitting to three different social networks at the same time even easier.

Now, all I need is for someone to make a Su.pr Greasemonkey script for Google Reader so I can reduce the step of clicking the links I want to share to open in a Firefox tab. Who's game?

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 9, 2009, 2:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Social Network Ad Spend to Dip in 2009, Pick Back Up in 2010

eMarketer has released projections showing social network ad spending taking a dip in 2009. They attribute the decline to difficulties over at MySpace, as they try to maintain a presence in a niche being taken over by Facebook and the yet-to-be monetized Twitter.

"The expected rebound in spending will come as more companies focus on creating and implementing an overall social marketing strategy," says Debra Aho Williamson, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report, Social Network Ad Spending: A Brighter Outlook Next Year. "And it is a clear indication that the experimental phase of social network marketing is finally drawing to an end."

However, the downturn isn't expected to become a trend. Instead, it will be a blip on an otherwise steadily increasing interest in social network advertising. Should Twitter introduce advertising, social network ads will probably take on a life of their own.

"Facebook, once a distant second to MySpace, has outperformed its rival in nearly every measure of usage--and is on track to surpass MySpace in ad spending by 2011," says Ms. Williamson.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 9, 2009, 1:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

SES San Jose Offers Sessions for Veteran Search Engine Marketers

Last week, I said "SES San Jose Offers Conference Sessions for First Time Attendees." This year's Search Engine Strategies conference offers lots of sessions for veteran search engine marketers, too.

SES San Jose 2009 can cover both ends of the spectrum because it has five concurrent tracks. So, whether this will be your first show or the fourth SES event that you've attended in 2009, you'll find tons of new content worth learning.

For example, sessions oriented toward advanced marketers include:
• Search: Where to Next sums up what the future holds for the search industry with a veteran panel of industry insiders.
• The Next Wave for Online Video presents the importance of optimizing for video search and looks into tactics for copywriting, keyword research and more.
• Don't Call it a Comeback: Semantic Technology and Search focuses on the reality of true semantic technology and the recent application of the "Web 3.0" tag.
• Beyond Googling: Where Will Your Customers Be Searching in Five Years? presents a long-view look at weak signals and trends that appear to point in new directions.
• Launching a Global Website presents key issues critical to successfully developing, optimizing, and launching the global websites that meet next generation marketing goals.
• Duplicate Content & Multiple Site Issues explores the potential problems and pitfalls of running mirror sites and offers solutions.
• Landing Page Testing and Tuning discusses how to twist and tweak your landing page to covert site visitors into buyers.
• Real World Multivariate Testing helps attendees understand how landing page optimization, through multivariate testing, can quickly affect the success of any online acquisition campaign, and how simple changes to a landing pages can dramatically increase online sales.
• Ads in a Quality Score World looks at quality factors and studies how to increase the perceived relevancy of your campaigns.
• Follow the Carrot: Cool Mobile Apps examines the effect of mobile applications, their usefulness from a business point of view, and where they may be going in the future.
• Images & Search Engines: Getting the Full Picture explores image searching along with image-links, geo tags and other considerations for capturing targeted traffic.
• Search Becomes the Display OS includes a discussion and case studies focusing on the idea that the only thing that can save display advertising is making it more like search.

Although I should disclose that SES is a client, I'm not the only one who thinks that there is lots of sessions for veteran search engine marketers at SES conferences. For example, Lee Odden, an SES Advisory Board member and CEO of TopRank Online Marketing, says, "Search Engine Strategies in San Jose is the epicenter of what's current and useful in the search marketing industry when it comes to advancing internet marketing knowledge. I've attended SES events for years as a delegate, speaker, moderator, and now as an Advisory Board Member. That continued investment for me and my agency staff has resulted in bottom line growth of our digital marketing consulting business by staying current with search strategies and tactics, attracting new clients and talented staff. We've gained tremendous value from SES San Jose as a source of content for our top rated blog and of course, priceless networking with search engine employees, vendors and other smart internet marketers."

And earlier in the year, Odden did an escalator pitch -- which is like an elevator pitch, only faster -- at SES New York. Check out what he had to say at SESConferenceExpo's Channel on YouTube or by watching the video below.

Lee Odden, CEO of TopRank Online Marketing, on the benefits of attending SES New York 2009

Okay, so Odden was talking about SES New York in his escalator pitch, but he could have said the same things about SES San Jose.

For more information about the largest search engine marketing conference and expo on the West Coast, go to the SES San Jose 2009 website. Register through July 24 to save up to $200 with the early bird rate.

Posted by Greg Jarboe on July 9, 2009, 11:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Is YouTube's Lack of Profitability a Myth? (And If So, Does Google Perpetuate It?)

The idea that YouTube makes no money for Google is widely held by many. Even yours truly falls for it entirely too often considering I know better.

Last year, at a local interactive meetup, Google employees informed attendees of how advertisers get those specialized YouTube channels. They have to fork over $200,000 in advertising on the Google content network.

Ok, so that doesn't monetize YouTube directly, but Google is likely looking at the big picture of profitability instead of the limited scope of siloed revenues.

Of course, that hasn't stopped Google from traipsing down the yellow brick road of direct monetization. They enjoy contracts with the big music companies and recently launched video ads, which is essentially the Sponsored Links of YouTube.

Over at TechDirt, Michael Masnick is contemplating the idea that Google enjoys the myth that YouTube doesn't make any money. It helps them get bigger contracts and avoid bigger copyright issues (than it already has).

Indeed, with the recent joining of YouTube accounts to Google accounts, it appears that Google doesn't necessarily need YouTube to be a huge cash generator. The integration of Google products across the board is done so slowly, it irritates early adapters, but it quite possibly means a greater number of adapters over time.

All of this is pure speculation for industry observers. Only Google knows. Actually, probably only select Googlers know. But it's fun to speculate.

What are your speculations? Do share in the comments, won't you? (Bats eyes, says "Pretty please."

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 8, 2009, 3:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

North Korea Using Cyberattacks Against US, South Korea

Since last weekend some government websites in the US and South Korea have been cyberattacked, the New York Times reported. While the NYT has not concluded who is responsible beyond they "appear to have been launched by a hostile group or government", "the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported that the spy agency had implicated North Korea or pro-North Korea groups," NYT noted.

"The Treasury Department, Secret Service, Federal Trade Commission and Transportation Department Web sites were all down at varying points over the holiday weekend and into this week, The A.P. reported, citing officials inside and outside the American government. The fact that the government Web sites were still being affected after three days signaled an unusually lengthy and sophisticated attack, the news agency reported, citing anonymous American officials."

Running these attacks during the 4th of July weekend and the Michael Jackson memorial is almost like the Vietnamese Tet offensive - a push during New Year;s celebrations.

The attacks were made through infected computers - seems that malware can really cause problems when aimed at certain targets.

Posted by Frank Watson on July 8, 2009, 2:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Travel Search Sites Offer Competing Deals

There's been a flurry of updates in the travel search world and they all have to do with finding great deals. Whether you're a travel provider, advertiser, or just plain need great airfare tix to SES San Jose in August, here's what you need to know:

Mobissimo has added student and youth travel fares to their site. Students can now compare those special fares to normal fares. Hey, you never know when a low-priced carrier might even beat out a student fare on a "bigger" airline. So, definitely check that out.

DealBase.com is all about hotel deals and now offers a personalized newsletter. Get emails that pertain only to the destinations, hotel star ratings, and price range that you select.

Last but not least, Tripeedo.com is a new site entering the competitive travel search niche. Tripeedo is kind of the Dogpile.com of travel search. It searches the search sites, as well as the individual airline sites, hotel sites, etc. However, most of the search sites already offer price comparisons on competing sites. And most of the time, all of the sites have the same prices. What would have sold me on Tripeedo is if they didn't open the search results in different windows. That's, again, what all of the other sites do, but that just clutters up my browser and desktop.

Having said that, Tripeedo's interface is very nice and makes it one of the easiest travel search sites to use. If they ever get the results to load on one page instead of multiple tabs or windows, they might just become my default travel search engine.

Tripeedo has their work cut out for them. In a normal economy, you would see sites compete in this manner, but there's a certain urgency seen in these updates perhaps related to the current not-so-normal economy. It's not just about beating the competition these days, it's about suriviving.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 8, 2009, 2:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Google Goes After Real Estate, But Has a Long Way to Go

I don't know what's up with Google lately, but there have been a couple of big launches that aren't quite ready for prime time. Google Squared was released, pretty much as an answer to Wolfram Alpha, but it needs a ton of work.

Now, they've launched real estate search in Google Maps, but it's mostly a big dud. Realtor.com, Zillow.com, and Trulia.com are still way better and I absolutely wouldn't recommend ditching them to make Google your primary real estate search.

Of course, we can't discount Google either. They obviously rock the house on so many other products. But I guess because of this I expect a lot more from them.

I entered the search just the way they said you should: "homes for sale in Columbus, OH."

When the results come up, you have to click again to get the real estate search. That should come up right away. Kill the extra click.

Notice that when I refine my search, I see no searches from any of the top 5 real estate sites. According to Hitwise, they are:

2. Realtor.com


3. Zillow


4. Yahoo! Real Estate


5. Zip Realty


6. Trulia

Also, for Google's real estate search, I'd like to see the option of displaying more than 10 results before having to click to the next page of results. I think when it comes to real estate search, possibly more than other searches, users are going to be considering many more options because the investment is so large and the factors to consider in the purchase decision are so many.

But hey, that's just my opinion. Disagree? Think Google real estate search rocks? Leave a comment and tell me how it is.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 8, 2009, 1:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Ex-Bebo Chief Kate Burns to Head Up AOL European Sales

Kate Burns has been tapped by AOL to lead its European Sales division. Burns formerly ran social network Bebo, which was acquired by AOL last year. Prior to that Burns spent time at Adlink and Google UK.

"AOL has a solid foundation in Europe, with a strong Web presence in many countries and a leading advertising network, and I'm looking forward to working with my colleagues and with AOL's partners to build on this foundation," said Burns.

Burns will report to AOL Global Advertising and Strategy President Jeff Levick

"Europe is key to realizing our mission of being the largest global platform for online display advertising. Kate is the right person to build our European management sales team and lead this effort," said Levick. "Kate is a well recognized and highly respected leader in Europe who has the talent, energy and determination to scale our European operations and deliver on this strategy."

AOL maintains ad operations in nine European countries including Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the UK.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 8, 2009, 12:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

YouTube Biz Blog Touts Social Media and Video Strategies Forum

How cool is this? On Monday, I posted "Social Media & Video Strategies To Be Held With SES San Jose:. It broke the news that ClickZ, YouTube and Google will be holding an event on August 11, 2009, in conjunction with SES San Jose 2009.

Then on Tuesday, the YouTube Biz Blog posted "Join Us at the SES Social Media & Video Strategies Forum." Kristin Kovner, the Industry Marketing Manager at YouTube, said, "We're excited to be a part of this first-time ever event. SES is one of the best places for businesses to learn about search; now that YouTube has millions of searches each day, it's only fitting that ClickZ and SES are expanding the agenda to include a full day dedicated to video and social media."

Just as importantly, the YouTube Biz Blog embedded the featured video on the SESConferenceExpo's Channel on YouTube. Views of the video, which was uploaded four months ago, shot up immediately. You can see the video for youself below.

Search Engine Strategies Conference & Expo

This illustrates the link between search and social media that I mentioned on Monday and Mike Grehan writes about in his cover story in the latest issue of SES Magazine.

Additional evidence can be found in research conducted by TubeMogul entitled "How do people discover videos online?" Here's the gist of what they found:

-- 45% of all videos are found on a video site, i.e. going to YouTube and doing a search or clicking around featured and related videos.
-- 44% of all videos are found embedded in blogs.
-- 6% of all videos are found with search engines, like Google.
-- 2% of all videos are found in social networks, like Facebook.
-- 2% of all videos found in social bookmarking sites.
-- Less than 1% of all videos are found with video search engines, like Google Video.

So, optimizating the title, description and tags of your YouTube video is half of the success formula. But the other half is engaging what Google calls "the buzzing blogger community."

I mentioned this a year ago at SES San Jose 2008 during a video interview with Liana Evans, who was then with KeyRelevance and is now with Serengeti Communications. Looking at it again a year later, I wouldn't change a word. (And I can't anyway.)

VSEO - Video Search Engine Optimization - with Greg Jarboe at SES San Jose 2008

So, stay tuned. Because this year's events -- as you can see in the SES San Jose 2009 agenda and the Social Media and Video Strategies agenda -- are likely to demonstrate the link between search and social big time.

Posted by Greg Jarboe on July 8, 2009, 11:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Google Chrome Is Now An Operating System

The Official Google Blog announced the launch of the Chrome Operating System - late night in California - the entry is timestamped 9:30 pm PST - but an hour and a Twitter link ago - I found it. A number they claim - "30 million regular Chrome browser users" - seems high. But who cares Chrome is now an operating system. It will run on the web with interaction through browsers based in most OSs. If they can flip a decent percentage of the browser users, get a good number of laptops and other methods of connecting to the web it could be something Microsoft will notice diving deep into a field they have just begun to test. As Google blogs "Google Chrome OS is a new project, separate from Android. Android was designed from the beginning to work across a variety of devices from phones to set-top boxes to netbooks. Google Chrome OS is being created for people who spend most of their time on the web, and is being designed to power computers ranging from small netbooks to full-size desktop systems. While there are areas where Google Chrome OS and Android overlap, we believe choice will drive innovation for the benefit of everyone, including Google"

Browser Statistics Month by Month

2009	IE7	IE6	IE8	Firefox	Chrome	Safari	Opera
June	18.7%	14.9%	7.1%	47.3%	6.0%	3.1%	2.1%
May	21.3%	14.5%	5.2%	47.7%	5.5%	3.0%	2.2%
April	23.2%	15.4%	3.5%	47.1%	4.9%	3.0%	2.2%
March	24.9%	17.0%	1.4%	46.5%	4.2%	3.1%	2.3%
February	25.4%	17.4%	0.8%	46.4%	4.0%	3.0%	2.2%
January	25.7%	18.5%	0.6%	45.5%	3.9%	3.0%	2.3%
2008	IE7	IE6	IE5	Firefox	Chrome	Safari	Opera
December	26.1%	19.6%		44.4%	3.6%	2.7%	2.4%
November	26.6%	20.0%		44.2%	3.1%	2.7%	2.3%
October	26.9%	20.2%		44.0%	3.0%	2.8%	2.2%
September	26.3%	22.3%		42.6%	3.1%	2.7%	2.0%
August	26.0%	24.5%		43.7%		2.6%	2.1%
July	26.4%	25.3%		42.6%		2.5%	1.9%
June	27.0%	26.5%	0.5%	41.0%		2.6%	1.7%
May	26.5%	27.3%	0.7%	39.8%		2.4%	1.5%
April	24.9%	28.9%	1.0%	39.1%		2.2%	1.4%
March	23.3%	29.5%	1.1%	37.0%		2.1%	1.4%
February	22.7%	30.7%	1.3%	36.5%		2.0%	1.4%
January	21.2%	32.0%	1.5%	36.4%		1.9%	1.4%
2007	IE7	IE6	IE5	Firefox	Mozilla	Safari	Opera
November	20.8%	33.6%	1.6%	36.3%	1.2%	1.8%	1.6%
September	20.8%	34.9%	1.5%	35.4%	1.2%	1.6%	1.5%
July	20.1%	36.9%	1.5%	34.5%	1.4%	1.5%	1.9%
May	19.2%	38.1%	1.6%	33.7%	1.3%	1.5%	1.7%
March	18.0%	38.7%	2.0%	31.8%	1.3%	1.6%	1.6%
January	13.3%	42.3%	3.0%	31.0%	1.5%	1.7%	1.5%
2006	IE7	IE6	IE5	Firefox	Mozilla	N7/8	Opera
November	7.1%	49.9%	3.6%	29.9%	2.5%	0.2%	1.5%
September	2.5%	55.6%	4.0%	27.3%	2.3%	0.4%	1.6%
July	1.9%	56.3%	4.2%	25.5%	2.3%	0.4%	1.4%
May	1.1%	57.4%	4.5%	25.7%	2.3%	0.3%	1.5%
March	0.6%	58.8%	5.3%	24.5%	2.4%	0.5%	1.5%
January	0.2%	60.3%	5.5%	25.0%	3.1%	0.5%	1.6%
2005	IE6	IE5	Firefox	Mozilla	N7	O8	O7
November	62.7%	6.2%	23.6%	2.8%	0.4%	1.3%	0.2%
September	69.8%	5.7%	18.0%	2.5%	0.4%	1.0%	0.2%
July	67.9%	5.9%	19.8%	2.6%	0.5%	0.8%	0.4%
May	64.8%	6.8%	21.0%	3.1%	0.7%	0.7%	0.6%
March	63.6%	8.9%	18.9%	3.3%	1.0%	0.3%	1.6%
January	64.8%	9.7%	16.6%	3.4%	1.1%		1.9%
2004	IE6	IE5	Mozilla	N3	N7	N4	O7
November	66.0%	10.2%	16.5%	0.2%	1.2%	0.3%	1.6%
September	67.8%	11.2%	13.7%	0.3%	1.4%	0.3%	1.7%
July	67.2%	13.2%	12.6%	0.4%	1.4%	0.4%	1.6%
May	68.1%	13.8%	9.5%	0.6%	1.4%	0.4%	1.6%
March	68.2%	14.6%	7.9%	0.8%	1.4%	0.6%	1.4%
January	68.9%	15.8%	5.5%	0.4%	1.5%	0.5%	1.5%
2003	IE6	IE5	Mozilla	N3	N7	N4	O7
November	71.2%	13.7%	7.2%	0.5%	1.6%	0.5%	1.9%
September	69.7%	16.9%	6.2%	0.6%	1.5%	0.6%	1.8%
July	66.9%	20.3%	5.7%	0.6%	1.5%	0.6%	1.7%
May	65.0%	22.7%	4.6%	1.0%	1.4%	0.9%	1.4%
March	63.4%	24.6%	4.2%	0.9%	1.4%	1.1%	1.2%
January	55.3%	29.3%	4.0%	1.2%	1.1%	1.7%
2002	IE6	IE5	AOL	N3	N5	N4	IE4
November	53.5%	29.9%	5.2%	1.1%	4.9%	2.0%
September	49.1%	34.4%	4.5%	1.3%	4.5%	2.2%
July	44.4%	40.1%	3.5%	1.2%	3.5%	2.6%	0.5%
May	40.7%	46.0%	2.8%	1.2%	2.7%	3.4%	0.7%
March	36.7%	49.4%	3.0%	1.2%	2.4%	4.1%	0.7%
January	30.1%	55.7%	2.8%	1.3%	2.2%	4.4%	1.0%

Thank you w3schools for the stats

Posted by Frank Watson on July 8, 2009, 1:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Over The Mountains And Through The? Google Gadget Gives Directions To Your Business From Your Website

Google Maps Blog announced a new widget - Google Directions Gadget you can put on your site that gives directions to physical directions. Now this is a handy one with options.

With good insight into the user experience the blog notes:

"This simple gadget allows webmasters to add customized Google Maps directions to their business locations. With the directions gadget, you no longer need to type and update multiple sets of text directions. Let's face it: customers are only looking for directions from their specific location."

This one is a very smart play and will be adopted quickly

Posted by Frank Watson on July 7, 2009, 9:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

FeedBurner CEO Leaving Google

Dick Costolo, the cofounder and CEO of FeedBurner, may be adding the day he left Google to his stand up comedy routine soon, as he is supposed to depart the corporation sometime this week.

Costolo who joined Google when they bought his company seems to have timed his exit strategy with the usual 2 year overseeing that goes with such buy outs. Maybe he can join a reality show - Google Helped Make Me A Millionaire But I Want Another Job.

Dick how about doing some stand up at SES San Jose. I know people throwing parties that could be interested. Or maybe just late night at the Marriott bar - you would have an enthusiastic audience.

Posted by Frank Watson on July 7, 2009, 4:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Christian Science Monitor Nominates Twitter For Nobel Peace Prize

Christian Science Monitor opinion columnist Mark Pfeifle gives an interesting pitch for Twitter getting the Nobel Peace Prize for its impact on the Iran Election protests.

I am a big Twitter fan but think the Peace Prize is a bit of a stretch - why not a science based prize when they work out how to seriously compete with Google.

"When traditional journalists were forced to leave the country, Twitter became a window for the world to view hope, heroism, and horror. It became the assignment desk, the reporter, and the producer. And, because of this, Twitter and its creators are worthy of being considered for the Nobel Peace Prize," Pfeifie wrote.

I am writing this just after the Michael Jackson memorial which also has had a large impact over at Twitter. Social media really has jumped into the public psyche. MySpace and Facebook made us aware of them, but it was Twitter that focused its use in ways many others did not.

The piece makes an argument:

"Without Twitter, the world might have known little more than a losing candidate accusing the powers that be of alleged fraud. Without Twitter, the people of Iran would not have felt empowered and confident to stand up for freedom and democracy. They did so because they knew the world was watching. With Twitter, they now shout hope with a passion and dedication that resonates not just with those on their street, but with millions across the globe."

Good article overall, but I doubt the Nobel Prize selection committee are not following the tweets about nominating it. But then again who knows?

Posted by Frank Watson on July 7, 2009, 4:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Ask.com's Restless Pursuit of Search

With all the attention that Google gets for its mammoth search market share, you would think it's impossible for anyone else to survive. But share does not determine profitability and, indeed, 4th place Ask.com is holding steady despite the volatility of external factors.

Despite Google's stronghold, the recent launches of Wolfram Alpha and Bing have exposed what many think are glaring holes in the search experience. But plugging these holes is something Ask.com has been attempting to do for years, with solutions similar to those put forth by Wolfram Alpha and Bing.

For its part, Wolfram Alpha is built on providing data and facts, but Ask.com was already providing those answers in their results. Bing appears revolutionary, unless you searched Ask 3D during its brief run.

They say imitation is flattering, but most searchers don't care whether Bing and Ask.com wore the same dress to the prom. What they want is results.

"We're not going to be satisfied until every user is," insists Ask.com President Scott Garell. It's one of his many iterations of a prevailing mantra: We won't rest.

In fact, Ask.com's consumer-centric strategy runs at full speed. Literally.

This year, Ask.com embarked on a large-scale NASCAR campaign. They're the official search engine for NASCAR, sponsor the #96 car driven by Bobby Labonte, and serve up crawl questions on the bottom of the screen during televised broadcasts of races.

NASCAR fans are one of the most loyal demographics in the United States. 25% of the country self-identifies as being a NASCAR fan and 17 out of the top 20 sporting events for attendance were NASCAR races.

The result of Ask.com's foray into NASCAR has been a positive one. There has been an uptick in searches for NASCAR-related keywords and the searchers are more likely to stick around and use Ask.com again.

It's not the first time Ask.com reached out to a passionate demographic. Previously, they skinned their front page to promote Autism Speaks, a nonprofit advocacy group. The skin is still available for users who wish to keep it permanently on their front page.

In May, they skinned their home page in a barter agreement with the movie Night at the Museum: Battle at the Smithsonian. Ask.com was featured in the movie in exchange for the 2-day flash image appearing on the home page. So far, the movie has made $167,706,959 at the box office.

Garell hinted at forthcoming marketing campaign similar to the NASCAR one, but thus far remains mum on the details.

These campaigns are just the tip of the iceberg for Ask.com. When Garell says he won't rest, he means it. Last year, Ask.com acquired the Dictionary.com sites and recently launched an new advertising campaign with Toyota Prius where they choose keywords for their display ads. Toyota has liked what they've seen so far and has bought more advertising inventory on the site.

Ask.com is also working on their Sponsored Listings. While Google is a partner in that effort, Ask.com decided not to renew their contract with LookSmart. They're working on the next generation of their Sponsored Listings platform, yet one more restless project on the Ask.com to do list.

Of course none of this matters unless searchers find good results. A few weeks ago, Ask.com announced that it's Q&A database had 300 million question and answer pairs. The questions come from answers sites all over the web. Since so many searchers on Ask.com type their query in the form of a question, the Q&A database is an integral part of the Ask.com strategy. Many of the Q&A pairs are also included in the main search results.

With all of these projects going on, it might be easy for the 6th largest network of sites to lose track of the little things. But Garell sees the whole picture, including the fact that it still takes searchers too many queries and too many clicks to find the answer they're looking for. He wants Ask.com's semantic technology to better understand searcher intent so that users find the answer they need the first time every time.

It's a big mission and one that not even larger search companies have been able to solve. Just like a good NASCAR race, you never know when an underdog is going to come along and shake up the leaderboard. And if Scott Garell has anything to say about it, the race ain't over 'til the checkerboard flag waves.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 7, 2009, 1:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google Finally Rips the Beta Bandaid Off of Apps, Including GMail

You probably don't even notice it anymore. You know, the little Beta tags that Google attaches to its Apps like GMail and Google Talk. But it's been there, faithfully reminding anyone who's really cared that the products weren't technically ready for prime time.

Now, Google has finally come to the place where they feel okay about removing the label. So, beginning today, Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs and Google Talk will lose the "Beta" that has been accompanying their logos for years.

How do you feel about the change? Are you going through Beta withdrawal? Let us know by leaving a comment.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 7, 2009, 12:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Yahoo! Launches Search Pad, a Personal Research Tool

Yahoo! has launched a new note-taking research tool called Search Pad. The tool is designed to automatically detect research intent among people using Yahoo! search.

Once the intent is detected, searchers are prompted with an invitation to use Search Pad. The tool uses drag and drop but includes the ability to write free form notes as well.

This is a great concept because alternatives require opening separate documents and applications or taking handwritten notes.

The tool is rolling out today to several countries. I personally couldn't get a Search Pad prompt yet today. Could you? Let us know by leaving a comment. Here are the countries Search Pad is rolling out to:

• United States
• Canada
• Australia
• New Zealand
• Singapore
• Malaysia
• Philippines
• United Kingdom
• France
• Spain
• Italy
• Germany
• Brazil
• Mexico
• Argentina

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 7, 2009, 11:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

SES Webcast with Charlene Li, Co-Author, Groundswell, Tomorrow

Interested in finding out how to integrate social media into your business strategy? Sign up for the SES Webcast with Charlene Li, the co-author of the best-selling business book "Groundswell" and founder of the Altimeter Group. The Webcast will be held Wednesday, July 8, 2009, at 1:00 PM EDT/10:00 AM PDT.

Li presents a wealth of data accumulated while she was at Forrester Research as well as original research in Groundswell: Winning In A World Transformed By Social Technologies. She explains how to turn this social media threat into a new business opportunity. More importantly, she specifies what companies can do to turn the social media trend into a competitive advantage.

This one-hour webcast will cover breaking social media trends, discuss how to create customers who "evangelize" for your company, and how to establish and support relationships between and among your customers. Li will give Webcast participants opportunities to ask her their most burning social media trend questions!

One other note: Li will give away 10 copies of her latest book to the best questions fielded during the Webcast. So, register for the Charlene Li Webcast today.

Posted by Greg Jarboe on July 7, 2009, 8:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Twitter Now In Dictionary

The new edition of the Collins Dictionary will include a listing on Twitter, the UK Telegraph reported.

"The entry under noun will read: "a website where people can post short messages about their current activities" and under verb it will read: "to write short messages on the Twitter website," the online newpaper noted.

Hey even Google did not make it into the dictionary that quickly.

Posted by Frank Watson on July 7, 2009, 5:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Finally, Google Suspends Accounts Running Adword Scam Programs

Google has started suspending Adwords accounts selling Adwords get rich scams, the Google Help forum reported. Thanks to Barry Schwartz for pointing it out.

Aaron Wall had called them out on this a few weeks ago. The Google Money scams had been running in Adwords during various searches, baiting people with the ability to make cash arbitraging search and reselling basic information that can be found online for free but does not guarantee any success - well maybe that is not what the ads suggest.

The reply from Google reads:
"It's come to our attention that you have submitted ads that promote Google Money Tree or ads that promote a misrepresented affiliation with Google. Due to multiple complaints from our users and publishers, we've made the decision not to accept these ads.

This is a notification that your account has been suspended due to the submission of these ads and your ads will no longer run on Google. Please note that future accounts you open will also be suspended."

Posted by Frank Watson on July 7, 2009, 5:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Search Engine Land Disses SEM Bid Management Software

I know the editorial statements of guest contributors are not the opinions of Search Engine Land but someone should have read this one first. Bid management software is a money sink? Come on guys.

Nick Abramovic, the column writer, posts "With these bidding systems being rules-based, they require account managers to make customizations". Of course, and those customizatiions take time and effort, but they save massive amounts of time - just from a report basis to begin with. But they also provide an interface where you can pull information to the keyword level for all engines into the same spread sheet. Something anyone who has done extensive keyword management knows takes hours and pivot tables.

When you have a set price for an item - or at least what you are willing to pay for the conversion you have a maximum you should be spending. Making sure keywords or ads are turned off if they are hitting overspends is a basic. It is like investing without putting in stop orders.

Even at the portfolio level bid management is essential. True, people need eyes on it as well but their views can be more focused if some of the basics are covered. You can then test lowering prices as well, based on new ads and keyword coupling along with landing pages. This can all be done with multivariable testing inside customized bid management.

I agree there is work to be done, but ultimately these tools are an essential growth in proper maintenance.

Condemning software on the basis of users miss using it is really not fair to the programs. Say agencies may be motivated by a percentage of spend and "may" not be on top of conversion costs, but a good agency will have a combined minimum Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) along with spend numbers in their payment structure.

"Even the "advanced" agencies are not very sophisticated - they will use rules-based bidding that works half the time because they still require humans to double-check if they actually care about their client's bottom-line," Abramovic suggests.

His argument against automated bid management supposes the work would be too much - or that the management could be set to high or too low and have a losing impact. True, as he mentions C level people generally are not statisticians - but the people doing the analytics should have some experience in the area and learn from the companies how best to use and implement methods.

Mate, a little too quick to suggest "So whenever you hear a sales pitch from an agency with "proprietary technology" and are ROI-focused do what I do and say "K, thanks, bye!".

I would be asking how good is your training and how many other companies doing large keyword bid management campaigns are using the software. Talk to some of them and see how many people in support they have.

Posted by Frank Watson on July 7, 2009, 4:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (13)

AutoTrader.com Sees Another Record Month While American Cars Top Most-Viewed List

Despite all the problems facing the auto industry in America right now, AutoTrader.com experienced yet another record month of traffic in June 2009, with 16.12 million unique visitors. And those visitors weren't shying away from American brands either.

The top 5 most viewed new cars were manufactured by USA-based motor companies. Chevy Camaro topped the list with Ford, which incidentally has thus far avoided bailout money, snagged the rest of the top 5 spots.

"I get a sense looking at shopping activity on our site, and our record site traffic that consumers are looking for quality, reliability and affordability as they get ready to make their next new or used car purchase," said AutoTrader.com President and CEO Chip Perry. "Given the state of the economy, it's understandable that many consumers are sitting on the fence, researching cars, doing the math and waiting for the right piece of news or the right economic figure to get them off the fence and onto the dealer lot to make a purchase."

Here are the top 10 models in three different search categories: new cars, used cars, and certified pre-owned cars.

New Cars

1. Chevy Camaro


2. Ford F-150


3. Ford Mustang


4. Ford Focus


5. Ford Escape


6. Chevy Silverado 1500


7. Jeep Wrangler


8. Ford Fusion


9. Honda Accord


10. Toyota Camry

Used Cars

1. Ford F-150
2. BMW 3-series
3. Ford Mustang
4. Chevy Silverado 1500
5. Honda Accord
6. Honda Civic
7. Ford F-250
8. Jeep Wrangler
9. Dodge Ram 1500
10. Infiniti G35/G37

Certified Pre-Owned Cars

1. BMW 3-Series
2. Honda Accord
3. Chevy Silverado 1500
4. Chevy Tahoe
5. Audi A4
6. Toyota Tundra
7. Honda Civic
8. Toyota Camry
9. Toyota Tacoma
10. BMW 5-Series

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 6, 2009, 5:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

High Shipping Costs Top List of Reasons for Shopping Cart Abandonment

PayPal has released new survey data showing why online consumers leave their shopping carts behind. Survey participants were asked to tell which reasons were "very important" in abandoning their purchases.

• High shipping charges: 46%
• Wanted to comparison shop: 37%
• Lack of money: 36 percent
• Wanted to look for a coupon: 27%
• Wanted to shop offline: 26%
• Couldn't find preferred pay option: 24%
• Item was unavailable at checkout: 23%
• Couldn't find customer support: 22%
• Concerned about security of credit card data: 21%

The price tag associated with the average abandoned shopping cart was $109. That's a number merchants should be concerned about.

"Merchants who don't welcome back abandoners with open arms are leaving hundreds of dollars per shopper on the table," added Davis. "Merchants need to remember the items that customers abandon and make it easy for them to buy when they return. Sweetening the deal with free shipping, coupons and special discounts is also a great way to encourage online shoppers to complete their purchases."

I can attest that exorbitant shipping costs. I was recently shopping online for a certain type of single cup coffee packs. While I found a great price, the shipping costs made the total cost higher than purchasing offline.

You have to make shopping online more appealing than offline if you want shoppers to complete the purchase process. Since shopping online requires people to wait for delivery, price is where you must be competitive.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 6, 2009, 4:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

The Mindless PR Tweets of the Twitterati and the Baseless Response by Michael Arrington

The New York Times has a piece about the "new" style public relations in this day and age of blogs, Facebook and Twitter. They follow a publicist Brooke Hammerling as she develops a strategy for new startup Wordnik. An investor wants to avoid tech blogs such as TechCrunch due to his opinion that they are essentially set on auto-critic.

Instead, Hammerling decides to "whisper in the ears" of Silicon Valley elite. She pitches them about the "ongoing project" of Wordnik, which has been chosen to avoid the inevitable monetization questions that come along with new startups. In true robot fashion, her virtual Rolodex began Twittering away about the Wordnik.

Of course, Tech Crunch founder Michael Arrington was not happy to learn that he'd been kept out of the loop on purpose (nevermind his declaration months ago that he would stop honoring embargoes). So, he took to TechCrunch to label Wordnik a failure, but so far it's his argument that is the biggest failure in the matter.

He chose to compare Wordnik to Topsy, which was launched oh-so-exclusively on TechCrunch. The problem? Topsy based on Twitter, an already wildly popular web application. Wordnik is an online dictionary that will appeal primarily to nerdy wordsmiths, copywriters and students. Never has the cliche of comparing apples to oranges been more appropriate.

Arrington boasts that Topsy has had soooooooo much traffic since launch while Wordnik barely has registered on the radar of tracking services like comScore.

Whether Topsy or Wordnik take off or crash land remains to be seen. These things take time and require use by thousands if not millions of users who find value beyond fad generated by A-lister Tweets. But one thing is for certain. If you continue to follow the "big names" in tech, beware of the mindless PR drivel disguised as original opinion.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 6, 2009, 1:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Video about NACA's Save the Dream Tour Wins TELLY Awards

On Friday, I posted a story about the "Search and Community Track at SES San Jose: NACA's Save The Dream Tour." It seems to have connected with readers of the Search Marketing News Blog on Search Engine Watch because there were 75 Tweets about it on Friday and Saturday.

Well, the YouTube video embedded in my blog post just won two TELLY Awards. The documentary video chronicles the background and success of a the Save the Dream events in cities across America, in which homeowners with unaffordable mortgages can renegotiate or restructure their home mortgages and keep their homes. The Save the Dream tour is being organized by a community advocacy and homeownership organization called Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA).

The video won a Bronze TELLY for Social Issues productions and another Bronze for Charitable/Non-Profit productions. No, I didn't have anything to do with the video's production. It was produced by Mont Fennel and Michael Kolowich of DigiNovations, filmed principally by the video production company's Director of Photography Bill Charette, and edited by Dan Roth and Michael Kolowich.

It features numerous stories of homeowners whose lives were changed by the Save the Dream process. You can watch "Documentary: NACA's "Save the Dream" - Mortgage Restructuring and Renegotiation Rescues Homeowners" on the NACAmedia YouTube channel.

Oh, and if you have friends and neighbors who are struggling to avoid foreclosure, restructure home loans, and reduce mortgage rates, let them know about NACA's Save the Dream events in Cleveland, Ohio, July 17 - 20 at the Wolstein Center; Chicago, Illinois, July 24 - 27 at McCormick Place; and St. Louis, Missouri, July 31 - August 3 at Chaifetz Arena.

If they go to NACA's website for more information or to pre-register for one of the events, tell them to hunt for and click on the Save the Dream Tour bar in the middle of the page. The information and sign up process appears in a pop-up window. Yes, this non-profit, community advocacy and homeownership organization could use some help with usability, design, copy, link development, and other technical issues that prevent their website from receiving high quality search engine traffic and visitor conversions.

I might suggest that they attend Shari Thurow's Express Search Usability Clinic at SES San Jose 2009. Or, I might just donate that advice myself -- because SES San Jose 2009 takes place August 10-14, after the three upcoming Save the Dream events.

Heck, I already seem to be involved in this cause. If there are other search engine marketers who want to get involved, just mention that in your comments below. Maybe this will turn into a search industry effort.

Posted by Greg Jarboe on July 6, 2009, 11:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

8 Google Updates: RSS for Blog Search, Increased Upload Size for YouTube and More

Once again, there are so many Google updates that I'm bunching them together in one big post. Here they are:

Google Blog Search now has RSS and Atom feeds that users can use to subscribe to topics or stories.

YouTube has increased the upload size from 1GB to 2GB.

Google Book Search is including tag clouds to help demonstrate what a book is all about. Plus, there are new ways to search within a book.

AdWords is already adjusting the new interface to provide support for Safari 4 and Firefox 3.5, enable faster load times, and reduce horizontal scrolling.

There is also a new version of the AdWords API.

Ad Planner has a new look.

Google Checkout is offering Buy Now buttons for digital products.

Google Earth has released more 3D cities in Europe. The new cities are Warsaw, Prague and Oslo.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 6, 2009, 10:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Social Media & Video Strategies To Be Held With SES San Jose

The cover story by Mike Grehan in the latest issue of SES Magazine is entitled, "Is there a link between search & social?" Well, there's a new link -- with the posting of the agenda for ClickZ's Social Media & Video Strategies Forum.

This forum, which is brought to you by ClickZ, YouTube and Google, will explore "the successes and failures companies, celebrities, and politicians have had in the social sphere online and will deliver actionable tactics and strategies so that you can prosper from them." This one-day event at the San Jose Marriott on August 11, 2009, is taking place in conjunction with the Search Engine Strategies San Jose Conference & Expo, which is being held at the McEnery Convention Center August 10-14, 2009.

Being side by side will enable attendees of both events to hear the keynote speech by Clay Shirky, author of Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations.

It also enables attendees of both events to visit the grand opening of the SES San Jose exhibit hall.

Then, attendees of Social Media & Video Strategies can attend sessions on:
-- Marketing in a Social Media World;
-- Going Social: Effective Advertising via Social Networks;
-- In the Now: Conversational & Real Time Marketing;
-- What Works: Online Video Advertising Made Easy With Google & YouTube;
-- What Works: Best Practices / Case Studies for Online Video; and
-- A Social Visit: CMO Fireside Chat.

So, the link between search and social just got stronger.

I've just finished writing a book entitled, "YouTube and Video Marketing: An Hour A Day," which will be published by Wiley in mid-August. No, I didn't know that Social Media & Video Strategies would be held in conjunction with SES San Jose 2009 when I started writing last fall. But I did know that YouTube.com was on its way to being the destination where 107.1 million Americans went to watch 6.8 billion videos each month, according to comScore Video Metrix. I also knew YouTube was on its way to becoming the #2 property where search activity is observed, with 3.2 billion search queries a month in the U.S., behind only Google, with 9.8 billion search queries a month.

So, it appears that I've been fortunate to skate to where the puck's going, to borrow a line from Wayne Gretzky. But, it also appears that I'm not the only one headed in that direction. Obviously, Clay Shirky anticipated this move, too. And so did Mike Grehan, SES Advisory Board Co-Chair & Global KDM Officer of Acronym Media, and Stewart Quealy, the other SES Advisory Board Co-Chair & VP of Content Development for Incisive Media. And so has ClickZ, YouTube and Google.

And I know others who are also looking closely at the link between search and social. For example, Byron Gordon of SEO-PR interviewed Jeff Quipp of Search Engine People at SES Toronto 2009 about social media's impact on search, and more importantly, about social media's ability to create awareness of great content.

Jeff Quipp, SearchEnginePeople, on the past, present and future of SEO

John Mulligan of SEO-PR interviewed Eric Qualman of EF Education at SES New York 2009 about the future of search and social media.

Erik Qualman, EF Education on the future of search and social media at SES New York 2009

Li Evans of Serengeti Communications interviewed me at SES London 2009 about the spike in views that the SESConferenceExpo's Channel on YouTube saw when Matt Cutts of Google embedded my video interview with him on his Gadgets, Google and SEO blog.

Greg Jarboe of SEO-PR discusses YouTube and Video Marketing at SES London 2009

So, now all of us can find the link between search and social in the same place at the same time. Sweet.

Posted by Greg Jarboe on July 6, 2009, 8:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Forget Google Bombing, Twitter Twombing Is In

Seems a new game is being played on the big Twitter board - bombing the hashmarks and grabbing the top of Twitter Trends. Over the weekend a crew of merry pranksters grabbed the top listing for #gorillapenis.

In a power play using social media - the flooding of Twitter was a great example of why what is considered important should not just be determined by anonymous hands up.

Operation Shitter the action was called and came along with a rather graphic graffiti drawing over the Twitter logo.

Not as clever as the Google bomb for GW Bush and miserable failure - this one even had instructions after your accounts were banned. Definitely a throw away effort - but would like to know what their intent was!

Posted by Frank Watson on July 6, 2009, 1:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Joost de Valk Starting Wordpress Podcast on Webmaster Radio

Many online marketers love using Wordpress as their content management software to create well optimized web sites. Many of the invaluable plugins that help people achieve SEO success with Wordpress have been created by Joost de Valk aka Yoast.

Now he is teaming with Webmaster Radio to have an online broadcast of tips, tricks and all things Wordpress, The show will be launched during SES San Jose so should start with a bang.

Posted by Frank Watson on July 5, 2009, 10:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

More States Forcing Amazon Tax Laws Killing Affiliate Marketing?

Online affiliate marketing used to be a lot easier, Google Adwords had their shot - limiting affiliate listings - and now a growing number of states in the US are implementing taxation policies that are driving out many major vendors that use affiliate marketing.

The policy started last year, most notably in New York, and as Kevin Lee points out has implications way beyond just the obvious affiliates.

On Friday, Rhode Island issued notices to over 100 online businesses that they require states sales tax to be collected. Three major businesses - Amazon, Overstock and BlueNile - told their Rhode Island based affiliates that they would no longer be able to promote their products, the Providence Journal reported.

As was announced earlier in the week, Overstock had axed North Carolina, Rhode Island, California and Hawaii affiliates.

The Terminator aka the Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger joined Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle to veto these taxes. One wonders how well online marketers can use the web to get other politicians to change their minds about these taxes.

Clickz reported that some companies are appealing the laws in New York. If they are successful in one maybe they will be willing to go after the others.

Posted by Frank Watson on July 5, 2009, 10:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Search and Community Track at SES San Jose: NACA's Save The Dream Tour

At SES San Jose 2009, I've been asked to make a solo presentation to kick of the Search and Community Track. The title of the session is "How to Optimize for Search & Engage the Community."

I've been working on my presentation, but it lacked a compelling case study that illustrated how a community organization had used search engine optimization and YouTube video to generate measurable results. I had planned to show examples of videos created by Barack Obama's presidential campaign, Monty Python, and Blendtec, but plans have a way of changing.

Then, I got involved with the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA), a national non-profit community advocacy and homeownership organization headquartered in Boston.

NACA is organizing a series of Save the Dream events to help homeowners avoid foreclosure, restructure home loans, and reduce mortgage rates. They have already held events in Columbia, SC, Stamford, CT, and Washington, DC. And NACA plans to hold more Save the Dream events in Cleveland, OH, July 17 - 20 at the Wolstein Center; Chicago, IL, July 24 - 27 at McCormick Place; and St. Louis, MO, July 31 - August 3 at Chaifetz Arena.

Although I don't have my case study wrapped up just yet, I do see one in the making. And it offers lots of lessons to search engine marketers, YouTube directors and entrepreneurs about how to create unique, relevant content that can quickly gain popularity in the Internet community.

For example, we issued an optimized press release yesterday announcing that NACA CEO Bruce Marks and Congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge (OH-11) will hold a joint press conference on Monday, July 6, at the Wolstein Center at 11:30 am to discuss the upcoming Save the Dream event in Cleveland. You can get the gist of the news at NACA and Congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge (Oh-11) Announce Same Day Solution for Homeowners with Unaffordable Mortgage.

But we also embedded a documentary video created by DigiNovations of Concord, MA, in the optimized press release. It provides background on NACA's Save the Dream program, which has helped homeowners across America restructure and renegotiate home mortgages and home loans they can no longer afford.

Documentary: NACA's "Save the Dream" - Mortgage Restructuring and Renegotiation Rescues Homeowners

Now, the press conference hasn't even been held yet -- and the Save the Dream event in Cleveland is still two weeks away. But I was stunned yesterday when one Twitter user near Memphis, TN, said "this is fantastic news" but she couldn't afford to wait, had called NACA and was "on hold" waiting to talk with someone.

I initially tweeted back that NACA will have over 500 staff and volunteers at the Wolstein Center in Cleveland, including over 250 counselors providing counseling from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. from Friday July 17 through Monday July 20. Then, I realized that this information wasn't helpful today, this minute, now. So, I sent her a direct tweet with the cell phone number of the person I was working with at NACA -- in case she needed it.

I got a direct tweet back saying, "Thanks for the info... my process is well underway - so I'm all set (I hope!)"

So, something extraordinary is happening. And as I prepare for my presentation at SES San Jose 2009, I hope you won't mind if I share the story as it unfolds. That's one of the lessons I've already learned: You can't plan a search campaign and expect the community to wait to respond when you are ready -- especially if you are offering an answer to the huge subprime and predatory lending industry.

This is bigger than a case study. This is people's homes.

Posted by Greg Jarboe on July 3, 2009, 10:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

FriendFeed Launches Real-Time Search; Includes Facebook and Twitter Submissions

Buzz has been building about real-time search. Of course, you can search real-time Tweets on Twitter, Facebook is testing search on its live Feed, and Bing just added limited Twitter search to its engine.

Now, FriendFeed is launching real-time search and it has the potential to be the mackdaddy of them all.

Here's why. FriendFeed is a social aggregator. It's a one-stop shop to check and update a bunch of different networks, blogs, etc. Now, you can search all of that in real-time.

The drawback? It only searches what people submit to FriendFeed. Whoever does that can basically say "Check" in the chess match of social real-time search.

Still, this is a tremendous step in that direction. Even better, FriendFeed has released an embeddable real-time search widget you can put on your website.

What do you think of FriendFeed real-time search? Let us know by leaving a comment.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 3, 2009, 9:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Trade Groups Outline New Behavioral Advertising Standards

In January, four trade groups announced that they would be developing behavioral advertising standards. The groups are The American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA), The Association of National Advertisers (ANA), The Direct Marketing Association (DMA), and The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB).

The standards have now been released and are as follows:

The Education Principle calls for participation in efforts to inform individuals and businesses about online behavioral advertising. The industry intends, in a major educational campaign involving over 500 million ad impressions over the next 18 months.

The Transparency Principle calls for clearer and easily accessible disclosures about data collection and use practices. The result will be a new notice on the page where data is collected and will occur via links embedded in or around advertisements, or on the Web page itself.

The Consumer Control Principle expands the consumer's ability to opt-out of data collection. The opt-out will occur via a link on the page where data is collected. This principle also requires service providers such as Internet access providers and desktop application software companies to obtain consent of users before engaging in online behavioral advertising.

The Data Security Principle calls for reasonable security and limited retention of data.

The Material Changes Principle calls for the acquisition of consent for any material change to data collection and use policies as well as practices to data collected prior to any change.

The Sensitive Data Principle requires parental consent for consumers known to be under 13 on child-directed Web sites. This Principle also calls for heightened protections to certain health and financial data when attributable to a specific individual.

The Accountability Principle calls for the development of programs to monitor and report uncorrected non-compliance to appropriate government agencies. The CBBB and DMA will work cooperatively to establish accountability mechanisms under the Principles.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 2, 2009, 1:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google Mobile Optimizes Search Results for 38 Languages

If you can access the mobile internet via your cell phone, then you now have access to newly optimized Google Mobile search. It reaches 38 different languages in over 60 countries.

The optimized Google mobile search experience began last December when it was rolled out to iPhone and Android phones in the US. Then in March, it was rolled out to iPhone and Android phones in over 20 countries.

The optimizes mobile search incorporates universal search when appropriate. There's also a focus on local search due to the nature of searching on the go.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 2, 2009, 12:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Real Estate Search Sites See Big Growth in the First Half of 2009

Real estate search sites Zillow and Trulia are seeing big growth in traffic, despite the economy and its housing woes. Zillow saw a 67% increase in unique visitors while Trulia saw a 40% increase in uniques.

Zillow averaged 8.3 million unique visitors per month so far in 2009. They're experiencing 35% more listings with a current total of 3.6 million listings. Customers submitted 265,000 loan requests which returned 3.5 million custom loan quotes during this time. Zillow is also experiencing great success with its iPhone app, which has has seen 535,000 downloads.

Trulia saw 30 million unique visitors across the six month period. Contributions to the Trulia Voices Community grew by 85% and has achieved the 5th spot in both Hitwise and comScore's real estate matrices.

These numbers are coming during an uncertain time in the economy, fueled by crises in the credit and housing markets. Taking all of that into consideration, congratulations are in order for these achievements made by Zillow and Trulia.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 2, 2009, 11:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Bing Integrates Twitter, Sometimes and If You're Important Enough

If you're a celebrity or some other figure Bing has deemed "prominent," then searches for your name plus the word Twitter will turn up a few of your Tweets above the organic results. You can also search for a person's screen name, preceded by the @ sign.

Prominence is deemed by number of followers and volume of tweets. Bing uses the Twitter API to pull in the Tweets. But the feature is inconsistent.

Of course, I assumed Ashton Kutcher, the King of Twitter, would be included since he has 2.5 million followers. But the first search for his name didn't include Tweets. The second one didn't either. The third one did.

And here's what it looks like when it happens:

What do you think of Bing integrating Twitter into the results? Share your reaction in the comments section below.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 2, 2009, 10:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

7 Marketing Lessons from the Late, Great Pitchman Billy Mays

Like many of you, I was saddened to learn on Sunday that Billy Mays died at the age of 50. My family has been watching the Discovery Channel series Pitchmen, featuring Mays and fellow pitchman Anthony Sullivan.

I had been planning this post for a few weeks, but there has been so much search news to cover, I haven't had the time. Now, I'm publishing it to honor the tried and true techniques Billy Mays used to sell millions of products. Mays' style may not be your cup of tea, but the foundational concepts behind his pitches are something every search marketer can learn from. His incredible success was proof of that.

So, without further ado, here are 7 marketing lessons from the late, great Billy Mays.

1. Have a solid product. On the show, Billy Mays and Anthony Sullivan saw hundreds of inventors who want their products sold through direct marketing television. Mays and Sullivan only chose the products they believed in. Even then, they tested them to make sure they worked and met safety standards.

2. Listen to consumers. When considering a new product, Mays and Sullivan often took it to the streets. They had people try out the products and give their honest response. This is one of the first indicators of whether or not a product might do well. Paying attention to what is said about your brand or product online can similarly be very informative to your marketing campaigns.

3. Show how your product can make people's lives easier. One of Mays' most popular products was Oxyclean, allows you to wash colors and whites together. Before the ShamWow, Billy Mays hawked the Zorbeez, a shammy towel that absorbed tons of water and could save tons of money on paper towels. Even non-infomercial products are successful when they do this. Think about the Flip video camera. It's simple and easy to use. It makes capturing moments and uploading them to YouTube very easy. This should be a key element of your campaigns.

4. Include a Call-to-Action. Billy Mays knew this well. He was always "doubling the offer," urging people to act now. Give people incentive to buy your product now. A great incentive for online retailers is offering free shipping.

5. Run a small test before launching a broad campaign. When Mays developed a commercial for a new product, it was run in a few markets to see if it was something consumers would buy. The profit margins had to be there in order to expand. Many times, if the product doesn't do well, they had to stop the campaign to prevent further losses. Test a few keywords before running a broad campaign with tons of longtail keywords. You may need to adjust your campaign or product, but you'll want to preserve your marketing budget in the meantime.

6. Conduct A/B Testing on Successful Ad Campaigns. For the Awesome Auger, a product that was doing very well, Mays shot a second commercial. It looked almost exactly like the original one, but the framing of Mays in the camera was slightly different. That slight cosmetic change was a big one. An A/B test showed sales rose even higher!

7. Watch the competition. When Vince Offer began hawking the ShamWow and the SlapChop, Billy Mays was pissed. These were products he had already been advertising in the form of Zorbeez and QuickChop. Offer's products did very well, selling millions. So, Mays shot new commercials in order to gain back his market share. Pay attention to your competition. Watch your rankings and your paid search positions. Never stop optimizing and adjusting your paid search campaigns. Stay on your toes to maintain or even grow your sales.

What did you learn from Billy Mays? Share your lessons in the comments below.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 2, 2009, 12:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Bing, ChaCha Launch User-Generated Content Contests

Get out your cameras, it's time for a couple of search-related contests. If you enjoy the large images Bing features everday on its homepage, now you have the chance to see one of your images featured on the brand spankin' new decision engine. Bing is holding a photo contest where the winner's image will be featured on Bing.com for a 24 hour period.

Photos are submitted via Facebook. You have until July 16 to submit your photos. The winner will be determined by public voting, via the Facebook application. The winning image will appear on Bing.com on August 3 and will include "hot spots" created by the Bing team, just like you see with the daily images.

Meanwhile, ChaCha has launched a video contest. The theme of the contest is "Life with ChaCha." The deadline for submissions is August 10. Judges will pick 5 finalists and the winner will be chosen by a public vote.

There are three criteria that the judges will use to choose the 5 finalists. They are:

• Showing ChaCha to be a "smart friend" (50 percent)
• Originality (25 percent)
• Humor (25 percent)

The prizes here are worth moolah. The grand prize winner will receive $5,000 in cash as well as an Apple Final Cut Studio 2 and a Sony HDR-XR500V 120GB High Def Handycam Camcorder. The runner up gets $1,000 and third place gets $500.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 1, 2009, 2:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Overstock Drops Affiliates in NC, RI, HI and CA

Overstock is the next company to drop affiliate programs in states considering or having passed affiliate nexus bills. While North Carolina, Rhode Island, and Hawaii affiliates are already seeing programs dropped by Amazon and Blue Nile, this time California affiliates are also getting the boot.

"It's painful to have to terminate these relationships with affiliates, simply because they live in states where counterproductive (and likely unconstitutional) laws are being passed," said Patrick Byrne, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Overstock.com. "However, politicians have to remember that a tax is a price that government charges for a service, and when they raise their prices, we're going to buy less of their services."

Last year, Overstock was one of over 200 companies to drop their affiliate program in New York, which was the first state to enact an affiliate tax. The cancellation affected 3,400 affiliates, 200 of which were active.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 1, 2009, 1:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Bing Continues Microsoft Search Share Growth in June 2009, According to StatCounter

StatCounter made news fast and furious in Bing's first week when they offered up data showing Bing had surpassed Yahoo! in search. And now they're making a splash again by quickly releasing data for the whole month of June.

Overall, things are relatively steady, but there's an ever-so-slight increase in Microsoft search share.

The data shows Bing gaining .5% search share in June compared to May. But Live Search had gained about .5% in May over April.

One percent growth over the last two months may not seem significant, but it could be the beginning of momentum.

"At first sight, a 1% increase in market share does not appear to be a huge return on the investment Microsoft has made in Bing but the underlying trend appears positive," commented Aodhan Cullen, CEO, StatCounter. "Steady if not spectacular might be the best way to describe performance to date."

Plus, the 1% growth has come at the expense of Google. The search mammoth saw its search engine share according to StatCounter decline by 79.07% in April to 78.48% in June.

By the way, despite that first week of traffic for Bing, Yahoo! still retained its second place status for the entire month of June. Yahoo!'s traffic has remained fairly steady over the past three months in StatCounter data.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 1, 2009, 1:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Google Toolbar for IE Gets Advanced Translation

Google has updated their Toolbar for the Internet Explorer browser to make language translation easier. Instead of manually copying and pasting text into Google Translate, the Toolbar now automatically detects if a language is different from the one set as your default.

Google will then serve up a message saying it has detected a language foreign to your own and asking if you would like it translated. Simply click the "Tranlate" button in order to receive the translation.

The new feature is available for all languages of the Toolbar (but again, just for Internet Explorer). The languages include: English, and the translation service supports 41 different languages: Albanian, Arabic, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Filipino, Finnish, French, Galician, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian and Vietnamese.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 1, 2009, 10:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

YouTube Launches Call-to-Action Overlay

YouTube is now allowing advertisers to incorporate a "Call-to-Action overlay" on their videos. With the overlay, advertisers can drive traffic to their sites where they can make purchases, sign up for email newsletters or whichever action an advertiser wishes.

The Call-to-Action overlays are available for Promoted Videos only. Promoted Videos, you may remember, are essentially the paid search of YouTube. They were once called Sponsored Videos, similar to paid search listings called Sponsored Listings.

In order to set up the overlay:

1. Set up your Promoted Video campaign like you normally would in YouTube
2. Under My Videos, go to the Video Details page
3. Fill out the fields for the Call-to-Action overlay section

You're all set. Once the campaign is in full swing, you can check YouTube Insight to see how many people are clicking on the Call-to-Action overlay.

What do you think of this new option for YouTube advertisers? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on July 1, 2009, 10:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SES San Jose Offers Conference Sessions for First Time Attendees

I've been attending SES San Jose every year since 2003. And each year a healthy proportion of attendees are attending their first search engine marketing conference ever.

This is healthy because it expands the number of marketers who "get it."

I can't tell you the number of times when prospective clients mistakenly assume that search engine marketing (SEM) isn't rocket science. Or they mistakenly believe that search engine optimization (SEO) is something their information technology (IT) department took care of years ago. Or they mistakenly think that a pay-per-click (PPC) advertising campaign takes 15 minutes to set up. Or they mistakenly hope that their public relations (PR) people have a good handle on social media marketing.

So, I'm delighted to see the large number of first time attendees at Search Engine Strategies conferences -- because after they've sat in on a dozen sessions over three days they come away knowing how much more there is to learn.

Hey, if it were easy, we'd all rank #1.

So, with SES San Jose 2009 coming up August 10-14, I thought I'd highlight some of the conference sessions that I'd recommend to first time attendees. I've been doing this for several years -- and even spoke along with Matt Bailey of SiteLogic in a few "First Timer's Guide to SES and SEM" sessions at some events.

But, most marketers like to plan ahead. So, look over the SES conference agenda and check out some of the sessions that address your needs and your organization's issues.

If you want some suggestions, here are sessions specially focused on search fundamentals for first time attendees:
• Introduction to Search Engine Marketing provides a clear and concise overview of the concepts involved in search engine marketing.
• Successful Site Architecture offers a fresh look at topics on how to successfully design a site for search engines, including JavaScript, robots.txt use, frames, secure area usage and much more.
• Turn Brain Science into Bucks: Incorporating Persuasive Messaging into Your Content Strategy showcases current online content campaigns and explains the best content strategies to help persuade buyers, build trust, and get great search engine listings using Twitter, white papers, optimized web pages and more.
• SEO Tools of the Trade: What's in YOUR Toolbox? describes the tools that will help accomplish tasks, including indexing, competitive analysis, site ranking, diagnosing and remedying problems and much more.
• Search Advertising 101 describes the basic principles and applications of paid placement.
• Keywords & Content: Search Marketing Foundations presents an overview of the important keywords customers are searching for and how to target the right terms in paid and organic search marketing.
• Discover the Power of Linking: Link Building Basics focuses on the role of link analysis in search engine site rankings and how to increase site traffic by building quality links.
• The Findability Formula: The Easy, Non-Technical Approach to SEM features search engine guru Heather Lutze taking a fresh look at how search engines find content and what steps to take to ensure a successful online marketing campaign.
• Extreme Makeover is a series of four sessions held throughout day three of the conference. Volunteers are taken from the audience, their websites are examined and feedback is provided. Sessions include:
Extreme Makeover: Live Site Clinic provides general feedback about improving websites and gaining more traffic from search engines.
Extreme Makeover: Live Twitter & Blogging Clinic provides general feedback about how to improve your website's use of Twitter and blogging.
Extreme Makeover: Live Landing Page Clinic provides feedback on how to improve landing pages.
Extreme Makeover Live! Why Am I Not Making Enough Sales? covers the most common reasons many sites have low conversion rates and gives tips on how to turn more site visitors into paying customers.

I think you can see from the suggestions above that there is more to SEM, SEO, PPC and social media than a handful of tricks that you can pick up by reading a blog post. Oh, and if the folks over in finance are still cutting travel budgets these days, ask them this rhetorical question: "If I don't learn how to improve our search engine marketing, search engine optimization, pay-per-click advertising, or social media marketing, then how will the company be able to pay your salaries next year?"

Okay, so maybe you don't want to actually say that to their faces. And you don't want to start calling finance the "department of sales prevention." They are just doing their job.

But you can show them the SES conference agenda and let them know that you've picked out sessions to attend that will provide your company with a return on its investment (ROI) in marketing. Finance folks love it when you talk about ROI. Your talking their language.

Or, ask them to watch the video below. Yes, yes, it makes the case for going to Search Engine Strategies. But it also demonstrates visually that SES San Jose, which is the largest search engine marketing expo on the West Coast, will be packed with more than 70 sessions, multiple keynotes, and Orion panels, over 150 exhibitors, networking events, and more.

Search Engine Strategies Conference & Expo

Posted by Greg Jarboe on July 1, 2009, 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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