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September 2009

Google Merchant Center Replaces Google Base for Products

Google has introduced the Google Merchant Center, designed to replace Google Base for submitting products to the search engine.

Google says that Merchant Center provides a better-optimized experience for product listings. The Merchant Center interface is similar to Base and uses the same account info. Just sign into Merchant Center with your Google Base account and you'll see your feeds, items, FTP settings, etc.

Non-product items still use Google Base. If you the same account for Merchant Center (for products) and Base (for non-products), Google says you'll need to reset your FTP settings in Google Base.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 30, 2009, 3:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Feedburner Goes All Permanent on Their URL Redirects

If you've ever clicked on a link in your RSS reader and that link is associated with a site that uses Feedburner, you've probably noticed that the initial URL to appear in your browser's address bar was related to the feed and not the final URL. That's because Feedburner uses the URL to track the click.

The redirect was a 302, a temporary redirect. But now Feedburner is updating the URLs to be permanent 301 redirects.

Feedburner, which is owned by Google, says that the reason for the change was that some search engines index the feeds, which affects the popularity of a site.

If you use Feedburner, you don't have to do anything special. The update is automatic.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 30, 2009, 3:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Microsoft Execs Get Pay Cuts; No One Feels Sorry for Them

Microsoft has filed a document with the SEC showing that top executives at the software giant have received pay cuts. Basically, some millionaires are making a few million less than they normally would.

In related news, Kleenex was having a hard time moving tissue boxes off the shelves this week.

Meanwhile, Steve Ballmer released a 1,300 word dissertation on his thoughts regarding the "new normal" which is translating into the "new efficiency." Basically, people are saving more and spending less. You would think that would translate into a lower Windows 7 price, but somehow I doubt that's gonna happen.

Instead, Ballmer talked about how upgrading to Windows 7 will save companies money in the long run. Pay now, benefit later. That must have been the theme for those pay cut conversations with the execs as well.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 30, 2009, 2:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Warner Music Returns to YouTube

Last December, Warner Music decided not to renew its contract with YouTube. They wanted more money from the advertising coming in to YouTube as a results of the company's popular music videos. It was only slightly ironic since YouTube (and social media in general) has been notorious for not monetizing very well.

Meanwhile, another major label, Univeral was out there touting the benefits of having their videos on YouTube, which actually made music videos a viable part of a business model again (you know, ever since MTV wrapped their business model around socialites in Hollywood.)

Not only did Universal renew their contract, but they partnered with YouTube to create their own music site, Vevo. Sony a also renewed their contract.

Of course, traffic on YouTube continues to soar. In August alone, Warner Music is returning to YouTube. They'll be back to making tens of millions of dollars off what is essentially a marketing medium.

The new deal allows them to sell their own ad inventory and includes a revenue sharing agreement. Warner will also be using the Content ID program to make money from videos uploaded by third parties that use content developed by Warner artists.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 30, 2009, 2:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Bryan Eisenberg Shares 69 Free (or Low Cost) Tools to Improve Your Website

Bryan Eisenberg, the co-author of the bestselling books "Call to Action", "Waiting For Your Cat to Bark?" and "Always Be Testing", has a new personal blog named, Bryan Eisenberg. (Does he owe his parents royalties for using that name for his blog?)

And he's just posted an incredibly useful list of 69 Free (or low cost) Tools to Improve Your Website.

(I should disclose that I'm mentioned in the 69th listing, which is for Market Motive, but so are Avinash Kaushik, John Marshall, Todd Malicoat, Matt Bailey, and Jennifer Laycock, who are also members of the Market Motive faculty.)

So, check out the complete list of low-cost and free tools. Yes, yes, you'll find ones like Google Analytics and Google Website Optimizer, that you already knew about. But there are plenty of others that I'd never heard about before.

And while you are visiting Eisenberg's new blog, let him know if there are other free (or low cost) tools that should be added to the list. Hey, improving your website is hard, so we want to know as many options as possible.

Oh, and if you come to SES Chicago 2009, thank Eisenberg in person. You can't miss him. He's the New York Yankees fan being interviewed by the Boston Red Sox Nation citizen in the video below.

Bryan Eisenberg, Future Now, at SES London 2008 on SEO

Posted by Greg Jarboe on September 30, 2009, 1:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Chance Card: Design a 3D Building for Monopoly City Streets Using Google Sketchup

Hasbro, the makers of Monopoly, have launched a contest where you can design a 3D building for their new interactive version of the popular board game: Monopoly City Streets.

But you'll have to hurry. The deadline for the contest is next Tuesday, October 6, 2009 at 11:59pm EST.

You'll need to use Google SketchUp to design your building and then upload it to the Google 3D Warehouse to enter. Learn more about the contest rules here.

Monopoly City Streets, which launched earlier this month, uses Google Maps for its interactive game.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 30, 2009, 12:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Another Ex-Googler Heads to AOL

AOL has tapped Shashi Seth as Senior Vice President of Global Advertising Products. Seth was formerly with Cooliris and before that was at Google. Prior to leaving Google, he was charged with the difficult task of developing monetization strategies for YouTube. Seth previously was the Product Lead for Web Search at Google.

Seth also spent time at eBay, where he managed APIs & Platform. Before that, he launched Gap's online stores. Seth began his career at NASA.

"Shashi is unmatched in the industry as an innovator with an outstanding track record of developing new and better ways to serve advertisers on the Web," said Jeff Levick, President of Global Advertising and Strategy at AOL. "As we move forward on our strategy of becoming the world's largest provider of display advertising, Shashi will play a critical role in creating the best products in the business for our advertising partners."

Seth is the latest of the fresh talent to head to AOL. Earlier this year, Tim Armstrong left Google to head up the struggling internet company. A few weeks ago, news came that ex-Yahoo! Brad Garlinghouse of "Peanut Butter Manifesto" fame is joining AOL as well.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 30, 2009, 12:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google to Send Out 100,000 Wave Invites

Beginning tomorrow (September 30), Google will send out 100,000 invites to Google Wave. The product has received a lot of buzz, both for being innovative and not quite ready. Actually, Google admits it's not ready for prime time, which is one of the reasons why the invites are limited.

If you're not familiar, Google Wave is a collaborative tool that features real-time features. They're still working on features, including group definitions, draft mode and permissions.

Those who can expect an invite are developers who participated in an earlier preview, the first people to sign up for invites and select Google Apps customers.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 30, 2009, 12:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Yahoo! Launches Ads on Mobile Search for iPhone and Android

With mobile search on the rise, it's no surprise that search engines wish to monetize the traffic. Yahoo! today announced that they're adding search advertising to their mobile search for iPhones, iPod Touches and Android devices.

One ad appears at the top of the search results and two ads appear at the bottom. Take a look:

Noticeably missing from the announcement is the inclusion of Windows Mobile phones, a curious exclusion in the wake of the recently struck Microsoft-Yahoo! search deal.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 29, 2009, 11:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

New Consumer Protection PSAs Appear in Bing Search Ads

Microsoft has teamed up with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) and Western Union to serve consumer protection PSAs in Bing's search ads. The new ads address scams involving mortgages, foreclosure, credit repair and money transfers.

Some of the keywords included in the PSA effort are:

• foreclosure rescue
• mortgage foreclosure
• fix my credit
• credit repair
• money transfer

When a searcher clicks on one of the PSA search ads, they will see a landing page with warnings about scams related to the keyword. The FTC hosts the landing pages for credit repair and mortgage foreclosure while a landing page for avoiding advanced fee fraud is hosted by Microsoft.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 29, 2009, 12:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Click Forensics Adds Real-Time Capabilities to Audience Quality Measurement Platform

Click Forensics is enhancing their audience quality measurement platform with real-time capabilities. Now, online publishers and ad networks can identify good and bad advertising traffic in real-time.

"In its simplest form, our real-time audience quality tracking capabilities make it possible for publishers and ad networks to immediately block bad site visitors from seeing ads, and show the right ads to the real buyers," said Paul Pellman, CEO of Click Forensics. "This instantaneous audience quality determination is an important step in transforming the results that search, display and social ad providers deliver to their clients."

The new capabilities were built with a RESTful web service API that integrates into existing high-volume ad network infrastructures. As a result, it takes less than 10 milliseconds for Click Forensics' platform can score requests and process requests. This means traffic quality can be determined before an advertiser is charged for a click.

All of this is also the basis for a new real-time scoring engine in development at Click Forensics. The scoring engine will help advertisers and publishers making decisions about ad-serving based on traffic quality.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 29, 2009, 11:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Microsoft Windows 7 House Party: Public Relations Disaster or Video Marketing Triumph?

If you create something so bad that it goes viral, is it a public relations disaster or a video marketing triumph?

That's the question that journalists and bloggers are asking after watching HostingYourParty, which tells you how to host a Microsoft Windows 7 House Party.

Microsoft is putting a Tupperware-style twist on the upcoming Windows 7 rollout -- launching a new initiative to encourage thousands of employees, partners and technology enthusiasts to throw parties in their homes and communities to demonstrate and help spread the word about its new operating system.

People accepted as official launch party hosts will get their own copy of Windows 7 Ultimate Edition, and a chance to win a computer. But unlike the Tupperware model, there will be no literal selling. These parties are more about generating word-of-mouth buzz.

To promote this idea, Microsoft has uploaded a video to YouTube. Some journalists and bloggers think it is a public relations disaster.

Cindy Perman of CNBC writes, "You just knew that once they put the Microsoft geeks in charge of the "party," that it wouldn't be a 10-kegger and before long, we'd all be putting lampshades over our heads."

Ian Douglas, a tech blogger for the Daily Telegraph in London, writes, "I'm beginning to think that no one involved with Microsoft's advertising has ever left the house or spoken to a real person."

And James Lileks of The Bleat writes, "If Microsoft had been put in charge of marketing sex, the human race would have ended long ago, because no one would be caught dead doing something that uncool."

Now, you may be tempted to watch this 6-minute, 14-second video yourself -- to jump to your own conclusion. But, I warn you -- only serious geeks like me will watch beyond the first minute.

HostingYourParty

Now, if Microsoft really wanted to show people how to hold a Windows 7 Launch Party, they might have created a remix of the 1950s educational video below about what, in fact, makes a "good" party.

1950 - What Makes a Good Party

Not all of the reaction to Microsoft's Windows 7 House Party has been negative. Some of it can be charitably described as "mixed."

David Meerman Scott of Web Ink Now, asks, "Is this Microsoft Windows 7 House Party thing real? Or is it an incredibly wonderful and clever spoof on a 50s educational video that is so well done as to have fooled most observers who seem to think it is legit?"

Janice L. Brown of The Fussy Marketer also asks, "Hmm, if something goes viral because it's so bad, does that still count as achieving the marketing goals?"

Nevertheless, Lieutenant Columbo, if he were blogging these days, would ask just one more thing: "Why did Microsoft disable ratings and adding comments on HostingYourParty?"

Is this something you'd do if you were hoping for a video marketing triumph?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Posted by Greg Jarboe on September 29, 2009, 9:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (20)

Question Box Aids Search in Developing Areas Without Web

If you'll join me in crawling out of our connected lives for just a second, let's remember that there are still parts of the world that still don't have the internet. These areas more than any other are in dire need of answers that search can provide. Answers related to farming and entrepreneurship. Answers that could transform a community, improving its economics and health.

The New York Times featured a nonprofit organization called Question Box is determined to bring those answers to such communities. Founded by Rose Shuman, Question Box staffs calling centers who receive questions, via cell phone, from developing villages in Uganda. Though the internet remains slow and elusive, cell phones have taken hold in Africa.

Question Box got its start in India, where people have access to an actual box containing a phone. Question Box isn't alone. Google launched a similar effort in Uganda through its foundation this past June.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 29, 2009, 1:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Baidu Launches Wireless Search Service in Beta in Japan

Chinese search engine Baidu has launched a wireless search service in Japan. The beta search service will build upon Baidu.jp including image and video search as well as special features developed specifically for the Japanese audience.

Wireless internet is widely used in Japan. Over 80% of Japanese Internet users log on wirelessly. 3G adoption has reached over 100 million, more than 90% of Japan's population.

"We are very excited to launch wireless search in Japan, where we believe there is huge demand for a high quality wireless search service," said Xuyang Ren, Baidu's Vice President of Marketing and Business Development. "With the launch of this beta wireless search service we hope to give users in Japan a convenient tool for finding the information they need. We look forward to developing this service further and tuning it to user preferences over the coming months."

Baidu entered the Japanese search market in January 2008. Baidu already has partnership with wireless carriers in Japan to be the official search provider for various handsets.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 28, 2009, 9:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google Adds Hot Trends to Search Results

If you happen to be searching one of the 100 hottest trends on Google Search, you'll now see a Google Trends graph of the keyword at the bottom of the search results.

Meanwhile, Google Trends will now only display the top 40 trends instead of the top 100. And they'll get Ryan Seacrest to deliver the results on his radio show. Just kidding.

Despite the reduction of displayed top trends, the new search results feature will still affect the top 100 trends.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 28, 2009, 8:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

120.5 million viewers watched nearly 10 billion videos on YouTube in August 2009

comScore has just released August 2009 data from the comScore Video Metrix service, showing that 161 million U.S. Internet users watched online video during the month, the largest audience ever recorded. Online video reached another all-time high in August with more than 25 billion videos viewed during the month, with YouTube accounting for nearly 10 billion.

Other notable findings from August 2009 include:
* 81.6 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience viewed online video.
* The average online video viewer watched 582 minutes of video, or 9.7 hours.
* 120.5 million viewers watched nearly 10 billion videos on YouTube.com (82.6 videos per viewer).
* 44.9 million viewers watched 340 million videos on MySpace.com (7.6 videos per viewer).
* The average Hulu viewer watched 12.7 videos, totaling 1 hour and 17 minutes of videos per viewer.
* The duration of the average online video was 3.7 minutes.

As I mentioned last week in "How To Pimp Your YouTube Channel and Other Miscellaneous Advice," I'll be speaking at a session entitled, "YouTube & Video Optimization" at SES Chicago 2009 on Monday, December 7.

Online video marketing is crucial in today's marketplace. With 161 million Americans watching an average of 9.7 hours of online video during August 2009, marketers can reach more viewers than the 151.6 million Americans who watched Super Bowl XLIII, which reached the largest television audience in U.S. history.

Posted by Greg Jarboe on September 28, 2009, 3:19 PM | Permalink

YouTube Merges Content ID with Insight Analytics

YouTube's Content ID is an identification and management tool that allows content providers to determine how their videos will appear on the popular online video site. As of last week, over 1,000 partners had signed up for Content ID. However, the tool only provided limited stats on videos.

Today, Content ID is being combined with YouTube Insight to provide more robust analytics.

For example, Sony Music can view analytics on the JK Wedding Entrance video, which, though uploaded by a third party, uses a song by Sony artist Chris Brown.

This is a great tool for companies and marketers who want to track their viral content, such as songs and videos.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 28, 2009, 2:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yahoo! Unveils First Y!ou Ad

Yahoo! begins its new global advertising campaign today and part of that campaign is a new television ad. Check it out:

The ad will air on all major broadcast channels plus major cable networks such as AMC, ESPN, USA, Comedy Central and Bravo.

Advertising seems to be working for Bing, which has steadily gained market share since launch. It will be interesting to see if Yahoo! gains back some search share, despite their advertising campaign focusing on content.

What do you think of Yahoo!'s new ad? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 28, 2009, 2:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

CitySquares Offers Local Feeds for Online Publishers

Local search site CitySquares has rolled out new local feeds for online publishers. This is a great feature to place on your site if you have a local blog, newspaper or community site.

With the local feed, you can do things like list local restaurants on your website. The feed is free. Here's how to do it:

1. Go to CitySquares.com and type in your city.
2. Look for the categories listed on the results page.
3. Click on a category you're interested in
4. Click "Get this feed" at the top right corner in the results column.
5. Plug the feed into any widget platform (or build something yourself, web developer).

Ta da! Now you have local content. CitySquares says they plan to rotate the list of businesses in the feeds, so you'll periodically be getting fresh content as well.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 28, 2009, 1:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Go to SES Berlin or SES Chicago for "Three Key Trends"

During the past two weeks, I've given you a couple of reasons why you should go to either Search Engine Strategies Berlin or SES Chicago 2009. For those who want to sing along, they were "two early birds," and "a ranking in the top three."

There are other compelling reasons to attend one of these upcoming Search Engine Strategies conferences -- and it isn't to get "three French hens." That might have been persuasive back in the Middle Ages, but it hardly seems relevant or important these days.

The compelling reasons driving us to attend SES Berlin or Search Engine Strategies Chicago 2009 are "three key trends."

The first key trend is change. Nothing in search marketing is as certain as change. And it appears that the pace of change is accelerating.

Back in 2005, I wrote, "I know that half of what I learned at last year's show is obsolete, and I had to go to this year's show to find out which half." As I continued to track Search Engine Strategies into 2006, this trend continued, unabated. And this was reflected in the conference agenda, where about 50% of the sessions changed from year to year to keep up with the latest search industry trends.

But I've just spent some time comparing the titles and descriptions of sessions for SES Chicago 2009 with the ones for Search Engine Strategies Chicago 2008. And only 12 of the 65 sessions at this year's conference are repeats from last year -- and one of these is the Site Clinic, which may have the same title and description, but features entirely new content.

This means that more than 83% of the content of this year's conference is brand new.
Mention this to the folks in finance if they ask, "Didn't you go to this event last year?" Do you think they could afford to skip a financial conference if 83% of the generally accepted accounting principles had changed since last year?

And if the bean counters need an example, mention that Bing didn't exist a year ago -- and now it is grabbing market share, according to the latest comScore qSearch analysis of the U.S. search marketplace.

So, what should be on your search radar for 2010 and beyond? As I said last week, the search engine marketing industry changes so rapidly, that you need to attend SES Berlin or Search Engine Strategies Chicago 2009 to stay up-to-date on the latest market trends.

The second key trend is training.

Last year at SES Hamburg, there were two days of conference sessions. This year at Search Engine Strategies Berlin, there is a day of Workshopsprogramm as well as two days of conference sessions.

At SES Chicago 2008, there was only one day of training workshops. At Search Engine Strategies Chicago 2009, there are two days of training workshops -- one offering a selection of half-day workshops and the second featuring a full day of training by Bruce Clay. In addition, SES has partnered with Market Motive to offer online certification courses.

Now, if type "SEO training" into Google Insights for Search, you'll see that web search interest has grown steadily since 2004 -- and is forecast to continue growing in 2010. So, it's not surprising that more time is being added to the schedules of search engine conferences for training workshops.

But I often wonder if "training" is the right term for the frequent updates that are needed in the rapidly changing search industry. I've heard the term, "lifelong learning," but I've never heard the term, "lifelong training."

But consider this: If you took an SEO training course before May 16, 2007, it wouldn't have covered universal search. Since then, Google has incorporated information from a variety of previously separate sources - including videos, news, images, maps, and websites - into a single set of results.

So, optimizing your website for the era of 10 blue links is like drinking milk two years after the expiration date.

Fortunately, the instructors of the SES training workshops are experts. And their small class settings ensure that you will learn the latest strategy and tactics for today's fast changing search world.

The third key trend is Mike Grehan.

In August, Incisive Media announced the appointment of Grehan as VP and Global Content Director for Search Engine Watch, ClickZ, and Search Engine Strategies. He is one of the big names in our space and has a global reputation.

Grehan wrote one of the first books on search and worked in a senior management capacity on the agency side of the business for a very long time. He has been associated with Search Engine Strategies as a speaker for many years and he's hosted SES London for the past two years.

SES Chicago 2009 will be the first conference to reflect his thought leadership. You can get a preview of his big ideas in the video interview below, which was conducted at SES San Jose 2008.

Mike Grehan, the new VP and Global Content Director, ties social media to search, SES San Jose 2009

Next week, we'll look at more reasons to go to either Search Engine Strategies Berlin or SES Chicago 2009. In the meantime, keep singing "three key trends, two early birds, and a ranking in the top three."

Posted by Greg Jarboe on September 28, 2009, 7:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

AT&T Says Google Voice Restricts Calls; Google Says "Yeah, So?"

AT&T has written a letter to the FCC saying that Google Voice restricts high-priced calls, such as those to rural areas. In such areas, local carriers charge high fees to long distance carriers in order to place calls. The law requires long distance carriers to pay the fees, though the carriers originally wanted to simply block access to high-priced areas.

Enter Google Voice. They are restricting access to high-priced calls, and AT&T doesn't like it. Thus, the aforementioned letter to the FCC. AT&T wants Google to be forced to connect the high-priced calls just like they are. AT&T also threw a jab, saying for as much as Google is lobbying for net neutrality, forcing carriers to provide access to the entire internet, they sure aren't practicing that same philosophy when it comes to Google Voice.

Google isn't denying that it restricts calls, and they shot back at AT&T saying that they're comparing apples (no pun intended) and oranges. Google reiterated that its Voice application requires the use of a landline or mobile plan to work in the first place. Also, they said that lobbying for net neutrality is about broadband carriers, not web-based software applications.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 25, 2009, 7:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google Finally Does the Local Content Thing with Place Pages

Google Maps has launched a new feature called Place Pages. It aggregates a bunch of content for a given search result and places it on a single page. So, if you do a search for a local establishment, you can see user reviews, a map and details about the business such as phone, address and hours.

Bing and Yahoo! already do the same thing with their local search results. Ask.com does something similar by incorporating Citysearch. Here's what Google's version looks like:

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 25, 2009, 1:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Google Books Settlement: Back to the Drawing Board

Yesterday, a federal judge delayed the October 7 hearing for the Google Books Settlement. The ruling was in favor of a motion by Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers. Google didn't oppose it.

Judge Denny Chin said there wasn't a point in holding the hearing when the parties involved are negotiating to change it. (Click here to read about the original settlement.)

The negotiations come in light of opposition from a wide range of groups. The Department of Justice also raised opposition, primarily in the form of antitrust concerns.

Instead of a hearing on October 7, the authors guild and Google will meet with the judge to determine how to resolve the case, which has been going on for four years, can be solved as quickly as possible.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 25, 2009, 1:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

FCC to Meet October 22, 2009 Over Proposed Net Neutrality Principles

The FCC will meet on Thursday, October 22, 2009 regarding the addition of two new net neutrality principles outlined by Chairman Julius Genachowski this past Monday.

Experts expect the measure to pass 3-2 with Genachowski's vote joined by the two other Democrats on the Commission. The vote would issue the rules for public comment.

The new rules involve preventing internet providers from restricting access to sites. This is something carriers have considered in order to manage traffic on their networks.

Those who stand to lose the most are telecommunications companies who would see increased competition from the likes of Skype and Google Voice, because they would be forced to allow the programs to operate on their networks.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 24, 2009, 4:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google Adds LIFE Magazine to Book Search

Nearly a year after adding LIFE Magazine image archives to its image search, Google is now offering digitized versions of LIFE Magazine through its book search. The digital archive covers all 1,860 issues spanning from 1936 to 1972.

You can access LIFE by going directly to Google Books and clicking on one of the covers. Once you do, you'll be taken to that issue's overview page.

You'll notice links to various articles on the overview page:

Below the links, you can browse through thumbnails of the covers for every issue:

Below that is a map of all the places mentioned in the issue you're currently browsing:

Going back up to the articles section, after clicking on a link, it will bring up the digital version of the article. You can "flip" through the magazine as if it were a print edition.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 24, 2009, 3:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Goby.com's Local Search Concept: Good Idea, Not Ready for Primetime

Goby.com launched this week, promising to help people find things to do with their spare time or help them find interesting things to do on vacation. The idea is to type in the type of thing you want to do, where you want to do it and when you want to do it directly on the homepage (which is available on Firefox and IE):

The problem is the results leave a lot to be desired. Simply type in "dog park" and then try a bunch of different cities. The results for Wasington, DC returned listings for dog parks in Washington State and the listing for New York City was for an upstate dog park. There were no results found for a bunch of cities including San Francisco, CA or Chicago, IL.

"Museum" does relatively better, save for Washington, DC whose famous Smithsonian museums are forgotten due to listings, again, for Washington state museums. The rankings for museums in other cities are a bit off. For example, the listings for the American Museum of Natural History and MOMA are too far down on the list of museums for New York City for my taste.

Generally, when you are able to get results, bigger cities fare better than smaller ones. Even still, the results are not as good as you'll get from the top 4 search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing and Ask).

Goby boasts being built on search technology developed by MIT. It's a good idea in theory and I hope it gets fleshed out, but the tech needs to be improved for it to be useful for searchers.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 24, 2009, 1:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Google Mobile App for Windows Mobile Updated with My Location, Search Features

Google has updated its mobile app for Windows Mobile. The update includes My Location, Google Suggest and Search with Maps.

My Location gives local results for searches. Now, if you're searching for local pizza, simply type in pizza instead of a longer query like "pizza + city + state."

Google Suggest is Google's query suggestion feature.

Search with Maps, like My Location, enables local search. You'll need to have Google Maps installed on your phone. Then enter a local search and little red pins will show you relevant search results.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 24, 2009, 1:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Bing Continues to Boom, At Google's Expense

The August 2009 search rankings by comScore are out and the news continues to be good for Bing. Microsoft sites grabbed an additional 0.4% share. Meanwhile, Google lost 0.1% share as did AOL, which is powered by Google search. Yahoo! and Ask.com remained steady.

This brings Bing's market share gains since launch to 1.3% and Google's loss since Bing's launch to 0.4%. (See July and June data for reference.)

Meanwhile, Bing experienced the biggest growth among the top 5 in search queries, at 7%, outpacing the percentage growth of overall searches as well.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 23, 2009, 2:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (18)

Google Sidewiki Enables Comments for Every Web Site

A new Google Toolbar feature allows web users to read and comment on any and every web site. The feature is called Google Sidewiki and is available for the Firefox and IE versions of the Toolbar.

Unlike blogs, the most recent comments won't appear first. Instead, Google has, of course, developed a ranking algorithm to place what they deem the most relevant comments first.

Right now, very few sites have comments on them. Hopefully, as time goes by, there will be more useful content.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention. Remember how Google always releases something big right after a major announcement by a competitor? Well, this is probably their answer to Yahoo's new search update from yesterday.

In the meantime, check out this introductory video, go try SearchWiki for yourself. Then come back and leave us a comment, letting us know what you think.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 23, 2009, 1:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Go To SES Berlin Or SES Chicago For "Two Early Birds"

Last week, I told you to go to SES Berlin or SES Chicago for "a ranking in the top three." This week, I'll continue with the search engine marketing industry version of "two turtle doves."

Altogether now: "Two early birds, and a ranking in the top three."

Search industry veterans know that the Early Bird Rate for SES Chicago 2009 ends this Friday, Sept. 25. If you register by then, you can save up to $600 on a Platinum Passport.

Now, the agenda overview of the SES Chicago conference has just been posted. So, you can look over the agenda and decide that this is a must-attend event. Or, you might notice that 11 of the 65 sessions are "Reserved For Late-Breaking Topic."

Why is this a great reason to sign up now?

As I said last week, the search engine marketing industry changes so rapidly, that you need to attend more than one or two Search Engine Strategies conferences a year to stay up-to-date on the latest market trends.

And Mike Grehan, Senior Vice President of content for Search Engine Watch, ClickZ, and Search Engine Strategies, Stewart Quealy, SES Advisory Board Co-Chair and VP of Content Development, as well as the other members of the SES Advisory Board understand this.

So, they've posted titles and descriptions of three keynotes and 50 sessions -- so you know there will be plenty of new content to learn -- and save enough slots to address the late-breaking topics that industry veterans know will pop up between now and then.

Hey, a number of us are budgeting the same way. I can tell you where 85 percent of my fourth quarter budget is going, but the last 15 percent may get shifted around to take advantage of new opportunities or to counter unexpected threats.

But you don't need to be an industry veteran to take advantage of the Early Bird Rates. You just need to make your move more than two months before your more cautious competitors.

SES Berlin also offers "Early Bird" rates. At least, that's what it says on the website before explaining the details in German.

To help us non-German speaking search engine marketers understand why we should attend, here is John Mulligan's interview with Thomas Bindl, one of Europe's leading authorities on search.

Thomas Bindl, Refined Labs, previews SES Berlin 2009

With the exception of the "Search around the World" session, which will be in English, all of the other sessions at SES Berlin will be in German. The session are also organized into a Fundamentals Track for those who are new to the field and an Advanced Track for search engine marketing industry veterans.

In the coming weeks, I'll share more reasons why you should go to SES Berlin November 24-2w5 or SES Chicago December 7-11. If you come up with some lyrics like "12 bloggers blogging," let me know. I could use some inspiration.

Posted by Greg Jarboe on September 23, 2009, 10:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

How To Pimp Your YouTube Channel and Other Miscellaneous Advice

This may seem like shameless self-promotion, but if you read all the way to the bottom of this post, you'll benefit in ways that you wouldn't imagine. Besides, I figure that you'd want to know how to pimp your YouTube channel and get other miscellaneous advice. I could always blog about this topic, but the details have just been dished out in three videos and a podcast.

Let's start with the interview that Mike McDonald of WebProNews did with me at SES San Jose 2009. (Actually, the video starts by itself, but don't let that throw you.) The video is entitled, Finding Marketing Value in YouTube.

With people being increasingly drawn to video content, everyone is trying to capitalize on video sharing sites such as YouTube. I told McDonald, however, there is one problem: it isn't always easy.

YouTube is known for funny videos of cats or children. While these videos may go viral, they will likely only produce a one-time audience. In other words, these kids and cats may not to do the same thing again, which means there would be no reason for viewers to return to that channel for more content.

To be successful on YouTube, users cannot simply upload a single video. Statistics show that in an average minute, 24 hours of video has been uploaded to YouTube. As a result of this large amount of competition, I tell McDonald that users should create a series of "compelling content" in order to bring viewers back continually.

Users have to have a reason for wanting to come back to a particular YouTube channel and it is up to the content providers to produce that desire. Is your YouTube channel creating that appeal?

Now, I should provide equal time for other views.

Over at ReelSEO, Mark R Robertson interviewed me at SES San Jose 2009 about Leveraging the Power of YouTube for Search Marketing. I told him, "One of the most important trends in search is YouTube. It is the second most popular search engine on the planet."

But I suggested a two-pronged approach:

1. Optimize your video so that it can be found in searches
2. Involve yourself in the community, which helps breed the sharing aspects of YouTube.

I then told a story about Monty Python. I interviewed Monty Python's producer about their YouTube efforts. The producer originally just went looking for a way to help keep pirated copies of Monty Python's work from being uploaded all over the place. So they created their own channel and began posting their work themselves -- in a higher quality.

As an afterthought, they put a click-to-buy link at the bottom of the video so that users could click and be taken straight to Amazon to purchase DVDs. A funny thing happened when they did that: sales went up a staggering 23,000%.

The point of the story, obviously, is that although YouTube is not thought of as a direct-response marketing platform, as it continues to evolve, it's turning into a direct-response marketing solution faster than people may realize.

But wait! There's more! Check out the YouTube video below. Mike Grehan, Senior Vice President of content for Search Engine Watch, ClickZ, and Search Engine Strategies, says my new book "won't help you find the answer to life, the universe and everthing in it, but I guarantee it will help you get your videos found on YouTube, Google and other sites. So, read this book. It will change your life. You'll become more wealthy, more attractive to the opposite sex."

Mike Grehan, SVP for SEW, ClickZ and SES on YouTube Marketing: An Hour A Day

If you find this hard to believe, then check out the podcast on DishyMix.

This all started when Susan Bratton saw me dashing through the San Francisco Airport, with a new copy of my book, "YouTube and Video Marketing: An Hour A Day."

Bratton says, it "is another one of those Wiley tomes that plunges all the way to detail hell on every aspect of using web video for marketing. This book is a must-read that will get you up to date on the constant changes YouTube is putting into place so marketers and Google can milk this phenomenon for everything it's worth."

The random encounter at SFO got me invited on DishyMix, where Bratton has just posted her interview of me. It's entitled, Episode 117: Greg Jarboe: Pimp My YouTube Channel, 6-Steps to SEO PR and Roosevelt's Arena.

According to Bratton, "Start making video and let Greg tell you how to produce it, research the keywords and optimize your video so you can get found, watched and loved."

She adds, "And in case you still want to get those press releases out there, Greg gives us his updated, freshly reformulated 6-Step Process for Optimizing Press Releases for the News Services."

If you like those DishyMix episodes where the guest delivers how-to advice in painstaking detail, then this is the show is for you. According to DishyMix, it is "packed with great tips, insider short cuts and a level set on the world of online video marketing, banana-milkshake fueled Jarboe works his buns off for you."

I know, I know, even I would take these comments with a grain of salt.

So, if McDonald's video, Robertson's video, Grehan's video and Bratton's podcast still don't provide you with enough details about video optimization, then you have options.

You can attend today's Online Publicity Workshop at Market Motive. It starts at noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific and is entitled, YouTube & Video Marketing.

No, this isn't duplicate content. I will explore the world of online video, including what it takes to be successful and how to use some of the lesser known tools to prepare and track an online video marketing campaign.

Or, can also attend SES Chicago 2009. On Day 1, Monday, Dec. 7, I'll be speaking at a session entitled, "YouTube & Video Optimization."

Online video marketing is crucial in today's marketplace. More than 158 million Americans watched an average of 8.3 hours of online video during July 2009. That's more viewers than the 151.6 million Americans who watched Super Bowl XLIII, which reached the largest television audience in U.S. history.

My solo presentation will provide you "with proven, practical guidelines for developing and implementing video marketing for your organization." At least, that's what the SES Chicago website says.

And if you register by this Friday, Sept. 25, you can save up to $600 with the Early Bird Rate. See, it does pay to read all the way to the bottom of these posts.

Posted by Greg Jarboe on September 23, 2009, 7:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Recent Google Logos a Nod to H.G. Wells

Since the beginning of September, three mysterious designs have graced Google logos. While Google is usually good at giving clear indication as to why any artistic logo has been chosen, this time they kept the mystery alive. Until this week.

The three logos have been an homage to the late science fiction writer H.G. Wells, who would have been 143 today if scientists had only unlocked immortality earlier. Never fear, there's always the possibility that in the future when immortality and time travel are discovered, they can return and grant Wells many more years of writing.

In the meantime, we can only hope that his spirit lives on in the multiverse (or the afterlife, depending on what you believe, or both if you're truly imaginative), while his work lives on in limited preview at Google Books.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 23, 2009, 3:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Facebook and Nielsen Team Up for New Advertising Initiative

Facebook is entering into a partnership with Nielsen for a new advertising offering on the social network. Dubbed BrandLift, the initiative will use Nielsen's market research expertise to reach the more than 300 million members on Facebook.

"Nielsen is the leader in measurement and is an excellent partner for us as we look to provide marketers with richer ad effectiveness data," said Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook.

Rolling out as a test to a few advertisers this week, BrandLift uses opt-in polls on Facebook's homepage to measure consumer attitude and intent about brands. BrandLift will roll out to all advertisers in the coming months.

"Facebook is an increasingly vital link between consumers and brands," said John Burbank, CEO of Nielsen's online division. "We will now be able to add deep knowledge of this important social network to our unmatched media measurement and consumer insight across all three screens. Together we will be able to provide the missing elements to clients seeking better understanding of how Web content and online advertising affect consumer behavior."

Through the partnership, Facebook and Nielsen hope to provide advertisers with more accurate market data in a more timely fashion. Additionally, the polls are easy to create and should reduce the upfront time needed to conduct campaigns.

Members have not been forgotten in the process. Polls will be spaced out so as not to bombard any individual user. Additionally, no personally identifiable information will be collected from the polls.

Let's have a little informal poll right now. What's your reaction to the Facebook-Nielsen partnership? Will you use BrandLift in your social marketing campaigns? Leave your survey answers below.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 23, 2009, 2:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Yahoo!'s New Ad Campaign: It Really Is All About Y!ou

Today, Yahoo! unveiled their forthcoming branding campaign: Y!ou. Next Monday, the internet company will be building on their strength of having some of the most visited properties on the web.

"Our vision is to be at the center of people's online lives--to be at the place where their world meets the larger world," said Elisa Steele, Yahoo! executive vice president and chief marketing officer, speaking at the IAB MIXX Conference and Expo in New York City. "Our new branding will focus on people--the power and promise of 'you.'"

Yahoo! has spent two months launching initiatives leading up to the new campaign, including:

• The homepage now includes access to third-party content such as social media sties.
• Yahoo! Search was updated just today.
• Video calling was added to Yahoo! Messenger.
• New mobile apps were deployed.

"Today the Web and your world are inseparable," said Yahoo! Chief Executive Officer Carol Bartz. "Hundreds of millions of people use Yahoo! to get the information they need, connect with friends and family, and be entertained. We are about creating online experiences people find meaningful, relevant, and fun."

The campaign will initially be rolled out in the US and then a global expansion will follow.

Yahoo! may be all about Y!ou, but are you all about Yahoo!'s new campaign? Let us know in the comments below.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 22, 2009, 2:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yahoo! Rolls Out New Web Search to All Users

Last month, Yahoo! tested a new search that featured 3 columns and updated search results. Now, they're rolling out the new web search to all users in the U.S., U.K., France, Spain, Mexico, and India. Image and video search results are being revamped as part of the update as well.

Within the three column look, the left hand side features search filters including the ability to refine by sites such as Wikipedia and Twitter.

There's also Search Pad, which allows easy note-taking for searches you're conducting. Search Pad will track sites you've visited, but you can also type your own notes into the tool.

From a tech standpoint, much of Yahoo!'s new search was rebuilt. The foundational markup/CSS/JavaScript for the SRP design and core functionality has been rebuilt completely from scratch. As a result, Yahoo! says load time is faster.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 22, 2009, 12:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Google Analytics API Now Features Event Tracking, Navigation Data, and Increased Filter Length

The Google Analytics team has released new features for their API. They include event tracking, navigation data, and increased filter length.

For event tracking you can do fancy things like:

• the total number of times a white paper is downloaded
• the length of time it takes to load a video
• the number of validation errors users get when filling out a form

For navigational data, you can now create your own custom reports such as site overlays to view how traffic navigates your site.

Last but not least the filter length has been increased to 128 characters, which allows developers to make more complex requests with fewer queries.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 22, 2009, 11:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Google Asserts That Keyword Meta Tags are NOT Used in Rankings

Over at the Google Webmaster Central blog, Matt Cutts is reminding people that Google doesn't use keyword meta tags to rank sites for its main web search.

Keyword meta tags are used in the Google Search Appliance, but that's for enterprise search, not their main search product.

Google does take information from other meta tags, which it has outlined on this page over at Webmaster Tools. Meta tags discussed there include description, title, and robots meta tags among others.

Apparently, Cutts' goal in posting the blog was to help people stave off unnecessary lawsuits regarding trademarked keywords being included in the keyword meta tags of competitor websites.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 21, 2009, 2:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

comScore and Omniture Partner Up for Digital Audience Measurement Service

Less than a week after being acquired by Adobe, Omniture is partnering with comScore to provide a digital audience measurement service. Specifically, Omniture's Web analytics will be paired up with comScore's new Media Metrix 360 hybrid audience measurement to provide intelligence for media planning.

"Since the rise of digital advertising, advertisers and publishers alike have sought ways to reconcile their Web analytics and panel-based measurement data to establish a unified measure of online audiences," said Josh James, Omniture CEO and co-founder.

The new partnership aims to be that long sought-after reconciliation. It also aims to spur the progress of digital advertising.

"This relationship will deliver to our customers the solution that they have been seeking, thus helping to promote and accelerate the usage of digital marketing intelligence for delivering actionable business results and competitive advantage. We believe it will also help the industry overcome concerns of inconsistent measurement of digital audiences and promote further adoption of digital media advertising,"said Dr. Magid Abraham, comScore President & CEO.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 21, 2009, 2:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

FCC Chairman Pushes for Net Neutrality

Today, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski gave a speech at The Brookings Institution outlining two new principles in his support for net neutrality, adding to the four the FCC previously embraced under the chairmanship of Michael Powell.

The new two are:

1. Preventing Internet access providers from discriminating against particular Internet content or applications, while allowing for reasonable network management.
2. Ensuring that Internet access providers are transparent about the network management practices they implement.

The previous four principles are:

• Consumers are entitled to access the lawful Internet content of their choice
• Consumers are entitled to run applications and services of their choice, subject to the needs of law enforcement;
• Consumers are entitled to connect their choice of legal devices that do not harm the network
• Consumers are entitled to competition among network providers, application and service providers, and content providers

"The Internet is an extraordinary platform for innovation, job creation, investment, and opportunity. It has unleashed the potential of entrepreneurs and enabled the launch and growth of small businesses across America," said Chairman Genachowski. "It is vital that we safeguard the free and open Internet."

Google, a proponent of net neutrality, wasted no time in supporting the Chairman. Vint Cerf, Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist took to the Google Public Policy blog to voice his support. He wrote:

If consumers had a wide choice of broadband service providers, preserving an open Internet might not be such a critical issue. Unfortunately, the vast majority of Americans have few (if any) choices in selecting a provider. As a result, these providers are in a position to influence whether and how consumers and producers can use the on-ramps to the Internet -- and we've already seen several examples of discriminatory actions or threats that impair openness.

Based on Cerf's statement, wouldn't it make more sense to simply increase competition, which is currently hindered by regulation? Carriers who fight for customers are less likely to restrict access to websites, which has been tested by cable companies offering tiered Internet plans. These plans, of course, are not very popular with consumers, who do indeed want access to an open internet, thus making competition a viable tool in the pursuit of said open internet.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 21, 2009, 12:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Click Forensics Warns About New Botnet

Click Forensics has noticed a new spike in click fraud traffic coming from they've dubbed the "Bahama botnet." The codename came about because the botnet was first detected redirecting traffic through 200,000 parked domains located in the Bahamas. Click Forensics has tracked instances where the Bahama botnet has affected up to 30% of an advertiser's monthly search marketing budget.

"During the past four years we've monitored billions of clicks for top search engines, ad networks, publishers and advertisers. This scheme is one of the most sophisticated we've seen," said Paul Pellman, CEO of Click Forensics. "The botnet is effectively disguising the fraud it produces as 'good traffic' by altering the interval and breadth of the attacks across legions of infected machines."

Click Forensics has found malware associated with the botnet in search results on Google for "Facebook Fan Check virus." The malware behaves similarly to the advertising malware that the New York Times fell prey to last weekend. The Times inadvertently sold advertising to a "scareware" program that encouraged consumers to download malware-checking software. The software itself was actually malware.

Today, one of our Search Engine Watch experts, Marc Poirier (co-founder and CMO of Acquisio), wrote an extensive piece on click fraud. Be sure to check it out.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 18, 2009, 4:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Google Adds Books to Search Options Panel

Earlier this year, Google introduced the Search Options panel to its main search. The options allow search results to be filtered by things like time or content type.

Now, Google is adding Books as a filter on the Search Options panel. Take a look and let us know what you think by leaving a comment below.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 18, 2009, 4:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Google Says Apple Indeed Rejected Their Voice and Latitude Applications

In the ongoing saga that is why Google Voice doesn't have an app in the iTunes app store, Google's perspective has been published publicly on the FCC website (pdf). Originally, portions of the letter were to remain confidential, but after Freedom of Information Act filings, it has been made public.

With the publishing, we're learning that Google told the FCC that Apple did indeed reject the Google Voice and Google Latitude applications. Apple has maintained that they did not reject the apps.

The reason for the Google Voice app rejection was that the app duplicated core dialer functionality of the iPhone.

The Google Latitude app was rejected for three reasons

1. It could replace the preloaded Maps application on the iPhone
2. It would create confusion since Maps was a native app on the iPhone (isn't this like #1?)
3. It would offer new features not present on the Maps application (oh, the horror!)

Google said there was no communication with AT&T on the matter. There were a series of phone calls, in-person meetings and emails between Google Senior VP of Engineering and Research Alan Eustace and Apple Senior VP of World Product Marketing Phil Schiller.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 18, 2009, 3:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Google Officially Launches DoubleClick Ad Exchange

A week ago, ClickZ's Zachary Rodgers broke the news that Google would soon launch its new online advertising exchange. That news is now official.

Google is boasting that its DoubleClick Ad Exchange will be a time-efficient way for publishers and advertisers to get their respective jobs done with regards to online display advertising. Publishers will make available unsold inventory and advertisers will bid in real-time. Google handles all the billing and payments.

Google says it has three primary objectives with the ad exchange:

1. Simplify the system for buying and selling display ads.
2. Deliver better performance that advertisers and agencies can measure.
3. Open up the ecosystem

That last one could be a source of contention since it looks like advertisers will be forced to use DoubleClick's ad buying platform.

Additionally, Google's not the first ad exchange out there. Their main competition will be Yahoo!'s Right Media Exchange. So, while Google is launching this thing by saying it will help both publishers and advertisers get a bigger piece of the pie, this mostly seems like it will give Google a bigger piece of the display ad pie.

Still, there's a reason why everything Google touches seems to turn to gold, and there's no reason to think the DoubleClick Ad Exchange will be anything different.

As a result, I wouldn't be surprised if there is some antitrust scrutiny down the line if they do indeed end up with a big chunk of the aforementioned proverbial pie. But for the meantime, publishers and advertisers have a new option in the ad exchange market.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 18, 2009, 12:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Bulk Listing Verification Now Available for Google Maps Local Business Listings

Business owners have been able to bulk upload their local listings to Google Maps but have had to verify them individually. Until now. Google is now providing the opportunity to bulk verify bulk uploads.

Said bulk uploads must meet the following criteria:

• Accurate and up-to-date data
• Minimum of 10 bulk uploaded listings already in business owners' Local Business Center account
• Full compliance with our Local Business Center Quality Guidelines
• Submitted by the owner of all businesses listed
• All businesses have only been submitted by a single user

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 18, 2009, 12:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google Unveils Quick Search Box for Android

The latest version of the Android SDK (version 1.6) was released earlier this week and one of more significant features included in the update is the Quick Search Box (QSB). The search feature would allow users to search both the device and the web.

For developers, it will provide the opportunity for quicker access to content inside applications. Developers can provide search suggestions to help applications be found by users.

If you are an Android developer, you'll want to head over to the Android blog to get all the coding goodness you'll need to get included in the Quick Search Box feature. Note that coding up your app for QSB will not automatically get your app included in the new feature.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 18, 2009, 12:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Clearsaleing Offers Attribution Index to Help Allocate Marketing Budget

Clearsaleing has launched The American Attribution Index, designed to help online marketers allocate their marketing funds according to the most effective forms of advertising.

They've released aggregate indices for Q1 2009 (pdf) for small, medium and large advertisers defined in the following manner:

• AAI: Aggregate--Large Advertisers (> $2 million/year online ad spend)
• AAI: Aggregate--Medium Advertisers ($300k to $2 million/year online ad spend)
• AAI: Aggregate--Small Advertisers (< $300k/year online ad spend)

Here's how it broke down (key first):

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 17, 2009, 2:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Online Video Streams Increase 41% in August 2009

Nielsen Online has released new online video streaming data for August 2009. In news which should surprise no one, online video streaming is up.

The number of videos watched increased 41% last month compared to August of 2008. Unique viewers were up 18% and vids per viewer were up 19.6%.

Here's how it broke down among the video sites:

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 17, 2009, 2:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Confused About Bid Simulator? Let Google's Chief Economist Explain

Last month, Google launched Bid Simulator in AdWords. The idea behind the simulator is to calculate whether or not spending more or less would be more cost-effective.

Let's say you're paying $0.50 per click. The Bid Simulator can show how much more you would have to pay to get more clicks. It could be $1.00 per click to get 10 more clicks, but that might not be worth it to you if it lowers your overall revenues. This, however, generated some confusion as they thought that the Bid Simulator was actually a Bid Recommender, and that Google was trying to get people to bid higher for keywords.

Of course, we never saw comments complaining about Bid Simulator suggesting a lower CPC would produce a higher revenue.

Now, Google's Chief Economist Hal Varian has taken to the Google blogs and YouTube to spell out Bid Simulator for you in a new Tutorial. The overall idea is to know your value per click instead of just your cost per click. Check the tutorial out in all of its economic glory and then give your opinion of the vid below.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 17, 2009, 12:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Bing Adds Emmy Award Info to Instant Answers

For those of you into the popularity contest prestigious television award ceremony known as the Emmy's, you can use Bing to keep track of the goings on of the star-studded program and red carpet fashion when it happens this Sunday, September 20 at 8pm EST.

Simply type in "Emmy Awards" into the Bing search box and get all the showbiz goodness in a nifty info box at the top of the results.

This is especially handy in the following situations:

1. Your significant other is watching Sunday Night NFL football and refuses to hand over the remote. (Go Giants!)
2. You got stuck at the airport on a weekend vacay.
3. Your kid is acting up and you have to do some actual parenting.
4. You got the Sunday shift. Sucks for you.
5. You were playing Wii and accidentally broke the TV. That's what you get for not wearing the wrist strap.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 16, 2009, 2:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google Acquires reCAPTCHA; Plans to Use Technology for Books and Archives

If you've ever had to type in a bunch of funny looking letters and/or numbers when registering for a site or making a purchase online, then you've experienced CAPTCHA. Google has now acquired reCAPTCHA, a provider of the secure measure.

What sets reCAPTCHA apart from other providers is that it uses scanned archives to provide the funny looking text. reCAPTCHA then uses Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to convert the scan to text.

Google plans to harness the technology for its Google Books and Google News Archive Search.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 16, 2009, 2:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Want to Move Product this Holiday Season? Offer Free Shipping

Hitwise has released data showing how the term "free shipping" trends over time. Not surprisingly, it tends to spark just before the holidays.

Notice how the term spikes even higher as the years go by. Also, Hitwise says the peak for "free shipping" when online consumers are looking for great post-holiday deals.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 16, 2009, 1:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Aliens Are Using Google's Crop Circle Logo To Invade Our Computers

Yesterday Google did another of their clever logo mysteries, the crop circle one seen below. But while I was tying it to the latitude and longitude they used in Twitter my computer was nearly hijacked.

The interesting part of the search was the warning on the first listing which pushes you down to make another choice, yet the one I did pick that used good title tags and descriptions to rope me in was just as bad - causing a close Firefox to escape the trap scenario for me.

Hey guys if you are going to have fun with your users and test their smarts etc. how about protecting us!

I for one am no longer going to play this game. I will leave to others that have the time to clean their PCs or have some ultra malware protector installed. Funny but that was what the spammer was pushing.

UPDATE
Below is an aerial pic of those coordinates:

Posted by Frank Watson on September 16, 2009, 12:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Go To SES Berlin Or SES Chicago For "A Ranking in the Top Three"

As you plan you schedule for the rest of the year, consider attending SES Berlin, which will be held November 24-25, 2009, and SES Chicago, which will be held December 7-11, 2009.

For a sneak preview, watch the interview with Matt McGowan, VP Publishing at Incisive Media, by John Mulligan of SEO-PR. They talk about the upcoming SES Berlin and SES Chicago events.

McGowan says after having SES shows in various cities in Germany, including Hamburg and Munich, it was time to schedule one in Berlin. He says attendance is expected to be around 500 for SES Berlin in November. And SES Chicago is expected to attract thousands of marketing executives, managers, professionals, specialists and consultants in December.

Matt McGowan, VP Publishing, Incisive Media previews SES Chicago and Berlin '09

Now, why should you go to one of these shows at the end of the year?

There are a dozen reasons, which I will roll out over the next several weeks. But, let me begin by singing the SEO version of "A Partridge in a Pear Tree."

If you read my article in Search Engine Watch back in January 2007, you already know the words. If you didn't, they are: "A Ranking in the Top Three."

If the search industry didn't change so rapidly, then you could attend one or two Search Engine Strategies conferences a year and stay up-to-date on the latest market trends.

But, Google issues two to four press releases a month and two to four blog posts a week that impact your search engine ranking or represent a new marketing opportunity. For example, Google Fast Flip was announced just this week.

Fast Flip is a new reading experience that combines elements of print and online articles. Like a print magazine, Fast Flip lets you browse sequentially through bundles of recent news, headlines and popular topics, as well as feeds from individual publishers. As the name suggests, flipping through content is fast, so you can quickly look through a lot of pages until you find something interesting.

At the same time, Google provides aggregation and search over many top newspapers and magazines, including the New York Times, the Atlantic, the Washington Post, Salon, Fast Company, and Newsweek. And it gives you the ability to share content with your friends and community.

Fast Flip also personalizes the experience for you, by taking cues from selections you make to show you more content from sources, topics and journalists that you seem to like. In short, you get fast browsing, natural magazine-style navigation, recommendations from friends and other members of the community and a selection of content that is both serendipitous and personalized.

Google has also made a mobile version of Fast Flip with tactile page flipping for the iPhone and Android-powered devices, so you can browse on the go.

And, Microsoft isn't shy about making announcements early and often, either. Just this week, Microsoft introduced a new Visual Search feature on its Bing search engine to make Web content more visually appealing. Although not directed at news, it displays some categories of search results using thumbnail images instead of text.

So, if you attended SES San Jose in August 2009 and don't go to another event until SES New York in March 2010, I estimate that you'll be about seven months behind the eight ball when you get there.

Now, if you don't mind letting your search engine rankings drop below the top three listings for several months -- or if you aren't worried that your competitors will take advantage of new opportunities before you find out about them -- then happy holidays.

However, if falling behind in a rapidly changing world does concern you, then take a serious look at attending SES Berlin, which will be held November 24-25, 2009, and SES Chicago, which will be held December 7-11, 2009.

If anyone asks you why you're going, simply sing out that you want to get or need to keep "A Ranking in the Top Three."

Posted by Greg Jarboe on September 16, 2009, 2:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

TC50: Local Search Site RedBeacon Takes Top Honors

The TechCrunch50 has concluded and the winners announced. Best in show went to local search startup RedBeacon. The site has elements of ServiceMagic and OpenTable and more can be found in the TechCrunch writeup and video of the company's demo on Monday.

The startup competition has only been around for a few years, but this is the first time local search companies got so much play. They had their own category during Monday's demo sessions and there were decidedly more of them present than last year.

RedBeacon not only took top prize but CitySourced, profiled here earlier, took third place and local search engine Yext got an audience favorite award. Congrats to RedBeacon, which gets $50K in seed money and a whole lot of recognition. Now the hard part begins.

Posted by Mike Boland on September 16, 2009, 12:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Twitter Hires exGoogler, FeedBurner Founder Dick Costello as COO

Twitter has hired Dick Costello, former Google executive and FeedBurner founder, as their new COO. Costello left Google in July.

As digiday notes: "The move is definitely a case of six degrees no longer separated. Union Square Ventures, a key investor in Twitter, also originally funded Feedburner before it was acquired by Google in 2007. And Costolo himself was an early investor in Twitter."

With his experience at Feedburner and Google, Costello definitely is a great addition to the rapidly expanding Twitter.

Posted by Frank Watson on September 15, 2009, 9:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Adobe Acquiring Omniture

Analytics company Omniture is being acquired by Adobe, according to the Omniture site today. The joint press release stated:

Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) and Omniture, Inc. (Nasdaq:OMTR) today announced the two companies have entered into a definitive agreement for Adobe to acquire Omniture in a transaction valued at approximately $1.8 billion on a fully diluted equity-value basis. Under the terms of the agreement, Adobe will commence a tender offer to acquire all of the outstanding common stock of Omniture for $21.50 per share in cash.

"Adobe's acquisition of Omniture furthers its mission to revolutionize the way the world engages with ideas and information. By combining Adobe's content creation tools and ubiquitous clients with Omniture's Web analytics, measurement and optimization technologies, Adobe will be well positioned to deliver solutions that can transform the future of engaging experiences and e-commerce across all digital content platforms and devices.

The combination of the two companies will increase the value Adobe delivers to customers. For designers, developers and online marketers, an integrated workflow -- with optimization capabilities embedded in the creation tools -- will streamline the creation and delivery of relevant content and applications. This optimization will enable advertisers, advertising agencies, publishers and e-tailers to achieve greater ROI from their digital media investments and improve their end users' experiences.

"Adobe customers are looking to us for solutions to deliver engaging experiences and more effectively monetize their content and applications online," said Shantanu Narayen, president and chief executive officer of Adobe. "This is a game changer for both Adobe and our customers. We will enable advertisers, media companies and e-tailers to realize the full value of their digital assets."

Posted by Frank Watson on September 15, 2009, 8:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Yahoo Meme Uses Sleeping Dog For Fail Page

Okay so Twitter has the Fail Whale, but Yahoo's new contender in the social media space Meme has its own version the Fail Dog. The image is a sleeping dog as can be seen below... guess when things don't work Yahoo asks you to let sleeping dogs lie.

Posted by Frank Watson on September 15, 2009, 8:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Facebook: 300 Million Users and Cash Flow Positive

Facebook just announced from the TechCrunch50 stage that it has reached 300 million active users and is cash flow positive. The latter milestone has been reached in advance of its initial goal of first quarter 2010.

Posted by Mike Boland on September 15, 2009, 5:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

adCenter Puts Out the Call for Image Ad Testers

adCenter is starting a pilot program to test image ads for their Content Network, including MSN sites. Image ads can be purchased on a CPC or CPM model. You need to have your own IAB standard creatives to participate.

Then, follow these instructions, per the adCenter blog:

1. If you manage your account on your own, then call the 1-800-518-5689 support line and ask to be enrolled into Performance Improvement program and the Image Ads Pilot

2. If you are in a Managed Service program, you should ask your Account rep about the Image Ads pilot

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 15, 2009, 3:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The BuyerSphere Project: Understanding B2B Buyer Patterns

At SES San Jose 2009, one of my favorite sessions was entitled, "The BuyerSphere Project: Understanding B2B Buyer Patterns."

This major B2B research initiative was conducted by Enquiro Research with input from Google, Business.com, Covario, Marketo and DemandBase. So, the session was moderated by Gord Hotchkiss, President and CEO of Enquiro, and the speakers included: Mark McMaster, Senior Planner of B2B and Technology Markets at Google, Ben Hanna, VP Marketing at Business.com, Susan Scarth, VP Marketing at Demandbase, Jon Miller, VP Marketing at Marketo, and Dr. Matthias Blume, Chief Analytics Officer at Covario.

Their findings 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. In many high risk, complex purchases, search is incredibly important as an integrator across online and offline channels and face-to-face persuasion is still necessary.

The BuyerSphere project looked 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 reviewed 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.

Following the session, I interviewed Hotchkiss about the BuyerSphere Project. He said B2B marketers are frustrated as marketing decisions are not based on rational decision making. Risk and fear play huge roles in B2B buying.

Hotchkiss discussed the "buying funnel" and its history, but concluded it's not a workable model. For more information, go to the B2B BuyerSphere or watch the video interview below.

Gord Hotchkiss, Enquiro at SES San Jose 2009 discussing Buyersphere Project

Posted by Greg Jarboe on September 15, 2009, 3:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google Supports Facebook Share and Yahoo! SearchMonkey RDFa for Videos

It's easy to think of online video as an social media method, but they're increasingly having search value. After all, most videos don't go viral, but they are still useful for the niches that you've created them for. That's where search comes into play.

Google is offering up help for getting your videos better indexed. The Google Webmaster Central has announced support for Facebook Share and Yahoo! SearchMonkey RDFa for video indexing. These formats offer up information about videos, such as title and description, in the HTML for a video page.

Be sure that your rich snippets are indeed included in the HTML and not executed by JavaScript or Flash in order to be indexed.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 15, 2009, 3:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

At TC50: Crowd Sourcing the Neighborhood Watch

I'm at the TechCrunch50 show where Google and Microsoft yesterday announced new visual interfaces for news and image search, respectively. Today, I'm on the hunt for interesting mobile & local companies.

One that just demoed, City Sourced, falls into this bucket, giving users a chance to report local crime and vandalism. The way this works is through an iPhone app that lets users take pictures of things like graffiti or old couches on the street. Using the phone's GPS and compass reading, the app tags that content, wraps it up and sends it to City Hall.

On the other end, the company works with municipalities to enable their back end systems to receive and process all of these acts of citizen reporting. This includes lots of data and mapping mashups that allow city officials to plan law enforcement patrolling and clean-up efforts.

"The goal is for City Hall to be able to notify law enforcement to increase patrols in the area," said CEO Jason Kiesel. "It gives them opportunity to predict and prevent with better law enforcement decisions."

A quick demo showed how incidents of vandalism jumped from May to June in San Jose around many school districts -- presumably having to do with summer break. San Jose is the company's first customer and it is reportedly in discussions with a few of the top 10 populated cities in the U.S..

The app's success will come down to the ability to form these deals but also the ability to market the app to users. The data sets will obviously only be as good as the amount of people that are generating them. But its novelty could cause it to rise above the noise in the mobile app world, and you can picture it being featured on Apple's "there's an app for that" TV ads.

Next up, the company will develop a Palm Pre app, with Android likely to follow. It will also integrate more and more public data sources to make crime records searchable in the ways that Everyblock, TownMe and others have begun to do. Social features could be on the way too, to let users do digg-style "voting up" local issues that deserve the most attention.

Posted by Mike Boland on September 15, 2009, 3:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Australian Newspaper Publishers: Search Engines Break Into Homes, Steal Content

Newspaper publishers are reaching such new lows with their arguments against search engines, I wonder how they stay in business at all. I mean, doesn't journalism require gathering facts and analyzing them?

The latest low is an Australian newspaper publisher who says that search engines indexing newspaper sites is essentially breaking and entering.

WRONG.

If anything, your newspaper is like a dance club, and you can deny entrance to the search engines if they're not dressed up enough for your taste. Just slap some no index code on your robots.txt file and it's like hiring the best bouncer in town.

Because, let's face it, you want eyeballs at your website. Otherwise, why have one? People find a ton of content through search, but if you're not liking the engines, just block them. Simple as pie.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 15, 2009, 2:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

WordStream Launches Free Keyword Research Tool

WordStream has launched a free keyword research tool that from my use during its beta is better than Google's limited one. I know that sounds like I am touting this product, but I am not benefiting by it in anyway (figured I had to say that in light of all the attention paid reviews are getting lately).

The tool does not give exact numbers of searches, but ranks the volume similar to Google's, but unlike Google's tool you can get all keywords emailed to you. No doubt there may be some emails about other products they offer, but to me that is worth it for the extensive information you gain.

"WordStream offers a database comparable to paid keyword tools, but we always return your full list of keyword suggestions--not just the most popular keywords--completely free," the company's email states.

Why not play with it and give some feedback here.

Posted by Frank Watson on September 15, 2009, 2:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Google Ad Exchange Launch Expected Soon

Over at our sister blog, Clickz, Zachary Rodgers has some inside information that the anticipated display advertising exchange from Google could launch as early as next week. Google would not confirm or deny the rumor. But, next week is Advertising Week in New York, making it the perfect time to launch the exchange.

The ad exchange will allow publishers and networks to offer up unused ad inventory to a pool where advertisers can bid for the space. The exchange has been developed within DoubleClick, which Google acquired over a year ago.

Right now, the ad exchange leader is Yahoo!'s Right Media Exchange, but Google could quickly take the lead in the marketplace. However, that won't happen as readily (or at all), if publishers are forced to use DoubleClick's Dart for Advertisers (DFA) platform.

What do you think of Google's forthcoming ad exchange? Let us know by leaving a comment.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 15, 2009, 10:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google Releases Visual-Based News Platform

Whenever a search engine briefs me with big news, I've come to wonder - "What will Google come up with to try and steal their thunder?"

Today was no exception. After Bing announced its Visual Search and Ask announced Search for the Cure, sure enough the web was buzzing with news of Google Fast Flip.

Of course, this unveiling had more to do with taking on Bing and Visual Search than Ask. Fast Flip is a Google Labs project that is like Searchme or Viewzi where you browse pages before you click and read. However, it's focused on news, whereas Searchme and Viewzi are for all niches. The idea is that you "flip" through newspapers and magazines, on the internet.

It doesn't look like it took much to code up Fast Flip, which leads to even more suspicion that it was a knee-jerk reaction to Bing's news. But that hasn't stopped the usual ogling from media and bloggers who react with infatuation at anything Google releases.

The New York Times seems to think that this is Google attempting to appease newspaper publishers, which is, at least, a plausible explanation. But trying to take people to an old way of flipping through print materials instead of progressing on how people are actually consuming the news on the internet is not going to work.

Check out Fast Flip for yourself and then come back and let us know what you think.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 15, 2009, 1:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Google Commands Attention Span in Internet Use Minutes for Brazil, India

Think Google dominates in the US? Well, according to new comScore data, internet users in Brazil and India are even more Googley-eyed. In those countries, almost 30% of total time spent online is spent with Google.

The United States doesn't even crack the top ten when it comes to minutes spent on Google. The global average is 9.4%.

Alex Banks, managing director of comScore Latin America offered up his thoughts on why it's Brazil and India that are so Google-icious.

As it turns out, there are interesting similarities between Brazil and India as emerging Internet markets. Google's prevalence in these markets can perhaps best be explained by the fact that the time at which these markets really began to develop and flourish was around the same time that Google was becoming a major player in the search landscape. As a result, Google became the dominant Internet brand in these markets and its success appears to have bled from search into other areas of the web like social networking.

By the way, these minutes include Google.com, YouTube, Blogger, Picasa - all of Google's sites.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 14, 2009, 4:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Bing Launches Visual Search Into Beta

Today, Bing is introducing a new beta feature: Visual Search. This will not replace text-based results. Instead, you can choose to use it or not from the Bing home page or from results. It's rolling out to US users initially.

Visual Search is only being launched for select categories at first. Additional categories are expected to be expanded in the future.

When I met with Bing director Stefan Weitz in August, he previewed Visual Search for me. He compared Visual Search to walking into a store and visually browsing products.

I agree with Weitz. Search needs to encompass all sorts of browsing, memory and learning types. Some are great with text. Others are visual. Still others are a mixture.

Take a look at the screenshots of visual search below. Then go try it out for yourself at bing.com/visualsearch. Be sure to return to this post and leave a comment letting us know what you think of Bing's Visual Search.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 14, 2009, 1:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

White Knight SEO Checks Google Cash Scam Artists

Back on September 2, 2009, I posted a story entitled, "Google Cash Scam Artists vs. White Knight SEO Campaign."

On September 3, Matt McGee of Search Engine Land posted "Google Cash Scams Targeted By 'White Knight' SEOs" and Chris Crum of WebProNews posted "'White Knights' Take on Fraudulent Results."

And on September 11, Kaila Krayewski of Inernet Search Engine Database posted "SEOs Try to Push Google Cash Scams Out of Rankings."

It appears that all the attention to this issue may have prompted Google to block advertising on the term, "Google cash," as well as another term, "Google money tree." On September 11, Jonah Stein of It's the ROI posted "White Knight Checks Google Cash."

Stein said, "For advertisers playing the Google cash game, this is at best check, not mate. We have not induced a moral decision by Google to protect naive users. This appears to be the narrowest possible compromise, a strategic retreat by Google to avoid the obvious embarrassment of having the organic results overtly exposing the scams advertised on the right. Google is still allowing advertisers to bid on variations like google cash detective and google cash system."

So, the chess game continues. Still, it's interesting to note that a handful of White Knight SEO blogs seems to have promoted Google to suspend bidding on a couple of exact match terms. Can the end game be near?

Posted by Greg Jarboe on September 14, 2009, 11:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ask.com Unveils 'Search for the Cure' to Raise Money for Breast Cancer Research

Ask.com is launching "Search for the Cure," which involves a $1 million contribution to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. The investment will occur over the next year, through December 2010.

The contribution begins with the Ask.com audience. In order to contribute, simply complete tasks such as adding the Komen theme to your Ask.com homepage and then answer breast cancer-related questions during the month of October. You can, of course, use Ask.com to search for the right answer. Ask.com will donate 50 cents for every person that adds the skin and answers the questions correctly.

If you've played games like Mafia Wars or Yoville on Facebook, then you get the idea. Complete tasks and earn rewards. Except breast cancer research is not a game. These tasks really make a difference.

"The Ask.com Search for the Cure program seeks to empower consumers in the fight against breast cancer through an interactive, educational experience that doesn't cost them a dime or require much time - which we hope will encourage support of this important cause regardless of financial or schedule constraints," said Scott Garell, president of Ask Networks.

I have to admit, as a cancer survivor (though not of breast cancer), sometimes it seems like so much money is raised through races and athletic events. There's a sentiment among some cancer survivors to diversify fundraising for cancer research. Of course, Search for the Cure is right up my personal alley.

"One of our greatest opportunities in the fight to end breast cancer lies with the many people who tell us they want to support Susan G. Komen for the Cure but don't have the time or money to contribute," said Hala Moddelmog, chief executive officer of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. "Ask.com has created an easy, engaging, and cost-free way for consumers to get involved and generate funding that is crucial to breast cancer research and education. We are thrilled that Ask.com has joined our cause with such an innovative program. We're urging everyone to Search for the Cure by switching to Ask.com."

After October, Ask.com will continue their investment in Susan G. Komen for the Cure. However, they're not quite sure what that will look like yet. Right now, they're primarily focused on the October activities, which, of course, coincide with Breast Cancer Awareness month.

This isn't the first time Ask.com has paired up with a charity. Previously, Ask has teamed up with Autism Speaks for an autism advocacy effort as well.

What do you think of "Search for the Cure?" Leave us a comment and let us know.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 14, 2009, 12:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Trade Show Exhibtors at SES San Jose 2009 Have Good Stories to Tell

A month has passed since SES San Jose 2009 -- and you might think that all the good stories to tell have already been told.

But most of the press and blog coverage focused on the conference side of the Search Engine Strategies Conference & Expo. And the trade show exhibitors also had a lot of news to share over on the Expo side of the event.

Now, instead of uploading all the videos from SES San Jose to YouTube in the same week, we've learned that it's better to upload a few each week to SESConferenceExpo's Channel on YouTube. This enables viewers to digest the major stories at a reasonable rate, while also giving them a reason to subscribe to the YouTube channel to get ongoing updates more than five times a year.

Among the trade show exhibitors with good stories to tell was Jennifer Whaley of Century Interactive. John Mulligan of SEO-PR interviewed her on the exhibitor floor at SES San Jose 2009.

Century Interactive links website sessions to phone calls and tracks those phone calls, chats and clicks that result from print and web campaigns. Whaley described the types of clients that Century Interactive caters and, in particular, those clients who don't sufficiently understand clickthroughs and bounce-rates but understand phone calls and helps them understand what key influences are driving their business such as keyword terms, referring websites, etc.

Whaley went on to describe the analytics that Century Interactive uses when servicing their clients; this includes a java script loaded on a website which captures each website session. To learn more about Century Interactive's innovative Web technology, watch the video interview below.

Jennifer Whaley, Century Interactive, on driving phone calls to your website at SES San Jose 2009

Another trade show exhibitor with a good story to tell was Steve Wiideman, owner of Local Splash. We gave him a mic at SES San Jose 2009 and asked him to talk about SEO Expert and Local Splash.

He discussed his local search engine marketing solution for businesses that are regional or local. Local Splash has a proprietary application that helps businesses get higher ranking in the map section of Google, Yahoo and Bing. Local Splash also helps businesses by verifying their information, lock down the account and optimize it so it gets better ranking.

For example, by syndicating a client's business information across the Web to business directories and search sites, Local Splash in turns adds new destinations to their list such as superpages and over time, ranking improves. Local Splash also looks at categories for all of your competitors to understand the best possible sequence of categories that a business can be placed in.

Steve Wiideman on Local Splash, search engine marketing solution at SES San Jose 2009

Another trade show exhibitor with a good story to tell was Tim Musgrove of Digger. We also gave him the mic at SES San Jose 2009 to tell it.

Musgrove discussed the free trial accounts that Digger gave away at the conference. He also talked about Digger's auto-generated topic pages which auto-creates landing pages for content-rich websites.

Tim Musgrove, Digger, at SES San Jose 2009 on semantic technology and free trial software

Wendy Roe of Pixelsilk also talked about exhibiting for the first time at SES San Jose 2009. She discussed the company's content management system.

Pixelsilk debuted Bruce Clay's SEO toolset inside the company's Search Advice so you can get advice and recommendations for your SEO next to the content editor.

Wendy Roe, Pixelsilk, on exhibiting for the first time at SES San Jose 2009

And last but not least, Mulligan interviewed Frank Rocco of Adfare Video Solutions in front of the exhibitor's booth at SES San Jose 2009.

Adfare produces video ads in a short time frame and deliver them in less than $150 per video. Adfare can produce cheap video ads because it can take existing content, anything the customer or advertiser has online, and download those images or footage and build a script and produce a high powered, effective video within 48 hours.

Adfare works across a variety of platforms, including mobile. In the interview below, Rocco discussed one example of local video being used in a mobile platform.

Frank Rocco, Adfare Video Solutions discusses cheap video advertising at SES San Jose 2009

There are more good stories to tell -- but I save those for another day. Hey, it's a long time between now and SES Chicago 2009. So, come back again for an update.

Posted by Greg Jarboe on September 13, 2009, 12:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Twitter Updates TOS, Paving the Way for Advertising

Twitter has updated their Terms of Service and one of the most significant updates is in regards to revenue that the social network hopes to generate. The new TOS paves the way for Twitter to introduce advertising into the network, something that's been anticipated for a long time.

Social media sites have traditionally had a tougher time generating revenue through advertising, especially when compared to, say, search.

But Twitter has smartly made search a strong focus of their network, facilitating a trend in "real-time" search. Facebook, which has been criticized for sharing too much data in their advertising efforts, is now integrating search to compete and stay ahead of the game. They would be wise to monetize their search efforts, too, as they might experience better revenue that way.

What do you think of Twitter's Terms of Service update? Share your reaction in the comments section below.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 11, 2009, 4:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Regulators Request More Info about Microsoft-Yahoo! Search Deal

Antitrust regulators in Washington have requested more information from Microsoft and Yahoo! regarding their recently announced search deal. Announced in July, the deal would have Bing powering search on Yahoo!'s web properties, including Yahoo!'s main search. In turn, Yahoo! would run advertising, though adCenter would still be used as the paid search platform.

Regulators are primarily concerned about two areas: competition and advertising. They're worried that the deal won't be good for competition. And they want to see that ad prices won't be artificially influenced as a result of the deal.

Of course, the argument for the deal is that combining the number 2 and 3 search engines into one provides a stronger competitor against Google, which holds upwards of 70% of the search market share. The result of a stronger 2nd place could help lower prices in the search ad market.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 11, 2009, 4:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Facebook Goes A-Twitter with @ Tags, With a Twist

If you're a Twitter user, you're used to @ tags. When you reply to a Tweet, you put @username and then type your reply. When you ReTweet someone, you use @username, as well.

The @ symbol was used on blogs long before Twitter came around, so that people could address specific commenters directly.

Now, Facebook is jumping on the @ bandwagon. If you want to reference another Facebook member in your update, use the @ symbol and start typing in their name. The twist is that the @ symbol won't appear in the update, but it will hyperlink the name of the person you've tagged.

Additionally, those who've been tagged will get a notification, and they'll be able to remove their name from your update.

What do you think of Facebook's incorporation of friend tagging? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 11, 2009, 3:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Yahoo Adds New Features To PPC Reports

Yahoo just announced some new additions to their PPC reports including the ability to see what partners are sending you traffic.

Their help section details some of it here:
With the Ad Delivery Report you can view information about the URLs where your ads are being displayed. You can then use this information to help inform your decisions regarding which domains to block using the "Blocked Domains" feature.

The Ad Delivery Report allows you to view:

* a list of domains and specific URLs where your ads were displayed
* performance metrics for your campaigns in terms of impressions, clicks, cost, conversions, etc by URL (Analytics must be installed to track conversion data. Learn more about installing Analytics)
* information about how certain URLs are performing, potentially enabling you to make better decisions when using the Block Domains feature

Posted by Frank Watson on September 10, 2009, 6:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Get Your Google Voice Messages Directly in Gmail

If you use Google Voice, then you're familiar with getting notifications via email alerting you to a new voice mail message. The email contains a transcription of the message plus a link to go and listen to it.

Now, Google has updated the alert so that you can play the message directly in your Gmail acocunt. In order to access the new feature, you need to turn on the Google Voice Player in the Gmail Labs tab.

When you've listened to a voice mail in Gmail, it will sync with your Google Voice inbox. This means that once listened to, it will essentially "mark as read" in your Google Voice account as well.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 10, 2009, 1:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

New adCenter Feature Shows If Your Ad is Showing in Bing

So, you've set up your ad campaign for Bing in adCenter and now you want to know whether or not the ads are showing. Now, you can with a new feature called Ad Preview.

The adCenter team has added this feature due to much request from advertisers. The Ad Preview enables advertisers to check their ads without artificially padding the impression and click data.

If you find your ads showing in Ad Preview but not in a regular search, remember that you might have set demographic and/or geographic targets that you yourself do not meet. Also, you may be outbid at the time you check an ad on the regular search. Ad Preview, however, does not currently provide a geographic or demographic preview, but they're working on it and hope to release it soon.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 10, 2009, 1:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Court Dismisses Lawsuit By Woman Unhappy with Yahoo! Search Results

This past February, a woman who was none too pleased with the search results for her name sued Yahoo! Beverly Stayart argued that the results were a false endorsement under the Lanham Act.

The court has now dismissed her lawsuit, but since part of the dismissal was on procedural grounds, Stayart will be allowed to refile her suit.

Stayart would have been better off learning a little SEO instead of spending all of this time on a lawsuit. With an unpopular, unfamiliar name, it's not that hard to rank and dominate results for your name.

Her task is now more difficult as a result of the suit. My post covering this story from February now ranks in the top 10, as do other sites covering the news. The good news is that the top 10 search results don't contain those pesky adult and porn sites Stayart was seeing before. That was, after all, Stayart's goal wasn't it? No, probably not. A few sites list Stayart as a legal professional and I'm gonna go out on a limb and say she's after some moolah here.

But a word of advice for Ms. Stayart - start optimizing for Bing now. Because if/when/should the Microsoft-Yahoo! deal go through, you'll be seeing some different results on Yahoo! Consider yourself warned.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 10, 2009, 12:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Police Use Online Mapping Services to Help Fight Crime

USA Today has a story on how police departments across the US are adding a new tool to their crime-fighting arsenal: online maps. A few startups out there are using public records to map out crime, which helps police departments track crime trends.

Police departments are then able to send out alerts to the community. The knowledge empowers communities to keep an eye out. It's a modern Neighborhood Watch program.

Almost 1,000 police departments have signed up for these services. Providers include CrimeReports.com, CrimeMapping.com, and SpotCrime.com.

Police have also used existing online maps to creatively solve crimes. Google Street View was used to help locate a missing child this past January.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 10, 2009, 12:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google Plans Micropayment Platform for Publishers with Paid Content

Newspaper publishers and other media entities have made no secret about their desire to put content up behind a pay wall. The motivation behind it all is the slow death of traditional media and the loss of revenue that has come along with it.

Now, Google is planning to assist that effort by developing a micropayment platform that can help facilitate the paywall plans. It will be an extension of Google Checkout and be available for both Google and non-Google sites.

Of course, it remains to be seen if these paywall plans even work. Most newspapers had them in place when they first launched on the web. They didn't work, and the paywalls came down.

Google's smart to monetize the upcoming paywall efforts while they last. But don't be surprised if the micropayment platform ends up in the Google product graveyard if the paywall plans do indeed fail.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 10, 2009, 11:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Bill Hunt of Back Azimuth Consulting to Keynote at SES Berlin

This morning, Incisive Media and BBP announced that Bill Hunt, President of Back Azimuth Consulting, will be the opening keynote speaker at the Search Engine Strategies (SES) Berlin Conference & Expo. I've known Bill since 2003 -- and he's one of the few experts who understands how to leverage data to understand the mindset of consumers and can help global companies develop an integrated program to develop highly optimized and sales driven content.

Bill is internationally recognized as a search marketing expert who is helping to shape online marketing and social media on a global scale. He is currently on the Board of Directors of the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization and is active in growing SEMPO's international base of members. He is the co-author of the best selling book "Search Engine Marketing, Inc.: Driving Search Traffic to Your Company's Web Site" and writes Bill Hunt's Rants & Raves Blog, which provides Digital Marketing commentary from a global marketing road warrior.

(For those who are curious, the term "Back Azimuth" comes from compass navigation and counter sniping. Back Azimuth is defined as a direction 180 degrees in the opposite direction. Counter-snipers use it to help them understand the probable location of a target based on a recent shot. If you combine these two ideas and apply marketing and advertising concepts, Bill believes you can achieve significant ROI and customer satisfaction.)

I interviewed Bill at SES London 2009, when he was the CEO of CEO, Global Strategies Inc. He had spoken at two sessions, The State of Search Integration and Why Does Search Get All the Credit? Bill discussed the challenges faced by search marketers in making the case about the effectiveness and importance of search to new clients and refered to one example of how paid search ads can influence your email marketing subject line. He emphasized a collaborative approach when using all available marketing channels.

Bill Hunt, Global Strategies Int., on collaborative marketing at SES London 2009

I also interviewed Bill at SES San Jose 2008 about his new book, Search Engine Marketing, Inc.: Driving Search Traffic to Your Company's Web site.

Greg Jarboe interviews Bill Hunt about his new book

The SES Berlin Conference & Expo will be held at the Crowne Plaza Berlin City Centre on 24-25 November 2009. The German event is focused on search engine marketing (SEM), including pay-per-click (PPC) advertising and search engine optimisation (SEO).

SES Berlin is organized by BBP and hosted and co-produced with Incisive Media and Thomas Bindl, one of Europe's leading authorities on search. SES Berlin's sessions will include beginner workshops, intermediate sessions, and debate panels that will address applications such as video, podcasts, and blogs, as well as design and writing for search engines. More advanced marketers can attend sessions on search advertising tools, web analytics, and advanced paid search tactics.

Posted by Greg Jarboe on September 10, 2009, 9:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Search Engine Land Guest Writer Is Dissing Bid Management Again

Okay once again Search Engine Land is allowing a guest poster write an article against bid management programs, but at least this time it is not being sponsored by a company offering bid management.

Two months ago I wrote about an article that covered much the same ground. This time there is more detail but again there is a flaw in the logic. While agree that small PPC management may not need such a program, any middle and up sized effort can benefit from using bid management.

The author, Kelly Gillease is the Marketing Director at Viator, an online travel information site, feels that people are pressured in to using the software when it is not needed. Then lays out an agrument that suggests since the programs are reactive as opposed to proactive suggesting that in itself is bad.

What is not mentioned is that the SEM should use the statistics that these programs offer to make the changes, build more keywords, write better creatives and landing pages. Good bid management will include the impact of different ads and landing pages.

The results are what they use to make the decisions, since you can't know what move to truly make without feedback. Blind changes should not be done "using human's industry knowledge and experience". The time saved using the tools is significant as anyone who has done the numerous pivot tables needed to integrate various engines' results. Time that can be used to make the other changes that a diligent SEM should do.

I realize this is another article written by a guest, but two such articles in two months has to suggest something.

Maybe they should be reading articles such as Ron Jones series on the topic. Small companies get the benefit of using software instead of hiring extra bodies, larger ones just need it to deal with the mass of information.

Posted by Frank Watson on September 10, 2009, 1:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

iTunes "Can't Buy Me Love", Rock Band "Come And Get It"

Rumors abounded prior to the launch of iTunes 9 that the Beatles catalogue would finally be available for download on the media player. But when the announcement was made there was no mention of the Beatles songs.

Interestingly, the TechCrunch article about the possibility that quoted a Sky News report that included a statement from John Lennon's widow Yoko Ono, who is in charge of managing the music legend's estate, had a banner promoting the launch of Rock Band's Beatles edition.

Despite the fact that Paul McCartney was quoted byNME.com (New Musical Express the UK version of Rolling Stone magazine) as saying he wanted the catalogue available for download by the general public, apparently EMI vetoed it.

Guess Apple will just have to be satisfied with praise from President Obama during his address to the nation's school children Wednesday. Though there had to be some at the company singing "Don't Pass Me By".

Rock Band and Amazon - the banner landed there to purchase the game software - may have been the big winner. Though I wonder which came first - the banner or the story?

Posted by Frank Watson on September 10, 2009, 12:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Incisive Media Still Strong Despite Global Ad Spend Drop

Despite stories to the contrary, Incisive Media has come out of its recent debt problems and is looking stronger and ready to become more so, company founder and CEO Tim Weller told paidContent UK this week.

Weller discussed the debt for equity swap that has 18 banks now investing in the company, as well as his enthusiasm for the future, though warned that the online ad spend drop is likely to continue a little longer.

"Forget the cautious optimism we've heard from the like of Sir Martin Sorrell of late: "Anyone who thinks 2010 is going to be better than 2009 is kidding themselves and has probably still got their head in the sand," says Weller. Media businesses should plan to experience the same volatility and slowed growth of the last nine months for the next 15, though on a bright-ish note he adds that "at least we know where we are", Weller told paidContent.

On the bright side, Incisive Media has been cutting non-profitable publications and is in a strong position.

""We don't have loss-making assets in the business. Whilst we've had too much debt, the business is still very profitable," he says. Incisive isn't ditching its magazines--a subscription to Risk is almost £1,000 a year and is now printed in seven languages--but he accepts that mags have to be more analytical these days," paid Content reported he said.

On the search front, ClickZ and Search Engine Watch are moving stongly forward and new senior VP Michael Grehan started this week. While the SES conferences are also moving ahead - with agreements for the San Jose event to be moved to San Francisco next year and the established events in the United States and Europe to continue, with some interesting new additions to be announced in the near future.

Posted by Frank Watson on September 9, 2009, 8:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google Grows a Larger Search Box on Home Page

If something looks a little different on Google.com, don't adjust your screen. Something is different.

The search box is bigger. The buttons below the search box are bigger and the text size for the query suggestions is larger as well.

Google suggested the reasoning behind the change was to emphasize their focus on search. That seems a bit strange to me, but whatever. If I had to guess, it would have been that search terms are getting longer and that senior citizens are one of the fastest growing demographics on the web. Plus, with tens of millions of Americans set to enter senior citizen-hood in the next decade, it makes sense to cater to that demo.

If you haven't noticed this yet, don't worry, you will.

On my computer, I was able to see the new, bigger box on Internet Explorer, and Firefox but not Chrome.

Check out the screenshots below. First is the new Google and below is the old:

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 9, 2009, 8:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)

Did Bartz Cash Out Of Yahoo? Not Really

There has been much made of Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz's sale of company stock over the past 9 months, but if you look at it pragmatically she has only sold a very small portion of her Yahoo stock.

When she took on the job she was granted 5 million shares, according to Web Guild. At current prices that would be over $70 million dollars - quite the signing bonus but she is as good as an NFL QB or a star NBA player.

The $2 million in shares sold represent under 200,000 shares, a small amount of her portfolio.

Yahoo has dropped a considerable amount over the past ten years when it was selling at over $108 a share. But the company has split the stock twice since then so the long term investor has not been as deeply impacted as one who invested over the past two years. On October 26, 2007 the stock was over $33 - meaning the long term investor would have had more than the $108 per share ten years ago.

Bartz was brought in to help improve the bottom line. While the stock price may not reflect a great job, she has dealt with takeover bids and executive board usurpers.

With the deal with Microsoft in place, Yahoo has gotten back to the things they were once valued for - content and community.

Personally I do not think she has cashed out.

Posted by Frank Watson on September 9, 2009, 8:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Twitter Plans Q4 Revenue-Generating Features; Goes Down During Apple Event

Twitter has revealed plans to begin generating revenue during the fourth quarter of this year. The initial premium features will be available for businesses.

Such features could include analytics to help companies track tweets about their company or verified corporate accounts.

Twitter reached 20.1 million users this past June.

Of course, Twitter will want to keep working on its security and downtime issues if it wants to charge businesses for premium services. Today, there was downtime likely related to a major Apple event (not the first time that's happened). Recently, Twitter succumbed to a cybersecurity attack.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 9, 2009, 1:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google AdWords Expands Opportunities Tab Beta Test

Back in July, Google AdWords began testing an "Opportunities Tab," designed to help advertisers find more cost-effective traffic for their campaigns. Now, the test is being expanded.

The expansion includes additional U.S. advertisers and also begins to bring in advertisers from the U.K. and Australia. The Opportunities Tab gives a quick overview of Google's customized keyword and budget ideas for your campaign. That will likely make a bunch of you feel quite uneasy.

If you're included in the beta, be prepared for a change. For example, you won't see a tab for AdWords tool. The existing AdWords tools aren't gone, but they'll be in a different place. You'll have to click on the Opportunities Tab and then scroll down the sidebar. Lists of campaigns will also be on the sidebar on the left.

What do you think of the Opportunities Tab? Tell us by leaving a comment below.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 9, 2009, 12:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Study Exposes Difficulty in Measuring Twitter Influence

If you were to ask around social media and online marketing professionals how to measure the influence of a Twitter user, you'd probably get a variety of answers. That's because there are a variety of success stories.

Some organizations use it as a broadcast medium; some are conversationalists. Some have a ton of followers, others have fewer but establish more concrete relationships.

So, who has the best influence? Is it the person with the most ReTweets? Is it the person with the most responses to an average Tweet?

The Web Ecology Project is attempting to answer those questions with their new report The Influentials: New Approaches for Analyzing Influence on Twitter.

Reading the 18 page PDF, I felt like more questions were raised than answered, but what's great about the report is the careful consideration it gives to the different ways to measure influence.

Far too many people seem to place importance on sheer number of followers. But there can be powerful influence among those with smaller numbers of followers as well.

We know this from other studies showing the power of reviews and the trust consumers place in the opinions of friends and family.

And even though the Web Ecology Project itself came to such conslusions as "Mashable is more influential than CNN," reading through their report ultimately reveals that measuring influence really depends on how you define it.

Looking at some of their data shows how challenging these tasks are. The Web Ecology Project chose some of the top Twitterers in Entertainment, News, and Social Media according to how many followers they have.

But what are all of those followers doing with those Tweets? Check out each Twitterer's percentage of ReTweets, Replies and Mentions by number of their total responses:

The less well-known you are the more effort you have to put forth to generate responses. Ashton Kutcher gets tons of responses for his Tweets, which are smaller in number than other less-known Twitterers, such as the social media gurus. In other words, if no one knows who the heck you are, you're going to have to work your butt off to be influential on Twitter.

How do you measure influence on Twitter? Is conversation or broadcasting more influential? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment below.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 8, 2009, 9:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Yahoo! Releases Three New Mobile Applications

Yahoo! has released three new mobile applications based on existing web sites and products. The three apps are Yahoo! Finance (for iPhone and Blackberry), Yahoo! Fantasy Football (iPhone and BlackBerry), and Flickr (iPhone).

Here's what you can expect from the three apps:

Yahoo! Finance

• Stay up to date on the broad market indices or a specific company
• Access to the top financial news stories
• Follow your personalized portfolio from Yahoo! Finance
• Drill down into specific company information that's important to you
• Get streaming video from Yahoo!'s Tech Ticker

Yahoo! Fantasy Football

• Manage your team directly from your phone
• Add and drop players
• View matchups, standings, and player stats
• Get live scoring just like on the PC
• Get news and expert advice just like you're used to on the PC

Flickr

• Upload: take a photo, upload it, tag it - on the go
• Your photo stream (You): view your own photos, share with friends via mail
• Contacts' Photos (Contacts): view your friends' photos, comment on them, mark as your favorite
• Recent: view your activity and uploads from your contacts
• Search: for photos by subject, people and places
• Location Services: geo-tag photos before uploading
• Video: Take videos, upload, and playback posted videos

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 8, 2009, 1:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Ex-Yahoo! and Author of 'Peanut Butter Manifesto' Brad Garlinghouse Heads to AOL

In 2006, Brad Garlinghouse made waves at Yahoo! by releasing the "Peanut Butter Manifesto," which outlined a bunch of organizational and administrative problems he felt Yahoo! had. As senior vice president at the time, he felt Yahoo! was spread thin and needed focus, leadership, and accountability.

During the turbulence that accompanied the post-Microsoft acquisition rejection, Garlinghouse left Yahoo!

Now, he's been tapped to run Internet and mobile communications at AOL. He'll be based in Silicon Valley.

Garlinghouse isn't the only big name to join AOL. Tim Armstrong left Google to run AOL earlier this year.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 8, 2009, 11:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SEW Webcast with Bill Hunt Tomorrow

It's a fact of business life: big companies often face bigger challenges. Large-scale search programs, especially those involving multiple brands or multiple countries, are inherently more complex to create and manage. If you're finding yourself in this situation, look no further than our latest Search Engine Watch webcast, "Effectively Managing a Large Scale Search Program."

The presenter is Bill Hunt. Hunt was previously CEO of two of the largest global search marketing firms, Global Strategies and Outrider -- both of which were acquired by WPP. So he knows a thing or two about running large search programs.

He's also an internationally-recognized search marketing expert who has spoken at conferences in over 30 countries, as well as one of our SEW Experts on International SEM.

The webcast takes place from 1-2 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, September 9, 2009. Hunt will provide some proven tips and techniques for running a large-scale search marketing program, including:
• Review of best practices
• How to get more out of your tools and process
• How to identify and remove key impediments
• How to move from a tactical to strategic view of search marketing
• How to deploy a keyword arbitration plan
• How to develop a scorecard system to ensure performance

There will also be plenty of time for Q&A with Bill, so come armed with your notebook and questions. Sign up today at the SEW Webcasts page.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on September 8, 2009, 11:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google China Head Departs

Dr. Kai-Fu Lee has resigned as Google Vice President and President of Google Greater China to work with Chinese start-ups at a new company he founded, Innovation Works.

Innovation Works will concentrate on Internet, mobile Internet, and cloud computing technology advancements targeted at the Greater China market, and build "dream teams" to collect, analyze, prioritize and execute on the most promising ideas, according to a statement. Lee will serve as Innovation Works chairman and CEO.

"Innovation Works will be the de-facto institution for launching the most promising technology ideas in China," Lee said. "Through the rigorous development and testing of prototypes, and identification of a 'founding executive' to lead the venture, Innovation Works will provide capital, manpower, legal, financial and IT support. Our commitment is to mentoring and supporting the next-generation of Chinese entrepreneurs so that they can focus on building great products without distraction."

Innovation Works will be funded with $115 million from venture capital groups and investors including Steve Chen (co-founder of YouTube), Foxconn Technology Group, Legend Group and New Oriental Education & Technology Group. WI Harper Group is the lead VC investor

Dr. Lee has been led Google China since 2005, when he was wrested away from Microsoft in a highly publicized contract battle. At Microsoft, Dr. Lee had led Microsoft Research Asia from 1998 to 2000, and led Microsoft's .Net efforts after that.

The loss of Lee could put Google back in its push into the Chinese market. The search giant remains in second place to Baidu, and has faced a tough road battling censorship demands by Chinese authorities.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb on September 8, 2009, 11:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SES Brings SEM and SEO Training Workshops to London

SES holds search engine marketing and search engine optimization training workshops one the days before and after its major conferences on both sides of the pond. But SES is also bringing in SEM and SEO experts to teach full- and half-day of SEM and SEO training workshops in London on Monday, 26 October, 2009.

Andy Atkins-Krüger of WebCertain Global Ltd and Dixon Jones of Receptional LTD will teach a full-day workshop entitled, "Essentials of a Successful SEO Project." The full day of training covers both core and optional elements, allowing SEO practitioners of all levels and skill sets to investigate the areas of SEO most important to their organization.

At SES London 2008, I interviewed Atkins-Kruger about the more serious aspects of organic seo and paid search optimiztion when operating internationally. Check out the video interview below.

Andy Atkins-Krueger, WebCertain, at SES London on YouTube

At SES London 2009, I interviewed Jones about link building strategies. He said there are three elements to developing search engine presence. These include: What does somebody search for, what is on the page and how you link it all together. Check out the video interview below.

Dixon Jones, Receptional LTD, on link building strategies at SES London 2009

There will also be two half-day SEO training workshops at the SES event in October. The first is entitled, "Introduction to Mobile Marketing & Mobile SEO." Taught by Cindy Krum of Rank-Mobile, this 4-hour training session will cover basic mobile marketing strategies that are attracting mobile traffic today.

At SES New York 2009, Crum said mobile search has arrived, especially with the development of such mobile products as the iPhone. Check out the video interview below.

Cindy Krum, Rank-Mobile, on mobile search at SES New York 2009

Finally, Lee Odden of TopRank Online Marketing will teach the half-day "Social Media & SEO Synergies Workshop." This intensive, 1/2 day workshop will help companies better understand the social web and how a combination of social media and search engine optimization can help increase awareness, better connect with customers and grow sales.

At SES San Jose 2009, I interviewed Odden about the integration of social media and SEO. He stated that social media participation produces content, which others can link to, in turn helping your search engine ranking by providing more inbound links. Check out the video interview below.

Lee Odden discusses the integration of social media and SEO at SES San Jose 2009

As you can tell, I know all four of the instructors -- and can personally vouch for their expertise. Plus, this in-depth training in a small class setting ensures that your instructor is accessible for informal one-on-one or small group discussions.

Now, if you don't live in London, you might also want to know about the Autumn Days promotion being held by Starwood Hotels and Resorts, which offers great hotel deals throughout Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Hundreds of participating Sheraton, Westin, Le Méridien, St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, Four Points by Sheraton and W Hotels are offering a discount of 20% off bookings for stays of two nights or more.

For example, The Park Lane Hotel in London is one of the Starwood Hotels participating in the Autumn Days promotion, which runs until 8 November 2009 with bookings valid for stays until 31 January 2010. The Park Lane Hotel is located in Mayfair on Piccadilly, which is less than a mile -- or a 5-minute taxi ride -- from the Incisive Media offices at 32-34 Broadwick St, London, where the SEM and SEO training workshops will be held.

Or, if you want to stay near the airport, the Sheraton Heathrow Hotel offers a discount of 10% for stays just one night. However, you'll miss the pubs -- er, networking opportunities -- near Piccadilly. You must choose, "but choose wisely," as the Grail Knight advises in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989).

(I should disclose that Starwood Hotels and Resorts is a client, but I figure that you'd still like to know about its Autumn Days promotion. For further information and bookings visit www.autumnbreak09.com.)

Posted by Greg Jarboe on September 7, 2009, 2:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)

Google's Unexplained Phenomenon: Tip To Old Video Game?

Google has been playing games with its logo and Twitter over the weekend. First came the UFO logo beaming up the second O in the Google home page (as shown below). Second came the string of numbers in Google's Twitter post.

The number string: 1.12.12 25.15.21.18 15 1.18.5 2.5.12.15.14.7 20.15 21.19 - translates when assigning letters to the numbers in a straight code you get: All your O belong to us. Perhaps a nod to Zero Wing -a computer game that was big 20 years - replacing O for zero.

Was it a test of Twitter's power to refer traffic to Google for even an oblique message? Or could it have been an oblique accounting reference - "Zero-base budgeting does not use the previous year's budget or expenses in setting a new budget, since the company's circumstances and finances may have changed".

Obviously that last one is a stretch, but if you leave cryptic messages there will always be speculation.

Posted by Frank Watson on September 7, 2009, 2:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

ABC News Nightline Story Looks at NACA's Save the Dream Tour

Last night, the incredible success of the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA) was featured on Nightline on ABC News. Entitled "The Financial Terrorist," the story went on the frontlines to Cleveland, Ohio, with NACA CEO Bruce Marks, "a man trying to restore the American Dream."

It's worth noting that Marks is a self-proclaimed "bank terrorist," according to a recent interview in The Boston Globe entitled, "Taking bank chiefs to task to save homes." Marks explained, "Bank terrorism is a nonviolent way we personalize the consequences of CEOs' actions. When someone loses their home, they lose their neighbors, they lose their community, and their kids lose their friends and their schools. It's personal. Lives have been devastated. We go to the CEOs' homes, usually on Sunday morning, which is family time, in their gated communities."

I featured NACA's Save the Dream Tour in a case study that I presented at SES San Jose 2009 during the session entitled, "How to Optimize for Search & Engage the Community." I also presented excerpts of NACA's Save The Dream tour documentary produced by DigiNovations at Social Media & Video Strategies during the session entitled, "What Works: Best Practices / Case Studies for Online Video."

NACA's Save The Dream tour documentary - excerpts (produced by DigiNovations)

NACA's "Save the Dream" tour has already helped thousands of homeowners avoid foreclosure, restructure home loans, and reduce mortgage rates. It has used 9 optimized press releases, blog outreach, have a dozen YouTube videos, social media marketing and old fashioned media relations to generate 29 local TV stories, 18 articles in daily newspapers, 272 blog posts, and 246 Twitter tweets. The combined coverage helped to attract over 35,000 participants in Cleveland, 45,000 in Chicago, 40,000 in St. Louis, and 60,000 in Atlanta. But, as I mentioned back at SES San Jose 2009 and Social Media & Video Strategies, NACA's Save the Dream Tour isn't over.

It will continue at upcoming events in Phoenix, AZ, at the Phoenix Convention Center from Sept. 25 to 28; Los Angeles, CA, at the LA Convention Center from Oct. 2 to 5; Las Vegas, NV, at the Thomas and Mack Center from Oct, 9 to 12; and San Francisco, CA, at the Cow Palance from Oct. 16 to 20, 2009.

NACA projects that they will be able to help 80% of those who apply. NACA can do this because it has secured legally binding agreements with most of the major lenders and servicers, which covers 90% of the at-risk homeowners.

But, to achieve an affordable solution, participants also need to bring the following documents to one of NACA's Save the Dream events:
a) Pay Stubs (most recent available 30 days)
b) Monthly Mortgage Statement (most recent available)
c) Property Tax Bill (most recent available)
d) Homeowners Insurance Bill (most recent available)

It also helps to register for the event. At the first four events this summer, NACA had over 500 staff and volunteers who put in long hours and lots of hard work to help homeowners save their dream. Nevertheless, the turnout has been unprecidented.

As Chris Camp of WSB News in Atlanta reported, "Over four days, 60,000 people have been standing in the hot Georgia sun... hoping for salvation in the midst of America's money crisis. Now it comes down to this. A woman sobs uncontrollably, comforted by friends and her mother....When she lost one of her jobs, her entire world teetered on the edge of disaster. Instead, she came to the Georgia World Congress Center, hoping for a miracle. She found one: the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America."

Posted by Greg Jarboe on September 5, 2009, 12:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (18)

Italian Regulators Expand Investigation to Google, Inc.

So much for hoping that Italian regulators would see how newspaper publishers were contradicting themselves. The probe into Google's Italian news site is now expanding to Google's main search engine.

Italian newspaper publishers are saying that Google is using their material to generate online advertising revenue on the News search site, then turning around and complaining that they're not being indexed in Google's main search.

There are so many problems with their argument. First up, the obvious problem with the complaint about Google's News search. Call me crazy, but if you're a newspaper, I would think you would want to be found on a site dedicated specifically to news.

Secondly, why is it ok to be found, via link, in Google's main search but not on Google's News search (also via link). If you purposefully opt-out of one search,

Thirdly, Google is a private company and can index however they want. Even if they were excluding newspapers who complained from the main search, too bad for those publishers. It's a business and Google can run their algorithms how they please, whether other people like it or not. Of course, it would not be very consumer friendly to leave out major newspapers from their index. So, Google would have to risk looking like they have a crappy search engine if major publishers were indeed omitted from the search results.

Last but not least, if they're going to go after Google for News Search, why not go after all engines that provide news search or sites like Techmeme that aggregate headlines? The very act of investigating Google proves how much news search is worth to the newspaper industry. Punishing Google will only make it worse for everyone involved. Let's face it, print newspapers are never going to trend back in.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 4, 2009, 1:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Google Domestic Trends Tracks Search Volume Across Economic Sectors

Google Finance has a new feature that uses Google Trends to show search volume as it relates to economic sectors. The feature is called Google Domestic Trends and it consists of 23 indexes.

Ultimately, Google's goal is to predict economic indicators via search volume data. You can download Google Domestic Trends and use it with your own models.

The 23 indexes are:

Advertising & marketing
Air travel
Auto buyers
Auto financing
Automotive
Banking & personal finance
Business
Computers & electronics
Construction
Credit & lending
Durable goods
Finance & insurance
Furniture
Industries
Investing
Jobs
Luxury goods
Mortgage
Real estate
Rental
Retail trade
Travel
Unemployment

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 4, 2009, 12:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

How to Optimize for Bing

Over at the official Bing blog, Principal Group Program Manager Rajesh Srivastava is offering up some tips on how to conduct search engine optimization (SEO) for their engine.

Much of Srivastava's advice is your basic SEO tips that you would apply for Google or Yahoo! But for you beginners out there, drill these SEO principles into your head:

• Develop great, original content (including well-implemented keywords) directed toward your intended audience
• Use well-architected code in your webpages (including images and Sitemaps) so that users' web browsers and search engine crawlers can read the content you want indexed)
• Earn several, high-quality, authoritative inbound links

Bing has a Webmaster Center, similar to Google's Webmaster Central. Use it to help Bing index your site and improve your results even further. Here are tips for using Bing's Webmaster Center:

• Review the Bing official guidelines for successful indexing document for various recommendations on technical and content issues as well as known problems that can affect your site's rank
• Visit the Webmaster Center blog to keep up with the latest information from the team (you can even subscribe to our blog's RSS feed to automate this process)
• Register all of your websites with Bing Webmaster Center tools, where you can use our tools to see all sorts of data to your website pertinent to webmasters
• Participate in our Webmaster Center user forums to ask questions and provide us with feedback

What do you think of Bing's SEO tips? Do you have any to add? Let us know by leaving a comment.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 4, 2009, 12:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

Plaxo Changes Privacy Policy, Sharing Users Info

If you use Plaxo you should have received an email from them stating they have changed their privacy policy and terms of service, the biggest of which is their decision to share information with their "partners".

As it is outlined in the email:

1. Demographic portions of your data (such as zip code, gender, or industry) and usage patterns may be shared with our trusted partners who deliver advertising to you on our behalf. Consistent with our current policy, personally identifiable information (e.g. your name, address, phone number, email) will not be shared with third parties for advertising purposes without your consent; and
2. The advertising networks who deliver ads on Plaxo may use their own cookies to collect information about a user's activities across their entire network of Websites.

It is a slippery slope when companies start "sharing users information".

Posted by Frank Watson on September 4, 2009, 12:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Pepperjam Acquired by GSI Commerce

Pepperjam, an affiliate marketing network and search marketing agency, has been acquired by e-commerce and multichannel provider GSI Commerce. Wilkes-Barre, PA-based Pepperjam will run as a separate business unit of GSI Interactive.

"The acquisition of Pepperjam is a strategic extension of our marketing services business that we believe will enhance growth opportunities for both GSI and our clients," said Michael G. Rubin, chairman, president and CEO of GSI. "By owning our own affiliate network, we believe we can more rapidly drive innovation and service enhancements to our clients while also expanding our marketing services offering to a broader universe of prospective clients. We expect the affiliate business to represent an important opportunity over time."

The deal helps both parties complement each other's existing offerings.

"This is a great fit for Pepperjam and the hundreds of clients and thousands of affiliates that we serve," said Kristopher B. Jones, president of Pepperjam. "We are teaming with the leading provider of e-commerce and marketing services which will provide us with strategic guidance and the opportunity to grow our affiliate network."

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 3, 2009, 6:11 PM | Permalink

Yahoo! Search Index Update for September 2009 Underway

Over at Yahoo!, they're rolling out a new update to their search index. As usual, not much to report except - go check your rankings. Here's what they had to say over at the Yahoo! Search blog:

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 3, 2009, 12:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Search Sharing Features Being Tested in Bing

It's no surprise in today's social networking culture that sharing features are being more and more incorporated on various sites. Bing is the latest with its test of sharing buttons for Twitter, Facebook and Email.

Since it's a test, most searchers will not see the sharing feature, which is why I have to share this screenshot featuring the Seattle Seahawks Instant Answer instead of the Carolina Panthers. This shot was featured on the Official Bing Blog and demos the sharing feature being tested:

Bing has labeled this feature as "Bing and Ping." It's not just for sports-related Instant Answers, either. They're testing it on other searches such as flights and movie times.

What do you think of Bing and Ping? Let us know by leaving a comment.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 3, 2009, 12:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Digg Goes Nofollow to Reduce Spam

Social bookmarking site Digg is incorporating the Nofollow tag to a bunch of links in order to reduce spam. Links on user profiles, comments and not-so-popular posts will get the nofollow tag, meaning it won't pass along link juice.

Many have submitted content to Digg just for the links. Of course, the more popular a link is, then there's the added value of a traffic bump.

In their blog post announcing the change, Digg was not specific on how popular a link would have to be in order to get the Nofollow tag removed.

Digg said it worked with leading experts in SEO to come up with the rule. But since Google bullied Twitter into integrating Nofollow, you have to wonder how much of a collaboration this was and who the experts were.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 2, 2009, 6:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Colleges and Universities Suck at SEO According to Wordstream Study

Whenever I get the whim to consider going back to school, I, of course, turn to search. I'm often completely appalled by the quality of websites associated with colleges and universities. There is little continuity of design and message and site search is generally terrible. Why go back to school when a university can't even create a decent website?

That's why I'm glad that Wordstream has released their list of top colleges and universities with regards to SEO. Optimization isn't everything when it comes to web design and development, but it's a start.

It should surprise no one that online-based higher education ranks high on Wordstream's list. (Before you balk, consider that a recent study by the US Department of Education showed that online education beats classroom learning.)

Drexel University, a traditional university with a strong online offering, was the big winner with the most top 10 results. Two online schools, University of Phoenix and Capella University were the only other colleges to have strong top 10 showings.

Wordstream conducted the rankings by searching for popular higher-ed keywords such as "psychology degree," "MBA," and "nursing degree."

Their conclusion that most schools aren't conducting SEO or enough SEO didn't surprise me. (It's a bit ironic, since many link builders would love inbounds from a .edu.)

Of course, as I said above, this doesn't even take into account design and most developmental issues. I'd argue that a nice chunk of incoming freshmen computer science geeks could team up with some design majors and probably code up a better website than most universities have.

Is it true that those who can't do, teach? Sound off in the comments below.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 2, 2009, 5:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Google News Launches Four Arabic Editions

Google News is now available in Arabic for four countries: Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The editions are just like the original Google News, with computer-generated aggregate headlines.

Also like the original, they include niche headlines for Business, Sports, Entertainment, etc.

With over 40 million Arabic speaking in the world, Google says this is just the beginning of expanding their News product to the Arabic-speaking world. They plan to release additional Arabic editions of Google News in the future.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 2, 2009, 5:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Google Cash Scam Artists vs. White Knight SEO Campaign

During SES San Jose 2009, I heard about plans to launch a White Knight SEO campaign to fight the legion of Google Cash Scam artists. If you want some background on the effort, read Jonah Stein's post "Using SEO for Good - Introducting White Knight SEO."

As Stein explains, the group aims to protect users from spam blogs (splogs), Made for AdSense (MFA) sites, and other Google Cash Scam artists by "dominating organic search results with consumer protection information. We hope that we can place advisory content to take over the top 10 results in Google for searches related to common scams and online fraud with a particular focus on areas which are using adwords & adsense to snare victims."

The White Knight SEO campaign's first target is "Google Cash" and related terms. And it has already started generating posts.

One of the earliest that I've found is "Alert - Google Cash Scam," which was posted August 19, 2009, by David Rodnitsky of PPC Associates. Rodnitsky says, "Move over flogs, now there's something meatier! Introducing, um, fnews - fake news! I got a full-screen pop up today from the 'Los Angeles Tribunes' with the headline 'Breaking: Google is Hiring at Home Workers. Pay $373 Dollars a Day (or more).'"

On August 21, Jonathan Hochman, the founder of Hochman Consultants, joined the White Knight SEO campaign when he posted, "Google Turns Blind Eye to Scam Ads." According to Hochman, "Unless you live under a rock, you've no doubt seen those 'Google Cash business opportunity' ads from entities like Google Money Tree and Google Treasure Chest. They seem to be everywhere."

And earlier today, Stein re-doubled his efforts by posting "Google's Cash Cow - Scam Advertising & Profits." Stein writes, "By now, you have gotten at least one email inviting you to make easy money by placing links on Google. These scams go by names like 'The Google Cash System' or 'Easy Google Cash'. The bottom line is pretty simple, these offers are scams and they are designed to take advantage of the most vulnerable people in our society, the unemployed, the opportunity seekers and the naive."

It's still early days, but it will be worth watching the White Knight SEO campaign against the Google Cash Scam artists. If you search for "Google cash" in Google, the #1 organic listing is the question in Google's Web Search Help, "Is Google Cash a legitimate service?"

But the eye goes to the #4 organic listing, which is a YouTube video entitled "Google Cash Scam." You can also watch the 4-minute, 12-second video by Sean Kells of the ReviewAroo.com blog below.

Who knows, maybe there are already enough warning signs around for even the most naive searcher. On the other hand, it never hurts to ensure that the warnings are even more explicit. Stay tuned. This story has legs.

Posted by Greg Jarboe on September 2, 2009, 5:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)

WikiAnswers Holds Virtual Amazing Race-Type Competition

If you're a fan of the hit reality show Amazing Race, you'll now have your chance to play a similar competition - in virtual reality. The WikiAnswers 93 Experience has begun and runs until September 9, 2009.

There are three events in the competition: town hall sessions; the AnswerHunt, and a Video Contest.

AnswerHunt is the Amazing Race-type contest where you travel around the world couch potato-style. Travel around the WikiAnswers world to find clues, figure out riddles and complete tasks.

If pure fun isn't incentive enough, then consider that the total prize values for the competition add up to $4,000.

Will you play the 93 Experience? Let us know your plans in the comments below.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 2, 2009, 4:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Richard Jalichandra, CEO of Technorati, and the Power of Social Media

As I mentioned earlier today, lots of sessions at SES San Jose 2009 and the Social Media & Video Strategies Forum focused on the link between search and social media. In fact, the co-location of the two events was as good an indication as any that the two topics were of interest to many of the same people.

While many of those sessions were held at the McEnery Convention Center, others were held next door at the San Jose Marriott. One of these sessions was entitled, "In the Now: Conversational & Real Time Marketing."

With the advent of Twitter, micro-blogging, and mobile video, the publishing model has been turned on its head. How can marketers take advantage of these new tools? This session at the Social Media & Video Strategies Forum discussed topics ranging from social media's role in the Iranian elections to Ashton Kutcher.

Following the session, Lee Odden, a member of the SES Advisory Board and the CEO of TopRank Online Marketing, interviewed Richard Jalichandra, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Technorati, who was one of the panelists.

Jalichandra cited the example of Kutcher and his Twitter base of more than 2 million followers. He said companies want to develop their brands in the social media space, but they can't always get the reach or scale of a successful viral campaign.

Jalichandra added that as a social media ad network, Technorati encourages companies to place their brands beside the conversation and mix it with a viral component which should help build a successful social media campaign.

Richard Jalichandra, CEO of Technorati, and the power of social media at SES San Jose 2009

Posted by Greg Jarboe on September 2, 2009, 3:14 PM | Permalink

Bing Serves Up Most Successful Canadian Searches

Last month, Hitwise shared data showing the paltry number of Canadian searches deemed successful. Far too many Canadians have to refine searches in order to find what they're looking for.

After receiving many requests to break down the data by search engine, Hitwise has revealed that Bing serves up the highest percentage of successful searches in Canada.Still, most searchers are hanging out on Google.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 2, 2009, 12:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Liana Evans of Serengeti Communications on Social Media Relationships

Last month, there were a number of sessions at SES San Jose 2009 and the Social Media & Video Strategies Forum that tried to link search and social media. One of them was entitled, "Social Media: Managing Conversations and Reputations When the User Is In Control."

What your customers say about you online -- both on your site and elsewhere -- has an impact on your marketing efforts. This panel examined how businesses must improve internal operations before trying to guide external conversations, provided the nuts and bolts of carrying out a social media strategy and shared first-hand experiences and tips from professionals in the trenches.

One of the panelists was Liana Evans, Director of Social Media at Serengeti Communications. (The Flickr photo of Li at SES San Jose 2009 was taken by Kenneth Yeung of TheLetterTwo.com) John Mulligan of SEO-PR interviewed Li after the differences between search and social media.

Liana Evans of Serengeti Communications on Social Media Relationships at SES San Jose 2009

Li says you need to set appropriate objectives -- otherwise you are just throwing spaghetti against the wall. She says you need to plan your company's strategy, define what will be measured and constantly monitor and measure. With social media, you're measuring influency, intimacy, interaction. You can measure these attributes by observing such actions as whether comments are being left on your YouTube video, or putting reviews out via blogs about your product.

Li says it's about branding and building relationships when using social media and not necessarily about registering a click to purchase. She adds how important it is when building social media relationships to make potential users of your product "brand evangelists." Managing social media effectively revolves around building a strategy, says Li, and its all about the relationships you build.

Search Engine Strategies 2009 - San Jose - Liana Evans (Flickr photo by Kenneth Yeung (cc) of TheLetterTwo.com)

Posted by Greg Jarboe on September 2, 2009, 11:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

eZanga Launches Display Advertising Offering

Search and online advertising company eZanga has added display advertising to their offering. With the new addition, search marketers can maximize their paid search campaigns by implementing a corresponding display campaign.

"Research has shown that exposure to both search and display ads from the same advertiser results in a 22 percent increase for conversion rates over search alone," said Richard K. Kahn, CEO of eZanga. "We launched eZanga Display in order to capitalize on both of these key Internet marketing channels to help our clients reach their bottom lines faster and more efficiently."

Kahn is right. According to comScore data released earlier this year, search and display out performed either method on its own.

With the new eZanga Display, when web users click on a paid search ad served up by eZanga, they'll see the corresponding display ad campaigns on eZanga's network of sites.

What do you think of eZanga Display? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 2, 2009, 12:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google Investigating Reason for Widespread Gmail Outages [UPDATED]

UPDATE: Over at the Official Gmail Blog, Ben Treynor, VP Engineering and Site Reliability Czar, wrote that the problem was related to a server upgrade. They underestimated the load that would be placed upon the request server, and things got bottlenecked after that.

Today, Gmail went down around 3:45 EST and the world came to a grinding halt so that millions could take to their Twitter clients and Tweet about it.

You could access your Gmail account via IMAP or POP, if you already had it set up. Some were able to access their GMail via iGoogle".

While many are speculating the cause, Google is currently saying it doesn't know what the root reason is and that they're investigating it.

Google was largely immune to the recent cyberattacks on Twitter, Facebook and LiveJournal. It will be interesting to see what the cause of this outage was. Of course, Google has suffered outages before which had nothing to do with cybersecurity.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 1, 2009, 7:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Google Launches TV Advertising Contest

Want to win $25,000 worth of cable television advertising? Google's giving away just that in its "TV for All" contest.

All you have to do is create a 30 or 60 second spot. If you don't have the resources, you can use Spotmixer for free. (Google began offering Spotmixer as a TV ad creation resource last January.)

Then upload the ad to the YouTube channel for the TV for All contest. Then go beg all your friends, family, customers, strangers, pets, etc to vote for your video.

The deadline for submissions is October 5. Three winners will be chosen and announced on October 30.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 1, 2009, 4:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Social Media Comprises 20% of All US Display Ad Impressions

comScore has released data from their Ad Matrix for July 2009 and found that social networking sites comprised over 20% of all US online display advertising impressions.

MySpace and Facebook lead the pack with 9.2% and 8.2% respectively. MySpace served up 30 billion impressions to 64 million unique visitors while Facebook served up 26.8 billion impressions to 67 million uniques.

"Over the past few years, social networking has become one of the most popular online activities, accounting for a significant portion of the time Internet users spend online and the pages they consume," said Jeff Hackett, comScore senior vice president. "Because the top social media sites can deliver high reach and frequency against target segments at a low cost, it appears that some advertisers are eager to use social networking sites as a new advertising delivery vehicle."

Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 1, 2009, 12:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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