October 11, 2009 - October 17, 2009
Bobby Labonte and Ask.com Raise Awareness for Breast Cancer at NASCAR Banking 500
Under the lights tonight at Lowe's Motor Speedway near Charlotte, North Carolina, the number 96 car will be racing for more than just for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points. With 13,000 names of people affected by breast cancer, Bobby Labonte will be driving the NASCAR Banking 500 to raise breast cancer awareness. The effort is in conjunction with sponsor Ask.com and their robust campaign this October, which is breast cancer awareness month.
Additionally, the car will be painted pink and sport the Susan G. Komen for the Cure logo, which is the partner in Ask.com's campaign.
"It's great that a company like Ask.com is using their program to get the word out about breast cancer," said Labonte. "I'm happy to represent a company that aligns itself with worthy causes like Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Ask.com did a great job giving people a way to honor and remember loved ones affected by breast cancer."
Normally, I'm an Earnhardt, Jr. fan, but with search, cancer awareness and my home state of North Carolina colliding for one night, I'm gonna have to pull for #96 this time 'round.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on October 17, 2009, 7:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
YouTube Tests Real-Time Comment Search
If you like to find instances of people jumping to conclusions, being extremely judgmental and just pure hate, then comment search on YouTube will be right up your alley. Seriously, though, in online reputation management, the ability to search YouTube comments will be very useful for engaged companies. Thankfully, ReadWriteWeb has the goods on a real-time comment search that was very quietly rolled out by YouTube. To access it, you'll need to go directly to http://www.youtube.com/comment_search.
For the screenshot, I wanted to keep things as clean as possible, so I searched "love" and here's what it looks like:
Notice the trending topics - conduct a few searches yourself and you'll see how quickly those trending topics change. Give it a go and let us know what you think by leaving a comment.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on October 16, 2009, 5:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Yandex Teams Up with Maxthon for Russian Language Browser
Russian search engine Yandex is teaming up with Maxthon, a popular Chinese browser. Their partnership will yield a Russian language version of the browser. Of course, Yandex will be set as default on the browser.
Yandex is the leading search provider in Russia and the second largest in Europe. comScore has Yandex at 44% of the Russian search market and Google at just 10%.
Meanwhile, Maxthon's global browser share was 1.55% in August 2009, according to Net Applications. Their largest overseas market is Russian, so the partnership with Yandex certainly makes sense.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on October 16, 2009, 4:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Google Trike: Going Where No Street View Vehicle Has Gone Before
Google has added to their Street View transportation fleet: a tricycle. Dubbed "Google Trike," the pimped out pedaling three-wheel bike goes where cars just can't. Or shouldn't, anyway.
The idea was conceived by Dan Ratner, a mechanical engineer/mountain biking enthusiast at the Mountain View, CA search giant. Ratner has already photographed LEGOLAND and the Arastradero Open Preserve.
There's a lot of land to cover out there, and Google is taking nominations for the next place in the U.S. to be photographed with Google Trike. Simply go to http://www.google.com/trike to make your nomination for one of the following categories:
- Parks & Trails
- University Campuses
- Pedestrian Malls (e.g., outdoor shopping areas, boardwalks)
- Theme Parks & Zoos
- Landmarks
- Sports Venues (e.g., golf courses, racing tracks, stadium grounds)
Nominations are open until October 28. Google will select a winner in each category and then open the finalists up to voting by the public.
Oh, you wanted to see what the Google Trike looks like? Check out this vid:
Posted by Nathania Johnson on October 16, 2009, 3:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Yahoo! Dropping Paid Inclusion Program at End of Year
Yahoo! has announced that it's nixing its paid inclusion program. The program has allowed websites to be submitted to Yahoo!'s search engine by ponying up some moolah. The submissions led to inclusion in the organic listings as the program is separate from Yahoo!'s Sponsored Results. Yahoo! has been criticized for its paid inclusion program, since the sites who do pay and those who don't are mixed in together.
Yahoo! provided a statement on the cancellation of the program:
We are committing our resources and efforts to our core areas of focus, including improving the search experience and relevancy of our ads to increase user engagement and ROI for advertisers, and as a result, have decided to exit Search Submit (see definition above). We have stepped up innovation in Search Marketing, recently rolling out search retargeting, Rich Ads in Search and improved matching technology, and in Consumer Search, with enhancements like the new search results page. These enhancements deliver value, control, innovation and relevance to our advertisers, leading to increased ROI.
Yahoo! will exit Search Submit at the end of 2009.
Yahoo! is providing those advertisers affected by the decision a sufficient lead time to assist in the transition. In addition, Yahoo! has recently announced a series of important enhancements to its Search advertising business and will work closely with many Search Submit advertisers to provide them with search solutions that will benefit their businesses.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on October 16, 2009, 3:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Google Reports Great Third Quarter, 'Worse Behind Us' CEO States
Google had its third quarter financial report today and beat estimates of analysts with a 7% year over year growth with net income increase of 27% over same period last year, CNN Money reported.
Eric Schmidt, Google's chief executive, on a conference call with investors said "while there is a lot of uncertainty about the pace of economic recovery, we believe the worst of the recession is behind us and now feel confident about investing heavily in our future."
The stock price which had dropped about 1% during regular trading today jumped up by over 3% in after hour trading.
"Google's strong third quarter could be a good sign for the economy, as the company's ad clicks serve as a kind of barometer of consumers' willingness to spend. The more people click on ads, the more willing they are to buy things," CNN Money noted.
Schmidt also said Google will be "stepping up" hiring in the engineering and sales areas.
Posted by Frank Watson on October 15, 2009, 7:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Chrome OS System Available But Not From Google
A Tech Crunch reader, Jonathan Frederickson, has found the Chrome operating system and has a copy available for download. It is an early build and comes with the bugs and problems such versions include, but it is now out there.
He also has a walk through available on his own blog. Guess we will see this available on laptops in the new year.
Posted by Frank Watson on October 15, 2009, 3:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Google Adds 285 Languages to Translator Toolkit
Google has added a whopping 285 languages to its Translator Toolkit. It brings the total number of languages to 345 and the number of possible language pairs to 10,664. The interface for Translator Toolkit is now available in 35 languages.
Google says its focusing on minority languages. This includes regional, heritage, indigenous, and threatened languages. Google wants to help preserve these lesser known languages so that these smaller cultures won't be forgotten as history constantly unfolds.
One of the minority languages is Māori, an Eastern Polynesian language spoken in New Zealand. According to 2006 data, only 24% of Māori can speak their own language. Google has been working with Dr. Te Taka Keegan at the University of Waikato to preserve the Māori language. Keegan is a senior lecturer in computer science and an expert in how computer-assisted translation tools can assist in the preservation of minority languages.
Keegan has found that computer-assisted translation aids in faster translations and language unification. Tools like Google Toolkit can help in breaking down language barriers and enhancing the understanding of cultures from around the world.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on October 15, 2009, 2:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Google Plans eBook Store to Launch in 2010
At the Frankfurt Book Fair, Google announced plans to launch an eBook store. The store will be called Google Editions and will launch in the first half of 2010.
About 500,000 books will be available at launch. They will also be available for download on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Google emphasized that it does not have plans to make an e-reader device.
Google will pay publishers of the e-books 63% and keep the remaining 37% when purchases are made through Google Edition. When purchased through another retailer, Google will get a very tiny share, with 45% going to the publisher and 55% going to the retailer.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on October 15, 2009, 1:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
'Ads By Google' to Appear on Rich Media Ads
Google is adding the "Ads by Google" notice to rich media ads, such as Flash and interactive ads. It will appear as an information icon (lowercase "i" in a small circle) in the lower right corner. When the icon is hovered over, it expands to the words "Ads by Google." If the notice is clicked on, then the user is taken to a page about Google's advertising practices.
Considering news of this update was published not only on the AdWords and AdSense blogs but also on the Google Public Policy blog, it's safe to assume that this is a reaction to political scrutiny. Politicians from state and federal governments have been looking into online behavioral advertising practices, wary of the implications it has for privacy.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on October 15, 2009, 1:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Bing's Growth Slows, Google Recoups Losses in comScore September 2009 Report
comScore has released their search engine share report for September 2009 and we're seeing yet another twist in the "Can Bing catch up with Google?" saga. You may remember that Bing has been on quite a roll since launch gaining over 1 percentage point, with Google and Yahoo! trading off the losses.
Well, the tides began to turn last month, with Google regaining 0.3% of its loss and Bing gaining another 0.1% in share, which is not the rate of growth they have been experiencing. This time, Yahoo! suffered the losses with a 0.5% decline. Ask.com and AOL held steady.
Another interesting tidbit is YouTube's continued growth and how it compares to search. Greg Jarboe already provided you with the scoop on how more YouTube videos were watched in August than searches conducted in September. Be sure to read his post because this is a phenomenon to watch for sure.
Also, read up on Promoted Videos, which is essentially paid search for YouTube. You can now purchase Promoted Videos in AdWords, which will appear in the search results over at YouTube.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on October 15, 2009, 2:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
We Watch More YouTube Videos than We Conduct Google Searches
Now, we all know search is important. And we all know that Google is the leading search engine.
But here's a factoid that continues to amaze marketers:
In August 2009, Americans watched 10 billion videos on YouTube. That same month, Americans conducted 9 billion searches on Google.
Yep, Americans watched a billion more YouTube videos than they conducted Google searches.
The data comes from comScore, a reputable source. And the reason that it may have flown under the radar screen is that it comes from two different reports.
The YouTube data comes from comScore Video Metrix, which reported that 120.5 million Americans watched an average of 82.6 videos per viewer.
The Google data comes from comScore qSearch, which reported that 169.2 million American conducted an average of 53.2 queries per searcher.
So, do you want to be found when someone conducts a search for a relevant term on Google? Of course you do.
But do you want to be found when someone looks for a relevant video on YouTube? You should.
A lot of marketers are trying to get their arms around social media -- like Facebook and Twitter. These are both important. But YouTube is a video sharing site -- which is also a form of social media.
And according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 62% of Internet users in the U.S. have watched video on a video sharing site. This compares to 46%, who have used a social networking site, and 11%, who have used Twitter.
So, why is YouTube often left off the marketing to-do list? It's a mystery.
But, you can start to get your arms around the topic by watching the YouTube video below.
Greg Jarboe of SEO-PR discusses YouTube and Video Marketing at SES London 2009
You can also get a sense of why YouTube is neither fish nor fowl by reading the TubeMogul report entitled, "How do people discover videos online?" More than 45% of viewers find videos through direct navigation to a video site -- i.e. going to YouTube and running a search or clicking around the featured or related videos. But more than 44% of viewers find videos embedded in blogs.
Finally, you can attend the YouTube & Video Optimization session at SES Chicago 2009. I'll tackle this issue head on -- and provide you with proven, practical guidelines for developing and implementing video marketing for your organization.
With more YouTube videos being watched in America than there are searches being conducted on Google, you will want to find out what it takes to get your videos discovered, watched and shared.
Posted by Greg Jarboe on October 14, 2009, 8:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)
Great news for Search Engine Watch, Clickz and Search Engine Strategies.
When I joined Incisive Media as VP, Global Content Director for Search Engine Watch, ClickZ and Search Engine Strategies in August of this year, it was amid some unfounded speculation about the financial health of the company.
It's so true that, nothing travels faster than rumors of doom and gloom. So-and-so is going bust, x is getting sued, y is getting fired and so it goes. So it was refreshing for me when I joined Incisive Media that, senior management confidentially advised me of exactly how the restructuring of the company would proceed.They were totally up-front and dispelled any and all rumors.
Today, Group CEO Tim Weller announced the appointment of Helen Alexander as non executive chairman. Helen has the most fabulous resume ever. Her business career has seen her rise through the ranks of publishers Faber and Faber, The Economist Group where she increased the company's operating profit by 75 percent and culminated in her being awarded the CBE for services to publishing in 2008. This year she became president of the CBI, an organization highly regarded as the voice of business in the UK.
From the official press release she emphasized how keen she was to develop digital products and services: "I have followed Incisive Media's development with interest. I am excited to have this opportunity to work with Tim, the management team and shareholders and hope to contribute positively to the stewardship and growth of the business, particularly in the development of digital products and services. Incisive Media is in prime position to take advantage of the difficult market conditions and accelerate its growth given its leading market position."
CEO Tim Weller has also successfully maneuvered Incisive Media through extensive negotiations and successfully completed the refinancing of the company. This is a hugely positive step forward and a true sign of confidence in the people, the brands and belief in the future prospects and value of Incisive Media.
Personally, I have been given one hundred percent support and approval to go ahead and make the changes I feel will help power Search Engine Watch, ClickZ and Search Engine Strategies through 2010 and into a brand new era of search and digital marketing. I committed to a long term contract and feel that I couldn't have joined the company at a better time.
A number of friends and colleagues in the industry have noticed that, since I joined Incisive, I seem to have pretty much gone underground. And it's true, I did. But only because there are so many new and exciting changes coming around I've been totally absorbed in planning. I've been jetting around meeting people and setting up new collaborations and ventures for the future.
Leading up to SES, Chicago and into 2010 I'll make a series of announcements about changes at Search Engine Watch, ClickZ and Search Engine Strategies. And yes, I will resurface with a new ClickZ column and a regular presence at Search Engine Watch.
So, for the huge number of readers, members and supporters in the SEW/ClickZ/SES community, you can be assured that the future is absolutely certain and very bright.
Naysayers feel free to stick that in your rumor-monger pipes and smoke it.
Posted by Mike Grehan on October 14, 2009, 3:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Facebook: Oh Yeah? Well, We Have a Spam Reporting Option, Too
A day after Twitter released their new spam reporting feature, Facebook has taken to their official blog to remind users that they, too, have a spam reporting feature. What a kwinkydink!?!?!
It's funny to me that Facebook responds to Twitter as they do. As Leena Rao points out over at TechCrunch, Facebook is still light-years ahead of Twitter. There's even some evidence that Twitter could be reaching a saturation point (difficult to determine on pageviews alone, of course).
Still that didn't stop Facebook acquiring FriendFeed and introducing a real-time feed search.
Of course, it's not surprising that the mammoth of social media would take a page from the playbook of the mammoth search engine. After all, there are so many ex-Googlers now working for the social network (including the founders of FriendFeed). Google just can't seem to sit still when their underdog opponents make an announcement. They're always ready with things to update, even though some of them seem less than ready for primetime.
Facebook at least is not making that mistake. But the reminder of their spam fighting feature still reeks of a little too much "Me too!"
Posted by Nathania Johnson on October 14, 2009, 2:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Local.com Experiences Record Traffic in Q3 2009
Local search site Local.com saw record traffic in the third quarter of 2009. During the quarter, 66 million unique visitors checked out the site and network, up 5% from the 63 million uniques of the second quarter. The traffic was up 22% over the third quarter of 2008, which saw 54 million monthly uniques.
Organic traffic came in at over 28 million unique visitors for the quarter, up 4% from the same quarter in 2008.
September 2009 alone saw 23 million unique visitors, a record for Local.com and its network.
"Overall and organic traffic on our site and network are key performance indicators for our business, and we are pleased that we continue to make progress in these areas," said Heath Clarke, Local.com chairman and CEO.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on October 14, 2009, 1:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Give Them a Chapter Online, They're More Likely to Buy the Whole Book
At this year's Frankfurt Book Fair, new data presented by LibreDigital shows that readers who get access to a sample chapter of a book online are more likely to buy the whole thing. LibreDigital has powered 500 million page views of sample chapters for retailers, authors and social networking sites.
"In the case of one well-known book publisher, one in three people who browsed decided to purchase the book online," said Russell P. Reeder, President and CEO of LibreDigital, Inc. "As a result, leading publishers are increasing their use of online previews when planning promotional campaigns for both new and existing book titles."
Other need-to-know data about selling books includes:
- Women are spending nearly 70 percent more time browsing books online than men do.
- The most popular genre of books browsed online is romance novels, followed by books for tweens/teens and business books. The peak time for browsing romance titles is 11pm - 1am, in contrast to 4pm - 11pm for tween/teen books and 9am - 5pm for business books.
- An average reader spends more than 15 minutes browsing a book. They also preview an average of 46 pages of each book they browse.
- Adults are more likely to share links to content via email, while younger readers prefer to share within social networks like Facebook and MySpace.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on October 14, 2009, 1:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
CarMax Sees Rise in Sports Car Searches
CarMax, the largest retailer of used cars in the U.S., says that searches for sports cars rose 6% in September, compared to August. The top 5 sports cars search on CarMax.com were:
1. Ford Mustang
2. Chevrolet Corvette
3. Nissan 350Z
4. Chevrolet Camaro
5. BMW M3
"Sports cars remain an American classic," said Craig Beiner, purchasing manager for CarMax in Virginia Beach, Virginia. "Consumers may now be feeling more comfortable with the idea of getting a 'fun' vehicle that has an enduring appeal."
Either this is a sign that consumer confidence may be returning or the mid-life crisis is recession-proof. What's your take? Leave a comment below.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on October 14, 2009, 1:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
YouTube Promoted Videos Available to Buy in AdWords, Expand to 7 More Countries
Advertisers with video content now have the option of buying Promoted Videos on YouTube with their AdWords account. Need incentive to buy? YouTube says clicks on Promoted Videos have increased 500% since January.
Additionally, YouTube is expanding the reach of Promoted Videos. Originally available only in the United States, Promoted Videos have been expanded to seven more countries: Canada, the U.K., France, Italy, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands.
Promoted Videos launched in November 2008, but were first named Sponsored Videos. The name change came in March 2009, and Call-to-Action overlays were added in July. A couple of weeks ago, Promoted Videos were added AdSense, part of the Google Content Network.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on October 14, 2009, 12:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
LinkedIn Reaches 50 Million Users Worldwide
This morning, LinkedIn reached the milestone of 50 million members. CEO Jeff Weiner says that about 50% of the users are from the U.S. and the other half from the rest of the world. Weiner also noted an interesting fact about LinkedIn's growth.
When LinkedIn launched in 2003, it took 477 days -- almost a year and four months -- to reach our first million members. This last million took only 12 days.
Contributing to that momentum is India, which currently has the fastest growth of any country represented on LinkedIn. Eleven million members hail from Europe, and the tiny Netherlands has the highest growth per capita at 30%.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on October 14, 2009, 11:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Fraud Fugitive Caught Through Facebook
If you want to live a life of crime, you may not want to add former Justice Department officials to your friends list. This did not occur to Maxi Sopo who has been arrested for alleged bank fraud after posting his whereabouts on Facebook.
Sopo was posting how he was living the good live in Cancun, after eluding US authorities who sought him for over $200,000 in bank fraud.
"He was making posts about how beautiful life is and how he was having a good time with his buddies," said Assistant US Attorney Michael Scoville.
"He was definitely not living the way we wanted him to be living, given the charges he was facing," he told the BBC News.
Posted by Frank Watson on October 14, 2009, 12:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
A Busy Week Already For Twitter - Fighting the Good Fight
Ok, Twitter has been busy the first two days of this week - two actions by the company itself and one serious use of Twitter that stopped a news story from being buried. It is interesting that the platform has such impact when people use it as an aid to the Fourth Estate (slang for journalism).
This week a story about the tabling of a UK Parliament question about a company dumping toxic waste was banned by an injunction.. "The (UK) Guardian was banned from reporting the contents of a parliamentary question relating to the toxic dumping scandal yesterday," the newspaper later reported, when the company's lawyers did not contest the High Court challenge by the newspaper and the injunction was lifted.
The ban became a hotly trended topic on Twitter and since the news was out and getting even more bad publicity for the company it became useless to contest the challenge.
Guardian editor, Alan Rusbridger, via Twitter wrote: "Thanks to Twitter/all tweeters for fantastic support over past 16 hours!" A good example of Twitter's impact on free speech.
In other action, Twitter added a spam reporting link, as reported here.
Twitter has also discontinued recurring Tweets, a violation of their terms and conditions - so APIs used to launch repeated tweets will be shut down. This is great if you follow people who use this to blast repeat messages of various sales pitches etc.
I do see it as a detriment to notices of important information - though I am sure Twitter will have some work around for various people who can show a justifiable reason for repeats - emergency announcements etc should be given the ability since many people do not see messages if they are not logged in at the exact time of the publishing. Could be worked around by using DMs to subscribed followers I suppose but then spam issues arise.
Keep at the solid work guys.
Posted by Frank Watson on October 13, 2009, 11:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Comcast, Black Arrow Join To Test Dynamic Ad Insertion in VoD
Comcast and Black Arrow have combined to start testing dynamic ad insertion into Video on Demand, it was announced today. This test of new technology from Black Arrow will help improve the sale of ads for VoD content, as well as give the opportunity to better pair the advertising with the content and audience, Cable Digital News reported.
"BlackArrow's Advanced Advertising System gives programmers and cable operators a real-time, multiplatform campaign management and decision system for offering more timely and relevant ads in their On Demand sessions," the Black Arrow site explained.
Previous ad insertions had been static, where the ads had to be placed into the content before hand, the new technology allows the ads to be inserted on the fly.
"BlackArrow's system acts as a decision engine that communicates with the underlying VoD system to insert the appropriate advert into the video stream based on predetermined rules. Meanwhile, a complementary Web-based element from BlackArrow distributes and sells the ad space based on available inventory," Contentinople explains.
This new technology will help improve the appropriateness of advertising and thus help conversion and attention to the ads. It will also help bring this type of advertising up to the level of existing online advertising such as search and banner ads.
"Comcast has led the industry in creating new opportunities to reach consumers in the on-demand marketplace, and we're excited to be working with them," said Dean Denhart, chief executive officer, BlackArrow. "By combining BlackArrow's expertise in advanced VOD advertising platforms with Comcast's VOD leadership, we hope to expand the business model significantly for on-demand advertising."
Posted by Frank Watson on October 13, 2009, 9:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Social Media Counter: Not Actual But Gives You Thought
Dary P. Hayes, Director of LAMP (Laboratory for Advanced Media Production), has created an interesting social media counter to give people a simulated idea of the speed with which social media is growing. He also includes monetary indicators and Google search numbers to give perspective.
The numbers have been taken from a number of sites and are documented in the blog entry - comScore, Technoratti, Twitter and Facebook to name a few.
The clock starts when you first load the program - but if you let it run for five minutes you really start to get an idea of how the numbers stack up against each other. Well worth having a look at.
Posted by Frank Watson on October 13, 2009, 7:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Are Search Engine Optimizers Spammers, Evildoers, and Opportunists?
First of all, a shout out to Joanna Hogan (surfwrite), who asked for my thoughts on the post by Derek Powazek entitled, entitled, "Spammers, Evildoers, and Opportunists."
It must have been a no good, very bad Columbus Day for Powazek. He decided to call search engine optimizers, "goat sacrificers and snake oil salesmen."
Strong stuff.
Now, Powazek was called one of the top 40 "Industry Influencers" in 2007 by Folio Magazine. He once worked at pioneering sites like HotWired, Blogger, and Technorati. He now splits his time between working as "Chief of Awesome" for HP's MagCloud and Creative Director of Collecta, advising a handful of startup companies on community design. And you've got to admire a guy who "lives in San Francisco with his wife, two nutty Chihuahuas, a grumpy cat, and a house full of plants named Fred."
So, I read his rant -- twice. And I think it requires a response.
(By the way, I'd provide the same kind of response if he'd called public relations people flacks and spin doctors. There are some groups that need defending.)
So, what proof does Powazek offer that search engine optimizers can't "dance the magic dance that will please the Google Gods and make eyeballs rain down upon you" the way they claim they can?
He claims, "the good advice is obvious, the rest doesn't work."
Well, if the good advice were obvious, then "SEO training" wouldn't be such a popular search term. Go to Google Insights for Search and compare search volume patterns for the terms "SEO training" and "SEM training." As you will see, SEO training is hot, but SEM training is not.
And the people conducting these searches aren't looking for a new breed of con man. They are are looking for good advice about search engine optimization that isn't obvious.
And reputable organizations like Search Engine Strategies, Market Motive, and the SEMPO Institute all offer SEO courses for SEO specialists.
And there are books on the topic from reputable authors like Rebecca Lieb's The Truth About Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Optimization: An Hour a Day by Jennifer Grappone and Gradiva Couzin, and The Art of SEO by Eric Enge, Stephan Spencer, Rand Fishkin, and Jessie Stricchiola.
None of these SEO courses or SEO books would be necessary if the good advice was obvious.
Powazek also claims, "SEO is poisoning the web."
Well, it did once, when AltaVista was king of the hill back in 2000. And SEO could poison the web again -- if Google wasn't doing a better job than AltaVista did in fighting the darkside SEO masters that Powazek remembers from the old days.
Apparently, Powazek missed the 2005 post by Gord Hotchkiss, who retold the story of my dinner with a black hat SEO. In between the courses, a confession came out that stopped me in my tracks: "Black hat stuff is getting too hard. I'm actually thinking about turning legit."
And, apparently Powazek didn't read the 2007 post on the Official Google Webmaster Central Blog that Google has begun minimizing the impact of many Googlebombs. He thinks "Google bombing" still works.
Now, it turns out that I do agree with Powazek on "the One True Way to get a lot of traffic on the web." He says, "Make something great. Tell people about it. Do it again."
Or, as Google says about link schemes, "The best way to get other sites to create relevant links to yours is to create unique, relevant content that can quickly gain popularity in the Internet community. The more useful content you have, the greater the chances someone else will find that content valuable to their readers and link to it."
Now, apparently Powazek has decided that calling search engine optimizers "spammers, evildoers, and opportunists" can quickly gain popularity in the Internet community. Saying something controversial to generate discussion is a classic linkbaiting technique.
As Matt Cutts said in a 2006 post entitled, "SEO Advice: linkbait and linkbaiting," on his Matt Cutts: Gadgets, Google, and SEO blog, "On a meta-level, I think of 'linkbait' as something interesting enough to catch people's attention, and that doesn't have to be a bad thing. There are a lot of ways to do that, including putting in sweat-of-the-brow work to generate data or insights, or it can be as simple as being creative. You can also say something controversial to generate discussion (this last one gets tired if you overuse it, though)."
The only thing easier than picking on search engine optimizers is to call public relations people flacks and spin doctors. That's like shooting fish in a barrel.
But that's another topic for another day.
Posted by Greg Jarboe on October 13, 2009, 6:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Not So Fast: Efficient Frontier's Search Ad Data Paints a Different Picture than SearchIgnite's
Yesterday, we reported on Search Ignite's Q3 2009 search ad spend data. The report offered much optimism for the future since they saw a 10% increase over the second quarter of 2009, with the year-over-year data staying pretty flat.
However, Efficient Frontier has released their data, and while there is still optimism, it's not quite as pronounced. Their Q3 2009 data was down 5% year-over-year with just a 5% bump over Q2.
The biggest difference in their data came in search engine market share. Specifically, Microsoft saw a gain thanks to Bing, with their spend share increasing from 4.3% in Q2 to 5.3% in Q3. Their click share also rose from 4.1% to 4.8% quarter-to-quarter.
Who lost share? Google. However, Google has been actively trying to make their search ad service more efficient, which may account for decreased dollars and clicks. In essence, they've been bloated. Their new diet looks to be working, since conversions are up a whopping 47% year-over-year.
Efficient Frontier's data for Yahoo! mimicked Search Ignite's with a slight increase quarterly, after a big drop annually.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on October 13, 2009, 5:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Twitter Fights Spam with New Reporting Feature
Twitter is making it easier to fight profiles which users feel are spam. When you're on the profile that seems very spammy, just look for the "Report as Spam" option, which is now under the "Block" option on the right-hand sidebar. Previously, Tweeple could report spam by contacting the @spam account set up by Twitter.
When you report a profile as spam, it doesn't automatically suspend an account. That would make the system to game-able. However, if you do report a profile as spam, that account will be blocked from following you or appearing in your Twitter stream.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on October 13, 2009, 4:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Building on iPhone App Success, Dictionary.com Launches Blackberry App
Dictionary.com launched their iPhone app six months ago and over 3 million people have downloaded the app. Now, they're branching out with a mobile app for Blackberry phones.
The app provides 500,000 words and includes a thesaurus. There are also audio pronunciations and the popular word of the day feature, which is available in English and Spanish.
Blackberry users are getting a couple of unique features, however. They'll be able to lookup definitions and synonyms while drafting emails. They'll also be able to email or text a word and its definition directly from the app.
The app can be accessed at the Blackberry App World.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on October 13, 2009, 3:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Google Building Maker: An Easy Way to Submit 3D Models to Google Earth
Google has just launched a new program called Building Maker. Think of it as Google Sketchup Lite. It's an easy way to create 3D images for Google Earth.
Building Maker is launching for 50 cities on Google Earth, but plans to add more. It's browser-based and can be used in Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari. Building Maker is free and available in 14 languages.
Models submitted will be examined by Google before appearing on Google Earth. Google says it will choose the best model for each building.
The best way to learn about Building Maker is the video below. It really shows you just how easy Google has made it to create 3D models.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on October 13, 2009, 2:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Yahoo! Launches Yodeling Contest for Charity (and Advertising)
Yahoo! is holding a global Yodeling contest. Yes, that's right, now you have the chance to enter your musical interpretation of the famous Yahoo! Yodel.
You have until November 8th to show off your pipes. Head on over to the Yodel Studio to record your Yodel via webcam. You can also record a video with a camcorder and upload it. Yahoo! will donate to charity up to $130,000 for every Yodel submitted. Winning Yodels will appear in Yahoo!'s new global advertising campaign.
To kick off the event, Yahoo! is hosting events in New York, London, and Mumbai over the next two days. Celebrities will be on hand to coach your inner Yodel.
In New York, Jewel, Lee Ann Rimes, Pete Wentz and Randy Jackson will assist Yodelers with their recordings. Now, I know Jewel can Yodel, but Pete Wentz and Randy Jackson? I'm guessing Yahoo! really is looking for a new, um, interpretation of yodeling.
In London, Pixie Lott and Sinnitta will appear, and in Mumbai, Shankar Mahadevan, VJ Nikhil Chinappa and Shaa'ir + Func will advise yodelers.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on October 13, 2009, 2:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Search Ad Spend Up 10% in Q3 2009, Per SearchIgnite Report
SearchIgnite has released their quarterly search advertising spend report.
The data shows that U.S. search spend flat year-over-year but up 10% quarter-over-quarter. That's good news as we head into the holiday season.
The most notable increase came from multi-channel retailers, who upped their spend by 40% from Q3 2008 to Q3 2009.
Breaking down ad spend by search engine, Google and Yahoo! traded off percentage points year-over-year, but things were flat quarter-over-quarter.
Microsoft saw a 15% increase in ad spend, but it didn't help them gain ground on Google. Yahoo!, on the other hand, is seeing an abysmal decline year-over-year with a 24% decrease.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on October 12, 2009, 11:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
LexisNexis Integrates Semantic Search Technology into Patent Research
LexisNexis is introducing semantic search technology into its intellectual property research products. The technology was developed by Pure Discovery, based out of Dallas, TX.
"With semantic search technology we have changed the very nature of online patent research by providing users with an additional means of researching patent and non-patent prior art," said Peter Vanderheyden, LexisNexis vice president of Global Intellectual Property.
LexisNexis says the semantic search technology will feature the following:
- Transparency: The semantic tech will "enhance" each query and then shown to the user for complete understanding.
- Increased control: Users have the ability to add, delete, increase or decrease the importance of all query words in a visual query interface called a "querycloud."
- Fully federated: The semantic search platform can associate semantic searches to virtually any index, whether it resides internally or on the web.
- Scalability: The LexisNexis index includes semantic intelligence from over 10 million patent documents from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's patent index.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on October 12, 2009, 11:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Google Creates Learning Site Specifically for Ad Agencies
Google has launched a new site called AgencyLand. The site is an answer to requests from advertising agencies for resources to help them manage their clients' accounts. Originally launched into a closed, private beta in March 2009, AgencyLand is now available by invitation to agencies and third parties in the United States and Canada.
You can request an invitation at the homepage of AgencyLand.
In the meantime, here's a video featuring advertisers saying why AgencyLand is Awesome Town.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on October 12, 2009, 10:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Will Black Friday Become Cyber Friday?
One of the most significant online shopping days of the year is Cyber Monday, which, like Black Friday, follows Thanksgiving and unofficially marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season. But new data that Yahoo! has released suggests that Black Friday is itself increasingly becoming a popular day for online shoppers.
Last year, while overall click-through rates were down for both days, conversions shot up 147% for Black Friday while they "only" increased 73% on Cyber Monday.
Let's face it, search marketers. You gotta play both days.
Anecdotally, I can testify to being online with my computer at midnight on Thanksgiving/Black Friday, soaking up a sweet deal on some scooters for my kids. I did it all from the comfort of my rental condo atop of a peak in the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina, which I can assure you is far preferable to the (unfortunately lethal) stomping grounds of big box stores across the land.
While the economy has consumers as uncertain as ever, I wouldn't be surprised if last year's Walmart deaths have people bumping those conversion rates even more this year. Make sure you've got great deals and free shipping. You might just save a life.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on October 12, 2009, 10:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Former Genentech CEO Levinson Quits Google Board
Arthur Levinson, former CEO of Genentech, has resigned Google's Board of Directors. Levinson had been on the board for five years.
"Working with Eric, Larry, Sergey and the whole Google team has been a remarkable experience for me. I greatly admire what they've built and have no doubt that Google has a terrific future," said Levinson.
Levinson is also on the Board of Directors at Apple. The FTC has been Google CEO Eric Schmidt recently quit Apple's Board.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on October 12, 2009, 10:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Google Launches 'Fetch as Googlebot' and 'Malware Details' in Webmaster Tools Labs
Google is releasing into Webmaster Tools Labs a couple of features that help you view things from their angle. The two features are "Fetch as Googlebot" and "Malware Details."
Fetch as Googlebot lets you view your web pages as Google's famous indexing spider. This will answer a question Google (and SEOs) gets asked ALL. THE. TIME.
Malware details show you code snippets on your website that Google has determined are malicious. The goal is to help streamline the often tedious process of ridding your site of malware.
Google has released these features into Labs because they want feedback from users before they release it as official features in Webmaster Tools.
What do you think of these new Webmaster Tools Labs features? Let us know by leaving a comment.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on October 12, 2009, 10:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Twitter to Add Four Additional Langauges
Twitter will soon be available in French, Italian, German, and Spanish. This will bring the grand total of languages to six. Twitter is already available in English and Japanese. Of course, that hasn't really stopped people from around the world from Tweeting in everything from Russian to Portuguese - and, of course, Persian.
To assist in adding the new languages, Twitter is seeking volunteers (which borders on crazy if you know how much money they've raised. But hey, even mega-wealthy Google gets people to voluntarily translate for them).
The volunteers will be able to make suggestions to Twitter about translations on the website. Twitter is hoping this will facilitate the quick roll-out of the four upcoming langauges.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on October 12, 2009, 3:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
StumbleUpon Enhances Search in Latest Update
StumbleUpon updated its social bookmarking service last week and one of the key improvements was search. Users can now search within their favorites, friend's favorites or the entire site. The search was enhanced using community ratings and reviews.
Additional updates include UI and social features. The UI is simpler and more minimalistic. It's cleaner and just looks easier to use. On the social side of things, StumbleUpon says it's now easier to find your friends. They're also following the trend of Twitter and Facebook by enabling near real-time updates.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on October 12, 2009, 2:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Yahoo! to Serve Up Sponsored Ads on BOSS
Web developers who use Yahoo!'s BOSS (Build your Own Search Service) have requested the incorporation of Sponsored Ads as a way of generating revenue on their sites. Yahoo! has obliged the requests, but has arranged for a third party to manage everything.
Developers will need to apply through Domain Development Corp (DDC) in order to be selected to have Sponsored Ads on their BOSS search sites. DDC will provide support and payment for the program, not Yahoo!
Yahoo! did take the opportunity of the announcement to reiterate that it still does not know how the impending Microsoft search deal will affect BOSS. In the meantime, it looks like there are revenues to be had for BOSS developers.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on October 12, 2009, 2:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Go to SES Berlin or SES Chicago for "Five Brand New Things"
During the past four weeks, I've provided four great reasons for going to either Search Engine Strategies Berlin or SES Chicago 2009. For those who want to join in the chorus, they are "four keynote themes, three key trends, two early birds, and a ranking in the top three."
This week, I'll share a fifth compelling reason -- and it isn't "five golden rings."
You should plan to attend SES Berlin or Search Engine Strategies Chicago 2009 to discover "five brand new things."
Most of the focus at these events is on the conference sessions, but I've always made time to prowl the floor of the exhibit hall to see "what's new." And I don't mean trade show tchotchke.
Now, sometimes I see a booth from a brand new company that I've never heard of before. And other times, I find a brand new product or service being demoed in the booth of a big brand name. And every now and again, I uncover the latest SEO or SEM tools in a sponsored session at the conference.
I know, I know, this is like saying that I watch the Super Bowl in order the see the commercials. But, that's why the official name of the event is Search Engine Strategies Conference & Expo.
Now, it's hard to predict the five brand new things you'll come across at either Search Engine Strategies Berlin or SES Chicago 2009. As either Niels Bohr or Yogi Berra once said, "It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future."
But, I've been attending five of more Search Engine Strategies a year for more than five years on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, so I'm reasonably confident that SES Berlin and Search Engine Strategies Chicago 2009 will feature their fair share of brand new things.
And I should probably say something like, "Past performance is not indicative of future results," but let me share some actual examples of the five brand new things featured at previous SES events by Byron Gordon, my colleague at SEO-PR, who conducts many of the interviews for SESConferenceExpo's Channel.
Acquisio PPC Management Client Demo & How-to
At SES Toronto 2008, Marc Poirier, Chief Marketing Officer of Acquisio, gave a how-to demonstration of Acquisio's online advertising campaign and client management / report generation tool. Acquisio is a PPC management software company that builds software to help agencies automate processes they have to deal with in their monthly campaign management. It is exhibiting at Search Engine Strategies Chicago 2009.
Stacey Jarvis, Microsoft Canada, on Bing, at SES Toronto 2009
At Search Engine Strategies Toronto 2009, Stacey Jarvis, Search Lead, Consumer & Online, Microsoft Canada, discussed Microsoft's Bing. Stacey said Bing has evolved from what was originally a pure search engine to a "decision engine." Bing is a Platinum Sponsor of SES Berlin.
Dan Morris, Brafton, on customized news feeds for websites at SES New York 2009
At Search Engine Strategies New York 2009, Dan Morris of Brafton, a custom news agency, was interviewed. Morris said Brafton writes for each client specific stories about breaking news developments in their respective industry, using keyword strategy and links. Brafton is exhibiting at SES Chicago 2009.
Alex Torres, Google, on Google tools that help to maximize your website's ROI
As Search Engine Strategies New York 2009, Google Enterprise Product Marketing Manager, Alex Torres, was interviewed about using Google's many tools, including website optimizer, Adwords analytics and Site Search to help website owners maximize their ROI. Alex discussed the reasons why Google expanded its offerings and recommends website owners to use a holistic approach when incorporating Google's website tools. Google is holding sponsored sessions at SES Chicago 2009.
Jeev Trika, Visibility Magazine, at SES Chicago 2008
At Search Engine Strategies Chicago 2008, Jeev Trika, Visibility Magazine, was interviewed. Visibility Magazine started in 2007 and focuses exclusively on Internet marketing strategies. Visibility Magazine is exhibiting at SES Chicago 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 " five brand new things, four keynote themes, three key trends, two early birds, and a ranking in the top three."
Posted by Greg Jarboe on October 12, 2009, 2:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
