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July 17, 2006

July 17, 2006

Problems Connecting To Google From The UK

Barry noted on Search Engine Roundtable that some people in the UK are having problems connecting to Google. I'm one of those unlucky ones, and so far, it remains a mystery to Google about what's going on.

I've talked with a Google engineer this evening for about a half hour, trying various things to figure out what's wrong. Google still isn't certain. For me, it means that I cannot connect to:

  • Google
  • Gmail's web site
  • Google Analytics
  • AdSense
  • AdWords
  • Google Accounts

I can reach things like Blogger or Google UK, rather than Google.com. I can also receive Gmail via POP, but I can't send.

Oddly, if I shift over to Internet Explorer rather than Firefox, I can reach Google Analytics except that the log-in window, which comes off a secure server, fails to load.

I access Google through BT Broadband, and a few others using BT seem to be having similar problems. So far, it's not a ton of people -- but enough that if you're having problems, it's not just your imagination. Short answer is, Google's aware of the issue and looking into it. For myself, I'm calling it a night and figuring that when I wake up, things will likely have cleared up.

Problems Reaching Google From The UK is a thread I've started over in our Search Engine Watch Forums on the issue. If anyone else is having problems, feel free to contribute what your situation is, in hopes that might help get things resolved.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 4:18 PM | Permalink

Search Headlines & Links: July 17, 2006

Below, a recap of stories posted today to the Search Engine Watch Blog, along with other items we've spotted but not blogged separately:

  • More On MySpace After A Search Partner
    Mining for Gold on MySpace from BusinessWeek gives a few more details on the story we covered earlier about MySpace seeking a partner to power searches. The story says RevenueScience is powering search there currently, though when I did my earlier post, neither Yahoo nor RevenueScience confirmed that. RevenueScience did confirm they do contextual/behavioral targeting, but that's an entirely other type of service. The story also gives new, amazing stats that MySpace generates 5 percent of all searches on the web. Hmm. Just a month ago, this was said to be 0.6% of all searches, according to comScore. And...
  • AdWords Adds Category Site Selection Feature
    The Inside AdWords blog announced that you can now tell them what category of sites you want your ads to be displayed on. For example, if you run a karate site that sells Samurai swords, then you can tell AdWords to display your ads on sites that talk about the sport of karate. Now, I did not look if karate is a category under "sports" but if it is, then you can choose it. More details on how to use this feature at the AdWords support page....
  • Find Great Podcasts
    Podcasts are a very good way of keeping up to date with what is going on, they're entertaining, you can play them in the background while you're doing other things - but have you ever tried to find them? Quite frankly, it's been pretty messy and not a lot of fun. However the article "Find great podcasts" is a very useful summary of podcast search engines, directories, and other resources. The comments also provide a useful collection of resources that can be used to find that elusive podcast....
  • Google Maps Added As OneBox Result
    Rob over in our Search Engine Watch forums thread Google Maps + Reviews In Main Search Results and Philipp Lenssen reports that Google seems to have added a new Google Maps "OneBox" display for some results. Philipp shows how a search on sf mortgage broker brings up a Google Maps like UI at the top of the results. In the past, it would have just brought up links to local results and not a full-fledged map. I tested it out on my own company and it also brings up the Google Maps OneBox. You can see the difference between local...
  • Google Hiring Television Engineers & Wireless Software Engineer
    Search Engine Watch Forums moderator evilgreenmonkey (brand new moderator) has informed me that Google posted two new interesting jobs for the London office for Software Engineer, Television Technology & Wireless Software Engineer in Test....
  • Report: Click Fraud Rises in Q2 & High-Priced Keywords Click Fraud Rate At 20.2%
    The Click Fraud Index issued an updated report on the state of click fraud. In the second quarter click fraud rose four points to 14.1 percent, compared with the Q1 results of 13.7 percent. In addition, this time they broke out click fraud rates in terms of high-prices keywords versus low-price keywords. For terms that cost over $2.00 per click, high-priced keywords, the click fraud rate is higher than the average, at 20.2 percent. Click fraud is less of an issue at Google and Yahoo, tier one providers at 12.8 percent but did rise from 12.1 percent in Q1. Tier...
  • Yahoo Officially Launches New Home Page Design
    Yahoo has officially launched the new design they have been beta testing since mid-February. If you go to www.yahoo.com you will get the new design even if you have never seen it before. Yahoo launched the design in the UK & Ireland earlier this month. TechCrunch notes in the comments that the new design has been live in India for weeks now. The full press release is posted below....
  • Mobile-Local Search Now In 3D
    Point and search mobile technology vendor GeoVector, which partnered with mapping company Mapion to bring a pointing-based mobile local search offering to Japan, is now introducing 3D search on Japanese mobile phones. Here's an example of the 3D rendering on the phone. GeoVector also says it's in talks with a "major US carrier" to bring its technology to the US market....
  • Hawaiian Airlines Cries Search Engine Foul Over Use Of "Hawaiian" On Competitor Web Site
    Hawaiian Airlines is alleging that new rival Go because Go made use of the word "Hawaiian" too often and thus might be influencing search results....
  • Google Sends Aspirin After AdWords Changes Causes Headache
    Earlier this week, Al Scillitani posted at Marketing Pilgrim about how all the recent Google AdWords changes were giving him a headache. Today, he posted how in response, he'd been sent some acetaminophen in response from Google. I thought it was interesting enough to note in today's search headlines roundup but not that big of a deal overall. How wrong I was :) Over 3,000 Diggs later, the story's got legs. Adam Lasnik from Google's search quality team says he's the culprit. Adam's actually got nothing to do with AdWords, but the gesture was funny anyway....
  • Yahoo Tests Redirecting Some Searches To Site Explorer & Yahoo Search Update
    Yahoo is testing out redirecting some of those who conduct a link command or site command search at search.yahoo.com to the Yahoo Site Explorer tool. I reported this and just now received confirmation from Yahoo that they are testing out this solution with a "percentage of users" conducting these searches. Yahoo has always wanted to move these special searches off the main search.yahoo.com page and onto the Site Explorer front. On other Yahoo news, Yahoo just announced a weather report stating, "we rolled out an index update last night. As usual, you may see some changes in ranking as well...

Headlines & News From Elsewhere

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 1:52 PM | Permalink

More On MySpace After A Search Partner

Mining for Gold on MySpace from BusinessWeek gives a few more details on the story we covered earlier about MySpace seeking a partner to power searches. The story says RevenueScience is powering search there currently, though when I did my earlier post, neither Yahoo nor RevenueScience confirmed that. RevenueScience did confirm they do contextual/behavioral targeting, but that's an entirely other type of service. The story also gives new, amazing stats that MySpace generates 5 percent of all searches on the web. Hmm. Just a month ago, this was said to be 0.6% of all searches in the US, according to comScore. And 8 percent of all searches on Google come via MySpace? I'm checking with the BusinessWeek author, because those stats just don't make sense.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 1:47 PM | Permalink

Yahoo Finance Upgrades Features & Charts

Part of the launch of the new Yahoo homepage, Yahoo has added some features to Yahoo Finance. Those features include new tools to manage charts, an improved "investors chat room" and financial video news. SearchViews explains that Yahoo "hopes to tone down the wild west atmosphere of boards by introducing a way to rate posts on a scale of 1 to 5 stars, with lower rated posts to be filtered out." Part of the upgrade includes access to adding Yahoo badges to your site, something we beta tested in mid-May.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 1:43 PM | Permalink

Business Blog Directory

Minneapolis-based agency TMA E-Marketing has launched the iBlog Business Directory of business and corporate blogs.

The human-edited directory is divided into 122 business categories. There's are no fees associated with submitting or listing eligible blogs.

While the directory's in no way comprehensive, it's not a terrible way to check up on who's blogging in a given industry. No ads on the site yet, but TMA says new features are soon to be announced.

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 10:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

AdWords Adds Category Site Selection Feature

The Inside AdWords blog announced that you can now tell them what category of sites you want your ads to be displayed on. For example, if you run a karate site that sells Samurai swords, then you can tell AdWords to display your ads on sites that talk about the sport of karate. Now, I did not look if karate is a category under "sports" but if it is, then you can choose it. More details on how to use this feature at the AdWords support page.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 10:00 AM | Permalink

Find Great Podcasts

Podcasts are a very good way of keeping up to date with what is going on, they're entertaining, you can play them in the background while you're doing other things - but have you ever tried to find them? Quite frankly, it's been pretty messy and not a lot of fun. However the article "Find great podcasts" is a very useful summary of podcast search engines, directories, and other resources. The comments also provide a useful collection of resources that can be used to find that elusive podcast.

Posted by Phil Bradley at 9:49 AM | Permalink

Google Maps Added As OneBox Result

Rob over in our Search Engine Watch forums thread Google Maps + Reviews In Main Search Results and Philipp Lenssen reports that Google seems to have added a new Google Maps "OneBox" display for some results.

Philipp shows how a search on sf mortgage broker brings up a Google Maps like UI at the top of the results. In the past, it would have just brought up links to local results and not a full-fledged map.

I tested it out on my own company and it also brings up the Google Maps OneBox. You can see the difference between local results and Google Map results by comparing this query and this query.

The difference is huge for a search marketer because it displays only one result at the top, takes up a huge amount of screen real estate and it much more in your face the blue text links.

Postscript By Danny: Brad Geddes has a very nice write-up also illustrating what a big impact this can be for a local merchant: Google adds Maps to Main Search Results.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:47 AM | Permalink

Google Hiring Television Engineers & Wireless Software Engineer

Search Engine Watch Forums moderator evilgreenmonkey (brand new moderator) has informed me that Google posted two new interesting jobs for the London office for Software Engineer, Television Technology & Wireless Software Engineer in Test.

The television technology job does not say much;

We are hiring well-rounded Software Engineers with a proven track record in creating and deploying robust, high-volume applications for consumer devices.

Responsibilities:
To develop robust, high-volume applications for consumer devices.
To develop prototype applications and manage the evolution of these to scalable, shipping products.

Seems as if they are looking for ways to create mobile solutions and methods to distribute television programming over devices other than televisions.

The wireless engineer is for QA (quality assurance) work on wireless applications.

We are looking for software QA engineers to work with the testing team and the development team to investigate, report and track defects and expand our automated test suites. Your duties will focus on creating test plans, setting up test environments, developing automated tests, executing and maintaining automated test suites and the analysis of the results. They would also include leading test efforts and exploring new ways of UI test automation. If you love coding and testing, are a quick learner, a great team player and able to work independently, this is your chance to join us in our quest to make all the worlds information accessible from the palm of your hand.

Related? I dunno.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:34 AM | Permalink

Report: Click Fraud Rises in Q2 & High-Priced Keywords Click Fraud Rate At 20.2%

The Click Fraud Index issued an updated report on the state of click fraud. In the second quarter click fraud rose four points to 14.1 percent, compared with the Q1 results of 13.7 percent. In addition, this time they broke out click fraud rates in terms of high-prices keywords versus low-price keywords. For terms that cost over $2.00 per click, high-priced keywords, the click fraud rate is higher than the average, at 20.2 percent. Click fraud is less of an issue at Google and Yahoo, tier one providers at 12.8 percent but did rise from 12.1 percent in Q1. Tier 2 search providers was 20.3 percent vs. 21.3 percent in Q1 and Tier 3 search providers was 27.1 percent vs. 29.8 percent in Q1. Full release posted below...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Industry Average Click Fraud Rate Climbs
in Second Quarter 2006

Click Fraud Rate for High-Priced Search Terms Tops 20.2 Percent

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – July 17, 2006 – Click ForensicsÔ, LLC today released the latest industry Pay Per Click fraud figures for the second quarter 2006 from the search advertising industry’s leading independent click fraud reporting service – the Click Fraud IndexÔ (www.ClickFraudIndex.com). The Click Fraud Index monitors and reports on data gathered from the Click Fraud NetworkÔ, which more than 1,300 online advertisers and their agencies have joined. Network members can track their online campaigns for click fraud free of charge. Key findings from data reported for Q2 2006 include:

- The overall industry average click fraud rate was 14.1 percent, slightly higher than the average of 13.7 percent for Q1
- The industry average click fraud rate for high-priced search terms was 20.2 percent. High-priced terms are defined as terms that cost over $2.00. These high-priced terms often make up the majority of an advertiser’s total spend.
- The industry average click fraud rate for companies running online advertising campaigns through:
o Tier 1 search providers, such as Yahoo! and Google, was 12.8 percent vs. 12.1 percent in Q1
o Tier 2 search providers was 20.3 percent vs. 21.3 percent in Q1
o Tier 3 search providers was 27.1 percent vs. 29.8 percent in Q1
- The average pay per click term cost for the top key terms across the five biggest search advertising industries – Retail, Financial Services, Health & Fitness, Technology, and Entertainment – for Q2 was $4.51. This compares to $4.75 from Q1.
- The greatest percentage of click fraud, over 88 percent, originated from within the U.S. and Canada. Outside North America, the greatest amount of click fraud originated from within India. Unwanted click activity originating from India increased 26 percent during Q2.

“One of the most interesting findings from our Q2 data was the difference between the overall average industry click fraud rate and the click fraud rate for the most expensive search terms,” said Tom Cuthbert, president and CEO of Click Forensics, LLC. “For the first time, we have industry data that clearly shows what many have expected – organizations purchasing higher-priced search terms are significantly more vulnerable to click fraud.”

The Click Fraud Index publishes data collected from the Click Fraud Network (www.ClickFraudNetwork.com), the industry’s first independent third-party click fraud detection service dedicated to helping companies more accurately monitor their online advertising campaigns for Pay Per Click (PPC) fraud. Using CF Analytics™, a patent-pending click fraud detection technology, the Click Fraud Network allows advertisers to track their online campaigns for potential click fraud. The service is unique in that it monitors online campaigns for click fraud by correlating data collected from search provider campaigns and the advertisers own web sites – providing the industry’s most accurate view of click fraud to date.

The Click Fraud Index tracks and publishes industry click fraud data on a weekly and quarterly basis for specific search providers, industries and trends. Industries covered include Retail, Financial Services, Health & Fitness, Technology, and Entertainment. Individuals can access information from the Click Fraud Index at www.ClickFraudIndex.com. Advertisers can join the Click Fraud Network at www.JoinTheNetwork.com and monitor their individual pay per click campaigns for up to 100,000 clicks per month free of charge.

About The Click Fraud Network
More than 1,300 advertisers and agencies are currently members of the Click Fraud Network, which is the industry’s first and largest independent third-party service dedicated to helping advertisers, agencies and search providers monitor online advertising campaigns for click fraud free of charge. The network is comprised of a representative cross-section of online advertisers and interactive advertising agencies, including Fortune 500 companies and some of the world’s largest retailers, travel sites, financial services firms and pharmaceutical companies. Advertisers and agencies who wish to monitor online Pay Per Click advertising campaigns with up to 100,000 clicks per month free of charge, can sign up for the Click Fraud Network at www.JoinTheNetwork.com.

About Click Forensics, LLC
Click Forensics, LLC is the leading provider of third-party technology and services that help online advertisers, agencies and search providers to better identify and stop Pay Per Click fraud. The company runs the top independent click fraud detection service in the industry, the Click Fraud Network (www.ClickFraudNetwork.com), which monitors online advertising campaigns for click fraud free of charge. Click Forensics also provides and enterprise-class solutions to help advertisers with campaigns of 100,000 clicks or more per month track click fraud. More information on Click Forensics and its offerings are available at www.ClickForensics.com.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:22 AM | Permalink

Yahoo Officially Launches New Home Page Design

Yahoo has officially launched the new design they have been beta testing since mid-February. If you go to www.yahoo.com you will get the new design even if you have never seen it before. Yahoo launched the design in the UK & Ireland earlier this month. TechCrunch notes in the comments that the new design has been live in India for weeks now. The full press release is posted below.

YAHOO! UNVEILS ADS CREATED BY FILM STUDENTS; SOLICITS CONSUMER VIDEOS IN CELEBRATION OF NEW HOME PAGE

Localized Versions of New Home Page Rolling Out Around the World

Sunnyvale, Calif. – July 17, 2006 – This month, Yahoo! is completing the general rollout of its new home page at www.yahoo.com, marking the most significant re-design of its flagship destination since the site first launched in 1994. In celebration of the new look, Yahoo! today launched a site featuring short videos created by students from renowned film schools to humorously tell the world that Yahoo! is changing. In addition, Yahoo! is inviting all users to submit original videos through Yahoo! Video (video.yahoo.com) with their own creative take on the theme.

“This campaign celebrates the creative contributions of the Yahoo! community and truly exemplifies the spirit and consumer focus of our Yahoo! brand,” said Cammie Dunaway, chief marketing officer at Yahoo! Inc. “Today’s Internet users are passionate about expressing themselves and contributing to the online conversation that is occurring every day among the estimated 500 million users of Yahoo! branded Web properties around the world. We encourage these talented people to join us in celebrating the new Yahoo! home page with their own personal videos.”

Innovative Advertising Campaign and Consumer Video Program

In a departure from traditional advertising campaigns, Yahoo! and its agency, Soho Square / OgilvyOne, invited film school students to participate in creating the new advertising. Yahoo! and the agency worked with the London Film Academy, Parsons, the San Francisco Art Institute and Yale University to develop scenarios in which a person directly or indirectly reveals that his or her “Yahoo! has changed.”

Additionally, Yahoo! created a new Yahoo! Video category where users can easily upload their own videos to be viewed alongside the film school work. For the first time, Yahoo! has made available a variety of creative assets for consumers to incorporate into their videos, including the Yahoo! logo, yodel and sample scripts. Yahoo! will select the best submissions to feature in its ongoing advertising on the Yahoo! network. More information and submission details can be found at http://video.yahoo.com/newyahoocampaign.

“This exciting campaign highlights many different voices and creative expressions developed by young talent in film and design as well as Yahoo! users themselves,” said Dunaway.

New Home Page Available Globally

The new Yahoo! home page design was first previewed at yahoo.com on May 16, 2006, and new localized versions are now available in Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, UK & Ireland, and Vietnam. Yahoo! plans to roll out additional localized versions, and to display the new page to all visitors of Yahoo.com in the coming weeks.

The new Yahoo! home page includes enhancements that allow consumers to turn to the Web daily to read news, search for information, stay in touch with their community and discover what’s happening around the globe. It combines frequently updated news and entertainment with useful tools for searching, connecting, sharing and communicating online – all on one simple, easy-to-use Web page.

About Yahoo!

Yahoo! Inc. is a leading global internet brand and one of the most trafficked Internet destinations worldwide. Yahoo! seeks to provide online products and services essential to users’ lives, and offers a full range of tools and marketing solutions for businesses to connect with Internet users around the world. Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:01 AM | Permalink

Feedburner Buys Blogbeat

In a move that has implications for corporate bloggers, blog publishers and blog advertisers, RSS feed management company FeedBurner will today announce the purchase of Blogbeat, a blog measurement firm. The companies aren't disclosing the financial terms of the deal. FeedBurner plans to integrate the Blogbeat analytics platform into its own free feed measurement system by the fourth quarter of 2006. Next year, the combined company will begin to offer fee-based services.

Interesting to see FeedBurner, which has played exclusively in the feed space up until now, get into blog metrics. It makes sense in some ways, in that the same marketing person is likely to have responsibility for feeds and the blog. However, you'd think most larger publishers would already have blog analytics as part of their overall Web analytics platform.

Posted by Pamela Parker at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mobile-Local Search Now In 3D

Point and search mobile technology vendor GeoVector, which partnered with mapping company Mapion to bring a pointing-based mobile local search offering to Japan, is now introducing 3D search on Japanese mobile phones. Here's an example of the 3D rendering on the phone.

GeoVector also says it's in talks with a "major US carrier" to bring its technology to the US market.

Posted by Greg Sterling at 7:48 AM | Permalink

Hawaiian Airlines Cries Search Engine Foul Over Use Of "Hawaiian" On Competitor Web Site

Hawaiian Airlines is alleging that new rival Go because Go made use of the word "Hawaiian" too often and thus might be influencing search results.

Hawaiian Airlines says Go's web site goes too far from KHON TV and Local airline battle flares anew from the Honolulu Star Bulletin has more details on the dispute.

If Go is indeed trying to rank well for Hawaiian's name, so far, it hasn't worked. Checking Google, Yahoo, MSN and Ask for [hawaiian airlines] shows that Go doesn't appear on any of them for the first two pages of results.

Hawaiian is a generic term, so it seems pretty absurd to be suggesting that an airline that flies within Hawaii is somehow using the word 'hawaiian" too often.

Clearly, Go hopes that it will be found for the phrase "hawaiian airline," given that it uses that exact phrase in its meta description tag, meta keywords tag, its title tag and five times in its body copy. But "hawaiian airline" is different from "hawaiian airlines," the latter being a trademark of Hawaiian Airlines while the former is a generic term that fairly describes what Go is. And the usage falls well short of what I'd consider keyword stuffing, something Hawaiian has accused Go of doing.

How about from a search perspective? Google's long had stemming, so that a search for the singular might also bring up the plural. But still, you get differences. A search for hawaiian airline is not the same as a search for hawaiian airlines (and Go doesn't show up in either case).

The same is true at other search engines, where you get different results for the different variations. But Go gets more visibility for the generic term.

At Yahoo, Go ranks number 10 for hawaiian airline but not in the top results for hawaiian airlines (and Hawaiian rival Aloha Airlines, not accused of any wrong-doing, ranks in the top results at both places).

At MSN, it ranked number three for hawaiian airline but not in the top results for hawaiian airlines. Aloha came up in neither.

At Ask, it was number six for hawaiian airline and not listed for hawaiian airlines. Aloha ranked in the top results in both versions.

No suit has been filed, so far -- only a cease-and-desist letter sent. From the Star Bulletin's article:

"(Mesa has) loaded up their Web site with our name, which is called keyword stuffing, unlike any of the other carriers we compete with," Hawaiian Airlines spokesman Keoni Wagner said. "Nobody else calls themselves a Hawaiian airline, for example, and we're simply asking them to stop.

"It's like identity theft. Mesa is using our name to gain business, and that's just not right."

Honolulu-based media attorney Jeffrey Portnoy, who represents Hawaiian Airlines, said in a letter to Mesa that the use of the terms "Hawaiian Flights," "Hawaiian," "Hawaiian Airline" and "The Hawaiian Airline" creates a likelihood of confusion, constitutes infringement of Hawaiian Airlines' trademark and represents deceptive trade practices.

Ornstein, reached yesterday at a board meeting in Santa Monica, Calif., said he was incredulous about Hawaiian Airlines' latest legal move.

"This is the most preposterous thing I've ever encountered in my business career, that we're not supposed to use 'Hawaiian' on our Web site for service in Hawaii," Ornstein said. "Are we supposed to use 'Chicago' because it rhymes with 'go!'? This is truly a desperate act that defies comprehension. They have not trademarked the word 'Hawaiian.'"

In the cease-and-desist letter, though, Portnoy pointed out that Hawaiian owns various federal trademark registrations for phrases containing "Hawaiian," such as "Hawaiian Airlines," "Hawaiian Miles" in connection with its frequent flyer program, and "Hawaiian Premier Club" for airline passenger services.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 7:17 AM | Permalink

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