May 13, 2008
May 13, 2008
Yahoo Chief Scientist Andrew Tomkins Interviewed by Eric Enge
SEW Expert Eric Enge published a terrific interview on his Stone Temple blog with Yahoo Chief Scientist Andrew Tomkins, who keynoted SES New York. What makes it a great read? Eric asks spot-on questions that cut to the heart of the matter.
Eric Enge: In New York you talked about the future of search, but the thing that really struck me in the conversation was the notion of “webmaster supplied content” communicated essentially directly to the search engine. Maybe you can tell me whether that notion resonates with you in just your general thoughts on the concepts that you laid out in the presentation?
Andrew Tomkins: I’ll start by saying that characterization of webmasters and publishers sharing more structured representation of their content is exactly what we are talking about. I guess it’s easy to think of it as sharing it with a search engine.
The exchange that really impressed me was late in the interview when Eric and Andrew discuss a site's authority:
Andrew Tomkins: Understanding how authoritative a site is, then specifically for each part of the site; what they are about, how much you should trust them and how much people tend to believe them. How deep they go; all of this is very valuable from the ranking standpoint.
photo credit: Marc_Smith in Flickr
Eric Enge: You could have a site that has a million links, and that has many sections like I talked about, but the tennis section for some reason has very few inbound links from third party sites. Whereas, the camping section has half a million links, where you would actually allocate trust differently by site section.
Andrew Tomkins: That’s a great example of a good cue that you would want to pay attention to.
If you care about how search enignes work and where they're headed in the future, this interview is a must-read.
Posted by Kevin Heisler at 4:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Microsoft WorldWideTelescope Launches
Microsoft launched WorldWideTelescope, it's downloadable answer to Google Sky, Google Earth and Google Moon, yesterday. Other than being a bit of a memory hog (understandable for the power it provides) and requiring the latest version of DivX and .Net framework to install, WWTelescope is a pretty amazing program.
You can aimlessly browse around the solar system and beyond, zooming in with incredible detail on Earth, the moon, other planets or galaxies, or you can download a professional tour of any of the above. Each item you look at comes with various "Imagery" options. You can check out satellite images of Earth, a street view, a hybrid of both or use the incredible cool "Earth at Night" mode. The options for viewing space are too numerous to numerate. For a quick fix, you can browse through various collections of space images, like those taken from the Hubble or Chandra telescopes, and see where in space those images are from.
If anything, WWTelescope is too advanced, offering a slew of advanced and sometimes incomprehensible options aimed at professionals and true hobbyists. You can even hook up your telescope to it. But it's still great, interesting fun for the average user. I just wasted an hour or so "researching" it for this article, and left with the same semi-accomplished feeling I get when I waste time on Wikipedia.
Microsoft products have often fallen behind Google on the coolness factor of their products. This time they definitely have the search giant beat.
Posted by Eli Feldblum at 10:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Superpages.com Launches Desktop Widget
Superpages.com has launched a Yahoo! Widget to provide easy local searching. The results come up right in the widget and once a business is clicked on, users will see reviews, maps and a business profile.
This is the latest effort by Superpages.com to adapt to an ever-changing marketplace. Previously, the company has developed Superpages.com applications for mobile phones, including Blackberry. Superpages also has a Google Gadget and a Browser Toolbar.
Posted by Nathania Johnson at 9:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Paid Search Click Data: Syndicated Versus Pure Search Referrals
Efficient Frontier has released data showing where those paid search click referrals are coming from. Here's the raw data:
Yahoo: 45% from pure search, the rest from its 1196 syndicated sites
Google: 59% from pure search, the rest from its 431 syndicated sites
MSN: 99% from pure search, the rest from its 5 syndicated sites
But when it comes to conversions, pure search beat out syndicated sites every time:
Yahoo: 58% from pure search
Google: 75% from pure search
MSN: 100% from pure search
Does this data line up with what you're seeing in your niche or industry? Let us know by leaving a comment.
Related Reading:
B2B Advertising Brilliance: Word Frequency Techniques for Killer PPC Campaigns
Data Segmentation: Web Site Analytics for PPC
Posted by Nathania Johnson at 9:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
SEW Experts: Don't Hire a Butcher to do a Baker's Job
There are a few firms that I might believe do a good job of both Web design and SEO. Most Web design companies have no business claiming to "do" SEO. In today's Organic Search Engine Optimization column, "Don't Hire a Butcher to do a Baker's Job," Mark Jackson explains why Web designers and IT teams that claim to be handling SEO are probably not doing enough for your site.
Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
SEW Experts: Small Business Owners Need Twitter and LinkedIn
It's a time investment. But something worth having takes time. Keeping up with what's going on in your industry and creating a community you can talk with are key factors that successful web businesses employ. In today's Small Business Search Marketing column, "Small Business Owners Need Twitter and LinkedIn," Carrie Hill explains how social networking sites like Twitter and LinkedIn can benefit small business marketers.
Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
