Highlights from the SEW Blog: November 5-9, 2007

By Kevin Newcomb , November 12, 2007

We've collected all the search marketing news from selected posts to the Search Engine Watch blog in the past week, along with recent search-related headlines from around the Web.

From the SEW blog:

Organic Search

• SEW Experts: SEO Engineers Keep Agency on Track
  There's a dirty little secret about SEO. Most people have absolutely no idea what we do.
• SEW Experts: Should You Join the PageRank Hysteria?
  PageRank is the SEO equivalent of a stock ticker. How much time do you want to invest watching the PR ticker?
• SEW Experts: SEO for Brand Reputation Management
  Do a Google search for "walmart" and you'll notice the top results include a few sites that aren't exactly favorable to the Wal-Mart brand.
• SEW Experts: SEO for Start-ups and VCs
  There are few venture capital firms that really understand the importance of SEO, and few resources devoted to supporting it.

Search Advertising

• Yahoo Shares Hints on Improving Quality Index
  This number is important, because ads with a higher quality index can receive higher ranking in sponsored search results.
• Google Refines Site Targeting, Adds Bid Options
  Google has changed the way it allows advertisers to target ads by site in its content network, and added a cost-per-click (CPC) bidding option for those ads.
• AOL Adds Quigo to Platform A
  AOL has confirmed the acquisition of Quigo, a contextual ad network serving text, display and video ads.
• Your Visitors Appreciate Targeted Ads, Really
  Despite all the privacy concerns of late, online shoppers appreciate the benefits of personalized and targeted promotions.
• SEW Experts: Content Advertising Explained
  David Szetela, founder of Clix Marketing, kicks off his new column that will explore the myriad problems with content advertising, and the ways advertisers can solve those problems.
• SEW Experts: Searches in Vegas, Stay in Vegas
  In so many ways, Las Vegas is the best-marketed city in the world. Given that sophistication, one would expect to find all the main casinos, restaurants, night clubs, and shows listed in paid search results.

Linking Issues & Social Media

• SEW Experts: Link Building and Brainstorming Content
  Building links using great content can save even the most disastrous site.
• Bloglines Debuts Top 1000
  Bloglines today launched the Bloglines Top 1000, a list of the most-subscribed blogs in its feed reader.
• Here Come the Social Network Ads
  The top social networks have each unveiled plans this week for bringing more targeted ads to their networks. How will users react?
• Content is Dead, Community is King?
  A combination of both professional and user generated content can increase organic traffic and create more ad inventory. But success depends on the quality of the actively participating community.
• Yahoo To Kickstart College Students' Careers
  Yahoo is launching a social networking service for college students to help them find careers.

Local & Mobile Search

• Here Come the Social Network Ads, Part II: The Local Angle
  There are some interesting local search and small business advertising implications to Facebook's and MySpace's new ad platforms.
• Local Search at the Pump
  Google has struck a deal with a gas pump kiosk maker to implement Google Maps on the company's media system.
• Yahoo announces Fireeagle
  It's a new service for obtaining geo-location information, storing it, and making it available to other web applications.
• Google Android: Mobile Platform, No Gphone (Yet)
  Google today unveiled a new mobile operating system, user interface, and applications platform dubbed Android.

Vertical & Specialty Search

• Sign of the Times – Agencies Go Vertical
  Just a few short years ago when search engine marketing was still very young; a prospective client looking for help with search marketing sought an agency with expertise in search. Fast forward just a few short years, add a lot more sophistication, millions of dollars in search engine advertising, and the equation changes.
• Microsoft's Garry Wiseman Interviewed on Shopping Search
  Garry is the group program manager for the commerce search team in the Live Search group.

Small Business/Big Brand SEM

• SEW Experts: Local Search for National Brands
  National brands that empower their local sales channel can generate more sales, leads, and conversions.
• Getting a Blog's Benefits, Without a Blog
  Don't want to put a blog on your B2B site? You can still get some of the benefits of blogging by doing as the bloggers do.
• Google Outsources Product Uploads
  Google has announced its newly established Product Search Partners who can help people develop and submit feeds for their products.

In-House & Outsourcing

• Fitting Search Into Your Marketing Strategy
  There are a few different ways to integrate search into your overall marketing strategy. Working with a best-of-breed search marketing firm alongside other best-of-breed marketing partners has the most potential upside, but also is the most challenging to manage.

SEM Industry Issues

• SEW Experts: Facebook D-Day, Meatball Sundae
  Meatballs and ice cream are great on their own, but not so good together.
• Justifying the Investment in Industry Conferences
  Going to industry conferences is expensive, no doubt. But it would cost you more in the end if you let your competition get an edge on you.
• IAC Splitting Into Five Separate Companies
  After years of touting the importance of "synergy" between its partner companies, IAC Chairman and CEO Barry Diller has gotten permission from the board of directors to split the business five ways.

Searching/Search Technologies

• Ajax and Search Engines
  We still live in a world where crawlers have problems with Ajax and Javascript, but there are ways to minimize those problems.
• SEW Experts: Machines In Translation: Do MT Engineers Dream of Selectric Sheep? Part 3
  What does Google really want to achieve with machine translation?

More from the SEW Blog

• Times Online editor claims Google is 'hugely dangerous'
  The editor of Times Online today told the Society of Editors conference in the UK that Google was "hugely dangerous" to the newspaper industry.

Search Headlines

We report the top search marketing news daily at the Search Engine Watch Blog. You'll find more news from around the Web below.

• SEO Design and Development Best Practices, ClickZ
• Advertising in the New New Media, Part 2, ClickZ
• Dave Morgan to Guide Global Ad Strategy at AOL, ClickZ
• Related Queries in Google Image Search, Google Operating System
• Facebook search expands – will it take on Google?, Venture Beat
• December's Battle Of The Search Conferences, Search Engine Land
• 8 Tips for Finding Exceptional Employees, E-Marketing Performance
• PPC lesson from Kenny Rogers and some advanced maths, Distilled
• Why Google Can't Just "Dump" PageRank, SEO Fast Start
• Yahoo Opting Out of Search Soon?, Smart-Keywords
• Should SEO be Outsourced?, Fresh Egg
• Microsoft on Index Partitioning, SEO by the Sea
• A Few Tips on Web Analytics Segmentation, Web Analytics Demystified
• Use of Personas Boosts Conversion by 400%, GrokDotCom
• Yelp SEO Analysis: Part One, Local SEO Guide
• Optimizing Internal Site Search for eCommerce, Groove Commerce
• It's all about the numbers, Dave Rohrer
• Search industry needs to adapt, E-Consultancy
• BlogWord 2007 Session Coverage Recap, Bruce Clay Blog

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