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November 18, 2009

Boost eLearning Provides Course on New Google Search Features

Boost eLearning provides search training for organizations, so that employees can conduct efficient searches for their business research. Now, Boost eLearning has unveiled a new course featuring Google's new search features.

The new course explores the new "show options" feature which allows searchers to filter their searches by time and type.

"A large percentage of enterprise employees use Google for business research," said Victor D. Alhadeff, CEO of Boost eLearning. "Enterprises therefore gain significant benefits when they help employees learn a greater portion of Google's powerful search features. With a few minutes of easy online training dramatically improving both search speed and accuracy, employees and employers both come out winners."

With knowledge workers spending an average of 30 minutes searching, courses like this can help employees streamline their search activity and increase productivity. 40% of searches do not return a desired result, and learning these new features could help reduce that number.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 12:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

October 10, 2009

Wake Up! - The FTC is screwing with bloggers

If you are a blogger in the US your life is about to change big-time.

You have just entered the Twilight Zone...

New FTC guidelines (read full version) described in the official press release state:

1 - "the post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement. Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service."

and

2 - the revised Guides reflect Commission case law and clearly state that both advertisers and endorsers may be liable for false or unsubstantiated claims made in an endorsement - or for failure to disclose material connections between the advertiser and endorsers. The revised Guides also make it clear that celebrities have a duty to disclose their relationships with advertisers when making endorsements outside the context of traditional ads, such as on talk shows or in social media."

My reading of this is very disturbing.

Here is a possible scenario:

You - a "social media" "celebrity" "blogger" (this is anyone who has more than a few followers on Twitter or some number of subscribers to their blog RSS feed) reviews a book, product, or service - making it an "endorsement"
You got a copy of the book to review, or got a free trial of the product, or a free trial of the service
You did not mention the freebie in your blog post
If someone does not like your blog posting you can be sued

To try to regulate bloggers as if they were professional journalists or compensated endorsements is asinine (incidentally - these guidelines do not apply to professional journalists!) The FTC is trying a land-grab into Internet regulation so they can extend their bureaucratic tentacles and justify their continued existence and funding. All of this is being done under the slogan of their official tagline "Protecting America's Consumers". This of course begs the questions - "from whom?"

This is a screwy world we live in, but the whole premise of blogging on the Internet is predicated on the notion that anyone can have frank and open discussions about any topic of their choosing. Most bloggers do not get paid and do not make any money directly or indirectly from their blogging efforts. They try to build their reputation and disseminate information that their followers may find useful. They never claim to be "objective" and often hold very strong, peculiar, and very personal opinions.

It has always been "buyer beware" on the Internet. I don't think anyone needs to be reminded that we should carefully consider the source and reputation of any information that we encounter online. We certainly don't need a chilling effect on the whole online conversation from a huge government agency.

It is ironic that this is happening under the direction of a man who was elected with the strong support of the Internet community and specifically active social media leaders. Unfortunately typical liberal-leaning tendencies are also to regulate people's lives via the government in order to protect them against unscrupulous big-business practices.

Don't get me wrong - frankly I don't care if the assault on individual liberties comes from the left or right (the four FTC commissioners who voted unanimously for the new guideline were all appointed by Bush). But I do care when big brother injects themselves into normal Internet discourse this heavy-handedly.

Fight this unconstitutional over-reach - these are simply regulations from unelected bureaucrats within the executive branch.

Let's make our voices heard and protect the First Amendment and our ability to have unfettered discourse without fear of lawsuits online.

BTW - no one paid me to "endorse" this position on the new FTC regulations - I guess that my butt is now legally covered (at least for this blog post).

Posted by Tim Ash at 7:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)

September 29, 2009

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

HostingYourParty

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

1950 - What Makes a Good Party

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

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

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

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

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

Inquiring minds want to know.

Posted by Greg Jarboe at 9:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (20)

Question Box Aids Search in Developing Areas Without Web

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

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

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

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 1:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

August 13, 2009

SEMPO Adds Two New Working Groups: San Fran and the ATL

SEMPO (Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization) has announced two new working groups for search marketing professionals. The new working groups will be located in Atlanta and San Francisco.

"We're excited about adding San Francisco and Atlanta to our list of SEMPO's local working groups, which are a very effective vehicle for addressing the local search community's challenges and opportunities," said Geoffrey Shenk, Managing Director of Kenshoo and Chairman, SEMPO North America. "They are becoming an increasingly popular way for SEMPO members to share ideas and expertise and, in the end, they benefit the SEMPO organization and the SEM industry."

There are 5 other working groups in the following cities: Arizona, Boston, Chicago, Colorado and New York.

Personally, if I were to add to these 7, I would add Raleigh-Durham and Dallas-Fort Worth.

Where would you add a search marketing working group?

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 1:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 29, 2009

Apple Seeks to Improve App Search (Without Google?!)

Say you're searching the App Store on iTunes, but you can never find what you want. That's because Apple, who has thus far stayed out of the search game, has enjoyed profits from iTunes despite a despicable search experience.

iPhone developers have had to get pretty creative to get the word out about their apps. (Full disclosure: I've marketed a couple of my husband apps and it ain't easy.)

Now, things are getting easier if word from Apple Insider is true. According to the blog, Apple is asking developers to submit up to 255 characters containing keywords related to their app. The keywords will be used for searches conducted via the iPhone or iPod Touch devices. (If the iTunes desktop software is seriously left out of this update, it makes no sense to me.)

I've felt for a several months now that Apple should seriously look at getting involved in search. They've missed their chance with Yahoo! now that Microsoft sealed the deal, unless it unravels in an antitrust investigation (wink, wink).

Sounds like a job for Google CEO Eric Schmidt who currently sits on Apple's board and maintains close ties with the White House. Last year, Google backed out of a deal with Yahoo!, which was clearly designed to keep Yahoo! from being bought by Microsoft's initial acquisition offer. Google will no doubt lobby the DOJ in an attempt to kill the MSFT-YHOO deal.

In fact, they could potentially kill two birds with one stone. Since Google and Apple are themselves under antitrust scrutiny, Schmidt could agree to leave the Apple board in exchange for Apple doing a Yahoo! deal. While there would still remain Google's large search market share open for antitrust regulators, Google hasn't done anything to force their search on anyone and they can always just point the finger right back at Microsoft anyway.

I know this is a far-fetched conspiracy theory, but stranger things have happened. Besides, Google's coming out with an OS and software giant Microsoft is going after search. There is enough of an argument for Apple to be pursuing search, creating three strong and innovative companies who compete across several niches.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 2:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

July 22, 2009

Amazon.com to Aquire Zappos

I love Amazon. I love Zappos. I love how they compete against each other. That's why I'm kind of disappointed that Amazon is acquiring Zappos. It would be like Duke acquiring UNC or the Red Sox acquiring the Yankees.

Alright, alright, here's the details.

Amazon is buying Zappos for 10 million AMZN stock, which is currently worth around $807 million. Also, Amazon is providing Zappos employees with $40 million in cash and restricted stock units. Cha-freaking-ching.

Don't worry, Zappos.com won't be 301-redirecting to Amazon.com anytime soon.

"We are joining forces with Amazon because there is a huge opportunity to utilize each other's strengths and move even faster towards our vision of delivering happiness to customers, employees and vendors," said Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos. "We will continue to build the Zappos brand and culture in our own unique way, and we believe Amazon is the best partner to help us do this over the long term."

Alright, Tony. I hope this is the right decision. Don't mess with 6pm.com. I want to get Oakley sunglasses on the cheap!

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 5:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

June 23, 2009

Social Media Show Big Search Jumps, Google Drops For May The comScore's monthly numbers show a drop in growth for Google, Yahoo and MSN, yet an increase for social sites Facebook and Craigslist over last month was noted. Google's numbers fell to 65% of search share - a 2% drop from last month - while Craigslist gained 12 percent. comScore Expanded Search Query Report May 2009 vs. April 2009 Total U.S. - Home/Work/University Locations Source: comScore qSearch

Expanded Search Entity Search Queries (MM) Apr-09 May-09 Percent Change May-09 vs. Apr-09 Total Expanded Search 22,067 21,818 -1% Google Sites 13,041 13,035 0% Google 9,830 9,680 -2% YouTube/All Other 3,211 3,355 4% Yahoo! Sites 3,161 3,021 -4% Yahoo! 3,135 2,995 -4% All Other 26 26 0% Microsoft Sites* 1,250 1,194 -4% MSN-Windows Live 1,158 1,103 -5% Microsoft/All Other 92 91 -1% AOL LLC 795 721 -9% AOL Search Network 427 374 -12% MapQuest/All Other 368 347 -6% Ask Network 705 691 -2% Ask.com 402 382 -5% MyWebSearch.com/ All Other 303 309 2% craigslist, inc. 583 651 12% Fox Interactive Media 666 644 -3% MySpace Sites 658 636 -3% All Other 8 8 0% eBay 654 634 -3% Amazon Sites 188 185 -2% Facebook.com 176 184 5%

Posted by Frank Watson at 11:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 8, 2009

After Selling Off Media Division, MIVA to Rebrands as Vertro

In March, MIVA sold off its media division to Adknowledge. Now, they're rebranding their newly-focused business as Vertro.

"We're excited to announce the planned launch of Vertro. We believe the rebrand is the culmination of a period of significant change for our Company following the sale of MIVA Media in March," said Peter Corrao, MIVA's President and Chief Executive Officer. "Following the sale, we now have a strengthened balance sheet, reduced overheads and a streamlined team that can now focus its resource on the development and expansion of our consumer-oriented product portfolio."

Vertro will be focused on their ALOT toolbar and desktop to provide third-party content for searchers to discover and publishers to display.

The company's stock was traded on the NASDAQ. The ticker symbol will change from NASDAQ:MIVA to NASDAQ:VTRO. The changes are expected to be complete by today.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 1:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

June 4, 2009

Hulu Wants to Rot Your Wallet

Hulu has made no secret of their plan to rot your brain. But apparently the motivation behind it is so that you'll unwittingly shell out moolah to pay to watch vids there in the future.

At least, this is the opinion of NewsCorp's brand spankin' new chief digital officer, Jonathan Miller. He's been out there expressing his hope for putting Hulu content behind a pay wall. (NewsCorp was one of the original partners in Hulu, with NBC being the other. Disney, which owns ABC, recently joined the gang.)

Of course, Miller's boss, Rupert Murdoch has recently been loud and clear on his intent to monetize newspaper websites via a pay wall. Call me crazy, but that's been tried and it didn't work. I remember not being able to read a full story unless I shelled out a subscription or one time fee. I didn't. It's too easy to find out about news for free (say, on Twitter).

With television, it's different, but in a worse way for the networks. People are either already shelling out a ton for their cable bundles and Satellite dishes. Others either can't afford them or simply choose not to have a premium television experience, so why would they pay for it online?

Of course, you don't even need cable to watch NBC, FOX, and ABC shows (those are the three major networks featured on Hulu).

Mix in the ever-increasing popularity of DVRs and you have the perfect storm of reasons to avoid paying for Hulu.

Media companies are certainly in a conundrum. Consumers have come to expect rather immense amounts of content online for free. All they have to do is put up with some irrelevant ads.

But their answer doesn't lie in charging consumers directly. It lies in improving display advertising. It lies in convincing search marketers that their search ROI actually improves when complemented with a display campaign.

Instead, media conglomerates seem intent on passing on their problems directly to the consumer instead of actually figuring them out.

Am I wrong? Is my brain rotted on this matter? Tell me how it is in the comments.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 8:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

April 21, 2009

ABCSearch Acquires and Rebrands as Advertise.com

Privately-held paid search company ABCSearch, Internext Media Corp. company, has acquired Advertise.com. They will rebrand under the Advertise.com name, which will serve a larger online advertising solution including PPC, contextual advertising, and display ads.

This is, of course, not to be confused with AOL-owned Advertising.com (which has been rebranded as Platform-A).

"I believe that online advertising needs a new approach," said Daniel Yomtobian, founder and CEO of Advertise.com. According to Yomtobian, advertisers and publishers have so many choices--some work, while others definitely do not. "The current model does not provide advertisers enough ROI. We launched Advertise.com to provide advertisers and publishers a new value proposition--effective, affordable, and easy-to-use advertising campaigns all under one roof. We are committed to our motto: 'online marketing made easy'."

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 4:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 13, 2009

Ex-Yahoo! Tapped as Vice President of Ad Operations at interCLICK

Dave Myers, formerly the senior director of advertiser marketplace operations at Yahoo! has been selected by online advertising network, interCLICK, to be their new vice president of ad operations. Myers will oversee day-to-day operations including media buying, account management, analytics and ad operations

While at Yahoo!, Myers led the go-to-market and operational integration between Yahoo! and Right Media. Last July, Jason Lynn, the Director of Solutions Engineering for Yahoo/Right Media left Sunnyvale to join interCLICK.

"Supply chain management plays a strategic role in delivering scalable results for our clients," said Michael Katz, president of interCLICK. "Aligning organizational infrastructure with product to meet client demands is our number one priority as we continue to scale the company. Dave possesses the precise operational expertise and proven leadership capabilities which will allow us to execute on our vision."

Prior to Yahoo!, Myers was enterprise services engagement manager for Microsoft Corporation. Related Reading: Ad Network interCLICK Expands to Los Angeles Q3 Earnings for MySpace, interCLICK and Answers Corp.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 12:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 31, 2009

Andrew Goodman to Guy Kawasaki: You are Ruining Twitter!

At SES New York last week, I was amazed that the buzz generated by Guy Kawasaki's keynote about "Twitter as a Tool for Social Media" lasted more than 24 hours. Well, now it's a week later and everyone's still talking about the implications of what the author of Reality Check and Founding Partner of Garage Technology Ventures said in his bully pulpit.

For example, check out Andrew Goodman's latest post in Traffick: "Is Guy Kawasaki Singlehandedly Ruining Twitter? (Part I)." Goodman says, "I'm relatively new to Twitter, but then again, I'm not slow :), so I have seen these kinds of trends come and go. Mostly, since the late 1990's, what we've seen are spammers in various channels tell us that they're the cool ones and not really spamming."

And then as quietly and calmly as someone who is about to take you to the woodshed, Goodman adds, "I'd love to be able to make the point that it's not about the man, it's about the tactics. As honorable as that might be, it's impossible to separate the two... as you'll see."

You're going to have to read Goodman's next 17 paragraphs for yourself. I haven't seen this kind of outburst by a mild mannered Canadian since Molson ran its extremely popular ad, "The Rant", in 2000.

However, let me give you one small sample: "If everyone listened to Guy Kawasaki and admired his Twitter tactics, Twitter would start looking more and more like a digital trailer park."

I'm just glad that I don't live in Buffalo anymore. Or, I would have been blistered by the heat from nearby Toronto.

Maybe everything on the Twitter front will have cooled down by the time SES Toronto is held June 8-10, 2009. But I wouldn't bet on it.

Remember, Molson's commercial, "The Rant", was a remarkable success, spawning a number of parodies and copycats. This includes William Shatner's variation, "I am not a Starfleet commander."

So, I don't think we've seen the last of this.

I know that Twitter has an 140-character limit. Now, if only we could limit responses to Kawasaki's keynote to 140 Tweets.

Posted by Greg Jarboe at 6:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (13)

March 30, 2009

Report: Jonathan Miller to Run NewsCorp's Digital Unit

AOL's former Chief Executive Jonathan Miller has been approached by NewsCorp to head up their digital unit, according to reports. Miller is under a non-compete agreement with AOL, but that expires within days. The agreement prevented Miller from joining Yahoo!'s expanded board, a compromise with investor Carl Icahn last summer during the Microsoft acquisition aftermath.

Currently, Miller is a partner at investment firm Velocity Interactive Group. He left AOL in 2006. Last fall, it was rumored that he wanted to buy Yahoo, but it turned out he was raising funds for Velocity, not a Yahoo purchase.

NewsCorp is the parent company of MySpace. They also have an investment in fast-rising online video site, Hulu.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 11:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 28, 2009

Death of newspapers or new era of online journalism?

I just received an email from an old friend about The Christian Science Monitor, which published its final daily print edition yesterday. This prompts me to ask, "Should search engine marketers mourn the death of newspapers or celebrate the new era of online journalism?"

Before I tackle this emotional question, let's review the facts objectively -- as any good journalist would do.

The key words in my first sentence are "daily print." Or, as John Yemma, the editor of The Christian Science Monitor, wrote yesterday, "As of today, we are shedding print on a daily basis."

In his Editor's message about changes at the Monitor, Yemma acknowledged, "To survive in today's business environment, newspapers everywhere are taking radical steps. Some are decreasing the frequency of print. Some are now Web-only. Some have shut down or surrendered to receivership."

For example, the Detroit Free Press and the Detroit News announced in December 2008 that both would cut back home delivery to only Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays starting in spring 2009. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has just gone to a web-only version. And the Rocky Mountain News and Ann Arbor News have shut down completely.

Meanwhile, the Project for Excellence in Journalism has just issued The State of the News Media 2009. As the inverted pyramid style of news requires, the introduction of the annual report on American journalism captures the "gist" of the story: "Some of the numbers are chilling."

It continues, "Newspaper ad revenues have fallen 23% in the last two years. Some papers are in bankruptcy, and others have lost three-quarters of their value. By our calculations, nearly one out of every five journalists working for newspapers in 2001 is now gone, and 2009 may be the worst year yet."

So, when Yemma said in his Editor's message, "Saying goodbye to daily print closes an era," he was talking about more than the Monitor. He was also addressing the looming death of the newspaper industry.

However, Yemma then turns to this new thought: "But the Monitor itself - the century-old journalistic enterprise chronicling the world's challenges and progress - is becoming more daily than ever."

Yemma added, "No longer inked on wood pulp, no longer trucked from printing plants to your mailbox, no longer published only five days a week, the daily Monitor is now a dynamic online newspaper on all days."

And he concluded, "Two million individuals now engage with us online each month, about 40 times the number that have been subscribing to the print daily. We are linked deeply and extensively across the Internet."

Before joining the Monitor in July 2008, Yemma oversaw editorial operations of the Boston Globe's Boston.com website and led the efforts to transform the newsroom from print to multi-media. So, he has the chops to make that statement.

Or, as Yemma put it, "Think of it this way: We are putting on new clothes for a new era, but we are the same Monitor, committed to the same objective we have adhered to since we were launched a century ago."

And according to Newsknife, The Christian Science Monitor was one of the top six sources in Google News in February 2009, and #1 in terms of most appearances on the home page as a percentage of site total.

So, maybe there is something for search engine marketers to celebrate here.

To paraphrase Stewart Brand, the founder of the Whole Earth Catalog and cofounder of The Well, The Christian Science Monitor is now just bits flying around rather than atoms, but it remains a steady and reliable source of information about the world.

I'll link to that.

Posted by Greg Jarboe at 6:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

February 10, 2009

Matt McGowan Quoted in BusinessWeek Article about SEO Jobs

I get most of my news online, but I still read newspapers and magazines. And I got caught up on my reading over the past 72 hours as I battled the norovirus.

So, imagine my surprise when I saw Matt McGowan, publisher of SearchEngineWatch.com, quoted in a BusinessWeek article by Ben Levisohn about SEO jobs entitled, "Web Work: Searching for Hitmakers."

Hey, I know Matt. (I should disclose that he is a client, but I didn't set up the interview.)

Levisohn wrote, "Among the jobs showing growth as the unemployment rate hits 7.2%: search engine optimizers." He asked McGowan why demand for SEO skills was so intense at a time when marketing budgets are tight, and Matt replied, "More and more, (marketers) want proof that their spending works."

Amen, brother.

I almost died and went to heaven when I read, "They need strategists, who conceive a Web site's approach to roping in visitors."

And I had to double-check that I hadn't already died and gone to heaven when I read, "Companies are also looking for 'link builders,' who work to steer traffic from other Web sites to their employer's."

And then I felt like I had risen from the dead and returned to the land of the living when I read, "Also sought: SEO copywriters, who insert specific search terms into a site's content to draw desired visitors."

Hey, I know people who do that.

You know, I've simply got to find more time to read newspapers and magazines. You never know the valuable information you're going to stumble across. And, miraculously, I'm feeling much better now, too.

Meanwhile, if companies are looking for search engine optimizers, link builders and SEO copywriters, they will find thousands of them attending SES New York 2009, which will be held March 23-27, at the Hilton New York.

(Notice the smooth segue in the SEO copywriting to this related topic and the anchor text link in the copy to the client's website? That's just a crude example of some of the services that search engine optimizers offer.)

If you look over the conference agenda, here are a couple of examples of the sessions that you won't want to miss: -- How to Create a Successful In-House SEO Program -- Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Workshop -- SEO: Where to Next -- Advanced SEO Strategies: Integrating Analytics, Usability, Persuasion and Journalism -- Discover the Power of Linking: Link Building Basics -- Keywords & Content: Search Marketing Foundations -- SEO Through Blogs & Feeds -- News Search SEO -- Independent SEM/SEOs: Issues & Answers -- SEO Training Course

So, this wasn't just a smooth seque. No, no, no. The information about Search Engine Strategies New York was also relevant and useful. That's why search engine optimizers are in such demand.

Or, as Google says, "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."

And if you register for SES New York by March 6, you can save up to $200.

But wait, there's more! Register today and get one month of free online search marketing training (a $99 value) from MarketMotive.

Okay, now I'm on the brink of the verge of the edge. So, I'll back off the hard sell.

Nevertheless, if you are looking for search engine optimizers or want to develop your own skills to become one, you could do a lot worse that attending Search Engine Strategies New York. A lot worse.

Posted by Greg Jarboe at 9:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 5, 2009

Google, Microsoft Higher Ups Dish Out the Dough for Obama Inauguration

Execs from Google and Microsoft are ponying up big time for President-elect Barack Obama's big day. On January 20, the former junior Senator from Illinois will become the 44th President of the United States.

Who from search is giving big for the shindig?

From Google:

Eric Schmidt (CEO) $25,000.00
Larry Page (Co-founder) $25,000.00
Marissa Mayer (Vice President, Search Products & User Experience) $25,000.00
Richard Costolo (former Feedburner CEO) $25,000.00
Chad Hurley (YouTube co-founder) $25,000.00
David Drummond (Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer) $25,000.00

From Microsoft:

Steven Ballmer (CEO) $50,000.00
Bradford Smith (Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Corporate Secretary, Legal & Corporate Affairs) $25,000.00
Craig Mundie (Chief Research and Strategy Officer) $25,000.00
Steven VanRoekel (Senior Director, Windows Server Solutions Group, Microsoft) $50,000.00

So far from Yahoo, one lone donation, from an attorney:

Laura Covington $10,000.00

For a full list of donors, click here.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 9:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

UPDATE: Steve Jobs Weight Loss Due to Hormonal Imbalance

UPDATE: Link to Steve Jobs Letter at Apple Site

Last week, Frank Watson reported to you that Steve Jobs health was in question. If you read a bunch of tech blogs, you've seen the rumors. Jobs once had cancer, and bloggers, journalists and Wall Street analysts have been wondering if it had returned because Jobs had lost a lot of weight.

The good news is that the cancer is not back. According to Fox Business (which I have on in the background, sorry no link yet, but check out the screen shot below) Steve Jobs has released a letter to shareholders acknowledging the weight loss and explaining that the doctors have finally determined that it is a hormonal imbalance. He is being treated and expects to gain the weight back.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 8:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 2, 2009

IE Browsers Drop Below 70% Market Share

The Dallas Morning News reported Internet Explorer - Microsoft's pervasive web browser - has fallen to 68% market share.

Firefox is now over 20% and browsers such as Safari, Opera, and Google's Chrome make up the rest.

The article shows Chrome at below 1% though I have seen reports that have that number as high as 2%.

Posted by Frank Watson at 8:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

December 31, 2008

Watch a Live Stream of the Times Square New Year's Celebration

TimesSquare.com is offering a free, live stream of the most famous New Year's celebration in the world. It will begin the stream at 4pm and last until 12:15am. Mogulus will provide the streaming technology.

This way you can enjoy Times Square without being surrounded by thousands of drunk, screaming people, having beer poured all over you and not having access to public bathrooms.

Or, if you prefer, you can go to Times Square and use your Wifi-enabled device to access TimesSquare.com (provided you can grab a Wifi signal) and be completely ironic with yourself.

No matter how you ring in 2009, and to our friends our the globe who already have - Happy New Year!

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 10:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

December 23, 2008

Chinese Internet Portal Sina Buys Focus Media for $1 Billion

Chinese internet portal Sina.com, has announced plans to buy parts of Focus Media for $1 billion, according to the New York Times.

Focus Media is an outdoor digital advertising company, using LCDs to display ads, as well as an internet advertising company. Sina.com, incidentally is purchasing the outdoor ad portion while Focus retains the internet ad part.Sina.com uses Google for web search and advertising.

In a statement released by Sina, President and CEO Charles Chao said, “The transaction is intended to combine the forces of the two of the most powerful new media advertising platforms in China to provide more effective and integrated marketing solutions to our customers. We believe that this business combination will significantly extend our media reach and influence, reinforcing our position as a partner of choice in new-media advertising in China.”

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 11:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Blogging Helps LA Times Find Success Online

The LA Times appears to have not gone the way of the traditional newspapers such as the now bankrupt Chicago Tribune and the struggling New York Times. They have focused intently on their online content and it's paying off.

Latimes.com grew their audience by 143% this year. It became the #2 online newspaper for the first time in November.

So how did they do it? Blogging.

Politics, fashion, and entertainment helped boost readership. I must confess, that 3,000 miles away in North Carolina, I've read an Latimes.com blog a time or two myself.

The web has also helped the paper venture into more interactive features, which they used to cover the Olympics and the Elections. It has also boosted what would be a typical feature story in print to an interactive experience online.

"It's great to see this incredible reader response and to know the improvements we've been making at latimes.com are engaging to the online community," said Meredith Artley, Executive Editor, latimes.com. "We're complementing The Times unique voice and outstanding coverage with a strong blog network, database projects, visual journalism and interactive features, and we'll be undertaking even more efforts in 2009 to better serve our growing audience."

Of course, these papers that do succeed are great places to try and get links. But tread professionally. Recently, SEW Expert Sage Lewis got a few tips from his wife, an editor, on how to talk to newspaper types.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 10:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

December 9, 2008

News from the World of Search Outside SES

I don't have as much time to blog about each story this week, being at SES Chicago, but I've been keeping an eye on the news for you. So here are links to news that's happening in the world of search this week:

Microsoft Live Search A call for industry standards for data anonymization

Yahoo: BOSS Reaches a Milestone Yahoo Moves Ahead With Layoffs on Wednesday: The Sad Details Searching for real estate gets a facelift

Google An update to the AdWords alcohol policy Web Security in the Cloud

AOL: AOL's Platform-A and Schick Wilkinson-Sword Partner on Lemondrop.com Holiday Gift Guide

Trulia: Trulia's Publisher Platform Powers Real Estate Search for More Than 100 Websites

Techdirt: If There's A National Cybersecurity Policy, What Should It Cover?

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 11:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 25, 2008

WebTrends Taps Microsoft, Yahoo Vet as VP of Marketing

Former Microsoft and Yahoo employee, Jascha Kaykas-Wolff, is heading to WebTrends to become their Vice President of Marketing. Kaykas-Wolff comes to WebTrends directly from a business consulting firm, but previously held senior management roles at Microsoft and a management role at Yahoo.

WebTrends CEO Alex Yoder said, “Jascha is a veteran digital marketer, and brings a successful track record of developing and executing strategies that enhance customer experience and deliver meaningful results. His background with Internet and software companies, along with his first-hand experience with WebTrends, has ideally prepared him to lead the delivery of WebTrends' vision and solutions to the marketplace.”

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 11:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

November 11, 2008

Incisive Media Promotes Matt McGowan to VP/Publisher for Digital Marketing Businesses

Incisive Media announced today that Matt McGowan is being promoted to vice president and publisher for its digital marketing businesses, including the ClickZ network, Search Engine Watch and the Search Engine Strategies conference series. Matt, who was formerly the global VP of marketing for the group, will oversee all non-editorial functions including sales, marketing and operations. He will report to Kevin Vermeulen, senior vice president.

Matt joined Incisive Media in 2006. Before that, he had served as vice president – sales, marketing and operations for PropertyRoom.com. He began his media career as a marketing manager for Pearson PLC.

McGowan holds a bachelor's degree from Lafayette College and received his MBA from the University of Oxford. He will continue to be based in New York City.

In a press release, Vermeulen said, “We're pleased that Matt will be leading the expansion of these fast-growing brands that are widely recognized as key resources for interactive marketers.”

Matt is well-known in the search industry. In addition to seeing him at Search Engine Strategies conferences and expos on several continents, he has also started moderating SES Webcasts, including the one last Friday with Bill Tancer of Hitwise.

John Connor Mulligan of SEO-PR interviewed Matt during SES New York 2008 -- in Times Square. If you look closely, you'll see a big shamrock in Matt's lapel. Hmmmmm. Do you think, maybe, McGowan is a wee bit Irish?

Matt McGowan in Times Square, Day 1 SES NY 2008

Posted by Greg Jarboe at 2:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

November 6, 2008

Q3 Earnings for MySpace, interCLICK and Answers Corp.

Earnings are in for MySpace (owned by NewsCorp), interCLICK, and Answers Corporation. The three advertising revenue-based companies had mixed results.

NewsCorp reported that Fox Interactive Media, of which MySpace is the primary web property, saw a 17% gain. However, that's still a 57% drop from the previous quarter. NewsCorp president Rupert Murdoch isn't confident about the future of online advertising and expects to see a decline in revenues for the company as a whole going forward.

interCLICK's ability to hang onto their client roster is the reason why they posted a 23.2% increase in revenues. They also saw a drop in their operating losses. They're projecting 60% growth in 2009, which seems a bit ambitious considering the economy at large.

Answers Corp., which owns WikiAnswers.com and Answers.com, saw a revenue increase of 19% quarter-over-quarter and 61% year-over-year. However, their net losses are increasing.

Overall, it looks like these companies are hanging on, but the future looks to be in a range from uncertain to bleak.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 9:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 5, 2008

Firefox Reaches 20% Market Share, Releases Privacy Feature

No, the two are not related, as far as I can tell. But Congratulations to Firefox (my personal browser of choice) for reaching 20% of market share. They reached the number for 2 out of 4 weeks in October. For a browser that doesn't come pre-installed on most computers, that's quite impressive.

The new privacy feature is included in a pre-release version of Firefox 3.1. It's called "Private Browsing" and you can turn it on via the Tools tab. When you do, it won't store data such as history, cookies, and cache. But it only prevents such storage for the browsing you do when the feature is turned on. To store that info again, just turn it off.

What Private Browsing does NOT do is keep you anonymous on websites or your ISP. It also is not a security tool to prevent spyware downloads and such.

A good use of the tool is if you're looking online for Christmas gifts but you don't want your husband to find out what you're getting him! (Just make sure to take note of the things you want to remember.)

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 9:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 30, 2008

IAB Unveils New Workflow Improvement Initiatives

The Interactive Advertising Bureau has announced new initiatives aimed at improving workflows and best practices.

Here they are:

E- Business Interactive Standards, a beta release of an XML-based solution for automating the transfer of business order information between advertising agencies and media companies. Beta testing partners will be implementing and refining this solution throughout 2009.
Interactive Advertising Workflow Best Practices, a document that provides comprehensive process recommendations to agencies and publishers for improved communications and efficient operations throughout the entire lifecycle of an advertising campaign. The document's best practices focus on how to improve the management of advertising accounts by decreasing discrepancies, campaign set-up errors and billing cycles between advertising agencies and publishers. www.iab.net/workflow
Digital Video Ad Serving Template (VAST), an XML-based solution designed to standardize communication between digital video players and servers. VAST allows publishers to increase digital video yield by utilizing ad networks to sell unsold inventory and reduce friction with buyers by allowing third-party ad tags
Ad Load Performance Best Practices, a document that details how agencies and publishers should develop and serve digital advertising campaigns to reduce load time for ads and improve their performance. www.iab.net/adload
Best Practices for Rich Media Ads in Asynchronous Ad Environments, a solution that establishes a standard set of rich media implementation rules for rich media ad vendors, creative development teams, and publishers when serving ads into dynamic environments.

“These initiatives will revolutionize our industry by improving efficiencies in the interactive business—which means growth for publishers, for agencies and for marketers who will now reach their customers even more effectively,” said Randall Rothenberg, President and CEO of the IAB.

What do you think of these initiatives? Let us know in the comments.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 11:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

October 23, 2008

New Video Sharing Site for Internet Marketers Launched

A new video sharing site for internet marketers has launched. It's called IMBroadcast and it's pretty impressive.

You can lurk and browse videos or join and upload videos of your own. Videos range from casual advice about keyword tools to raps about social media.

The design of the site is clean and extremely user-friendly.

Check out IMBroadcast and then come back and leave comments about your first impressions of the site.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 9:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

October 14, 2008

Omniture Acquires Site Search and Merchandising Business from Mercado

Omniture has agreed to acquire the site search and merchandising assets of Mercado. Already a partner of Omniture, Mercado's tools were previously integrated with Omniture SiteCatalyst through Omniture Genesis.

“Omniture is the top supplier of Web analytics to the retail industry and this acquisition extends our leadership further into merchandising,” said Josh James, CEO and co-founder of Omniture. “The macro environment has created a great opportunity for us to acquire assets that we have been interested in for some time at a great value for our stockholders.”

Last month, Omniture launched its SiteSearch product, a hosted site search product picked up via its Visual Sciences acquisition, which was completed January of this year.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 11:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 1, 2008

Gas Shortages Lead to Increased Web and Audio Conferencing

Since Hurricanes Gustav and especially Ike, a slowdown in Gulf Coast refineries have created gas shortages in the southeast. The gas station near my house runs out every other day, it seems.

But in tough times come rare opportunities. Web and audio conferencing companies are being looked to for increased communications when travel by car has literally been brought to a halt.

Copper Conferencing is one such company.

"Our phones are busier than ever as current and new customers ask for help in setting up telecommuting practices and expanding their use of conferencing as a best practice for smart business, but in particular among workers who are in the affected areas," said Kathleen Thompson, Manager of Customer Care for Copper Conferencing.

Search engine marketers should watch out for these unique opportunities, especially during these volatile economic times. Do you have a client that can extend services such as these in the wake of natural disaster and in the midst of an economic crisis?

In an expert column today, Kevin Ryan encouraged search marketers to not spend less but to spend smart. I couldn't agree more. Search remains quite affordable compared to traditional marketing efforts and takes the cake in ROI compared to some methods, especially branding ones.

So, while the water in the glass may have dropped with the stock market on Monday, it's not completely dry. What can you do with what remains? Share your inspiration in the comments.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 10:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

September 4, 2008

As consumers cut back, marketers offer “recession specials”

Earlier this week, comScore released the results of a study examining recent changes in consumer attitudes and perceptions about the state of the U.S. economy. The study found that consumers in all income segments are cutting back on spending due to concerns about the economy, and that they were doing so to an even greater extent in July 2008 than in April 2008.

So, what does this mean for search engine marketers?

Many consumers have become increasingly cost conscious and are turning to the Internet for pricing information. The survey findings revealed that nearly three out of four consumers believe the Internet has made it “a lot easier” or “somewhat easier” to find better, more useful pricing information.

In addition, 75 percent of respondents said that they believe the Internet will become an even more important channel for pricing information, with 41 percent of respondents saying it will be “a lot more important” and 34 percent of respondents saying it will be “somewhat more important” in the future.

Do you need some examples to drive this point home?

In New York, Andrew Jeffery of Minyanville.com reports, “It appears the city that never sleeps has finally succumbed to the economic slowdown, and it's not just the neon “Recession Special” sign outside Gray's Papaya.”

In San Francisco, Liza Zimmerman of the S.F. Wine & Cocktail Examiner reviews a “Recession special: the Viansa 2007 Dolcetto is another well-executed example of using classic Mediterranean grapes on California soil.”

When Hyundai asked the Complex Blog to review their first Genesis offering touching down in the states, the company best known for econo-boxes “threw Complex the keys and we took this recession special for a ride.”

But wait! There's more!

Go to the Rates and Registration Details page for SES Chicago 2008. Just like last year, there is an Early Bird Rate that enables you to save $200 if you register before November 21. But, unlike last year, there is also a “Recession Special,” which lets you save $600 if you register before September 26.

And if you want to appear as “sartorially challenged” as one SEM industry observer said “the brains of Search Engine Marketing and Search Engine Optimization are,” then turn up at SES Chicago wearing the “Recession Special Shirt” being offered by Ten Deep at Turntablelab.com. According to the review, “Nothing like a nice, timely shirt that reflects things going on in today's headlines.”

Of course, wearing such a shirt violates the dress code in the SES Speaker Guidelines, which states: "Business casual attire is recommended. Formal business attire is perfectly fine. If in doubt, overdress. You won't feel out of place, as many speakers will also be in formal attire. How you look has an impact on how well the audience receives your presentation."

It's a classic dilemna for marketers: Follow the guidelines or take advantage of today's headlines. What would I recommend? I'd advise you to jump on the "recession special" to save $600, but skip over the shirt. But, I should disclose that SES is a client. If you want to take more of a fashion risk, that's a decision that you'll have to make for yourself.

Posted by Greg Jarboe at 2:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

September 3, 2008

Idearc Creates Executive Council, Reorganizes Sales Division

Idearc CEO Scott Klein has announced the nine members of the new Executive Council. In addition to the new Council, Idearc is reorganizing their sales operations.

The nine Council members are:

Samuel D. (Dee) Jones, executive vice president, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. Jones, who also served as senior vice president - Investor Relations, has been Acting CFO since November 2007.
Cody Wilbanks, executive vice president - General Counsel and Corporate Secretary. Wilbanks has been Acting General Counsel since March.
Sandy Henjum, executive vice president - Transformation and Marketing. Henjum's centralized organization will guide a wide range of business transformation initiatives that address sales productivity, new products, pricing programs and market and customer segmentation.
Briggs Ferguson continues as president - Internet. Ferguson, a former Citysearch executive who joined Idearc in April, will focus on executing Idearc's complete digital strategy as rapidly as possible.
Georgia Scaife, executive vice president - Human Resources and Employee Administration. Scaife's organization has been restructured to further centralize the department and improve its efficiency and focus.
Frank Gatto continues in his role as executive vice president – Operations. Gatto's organization is responsible for receivables management and billing, sales support and customer care, publishing and printing services, distribution, Information Technology (IT) and other operational functions.

In sales, three Vice Presidents will oversee new divisions, divided into East, West, and Central.

Mike Pawlowski will oversee East and Scott Laver will oversee Central. Newcomber Dave Bethea joins Idearc from PrimeSource Building Products, an independent distributor of building products, where he served as regional Vice President for Operations.

"I'm very pleased and excited about our new organization," Klein said. "I'm thrilled to be able to make this announcement almost one month ahead of schedule in order to allow us to even more aggressively move ahead with our transformational plans."

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 8:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Q Interactive Launches Display Ad Network with Predictive Behavioral Targeting

Digital marketing firm, Q Interactive, has announced the launch of a display advertising network that offers predictive behavioral targeting. The service is powered by Q Interactive's proprietary targeting technology, the TrueConversion Engine, and uses a combination of offline data and online self-reported geo-demographic, behavioral and transaction-based data to predict which consumers are most likely to respond to an ad.

"Most behavioral targeting in the marketplace is really just contextual re-targeting -- delivering a female-oriented ad to consumers who have visited a women's lifestyle site, for instance," said Matt Wise, president and chief executive officer of Q Interactive. "This approach is not much more advanced than an ad exec in the 1950s placing a detergent or diapers ad in Family Circle. What differentiates Q Interactive's behavioral targeting is that it's proactive rather than reactive; we use a wealth of online and offline data to proactively predict the consumers most likely to respond to a given ad."

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 7:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

August 26, 2008

Newegg Defies State of New York with New Tax Policy

Electronics merchant Newegg.com has decided to not charge taxes in accordance with a new New York state law requiring e-commerce sites to collect sales taxes. The law, which went into effect June 1, is highly controversial. Amazon.com is suing the state of New York, saying the law is illegal and unconstitutional.

Opponents of the sales tax point to a 1992 Supreme Court ruling that said a mail-order company only has to pay taxes in the states where it has operations. Newegg only charges sales taxes in California, where the merchant is headquartered as well as Tennessee and New Jersey, where it has operations.

What do you think of Newegg's defiance? Is New York's tax law illegal? Sound off in the comments.

via Internet News, hat tip to Al Scillitani

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 9:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

August 20, 2008

American Airlines Launches In-Flight Internet Access Service

American Airlines today began offering in-flight internet access on select flights. For $12.95, passengers flying Boeing 767-200 aircraft on non-stop flights between New York and San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles, and New York and Miami can browse to their heart's desire.

The mobile broadband service is called Gogo and is provided by Aircell. Passengers can access the internet once the plane has reached 10,000 feet. Cell phone and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services are not included.

“We are pleased to provide our customers with the unprecedented ability to stay connected to their family, friends and business associates on the ground via the Internet while traveling at 30,000 feet above the United States,” said Dan Garton, American's Executive Vice President – Marketing. “With today's launch, American Airlines makes history as the first and only U.S. airline to offer customers full inflight Internet connectivity, demonstrating once again our industry leadership and focus on our customers.”

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 11:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

August 12, 2008

Broadband Subscriptions Drop 51%; Cable Sells More than Phone Co's

Broadband subscriptions dropped 51% since last year, according to data released by Leichtman Research Group. Only 887,000 subscribers were added to a group of companies comprising 94% of the market. Cable companies accounted for 670,000 of those additional subscriptions.

The numbers also seem to support research from the University of Minnesota suggesting that internet traffic growth claims by the cable companies and other internet service providers are largely overblown.

There are now 65.1 million broadband subscriptions among this group of companies. Cable enjoys 35.1 million of the subscriptions, while the phone companies have over 29.7 million of them.

Here's the breakdown among the top cable and phone companies:

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 10:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

August 8, 2008

blinkx Seeks to Acquire MIVA for $1.20 Per Share

Online video search engine blinkx has sent a letter to digital advertising company MIVA, seeking to acquire it for $1.20 per share. Yesterday's closing price for MIVA stock, which trades on the NASDAQ, was $0.78.

MIVA has certainly had its share of trouble of recent years. The company has gone through reorganizations and a management shakeup in the hopes of stabilizing the business, which includes a pay-per-click offering.

Here's the full text of the letter for your consumption.

August 8, 2008

MIVA, Inc. 5220 Summerlin Commons Boulevard Suite 500 Fort Myers, FL 33907 Attention: Peter Corrao, CEO Larry Weber, Chairman Members of the Board of Directors

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen, Re: blinkx and MIVA Combination

I am writing on behalf of the board of directors of blinkx Plc to make a proposal for the business combination of blinkx and MIVA. Under our proposal, blinkx would acquire all of the outstanding shares of MIVA common stock for $1.20 in cash per share. Our proposal is not subject to any financing condition. The transaction would be funded from existing cash resources of the two companies.

Proposal. Our proposal represents a 54.0% premium above the closing price of MIVA common stock of $0.78 on August 7, 2008, and a 36% premium over the average closing price for the one month prior to August 7, 2008.

By whatever financial measure one might use, we believe this proposal represents a compelling value realization opportunity for your shareholders and the quickest and most secure way to see such value, particularly given the several challenges MIVA faces in the near term, including: risk and cost associated with the new technology platform, a deteriorating cash position, continued deterioration of the Media EU business and continued decline in revenue and profitability.

We believe that MIVA's shareholders would not be well-served by any delay in negotiating or completing the merger process, and that time and/or another round of restructuring plans will not significantly increase MIVA's valuation.

Background. Having worked together for a number of years you will be aware that blinkx is the world's largest and most advanced video search engine. Founded in 2004 by Suranga Chandratillake, the company completed a successful IPO on the London Stock Exchange (AIM) in May 2007 and currently has a market capitalization of approximately $160 million, with headquarters in San Francisco, CA and the UK. With an index of over 26 million hours of searchable video and more than 350 media partnerships, including national broadcasters, commercial media giants, and private video libraries, blinkx has cemented its position as the premier destination for online TV. blinkx pioneered video search on the Internet, enhanced by $150 million in R&D over 12 years, and is now protected by 111 patents.

Rationale. blinkx believes that a combination of the two companies would be mutually beneficial to both companies' shareholders, employees, and customers. blinkx and MIVA have complementary businesses that could benefit greatly from blinkx's technology and MIVA's distribution network.

blinkx has worked with MIVA as a customer and partner for a number of years and has a great deal of respect for MIVA's success in building a global keyword advertising network and growing the MIVA Direct consumer offering. We believe, however, that with the Internet's continued progression towards rich media and newer forms of advertising, more advanced technology will play a fundamental role in achieving success.

blinkx already has in place a proven and growing video-driven revenue engine, and enjoys an unrivalled technology portfolio which is applicable across many aspects of the online market. A combination of the two companies - fusing MIVA's advertising network with blinkx's ability to leverage its technology portfolio into the online market - presents an exciting and compelling opportunity.

Specifically, blinkx's advanced and scalable matching technology will enable immediate platform improvements for MIVA. As a result large portions of relevant search traffic from MIVA's search ad network will be monetizeable at higher rates through blinkx's technology. Furthermore blinkx's technology holds the potential to build on MIVA's existing toolbar network, adding the latest functionality and an entirely new revenue stream. Finally, MIVA's consumer sites and portals, that already attract large audiences, will immediately benefit from blinkx's advanced video technology and AdHoc advertising platform.

Process and Employees. We would value the opportunity to further discuss with you how to optimize the integration of our respective businesses to create a leading global technology company. We believe that the management and employees of MIVA are critical to realizing a successful transition and foresee an important and central role for MIVA employees in the combined company.

Any acquisition of MIVA would be subject to the opportunity to conduct a limited confirmatory due diligence investigation, the negotiation of a definitive merger agreement containing customary terms and conditions, including customary conditions to closing; no material adverse change to MIVA's business; appropriate shareholder approvals; and any regulatory requirements. Given our participation in the industry and MIVA's public status, we envisage an efficient due diligence process appropriate to a public company. We are prepared to deliver a draft merger agreement to you and begin discussions immediately.

Due to the importance of these discussions and the value represented by our proposal, we expect the MIVA Board to engage in a full review of our proposal and discussion of its contents with MIVA's shareholders. We are prepared to meet at a time and location of your convenience to complete due diligence and commence definite agreement negotiations.

We believe this proposal represents a unique opportunity for MIVA's shareholders to realize value, and the combined company will be well positioned for future growth. We hope that you and your Board share our enthusiasm, and we look forward to a prompt and favourable reply.

Yours sincerely,

Suranga Chandratillake

CEO and Founder

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 8:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

August 7, 2008

Internet Traffic Growth Rates May Be Lower than ISPs Claim

Internet service providers love to talk about how much traffic is rapidly increasing by the year and how they'll either need to charge more or create a different business model for it. Even Time Warner is running a test in Beaumont, TX to meter internet use and charge by usage.

But the claims by cable companies and other service providers may be overblown. Researchers at the University of Minnesota have released data showing that traffic growth is actually slowing.

In spite of the widespread claims of continuing and even accelerating growth rates, Internet traffic growth appears to be decelerating. In the United States, there was a brief period of "Internet traffic doubling every 100 days" back in 1995-96, but already by 1997 growth subsided towards an approximate doubling every year CO1998, and more recently even that growth rate has declined towards 50-60% per year.

They called out Cisco (and I hate to do this since a friend works there), whose CEO said they were experiencing 100% growth, while their white papers said they were experiencing 50% growth.

The natural conclusion by ISPs has been that increased traffic means increased costs. But researchers say not so fast: Traffic volumes are a very crude measure of the state of the Internet. Investment is driven by profits, and those have only a slight relation to traffic.

Still, the cable companies clearly want to go after internet companies like Google, who stepped on their turf by offering TV ads. They've even been collaborating on "Project Canoe," designed to create a national advertising platform as an alternative to Google.

But when it comes to the internet, innovation is almost always the route to beating the competition. The cable companies are trying to keep consumers in the past, but they won't win that game.

What do you think of this data? Are ISPs trying to pull a fast one on us? Sound off in the comments.

via Ars Technica

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 10:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Pew Internet & American Life Project: 49% Use Search Daily

How often do people use a search engine?

The percentage of Internet users who use search engines on a typical day has soared from about one-third of all users in 2002, to a new high of just under one half (49%), according to the latest study from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

How often people search is one of the key questions in understanding the success of Google and other search engines. Search has become embedded in our daily lives.

Key finding: Search is gaining fast on email as the most popular Internet activity.

The number of people using a search engine on a typical day has gained ground on the 60% of internet users who use email, arguably the Internet's all-time killer app.

How does the growth rate of search compare to the growth rate of email over the same time period?

Underscoring the dramatic increase over time, the percentage of internet users who search on a typical day grew 69% from January 2002 to May 2008. During the same six-year time period, the use of email on a typical day rose from 52% to 60%, for a growth rate of just 15%.

The Pew Internet & American Life Project concluded that these new figures propel search further out of the pack, well ahead of other popular internet activities, such as checking the news (39%) or checking the weather (30%) on a typical day.

As our readers know, search engine users more likely to be upscale, with at least some college education and incomes over $50,000 per year.

Posted by Kevin Heisler at 5:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

July 31, 2008

JupiterResearch Acquired by Forrester for $23 Million

After being owner-less for a little over a year, JupiterResearch has been acquired by Forrester Research for $23 million. Previously, JupiterResearch had been sold by Jupitermedia to Kagan Research, but then Kagan got acquired by financial business intelligence firm SNL Financial.

"We are very excited to be joining the Forrester brand, culture, and community," said David Schatsky, president, JupiterResearch. "For a quarter of a century, Forrester has been a trusted advisor to many of the top businesses and organizations in the world, and we are honored to bring the best of JupiterResearch to the Forrester name."

JupiterResearch is the source of a ton of great online marketing data. Check out these posts covering data released by Jupiter:

1.8 Billion Internet Users by 2012, China to Overtake US Internet Use by 2011 Blended Search Increases Your Visibility - Jupiter Research Marketers Increasingly Turn to Social Networks Jupiter Research Report Says Most Search Marketers Happy with ROI

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 9:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 29, 2008

20% of Primetime Television Now Watched Online

Online video consumption has been on the rise for a while, and now Integrated Media Measurement Inc. (IMMI) is releasing demographic and behavioral data to show the details of the trend.

20% of primetime television programming is now viewed online. The audience is comprised of 55% female and 45% male. Households earning $80,000 a year or more are 56% more likely to watch a network show online. Those earning $40,000 a year or less are 75% more likely to watch a primetime show live. The largest segment of online television viewers are white, affluent, well educated, working women aged 25-44.

There's also been a shift in what's being watched. In May 2008, for the first time, a big chunk of those watching primetime TV online are NOT also watching some of the show on TV. In other words, more people are turning to online to watch TV than just catch a part of a show they missed or simply replay a scene they found funny.

41% of those surveyed first watch a show on TV, then catch another episode online. 31% of those surveyed first watch a show delayed (DVR/TiVO), then watch online.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 9:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

July 21, 2008

Gas Prices Send Consumers Online to Shop

As gas prices rise, mall traffic has been dropping. But all is not lost for retailers. Consumers are increasingly turning online to conduct their shopping, according a report in the New York Times.

J.C. Penney saw 8.7% growth in online traffic for the first quarter of 2008, while same store sales saw a 7.4% drop. Gap saw a 21% increase in online sales compared with an 11% decline in same store sales.

Looking for a way to get shoppers to buy from your site? Free or discounted shipping is a popular strategy. Makes sense, doesn't it? If people are looking to save on gas, then reduced/free shipping is all the more reason to buy online. Or try couponing, which is up 56%.

The Times also points out that deals on shipping are a stark contrast to businesses who raise fees to cover their costs due to increasing gas prices (yeah, we're talking about you, airline industry!).

Are you noticing a change in consumer behavior due to rising gas prices? Let us know in the comments.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 11:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 1, 2008

Nikki Catsouras, Death on Highway, Search Engine Victim

Nikki Catsouras has achieved Internet immortality. She was an 18-year-old college freshman living in California with her parents and two sisters in 2006.

Nikki Catsouras loved to shoot videos on her camera, according to ABC News, and ironically, it a camera would memorialize Nikki's life and death as a gruesome and macabre joke on the Internet.

Photos of Nikki Catsouras in death are now the top search results in Google. Even Wikipedia has a page dedicated to the gory car crash.

Search engines, in our view, are neither good nor evil. How people use search engines determines whether the engines benefit society.

So when the Nikki Catsouras story broke today, we weren't surprised. It's not the first time MySpace or other social media sites have been caught up in seamy stories.

She borrowed the keys to her father's Porsche 911 Carrera, a car that goes zero to 60 miles an hour in less than five seconds. She had never driven the Porsche before.

According to state highway patrol reports, at approximately 1:45 p.m. last Halloween, Nikki Catsouras was traveling 100 mph on State Route 241, near Lake Forest, Calif., when she clipped another car and lost control, going across lanes over the median and slamming into a concrete tollbooth. She was killed instantly.

"Her head was more or less cut in two and sort of cleaved and then smashed. It's nothing that anyone should ever have to see," said Michael Fertik, the founder of ReputationDefender, a company that helps clients such as the Catsouras family remove items from the Internet. The Catsouras family was told they should never see the photos from the scene of the horrendous accident.

As the Catsouras family was grieving for their daughter, the accident scene photos showing Nikki's mutilated body suddenly appeared on the Internet.

A fake MySpace page was created, which at first looked like a tribute to Catsouras but also led to the horrific photos.

The pictures, taken by California Highway Patrol (CHiPs) officers and e-mailed outside the department, became so prevalent that Lesli Catsouras stopped checking her e-mail. Nikki's younger sisters were forbidden to use the Internet, and 16-year-old Danielle was taken out of school to be home schooled for fear her peers might confront her with the photos.

A lawsuit against the California Highway Patrol for allegedly releasing the accident scene pictures has been filed by the parents of Nikki Catsouras.

Of course, not only search engines and the Internet spread stories like this one. ABC News has a Primetime special on the Nikki Catsouras story tonight.

Google search results photos and images after the jump:

Posted by Kevin Heisler at 2:11 PM | Permalink

Adobe Provides Flash Technology to Google and Yahoo for Better Indexing

For years SEOs have been about the inability of search engines to crawl flash pages. But now Adobe is making an effort to keep Flash in the web development toolbox. They've announced the provision of Flash technology to Google and Yahoo in order to facilitate the indexing of sites and pages created with Flash.

“Until now it has been extremely challenging to search the millions of RIAs and dynamic content on the Web, so we are leading the charge in improving search of content that runs in Adobe Flash Player,” said David Wadhwani, general manager and vice president of the Platform Business Unit at Adobe. “We are initially working with Google and Yahoo! to significantly improve search of this rich content on the Web, and we intend to broaden the availability of this capability to benefit all content publishers, developers and end users.”

Over at the Google Webmaster Central Blog, an FAQ was posted offering up more details about the update. Here are some highlights:

Google will now be able to better crawl the text content of SWF files. The content includes buttons, menus, self-contained websites developed in Flash and "everything in between."
Google can use the text it crawls to provide a descriptive "snippet" for its search results.
Links included in Flash content will also be crawled.
If your Flash file is loaded by JavaScript, Google won't be able to read it
If your Flash file loads an HTML file, an XML file or another SWF file, Google will index that separately from the original Flash file.

Google says it can't crawl images, videos or FLV files because they do not contain text content.

What do you think about search engines crawling Flash? Are you more inclined to use Flash on your sites now? Leave your reaction in the comments!

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 9:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

June 30, 2008

Mike Moran Exits IBM, Joins Converseon

Mike Moran is leaving IBM after 30 years to take a position in the newly created role of Chief Strategist at social media marketing agency, Converseon. Moran will be involved in the development of Conversation Miner as well as provide consulting to Converseon clients.

“We're thrilled to have Mike join us,” said Rob Key, Converseon CEO. “He brings to the table the perfect combination of industry-leading expertise with hands-on knowledge of how to internally adopt and promote these practices within complex, enterprise environments. As we often say, social media can be technically relatively simple, but culturally quite difficult. His experience will be invaluable as we help leading brands develop and execute innovative social media campaigns. He will also play a key role in consolidating Converseon's position as a leading social media marketing and consulting agency offering end-to-end services, from listening to engaging to measuring.”

While at IBM, Moran led several search technology projects including IBM's OmniFind search and text analytics products, the first commercial linguistic search engine, and automatic categorization technology for business search at ibm.com. He has been granted multiple patents and is the author of Do It Wrong Quickly: How the Web Changes the Old Marketing Rules.

“With their focus on pushing the edges of innovation in reputation management, search marketing and social media, Converseon is the ideal fit for me,” said Mike Moran. “I look forward to working with their standout team and clients.”

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 12:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SLI Rolls Out Learning Search Update with New Auto Complete Feature

On-demand search provider, SLI Systems has upgraded Learning Search, a hosted site search solution. The update will include:

Faster generation of results. Search queries will return results up to 50% faster.
Redesigned merchandising console. SLI says the new design will help customers more easily change the order of search results, create banner ads, and customize landing pages.
Auto Complete. This is a new feature which provides search suggestions.

Shaun Ryan, CEO of SLI Systems had this to say about the announcement:

"We're always looking for new ways to improve our search solutions, and to give our customers more flexibility in how they can maximize the functionality of our offerings. The newest enhancements help everyone, regardless of their technical ability, to make decisions about merchandising, and make changes themselves -- without having to rely on their IT departments."

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 12:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Another Year, Another Reorganization for MIVA

Yahoo is known for its (in)famous reorganizations, but they now face a contender for the title of "Most Likely to Shake Things Up." Just over a year after its last reorganization, MIVA has headed back to the drawing board in the hopes of revising the struggling digital ad company.

On the chopping block is 15% of its workforce as well as the MIVA Media operations in Italy. MIVA says this will save them $4 million a year plus a one time savings of $1.4 million.

The recent reorganizations are just the latest of what ails MIVA. In 2006, Craig Pisaris-Henderson and Phillip Thune resigned as CEO and President respectively. And in 2005, the company agreed to an $8 million patent settlement with Yahoo.

As a result, MIVA dropped their partnership with Yahoo and made one with Google. Boy, that sounds familiar.

MIVA licensed FAST technology in 2005. FAST was recently acquired by Microsoft. Since MIVA has such an admiration for the way Yahoo does things, we offer the following words of advice: If Ballmer offers to buy, say YES.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 11:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 17, 2008

iWidgets Launches Public Beta, Makes Widget Development Easier

To compete in social media or with open source search applications, widget development is key. But it can be costly if you don't know what you're doing. iWidgets is demystifying the widget development process by launching their platform into public beta. The service is free to use and brings widget creation to a wider audience.

“Private beta users were so enthusiastic about iWidgets, we knew the market was ready,” said Peter Yared, CEO of iWidgets. “Our robust tools provide an unmatched ability to display personalized content from a source website without requiring experienced programmers. The result is incredibly viral - a fun, interactive application people want to use and share.”

Widgets created through iWidgets can be used on iGoogle, Facebook, MySpace and others.

If you've been holding back on widgets, are you inclined to check out iWidgets? Give us your thoughts in the comments.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 10:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 16, 2008

SEMPO Holding 'Great Debate' on Agency or In House

If you are in or near New York Wednesday you may want to stop by Stich to see SEMPO's first 'Great Debate' - and I am on one of the sides (has not been determined since I have both backgrounds).

RSVP here if interested.

There will be a solid turn out of search people, so could be a fun event. I am sure there will be people there blogging it for those who can't make it.

Stich is at 247 W 37th St and the event starts at 6:30 - come early and grab a drink.

Posted by Frank Watson at 11:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

June 11, 2008

Say Au Revoir to French E-Mail

Email has finally been banned in France. That doesn't mean you'll be forced to use IM, SMS or Twitter to communicate online.

It just means French email no longer exists under the name "email."

Email is now "courriel."

Search Engine Watch was way ahead of the curve reporting on the upcoming ban. ClickZ's Kate Kaye blogged about French e-mail on the SEW Blog back in June of 2006.

The original plan was to replace email with "courrier electronique" (electronic letter), while a start-up would be known officially as a jeune pousse (young plant).

We haven't heard whether jeune pousse has caught on yet.

Posted by Kevin Heisler at 2:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

June 8, 2008

Download Day 2008: Mozilla Looking To Set World Record

Mozilla is looking to set a world record for the most downloads in a given day when it launches Firefox 3. They are using all the various social media to get the message out. With all the plugins this user friendly browser has available it is hard to ignore.

"We want to set a Guinness World Record for the most software downloaded in 24 hours. With the backing of our community and your help we know we can make it," they state on the site set up for the effort.

Hey they are also looking to give away T-shirts, so go sign up and join the party.

Posted by Frank Watson at 10:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

June 4, 2008

Acxiom Partners with Moon Valley for Comprehensive Local Search Results

Axciom, developer of online telephone directories, has announced a partnership with Moon Valley to provide comprehensive listings for local search. Moon Valley is the developer of software that searches the web for in-depth business information.

Together, the two hope to provide more substance to local search results. Listings will have more than just an address and a phone number. They will have additional company information to empower buying decisions.

“Say you're searching for a pet-friendly hotel,” said Jonathan Cohn, Acxiom InfoBase_X™ data products leader. “Getting back a hotel name and phone number is just the beginning of the process in deciding where to stay that night. If the local search engine you're using doesn't give you more than that, you'll go to another one, and the first service loses the chance to be your go-to source in future searches.”

What do you think about the Acxiom/Moon Valley partnership? Can technology boost local listings or will social media take the cake? Tell us how it is in the comments.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 9:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 3, 2008

Hacker Grabs Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan MySpace Private Pics

Okay I really wanted some witty headline or opening paragraph for this one, but these two make it tough to be original given all that has been written about them. Realistically the issue is really the hack of MySpace.

Seems some clever Canadian is using a hole in the access to MySpace using a Yahoo integration flaw, according to TrendHunter who has the pictures.

Now for everyone who clicked through to see them. Here are the Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton private pics.

But the bigger issue is how the advancement of the new catch phrase, "data portability", may hold a lot more of these types of problems. What happens when some hack is discovered for the information in Google Health? Or for that matter any ecommerce site with credit card information, etc.

While having unlimited ways to access information is a much desired goal of the online world, it must be secure or the trust everyone takes for granted will be lost and we could end up back to the days when porn was the only industry that made money online.

Yeah I know I am going to get a few protests on that one... but hey think Paris and Lindsay are using MySpace anymore? Now if I worked at Facebook I would be reaching out, or they could just go over to FriendFeed and start a private room - until the Canadians start over there.

Posted by Frank Watson at 11:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

May 29, 2008

Obama's Online Ad Spend Favors Google, Top Source of Donations

Kate Kaye at Clickz has done some in-depth analysis of the online ad spending of Democrat Presidential Candidate Barack Obama. The Illinois Senator has spent $3.47 million this year in online advertising.

Of that, $2.8 million went to Google while Yahoo received $180,000. Smaller amounts also went to Facebook, CNN.com, Gothamist, and Politico.

Google, of course, dominates the online advertising market, so it's a smart play by anyone to spend with them. But Google just happens to be number 13 on OpenSecrets.org list of top donors. The list compiles monies donated by corporate political action committees and individuals (who must report who they work for when contributing).

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 9:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

May 26, 2008

CAPTCHA Hacks For Gmail, Blogspot, Craigslist Causing Problems

Seems the hackers have found a way to work around CAPTCHA - the once great hope of stopping bots from spamming. SEW Forum member, Sitetruth, notes that there are now programs being offered that work around the filter.

So if you notice a lot of spam coming from Gmail accounts and hacks of Blogspot you will know why. Even the spam fight over at Craigslist is getting to be a major problem according to TechDirt.

Matt Cutts' team over at Google must be working over time on this one. I have been noticing bounces off my Gmail account in my spam folder - hey this has always been a problem, but if bots are out there creating millions of "soon to be spamming" accounts - then Gmail may start getting blacklisted by various email filters.

Hackers have always been part of the internet landscape. Gaming systems is almost part of the lore of the web - at least in the regular media. No doubt many of the 'Black Hats' grew up with a steady diet of movies where the hacker is the hero's sidekick. Virtually all the people I know begrudgingly admit the skills used to hack systems is impressive... but most also see them living in their parents' basements.

Hey guys the weather is gorgeous today. Step away from the computers and go outside. Life in the light feels good and it is a lot of fun interacting with flesh.

Leave Craigslist alone. It is such a globally shared egalitarian resource - that it should be an "all hat colors free zone".

Matt if you need any input or help from this community just let us know.

Posted by Frank Watson at 2:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

May 20, 2008

Dear Lucky Winner: Yahoo-Google Inc. $900,000 Online Scam

Even if you truly believe you've won $900,000 in the nonexistent 2008 Yahoo/Google Award promotion, please do NOT respond to the following inquiry.

Sure it might be a good idea for Yahoo to incentivize searchers with Yahoo share of searches dropping year-over-year. But this is not it.

Thanks to Incisive Media Marketing VP Matt McGowan for sending us the laugh of the day.

Dear Lucky Winner,

This is to inform you that you have won a prize money of Nine Hundred Thou sand Dollars (US$900,000.00 ) in the YEAR 2008 YAHOO/GOOGLE AWARD promotion which is organized by YAHOO/GOOGLE INC. for the introduction and Launching of the new YAHOO ! BETA MAIL which all YAHOO! as well as all other subscribers are required to switch to.

This is to encourage both Yahoo and non Yahoo users to start using Yahoo !

The online Cyber draws was conducted from an exclusive list of five hundred thousand email addresses of individuals and corporate bodies picked by an advanced automated random computer selection from the web.

Your email address is attached to Ref No:

ESE/WIN/008/02/10/MA & Batch No:EULO/1007/444/606/08; Serial No: 6594.

Bear in mind that prizes will strictly be remitted to winners that officially file in for their claims within the given time frame. To begin your claim, you are to forward this message to our accredited claim's agent including your : 1. Name: 2. Address 3. Marital Status: 4. Occupation: 5. Age: 6. Sex: 7. Nationality: 8. Country of Residence:9. Telephone Number: 10:Fax number:

Contact Person: Mr. GEORGE GRANTS

EMAIL : grantsgeorge@XXXXX.com

Your prize award has been insured with your email address and will be transferred to you upon meeting the requirements of the Gaming Board Authority which includes your statutory obligations.

Best Regards,

Mr. Gabriel Christopher

(Lottery Coordinator). London, England

Note: All Won Prizes must Be claimed/Cleared not later than Two Weeks of receipt of this email notification. After this time, all other winnings will be considered as UNCLAIMED and returned to National Treasury.

Posted by Kevin Heisler at 2:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

May 15, 2008

Comcast Aquires Social Networking Site Plaxo

Plaxo has signed an agreement to be aquired by cable giant Comcast, accoring to a post on the Plaxo blog. The two companies had previously been working together in partnerships, but have now decided that a permanent merger would maximize their efforts.

Those efforts include a unified approach to mashing up tv and social media. For example, one of the goals includes photo sharing across a variety of mediums including mobile, tv and computer.

Plaxo is known for its online address books that have been instrumental for popular social networking sites. The company is dedicated to open source and privacy efforts as well.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 11:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

May 5, 2008

New Board of Directors for the Web Analytics Association

The Web Analytics Association has announced a new board of directors, and here they are:

Vicky Brock, Highland Business Research, Inverness Highlands, Scotland
June Dershewitz, Semphonic, San Francisco, CA
Andrea Hadley, NetSetGo Marketing, Vancouver, BC Canada
Avinash Kaushik, Author, Analytics Evangelist -- Google, Mountain View, CA
Alex Langshur, PublicInsite, Medford, MA
Lauria Paxia, I.C.C. S.r.l., Catania, Italy
Marshall Sponder, Monster Worldwide, New York, NY
Robbin Steif, LunaMetrics, LLC, Pittsburgh, PA
Jim Sterne, Target Marketing, Santa Barbara, CA
April Wilson, The Dallas Morning News, Dallas, TX

WAA Chairman Jim Sterne said, "The WAA is growing and maturing, and this new Board is a wonderful mix of talent and geography. The cumulative experience of these people is exceeded only by their cumulative IQ. We have a great team for tackling our objectives for the coming year."

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 10:16 AM | Permalink

April 22, 2008

Google Retains Top Brand, Microsoft Third

For the third straight year, Google has topped Millward Brown's annual ranking of top international brands, with Microsoft coming in third behind GE. The 2008 Brandz report reflected a growth of technology companies growing recognition.

This global survey "measure(s) the intangible value of a brand using customer interviews, market data and financial information," SFGate.com stated.

Posted by Frank Watson at 11:29 PM | Permalink

Marchex Develops Partnerships with Several Local Content Providers

Local online advertising and content publishing company Marchex has announced local content partnerships with several content providers, including Yelp and Avvo. The separate agreements will add more than 5 million reviews and ratings to Marchex's local network, bringing the total to over 8 million.

The content partners include the following:

• Yelp.com: A site where people read and write reviews of their favorite neighborhood businesses and had more than 9 million unique visitors in the month of March. • Avvo.com: An attorney rating service • HealthGrades.com: Provides detailed listings for more than 750,000 physicians and will be adding more than 5,000 hospitals nationwide. • lilaguide.com: Contains more than 150,000 user-generated reviews and recommendations for parents on local shopping, baby gear, activities, restaurants, daycare and other parenting resources. • Restaurant.com: Online dining resource providing reviews, restaurant photos, wine lists, links to menus and discounted gift certificate offers from thousands of restaurants across the United States. • Gusto.com, Urbanspoon.com, Frommers.com and Priceline.com: Restaurant and travel sites providing tens of thousands of customer reviews of restaurants in select markets across the United States.

The content from these sites will be integrated into Marchex's local network, which sees more than 26 million unique users per month and features more than 150,000 local Web sites.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 9:13 AM | Permalink

April 3, 2008

Former Citysearch CEO Heads to Idearc

Former Citysearch CEO Briggs Ferguson has been tapped to become President of Internet/Web products and pay-for-performance advertising at Idearc. Prior to his five year stint at CitySearch (which he left a year ago), Ferguson held executive level positions at Yahoo, Launch Media, and EMI Music Group.

"I am excited about the opportunity to lead Idearc's Internet business," said Mr. Ferguson. "The local search landscape is evolving, and we can continue shaping that evolution with cutting-edge products and services and industry-leading strategies."

Idearc owns several online advertising platforms including Superpages.com, Superpages Mobile, Switchboard.com, LocalSearch.com, Verizon Yellow Pages, and Verizon White Pages.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 9:24 AM | Permalink

March 27, 2008

SEO Barry Schwartz AKA RustyBrick Joins Search Engine Journal

While surfing the seamy underbelly of the Web we tracked down this scoop: former Search Engine Watch news editor Barry Schwartz AKA RustyBrick of SERoundtable fame has joined Loren Baker's Search Engine Journal, according to BlackHat Planet. We were unable to reach Barry, Search Engine Watch Forums member, to confirm the reasons behind his shocking move.

We know. You're as surprised as we are.

CORRECTION: Barry Schwartz DID NOT join Search Engine Journal.

However, the evidence shown (above) clearly indicates Barry Schwartz AKA RustyBrick is the pen-name for Ann Smarty AKA SEOSmarty.

How long SEO consultant Ann Smarty has been blogging as "RustyBrick" is not yet clear.

Exclusive! CORRECTION to the CORRECTION: Ann Smarty did indeed write the referenced post and apparently Barry Schwartz (who does in fact exist) is merely taking credit for Ann's post on Search Engine Journal.

We expect a full apology in writing from CartoonBarry soon.

UPDATE after the jump.

CORRECT CORRECTION to the CORRECTION: The renowned black hat SEO publication, Black Hat Planet, SCRAPED the Search Engine Journal post incorrectly. We patiently await their correction.

Our sincere apologies to all parties. We will (upon request) remove all links to Search Engine Journal, Search Engine Roundtable and SEOSmarty.com.

Posted by Kevin Heisler at 8:51 PM | Permalink

January 3, 2008

Ask and LookSmart Send Out Click Fraud Settlement Letters

Seems Lane's Gifts are not the only ones getting money back from LookSmart and Ask for click fraud, letters were sent out yesterday for the class action suit that both companies are trying to put behind them.

Both seem to be written by the same law firm and were from the suit lodged in the Circuit Court of Miller County, Arkansas. LookSmart is dealing with the period between January 1, 2002 and the present; while Ask is covering claims beginning August 1, 2005, when it began licensing LookSmart's technology for its Ask Sponsored Listings product.

Claims must be filed to LookSmart by February 11, 2008 and to Ask by February 2, 2008.

Payment seems to be in advertising credits as opposed to cash. Guess if you have gotten out of the online business you could sell the credits.

Copies of the two letters are below.

LookSmart's letter read:

"If you purchased online advertising from LookSmart between January 1, 2002 and the present, you may be a class member in a class-action lawsuit, Lane's Gifts and Collectibles et al. v. LookSmart, Ltd. et al., Case No. CV-2005-52-1, in the Circuit Court of Miller County, Arkansas. The Settlement Notice informs you of the Court's certification of a class for settlement purposes; the nature of the claims alleged; your right to participate in, or exclude yourself from, the class; a proposed settlement; and how you can claim an award of advertising credits under the settlement or object to the settlement.

- The proposed settlement will provide advertising credits to class members who certify that they were the victims of "click fraud" or other invalid or improper clicks on online advertisements purchased from LookSmart on or after January 1, 2002.

- The proposed settlement will resolve claims that LookSmart breached its contracts with advertisers and violated other laws by failing to adequately detect and stop "click fraud" or other invalid or improper clicks on online advertisements.

- If you are a member of the class, your legal rights are affected by whether you act or do not act.

For a copy of the Settlement Notice, click on the link, or visit the case website at LooksmartSettlement.com

To file a claim for your award of advertising credits under the settlement, click on the following link: LooksmartSettlement.com/claim

Note: You should review the Settlement Notice as soon as possible as there are several important deadlines that you must meet to take certain actions in connection with this proposed settlement. As indicated above, your legal rights are affected whether you act or do not act. The deadline for filing an objection or excluding yourself from the proposed settlement is January 29, 2008, and the last day to file a claim under the proposed settlement is February 11, 2008. For further information, please refer to the Settlement Notice." The Ask letter reads:

"If you purchased online advertising from IAC Search & Media, Inc. and/or Ask Jeeves, Inc. (collectively "Ask") between August 1, 2005 and the present, you may be a class member in a class-action lawsuit, Lane's Gifts and Collectibles et al. v. Ask Jeeves, Inc. et al., Case No. CV-2005-52-1, in the Circuit Court of Miller County, Arkansas. This notice advises you of your legal rights.

You should review the detailed Settlement Notice as soon as possible, as there are several important deadlines that you must meet to take certain actions in connection with a proposed settlement of the class action lawsuit. Your legal rights are affected whether you act or do not act. The deadline for filing an objection or excluding yourself from the proposed settlement is February 2, 2008, and the last day to file a claim under the proposed settlement is February 2, 2008. For further information, please refer to the Settlement Notice.

The Settlement Notice informs you of the Court's certification of a class for settlement purposes; the nature of the claims alleged; your right to participate in, or exclude yourself from, the class; a proposed settlement; and how you can claim an award of advertising credits under the settlement or object to the settlement.

The proposed settlement will provide advertising credits to class members who certify that they were the victims of "click fraud" or other invalid or improper clicks on online advertisements purchased from IAC Search & Media, Inc. and/or Ask Jeeves, Inc. on or after August 1, 2005.

The proposed settlement will resolve claims that IAC Search & Media, Inc. and/or Ask Jeeves, Inc. breached its contracts with advertisers and violated other laws by failing to adequately detect and stop "click fraud" or other invalid or improper clicks on online advertisements.

If you are a member of the class, your legal rights are affected by whether you act or do not act.

For a copy of the Settlement Notice, click on the link, or visit the case website at www.AskSettlement.com.

To file a claim for your award of advertising credits under the settlement, click on the following link: AskSettlement.com/claim. Each advertiser will be allowed one claim per account."

Posted by Frank Watson at 11:19 AM | Permalink

November 21, 2007

Gift Giving That Really Helps

If you have not chosen all your holiday gifts for your family and have children who you need to get something for then the current promotion for the charity One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) may be just the answer.

For the next few days the OLPC Foundation has a buy one get one free promotion going where you can buy a needy third world child a laptop and get one for someone in your life.

Between November 12 and November 26, OLPC is offering a Give One Get One program in the United States and Canada. This is the first time the revolutionary XO laptop has been made available to the general public. For a donation of $399, one XO laptop will be sent to empower a child in a developing nation and one will be sent to the child in your life in recognition of your contribution. $200 of your donation is tax-deductible (your $399 donation minus the fair market value of the XO laptop you will be receiving).

For all U.S. donors who participate in the Give One Get One program, T-Mobile is offering one year of complimentary HotSpot access a $350 value free.

"OLPC's mission is to provide a means for learning, self-expression, and exploration to the nearly two billion children of the developing world with little or no access to education" their website tells us.

Posted by Frank Watson at 11:36 AM | Permalink

October 15, 2007

Debby From The Block: U Penn Long Tail Blockbuster

No way I could pass on pointing to the Debby Richman blockbuster post.

Wharton says: Online recommendation engines may chop off Long Tail of Search.

Prick up your ears, Chris Anderson Your Long Tail doberman (below) is under attack:

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Varick Media Management New York, United States

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Varick Media Management New York, United States

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Avery Dennison Brea, United States

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Confidential Leading Publisher New York, United States