May 23, 2008

SEW Experts: How to Take on a Major SEO Client

Taking on a large search engine optimization client can be a daunting proposition. In today's SEM Agency Issues column, How to Take on a Major SEO Client"," William Flaiz shows that it's simple, when you break it down: first, give them what they need; then give them what they want. Finally, give them what they don't yet know they need.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 1:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 27, 2008

Conversion Rates & The Value Of Outsourcing SEM/SEO

I recently got my hands on Marketing Sherpa's newly released Landing Page Handbook. This detailed guide is packed full of industry information and practical case studies.

One of the things that jumped out at me was a table of conversion rate averages for different marketing tactics. The survey data was drawn from over 5000 active online marketers in a variety of settings.

In-house managed PPC Search - 3.84% Outsourced managed PPC Search - 5.40% Difference: 40%

In-house Natural Search Optimization - 2.62% Outsourced Natural Search Optimization - 4.76% Difference: 80%

As you can see, the outsourced conversion rates are much higher. Before I go any further, I must admit that this is not a scientific sample, and that self-selecting biases of various kinds are bound to obscure these results. We are not given any breakdown by industry or company sizes, or other critical information. However, at a high level the data makes perfect sense, since agencies must perform better to justify their fees and keep their client's loyalty and business.

Agencies that are specialists in a particular area see a wide cross-section of accounts and industries among their clients and should be able to do a better job. This is not a slam at their hard-working and capable in-house counterparts. It is an acknowledgment that our industry moves very fast, and unless you have a whole organization focused on keeping up with the changes, it is very difficult to stay up on the latest developments.

Marketing activities are the engine of growth for a company. They are not administrative cost centers. Many companies mistakenly try to save a little money by running their programs in-house. They do not realize the real cost is in the lost opportunities that they can not capitalize on. If your in-house program is profitable, that is not enough - you must consider the scale of your program and always question how much money you might be leaving on the table. Giant conversion rate differences such as the above can be turned into strategic weapons that let you soundly trounce your competition.

So next time you consider the in-source / outsource decision, consider opportunity as well as direct costs.

Posted by Tim Ash at 2:59 PM | Permalink

March 24, 2008

Lifetips Escalator Pitch, SES NY 2008

Byron White, the president and founder of LifeTips, helped us launch a new feature at SES NY 2008: The Escalator Pitch. The brainchild of Kevin Heisler, the Escalator Pitch is like an elevator pitch – except the escalators at the Hilton New York moved much faster than the elevators.

Lifetips Escalator Pitch, SES NY 2008

Byron White is the president and founder of LifeTips.com. He is an active speaker at various Search Marketing conferences and co-hosts the weekly LifeTips radio show on WebMasterRadio.FM every Wednesday at 5 PM EST. Byron's entrepreneurial success has been well documented in Inc. magazine, Adweek, The Boston Globe, The Boston Business Journal, Portfolio Magazine and numerous other publications.

Find out everything you need to know about LifeTips, a content design and development company with more than 500 freelancers, in about 30 seconds.

You can find other Escalator Pitches from SES NY 2008 on the Search Engine Strategies conference and expo channel on YouTube.

Posted by Greg Jarboe at 3:58 PM | Permalink

March 3, 2008

48 Practical Questions to Qualify Prospective Search Marketing Vendors

Don't Get Bamboozled! We've all heard anecdotes regarding the unfortunate results of under-qualified or downright deceptive SEM vendors. Common disasters include set-it-and-forget-it PPC campaigns that suddenly blow through obscene amounts of Content Match cash, organic prominence destroyed by Universal Search, PageRank decimated by obsolete link-farm schemes, declining sales, embarrassing lack of conversion, and other ancient or self-destructive tactics.

The good news is that there's an increasing number of wonderful service providers out there to be discovered. Remember that you may be looking for multiple specialists, as opposed to a single full-service agency.

Search is complicated, increasingly specialized, and there are challenges to vetting prospective SEM agencies. In light of demand, good search marketing firms are rare, and finding a vendor perfectly suited to your needs requires legwork, research, and persistence. Here is a one page questionnaire for initial screenings:

Dear [Prospective SEM Vendor], Thank you for entering into a dialog with us as we vet potential SEM vendors for [Name of Company]. In order to keep the process as streamlined as possible, please take a few minutes to respond to this questionnaire. Our goal is to not waste your time.

The answers can be as detailed or short as you deem appropriate. We look forward to the process of getting to know your company better. We're happy to read articles on-topic originating from your agency, if you provide the URL in any question's answer. Thank you in advance for your efforts.

Pay Per Click 1. Is anyone in your firm AdWords Qualified or a Yahoo Ambassador? 2. Does your agency have a designated Google or Yahoo rep? 3. What is your agency's revenue model for PPC: percentage of spend, percentage of revenue, monthly fee, hybrid? 4. Do you have a monthly PPC minimum spend or fee? 5. What method does your firm use to manage PPC: by hand, by automation (what tool), hybrid? 6. Do you use our credit card, your agency's or another method? How will you invoice us? 7. What reports do you typically send clients and at what interval? 8. What PPC channels are you experienced with (Google, MSN, Yahoo, Facebook, etc...)? 9. How does your agency measure PPC conversion and ROI? 10. Is it in your vocabulary to do multivariate landing page/ad message testing? 11. How much PPC spend-cash do you handle annually? 12. Please submit 2 short PPC case studies highlighting success. 13. Please submit 1 short PPC case study highlighting failure. 14. Please submit 2 PPC client-references.

Organic Optimization 1. What link-building tactics and methods will be employed? 2. Does your agency have a content creation practice, or will you guide us in building out our content? 3. How do you measure organic prominence in light of Personalized Search? 4. What keyword research tools are used? 5. How does your agency measure organic conversion and ROI? 6. What methods are used to mine competitive intelligence about our competitors? 7. What is the billing model for organic-related services? (retainer, hourly, flat monthly fee, etc...) 8. Do you test organic landing page performance with PPC? 9. What steps do you take to insulate clients from becoming too dependent on Google? 10. Please submit 2 short organic case studies highlighting success. 11. Please submit 1 short organic optimization case study highlighting failure. 12. Please submit 2 organic optimization client-references.

Social Media 1. What channels are you currently active in for clients? (StumbleUpon, Digg, Facebook, etc...) 2. Give examples of how channels might be used to bolster the overall SEM effort? 3. What reputation monitoring tools will be used? 4. What is the frequency and substance of your reputation reporting? 5. What is your experience with open source blogging software like WordPress? 6. What are your typical non-blogging uses of blog-style software? 7. Please submit 2 short social media case studies highlighting success. 8. Please submit 1 short social media case study highlighting failure.

General Vendor Qualifications: 1. How many full-time employees in the agency? What are their roles? 2. What SEM conferences did you attend in the past year, and which do you plan to attend this year? (SES, PubCon, SMX, etc.) 3. What SEM conferences will your staff speak at this year? 4. What trade publications, online or paper, do you write for and on what topics? 5. Please submit 3 links to articles you or your employees have written. 6. What forums is your agency "known" in? (SEW, Sphinn, Cre8asite, etc.) 7. Links to your profile pages please 8. Traditional affiliations (BBB, Chambers of Commerce, etc...) 9. SEMPO member? 10. Does your agency have in-house programmers and designers or do you outsource? 11. If outsourcing, what are your partner-vendors' URLs? 12. What analytics other than Google Analytics are used? 13. Is there an in-house method to measure offline conversions (phone, etc.) 14. What experience does your agency have in local/mobile?

The "correct" answers to a few of these questions will be unique to your application and may be a little out of your personal expertise, one tactic I suggest is to research the questions raised yourself, or even hire a consultant to help you vet potential firms. Typically you'll spend $350+ per hour for help in the evaluation process, an expense you'll find well worth it. Even if you're not totally familiar with the rationale behind the above questions, the SEM firm you're querying will respect the thumbnail-depth of your evaluation process.

Also, you might eliminate questions that don't apply to your company's specific marketing application or outside of your comfort zone. Any agency that's worth its salt will welcome the opportunity to participate in a focused vetting process.

Posted by Marty Weintraub at 7:41 AM | Permalink

November 19, 2007

SEW Experts: Search Marketing Staffing Crisis

There's a tradeoff most people face in the process of hiring a search marketing team: hire people with less business experience who are likely more familiar with search (even if only from their own personal use), or hire people less familiar with search who have more business experience. In today's Search Ads column, "Search Marketing Staffing Crisis," Matt Spiegel offers a solution to the search marketing staffing crisis, but it's going to require some outreach on all our parts.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink

July 27, 2007

Can the Search Marketing Industry Grow Up Fast Enough?

The search marketing industry is immature, both in the sense that nearly all the players are under 10 years old, and in the way partnerships are created and maintained. That's the argument presented by Did-It chairman Kevin Lee in his ClickZ column today, "SEM Immaturity Threatens Industry Future."

The fault lies on both the client and SEM/agency sides, Lee says. Clients should leave their "serial dater" mentality behind, and own up to a history of poor agency choices, unreasonable expectations, unwillingness to pay an equitable price, a "dating mentality," and an unwillingness to communicate.

SEMs should be sure they're providing competitive service levels, especially by addressing their labor shortages and dedicating the appropriate resources to clients. Making time to foster the relationship is just as important as planning and implementing an SEM strategy for the client.

Do you agree with Lee's argument? Share your thoughts in the SEW Forums.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 8:00 AM | Permalink

May 1, 2007

Neo@Ogilvy Partners with SEMDirector

Neo@Ogilvy, a digital media agency under the Ogilvy umbrella, will begin providing its clients with search marketing automation technology from SEMDirector. The technology, which we profiled last week, helps large advertisers manage and measure integrated search marketing campaigns.

Neo@Ogilvy recently boosted its search marketing know-how with the March acquisition of Global Strategies International (GSI), led by Bill Hunt.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 5:41 PM | Permalink

October 31, 2006

Garrett French Leaves MarketSmart Interactive

Andy Beal reports that Garrett French has left MarketSmart Interactive. Garrett, I believe, is the last of many well-known and respected individuals who have worked at MarketSmart Interactive to leave. Jason Dowdell was first then highly respected Andy Beal was second, then Heather Lloyd Martin left, then Mike Grehan resigned and now Garrett has left. You can keep up with Garrett at http://www.garrettfrench.com/.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:04 AM | Permalink

September 6, 2006

Top SEM Firm Mistakes

Andy Beal wrote a blog post he named The Top 10 Business Mistakes Search Marketing Firms Make. The first mistake SEM firms make, according to Andy, is that they create a "set up fee" that is often not affordable for many companies, instead, he said, charge a set monthly fee with a X month commitment. The second mistake is "offering too many service options," basically keep it simple. The third mistake is not building your SEM firm to scale beyond 5 to 10 employees, Andy gives some clues on how to make scalability happen. The fourth mistake is a mistake many businesses make, make sure to service your existing clients as good as you would your new clients. The remaining six mistakes can be read at Andy's blog.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:50 AM | Permalink

August 30, 2006

Don't Get Caught With Your Contracts Down

Even if you've got great search marketing chops, you need to cover your bases with clients with both pricing and contracts. In today's SearchDay article, Pricing Models for the Small SEM Shop, guest writer Christine Churchill has coverage of a recent SES conference where a number of experienced pros shared tips and insights on the mechanics of running a successful search marketing shop.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 2:55 AM | Permalink

July 25, 2006

SuperPages Buys Inceptor

As reported in ClickZ today, SuperPages, which is itself up for sale, has acquired SEM firm Inceptor for an undisclosed amount. Verizon has been the most forward thinking and acting of the yellow pages publishers when it comes to offering performance-based products and leveraging search. This acquisition gives SuperPages more range in what it can offer and how the company can implement it -- and brings that cost in house.

For more on this deal see my blog post.

Posted by Greg Sterling at 8:36 AM | Permalink

July 24, 2006

SEOMoz Spills The Beans On Pricing An SEO Campaign

Rand posted a blog entry named How to Price an SEO Campaign. He actually broke down his pricing methodology for everyone to see. I have personally never seen this done to this extent before in this industry. SEOs and SEMs can learn a lot about how to price their campaigns and proposals by Rand's post. Rand breaks down a consulting contract versus an implementation contact. His post is very detailed and can give many SEMs an idea on how to improve their contracts. Check out Rand's post here.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:09 AM | Permalink

June 7, 2006

Advertisers Increase Search Marketing Budgets

Loren Baker reports on a JupiterResearch study that shows both revenues earned from search marketing campaigns and budgets allocated to those campaigns have increased. Search marketers with annual revenues of $15 million or more have increased the share of the ad budget from 25 percent in 2005 to 37 percent in 2006. Plus 66 percent of marketers plan to increase search spend this year.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 8:32 AM | Permalink

May 10, 2006

Search Engine Journal Launches SEO Directory, SEOdex.com

Search Engine Journal announced the launch of a new directory they just purchased named SEOdex. Loren Baker, from Search Engine Journal says he plans "on heavily marketing it in the near future on Search Engine Journal and other related properties." You can submit your firm or resource to SEOdex by finding the relevant category and clicking on "Add SEO Firm or Resource."

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 10:04 AM | Permalink

April 20, 2006

Conference Coverage: PubCon 2006 & SES Japan 2006

PubCon has been happening out in Boston, while Search Engine Strategies is going in Japan. Here's a round-up to some coverage on search-related sessions:

PubCon Boston: WebmasterWorld
Malcolm Gladwell - Pubcon Boston Keynote: Online Marketing Blog
Pubcon Keynote Address: Malcom Gladwell: Vinny Lingham
Google Webmaster World/Pubcon Session: Vinny Lingham
Blogs RSS, Podcasts - Pubcon Boston: Online Marketing Blog
Blog Optimization + Q/A With Matt Cutts and Jeremy Zawodny: Search Engine Lowdown
Optimizing for ENORMOUS Clients: Search Engine Lowdown
Meet the Super Bloggers of Search: Vinny Lingham
PPC Engines & Programs: Vinny Lingham
Contextual Program Session: Vinny Lingham
YPN Party - Boston Pubcon: Online Marketing Blog
Big Mouth Media Banned for Excessive Hidden Text Spamming - Google's Matt Cutts Confirms Hand Job: Threadwatch (see also our forum thread on this)
Matt Cutts Confirms Media Bot Crawling For Big Daddy: ShoeMoney
Google's Matt Cutts Confirms AdSense Bot Helping Googlebot With Indexing: Search Engine Watch Blog
Boston Pubcon 2006: Day 1: Matt Cutts
Search Engine Strategies Tokyo & Yahoo Search Marketing: Search Engine Journal

Want to comment or discuss? Visit our SEW Forums thread, PubCon Boston 2006.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 8:35 AM | Permalink

April 13, 2006

Traffic-Power Case Against SEO Book Dismissed

A bit of catch-up, Aaron Wall of SEO Book notes that the case against him filed by Traffic-Power.com was tossed out of court on jurisdiction issues. Traffic-Power has 30 days to appeal, but Aaron's hopeful this means the case is over. The case against Traffic Power Sucks has yet to be resolved, he also notes. For background on the Traffic-Power suits against both TrafficPowerSucks and SEO Book's Aaron Wall, see these past posts:

Postscript: Actually, Aaron writes to clarify the appeal time has already passed. The case was tossed out on February 13, so the 30 period for appeal has elapsed.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 8:44 AM | Permalink

March 28, 2006

Speed Dating Meets The SEO Business World With Speed Pitches

Chris Ridings of SearchGuild.com and Denise Russell (aka Gurtie) have launched SpeedPitches.com, a service that enables SEOs and prospective SEO clients to be pitched by SEO companies, ummm, really quickly. This concept is similar to Speed Dating, a service that places singles in a room, the singles go from table to table, in seven-minute intervals (I think), and chat with another single. If there is a match, the two can continue their dating experience outside of the seven-minute time frame. SpeedPitches.com does the same thing but for the SEO business industry. The first even takes place May 18, 2006 in London, for more information visit http://www.speedpitches.com/.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:19 AM | Permalink

March 15, 2006

whoisaGAP Organizes Google AdWords Professionals By Geography And Entity Type

whoisaGAP has reorganized its Google AdWords Professionals database to be broken down by geographic location and by type of entity (individual or company entity). It is interesting to note that the companies' list shows that there are 21 Google AdWords Professionals accredited companies in the U.K. and only 13 in the U.S. But when you look at the individuals' list of Google AdWords Professionals, there are 87 from the U.S. and 28 from the U.K. More statistics on this data is broken down here for you.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 5:20 PM | Permalink

SEO Prospects And Clients From Hell

Ben Pfeiffer wrote an article named "What To Do If Your The SEO Client Nobody Wants?" I believe that most of the SEOs and SEMs involved in the search community can relate to this article. Ben explains how there are those prospects that call from SEO to SEO asking for advice. He names these type of people "pseudo SEO clients," because they are not willing to pay for advice. Instead they "shop around" from SEO to SEO, asking SEOs what they would do to improve their rankings. I have seen this time and time again with many "pseudo SEO clients." Ben decided to create a list of the top 15 reasons why an SEO would not want to work on a particular project or with a specific SEO client. You can read the full article here.

This reminds me of an old Search Engine Watch Forum thread named What Are Your Favorite SEM Client Lies?

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 3:56 PM | Permalink

November 29, 2005

The Challenge In Hiring SEMers

As search marketing keeps getting hotter, so does the challenge in finding good people to do search marketing. Below, some articles on the topic that have come up in the past few weeks.

SEM Challenge 101: Hiring Staff from Rob Murray at iProspect outlines challenges such as the industry being new, skill sets being complex and there being a lack of standards. He then suggests those hiring look beyond "years of experience" and instead at asking a firm some core competency questions.

Searching for Searchers from InternetRetailer covers things like base pay for search marketers and the challenge in finding and hiring good people, especially with the growth that continues.

How to Cope With SEM Staffing Shortages, Part 1 has Kevin Lee from ClickZ wading in, explaining why he thinks the industry will continue to be complex, adding to the challenge of hiring people.

SEM Hiring 101 is a discussion over at our Search Engine Watch Forums related to hiring issues.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 8:37 AM | Permalink

November 14, 2005

Omnicom Buys Resolution Media

Omnicom Buys Its First SEM Agency from ClickZ covers ad and marketing conglomerate Omnicom Group purchasing Chicago-based Resolution Media.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:36 AM | Permalink

November 10, 2005

Who's A GAP? WhoisaGAP Helps You Find Google Advertising Professionals

Are you a Google Advertising Professional? Want to find one? While Google certifies them, it doesn't give you a list of them. No matter. Teddie Cowell over at Neutralize tells me they've knocked together a directory containing over 200 Google GAPs. Wait, that would be Google Google Advertising Professionals. I guess it's over 200 Google APs. Nah, that sounds silly. Anyway, check it out at whoisaGAP. How they get the list? Searching the web, baby, searching the web and seeing who says they're a GAP. If you got left out, you can email them for inclusion.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 4:01 PM | Permalink

October 21, 2005

Spending A Day With An SEM Firm

A Day in the Life of a Search Engine Marketing Agency from sees a DM News reporter spending time at icrossing's New York office and among some of its 54 employees. I know, I know -- the cynical gang out there will see it as a nice coup for icrossing to get some ink, and no doubt other firms will pitch other publications to do the same. But you'll find plenty interesting to read, from the guy monitoring A/B test results to the person hunting for more search inventory by spotting even more search terms.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 12:52 PM | Permalink

October 12, 2005

Which SEO Company To Trust?

Readers Concerned about SEO Ethics from Jim Hedger at Search Engine Guide looks at questions he's gotten about how to decide which SEO agency to trust, especially when confronted with what seems like hype, jargon and bluster. He gives a bit of advice on what to do, primarily researching the firms a bit. Meanwhile, Reputable SEO Companies over at our Search Engine Watch Forums has a member raising the same issue and other members contributing some resources to consult. Got advice or information to add? Visit that thread!

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:51 AM | Permalink

October 11, 2005

Zunch Execs Depart, Form New Company Kinetic

Kevin Ryan, known to many for his search column at iMedia Connection, has departed along with four other Zunch Communications executives to restart a new firm called Kinetic Results.

Ryan joined Zunch only about two months ago, back at the end of July. He was the chief strategy officer for Zunch. Before joining Zunch, he was at Kinetic, the firm he appears to have created after departing from Did-It. He joined Did-It in December 2004 but left soon after. Prior to Did-It, he worked for Wahlstrom Interactive.

Departing with Ryan from Zunch are Giovanni Gallucci, Zunch's former president and COO; Tony Wright, the former chief interactive marketing officer; Anthony Zapata, the former director of business development; and Dave Wilkie, the former executive vice president. More details can be found in this Kinetics press release.

Spotted via Andy Beal, Zunch has posted its own press release about the departures, saying executive positions created prior to its growth needed to be restructured to omit "red tape that slowed us down."

When Ryan was hired about two months ago, Zunch pitched the opposite, that creating a new position and bringing in Ryan was to help usher in a "new phase" for the company.

Want to discuss? Threadwatch has some talk going on here, and you can also visit our SEW Forums thread, Executive Management Team Leaves Zunch Communications.

Postscript: Zunch Execs Jump Ship, Join Together has coverage of the move.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 7:19 AM | Permalink

September 28, 2005

A Snapshot of the Search Marketing Industry

A new study by Jupiter Research and iProspect looks at several aspects of the search marketing industry, and draws some interesting conclusions about how well search marketers are performing, the effectiveness of organic vs. paid search marketing campaigns, and obstacles encountered in implementing search engine optimization techniques on client web sites, among other findings. See today's SearchDay article, How are Search Marketers Performing?, for more on the new research.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 12:28 AM | Permalink

September 27, 2005

Delete Those Emails With SEO Pitches!

Ineffective SEO E-Mail Campaigns at ClickZ from Shari Thurow is a nice, fresh reminder of all those pitches you get for SEO services via email that you can safely delete. No, you almost certainly don't need to worry that they are kindly informing you that you aren't ranking for a particular term!

Shari doesn't get into it, but warnings that you aren't "found" on a search engine our that your listing may be in "trouble" or "vulnerable" can almost certainly be ignored, as well. In fact, rather than list and dissect everything, just remember this. I'd say 99.9 percent of the unsolicited email you get pitching you on search marketing services or alerting you to some type of SEO problem can get deleted.

Good SEM firms are in high demand and aren't going to be cold-calling you by phone or via email. The ones that do, I'd be wary of them and certainly wouldn't lose sleep worrying if something they claim is a problem with your site really is.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:39 AM | Permalink

September 22, 2005

Websoured Executives Fired

Via Threadwatch, Websourced fires 2 executives from the News & Observer covers how the company has fired two senior vice presidents, after writing of $1.4 million in bad debt.

An analysis into the business continues by parent company Think Partnership continues, the article says. The debt was caused by small companies signing up for one year contracts but refusing to pay because they had too much "success" in the first few months, the company says. The clients themselves, however, are also blamed for not having enough "dedication" to achieving "sustainable search marketing results."

Websourced recently lost its vice president of search marketing Andy Beal and had a planned acquisition of Proceed Interactive get called off. This follows after earlier acquisitions of other firms and some prominent search marketing speakers and writers. Threadwatch also has earlier discussion of Websourced problems here, Rumour: Websourced being Raided by Dept of Revenue.

Want to comment or discuss? Visit our forum thread, Resignations At Websourced.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 1:29 PM | Permalink

WSJ Dissects Traffic Power Complaints & Search Engine Bans

Sites Get Dropped by Search Engines After Trying to 'Optimize' Rankings from the Wall Street Journal (paid sub. required) revisits the Traffic Power case against SEO Book's Aaron Wall -- though this time, diving into complaints about Traffic Power by customers saying they found themselves dropped after the company did SEO work for them.

These complaints all came out last year, so they aren't new. This is just a fresh retelling in light of the lawsuit. For its part, Traffic Power says ranking drops for most clients were due to search engines changing their indexing methods, not something they did.

The story further dives into Traffic Power having an "army" of cold-callers, according to former employees, and that over 100 complaints have been filed against the company with the Better Business Bureau. It also discusses how after the complaints, the company starting using other names such as 1P.com and First Place.

Overall, the article just highlights what I said earlier over the lawsuit against SEO Book. If the intent was to squash criticism, it's simply backfired into getting Traffic Power much broader and negative play that it was initially concerned about. These types of hits will continue to come as the lawsuit progresses, making me think the smart move would be to drop the suit altogether. Also, Aaron comments on his blog over here about the story.

Want to discuss? Visit the Traffic Power Files Suit Against SEO Book thread in our Search Engine Watch Forums.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 7:53 AM | Permalink

September 19, 2005

New Reprise Feedcast Tool To Get News Publishers Quickly Into Paid Search

Reprise has a new Feedcast tool out designed to scan articles and other newsworthy content and create paid search campaigns for related topics automatically. In short, imagine you are a news publisher wanted to get ads out quickly, to attract interest in a recent news stories. Feedcast is designed to make that happen quickly.

The link takes you to a page with more info, including a helpful Flash demo. Introducing Feedcast on the Reprise SearchViews blog has more info. A SEM Tool for Content Creators from ClickZ has details on those already using it through a private beta.

Somewhat related, Leverage the News for Search Engine Success is a fresh look at why publishers and others might want to ensure they're tapping into news searches as a means to reach an interested audience.

And spotted via Threadwatch, Forbes.com Aims to Improve Search Rankings looks briefly at how publisher Forbes is tapping into SEO via company 360i -- and in particular, free listings rather than paid ones as the New York Times and Washington Post do.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 12:41 PM | Permalink

September 1, 2005

Hiring SEM Firms, Dealing With Clients & The Need For Communication

There's been a variety of articles over the past few weeks on hiring SEM firms -- as well how SEM firms can deal with clients and why everyone need to talk to each other better. I've done a round-up for our Search Engine Watch members that you'll find here in our members area.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 2:59 PM | Permalink

August 30, 2005

SEO Book's Aaron Wall Sued By Traffic-Power Over Revealing "Trade Secrets"

Back in June, I heard from Aaron Wall of the SEO Book blog. He'd been served with a cease-and-desist letter from SEO company Traffic-Power.com that seemed impossible to comply with. At issue was a claim that Wall had published "proprietary and confidential information." However, the claim didn't list any specific infringing material that Wall was supposed to remove. Now things have progressed to an actual lawsuit over the matter, one that I can't help thinking will get dismissed due to a lack of evidence.

The Cease-And-Desist Letter

Let's start with the actual letter. The Max D Spilka & Traffic Power Cease and Desist Letter post at Wall's blog at the end of July reprints the letter he was sent. It's not long, but I'll highlight the key parts in bullet point format:

It has come to our attention that on a website you control, namely www.SEO Book..com, proprietary and confidential information related to Traffic Power's business has been published.
The published information violates the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. Sections 2510-2521, and is subject to certain contracts between Traffic-Power and its former and/or current employees.
The published information has been pirated from Traffic Power and you have obtained the information illegally, all of which you knew or should have known.
You are to cease and desist immediately from the same or any similar activity. In the event you fail to do so, Traffic Power is prepared to initiate litigation to obtain an injunction to enforce its rights.
Finally, consistant with recent court rulings you may now be obligated to disclose the source(s) of your information. Accordingly, within ten (10) days of this letter, you are to do the following:
- 1. Provide a list of the sources of your information complete with name, address, and telephone number; and,
- 2. Remove from www.SEO Book.com website all information relating to Traffic-Power.

Lack Of Specifics

As said, I found this letter almost impossible to comply with. What's the confidential information? Where was it published? Which sources are alleged to be involved?

I contacted Traffic Power to learn more about what Wall was supposed to do in response to the letter. Below are questions I sent, along with the emailed responses from Traffic Power's public relations firm AMR Partners that I received at the end of June. I've made light edits to clean up some spellings and grammatical errors in both the questions sent and answers received, produced by the informal nature of email:

Question: The letter never actually says what it is he supposedly pirated or published. What exactly is it that's in contention here?

Traffic Power tells me that in threads regarding Traffic-Power portions of private and confidential emails have been presented as well as links to proprietary company information as well as false claims against the company regard non-existing lawsuits and other potentially libelous claims.

"I just thought anyone should know, This is an interesting link to a law firm that is getting ready to file a class action against Traffic-Power.com http://www.girardgibbs.com/traffic-power.html"

Many of these links are no longer available and Mr. Wall's site - Blocked Wayback Machine with "Robots.txt Query Exclusion" (See robots.txt file at http://www.seobook.com/robots.txt) http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.seobook.com/archives/000314.shtml

Question: Isn't a violation of the act [cited in the cease and desist] a criminal violation?

That would be a better question for Traffic Power's attorney, Mr. Spilka.

Question: The letter suggests Traffic-Power might be entitled to damages under the act. Isn't it really that he'd be fined by the federal government?

I believe the letter is suggesting that Traffic Power will pursue all legal remedies both criminal and civil to resolve this matter.

Question: Can you be more specific of what exactly he's done to violate the act, which seems to be mostly related to federal wiretapping provisions?

Again I feel that would be a better question for Traffic Powers Attorney, Mr. Spilka.

Question: How is he supposed to comply with a demand for source disclosure when you haven't cited what was allegedly published or pirated? Are you expecting a list of every person he's ever talked with?

I have no idea what the legal team might expect in terms of disclosure of sources, but I have been told that any evidence will not be presented until it has been decided whether or not they need to file a lawsuit.

Question: Are you suggesting everything on the SEO Book web site that might mention Traffic-Power is somehow pirated material? Doing a quick search, I see http://www.seobook.com/archives/000314.shtml, where he talks about being called by Traffic-Power. Is this the pirated communication? And if so, was he informed of this before the phone call began?

I do not think the intent of the letter is to imply that everything on the site is pirated or in response to the two links you've posted, but rather to suggest that pirated material as well as material that could be considered libelous are present and that there are several issues on Mr. Wall's sites that are potentially actionable.

In conclusion, Traffic Power has assured me that they would much prefer a civil dialog with their critics instead of any legal action and that they at least, would be open to discussion.

I'm afraid the responses left me not much clearer about the situation. The cease-and-desist letter talked about Wall allegedly publishing confidential information, yet the follow-up answers went broader to suggest there was potentially libelous information at issue, as well.

Certainly Wall didn't know what he should do. As he wrote on his blog:

The only way I could have complied with it is if I shut my site down and gave them contact information of everyone I have ever contacted. Since it was impossible to comply without destroying my business model and potentially getting my friends and customers spammed or cold called I asked a friend about the situation.

The Cold Call Post

It seems the key trigger in all of this was Wall's Traffic Power & Cold Call SEO post of May 6, 2004. That's the http://www.seobook.com/archives/000314.shtml URL mentioned in the follow-up response I received (though not in the actual letter sent to Wall). That's Wall's best guess as well, as he's emailed me and as he speculates in a timeline-of-sorts in this post on August 26 about being sued.

In the post, he talks about being cold called by someone from Traffic-Power and coming away unimpressed. I didn't see anything proprietary when I looked at the post. Libelous? That wasn't an issue in the letter he was sent. Trade secrets? Again, nothing I see any the post anything remotely approaching what I'd view as trade secrets.

There's more than the post, of course. There are comments below it. Some in our forum thread on the lawsuit wonder if perhaps some of the things people have posted might have been deemed trade secrets, such as:

Alleged use of doorway pages
Apparently hosting keyword-targeted pages on other web sites, maintaining ultimate control of the traffic
Alleged use of JavaScript cloaking

If these are trade secrets, none of them would be considered proprietary or unique to Traffic-Power, to my knowledge. Moreover, if these are things that have been discussed with clients and potential clients -- without requiring the use of non-disclosure statements -- then they hardly seem secrets worthy of legal protection.

By the way, how about that law mentioned as part of the letter? The EFF gives a layman's view here and FindLaw has info on various sections here. I came away thinking it was made certain wiretapping like activities a criminal action that the US government could pursue, not something to be tried in civil court.

The Lawsuit Against SEO Book

As said, I started looking into this back in June. My understanding was that the issue had gone away. Wall posted the letter he received on his blog, and that seemed to be the end of it.

Obviously, it is not. Notice! You Have Been Sued is a follow-up post on Wall's blog that contains the lawsuit. You can read through it there. It reasserts that Wall has somehow helped reveal trade secrets while not explaining where, when or how. It further alleges that Wall's published "false and defamatory" information about Traffic-Power, though again not naming or explaining what this is. Perhaps there were exhibits as part of the filing, but if so, these aren't referenced as is typical in a complaint.

Wall says that he's been told verbally that if he drops all content about Traffic Power on his web site -- regardless of whether it is legitimate -- the suit would be dropped. He's now seeking a written confirmation of this, while weighing up the pros of fighting the case versus the cons, all of which are itemized on the site. Ultimately, he says he's leaning toward pulling the material.

A Chilling Effect -- But Not For Everyone

If so, I find it unfortunate. In fact, I find the entire lawsuit unfortunate. Whatever reputation improvement Traffic-Power thought it might be gaining through such an action has just gotten worse. Small sites may react to the chilling effect of being sued. Larger publishers won't -- and many more of them just learned about Traffic-Power and the many allegations levied against them over the past year, as a result of the action.

One big publisher, by the way, is Google. As Marcia over in our forum thread on the lawsuit pointed out, there's a Google Answers question that talks about Traffic-Power "doorway pages," describes hidden links as "cloaking" and has a conclusion that "questionable SEO tactics are being employed on your website." If anything, that response on a web site hosted by Google, from a freelance question answerer paid through Google, is far more damaging than what I've seen referenced on the SEO Book blog.

In fact, maybe even other smaller sites will stick with it. Wall points over to the Traffic Power Sucks site, a protest site against the firm that talks about how to gain refunds, a possible class action lawsuit and advice from the site's perspective of things to watch out for. It sounds like the site received a letter similar to what Wall got:

I received a little letter from the same lawyer threatening me with a lawsuit if I didn't take "proprietary and confidential information related to Traffic Power's business" off of my website. I called the lawyer and asked him exactly what information he was referring to. He had no idea what I was talking about. This was the guy who signed the letter, and he was clueless. If anyone can find anything at all on this website that could possibly be considered Traffic Power's "proprietary and confidential information", drop me an email at webmaster@trafficpowersucks.com.

I take it Traffic Power Sucks has no plans to remove material and if ultimately sued, I suspect it will press onward since it seems to be organizing its own lawsuit against the firm.

Want to discuss? Visit the Traffic Power Files Suit Against SEO Book thread in our Search Engine Watch Forums.

Postscript from Gary: I did a bit of searching and on August 11th, the same day a lawsuit was filed against Aaron Wall/SEO Book, another suit was filed in a Neveda District Court listing TrafficPowerSucks.com (and those who run the site) as defendents.

Postscript 2: The Wall Street Journal now has a story with some legal comments: Blogger Faces Lawsuit Over Comments Posted by Readers.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 3:22 PM | Permalink

July 26, 2005

SuperPages To Buy Ads For Advertisers On Google & Yahoo

Superpages.com Tries on Agency Hat covers how Verizon SuperPages has advertisers who can't buy enough inventory on SuperPages itself, so SuperPages plans to take their excess money and do buys for them on Google and Yahoo through a new "pay-per-click-plus" program it will begin testing in August.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 11:43 AM | Permalink

State of the UK Search Marketing Industry

Tis the season for buyer's guides to search marketing. Like the Marketing Sherpa guides to SEO firms and PPC firms that I reviewed earlier, a new directory from E-consultancy features an inside look at key players in the UK search marketing industry. Today's SearchDay article, Search Marketing UK: A Buyer's Guide, has more details on the new directory.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 10:15 AM | Permalink

July 20, 2005

Who's Who in Paid Search

Last week, I reviewed the new Marketing Sherpa Buyer's Guide to Search Engine Optimization Firms, which focused on companies specializing in optimizing sites for organic search results. In today's SearchDay article, A Buyer's Guide to Paid Search Advertising Agencies, I review the companion guide from Marketing Sherpa that focuses exclusively on firms specializing in PPC search marketing campaigns.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 9:37 AM | Permalink

July 14, 2005

A Buyer's Guide to SEO Firms

Marketing Sherpa has released the 4th edition of its Buyer's Guide to SEO companies, profiling more than 120 firms that do organic search optimization for clients. Though the Guide is aimed primarily at buyers of SEO services, it will also interest practicing professionals, providing insights into common practices used (or not used) by some of the major players in the industry. See today's SearchDay article, Choosing a Search Engine Optimization Firm for a complete review.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 1:21 PM | Permalink

July 13, 2005

Andy Beal Departs WebSourced Over Differences

Andy Beal of Search Engine Lowdown has announced he's left his day job -- vice president of search marketing for WebSourced -- due to philosophical differences over the direction of WebSourced. His Why I've Resigned from WebSourced post doesn't provide further information on those differences. More may emerge in comments on his blog. Threadwatch has some discussion, and Barry points to another resignation from a prominent WebSourced person recently, Jason Dowdell. He also said he left due to differences with the company. WebSourced recently gained two other well known search marketers, Mike Grehan and Heather Lloyd-Martin, as covered in our past post, CGI Holding Buys More, Changing Name To Think Partnership. Both are still with the company.

Postscript: Andy has removed the post explaining his reasons for leaving WebSourced. He explains why to Threadwatch.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 6:10 PM | Permalink

June 7, 2005

Tough Love For Those Hiring SEM Firms

Do SEM work for other companies? Shari Thurow's How Not to Work With an SEO/SEM Firm article from ClickZ will have you nodding your head often in agreement, at what clients will demand, expect and refuse to do. Hiring an SEM firm? Consider it tough love from the folks who really do want to help you.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 7:19 AM | Permalink

May 17, 2005

Search Marketing Firms On Parade In London

NetImperative is sponsoring a search marketing firm beauty parade in London on May 26. Ten firms each have 25 minutes to pitch for your business. Well, nine firms and Yahoo. More details here.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:36 AM | Permalink

May 16, 2005

SEMs: Agency Churn Is Coming

Search agencies take note! Churn is coming to your space. So says Gary Stein of JupiterResearch, in SEM Agencies: Prepare to Play Musical Clients at ClickZ. As cost rise, clients will take a harder look at relationships. Be prepared, he warns, and offers a few tips to prepare.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 11:32 AM | Permalink

May 11, 2005

Search Agencies Rebrand, Expand

Search engine specialists: Agencies seek higher returns from Revolution looks at how several UK and Europe-based firms have renamed themselves. Reason? To reflect that they do more than just get top listings or to highlight that they are part of a larger agency. Aside from name changes, the article looks at how search agencies have expanded and reshaped offering, along with continuing education of potential clients.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 1:13 PM | Permalink

May 6, 2005

SEO Inc Tries To Silence Google Blogoscoped Over Rankings

Last month, SEO Inc apparently fell out of the top rankings for the term "search engine optimization" at Google. I felt it was a non-story then. That's changed now that the company issued a cease-and-desist notice against Google Blogoscoped, implying that Philipp Lenssen there may have trade libeled them. More details and a copy of the letter from Philipp here: SEO Inc Sent Me a Cease & Desist.

Wow. What did he say? John Battelle has a reprint over here, but here's the key passage is this:

It?s kind of ironic that SEOInc.com, a search engine optimization company which for a while was on the Google number 1 spot for the highly competitive query "search engine optimization", is now nowhere to be found in the Google results. This is likely due to the recent PageRank update and even more algorithm tweaks implemented by Google. Enter ?SEOinc? into Google.com, and SEOInc.com is nowhere in the top 10; and the SEOInc.com PageRank has dropped to ?none?. Only by entering ?site:seoinc.com? into Google will you see the site is still indexed in some way.

And while a low or non-existent Google ranking is bad enough for sites outside the SEO industry, it hits everyone in the SEO business twice as hard: not only are SEOInc not being found with search engines anymore, they?ve also lost their biggest proof their services are worth paying for.

Of course, the fact this site has seen the Google death penalty hints that they?ve overoptimized using ?black hat? search engine optimization (such as linkfarms, for example).

Who is Philipp to say that SEO Inc lost the biggest proof that their services were worthwhile? Actually, SEO Inc. made this suggestion. Until recently, it had these claims on its web site, which Philipp's article lead off with:

?Search Engine Optimization Inc. uses our proven Search Engine Placement techniques to rank more sites in more top positions than anyone in the business. Our cutting-edge strategies are currently used by companies including AT&T Broadband, IGN, Sierra Trading Post, and Microsoft. (...)

The title of Certified Advanced Search Engine Marketing Strategist from the Academy of Web Specialists is your assurance that SEO Inc Search Engine Optimization incorporates highly effective, ethical and proven methods of gaining you top positioning.?

Those are now gone, though in a new development, the company appears to have recently become a member of the W3C. From its home page:

Search Engine Optimization Inc is the FIRST and Only search engine marketing firm to become a member of the (W3C) World Wide Web Consortium. Read Article here.

As said, I thought the company's drop in placement for "search engine optimization" was a non-issue when I heard about it a few weeks ago. I wouldn't have reported them as being "good" for having any type of placement, since placement for a term doesn't necessary mean good conversions.

In addition, top rankings can be meaningless. Was the term competitive or not? IE, does anyone actually search on it? And if you were top ranked, how long for? On which search engines? Ones people actually use? These are the types of reasons why I simply ignore any claims based on rankings.

Want to discuss or learn more? Check out these forum discussions:

SEO Inc. banned from Google?, WebmasterWorld
SEOInc ... they have forums!, SEO Chat
SEOInc Sending out Cease & Desists, Threadwatch
SEOINC.com Penalized in Google, Search Engine Watch Forums

That last thread we actually pulled from our forums back in mid-April. No, not because of a cease-and-desist letter or any message. Instead, our forums have a policy about public spam reporting. We don't allow it, unless a site is incredibly well-known or the issue has become discussed in a variety of public forums. Ironically, with the many blog comments now about the cease-and-desist, the thread that previously was pulled now qualifies for restoration.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 1:58 PM | Permalink

April 26, 2005

Like Search Engines, Search Marketing Firms Growing Revenue

Fathom that: Ask Jeeves veteran gets successful search result from the San Francisco Business Times profiles search firm Fathom Online and worth a read for those who need a refresher on how search marketing companies are growing as investment and acquisition targets.

San Francisco-based Fathom earned $20 million in revenue last year and expects to double that to $40 million this year (though a large chunk of that may go right back out to the search engines themselves).

The company, only three years old, employs 50 people and expects to reach 100 by the end of the year. It has a single outside investor that's contributed $6 million, so far. But Fathom CEO Chris Churchill -- a former Ask Jeeves exec -- says there are no plans to go public or sell in the near future.

Meanwhile over in Texas, Range Online founders Cheryle Pingel and Misty Locke were recently named in Fast Company's new list of Top 25 Women Business Builders. Like Fathom, Range pulled in over $20 million in revenue last year.

Cast your mind back to January, and you may recall Efficient Frontier had announced (link to PDF press release) they were managing over $100 million in annual paid search marketing spend. What really caught my eye about that, aside from the double zeros behind the one, was the claim they handled more than any other search marketing firm.

I didn't necessarily doubt that they were handling more revenue than anyone else, but how could they prove that? They company's PR firm emailed back:

To answer your questions -- there are no pure-play public search engine marketing firms so there is no public information on fees, spend under management, number of advertisers - so we need to use our data to understand the market.

We were able to compile a list of the top 400 paid search advertisers by using our proprietary technology and our knowledge from the sales cycle. We download the bid landscape each day for all of our keywords (over 7.5 million in 2004 alone) and we run models and estimates to determine how our customers should buy in the space. We also run competitive analysis to figure out what their competitors are spending in the marketplace.

This gives us enough data from our every day activities to identify the top spenders. In addition, our sales team talks to the top 1000 advertisers all day long, so we know what people are spending based on actual conversations. Based on our top 400 spenders list, we were able to confirm that we manage more than any competitors.

That $100 million, by the way, is purely the in-and-out money. In other words, it's what's managed on behalf of Efficient's clients, not what the company itself keeps. So total revenues generated are higher, though what's actually retained by Efficient (as with the other companies above) is less.

By the way, bringing things back to Fathom, that company and Efficient recently teamed up (PDF release) to share services.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 2:11 PM | Permalink

March 30, 2005

CGI Holding Buys More, Changing Name To Think Partnership

CGI Holding Corporation, the company of many search marketing brands, has gained additional ones recently and will undergo a name change to Think Partnership.

CGI Holding is the parent company of online marketing firm WebSourced, which in turn operates the search marketing division of KeywordRanking.com. Search Engine Lowdown's Andy Beal is VP of search marketing for both of those units.

CGI Holdings Continues Buying Spree from ClickZ looks at how CGI has acquired Smart Interactive, the two-person UK-based search marketing firm headed by Mike Grehan. It's the second time Grehan has hooked up with a large, US-based firm. He'd joined iProspect in November 2003 but departed a few months later. CGI provides additional details on the acquisition in the press release.

The ClickZ story looks at some other recent acquisitions, including the purchase of affiliate marketer KowaBunga Marketing and an intention to buy another affiliate player, PrimaryAds. More details also in this ClickZ story about those purchases, WebSourced Adds Affiliate Power, plus this announcement via Search Engine Lowdown.

CGI is still working through another purchase, that of merging with Proceed Interactive. It also hired Heather Lloyd-Martin who ran her own small SEM shop in December.

CGI changed its AMEX stock symbol earlier this month to THK, for Think Partnership, the name it seeks to have shareholders approve. From company CEO Gerald M Jacobs, in a press release about the move:

"We have chosen the new name Think Partnership Inc. because our Company is a collaborative partnership of entrepreneurs and proven business leaders who are demonstrating innovation and execution in some very exciting Internet sectors. Ben Jennings and I, and the dynamic entrepreneurs who lead our operating companies -- Pat Martin of WebSourced; Scott and Kristi Mitchell and Paul Widisky of Cherish; Steve Thanhauser, Lewis Finch and Greg Cox of MarketSmart; and Rick Anderson of Ozline -- are deeply committed to building our Company based upon the principles of decentralized management, collaboration and mutual respect among partners, aggressive growth both internally and via acquisitions, the delivery of highly professional services to our clients, and profitability for the mutual benefit of our employees and shareholders. We want our future merger partners and employees to 'think partnership' in every aspect of our businesses, so we have adopted that mantra as our new corporate name."

If approved, it will be the third name for the company. Before being known as CGI Holding Corporation, it was formerly called North Star Petroleum, Inc, according to the company's history profile.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:34 AM | Permalink

March 24, 2005

Yahoo To Restrict SEM & Agency API Access?

Is Yahoo going to withdraw API access to SEM firms, agencies and other third-party companies that manage online ad spend? So hears Frank Watson, AKA Search Engine Watch Forums moderator AussieWebmaster. In Is Yahoo Destined To Be The Next LookSmart? on his new blog (well worth a regular read), he looks at how new new analytic firms are being allowed in and how there's no assurance existing contracts will continue.

What's the big deal? If you currently use a third party to manage your bids, this would make it much harder -- perhaps impossible for some firms -- to access Yahoo. Yes, they might be able to go back to screen scraping, but then they could also likely expect legal action over that.

"Individual" access to the API wouldn't be tampered with, Frank reports. The good news there is that since it's your account, you might insist that Yahoo allow the company of your choice to use your individual access to manage your account.

In the end, I'm with Frank in hoping such a move doesn't happen. Both Yahoo and Google (and MSN to come) need to fully embrace search marketing agencies and others as their friends, rather than competitors. That's because in the end, none of them individually is going to be trusted to do purchases on other properties. For a bit more on this, see my past post Search Publishers Not Friends Of Agencies, SEMs.

Want to comment or discuss? Please visit our forum thread, Yahoo Could Be Dropping API Access to PPC

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 5:34 AM | Permalink

March 16, 2005

Poking At Search Marketing Myths

Popular Search Marketing Myths Debunked from Jennifer Laycock at Search Engine Guide takes a nice look at some of the popular search marketing wisdom you may hear out there and explains that it ain't necessarily so.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:33 AM | Permalink

February 22, 2005

Tiscali SEO Service Accused Of Spamming

Doorway pages are fine, says Tiscali South Africa, about a new search engine optimization service that the internet access provider and Google partner is offering to customers. Launched earlier this month, the press release about the service raised the ire of some local SEO firms with this description:

The service includes re-writing of an organisation's home page in meta tags and hidden words. Doorway pages are created that target specific search engines to improve search engine rankings.

One of the search engines the service submits to is Google, which gives these guidelines that goes directly against the pitch:

Avoid hidden text or hidden links.
Avoid "doorway" pages created just for search engines, or other "cookie cutter" approaches such as affiliate programs with little or no original content.

Tiscali defends its search engine service from ITWeb explains more on how local SEO firms are surprised and upset that Tiscali seemingly is providing a service that goes against at least one search engine's guidelines.

The issues are tricky, of course. Doorway pages with little useful content are often seen as spam. But create a new page with some real content, and that might be acceptable. Simply calling doorway pages something else like "information pages" isn't a solution, if the pages lack useful content.

Despite the press release, Tiscali now says that hidden words are not used. Perhaps the company meant this as a synonym for meta tags that it also named -- since meta tags are effectively hidden from users. Perhaps not. Perhaps it was confused. One thing's for certain -- the confusion doesn't inspire a lot of confidence in the service.

Need a recent rundown on what's deemed spam. Check out our recent SearchDay article, What, Exactly, is Search Engine Spam?, for some opinions.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 1:12 PM | Permalink

February 3, 2005

SEM Firms Get Specialized

What to do when search marketing firms seem a dime a dozen? Specialize. Over a year ago, we saw Local Launch dive to focus on local search. SEO PR has been out for even longer focusing on search as a public relations tool. Here's a recent example, from ClickZ: Icrossing Moves Beyond Search. The company is branching out into reputation management and monitoring.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 8:48 AM | Permalink

January 27, 2005

Isobar's Fay On Multiple Search Groups

Last month, iProspect was acquired by Aegis Group to be part of its still relatively new Isobar network. Isobar also encompasses Carat Interactive, which provides SEM services. So now one group has two different units with search marketing services -- very similar to the situation with WPP operating mSearch and Outrider, that I wrote about earlier.

In Q&A with Sarah Fay from iMediaConnection, Isobar US's new president Sarah Fay (formerly president of Carat), touches how Isobar will deal with the two. They won't be rolled up into some master Isobar brand -- and yes, they might even compete with each other both for search clients or for the same pot of money to go into different types of marketing. But they'll also be encouraged to cooperate, as well. Says Fay in the story:

Each of the Isobar agencies will have its own P&L, which may incur some competition within the group. But each of the agencies is also strongly incented to work together and to cross-refer business within the group. Each of the agencies is expected to collaborate in sharing knowledge, tools and best practices. I believe our agencies are different enough that the synergies far outweigh their competitive cross over.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 11:14 AM | Permalink

January 24, 2005

SEO Doesn't Equal Being Cheap

Aaron Wall in Why Many People Buy Shitty SEO Services has a nice look at someone apparently making tons of money off search-related sales but not wanting to put any serious money into hiring someone to help. SEM pricing, of course, can be all over the board. Some people charge little and yet do a great job. Others charge a lot but might not be able to help you. Suffice to say, however, good search marketers will expect to be well compensated for the traffic they bring.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:22 AM | Permalink

January 21, 2005

SEO Versus SE Ads

When I do my introductory talk about search marketing at our Search Engine Strategies shows, I explain that search marketing it is the combination of SEO and search advertising.

SEO is like getting PR -- with a little appropriate effort, you might get some nice free publicity, but no guarantees. Search advertising is guaranteed -- and that's why you pay so much for it!

In Compare and Contrast: SEM and SEO from ClickZ, Kevin Lee does some comparing of his own. SEO for many sites is mostly about clearing the hurdles that can make a site non-search engine friendly. Fix the problems, and the free listings tap might start flowing with relatively little need to watch over it on a daily basis.

Search advertising -- what he calls paid SEM -- isn't a fire-and-forget activity. It needs lots of watching and may involve skills completely different than SEO.

SEO and search ads do have some things in common, as he outlines -- but he predicts that the two may diverge even further down the line.

I agree -- and it's also why you might find yourself employing two completely different companies. Concerned about your free listings, especially in terms of how they might have an impact on your company's reputation? Turning to a company skilled with paid search but not organic might not be helpful. Think of it back in the "real" world again Plenty of companies have both PR firms and advertising firms.

Meanwhile, Gord Hotchkiss points out at MediaPost in The 70/30 Rule of Search how despite the fact that searchers pay the most attention to free listings on search engines, marketers spend the most money on getting positioning through search ads. That mix, he argues, should change to better reflect positioning in the real "prime" part of a search results page.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 3:20 PM | Permalink

January 17, 2005

Questions When Hiring An SEM Firm

Over in our forums, the Outsourcing SEM FAQs Be Prepared to Answer! thread gets kicked off by forum moderator Nacho Hernandez with a variety of questions he thinks those seeking to hire an SEM firm should ask. Work for an SEM firm and have your own questions you think clients should ask? Drop by and add to the list. Have you hired an SEM firm (or two, or three)? Even better -- come contribute the questions you ask!

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:50 AM | Permalink

January 13, 2005

WPP Pushing More Into Search Marketing

Ad agencies don't get search? Well WPP Group says it gets it in a big way. From Revolution, WPP eyes world domination with search marketing arm tells us briefly that the organization plans to launch a network of 47 offices worldwide to focus on search marketing through a new agency, mSearch.

Bouncing ball time here: mSearch has been made by rebranding the AdvancePositions.com company that WPP acquired in 2000. But wait a minute, didn't I just post out WPP has acquired other firms that eventually were rolled up and rebranded into Outrider in my Will 2005 Bring More SEM Acquisitions post last month?

Why yes I did. So I called Mike Chowney, who is heading up operations of the new mSearch company outside the US. Yep, mSearch will compete with Outrider to some degree, but that's the only other WPP unit he's aware of with a search marketing focus.

Outrider does more than search marketing, of course -- mSearch will be focused entirely on this. But it still feels odd that one media group will have two different units that could compete against each other for business. Or perhaps that's the way WPP wants it :)

Postscript: See also mOne Forms Search Unit

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:42 AM | Permalink

January 7, 2005

MarketingSherpa Puts Call Out For SEM Firms To Be Reviewed

Via Search Engine Lowdown, news that if you're a search marketing firm and want to be included in the next edition of MarketingSherpa's long-running Buyer's Guide to SEM firms, get moving! You have until the end of the month.

Nominations (yes, you can nominate yourself) can be done here. Be sure to read the criteria at the top of that page to ensure you qualify to be included.

For past SEW coverage of the Buyer's Guide, see these October 2001 and April 2002 reviews. I haven't yet reviewed the current third edition and will probably wait until the fourth one appears later this year, after this current round of reviews gets underway. But the guide is a top resource anyone should consider, if you're outsourcing work. It lists plenty of firms -- and even if there are some good ones that might choose not to participate -- it's a great starting place to understand what the industry offers in terms of pricing and services.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 7:26 AM | Permalink

December 22, 2004

Fire Them Search Spammers!

Patricia Fusco, one of the new SEM columnists at ClickZ, comes out swinging with an argument that if the firm you outsource SEO work to uses "black hat" techniques, they should get axed: Search Engine Spam? You're Fired! The caveat, of course, is this assumes you hired a firm and weren't aware they might use frowned-up techniques. Firing a firm that went aggressive with the search engines after they told you they would, or because you told them to do so, doesn't make much sense. You shouldn't have hired them in the first place!

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 3:45 PM | Permalink

December 7, 2004

JupiterResearch Rates SEM Firms, Says They Control Most Spending

A new report from JupiterResearch says that search marketing firms, rather than the search engines themselves, now control the majority of search spending in the US.

The report's not yet been posted to the Jupiter site, so I can't point you at an abstract or examine more specifics of what it covers. Expect a follow-up on that. If you watch JupiterResearch's Search Tactics section, I'd expect the abstract to be there shortly. In the meantime, the group has put out a press release on findings.

It's not clear to me from the release how it's determined that SEM firms control most search spending now. That's because to my knowledge, there's not been years-and-years of surveying done of search marketing firms at all. But hopefully, the actual report will reveal more about this.

The release does cite figures saying that agency spending on paid listings is up over the past 18 months, which is a time horizon I'm more comfortable with.

The Search Engine Marketing Agency Constellation report also rated 14 SEM firms. It found that in terms of paid listings management, these companies were all rated similarly (and listed alphabetically):

AvenueA/Razorfish Search
Decide Interactive/24/7 Search
Did-It.com
Impaqt
Performics

In terms of editorial/organic search listings, these firms were rated tops (and are listed alphabetically):

Impaqt
iProspect

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 11:07 AM | Permalink

December 6, 2004

November 30, 2004

Lycos Reselling SEO

There's discussion on our forums about Lycos reselling SEO services, causing some firms to wonder if more search engines will do the same and perhaps have an unfair advantage by clients who will assume they have some type of inside knowledge. Read more here in this forum thread, Lycos, ASK to resell SEO in the US. And Search Engine Lowdown has Ask downplaying the idea of it trying to do the same.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 12:41 PM | Permalink

October 23, 2004

Keep Your SEM Firm In The Loop!

Been working with an SEM firm? Be sure to stay in touch with them before changing your site. They can ensure you don't make mistakes that in advertently sabotage your search marketing efforts. More on this from Fredrick Marckini in When Client/SEM Communications Break Down.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 4:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 20, 2004

French SEO Firms Appear Banned By Google

Several major French SEO firms have apparently had their sites and some of their customer sites banned by Google over spam accusations. All are members of the SEMA 7 search engine marketing group in France.

ZDNet provides a write-up in French here: French référenceurs "déréférencés" by Google (bad English translation via Google here). Le Journal du Net also has coverage about large firm Netbooster being specifically targeted: Netbooster déréférencé par Google. The English translation provided by Google is pretty garbled, but from what I can read, Netbooster denies any charges of spamming.

French search engine expert Olivier Andrieu provides his take on the events here: "Il ne faut pas blâmer les référenceurs sanctionnés" (English translation by Google).

Want to comment or read discussion of this topic? Visit a thread already going in our forums: Huge Google Delisting Of Major European SEO Companies.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 5:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 2, 2004

Talking About SEO Guarantees

Clients want search engine work. What if they want a guarantee? Should you offer one? What should you offer. A look at what some people do over in our forums: What SEO Guarantees Do You Offer?

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 5:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 1, 2004

Tips On Hiring An SEO

Looking to hire an SEM firm? David Wallace offers his advice on things to look out for: Look Before You Leap - What to Look For and Look Out For When Choosing an SEO/SEM Firm.