SES Chicago - December 7-11, 2009

February 12, 2008

Find Your Dream Job with the New SEW Job Boards

If you're reading Search Engine Watch, it's likely that your skills are in demand, or soon will be, if you're just starting out. To help you make the most of your search marketing skills, we've launched the Search Engine Watch Job Board. Job seekers can post an anonymous resume, view jobs, and create job alerts. Employers and recruiters can pay by the post or get a discount for buying multiple-posting packs. They can also browse resumes and only pay for the ones they want to contact.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink

January 14, 2008

Search Engine Watch Welcomes Great New Blogger

Search Engine Watch would like to welcome a new SEO blogger to our team of search marketing and social media optimization experts.

We think of him as the F. Scott Fitzgerald of bloggers, since he's a great writer from Minnesota, too. Search Engine Watch will guarantee, though, he'll be more prolific than Fitzgerald.

I first met Marty Weintraub, president of AimClear search engine optimization (SEO) Internet marketing firm, at fund raiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, sponsored by the Internet Marketers of New York and Best of the Web before the SMX social media conference in New York.

If you spend any time online in the social search space, you'll recognize Marty by his trademark baseball cap.

Marty's battle with cancer spurred the search community to raise more than $5,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

We're pleased to report Marty just received news from the Mayo Clinic that he's winning his battle.

You can meet Marty at SearchFest 2008 where he'll present: Marketing 2.0 Issues: Online Reputation Management

I can't think of anyone with a better online -- or offline reputation. Welcome, Marty.

Posted by Kevin Heisler at 12:44 PM | Permalink

December 28, 2007

Search Blogs Awards Voting Is On

Search Engine Journal's 2007 Search Blogs Awards have been posted, and the voting has begun.

The Search Engine Watch Blog has been nominated for "Best Search Industry News Blog of 2007," and the Search Engine Watch Forums have been nominated for "Best Search Engine Community/Forum." If you agree, head on over to Search Engine Journal and vote for us.

You can also share some SEW-love for our Link Love expert Justilien Gaspard, whose blog is nominated in the "Best Link Building Blog of 2007" category; or for SEW blogger and Local Search expert Michael Boland, nominated for "Best Local Search Blog" for the Kelsey Group Blog.

Andrew Goodman, conference chair for SES Toronto, is also nominated for "Best Contextual Advertising Blog" for his Traffick blog.

Even if you don't vote for us, head on over and cast your votes. What else were you planning on doing on the last workday of the year?

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:29 PM | Permalink

September 24, 2007

Google's Growing Searches? FT(P) That.

Ever FTP'ed a news analysis? Transfer this to Financial Times Piffle file: "Growing Google searches for the right balance."

FT reported Google withdrew a bid for DoubleClick in 2005 "amid concerns" that cookies conflicted with "Don't Be Evil" credo. Deal-busting cookies? Does FT really believe Larry & Sergey looked in a mirror and saw the reflection of Dr. Evil?

Unnamed FT sources (Deep Search 1 & Deep Search 2, natch) offered conflicting testimony:

"However, another person familiar with (Google's) internal deliberations says that, while some executives expressed strong reservations about the impact on privacy, this was not the main reason the deal was called off."

What's worse, FT buried the "minority opinion" in the virtual black box of a grey sidebar.

We still don't know whether BrinPage scotched playing DARTs under the glare of spotlight tags. The FT cop-out (misleading lede?) may leave a bad taste in readers' mouths. In a prescriptive news"paper" analysis, ambiguity can be a bitter pill to swallow.

The smart money: Cookies crumble real deal?

Don't Be E-tarded.

Posted by Kevin Heisler at 10:32 AM | Permalink

September 17, 2007

DCLK: Google's Double Data Dealing Digital Destiny?

Released today, "Google's DoubleClick Takeover: Double Data-Dealing" is Jeff Chester's latest polemic against the proposed $3 billion merger with DCLK. As the FTC moves closer to a decision on the deal, the executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy hosted a press conference showcasing privacy advocates.

"No piracy of privacy" groups EPIC, US PIRG and other GOOGOpponents also discussed (advocated) challenges to the merger and restrictive remedies the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) might impose to protect (what's left of) Internet privacy and preserve (what's left of) online competition.

Of course the Right might say there's nothing left of Jeff Chester, executive director of The Center for Digital Democracy (CDD) and frequent contributor to The Nation. Antitrust and consumer privacy issues don't warrant fear mongering.

Chester's recently published book, "Digital Destiny: New Media and the Future of Democracy" (The New Press, 2007) presupposes the existence of U.S. democracy and, in turn, its presumed demise. Some may argue that new media and search engines foster faith in democracy's digital resurrection. If so, those lucky few weren't invited to today's piracy of privacy party.

Posted by Kevin Heisler at 1:07 PM | Permalink

September 14, 2007

SEW Blog Ranks #3 in AdAge Power 150

Allow me to toot our horn for a moment.

Search Engine Watch has been ranked #3 in the AdAge Power 150, a ranking of the top English-language media and marketing blogs in the world.

I'm very proud of the work that we've done this year. Our team of bloggers has done a great job of consistently churning out top-quality work. Thanks to all of you, and congratulations.

The list uses objective data from Google; Bloglines and Technorati, as well as subjective "Todd Points" from marketing executive and blogger, Todd Andrlik. Each blog can get up to 15 Todd Points (we got 11), which Andrik gives for sites with frequent, relevant, creative and high-quality content. The use of audio, video and graphics is also heavily weighted in the Todd Points.

OK, so the Google data is toolbar Page Rank, which many would argue is not exactly "data" as much as an "estimate." But counting Bloglines subscribers and Technorati links has some comparative value, at least.

With an overall score of 69, we came in just behind Micro Persuasion, also with 69, and Seth Godin, with 70 points. Just behind SEW with 68 points were Online Marketing Blog, Pronet Advertising, and Search Engine Land.

It seems search marketing blogs are kicking some butt compared with more general marketing blogs, but that's no surprise, given the high quality of blogs in our space. Other search blogs on the list include Marketing Pilgrim (#8), SEOmoz Blog (#13), and Search Engine Guide (#31). Our sister site ClickZ made the list at #46.

Congratulations to all the blogs on the list.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 10:38 AM | Permalink

July 23, 2007

New Look, New Awards

Good morning, and welcome to a new look for ClickZ and Search Engine Watch, as well as a new twist on ClickZ's annual Marketing Excellence Award.Since both ClickZ and Search Engine Watch celebrate 10th anniversaries this year, we reassessed. Both sites have grown considerably in both size and complexity over the years. That's why we've updated the look and feel, and hopefully made both sites (along with their respective newsletters) more usable and navigable.And because 10 years is such a milestone in this nascent industry, we wanted to mark it with our annual awards, too. Rather than have you readers select the best products and campaigns of the past year, just this once we're expanding the scope to look at the first 10 years of interactive marketing and advertising. In October, we'll confer 10 awards in 10 categories to those products, services, businesses and people who have made the most significant contribution to the industry overall -- the ones that got it all started, so to speak.And as usual, our readers have a big say in who those winners will be. Please nominate your candidates.We can't wait to see your choices!

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 9:26 AM | Permalink

June 7, 2007

And now a few words from Kevin Ryan, VP, Global Content Director, Search Engine Watch and Search Engine Strategies

Greetings everyone, I'm very happy to announce that I have joined the team here at Search Engine Watch and Search Engine Strategies. Everyone has been asking what my role will be and what plans I have for SES and SEW. These are excellent questions with no easy or quick answer (but I'll give it a shot.)

My mission is to guide, direct and assist the tremendous team here in the continued development of the Search Engine Strategies and Search Engine Watch resources. Over the coming months I'll be spending a great deal of time working with our teams around the world to provide the best possible content for everyone engaged in search.

The industry we refer to as “The Search” has grown faster than anyone could have predicted and the need for quality information and guidance has never been greater. In other words, our world is changing and we're going to change with it. In order to be the guiding force in this industry, it will take a village.

Of course, this means you.

The Search Engine Watch and Search Engine Strategies contributors, speakers and advisors have helped define standards in the industry and kept the world at large informed about search. The world (as it is) owes you a debt of gratitude and I'd like to invite you to come along with me as we bring about the next evolution of search.

Search marketing knowledge isn't just for the precious few who have unlocked the secrets. There are many people out there struggling to get their arms around search disciplines—no easy task in an industry that is constantly evolving— that touch every aspect of marketing, advertising and the pursuit of knowledge. Indeed, search is the entry and delivery point for all things interactive.

It is an exciting time to be in the world of search marketing and I couldn't be happier to be helping out with such a great group of people. Keep an eye out for enhancements to the Search Engine Strategies and SEW experiences. Of course, if you have any suggestions, I would love to hear from you!

Posted by Kevin Ryan at 7:00 AM | Permalink

June 5, 2007

SES Speaker Exclusivity Rumors Untrue

In most cases, I'd rather let rumors lie and let them fall by the wayside. But I think it's important to clarify something on behalf of our Search Engine Strategies team.

According to Rand Fishkin, there are rumors about SES planning to require speakers to sign an exclusivity agreement, so that speakers at SES would not be allowed to speak at other shows like SMX or Webmaster World.

Let me assure you that Incisive Media (parent to both SEW and SES) has no such plans. There have not been, nor will there be any plans to institute any kind of exclusivity agreement for speakers at any of our events.

Hopefully, this will dispel any rumors, and put the idea to rest.

UPDATE: Here's the deal: there is a clause in the SES speaker guidelines (put there by Danny Sullivan) requesting them not to speak at a competing conference for two weeks before or after their appearance at SES. There is nothing in the contract, or anywhere else, saying that anyone who speaks at SMX will be banned from speaking at SES. That was the implication of the rumors, and that is just not the case.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 11:44 AM | Permalink

May 22, 2007

Changes at SEW: Moving Over Yonder

It's been a really interesting year here at Search Engine Watch. I'm happy to say traffic to the site is strong, if not at an all-time high, due to the fantastic work of our bloggers, expert columnists, and SearchDay contributors. News Editor Kevin Newcomb deserves much of the credit for those areas as well, since joining the site in January.

For those reasons, I'm also sad to say, my last day as editor of Search Engine Watch is this Friday, May 25.

It's been terrific being a part of SEW for three years, from launching the discussion forums in 2004, to bringing the local SEW Live! networking series to five cities, and expanding my editorial duties over the last year, including the recent launch of SEW Experts.

But, I am leaving the site and the daily editing duties in the hands of a capable staff, and wish them the best of luck. I'm also happy to announce that Rob Kerry (aka, evilgreenmonkey) is going to be resurrecting my former role as the SEW Forums Editor, which became a part of my role as Editor, but started to get lost alongside my expanding duties on the rest of the site.

What's next for me? I'm joining a start-up in the travel vertical based here in Salt Lake City, founded by a few people with long-time search industry experience. After years of agency work and freelance consulting, as well as my time at SEW on the editorial side, I'm looking forward to being the in-house director of online media, managing the content development strategy and online marketing programs for vacation rentals at zonder.com.

The timing is fantastic, as I now get to practice what I preach, particularly as I'm still programming our first SES Travel event in Seattle, WA, July 26-27. It's shaping up to be a great event, with a ton of buzz from speakers and prospective attendees, the agenda will be posted shortly, and stay tuned to the SES blog for further announcements on the program. I hope to see many of you at that event and others in the SEM conference circuit.

Meanwhile, Search Engine Watch is in the process of upgrading the site, adding contributors and new staff, so you can expect some announcements on that front soon.

Posted by Elisabeth Osmeloski at 3:13 PM | Permalink

April 24, 2007

SEW Experts: On Paid Links and Keyword Management

Today's Search Engine Watch Experts columns tackle the topics of paid links and keyword management.

In his au Natural column, "Should Paid Links Influence Organic Rankings?" Mark Jackson asks the question that's being debated around the industry.

In his Big Biz column, "Mission Possible: Managing Millions of Keywords," Aaron Shear offers advice on managing large PPC campaigns.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 11:15 AM | Permalink

February 8, 2007

Welcome New SEW Bloggers

I'd like to extend a warm welcome to our two new Search Engine Watch blog correspondents, Eric Enge and Grant Crowell. Both names are likely familiar to our readers, since both gentlemen have written articles for SearchDay, and have been around the SES circuit for years.

Eric Enge is president of Stone Temple Consulting, located near Boston. He will focus on issues like link building, Web analytics, and vertical search. He is also a co-founder of Moving Traffic, the publisher of City Town Info and Custom Search Guide. You've also likely seen some of our posts linking to interviews on his excellent Stone Temple Blog.

Grant Crowell is CEO and creative director of Grantastic Designs, a full-service SEM and design firm outside of Chicago. He has an extensive professional graphics background, along with years of professional experience in the fields of public relations and publications, including private enterprise, state government projects, and non-profit organizations. Grant will share some blogging duties on multimedia and search with Amanda Watlington, and also focus on other general search topics.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:11 PM | Permalink

January 8, 2007

Amanda Watlington Interview

Lee Odden at Online Marketing Blog has a terrific interview with Amanda Watlington, principal at Searching for Profit and the SEW blog's resident expert on topics that include multimedia search, podcasting and social media. Lee asks Amanda about search, PR, blogs, social media and Second Life, among other things. Definitely worth a read.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 9:49 AM | Permalink

December 7, 2006

Another Introduction

This is a quick introduction to let you all know that I've been asked to help out as a blogger on Search Engine Watch. My name is Kevin Newcomb, and I've been covering search marketing, among other things, over at ClickZ News for the past few years.

I'll be doing my best to keep things updated here, while continuing my duties at ClickZ, until Rebecca and Elisabeth's plans fall in place.

Feel free to get in touch with me with any news you may have at kevin.newcomb [at] incisivemedia.com.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 5:54 PM | Permalink

Moving Forward with Search Engine Watch

Hello, everyone.

For the past five years or so, I've had the very great honor of moderating dozens and dozens of sessions at Search Engine Strategies conferences in cities around the world. In that respect, I've come to know search, and the search community, much more deeply than I ever would have in my role overseeing The ClickZ Network. ClickZ covers search to be sure, but also interactive marketing's many other aspects.

Over those years, I've also had the privilege of working with Chris Sherman and Danny Sullivan. Both are respected colleagues as well as friends. I'll miss them. Search Engine Strategies, while part of The ClickZ Network, always functioned quite autonomously under Danny's supervision. Our sites have enjoyed a very collegial, if separate, existence.

Now, things have changed. Danny and Chris have moved on to a new venture in which I wish them the very best of luck and good fortune. It's a very daunting honor to be charged with the future of Search Engine Watch — Danny's not-so-little baby — as editor-in-chief. It's a change fraught with emotion and sentiment; for many of you readers, as well as for Elisabeth Osmeloski (who's remaining with the site) and I. It's a situation reminiscent of (but in many ways, even weirder than) taking over the stewardship of ClickZ was six years ago, when that site's founders moved on.

Today, ClickZ is thriving. I'm confident Search Engine Watch will, too, due in no small part to its legions of devoted and intensely engaged readers. My role here is to shape the editorial direction of the site going forward, mostly from behind the scenes. I have no plans to become a SEW byline. I'm no slouch when it comes to search, but I also know enough about search to recognize that others know far more about it than do I.

Presently, Elisabeth and I are relying on the SEW community for feedback, suggestions, ideas and proposals. We're looking for new contributors. We want to help this great source of news, information, opinion and community grow, and perhaps become even better.

So please weigh in and let us know what you want and need from SEW. You can shoot us an e-mail at NewEra [at] searchenginewatch.com, or if you happen to be at SES Chicago this week, collar either one of us — we're very much around.

Looking forward to working with all of you, Rebecca

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 11:27 AM | Permalink

November 30, 2006

November 2006 Search News Recap Posted

The latest edition of my monthly Search Engine Report newsletter is now online, recapping top stories in search from the past month. You can read it online or receive it via email for free by signing up here.

If you're a Search Engine Watch member, the latest edition of Search Engine Update newsletter has also been posted. That newsletter carries more items than the Search Engine Report newsletter and goes out twice per month.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 2:27 PM | Permalink

Goodbye Search Engine Watch & Best Wishes!

Today is my last day with Search Engine Watch, with me heading to my new digs at Search Engine Land tomorrow. I wanted to wish Search Engine Watch all the best going forward, plus help readers understand some of the changes that are happening. To do that best, I thought I'd go all the way back to the beginning, to the birth of Search Engine Watch.

In case you missed it, My Decade Of Writing About Search Engines from earlier this year covers how I got into reporting on search engines in the first place. Information posted as part of my web development work in 1996 expanded and relaunched as Search Engine Watch on June 9, 1997 (that's it in the image above). It rapidly drew more attention and traffic, in no small part due to Eric Ward's fantastic way of getting news around.

Later that year, I was approached by Meckermedia (then renamed Internet.com, INT Media and Jupitermedia) about buying the site. I decided to sell to them on November 19, 1997. It meant the site could grow and I could stay firmly focused on the editorial development, which is my passion. I stayed on, contracted to be editor.

Two years later, the first companion conference to the site was held, Search Engine Strategies in San Francisco on November 18, 1999. I produced the content for that event as a contractor and have since continued to produce the major shows in the US, as the series has grown.

Last year, both the site and the conference series were sold to the current owner, Incisive Media. For 2007, we didn't agree on contract renewal terms, which resulted in me last August announcing my departure from both SEW and SES.

I'm happy to say that further talks resulted in me staying on to do SES show in the US in 2007. I will chair the SES New York 2007 event, then cochair the San Jose show and take part in Chicago at the end of 2007 as a speaker and moderator.

Search Engine Watch was a different matter. I felt it was better for me to go off on my own, which is what I'm going to do. In some ways, I'm leaving my baby behind. But the baby's pretty grown up now!

I joked with my managing editor Elisabeth Osmeloski that I'll likely become one of the top traffic referral sources to Search Engine Watch, since I'll be mentioning stories I've done in the past over here. But it won't be only past stories that I'll be referring to. If there's good content on Search Engine Watch, I'll be mentioning it and talking about it, just as I've always done for any web site even if it might have been seen as a competitor to SEW by some.

As I said earlier this year:

Whatever I do, I've tried to make it a hallmark to always to be inclusive of content, people, web sites or organizations that will help my readers, even if I might technically be competing with them. Whatever I end up doing, you can expect I'll still be pointing at Search Engine Watch as appropriate and wish those that remain a part of it the very best.

That remains the case!

My goodbye is less tearful because writers I've worked with day-in and day-out are joining me at Search Engine Land. Barry Schwartz (he told me to say goodbye to everyone), Phil Bradley (despite having a name that doesn't end in S), Bill Slawski, Jennifer Slegg, Brian Smith and Greg Sterling will be writing with me from December. Chris Sherman joins us in January. I'm naturally thrilled to continue working with them.

Elisabeth, who I mentioned already, stays on here at Search Engine Watch as managing editor and is working on plans with Incisive to take the site into its new life without me at the helm, a new generation for Search Engine Watch. She'll be along later with a post of her own on this.

I am saying a sad goodbye to my days administrating and moderating the Search Engine Watch Forums. In just over two years, an incredible community has sprung up over there, with nearly 15,000 members.

Earlier this week, I said a private goodbye and thank you to the hard-working moderators that have nurtured the community over this time. I'll share part of that to underscore what I said earlier about being inclusive:

I have absolutely no intention of going over to the new place with any type of "us versus them" type of attitude. I've always tried to be inclusive of good content and communities regardless if they might be seen as competitive to SEW. At SEL, I plan to continue the same. If there are good discussions here, I'm going to be pointing at them. If there are good opportunities for the mods with SEW, I honestly want the best for you. By no means do I want anyone thinking that staying on here, or perhaps doing other things with SEW, is somehow something I won't like or perhaps "disloyal" in any way. I don't know if anyone was even thinking like that -- but if so, don't!

That's pretty much it. I'm going to finish my last day doing a bit of blogging, do my last monthly newsletter, then I'm giving Elisabeth a virtual hug and dropping my keys off at the virtual door.

Any comments, please feel free to add them to this thread at the Search Engine Watch Forums, Best Wishes, Search Engine Watch!

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 8:30 AM | Permalink

November 22, 2006

Thanksgiving Programming Note

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving in the United States, and Happy Thanksgiving to all celebrating! Barry and I will be off the blog because of the holiday, so there will be no postings from us or a daily search headlines recap. Barry may be back to do light postings and/or headlines on Friday, unless he takes my advice to relax and take that day off as well! I'll be back on Monday.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 3:47 PM | Permalink

Mid-November 2006 Search News Recap Posted

If you're a Search Engine Watch member, the latest edition of Search Engine Update newsletter has been posted. It recaps top stories in search from the first part of this month.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 3:17 PM | Permalink

November 14, 2006

Program Note: Danny & I Are In Vegas

Danny is currently on a plane to Vegas and I am already in Vegas. News here will probably be much slower than a normal week. Also, I think I will be including more items in headlines as opposed to blogging them individually. Finally, if you want to keep up what is going on at the WebmasterWorld PubCon conference, Chris, Donna and I will be providing live coverage from the event. Our coverage schedule is Search Engine Roundtable for updates throughout the day.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 10:27 AM | Permalink

November 7, 2006

October 2006 Search News Recap Posted

The latest edition of my monthly Search Engine Report newsletter is now online, recapping top stories in search from the past month. You can read it online or receive it via email for free by signing up here.

If you're a Search Engine Watch member, the latest edition of Search Engine Update newsletter has also been posted. That newsletter carries more items than the Search Engine Report newsletter and goes out twice per month.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:01 PM | Permalink

October 23, 2006

Netscape's Jason Calacanis Keynoting SES Chicago

I'm very happy to announce that Netscape general manager Jason Calacanis will be doing keynote conversation for SES Chicago 2006. This will happen from 9-9:45am on Tuesday, December 5. Just over a year ago, Jason sold the Weblogs Inc. blog network to AOL. Since then, he's been revitalizing the Netscape brand by transforming it into a social news site. Detractors have called Netscape a Digg clone and got incensed when he offered to steal away top Digg contributors with cash. Undeterred, he said spreading the wealth would benefit everyone. That includes perhaps rewarding bloggers with links rather than cash for finding stories. Is the rise of social media just a bubble or the beginning of a massive change on how we consume media? Will citizen journalists put professional publications out of business? Often controversial, always outspoken, Jason will share thoughts on these and other issues.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 11:35 AM | Permalink

Renewing With Incisive On SES

I'm breaking away from my vacation briefly to pass along news that I've reached an agreement with Incisive to continue with Search Engine Strategies for another year. I'll be chairing the SES NY 2007 show, co-chairing the SES San Jose 2007 and participating in the SES Chicago show. Here's the announcement:

Incisive Media and Danny Sullivan announce today that both parties have signed an agreement to continue to work together to produce the market-leading Search Engine Strategies series of conferences and exhibitions.

The SES event series was founded by Danny Sullivan and Jupitermedia in 1999 and became rapidly established as the leading worldwide forum for marketers, agencies and webmasters to learn about the latest developments in search engine optimization and marketing. Since Incisive Media's purchase of Search Engine Watch, the ClickZ Network and SES in August 2005 the events have continued their expansion with double digit growth in attendance at the major US locations and the successful launch of several conferences – both in new geographies (including China) and vertical and local search sectors.

In August this year Danny Sullivan, who has always been independent contractor, announced his intention to step away from an active involvement in SES at the end of 2006. Since this point both parties have remained in contact and today announce that an agreement has been reached to extend this relationship through 2007.

Speaking about the news today Danny Sullivan said “I very much look forward to working with Incisive Media on the SES events next year. The search industry loves gathering together at them, and I glad to continue as a part of that.”

Tim Weller, founder and CEO of Incisive Media stated “Search is a dynamic growing global industry. We have the market leading brands, excellent content, and a rapidly growing community in the search market. We wanted Danny to be involved going forwards, so I'm delighted that he will continue to do so”.

Incisive Media will make further major announcements about our plans for expansion of activities in the search marketing space at the Search Engine Strategies Chicago event, December 4-7 2006.

For more from me, see my post on my personal blog, News On My Plans For Next Year. My last day on Search Engine Watch remains November 30, and I plan to continue writing on my own through a new search blog, plus do an event or two of my own.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 11:29 AM | Permalink

October 19, 2006

Heading On Vacation

After I post the daily search headlines next, I'm officially on vacation for the next two weeks. Barry Schwartz will own the blog, so to speak, in that he'll be doing most of the posting while I'm away. I'll still be poking at stuff for the SES Chicago conference, if you're a speaker or waiting to hear back from me on that. Other than that, I'm off to California with my family, to remind my boys where Daddy's from....

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 2:23 PM | Permalink

October 18, 2006

Mid-October 2006 Search News Recap Posted

If you're a Search Engine Watch member, the latest edition of Search Engine Update newsletter has been posted. It recaps top stories in search from the first part of this month.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 1:27 PM | Permalink

October 5, 2006

Light Posting On Friday, Oct 6, 2006

Barry Schwartz is off for Sukkot tomorrow, Friday, October 6 -- and I'm away at the Frankfurt Book Fair. So the SEW Blog might have light posting!

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 8:03 PM | Permalink

October 4, 2006

September 2006 Search News Recap Posted

The latest edition of my monthly Search Engine Report newsletter is now online, recapping top stories in search from the past month. You can read it online or receive it via email for free by signing up here.

If you're a Search Engine Watch member, the latest edition of Search Engine Update newsletter has also been posted. That newsletter carries more items than the Search Engine Report newsletter and goes out twice per month.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 1:15 PM | Permalink

September 21, 2006

Flickr/Zooomr/Photo Sharing Marketer Wanted

I have exactly one spot left for a speaker at our SES Multimedia event happening in October in Los Angeles. I'm looking for someone who generates traffic via Flickr, Zooomr or other photo sharing sites to do a 15 minute presentation for our Images & Search Engines panel. I don't need someone to talk about spider-based search engines. I'm covered on that front. Interested? Read the general speaking and pitching instructions here. Then get in touch by next Tuesday, September 24. The instructions say that all sessions are closed. That's true -- except for this one particular spot. So if you're a fit, interested, let me know.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 11:05 AM | Permalink

September 20, 2006

Mid-September 2006 Search News Recap Posted

If you're a Search Engine Watch member, the latest edition of Search Engine Update newsletter has been posted. It recaps top stories in search from the first part of this month.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:59 AM | Permalink

September 8, 2006

Where Are The Mobile Search Marketers?

I'm generally swamped when I do a call for speakers for any SES event. There's no end of people who want to talk about paid listings, conversion tracking and so on. But man -- no one is biting for my Mobile SEO panel as SES Multimedia & Mobile this October. I've seen this occasionally before -- a panel simply might be too ahead of the market. Maybe everyone's talking the mobile search talk but no one's doing the walk. If you are, prove me wrong and make a pitch. Details here, and I'm taking them through next Wednesday.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:41 AM | Permalink

September 6, 2006

August 2006 Search News Recap Posted

The latest edition of my monthly Search Engine Report newsletter is now online, recapping top stories in search from the past month. You can read it online or receive it via email for free by signing up here.

If you're a Search Engine Watch member, the latest edition of Search Engine Update newsletter has also been posted. That newsletter carries more items than the Search Engine Report newsletter and goes out twice per month.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 2:02 PM | Permalink

September 4, 2006

Speakers Wanted For SES Multimedia & Mobile Edition 2006

I've still got openings on a few panels for our SES Multimedia & Mobile Edition 2006 show this October in Los Angeles. In particular, I'm looking for those involved with mobile SEO, though I also have a space on our video SEO, image SEO and possibly the podcast SEO sessions. More details are here. Pitches are being taken through Thursday, September 7 (IE, get them to me before Friday, September 8).

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 2:44 PM | Permalink

August 29, 2006

Stepping Down From Search Engine Watch

I'm leaving Search Engine Watch as of December 1, given that its owner Incisive Media and I have been unable to agree on terms to renew my contract. I'm also leaving the Search Engine Strategies conference series at the end of this year. Leaving Search Engine Watch on my personal blog Daggle explains my reasons for departing in more detail. I won't get all mushy and sad to say goodbye to readers yet, since I'm still planning to work just as hard as ever for Search Engine Watch through the end of November. I have no news on who will be taking over, but I or someone else from Search Engine Watch will keep you informed as Incisive makes those plans.

Postscript Barry: I wanted to sum up all the news on this topic. So I wrote at my blog the Reaction from the Search Community on Danny Sullivan's Departure. I warn you, it is pretty detailed.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 6:30 AM | Permalink

August 24, 2006

Slower Posting Through Monday

I'm away on a long weekend break from now through Monday, and Barry's taking some more time on Friday and Monday, as well. So there will be posts, but perhaps not as much as usual. Then again, the search weather has been fairly sunny, so we encourage you to take some time off and for all news makers to have a good rest.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 6:06 AM | Permalink

August 23, 2006

Mid-August 2006 Search News Recap Posted

If you're a Search Engine Watch member, the latest edition of Search Engine Update newsletter has been posted. It recaps top stories in search from the first part of this month.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 5:48 PM | Permalink

August 2, 2006

July 2006 Search News Recap Posted

The latest edition of my monthly Search Engine Report newsletter is now online, recapping top stories in search from the past month. You can read it online or receive it via email for free by signing up here.

If you're a Search Engine Watch member, the latest edition of Search Engine Update newsletter has also been posted. That newsletter carries more items than the Search Engine Report newsletter and goes out twice per month.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:46 AM | Permalink

July 20, 2006

Mid-July 2006 Search News Recap Posted

If you're a Search Engine Watch member, the latest edition of Search Engine Update newsletter has been posted. It recaps top stories in search from the first part of this month.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 12:13 PM | Permalink

July 18, 2006

Search Engine Watch Server Change

About a year ago, Incisive Media purchased Search Engine Watch from Jupitermedia. Part of the purchase meant that Jupitermedia would continue to host Search Engine Watch for a year. With that time up, we're finally moving. This is a heads-up that the change is happening.

The Search Engine Watch Forums (http://forums.searchenginewatch.com) already moved about two weeks ago. It was pretty painless and not noticed by most people.

The main Search Engine Watch site (http://searchenginewatch.com) is being moved right now. I was just told that our DNS was changed. That means over the next day, people will be invisibly sent to the new servers hosting our content, rather than the old Jupitermedia-hosted ones.

If all goes well, you won't notice the move. It should happen automatically for you. At the moment, the content on both sites is the same and will stay that way until tomorrow, at which point everyone really should be sent automatically to the new site.

How do you know if you are at the new site? Scroll down to the search box in the left-hand column. If you see an option to search and sort "results in date order," you're being routed to the new site (note that on the Search Engine Watch Blog -- http://blog.searchenginewatch.com -- the search box is yet again different).

How also to know? Chances are things will break. We have a lot of redirections in place, and we're checking to make sure that everything is working fine. But inevitably, something will go wrong.

Spotted a bug, a problem? Use this form and let us know, and we'll get it solved.

Finally, the Search Engine Watch Blog hasn't switched yet. That will happen in a few days, and I'll post a notice there, when it does.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 1:29 PM | Permalink

July 5, 2006

June 2006 Search News Recap Posted

The latest edition of my monthly Search Engine Report newsletter is now online, recapping top stories in search from the past month. You can read it online or receive it via email for free by signing up here.

If you're a Search Engine Watch member, the latest edition of Search Engine Update newsletter has also been posted. That newsletter carries more items than the Search Engine Report newsletter and goes out twice per month.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 3:51 PM | Permalink

July 3, 2006

Off For The Fourth Of July

Due to the Fourth Of July holiday in the US tomorrow, most of the Search Engine Watch Blog staff will be off and not posting. See you when we get back on the 5th, and a Happy Fourth to our American readers who are celebrating!

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 5:23 PM | Permalink

June 21, 2006

Mid-June 2006 Search News Recap Posted

If you're a Search Engine Watch member (thanks for your support!), the latest edition of Search Engine Update newsletter has been posted. It recaps top stories in search from the first part of this month.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 3:10 PM | Permalink

June 7, 2006

May 2006 Search News Recap Posted

The latest edition of my monthly Search Engine Report newsletter is now online, recapping top stories in search from the past month. You can read it online or receive it via email for free by signing up here.

If you're a Search Engine Watch member, the latest edition of Search Engine Update newsletter has also been posted. That newsletter carries more items than the Search Engine Report newsletter and goes out twice per month.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 3:33 PM | Permalink

May 29, 2006

Mazeltov Barry & Yisha! If all seems quiet from hard-working chief news correspondent Barry Schwartz, that's because he's off on his honeymoon. Barry married Yisha yesterday, concluding the engagement he started with a wedding proposal on Ask last year. Congrats from all of us at Search Engine Watch to the happy couple! If you'd like to send your best wishes, pop by our Search Engine Watch Forums thread, Rustybrick Getting Hitched This Weekend!

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 11:01 AM | Permalink

May 25, 2006

Phil Bradley Our New Searching Correspondent; Jennifer Slegg Picks Up Paid Search Coverage

Search Engine Watch has always had two main audiences: search marketers and searchers. We want marketers to understand how to reach an audience through search engines. Equally important, we want that audience -- the searchers -- to know how to search better and to be kept informed of great new tools and features.

Having Gary Price on board was a huge help in better serving our searcher audience, since his background was as a librarian -- you know, those human search engines that have helped people for thousands of years. Our readers know that Gary left us earlier this year. Now I'm happy to say that a librarian has rejoined the ranks of Search Engine Watch -- Phil Bradley.

Phil's background is as a librarian, and he's been blogging and speaking about search resources for years. Now he comes aboard here as our searching correspondent. He'll be posting items related to searching the web, new search engines and searching resources, all from the perspective of searchers who use these tools. Welcome, Phil!

Meanwhile, our very first correspondent Jennifer Slegg is now going double-barreled with a new title: paid search & contextual ads correspondent. Jen was previously our contextual ads correspondent, but now she's also going to post on paid search and search advertising issues in general, such as with today's great post on the coming of dayparting to Google AdWords.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:40 AM | Permalink

May 24, 2006

Mid-May 2006 Search News Recap Posted

If you're a Search Engine Watch member (thank you!), the latest edition of Search Engine Update newsletter has been posted. It recaps top stories in search from the first part of this month.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 11:10 AM | Permalink

May 23, 2006

Get Our Search Headlines On Google!

I'm on a campaign to get more people to try our new subscribed link service at Google. It's easy and free. Just click here to subscribe and you'll get headlines from us related to search at the top of Google search results pages like this:

More about our service is covered here. Like ours? You can find those from others here and here, with the latter being a place where you can submit your own or learn more about making them.

But hey! Don't forget to subscribe to ours!

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 3:53 PM | Permalink

May 11, 2006

And We're Back....

Sorry if you were trying to reach Search Engine Watch earlier and couldn't connect. All of the Jupitermedia-hosted sites (they still host us, though we are now owned by Incisive) went down. Nope, I don't know why yet. I'll postscript later if I have a chance.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 3:54 PM | Permalink

May 5, 2006

New SEW Blog Correspondents: Greg Sterling On Local; Detlev Johnson On News & Barry Becomes A Married Chief!

If you've read about local search over the past few years, you know the name Greg Sterling. Greg was a long-time Kelsey analyst who covered the space and went out on his own last month. Greg's now going to be posting here on local search items. Welcome, Greg!

And if you've read about search marketing in general, you've come across Detlev Johnson's name. Former moderator of the famed I-Search mailing list, Detlev jumped back into the world of search mailing lists by launching SearchReturn last year. Detlev's now coming aboard here to help give Barry and I a hand on those occasions when we both need to be away, as well as continuing to fill in for me occasionally on the Daily SearchCast.

And and....speaking of Barry, you might recall he gained his own little slice of search history by making the first known wedding proposal via search engine last year. Yisha said yes, and Barry's going to be taking some time off later this month to get hitched.

I call on everyone who knows Barry to berate him if he dares to show his virtual face online when he should be on his honeymoon. Barry's a web addict, but I hope he's not going to sneak looks online via his Treo during his honeymoon!

Barry's also got a bit of history/fame in being the only person I know where if you type in his name plus the words wedding registry -- barry wedding registry -- the first result on Google will lead you over to his gift registry. That's due to a case of search engines accidentally trying to buy him stuff, as he explains more here.

Well for Barry, we have a sort of wedding gift. He's now Search Engine Watch's chief news correspondent, rather than being simply a plain old ordinary news correspondent. Barry did ask if he could be called "Superman," which of course he is, but I didn't think the title (like Superman himself) would fly.

As a reminder, if you're trying to keep track of our SEW family, it's pretty easy. Visit the Search Engine Watch Staff page! Eventually, I'll get us all in a group photo :)

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 2:15 PM | Permalink

May 3, 2006

April 2006 Search News Recap Posted

The latest edition of my monthly Search Engine Report newsletter is now online, recapping tops stories in search from the past month. You can read it online or receive it via email for free by signing up here.

If you're a Search Engine Watch member, the latest edition of Search Engine Update newsletter has also been posted. That newsletter carries more items than the Search Engine Report newsletter and goes out twice per month.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 3:07 PM | Permalink

April 19, 2006

Mid-April 2006 Search News Recap Posted

If you're a Search Engine Watch member, the latest edition of Search Engine Update newsletter has been posted. It recaps top stories in search from the first part of this month.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 3:18 PM | Permalink

April 18, 2006

Bill Slawski Joins SEW Blog As Patents & Search Research Correspondent

Bill Slawski's done a great job exploring what various patents might reveal about how search engines operate on forums and at his own SEO By The Sea blog. So it gives me great pleasure to welcome him to the SEW Blog as our new patents and search research correspondent. He'll be keeping readers here abreast of new patents and what insights they might give, as well as interesting search research. Occasionally, he'll also post news about search acquisitions, as well. Welcome, Bill!

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:55 AM | Permalink

April 17, 2006

My Decade Of Writing About Search Engines

Ten years ago today, I first starting writing publicly about search engines. If we had blogs back then, I suppose I would have been a search blogger. But we didn't. We hand-coded our HTML, walked through the snow for eight miles to FTP files to our web servers, and we liked it :)

My involvement with search engines goes back to my first year as a student at the University Of California, Irvine in 1983. No, I wasn't part of the university's highly regarded information and computer science department. Instead, I was an English major -- and a pretty bored one for my first two months, when I had to commute until getting on-campus housing.

I spent some time exploring the library, having been a big library user since I was a child. The library had a magical electronic card catalog called Melvyl (named for Melvil Dewey, who created the Dewey Decimal System). For fun, I'd do Melvyl searches for broad topics such as history, art or love, to see how many matches would come back. I could routinely crash the search routine by doing this.

The system would diligently try, telling me it would take 50, 60, 80 search cycles, and then the countdown would begin. Some searches would eventually get through all cycles and give me a matching results count. Often, the system would just give up as the countdown approached the teens.

My 1996 Study

Search engines remained fascinating to me when I reencountered them in 1995. I'd left working as a newspaper reporter to go into web development, since I didn't want to miss out what was obviously going to be the future of publishing. As the general manager of Maximized Online, my job was to help get people in the Orange County, California area online. We'd build web sites, get them publicized to search engines and other publicity venues, plus host them.

One of our clients was upset at the end of 1995 that his OC jobs site wasn't ranking tops for a search on "orange county" in WebCrawler. We didn't have a good answer to give him. We'd done the submission, made use of the meta tags the search engines said to use, but why exactly a site would rank well wasn't well known. So I decided to look into it.

I spent January through April 1996 making changes to the InfoPages directory that my company maintained, a search engine just for Orange County web resources, to see if it could rank better in a search for "orange county." I tried putting those words in the body text, the title tag, in the meta tags and also checked to see if spamming helped, if repeating the word over and over would have an impact.

I published the results online, and 10 years on, a lot of the advice remains exactly the same. Don't depend on ALT text. Don't fixate on only one or two terms, because there are many ways people will seek you -- a long tail before we had talk of long tails. Build links, because links can send you traffic. And don't fixate on getting traffic just from search engines. The conclusions from that study are below for those really interested; others can jump past for the rest of this article.

There don't seem to be any magic methods that will make a page appear at the top of every search engines' listings. There's too much fluctuation on the web for any page to claim a foothold, and all the engines handle relevancy slightly differently. However, there are some general tips that do help a page appear more relevant.

  • Have text on your home page: Search engine catalogs contain the text read from the various home pages the engines visit. If a page lacks descriptive text, then there is little chance that page will come up in the results of a search engine query. It's not enough for that text to be in graphics. It must be HTML text. Some search engines will catalog ALT text and text in comment and meta tags. To be safe, a straight HTML description is recommended.  
  • Pick your keywords: Focus on the two or three keywords that you think are most crucial to your site, then ensure those words are both in your title and mentioned early on your web page. Generally, most people will already have those words present on their pages but may not also have them in page titles. Keep in mind that the keywords you consider crucial may not be exactly what users enter. Our study focused on making the InfoPages directory appear high on lists if keywords "Orange County" were entered. The lack of success with some search engines does not mean that the site isn't being found. Many people find the site by entering more words, such as "Orange County California" or "Orange County Web." The addition of just one extra word can suddenly make a site appear more relevant, and it can be impossible to anticipate what that word will be. The best bet is to focus on your chosen keywords but to also have a complete description.  
  • Have links to inside pages: If there are no links to inside pages from the home page, it seems that some search engines will not fully catalog a site. Unfortunately, the most descriptive, relevant pages that are often inside pages rather than the home page. You can also try sending search engines directly to your lower levels, if they don't ordinarily go there.  
  • Forget Spamming: For one thing, spamming doesn't seem to work with every search engine. Ethically, the content of most web pages ought to be enough for search engines to determine relevancy without webmasters having to resort to repeating keywords for no reason other than to try and "beat" other web pages. The stakes will simply keep rising, and users will also begin to hate sites that undertake these measures. Efforts would be better spent on networking and alternative forms of publicity described below.  
  • Network: If your site fails to make the top ten lists, then get together with those that do. Perhaps some might be considered "competitors," but others might be happy to link to your site in return for a link back. After all, your site may appear first when slightly different keywords are used. Links are what the web was built on, and they remain one of the best ways for people to find your site.  
  • Relax: Search engines are a primary way people look for web sites, but they are not the only way. People also find sites through word-of-mouth, traditional advertising, the traditional media, newsgroup postings, web directories and links from other sites. Many times, these alternative forms are far more effective draws than are search engines. The audience you want may be visiting to a site that you can partner with, or reading a magazine that you've never informed of your site. Do the simple things to best make your site relevant to search engines, then concentrate on the other areas.

A Webmaster's Guide To Search Engines

Along with the study, I also published a collection of documents called "A Webmaster's Guide To Search Engines." My goal was to help site owners better understand the essentials of being found plus identify which search engines really mattered. Knowing who mattered was crucial when you'd have some search engines like Galaxy forcing your through a three part, multiple question submission process to be included in their directory. Was spending all that time worthwhile? (For Galaxy, the answer was no!).

The guide provided links to the FAQs of each search engines, along with my own observations about whether how each search engines said it worked actually lived up to reality. There was a guide to which search engines I considered to be "major" or most important to site owners and searchers alike. I had a "Strategic Alliances & Victories" chart to show which search engines had deals with the Netscape or Internet Explorer browsers and which had gained positive reviews in magazines.

The information I published quickly generated a lot of positive feedback, both from site owners and searchers such as librarians. At the same time, the web development company I worked for closed, so that the parent firm could concentrate on web software development. I hung out my internet consultant shingle and kept maintaining the Webmaster's Guide on a part time basis, sending out a newsletter update (The Search Engine Report) twice that year, along with making further site updates.

In 1997, I moved to the UK from California, so my wife could be closer to her family. I also began spending more and more time on the site, as well as writing freelance articles on search for various publications. In the middle of the year, I rebranded the site as Search Engine Watch, which generated more attention. By the end of the year, Mecklermedia purchased the site from me, and I continued on as editor of it.

The Search Revolution

Ten years on, I remain as fascinated with search engines as ever. I've been fortunate to help chronicle the birth of an entirely new advertising medium. Equally important has been the birth of an entirely new way for people to seek out information.

I knew search engines were important when I decided to write about them. The journalist in me could see they were a good story, especially when you realized that under the hood, they weren't doing things like crawling as often as people widely believed. But a study by Keen in 2001 especially resonated with me. Search engines (as a whole -- we weren't Google obsessed yet then) were the single most likely way people would seek information.

The study was small, but the findings were still stunning. In only about five years, search engines had ousted things like friends, family, books, magazines, libraries and other perfectly good resources for seeking answers.

Some of this was bad. I'd personally watched people when doing search training spending ages trying to find a phone number, when a call to telephone information would have found much faster. Old but still useful search strategies were abandoned in favor of the magic search box.

Lots of this is good. Search engines remain amazing tools that get us the right answers quickly in many circumstances.

Looking Ahead

Will I still be doing this in 20 years? Almost certainly not, at least not in the daily grind format I've been doing. I'd like to keep writing about search issues, but eventually I'll move away from the regular day-to-day coverage to perhaps focus on less frequent but deeper looks at particular search issues.

I'm also thinking a lot about doing a book these days. I'd always wanted to do a book on search, indeed the exact type of history that John Battelle did a fantastic job with in The Search.

Since that's come out, I've thought more and more about doing a more personal retelling of web search history -- the evolution, developments and trends I've seen from having been in the trenches of covering them over the years.

I'd also like to do a separate one talking to various search marketers, spotlighting them and focusing on how that medium has evolved over the years and where it will be going. The most fascinating book idea remains the impact of search on our everyday lives, how people make use of them, how habits have changed, our laws are starting to account for the power of search and many related issues like that.

Someday! What I can say is that for the near future, I expect to remain working on the site and coverage as I have, bringing some of our standing content back up to date, which I know has been neglected due to the need to cover the news that continues to flow in. My original Webmaster's Guide helped many understand search engines, and I very much want to ensure Search Engine Watch remains as a leading resource doing that in the years to come.

Looking Back

I don't have a succinct list of big picture items or "high order bits" to offer. A lot of this has already been covered in things I've written, so instead I'm going to spend some time recapping pieces I think are most important below. These are either big trend pieces I've done or big shifts in the search landscape I think worth noting.

I know -- I KNOW -- I've left some things out. My apologies, if so. It's a bit easier for me to cover all the things I've written that what me or Chris Sherman both have done, and he's clearly covered tons himself. Plus, skimming through 10 years worth of writings means I'll accidentally miss stuff. If you want to go poking yourself, I'll give more tips after the summary.

The biggest overall theme in doing the recap is how that big old wheel keeps spinning around and around, with people often buying hype because they don't remember things have come before -- or marketers making errors because they don't understand issues that were explored already in the past.

I've definitely felt myself getting more and more jaded. Part of that's bad, because there are cool, new things that I don't want to be blinded to. But then again, you go through the list below and tell me if you don't emerge feeling a big jaded about some ideas and concepts that are retreads.

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

  • WebTop Search Rage Study: Study sez we depend on search engines so much now that we'll get enraged if they don't give us the right answers quickly.  
  • Bush's Dubious Victory At Google: Google's link system takes another blow as the number one result for motherf***r is the official George W. Bush campaign web site.  
  • The End For Search Engines?: A look at why so many search engines were on the ropes or dead by this year but how paid listings gave hope and life for new ones.  
  • Internet Top Information Resource, Study Finds: Search engines and the internet found to be the top information resource.  
  • Being Search Boxed To Death: Google and other search engines today are struggling with how to best tell people about the many vertical search results they have. It's a long-standing problem, as this story looks at.  
  • Google Acquires Deja Newsgroup Service: Google gets its first real heavy dose of criticism after Deja junkies freak out when Usenet features get lost temporarily after the acquisition.  
  • Search Engine Marketing Finally Getting Respect: Despite search being an essential marketing strategy for years, finally more traditional outlets begin to "get it" and give search marketing some resepct.  
  • Avoiding The Search Gap: Search is one of the most popular web activities, yet most sites don't get the majority of their traffic from search? What gives? It's the search gap and key to understanding how search makes an introduction that can lead to a lifetime of visits.  
  • Fourth Time Lucky For AltaVista?: "AltaVista could give Madonna a run for her money in the changing your image game. Earlier this month, the service once again significantly changed its look and feel, the fourth such redesign in just over a year." That was 2001. And in 2000, there were another four designs, rather than just improving the results. Perhaps they should have changed the name to MSN Windows AltaVista Live Search.  
  • Make Room For Teoma: A different twist on link analysis, but more important, a new search voice worth taking seriously -- and Ask Jeeves did, buying it later that year.  
  • Consumer Group Asks FTC To Investigate Search Ads : Perhaps those "featured listings" popping up everywhere through payment should be better labeled as ads, the FTC is asked.  
  • Desperately Seeking Search Engine Marketing Standards : Another push for standards in SEO falls into issues of knowing what exactly the rules are.  
  • Search Engine Marketing: You Like It, You Really Like It -: I suggest the term "search engine marketing" as an umbrella term to encompass search engine optimization (the act of getting better free listings on search engines) and search advertising (paying for listings). Readers like it. FYI, today I use the term "search marketing" a bit more.

2002

2003

  • Yahoo To Buy Inktomi: Hmm. Maybe Google's not our friend and we should own our own crawler-based technology to protect ourselves. So thinks and acts Yahoo.  
  • Overture To Buy AltaVista: Hmm. Maybe Google offering both paid and unpaid results really is an advantage and we should own some technology to produce crawler-based editorial results. So thinks and acts Overture.  
  • Overture To Buy FAST Web Search Division: Hmm. Maybe we should by FAST as well and keep competitors from getting the technology.  
  • Ending The Debate Over Cloaking: Perhaps we could skip past defining spam by techniques and look instead at intent and results? Techniques like cloaking doesn't always indicate a harmful results for search engines -- and some of them certainly allow it with approval.  
  • Google Throws Hat Into The Contextual Advertising Ring: Later to be called AdSense, Google starts an entirely new economy of bloggers and publishers depending on its ads -- plus ironically begins funding a lot of the same spam that screws up its search results.  
  • Google And The Big Brother Nomination: Is the Do No Evil company really evil in terms of spying on us? A long, long look at accusations and verdicts.  
  • Search Privacy At Google & Other Search Engines: Search privacy wasn't (and isn't) just a Google issue, as this article explained.  
  • Coping With GDS, The Google Dance Syndrome: An entire generation of search marketers was now online knowing nothing but Google Google Google and freaking over each "Google Dance" that altered the results.  
  • Yahoo To Buy Overture: Hmm. Maybe we should own our own search ad system, thinks and acts Yahoo.  
  • Microsoft's MSN Search To Build Crawler-Based Search Engine: Hmm. Maybe Google's going to eat us for lunch, so we should own our own search technology. So thinks and acts Microsoft.  
  • Searching With Invisible Tabs: How search engines are going to automatically deliver the right vertical search results, even if you don't click on the right "tab."  
  • Florida Google Dance Resources: A huge Google Dance shakes the results for site owners large and small, and an entire new generation of search marketers gets reeducated about how search engines are fickle creatures that you should never, ever build your entire business around.

2004

2005

2006 (To Date)

As I said earlier, I know I've missed stuff. Unfortunately, there's no easy way for me to see everything written on Search Engine Watch over the years in one single list. For those who wish to explore, the Search Engine Report archives are probably the best thing to review. Each month, there's an issue of the Search Engine Report that recaps virtually everything of importance that was published on the site. You can also see the SearchDay archives and the SEW Blog archives, though material from both of those places is integrated into Search Engine Report mailings.

Thanks

Finally, some thanks....

  • Ken Spreitzer, my college friend who brought me on to do his web development company, getting me firmly going along a path that led to Search Engine Watch. Plus thanks to all those I worked with at Maximized Online: Tom, Joachim, Steve, Geeman (5 minutes!) and Michelle. I learned tons from all of them.  
  • Glenn Fleischman, former moderator of the now defunct Internet Marketing Discussion List that helped educate me and many others about internet marketing when it was just developing.  
  • Eric Ward, who freely provided guidance to many people looking to learn more about link building in the early days, including myself. Plus, he was Search Engine Watch's very first subscriber, coughing up a donation when I asked people to consider the site as shareware and help support it.  
  • Jupitermedia (which acquired the site as Mecklermedia, changed into Internet.com, then INT Media until taking its current name). Having someone take over the advertising and technical side of Search Engine Watch was a huge relief, allowing me to focus firmly on the editorial. Chris Elwell in particular was a rock of support and wisdom over the years. Incisive Media now owns the site, of course, and remains as welcomed in leaving me to focus on the editorial.  
  • The search engines, and in particular the many employees who I've spoken with over the years, who have shared ideas, thoughts, theories and more. I won't name any individuals, simply because I fear I'd inadvertently leave some off -- plus it would be a huge list. You all play such an important role in this still developing field; keep doing great stuff.  
  • The search marketers, who remain largely unsung heroes. You get people found; you get held to unbelievably high measuring standards yet still deliver; you help subsidize and make possible the search engines we all depend on. You also serve as a check-and-balance on the search engines. If they're playing favorites or doing something odd, you know it and spread the word.  
  • The searchers, and in particular those who read the site to learn to search better. Your questions have inspired articles; please keep them coming. You're also what this is all about -- delivering up content to serve you better.  
  • Search Engine Watch readers. There have been plenty of long days when I've written a long piece about some issue, then wondered if anyone cares. Then out of the blue, I'll get a word of thanks -- and that means the world to a writer.  
  • Search Engine Watch members. For the longest time, I asked people to consider SEW as if it were a shareware site. A few sent in donations, then even more did when I opened a special members-only area. During the dotcom downturn, members helped ensure the survival of the site. We thrived because you helped fund us directly. Thanks to all of those who've shown support in this way, and I look forward to expanding benefits for you in the coming months.  
  • The Search Engine Watch team. Chris Sherman's been my partner in search crime here on SEW since 2001, and I couldn't have been luckier in having him come aboard. He's been a great person to work with and produces wonderful content day in and day out. Elisabeth Osmeloski helped build our SEW Forums up from nothing to nearly 10,000 members now, and I'm excited to have her launching into doing more with the site overall. Gary Price is no longer part of our line-up, and we do still miss him -- but Barry Schwartz has been welcomed and doing a fantastic job. Plus my thanks to Jennifer Slegg and now Brian Smith for picking up their areas on our SEW Blog, along our many SEW Forums moderators who help keep things running over there.  
  • My wife and my boys, who've missed me through too many dinners while I've had to finish and article or a newsletter or had to see me disappear to take a call about some last-minute product launch.

Want to comment or discuss? There's a thread going at our Search Engine Watch Forums.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 1:05 PM | Permalink

April 5, 2006

Brian Smith Joins SEW Blog As Shopping & Vertical Search Correspondent

I'd like to welcome Brian Smith to the Search Engine Watch Blog, where he will be posting items relating to the shopping search space in particular and other vertical search areas in general. Brian's done a great job watching over shopping search at his ComparisonEngines.com blog, which he will also still be maintaining. We're looking forward to having him keep our readers better informed on shopping and vertical search over here.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:20 AM | Permalink

April 4, 2006

March 2006 Search News Recap Posted

The latest edition of my monthly Search Engine Report newsletter is now online, recapping tops stories in search from the past month. You can read it online or receive it via email for free by signing up here.

If you're a Search Engine Watch member, the latest edition of Search Engine Update newsletter has also been posted. That newsletter carries more items than the Search Engine Report newsletter and goes out twice per month.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 4:17 PM | Permalink

Elisabeth Osmeloski Named SEW's Managing Editor

I'm happy to announce that Elisabeth Osmeloski, our hard-working SEW Forums editor, is now taking on the expanded role of being Search Engine Watch's managing editor.

Elisabeth will continue to oversee the day-to-day operations of the SEW Forums, as she's been doing since they launched in June 2004. However, she'll now be helping me revitalize and maintain the Search Engine Watch site overall.

In particular, we're looking to ensure we keep more of our primer material fresh to help those new to search marketing, while also making changes to ensure that the many things SEW offers -- forum discussions, archived information, current news, original coverage -- is more easily accessible to those coming to the site.

It's great to have Elisabeth coming on in the new role! Elisabeth's promotion hasn't yet been posted to our staff page, but that will happen shortly.

I should also mention that Chris Sherman and I had title changes last month. Chris, formerly SEW's associate editor, became the site's executive editor. He continues to carry on with overseeing SearchDay and working with me on the site's overall editorial direction and coverage. My title shifted from editor to editor-in-chief, and I continue to be responsible for the site overall.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 3:39 PM | Permalink

March 28, 2006

Mid-March 2006 Search News Recap Posted

If you're a Search Engine Watch member, the latest edition of Search Engine Update newsletter has been posted. It recaps top stories in search from the first part of this month.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 11:24 AM | Permalink

March 20, 2006

Radio Silence While I'm Moving House

If it feels like I've dropped off the planet, it's because I have, sort of. Since Thursday, I've been moving house. The good news is that I'm all settled in our new home, clean shaven now that the missing toiletries have been found, plus my office is assembled once again. My multimonitor setup looks sweet in its new surroundings. What's not so sweet is that my broadband connection which was working when we arrived has died. The fine folks at British Telecom are looking into the matter and assure me that in two days or less, they'll get it resolved. Lighting fast service! Geez. Life at 33K is not fun. In the meantime, Barry and Jen are holding the blogging fort, and I'm hoping to be back to normal by Wednesday or sooner.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 6:42 PM | Permalink

March 9, 2006

February 2006 Search News Recap Posted

The latest edition of my monthly Search Engine Report newsletter is now online, recapping tops stories in search from the past month. You can read it online or receive it via email for free by signing up here.

If you're a Search Engine Watch member, the latest edition of Search Engine Update newsletter has also been posted. That newsletter carries more items than the Search Engine Report newsletter and goes out twice per month.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:17 AM | Permalink

February 24, 2006

Mid-February 2006 Search News Recap Posted

If you're a Search Engine Watch member, thank you! And also, the latest edition of Search Engine Update newsletter has been posted. It recaps top stories in search from the first part of this month.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 5:40 PM | Permalink

February 10, 2006

Gone Fishin' (Well, Skiing)

I'm officially on vacation, headed to Vermont for a skiing trip with the family. I'll be off the web until Feb. 20. This is an exceptionally good time NOT to send me email, because when I get back, I'll have some serious digging out to do (my daily email load is covered here).

If you're after coverage, go to Chris Sherman instead! He's watching over our major coverage, while Barry & Jen are watching the blog posts.

If you're after me for SES NY conference stuff, it's done. Sessions are all filled, closed, locked down, tucked in and kissed good night. Those confirmed, if you've got any problems or issues, you know where to reach Karen, and she knows how to get me if needed.

If you want to hear me sing, I pity your ears. But some people think it's funny, so I suppose I ought to link to it as well.

If you want to hear more singing, tune into The Daily SearchCast, our daily podcast of search news. But not next week. It's on hiatus while I rest my voice on the slopes.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 6:36 PM | Permalink

February 9, 2006

Bon Voyage, Mr. Price

I'd also like to offer congratulations and thanks to Gary, who has been a long-time partner and friend. Gary and I first began working together more than 6 years ago, on our book The Invisible Web, and have spoken together at conferences many times since then. Gary has also been responsible for selecting the headlines you read every day in SearchDay, and of course has contributed many excellent articles to the newsletter, as well. I'll certainly miss you here at SEW, but am looking forward to continuing our professional and personal relationship going forward. All the best to you—and for everyone at Ask Jeeves, congratulations on your major coup in hiring one of the most knowledgeable professionals in the industry!

Posted by Chris Sherman at 12:03 PM | Permalink

Goodbye Gary; Hello Barry!

I'm sad -- but also happy -- to report that Gary Price is no longer serving as Search Engine Watch's news editor. Gary's moving on to pastures new, and we wish him well. Coming on board to help make up for his loss is Barry Schwartz, who is our new news correspondent.

Gary's departing to become the new Director of Online Information Resources at Ask Jeeves. Gary's going to be posting more about it on his ResourceShelf blog, and Ask Jeeves will have a press release on it up here. He's also posted a personal goodbye note to SEW readers here.

It's been an honor and pleasure to have worked with Gary over the past two years. He's a fantastic resource of knowledge, as so many are aware of. Losing him is that sad part, especially because aside from being a work colleague, he's also become a good friend. I'd have fought tooth and nail to keep him, but Gary's really looking for a completely new change of pace. So that's the happy part. He's found something new, and we here at Search Engine Watch wish him the very best.

Barry Schwartz will be well known to many of our readers as the hardworking editor of Search Engine Roundtable, where he keeps watch on interesting discussions out of various search forums. It's a real pleasure to have him coming aboard to do search news blogging with us. Welcome aboard, Barry!

Want to comment, discuss, send well wishes to Gary or Barry? Please visit our Search Engine Watch Forums thread, So Long Gary Price!

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 11:08 AM | Permalink

It's Time To Say So Long

The time has come for me to say goodbye to Danny, Chris, and the rest of the SEW team.

The good news is that I will not be going very far and what have become known to many of you as "Gary's other sites" (ResourceShelf and DocuTicker) will still be online and updated daily. A personal invitation not only to visit but to keep in touch.

So, where am I going? In the VERY near future (after some times to get things in order and a bit of r&r) I will be joining Ask Jeeves, as Director of Online Information Resources. More about that over here and here.

SEW Team

The most difficult part of this decision to leave the SEW is the chance to work alongside Danny Sullivan and Chris Sherman on a daily basis. Both of these men have reputations for being great guys. However, unless you work with them each and every day, you have just a small idea of just how wonderful they are to work with and to be friends with. While I'm leaving my daily work on the SEW Blog, I'm very happy that SEW colleagues will continue to be great friends. I look forward to working with them in my new role at Ask Jeeves.

To You

Last but certainly not least, I would like to thank all of you, the SEW Blog readers, for your many kind words and never-ending support. Remember, I'm not going very far and I look forward to hearing from you in my new position. Said another way, you all now have a new friend at Ask Jeeves. While most of the following people and avid SEW Blog readers were friends before I joined SEW (in other words they new of my work for ResourceShelf) a few extra special thank you's to RustyBrick, Battelle, Om, Philipp Lenssen, Beal, Scoble, Zawodny, Rubel, Nathan Weinberg, Greg Linden, Michael Fagan, Loren Baker, Garrett, Nacho, Tara C., P&S at Pandia, and Daron and Brandy at WebmasterRadio.FM.

Again, I'm not going very far (in fact I'm still going to be based here in DC), just taking on some new responsibilities. I look forward to chatting you as much in the future as I have in the past. I also hope that you find a place in your aggregagtor for ResourceShelf. Btw, a full text feed is available.

So, that's all folks. I'll see some of you at SES and on ResourceShelf and DocuTicker.com. Since my regular inbox is overflowing with "stuff" these days, you can also reach me at askgary@myway.com.

cheers and thanks, gary

Postscript From Danny: I've posted my own farewell to Gary here. Others wishing to say farewell or good luck, we've got a Search Engine Watch Forums thread, So Long Gary Price!

Posted by Gary Price at 11:08 AM | Permalink

February 8, 2006

January 2006 Search News Recap Posted

The latest edition of my monthly Search Engine Report newsletter is now online, recapping tops stories in search from the past month. You can read it online or receive it via email for free by signing up here.

If you're a Search Engine Watch member, the latest edition of Search Engine Update newsletter has also been posted. That newsletter carries more items than the Search Engine Report newsletter and goes out twice per month.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 4:43 PM | Permalink

January 21, 2006

A Brief Look at Danny's Appearance on Nightline

Danny's appearance on ABC's Nightline is over and within minutes of it ending I was able to access the transcript (thanks TVEyes for the help) of the report. I'm not going to post the entire transcript here but rather share a few of Danny's comments that made the air during the 5 minute report. Of course, you can read all of Danny's thoughts in this blog post.

The story opens with background on the subpoena (we have plenty of that elsewhere on the blog), including comments from the US Attorney General who says: We're not asking for the identity of Americans. We simply want to have some subject matter information with respect to these communications.

and

a comment from Sergey Brin who spoke to ABC News earlier today: The idea there could be such a large overreaching, in my mind, request, based on something so far off and not related to security or anything like that, I think that's worrisome.

Comments by Larry Page were also made to ABC earlier this evening here.

So, with what one side saying one thing and another side saying something else, where is one to turn? Danny Sullivan. Of course, all of us already knew this important fact.

Reporter: We turned to Danny Sullivan, of searchenginewatch.com, one of the world authorities on search engines. yes there are world authorities on search engines. it's a multibillion dollar business and quite baffling to most of us and even to some experts.

Danny: They [engines] can still be mysterious in some ways.

The reporter then introduces Danny. Btw, this is the first time I have ever seen Danny's home office and it's way cool, reminds me of NASA mission control.

Danny: They seem to be trying to understand how likely it is that if you were to use a search engine you might run into pornographic content.

Danny: They haven't asked for any information that's going to violate anybody's privacy in any way, shape or form. Reporter: But Sullivan says the government request shows something important. The government has no idea what it's doing.

Danny: It's overkill, the amount of data that they want. They're literally going to get more than a billion searches in what they're asking for.

Reporter: Sullivan thoroughly reviewed the government's subpoena, available online (and summarized by yours truly here). He says the government did not ask Google to remove automated searches from the data, the searches requested by software as opposed to the ones made by you and me. Note: You can access the documents and a summary of them here.

Danny: For the searches to remain any automated searches that happen, some people use automation to query the search engines on a regular basis. Since they haven't asked for those kind of automated queries to be remove, it suggests they don't even know it happened, which maybe suggests they aren't educated enough to know how the search engines operation or how behavior is on the searches in the first place.

On Yahoo, MSN, and AOL Danny: I think it would have been good if they had pushed back. Think the amount of data, even though it wasn't violating anybody's privacy, was so large and was going to raise so many red flags down the line that they should have done it.

On Search and Search Engines Danny: They go in so many direction, it's difficult for anybody to keep track of absolutely everything they're doing. Sometimes I think the search engines themselves aren't quite certain which way they go at times.

Here's a screen cap of Danny from the report.

Congrats Danny!

Posted by Gary Price at 3:15 AM | Permalink

January 20, 2006

Search Engine Watch On "Nightline" Tonight

As part of their coverage of the Google-DOJ story, I'm going to be on ABC's Nightline tonight talking about the case and a bit about covering search as general. So if you ever wondered where I work (my home office, nothing thrilling), you get a chance to see this evening. I don't. Nightline doesn't air over here in the UK. But Gary's going to hook me up with a tape, so I'll see later. For the benefit of all involved, I swapped my usual sweats and T-shirt for a proper shirt and pants.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 6:39 PM | Permalink

January 18, 2006

Mid-January 2006 Search News Recap Posted

If you're a Search Engine Watch member (thank you, thank you, thank you!), the latest edition of Search Engine Update newsletter has been posted. It recaps top stories in search from the first part of this month.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 4:24 PM | Permalink

January 16, 2006

Jennifer Slegg Joins SEW Blog As Contextual Correspondent

I've written before that Search Engine Watch doesn't focus on contextual advertising because it's not search. Having said this, with two major search engines pushing contextual products toward search advertisers, we do some limited coverage. Plus, sometimes contextual issues can overlap into search.

We're going to be doing a bit more coverage out on the blog now thanks to our new contextual ads correspondent, Jennifer Slegg. Many of our readers probably recognize Jen's name, as she publishes the excellent JenSense blog that we've pointed at from time to time.

Many others know Jen through her long-time work as Jenstar moderating the Google AdSense forum at WebmasterWorld. She also does the same for the Google AdSense forum at our own Search Engine Watch Forums plus moderates in the Yahoo Publisher Network and Contextual Ads & Alternatives sections, as well.

Expect to see Jen posting items that are especially of interest from the contextual world here, giving you a summary and pointing back to JenSense for those seeking a deeper drilldown. Welcome aboard, Jen!

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 8:14 AM | Permalink

January 4, 2006

December 2005 Search News Recap Posted

The latest edition of my monthly Search Engine Report newsletter is now online, recapping tops stories in search from the past month. You can read it online or receive it via email for free by signing up here.

If you're a Search Engine Watch member, the latest edition of Search Engine Update newsletter has also been posted. That newsletter carries more items than the Search Engine Report newsletter and goes out twice per month.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 7:51 PM | Permalink

December 23, 2005

Happy Holidays!

Barring a merger being announced between Yahoo and Microsoft, we're gone, done, outta here for the holidays! And we hope you are, too. You should be! Whether you're celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, our very best wishes! See you maybe Monday if Gary's back, though he's likely not. I'm back Tuesday -- got to celebrate Boxing Day on the 26th, y'know.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 5:11 PM | Permalink

December 21, 2005

Mid-December 2005 Search News Recap Posted

If you're a Search Engine Watch member (thank you!), the latest edition of Search Engine Update newsletter has been posted. It recaps top stories in search from the first part of this month.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 3:16 PM | Permalink

December 9, 2005

Heading To London Geek Dinner I've just made it back home from our SES Chicago show today, but I'm going to fight jet lag and make it out to Robert Scoble's geek dinner tomorrow (Saturday) in London. If any readers are attending, I look forward to seeing you there! More details on the dinner, which is open to all, can be found here.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 5:57 PM | Permalink

December 3, 2005

Gary's Other Blogs: Resources, Tools, and Documents

Since Danny has a new personal blog up and running, I thought I would take just a brief moment of your time and invite you to visit/bookmark/whatever what have become known around here as Gary's "other sites" or blogs. I wouldn't call them personal but I hope you call them useful and interesting.

+ ResourceShelf It's been updated just about everyday for more than four years (even from a cruise ship in the Caribbean) with search news, library news (some of which might be of interest to SEW types), technical reports on info retrieval, and new documents that might be useful in a library reference collection. These days, much of the search news also comes from my writing on SEW Blog.

It's primary audience has always been librarians and (I am one) and people in the info industry. However, good news, many non-librarians are becoming users of the site. We offer a full text feed and a weekly e-mail reminder. Btw, even in this day of RSS, the email reminder is still quite popular. In fact, many people have told me that they look at our feed because of the email that get each week.

ResourceShelf is put together a group of other librarians. I've learned that it's ok to ask for help (sleep is important). ResourceShelf and DocuTicker are also part of Willco, home to another great research and reference tool, FreePint.

+ DocuTicker In the process of compiling ResourceShelf each day we come across plenty of material we don't have room for. In general they are primary documents from think tanks, government agencies, non-profits, ngo's, and others. This site has a growing readership with both librarians, journalists, politicos, policy wonks, and news junkies. I'm happy to say that DocuTicker has been recognized by both Yahoo as a "Yahoo Pick" and the Kim Komando radio show with positive reviews. A full text RSS feed is also available. My librarian colleague and friend, Shirl Kennedy, is a major contributor to the site.

So, that's it. SEW Blog, ResourceShelf and DocuTicker (aka Gary's other blogs). We hope you find them useful.

Postscript: Oops, forgot to mention that using WinkSite, ResourceShelf and DocuTicker are now available (beta) on your mobile browser. Winksite sure made it easy to get going. Point your mobile browsers to: http://winksite.com/docuticker/dt.

Posted by Gary Price at 2:44 PM | Permalink

December 2, 2005

November 2005 Search News Recap Posted

The latest edition of my monthly Search Engine Report newsletter is now online, recapping tops stories in search from the past month. You can read it online or receive it via email for free by signing up here.

If you're a Search Engine Watch member, the latest edition of Search Engine Update newsletter has also been posted. That newsletter carries more items than the Search Engine Report newsletter and goes out twice per month.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 11:55 AM | Permalink

December 1, 2005

Danny's Personal Blog Is Live

A non-search item here, but some of you may be interested. I've finally gotten my personal blog going, Daggle. I've actually been posting to it since the beginning of the year. I've just lamely never gotten any of it live until now. Topics range from reading books to the kids to living in the UK as an US expat. Topics do NOT include search. That stays firmly over here! Now that it is finally live, I'll be posting to it on a more regular basis.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 4:57 PM | Permalink

November 23, 2005

Taking Thanksgiving Off!

It's Thanksgiving in the US tomorrow, and the Search Engine Watch Blog is taking the day off. If you see Gary posting, nag at him that he's supposed to be relaxing! I'll be back Friday but only doing very light postings. The Daily SearchCast will also be off Thursday and Friday, resuming next Tuesday, November 29. There will be no SearchDay newsletter tomorrow or Friday. Happy Thanksgiving to all our US readers celebrating it tomorrow!

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 2:19 PM | Permalink

Mid-November 2005 Search News Recap Posted

If you're a Search Engine Watch member, the latest edition of Search Engine Update newsletter has been posted. It recaps top stories in search from the first part of this month.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 2:14 PM | Permalink

November 9, 2005

October 2005 Search News Recap Posted

The latest edition of my monthly Search Engine Report newsletter is now online, recapping tops stories in search from the past month. You can read it online or receive it via email for free by signing up here.

If you're a Search Engine Watch member, the latest edition of Search Engine Update newsletter has also been posted. That newsletter carries more items than the Search Engine Report newsletter and goes out twice per month.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 4:42 PM | Permalink

October 21, 2005

Danny's On Vacation!

That's it, I'm done! More or less, for the next two weeks. I'm heading back to California with my family for a break. I'll be online very briefly one day next week, to catch up and blog a few items. Readers, have no fear. Gary's around, then Chris, keeping things fresh as we mentioned before in this schedule. Those after me for a briefing, to pitch a story and so on? Wait until I get back, or hit up Gary or Chris (but look at that schedule, because they're around in only limited fashion, as well). Want to speak at SES Chicago? DO NOT THINK OF EVEN MESSAGING ME UNTIL YOU'VE READ THIS PAGE. Please? Please!

That page has the entire production schedule and where I stand with things. It's too late to pitch a new session. Agenda goes up next week.

I'm contacting returning and short-list speakers first, so please all of that group, just sit tight while I get to you. That page also explains when session openings beyond my short list candidates will be posted.

Messaging me now will not NOT NOT get you on the short list. You're just slowing me down. Messaging me while I'm on vacation will show me down further. Plus, sending a message pretty much means you'll get lost under the email morass I'll be digging out from under.

Just wait until the schedule tells you to pitch, and you'll be fine. That's why I have the schedule.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 6:01 PM | Permalink

Mid-October 2005 Search News Recap Posted

If you're a Search Engine Watch member, the latest edition of Search Engine Update newsletter has been posted. It recaps top stories in search from the first part of this month.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 5:34 PM | Permalink

October 17, 2005

SEW Blog Weather Report: Expect Light Postings!

The SEW editors are traveling around or on vacation over the next three weeks, and I thought it might be helpful to give a rundown, in case you're wondering why one or more of us may have seen to have gone quiet. It's also a pretty bad time to be asking us about doing briefings. We'll pick up things like that more when we return. On the other hand, have no fear -- the blog will still be posted with important items. Here's the rundown:

  • This week: Chris Sherman and I are at SES Stockholm, while Gary largely watches over the blog.  
  • Next week: I'm on vacation, though I expect to spend one day picking up a few items. I'm also going to be at the SEW Forums Live event in Anaheim, California this week. Chris will be on vacation also. So mostly, it will be Gary manning the fort. But Gary's also doing some traveling of his own and also speaking at the Internet Librarian conference.  
  • Week of Oct. 31: I'm still on vacation, Gary's on vacation, but Chris is back and will be taking care of you all via the blog.  
  • Week of Nov. 7: We're all back!

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 7:19 PM | Permalink

October 4, 2005

September 2005 Search News Recap Posted

The latest edition of my monthly Search Engine Report newsletter is now online, recapping tops stories in search from the past month. You can read it online or receive it via email for free by signing up here.

If you're a Search Engine Watch member, the latest edition of Search Engine Update newsletter has also been posted. That newsletter carries more items than the Search Engine Report newsletter and goes out twice per month.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 2:24 PM | Permalink

September 26, 2005

Apology To David Berlind

I postscripted an apology to my critique of ZDNet's David Berlind's complaint in wanting Google Alerts to offer a blog-specific email alerting service.  I didn't want that apology lost in the shuffle, however. Dave Winer brought me up after my post for being unnecessarily personal, and he was right. The piece could have, and should have, been written without such a negative tone. My sincere apologies for that to David, plus for any suggestion that I somehow was implying that he couldn't write a fair piece about Google because of Google's policy of not speaking to CNET publications.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 7:54 AM | Permalink

September 20, 2005

Mid-September 2005 Search News Recap Posted

If you're a Search Engine Watch member, the latest edition of Search Engine Update newsletter has been posted. It recaps top stories in search from the first part of this month.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 2:33 PM | Permalink

September 7, 2005

August 2005 Search News Recap Posted

The latest edition of my monthly Search Engine Report newsletter is now online, recapping tops stories in search from the past month. You can read it online or receive it via email for free by signing up here.

If you're a Search Engine Watch member, the latest edition of Search Engine Update newsletter has also been posted. That newsletter carries more items than the Search Engine Report newsletter and goes out twice per month.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 6:01 PM | Permalink

August 31, 2005

SEW Server Sluggishness

Apologies if you've found the SEW Blog or the SEW Forums sluggish today. We've had some load spikes on our servers that normally don't even blink when things happen such as being Slashdotted. The developers are moving things around to solve the problems, and we hope to be back and snappy fast shortly.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 12:45 PM | Permalink

August 25, 2005

Feed Migration To FeedBurner Complete!

The transition I wrote about earlier of moving our feeds to FeedBurner is now complete. If you've received this message in your newsreader, then the feed is working fine for you. If you're reading because your feed went dark and you came to the blog to see what happened, drop me a note, and I'll see if we can figure out what happened.

All five feeds Search Engine Watch has are now being managed through FeedBurner. What are these?

  • Search Engine Watch Feed
  • Search Engine Watch Blog Feed
  • Search Engine Watch Forum Feed
  • Daily SearchCast Feed
  • Search Engine Strategies Blog Feed

You can learn about each of these feeds in more detail on our Search Engine Newsletters & Web Feeds page. It explains what each feed offers, has direct links to the feed addresses plus buttons to add feeds to many popular services.

I've also added FeedBurner "chicklets" that show the number of estimated readers for each of our feeds, except the SES feed. I haven't got tracking fully set on that yet.

Our main SEW feed is our oldest -- started back in 2003 -- and most popular with over 18,000 readers. The SEW Blog feed is almost a year old and has just over 3,000 readers.

Until now, I've had no real estimate of traffic to the feeds as well. I'll explore more about how FeedBurner does these estimates and share more stuff in the coming weeks. But in short, I'm loving it.

Aside from counts, I can also now tell how people are accessing feeds. There are interesting differences. Our main SEW feed is one of My Yahoo's top picks -- and as a result, nearly half of our SEW feed audience reads through My Yahoo.

In contrast, our SEW Blog feed is listed with My Yahoo but not on their short list of recommendations. Without that oomph, My Yahoo makes up much less of our readership for the feed, just over 15 percent. That's still a great amount, but Bloglines leads the pack, sending us 35 percent of our readers.

The SEW Forum feed flips things around again. My Yahoo is again on top sending us about 32 percent of our readership, while Bloglines follows at 23 percent.

Our Daily SearchCast feed is barely a month old, but what a difference in readership you get when doing podcasting. iTunes readers make up 30 percent, followed by Bloglines at 15 percent.

We're hoping we'll also see Odeo readers rise, as our channel became a featured channel this week. That's more than doubled our listeners at Odeo, bringing us up to 29 when I last looked.

If you haven't tried it, check it out. It's a pretty cool service. And don't forget to subscribe to us. I want to crack the top 40 and need about 140 more people to get there!

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 2:16 PM | Permalink

August 24, 2005

Feed URLs To Change As We Move To FeedBurner

Later today, we're changing the URLs for our Search Engine Watch Blog, podcast and other search feeds so that we can better track who is making use of our content and how.

If all goes well, you won't notice the switch or have to change any settings. The old feed addresses will magically still operate. But I'm sending this message out now on the off chance that we might goof up. After the transition within a few hours, I'll send out another post that the new URLs are live. If you see that post, then you're fine. If the feed suddenly seems to have gone quiet -- please send me a note, because something may not be working.

Specifically, what's happening is that we're moving our feed URLs to run through FeedBurner. I've looked from afar and with envy at the type of stats and services that FeedBurner offers to those who want to manage and track usage of their feeds.

Want to have a single feed compatible with RSS 2.0 and Atom? FeedBurner does it! Want to know who is clicking on your feed links and what newsreaders or aggregators they're using? FeedReader does it! Want to easily add iTunes information for your podcast? FeedBurner does it -- and does it well even for free, if you're happy with basic stats. Want more, then you can pay a small monthly amount for that.

My hesitancy in using FeedBurner until now stemmed only from the fact that you had to use the FeedBurner domain as your feed address. In other words, a FeedBurner feed URL might look like this:

http:// feeds.feedburner.com/myfeedname?m=18282

Being the paranoid sort, I always want to have addresses using my own domain name. That's helpful if you decide to change tracking down the line, need to rename and redirect things and basically to preserve branding. In short, I like to be the master of my own domain :)

The great news is that FeedBurner recently added a way for site owners to have their own domains in their feed URLs. So I'm hesitant no longer and diving in with both feet! In my follow-up post, I'll list all of our new URLs, and you'll be able to see how our own domain name is implemented in them.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 8:22 AM | Permalink

August 17, 2005

Using Brackets To Illustrate Queries

How to write queries from Google software engineer Matt Cutts is a nice look at how Googlers internally represent queries, so that everyone knows what was actually entered in the search box. It's a good approach and one I'll be adopting in general, for the most part.

Being clear about queries is crucial. Sometimes people do a phrase search, which brings back radically different results that a regular search. But the same people may not indicate this has happened, when writing about the search.

Matt says that Googlers surround queries as entered into the search box with the bracket symbols. So if you searched for red balls and wanted to say that, you'd write:

[red balls]

If you did a phrase search, one where quotes surround the phrase, you write:

["red balls"]

How about a more complicated search:

["red balls" -blue site:balls.com]

Personally, I think it also helps to think of the brackets as a visual representation of the search box. Picture them as both sides of the search box, with whatever you searched for being placed within that box. Easy!

As said, I'll be doing this going forward when it makes sense. In general, my preference for showing what I searched for is to turn the search into an exact link. So if I looked for red balls, I hyperlink the query so you can see exactly what I saw.

That's also helpful because the search box model alone doesn't tell you whether you saw a certain number of results, used a particular edition of a search engine and so on. But you can't always hyperlink, so it's nice to have the bracket idea.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:04 AM | Permalink

August 2, 2005

Search Engine Watch, SES Shows Sold By Jupitermedia

Just announced, our parent company Jupitermedia is selling its ClickZ network -- of which Search Engine Watch is part of -- and the Search Engine Strategies shows to Incisive Media. More details in this company press release.

I'm literally about to run out the door to some meetings, so I wanted to dash something up quick to answer and anticipate questions our readers may have.

  • The Search Engine Watch team -- me, Chris Sherman, Gary Price and Elisabeth Osmeloski -- are carrying on with our regular work as part of the deal. While the owners are changing, the quality content we aim to deliver to you is not.  
  • The upcoming SES San Jose show is continuing just as before, as are other shows on the agenda and further shows to come.

Overall, it's a good thing. Jupitermedia is concentrating on its images businesses, and the deal puts us with a new owner looking to expand the work we do.

Here are a few more links to coverage. Gary may update as things go along. Wish I could, but I'm literally offline through most of this week as I do visits to the search engines ahead of our SES show:

Postscript (from Gary): Jupitermedia CEO, Alan Meckler, explains why he sold SEW and SES on his blog.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 11:08 AM | Permalink

August 1, 2005

July 2005 Search News Recap Posted

The latest edition of my monthly Search Engine Report newsletter is now online, recapping tops stories in search from the past month. You can read it online or receive it via email for free by signing up here.

If you're a Search Engine Watch member, the latest edition of Search Engine Update newsletter has also been posted. That newsletter carries more items than the Search Engine Report newsletter and goes out twice per month.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 3:46 PM | Permalink

July 21, 2005

Mid-July 2005 Search News Recap Posted

If you're a Search Engine Watch member, the latest edition of Search Engine Update newsletter has been posted. It recaps top stories in search from the first part of this month.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 8:14 PM | Permalink

July 6, 2005

June 2005 Search News Recap Posted

The latest edition of my monthly Search Engine Report newsletter is now online, recapping tops stories in search from the past month. You can read it online or receive it via email for free by signing up here.

If you're a Search Engine Watch member, the latest edition of Search Engine Update newsletter has also been posted. That newsletter carries more items than the Search Engine Report newsletter and goes out twice per month.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 8:55 PM | Permalink

Crazy Frog = Me

In your faces, Jill Whalen and Marissa Mayer! I get voted Search Personality Most Like the Crazy Frog at Gray Hat Search Engine News. I'm, uh, very happy to accept the award. Ribbit.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 3:50 PM | Permalink

June 27, 2005

Speaking At SES San Jose & SES Blog Coming

I know a lot of you want to speak at our next SES San Jose show. I know, because I'm getting a zillion messages. So here's the deal:

Did Ya Pick Me To Speak? is my current rundown at the new SES Blog on where I am with the speaker selection process and what to do if you've asked to speak but haven't heard back.

Session Openings

I am still taking pitches for the sessions below through July 27. The are all on the first day of the show. THESE ARE THE ONLY SESSIONS WITH OPENINGS. Yes, you can still pitch FOR THESE SESSION even though the How To Speak page says the deadline has passed. However PLEASE READ the How To Speak for further details on how to properly send a pitch. If selected, you'll hear by July 30. If you don't hear, you weren't picked. Please don't pitch unless you are appropriate for the panel and can fill the specific need I have. Otherwise, you're just wasting my time and yours.

Mobile Search I'm looking for one or two marketers to be on a panel about how they've dealt with making content accessible through mobile search. I don't need someone to do an overview of mobile search players. I need people who have real experience with getting their content out via mobile. You'd likely have a 10 minute slot to do a case study presentation.

Earning From Search & Contextual Ads I'm looking for a marketer, particularly from a fairly large site, wanting to share experiences on getting going with adding search to the site and making revenues off of that. Expect a 10 minute talking spot. I already have one person experienced with contextual placement to take part. I might have space for another to participate in Q&A. If you're a vendor of a contextual product, tell me briefly -- briefly -- how long you've been around and the type of distribution you have, as well as why you'd be a good choice for publishers to consider above other choices.

Partnering With Search Engines Done a big business deal with a major search engine and want to share lessons with other marketers, such as on cobranding or something other than carrying search results and contextual ads? I've got an opening for a 10-15 minute slot to share and then take part in Q&A.

For more news and advice on speaking at SES San Jose and SES in general, see the Speaking category at the SES Blog.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 3:10 PM | Permalink

June 24, 2005

Happy 40th, Gary!

Best birthday wishes to our busy news editor Gary Price, who leaves his 30s behind.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 5:55 AM | Permalink

June 15, 2005

Mid-June 2005 Search News Recap Posted

If you're a Search Engine Watch member, the latest edition of Search Engine Update newsletter has been posted. It recaps top stories in search from the first part of this month.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 7:50 PM | Permalink

June 6, 2005

Gary Price Gets Distinguished Alumnus Award

What did Michigan's Wayne State University ever do for anyone? For searchers, the university's Library and Information Science Program produced our own news editor Gary Price, who received the "2004 Distinguished Alumnus Award" from the program's alumni association on Saturday. Congrats, Gary!

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 1:41 PM | Permalink

May 31, 2005

May 2005 Search News Recap Posted

The latest edition of my monthly Search Engine Report newsletter is now online, recapping tops stories in search from the past month. You can read it online or receive it via email for free by signing up here.

If you're a Search Engine Watch member, the latest edition of Search Engine Update newsletter has also been posted. That newsletter carries more items than the Search Engine Report newsletter and goes out twice per month.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 6:26 PM | Permalink

May 27, 2005

Like The Blog? How About A Write-In Vote?

OK, I've seen four or five other search blogs ask for people to vote for them -- or write-in vote for them -- for the MarketingSherpa's 2005 Readers' Choice Blog Awards. So we're asking the same. The voting form is here. Like our blog? We're not listed in category eight, "Blogs on search marketing." But after you vote for the six shown there, you can also skip down to the last question and just past Search Engine Watch Blog into the write-in box. That is, if you like us :)

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 8:48 AM | Permalink

May 18, 2005

Mid-May 2005 Search News Recap Posted

If you're a Search Engine Watch member, the latest edition of Search Engine Update newsletter has been posted. It recaps top stories in search from the first part of this month.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 12:42 PM | Permalink

May 3, 2005

April 2005 Search News Recap Posted

The latest edition of my monthly Search Engine Report newsletter is now online, recapping tops stories in search from the past month. You can read it online or receive it via email for free by signing up here.

If you're a Search Engine Watch member, the latest edition of Search Engine Update newsletter has also been posted. That newsletter carries more items than the Search Engine Report newsletter and goes out twice per month.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 12:35 AM | Permalink

April 20, 2005

Mid-April 2005 Search News Recap Posted

If you're a Search Engine Watch member, the latest edition of Search Engine Update newsletter has also been posted. It recaps top stories in search from the first part of this month.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 4:52 PM | Permalink

April 6, 2005

March 2005 Search News Recap Posted

The latest edition of my monthly Search Engine Report newsletter is now online, recapping tops stories in search from the past month. You can read it online or receive it via email for free by signing up here.

If you're a Search Engine Watch member, the latest edition of Search Engine Update newsletter has also been posted. That newsletter carries more items than the Search Engine Report newsletter and goes out twice per month.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:37 PM | Permalink

March 31, 2005

Winners Of 5th Annual Search Engine Watch Awards Announced

The votes have been counted, the editors have deliberated, and Yahoo has won the Outstanding Search Service category in the 5th Annual Search Engine Watch Awards, breaking Google's four year streak. But Google wins in several other categories: Best News Search Engine, Best US Shopping Search Engine, Most SEO/Webmaster Friendly Search Provider and Best Search Ads Provider. A summary of all awards in each category is below. For a long rundown with details about the awards, comments and more, please see the 5th Annual Search Engine Watch Awards page.

Outstanding Search Service Winner: Yahoo Second Place: Google Honorable Mention: Ask Jeeves

Best Meta Search Engine Winner: Jux2 Second Place: Dogpile Honorable Mention: Clusty & Mamma

Best News Search Engine Winner: Google News Second Place: Yahoo News Honorable Mention: MSN Newsbot & Topix

Best Blog/Feed Search Engine Winner: Bloglines Second Place: Feedster Honorable Mention: Technorati

Best Image Search Engine Winner: Yahoo Images Second Place: Google Images Honorable Mention: Ask Jeeves Pictures & Picsearch

Best US Shopping Search Engine Winner: Google's Froogle Second Place: Yahoo Shopping & Shopping.com Honorable Mention: PriceGrabber & Shopzilla

Most SEO/Webmaster Friendly Search Provider Winner: Google Second Place: Yahoo Honorable Mention: MSN Search

Best Search Ads Provider Winner: Google AdWords Second Place: Yahoo/Overture

Best Search Feature Honorable Mention: Clusty's Clustering, MSN's Search Builder, Ask Jeeves Binoculars Site Preview, Surfwax LookAhead, Pinpoint Shopping Suggestions, A9 Search History, My Jeeves, My Yahoo Search, Google Desktop Web History Feature, AOL Snapshots, Ask Jeeves Smart Search, Google OneBox Results, Yahoo Shortcuts

Best Specialty Search Engine Honorable Mention: Google Local, Yahoo Local, Google Scholar, Scirus, Citeseer, Librarians' Index To The Internet

Remember, the 5th Annual Search Engine Watch Awards page has much more information about the selections in each category. Want to talk about the awards? Agree? Disagree? Join our forum thread, Discuss the 5th Annual Search Engine Watch Awards.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:50 AM | Permalink

March 15, 2005

Nomination Round For 5th Annual Search Engine Watch Awards Opens

If you're a Search Engine Watch member, you can now use this form to nominate search engines that should be put forward as finalists during general voting for the 5th Annual Search Engine Watch Awards to be held next week. The form will let you chose from a number of short-list candidates or you can write-in a favorite, if who or what you like isn't shown. The nomination round will run through this Friday.

Next Tuesday, anyone (SEW members or not) who subscribes to one of Search Engine Watch's newsletters will be emailed a special one-time use URL letting you vote in the final round. Voting will run through Friday of that week. If you want to vote, you need to be subscribed to one of our newsletters before voting begins. Winners will be announced on or before March 31.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 3:07 PM | Permalink

February 25, 2005

February 2005 Search News Recap Posted

The latest edition (the 100th!) of my monthly Search Engine Report newsletter is now online, recapping tops stories in search from the past month. You can read it online or receive it via email for free by signing up here.

If you're a Search Engine Watch member, the latest edition of Search Engine Update newsletter has also been posted. That newsletter carries more items than the Search Engine Report newsletter and goes out twice per month.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:00 PM | Permalink

February 21, 2005

Search Engine Watch Wins Pandia Awards

The Pandia Search Engine Awards for 2004 have just been announced and the entire Search Engine Watch team would like to thank Pandia for naming SEW as The Best Site on Searching and The Best Site on Search Engine Marketing for 2004. We sincerely appreciate the very kind words about our work. You can read about all of the other winners and "sites to watch" in this Pandia Post article.

Posted by Gary Price at 11:17 AM | Permalink

February 11, 2005

On Vacation! The family and I are heading off on vacation for the next week. No email, no web, no blogging. So if you aren't hearing from me, that's why. I leave you in Gary, Chris and Elisabeth's capable hands. As always, it's an exceptionally bad time to send me any email while I'm gone. Urgent stuff -- shoot to Gary or Chris! Things you want to toss pass me? I'm back on the 21st :)

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 5:00 PM | Permalink

Feb. 11 Search Engine Update Out

If you're a Search Engine Watch member, the mid-month edition of the Search Engine Update newsletter is now posted, summarizing search news from the first half of this month. It will also go out to you via email shortly.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 4:55 PM | Permalink

February 8, 2005

Blogging & Breaking Search News

Today, the news is officially out that Ask Jeeves has purchased Bloglines. Some in the media were told about this over the weekend, under what's known as an "embargo" agreement, where the news is agreed not to be released until a set date.

Despite that, the news broke out to the public via the Napsterization blog. CBS MarketWatch has an article that looks at how blogging supposedly means that secrets or embargoed news like this are harder to keep: Bloggers won't keep a secret.

Author Frank Barnako is correct in saying that such leaks can definitely make a big news announcement less attractive to those pondering coverage for when it "officially" releases. Indeed, the longer the rumors go around, the less newsworthy something seems when it finally gets out there:

If and when Ask Jeeves does say it has acquired the free Weblog and directory service, and its database, investors, and the media may be difficult to excite. Secret's out of the bag - thanks to blogs.

But as always, leaks are not a blogging problem. Robert Scoble in Bloggers can't keep secrets, journalist says correctly points out that bloggers do keep secrets as well as break them, just as the traditional press breaks embargoes and NDAs all the time.

As someone who deals with embargoed news regularly -- and then has watched these embargoes get broken, Robert's comments resonate with me. It's hardly bloggers that only do it.

In fact, when it comes to search news, I'd say it's forums rather than blogs that deserve more credit for getting "secret" news out to the public quickly. It's much more common that something I'm briefed on by a search engine that "no one knows about" starts showing up on search forums like our own Search Engine Watch Forums, WebmasterWorld or a number of other places.

Blogs certainly help secrets get out faster, but forums have been doing it for longer when it comes to the search world. And the main point is that in any case: blogs, forums or traditional media outlets, the ability for a search engine to control the exact release of news is always iffy.

Breaking an embargo also isn't the same as the news leaking out. An embargo is only broken when someone has agreed to hold news until a set date and then goes out with the news earlier. A blogger who learns something, or a forum member who posts -- or even a journalist that can confirm a rumor through other channels -- none of them are breaking an embargo if they haven't agree to anything. They're just breaking news.

Indeed, Mary Hodder who broke the news (not the embargo) of the Bloglines purchase notes that she hadn't agreed to any embargo on the news. Indeed, if you go back to her original post, she didn't provide any any official source of confirmation from either Ask Jeeves or Bloglines. That's why when I saw the post, I personally didn't assume she'd broken any embargo.

In contrast, had she'd named anyone connected with Bloglines or Ask Jeeves, provided any official backing, then it would be a different story. She might have broken an embargo. But just as likely, someone may have passed along the information without putting any restriction on it.

Why bother mentioning any of this at all? It's a good opportunity to tell our readers how we handle embargoes. It's common that we know about upcoming search news before any official release date. Sometimes search companies want our feedback on something before it goes out. Other times, they want to ensure we are well prepared to cover the news when it goes out.

We honor embargos such embargoes, because we find it more valuable to be fully briefed on something rather than rush to be the first out there with news. Don't get me wrong -- we love to break things as much as possible. But if it's a trade-off between being comprehensive or being first, we'll usually go with being comprehensive.

At our discretion, we'll break embargoes if we seem them broken by others. If the news starts going out with some type of official involvement -- someone from the company being cited publicly about the news, a company rep discussing it on a forum, it goes out on a company blog, information goes live on the company web site or similar actions -- then we may consider the embargo off and release our own story.

I'll leave off with an example of this. Last year, Google set an embargo of 8am Pacific on October 5 for releasing information about expanding its Google Print program. Our story was prepared and waiting to go once the embargo lifted. But then at around 2am Pacific, Reuters ran a story about the expansion, citing someone from Google.

What happened? Google was out at a print press trade show, and it decided to talk about the program earlier than originally planned. So Google broke its own embargo -- and that's why we moved our own story earlier than planned.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:51 AM | Permalink

January 5, 2005

December 2004 Search News Recap Posted

The latest edition of my monthly Search Engine Report newsletter is now online, recapping tops stories in search from the past month. You can read it online or receive it via email for free by signing up here.

If you're a Search Engine Watch member, the latest edition of Search Engine Update newsletter has also been posted. That newsletter carries even more items than the Search Engine Report (yes, it's possible) and goes out twice per month.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 4:44 PM | Permalink

December 23, 2004

Gone For The Holidays

We'll be on a fairly light schedule over the coming week, given the holidays coming up. I'll personally be gone tomorrow, Monday and then the following Thursday and Friday. So just a quick note to anyone trying to get in touch next week -- unless it's really urgent, catch me after the New Year and keep your message from getting lost in the backlog. This New York Times article, E-Mail Doesn't Take a Holiday, crystallizes the type of situation I find myself always returning to if I take a few days off, snowed under by messages. Personally, I think we should all declare at least one week of the year to be a search holiday -- no news, no acquisitions, no releases, no nothing for a solid week. Now that's what I want under my tree for Christmas. Happy Holidays to you all!

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 8:14 PM | Permalink

December 13, 2004

How About A No Electronic Devices Light?

A complete non-search post, and I promise (promise!) not to make it a habit. But on my eight-hour flight from the UK for the SES Chicago show yesterday, I once again found myself waiting for the all clear as to when I could switch my laptop on. This often coincides with the seatbelt light going off, so I find myself constantly looking up and waiting for that to happen.

Of course, next to that light is the constantly illuminated "no smoking" light. With no airline I know of of allowing smoking at any time, that light never goes off. In fact, it seems archaic to still even be having this light at all. What, is allowing smoking on flights suddenly going to make a comeback? Why is this still being put on brand new planes?

Meanwhile, the use of electronic devices continues to grow, with people like myself getting the jitters until we can light up our portable whatevers. Why not finally get rid of that cigarette with a slash icon and replace it with a laptop, an iPod or something electronic with a slash through it. When it's safe for us with switch on, switch the light off, and we'll know!

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 3:27 AM | Permalink

November 11, 2004

Yes, We Have No Free Watches!

For reasons unbeknownst to me, over the past two years Search Engine Watch has received requests from people in Ghana asking us to send them some of our free watches. Another one came in today:

l want you to send me a watch and my post address is P.O. BOX...Ghana. THANKS

We have no free watches. I've looked and looked, and I can't figure out why some people in Ghana have this impression. I can only imagine that on some bulletin board somewhere is our email address with the instructions that if you send us email, we'll send you a free watch.

OK, the site is called "Search Engine Watch" and we mention things like having free newsletters. And ages ago, I tracked down some search spam that seemed to include us among some other offers about "free engine watches." But there's nothing definitive that I can find to have caused this.

For the record, we have no free watches. Sorry!

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 18, 2004

Blog Glitches & I'm Away

Apologies for the come-and-gone testing posts, if you saw them. More apologies for the fact that all posts before this one now have new URLs. Don't worry! All the original URLs still work. Redirections and deduplication will sort it all out later. Long story short, I was doing some work with getting our archives organized by category and Movable Type hiccupped big time. That will be a longer post for another day. Right now, I'm off for the week, leaving you in the more than capable hands of Gary.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 12:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 28, 2004

Commenting About Posts

Want to comment on something in our blog? Our Search Engine Watch Forums are where we invite you to remark on any blog posts, just as we currently use them for those who want to comment about regular news stories that we write.

Registering to use the forums is free and easy. OK, we know it's not as easy as simply entering your name and email address, as some other blogs allow. However, channeling comments into our forums does help us avoid comment spam.

In addition, using our forums ensures that discussions at Search Engine Watch happen in only one place. We think it would be confusing to have the same topic being discussed both within the comments of our blog posts and also in one of our forum threads.

Many times, there's already a forum thread going on something we blog about. In these cases, we'll often provide a direct link to the correct thread at the bottom of the post.

If there's not a thread already going, please feel free to start one and let us know if you do so. As time allows, we'll go back and update the blog post to reference the thread.

To let us know about a new thread you've started, use our general feedback form. You can also use that form to send feedback to all Search Engine Watch's story editors about something we've blogged, if you don't want to comment publicly.

Want to contact ONLY the blog author directly for some reason? Then simply click on their name at the bottom of each post to reach a page getting you to a direct contact form.

Finally, if you're looking for coverage, read our Getting Covered In Search Engine Watch page and use that form.

Want to comment about this? Please contribute to this forum thread: New Search Engine Watch Blog.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 27, 2004

Fixing Firefox & Movable Type Entries With No File Extensions

A few of you using the Firefox browser let us know right away that our permalinks weren't working right after the Search Engine Watch Blog launched. We fixed that within hours. However, I've been meaning to post exactly what happened, in case others encounter a similar problem.

Each of our posts uses the file format of two-digit year, two-digit month, two-digit day, a dash, then the entry number. Why? It makes it easy for me to know when exactly a post was created. Each post also lacks a file extension. They don't end in .html, .htm, .asp and so on. Why? There's no reason to have a file extension.

One glitch did come up with that, however. Not having an extension meant that our server sent the file to browsers as a "text/plain" MIME type. Internet Explorer, seeing that this supposed "text" file contained HTML, decided to assume the file was in HTML despite what the server was saying. That means IE users had no problems. But Firefox, actually doing exactly what the server instructed, showed the plain text of the file -- causing Firefox users to see the HTML source code.

The solution was easy. The default MIME type for content in our blog area was set to be "text/HTML," solving the Firefox problem.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 16, 2004

Why We Went With Movable Type

For the technical folks wondering, we've gone with Movable Type software for our blog. I know, that's somewhat ironic for a site that covers search engine marketing issues. Anil Dash, vice president of Six Apart that makes the software, has written recently of having a pretty low opinion of the search engine optimization industry.

Tangent time here. I largely agree with Dash that the industry has gained a bad name. Our long forum discussion, Improving The Reputation Of The SEM Industry, explores this more. But there are plenty of people who do indeed focus on content. In fact, having great content and not spamming is something I've talked out in my search engine placement tips published on the site since it began in 1996.

But it's also true that Dash's victory in the recent nigritude ultramarine search engine optimization contest had little to do with great content and much more to do with a link bombing campaign he invited on his behalf. There's a bit more about that here.

That's ironic, given that one of the things many bloggers have been plagued by are those using comments solely to gain links (and for a really sad tale on this practice, see this past article we ran from Mike Grehan, Google PageRank Lunacy, on how link spam spoiled a memorial site for his friend.

Tangent over! The debate on my end was between WordPress, a great, free open source blogging system and Movable Type, a great and inexpensive blogging system. I played with them both and was especially impressed with the ease of use WordPress offers. But categorization is going to be a big part of our blog.

Both offer it, but Movable Type seemed to make it easier to recategorize or completely move things around. That was the clincher -- though the system desperately need to solve the problem of subcategories not being listed hierarchically when you add a new entry. More on that issue here. I'm using precisely the same "cat:subcat" workaround as someone else describes, but no one should have to.

Our categories will light up in about a month or so, primarily for the paid members of our web site. Search Engine Watch already has a robust categorization system. Anything that runs in our newsletters eventually migrates to one of the many pages we maintain on various topics. But the updating of this information by hand has been incredibly time-consuming. The new blogging system will automate this, leaving more time for fun things, like writing more articles!

Finally, some technical thanks are in order. Rob Matthews is a good friend who helped me get going with Movable Type. I'm link dropping in appreciation -- need hosting? Rob's company Tiger Technologies has done a great job for my personal needs. And want to change things in Movable Type like how file names are written? Learning Movable Type from Elise Bauer is a great site with tips on that issue and more.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 8:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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