Editor, Search Engine Watch
Copyright (c) 2007 Incisive Interactive Marketing LLC
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In This Issue
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+ Upcoming Search Engine Strategies Events
+ Editors’ Notes
+ Top Stories Since Our Last SE Update
+ Our Search Newsletters & Feeds
+ About The Newsletter
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Upcoming Search Engine Strategies Events
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Editors’ Notes
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I’m writing this after returning from SES London, where the turnout of attendees was amazing. The conference sessions were overflowing at times and quality of information from the UK and European based speakers is top notch. Once again, I left London impacted by the significant verticalization in the UK market – the travel sector is incredibily competitive and issues surrounding affiliates and spam continue to plague travel service providers. The financial marketplace remains vibrant, despite its own challenges with legal restrictions. But in general, based on the number of headlines I’ve included below in the vertical & specialty section, I should no longer be surprised at the growth within these areas.
Two personalities that came up frequently in conversation were Jason Calcanis and Dave Pasternack, for their recent commentary on the SEO industry. At this point however, the saga seems to be over, as many luminaries in the search industry have simply dismissed their respective opinions as simple pleas for attention or links.
I sat in on the Search Advertising Forum, to find out what’s new in UK Paid Search. Perhaps luckily for the UK crowd, Yahoo’s Panama platform has yet to launch there, although it is expected during Q2. Meanwhile, the UK crowd gets a discount in bid minimums, down from 10p to 5p. For U.S. users, there are mixed reviews being reported in the SEW Forums, while there are still some bugs being worked out, several users agree that the ranking system overall is better. Meanwhile, Microsoft adCenter celebrated its six-month anniversary in the UK. Community manager Mel Carson shared some interesting insights, and shared a few things on the horizon for adCenter: an accreditation for SEM professionals within 6-12 months, and the planned integration of DeepMetrix Analtyics (code name: Project Gatineau) is underway.
Stay tuned over the next few days for some special reports from the show. We start off with Andrew Goodman’s highlights from the Keynote Conversation with Matt Cutts.
We’ve also welcomed two additional bloggers to our staff: Eric Enge of Stone Temple Consulting, and Grant Crowell of Grantastic Designs.
Be sure to join us for our next major US event, SES New York.
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Since Our Last SE Update:
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Below is a recap of major articles from our daily SearchDay newsletter and important Search Engine Watch Blog postings since the last newsletter. Want to receive these stories daily or via RSS/feed? See the Search Engine Watch Newsletters & Web Feeds page for sign-up instructions.
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Organic Search
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=== SearchDay: Feb. 1, 2007 ===
A Look at the Next Generation of Search? – Kevin Newcomb reports from the AlwaysOn Media conference in New York yesterday, to check out a “next-generation search” session and a panel on keyword advertising.
=== SearchDay: Feb. 7, 2007 ===
Think Like A Search Engineer – Eric Enge shares his thoughts on why understanding the way search engineers think can help you decide whether or not a new idea is worth trying. Knowing when you are taking risks, or making the decision to avoid them, can help scale your search engine marketing strategy to new heights.
=========================== From the SEW Blog: ===========================
- More Users to See Personalized Google Results
Google has just increased the prominence of its personalization tools, including its personalized homepage and personalized search options. Beginning today, they will be turned on by default for all new users with a Google account, and some personalization options will be auto-enabled for users with existing accounts.
- Yahoo Site Explorer Gets Updates
Yahoo has updated its tool for webmasters that shares what Yahoo knows about your site in terms of indexed pages and links.
- Plan Your SEO for the Long Haul
Most SEO firms can be divided into two camps — short-term “algorithm chasers” or far-sighted SEO practitioners who build keyword-focused, search-friendly, user-friendly Web sites.
- Jason Calacanis Hates SEOs, But Loves What SEOs Do
The fundamental problem here is the definition of SEO. Calacanis extols the value of clean page design, great content, and solid Web design. Guess what? So does every reputable SEO firm.
- What Personalization Means to SEOs
Has the reliance on rankings held back search marketers and their clients from doing some more advanced marketing?
- Google Clarifies Some Webmaster Guidelines
Google has made some minor changes to its Webmaster guidelines, which appear to be aimed at clarifying policies rather than substantially changing them.
- Diller Sings Praises of SEO
Speaking at the McGraw-Hill Media Summit in New York today, IAC’s Barry Diller grumbled about a lot of things, but not SEO.
- The 301 Redirect Headache
Moving Web pages that have been indexed by search engines to a new URL via a 301 permanent redirect can cause a headache that must be planned for.
- Google Groups Becoming a Gold Mine for SEO Information
Google Groups recently relaunched with a new look and feel. One of the most popular groups in the search engine optimization community is the Webmaster Help group.
- AOL Turns Up Dial on FullView Marketing
AOL began promoting its new FullView integrated search interface, which launched in October.
- Beyond “Technical SEO”
‘Strategic SEO’ is not SEO at all, but competitive webmastering, which uses SEO tactics, says John Andrews.
- More Sites Hitting Google’s Supplemental Index?
Both Aaron Wall and Andy Hagans have posted tips to get a site out of Google’s supplemental index.
- Google Revamps Sitelinks
Google has made some changes to the way it assigns and shows Sitelinks, the list of pages included under the search results for certain sites that have a clear directory structure.
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Paid Search
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=========================== From the SEW Blog: ===========================
- Google Shares Tips on Addressing Click Quality Concerns
Google Click Quality team member Julian puts a kinder, gentler face on the mystery team by sharing a bit about what his job entails, and talking about some of the more common advertiser concerns.
- Yahoo Gives Tips To Improve Quality Score
In advance of Monday’s implementation of its new ranking algorithm, Yahoo is sharing tips with advertisers to create ads that will work well in the new system.
- KeywordDiscovery offers free search term suggestion tool
Trellian follows Wordtracker’s lead in offering a free version of their popular keyword research tools to fill the gap left by a faltering free tool from Yahoo.
- Affiliates and PPC
Are affiliates the cause of high PPC search ad costs for merchants? Many merchants are taking steps to prevent affiliate arbitrage.
- Miva Gets Vertical
Miva has added a vertical offering to its pay-per-click ad network in the U.S. and U.K.
- Google Refutes Click Fraud Numbers, Once Again
In response to the latest click fraud report from Click Forensics, Google’s Shuman Ghosemajumder has responded in a two-part post on his personal blog.
- Wordtracker launches free keyword suggestion tool
While Yahoo is experiencing problems with their free keyword tool, Wordtracker has seized the moment to release a free version of its popular tool.
- Click Fraud Numbers Up, Content Networks Near 20%
A Click Forensics report found 2006 click fraud numbers reached 14.2% overall and 19.2 for clicks from search engine content networks. High-spend terms (clicks of $2 or more) averaged 20.9% click fraud.
- Yahoo Keyword Tool Not Dead Yet
Earlier reports that Yahoo’s keyword research tool is being discontinued are not true, according to a Yahoo spokesperson. Apparently, issues with the Keyword Selector Tool being inaccessible are due to volume, and the tool is not in danger of disappearing.
- Keyword Research Industry Still Lacks a Clear Choice
Keyword phrase research is perhaps the most important part of any search engine marketing campaign. Unfortunately, the majority of the available services are lacking when it comes to bet-the-farm-on-it certainty of search numbers and predictions.
- New Search Ad Management Tools Launched
New search ad management platforms from ChannelAdvisor and iProspect launched this week.
- Yahoo Ad Ranking System Now Live
Today’s the day, as any search marketer not living under a rock for the past few months knows. Yahoo’s flipping the switch on its new ad ranking model, so that bid price is no longer the sole factor in determining ad positions.
- FAST AdMomentum: Private-Label Contextual Advertising
FAST launched a private-label contextual advertising platform for online media companies, retailers and telecommunications service providers, offering a way to monetize traffic to their sites.
- Business.com to Provide WSJ PPC Advertising
Business.com has inked a deal to become the exclusive provider of pay-per-click advertising for the Dow Jones’ Wall Street Journal Online search pages.
- Google to Update Ad Quality Scoring
In the next couple weeks, Google will implement a new algorithm for AdWords ad ranking, and provide advertisers with more visibility into that scoring process.
- Google to Test CPC-based Site Targeting
Google announced plans to begin running CPC-based ads using the site targeting feature.
- Yahoo Outlines Keys to PPC Success: Test, Test, Test
Michael Egan, senior director of content solutions, gives a run-down of the ad testing features available in Panama, and suggests that ad testing is a “must do.”
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Linking Issues
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=== SearchDay: Feb. 15, 2007 ===
Job-Hunt.org: An Old-Fashioned Success Story – A interview with the site’s founder, realizes that SEO success that a lot to do with the basics of marketing and PR – and how they can drive quality links to any site.
=========================== From the SEW Blog: ===========================
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Analytics & ROI
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=== SearchDay: Feb. 14, 2007 ===
Data Mining: The Heart of Analysis – What do you do when the needle won’t move anymore — when you can’t invest another dollar in your paid search program without diminishing your returns? The answer lies in the data.
=========================== From the SEW Blog: ===========================
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Vertical & Specialty Search
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=== SearchDay: Feb. 13, 2007 ===
Is Google News the Tail Wagging the News Search Dog? – Why does Google News get more press and blog mentions than other news search engines, when Yahoo News and AOL News have larger unique audiences? Greg Jarboe reports his findings.
=========================== From the SEW Blog: ===========================
- A New Local Search Product From Yahoo
Yahoo is testing a new local search product in Bangalore and New Delhi. Known as OurCity, it is a city guide-like product that brings together a bunch of Yahoo social media products like Del.icio.us, Upcoming, and Flickr.
- MTV Networks Demands YouTube & Google Remove Unauthorized Videos
MTVNetworks and its parent company Viacom issued a “takedown order” to Google demanding the removal of its protected content from YouTube.
- MTV/YouTube Spat Growing for Months?
Even before Google bought YouTube, there were rumblings of secret deals with content owners to create rev-share deals to avoid this kind of legal action. Apparently Viacom was not one of the providers that reached an acceptable agreement.
- blinkx Launches Video Widget for Integrating Video Into Websites
Right now this is a neat feature for enhancing blogs and Web sites with video content, but it sure looks and feels like a base for offering contextual advertising for video.
- A Look at the Next Generation of Search?
Today’s SearchDay looks at the five companies chosen to present at the AlwaysOn Media conference in the “CEO Showcase” session in search.
- SuperPages.com Combines Local Search with Social Networking
SuperPages.com has launched a Reviewer of the Week program, intended to add the trust garnered from social networking and reviews to their local content.
- A Look at Yahoo’s Local Ad Options
Patricia Hursh digs into Yahoo’s local search advertising options, post-Panama.
- Retailers Should Focus on SEO, Shopping Search
Retailers should move beyond their traditional paid search campaigns and pay attention to SEO and shopping search engines, according to a new study from TrafficLeader.
- Searchforvideo.com Adds Drop Down Search Functionality
The online video clip directory, which aggregates and indexes references to video clips but does not host or stream online video content, has added drop-down search functionality to select individual online video publishers.
- Midomi a New Entrant in the Growing Voice Search Market
The just launched Midomi search engine combines voice search with a social network. Anyone with a microphone hooked to their computer can search or add to the database by singing, humming or whistling their favorite tune.
- YouTube Video Creators to Share Ad Revenues
YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley has confirmed for the BBC that YouTube expects to roll out an ad model that includes revenue-sharing for video creators who upload their content to YouTube.
- Has Powerset Found Its Edge?
Semantic search startup Powerset has licensed some natural language search technology developed at PARC.
- Yahoo Adds Narrow Search Builder Template
Yahoo today made some design enhancements to its Search Builder custom search engine.
- Mywaves Adds Personalized Mobile Video Search
Video delivered to your phone based on keyword search is the essence of the new offering.
- Eurekster Adds Community Features
Personalized/social search provider Eurekster has launched several new community-based features to its swicki platform.
- Niched or Vertical Approach Popular in Chinese Search
In the last 30 days, both Yahoo and MSN have announced vertical initiatives into the Chinese market.
- All The Code — New Search Engine for Programmers
The source code search engine for the Java language has lots of development of its own ahead.
- Krillion Joins the Online Shopping Space
Today, Krillion launched with a focus on local search for big box retailers. More specifically, it is going after buyers for “considered purchase” items.
- Graywolf Owns Local Search This Week
Michael Gray, aka Graywolf, plans to post 20 interviews with local search marketers this week.
- European Telecoms Giants Planning Mobile Search Engine?
According to a U.K. newspaper report this weekend, a consortium of European providers are teaming up to build a mobile-phone search engine.
- A Step Forward For Mobile Local Search
Nokia and Motorola announced yesterday at the annual 3GSM World Congress that they will launch their own navigation services that don’t require carrier networks.
- Google Reportedly Buys In-Game Ad Company
Google’s on-again, off-again deal to buy AdScape is apparently on again. Google will reportedly buy the in-game advertising technology provider for $23 million.
- Yahoo’s Local Ad Options
A look at the finer points of local ad options available in Yahoo’s Panama platform.
- ChaCha Ad Options Explored
The human-powered search engine offers CPC-based text links or rich media display ads, all targeted by guide-defined category.
- Online Video Gets Local
The video advertising dial is moving towards local, driven by growing amounts of affordable online ad inventory.
- HotFrog Brings Web 2.0. to U.K. Business Lookups
Australian online directory HotFrog launched today in the UK, bringing the buzzcloud concept to directory listings.
- Krugle Partners with the Yahoo Developers Network
Krugle, the code search engine for developers, announced a partnership to provide search functionality to the Yahoo Developer Network.
- Shopzilla Shuffles Execs, Leads Scripps’ Push Online
Shopzilla announced Tuesday that its founding chairman and its president of two years will depart from the shopping search engine in the spring.
- Yahoo, Microsoft Get Mobile
Yahoo and Microsoft have each launched mobile search and advertising initiatives this week.
- The Tail that Wags the News Search Dog
Why does Google News get more press and blog mentions than other news search engines, when Yahoo News and AOL News have larger unique audiences?
- Retrevo Closes on Series B Financing
The search engine for consumer electronics product information closed a Series B venture financing round for $3.2 million.
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Social Media
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=========================== From the SEW Blog: ===========================
- Facebook on the Rise
Partnerships with Comcast and Jobster could help the social networking site take on MySpace.
- Yahoo Launches Pipes, an RSS Remixing Tool
Yahoo has unveiled a new data manipulation/mashup platform called Yahoo Pipes, “a hosted service that lets you remix feeds and create new data mashups in a visual programming environment.”
- Lycos Jumps Into the Social Mix
Lycos MIX, a new bookmarking tool, lets users pull video clips from a variety of different sources across the Web.
- Will Splinter Communities Work?
Web publishers are scrambling to provide their own outlets for user-generated content. This could be interesting to search marketers, especially if we’re able to reach bloggers or amateur video makers within more defined and splintered communities.
- MSN Reporter — A Digg Competitor from MSN
MSN Reporter, in beta since October 2006, has launched in the Netherlands, Belgium and Norway.
- Blogs & Social Media Drive Traffic and Search Rankings
ClickInfluence’s Nick Wilson shares a primer from SES London on the steps companies should take to get involved in blogging and participate in social media.
- Where the Influencers Roam
While getting the most buzz, “YOU” are not the only influencer out there. In addition to what’s happening on social sites, there are many other places where the influencers roam.
- Taggers Hitting the Mainstream
There are enough people tagging now to (almost) call it mainstream.
- Voices of the Few
The “voices of the few” seem to be setting the social search agenda, or at least influencing what we find on social sites.
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SEM for Small Businesses
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In-House & Big Brand SEM
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=== SearchDay: Feb. 6, 2007 ===
Super Bowl SEO: Who Had the Best Organic Gameplan? – Chris Boggs rates how big name advertisers muffed the SEM component of their Superbowl advertising campaigns.
=========================== From the SEW Blog: ===========================
- Super Bowl Ads – Where’s the URL?
There have been some good reviews of this year’s always-anticipated Super Bowl ad crop, but the “URL visibility factor” did not rank so well.
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SEM Industry Issues
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=== SearchDay: Feb. 8, 2007 ===
Search Marketing Shows Strength in 2006 – SEMPO’s annual look at the State of Search Engine Marketing finds that search continues to grow, reaching $9.4 billion in North America in 2006.
=========================== From the SEW Blog: ===========================
- A Tale of Two Summits
New York this week was home to both the SIIA and AlwaysOn Media conferences.
- Live From NAA: Local Search Takes Center Stage
The general chatter in and around the Newspaper Association of America Marketing Convention in Las Vegas this week has a palpable air of online strategy development.
- More Search Share Numbers
Nielsen/NetRatings released its December search share numbers, and Hitwise adds in January search volume numbers.
- SEMPO Names Board of Directors Nominees
There are 37 nominees for the SEMPO board of directors, which will be narrowed to 13 by members next month.
- A Newcomer’s Guide to SES?
A guide for newbies to search industry events: which type of attendee are you?
- Another Look at the SEMPO Data
SEMPO research committee co-chair Kevin Lee digs deeper into the findings from the groups State of Search Engine Marketing report.
- Search Marketing Is…
How do you explain what you do to your children, nieces/nephews, or assorted acquaintances that have no idea what “SEM” or “SEO” stand for?
- Bill Wise Leaves Did-it
Bill Wise has resigned his post as CEO of the paid search management agency Did-it.com.
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