The Search Engine Update - Number 242 - Apr. 18, 2007
Search Engine Watch's recap of top search engine stories, featuring exclusive content for members since our last newsletter
Search Engine Watch's recap of top search engine stories, featuring exclusive content for members since our last newsletter
Editor, Search Engine Watch
Copyright (c) 2007 Incisive Interactive Marketing LLC
===================
In This Issue
===================
+ Upcoming Search Engine Strategies Events
+ Editors’ Notes
+ Top Stories Since Our Last SE Update
+ From The Search Engine Watch Blog
+ Our Search Newsletters & Feeds
+ About The Newsletter
===============================================
Upcoming Search Engine Strategies Events
===============================================
===================
Editors’ Notes
===================
After an exhausting week at Search Engine Strategies NYC, I’m still not back in sunny, warm Utah. Instead, I am writing this from the rainy and cold Northeast, where I have been stranded due to extreme weather — flooding, power outages, and massive flight cancellations.
Speaking of Utah, our conservative lawmakers have riled up the search community, by passing legislation that would prevent advertisers from using the trademarked terms of their competitors to target ads to Utah users, and particularly affects search marketers. Technology law logger Eric Goldman says the law is ‘likely to be overturned’, however, after living in Utah for the last 3 years, I question that statement, but I hope so. While they are at it, they should take a crack at overturning the liquor laws — actually, the Utah governor already wants to do that, but faces opposition on the issue. And for the record, particularly for everyone who has criticized Utah liquor laws alongside their commentary on the search ads issue, I’ve never had an problem working around the system. More on the Utah story below.
The biggest news to hit in April so far, came just after SES NYC wrapped up, which is unfortunate. Google’s announcement of buying DoubleClick surely would have caused some major chatter among the delegates.
You’ll find some early coverage of the event below, but several topics where on the minds and discussed widely among attendees. Social media, while still hot, wasn’t the biggest topic of conversation. Instead, the biggest concern seemed to be about the availability of search marketers, particularly from companies who manage SEO In-House, who are having a difficult time finding qualified talent to manage SEM campaigns, but agencies are also struggling to retain their experienced employees. With college graduation season around the corner, at least there are technically savvy minds to mold with one of the many training programs available now.
Along the same tangent, is the release of Jupiter Research’s SEM Executive Survey Findings, and Kevin Newcomb provides significant detail in his members’ only version of the article, with a more extensive look at the state of search spending today.
If you live within a couple hours drive, consider attending our next SEW Live networking event in Columbus, Ohio May 9, 2007. The morning offers a special social media training session by Jennifer Laycock of SearchEngineGuide and Matthew Bailey of Site Logic Marketing. The afternoon boasts several presentations by expert speakers, covering many topics in SEM, and is just a glimpse of the content offered at major SES shows. Come meet and greet the experts, as well as fellow search marketers in your local area, at this informal networking event.
==================================
Since Our Last SE Update:
==================================
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.
=============================
Organic Search
=============================
=== SearchDay: Apr. 12, 2007 ===
Search Engines Come Together on Sitemaps Auto-discovery – Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and Ask.com revealed a new auto-discovery protocol and the addition of Ask.com to the Sitemaps.org group.
=== SEW Experts: Apr. 17, 2007 ===
Compliance Continued: Creating Internal Links for Organic Success – Considering internal link structure and keyword rich anchor text makes your Web site more accessible to users and search engines, and lead to strong rankings naturally.
=== SEW Experts: Apr. 10, 2007 ===
It Pays to Play by the Rules – Compliance, Accessibility and SEO – Mark Jackson continues his series with a few words of wisdom on Web site compliance and accessibility issues as they relate to SEO.
=== SEW Experts: Apr. 3, 2007 ===
A Plea to Stop Treating SEO as an Afterthought – When should you think about search engine optimization? The answer is simple: before, during, and after design and development. Organic Search expert Mark Jackson covers the things you need to consider when starting down the SEO road.
=========================== From the SEW Blog: ===========================
=== SEW Experts: Apr. 16, 2007 ===
One Disgruntled Consumer, One Effective Solution – A story that proves online reputation management isn’t limited to organic search. One angry customer can make a big impact on your paid search campaign in a short amount of time. Find out how to resolve the problem swiftly and effectively.
=== SEW Experts: Apr. 9, 2007 ===
A Week in the Life of a Paid Search Marketer – See what it’s really like to spend a week at a search engine marketing conference, as columnist Tony Wright walks you through his approach to SES NYC, while gathering tidbits of search advertising advice.
=== SEW Experts: Apr. 2, 2007 ===
Desperately Seeking Stats to Prove the Value of Branded Keywords – Search advertising columnist Tony Wright discusses the value of bidding on your company’s branded keywords, and testing to see if advertising on your brand name(s) improves conversion.
=========================== From the SEW Blog: ===========================
=============================
Linking Issues
=============================
=== SEW Experts: Apr. 11, 2007 ===
Respecting Authority Links – Columnist Eric Enge details his approach to getting authoritative sites to link to your Web site, which focuses on building relationships and gaining the respect of important sites.
=== SEW Experts: Apr. 5, 2007 ===
Engaging Customers to Say ‘I Love You’ Back – Link Love columnist Justilien Gaspard discusses ways to use current customers to gain valuable inbound links and market your Web site at the same time.
=============================
Analytics & ROI
=============================
=== SEW Experts: Apr. 18, 2007 ===
Using Google Analytics to Manage Content Groups – Practical tips for employing analytics to compare and contrast performance of product content groups.
=== SEW Experts: Apr. 11, 2007 ===
A Hot Topic: Getting Burned by Flash and Session IDs – Eric Enge explores some ‘red hot’ issues: Web sites built in flash, session IDs, and why rankings and tracking that suffer as result.
=== SEW Experts: Apr. 4, 2007 ===
When Clicks Don’t Get Credit for the Sale – Analytics & ROI expert Eric Enge explains the common problems associated with tracking pay per click campaigns through to the final conversion points. Get tips on how to investigate conversion tracking problems on your Web site and within your online marketing campaigns, and find methods to get more accurate data.
=============================
Search Engines, Tools & Technology
=============================
=========================== From the SEW Blog: ===========================
=============================
Vertical & Specialty Search
=============================
=== SearchDay: Apr. 3, 2007 ===
Video and Mobile Search Take Center Stage – At The Kelsey Group’s recent Drilling Down on Local conference, the local search buzz was all about video and mobile. SEW blogger and Kelsey Group analyst Michael Boland breaks down some of the highlights from the recent conference in today’s SearchDay, “Video and Mobile Search Take Center Stage,” including voice-enabled search from Tellme, mobile mapping from Nokia, and local video ad plans from several companies.
=== SEW Experts: Apr. 6, 2007 ===
Getting Found in Local Search – If the intent of your business is to bring customers to your location, considering local search during the site-building and optimization process can bring targeted customers to your site. Vertical search columnist Carrie Hill takes a look at how to get started in local search optimization.
=== SEW Experts: Apr. 6, 2007 ===
Travel Search Marketing: Time for a Test Drive? – Travel search brings consumers the best of local, social, shopping and multimedia verticals, and offers search marketers lots of opportunities. Search Engine Watch Editor and vertical search columnist Elisabeth Osmeloski provides a look at the opportunities.
=========================== From the SEW Blog: ===========================
=============================
Social Media
=============================
=== SearchDay: Apr. 10, 2007 ===
Why Are Search Marketers Getting Social? – The definition of what is and isn’t search marketing is expanding to include other related disciplines. The move to social media marketing is seen by many as a natural progression.
=========================== From the SEW Blog: ===========================
=============================
SEM for Small Businesses
=============================
=== SEW Experts: Apr. 17, 2007 ===
Branding Isn’t Just for Big Businesses – Search advertising can be intimidating to small businesses, but buying your company name in PPC ad programs can be both affordable and profitable.
=== SEW Experts: Apr. 3, 2007 ===
Time and Money: Small Businesses Have Little of Each – By thoroughly evaluating each search marketing opportunity you’re presented with, you’ll be more likely to invest your time and money in things that work. Our SEM for Small Business columnist Carrie Hill shares a fundamentalist approach to undertaking any SEO or SEM tactics.
=============================
In-House & Big Brand SEM
=============================
=== SEW Experts: Apr. 10, 2007 ===
Weapons of Mass Optimization – Columnist Aaron Shear gets the ball rolling with practical advice for big brands and large enterprises initiating SEO/SEM efforts.
=== SEW Experts: Apr. 6, 2007 ===
In-Housekeeping 101: Where to Put Your SEO Department – In-house columnist Jessica Bowman offers advice for deciding where in-house SEO/SEM fits into your organization, noting there is no single answer for every company. The right place within the company for both SEO/SEM depends on the company culture, political dynamics and access to the people you need to get things done.
=============================
SEM Industry Issues
=============================
=== SearchDay: Apr. 17, 2007 ===
Searching for SES Coverage – Where should you search for Search Engine Strategies New York news coverage? Greg Jarboe has some suggestions.
=== SearchDay: Apr. 11, 2007 ===
JupiterResearch Reveals SEM Executive Survey Findings – A new report from JupiterResearch finds that the majority of search marketers are satisfied with the return on investment they are seeing from search, and expect to increase spending this year.
=== SearchDay: Apr. 4, 2007 ===
Optimize Your Schedule for SES NY – Need a game plan for making the most of the Search Engine Strategies conference in New York next week? Greg Jarboe has tips from a veteran conference-goer.
=== SEW Experts: Apr. 13, 2007 ===
Just One Agency Point of View – Chris Boggs kicks off his column on SEM agency issues with an overview of life as an SEM in a big agency, a glossary of terms, and a call for help from the Search Engine Watch community.
=========================== From the SEW Blog: ===========================
===============================
Our Search Newsletters & Feeds
===============================
Get the latest news each day, throughout the day, alerts of new discussion threads from our Search Engine Watch Forums and more — we have a newsletter or feed that covers all of these. See our Search Engine Newsletters & Web Feeds for a full rundown on everything we offer, as well as special buttons to let you subscribe via news readers such as Rojo, My MSN, Bloglines, Feedster, Newsgator, Pluck and My Yahoo. Thanks to FeedBurner for providing our feed tracking and management services!
===============================
About The Search Engine Update
===============================
The Search Engine Update is a monthly update of search engine news. Please note that long URLs may break into two lines in some mail readers. Cut and paste, should this occur.
How do I unsubscribe?
+ Follow the instructions at the very end of this e-mail.
How do I see past issues?
+ Visit the Search Engine Update Archives.
How do I change my address?
+ Send a message to [email protected]
I need human help with my membership!
+ Send a message to [email protected]. DO NOT send messages regarding list management or membership issues directly to the authors.
I have feedback about an article!
+ I’d love to hear it. Use this form.