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Search Week in Review for Feb. 12, 2011

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Here's a recap of this week's columns and news stories for the week of Feb. 6 to 12, as reported by Search Engine Watch, as well as search news and tips from around the web.

Search Engine Optimization

Is Syndication Killing Your Rankings? An 8 Point SEO Inspection by Simon Heseltine
Syndicating stories can get more people reading your content, but it can also result in other sites ranking higher in the SERPs for your content. Follow these steps to make sure you aren't giving search engines mixed signals.

Top 5 Free SEO iPad Apps by Greg Habermann
Essential apps that every SEO should have on their iPad.

AOL Serves Google Search Results. But Is Microsoft Doing Their SEO? by Frank Watson
While AOL has a 5 year deal to use Google for their search results, it seems they may be using Microsoft for their content SEO, according to their recently leaked Master Plan. The plan that Business Insider published shows AOL plans to use "SEO Checker" for optimizing their content.

AOL Has Algorithm For Finding Content Topics For Reporters by Frank Watson
The Columbia Journalism Review mentioned AOL's Demand/ROI tool and how it is being used to find topics that will generate pageviews and ROI -- along with the news that AOL is hiring reporters.

Search Advertising

Measuring Free Clicks in AdWords by Jason Tabeling
Advertisers: Take advantage of free click ads to extend your share of voice on the page, improve the consumer experience, and determine the value to your overall search program.

3 Key Differences Between adCenter & AdWords by Kyle Costello
Whether you're new to adCenter or just looking to more effectively manage your search campaigns following the Search Alliance, keep these three key differences in mind when managing paid search campaigns in the new, consolidated marketplace.

Longer AdWords Headlines: Google Blurring The Lines of Paid, Organic Results? by Danny Goodwin
AdWords top placement ads will get longer headlines, a move Google says will increase click-through rates (CTRs) for advertisers. But has this change, combined with two other recent changes (the lowercasing of URL display names and renaming Sponsored Links to Ads) begun to blur the lines between paid and organic too much?

AdWords Background Reverts Back to Yellow by Danny Goodwin
Looks like Google is once again tinkering with their AdWords background colors.

PSAs No Longer Brought to You by Google AdSense by Danny Goodwin
Public service ads (PSAs) are being retired in AdSense and will no longer be a backup ad option. Google is now trying to figure out new options.

SEM Basics

How to Market Charities Online For Free by Kevin Gibbons
Once you've found a volunteer workforce willing to invest their time, here's how charities can advertise cost-effectively online and drive traffic via SEO.

Analytics & ROI

Search, Social Media & the Offline Purchase by Paul Burani
How to target the social media audience in search engines and guide their offline consumer behavior.

The New Attribution: Smart Marketers and User-Based Media Optimization by Roger Barnette
By understanding the purchase cycle, you can deliver a more qualified audience to your website and get potential customers to convert more often.

Webmaster Tools and Analytics Get More Cozy by Thom Craver
Site owners now have the ability to link verified sites using Webmaster Tools to an Analytics profile used by the same Google account. This will enable your Analytics profiles to be accessible from within Webmaster Tools.

Google Rolls Out Special Analytics For Boutique.com In Time For Fashion Week by Frank Watson
Google announced its 'boutique analytics' for its fashion site - Boutique.com - with Designer Analytics for its design partners and Trend Analytics "that gives curious fashionistas a view into the latest, site-wide fashion trends."

Social Media Marketing

Social Lessons Learned on Super Bowl Sunday by Kaila Strong
Using social media to round out your brand marketing efforts has multifaceted benefits. It's good to see that some big brands are realizing the importance in streamlining their efforts.

Prostitutes Using Facebook For Marketing by Frank Watson
A Columbia University professor has published a report that found New York City prostitutes are using Facebook to find clients, Wired Magazine reported. Seems the internet are the new streets that are being walked.

Twitter, Foursquare Set Records During Super Bowl by Danny Goodwin
Super Bowl XLV between the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers attracted record television ratings, but Twitter and Foursquare also achieved some major milestones during the big game.

Groupon Superbowl Ad Makes Light Of Tibet's Political Turmoil by Frank Watson
They may have been using controversy to get more press for their company, but Groupon's Superbowl ad that makes light of the troubles Tibet has with China may well backfire on them.

Link Building

Mea Culpa: How I Failed At Link Building by Adam Audette
It's quite easy to put your principles and SEO best practices aside in place of other, less important, motivations. Hopefully this tale will help you avoid losing clients and reinforce why you need to be efficient, smart, and careful in making business decisions.

Local & Mobile Search

Negative Reviews in Local Search: A Survival Guide for Businesses by Eric Enge
If your business has received a negative review that is hurting your business, it's time for some online reputation management. Here's how you can show the general public your best face in the local search results.

Mobile Payments: The Next Battleground for Google, Apple by Michael Boland
Both Google and Apple are working toward integrating NFC to allow users to pay via a mobile device. Expect to see a land grab over the next year to develop and own the standards.

Android Ad Revenue Forecast to Top $1 Billion in 2012 by Danny Goodwin
Android advertising revenue could potentially generate $1 billion for Google next year. Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster says Android generated $5.90 per user in mobile advertising in 2010, and that number is expected to jump to $9.85 in 2012, aided in part by in-app advertising from the Android Market app store.

Google Launches iPhone Translation App by Frank Watson
Google launched their official iPhone Translate App with voice input for 15 languages.

Bing, adCenter Get Boost from Nokia/Microsoft Alliance by Danny Goodwin
Nokia will adopt Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 as its primary operating system, which means Bing will become the default search engine on all Nokia phones. This alliance potentially could have some impact on search market share and paid search advertising.

Roman Catholics Tell Your Sins To Your iPhone: There's An App For That by Frank Watson
Confession is now not just what you do in church, there is an iPhone app for it! Scroll through the App Store and you can find it - but you do not actually get pennance from your phone.

Yahoo Unveils Livestand An Online Newsstand For Tablets, Mobile by Frank Watson
Not to be outdone by Rupert Murdoch's The Daily, Yahoo is launching Livestand, "a digital newsstand that continually offers new content to consumers, based on their interests."

SMB Search Marketing

International Search

Global Search Marketing Numbers Are Shocking, Wake up America! by Andy
Atkins-Krüger
These statistics are a wake-up call for anyone who doesn't realize the sheer scale of the growth in the global Internet.

European Commission: No Discussions to Halt Google Antitrust Investigation by Danny Goodwin
Despite what you may have read elsewhere, Google and the European Commission aren't nearing a resolution on the antitrust investigation launched in the European Union in November, and Google isn't likely to change its algorithm there any time soon.

Czech Actor, Playwright Jan Werich Gets Google Doodle by Frank Watson
Google has added a Doodle honoring one of the most popular Czech actors and playwrights Jan Werich. Beyond his acting in many classic Czech movies, Werich was loved by his country for staying when so many others left.

A True Social Revolution: Egypt President Mubarack Steps Down by Frank Watson
With the resignation of Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak, the world may have witnessed a true social revolution. Would the changes have occurred without the help of social media?

Egypt PM: Missing Google Exec. To Be Released Today by Frank Watson
Wael Ghonim, Google Middle East and North Africa Marketing Director, who has been missing since January 27th, has been released.

Egyptian Internet, Mobile Shutdown Cost Country $90 Million Plus by Frank Watson
The five to six days that the Egyptian government closed down the internet and cell phone access cost the country over $90 million dollars, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The Search Industry

Intentional Targeting: Search vs. Facebook by Guillaume Bouchard
Facebook marketing offers a very different value proposition from search marketing. Results driven marketers can still get a much better return out of search than social.

Weather Forecast? Don't Know, Check Google by Eli Goodman
While winter weather causes only moderate increases in audience visitation, it produces much more sizeable gains in engagement and search activity. Here's a look at how much more important search becomes during this time of the year.

Google's Cutts: Bing's Higher Search Success Rate Due to Bad Hitwise Data by Danny Goodwin
Google's Matt Cutts is skeptical about the latest Hitwise data that showed Bing provided users with more accurate results than Google.

Survey Finds 70% Of Car Buyers Search Web For Info, Few Use Social Media by Frank Watson
A recent survey by Polk and Autotrader.com found that car buyers spend between 18-19 hours searching for information before making a decision. Over 70% use the web for research, though only 3% said they used information from social media for their buying decision, the Automotive Buyer Influence Study found.

Doctor Finder Finds Sweet Spot for Insider Pages by Jonathan Allen
Fifty percent of consumers polled under the age of 55 said they have spent more time researching the latest tech gadget (like a blu-ray player) than researching a doctor they are going to visit.

AOL Buys Huffington Post for $315 Million by Frank Watson
AOL bought the Huffington Post over the weekend for $315 million dollars.

Google News

Google Tests Profile Pictures in Social Navigation Bar by Danny Goodwin
Google is testing a new-look navigation bar that could offer a hint of what the company's plans are for incorporating social elements into search to compete more in Facebook's territory.

Two-Factor Authentication Comes to Google Accounts by Thom Craver
You have your Gmail account and you use it for everything. But it's more than just e-mail; it's also tied to your calendar and stored documents. For some, it also means your Google Voice phone number. It is probably your email address of choice for Amazon, Facebook and a host of other services.

Sony Wants Google To Give Info On Commenters, Viewers Of PS3 Hack Video by Frank Watson
Sony has gone to court to have Google give them access to information of viewers and the people who have commented on a private YouTube video that shows how to jailbreak their PS3.

Thomas Edison Birthday Google Doodle by Frank Watson
It is the 164th birthday of Thomas Edison and Google has honored him with an animated Doodle featuring a number of his inventions including the electric light bulb, the phonograph and the motion picture camera.

Google Honors Jules Verne With Global Doodle by Frank Watson
French-born author Jules Verne is being honored with an international Doodle today. The author of numerous works including Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870), A Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864), and Around the World in Eighty Days (1873) was born on February 8th, 1828.

Google Goes In To Wedding Business In Time For Valentine's Day by Frank Watson
Google announced its new wedding site that uses various Google products to make the wedding process simpler - to do lists, a personalized website, announcements and save the date cards are some of the services Google offers to help you down the aisle.

Bing News

Bing Searches, Unique Visitors Rise by Danny Goodwin
A week after being accused of stealing Google's results, Bing has received some good news: searches on Bing last month increased by 21 percent, according to Hitwise. Also, the search engine passed Wikipedia on Compete's list of the top 50 websites.

Bing Personalizes Results, Adds Location & Search History by Danny Goodwin
Your physical location and past search results will now influence the order of the results you see on Bing, much like features Google has offered for years already.

Is Microsoft Unintrusively Adding Search History To Its Algorithm? by Frank Watson
Harry Shum, Microsoft VP of Search Product Development, is presenting a keynote address at the Fourth ACM International Conference on Web Search and Data Mining in Hong Kong, where he will discuss the role of personal search history as a factor in search results, the conference site reported.

Yahoo News

Blekko News

Blekko Reports 30 Million Queries in January by Danny Goodwin
Thirty million search queries were conducted on Blekko in January, and its team of human editors has helped create 110,000 slashtags.

DuckDuckGo News

Video Marketing

Did Volkswagen or Chrysler Have the Best Super Bowl Commercial? by Greg Jarboe
Depending on which source you use, either "Volkswagen Commercial: The Force" or "Chrysler Eminem Super Bowl Commercial - Imported From Detroit" was the best Super Bowl commercial.

Super Bowl Commercials 2011: Volkswagen Still Favored to Win by Greg Jarboe\
In the past 24 hours, several more advertisers have uploaded their Super Bowl commercials to YouTube. In addition, Chevrolet, Volkswagen, Audi, and HomeAway are using Google AdWords campaigns to promote their Super Bowl ads.

Website Designer Made Top Superbowl Ad For $500 by Frank Watson
The most popular Superbowl ad - the Dorito door-crushing dog - was created by a part-time website designer for about $500, USA Today reported.

Google Trying To Buy Content Network by Frank Watson
Google is trying to acquire Next New Networks. The company website claims they are "the leading provider of original entertainment programming for the Internet. With the two most-viewed videos of 2010."

SES Conference & Expo

Search Week in Review 2011 Archives

Feb. 5
Jan. 29 | Jan. 22 | Jan. 15 | Jan. 8

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