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Search Week in Review for Dec. 4, 2010

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Here's a roundup of this week's columns and news stories for the week of Nov. 29 to Dec. 3, as reported by Search Engine Watch, as well as search news and tips from around the web.

Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Optimization in an Increasingly Social World by Eric Enge
SEO is changing rapidly, in part due to the increasingly social nature of the web. A look at what's driving these changes and some of the implications of how they impact our behavior.

The First Steps to High Rankings in Google by Ray "Catfish" Comstock
The difference for some websites in ranking in the top three for a particular competitive search phrase really isn't about black magic. Really, it's about the study of the user that you're trying to target.

Get Your SEO Firm Involved Before the Redesign by John Lynch
Help swing internal debates and remove the possibility of additional development work after the launch by getting a sound SEO strategy in place early.

Search Advertising

Google's Holiday Gift: Product Listing Ads by Greg Habermann
Ready to try out the new AdWords Product Listing Ads? A guide to the key points advertisers should be aware of.

Shoppers Spending More on Black Friday; Is Cyber Monday Now an Anachronism? by Jonathan Allen
SearchIgnite have released research that also suggests that Cyber Monday, the day that online shopping is meant to explode when compared to traditional footfall traffic, could become a thing of the past. As research from other paid search platforms has indicated, shoppers are clicking aswell as hitting the stores on Black Friday, rendering the Cyber Monday distinction almost obsolete.

This Holiday, Money Really Will Buy Happiness For Paid Search Advertisers in Retail by Jonathan Allen
This week, all the large paid search platform providers are telling their Black Friday/Cyber Monday stories. Many are making predictions or offering advice on the trends they are seeing within start of the holiday shopping season based on the advertising budgets they are managing. Yesterday, Efficient Frontier told paid search marketers to increase their advertising budgets and spend more to generate the best possible results from the holiday shopping spree.

Kenshoo Dissects Holiday Shopping Trends from Black Friday to Cyber Monday by Jonathan Allen
As many search marketers in the U.S. retail sector will know, the holiday season simultaneously represents the biggest opportunity and threat to career success. Sales figures from the final months of the calendar year can literally "make or break" a company's annual performance.

Savvy Publishers, Marketers Riding Sudden Qatar Popularity by Frank Watson
Seems if you are quick and have some clout or thought about the possibilities a few months in advance, Qatar's winning of the 2022 World Cup host site could have been a traffic windfall for you too.

Analytics & ROI

Social Media Marketing

Thousands Scammed By Fake "Who Viewed Your Facebook Profile" App by Frank Watson
It comes with a bunch of different names but the app promising to show you who has viewed your Facebook profile is a scam and apparently one that is being passed around as a hot item through social media right now.

Experian Hitwise Blog Post Highlights Data About LivingSocial by Greg Jarboe
Bill Tancer, General Manager, Global Research at Hitwise, posted some interesting data today about LivingSocial and the Adoption Curve.

Link Building

4 Ways to Build Links Without Anchor Text by Kristi Hines
Is there such a thing as too much anchor text? Absolutely. Here are some of the benefits of creating a more natural looking link profile.

Local & Mobile Search

How Did Goodzer New York Shopping Engine Fare On Holiday Sales Weekend? by Jonathan Allen
Goodzer, a local shopping search engine which finds 'nearby' shops that stock the products you are looking for and plots them on a map launched last week ahead of Black Friday. Caught up in the shopping frenzy in New York City, a visiting friend from London, was struggling to find every item they were looking for in the Black Friday sales, so I suggested they try out Goodzer. What follows is a summary of first impressions from a visiting tourist.

Enterprise SEM

Strategic SEM Planning for 2011 by Simon Heseltine
Don't break out the eggnog just yet. Your competition won't wait until January to figure out their 2011 strategies, and neither should you.

International Search

Time for Google to Extend Geographic Targeting in Webmaster Central? by Andy Atkins-Krüger
Here's what Google should do to make Webmaster Central geo-targeting more useful for non-U.S.-based marketers.

Best Solution for Duplicate Content Issues by Mathieu Burgerhout
A clever solution to get every product indexed, in the right language, and show visitors from specific countries the right stock.

Google Faces EU Antitrust Investigation Over Alleged Organic, Paid Search Result Bias by Danny Goodwin
Has Google abused its dominant position in search in the European Union? That will be the focus of antitrust regulators as they formally investigate complaints of discrimination in Google's paid and organic search results.

Russian Search Engine Picks London To Float IPO by Frank Watson
Yandex, the largest search engine in Russia has chosen London to launch their IPO early next year, Reuters reported. The offering should raise the internet firm in excess of 1 billion pounds ($1,56 billion).

Google Earth Unwitting Star of International Relations, Again by Jonathan Allen
Iranian government officials have been outraged to discover that a Star of David, the symbol of Judaism, is on the roof of the Iran Air headquarters building. Upon discovering the image on Google Earth, Iranian officials demanded its immediate removal.

Japan Approves Yahoo-Google Search Deal, Microsoft Cries Foul by Frank Watson
The search world is really becoming complicated. Yahoo has a deal with Microsoft and Yahoo (Japan) has a deal with Google.

The Search Industry

How the Language of Search is Changing the Face of SEM by Paul Burani
If you don't speak the consumer's language, how will they ever find you?

Has Google Shot Itself in Foot With Recent Changes to Search Pages? by Frank Watson
Google has rapidly rolled out big changes to its search results in recent months while abandoning its trademark simplicity. Is this a case of too much, too quickly?

Rosa Parks Still Causing Controversy 55 Years Later by Frank Watson
Today marks the 55th anniversary of the day Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the Montgomery, Alabama bus and it seems the remembrance is causing another controversy. Today is also World Aids Day and people are complaining that the Google Doodle commemorating Rosa Parks should have been one bringing attention to AIDs.

Cyber Monday Sets Online Spending Records by Frank Watson
The reports are in and it appears people are doing their Christmas shopping early and online to take advantage of the bargains and save money.

FCC Voting on Net Neutrality Dec. 21 by Frank Watson
"The Federal Communications Commission will vote on whether to adopt rules to preserve net neutrality at its December 21st open meeting, according to a tentative agenda released just after midnight on Wednesday.

Homeland Security Seized Torrent Domain That Gave Same Results Google Still Does by Frank Watson
Homeland Security with help from ICANN has seized the domain of a torrent search site and posted a notice stating: "This domain name has been seized by ICE Homeland Security Investigations, pursuant to a seizure warrant issued by a United States District Court under the authority of 18 U.S.C. 981 and 2323."

Happy 7th Birthday Search Engine Roundtable by Frank Watson
Congratulations, Search Engine Roundtable is 7 years old!

Google News

Google Search Results Fixed, Public Relations Nightmare Over by Greg Jarboe
Google announced yesterday that it had changed the way it ranks search results so that unscrupulous merchants will find it harder to appear prominently in searches. The change was prompted by an article entitled, "A Bully Finds a Pulpit on the Web," by David Segal in The New York Times.

Public Relations Nightmare for Google Search Results by Greg Jarboe
Several people contacted me yesterday to ask if I'd read David Segal's article in The New York Times. I had. And "A Bully Finds a Pulpit on the Web" is a public relations nightmare for Google search results.

Google Buying Groupon: Will They, Won't They, Should They by Frank Watson
Rumors abound that Google is looking to buy Groupon - the online e-commerce coupon/discount purchase company - for anywhere from $2.5 to $6 billion. Why would Google be looking to acquire this property and is it a good fit are questions that have yet to be answered by the companies involved - though there are many speculations by others.

Google To Filter Content Piracy Terms From Autocomplete by Frank Watson
The Public Policy blog at Google outlined their new moves to protect copyrights including "prevent terms that are closely associated with piracy from appearing in Autocomplete."

Google News Adds 'Most Shared' Feature by Danny Goodwin
A new feature on the Google News home page shows which stories have been shared the most by Google users and on Twitter, though it isn't clear if Google is tracking any other sources (e.g., Facebook). You have the option of viewing the most shared stories over the past 24 hours, past week, and past month.

If You Talk to Me, Do I Not Talk Back? Google Acquire Phonetic Arts by Thom Craver
Google announced the acquisition of England's Phonetic Arts, a company specializing in speech algorithms, founded four years ago.

Searches For Qatar Hot On Google As World Cup Locations Announced by Frank Watson
Qatar, a small but oil-rich Middle Eastern nation, are topping Google's search trends today, following the announcement of their successful bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Google Trends showed.

Google Decorates Search Results for Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa by Danny Goodwin
If you search Google for Hanukkah, Christmas, or Kwanzaa, you'll see some special holiday icons in the left navigation and decorations between the organic results and ads on the right.

It's Beginning To Look Alot Like Christmas: Google Launches Santa Tracking by Frank Watson
Google has teamed with Norad again this year to track Santa.

Sales Through Google Product Ads May Tell What You Get For Christmas by Frank Watson
Forget searching through your house, or shaking the wrapped gifts under the tree Google has released the best sellers through their products ads and some of these may be coming your way.

Mozilla Exec. Criticizes Google, Microsoft, Apple For Hidden Plugin Installs by Frank Watson
A senior executive at Mozilla - creators of the Firefox browser - attacks Google, Microsoft and Apple for the hidden plugins they install in to Firefox without users knowledge. Usually attached to upgrades, the installer of some times what they see as much needed add ons, are getting more than what they have asked for.

Bing News

Bing's 2010 Top Searches: Kim Kardashian Dashes to Top Spot by Danny Goodwin
On Bing, celebrity searches were hot in 2010, and Kim Kardashian was the hottest of them all. Kardashian beat closest competitor Sandra Bullock by 20 percent.

Yahoo News

Yahoo Search 2010 Year in Review: BP, World Cup, Miley Cyrus by Danny Goodwin
Though the majority of Yahoo's top searches were for entertainment and celebrities, the BP oil spill was the top search for 2010. Just as it topped AOL's news search category, the Gulf disaster dominated online searches on Yahoo.

Ask News

Ask, IAC CEO Barry Diller Steps Down by Frank Watson
Barry Diller, founder of IAC which includes Ask.com, told the company he ran for over 17 years that he is stepping down as CEO. No he is not joining Jeeves in retirement, he said "I want to go back to what I am good at, which is looking for opportunities to grow the business."

Ask.com's Top Questions of 2010: Users Prefer Dunkin' Coffee by Danny Goodwin
Yes, Ask has joined Jeeves in retirement, officially bowing out of the search business last month in favor of concentrating on the question and answer service they returned to in July.

AOL News

AOL's Hottest Searches of 2010: Bedbugs, Tiger Woods, BP by Danny Goodwin
Although Tiger isn't the top golfer in the world, he still tops AOL's "Year End Hot Searches" list in the celebrity category. AOL released their list of top searches in the categories of health, celebrity, news, trends, shopping, and movies.

Blekko News

Video Marketing News

YouTube Announces TrueView: Ability To Skip Ads by Frank Watson
"TrueView Video Ads give viewers choice and control over which advertiser's message they want to see and when. And we charge advertisers only when a viewer has chosen to watch your ad, not when an impression is served," Google announced in the Inside Adwords blog.

SES Conference & Expo

SES Accelerator: Search & Social in San Diego on February 10, 2011 by Greg Jarboe
SES is collaborating with OMS to hold a one-day event for the experienced marketer on Feb. 10, 2011, that is dedicated to learning advanced topics in Search & Social. Called SES Accelerator, it's part of the annual Online Marketing Summit, which will be held in San Diego from Feb. 7 to 11, 2011.

Search Week in Review 2010 Archives

Nov. 20 | Nov. 13 | Nov. 6
Oct. 30 | Oct. 23 | Oct. 16 | Oct. 9 | Oct. 2
Sept. 25 | Sept. 18 | Sept. 10

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