IndustryHighlights from the SEW Blog: Feb. 5, 2007

Highlights from the SEW Blog: Feb. 5, 2007

Featured posts to the Search Engine Watch blog in the past week, along with recent search-related headlines from around the Web.

Featured posts to the Search Engine Watch blog in the past week, along with recent search-related headlines from around the Web.

From the SEW blog:

Organic Search

  • 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.

Paid Search

  • 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.

Link Issues

Analytics & ROI

  • Search Seen as Most Effective by Marketers
    According to the latest study from eMarketer, paid search ads were reported as the most effective tactic by 49 percent of marketers, and SEO jumped up from 33 percent to 45 percent in 2006.
  • ComScore, FM Team Up for Analytics Research
    ComScore Networks has teamed up with John Battelle’s Federated Media (FM) Publishing for a research and development initiative to come up with a way to measure audiences of blogs and community-driven sites.
  • Make ROI Your New Year’s Resolution
    Search marketers who blame Google’s latest algorithm shift or quality score update for their traffic woes are like brick and mortar store owners blaming the city for their poor customer traffic, says Bryan Eisenberg in today’s SearchDay.

Vertical & Specialty Search

SEM Industry Issues

  • Google, AOL Report Earnings
    Google had another good quarter…AOL, not so much.
  • 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.
  • Google Fights for Its Trademark
    Google has sued serial trademark litigant and self-styled “intellectual property entrepreneur” Leo Stoller for false advertising, unfair competition and RICO violations for claiming that Stoller owns the Google trademark.

Search Headlines

NOTE: Article links often change. In case of a bad link, use the publication’s search facility to search for the headline.

Resources

The 2023 B2B Superpowers Index

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Data Analytics in Marketing

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The Third-Party Data Deprecation Playbook

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Utilizing Email To Stop Fraud-eCommerce Client Fraud Case Study

whitepaper | Digital Marketing Utilizing Email To Stop Fraud-eCommerce Client Fraud Case Study

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