IndustryThe Search Engine Report – Number 85

The Search Engine Report - Number 85

Search Engine Watch editor Danny Sullivan's recap of top search engine stories from November 2003.

A longer, more detailed version of this newsletter
is available to Search Engine Watch members.
This is just one of the many benefits members receive.
Click here to learn more about becoming a member

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In This Issue

+ Search Engine Watch News
+ SES Comes To Chicago Next Week
+ Search Engine Articles By Danny Sullivan
+ SearchDay Articles
+ Search Engine Articles
+ Search Engine Resources
+ About This Newsletter

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Search Engine Watch News
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Hello Everyone–

No changes to Search Engine Watch to report this issue, but there’s plenty of search news listed below to keep you busy! Readers of SearchDay will know I promised a story for tomorrow, Dec. 3, updating recent changes at Google. That’s pushed back to Friday now. I needed more time to complete it.

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SES Comes To Chicago Next Week

Search Engine Strategies arrives in Chicago next week, running from December 9-11. The conference features speakers from major search engines, including Ask Jeeves, Google, Inktomi, LookSmart, Overture and Yahoo, as well as search engine marketers sharing their experiences and tips.

The conference web site provides full session descriptions, and there’s a special Session Itineraries page to guide you on what to attend, depending on your skill level or interest.

To learn more or sign-up, call (203) 662-2857 or visit the URL below.

Search Engine Strategies Chicago
http://www.searchenginestrategies.com/sew/fall03/

Many dates for other Search Engine Strategies events next year have also been announced. More information can be found via the URL below.

Search Engine Strategies
http://searchenginestrategies.com/

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Search Engine Articles
By Danny Sullivan
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Searching With Invisible Tabs
SearchDay, Dec. 2, 2003
https://www.searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3115131
https://www.searchenginewatch.com/_subscribers/articles/article.php/3115121

Behind the scenes, search engines will one day automatically push the correct tab for your query and retrieve specialized search results. This should ultimately prove an improvement over the current situation where everything is answered by web page matches.

The second URL leads to a longer version of the article for Search Engine Watch members that looks at tab use beyond Google, explores how invisible tabs may end the dominance of web page results, offers comments about invisible tab use from major search engines and covers what such use means from the search engine marketer’s perspective.

What’s a Search Engine Watch member?
See https://www.searchenginewatch.com/benefits/article.php?source=ser12

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Google, Overture Limit Pharmacy Ads — But Not In Free Listings
The Search Engine Report, Dec. 2, 2003
https://www.searchenginewatch.com/sereport/article.php/3115461

Overture and Google have reacted to pressure to drop ads for unlicensed online pharmacies in the United States. But while the ads will be gone, the access to sites selling prescription medicines without proper approval will remain virtually unchanged.

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Google Dance Syndrome Strikes Again
SearchDay, Dec. 1, 2003
https://www.searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3114531

There’s been a new outbreak of Google Dance Syndrome, causing some web sites last month to lose top positions for some search terms. However, unlike previous outbreaks, a cure exists that makes it easy to compare results from old to new Google. These comparisons have some marketers convinced that recent changes at Google are designed to boost ad sales, a charge Google flatly denies.

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Local Search Part 5: Citysearch Brings Local To Searchers & Merchants
SearchDay, Nov. 20, 2003
https://www.searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3111681
https://www.searchenginewatch.com/_subscribers/articles/article.php/3111661

Citysearch has long offered local content to searchers. But the company has made new moves to bring local merchants into the world of search advertising by introducing a cost-per-lead program. Citysearch’s content and its new advertising program bridges a gap between search engines and online yellow pages.

The second URL leads to a longer version of the article for Search Engine Watch members that looks at how Citysearch ranks editorial content, offers thoughts on BellSouth’s new submission product, explores how Citysearch reaches out to offline local merchants and provides close-up details on Citysearch’s paid listings for advertisers considering these.

What’s a Search Engine Watch member?
See https://www.searchenginewatch.com/benefits/article.php?source=ser12

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AOL Buys Singingfish, Rolls Out More Search Changes
SearchDay, Nov. 19, 2003
https://www.searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3110961

AOL has acquired Singingfish, a multimedia search engine, and unveiled additional features to the AOL Search service designed for its members.

The second URL leads to a longer version of the article for Search Engine Watch members that looks at why AOL says it doesn’t need to own a crawler and provides more comments on AOL personalization.

What’s a Search Engine Watch member?
See https://www.searchenginewatch.com/benefits/article.php?source=ser12

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The US White House & Blocking Search Engines
SearchDay, Nov. 6, 2003
https://www.searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3105111

At the end of last month, controversy erupted over the US White House preventing portions of its web site from being indexed by search engines. Was the White House doing this as a means to rewrite history unnoticed, or was it an innocent mistake? Looks at blocking pages from search engines and why some “partially indexed” pages at Google may still have descriptions.

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SearchDay Articles
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Here’s a recap of recent articles from Search Engine Watch’s daily SearchDay newsletter:

Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization Debuts
SearchDay, Nov. 26, 2003
https://www.searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3109451

At the gala inaugural meeting of the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization, the group’s board outlined the organization’s mission and extended a welcome to all search marketing industry professionals.

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Dayparts & Other Search Engine Paid Listings Evolutions
SearchDay, Nov. 25, 2003
https://www.searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3106001

When it comes to gaining the most bang for the buck from paid search engine listings, micro-managing is a good thing, says our panel of experts.

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Overture & Google Unveil New Advertiser Tools
SearchDay, Nov. 24, 2003
https://www.searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3112601

Overture’s new Marketing Console is a performance marketing tool, while Google’s Auto-Optimization feature automatically optimizes advertiser campaigns.

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Search Engine Forums Spotlight
SearchDay, Nov. 21, 2003
https://www.searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3112071

Links to this week’s topics from search engine forums across the web: New Google AdSense Case Study Available – Stop Words on Broad/Phrase Matches? – ODP Essay: Beating the Odds – URL Structure, Query Strings in URL – Article About Penalizing for Exact-phrase Match? – Using SSI [Server Side Includes” – Nov 2003 Google Update – Google + Opera = Scumware? – Making Topical Pages – Common Usability Mistakes – Links AWAY from a Web Site – How Search Engine Friendly Is PHP [PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor”?

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Search Engines and Web Server Issues
SearchDay, Nov. 18, 2003
https://www.searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3109261
https://www.searchenginewatch.com/_subscribers/articles/article.php/3109271

What is the best way to move a site from one server to another without affecting search engine visibility? After a site redesign, how can you communicate to the search engines that old URLs should be redirected to new URLs without affecting positioning? A panel of experts addressed these and other server-specific issues.

The second URL leads to a longer version of the article for Search Engine Watch members that goes into detail about topics such as static vs. dynamic web pages, search-friendly URL structure, and virtual servers and hosting issues.

What’s a Search Engine Watch member?
See https://www.searchenginewatch.com/benefits/article.php?source=ser12

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Hanging Out with the Search Gurus at the FreePint Bar
SearchDay, Nov. 17, 2003
https://www.searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3096391

Stumped by a tough web search question? Want some help from some of the world’s best information professionals? Then sidle on up to the FreePint Bar.

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Search Engine Forums Spotlight
SearchDay, Nov. 14, 2003
https://www.searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3109091

Links to this week’s topics from search engine forums across the web: MSN Keywords? – Promoting An Ecommerce Site? – Make Your Competitors Go Belly Up With Overture – Wordtracker? – Distributed Directories on the Way? – Outsourcing… Any Implications for SEOs? – More Mozilla Firebird Search Plugins Found – Top 10 Rankings In 10 Days?!, How is it possible? – Blocking PDF Files from Being Indexed – Hi, I’m the Mooter CEO

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Local Search Part 4: Major Search Engines On Yellow Pages
SearchDay, Nov. 13, 2003
https://www.searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3106581

Local search is the current hot topic in the industry, but has it really arrived? Executives from Yahoo, AOL, LookSmart, Terra Lycos and Muller Medien debate the hype vs. reality of local search.

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Who Runs the .GOV and .EDU Domains?
SearchDay, Nov. 12, 2003
https://www.searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3106221

Unlike most other top-level domains, .gov and .edu are restricted to government and educational institutions. Who’s in charge of these protected domains?

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The Art of Advanced Link Building
SearchDay, Nov. 11, 2003
https://www.searchenginewatch.com/_subscribers/articles/article.php/3100241

Advanced link building strategies are critical for achieving high rankings in search engines, according to two noted experts and representatives from Google and Teoma.

The second URL leads to a longer version of the article for Search Engine Watch members that goes into more extensive detail about advanced link building, including specific, actionable tips from expert search marketers.

What’s a Search Engine Watch member?
See https://www.searchenginewatch.com/benefits/article.php?source=ser12

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Want to receive SearchDay? Sign-up for the free daily newsletter from Search Engine Watch via the link below:

SearchDay
https://www.searchenginewatch.com/searchday/

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Search Engine Articles
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Special thanks to Search Engine Guide, http://searchengineguide.com, and Search Engine Lowdown, http://searchenginelowdown.com/, for spotting some of the articles listed below!

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Can Google Grow Up?
Fortune, Dec. 8, 2003
http://www.fortune.com/fortune/technology/articles/0,15114,548765,00.html

A look inside Google, posing questions about whether the company will continue to succeed. Google is called arrogant, apparently by those who try to negotiate deals with it. Growth has left employees and partners confused about directions. Contract employees without stock options, making up 30 percent of Google workers the story says, have resentment against those who do. And who is in charge, the founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, or CEO Eric Schmidt?

Google better look out, the story warns, because Microsoft is going to “push” it off tens of millions of PCs. Keep in mind that Google is not preinstalled on the vast majority of PCs out there, so this isn’t a new threat. And if Microsoft does manage to find a way to prevent users from actively seeking out Google, as they do now, then Yahoo faces the same challenge.

As for Yahoo, it already competes head-to-head with Google and has done so since it bought Inktomi last year. The partnership with Google was effectively over then, but most likely for contractual reasons, Yahoo has continued to park the $235 million investment it made in Inktomi on the sidelines while it continues to use Google. When Yahoo finally shifts fully to Inktomi, it won’t be a surprise or shock to Google.

As for what happens if a “good enough” search engine is in the hands of a Google rival — Yahoo and MSN have already have “good enough” search engines. Google’s survived that just fine, so far.

None of this is to downplay the fact that Google has challenges ahead, including much stronger and dedicated competition that it ever has had before. However, some perspective on that competition is also important to keep in mind. This is a weak time for Google? Yahoo’s still trying to absorb Overture, which itself just absorbed two other companies — and Inktomi continues to linger. As for MSN, it’s still hiring for the “army of brainiacs” the article says it already has for web search. Google’s competition is going to be tough, no doubt. But right now, that competition faces disarray of its own.

The article looks at how Schmidt focused Google on earning money, though AdWords actually predates him. Schmidt joined in early 2001. Google started running “text banners” at the end of 1999, then opened its self-serve AdWords program in late 2000 — not February 2002, as the story says. Instead, that date is when AdWords opened a new CPC-based product that ran alongside the preexisting CPM-based AdWords. Today, CPM has been entirely replaced by CPC — and the shift is likely what made even more money flow in.

The article has some good figures on number of employees and revenues, though public sources for the revenue figures aren’t cited. Google itself has never released these. It also covers concern that AOL is said to have about Google’s growth.

Finally, this story leads off recounting how I shot softball questions past Sergey Brin earlier this year at the San Jose Search Engine Strategies conference. I did not ask, “How did Google become such an icon?,” as the story says — but the fault here is mine, given that our own SearchDay coverage of the interview suggests this: https://www.searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3081081. What I actually asked was, “Did you envision that kind of success,” describing the growth Google’s seen since it has grown in 1998. That’s something entirely different.

Other questions included, “How will an IPO change Google?,” “How do you respond to critics you say you are too powerful?,” “Will you ever do paid inclusion?” and “Where do you go next to improve relevancy as link analysis begins to look less and less useful?” Those aren’t exact quotes, but they capture the fact that it wasn’t all softball questions, at least to me. But Fortune writer Fred Vogelstein tells me he really mean this to capture that the spirit of the interview was friendly and casual, rather than aggressive. That’s absolutely true. (permalink)

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‘Tis the Season: Build a Search Engine Marketing Budget
ClickZ, Dec. 1, 2003
http://www.clickz.com/search/results/article.php/3114081

Overview of types of fees you might want to budget for to undertake a search engine marketing campaign with the aid of an agency.

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Lycos Wants to Give You a Second Opinion
InternetNews.com, Nov. 25, 2003
http://www.internetnews.com/IAR/article.php/3113471

The Lycos Side Search browser plug-in (see https://www.searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/2236241 gains new shopping search results.

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Shopping Search Engines Rev Up
AP, Nov. 24, 2003
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/11/24/tech/main585361.shtml

Buying products online? Consider trying a shopping search engine. This article looks at these services from a consumer’s perspective.

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Top Five Search Engine Optimization Myths
ClickZ, Nov. 24, 2003
http://www.clickz.com/search/results/article.php/3110091

Shari Thurow covers promises you might hear from some SEO companies that she warns should make you wary, such as guarantees about free positioning, instant link popularity and off-site microsites.

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LookSmart Enhances Full-Text Article Search
SiliconValley.internet.com, Nov. 24, 2003
http://siliconvalley.internet.com/news/article.php/3113131

LookSmart has long offered the FindArticles.com site, which is a useful way to search through periodicals that regular search engines might not have access to. Now the LookSmart site has gained an “Articles” tab to alert those visiting LookSmart itself that article research is offered.

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Microsoft aims for search on its own terms
News.com, Nov. 24, 2003
http://news.com.com/2100-1008_3-5110910.html

Work that Microsoft is doing to make searching your desktop as easy as searching the web.

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SEM Arbitrage: Golden or Cooked Goose?
ClickZ, Nov. 21, 2003
http://www.clickz.com/search/strat/article.php/3111671

Getting affiliates to generate search traffic can sound attractive. But if they’re making a profit on the difference between what you pay them and what they earn, you might be missing opportunities.

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Rocketnews Will Soon Offer New Search Features
ResourceShelf.com, Nov. 21, 2003
http://www.resourceshelf.com/archives/2003_11_01_resourceshelf_archive.html#106936775292562581

New options are coming to the Rocketnews news search service, such as headline title searching and the ability to go back in articles for six months.

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Overture unveils ad-tracking system
News.com, Nov. 20, 2003
http://news.com.com/2100-1024-5109798.html

Overture rolls out a low-cost conversion tracking tool that anyone can use to track ad campaigns, not just Overture-based ones.

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Retailers Rise in Google Rankings as Rivals Cry Foul
New York Times, Nov. 20. 2003
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/20/technology/circuits/20goog.html

A look at complaints from those selling gift baskets that spam is crowding them out of getting free listings on Google. For a similar look at these type of issues, see the article I wrote last month summarizing how complaints caused Google to go after an eBay affiliate: https://www.searchenginewatch.com/_subscribers/articles/article.php/3104471.

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Amazon.com book-buying aid splits authors
Philadelphia Inquirer, Nov. 20, 2003
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/business/7304223.htm

A writers’ advocacy group discovered that Amazon’s new “Search Inside The Book” service allowed people to print out more than 100 pages from a single book. The worry is that people might use the system as a way to get books for free — though the complicated effort involved would be a strong deterrent.

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Google Applies Double Standard to Political Vendors
Accuracy In Media, Nov. 19, 2003
http://www.aim.org/publications/briefings/2003/nov19.html

Google banned an advertisement for a anti-Clinton book, citing its criteria of rejecting “anti” ads. Ads for Ronald Reagan-related material was then rejected because of other “anti” items for sale on the same web site. However, other web sites selling such material, such as bumper stickers against George W. Bush, have been allowed to advertise.

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A Selection of Recently Awarded Search Related Patents and Recently Published Search Applications
ResourceShelf.com, Nov. 19, 2003
http://www.resourceshelf.com/archives/2003_11_16_resourceshelfextra_archive.html/#106928394894858369

Gary Price’s regular round-up of recent search-related patents.

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An SEO Copywriting Makeover Turning “Not” Into “Hot”
SearchEngineGuide.com, Nov. 18, 2003
http://www.searchengineguide.com/thackston/2003/1118_kt1.html

Two-part case study about turning copy into content that pleases search engines and humans.

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Microsoft Tests Answer to Google News
InternetNews.com, Nov. 18, 2003
http://www.internetnews.com/IAR/article.php/3110201

MSN Newsbot is seeking out news content for the UK, France, Italy and Spain. The automated service is akin to how Google News operates. Long-time news search veteran Moreover is also involved with the project. While this is currently underway in Europe, expect that it will move to the US. MSN has recently done much testing on its European sites, especially the UK site, as precursor to US moves.

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Investor search engine launched
ITWeb, Nov. 17, 2003
http://www.sundaytimes.co.za/business/technology/Tech1.asp

Review of new search engine designed to bring back content for investors on publicly traded companies around the world.

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It’s Good to Compete With Your Affiliates in PPC Search
ClickZ, Nov. 17, 2003
http://www.clickz.com/search/results/article.php/3109121

Affiliates need not be your enemy, when it comes to search engine marketing. For one thing, your affiliates can effectively let you dominate paid listing spots. The major providers generally allow a company to have only one paid listing, but they make no restrictions on how many affiliate listings a company can gain. In short, it’s an end run around the rule. That’s to the advertiser’s and search engine’s benefit, but it’s also something I expect will change. That’s because it’s a bad user experience. Other affiliate issues are also explored.

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Yahoo back in X-rated business
San Francisco Chronicle, Nov. 17, 2003
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/11/17/BUGTR32OMK1.DTL

Yahoo pulled adult banner ads in 2001, but it’s back to selling porn ads return through its ownership of Overture. Porn paid listings don’t appear on Yahoo, but they do appear (as they long have done) on the now-Yahoo-owned sites of AllTheWeb and AltaVista. Of course, Yahoo has always had its own directory of adult web sites. Despite the ban on banner ads sales, it always continued to sell listings in its directory to adult web sites at a premium rate.

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Gates: No Talk To Buy Google
USA Today, Nov. 17, 2003
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2003-11-17-gates_x.htm

Microsoft chairman Bill Gates says his company has never talked with Google about buying that company.

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Pre-IPO Google Dossier: An Experiment in Opinion Mining
K-Praxis, Nov. 17, 2003
http://www.k-praxis.com/archives/000072.html

A wide-ranging look at various opinions that have been expressed about Google. Unfortunately, while sources are noted generally at the beginning, some individual statements are not attributed. In some cases, this would have been helpful for those wanting to do follow-up research.

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The Gold In Google’s IPO Goes To…
BusinessWeek, Nov. 17, 2003
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/03_46/b3858071.htm

Sure, Google will make a lot of money when it goes public. But how much will those with big stakes in the company make. This article provides a look at what slice of Google various people own. The founders each are said to have at least 15 percent each. That means they could be looking at being worth up to $3 billion a piece. The companies that backed Google with early investment money might see a 20,000 percent return. Competitor Yahoo has a small stake in Google — but small is relative. That stake could be worth up to $300 million, more than what Yahoo’s expected to make in profit this year.

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Three Additions to Your Web Search Reading List
ResourceShelf, Nov. 16, 2003
http://www.resourceshelf.com/archives/2003_11_01_resourceshelf_archive.html#106896671431463973

Summarizes three good research articles worth reading about web search issues.

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Self-Funding Search Engine Marketing
ClickZ, Nov. 14, 2003
http://www.clickz.com/search/strat/article.php/3108471

In short, if your ads generate more profit than they cost, you can afford to do much more. A look at strategies to determine if you’re in self-funding mode and how to do even better.

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Customers rage at Google tweak
News.com, Nov. 14, 2003
http://news.com.com/2100-1024_3-5107406.html

Some Google advertisers remain upset at the expanded broad matching that the service introduced recently. Some find the broad matches catch terms they aren’t interested in, making them spend more time to manually exclude some terms. Others feel that broad matching is bringing larger advertisers into keyword niches that previously were ignored, making the cost for smaller businesses more expensive.

A longer review of this article that explains broad matching at Overture (yes, it does have it) and how to see bid prices at Overture and Google is available to Search Engine Watch members: https://www.searchenginewatch.com/_subscribers/updates/article.php/3110531#broadmatch

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Future Search
ClickZ, Nov. 14, 2003
http://www.clickz.com/feedback/buzz/article.php/3108891

This article offers some recent industry comments about search engines realizing they need to make further moves toward making the right guesses. By the way, SLI Systems isn’t doing anything new. Rather, the company’s getting another chance at personalized search based on clickthrough tracking after an original attempt under the GlobalBrain name with Snap/NBCi back in 1999 failed to go far (https://www.searchenginewatch.com/sereport/article.php/2167341). (permalink to this item)

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Keyword Search Emerges As Dominant Online Ad Format
MediaDailyNews, Nov. 12, 2003
http://www.mediapost.com/dtls_dsp_news.cfm?newsID=225706

I remember not that long ago when online advertising spend reports would come out, I’d ask those issuing them what portion was related to search engine marketing. The silence, as they say, was deafening. It wasn’t that spend didn’t happen. Instead, it was that no one bothered to count.

Want to revisit those bad old days of search being ignored? Then re-read my article from August 2001, Search Engine Marketing Finally Getting Respect, https://www.searchenginewatch.com/sereport/article.php/2164061.

The good news is, they’re counting now. The just released IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report found that “keyword search,” which apparently means spending on paid placement and probably paid inclusion listings, made up 31 percent of all internet advertising spending in the second quarter of this year, up from 9 percent for the same period last year. It’s not clear if money spent to gain organic or “free” search engine listings is counted in this. I suspect not — and arguably, that type of spend might be counted as a PR effort.

Not only the search spend a record, but it also positions search engine marketing as the dominant online advertising format. Banners, the second most popular form, made up 22 percent of spending. Rich media, which were once seen as the hot future for online ads, came in many positions later at 6 percent. You can read the report yourself here: http://www.iab.net/resources/ad_revenue.asp (permalink to this item)

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SEO at the Expense of Good Copy — No Way!
High Rankings Advisor Newsletter, Nov. 11, 2003
http://www.searchengineguide.com/whalen/2003/1113_jw1.html

Good copy does not mean that you have to sacrifice search engine positions, Jill Whalen explains.

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Partner Traffic from PPC Affiliate Programs: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Traffick, Nov. 11, 2003
http://www.traffick.com/article.asp?aID=151

Andrew Goodman lets rip about junk traffic produced by some partners of paid listings providers, praises conversion of those seeing Google’s AdSense listings on some partners but is amazed at some of the other sites that also get included as part of the AdSense program.

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Why Microsoft wants to buy – then trash – Google
The Inquirer, Nov. 11, 2003
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=12603

This letter to The Inquirer is a great illustration of why looking at search engine count figures is a terrible way to compare services.

The author believes Microsoft wants Google in order to control the flow of information and force everyone to buy its products. As proof, he notes how a search for “linux windows” brought up only 18 matches at Microsoft’s MSN Search, compared to 14 million matches from Google.

What really happened is that MSN reported that it had 18 human compiled matches. If the author had kept going, he’d have come to the material MSN gets from crawling the web. Provided by Inktomi, this yielded a further 9 million matches.

So, 9 million pages from MSN verses 14 million claimed by Google’s count. A gap, but hardly “censorship,” as the article claims. Furthermore, my check of Google last week came up with 12 million matches, closing the gap further.

In addition, if you were actually able to browse through all 12 million Google matches, you’d discover that some of these pages aren’t actually listed by default because they are near duplicates of other listings.

To see this in action, click here. You’ll see that at result 829, Google responds with:

“In order to show you the most relevant results, we have omitted some entries very similar to the 829 already displayed. If you like, you can repeat the search with the omitted results included.”

Now repeat the search, and you’ll see the count drops to 6 million matches. Suddenly, Google is showing less that MSN!

In short, beware anyone who uses search engine count figures to try and prove points. Counts are slippery creatures, to say the least.

The article more fairly criticizes that in a search for “linux,” the third listing promotes MSN’s own content — and in turn is a bad link. The fourth listing highlights Microsoft alternatives to Linux.

These links are all within the MSN’s Featured Sites area, which MSN describes as:

“Featured Sites are links that MSN Search editors believe are likely to be particularly relevant and useful.”

In this case, the results fail to live up to that claim. However, the remaining material on the page, the Web Directory listings, looked very useful on the topic.

Overall, using these two examples to claim Microsoft wants Google to force us to buy Microsoft software is weak, to say the least. Microsoft wants to build its own search engine not to control information but because search is worth millions of dollars in advertising. (permalink to this item)

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Microsoft’s Internet Search Push Worries Google, Yahoo
Dow Jones, Nov. 10. 2003
http://biz.yahoo.com/djus/031110/1411001190_2.html

Some nice color here of Microsoft making the decision to get serious about search back in February, with the sign-off going up to Bill Gates.

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SEO Confusion: Keywords by Page or Site?
High Rankings Advisor, Nov. 10, 2003
http://www.searchengineguide.com/whalen/2003/1110_jw1.html

With crawler listings, each page stands on its own merits, apart from others in your site.

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What Search Engine Marketing Does Your Site Need?
ClickZ, Nov. 10, 2003
http://www.clickz.com/search/results/article.php/3105241

Search engine advertising is different than search engine optimization — with in turn is different from other types of listings you might obtain. A rundown on major types of listings out there.

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Overture, SLI to power NBC search
News.com, Nov. 10, 2003
http://news.com.com/2100-1024_3-5104699.html

NBC has cut a new deal with Overture to place paid listings on NBC.com and BravoTV.com. The company is also to use technology from SLI to refine results and present related searches links. SLI’s technology used to do the same thing back when NBCi operated as a portal. The technology was previously sold by GlobalBrain to NBCi. SLI, involving the same principals from GlobalBrain, bought the technology back.

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Search firms move toward full service
BToB, Nov. 10, 2003
http://www.btobonline.com/cgi-bin/article.pl?id=11878

A look at changes happening among search engine marketing companies, how new services are being added and how companies are shaping themselves to adjust to new offerings from search engines — including search engines positioning themselves as SEM companies.

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Let Google belong to the world – not to Microsoft
The Observer, Nov. 9, 2003
http://media.guardian.co.uk/newmedia/comment/0,7496,1080776,00.html

Memories are short. In this article, we learn that the internet chronology is divided into BG (before Google) and AG. As I’ve written many times before, Google deserves a huge amount of credit for raising the state of search quality. But you can add some more periods of history.

How about BY, which is Before Yahoo? Before Yahoo (early 1994), locating things on the web was very difficult. The service still remains a recognizable search brand today because of the great assistance is added in finding things. Then there’s BA, for Before AltaVista. When that service burst onto the scene fully in 1996, many people reacted just as they reacted to Google, praising AltaVista for helping them make sense of the web in an entirely new way.

Some fear Microsoft’s push into search, as if that will be the ruination of everything. Not me. The more strong players we have, the better.

========================

Ask Jeeves chief says new exec team ready for future
Contra Costa Times, Nov. 9, 2003
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/business/7220457.htm

Q&A with Ask Jeeves president and future CEO Steve Berkowitz, covering staying profitable, growing the company, trying to gain market share from the big four: Google, Yahoo, AOL and MSN, examining search behavior to provide better search results and other topics.

========================

The SEM Shakeout: Are You Ready?
ClickZ, Nov. 7, 2003
http://www.clickz.com/search/strat/article.php/3105461

As more are attracted to search marketing, competition and prices are growing. Kevin Lee offers tips to ensure you stay ahead in the game.

========================

The searchers: Google Japan
Japan Today, Nov. 7, 2003
http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=executive&id=135

A look at Google’s activities in Japan.

========================

The Google Deskbar
Pandia, Nov. 7, 2003
http://www.pandia.com/sw-2003/45-deskbar.html

Pandia provides an overview of features in the new Google Deskbar, especially the ability to use keyboard shortcuts to search and reasons why you may want search outside your browser.

========================

Google Plops Its Search on the Desktop
InternetNews.com, Nov. 6, 2003
http://www.internetnews.com/IAR/article.php/3105641

Has comments from me about Google’s move from the browser and onto the desktop.

========================

Google trawls chat
The Register, Nov. 6, 2003
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/33835.html

Scroll past the long intro to the meat of the story: Google is apparently experimenting with indexing conversations happening on Internet Relay Chat servers.

========================

What Shopping Guides Don’t Advertise
BizReport, Nov. 6, 2003
http://www.bizreport.com/article.php?art_id=5449

Shopping search engines are a great idea — but if you have concerns over paid content in ordinary search engines, you might be shocked to learn that paid participation is even stronger and less obvious in the shopping space. This review found a lack of disclosure with some and explores the various mechanisms that merchants pay to be involved.

========================

Down the Pub with : Brett Tabke WebmasterWorld
SearchEngineBlog.com, November 2003
http://www.searchengineblog.com/interviews/down_the_pub_brett_tabke.htm

Q&A with WebmasterWorld.com founder Brett Tabke, on developments with the increasingly popular site for search engine and webmaster-related news and the industry in general.

========================

Dont panic yet, human news editors. Google News settles in.
Newsknife, November 2003
http://www.newsknife.com/features/google_news_trend.html

After monitoring Google News for nearly a year, Newsknife determines it’s very good, but human compiled news sites still have an edge.

========================

Schmoozing with the Enemy
FastCompany, November 2003
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/76/dispatch.html

For two years running, Google’s now hosted a “Google Dance,” an off-site party for attendees of the Search Engine Strategies conference when held in California. This color piece looks at the event and how Google is reaching out to entice potential advertisers but pokes fun that some “bad guys” might be in attendance, as well.

Fair enough, but plenty of search engine marketers are pretty sick and tired of being cast as some type of “enemy.” No one suggests that most PR professionals are the “enemy” of the media. Indeed, many reporters can find a good PR person very useful in constructing stories. The same is true with search engines.

A good search engine marketer understands there are paid ways and non-paid ways to get good coverage for their clients. And there are indeed plenty of good marketers who go after the unpaid ways that are acceptable and don’t hurt search engine relevancy.

=========================
Search Engine Resources
=========================

Page and Brin’s Blog
http://searchguild.com/googleblog/

Even devoted Google loyalists will probably have a chuckle at this fictional web log.

=========================

GoogleRace
http://www.googlerace.com/

Who’s winning hearts and minds in the upcoming US presidential campaign? Enter a keyword, and see how the candidates stack up based on Google data. I’m sure if I studied the methodology, I’d understand why Joe Lieberman is ranked number one for “prayer” while John Kerry is top ranked for “farms.” Or maybe I wouldn’t. It’s always dangerous to use search engine counts to make definitive statements about popularity. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun with the site!

=========================

Search Engine Decoder
http://www.search-this.com/search_engine_decoder.asp

I’ve never tried to create a gee-whiz visual chart of search engine relationships, because I’ve always found the crossing over of arrows pointing here and there make such charts unusable. They look cool, but an Edward Tufte-style simple table is actually more useful. To find mine, see https://www.searchenginewatch.com/webmasters/article.php/2167981. But for a new twist on the graphical version, see the Search Engine Decoder, above. It succeeds because selecting any particular search engine shows relationships only for that search engine.

=========================

Shopping.com Consumer Demand Index
http://www.shopping.com/CDI/cdi.cmp

See what people are searching for at Shopping.com. Watch how the number of turkey fryer searches skyrockets as Thanksgiving in the US approached!

=========================

AdSubtract
http://www.adsubtract.com/beta/

You’ve seen pop-up blocking software — even the Google Toolbar will do this for you. But here’s something I’ve never seen before, software designed to block paid listings on search engines.

================================
About The Search Engine Report
================================

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