Below, a recap of stories posted today to the Search Engine Watch Blog, along
with other items we’ve spotted but not blogged separately:
From The SEW Blog…
- Daily
SearchCast, July 25, 2006: Report Says Google’s Click Fraud Practices
“Reasonable;” Few Opposed Proposed Google Click Fraud Settlement; Tracking
Packages Via Search; Getting Real-Time Traffic Info & More!
Today’s search podcast covers an independent report finding Google’s click
fraud practices to be “reasonable,” few object to Google’s proposed click
fraud settlement; Google’s “wow” versus Yahoo’s “consistency” in terms of
product development; tracking packages via search engines; getting live
traffic reports via maps and more! - The
Abridged Version: Independent Report On Google’s Click Fraud Detection
Practices
Last Friday, an independent report on how Google deals with click fraud was
published as part of the ongoing Lane’s Gifts v. Google class action lawsuit
over click fraud. To my knowledge, it is the most comprehensive, detailed
public look into how Google deals with click fraud that’s ever come out. It
finds that Google’s efforts to combat the issue have been reasonable, though
there are some eyebrow raising bits on how the author only finds the situation
was in control by the end of 2005 and how it’s impossible to fully know
whether some clicks are invalid — and… - Detailed
Look into the Google AdWords Landing Page Algo
The Google AdWords landing page algo changes this month have resulted in many
advertisers sitting up and thinking about quality issues beyond their ad copy,
and looking more closely at their landing pages. I caught up with Google to
get specifics on how the algo works, including just how they decided what made
a good landing page versus what didn’t when they created their algo. I also
have ten best practices for advertisers needing to improve landing page
quality. The full length SEW subscribers article is here. A shorter (but
free!) version is here. Want to share your own best…
Real-Time Traffic From Google Maps Mobile
Google Maps has rolled out a new mobile version offering real-time traffic
information in 30 US cities. The service also offers directions designed for
those who are walking, in addition to driving….- Yahoo
Invests In Social Search Research
Reuters reports Yahoo hired Dr. Raghu Ramakrishnan, as vice president and
Yahoo research fellow. Dr. Ramakrishnan is a well-respect database expert who
has joined Yahoo to study “links between computer and human-aided Web search.”
Honestly, I am excited what this can potentially mean for social search. Yahoo
has so many properties that can be tightly integrated with social search;
Flickr, Del.io.us, Yahoo Mail, Yahoo Video, web search, desktop search, Yahoo
Groups and so on….
Librarians And Google: Tips Of The Trade
Google attended the ALA Conference in New Orleans and produced a video
entitled Tips of the Trade together with some additional text only tips from
librarians and other information professionals. It’s a shame that Google
limited participation to American librarians, but it was explained to me that
there would have been technical and legal problems with filming librarians
from other countries (though that doesn’t explain why they couldn’t have added
in anecdotes from them; a lovely opportunity to draw together and share global
experiences). However this is perhaps carping; it’s good to see a search
engine (other than Ask who…- Yahoo &
Symantec To Offer “New Security Offerings”
News.com reports that Symantec and Yahoo will be announcing a “new security
offering” sometime today. News.com says this partnership will “improve online
security for consumers.” But honestly, I have no more details. Is it email
focused? Web search focused? Is it desktop focused? We don’t know as of yet.
So stay tuned….
SuperPages Buys Inceptor
As reported in ClickZ today, SuperPages, which is itself up for sale, has
acquired SEM firm Inceptor for an undisclosed amount. Verizon has been the
most forward thinking and acting of the yellow pages publishers when it comes
to offering performance-based products and leveraging search. This acquisition
gives SuperPages more range in what it can offer and how the company can
implement it — and brings that cost in house. For more on this deal see my
blog post….- Daily
SearchCast, July 21, 2006: Google’s Great Second Quarter Results; MSN Revenue
Down; RSS Feeds For Ask Smart Answers And Google Base Results & More!
Friday’s search podcast covers Google’s great second quarter results; MSN’s
revenues decline; Windows Live Local deserving a second look; RSS feeds for
Ask Smart Answers and Google Base results and more!
Headlines & News From Elsewhere
- Do you know the
way to SES San Jose 2006?, Matt Cutts - Let’s Get this San
Jose Party Started, SEOmoz
SES San Jose ’06 Party Thread, Search Engine Roundtable- Digg
Labs Launched, Google Blogoscoped - Yahoo
Local UK, Germany Launched, Google Blogoscoped
Treffiletti Returns To Agency World, Eschews Big Shop For Digital Boutique,
MediaPost
Carat Expands Search Team, MediaPost
Microsoft adCenter Daily Stats Back To Normal, Search Engine Roundtable- londonseo.org – Party time
again, Threadwatch - New Google service for
developers, Googling Google
Search 2.0 vs Traditional Search, Part 2, Read/WriteWeb- Google
Financial Data Visualized, Google Blogoscoped
Forecast: Online to
Reach 9 Percent Share of Ad Spend in 2011, ClickZ
Marchex Launches Local Ad Network On Open List, MediaPost- Top 100 Digg Users
Control 56% of Digg’s HomePage Content, SEOmoz - How
Many Google Talk?rs Really?, GigaOM
Instant Messaging and Trashing Google, TechCrunch- Why Is
Stormfront.org Missing in Google Germany?, Google Blogoscoped
Domain Name Kiting: spammers exploiting domain reg, Boing Boing- Missy’s
Blogathon, Google Blogoscoped
International search landscape, Niall Kennedy- Where’s
Nathan Weinberg?, Google Blogoscoped
Smart site owners are getting huge traffic from Netscape–they are also
becoming the top users, Jason Calacanis
Online Dating 2.0: Thirteen Sites To Find Love, TechCrunch- Fair Use,
Fair Game, Traffick - Business.com’s “No Follow”
Policy Revision, Threadwatch - Where’s The Mother
of all Links, Eric Ward