The following was posted within the past 24 hours and taken from top Internet Marketing experts.
Threadwatch.org - Less Noise - More Signal New Search Technologies Forum Launched (Thursday, February 17, 01:46 AM EST)
SEOChat have launched a new Search Technologies Forum and Randfish is moderating - Rand thinks that i think he's a prat, but he's only half right, one of his recent posts (i forget where) inspired me to rant on about what i see as useless posturing on IR, but it's not limited to just him :-)
Congratulation to Rand then, who does make a compelling argument for the Value of Search Technology & IR Research Papers to the Common SEO in his inaugural post as mod there...
There, im not a total bastard ok? heh...
IE7 - It ain't about Firefox, it's about Search! (Thursday, February 17, 01:07 AM EST)
Jupiters David Card points out the patently obvious (though it does need saying) about IE7 - it's got very little to do with Firefox, it's all about Search:
Make no mistake though, this move ain't about Firefox. Well not much. Rather, it's an attempted preemptive strike at Google and, maybe, Yahoo. (And AOL, of course.) It's about sticky apps that blend in desktop search and link to preferred search engines. Personally, I'm not sold on integrating desktop search with Web search for consumers, but that doesn't matter. The competitors all are.
Whether it's a beta or not, IE 7 is about Microsoft getting a new browser into consumer hands - XP users anyway - at least a year before the first one starts using Longhorn. Finally, Microsoft has acknowledged it can't afford to have a sub-par application in users' faces every day because its dev cycle is in lockstep with that of an OS.
2005 was already shaping up to be a hot year in Search and with IE7 on it's way it's set to get hotter...
Cookies cut from Spyware Act (Thursday, February 17, 12:47 AM EST)
At the start of the month we reported that cookies were to be cut from the Spyware Act - It has now been made official:
With little fuss and no debate, a House subcommittee today amended an anti-spyware bill to clarify that the legislation does not cover third-party cookies.
Good news for marketers everywhere...
Opera's Mobile Platform goes Orange (Thursday, February 17, 12:35 AM EST)
The Register report that Opera have teamed up with Orange to work on the mobile interface we reported on last week.
Opera said the customisable browser will make it easier for mobile phone users to access data services, and so drive data revenue for mobile operators. Essentially, the browser becomes the mobile phone's interface, and can be configured according to the whims of the operator. Subscriptions to news tickers, RSS feeds, weather data and email can all be fed directly to the "front page", and, Opera said, phone users will be able to access the web more easily from their handset.
It's very heartening to see Opera dusting itself off from the browser battles and for all appearances, finding itself a niche in which to better deploy all that talent. I know they're not out of the Browser game, but man, with FF hitting 25M downloads this week they really do look like the poor relative...
Adwords Impression Spamming (Thursday, February 17, 12:28 AM EST)
Here's something i saw mentioned a little while back and never got to post, fortunately revenews point out a good article that covers the topic very well. Forget click fraud, get a load of [i]impression fraud[/]
An AdWords fraudster will toggle Off his own PPC adverts, then repeatedly query Google to bring up the results page which will display your PPC advert. By making sure that your advert is displayed many times but not clicked, the activity causes your CTR (click-through rate) to fall rapidly and dramatically and this results in Google disabling your Campaign. Since Google ranks the AdWords ads according to a formula comprised of both click-through rate and bid price, the fraudster succeeds in obtaining the same or better positioning for his own advert for a lower bid-price (once they toggle their ad back On), since your click-through rate has been artificially reduced.
Has anyone suffered from this, or know anything more about it?
Vomit Marketing (Wednesday, February 16, 11:37 PM EST)
Not being one for Valentines day, or silly video's i kinda missed this bit of vomit marketing - turn out that vintage crooner Brian Adams was behind it, promoting his new album. as Adrants points out it's a pretty odd way to promote anything.
However, it did apparently go massively viral, and it is cool, if you've not seen it check it out...
Mamma is in trouble... (Wednesday, February 16, 11:06 PM EST)
The Mamma Search engine has lost its auditor and is
"unlikely" to present 2004 financial results before the March 31 deadline set by Canadian securities rules
Mamma has already been under investigation by U.S. SEC since April and today's news has sent its stock tumbling by over 30%. It doesn't look good for the Mamma of all Search Engines.
Google launch Version 3 of the Toolbar (Wednesday, February 16, 07:01 PM EST)
Yup, version 3 of the Google Toolbar has been launched. I haven't looked at it yet but CNet are reporting the following:
Version 3 of the software also lets people automatically check their spelling in Web forms; translate words in English into several languages; and add Web links to certain plain text. For example, an address could be enhanced with a hypertext link to its location on a map, with the click of a button on the toolbar.
Driving Directions straight to your phone from Yahoo (Wednesday, February 16, 07:29 PM EST)
It's a pity it's US and CA only but Yahoo are now sending driving directions to your phone via SMS.
Imagine this true story, you're a poor SEOing Brit lost in the depths of Ontario in a horrendous storm and you have no f*&$ing idea where you are. You drive around for hours looking for what might be a landmark, a sign or (hopefully) a person who could help out.
None were found, just fields of corn and the odd animal.
If Yahoo had launched this a few years ago that poor little lost Brit could have opened his phone, started a GPRS session, entered a WAP browser and had details to get him home sent to him.
Ahhh if only......
Anyway, well done Yahoo, just launch it for Europe. We get lost too !!!
Yahoo to stream live TV (Wednesday, February 16, 06:45 PM EST)
Yahoo are getting into the real tv biz.
More later, but for now....
The first episode of "Fat Actress," a new Showtime comedy series, will be streamed on Yahoo at the same time it debuts on television, the two companies said Wednesday.
Threadwatch to Build Killer Link Analysis Tool, Give it Away Free (Thursday, February 17, 01:08 AM EST)
Threadwatch, thanks to major sponsorship from Text Link Ads Inc will be building the link analysis tool to end all link analysis tools.
Here's how it works:
- TLA pay for the initial development
- JasonD and DaveN provide the programming and technical expertise respectively
- We ask you what features you want in a dream link analysis tool
- We build it, based on your input
- We give it away for FREE
Follow the title link for more...
Google and VNU do Adwords Deal (Wednesday, February 16, 05:56 PM EST)
A huge catch for Google gaining the huge publishers online real estate as home for their Adverts.
Details of the deal are being kept quite but I can imagine VNU getting the lion's share of the income.
As part of the deal, Google's targeted, text-based ads are appearing on the sites of publications including Adweek, Billboard, Hollywood Reporter, National Jeweler, Progressive Grocer and Successful Meetings. European titles covered in the deal include Accountancy Age, Computable, Computing and IT Week, the companies said
Jeeves to run Adwords Clone [lies lies lies...] (Wednesday, February 16, 08:04 PM EST)
UPDATE: Andy Beal is wiping a little egg of his face and i'd imagine that Enhance are busy backpeddling for all it's worth wih an angry Jeeves Rep about now. Apparently this was "creative wording" - Which means it's all bollocks.
SEL bring us news of a team up for Ask with Enhance Interactive:
According to an email being sent out by Enhance's account controllers, the paid search company has joined forces with Ask Jeeves, to offer any alternative to Google
from the email in question:
"We are happy to announce our new partnership with Ask Jeeves, Inc. This partnership allows Enhance.com advertisers to deliver contextually targeted, relevant ads that visually involve users and help express the value of their product or service. "
More as it happens...
Google Adwords & Spyware - Trust and Responsibility (Wednesday, February 16, 01:35 PM EST)
There was some hoohah a little while back about Google Adwords being used to promote malicious spyware, now dow jones columnist jeremy wagstaff asks Should We Trust Google's Sponsored Links? and follows up with More On Trusting Google's Sponsored Links
In his first post he talks about some particular companies coming up for spyware removal type queries that appear, to want to install spyware! and the follow up goes on to recount a conversation with Ben Edelman, somewhat of a spyware expert:
Ben’s advice to users interested in a sponsored link:
- Do not trust sponsored links as to spyware removal applications;
- Do not trust sponsored links too much in general. For some keywords, merchants and sites are self-authenticating -- clearly ford.com is who it is. But don't take presence on the sponsored link list as a good indicator of trustworthiness. Sponsored links can be bought. In contrast, Google's organic results (the ones at the left of Google search results) are not for sale. The organic results can (mostly) only be earned by putting up good web sites and getting others to link to those sites.
I asked him, whether it was his impression that rogue anti-spy is a growing industry, or more generally, software that claims to do one thing, but does another (instead of, or in addition)?
Ben’s answer: Yes. and those who need/seek spyware removal are, demonstrably, at particular risk of being taken advantage of. They've already been taken advantage of, may be easier to trick gain. [They] are feeling vulnerable, in a hurry to get software to fix their problems etc
Now, we know that Google have somewhat of a reputation for avoiding blame on things such as Google News throwing up bogus or harmful stories by claiming that it's just an algorithm, but what about when it comes to harmful Adwords, when they accept $$$'s for an ad that turns out to be damaging to users?
Yahoo to open Dublin office (Wednesday, February 16, 01:16 PM EST)
The American Internet firm Yahoo! is to locate its European headquarters in Dublin with the creation of almost 400 new jobs over the next five years.
The jobs created will be involved with these areas:
- Financial
- Customer Service and
- Web Hosting
Search Engine RoundtableAsk Not to Replace Google with Enhance (Wednesday, February 16, 08:40 PM EST) Lots of rumors about Ask Jeeves Joins Forces with Enhance to Offer Google AdWords Alternative, which turn out to be false. Big no no on Enhance's part?.?.... Google Toolbar 3 (Wednesday, February 16, 08:31 PM EST) I don't have much to say about this. I was chatting with a few folks about this, who will remain nameless, and this is what they had to say about it. my life is complete! the new google toolbar is... William Hung, of American Idol in Ask Jeeves Commercial Tonight (Wednesday, February 16, 07:16 PM EST) Whenever i see this guy William Hung of American Idol, I laugh. Ask Jeeves, according the the AJ Blog, will be airing a commercial during tonight American Idol, that stars William Hung. To see the commercial click on the image... Threadwatch in Conjunction with Text Link Ads to Build "Killer" Link Analysis Tool (Wednesday, February 16, 06:58 PM EST) I think Text Link Ads is an incredibly smart company when it comes to marketing. Not just because they are a long time sponsor of this site, but also because they are one of the most visible companies in the... Get Your Web Directory Ranking in Google (Wednesday, February 16, 03:23 PM EST) You don't often see threads that discuss how to get more Web directories in the Google SERPs. Often, you see threads complaining about how there are too many Web directories cluttering up the results. A thread at WebmasterWorld named Keeping... Google PageRank Basics Thread (Wednesday, February 16, 02:59 PM EST) There is nothing like a fresh thread on some up-to-date information on the basics of Google's PageRank to make me smile. A new thread at WebmasterWorld, which was featured right away, under the title of Google PR Basics, answers many... Google Returning a 403 Forbidden (Wednesday, February 16, 02:44 PM EST) A 403 Forbidden is not accident according to the W3.org; The server understood the request, but is refusing to fulfill it. Authorization will not help and the request SHOULD NOT be repeated. If the request method was not HEAD and... Duplicate Content - Resellers Ranking Higher (Wednesday, February 16, 02:02 PM EST) Specifically with Google, how does Google handle duplicate content from around the Web? It happens all the time. For example, your or I write an article, the article is then syndicated on sites like SEOToday.com, SearchEngineJournal.com, SearchEngineWatch.com, and the New... The SEO Contract (Wednesday, February 16, 01:30 PM EST) I admit, I no very little about contracts when it comes to SEO jobs. I do not sell "SEO Services", I do not offer "guaranteed positions" and I don't pitch that I will rank your pages in the top results....
SEO Book.com
Search Engine Guide Daily NewsCorporate SEM FAQ (Thursday, February 17, 12:56 AM EST) (Direct Link) Source: ClickZ - What you've always wanted to know about being, working with, or working for an in-house SEM specialist.... Mamma.com Loses Another Friend (Thursday, February 17, 12:52 AM EST) (Direct Link) Source: TheStreet.com - Internet search engine Mamma.com is looking for a new auditor following a dispute over an internal investigation into the company's possible ties to a stock promoter.... Showtime program available on Yahoo (Thursday, February 17, 12:39 AM EST) (Direct Link) Source: News.com - The first episode of "Fat Actress," a new Showtime comedy series, will be streamed on Yahoo at the same time it debuts on television, the two companies said Wednesday.... What, Exactly, is Search Engine Spam? (Thursday, February 17, 12:30 AM EST) (Direct Link) Source: SearchDay - There's a subtle boundary that separates acceptable search engine optimization practices from the shadier techniques used by spammers. How can you recognize the difference between white-hat and black-hat techniques?... Can Searchers Predict Oscar Gold? (Thursday, February 17, 12:07 AM EST) (Direct Link) Source: Search Engine Guide - If online search activity is any indicator of who will take home the Oscar later this month, then a little bit of online research can give you a heads up on the winners.... Google Introduces New Toolbar Features (Thursday, February 17, 12:05 AM EST) (Direct Link) Source: Search Engine Guide - Google released a new beta version of its popular toolbar software this morning that adds some handy new features including a translation tool, an autolink feature and an integrated spell checker.... Keyword Themes And Google (Wednesday, February 16, 10:37 PM EST) (Direct Link) Source: High Rankings Forum - "Does a site with only a few pages stand a chance in showing up in the top ten if there is a high PR, a lot of high-quality backlinks, and decent optimization but it has... Why Search Engine Marketing Has A Passion for Web Site Usability (Wednesday, February 16, 03:13 PM EST) (Direct Link) Source: Small Business Ideas Forum - "Usability isn't just ease of use. It's the whole user experience. A persuasive design anticipates users needs, and provides responses to those needs, and helps search engines deliver relevant answers to people's questions."...
Search Engine News JournalInternet Explorer 7 - The Empire Strikes Back (Wednesday, February 16, 01:43 PM EST) Internet Explorer 7 - The Empire Strikes Back
It was very much wanted but no one expected it to appear like this. Looks like a direct result of the Firefox effect on the Microsoft’s strategy as the software giant woke up and noticed that people have started moving on to a ... Ask Jeeves Meets with Mozilla Firefox (Wednesday, February 16, 01:36 PM EST) Ask Jeeves Meets with Mozilla Firefox
Google is not the only search company which is cuddling up to Mozilla's Firefox (albeit the only one which is outright hiring its developers), Ask Jeeves has put its foot into the Firefox door by offering to work with firefox to develop ways to for ... Annodex Video Search Plugin for FireFox (Wednesday, February 16, 01:21 PM EST) Annodex Video Search Plugin for FireFox
Video Search has been pioneered by SingingFish, Yahoo, and Blinkx, but is now taken to a moe functional level with CSIRO's development of the Annodex Video Search - an interactive plugin for browsing through webs of video. The Annodex plugin for Mozilla Firefox gives users ...
MarketingVOX - The Voice of Online MarketingWPP Launches Own Search Engine Marketing Firm (Wednesday, February 16, 02:21 PM EST) WPP said it was carving out its own search engine marketing unit, to be called mSearch. Providing consulting, paid placement buying and managing and search engine optimization, the new group will...
[summary] Eziba's Colossal DM Mistake Bankrupts Firm (Wednesday, February 16, 01:21 PM EST) Eziba's botched attempt to get into the paper catalog channel, diversifying from its e-commerce roots, bankrupted the firm, according to DM News. After separating out the likely buyers and unlikely...
[summary] Microsoft: Oops, Maybe IE Isn't so Inseparable (Wednesday, February 16, 01:21 PM EST) After insisting that Internet Explorer was inseparable from Microsoft Windows during antitrust hearings, Microsoft reversed itself, saying that it would indeed release a separate version of IE in...
[summary] Google Reaches for B-to-B Market (Wednesday, February 16, 01:18 PM EST) Hoping to head off business search competitor Quigo at the vertical market pass, Google made a fanfare about its new agreement to have vertical trade publication network VNU use its AdWords...
[summary] New Search Fraud Method: 'Impression Spam' (Wednesday, February 16, 12:29 PM EST) ReveNews points to a new form of search engine marketing fraud, where competitors temporarily turn their own campaigns off and then flood certain keywords with thousands of searches. The many...
[summary] SmartBargains IPO Off (Wednesday, February 16, 12:28 PM EST) After reducing losses but failing to post a profit in 2004, SmartBargains announced it will cancel its proposed initial public offering. Just a few weeks ago the firm bumped its CEO up into the...
[summary] Net May Lose Political Ad Special Status (Wednesday, February 16, 12:28 PM EST) The web may soon face the same political advertising spending limitations placed upon other media in the 2002 McCain-Feingold reforms. Many pundits at first thought the internet to be a major...
[summary] London Soaks Up Half of U.K. Banner Traffic (Wednesday, February 16, 12:21 PM EST) NetImperative reports that the U.K.'s internet use is enormously skewed to its capital city London. Studying just where ads are appearing when they pop up on British screens, NetImperative found that...
[summary] UnsubCentral to Provide List Scrubbing for Mobiles (Wednesday, February 16, 11:28 AM EST) Email list suppression firm UnsubCentral announced it now can scrub email lists of those domains the Federal Communications Commission rendered forbidden last week. The FCC deemed the list mobile...
[summary] Florida Wife Loses Spyware Case (Wednesday, February 16, 11:20 AM EST) A Florida court ruled that a woman broke the law by installing spyware on her soon-to-be ex-husband's computer, according to CNET. Using electronic communications intercept laws, the judges held...
[summary] Audible to Launch Wireless Division, Invade Europe (Wednesday, February 16, 11:20 AM EST) Audio content e-commerce firm Audible announced very rosy financial figures for the past quarter, showing a 78 percent increase in revenues and announcing several ambitious new efforts. Audible will...
[summary] News Corp Execs Discover Internet (Wednesday, February 16, 10:28 AM EST) Executives from Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, the owner of the Fox network, are teeming into New York City today to brainstorm on how to better address the internet, according to Brand...
[summary] Google Reaches for B-to-B Market (Wednesday, February 16, 01:18 PM EST) Hoping to head off business search competitor Quigo at the vertical market pass, Google made a fanfare about its new agreement to have vertical trade publication network VNU use its AdWords system. Google's director of B-to-B said that the search engine has the "depth of advertisers" to provide relevant ads for each of the publications' topics. VNU, publisher of marketing books AdWeek, BrandWeek and MediaWeek, among many others, has not yet been able to sell online display advertising on its websites as successfully as it has in print. Interestingly, other trade magazines in the same space have recently dropped AdWords placements in favor of the typically higher revenue generated from the display advertising they sell themselves. SmartBargains IPO Off (Wednesday, February 16, 12:28 PM EST) After reducing losses but failing to post a profit in 2004, SmartBargains announced it will cancel its proposed initial public offering. Just a few weeks ago the firm bumped its CEO up into the board and replaced him with board member Jim Held. SmartBargains revenues grew 22 percent to $92.2 million in 2004, posting a loss of $1.4 million. UnsubCentral to Provide List Scrubbing for Mobiles (Wednesday, February 16, 11:28 AM EST) Email list suppression firm UnsubCentral announced it now can scrub email lists of those domains the Federal Communications Commission rendered forbidden last week. The FCC deemed the list mobile domains, meaning that people cannot send commercial email to them unless they've been given explicit permission from the recipient. UnsubCentral's Affiliate Manager application helps marketers keep tabs on suppression lists and verifies that unsubscribe requests have been properly noted. The firm boasts Advertising.com, Commission Junction and RealNetworks as clients. [More...] Florida Wife Loses Spyware Case (Wednesday, February 16, 11:20 AM EST) A Florida court ruled that a woman broke the law by installing spyware on her soon-to-be ex-husband's computer, according to CNET. Using electronic communications intercept laws, the judges held that any chats recorded by the woman would not be admissible in her divorce proceedings. Businesses (and wives) have been allowed to access and use log files in court proceedings, but the deliberate installation of keyloggers and other forms of spyware was judged to have constituted an "intentional intercept," which is forbidden. News Corp Execs Discover Internet (Wednesday, February 16, 10:28 AM EST) Executives from Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, the owner of the Fox network, are teeming into New York City today to brainstorm on how to better address the internet, according to Brand Republic. Murdoch's media outlets have been slower than their rivals in grabbing online marketshare.
ABAKUS Search Engine Marketing SEO BlogGoogle Toolbar 3 (Wednesday, February 16, 08:22 PM EST) Just saw that on WMW!
http://www.toolbar.google.com/T3/index
Search Engine News BlogYahoo Launches Local Search BETA (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) Lycos Sells to Korean Internet Portal (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) Google Launches Bidding Site (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) Search Engine Marketing Organization Cops Criticism (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) MSN Previews New Search Engine (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST)
Search Engine News :: Search Engine LowdownBill Gates' Microsoft in "Battle" with Google (Thursday, February 17, 03:48 AM EST) ABC's Peter Jennings tonight interviewed Microsoft founder, Bill Gates. Gates offers his thoughts on a number of topics, including the challenges it faces trying to compete with Google.
"Well, I have a meeting today with our people doing search. And that Ask Jeeves States "Enhance is Not a Customer" (Wednesday, February 16, 10:12 PM EST) It seems the guys over at Enhance, used some creative license in their email claiming a new "partnership" with Ask Jeeves.
"We are happy to announce our new partnership with Ask Jeeves, Inc. This partnership allows Enhance.com advertisers to deliver cont Google Releases New Toolbar, But Not for Safari or Firefox (Wednesday, February 16, 07:35 PM EST) CNet has all the details you need on Google's Version 3 of their popular toolbar.
Version 3 of the software also lets people automatically check their spelling in Web forms; translate words in English into several languages; and add Web links to certai Microsoft Announces New Internet Explorer (Wednesday, February 16, 03:11 PM EST) Susan Kuchinskas takes a look at the recent announcement by Microsoft, that they will be launching IE 7.0 soon. She questions whether the new browser will include an integrated MSN Search toolbar.
There's another good reason why Microsoft should do more Ask Jeeves Joins Forces with Enhance to Offer Google AdWords Alternative (Wednesday, February 16, 03:03 PM EST) We have an update on this story, here.
EXCLUSIVE...According to an email being sent out by Enhance's account controllers, the paid search company has joined forces with Ask Jeeves, to offer any alternative to Google AdWords.
Here's the email...
"We are Yahoo Opens European Headquarters in Dublin (Wednesday, February 16, 02:44 PM EST) According to FT.com, Yahoo, attracted by Ireland's low corporate tax rate of 12.5 per cent and availability of data centers, has set up European operations in Dublin.
Google WeblogGoogle Toolbar 3 beta (Wednesday, February 16, 08:35 PM EST) Google Toolbar 3 beta. Google writes: SpellCheck: Whenever users type into a web form (including web-based email, discussion forums, and intranet web applications), SpellCheck instantly reviews and suggests corrections. The AutoFix option enables users to automatically check and correct all the text they're entering with one click. AutoLink: Whenever users see a U.S. address on a web page, one click on AutoLink automatically links the address to an online map. For example, if users are reading a review of a new restaurant, clicking on AutoLink will turn its address into a link to a map, complete with directions. AutoLink also links package tracking numbers to pages displaying that package's delivery status and other useful information, such as Vehicle Identification Numbers (VIN) and Publication ISBN numbers. WordTranslator: This feature translates words from English web pages into one of 8 other languages. Hover the cursor over a word and Google Toolbar's WordTranslator feature displays the word in French, Italian, German, Spanish, Chinese (simplified and traditional), Japanese, or Korean. International verison coming soon....
The Unofficial Google WeblogBulk Gmail Invitations (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) Each of the two Gmail accounts in this household now has 50 invitations available to it, and I hear the same thing from other users. I don't know how many Gmail accounts currently exist, but it does seem like multiplying that u8nknown number by 50, and bestowing a handful of invitations on each new account, would saturate the market pretty effectively. So what's stopping Google from taking this service out of beta and opening it to the public? With Gmail effectively open to anyone Vanity Googling in the Afterlife (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) Responding to a competition for most innovative burial urn, artist David Sullivan has created an interactive tombstone called the Ego Machine that contains a processor 9and would, if Sullivan were dead, also contain his cremated remains). The Ego Machine uses Google to continually scour the Web for references to Sullivan--a kind of virtual immortality. On canstant display is an image of Sullivan, which ages or rejuvenates depending on Sullivan's presence in Google. More references, The "Pizza in Redmond" Fiasco (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) Talk about marketing that backfires. (Not that we were.) Microsoft placed billboard and banner ads around Redmond suggesting a search for "Pizza in Redmond." Todd Bishop of SeattlePI took the challenge, going so far as to compare results in MSN Search with those in Google, Yahoo!, and Ask Jeeves. wouldn't you know it, MSN returned the least useful local results. The first result of a local search for that key phrase was a site for janitorial supplies. Yikes. Now this story is Who Draws the Maps? (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) Thanks to SEW for pointing to this Newsweek piece about the army of mappers at two companies that own a dupoloy on charting the maps thast go into Google and Yahoo!, not to mention GPS systems. You might think that satellite reconnaissance could do the job, but there is no substitute for hitting the road and taking notes. Of course, the A9 search engine is taking a different approach--hitting the road and taking pictures. Ask Jeeves Cozies Up to Mozilla (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) It's a little unclear where this is heading, but it is clearly motivated by the close relationship between the Mozilla Foundation and Google. Ask Jeeves is in talks with Mozilla about pooling resources on some level, possibly involving Jeeves's desktop search technology. The serch company also seems to be after a Jeeves-branded Mozilla browser. But it's the first possibility that catches my interest; I'd love to see what happens if the Mozilla developers get hold of fairly Blogging from DEMO (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) Not strictly on topic, but readers might want to check out our dedicated blog site for the DEMO new-tech conference happening right now. Our publisher, Jason Calacanis, and a couple of staff bloggers are putting up audio, video, and text impressions of the exhibition demos. It's a high-tech conference covered in high-tech style. Yahoo! Toolbar for Firefox ... Where is Google? (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) Showing far more initiative and hipness than Google is in the development of Google Toolbar, Yahoo! has released a Firefox beta of the Yahoo! Toolbar. It installs in a snap and has worked beautifully for me today. why is Google dragging its feet over porting its Toolbar to Firefox, especially considering its close relationship with Firefox? (Firefox 1.0 comes with Google as the default home page.) In-House Blog Coolness: Yahoo! vs. Google (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) Recently I've been struck by how much cooler, meatier, and more entertaining is the Yahoo! Search blog than the Google Blog - Live. I've ripped both from time to time, for one reason or another, but on balance, the Yahoo! search team makes Google look clueless about the spirit and utility of blogging. Look at last week. Google's blog posted two entries: one announcing an update to Google Images (which wouldn't be necessary if that index were updated more frequently; see here Google Blog Roundup (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) Kevin Savetz has created an uber-blog page of eight Google Weblogs and their recent entries. It's a nice setup--you can get a thorough summary in a glance. Google Hacking: Who Is Ultimately Responsible? (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) After another in a series of recent articles about Google hacking--using the depth of the Web index to find private information--TechDirt speculates that one day Google might be sued by an irate consumer who has been ripped off thanks to password or file-path information divulged by Google. Indeed, entire databases of effective Google hacks are being compiled. But Google can no more be blamed for the rampant info-spillage than the Internet as a whole can be. But many other litigation targets isnoop for Google Invites (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) Atill trying to get into Gmail? Has the seemingly unending stream of fresh invites somehow eluded you? You're not alone. isnoop does a brisk (free) trade in Gmail invitations donated by Gmail account-holders. You just fill in a simple form giving your e-mail address, and an invitation will be sent to you if one is available. The site recently claimed to have over a million; at the time of this post the number is down to about 140,000, and it fluctuates constantly. People are definitely Google Employee Fired Over Blog (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) Mark Jen worked at Google for a few weeks, and started a blog on his first day. He posted some mildly critical material. Some of it might have violated non-disclosure agreements. (That is pure speculation on my part, and nothing I've read indicates such violation.) word of his departure was not related to the blog at first, but now the news is confirmed: Mark Jen joins the growing list of employees fired for speaking publicly about their office environment or colleagues or contract REVIEW: Google Maps (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) This is a more leisurely assessment of Google Maps than I had time for in yesterday's announcement of the beta release. My overall impression of excellence has been strengthened by experience: Google Maps is stunning. The only graphic interface remotely challenging is Map24, an international system that uses an attractive Java applet, and which takes much longer to load. Comparison between Google Maps and Yahoo! Maps are painful to Yahoo!. Compare the two start pages first off: Yahoo! Maps Google Maps! (It Kicks Yahoo! Maps in the Groin) (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) Google Maps is out in beta, and it is remarkable. Impressive. Addictive. Slick. Extremely consumer-friendly. Time does not permit a full review at this moment, but I will post one within a day. In the meantime, go and play. Google maps FAQ Tour SEW announcement (nothing special) SEW review (Gary Price. Gary notes that map zooming cannot be accomplished by simple clicking on the map, but he might have missed a crucial fact: double-clicking on a map point reorients the map around that point. Google User Share Rising (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) Google's consumer market share took a beating in 2004, most notably when Yahoo! withdrew its licensing and switched on its own algorithms. A new study by OneStat.com indicates that Google's user share is on the up again, rising from 56.4 percent of all searches to 57.2 percent. Yahoo! held steady during the term of the study at 21.3 percent. SEC Ends Inquiry of Pre-IPO Information Leak (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) Remember the Playboy incident, in which an interview with Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin was published mere days before Google's initial public offering, seeming to violate the SEC's "quiet period" rules? Well, the SEC has ended its investigation, with no further comment to Google (so the company is presumably absolved), and the SEC plans to revise its pre-IPO rules tro cover similar situations in the future. Superbowl Advertisers Also Big on Search Advertising (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) John Markoff's article in the NY Times is a nice backgrounder of the search advertising industry, starting with Bill Gross's PPC innovations with GoTo.com in the mid-1990s. Markoff notes that several big buyers of Superbowl ads are also regular presences on search results pages. The big brand-recognition efforts still cost a fortune, while the lead-conversion methods have never been cheaper or more direct. The Google Atom Bomb (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) Much blog buzz about Tom Foremski's doomsday scenario for Google AdWords. A billionnaire (presumably Bill Gates in disguise) offers $100-million dollars to the first person who clicks through an unidentified AdWords ad. I suppose the landing page would exist in isolation with no incoming links, and would contain a form to fill out. Millions of people would take up ad-clicking as their new hobby, tromping through legitimate landing pages and hoping to stumble upon the winner. TechDirt points What is a Top-Ten Listing Worth (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) Adam Penenberg decided to quantify the answer to this question and reported his findings in a Wired News article. He collaborated with Oneupweb to conduct a study of traffic and conversion results of clients, before and after they cracked the top 30 Google listings for their keywords, and also the top 10. Many multiples of improvement transpired as each milestone was reached, proving that SEO really does work. GOOG Soars (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) Did I say something about the value of Google's quarterly report already having been priced into the stock? Yes, I believe I did. That's why I'm not making the big bucks as a financial analyst. Today, GOOG gapped up hugely, and is leveling out around 211. The stock has closed above 200 twice before--on January 3 and January 18--but has responded to the 200 level as a resistance point. They say that the third attack on a resistance le4vel makes it a support level,
Pandia Search CentralAbout.com is for sale (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) Google, Yahoo! and Ask Jeeves all want to buy About. News on Google Images and Google Maps (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) Google tests a new US Map service. Shell does some dodgy search engine optimization (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) Danish Shell hires a search engine optimization company that does not get it all right. Introducing the Yahoo Y!Q search tool (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) Highlight any text paragraphs you find interesting and ask Y!Q to find out what the text is about. Google switches to Answers.com (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) Google replaces Dictionary.com as its definition provider. Microsoft starts using the MSN search engine (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) MSN abandons Yahoo and switches to its own search engine. The Google Browser (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) Pandia believes Google is developing a Gbrowser. Google adds TV search (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) About the new Google Video beta test. Google's new 32 words limit (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) Google now allows as many as 32 words in search queries. New anti-spam tag (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) The search engine agrees on common HTML tag. AOL Search gets a face lift (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) AOL adds some features. Exalead gets a 1 billion document index (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) European Exalead is preparing an even larger index. MSN Search tests RSS feeds (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) MSN is alphatesting the possibility of displaying search results through RSS feeds. Yahoo's new desktop search software (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) Yahoo! Desktop Search lets you search your own computer. FexIT -- business oriented search service (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) Iceland has given us a new online business portal and search service. MSN's gradual transfer to new search engine (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) MSN is giving regular searchers some taste of its new search engine technology. Answers.com -- new free reference search service (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) GuruNet launches free search engine Gigablast now indexes 1 billion pages (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) The Gigablast search engine is growing Google to establish charity foundation (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) Google plans to establish a foundation this year based on 1 percent of its stock. Everything I know about web marketing I learned from my gas station (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) How do you design a site and a search engine strategy that actually sells? Blinkx desktop search for Mac (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) Next week you may download Blinkx for the Mac. Everything I know about web marketing I learned from my local gas station (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) How do you design a site and a search engine strategy that actually sells? Alternative desktop search tools (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) There is more to desktop searching than Google and MSN. Search Engine Trends 2004 (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) Pandia takes a look at what happened in the world of search engine this year. New version of the Santy worm (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) Santy.e uses Yahoo! and AOL Search to spread. Google Scholar advanced search interface (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) New menu based search form for Google Scholar. Behind the scenes at MSN desktop search (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) On interviews with the teams developing the Microsoft Toolbar Suite. Pandia launches search engine search engine (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) A new topic search tool that lets you search the best search engine oriented sites in one go. Internet Explorer rapidly loosing ground (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) On the new browser war. Worm uses Google to attack sites (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) A Web worm is using Google to identify sites using the vulnerable PHP Bulletin Board software. Survey of desktop search tools (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) Pandia presents various tools for searching your own computer.
Seth's BlogToday's whiteboard session (Thursday, February 17, 12:26 AM EST) It was a terrific day in Irvington. Folks from the UK and Florida and New York and even Brooklyn came to spend the day. Hope to see you at the next one, to be posted in a few weeks....
Online Marketing BlogGoogle Toolbar 3 (Thursday, February 17, 12:26 AM EST) InsideGoogle provides a good overview of the most recent update to the Google Toolbar for Internet Exlporer.
New features include a mapping, translation and spell check. Firefox 1.0 Hits 25 Million Downloads (Wednesday, February 16, 10:58 PM EST)

As of yesterday, Firefox has had 25 million downloads in 99 days. Pretty impressive.
Tags: Firefox, browser Google Page Rank Explained (Wednesday, February 16, 10:14 PM EST) There's an excellent post at Webmaster World on Google Page Rank Basics. Macro goes through a pretty good explanation and ends up with this: "If PR is virtually useless from the point of view of Google traffic then why did you ramble on for so long and cover all those points?" Visit WMW to view the answer.
After you finish that, head on over to Search Engine Watch forums and read Michael Martinez's posts on Page Rank and Google here and continued here. Nice.
Tags: Google, Page Rank, SEO blog Google Adsense targets B2B (Wednesday, February 16, 07:33 PM EST) ClickZ covers recent news regarding Google's addition of VNU Business Media's network of BtoB sites to the AdSense program.
"AdSense works really well with specialized content. The more specialized the content, the more relevant the advertising," said David Hirsch, director of business-to-business in Google's vertical markets group. "My group has spent a tremendous amount of time building relationships with marketers that cover the taxonomy of B-to-B, so we have a depth of advertisers to provide relevant ads to match that content."
More coverage at: BtoB and CNET
Tags:
Google
,
AdSense
,
AdWords
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BtoB ADV: Pings.ws - weblog pings, directory, top, counters, comments and trackbacks. All free. (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) If you have a weblog you should ping weblog services using Pings.ws. All services are free.
Jill WhalenUsing Header Tags for Search Marketing (Thursday, February 17, 04:44 AM EST) I want to put keywords in header tags such as H1 and H2 because my mail carrier told me that this would give me high rankings in the search engines. Will I be penalized if I use style sheets to... Dynamically Generated Pages and Query Strings (Thursday, February 17, 04:32 AM EST) I have a dynamically generated site which places question marks and equal signs in the URL. Do I need to create static HTML pages in order to show up in the search engines....
Marketing Tom - Internet Marketing6 Great Web Tools that Make Blogging Easier (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST)
Send your Red-Hot CV to the Dragon! (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) Over the last couple of months the BBC has aired a TV series called the Dragon's Den, where would-be entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to a panel of 5 successful business people in the hope of getting some investment. One of the panelists was Rachel Elnaugh, a businesswoman who founded... How to Use Case Studies Properly (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) Website case studies are such a good way to give visitors, and potential customers, the chance to see how your business solutions have made a difference to your clients. However, more often than not corporate sites will list down their products, services, data specifications and FAQ's but forget to tell... Gawker Media's Nick Denton on Blogging (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) Nick Denton heads up Gawker Media, publishers of some of the highest profile blogs on the Internet: Gawker, Gizmodo and now Lifehacker (sponsored by Sony), which was discussed in a previous article. In a video interview, which can be seen on iMediaConnection, he discusses how he got into blogs, the... A Guide to Corporate Blogging (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) Robert Scoble is one of the most famous, and most linked to, bloggers on the Web. Last year he wrote a manifesto for the website ChangeThis, with the title The CorporateWeblog Manifesto (free to download), where he gives his thoughts on what makes a good corporate weblog. The manifesto offers... Will a Paid Inclusion Program Boost my Ranking in the Organic Search Listings? (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) This is Jupiter Research's take on it:Will a paid inclusion program boost my ranking in the organic search listings?... Sony to Sponsor Blog to the Tune of $75,000 (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) Here's an interesting story that I picked up, via B.L. Ochman's website, about Sony's sponsorship of a new web log called Lifehacker.com. The article, entitled Sony Pays $25,000 a Month for Gawker Blog, says that the electronics firm is going to pay $75,000 over 3 months for the privilege. In... Register, it's Free! (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) How often have you gone to a website, been invited to sign up and then found that you would have to pay subscription? Having been directed to the AdAge website from a business blog, it was refreshing to see straight away that subscription was free (though for premium articles you... Bridging the Gap Between PR and Search Marketing (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) When speaking to clients about Web content, I always try to make a distinction between what comes out of a company brochure and the content that appears on a company's website. Very often the way that companies present information about themselves and their products in an offline context, is different... Technology for Marketing Conference (Thursday, February 17, 08:55 AM EST) Next week the Technology for Marketing Conference will be held in London's Olympia on the 8th and 9th (February). They bill themselves as:UK's premier event dedicated to helping marketing, customer service and sales professionals implement technology solutions to optimise their marketing strategies and campaigns.There looks like there will be quite...
Search Engine Marketing Web Log
The Unofficial Yahoo! WeblogThe "Pizza in Redmond" Fiasco (Wednesday, February 16, 04:21 PM EST)
Talk about marketing that backfires. (Not that we were.) Microsoft placed billboard and banner ads around Redmond
suggesting a search for “Pizza in Redmond.” Todd Bishop of SeattlePI
took the challenge, going so far as to
compare results in MSN Search with those in Google, Yahoo!, and Ask Jeeves. wouldn’t you know it, MSN returned the
least useful local results. The first result of a local search for that key phrase was a site for janitorial supplies.
Yikes. Now this story is getting blogged all over the place and MSN Search has a PR fiasco on its hands. Who Draws the Maps? (Wednesday, February 16, 04:09 PM EST)
Thanks to SEW for pointing to this Newsweek
piece about the army of mappers at two companies that
own a dupoloy on charting the maps thast go into Google and Yahoo!, not to mention GPS systems. You might think that
satellite reconnaissance could do the job, but there is no substitute for hitting the road and taking notes. Of
course, the A9 search engine is taking a different
approach—hitting the road and taking pictures.
Google Blog - Live
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