July 2007: Search Engine Land’s Most Popular Stories

Jul 31, 2007 at 11:59pm ET by Danny Sullivan

Below are Search Engine Land's 10 most popular stories from July 2007: 1) Google To Add "Unavailable After" META Tag - Google is releasing a new META tag named "unavailable_after." The "unavailable_after" tag will allow you to tell Google when Googlebot should no longer crawl that page. =================== 2) SEO Tips & Tactics From A Wikipedia Insider - I am a Wikipedia administrator, and I specialize in complex investigations. Media professionals and Wikipedia volunteers seldom understand each other. So I'll illustrate my perspective with an example: let [...]

Filed in: Most Popular Stories

Google Dumps The Supplemental Results Label

Jul 31, 2007 at 9:58pm ET by Danny Sullivan

As many expected, Google has announced that it is dumping the supplemental result label for pages listed within its supplemental index. Does that mean the supplemental index has gone away? No. But Google promises that being in the supplemental index versus the main index should be less of an issue for site owners, going forward. More about the change, below. Back in September 2003, Google unveiled the supplemental index as a way for it to index more pages from the web but not get bogged down actually searching through those billions and billions of them unless necessary. By and large, it w [...]

Filed in: Google: SEO

Free Webcast This Thursday: Managing SEO for Big Sites, Big Brands

Jul 31, 2007 at 5:32pm ET by Chris Sherman

In theory, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the same process whether your site has ten pages or ten thousand... or is it? In practice, SEO at large companies has its unique problems and solutions for marketers. So how do you effectively manage SEO for a website that reaches across an entire organizational structure and consists of hundreds, thousands or maybe millions of pages? How do you convince all the key stakeholders, gain support for your budget, and work with the complexity inherent in your site? Please join me on Thursday, August 2, at 1:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time, for a free we [...]

Filed in: SMX & SMN Alerts

SearchCap: The Day In Search, July 31, 2007

Jul 31, 2007 at 2:29pm ET by Barry Schwartz

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: How To Create A Viral Facebook App Back in May, Facebook launched a platform that allowed developers to tap into the Facebook hub itself. The Facebook Platform is a set of resources and tools that enables rapid development of applications for Facebook users. It's proven wildly popular, and companies are leveraging it to gain thousands if... IAC Reports Q2 Earnings, Ask.com Revenue Down On A Per Query BasisAsk.com's parent company, IAC, released their s [...]

Filed in: SearchCap

How To Create A Viral Facebook App

Jul 31, 2007 at 9:20am ET by Neil Patel

Back in May, Facebook launched a platform that allowed developers to tap into the Facebook hub itself. The Facebook Platform is a set of resources and tools that enables rapid development of applications for Facebook users. It's proven wildly popular, and companies are leveraging it to gain thousands if not millions of new visitors to their websites. If you are interested in leveraging the 12th most popular website on the Internet (according to Alexa), here is how you can develop a good Facebook App: Target your audience Although many think Facebook is filled with teenagers, it is actual [...]

Filed in: Let's Get Social, Social Media Marketing

IAC Reports Q2 Earnings, Ask.com Revenue Down On A Per Query Basis

Jul 31, 2007 at 9:11am ET by Barry Schwartz

Ask.com's parent company, IAC, released their second quarter earnings statement today. Ask.com is bundled into the "Media & Advertising" category, which overall reported higher revenue than the previous year by 33%. However, Ask.com realized a "lower revenue per query since the launch" of Ask 3D in June. Why? Because the new interface requires less clicks to find what you are looking for, said IAC. Ask.com did notice a "higher frequency and retention," they said. Find the full release here. Note From Danny: I'm still scratching my head at that explanation. If Ask 3D is better in relevanc [...]

Filed in: Ask: Business Issues

Microsoft Works To Be Ad Funded

Jul 31, 2007 at 8:43am ET by Barry Schwartz

Microsoft Works to become a free, ad-funded product from ZDNet reports that the next version of the Microsoft Works office suite is to be ad funded. Microsoft Works 9.0 isn't yet available, and it's not clear whether in addition to ads, a web-hosted version would also be offered. If a web hosted version was provided, then it would compete directly with Google Docs & Spreadsheets. Microsoft And Google Moving More Deeply Into Each Others' Businesses from Greg Sterling this past Friday details Microsoft's strategy to develop web-enabled applications and more ad-based products. [...]

Filed in: Microsoft: Business Issues

iCrossing Acquires Proxicom After $62 Million Funding

Jul 31, 2007 at 8:25am ET by Barry Schwartz

Internet marketer iCrossing acquires Va. firm from the Arizona Republic reports iCrossing has purchased Proxicom, a web development firm based in Virginia after getting $62 million last week. Janet at Marketing Pilgrim looks at the other firms they have recently acquired and speculates that iCrossing is on a value building exercise. [...]

Filed in: SEM Industry: Acquisitions

Google, Yahoo, Microsoft: Year-To-Date PPC Report Card

Jul 31, 2007 at 8:18am ET by Alan Rimm-Kaufman

As 2007 is now half over, it seems a good time to compare the performance of the Big Three search engines year-to-date. The punch line: Google reigns dominant, providing the lion's share of clicks, and Google clicks convert well. Microsoft offers strongly converting clicks at a lower-than-expected cost—good efficiency, but sadly almost no volume. Yahoo commands 22% of ad spend, but lags in click quality. The Sample My agency provides paid search management for about 100 sites, some from the Internet Retailer 100, most from the IR500. About 85% of our clients are B2C; a [...]

Filed in: Google: AdWords, Microsoft: adCenter, Paid Search, Search Ads: General, Yahoo: Search Ads

Google Launches Campaign Optimizer For Automated AdWords Tips

Jul 31, 2007 at 8:15am ET by Barry Schwartz

The Inside AdWords Blog announced the launch of AdWords Campaign Optimizer. This is an automated AdWords tool that gives you tips on how to improve your campaign, in just minutes. When you run the tool, Google says it will "automatically analyze your budget, keywords, and landing page, and create a customized proposal for your campaign." You can then go through the suggestions in the proposal and pick and choose which ones you want to accept. Some of the ideas that you may see in your proposal includes: Change daily budget Add new keywords Change keyword matching options Adjust keyword [...]

Filed in: Google: AdWords

The Future Of Rich Media On Local Sites

Jul 30, 2007 at 7:04pm ET by Chris Linnett

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video may speak volumes. Yet despite the popularity of rich media elsewhere on the Internet, the use of photos and videos on local sites is in its infancy. And with earbuds sprouting across the human landscape delivering podcasts on all manner of topics, it is curious that users cannot easily subscribe to the audio vignettes about local businesses. What then is the future of rich media on local sites? There has been increased innovation and consolidation in the local space. We have seen the roll out of interesting features and sites that de [...]

Filed in: Locals Only, Search Engines: Maps & Local Search Engines

SearchCap: The Day In Search, July 30, 2007

Jul 30, 2007 at 4:38pm ET by Barry Schwartz

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Microsoft vs. Google: Street Photography Rigs ComparedGizmodo, in something of a tongue-in-cheek post, compares the cars and cameras Google is using to capture its StreetView imagery with those being used by Microsoft for what has been known as StreetSide. StreetSide is a Live Local product that predated Google's StreetView but has been limited to San Francisco... Google Maps Bulk Upload Spam?First Case of Large Scale Abuse at Google Maps? from Mike Bl [...]

Filed in: SearchCap

Microsoft vs. Google: Street Photography Rigs Compared

Jul 30, 2007 at 9:57am ET by Greg Sterling

Gizmodo, in something of a tongue-in-cheek post, compares the cars and cameras Google is using to capture its StreetView imagery with those being used by Microsoft for what has been known as StreetSide. StreetSide is a Live Local product that predated Google's StreetView but has been limited to San Francisco and Seattle. What this post suggests, although I've yet to confirm this with anyone officially, is that Microsoft is expanding its StreetSide program beyond the two cities -- perhaps in response to StreetView. Opinions are mixed about the utility (vs. novelty) of street-level photography [...]

Filed in: Google: Maps & Local, Microsoft: Bing Maps & Local

Google Maps Bulk Upload Spam?

Jul 30, 2007 at 8:44am ET by Barry Schwartz

First Case of Large Scale Abuse at Google Maps? from Mike Blumenthal reports cases of companies using the Google Maps business location bulk upload feature to potentially spam the local vertical. I am not going to list out the reported violations here, because Mike Blumenthal did so in his blog post and in this Google Groups thread. Mike reported that this one company uploaded listings "in all major and minor metropolitan areas of the US." Now, technically, this company does not have a physical location in all those areas. Mike found other examples of this type abuse as well. Postscript: [...]

Filed in: Google: Maps & Local

From eTours To Commanding Ask.com: Jim Lanzone’s Story

Jul 30, 2007 at 8:30am ET by Barry Schwartz

I Fought the Law from the New York Times tells the story of how Ask.com CEO Jim Lanzone abandoned pursuing a legal degree and learned his true passion was for internet companies. Lanzone attended Emory University's School of Law in Atlanta. He then worked for Justice Hugh P. Thompson at the Supreme Court of Georgia, and then had a summer job at law firm after his freshman year. But the law wasn't his thing, he wasn't excited with it. So he decided to go earn an M.B.A. degree, which he said made him see the world "in color." From there he had an internship at KnowX, which gave him the des [...]

Filed in: Ask: Employees, Stats: History

Live Image Search Adds Face, Portrait, B/W, & Related Features

Jul 30, 2007 at 8:12am ET by Barry Schwartz

The Live Search Blog announced new image search features over the weekend. The new features include a way to search for images of people by face, portrait, black & white and related people. Here are examples of the new features in action, by searching for [paris]: pairs without any filter, mostly shows Paris Hilton but does show an image of the Eiffel Tower paris filter:face mostly shows face shots of Paris Hilton paris filter:portrait shows more full body shows of Paris Hilton paris filter:bw shows images of Paris Hilton, the Eiffel Tower and other images in black and white The related p [...]

Filed in: Microsoft: Bing, Search Engines: Photo & Image Search

SPONSOR MESSAGE: Attract more customers to your web site.

Jul 30, 2007 at 8:06am ET by Search Engine Land

Yahoo! Sponsored Search advertising puts your business where your customers are searching. SPECIAL OFFER: Sign up now and receive a $50 credit toward your first month, or save $50 on assisted setup, our expert starter service. [...]

Filed in: Sponsor Messages

5 Deadly Sins Guaranteed To Kill Your Link Requests

Jul 30, 2007 at 7:56am ET by Eric Ward

Here in the Link Week column, we mostly discuss intermediate to advanced linking related subjects, but I'm compelled to cover a very basic topic this week. Link requests. The link builders are out in force this summer. The proof is in my inbox. Over the two weeks since my last LinkWeek column, I've counted the number of link requests I've received. The total? Forty-two. This is both funny and tragic. It's funny because I do not give out links, I do not swap links, I've never had a links page, and the only place I've ever provided outbound links is within my LinkMoses blogscroll, and even th [...]

Filed in: Link Building: General, Link Week

Yahoo Monday: Today’s Google Free Alternative

Jul 30, 2007 at 12:01am ET by Danny Sullivan

As part of our Google Free Mondays series this month, today is the day to try Yahoo. What are Google Free Mondays all about? My past post explains the intent of the series more. The short scoop is NOT to be anti-Google but rather stress that trying alternatives is good, because there might be something better out there or you might want know you're already making the right choice. Below is a guide to Yahoo. Similar to the previous AOL search guide, Ask.com search guide and Microsoft Windows Live.com guide, there is some light comparison to Google. This is not meant at a definitive look at stre [...]

Filed in: Yahoo: Search

SearchCap: The Day In Search, July 27, 2007

Jul 27, 2007 at 3:05pm ET by Barry Schwartz

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google's "Unavailable After" META Tag Now LiveGoogle's Dan Crow announced today that the unavailable_after META tag is now live and operational. Google To Add "Unavailable After" META Tag from about two weeks ago, explains in detail more about this tag and how it can be used.... Search in Pictures: Google Dog Food, Yahoo Blow Up Chairs & Matt At World Camp In this week's Search In Pictures, here are the latest images culled from the web, showing what p [...]

Filed in: SearchCap

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