BlogStorm has found that Google News might actually index Yahoo contextual ads. For example, a search on Loans4 in Google News returns an article from InTheNews.co.uk. Let's look carefully at the snippet in Google News: As you can see, the text reads: If you are a homeowner, visit the Loans4 website to see which loan you qualify for. Compare over 30 insurers to find the cheapest car insurance quote. ... Now, go to the InTheNews.co.uk article and try to find that content in the main article. You can't. But you can find it in one of the ads on the lower right part of the page. Here is [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Display | Google: News | Yahoo: Publisher Network

Last week Chris Winfield did a great job reviewing the new Digg. Today, I want to discuss how the changes affect SEOs. We all want to get on the homepage of Digg because it can bring in thousands of links, but the recent changes made it both easier and harder to get stories promoted. Here's an overview of the changes and what they mean for SEO. Friends submission page. Other than spamming, the easiest way to get votes was to add tons of friends. By having hundreds of friends, when you submit a story many of your friends vote on it, thus increasing your chances to make the homepage. The re [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social | Search & Social | Search Engines: Digg | Social Media Marketing

Back when Search Engine Land launched, we used TypeKey to manage our comments system. Some people hated the system, but I promised from the start that it would eventually be replaced by something better. Today, that finally happens. Comments at Search Engine Land are now being handled through our own Sphinn discussion site. More about the change below, which I hope people will like. I love getting comments and feedback on stories here. Praise is great; criticism tells us where to improve and contributions of facts and information make our stories better. Whatever the comment, it shows someon [...]

Related Topics: About Search Engine Land | Channel: Other

Lisa Barone posted today about being surprised to discover that some of her Facebook activities were showing up in Bloglines. How? She's friends with John Harmon, and his Facebook notifications feed was apparently submitted over there. The odd thing is, Facebook says these feeds shouldn't show up in Bloglines at all. After poking at it more, that turns out not to be the case. Below, more about what happened and how it may be impossible to fully keep a feed private, which has implications for you and your Facebook friends. If you're a Facebook user, you have a notifications page that shows y [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social | Facebook | Legal: Privacy

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 May Buy $10 Billion Stake In FacebookMicrosoft Is in Talks To Buy Facebook Stake from the Wall Street Journal reports that Microsoft is in talks with Facebook to place a $10 billion stake in the company, giving Microsoft a 5% stake in Facebook. The Wall Street Journal said that Google "also expressed strong interest in a... Google Releases Conversion Optimizer To Aid AdWords CPA BiddingGoogle announced a new AdWords feature to help advertise [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | SearchCap

The article Microsoft Is in Talks To Buy Facebook Stake from the Wall Street Journal reports that Microsoft is in talks with Facebook to place a 5% stake in the company, putting the valuation of Facebook at $10 billion. The Wall Street Journal said that Google "also expressed strong interest in a possible Facebook investment," so there might be a bidding war taking place over Facebook. A few months back we reported that Yahoo May Buy MySpace For 25% Stock Swap, but nothing on that news yet. Is this Microsoft/Facebook deal going to happen? The Wall Street Journal claims that people close t [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social | Facebook | Microsoft: Business Issues

Google announced a new AdWords feature to help advertisers automate their bids on their CPA (cost-per-acquisition) ads. Conversion Optimizer is a tool that will look at your costs and conversion goals and automatically change your bid prices based on those metrics. All you need to do is define a maximum CPA bid and this tool will do the rest. In order to work, the optimizer requires you set up AdWords Conversion Tracking and have at least 300 conversions in the last 30 days. Google offers instructions on how to set up Conversion Optimizer. In short, go to a campaign, then click on an ad [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEM | Google: AdWords

The Google Blog announced today that Google Trends is now updated every hour. In the past, it was just updated monthly with the latest statistics on searches. If you want to track the latest hot trends by hour, you can subscribe to the hourly Hot Trends Atom Feed or add a Google Gadget to your iGoogle home page. [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Search Marketing | Google: Trends

Next week we kick off our inaugural SMX Local & Mobile conference in Denver, and it promises to be a killer show. I've programmed dozens of search conferences over the years, and yet this one, which I co-organized with the able and expert help of Greg Sterling, is special. To be sure, I've got a bad case of "proud parent syndrome," but beyond that, I'm looking forward to the conference because I expect to be completely immersed in learning about two of the most promising areas of search that are (finally!) going mainstream. Local and mobile search have been touted as the "next big thing" fo [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | SEM Industry: Conferences

Local marketing industry savants have long been predicting the demise of print Yellow Pages books, going the way of the buggy whip due to overwhelming competition from Internet alternatives. Further, the aggressive invasion of search engines into the local space during the past few years has inspired some analysts to wonder if Internet Yellow Pages directories might also be headed for extinction along with the printed books. Readily available stats from Google show trends and provide a good sense of what's actually going on across the local space on the Internet. Ironically, we can also use [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Local | Local Search | Search Marketing: Local Search Marketing | Stats: General

I had the pleasure of participating on a Link Building Clinic at the Shop.org conference in Las Vegas last week. This conference attracts a different crowd than the SEO/SEM related shows in that practically every attendee at a Shop.org show is running a web site that sells something. Now, link building for a shopping site brings with it a set of challenges and realities that pure content sites will never fully appreciate. I work with both, so I come at this with some practiced perspective. In Vegas, the vibe sent from site owners was what I would call a reluctant and unhappy acceptance that [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Link Building: General | Link Week

There is a belief, held by many, that there is a bright future for ad-supported or subsidized mobile services. Google's CEO Eric Schmidt floated this idea as far back as November 2006. Now, the long-delayed Blyk in the U.K is live and MySpace in the U.S. has announced an ad-supported model (and a richer subscription model) for a mobile version of its application in an effort to attract usage. Blyk is a mobile operator aimed at 16-24 year olds and will offer a limited number of free, ad-supported minutes and text messages. According to the site: When you join Blyk you get a free SIM with 217 [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEM | Google: Mobile | Search Ads: Mobile Search

Google seeks dismissal of American Airlines suit from Dallas Business Journal reports that Google has filed a motion to dismiss the American Airlines vs. Google trademark case. In that case, American Airlines sued Google for allowing advertisers to bid on their trademark names. Gary Price located the motion to dismiss document (PDF format). Google argues that triggering ads using terms that are also trademarks is not itself a protected trademark use and that if there are trademark issues, American Airlines should be going after the advertisers that are actually purchasing the ads. In the m [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Google: Legal | Legal: Trademarks

Back in September 2005, Google announced an end to commission payments to agencies in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, replaced by "Best Practice Funding." That was to me simply still paying commissions, only under a different name and a more standardized pan-European rate. Now even Best Practice Funding is going away. Google to end ad agency subsidy from The Guardian has more details on the move. The program is to stop at the end of 2008. Despite being called something other than a commission -- and sometimes described as a way for agencies to try new ad offerings from Google -- [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEM | Google: AdWords | SEM Industry: General

Two things from the weekend suggest Google may be getting more serious about the social networking threat posed by Facebook. TechCrunch had news that Google is going to open up its social data information, while Google Operating System spotted a post that Google may have plans for a new social networking system based out of Google Earth. More about both, how I see it as Google taking what limited data is has as a pressure play on Facebook and some related developments, below. Google To "Out Open" Facebook On November 5 from TechCrunch covers information apparently leaked from a mini-summi [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social | Google: Business Issues | Google: Earth | Google: Orkut

The Open Directory's home page appears to have gone missing from Google's search results. For example, a search on dmoz (the Open Directory's nickname) does not return the home page in the search results. Here is a screen capture: Similarly, searches for open directory or open directory project also don't list the site at the usual dmoz.org address. Yes, the screenshot shows a page at search.dmoz.org -- but normally, the home page would be listed at www.dmoz.org or just dmoz.org (as you can see at Yahoo, Microsoft and Ask, for example). Google still does have pages from dmoz.org in the i [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: SEO | Google: Web Search

Just as U.S. Congressional hearings on the intended acquisition of DoubleClick are about to begin, a parallel process is potentiality starting in Europe. Reuters reports that Google filed on Friday with the European Commission for approval of its intended $3.1 billion deal. (It has similarly filed for approval with the comparable Australian regulatory agency.) And, Reuters reports, just as in the U.S., Yahoo invited scrutiny and, impliedly, disapproval of the acquisition on anti-trust grounds. The European Commission has said it will decide on whether to approve or further investigate the pr [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Google: Acquisitions | Google: Outside US

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. [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | Sponsor Messages

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 Unity Project To Build Submarine Cables Across Pacific Ocean Remember that Submarine Cable Negotiator job we mentioned being available at Google last month? Turn out Google's not just negotiating for undersea cable use. It has its own "Unity" project underway to run communication cable of its own under the Pacific. Spotted via John Paczkowski, Google plans new undersea "Unity"... Search in Pictures: Search Cars, Ask Cricket, & [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | SearchCap

Remember that Submarine Cable Negotiator job we mentioned being available at Google last month? Turn out Google's not just negotiating for undersea cable use. It has its own "Unity" project underway to run communication cable of its own under the Pacific. Spotted via John Paczkowski, Google plans new undersea "Unity" cable across Pacific from Commsday has more about the plans Says CommsDay: Google is planning a multi-terabit undersea communications cable across the Pacific Ocean for launch in 2009, Communications Day has learned. The Unity cable has been under development for several mon [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Consumer | Google: Internet Access | Google: Other