Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Report: Microsoft To Up Bid For Yahoo To $34 Per ShareSilicon Alley Insider reacts to Wall Street Analyst Mark Mahaney's note that he anticipates Microsoft will raise its bid for Yahoo from $31 to $34 dollars per share. Barring an 11th hour alternative for Yahoo, this should move toward Yahoo's public position that the original Microsoft bid undervalued the company.... Google Founders Take $1 Salaries Again; Tell Investors To Say No On Anti-Censorship [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | SearchCap

Silicon Alley Insider reacts to Wall Street Analyst Mark Mahaney's note that he anticipates Microsoft will raise its bid for Yahoo from $31 to $34 dollars per share. Barring an 11th hour alternative for Yahoo, this should move toward Yahoo's public position that the original Microsoft bid undervalued the company. It also should please Yahoo's institutional shareholders and put more pressure on Yahoo management to negotiate in earnest with Microsoft -- if it happens. [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Microsoft & Yahoo Search Deal

Google founders: $1 salaries, $13B in stock from CNN Money reports Google's founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, along with CEO Eric Schmidt, renewed their contracts again at a $1 per year salary, in 2007. You would think that with the falling stock price, the founders might want some extra cash? But the $8.5 billion drop in the value of the stock they each own did not change their minds on the salary. Don't worry, their stock holdings combined are currently valued at about $13 billion. In related stock news, Google To Holders: Vote No On Anti-Censorship Proposal from Barron's Online repor [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Google: Business Issues | Google: Employees

A few minutes ago, I posted screen captures of Google's new video ads in the real, live, and wild search results. These were announced back in February but only now appear to have really gone live. Searches that triggered this result for me included cell phone or smart phones or phones. It seems like BlackBerry and AT&T are testing the new AdWords video ads. Here is a screen capture: Here are some screen shots of BlackBerry's ads as shown on the right hand column: For more screen captures, see the Search Engine Roundtable. Advertisers pay for these ads on a CPC basis -- watching t [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEM | Google: AdWords | Search Ads: Video

If you're doing SEO on a site with thousands or tens of thousands of pages, it's likely you're working with some sort of content management system (CMS). However, CMS systems frequently cause problems with search engines. The great majority of the time these problems arise through ignorance on part of the CMS software developers. Basically, if the developers are not familiar with how search engines work, they may use coding practices that are not intended to be deceptive, but could be perceived that way by a search engine. One technique used by many huge sites is to pre-load code, naviga [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | SEO: General

Let’s face it, life is about priorities. There’s never enough time, money, or resources for everything. Consequently, we must prioritize. Doing so forces us to choose between what we want and what we actually need. And marketers are anything but exempt from such choices. When times are good—and we have a bit more money to work with—we can be creative and try some new things. But when times get tough and we need to tighten our belts, we’re often forced to determine what initiatives we can’t live without. And posthaste. Setting priorities. So with all the buz [...]

Related Topics: B2B Search Marketing | Channel: Search

The agenda for Search Marketing Expo - SMX Advanced is now available here. Advanced takes place June 3-4 in Seattle. If you're an experienced search marketer, SMX Advanced is the event for you. This intimate, cutting edge two-day event features sessions addressing issues that you won't find discussed anywhere else. Check out the agenda for the complete list, including: Blow Your Mind Link Building TechniquesBot Herding Conversion Optimization: Winning After They ArriveBuying Sites For SEO and Give It Up! — the session where leading search marketing pros reveal their most closely–held secr [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | SMX & DMD Alerts

Link development, before search engines polluted the process into a currency for search engine rankings, was all about promotion. Links were simply a natural side effect of promoting your website. And one of the most tried and true methods of promotion is PR (as in Public Relations, not Pagerank). "The American Heritage Dictionary defines PR as "the art or science of establishing and promoting a favorable relationship with the public." A public relations firm does this mainly by promoting favorable news." - Wikipedia Link development is essentially an online PR campaign that promote [...]

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

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: OpenSocial Becomes More Open, Facebook Says No; AOL In Trouble; Court Rules Against Clicking Minors The big news today comes from a trio of major Internet brands. Google, Yahoo and News Corp.'s MySpace joined forces to announce that OpenSocial, the social networking platform alternative to Facebook platform, is going to become a non-profit foundation. As such it will have a completely separate management and... Social Media Optimization: Submit it, But [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | SearchCap

The big news today comes from a trio of major Internet brands. Google, Yahoo, and News Corp.'s MySpace joined forces to announce that OpenSocial, the social networking platform alternative to Facebook's platform, is going to become a non-profit foundation. As such, it will have a completely separate management and identity from Google and the others sponsoring the initiative. Here's the companies' joint "intent agreement." The stated goal of the new non-profit is to "provide transparency and operational guidelines around technology, documentation, intellectual property, and other issues rel [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Search Biz

When putting together a social media campaign, you should consider many different things before you actually submit your content. You need to think about creating good social media accounts, quality content, and which social media site to submit to. Finally you get to the point where you can submit your content and take a breather… but not for long. The days of "submit and forget" are over. After you submit your content is when the social media campaign really begins and you have, on average, only about 24 hours to help get your content to the popular page of the site you have submitted t [...]

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

If you're getting tired of the relentless back and forth about whether Yahoo has any more options to avoid a Microsoft takeover, so are we. And I would imagine so are Yahoo and Microsoft employees. With News Corp. publicly saying it won't bid against Microsoft and AOL seemingly fading as a merger/partner prospect for Yahoo, acquisition by Microsoft appears to be inevitable. Or is it? Kara Swisher at AllThingsD argues that Microsoft and Yahoo's bankers have been having talks all along about the deal even as the companies remain largely at arm's length from one another. She also raises an inte [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Microsoft & Yahoo Search Deal

Adam Lasnik announced the Google Webmaster Central team will be hosting a free live chat event this Friday. The live chat session will enable webmasters to call in and ask questions to Google, while watching Google Webmaster Central members respond to their questions in real time. The live chat session is taking place this Friday, March 28 at 9am PDT / noon EDT / 16:00 GMT. To access the event, you will need a phone to listen or ask questions and a web browser to view the Google team (or maybe even chat, I am not sure). More details on the exact way to sign up will be posted soon at Google [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: Webmaster Central

Google Operating System noticed that Google will increase the width of the search box if your query is long enough to warrant a wider search box. Note that Google does not expand the search box as you type. It only happens after you search. I measured Google's search box on my Safari browser at the smallest size of 295 pixels wide, then 425 pixels wide and at its largest, 495 pixels wide. By contrast, Yahoo is 330 pixels wide and Live Search is 390 pixels wide, and both do not expand. Here are screen captures of Google from smallest to largest (note, the images are resized; click on them [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Consumer | Google: User Interface

Now that the 700MHz auction is over and Verizon and AT&T are the winners of the largest spectrum blocks, Google is placing renewed emphasis on its shared bid for a piece of unlicensed TV "white spaces." We've written about the so-called "white space coalition" previously. The coalition of companies seeking to gain access to the TV airwaves includes Dell, HP, Philips, Microsoft, and Intel. TV broadcasters have opposed the idea because they fear that wireless devices operating on the bandwidth would interfere with their signals. And early tests of the white spaces effort were indeed unsuccessf [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile | Google: Business Issues | Google: Mobile | Google: Partnerships

There are many places and ways to get links to your site. While some are easier than others, it takes time to earn quality links. This week's infographic visualizes two link paths: one to the good neighborhood and one to the bad. Graphic by Elliance, an eMarketing firm specializing in results-driven search engine marketing, web site design, and outbound eMarketing campaigns. The firm is the creator of the ennect online marketing toolkit. The Search Illustrated column appears Tuesdays at Search Engine Land. [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Infographics | Link Building: General | Search Illustrated

Google's enhanced listings for local search results are called the "PlusBox" because clicking the plus sign opens an inline box with additional information about a business. Over the past several weeks I've written about the problem of erroneous address information appearing in the Google PlusBox (here and here), and recently Bill Slawski covered the issue with one of his Google patent reviews. I've seen several pleas for help in fixing incorrect listings in the Google Maps for Business Group. It's a straightforward (though sometimes time-consuming) process to fix these incorrect listings, s [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Local | Google: Maps & Local

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Is Microhoo a Done Deal? Lately, a merger between Yahoo! and Microsoft is looking more and more probable. Not only have reports been flying around that Yahoo! and Microsoft are in negotiations, but Yahoo!’s SEC filing last week (Tuesday March 18 2008) has added significantly more fuel to the merger fire.... I Go Buy With A Little Help From My Friends My family was recently in Boulder, CO—a place we had hitherto not been. Nice town, but where to go? [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | SearchCap

height="100" hspace="5" vspace="3" width="100"> Lately, a merger between Yahoo! and Microsoft is looking more and more probable. Not only have reports been flying around that Yahoo! and Microsoft are in negotiations, but Yahoo!’s SEC filing last week (Tuesday March 18 2008) has added significantly more fuel to the merger fire. The Yahoo! story Several points in Yahoo!’s recent SEC filing seem to signal that Yahoo!’s management realizes acquisition is likely unavoidable. Here are some pertinent points from the filing: The report clearly didn’t argue against a merger and it gave r [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEM | Microsoft & Yahoo Search Deal | Paid Search

My family was recently in Boulder, CO—a place we had hitherto not been. Nice town, but where to go? We spent most of our time at The Spot rock climbing gym because our kids were competing in the bouldering national championships. After a day of intense heart-stopping competition, with thrills and spills set against a techno soundtrack and a backdrop of camaraderie and raucous cheering, we were ready for a fine dining experience in a relaxing restaurant. Who better to ask than the locals managing the gym? We exchanged a couple of brief clarifications: We want a nice place with really [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Local | Local Search