SearchCap: The Day In Search, September 30, 2008

Sep 30, 2008 at 8:05pm ET by Danny Sullivan

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: GOOG’s Mystery Stock Plunge The stock market is bad, but Google trading for as low as 1 cent today and closing initially at $320 (after opening at $488) has the NASDAQ checking out some odd trades and resetting the closing price to $400. Reuters reports that “erroneous orders” may have caused the drop and that these orders might [...] SearchBiz: Mehdi Moves Up At Microsoft; Should MSFT learn from Ask?; Top 25 People On The Web; Google & [...]

Filed in: SearchCap

GOOG’s Mystery Stock Plunge

Sep 30, 2008 at 7:54pm ET by Danny Sullivan

The stock market is bad, but Google trading for as low as 1 cent today and closing initially at $320 (after opening at $488) has the NASDAQ checking out some odd trades and resetting the closing price to $400. Reuters reports that "erroneous orders" may have caused the drop and that these orders might not be reversible, though apparently a small number of trades done within a five minute window at the end of the day wouldn't be counted. Reports are still coming in. For more, see related stories on Techmeme. [...]

Filed in: Google: Business Issues

SearchBiz: Mehdi Moves Up At Microsoft; Should MSFT learn from Ask?; Top 25 People On The Web; Google & The NSA

Sep 30, 2008 at 5:11pm ET by Matt McGee

With Microsoft's current advertising campaign still leaving many people shaking their heads in wonder, TechCrunch has an idea: follow the lead of Ask.com. Jason Kincaid confesses that Ask's ad -- the one that shows a young woman "exercising" (ahem) on a stripper pole in her house -- actually made him curious enough to click through and visit Ask.com. He goes on to mention that the sexy ad didn't change his opinion of Ask.com as a search engine: The ad may tell me nothing about the site’s technology or give me any reason to use it over Google, but it worked - I obediently ventured ove [...]

Filed in: Search Biz

Conversation With An Idiot Link Broker

Sep 30, 2008 at 5:02pm ET by Danny Sullivan

Debate continues about Google's war on paid links. But regardless of where you stand, I think most people would agree buying and selling is risky behavior. You don't really want the world to know you're doing it. And if you're going to engage in paid links, I think many would agree you shouldn't be trying to trick people into something that might cause them harm. This week, from my inbox, an example of a company going wrong on both counts. I get requests for us to sell links from Search Engine Land and Sphinn all the time. We don't do that. Personally, I d [...]

Filed in: Features: General, Google: SEO, Google: Toolbar, Link Building: Paid Links, SEM Industry: General, SEO: Spamming

Linked, Tagged, Tweeted, and Feeded – Three Real Time Link Trackers

Sep 30, 2008 at 4:47pm ET by Eric Ward

One challenge we all have is showing our clients evidence that our work is having the effect we said it would. What would make this part of the process easier is if there was one single universal tool that could identify every single instance when a site is mentioned, linked, tagged, tweeted, or feeded. That perfect tool doesn’t exist, but a few weeks ago Delicious unveiled a relaunch, and what was once really a pain is now a breeze.

Filed in: How To: SEO, Link Week

Search Illustrated: Website Conversion Paradigms

Sep 30, 2008 at 3:39pm ET by Elliance

Getting your site ranked and persuading customers to click on your search result are just the first two steps towards achieving the end goal: getting the sale. This week's infographic details some quick tips for turning that click into a conversion: 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. [...]

Filed in: Search Illustrated

To Block Google StreetView, German Town To Require, Then Deny Permit

Sep 30, 2008 at 1:33pm ET by Matt McGee

Just a couple months after launching in Europe, Google StreetView is running into a roadblock in Germany. Via WebProNews, Spiegel Online reports that the small town of Molfsee in northwestern Germany plans to require Google to request a permit before being allowed to record video while driving through the town's streets. "And when they ask for a permit," town councilman Reinhold Harwart says, "we will say no." It seems the small town's concerns have spread to higher levels of German government, as well: Harwart's worries are shared at the state and federal levels. "We find the project e [...]

Filed in: Google: Maps & Local, Google: Outside US, Google: Street View, Legal: Privacy

Travel Search Goes Green

Sep 30, 2008 at 12:24pm ET by Elisabeth Osmeloski

With a couple of Stanford graduates as founders, a new entrant to the online travel space officially launched its beta site today, WholeTravel.com. Following a small but growing trend in the travel search space, Whole Travel uses what they call "Blue Sky Search", or the ability for searchers to use open-ended experiential queries, rather than inputting specific location data, airport codes or exact dates for travel. Searchers on WholeTravel.com are encouraged to type in eco-friendly activities (mountain trekking, wildlife tours, canoeing) or broad destination ideas such as "rainforest" o [...]

Filed in: Search Engines: Travel Search Engines, Search Features: Natural Language

SPONSOR MESSAGE: Had enough of “Black Box” Search Engine Marketing?

Sep 30, 2008 at 1:16am ET by Search Engine Land

At Marin Software, we say "no" to black box SEM, including maze-like spreadsheets and obtuse bidding algorithms. That's why we developed Marin Search Marketer®, simply the best enterprise-class PPC marketing application available today, with pay-as-you go pricing and no up-front fees. If you're spending $50k per month or more on PPC, say "yes" to Marin Search Marketer®. http://www.marinsoftware.com [...]

Filed in: Sponsor Messages

Three Rules For Search Marketing With Franchise Organizations

Sep 29, 2008 at 4:21pm ET by Tony Wright

I always think of an armada of ships when I look at a franchised company. You've got a large battleship, directing the path of the smaller craft—yet the smaller craft must navigate on their own, especially when the instructions from the battleship don't make sense. And oftentimes, because the franchisees are busy navigating their own murky waterways, they can fail to see the logic behind the battleship's directions and forge their own paths, sometimes to disastrous effect. Creating search engine marketing strategies for franchised companies is some of the most challenging work I've d [...]

Filed in: Industrial Strength, SEM Industry: Outsourcing

California Congressional Reps Urge Yes on Google-Yahoo Deal

Sep 29, 2008 at 4:13pm ET by Danny Sullivan

The Google-Yahoo ad deal gained support in the form of a letter (PDF) from several of California's congressional representatives asking that the Department Of Justice not to block the proposed arrangement. Led by Google and Yahoo's "hometown" representative, Democrat Anna Eshoo from Palo Alto, the short letter signed by 11 US House Of Representative legislators so far reads much like it was written by Google and Yahoo to be posted on their new fact site about the deal. The letter keeps repeating the Google-Yahoo mantra of how this is a non-exclusive deal (and thus, no [...]

Filed in: Google & Yahoo Ad Deal, Google: AdWords, Google: Business Issues, Google: Partnerships, Yahoo: Business Issues, Yahoo: Partnerships, Yahoo: Search Ads

SearchCap: The Day In Search, September 29, 2008

Sep 29, 2008 at 4:09pm 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: Why Position Bidding Wastes Money It's remarkable that in 2008 there are still many bidding systems in use by SEMs and in-house PPC managers dedicated to "finding the right position" for each keyword. These position crawling systems guarantee inefficiency and lost opportunity; to put it concisely: they're playing the wrong game. Here's why:... ISP Behavorial Targeting Test To Begin In UK TomorrowThe initials for British Telecom ("BT") might now come [...]

Filed in: SearchCap

Our Relationship To The Bottom Line

Sep 29, 2008 at 4:07pm ET by Stephanie Hobbs

The search business is a roll-up-your-sleeves type of business. We're continually honing the way we deliver the search experience of today while preparing for how that experience will change tomorrow. With our eyes on the road ahead, and our minds grappling with what lies around the corner, there isn't much time to look in the rearview mirror. But two learnings that came out of the recent Kelsey Group's Directional Media Strategies conference provided reassurance that we're delivering on what advertisers expect and deserve — ROI. First, there was plenty of talk about CRM Associates [...]

Filed in: Locals Only

Why Position Bidding Wastes Money

Sep 29, 2008 at 3:02pm ET by George Michie

It's remarkable that in 2008 there are still many bidding systems in use by SEMs and in-house PPC managers dedicated to "finding the right position" for each keyword. These position crawling systems guarantee inefficiency and lost opportunity; to put it concisely: they're playing the wrong game. Here's why: The value of traffic doesn't vary by position. Careful study on our part, confirmed by University Statistics researchers, has proved that the conversion rates (orders per click), average order sizes, and margin percentages do not vary by position on the page. In other words, [...]

Filed in: Paid Search

ISP Behavorial Targeting Test To Begin In UK Tomorrow

Sep 29, 2008 at 1:40pm ET by Greg Sterling

The initials for British Telecom ("BT") might now come to stand for "behavioral targeting" as the company prepares its opt-in trial with Phorm. Phorm is a UK-based firm that seeks to tap ISP behavioral data in an effort to serve more relevant ads to end users. The BT-Phorm "Webwise" test begins tomorrow and promises both "protection against online fraud and makes ads that appear on participating websites more relevant to your interests." BT allows Phorm to collect user data and serves behaviorally targeted advertising "anonymously" but based on individual behavior: Webwise assigns a un [...]

Filed in: Legal: Privacy

Google News Glitch: SpaceX Private Space Flight is “Delicious”

Sep 29, 2008 at 1:12pm ET by Matt McGee

A Search Engine Land reader points us toward the Science/Tech category of Google News, where, for the better part of the morning, a CNET news article about private rocketry was displaying with the headline, "Delicious." Here's a screenshot: Ironically, the story -- about the first time a privately-financed rocket has reached orbit -- doesn't appear to have any bookmarks on delicious.com, nor is it clear why Google chose that word for the story's title. Many other stories on CNET are also appearing this way. While the story has moved off as shown above, you can still currently see i [...]

Filed in: Google: News

Coming To SMX East? Time To Register

Sep 29, 2008 at 9:24am ET by Search Engine Land

Search Marketing Expo – SMX East begins next week in New York City. Register now to reserve your place. You’re investment in coming to SMX East will pay off many times. We guarantee it. Conference chairs Danny Sullivan and Chris Sherman, and the all-star SMX programming team, have developed a comprehensive agenda that is tactical, strategic and forward-looking. Whether you’re a beginner or experienced search engine marketer, SMX East has sessions just for you. Check out the agenda. In addition, we’ve taken care of the little things that will make your experience more valuable a [...]

Filed in: SMX & SMN Alerts

Local Australian City Councils Abandon Use Of Google Earth To Monitor Building Permits, Unregistered Pets

Sep 29, 2008 at 9:01am ET by Greg Sterling

Home remodeling without building permits is a popular pastime and cat-and-mouse game in the US, with homeowners trying to avoid increased taxation and building permit fees. Apparently that's also true elsewhere in the world. In a a couple of towns on the Australian island of Tasmania, city officials were using Google Earth and Maps "to monitor rate-payer compliance in terms of illegal home renovations, unfenced swimming pools, unregistered pets and unauthorized demolition." However the towns have since decided to abandon using the tools because of privacy concerns: "Not trying to ca [...]

Filed in: Google: Critics, Google: Earth, Google: Maps & Local, Legal: Privacy

Yahoo Search Update & Google Toolbar PageRank Update

Sep 29, 2008 at 8:53am ET by Barry Schwartz

Search Engine Roundtable reports based on a WebmasterWorld thread that Yahoo Search is undergoing an update. Several webmasters have noticed significant changes in the Yahoo Search results. We do not have confirmation from Yahoo on this update, while the last Yahoo update was the first week of this month. Also, over the weekend we have reports of a Google Toolbar PageRank update. We have discussion around this update at our very own Sphinn forums. This toolbar PageRank update does not seem to be accompanied by any actual search update at Google, which is now normally the case. I co [...]

Filed in: Google: SEO, Google: Toolbar, Yahoo: SEO, Yahoo: Search

Google User Interface Test Gives Searches Control Over Snippets

Sep 29, 2008 at 8:43am ET by Barry Schwartz

TechCrunch reports based on a WebmasterWorld thread that Google is testing on a limited basis, giving searchers the ability to control the size of the search snippets. A snippet is the small description seen under the blue links in the search results. In this test, users can select to not show the snippets by clicking on a little "S" at the top left corner of the page. Or to show a normal snippet by clicking on "M" or to show a long description by clicking on "L." TechCrunch has a screen capture of how Google is testing this new feature out. [...]

Filed in: Google: User Interface

Become a Premium Member and see all articles in our archives!

Premium Members get unrestricted access to all archives - and more! Premium membership details below...

Become A Search Engine Land Premium Member

Gain insider access to the industry's leading online publication, covering the latest search engine news, in-depth features and analysis of products, technologies and search trends.

Subscribe as a premium member today and you'll get:

  • Unlimited access to news & How To articles.
  • Exclusive videos & webinars with search experts.
  • Expanded community profile & posting privileges.
  • Discounts to SMX Conferences & Events.
  • 30 Day money back guarantee.

Learn More

FREE DAILY SEARCH NEWS RECAP!

Stay on top of all the search news with our daily summary, the SearchCap newsletter. View a sample ›

STAY CURRENT THROUGHOUT THE DAY

RSS Feeds

The Search Engine Land feed keeps you informed as news happens. SEE ALL FEEDS »

Upcoming Search Engine Land Conferences

Advertise With Us »

Search Engine Land produces SMX, the Search Marketing Expo conference series. SMX events deliver the most comprehensive educational and networking experiences - whether you're just starting in search marketing or you're a seasoned expert.


SMX Web Site » | SMX Difference » | SMX News »


Join us at an upcoming SMX event:

Search Marketing Now Learn more about search marketing with our free online webcasts and webinars from our sister site, Search Marketing Now. Upcoming online events include:


See more webcast topics »

TRACK US SOCIALLY
En Espanol|Contact|Members Info|RSS Feeds|Email Subscriptions|Privacy|Advertise
Add to GoogleAdd to My Yahoo!Add to BloglinesAdd to NetvibesAdd to Windows Live