SEO And The Scent Of Information
To truly understand web searcher behavior, search engine optimization professionals should know how searchers locate and follow the scent of information.
To truly understand web searcher behavior, search engine optimization professionals should know how searchers locate and follow the scent of information.
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 Launches “Place Pages,” Gets Rid Of Tabbed Info Bubble Google is swapping its “info window” in Maps out in favor a much richer full-page experience that offers more information and […]
eBay has announced they have hired Dr. Eric Brill as their vice president of research and applied science to lead up eBay’s research labs team. Prior, Dr. Brill was General Manager of adCenter Labs at Microsoft and before that, he Director and Principal Researcher and head of the Text Mining, Search and Navigation Group at […]
Google is swapping its “info window” in Maps out in favor a much richer full-page experience that offers more information and a number of new capabilities and features. The pop-ups on Maps previously opened to an expanded info-bubble view, featuring a tabbed experience that buried much of the information available about a business. The new […]
I reported at the Search Engine Roundtable this morning that Google has a beta version of a new keyword tool available in the AdWords console. To get to it, login to adwords.google.com, go to a campaign, click on opportunities (if you have that tab), then on the left bar, click on keyword tool. A “beta” […]
Google CEO sees one small acquisition a month from Reuters reports Google’s CEO as saying they are back in the business of acquiring businesses. He told Reuters, “acquisitions are turned on again at Google and we are doing our normal maneuvers, which is small companies.” “My estimate would be one-a-month acquisitions and these are largely […]
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 Measure The Value Of A Fan Or Follower In Social Media It’s hard to justify the time spent on social media account management. But there are ways to measure […]
It’s hard to justify the time spent on social media account management. But there are ways to measure the real value (monetary or otherwise) of fans on Facebook and followers on Twitter. These top two social media websites offer free advertising, an open customer service and communication platform and a demographics database all wrapped up […]
Back in the ‘old days’ of Google and the SEO industry, “Google Dance” was a term used often in the industry. Back then, a “Google Dance” referred to the about monthly updates Google pushed out to their index. Every month or so, SEOs and Webmasters waited for the “Google Dance” to see if their rankings […]
Google Sidewiki is a new feature being added today to the Google Toolbar that allows anyone to leave comments about pages as they surf the web. Love something you’re reading? Hate it? You can share your views with others who visit the page and who also have Sidewiki enabled. Share, that is, if Google thinks […]
Yesterday comScore reported search numbers for August. What they show is growth in overall search volume, including at Google sites (except YouTube). Google has 2.5 times the search volume as Yahoo and Microsoft combined. But Microsoft’s Bing also grew its share of the overall US search market from 8.9 percent in July to 9.3 percent […]
The most important asset for an in-house SEO is the collective talent of the people that plan, produce and maintain a company’s website. The better informed these individuals are about search engine optimization strategies and tactics, the better your chance of search engine success. Company-wide SEO education is, in fact, one of the key benefits […]
Forget about your SEO investment. Disregard your PPC budget. B2B marketers should be asking themselves, “Am I getting all I can from search engines... for free?” Consider this: searching is the second most popular online activity today — second only to email. In fact, comScore (August 2009) estimates that Google alone handles 304 million searches […]
Coming out of (private) and into public Beta today is a new hybrid travel and local search engine, Goby.com (GO-be), a new entrant into the foray of “deep web” search technology, led by a founding team with web and search experience from Endeca (CEO Mark Watkins), Lycos (Jim Fell) and Reprise Media (CTO Vince Russo), […]
Dynamic Number Insertion (DNI) technology allows advertisers to track the specific search engine, web page or keyword that generated an inbound phone call using tracking numbers. Advertisers are using DNI to measure the performance of their online advertising campaigns and the impact on call volume. At the most basic level, DNI seamlessly replaces select contact […]
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 Requests Hold On Book Settlement Hearings To Retool The Agreement In the wake of last Friday’s objections to the Google Book lawsuit settlement, Google along with the two other parties […]
In the wake of last Friday’s objections to the Google Book lawsuit settlement, Google along with the two other parties that sued it, have asked the judge to delay further hearings on the settlement until an amended one can be put forth. Google, Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers, made this request today […]
I wasn’t in the room but I watched a webcast of Yahoo CMO Elisa Steele’s keynote at the IAB Mixx conference this morning from New York. She introduced the new Yahoo Search but spent more time on the new $100 million (or so) ad campaign: “It’s Y!ou.” Danny live blogged the It’s Y!ou talk by […]
Along with a new search format, Yahoo has rolled out a new “It’s You” marketing push with clever slogans like “The Internet Is Under New Management, Yours.” The company is holding a press conference shortly, and I’m here liveblogging it. Let’s do this. We’re waiting. So are you. Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz up, welcoming people. […]
Yahoo has now gone live with its new search format. There’s nothing radical or “game changing.” However, there are some nice upgrades and improvements. Most prominently, it features a new left column that allows users to filter results by Search Monkey content providers or refine by related concepts. It also features more prominent placement for […]
Google Can Sell Trademarked Keywords, EU Adviser Says from Bloomberg News reports the EU’s highest court has ruled Google can sell trademarked keywords in search ads. As we reported back in June 2008, Louis Vuitton sued Google over trademark issues with search ads and Google then appealed to this court. Google has won that appeal […]
This is the question that the US FCC will need to answer according to an article in the Wall Street Journal, which describes how the agency is grappling with new phone services such as Google Voice. Strictly speaking Google probably shouldn’t be considered a carrier because you can’t use it to make calls in the […]
For social news and bookmarking services, 2009 has really been the tale of the customized URL shortener. Each of the three largest social sites (Digg.com, Reddit.com and StumbleUpon.com) have implemented a URL shortening service that helps users of the site participate. Here is a breakdown of the three tools. DiggURL Digg’s version of a URL […]
Extensive backlink prospecting and qualification, even with automated research processes and crawlers, can take days. Creating highly-linkable content can take even longer. Because of this significant investment, we often recommend conducting your organic link building outreach in a way that maximizes conversion rates, grows relationships with both linkers and link decliners, and ensures that any […]
Barry Lloyd is a search marketing entrepreneur who first dabbled - successfully in SEO and then took on the giant analytics firms by offering internationally-minded solutions. In this interview he offers useful insight on the process of internationalization and intriguing insights into the relationship between search engines and tool vendors worldwide.
In the world of B2B marketing, what would you say your customers want most from you? Some of the obvious things include quality products, great service, reasonable prices, and solutions that increase profits. But, what would they really want if they could have anything from you? How about more customers? Many companies do support their […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Just Because You Can Doesn’t Mean You Should: Why DIY SEM Isn’t The Answer Everywhere you look today you can find books, television programs, and websites specializing in do-it-yourself. While this […]
Everywhere you look today you can find books, television programs, and websites specializing in do-it-yourself. While this may be a great thing for folks who want to refurbish their homes with stylish but affordable interiors, it is not always the best choice for all things. Just because you can re-wire your home doesn’t mean you […]
Google is telling the world what every seasoned webmaster and search marketer should already know: The keywords meta tag has no impact whatsoever on how Google’s search engine ranks pages. None. Zilch. Nada. And while Google often needs to be somewhat ambiguous when talking about how it ranks pages, the message in today’s blog post […]
Last year, Google and Yahoo were denied a deal that would have left Yahoo with its own search technology, after the US Department Of Justice rattled its anti-trust saber. This year, Yahoo’s pursuing a deal to sell off its tech to Microsoft. While Google CEO Eric Schmidt sees his company’s former deal as “part of […]
MediaPost reports Microsoft adCenter, Bing’s search ads, will be testing placing favicons and logos in the search ads. I have conducted about 20 queries to try to bring up such an ad, but I personally do not see them myself. MediaPost wrote, “James Colborn, director at Microsoft Advertising and long-time adCenter veteran, believes the market […]
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the new consumer-facing Yahoo branding campaign is starting to appear in New York, with a personalization theme: It’s You!. According to the article: Yahoo is planning to reintroduce its battered brand to the public Tuesday with a massive global marketing campaign, according to people familiar with the effort. […]
Google has come clean on what all these flying saucers Google Doodles were about. It is to honor the 143rd birthday of H.G. Wells, the Father of Science Fiction, who’s birthday is today. We actually expected this logo to show up today. Many of the logos, Google tweets and evidence or hints, Google dropped, kind […]
Paid search accounts for about 50% of all digital advertising spending today in most major markets, give or take 10% (the UK clocks in as one of the most impressive English-speaking markets for paid search, clocking in at 58% of digital spend, according to econsultancy). For we diehards, the reasons for running paid search campaigns are […]
After my last column on how big brands should organize around social media marketing, I thought it might be useful to get tactical and look at some specific ways that big brands can begin to move the needle on social media. Again, I’m crediting Bill Hunt with inspiring some of these thoughts in a great […]
It’s time for an online advertisers bill of rights. So says Harvard assistant professor Ben Edelman, who has spent years researching Internet advertising and compares the current landscape to a “wild west.” Edelman recognizes the “staggering” opportunity that online advertising provides, but says the current system has problems that “threaten to destabilize online advertising—wasting advertisers’ […]
One of my favorite sessions at the search conferences I’ve programmed for a decade now has been the Evening Forum. It’s been over two years since I last held one, and I’ve brought it back for our SMX East search engine marketing conference this Oct. 5-7. There’s no agenda to the Evening Forum, which will […]
What’s Google CEO Eric Schmidt’s favorite Google product at the moment? When I asked him that this week, I expected a “I love all my children equally” answer. Instead, Schmidt surprised me answering without hesitation: Google’s Chrome browser. “The one that I am the most pleased with is Chrome. This is a personal answer. Because […]
Search marketers can learn a lot from scientists. Scientists spend their life testing things, one after the other, incessantly trying to discover new interactions between atoms, molecules, viruses, bacteria, etc. One of the greatest scientists of all time, Albert Einstein, said, “A theory is something nobody believes, except the person who made it. An experiment […]
It’s not real. But I sure wish it were, Google going all Kanye West on people searching for Taylor Swift. In the mockup above you can see Google responding “I’m really happy for you, and I’m gonna let you finish your search, but did you mean: beyonce” instead of the usual “Did You Mean” spelling […]