Even if you've tuned and optimized a search advertising account for good performance, there are tactics you can use to drive incremental gains. In this point, I’ll suggest several ways to improve the performance of “mature” PPC accounts.
Google confirmed two different discussions taking place in the webmaster and SEO community over the past few days. The first is that MySpace results are now included in Google’s Real Time search results feature. In addition, Google launched real-time search in Russian and Japanese. The second is that Google has updated their site command for […]
The dust has settled from last week’s Fairness Hearing on the proposed Google Book Search, and now all parties are playing a waiting game. Judge Denny Chin began the hearing by announcing — to no one’s surprise — that he wouldn’t be announcing a decision during or immediately after the hearing. According to the Wall […]
The data classically used in search engine optimization (SEO) to benchmark sites and track performance is all but useless today. Ranking reports, still a necessary evil in SEO reporting, have been unreliable (at best) for at least 3 years. Their validity has been further marginalized over the last 24 months by way of Google’s increased […]
I am not afraid to admit I am an opportunist. We all rooted for Julia Roberts when she persevered for years to win the big case in Erin Brokovich, but let’s face it, do any of us really want to work that hard? Me, I would have taken the settlement right after I coughed up […]
The Pew Internet & American Life Project recently undertook a massive task (for the fourth time): predicting the future of the internet. They surveyed hundreds of technology experts, who not unsurprisingly, had varied opinions about what the future might hold. Of course, it’s highly unlikely that any of these perspectives is the exact future of […]
The recently approved Microsoft-Yahoo search deal, set to a song of my youth… Here’s the story, of a lovely lady Her name is Carol Bartz, and she runs Yahoo It’s a search engine, and a portal And it’s getting hard to run the two Here’s the story, of a man named Ballmer Who was bringing […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Touch-Phones: Changing The Way We Search For most of us sitting in front of a PC, today’s search engines provide a “more than good enough” way to find information or entertainment […]
For most of us sitting in front of a PC, today’s search engines provide a “more than good enough” way to find information or entertainment on the world wide web. Mobile is different. Few of us could claim that we use mobile search several times a day, and when we do search it is often […]
Google scheduled a privacy discussion for reporters and bloggers at its San Francisco offices a couple of weeks ago. The timing turned out to be unexpectedly ironic. The idea was to “walk through a short presentation about [Google’s] guiding principles for privacy, how we use data and some of our comprehensive privacy efforts over the […]
Over the years, I’ve gone through many iterations of focus as a search marketer. In my first years in SEO, traffic seemed to be the primary focus all of online marketing. Increasing the client’s online visits was the number one goal. That thinking evolved into a multi-pronged approach to looking at data – from lowering […]
Relying largely on crowdsourcing and its MapMaker product, Google announced the addition of maps and local business search for 30 countries across Africa: Our big announcement today is that we are launching Maps domains for 30 countries across Africa. So what’s on offer? As well as searching online Maps for towns, highways, or roads, Google […]
VentureBeat reports Twitter has increased their traffic by 9 percent from December to January. After deeper insight from ComScore and Hitwise, it appears that most, if not all, came from Google. When Google added real-time results to their search interface in December, it had a major impact on people discovering Tweets in the search results. […]
The Google Mobile Blog announced a neat new search app for Android named Google Shopper. You just point the app at books, CDs, DVDs, and video games, and barcodes and it will fetch the details of that product and give you the prices, stores, reviews and more about that product. I tested it out on […]
In my last column, I had the chance to chat with Bing Director Stefan Weitz about how Microsoft is approaching search as it sits today. But the question I asked that lead to the interview in the first place was “Where does search go from here?” Microsoft’s Bing team certainly has its own ideas of […]
Let’s get a little more hands-on this week and walk through something practical that will immediately impact the conversion potential of any web site and increase the performance of both paid and natural search campaigns. The examples I’ll use today are specific to ecommerce, but the same ideas can be translated to other industries, and […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Geo-Targeting For Local Placement: Just How Narrow Is OK? Advertising exists to help merchants sell products and services to people who need those same products and services. Bringing the merchant together […]
Advertising exists to help merchants sell products and services to people who need those same products and services. Bringing the merchant together with the consumer is the objective. In the online sector how those two are brought together requires a combination of money, targeting, and compelling or persuasive ad copy. How are those elements joined? […]
One aspect to search marketing that I feel doesn’t get enough attention and indeed is misunderstood by the SEO practitioner is the interaction between organic search and paid search. For years when teaching SEO workshops, I touted the synergistic effect of being at the top of both organic and paid results. I would encourage attendees […]
Yahoo and Microsoft announced they have clearance to implement their proposed search deal where Microsoft will power Yahoo Search and search ads. Today they received “unrestricted” clearance from both the U.S. Department of Justice (see here) and the European Commission to proceed. And proceed they will. Yahoo said the implementation will begin in the next […]
Michael VanDeMar has documented possible evidence that Google is using fake referrers, possibly to detect forms of spam. Michael said the GoogleBot is being cloaked and is sending fake referrers for keywords the site is not related to and has no chance in ranking for. Bing has been doing this for years, fixed the issue […]
Google was grated a patent that discusses a system of determining content access privileges by country/geography. While it undoubtedly has multiple uses, Google book scanning and search appears to be the primary intended use case. ArsTechnia brings it to our attention. Here’s the patent summary: A system comprising: one or more devices to implement: means […]
TechCrunch reports Google sent a letter to the zoning board in the City of Mountain View, trying to encourage the city to change the zoning laws near the Google headquarters. Currently, the areas around the Googleplex are zoned only for commercial use. Google wants to enable their employees to be closer to the Googleplex, which […]
Sometimes the start of a project is the hardest part. You don’t know what you don’t know. There will be questions to ask for which you may not know the answer. If you’re a beginning at search engine marketing, you may even be staring at a blank Excel sheet right now. The first question should […]
Despite spending millions of dollars on paid search, Fortune 500 companies continue to fail when it comes to natural search visibility. That’s the conclusion of “Natural Search Trends of the Fortune 500: Q4/2009,” the latest study released today by Conductor, a New York-based SEO services/technology firm. Some key takeaways from Conductor’s survey of Fortune 500 […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: When In House Should Opt For Outsourcing There are not too many times when I advocate that an in-house SEO program should turn to outsourcing. Far too many times I have […]
There are not too many times when I advocate that an in-house SEO program should turn to outsourcing. Far too many times I have seen businesses hire agencies to perform SEO work, and it ends up being a case of the visually impaired leading the visually impaired. It’s rare, but some agencies and consultants truly […]
Here is something that product managers and strategic marketers know first-hand: new product introductions and market roll-outs often carry large, and daunting, expectations. A poorly-executed product intro can cost jobs, upward professional mobility, and even millions of dollars and damage to an entire product family’s brand image in the market. It is fairly common that […]
Many tactics for improving conversion rates rely on accurate data about what is currently happening with visitors to your site. As a result, customizing analytics tracking is a core part of any optimizer’s job. At the end of last year, Google announced a bunch of new features including multiple custom variables accessed via the _setCustomVar […]
Aggressive marketers have been infiltrating competitors’ camps since long before Odysseus sought covert entrance to Troy by way of the fabled Trojan horse. Search and social media marketing tools elevated competitive intelligence to the level of industrial espionage, in the hands of the unscrupulous. That said, somewhere to the left of that ethical line in […]
Looking to find something on Google Buzz? Ironically, for a product from Google, searching Buzz seems to have a lot that can be improved. Below, some tips I’ve pulled together. Buzz Search From Google Buzz has its own search box, as you’ll find at the top of the page. But doing a search using this […]
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales used Twitter earlier tonight to announce that Google is giving $2 million to the Wikimedia Foundation: Google has donated $2 million to the Wikimedia Foundation! Formal announcement tomorrow… The Wikimedia Foundation is a non-profit organization that operates Wikipedia and other collaborative sites such Wiktionary, Wikinews, and Wikimedia Commons.
Postscript, February 17: The CBC article cited below has reworded its article and now says the Canadian government is “reviewing” rather than “investigating” Buzz. A semantic distinction, perhaps, but there’s apparently no formal government investigation happening in Canada at the moment, so we’ve updated our headline, too. We’ve also received a statement from Google on […]
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 Facebook Becoming More Important Than Google? That intentionally “inflammatory” headline is inspired by an article that appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle yesterday, “Facebook directs more online users than Google.” […]
That intentionally “inflammatory” headline is inspired by an article that appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle yesterday, “Facebook directs more online users than Google.” The article cites Compete data and says, “Facebook has passed search-engine giant Google to become the top source for traffic to major portals like Yahoo and MSN, and is among the […]
If you’re one of those people who is opposed to blog links, then you’re not thinking of inbound links as a potential to send qualified traffic to your site, and that’s a serious marketing mistake. Occasionally one of our clients will state that they’d no longer like us to pursue blog links, and we argue […]
Until very recently, research company Forrester had been one of the poster-children of people wishing to show how companies have grown their business on the back of a deep understanding of social media. Its analysts, including Groundswell author Charlene Li, not only produced research on how businesses and consumers were using social media, but also […]
As the search engines rapidly move to offer more locally focused search results, those managing large global, single domain sites are facing more and more difficulties in getting them indexed, detected as local, then ranked in the local search results. This is especially true with Google in English and Spanish speaking countries where it is […]
Google has a new program that allows local businesses to get paid listings that appear within what’s known as the 7-pack of local listings. But do those listings violate the Federal Trade Commission’s guidelines about proper disclosure of paid search ads? Probably not, but they do seem confusing. The New York Times had a good […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Bing Gets Dedicated Button On New Windows (7) Phones This morning in Barcelona, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer delivered a keynote address at the GSM Mobile World Congress trade show. I’m not […]