A newly released year-long study by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism looked at US tech coverage in general and individual company coverage in particular and found some interesting things. Most of the technology coverage from June, 2009 to June 2010 was positive. However the single biggest story was about the dangers of texting while driving: "Nearly one-in-ten technology stories were about this subject, more than five times the coverage of either the U.S. plan for broadband access and six times the coverage devoted to the debate over net neutrality." Ac [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Strategy | Google: General | Stats: General

SMX East is next week! Register now and you’ll still save $200 off the on- site rate. You already know about the exceptional content and highly qualified presenters at SMX East. But there’s another aspect of the conference that is just as important and valuable - networking. And with more than 1300 companies sending delegates (so far), there are lots of people to network with! Keep reading to learn more about the networking opportunities and then register for your All Access pass! Networking begins before the conference on the SMX Connect social networking site, where you can po [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | SEM Industry: Conferences | SEM Industry: Search Marketing Expo - SMX | SMX & DMD Alerts | Top News

Google Instant rolled out September 8th to much fanfare and ballyhoo. The search marketing industry has been abuzz ever since with speculation about the impacts on both paid and natural search. Our firm has taken a pretty close look at the initial impact on paid search performance and we want to share our findings with you folks. Methodology We studied Google AdWords data from the period prior to the launch of Instant and compared it to the first week-plus following the launch for a wide range of clients. Our client base is heavily retail, so those in other sectors may have differen [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEM | Paid Search

Last week the US Department of Justice (DOJ) trumpeted a settlement with six firms over recruiting practices, which had been under investigation as anti-competitive. The firms involved are Apple, Google, Intel, Adobe, Intuit and Pixar. The claim was that they agreed not to "poach" employees from one another, allegedly to depress wages: The department said that the agreements eliminated a significant form of competition to attract highly skilled employees, and overall diminished competition to the detriment of affected employees who were likely deprived of competitively important information a [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Google: Critics | Google: Legal | Legal: General

For nearly a decade, we have watched small businesses steadily shift their marketing spend from offline to online, but it is only now that we are coming to a key realization: unlocking the local opportunity is not just about capturing transitions in small business spending; rather, it is about understanding the unique pain points of the local business, and how we can address those through a newly-conceived, and well-defined product set. One only has to consider the sophistication of how consumers are using the Internet in 2010 to discover and make decisions about local businesses to underst [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Local | Local Search

The holidays are just around the corner, and with shoppers gearing up for the holiday rush, smart marketers are already preparing their paid search campaigns for the 2010 season. By evaluating consumer trends from last year’s holiday season we found some interesting insights that will help marketers be even more successful this year, including a few observations that run counter to conventional wisdom. In general, retail search programs performed as expected: starting to increase in traffic and conversion rates in the final week in November and running significantly more profitably than t [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | How To: SEM | Industrial Strength

For the second time this year, Google has lost a lawsuit in France related to the search suggestions that appear on Google Suggest. The recent case involved the appearance of the words "rapist" and "satanist" in search suggestions for the plaintiff's name. The plaintiff had previously been convicted on appeal for corrupting a minor, but the AFP reports that the "conviction was not yet definitive" when the man discovered what Google Suggest was showing for his name. Google has been ordered to make a "symbolic payment" of one euro in damages and to take steps that will ensure the offense d [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: Legal | Google: Outside US | Google: Suggest | Top News

With the Facebook movie's debut a week away, how about something to keep you entertained while you wait? A book. About that other major internet drama story, Google. The book? "Googled, The End Of The World As We Know It," by Ken Auletta. Googled came out at the end of last year, and I've been terribly remiss in not writing my review of it until now. It is a masterwork. Required reading for anyone trying to understand how disruptive the internet has been to businesses, and how Google has ridden that disruptive wave, as well as having churned it up. You want drama? Here's drama, about [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Strategy | Features: Analysis | Google: General | Stats: History | Top News

Google says its new keyword tool -- which should be referred to as "The Keyword Tool" going forward -- is out of beta and ready to replace its two predecessors: the original keyword tool and the Search-based Keyword Tool. Google recommends using the updated tool while logged in to your AdWords account, but says it can still be accessed without signing in. It's available at the same URL as the original: https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal Meanwhile, Google also explains why users are seeing lower search volume counts when using the keyword tool: "...we've also change [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEM | Google: AdWords | Top News

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 & Apple Extend Search Deal, Emerge As “Frenemies” Not “Froes”WPP Group’s CEO Sir Martin Sorrell was the one who coined the term “froe” to describe Google. He said in 2008 that Google had gone from being a “frenemy” to a “froe” of the agency holding company. Presumably “froe” is a more direct competitor than a “frenemy”– at least that’s the impli [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | SearchCap

WPP Group’s CEO Sir Martin Sorrell was the one who coined the term "froe" to describe Google. He said in 2008 that Google had gone from being a "frenemy" to a "froe" of the agency holding company. Presumably "froe" is a more direct competitor than a "frenemy"-- at least that's the implication. Google and Apple started out as genuine friends, with overlapping board seats, and then seemed to gradually turn into sniping "froes." But it now appears that they're more like "frenemies" after all. The two companies have apparently renewed their search deal regarding the iPhone, which was assum [...]

Related Topics: Apple | Channel: Mobile | Google: Business Issues | Google: Mobile | Google: Web Search | Top News

It's been a rough week for two of the bigger players in the social voting space. Propeller, an AOL-owned property that grew out of the old Netscape website, has announced on its home page that the site is shutting down on October 1st. The change was spotted by Search Engine Watch. Propeller was pitched as a challenger to Digg's throne. But that never materialized. Its home page is currently filled with submitted stories that only have one or two votes, many of which are spammy content about ATV rentals, plumbing, loans, and carpet services. Meanwhile, the king of social news/voting [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social | Search Engines: Digg | Search Engines: News Search Engines

The 2010 retail holiday season kicks off in just 60 days. If you're like me, you already sense the Christmas shopping budget is sunk, having to decide not which mobile device to purchase, but how many. Kindles for the kids? New iPhone for the wife? iPad for the family? What about the grandparents? And what about me? Fortunately none of them read my articles so I'm not spoiling anything. But as visions of sugarplums, smartphones and mobile presents dance in the heads of consumers, retail brands have to focus on their mobile presence these next two months for a serious chance at converting a [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Analytics | Search & Analytics

People love lists. Publishers love lists too because they sell copies of traditional print newspapers and magazines and, online, they generate lots of clicks and page views. For example, the HuffingtonPost has become a veritable archive of slideshows: "the 10 best places to live," the "hottest beach bods of the summer" and so on. US News sells lots copies of its infamous "Best Colleges & Universities" issue. The more venerable but no less cynical Forbes' "Richest People in America" is in the same vein. So without further ado . . . the envelope please (thanks Gary Price). Here are the Ri [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Strategy | Stats: General | Stats: Size

Here's another Google Maps oddity, tipped to us by "emallaich" earlier this week: Louisville doesn't appear in Google Maps. The city is there -- Louisville, Kentucky -- but you won't see the name "Louisville" used anywhere to identify the city. Start with a search on Google.com for louisville kentucky: That's where Louisville is, so it's not that Google can't find the city. It's just that the map doesn't say "Louisville." Anywhere. All Google's map shows is smaller cities like Jeffersontown and St. Matthews. Even if you click the link into Google Maps, you still won't see the city [...]

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

Mobile searchers have different goals, motivations, and limitations than desktop searchers. What are things you should consider before building and optimizing a website for mobile searchers?

Related Topics: Channel: Content | Search & Usability

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Schmidt: Forcing Carriers To Provide “Clean” Android Would Violate Principle Of Open SourceOne of the disturbing things about the Skyhook Wireless lawsuit against Google is the allegation that Google made Motorola drop Skyhook as a location provider, especially when Google CEO Eric Schmidt said last week that such restrictions would be “violating the principle of open source.” Schmidt’s comment came during a press lunch at [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | SearchCap

One of the disturbing things about the Skyhook Wireless lawsuit against Google is the allegation that Google made Motorola drop Skyhook as a location provider, especially when Google CEO Eric Schmidt said last week that such restrictions would be "violating the principle of open source." Schmidt's comment came during a press lunch at the Google Zeitgeist partners conference last week, on September 14, a day before the Skyhook suit made headlines. I'd asked Schmidt why Google didn't pressure carriers to provide a way for consumers to have a "pure" Android experience if they want, especial [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile | Google: Business Issues | Google: Legal | Google: Mobile | Top News

Google's Street View continues to face resistance, particularly in European countries where the service has more recently been rolling out. Today brings news that privacy officials in the Czech Republic are refusing to allow Google to resume capturing images with its Street View vehicles. According to a story in The Guardian, the Czech Office for Personal Data Protection says that Street View "disproportionately invades citizens' privacy" and might violate Czech law. The country began investigating Street View in April -- six months after Google launched the service there. Google agreed [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Local | Google: Critics | Google: Outside US | Google: Street View

Google says that it's won a copyright infringement case in Spain over the uploading of copyrighted videos by YouTube users. Telecinco, a Spanish broadcast TV channel, had argued that YouTube is responsible when its users upload videos that infringed on the channel's copyrights. According to Google's blog post about the legal decision: The court rejected Telecinco’s claim, noting that YouTube offers content owners tools to remove copyright infringing content and this means that it is the responsibility of the copyright owner – not YouTube – to identify and tell YouTube when infringi [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Video | Google: Legal | Google: Outside US | Google: YouTube & Video | Top News