With the new year upon us, search engine marketers are focused on putting the foundation together for campaign execution throughout 2013. Central among the strategies meant to deliver B2B SEO results will be content marketing. Just in time for preparation in the new year, MarketingProfs and the Content Marketing Institute launched their 2013 B2B Content […]
One of the closest-watched metrics by marketers and investors — the cost-per-click across Google’s advertising business — increased approximately 2% in the fourth quarter, as compared to the third quarter, after several consecutive quarters of decline. The company released the figure as it announced revenues of $14.4 billion in the usually-busy fourth quarter. The fourth […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the Web. From Search Engine Land: Are Search Engines Driving Libraries To Extinction? Not Quite Yet With today’s instant anywhere-anytime access to Google, Bing and Wolfram Alpha, where searching for information takes a few scant heartbeats via […]
Search engines continue to go old school, encouraging people to “tag” content in a way that makes it feel like it’s 1999 all over again. Today, Bing makes another push in that direction, making content you tag with “Bing Tags” more visibile. Honestly, I feel like this tagging crazy is simply Google and Bing falling […]
The agenda is live, and we’re now accepting submissions to speak at Search Marketing Expo – SMX Toronto,March 20 & 21, 2013, at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. To increase the odds of being selected, be sure to read the agenda. Understand what the sessions are about. Ensure that your pitch is on target to […]
Google has announced a new Panda refresh, making this version number 24. This refresh has a noticeable impact 1.2% of English based queries according to Google. The previous confirmed update was #23 and it impacted 1.3% of English queries on December 21, 2012. Prior to that was a refresh on November 21 that impacted 0.8% […]
I have been astounded at the number of social media jobs brands large and small have created over the last year. With each month, more brands realize that Social media isn’t an afterthought; it’s something that takes time, strategy, attention and even aggression to keep ahead of the pack. With all of these new positions come a […]
Have you ever read those blogs and websites which start with the words, “74% Of The World’s Consumers Don’t Speak English,” or “54% Of The Connected World Is Outside The US?” They’re usually the first post of someone who has just discovered “global” and has been shocked by the numbers. International Business Is Becoming The […]
Google is testing a new color for their top navigation bar. Since June 2011 Google’s top bar has had a black background color with white/gray text overlaid. Google is now testing changing the background color to a gray/white with black/dark gray text overlaid. The picture above is from former Googler, Pedro Dias Google+ page. It […]
The Search Agency has released its “State of Paid Search Report” for Q4 2012. It follows similar reports from Marin Software, IgnitionOne, RKG and Kenshoo and contains a range of data based on US client campaigns. Overall The Search Agency observed that paid search is experiencing a “healthy growth rate.” Impressions, CPCs and paid clicks all […]
With today’s instant anywhere-anytime access to Google, Bing and Wolfram Alpha, where searching for information takes a few scant heartbeats via an internet-connected device, some people regard physical libraries as a quaint relics of a forgotten age. But new research from Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project suggests just the opposite: that in […]
While it might not get off quite as easily in Europe, Google definitely “dodged a bullet” at the FTC, which recently concluded its antitrust investigation and didn’t ask the company to make any changes in the way it presents search results. That was a major disappointment to Google competitors, critics and other third party publishers, […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the Web. From Search Engine Land: The Power Of Headlines: The LA Times Gets It Right With Their Piece On The Inauguration Journalists call them headlines; SEOs call them titles and headings. Whatever you call them, they’re […]
Journalists call them headlines; SEOs call them titles and headings. Whatever you call them, they’re the words that tell someone that your article is what they want to read. Look at Google News any day of the week for examples of headlines that give you absolutely no idea what the article might be about. Search […]
I’m a little dense. I admit it. Sometimes things just don’t sink in. Me and the many voices in my head have attempted to define Enterprise SEO many times. Is it about big sites? Internal politics? Higher likelihood of failure? IT teams and branding guidelines? Nope. Apparently, enterprise SEO is something we say when we’re clueless. […]
During the regular online training sessions which I deliver to our customers, I inevitably get asked the same question. Actually this question comes in a few guises. What should I focus on more – citations or links? Are reviews an important factor for local ranking? How many citations should I build for my client? How […]
The United States Patent and Trademark Office recently approved a patent application from Google which forecasts a greater focus on mobile pages/versions in mobile search results going into 2013. Apparently the U.S. Patent office works on Christmas Day, or simply wanted to offer Google a Christmas gift before the FTC Antitrust case ruling, as it approved Google’s Blending Mobile […]
Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in the United States, a Federal holiday where we mark the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. The holiday is always observed on the third Monday of January each year, which is around the time of his birthday, on January 15th. To remember his life, contributions and the […]
UPDATE: As of January 23, Google said it has fixed the problem and past data should be restored “in the coming days.” Google has confirmed a bug that causes conversions from Google Analytics to not be imported into AdWords properly, which can cause issues with any campaigns using this data for optimization. The bug has been reported by […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the Web. From Search Engine Land: Will [Not Provided] Ever Reach 100% In Web Analytics? With the news today that Chrome is moving to secure search, marketers may be wondering about the larger picture of using search […]
With the news today that Chrome is moving to secure search, marketers may be wondering about the larger picture of using search data in Web analytics. The searches people do that lead them to a site is valuable data to an organization. What other data source do we have that gives us direct access to […]
[Ed. note: This is the first of what will be an ongoing interview series called “5 Questions With…,” in which we’ll publish brief interviews with interesting and important online marketing newsmakers. Depending on the topic, the interviews may be published on Search Engine Land or Marketing Land and, depending on the topic and interview subject, […]
It’s relatively easy to report what happened in an ad campaign, but much more difficult to understand why things happen. Visits or conversions might go up or down, but why? It could be some form of seasonality or maybe your latest review hit the front page of Reddit. The mysteries of consumer behavior like to […]
The battle against bad ads getting past the AdWords review process rages on. Google announced in a blog post this week that the company axed 224 million bad ads in 2012. That’s up 67% from 2011. The 2012 numbers underscore that there is no shortage of scammers, however they may also point to a sign […]
In this week’s Search In Pictures, here are the latest images culled from the Web, showing what people eat at the search engine companies, how they play, who they meet, where they speak, what toys they have, and more.
About six months ago, Google introduced handwritten searching via your smartphone device. Instead of typing, speaking or taking a picture of your query – Google allowed you to write the query on the Google home page with the tip of your finger. It worked pretty well but it was not perfect and is still not […]
By now, everyone’s used to Siri’s wit. Tell her you love her, and Apple’s Siri digital assistant may respond that all you need is love — and an iPhone. Or that it will never work out. And she’s got jokes for a variety of other queries. But who’s the woman behind Siri? Or the man? […]
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 Google Hijacking Semantic Markup/Structured Data? In 2012, I started a series, How The Major Search And Social Engines Are Using The Semantic Web, which took us to a point in […]
In 2012, I started a series, How The Major Search And Social Engines Are Using The Semantic Web, which took us to a point in time around September 2012. Since then, there have been further interesting developments. In this article, I am going to focus on recent developments that are search engine and/or Google specific, […]
Millions of ardent fans were shocked when Argentina crashed out in the quarter-finals of the 2006 FIFA World Cup soccer tournament. They didn’t lose on field goals against Germany, but in a dramatic penalty shootout. The brutal post-match analysis forced Jose Pekerman’s resignation as national coach. Why? Because fans and experts alike blamed him for […]
Over the last year, like every year prior, online marketers have witnessed an incremental growth in digital advertising spend and a rapid adoption of new technology. In 2012, we saw the introduction of Product Listing Ads as Google shifted to a pay-to-play model for shopping. Facebook began testing every ad format under the sun, with […]
The big news in search this week was the announcement of Facebook’s Graph Search. But today, Microsoft is making enhancements to its own “social search” capability. Specifically, Bing is adding more content to its Social Sidebar feature. In a way, this is a reintroduction of Social Sidebar following the news of Facebook’s Graph Search. People […]
Where are the bargains in paid search these days? According to an analysis of the fourth quarter in paid search, Adobe determined that both tablet targeting and product listing ads represent great opportunities for marketers, where there’s a substantial gap between cost-per-click (CPC) and conversion rate. Adobe came to its conclusions after looking at paid […]
Yesterday, I received a package all the way from the United Kingdom. It was a chocolate bar but it was packaged differently. The cover around the bar had a personalized message to me that read: Hey Barry, We wanted to send you a treat to introduce ourselves! To find out who we are type: “Who […]
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: PLAs Drove 28% Of Google Non-Brand Ad Clicks In Q4 Google Product Listing Ads generated 28% of Google non-brand clicks in Q4 according to RKG’s latest Digital Marketing Report released […]
Google Product Listing Ads generated 28% of Google non-brand clicks in Q4 according to RKG’s latest Digital Marketing Report released today. PLA CPCs were 26% lower than CPCs for competitive text ads. RKG also found a larger than average gap between bids and actual CPCs for PLAs, suggesting competition is still relatively light. Product Listing Ads […]
Sometimes, the best path to success in SEO is going back to the basics of good old fashioned keyword research and content creation with the end goal in mind: the customer and the conversion. In this article, I’ll look at a website that was submitted for review from a “Keywords and Content” focus. The site is […]
I’m writing this from a cruise ship in the middle of the Pacific Ocean (well, actually, about 500 yards from Cabo San Lucas). This is my first cruise, and it’s been an interesting experience. My expectation was that this would be an all-inclusive vacation on water; the reality has been somewhere between a crass timeshare […]
Since its launch a few months back, the Facebook Exchange (aka FBX) has created lots of buzz amongst companies involved in Real Time Bidding (RTB). While much of the initial discussion about FBX was centered around low-funnel tactics such as site retargeting, more companies (including my company, Simpli.fi) are now complementing site retargeting with upper […]
Google has a special worldwide logo, aka Doodle, for Frank Zamboni’s 112th birthday. The interactive Doodle allows searchers to play the Zamboni game by cleaning the ice after it is being used by children, hockey players and ice dancers. Frank Zamboni invented the Zamboni ice resurfacer in 1949, and it’s found on virtually every ice […]