Chris Sherman
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About Chris Sherman

Chris Sherman (@CJSherman) is a Founding editor of Search Engine Land and is now retired.

Chris Sherman's latest articles

Bing

SMX Advanced Keynote: Microsoft’s Vision Of The Future Of Search

Ask just about any search marketer what they associate with Microsoft, and the answer will be “Bing.” But, Microsoft is much more than Bing, with many business units and a formidable research division. And increasingly, Bing is not “just” Microsoft’s Google competitor; rather, it is at the core of everything the company is trying to […]

SEO

Live @ SMX West: Being National, Going Local

Many businesses are fortunate to have widely recognized brands operating across countries or even the world, yet conduct much of their business locally. Retailers, real-estate agencies, home-service providers, B2B organizations… online marketing is essential for all of these types of businesses, but there can be a downside to being nationally recognized when you’re trying to […]

SEO

Want To Speak @ SMX London? Here’s How

The agenda is live, and we’re now accepting submissions to speak at Search Marketing Expo – SMX London 2013. To increase the odds of being selected, be sure to have read the agenda. Understand what the sessions are about. Ensure that your pitch is on target to the show’s audience and the session. Please also […]

SEO

SMX Toronto Keynote: Social Proof, SEO & Influence Marketing

The concept of “influence marketing” has suddenly exploded into all aspects of search and online marketing. In his SMX Toronto keynote address, Sam Fiorrella, co-author of Influence Marketing: How to Create, Manage and Measure Brand Influencers in Social Media, will present a new methodology that will advance the concept of influence marketing from a social […]

SEO

Live @ SMX West: Forget What You Know About Paid Search

Think you know everything about Google AdWords or Bing Ads? Have all the best practices nailed, are a master of match types, and have encyclopedic knowledge about gaining the upper hand when sparring with the quirky idiosyncrasies of bidding, scheduling and conversion optimization? Think again. As kung fu masters remind us, “the wise always remain […]

Facebook

Must-Attend Keynote @ SMX West: An Insider’s Guide To Friending Facebook

  Unless they’ve been living in a cave, all marketers recognize the value and potential return from engaging with Facebook users. With its vast following of more than a billion people, its multi-faceted and highly targeted advertising options, and the recent introduction of its Graph Search feature, Facebook is a must-do, must-leverage, must-succeed channel for […]

Google algorithm updates

The BIG SMX West Preview: Why You Should Attend

Search Engine Land’s SMX West search marketing conference is returning to San Jose on March 11-13, 2013. We’ve got a revamped, updated agenda, and have already confirmed more than 100 world-class speakers. If you’re involved in marketing, PR, social media or any other customer-facing activity, you owe it to yourself (and your company’s or client’s […]

SEO

Want To Speak @ SMX Toronto? Here’s How

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 […]

Ecommerce

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 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 […]

SEO

Want To Speak @ SMX West? Here’s How

The agenda is live, and we’re now accepting submissions to speak at Search Marketing Expo – SMX West, March 11-13, 2013, at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center.. 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 […]

Apple

When Google News Fails, Here’s How To Fix It

In today’s world of instant gratification, with Twitter often “scooping” traditional news sources, we still turn to professional journalists for accurate, timely news, and confirmation of the events that transpired. While “breaking” news offers instant awareness, we still want to read news accounts reported by trained pros, who have dug deeply for facts and have […]

Platforms

Forrester Report: The Best PPC Bid Management Providers

Forrester, the large marketing technology analysis organization, has released the final of its quarterly Forrester Wave reports related to search marketing. The first, Forrester Rates The Top Large Search Marketing Agencies, offered an assessment of large, full service (meaning agencies that offer both organic SEO and PPC) and agencies who serve large clients of $1 […]

Platforms

The Top SEO Platforms: Forrester Wave Report

Forrester, the large marketing technology analysis organization, has released two of three of its Forrester Wave reports related to search marketing. I wrote about the first one yesterday in Forrester Rates The Top Large Search Marketing Agencies, which offered an assessment of large, full service (meaning agencies that offer both organic SEO and PPC) and […]

Platforms

Forrester Rates The Top Large Search Marketing Agencies

Forrester, the large marketing technology analysis organization, has released two of three of its Forrester Wave reports related to search marketing. The first, The Forrester Wave: Search Marketing Agencies, Q4 2012 rates seven of the largest full-service search marketing agencies. While the ranking results are interesting in themselves, some of the other insights offered in […]

Google

Google Updates Earth With “Tour Guide” & More 3D Imagery

Google has released a new desktop version of Google Earth (version 7) that includes features previously released in its mobile version. The new desktop features include what Google calls a “tour guide” for more than 11,000 locations in over 110 countries and regions, and more 3D imagery for several cities around the world. The tour […]

Ecommerce

Google Logo Pays Homage To Pioneering Aviatrix Amelia Earhart

Today’s Google doodle-logo celebrates aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart‘s 115th birthday. According to Wikipedia, “Earhart was the first woman to receive the U.S. Distinguished Flying Cross, awarded for becoming the first aviatrix to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set many other records, wrote best-selling books about her flying experiences and was instrumental in the […]

SEO

Want To Speak @ SMX East? Here’s How

The agenda is live, and we’re now accepting submissions to speak at Search Marketing Expo – SMX East 2012, October 2-4, at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. To increase the odds of being selected, be sure to read the agenda. Understand what the sessions are about. Ensure that your pitch […]

Amazon

Google Wants Love & Amazon Seeking Joy In New Top Level Domain Names

Today ICANN, the organization responsible for administering “top level” domain names on the internet (e.g. dot-com, dot-org, etc) pulled aside the curtain and gave the world a glimpse of proposed new “dot-anything” names, including both the desired domain names and the organization wanting them them. It’s an interesting, and often bizarre collection of names and […]

SEO

SMX Advanced: Hotel Alert

As it has in past years, SMX Advanced in Seattle, on June 5 and 6, is nearly sold out. If you plan to attend, register soon! And once you have, be sure to make hotel reservations – at the two “official” conference hotels, the Marriott across from the Bell Harbor conference center is already sold […]

Content

Acquisio Acquires ClickEquations & Partners With Channel Intelligence

Acquisio, provider of automated tools for search, display and social advertising, has acquired the ClickEquations search marketing platform from Channel Intelligence, and announced a partnership with that firm. Acquisio plans to integrate some of the search-focused functionality currently available on the ClickEquations platform. Acquisio’s existing clients will gain access to the Channel Intelligence Shopping Engines […]

SEO

Want To Speak @ SMX West? Here’s How

The agenda is live, and we’re now accepting submissions to speak at SMX West 2012, San Jose, CA on February 28-March 1. 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 the show’s audience and the session. […]

Content

The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) Stalls In Congress

The U.S. House Judiciary Committee abruptly adjourned today without voting on the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), a controversial measure that would impose radical new requirements on search engines, ISPs, ad networks and other key internet players. The hearings will resume “earliest practical day that Congress is in session” according to the chief sponsor of […]

SEO

Domain Name Matters: Searchers Pick Brand Over Quality, Study Finds

A new study from Microsoft Research confirms what most SEOs have known for years—that domain names are a crucial element for capturing clicks and conversions from search results. Unlike what’s been published in most search marketing forums, however, this research was not focused on SEO techniques or search engine ranking algorithms, but rather on observed […]

Google

VIDEO: Google Presents The Evolution Of Search In 6 Minutes

Google released a short video today highlighting some of its key milestones in search over the past decade. It’s both a fun blast from the past and a worthwhile reminder of how much things have changed over the years. The video is also a nice follow-on to the look under the hood of search that […]

Ecommerce

Responding To Complaints, Google Adds Verbatim Search Results

A couple of weeks ago, Google eliminated the “+” operator from its set of tools that allow you to more precisely specify what you’re searching for. The “+” operator previously allowed you to require that certain words were found in your search results. This was useful if you wanted exact matches for search terms that […]

Bing

Study: Bing More “Biased” Than Google; Google Not Behaving Anti-Competitively

Does Google favor its own sites in search results, as many critics have claimed? Not necessarily. New research suggests claims that Google is “biased” are overblown, and that Google’s primary competitor, Microsoft’s Bing, may actually be serving Microsoft-related results “far more” often than Google links to its own services in search results. In an analysis […]

SEO

Why SMX Social Media Marketing Is A Must-Attend Event

Social media marketing is hot—and everyone agrees that it has become a must-do activity for all companies wanting to connect with customers, reach out to prospects and maximize brand awareness. A recent study by online ad agency Collective found that 90 percent of marketers want to try new things online, and 62 percent of marketers […]

Google

Feel Secure Using Gmail Or Other Cloud Services? Read This.

Google, Microsoft and scores of other companies are pushing us all into the “cloud”—where all of our information is stored online and is instantly accessible from any internet-connected device. This instant, universal access is a phenomenal benefit for most people. And since many of these cloud-based services are “free” (in the sense that they are […]

SEO

Want To Speak @ SMX Social Media Marketing? Here’s How

The agenda is live, and we’re now accepting submissions to speak at SMX Social Media Marketing 2011, Scottsdale, AZ, on December 5-6, 2011. 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 the show’s audience and the […]

Google

Do The Majority Of Americans Think Google Is Unfair?

Fairsearch.org has released findings from a new study that raises serious and important issues about Google, its influence on searcher behavior and whether the search giant’s actions are deliberately hindering competition. Unfortunately, the study results are tainted by flawed methodology and a blatant anti-Google bias, implicitly favoring the agendas of the companies that sponsored the […]

Google

Timing Is Everything: How Google Staged A Benevolent “Smear” Campaign

Google operates one of the largest cloud-based computing systems in the world, and takes great pride in its reliability, investing significant amounts of both money and human resources to make sure that all of its services are always-on and accurate. Here’s the story of how, to eliminate what many would consider an almost insignificant issue, […]

SEO

Wanted: Session Ideas For SMX Social Media Marketing

We’re pleased to announce that we’re launching a new conference: SMX Social Media Marketing, debuting in Scottsdale, AZ on December 5-6, 2011. SMX Social Media Marketing is a two-day, tactic-rich conference that covers all key issues for getting the most out of social media networks, whether you’re tasked with driving organic traffic, managing paid campaigns, […]

SEO

America’s Fastest Growing Search Marketing Companies

Each year, Inc. Magazine releases its Inc. 500/5000 list of the fastest growing companies in America. We’re proud to announce that Search Engine Land’s parent company, Third Door Media, made the Inc. 5000 list this year. Who gets chosen? Inc. says, “The 2011 Inc. 500|5000 is ranked according to percentage revenue growth from 2007 through […]

Ecommerce

Searching The Sarah Palin Emails

More than 24,199 pages of emails from the first 21 months of Sarah Palin’s term as Governor of Alaska were released today after an unsuccessful fight by the state to prevent their disclosure. About 30 news organizations paid to receive the 5 boxes of printed documents, and most are planning to scan the messages and […]

Ecommerce

Live Q&A With Stephen Wolfram Today

Wolfram Alpha is a fascinating “un” search engine that’s a great alternative to Google for many types of queries. And creator/master curator Stephen Wolfram is a pretty interesting guy himself. It’s been a year since the official launch of Wolfram Alpha, and Wolfram will be hosting a live Q&A session to talk about how the […]

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