As Google co-founder Larry Page takes the helm as Google CEO today, it’s interesting to look back at some of the seminal events that spurred the once dedicated academic to abandon his graduate studies at Stanford and take the plunge as an entrepreneur. By 1996, it was apparent to many that Larry Page and Sergey […]
Google CEO and soon to be Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt has made a number of interesting and often controversial statements about privacy. While the official line from Google is that the company is fully committed to respecting the privacy of others, Schmidt has seemingly contradicted that, at one time saying “There is what I call […]
Some business books aim to teach you how to take your game to the next level. Others, how to delight your customers and increase profits. Still others coach you on interacting with your peers, boss and other key “stakeholders” who are key to your success. Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions by […]
One of the most competitive and interesting sports in reporting on what’s happening in the online world is the ongoing game of predicting the future. Just as we’re seeing regime change in North Africa and the Middle East, it looks as if we’re experiencing another tectonic shift in the universe of online ads.
China Mobile and state-run news agency Xinhua have launched Panguso a new search engine that will let people search for news, web sites, images, videos and audio, according to Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua. The new search engine will filter results according to the guidelines issued by the Chinese government, often referred to as “the […]
In April 2008, Google launched its Public Data Explorer, a fantastic tool that allows you to visually explore and analyze very large data sets. Since then, it has curated 27 datasets including more than 300 data metrics. The Public Data Explorer now enables people to visualize everything from labor productivity (OECD) to gender balance in […]
For online marketers, Russia offers two appealing qualities: It’s one of just five countries in the world where Google isn’t the market leader, and Russia is now the 2nd biggest online market in Europe in terms of users, having passed the UK last year. Yandex is the market leader in Russia, with a 64% market […]
New research designed to analyze Google’s personalized search results and make the process the search engine uses more transparent has generated interesting and controversial findings. The study examined a number of commonly held notions about personalization, including the idea that personalization is subtle, that it can often surface more long-tail results, and that personalization is […]
Headline grab your attention? True story: Steven Levy, one of our keynote speakers at SMX West actually found Einstein’s brain 22 years after the great scientist’s death. But that’s not the main reason he’s keynoting—Steven has spent the past two years as an “embedded” journalist at the Googleplex, attending strategy and development meetings, interviewing key […]
Are you one of those people who get upset when the Super Bowl gets interrupted by football or corny half-time events? You know, those sideshows to the real reason people watch—the ads. Fortunately, you can find all of the Super Bowl ads online. Even better: there’s no need to sift through parodies or spam on […]
Tired of winter? Want to win a trip to SMX West in sunny California? Click on over to take the 3rd annual SMX Biggest Search Geek Contest sponsored by Marin Software. The contest consists of 20 challenging questions related to search marketing. The highest scoring contestant will win a trip for two to SMX West […]
Here at Search Engine Land we regularly hear from people who have created “radical,” innovative,” “next generation” search technology, promising to “fix” the “broken” search we all allegedly pitifully struggle with today. In virtually every instance that I can remember, these promises over-hype and under-deliver, rarely offering something that becomes part of my regular search […]
Interested in speaking at SMX West, in San Jose on March 8-10? We’re finalizing the speaking roster this week, and have a few sessions where we’re still considering speaking pitches: Building Buzz On Facebook: Getting Liked & Shared Do Bad Merchant Reviews Now Count Against You In Google? Do Not Track & Search Marketing In-House […]
SMX® - Search Marketing Expo & Conference series
Wendy Boswell, About.com’s Websearch Guide, has announced the opening of the 2011 Readers’ Choice Awards, which will showcase the best products, features and services in more than a dozen topic areas, from technology to hobbies to sports. Categories include: Best Search Engine Best Reference Site Best Movie/Video Site Best Family and Kids Site Best Shopping […]
Google has rolled out its long awaited digital ebooks program, the next step in the company’s ambitious but controversial project to scan and make searchable the estimated 130 million books that exist in print versions. “The next logical iteration for us is to open up a bookstore,” said Scott Dougall, product management director for Google […]
Search marketing firm iProspect has released the results of its most recent research study, attempting to quantify the value of digital media and the effect of branding on customers’ purchase paths. The key finding was that online digital media assets have considerable branding influence, and that specific combinations can significantly impact a brand’s success. The […]
While many parts of the global economy remain mired in the doldrums, the search marketing industry continues its pace of relentless, healthy growth, according to the recently released SEOmoz Industry Survey 2010. Compiling data from more than 10,000 respondents in 90 countries, the survey offers one of the most comprehensive views yet of the current […]
The Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO) is undertaking its first industry-wide salary survey to assess the state of compensation of search marketing professionals by region, experience and responsibility. Previous SEMPO salary surveys have been limited to in-house and agency professionals, whereas the current one is broad-based and open to any search marketing professional. Want […]
StumbleUpon, the web content discovery site that uses ratings from users to form collaborative opinions on website quality, has improved its video discovery process. Users can now watch, rate and share videos from multiple sites, including YouTube, Hulu, Vimeo, CollegeHumor and TED, as well as discover and watch their friends’ favorite videos and recommend videos. […]
Click Forensic’s quarterly assessment of overall click fraud rates for the paid search industry says that click fraud has increased to 22.3% in the third quarter of this year, up from 18.6% last quarter. There has been a consecutive rise in click fraud rates over the past 18 months, from the 17.4% Click Forensics reported […]
We’re here at Microsoft’s Mountain View campus, waiting for news from Bing and Facebook. I’m liveblogging the event; Greg Sterling is sitting next to me ready to provide the color commentary, and Danny Sullivan has written an in-depth analysis of the new features that we’ll link over to as soon as the embargo lifts in […]
It's that time of year when many of us turn to the internet for information, advice and maps to help plan a getaway for some rest and relaxation. Although search engines may be an obvious place to start your quest, they often aren't your best bet for useful information, helpful advice or savvy planning tips. Here's why—along with an in-depth look at more useful alternatives.
Virtually all of the famous print travel guides have online counterparts. Most are just as packed with information, photos and maps as their print versions. Most also have planning tools, community, deals and other online-specific features. Surprisingly, for sites that offer information about travel and moving around the world, many don’t have mobile versions of […]
Search Marketing Now hosts two free webcasts this week, both at 1 PM Eastern. Tomorrow, Tuesday June 22, Vanessa Fox will deliver a presentation “SEO & Hosting Issues: What You Should Know.” She’ll explain what every serious SEO need to know about hosting—from understanding which database to use, to the impact of hosting issues on […]
Do you have a topic you’d like to see covered in a session at SMX East NYC on October 4-6, 2010? Something you’d like to see covered in depth, or a discussion of advanced strategies and tactics for getting the most out your search marketing campaigns? If so, we’d like to hear from you. Please […]
Google has long touted how easy it is to create and manage AdWords campaigns. “All that’s needed is five minutes and a credit card,” says Google’s business overview. And if you’ve actually run your own Google advertising program, you know these claims are true. But there’s more to creating a successful search ad campaign than […]
Microsoft’s Bing is turning one year old, and according to just-released comScore qSearch data continues to gain market share at the expense of Google. We’re excited about our keynote conversation at SMX Advanced Seattle, where Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft’s Senior Vice President, Online Audience Business and a key executive on the Bing team discusses the evolution […]
Our fourth Search Marketing Expo event in the UK is just two weeks away, and it’s shaping up to be an exceptional show. You can expect the great content, keynote, networking activities and meals for which SMX events are famous. But this year we’ve added a new – and we think very compelling – focus […]
The Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization has announced the new slate of officers for the search marketing advocacy and education association. The officers for the coming year are: Chairman: Jeffrey Pruitt, CEO of Tallwave (re-elected chairman) President: Chris Boggs, Director, Search Engine Optimization, ROSETTA Vice president: Dave Fall, SVP Product and Operations, Clickable, Inc. Treasurer: […]
Much has been written about how savvy search marketers can exploit the long tail in both organic SEO and for paid search campaigns. The formal definition of the long tail refers to the statistical property that a larger share of population rests within the “tail” of a probability distribution than the “head.” In search marketing […]
It’s probably no surprise to anyone working as a search marketer, but the industry is chugging along at double-digit growth rates, even as budgets for other forms of marketing and advertising continue to be slashed. According to SEMPO’s sixth annual State of Search Engine Marketing Report, the North American search engine marketing industry will grow […]
SMX® - Search Marketing Expo & Conference series
The 2nd annual SMX Biggest Search Geek Contest, sponsored by Marin Software, is designed to recognize the most knowledgeable and capable experts in the field of search engine marketing. Here are some preliminary stats from the competition: Search geeks on average are about 30 years old, with 5 years of SEM experience Over 40% came […]
Econsultancy and ExactTarget released a new report today that says digital marketing will account for 24% of overall marketing spend this year, and 28% of firms are shifting at least some of their overall marketing budgets from traditional to digital channels. The research was based on a survey of more than 1,000 companies around the […]
Sam Palmissano has transformed IBM over the past decade or so that he’s been in top positions in the company. IBM isn’t just a mainframe hardware company any more—it’s involved in a wide range of businesses, throughout the world, and unlike many tech companies is still growing—and some of the best SEOs in the world […]
Our newest Search Engine Land column, Conversion Science, launches today. Conversion Science focuses on that all important aspect of search marketing, persuading users to take action. Columnists write about ad and landing page testing and tuning, techniques for moving searchers through the conversion funnel, and more. The Conversion Science column appears weekly at Search Engine […]
The world of paid search has evolved from “all you need is five minutes and a credit card” to a complex ecosystem with lots of moving parts that and obstacles that can cause serious damage for the unwary. Here’s a look at some of the best paid search books published in the past year. A […]
Time was when someone asked me to recommend a good book on search marketing, there were only a few available—Search Engine Visibility, by Shari Thurow, Winning Results with Google AdWords, by Andrew Goodman, Search Engine Marketing, Inc., by Mike Moran and Bill Hunt, and a few others. These books have mostly stood up to the […]
SMX® - Search Marketing Expo & Conference series
Want a free ticket to our upcoming SMX West search marketing conference this March 2-4, complete with hotel and airfare? You have the opportunity to score if you’re geek enough. Biggest Search Geek enough, that is. We’re looking forward to crowning the “Biggest Search Geek” and working with contest sponsor Marin Software for the second […]
Want to make a recession-resistant career move? Consider going to work as an in-house search marketer. According to the second annual SEMPO in-house salary survey, compensation for search marketers working on behalf of a single organization actually increased during the past year, despite a turbulent economy that took a toll on many other types of […]
One of the many challenges of search marketing is getting answers from the search engines. On December 1, we thought we’d help out. At Search Marketing Now, we’re going to give SEL readers the opportunity to ask questions, live, of representatives from Google, Yahoo!, and Microsoft. This SMN webcast, “Ask the Search Engines: War Stories […]