Last week, as you know, the EU gave approval to Google’s acquisition of DoubleClick for $3.1 billion. However, the deal closed at $3.24 billion, a mere $140 million more. But Google doesn’t have to count its pennies during this recession, the company says, because its international growth, specifically in China-Asia, will help insulate the search […]
The importance of valuable mobile content and services is undeniable—just observe the sea of people talking, text messaging, and searching on mobile devices in nearly every personal and business setting these days. What remains to be seen, however, is which local mobile services and companies will rise to the top with the most relevant offerings […]
If the Microsoft acquisition of Yahoo does happen, the “postmortems” on Yahoo will come fast and furious. Perhaps the first of these is from the Mercury News, which recounts the history of Google and Yahoo’s early relationship and how the latter essentially “made” Google, which went on to become its most formidable competitor. The piece […]
Microsoft has announced the launch of the new adCenter Community today. The new site replaced the old blog and forums and can be found at adcentercommunity.com. Features include: Product/Service specific blogs Categorized User Forums Multimedia Distribution including video interviews, audio podcasts, and training videos User profiles
Slowdown? What slowdown? The future looks bright for search, according to SEMPO’s annual State of Search Engine Marketing report. The survey of search marketers and advertisers says that search engine marketing spending exceeded expectations in 2007 and is projected to show continued robust growth over the coming years. “For us the story was the continued […]
With Google’s recent announcement about page load time influencing Quality Score, now is a good time to discuss site speed. Speed matters. People rate snappy, responsive sites as more usable, even when the user interface itself doesn’t change. If your architecture or design aren’t that great, your users will give your site more chances before […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
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.
In what may be a sign that Yahoo is starting to accept the very real possibility of being acquired by Microsoft, various sources, including the Wall Street Journal and CNET, are reporting that informal discussions were held between the companies on Monday in Silicon Valley. According to the WSJ’s report, Microsoft representatives pitched their vision […]
Brian Ussery has discovered a revised copy of the Google Quality Raters Guidelines, which he archived on his own site. The documents are used by Google Quality Raters to aid them in classifying queries, measuring relevancy, and rating the search results. To do so, the Quality Rater must understand how Google works and this document […]
Google announced that they have taken Google Sky from Google Earth and now made it viewable on the web at sky.google.com. Many of the Google Sky features found within Google Earth are also available on the browser version. You can: Search Browse Change the video between infrared, microwave, ultraviolet, or x-ray Telescope galleries from Hubble […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
On Monday I had the distinct pleasure of speaking to a crowd of about 250 local search marketers at SEMpdx Searchfest in Portland. The audience reaction to my session, entitled “The Dark Side of Reputation Management,” highlighting a stark reality out there in the corporate trenches. While nearly every hand in the room enthusiastically shot […]
Two weeks ago at SMX West, Yahoo! announced a new project code named "Search Monkey" that would enable content owners (and in some cases, searchers) to add rich content to search results. Today, Yahoo has released additional details about the program, which has not yet launched. The announcement describes how developers can provide Yahoo with […]
A wide array of paid and free tools make it both cheap and easy to track your online reputation. The first point of contact is typically via customer emails, comments on your own site, or web analytics data. But not everyone who complains about you brings the complaints directly to you or links to your […]
In a somewhat surprising move, given the speculation surrounding AOL and its future, the company has acquired number three social network Bebo for $850 million in cash. Bebo has a reported 40 million unique users on a global basis. AOL says in its press release, “Together with its AIM and ICQ personal communications network, the […]
In the last SEL video search column, Eric Papczun described the dilemma faced by content producers that are striving to keep up with the insatiable demand for new video content. Producers are looking for efficient methods of discovering what online viewers are interested in, and then packaging their content to maximize exposure. The example used […]
Ready for something different? Typically in this space each month, I write a “How To” or “Why To” article with ideas and tips for helping small businesses succeed online. I’d like to go in a different direction: profiles of small businesses that are succeeding online. I’m a big believer that learning from the successful examples […]
Google’s new Ad Manager (currently in a limited beta) is a free ad serving platform directed toward small and medium-sized publishers that don’t need a complex, customizable solution such as DoubleClick’s DART platform (which Google just acquired). It’s a product for the broad, middle market intended to bring both greater simplicity but also more control […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Click Forensics gets $10 million in funding. An early Googler donates money to San Jose State. The fight to control IAC carries on. Disney doesn’t want AOL. Yahoo and Microsoft do research labs in Israel. A glimpse into the internal tools Google uses to manage products, and Iowa passes tax breaks in hopes of getting […]
Virtually all marketers have realized that blogs can be a powerful part of an overall search marketing campaign. This is especially true in the B2C marketplace, but what about for B2B focused companies? What do successful B2B blogs have in common? In looking at hundreds of B2B blogs, eight common characteristics were apparent to me. […]
Last year in New York, Search Engine Land held its first SMX Social Media Marketing conference. I’ve been organizing conferences for nearly 10 years now, and this one was exceptional, if I say so myself. Every speaker blew me away with great ideas on how to tap into social media to drive traffic and help […]
How Google Earth Ate Our Town from Time Magazine highlights Nanaimo, a British Columbia town on Vancouver Island, also known as “Google Earth Town” or “the capital of Google Earth.” Nanaimo has been plotting virtually all of their town’s data directly on Google Maps and Google Earth. From real-time firefighter calls on Google Maps to […]
Linking is still de rigueur when optimizing for Google and all major engines. Linking strategies have run the gauntlet, from simple link exchange requests to buying links. For a good review of current best practices in linking tactics, I refer you to The Link Spiel by Debra Mastaler and “11 Experts on Link Development Speak […]
Monday News Corp.’s Rupert Murdoch seemed to say that he won’t be doing a deal with Yahoo, which argued that Yahoo had few options left in its bid to stay independent. However, today, in an article in the NY Times, Time Warner Chief Jeffrey L. Bewkes said that he’s ready to make a deal and […]
Google Webmaster Central has announced that they now will have webmaster communication messages waiting for webmasters even if they have not yet verified their site in Google Webmaster Tools. Let me step back a bit and explain why this is incredibly important. In July 2007, Google released Message Center within Webmaster Tools. This gave Google […]
Before investing time and effort in search rankings, and even before setting client expectations, it makes sense to gather whatever intelligence you can about the keywords you’d like to rank for. SEOs and webmasters have few reliable sources of information about the relationship between rankings and traffic. But Wikipedia’s traffic stats can help, offering some […]
Vertical health destination and search engine Healthline has teamed up with US health insurance carrier Aetna to offer what the company is calling Aetna SmartSource — customized health search. The service, powered by Healthline, will roll out on Aetna’s member self-service website and offer personalized search results based on individual health records and profiles. That […]
“Water, water everywhere nor any drop to drink,” laments a sailor adrift in Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. The poor guy needs water to say alive—and he’s surrounded by it— yet if he drinks it, the salt content will kill him. As a search marketer, perhaps you can relate. Much like […]
At long last, Google owns DoubleClick. In doing so, the company has done something else that many people would have never believed possible. Become an SEO. That’s right — Google’s in the SEO business now, selling services through DoubleClick’s Performics to people who want to rank well on — um — Google. Conflict of interest? […]
Most webmasters have two goals for their online businesses: to be financially successful and to be self-sustaining. Ideally, webmasters want to be fully established and top of mind so the business they have supplies all the business they need. A sweet scenario if you can get it, but the reality is, you have to work […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land:
With the EU’s blessing, Google has finally acquired DoubleClick after nearly a year in trying. Google has blogged that the acquisition has been completed, with CEO Eric Schmidt saying: Integration work can now begin, with detailed plans to come There may be a "reduction in headcount" as Google matches DoubleClick employees to the existing […]
Today in Search Biz: Those Linux-based "Google PCs" didn’t sell like hotcakes, says Walmart. Yahoo gets a small paid search distribution deal with LiveDeal. The fight for IAC continues, DoubleClick may see layoffs after Google takes over, and Yahoo’s old CEO might be partnering with a Steven Spielberg-backed network for those who have had paranormal […]
I’ve run across a number of local business sites which offer event calendars of some sort, and many of these companies may not be aware that they can and should add hCalendar Microformat to their pages to further optimize them for both search and user experience. I’ve previously recommended hCard Microformat for optimizing local business […]
The European Commission has approved the Google’s acquisition of DoubleClick, valued at $3.1 billion. The EU started their investigation in November 2007. The commission found that the “transaction would be unlikely to have harmful effects on consumers, either in ad serving or in intermediation in online advertising markets.”
Viacom Denied Punitive Damages In YouTube Suit from the Silicon Valley Insider reports a US District Court has denied Viacom’s request for punitive damages against Google over the YouTube copyright claims. Judge Louis Stanton said “common-law punitive damages cannot be recovered under the Copyright Act,” and denied Viacom’s action against Google and YouTube. This does […]
Display advertising currently represents about 32 percent of total US online advertising, according to the IAB. That’s roughly $6.7 billion. Google already dominates the roughly $8.5 billion US search market. But Google’s Tim Armstrong told the Bear Stearns Media Conference in Palm Beach, Florida yesterday that Google expects, in the not-too-distant future, to have a […]
Although occasionally used on its own, paid search can be a great complement to an organic optimization strategy. Research has shown that having a presence in both natural and paid results increases the overall likelihood of receiving a click. This week’s infographic breaks down some of the main ways in which PPC advertisers can positively […]