Chances are, if you’re reading this you’re either running a cost-per-click (CPC) advertising campaign or are considering it. You probably know that CPC advertising involves selecting a set of keywords and writing an ad to appear when someone searches for that keyword in the major search engines. And you’re aware that CPC advertising requires you […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Today in Search Biz: News Corp isn’t throwing Yahoo a life preserver to fend off Microsoft. Ask loses a (small) paid search partner and gets competition for those women it now says it’s not really that focused on (sort of). Google’s stock hits a new low, but will it plunge below $400? Facebook founder Mark […]
There’s a lot of business news in search that we think is important for both searchers and search marketers to know about. But we don’t want all the search business news to drown out other things we post on Search Engine Land or get lost in headlines as part of our SearchCap newsletter. That’s why […]
Another bundle of advertising flyers just landed on my front porch, only to go straight into the recycle bin. Although I merely dream of the distant day when such lazy and wasteful advertising methods will be punishable by death or a day spent shopping with Paula Abdul, I hold out some hope that search marketers […]
Below are Search Engine Land’s 10 most popular stories from Februrary 2008:
Many people think that Google is a search engine. That’s true, but it’s only part of a much larger story that Google is developing. Indeed, the company increasingly sees itself as a diversified media buying platform. Already print newspaper ad buying, radio and TV are integrated, to varying degrees, into AdWords. And last Thursday Google’s […]
Forbes is out with the latest billionaires list, and Google executives are well represented. Plus, Yahoo president Susan Decker saw a 63-percent increase in her salary, with a 29-percent bonus increase from last year.
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
The Google Public Policy Blog informed us that Utah has changed the law that restricted search engines from triggering ads based on trademarked terms. This reversal now puts Utah in sync with the precedent set forth by the federal trademark law. In short, you can now legally bid on trademarked terms in Utah, assuming you […]
Google Integrates TV Ads Into Adwords Platform by Pinny Cohen shows screen captures of AdWords reports with TV ad integration. Pinny said that Google sent out more invitations for AdWords advertisers to test out TV ads within the Google AdWords system. The features you get with Google TV ads include:
Google mappers banned from U.S. bases from the LA Times reports the US Pentagon has banned Google StreetView photographers from accessing military bases. The ban came after StreetView photographs of Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio were found on Google Maps.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is perhaps showing signs of a mildly unhealthy obsession with rival Google. At Microsoft’s MIX08 online technology conference in Las Vegas yesterday, he told interviewer Guy Kawasaki in a question and answer session that he was going to continue to chase Google in search even if it costs him his “last […]
Google has confirmed that they will be adding page load time as a quality score metric in the near future. The feature will go live in the “next few weeks,” but it won’t impact your quality score right away. A month after the metric goes live, Google will then implement the grade into the overall […]
At the recent SMX show in Santa Clara I had the opportunity to present at a couple of sessions that explored the topic of user behavior. One of the things I said in one of them is that humans are more alike than we’re different. Because of this, there are some behaviors that a determined […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Yahoo Maps has announced a range of improvements. These include expanded global coverage, including better data and coverage of Eastern Europe; and, in the US, more “granular” neighborhood data for 300 cities and 12,000 neighborhoods. Functionality has been improved as well. Tiles are “lighter” for faster load times, colors and styles have been adjusted, and […]
For the past few months, I have been listening to some of my colleagues talk about the nofollow attribute and how to use it to sculpt a page’s PageRank. I heard this SEO advice first at SMX in Stockholm and most recently at SMX in Santa Clara. Stephan Spencer wrote about it in a recent […]
Much is being written and said these days about the rising future of online video advertising. Recent articles like one in the NY Times reporting Google’s move to test video ads in search results pages shows that the once abstract promise of online video advertising is now upon us. But what are the repercussions for […]
Yesterday Barry blogged about Google testing a search box for site search within general search results. Today the feature is being fully rolled out for selected queries. It’s really an extension and elaboration of Google Sitelinks. The Google Blog explains: [O]ver the past few days we have been testing, and today we have fully rolled […]
Everyone is noticing that when they go to their Google Account through AdWords, AdSense, Analytics, or any Google page that requires SSL, they are being prompted with a security warning. Typically, its not a major deal, right? Well, not if you are trying to get customers to buy on your site. As Tim Gross explains, […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Anyone who doubts how important mobile phones are and will become as a platform and marketing medium needs only to look at the latest Pew Internet & American Life report. Cellphones are now more important to US adults than the internet, television, landline phones, and email. In addition, an increasing number of consumers are using […]
Google Analytics added a new benchmarking feature today. Users can now compare their site’s performance to industry benchmarks, though only if they agree to share their data to help produce such aggregate benchmarks. Another feature added is the ability to see when your Google Audio ads run, in relation to your web site traffic.
I finally got around to watching Whiteboard Friday – The Matt Cutts Interview and felt it was worth pointing out. Matt Cutts, Google Engineer, is a huge part of the SEM industry. Rand Fishkin’s interview with Matt Cutts explores that relationship. Questions include how Matt got into being the face of Google for webmasters, how […]
Goodbye, Ask.com. You caught my eye back in 1997 as an unusual meta search engine that asked questions to get answers. By 1998, I counted you alongside Google and Direct Hit as shining examples of what to watch in search. You’d dumped depending on others for search results and started providing answers using your own […]
As Yahoo celebrates its 13th birthday, the looming question is: will the company be able to find an alternative to the Microsoft offer, or will Steve Ballmer & Co. prevail? According to the Wall Street Journal, Yahoo has recently “stepped up” talks with AOL about potentially folding AOL’s business into Yahoo.
A WebmasterWorld thread tipped both Search Engine Watch and Search Engine Roundtable (that’s me) off on the fact that Google has added an additional quality score factor to the AdWords ranking algorithm. The new factor is page load time. If your destination URL is a very slow loading page, then Google will give you a […]
As powerful as search marketing is for B2B lead generation, it has ironically served to increase the ages-old friction between sales and marketing. This is because when buyers use search to research solutions and find vendors, they are extremely early in the buying process—often long before they are ready to engage with sales. Passing these […]
More and more savvy companies are undertaking search engine optimization (SEO) site audits to assess the current search-effectiveness of a site, what needs to be done to improve it, and to track a site’s performance over time. I’ve been recommending website audits for years—after all, the accounting department has an auditor, and so should the […]
Early bird registration for Search Marketing Expo – SMX Social Media in Long Beach, CA ends March 15. Register today and you’ll pay only $1195 for all the sessions, keynotes, networking, and parties. Space is limited so secure your spot now. This West Coast version of SMX Social Media is an encore presentation of the […]
Tamar tipped me off to people seeing secondary search boxes in the Google search results. I see them myself now. For example, a search on amazon returns this search box directly under the snippet but above the URL; here is a picture:
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Search marketers know it’s important to optimize company websites in order to be found on search engines. But, customers’ trust can be grown through so many additional avenues. Today’s infographic demonstrates how various SEM tactics—in addition to just SEO—allow buyers to find out about products, not only on companies’ websites, but also on other popular […]
IAC’s Ask.com to Cut Staff, Outlines New Search Strategy from the Wall Street Journal reports IAC has cut 8% of Ask.com’s workforce, by letting go 40 people. Not only that, the Wall Street Journal says IAC is changing the strategy of the search engine to “focus to better answering search queries posed as questions.” Ask’s […]
Facebook announced Sheryl Sandberg as the new Chief Operating Officer of Facebook. Sandberg worked at Google for six years as Vice President of Global Online Sales & Operations. Sandberg will join Facebook on March 24, 2008 and is responsible for helping the company scale its operations and expand its presence globally.
One of the most overlooked but important keys to success on social news sites is commenting (expressing a personal opinion or belief). One of the biggest draws for many social news sites is that you can interact with fellow members and the submitters through comments. Many users go to the major social news sites (such […]
The title of this article doesn’t mean I’m changing my position on social media as link driver. Yes, it’s possible, but for the overwhelming majority of web sites, a widespread and costly social linking strategy is a waste of time and money. Go ahead, call me a heretic, but inside you know I’m right.
Pole Positioning Marketing has compiled yet another link building advice article. This one is very good — it asks 12 link building experts to provide a link building tip that you might not find elsewhere. The advice comes in both short and long form from Patrick Altoft, Hamlet Batista, Jim Boykin, Rand Fishkin, Peter van […]
This morning Yahoo announced a new mobile application called “onePlace.” The application isn’t yet available but appears to be an elegant mobile bookmarking system that is highly customizable and features an RSS reader. It can accommodate any type of content: news feeds, web sites, videos, images, search queries. A shorthand way to think about it […]