More from Search Engine Land: Page 2

Bing

Microsoft Adds Virtual Earth Images To Live Search

Microsoft has added Virtual Earth “Birds Eye” panoramas to Live Search image search results. They appear to be live in the US only right now and around selected points of interest (images below) but they’re very striking. You can pan and zoom and switch from a Birds Eye view to aerial or map views and […]

Apple

Google Earth For The iPhone Released

Google announced the release of Google Earth for the iPhone (iTunes link). It is a free app that brings many of the features of the desktop version of Google Earth, to your iPhone. I played around a bit with the app and I am very impressed. It takes advantage of many of the iPhone’s capabilities. […]

SEO

The Silver Lining For Advertising During A Down Economy

Recently, those that are close to me have noticed a new obsession.  I’ve always been tethered to my Blackberry reading e-mails, twitter, blogs and other online fodder as I’m on the road (and, I shouldn’t admit, while driving – watch out for me on the road). But recently I’ve found a new item to look […]

SEO

SMN Webcast, Tuesday Oct. 28: “Measuring An Ad’s Value”

How do you measure the value of an ad if it’s one of several in a campaign? If a customer purchases your product after clicking on 3 search ads, which ad should get credit for the sale? Should branded search get more credit? What about the combination of online and offline ads? Next Tuesday, October […]

Ecommerce

Google Adds Fighter Jet To Air Fleet

A New (Fighter) Jet for Google’s Founders? from the New York Times reports Google has added a new jet to their fleet of Boeings. The new Jet is actually a fighter jet, commonly known as an Alpha Jet. This jet has rights to land at Moffett Field, like the others. NASA told the NY Times […]

SEO

Search Stats You Need to Know (Sept 08) & Build A Banner In Minutes

In The Trenches is a weekly spotlight of tips, tricks, and news about the tools search engine marketing professionals use to give them a leg up on the competition. Today: news from the search engines, today’s in-depth look: search stats you need to know (September 2008), Google’s new, free display ad builder, and this week’s […]

Content

Wagging the Long-Tailed Dog: Search Behavior & The Economy

As the head of a search agency, I admit that I was somewhat bemused at first by this whole financial crisis we’re having. Don’t get me wrong; I don’t like seeing people suffer, and it hurts to see the impact that a slowing economy is having on many of my friends and neighbors. But as […]

Link building

A Preview Of SMX London

SMX London is coming up fast, and we’ve put together a great agenda with world-class speakers. Perhaps the best part, for those of you who weren’t able to attend our sold-out SMX Advanced conference, is that we’re running an SMX advanced track for the first time at the London show. This is cutting-edge content that […]

Google Ads

Google AdWords: Now With Images

Some AdWords ads on Google are now showing associated images — and getting much larger in the space they take up — through a “Show products from” Plus Box implementation that some are seeing now when searching at Google.

SEO

SEM Tools: To Build Or Not To Build

To build, or not to build, that is the question (with apologies to Shakespeare): Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous SEM Tools, Or to take arms against a sea of in-house engineers…… I know more than a few in-house SEMers. Many of them insist on building in-house […]

PPC

Estimated Click Fraud Rate Remains At 16%, Says Click Forensics

Click Forensics has released their estimated 3rd quarter click fraud numbers that they track. The numbers remain pretty much the same, at least as it pertains to the overall estimated industry average click fraud rate. The rate is now 16.0%, down from last quarter’s 16.2%. The main change was that botnets were said to be […]

SEO

Location in the Browser: What Does It Mean?

Not long ago, Google rolled out its “Geolocation API” (via Google Gears). Initially it was intended to enable third party publishers and developers to get location for their apps on mobile devices using a combination of the phone’s inherent location-awareness technologies (i.e., GPS) and Google’s cell-tower database (which has been expanded now to include WiFi […]

Content

A Small Business Success Story: Element One Photography

Picture this: You’ve spent two months creating a website for your small business. You’ve poured yourself into it. The web site is a thing of beauty, and it showcases your work very effectively. But no one can find it. Six months go by, and you’re not getting any traffic from search engines. You type your […]

Apple

Yahoo’s Inquisitor Now Available For Firefox & Internet Explorer

My favorite search browser plugin, Inquisitor, is now available for Firefox and Internet Explorer. Inquisitor was Apple Safari’s only solid third-party search browser plugin back in the day. Yahoo acquired them back in May and then provided an upgrade in mid-August. Now, Yahoo has announced they have made this plugin available for Firefox and IE.

PPC

IM Broadcast: “YouTube For Internet Marketers”

Our friends, Loren Baker, David Snyder & Jordan Kasteler have launched a new video site named IM Broadcast. IM Broadcast, as Loren describes it, is “YouTube for Internet Marketers.” In short, it is a video sharing site focused around the Internet Marketing industry. The focus is not just to upload videos on Internet marketing topics, […]

SEO

Relying On Print Yellow Pages? Most Local Customers Turn To The Web!

Online marketers have been predicting the death of print yellow pages for years. While that will never happen, print yellow pages are no longer the primary way that people seek local information. In fact, the internet collectively — through search engines, local search sites, online yellow pages and other venues — is the top way […]

Content

7 Recession Strategies For B2B SEO

Many people have a “set it and forget it” approach when it comes to SEO. But if you have a good site (in terms of organic search), you should be taking advantage of it—especially during these tough economic times. SEO remains one of the most cost-effective marketing strategies, especially over the long haul. If your […]

Google Maps

Where Do I Vote? Google Maps Shows The Way

I live in a purely Vote-by-Mail county; in fact, most of Washington state is Vote-by-Mail. But in this year of heightened political interest, you can imagine a lot of U.S. citizens wanting to go to the polls … but not knowing exactly where to go. UPDATE: For 2008 election results, please see Election Results From […]

Apple

G1 Arrives, So Does Android Market

This morning the Android Market formally launched, coinciding with the arrival of the T-Mobile G1, the first Android phone. There’s a showcase that features a sampling of the more than 50 existing apps, with many more to come. All the apps are currently free, with paid apps to come in the first quarter of 2009.

Analytics & conversion

Google Analytics Upgrade: AdSense Reporting, Visualization Tools, & More

A day after announcing a slight touch up, Google Analytics is rolling out what it calls a “significant upgrade” to its feature set. The new tools include AdSense integration, “Motion Charts,” advanced segmentation, an API, custom reports and an updated user interface to highlight these new tools better. Google is calling this an “enterprise class” […]

Content

Search Illustrated: The Life Of An Article On The Web

When it comes to SEO, content is king—most likely, you’ve said it and heard it a thousand times. But have you ever really thought about how many touch points a well-written and well-optimized piece of content encounters on the web? This week’s infographic demonstrates exactly how a well-optimized article can find its way by multiple […]

SEO

Building Brand Awareness With Content & Display

Sure, search is an effective marketing channel — and it is particularly adept at capturing demand — but the one thing search can’t do is generate demand. Given that, marketers need to be mindful that solely relying on search is a mistake, especially if you are launching something new. Instead, you need to first build […]

SEO

Two Ways To Justify SEO In Uncertain Times

During uncertain economic times like these, our advice is to always stick with the fundamentals to maintain business efficiency and progress. No matter what your business model, performing the fundamentals will keep you on-track and in-line for leveraging future success. If the C-level executives in your company are having any doubts about the value of […]

Analytics & conversion

A Completely Different Kind Of Landing Page Optimization

What exactly is landing page optimization? For most search marketers, optimizing landing pages means A/B testing and multivariate testing (MVT). It means using tools such as Google Website Optimizer to experiment with different arrangements of a page – or different variations in the content of a page – to maximize its conversion rate. We may […]

SEO

Yahoo Q3 Revs Flat, 10 Percent Layoffs Confirmed

Yahoo announced (pdf) Q3 revenues this afternoon. Search revenues and performance-based display ads were up. However, “premium display” (CPM) was down. Revenues were $1.786 billion, a (tiny) one percent increase, vs. $1.768 billion in the same period last year. The company stressed that consumer page views and engagement were up. Yet Yahoo confirmed that it […]

Bing

What Is Search Engine Spam? The Video Edition

Search engines tell marketers not to spam them. Many search marketers also advise newcomers not to spam. Spamming issues get debated online. But what is search engine spam? What’s it look like? How’s it smell? And why do search engines (not to mention users) hate it? At our recent SMX East search marketing conference, representatives […]

Google

Google Getting More Political: CEO Endorses Obama

Google is getting more political these days. Yesterday I wrote about the company’s lobbying efforts on behalf of its paid search deal with Yahoo, which isn’t necessarily “political,” but arguably a political necessary. Also yesterday, Google CEO Eric Schmidt decided to endorse (and later campaign with) Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. The company issued a […]

Link building

When You Turn A Link On, Does It Return The Favor?

Last week during SMX East, the Link Building Boot Camp was a 75-minute overview of everything you ever wanted to know about link building and then some. This session was offered to anyone who wanted to learn the basics, get a solid understanding of links and prepare for the rest of the linking panels throughout the week. […]

Apple

7 Search Tools You May Not Know … But Should

Google UK recently shared a list of 52 Things to Do on a variety of Google properties (found via Phil Bradley). It’s a collection of tools and tips about using Google products and services for some everyday functions. If you’re a search power user, you probably know most of them already. But Google’s message seems […]

Google Ads

Yahoo Adds ZIP Code Ad Targeting

Yahoo Sponsored Search advertisers can now target ads down to individual ZIP codes, according to an announcement today on the Yahoo Search Marketing blog. Yahoo joins Ask.com as the only major search engine to offer specific ZIP code-based targeting to advertisers. While Google AdWords doesn’t offer exact ZIP code targeting, it does allow advertisers to […]

Ecommerce

Bill Tancer Keynote: Desperately Seeking Hot Photos Of Sarah Palin & Other Search Trends

[vimeo]https://vimeo.com/1995545[/vimeo] It was a real pleasure to have Bill Tancer, author of the new book “Click: What Search Activity Tells Us About Society,” give a keynote presentation at our SMX East search marketing conference earlier this month. His keynote is now available online here and can be watched above. Best part: when Bill explains how […]

Local

Local Business Marketing Tip: Turn Economic Lemons Into Sales Lemonade For The Holidays

The chain-reaction of foreclosures, mortgage company failures, banking sector woes, and see-sawing stock market are making for a very scary-looking retail season here in the fourth quarter. The U.S. Department of Commerce recently said that business sales have dropped the largest amount in two years, further fueling speculation that the holiday shopping season might not […]

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