SearchCap: The Day In Search, January 20, 2009

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Report: Google Leads U.S. Search Advertising Market With 76% Market ShareEfficient Frontier today released the findings of its quarterly analysis of U.S. paid search activity. The report was based on an […]

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Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.

From Search Engine Land:

  • Report: Google Leads U.S. Search Advertising Market With 76% Market Share
    Efficient Frontier today released the findings of its quarterly analysis of U.S. paid search activity. The report was based on an analysis of 92 billion impressions and 600 million clicks across a portion of Efficient Frontier customers during the fourth quarter of 2008, which includes some of the world’s largest brands. According to the report, Google has maintained its hold on the search advertising market with 76 percent market share, and Yahoo continued to increase its presence, gaining 3 percent market share year-over-year. Despite the economic downturn and reports of the erosion of other marketing channels in 2008, the …
  • Now Accepting Speaking Pitches For SMX Search Analytics
    I’m now accepting speaking proposals for our newest conference, SMX Search Analytics, taking place in Toronto on March 31 – April 1, 2009. Please note that the agenda is final for the show, and I will only consider pitches for specific panels—here’s the agenda. There are a limited number of openings, and I expect to fill them quickly, so don’t delay if you want to be considered. Ready to pitch? Click over to our SMX Speaker Pitch Form and follow the instructions there.
  • Integration With Search Still Lacking In Ad Campaigns
    Contemporary media messages, delivered across an ever growing number of channels, surround consumers through out the day. The direct mail item, above the line advertising, promotional email or text messages received all have an undeniable impact on consumers, the difficulty lies in the integration of all these media which has seen marketers busy spreading their advertising efforts across a variety of differently expensive media. Response One recently commissioned research into the effectiveness of different media at driving web visits and found that the top four channels for driving consumers to a website were customer e-mail, TV and newspaper advertising, direct mail …
  • Google PageRank: A Strange Case Of Hyves
    This is one the most bizarre things I’ve seen come down the pike in a long time. Let’s see if you agree: According to this post on Mediadonis, you can check if Google has penalized a domain or not by simply adding the word hyves as a subdomain and then checking the PageRank of that subdomain. Use my two primary blogs as examples: https://hyves.smallbusinesssem.com/ – doesn’t exist, but will show toolbar PR7 https://hyves.hyperlocalblogger.com/ – ditto According to the post, using “hyves” as a subdomain will produce one of three results: PR7 means that the domain is perfectly fine PR4 means that the domain …
  • Google Closes The Presses On Print Ads
    Google announced that they will be closing down their Print Ads initiative. Google will no longer take new ads of February 28th and will close down the whole product offering on March 31st. Google said they are discontinuing this service because “the current Print Ads product is not the right solution.”
  • GetListed.org Aims To Simplify Local Search Marketing
    Many small business owners realize the need to market online to local customers, but few know where to begin. A new web site that offers a much-needed launch pad for local businesses launched this week. GetListed.org operates with a simple premise: It should be as easy as possible for small businesses to find and claim their business listings on local search engines. To that end, the process begins with only two demands of the small business owner: enter your business name and enter your zip code. With that information, the site looks for the company’s business listings on four local …
  • When Link Rehabilitation Is A Viable Option
    Link Rehab?  I have to admit I never would have envisioned back in the day that link rehabilitation would become a necessary link building strategy.  But here we are.  As a quick primer, link rehabilitation is the process of cleaning up, removing, and modifying paid and/or unearned links that point to your site that you purposely pursued only for search rank benefit and obtained regardless of your content’s merit.
  • Obama: Talent Imitates, Genius Steals
    As the campaign progressed many pundits were taken aback by the way in which the candidate had managed to use the net to mobilise supporters in a way never seen before. By allowing supporters to take his core values and messages, tweak them and broadcast them in whatever way they saw fit (such as the video below which was submitted to a YouTube competition), he had made this the first UGC campaign.  By taking citizen journalists seriously, he had ensured that the bloggers were on his side. And by utilising social networks, he had made sure that his supporters were organised in such a way as to maximise his vote.
  • SEM Vendors Launches & Other Ways To Find SEM Companies
    Andy Beal announced the launch of a new tool to find SEO and SEM companies named SEM Vendor. This is a new place for companies to find SEO, PPC and SEM companies seeking your business. If you are looking for an SEM company, just fill out the form and SEM vendors will be able to pitch their services to you. If you are an SEM company, you can list your company over here, it does appear there is a fee to submit proposals to leads, but viewing the leads seems to be free. SEM Vendor …
  • Should Google Let Advertisers Opt-Out Of Google’s Own Properties?
    Tim Cohn noticed that YouTube search results are displaying AdWords ads. In fact, he noticed that his client, who specifically opted out of the Google content network, had his ads showing for YouTube search results. No, these are not the new YouTube Sponsored Videos feature, they are ads that are part of the Google Search Network, within the Google property. Honestly, I think I have seen ads on YouTube search results for a while. But there is a more important question that needs to be asked. With Google continuously pushing their ads on more …
  • Wired: Monopoly, Microsoft And The Anti-Google ‘Conspiracy’
    Wired offers a fascinating, if sensational, account of the “plot” by Microsoft, its allies and its operatives to sew discontent over Google’s proposed paid search deal with Yahoo: The Plot to Kill Google. The article presents Microsoft as the driving force, along with other allies, behind an effort to stop Google’s further dominance in search (via the Yahoo deal) after its own failed bid for Yahoo. Here’s an excerpt: [John Kelly, Microsoft’s head of strategic relations,] sprang into action, activating his company’s vast Washington infrastructure.Microsoft’s protracted antitrust battles had left it with an army of lawyers and lobbyists and …

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About the author

Barry Schwartz
Staff
Barry Schwartz is a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land and a member of the programming team for SMX events. He owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on very advanced SEM topics. Barry can be followed on Twitter here.

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