Why AI deliverables should be judged by outcomes, not effort
If two deliverables produce the same outcome, should it matter whether one took 20 hours or 20 minutes? AI is forcing that conversation.
Topic: Business ethics
How one broken form cost an agency months of leads ft. Danny Gavin
A simple technical failure cost an agency months of leads, revealing why communication and QA matter as much as PPC performance.
When did 25% efficiency become not enough?
AI hype has created unrealistic expectations around automation, making meaningful productivity gains feel like failure.
Kirk Williams discusses why client fit is very important
Taking on the wrong clients can quietly drain time and results, and this episode explains how to spot red flags early.
In 2025, the AI-infused world will require humans bring strategy and judgement
The new marketer is “Position-less” empowered to achieve unprecedented levels of efficiency, execution, and personalization.
SEO grew up, a lot of SEOs didn’t
Navigate the industry's maturity crisis with the right mindset. Learn to create value, not just optimize, for long-term success.
When and how to fire PPC clients
Not all PPC clients are a good fit. Find out when it's time to part ways and how to handle the process professionally.
How to build and retain brand trust in the age of AI
Learn how to adopt AI safely, build trust and manage risks while keeping employees and customers at the heart of your strategy.
How AI is reshaping the content creator industry
Learn about the benefits, risks and ethical considerations of AI-powered content creation and how to achieve sustainable growth.
A guide to Google Ads for regulated and sensitive categories
Advertising sensitive products on Google Ads? Learn best practices for balancing policy compliance and marketing effectiveness.
Why advertisers can no longer trust Google
Trust in Google has absolutely collapsed in the wake of revelations from the DOJ antitrust trial. Eleven advertisers told us why.
Ahrefs again calls out Semrush for ‘unethical practices’
Ahrefs seems to believe an article endorsing Semrush over Ahrefs on the Backlinko website may violate FTC's endorsement guidelines.
9 warning signs your SEO consultant is NOT competent
Not every SEO consultant is qualified. Hire the best SEO consultant for your needs by watching out for these red flags.
Google prohibits incentivizing customers to remove or modify negative reviews
Now you can't offer incentives to ask people who left negative reviews to revise their reviews.
Ahrefs mentions vanishing from Semrush-owned Backlinko
Brian Dean used to recommend Ahrefs and link to them. Now? Not so much. What's changed? Semrush bought Dean's site.
Google asks SMBs if they’ll accept calls from Google Assistant
Google is testing business owner interest in receiving calls from an AI robot.
Google employee walkout followed by call for Google blackout at 11:10 am Pacific time
There is a call to users to stop using Google services for short period to show support for the walkout.
Report: Google plans to re-enter China with government-approved search app
Company reportedly has been meeting with officials and developing prototype search apps that comply with Chinese censorship demands.
Law firm that used contest to solicit Google reviews sees all but one disappear
Incentivizing reviews individually or 'in bulk' is a bad idea.
Yelp increasingly cracking down on ‘review solicitation’ across the internet
The company wants to stop the practice of asking for customer reviews on its site, and third-party sites as well.
Agencies Take Note: Google Third-Party Policy Changes Coming Nov. 2014
Last month, Google rolled out an updated policy center for all advertisers. Starting in November, agencies and other third-party firms and individuals that manage Google advertising for customers will need to conform to new third-party policies. The two new transparency requirements are: Management fees Third parties often charge a management fee for the valuable services […]
Demanding Compensation
Due to the complex nature of online advertising, ad campaigns often deliver slightly differently to what it says on the IO. You can either be gracious about this and just let a publisher/network deliver the best it can, or you can demand compensation. If you demand compensation, you may be unnecessarily burning your bridges. While […]
Google Responds To #GoogleGate: AdWords Account Manager’s Accidental Voice Mail Recording
Earlier this week, Martin MacDonald, inbound marketing director at Expedia EAN, in a post on his website titled “#GoogleGate – Can you Trust Google?,” embedded a voice mail recording a Google AdWords account manager unknowingly left for a client. Presumably thinking he’d hung up, the account representative is heard cursing the fact that the client upgraded to […]
After Sting Operation, Yelp Outs 8 Businesses That It Caught Trying To Buy Reviews
Yelp is now showing “Consumer Alert” warning messages on the profile pages of eight businesses that it says it caught in a sting operation trying to buy reviews. As the New York Times reports, Yelp conducted a sting operation in which one of its employees pretended to be an “Elite” reviewer and responded to review […]
Restaurant Owner Slammed On Yelp For Supporting Obama
Over the weekend President Obama made a campaign stop at Big Apple Pizza in Ft. Pierce, Florida. The owner, Scott Van Duzer, is reportedly a registered Republican but is also a supporter of Obama. During a photo-op he bear-hugged Obama (with Secret Service permission). The story and the image (at right) received national media attention. […]
iAcquire: We’re Abandoning Paid Links
Last week, iAcquire found itself accused of purchasing links for clients. Google seemed convinced, banning iAcquire from its index. Now, iAcquire says that it will no longer purchase links for new clients and will phase out paid links for existing customers and campaigns. “In certain cases, we have allowed finanical compensation to develop links, not […]
What Can We Learn From The Latest Brand To Be Called Out For Paid Links?
Move over JC Penney. Another brand is getting attention over buying links, this time Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corporation. Today’s news is less news and more a reminder of lessons that SEO companies, clients and publishers all need to keep in mind, to avoid trouble. Josh Davis drew attention to the DBCC situation in his […]
Report: Scott Thompson To Step Down As Yahoo CEO, Ross Levinsohn To Step In
Kara Swisher at AllThingsD is reporting that embattled Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson is going to step down for “personal reasons.” Swisher has one or more “moles” inside the company and consistently gets inside information — which generally turns out to be correct. Thompson’s “personal reasons,” as we all know, are: misrepresenting that he had a […]
Valentine’s Day AdWords “War” Among Florists Highlights Another Google Challenge
Imagine searching on your own company’s name and finding a competitor’s ad that said you were “Sold Out” right on your business’ most important holiday. That’s what florists like the owner of Chez Bloom in Minnesota had happen, as originally reported by Brand Channel. Indeed, as the owner of Chez Bloom Laura Chase told BrandChannel, […]
Google & Bing: We’re Not Involved In “Local Paid Inclusion”
It sounds great. A program that guarantees top listings for local searches on Google, Yahoo and Bing. An “officially approved” one in “cooperation” with those search engines. But it’s not so, say Google and Bing. The “Local Paid Inclusion” service launched officially today. The site’s home page pitches: Local Paid Inclusion is a Google, Yahoo […]
Google’s SPYW, Kenya Imbroglios An “Ink Blot” Test For Google As Good Or Evil
I woke up this morning to discover some fairly outrageous allegations against Google in Kenya. Local search/directory startup Mocality says that Google crawled its site for local business sales leads and then falsely claimed in cold calls to those businesses it had a partnership with the publisher to sign them up. Mocality founder Stefan Magdalinski […]
Updated: Google Embroiled In Political Controversy Over Cost-Per-Lead Ad Test
The Obama campaign ad that started it all — a display ad on Real Clear Politics that requested a user’s e-mail address — wasn’t even a Google ad. But someone from the Republican National Senatorial Committee (RNSC) thought it was, so she called her Google sales rep and asked about getting something similar for the […]
Microsoft More “Ethical” Than Apple, Google, Yahoo, Facebook
Many people might not believe that Microsoft, the company that a decade ago was often known as “the evil empire,” is now one of the most “ethical” internet companies, beating out Google, Apple, Yahoo, Facebook and other well-known online brands. That’s according to the New York-based Ethisphere Institute (EI), which produces an annual list of […]
Google Pledges Crack Down on Unscrupulous AdWords Resellers
Attention AdWords resellers falsely trumpeting your “special” relationship with Google and the discounted pricing you can offer as a result: Google is coming after you. The company today rolled out new policies for third parties, such as agencies, who offer their clients AdWords as part of their services. Under the terms, agencies must provide their […]
Time To Rally For An Advertiser’s Bill of Rights
Search advertising has resembled the wild west for too long. Advertisers have been misled, mistreated and overcharged; the standards of service must improve lest all firms—good, bad and indifferent—be tarred with the same brush. Herewith, a modest proposal for a bill of rights for advertisers.
With Lawsuits Looming, Yelp Separates Reviews From Advertising
With several lawsuits pending and words like “extortion” being thrown around like baseballs on opening day, Yelp is making changes that it hopes will end the confusion (and lawsuits) over how it operates. The first change — and most important one, in my opinion — is that advertisers will no longer be able to choose […]
So Now Google Thinks Everyone Should Care About Chinese Censorship?
Apparently, Google’s Sergey Brin now believes that the US government should make fighting Chinese censorship a high priority, is disappointed with Microsoft for continuing to censor and is surprised that some question Google’s sudden U-turn in China. I’d say Google needs to get a little time under its belt being outside of China and setting […]
“See No Evil” Is No Way For Big Companies To Deal With Search Spam
It started innocently enough. A client, whom I’ll refer to as BigCo, asked a question about the success that one of their divisions was having with a different search consulting company. I wasn’t familiar with the company, so I asked a few questions and then started to investigate them. What I found disturbed me. It […]
Google Experiments With Paid Inclusion & Does “Promoted” Meet FTC Guidelines?
Just when you thought paid inclusion was finally dead with holdout Yahoo getting out of the space, it’s come back from the most unlikeliest of sources: Google. Below, a look at the experiment plus reexamining the FTC’s guidelines about disclosing paid ads. Does saying “Promoted Videos” on YouTube rather than “Sponsored Videos” meet these? For […]
Google Penalizes Google Japan For Buying Links
Matt Cutts twittered that Google.co.jp was penalized for paying for blogger reviews. If you look at the FriendFeed details, you will see Matt first said, “Google.co.jp PageRank is now ~5 instead of ~9. I expect that to remain for a while.” And then when he was questioned if this was a paid link penalty, he […]