Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google Labs To Be Closed As Larry Page’s Product Streamlining Continues Is there any doubt that things at Google have changed under new CEO Larry Page? Today the company has announced […]
Google’s latest effort to increase small business adoption of its products and services is a program called Texas Get Your Business Online that offers a free website, free hosting, domain name, a business listing on Google Places and additional marketing help. The effort is being accompanied by an aggressive promotion campaign, like the heavy and […]
The results of a MerchantCircle survey targeting small business owners showed the prominence of social media in the local marketing mix, especially marketing on Facebook. When asked which marketing channels the businesses leveraged, the most popular answer was “the creation of a profile on a social network” with 40.9% of the vote. The creation of […]
In conjunction with National Small Business Week, Google is trying to burnish its image by touting the economic impact that its programs, including AdWords and AdSense, have had on the U.S. economy. According to the company, Google provided $64 billion in economic activity for American businesses and non-profits in 2010, 18% greater than the 2009 […]
How often do you perform a mobile phone or Internet search for a business and immediately call that business? I’m betting fairly often. You are not alone – your customers do this all the time! At Marchex, we specialize in digital advertising solutions for small businesses. Over the years, we have learned a lot about […]
In Marchex’s field research and surveys with small businesses, SEO consistently surfaces as a growing priority for small businesses. When we asked small businesses how important SEO was for their business, 53% said “very important.” Further, considering the ongoing changes to search engine algorithms (e.g., Google’s recent “Panda Update”) and the big impact these changes […]
Smaller search marketers tired of navigating AdWords’ online FAQs are getting a key new tool today: Google’s phone number. The company says it’s responding to advertiser demand by supplementing online and e-mail support with phone support for U.S. and Canadian advertisers at 1-866-2Google. While larger advertisers and agencies have long had the ability to contact […]
To promote its Search Manager service (powered by Clickable) American Express has released small business (SMB) survey data about search and social media marketing. The survey was conducted this month and was a collaboration between Amex and SEMPO. The qualifier was that these small business respondents did some sort of online marketing. The sample size […]
Having just spent a spectacular few days at SMX West, the real challenge was getting past the buzz around content farms. But if you bothered to dig a bit deeper, there was an astounding amount of great, um… content, covering the many facets of search marketing other than search algorithm changes. Aside from the usual […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Hot At Sphinn: Google’s Farmer Update, How It Should’ve Worked & SEO Help For Affected Sites It should be no surprise that Google’s Farmer update (AKA “Panda” update) dominated the conversation […]
Google’s simpler AdWords program, Boost, is getting its national roll-out, after a three-month test period in certain cities and states, the company is set to announce. The search giant also said it will begin displaying Boost ads for searches done on iPhone and Android devices. Google spokesperson Jim Prosser wouldn’t say what kind of usage […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: What Every Search Marketer Needs To Know About Web Security All too often web site security is somebody else’s problem. It shouldn’t be. If you work on websites, you should know […]
Google Woos Local Advertisers from the Wall Street Journal reports Google has added about a hundred sales representatives to focus solely on selling Google Local ads. The products these sales representatives are selling are primarily Google Place Tags and Google Boost. Tags are a $25 per month label or tag appended to your maps listing […]
Google Places is now in more than 100 countries globally. That now includes 30 countries in Asia, according to the Google LatLong blog: South Asia (Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives), Southeast Asia (Macau, Cambodia, Myanmar, Brunei, Laos), Western Asia (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan), North Asia (Nepal, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Mongolia), and the Pacific (Fiji, French […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Going Places? Bing Maps Optimizes Your Trips Bing has added a new tool to its Bing Maps App Gallery — a tool that aims to optimize road trips when you have […]
I just returned from BIA/Kelsey’s Directional Media Strategies 2010 Conference in Dallas, where for three days top players in the local search community discussed the future of generating leads for small and medium-sized businesses. While we all recognize that the emergence of digital and mobile opportunities is changing the fundamentals of how we market locally, […]
Google has announced a new website aimed at offering tips and advice for small business owners that use AdWords. It’s called the AdWords Small Business Center. It offers tips in several aspects of the AdWords system — like “Write great ads” and “Adjust bids and budgets” — and the content is divided into Beginner, Intermediate, […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Where Is Search Going? Surf Canyon’s Mark Cramer Some time ago, a gentleman by the name of Mark Cramer emailed me wanting to talk about the future of search. It was […]
Is going global too expensive or too complicated for small businesses -- or is the opportunity just the same for them as huge conglomerates? Indeed, is it possible that the opportunity is relatively-speaking even greater for mom and pop than for Mr. Big Corporation?
Your 90-Day Fitness Plan Got a small business or small staff? Or just want a strategy to get your SEM efforts in shape? This session provides a realistic workout plan to pump you up in 90 days. [flv:https://searchengineland.com/video_assets/west10/your_90_day_fitness_plan.flv 364 200] Moderator: Jennifer Laycock, Social Media Strategist & Editor-in-Chief, Search Engine Guide Speakers: Stoney deGeyter, President, […]
Google has released a report that shows its economic contributions to local economies in the US. Timed to coincide with National Small Business Week this is something of a “charm offensive” and effort to burnish Google’s recently tarnished corporate image: Google’s not just a search engine. We’ve also helped hundreds of businesses in every U.S. […]
The truth of most forecasts lies not in their numeric precision but in their direction and trajectory. For years consumer time with the internet has not brought commensurate ad dollars to the medium. The recession, grudging recognition of consumer behavior and years of evangelizing finally appears to be changing all that. Metrics aggregator eMarketer is […]
Google’s dogged pursuit of small business owners continues with a new web page that offers advice about “how to succeed online” and appears to have the backing of the U.S. government. The page is called “Tools for Online Success” and shows both Google’s logo and the U.S. Small Business Administration at the top. The introductory […]
Never before has it been easier for local business to generate leads for their businesses. There are many, many resources available to help businesses get customers in the door and on the phone. Many advertising options—online and offline—are performance-priced including pay-per-click, pay-per-lead, and pay-per-call. From search engines, traditional yellow pages publishers, newspapers, local ad agencies […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google Webmaster Tools Expands Top Search Reports & (Now) Charts The Google Webmaster Central blog announced new enhancements to the “top search report” under Google Webmaster Tools. The new top search […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Attribution Technology: What’s Best For Your Needs? A few months ago, I wrote an article titled Attribution: What It Is And Why It’s Important where I discussed two types of attribution: […]
Having just returned from SMX West, I found my brain teeming with topic snippets related to online search marketing. SEO, trademark usage, display and search ad combo campaigns, the Microsoft-Yahoo! deal, mobile ads, and so many more. While the range of topics was vast, all of them fell within the spectrum of online marketing. And […]
These days, local marketing can seem a lot more complicated to the average small business owner than it used to be—and for very good reason. With advances in digital offerings, small businesses are now confronted with a growing range of possibilities for their ad dollars. Moreover, owners are faced with the harder task of determining […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Want To Speak @ SMX Advanced London? Here’s How We’re especially excited this year because we’ve changed the format of SMX London to be similar to our always sold-out SMX Advanced […]
In my role as president at GetListed.org, I sometimes receive emails from users asking why one local search engine or another is displaying an old location for their business, or why the search engines still aren’t showing their new website address, or why the phone number listed for their retail location is actually the one […]
It must be the season for litigation. Two class action law firms have filed suit in Los Angeles federal court claiming that Yelp has attempted to “extort” money from small businesses by offering to remove negative reviews in exchange for payment. The suit contends: Yelp runs an extortion scheme in which the company’s employees call […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google Building Instant Translator Companion Google leaps language barrier with translator phone from The Times Online reports Google is working on a new tool that would bring instant translation to people. […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: SEOmoz Leaves The Consulting Business To Focus On Software SEOmoz, the well-known, Seattle-based SEO agency, is getting out of the agency business. In a blog post today, CEO Rand Fishkin says […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: OneRiot Launches RiotWise Ad Network For Real-Time Search OneRiot has announced the full rollout of RiotWise, a service that it calls “the first ad network for the realtime web.” Today’s launch […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Shashi Seth Now At Yahoo From AOL, Cooliris & Google Yahoo announced that they named Shashi Seth as the new Senior Vice President of the Yahoo Search Products team. Shashi Seth […]
Taking a page from Facebook or Twitter, Google is putting a bit of real-time functionality on local business Place Pages. Google is promoting the idea that small businesses can use their Place Pages to promote time-sensitive (real-time) events. Here’s the Google LatLong blog discussion of how they envision its use: Holding a special event today? […]
Our very own Matt McGee announced the nominations for the 2010 SEMMY awards is now live. Respected judges in the SEM industry will vote on articles from 17 categories. The articles that win the judges votes will then move to the next stage of the awards contest, where general public voting will be accepted. The […]
A new year offers new opportunities for local search providers and small business customers to reevaluate their advertising strategies to reflect the latest consumer usage trends and economic realities. On December 31st, Yellow Pages directory publisher Idearc emerged from bankruptcy with a new name, SuperMedia, and a fresh understanding that new initiatives in the online […]
I shouldn’t take the bait — Robert Scoble’s latest missive that SEO isn’t important. But sometimes I can’t help myself for wanting to provide some perspective. I’ve covered the space going on 14 years now. I’ve heard the SEO is dead spiel over and over and over again. I feel like a revisit to the […]
To many of us, 2009 couldn’t end soon enough. But today we have fresh optimism about what’s in store for 2010. I sense a cautious sense of hope with everyone I’ve spoken with that the prospects for next year are stronger for local search providers and our advertisers.