SEMPO Responds to Critics
Not exactly a direct response from SEMPO, but Danny Sullivan has some feedback from them. Andy Beal
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July 29, 2004
Microsoft's MSN unveils new search projects
Microsoft talks about their new search engine during its analyst day.
Meanwhile, if you have a WSJ subscription check out their critique of the new MSN search engine. Andy Beal
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Danny Sullivan Weighs in on SEMPO Controversy
Another great forum thread going on at Search Engine Watch's forum. Danny Sullivan gives his views...
Thought it might also be useful to again focus on what the scandals are in this whole thing:
1) Europe board member being appointed. I think I read elsewhere that Barbara did say that the board would itself appoint a European board member. So no scandal in that. Issue is was someone from Italy? As I said earlier, I doubt the board is going to have someone from every country that SEMPO has members. If so, then you've got a board of over 100 people.
2) Barbara being paid. Big issue if this happened before her public statement that it wasn't happening. Medium issue if it happened after that statement because she indicated she doubted the board would ever be paid -- but things do change. Big issue in that the members weren't told. The board probably has the complete right to do this. Mike at Jill's forum talked of acting "unconstitutionally." Actually, I would guess that the founding documents for SEMPO give the board members the right to do this. But not keeping the members informed of major actions like this, yep, that's a failure.
3) Board is self-appointed. This wasn't news to the members that joined, or it shouldn't have been. But it is an issue now. The fallout of all this is that the board itself is being called into question. Actual elections will help strengthen the group -- they should be done.
4) Lack of communication. Clearly members don't seem to have been well kept informed. That's got to be fixed.
5) Lack of focus. Clearly many members seem uncertain what SEMPO is doing, where it is heading. It's their organization, so they need to help drive it forward to do what they want.
By the way, 5 is also somewhat applicable to non-members. People outside SEMPO clearly have thoughts on what the group should or should not be doing. But it's the members who've actually stepped up to join and support the group, so it's ultimately up to the members how to drive it along. And the board is accountable to those members.
What is interesting is how much of a debate this has started. Not just the accusations in Mike Grehan's article, but a lot of pent-up frustration appears to be coming out. There appear to be 10 people criticizing SEMPO for every one defending them.
No one wants to see SEMPO go down the toilet, but they do want to see reform and an organization that truly represents EVERYONE in the SEM industry, not just a select few. Andy Beal
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DoubleClick Hit by Hack Attack
Online advertising firm DoubleClick is the latest company to be hit by hackers.
The attack hit DoubleClick's domain name system (DNS) servers with a barrage of phony page requests, leaving it unable to serve online ads to many of its 900 customers for about four hours on Tuesday. Andy Beal
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Time Warner's AOL Sees Revenue Growth Thanks to Google
Acccording to DMNews, AOL saw strong advertising sales growth in the second quarter after nearly three years of declines, thanks to help from its Google search partnership.
"Paid search revenue through AOL's Google partnership grew 76 percent from a year earlier to $72 million." Andy Beal
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Google Backers to Sell Stock at IPO
eWeek reveals many original shareholders will be selling their stock in the Google IPO. Hardly a vote of confidence for the rest of us!
So what's the most unusual thing about the Google offering? Unlike traditional stock offerings, Google's early shareholders—its backers, executives and other friends of the firm—can and are selling a great deal of stock. All told, those insiders are offering almost 10.5 million share of stock for sale at between $108 and $135 a share. Andy Beal
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Inman Real Estate Connect Conference
In case you thought I was in San Francisco for fun, there is already a summary of the online marketing session published at Inman. Andy Beal
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Some Investors Not Tempted by Google IPO
The Mercury News highlights the risks involved with buying Google's stock in a dutch auction. Some investors think $108+ is likely to lead to a price drop soon after the IPO. Andy Beal
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SEMPO Debate Continues; Still No Official Response from the Board
The events uncovered by Mike Grehan are being discussed on many message boards. However, Mike chose Jill Whalen's message board to defend his accusations.
Personally, I would have no problem at all with paying a good salary to a professional executive in the field. Someone who understands the politics of running a trade association and the cultural and diplomatic issues of dealing internationally.
My problem is with the way that this motion to grant a sizeable stipend was carried out behind closed doors (as seems to be the way with SEMPO) and with no consultation with the membership at any level.
As I've already mentioned to Danny, if Barbara and the board of SEMPO feel they can appropriate membership funds into personal bank accounts, appoint new officers and apply policy decisions without ever having to consult with the membership, at any level - then it's hardly democratic is it? And that's an organisation that I really don't want to personally be associated with.
Still no official response from SEMPO yet. Andy Beal
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Ask Jeeves 2Q Earnings More Than Double
Ask Jeeves Inc. said Wednesday second-quarter earnings more than doubled after the company substantially increased its market share with the acquisition of Interactive Search Holdings earlier this year.
Second-quarter earnings rose to $11.6 million, or 18 cents per share, from $4.9 million, or 9 cents per share, last year, the company said. Andy Beal
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Lycos Sold for $95 Million?
John Battelle has information that Lycos.com has been sold for just $95m. Andy Beal
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Yahoo Wants More Google Shares
According to London's Evening Standard, Yahoo! is seething over its allocation of just 5.5m shares in the upcoming Google float as controversy over the sky-high price of shares announced on Monday rolls on. Andy Beal
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Overture's Patent Battle With Google
We're still waiting for some decision in Overture's patent infringement claims against Google. Andy Beal
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July 28, 2004
MSN Lifts The Hood
So we've all seen MSN's new front end, but what's happening behind the scenes? They're offering a limited time only sneak peek. Search for your favorite keywords and see what happens.
Yahoo still powers their main search results.
For indexing and relevance observations be sure to check out the SEW discussion.
Garrett French - MarketSmart Interactive
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Google's Waldorf Staying, Body Guard Escorting, IPO Roadshow
Larry and Serge taking their IPO Roadshow to places most techies working from their basements and garages could only dream of, The Waldorf Astoria's Grand Ballroom. The dynamic duo spoke to a group of investors yesterday as they dined on chilled marinated chicken breast and grilled salmon.
Not sure about you folks but that doesn't sound enjoyable at all. First off, you're speaking to a room full of people that could care less about what you've accomplished and are only focused on how much money you'll make them in the next quarter. Add to that the fact you're eating cold chicken and fish and you can count me out.
Using Google AdWords as a Research Tool
Search isn't just for direct response any more. ClickZ's Brian Teasley points out that marketers can use smallish AdWords campaigns as a form of cheap focus group - trying out different value propositions and creative ideas to see which sorts of people respond in what ways to which types of offer and message combinations. (thanks Laura). Andy Beal
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Online Ad Spending to Hit $16B by 2009
The Washington Post has details of the latest research from Jupitermedia on online advertising.
Online advertising spending is expected to nearly double by 2009 to $16.1 billion...Internet advertising will grow 27 percent this year to $8.4 billion, with double-digit growth for both paid search listings and display ads like banners. Andy Beal
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Scandal Rocks SEMPO, Expert Suggests Board Members Should Resign
In a scathing article by one of search engine marketing's most respected and knowledgeable experts, Mike Grehan, the future of SEMPO is called into question. Not only does Mike criticize the lack of achievements thus far, but he also makes some serious allegations about the ethics of the board of directors.
In particular...
"SEMPO has approved a $1,500 per week stipend to Ms Coll. This amounts to a salary of $78,000, to fund a part time effort from someone who already has a full time job running a SEM business. Some might ask whether this attractive salary such could have been used to bring on board an executive experienced in building trade associations."
Barbara Coll, who is a great person if you ever get to meet her, may well be involved in a terrible lack of judgment. She has always professed that the SEMPO board are all volunteers and that they are doing this without any payment. However, if Mike's remarks are true, $78,000 a year in salary in addition to her own income, is at best a serious lack of common sense.
Mike doesn't stop there with his comments...
There appears at this stage to be no appointment of a board member for the UK. This, despite the fact that the UK is the second largest market outside the US.
SEMPO has suggested that the UK may like to form its own committee and hand it over to them. But there has been no mention of a position on the board for the chair of that committee as is the case with the European set up. So, why is the UK so second-rate to this organisation that we have to take a lead from Italy? I have no problems with Italians, but they are a much smaller market than the UK.
When the appointment of an Italian board member to represent Europe was made, I did question why the UK wasn't the natural choice. Being an English ex-pat, I can honestly say that the UK should be the first focus for any European expansion of SEMPO.
The article continues with some pointed questions about the purpose of SEMPO...
If, as has been promoted, SEMPO is purely a marketing organisation, then why do I not see those marketing messages in conventional offline publications? I see a great presence from SEMPO at SES but little advertising and promotion in other industry sectors.
Shouldn't the SEMPO presence be much larger at an offline direct marketing show, or in joint venture with other organisations such as the American Association of Advertising Agencies or The Chartered Institute of Marketing?
It could be very easy to condemn SEMPO without coming up with any better ideas for it's structure, but Mike has a suggestion for an alternative SEMPO...
Here's a "finger in the air" figure, but let's take a guess at the average size of a search marketing firm and about 80% will be "one man band" or "micro-firm" perhaps? So why don't we concentrate on a body which recognises individuals as opposed to firms? Individuals who are accredited in some way so that they can run their own small practice, or use that qualification as a major factor to be considered when applying for a job with a larger firm. Maybe we need to think about the development of qualified people in the industry and not just the further development and recognition of organisations.
Mike appears to be of the strong opinion that the board are simply serving their own agenda and by appointing board members and paying salaries, without the vote of the members, they are not truly looking after the best interests of the membership.
Mike calls for the resignation of the board...
I have a suggestion that I'd like to put to the entire board: Why don't you honourably take the plaudits for your excellent work in forming a steering group (which you have been) to gain the first wave of membership, and then resign your positions?
That way, the membership will get the opportunity it certainly deserves, to decide who should be responsible for taking the association (that it pays for) to the next phase of development and direction with a democratic vote.
SEMPO is set to celebrate it's first birthday next week at the SES show in San Jose. If this scandal escalates, it may be a bumpy ride for the young organization. As always, we'll invite a SEMPO representative to tell their side of the story. Andy Beal
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Where to Register for Google IPO
Want to register for the Google IPO? You can't yet, but you will be ablt to soon at this URL. https://www.ipo.google.com/ Andy Beal
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Microsoft Starts MSN Search Ad Push
Looks like MSN is ready to start pushing their new search interface (not the beta index, just the new interface). They sent out the email below to all Hotmail account holders today. (thanks to Bob!)
Associated Press Looks Into Enhanced Online Search Tool
The Associated Press wants to build their own search engine.
The news cooperative's board hopes the new enhanced search tool and technical standards also will provide the AP's member news organizations with greater protection from unlicensed use of their material online. Andy Beal
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Yahoo and Google Censoring Search Results
Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is accusing Yahoo and Google of censoring results on their Chinese search engines.
The rights watchdog claimed Yahoo had been censoring its Chinese-language search-engine for several years and rival firm Google, which recently took a share in Baidu, a Chinese search-engine that filters a user's findings, seemed ready to go the same way.
In their efforts to conquer the Chinese market, the two firms are "making compromises that directly threaten freedom of expression," it said in a statement. Andy Beal
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Overture Launches Search Optimization Tool
According to ClickZ (via Abakus) Yahoo's Overture officially launches its new Search Optimizer tool today.
Search Optimizer allows advertisers to optimize campaigns, automatically, if they desire, based upon business objectives such as cost-per-acquisition, cost-per-click or return on ad spend. Using the tool, marketers can sort campaigns by performance to determine which keywords or campaigns require more attention. Users can also create watch lists of their most important campaigns or keywords. They can also set rules to manage elements by daypart. Andy Beal
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Microsoft to launch Google News rival
When will we finally see Microsofts' news search engine offering? Andy Beal
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What You Need to Know about Google IPO
When Bambi Francisco talks about tech IPOs, you should listen. She's just published her views on the Google offering and suggests that a date of August 9th has been set for the IPO.
Bambi makes one particularly interesting observation...
Search explosion was in 2003. What will be the driver in 2005? If it's brand advertising, search engines don't have what brand marketers want: stickiness.
According to comScore, the average time spent on Yahoo is 4.4 hours in a month compared to 22 minutes for Google. Time Warner's AOL seems to keep users on its properties for 6 hours in a month, on average.
With the growth of Gmail and the continued expansion of AdSense, you'll probably see that "22 minutes" grow quite quickly over the next few months. Andy Beal
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MyDoom Virus Starting to Subside
According to the Scotsman.com, the virus that knocked out half the search engines, is likely to lose traction today.
Richard Archdeacon, director of technical services at security software company Symantec, said: “What we have seen is a rapid development of the MyDoom virus early yesterday afternoon UK time and it spread very rapidly – in fact, we tracked something like one million emails in the first six hours.”
But he added there were defences already available to protect systems from the virus: “If people update their antivirus they will start to trap infected emails and restrict its spread.
“What we predict is it will start to subside during the course of today.” Andy Beal
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Is Google's IPO really worth it?
SFGate.com asks if the Google is really worth $108+ per share.
Some investors will see Google's sticker price and remember all the dot- coms that were trading for hundreds of dollars a share in 2000 that now are in the single-digits if they're trading at all.
But maybe Google is hoping to position itself as the "Mercedes" of stocks, to own it is to show prestige.
"There is a continuum in the IPO spectrum where higher prices signal higher quality," the same way they do in the consumer market, says Bradford Jordan, a finance professor at the University of Kentucky.
Some are predicting that Google's value will drop shortly after its first few days of trading. Whichever side you fall on, there is no doubt that this is going to be a huge IPO.
"...it would rank as the nation's 64th most valuable company based on Monday's closing prices, slightly ahead of companies such as Motorola and McDonald's." Andy Beal
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So What Did Happen to Google, Yahoo and others?
Mike Musgrove of the Washington Post outlines yesterday's events and explains what happened to Google.
For anyone at Google who thinks I'm not totally in love with the search engine...
"It was like going without power and having to use a candle," said Andy Beal, vice president of marketing at WebSourced Inc., a Web site promotion firm based in Morrisville, N.C. "Google has become so much a part of everyday life that I was lost without it."
Beal said he forgot the site was down and instinctively typed "Google and attack" into his browser's Google search box in an attempt to find news about the problem. When the Google site didn't work, he turned to Yahoo's search engine, which also didn't work on his computer.
Yes, like a pavlovian dog I tried using Google to look for the answer to the problem. It probably took me about an hour to cancel out 4 years of conditioning and realize that I couldn't use my Google toolbar. ;-) Andy Beal
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July 26, 2004
Google Hit by MyDoom Virus
The BBC suggests that the newly released MyDoom virus is to blame for Google's servers being down.
"At no point was the Google Web site significantly impaired, and service for all users and networks is expected to be restored shortly," the company said in a statement.
They need to look up the definition of "significantly"! Whole chunks of their site have been down for about 5 hours!
"The Google search engine experienced slowness for a short period of time early today because of the MyDoom virus, which flooded major search engines with automated searches. A small percentage of our users and networks that have the MyDoom virus have been affected for a longer period of time," company officials said in an e-mailed statement. "At no point was the Google Web site significantly impaired, and service for all users and networks is expected to be restored shortly." Andy Beal
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Change To Link Bomb Sign Of New Link Analysis Shift?
Danny Sullivan has some theories on a new link algorithm at Google.
To prevent link bombs, Danny suggests Google has changed its algorithm "to not let link text count (or as much) unless the words are actually on the page." Andy Beal
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On a lighter note
Google is switching algos and will now be looking for:
Number of semi-colons on the page.
Use of the term 'fluffy' in the domain.
Heavier weighting for the .name top-level domain.
Using seventeen empty font tags before the first hyperlink.
Google Under DNS Attack
When you have 115+ employees using Google every minute of the day, you're quickly informed when Google's servers go down.
After some checking, it appears that WebmasterWorld members are seeing the same thing and even speculate...
I'm being told that a hostile DNS attack was launched against google, and that a fake registration to google.com through our favourite spammer domain service gandi.net was performed.
Is Google under a denial of service attack? I'm waiting for an official word from them. It does appear to be on just one of their servers though as for some, Google is working fine.
Update: Yep, its a DNS attack, take a look at the record for Google.com... "GOOGLE.COM.SUCKS.FIND.CRACKZ.WITH.SEARCH.GULLI.COM
GOOGLE.COM.HAS.LESS.FREE.PORN.IN.ITS.SEARCH.ENGINE.THAN.SECZY.COM
GOOGLE.COM"
Yahoo and AltaVista are also under attack.
Any search at Google, reveals this page. Andy Beal
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Personalized Search - Not For the Young
Danny Sullivan shares some interesting data on personalized search. It appears the older you are, the more you want to personalize your search results.
Interest in personalized search drops off as the age range becomes younger:
The survey involved 673 respondents interviewed in May 2004. Here are some other key figures from it:
81 percent indicated they would prefer to receive personalized content.
64 percent were willing to provide insight into preferences for personalized products and content.
56 percent of respondents are willing to provide demographic information.
40 percent of respondents are willing to agree to transaction and clickthrough monitoring. Andy Beal
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Ask Jeeves Extends Advertising Relationship with Google
Ask Jeeves execs have been hinting that they may be ready to offer their own paid search results, instead of using Google. It looks like that offering is still a long way off, as today they announced they are extending their partnership with Google until 2007. Andy Beal
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Search Engine Lowdown Announces MP3 Winner - Kim Krause As we revealed in our newsletter on Friday, the winner of our MP3 player contest is Kim Krause of Cre8pc.com. Kim used her creative skills to come up with the following phrase using the letters from "Search Engine Lowdown"...
"New change in SEO world"
We had lot's of interesting entries, but Kim's was perfect as it reflects the intent of this site. Congratulations to Kim. She tells me that she'll be giving the MP3 player to her daughter.
Some other entries:
weird ego channels now
online wowed changers
Here's New Logic and NOW
Weigh Landowners Once
WILD NEWS ON "G" AN' CO. HERE!
Dance Nowhere Slowing
andrews own nice log, eh
Win ace new song holder
NEWS IGNORANCE HOWLED
when ignorance slowed
Google sets IPO at $108-135 per share
According to Reuters, Google has filed an ammended prospectus to the SEC that includes a share price range for its IPO.
About 24.6 million shares will be sold in the IPO for between $108 and $135, according to an amended prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Mountain View, Calif.-based Google plans to sell 14.1 million shares, while another 10.5 million will be sold by stockholders. It has received approval to list its Class A common stock on the Nasdaq under the symbol "GOOG." Andy Beal
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Microsoft's MSN May Not Beat Google
Lot's of information in this AP report on MSN's different offerings. At the very end, you'll find some intersting search notes including this...
But even with this new focus on searches, Danny Sullivan, the editor of Search Engine Watch, said that Microsoft will have a tough time catching up with Google. "To shift market share, Google has to get bad and they have to get good," he said. "People will not go to Microsoft, even if Microsoft is better than Google -- if Google is good enough."
That's a good point...MSN is going to have to do something special in order to attract Google users. Andy Beal
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Google, Amazon and eBay Share API
I think this news story is about companies sharing their API but my eyes glazed over after the first page. Andy Beal
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Google Snatches Chief Architect from BEA Systems
According to IT News, technology visionary Adam Bosworth is leaving BEA Systems to join Google, a BEA Systems spokeswoman said last week.
This interest in creating browser technology might be a reason the well-respected Bosworth is joining Google. A Google spokesman would say only that Bosworth is joining in a "senior" engineering position. Bosworth could not be reached for comment.
I wonder if this guy is 30 years-old and replacing someone elses job? ;-) Andy Beal
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Back to Square One
Seem's like the organizations claiming to represent search engine marketers need to speak with the USA Today about their recommended techniques for SEM, which include...
So first, be sure that you are listed on the various search engines. Aside from paying for that right, you can either physically submit your Web site URL to the different search engines yourself, or you can use an automated service. A site like [name removed] will submit your site to literally hundreds of search engines for a reasonable fee.
And I had so hoped we had moved beyond the "submit your site to literally hundreds of search engines" phase. Andy Beal
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WebSourced Announces 5,459% Increase in Earnings
CGI Holding Corporation, the parent of WebSourced and KeywordRanking.com, today announced its Q2 earnings. Revenue for Q2 was $4,574,005 with earnings of $1,173,611, up 303% and 22% respectively compared to Q1. When you compare the numbers to the same quarter of '03, earnings have grown a huge 5,459%.
Steven "Pat" Martin, the CEO of the Company's WebSourced, Inc. subsidiary stated, "While the second quarter historically is the weakest for the search engine marketing industry, our client base has continued to grow steadily. Since April 1 we have increased the depth of our intellectual capital by adding 37 additional professionals including leading search experts such as Jason Dowdell and Garrett French, and by acquiring Engine Studio. This has allowed us to continue to provide world class SEM services and solutions for our larger client base, and also to initiate the internal development of some exciting proprietary software for our next generation of services and product offerings that we believe will keep WebSourced at the forefront of the industry. Potential acquisitions would only add fuel to the fire. We are very optimistic about the future." Andy Beal
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July 24, 2004
Google Accused of Age Discrimination
AP News suggests that Google is practicing age discrimination after a 54 year old director was fired because he didn't fit in a culture emphasizing ''youth and energy.''
Reid said company executives initially gave him no reason for his termination until Shona Brown, vice president of business operations, told him he was incompatible with Google's youthful atmosphere. After he left, Reid said, he learned he was replaced by someone around age 30. The firing cost Reid his annual salary of $200,000 and 119,000 Google stock options with an exercise price of 30 cents per share. Based on estimates of Google's market value, Reid's stock options probably would have been worth about $10 million after the company's IPO. The suit seeks to recover lost compensation and punitive damages.
$10 million!!! Whether he was discriminated against or not, that's a lot of money lost. Andy Beal
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July 23, 2004
Could Google Lose Rights to Froogle? Now this is an interesting twist. Google has been quick to protect its brand recently, clamping down on anyone with a similar sounding name (the Mountain View, Calif., has filed 18 domain name disputes).
Now, just days after Googles.com claimed that Google was infringing on their name, the search engine faces a crushing blow in a battle with website Froogles.com. Not only did ICANN find that the "dissimilar letters in the domain name are sufficiently different to make it distinguishable from Google's mark" but Froogles.com owner Richard Wolfe, is mounting his own challenge with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
"Google's right to continue to use the Froogle mark is seriously in question," said Wolfe's attorney, Stephen Humphrey. "To the extent they continue to use the mark, they are infringing on Richard Wolfe's trademark rights," Humphrey alleges.
With Microsoft surprisingly paying $20 million to settle a trademark case it brought against Lindows Inc and Google about to go public, don't be surprised if Google pays Froogles.com to simply go away.
P.S. I guess ICANN may have to reconsider using Google search on its site, if it does rule in favor of Froogles.com. ;-) Andy Beal
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MSN News Search Tests Regional Versions
Gary Price has a list of regions MSN is testing for its Newsbot.
Google - Old School
There are many resources that claim to show you older versions of your favorite website. However, sometimes you need to dig a whole lot deeper, which is exactly what one of our tech guys, Robert McRackan, did.
New RSS Feeds Search Engine
Are you looking to match the number of RSS feeds you subscribe to with Robert Scoble? Now you can with a new search engine for RSS and XML news feeds, Feedsfarm.com Andy Beal
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Google Closes Doors on One Nation
Those poor citizens of Azerbaijan can no longer claim to have a Google all to themselves. According to media powerhouse "BakuToday" (yes, my tongue is in my cheek), Google has decided not to continue with their www.google.az domain.
Google was the most popular international search engine in Azerbaijan. It is translated in Azerbaijani, and fully supports Azerbaijani language standards (Unicode and UTF-8).
Note to all presenters at SES in San Jose, we need to deduct 7,700,000 users from Google's claimed audience. ;-) Andy Beal
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July 22, 2004
Not Looking Good for DoubleClick
Nate Elliott is tracking DoubleClick's earnings announcement and it's not looking pretty. Andy Beal
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Blinkx Launches New Offering
Matt Hicks reviews the official launch of Blinkx.
Blinkx, which installs its own search client and mini toolbars within Windows applications, distills large amounts of text—from Word documents, Web pages or e-mails—into concepts in order to retrieve search results, its founders told eWEEK.com. Andy Beal
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Got Google PageRank? Get Discounts!
This is either smart or crazy but a software developer called Thinstall, has a pricing structure based on your blog's pagerank. The more popular you are on Google, the bigger your discount as a reseller. (via Boing Boing). Andy Beal
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Trellian Launches Keyword Search Tool
Thanks to Dan Thies for passing on the information that Trellian has launched a new keyword research tool with a database of over 9 billion searches.
The new tool also includes seasonal trends and related search terms.
Update: Just clicked on a "help" link that displayed this...
"Our database contains over 20 billion searches spaning the last 12 months. We compile this information from 37 different sources. These include major international, pay per click, meta and regional search engines."
So when you view the total number of searches, be sure to click on the number to reveal the popularity of those searches over the past 12 months.
Q1. The massive power of link rentals. Its massive spread througout the web. Google's lack of ability to effectively keep it in check.
Q2. A few hunches or ideas that kinda intertwine. Feel free to pick either one :)
Google will find ways to limit the effectiveness of off topic link buying. This combined with a limited keyword pool and increasing competition will likely cause keyword lockout and a sharp increase in ppc click fraud in the next 12 months.
Spam will become exceedingly sneaky. Example: guys named "Seo Hagishami" will start spamming all my blogs with links into their personal blogs. A few months later their blogs will be taken down and 301 redirect all posts into an SEO firms website. Lots of other similar sneaky ideas.
Leave it Aaron to look at the "sneaky" stuff. Ok, who's up next? Oh yes, editor of WebmasterWorld, Brett Tabke...
Q1.That after 7 years of vaporware, Microsoft actually launched a search engine.
2) Yahoo buying Overture, Fast, and Altavista.
Q2. The Google vs Yahoo vs MSN war.
Thanks Brett, next! Bonjour Serge Thibodeau of Canada's Rank for $ales..
Q1.I would have to say it's the major changes Google has done to its search algorithm, both in November and January. I think it had a major impact on many small businesses, and some of them are still scrambling the best way they can. With the help of SEO's that know the business, our assistance can make a big difference in their search rankings, and thus their ROI.
Q2.My answer would be the realization that companies are finally coming to grips with reality. Many of them are realizing that for an online business
or storefront to become successful, you need to hire a reputable SEO/SEM company that has the experience, the knowledge, the tools and, most of all, the trackrecord to produce long-term results for all its clients.
I would also add that, since Google will become public anytime now, it could perhaps consolidate the search engine industry as a whole. However, it's highly possible that we will still see even more players popping up here and there.
Merci..ok, last and by no means, least, we have Did-it's Kevin Lee...
Q1.The change in trademark policies at the search engines.
Q2.Search personalization based on voluntary profiles that include location and prior search history. (A9 and Kaltix/Google as well as shopping engines).
So there you go. I hope you have enjoyed reading these insights, I have certainly been amazed at the different themes appearing...Yahoo's new search engine, personalization, Google IPO etc. Let's hope Search Engine Lowdown is hear next year to see if our experts' predictions come true! Andy Beal
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Interview with Andrew Goodman
Brad Hill talks to SEO expert, Andrew Goodman. Andy Beal
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Last Chance to Win a MP3 Player
You've got until midnight tonight to enter to win an MP3 player. The winner will be announced in our newsletter on Friday. You can sign-up for the newsletter using the form below. Andy Beal
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Search Engine Guide's Jennifer Laycock on Search
We continue our look at the search engine industry with Search Engine Guide's editor, Jennifer Laycock sharing her thoughts.
Q1. What search engine industry development/announcement has surprised you the most over the past 12 months?
I probably shouldn't have been surprised by it, but Yahoo!'s introduction of their own algorithmic search engine caught me off guard. Having watched them aquire so many engines (AlltheWeb, Alta Vista, Inktomi) that had the potential to compete head to head with Google if simply given the chance to grow, I honestly didn't expect them to pull a little bit from each and come up with something completely new. In retrospect, it was a good move and really served as the first step toward the next round of search engine wars. Having a serious competitor to challenge the likes of Google, and to inspire Microsoft to get moving can only serve to improve the search landscape somewhere down the road.
Q2. What do you think will be the most significant development over the next 12 months?
I honestly think this one is going to be a tie. The official launch of Microsoft's new search engine and the impact Google's IPO on Google itself are going to radically change the search landscape over the next 12 months. I think that the addition of a third major player to the search marketspace is going to really change both the way search engine marketing companies and online businesses view the marketplace. Microsoft is such a household name and has such marketing power behind it, I expect that we'll see them do more to spread the word about the difference in search experience than Yahoo or Google could have done on their own. At this point in time, simply raising awareness among Internet users about the quality of search and how it can vary by engine will go a long way toward impacting how people search, and therefore, how people market.
As for Google, I think that the changes that take place in how they operate once they go public will also have a significant impact on how search and search engine marketing works. Google has spent several years having to answer to no one but themselves which allowed them to be far more innovative and take far more risks than they may have if they'd had shareholders to answer to. I'm not convinced that going public will destroy that creative atmosphere, but I do expect to see things get reigned in a bit and I wonder if Google will be able to test and launch such innovative products when they have to seriously consider the bottom line. Andy Beal
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How do Google AdWords Appear on the Top Spot?
Want to know how certain AdWords campaigns are chosen for the coverted space above the crawled results? Aaron has the answer. Andy Beal
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Can Google Be Trusted?
A new theme is emerging...can we trust Google? I've recently spoken to journalists on this issue and now Dan Gillmor is asking the same question.
...as Google broadens its reach, it will have to work much harder to achieve the same level of trust that it created with its initial search service. In fact, the company has dug itself a hole on some issues.
Just as disturbingly, Google has a penchant for Kremlin-like secrecy. There's an almost paranoid feel to the secrecy, which was part of the company's culture long before it went into the required "quiet period" prior to the initial public offering. Andy Beal
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Did Google Miss the Boat?
According to The Street, Google may have missed the its chance to get the maximum stock price.
In part that's because of the secrecy surrounding Google. But equally noteworthy has been the reversal in the market for Internet stocks. After a robust first half of the year, these companies have seen their shares hit hard amid growing worries about valuations and competition.
Wall Street is also concerned that Google's reliance on Adwords (95% of its revenue) could be a reciper for disaster, if the growth of PPC slows.
"If Google was public already, there'd be some serious concerns being raised," says the investor. Given Yahoo!'s numbers, it's more likely that Google will show 5%-10% sequential growth in the second quarter, says the investor, not the 15%-20% growth people might have expected, following the 27% sequential revenue growth in the first quarter. Andy Beal
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July 20, 2004
Dan Thies of SEO Research Labs Shares His Views on Search
Next up with their thoughts on the search engine industry is Dan Thies of SEO Research Labs.
Q1. What search engine industry development/announcement has surprised you the most over the past 12 months?
I'd say the biggest shock of the last year was Google's "Florida" update. They must have realized that it was a radical change in their results. I'm amazed that they had the courage to put that out as their primary search offering. It had the feel of a "wide beta," and it's not surprising that they backed off of it. I guess they did it when they did because they only had a limited time before Yahoo and MSN rolled out competitive products. At the time, the only real competition was MSN, and they were still rolling out Looksmart listings. I don't think we'll see anything like that again.
Q2. What do you think will be the most significant development in the next 12 months? For the coming year, I think that MSN's new search will have a little impact, but probably the biggest story will be the rise of "context." By that I mean, localizing results, topic-sensitive results creeping back, and making use of a searcher's history (with their permission) to establish what that user's interests are and fine tune the results.
When you look at the personalized search / site-based search offerings that they're testing now, it's very easy to pick a topical bias and get results that look a *lot* like the Florida results. So everyone learns from Google's big test last year that you can't just guess at the topical bias, but if you consider the way these toolbars can track a user's interests, there's potential to deliver very personalized results.
By this time next year, I expect that "rankings" as we've traditionally seen them will be on the way out. The search results you see will be at least a little different from the results I see. It'll happen slowly, but it will happen.
If MSN search is to have a significant impact, they'll have to personalize it more, or they'll have to index more of the web. I think anyone is capable of delivering results "as good as" Google with a big enough database, but to do better, you need to be more focused on the user or have more content indexed.
Whenever Longhorn rolls out, users will have very useful search functionality right on the desktop. Being able to limit a search to documents or sites you've already visited is a very powerful concept, which they've already demonstrated. Andy Beal
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Search Helps Online Advertising Market top $650m in Britain
According to Reuters, $650 million was spent last year on online advertising in Britain.
The demand for corporate-sponsored search listings and a surge in new users attracted a host of new advertisers to the Internet and pushed ad revenues up 80 percent year-on-year, the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) UK said in an annual report audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. Andy Beal
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Search Engine Lowdown Finalist for ClickZ Marketing Excellence Awards 2004
The finalists for the ClickZ Marketing Excellence Awards 2004 have been announced and SEL is among them.
To be honest, it's such a close-knit group, I am surprised that they let us get nominated. They must have thought this was Frederick Marckini's blog! ;-)
Search Engine College Founder Kalena Jordan Shares Search Engine Insights
We're still milking this birthday celebration "thingy" (tomorrow is the last day, we promise).
Today, Kalena Jordan, founder of the new Search Engine College, shares her thoughts on the past 12 months and what she expects to see over the course of the next year.
Q1. What search engine industry development/announcement has surprised you the most in the past 12 months?
Yahoo's purchase of Overture so soon after AltaVista and AllTheWeb really surprised me. I had thought for sure that if anyone would scoop up Overture it would be Microsoft. Who knew that Yahoo had such deep pockets?
Q2. What do you think will be the most significant development over the next 12 months?
I think the single most significant development over the next 12 months in search will be the huge growth and uptake of localized search - specifically the ability to search specific streets, towns, states, countries for products and services. I get the feeling that we will all be sitting at our desks in a year wondering how on earth we managed without it.
Another growth area (that will probably take a bit longer to catch on) will be intuitive or personalized search based on artificial intelligent search technology that can extrapolate searches based on your own personal preferences and search history. Would you like fries with that? *grin* Andy Beal
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Bambi Francisco's Blog
If I don't get to meet Bambi Francisco at SES San Jose, it won't be from lack of trying! In the meantime, she has set up a "test blog" which is primarily for her to test Google's new flavored search. Let's hope she continues to post to it. Andy Beal
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Ask Jeeves Doubles Traffic
Looks like Ask Jeeves' acquisition of Interactive Search Holdings is paying off. The company's total web traffic increased from 15.7 million visitors to 39.3 million. Andy Beal
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Yahoo's Paid Inclusion Under Fire
Yahoo is constantly under fire for its Site Match paid inclusion service. With Google, MSN and Ask Jeeves saying that paid inclusion is not a good thing, and countless stories being written about the negative aspects of PI, you'd thi
As we revealed in our newsletter on Friday, the winner of our MP3 player contest is Kim Krause of 
Now this is an 