CGI Holding Corporation to Merge With Proceed Interactive
WebSourced parent company, CGI Holding Corp (CGIH) today announced an agreement to merge with Proceed Interactive.
Combination Adds Offices in Chicago, Dallas and Los Angeles and Will be Immediately Accretive to Earnings
LAKE BLUFF, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 28, 2004-- CGI Holding Corporation (OTCBB:CGIH - News; the "Company") today announced that the Company has entered into an agreement to merge with privately-held Meandaur, Inc. d/b/a Proceed Interactive ("Proceed"). With offices in Chicago, Dallas and Los Angeles, Proceed (www.proceedinteractive.com) is a full service interactive agency with a core competency in search marketing. Founded in 1996, Proceed specializes in online marketing strategies for companies in the dating, travel & hospitality and manufacturing verticals, and is expected to have 2004 revenues of approximately $3.6 million. In 2004 Proceed managed $3 million in paid search advertising and $2 million in additional Internet marketing spends (media buying, contextual advertising & affiliate marketing). Proceed has 35 full-time employees, and maintains more than 50 accounts, including General Motors, Omni Hotels, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Wells Fargo and Great Expectations. Co-CEOs Jonathan and Stephen Schepke will continue to lead Proceed following the closing under multi-year employment agreements. Founder Bruce Findley will serve as a consultant to the Co-CEOs.
The Company intends to acquire all of the stock of Proceed in exchange for 666,666 shares of restricted common stock of the Company. An additional 666,667 shares of restricted common stock of the Company will be placed into escrow, with a sliding scale percentage of the escrowed shares to be delivered to the stockholders of Proceed contingent upon the average annual pre-tax earnings of Proceed during the next four years meeting target earn out levels ranging from $1.1 million to $2.1 million. The Company also plans to issue to stockholders and employees of Proceed warrants to purchase an aggregate of approximately 350,000 shares of common stock of the Company. The merger is expected to be immediately accretive to the earnings of CGI Holding Corporation.
The closing of the proposed transaction is subject to the satisfaction of a number of conditions, including the completion of due diligence, the completion of an audit of Proceed, Board of Director approvals, and other customary conditions.
Gerard M. Jacobs, the Company's CEO, stated, "This is a merger of strength: we become a truly national company; we extend our expertise in key marketing verticals; and we gain energetic and creative partners with the Proceed founder, executive management and the rest of the Proceed team. Merging with Proceed will increase our core business of search engine marketing by 15% and will significantly expand our base of client relationships, allowing us to further extend our leadership position in the Internet marketing industry."
Steven "Pat" Martin, the CEO of the Company's WebSourced subsidiary, stated, "We are merging with Proceed Interactive to enhance the client service capabilities of both companies. Proceed's results driven approach and thought leadership in the marketing of the dating, hospitality, travel and entertainment industries are especially compelling."
Jon Schepke, Co-CEO of Proceed Interactive, stated, "Proceed Interactive combined with WebSourced will unquestionably be the worldwide leader in search engine optimization and comprehensive Internet marketing. In addition, we are excited about WebSourced's pending merger with the MarketSmart Companies; combining MarketSmart's traditional advertising and marketing with Proceed's online marketing services will allow us to offer a truly integrated approach to our clients."
Steve Schepke, Co-CEO of Proceed Interactive, stated, "After carefully considering our go-forward options including possibly going public ourselves, we concluded that our surest and fastest path to success for our clients, our stockholders, and our employees, is joining forces with CGI Holding Corporation and WebSourced. We expect this merger to enhance the quality and variety of services we can offer to our clients, and to provide a breadth of opportunities for our shareholders and employees."
Bruce Findley, the founder of Proceed Interactive, stated, "CGI Holding Corporation's dynamic existing businesses, its rock solid balance sheet, and its acquisition pipeline of rapidly growing, profitable online marketing companies, could not be overlooked. We believe that the growth of CGI Holding Corporation is just beginning, and that the next few years will see explosive growth in revenues, profits, and stock price and we want to be a part of that growth." Andy Beal
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December 23, 2004
Heading to the Mountains! I always look forward to visiting the in-laws. Yes, you may think me crazy but here are the reasons...
So, I'll be heading up there for Christmas and enjoying some R&R and maybe even some skiing!
Posting will be somewhere from "light" to "non-existent" over the next week or so, but we'll be back up to full speed come January 3rd.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all! Andy Beal
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John Battelle Makes 2005 Predictions
John Battelle takes the bold leap of making his predictions for 2005. There are some interesting observations and some bold statements - John goes on record that he will finish his book! ;-) Andy Beal
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Zorgloob Offers French Perspective on Google News We wanted to say thanks to Eric Lebeau who helped us out with our little experiment.
Joyeux Noël to Eric and all our French-speaking readers. Andy Beal
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More iProspect Acquisition News
More details of the iProspect acquisition are revealed by Mediapost.
Isobar will be gaining 68 new clients through the iProspect acquisition, according to a company spokesperson. iProspect executives will now report to Nigel Morris, president of Isobar Worldwide
Based on the number of clients iProspect has, Isobar paid $735,000 for each iProspect client.
The next interesting development will be watching to see if they end up merging Carat Interactive with iProspect. Andy Beal
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December 22, 2004
2004 Year-End Google Zeitgeist
Google releases the 2004 Zeitgeist of the top search terms. Some popular searches...
Britney Spears - tops all queries
eBay - tops consumer brand names
Janet Jackson - sandwiched between George W and John Kerry.
Poker chips - top sports query
iPod - most popular consumer electronics
MSN UK Search Plug-in for Firefox
If you use Firefox, you probably like that handy search box at the top right of your browser. Now, if you live in the UK, you can get a plug-in that allows you to search MSN Search UK (beta), all thanks to Matt Cox. Andy Beal
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You've Got a Friend in X-Friend
Oliver Steffmann pings me to tell me about his company's desktop search solution, x-friend, that is browser-based and compatible with Mac and Linux.
Anyone using x-friend? Leave your comments below. Andy Beal
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Google Squashes Santy Worm
Google representatives told ZDNet Australia that though Google users were not at risk from Santy, the search company had started blocking attempts by the worm to replicate. Andy Beal
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Isobar Acquires iProspect Just this morning I was thinking to myself that iProspect had been keeping a low profile recently. Now we know why...
Isobar, the global full service digital network created earlier this year by U.K. firm Aegis PLC, today announced it has acquired 100% of iProspect
Maybe the first thing iProspect can do is help Isobar get rid of that flash splash screen. ;-)
So who has the inside details? How much did they sell for and will Mr. Marckini be staying on or retiring to the beach?
Update: From the Aegis website..."The purchase price will be composed of initial consideration of approximately $32.0 million payable in cash on completion. There will also be deferred cash consideration of up to $18.0 million, payable over two years, subject to the satisfaction of rigorous performance criteria. "
So Aegis paid $32m in cash and maybe another $18m. I hope they kept the receipt. Typically, when a company sells for all cash, it means the principle has no plans to stay with the company long-term. I know that the guys at iProspect love reading this blog, so maybe they'll drop me a line to let me know. Then again, maybe not. ;-)
Update #2: Looks like Marckini and Murray are staying..."Founder and chief executive Fredrick Marckini and president Robert Murray will continue to oversee iProspect's day-to-day operations." Andy Beal
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December 21, 2004
Web Worm Uses Google To Spread Virus Gary Price has details of a new web worm that uses Google to spread.
...a web worm named Santy is utilizing Google to help it spread to web bulletin boards using the PHP scripting language.
The worm sends Google a specific search request, essentially asking for a list of vulnerable sites. Armed with the list, the worm then attempts to spread to those sites using a PHP request designed to exploit the phpBB bulletin board software. Andy Beal
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Yahoo and Google in Same Space, Different Business Models Interesting report by Michael Liedtke that looks at how Yahoo and Google appear to compete in the same industry, but with different business models.
Google?
Google also takes a more laissez faire approach toward innovation, embracing new ideas and products long before the company's management figures out how everything fits into the overall business plan.
"We are compiling this collection of very cool technologies and taking our sweet time figuring out what to do with them," Google chief financial officer George Reyes said during an investment conference in early December.
Yahoo?
Yahoo takes a more practical approach to technology, first identifying what people want and then building or buying a product designed to give visitors one less reason to leave its Web site — already the world's most popular online destination.
Yahoo wants to be "essential to people's personal and professional lives," spokeswoman Mary Osako said.
We also get a glimpse of a business model that could be the downfall of Google...
"In some businesses, the salespeople tell the engineers what to do, but at Google the engineering team is really our driving force" said Marissa Mayer, the company's director of consumer Web products.
Last time I checked, successful companies look at what their customers want and then develop products to match. I remember Jack Welch's book talking about bad situations, where they had created products simply because they could - thinking that customers would surely like the product - only to find that there was no demand for it. Did someone say desktop search? ;-) Andy Beal
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Calling all France-based Readers
I need the help of any readers that are located in France. We're conducting a test and need some verification from a reader that lives dans la France.
Please email me andy @ websourced.com if you can help out. We'll of course figure out a suitable reimbursement for your time.
Update: Who knew we had so many French readers. Merci beaucoup to all that emailed me, I think we have enough volunteers. Andy Beal
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New Library Archive to Challenge Google Print
According to IWR, ten major international libraries have agreed to combine their digitised book collections into a free text-based archive hosted online by the not-for-profit Internet Archive.
Two major US libraries have agreed to join the scheme: Carnegie Mellon University library and The Library of Congress have committed their Million Book Project and American Memory Projects, respectively, to the text archive. The projects both provide access to digitised collections...
...Announced 24 hours after Google's tie-up with the university libraries of Oxford, Stanford, Michigan and Harvard, and the New York Public Library, the Internet Archive project is likely to be seen as the first of many alternatives to the Google Print library. Andy Beal
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Is Click-Fraud an Issue for Search Marketing?
Brian Morrissey looks at whether click-fraud is an issue or if the threat is overblown.
Personally, I think that the threat is overblown. Some click-fraud exists, but it is no more a problem than bricks-and-mortar stores face with shrinkage. Andy Beal
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December 20, 2004
Google Loses Top PR Exec According to Mike Bazeley, Google's vice president of corporate marketing, Cindy McCaffrey, is leaving the technology company, the first top executive to depart after the IPO.
She's been at Google more than five years, which means that, post-IPO, she can comfortably go off and do nothing. And that's apparently what she intends to do for now.
Verity Teams with Yahoo for Web Search According to Matt Hicks of eWeek, enterprise search software provider, Verity, has partnered with Yahoo to display sponsored search ads with internal search results.
But the add-on has a twist. While Verity and other enterprise search players typically earn revenue by selling software and services, Verity, in this case, will earn a share of the revenue Yahoo receives from Verity's enterprise users clicking on the sponsored links that appear alongside Web results, Verity officials told eWEEK.com.
This opens up the path for two evolutions of search...
1. Enterprise search providers have a way to monetize their search results beyond license fees.
2. Yahoo has a testing ground to see how paid search ads are received in non-internet search results - paving the way for PPC ads on your desktop search results.
"Search technology continues to evolve, providing users with even more powerful research tools, and as content across the Web become richer, we anticipate that the demand for integrated business search solutions will continue to grow," Tim Cadogan, vice president of Yahoo Search, said in a statement.
In other words...we're going to make more money! Anyone know if Google is doing this already with their Google Search Appliance? Andy Beal
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New Google Desktop Security Flaw
It seems just about anything that connects to the Internet, is going to have some kind of security concern. Google's Desktop Search is not the exception.
A Rice University computer scientist and two of his students discovered a potentially serious security flaw in the desktop search tool recently distributed by Google.
Google said the researchers had notified it of the flaw in late November and they had begun distributing a new version of the desktop search engine that repairs the potential security hole. Andy Beal
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Google Units Hope to Expand Business Model
USA Today has a good article on the lesser-known business units within Google. Andy Beal
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New UK Search Engine Launches Netimperative has details of Seekport's launch of a new UK search engine.
The four-strong UK team will filter spam from searches and add relevant, country and market-specific content to produce customised UK results.
How? Do they only have 100 documents in their index?
If you're in the UK and have any feedback on Seekport, please leave in the comments section below. Thanks! Andy Beal
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The Search Engines Want Your Desktop
I had a chance to meet Brian Morrissey for the first time, at SES Chicago. We had chance to sit down and chat about a whole host of search engine issues, in particular desktop search.
His story today, looks at the reasons why search engines are introducing desktop search.
Daniel Reade, vice president of product management at Ask Jeeves, said many of the releases and announcements were an effort to keep up in the search arms race. Ask Jeeves announced its desktop plans in June when it acquired desktop search firm Tuckaroo.
"To be a major search player going forward, you're going to need all the access points to search," he said.
He thinks users eventually will access search engines through the Web, browser toolbars, desktop search applications and mobile devices.
Andy Beal, vice president of search marketing for KeywordRanking.com, said search engines needed to move beyond touting the relevance of their search results as a lure to users, who can easily switch to another engine.
"They want to keep people immersed in their brands," he said. Andy Beal
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December 18, 2004
Google Suggest Dissected
Slashdot points to a bright chap named Chris, who has managed to dissect the code behind Google's new "Suggest" tool.
Some interesting, if not heavy, reading. Andy Beal
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December 17, 2004
Geico Claims it has the Victory Over Google
According to Tech Law Advisor, GEICO is claiming they won the case against Google, not the other way round.
U.S. District Court judge ruled yesterday that "the use of GEICO trademarks in paid advertisements on Google violates federal trademark law" says GEICO's General Counsel Charles Davies. "That portion of the ruling was pretty much overlooked yesterday. Andy Beal
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Google Adds Reviews to Froogle
Matt Hicks has details of the new product reviews, added to Froogle this week. Froogle Product Reviews (in beta, of course) aggregates reviews from around the web and is currently only available on electronics product. Andy Beal
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Google and Microsoft Fight Desktop Wars
New article in Business Week about the battle of the desktop wars (yes Jeff, I agree, *yawn*).
To be honest, as far as I am concerned, MSN Search is already out of the running. Forcing me to download their toolbar, is not the way to get me to use MSN Search Desktop. I like using Google's toolbar and forcing me to use another, inferior, product is not the way to get me bought in to MSN desktop.
I'm also going to let Ask Jeeves know that I don't mind AJDS loading on start-up, but can I have an option to load to the system tray instead of having the interface load-up each time? Also, how about a system tray search box, which is one of the reasons I like Copernic.
Googles desktop is clean and simple, but maybe too simple. They need to add new features fast, or they'll be on the trash-pile too.
Blinkx? Nice enough product, but I could not stand seeing that bright blue toolbar on every window.
I know it's early days, but I wanted to give my 2 cents on the recent offerings. Andy Beal
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December 16, 2004
Blinkx Launches Video Search Engine Just a day after Yahoo launches their own video search engine, Blinkx announces theirs, according to CNet.
The engine lets people group specific searches using "smart folders" that continuously collect multimedia content from sources including Fox News, HBO, ESPN, National Public Radio and the BBC World Service.
Blinkx said the search engine uses patented context clustering technology to overcome the limitations of simple keyword methods.
Knowing how these search engines operate, I would not be surprised if Yahoo got wind of a Blinkx launch and pre-empted it (thus making Blinkx look like they are riding Yahoo's coat-tails). Of course, I could be wrong - which would not be the first time! ;-)
More on Yahoo Video Search Beta
Jeremy Zawodny shares more details of Yahoo's video search beta.
But there's more to the story here than the blossoming world of on-line video and building a video search system: it's often not easy for a web crawler to find downloadable and streaming video content. Unlike web images and most audio files, videos aren't always easy to discover. In many cases, they're hidden behind complex JavaScript, Flash-based players, and other non-crawler friendly obstacles. That's exactly why we've talking to a lot of our existing media partners, many of whom have sizeable video assets which have yet to be indexed. Andy Beal
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Look at that interface. You could switch the Yahoo logo with the Google one and not skip a beat! Andy Beal
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Ask Jeeves Desktop Search Goes Live
The wait is over, you can now download Ask Jeeves Desktop Search. Andy Beal
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Improvements to Google Adwords Content Network Yields Results
Just had an interesting conversation with Mike Mayzel of Google, about the changes they made to their contextual ad network over the past 12 months.
In partnership with Atlas, Google looked at aggregate data across their content network and determined that recent changes - such as the introduction of smart pricing - have improved ROI for Adwords advertisers.
- During 2004, advertisers saw a 50% increase in ROI from Google's content network.
- The average dollar spent by a visitor who clicked on a Google content ad has increased by over 70% over the last 12 months. Andy Beal
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Top 100 Search Terms of 2004 Lycos 50 releases its Top 100 search terms of 2004. Not surprisingly, "Janet Jackson" tops the list and three different diet plans make the top 20.
Blogging Back at SES
I was in the Press Room today and saw no sign of the "do not blog" signs. Did we just demonstrate the power of blogs? An outcry from the blogosphere, and Jupiter sees the light.
Kudos to the person that removed the restriction! Andy Beal
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U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema rejected a claim by auto insurance giant Geico, which argued that Google should not be allowed to sell ads to rival insurance companies that appear whenever Geico's name is typed into the Google search box.
However...
But Brinkema said the case would continue to move forward on one remaining issue, whether ads that pop up and actually use Geico in their text violate trademark law. Google contends that its policies expressly forbid advertisers from using trademark names in the text of their ads. The search engine says it does its best to prevent ads that violate the policy from sneaking in, and that the advertisers would be liable for any trademark violation, not Google.
Could Google be forced to change its "instant on" policy for AdWords? Right now, ads go live almost instantly and are reviewed by editors later. Could they be forced to check for trademark infringements before publishing ads?
Google Dominates Holiday Searches
Hitwise reports that Google is dominating the holiday search engine traffic.
Google contributed 4.26 percent of visits to shopping sites last week, while Yahoo! Search contributed 2.24 percent and MSN Search 0.54 percent. They also shed light on each search engine's strengths...
-- Google sends a higher share of its downstream traffic to Books, Sports and Fitness, and Music.
-- Yahoo! Search is stronger in sending its shopping referrals to: Video and Games, Automotive and Classifieds.
-- MSN Search sends a higher share of its shopping referrals to Apparel & Accessories, House & Garden and Appliances & Electronics. Andy Beal
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December 14, 2004
Paul Bruemmer Is Back in the Building
Ladies and gentleman we can report that the sightings of Paul Bruemmer are real, he's back! After taking some time out of the SEO industry, Paul resurfaced at SES today.
I had a chance to chat with Paul and he let me in on what he has planned. I can't reveal anything more yet, but stay tuned. Good to see you Paul! Andy Beal
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No Blogging in the SES Press Room
How crazy is this? I'm sorry, but does Jupiter even know how viral marketing works?
There is a new sign that just went up on the wall of the press room. It reads...
Internet connections for checking presentations and filing storing only.
Please use the email center and refrain from blogging here.
Thank you for your cooperation.
I'm going to speak-out on a trend I have noticed with SES over the past few years. As the industry has gotten bigger, SES has gotten cheaper. I don't mean the cost of tickets have gotten cheaper, nope, they've gone up. I don't mean the cost of sponsorship has gotten cheaper, nope, not only has the cost gone-up, but Jupiter has added additional sponsorship spots, diluting the value further. SES has gotten cheaper because of corner-cutting like this - do you know that they may have wi-fi in New York, but only if someone wants to sponsor it!!!
Come on guys, Danny is doing a fantastic job putting together these conferences, don't leave him hanging out to dry by getting cheap on us! Andy Beal
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Tis the Season for Hiring
Did-It.com today announced that Kevin Ryan will be joining them as Executive Vice President. Andy Beal
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The State of Search Engine Marketing - SEMPO Study 2004
Proof that we give credit, where credit is due...
SEMPO recently completed its first comprehensive survey of the search engine marketing industry. This survey established important benchmark information about the SEM industry, including:
* The size and rate of grow of the industry
* A breakdown of spending between pay per click (PPC), search engine optimization (SEO) and paid inclusion (PI)
* A breakdown of in-house vs. outsourced SEM
* Attitudes and concerns about industry issues including PPC bid inflation, click fraud, and ethical standards.
Google To Launch Major Pilot Program with Harvard, Stanford, U Mich, Others John Battelle has leaked news of a big initiative by Google to digitize millions of documents held by Harvard and other universities. Andy Beal
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December 13, 2004
Exclusive - First Look at Ask Jeeves Desktop Search So some of our readers had been hoping that our “big announcement” today was going to be something a little more extravagant than the world’s largest SEM company, hiring one of the top SEO guru’s and launching a new service. We’re not going to apologize, but for those of you who had hoped for more, we about to make it up to you.
Ask Jeeves will launch their new Ask Jeeves Desktop Search (AJDS) application on Wednesday, but we caught-up with Senior Vice President, Jim Lanzone, and have some exclusive details of the newest entry to the desktop search race.
Lightweight and powerful
The lightweight AJDS is just 750k and is able to index a whole host of documents including; Microsoft Office files (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint), simple text files, Microsoft Outlook email messages, and image, music, and video files. Ask Jeeves decided to go with the “standalone” interface, inherited from their acquisition of Tukaroo, but ensured that users are able to get to offline and online information. Lanzone also indicated that the tool could be integrated with MyJeeves in the future.
Privacy protection
AJDS users can narrow their searches by selecting categories like Office Documents, Music, Pictures, MyJeeves, News and others, or they can sort results by a variety of parameters. Meanwhile, controls are also provided for users to define how much of their computer hard-drive they want Ask Jeeves Desktop Search to index, as well as the speed (and thus the amount of bandwidth devoted) with which they want it indexed. According to Lanzone, this flexibility “gives the user complete control” and even allows them to decide if they want cached web pages to be indexed or not - with the default being not to index the cache - something that will please many critics of Google desktop.
Intuitive interface
AJDS goes beyond the “blue links” of search, by returning results in a two-panel interface where previews are displayed for easy review, (you can even preview your MP3 files). Users will also find a search box conveniently added to common Windows dialog boxes, such as Insert Attachment or File/Open, where the process of finding files is frequently required. This according to Lanzone is the “number one most useful thing” about AJDS and something Ask is particularly proud of.
Not your normal "Beta"
Ask Jeeves expects to add new functionality prior to the formal launch of the product in 2005. Some of these features include expanded support for Outlook, integration of desktop and Web search results, and PDF support. A Feedback menu is provided directly on the application interface to make it easy for users to submit comments and requests for new features. According to Lanzone, Ask Jeeves has no intentions of following Google’s lead and letting a product languish in the world of “Beta”. “We don’t do 3-year Beta’s,” said Lanzone, with tongue firmly in cheek!
Enhancing user relationships
So why the launch of a desktop search tool by Ask Jeeves? Lanzone states that AJDS will “not be directly monetized” and that the desktop search application is “not a business itself, but a feature of a world class search engine.” Indeed, Jeeves is not looking at ways to make money from their desktop offering, but sees this as a way to chip away at the market share of Google and Yahoo. He believes that desktop search causes many search engine users to increase their relationship with their favorite search engine and a “one to two percent marketing swing for Ask Jeeves is an exponential increase.”
Leading the pack
Some might say that they are simply following the heard, but with their acquisition of Tukaroo earlier this year, Jeeves is probably the catalyst for recent desktop launches by Google, MSN and forthcoming launch by Yahoo. The company continues to innovate and looks to add value to loyal Ask Jeeves users, while at the same time attracting new blood.
We'll have more details on Wednesday, screenshots and of course, a link to the download!
Tech Notes: Ask Jeeves Desktop Search works with Windows 2000 or XP, Office 2000 or higher, and Outlook 2003. The program requires a minimum of a Pentium III computer running at 400MHz with 128 MB RAM (1 GHz and 256 MB RAM recommended). Sorry, not Mozilla or Mac compatibility. Andy Beal
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New Study Reveals the Impact of Search Engine Usage on Consumer Buying
comScore and Overture joined forces on a new study to determine how online consumer searches impact offline sales. The results are an eye-opener.
....the study revealed that 25 percent of searchers ultimately purchased a [consumer electronics or computer] product and that an estimated 92 percent of these purchases occurred offline. Among the 8 percent of post-search purchases that were made online, the vast majority occurred in subsequent user sessions (not directly after a search click-through).
So, SEM's working with companies selling consumer electronics, need to make sure they are helping their clients track offline sales and return web site visitors.
The study has some other interesting findings that suggest that most consumers of electronics, stick to generic search terms. Andy Beal
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Looking for the tips from Search Engine Strategies?
Search Engine Roundtable is providing a running commentary of the different sessions from SES Chicago. Andy Beal
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Geico v. Google Trial Begins Today
Gary Price has some interesting preview notes on today's court case between Google and Geico. Andy Beal
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Search Engine Strategies Chicago - Interesting Tidbit
According to JupiterResearch analyst, Niki Scevak, one in three searches are of a commercial nature and of those, one in seven click on a paid/sponsored listing.
That means that those companies relying purely on paid search to attract customers, are reaching just 14% of potential customers from search! Andy Beal
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Search Engine Strategies Sexiest People Alive?
Recently, Meredith Roth brought us the best-dressed people in search. Today, she goes a little too far with her "sexiest" list.
I understand the premise behind the list - generate a little buzz - but it's a little demeaning, considering the intelligence and contribution to search of the individuals on the list. Andy Beal
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Photos from Search Engine Strategies Chicago Don't forget to keep an eye on our new photoblog. We've been adding photos from the SES show and will continue adding over the next few days.
Leave your "I'd like to see" requests in the comments section.
Note to JupiterMedia: why is there no wi-fi access anywhere??? This is supposed to be one of the most hi-tech, cutting-edge shows on the circuit, yet I have to go back to my room to get internet access. You may not be aware, but there is this new phenomenon called "blogs" and "bloggers" are great at spreading news and helping get attention for conferences. Only...we need wi-fi access in order to do that. Maybe I can ask Santa to bring me wi-fi for the New York show. Andy Beal
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New MSN Toolbar Suite Beta with Desktop Search
The launch of MSN desktop has finally arrived and we can now all sit down and evaluate the new MSN Desktop Search (MDS) alongside Google, Copernic, Blinkx and others.
The official announcement is here and you can download the toolbar at this web site.
Ask Jeeves launches their desktop search tool on Wednesday. Andy Beal
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WebSourced Hires Heather Lloyd-Martin to Launch New In-House Search Engine Marketing Services So here is our big announcement. Under the radar of everyone, we successfully wooed SEO rock-star, Heather Lloyd-Martin and persuaded her to head up our new in-house search engine marketing consulting and training services.
Now, the world's largest search engine marketing company, is able to provide on-site SEO/SEM training for small businesses, medium sized companies and Fortune 500 corporations. With our recent announcement that we will acquire traditional marketing agency, Market Smart, WebSourced is now the only SEM company able to offer a full, closed-loop, marketing initiative.
We are ecstatic to have Heather join us, she is truly one of the nicest people we have ever met in this industry and if you have ever met her, you'll know that her energy and enthusiasm is contagious! The official press release is below.
CGI Holding Corporation's WebSourced Subsidiary Expands into Training and Consulting Services Global Leader in Search Engine Marketing Hires Industry Veteran Heather Lloyd-Martin
Research Triangle Park, N.C.WebSourced, Inc., the global leader in search engine marketing (www.websourced.com) and a wholly-owned subsidiary of CGI Holding Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board symbol: CGIH), today announced the hiring of industry veteran Heather Lloyd-Martin.
As WebSourced's Director of Search Strategies, Lloyd-Martin will launch the firm's consulting and training practice, which will target corporations with in-house search marketing teams. She has extensive experience in corporate education and her efforts result in increased Web site return on investment and improved integration between a company's marketing and technical departments.
"WebSourced is excited about this new business opportunity. The decision to offer consulting and training to corporations with internal search marketing teams is a natural progression of WebSourced services," stated Pat Martin, WebSourced CEO and president.
WebSourced is the world's largest search engine marketing company. It provides clients with organic search engine optimization, paid inclusion and pay-per-click advertising services. The firm helps companies secure a well-rounded online marketing presence that will generate new business. Its roster of 1,300 plus clients includes market leaders such as Lowe's Home Improvement, NBC, Alaska Airlines, Peopleclick and Experian.
Andy Beal, WebSourced vice president of search marketing, commented, "Heather is considered the pioneer of search engine optimization writing. Her ability to strengthen corporate SEM teams is unmatched."
Lloyd-Martin is the former president of SuccessWorks Search Marketing Solutions, Inc. She stated, "WebSourced provides its clients with top-tier services, and is on the cutting-edge of search marketing. I look forward to using my insight and experience to lead WebSourced's corporate training efforts."
Founded by CEO and President S. Patrick Martin, WebSourced, Inc. is the global leader in Internet marketing, with its KeywordRanking.com service specializing in improving website visibility in major search engines and Cherish.com offering online dating services. CGI Holding Corporation's filings can be viewed at http://www.cgiholding.com. Andy Beal
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Monday at Search Engine Strategies Chicago
Alan, if you're reading this, please don't pick Chicago as the location for next Fall's SES, it's too darn cold!
That gripe over with, today should be a fun day at SES, with the sessions aimed at newbies and those interested in the business-side of SEO. I'm speaking back-to-back this morning...
9:00 - 10:30am Pricing Models and Profitable Customers
11:00am - 12:30pm Search Term Research & Targeting
Blogging may be a little light today, unless Jupiter has decided to follow other conference trends, and make wi-fi available (fingers crossed). Don't forget to keep an eye on our new moblog, we'll be updating with new photos throughout the week.
Oh yeah, and that big announcement we promised you, is just a blog post or two away. Andy Beal
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MSN Search Conference Call Today
Don't miss Yusuf Medhi's conference call today at 1pm EST / 10am PST. They're hoping that all bloggers will spread word of the announcement...as if we are that easily manipulated...oh wait, never mind. Andy Beal
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December 11, 2004
Hot Search Engine Strategies in Cold Chicago
I enjoyed chatting to Susan Kuchinskas about the upcoming SES Chicago and how the flurry of new search engine technology will impact search engine marketers.
"Search as we know it will evolve. People will no longer go to Google just to search for Web pages," said Andy Beal, vice president of search marketing for WebSourced, a Morrisville, N.C., search engine optimization company. Instead, they may use a mix of specialized search services, subscription-based access to proprietary content and desktop tools.
According to Beal, successful search marketers need to understand not only how to position your content to appear as number one in Google search results, but the implications of these additional technologies and how to take advantage of them. Andy Beal
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December 10, 2004
Search Engine Lowdown Picks Flickr for New Moblog
Yes, we've finally set-up a moblog, just in time for SES Chicago. ;-)
I don't yet know how often we'll update the moblog, but as I have a cameraphone, it could become a habit! We'll certainly be adding photos from SES Chicago, so be sure to bookmark the page. Andy Beal
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Google Desktop Ads Surface
It's not news that Google has been advertising its AdWords service. After all, it generates more than 95% of their revenue. But, what is interesting are the ads that have surfaced, promoting Google Desktop Search. Take a look at the screenshot below and ask yourself the following questions:
1. Why spend money advertising a beta product? Could Google be planning sponsored ads in GDS, when the final version is released?
2. Is the Google "viral juggernaut" running out of gas? Sure they have money now, but could these ads signal the fierce competition we're about to see with desktop search.
Big Search Engine Marketing Announcement Coming
Check back here on Monday for a big announcement. I can't reveal any details but it will be worth you stopping by at around 8:30am Monday. Andy Beal
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AOL to Use Copernic for Desktop Search
AOL is not very good at keeping secrets. News is out that AOL's desktop search solution will be powered by Copernic, which pretty much assures that an agreement is in place between the two companies.
While Yahoo has announced a deal with X1, AOL's pact with Copernic is a smarter move. X1 is processor-heavy and RAM intensive, which means that Yahoo will have to trim it down a lot, in order to make a free download feasible. Meanwhile, Copernic is more efficient and less draining - I've never seen a slowdown with it installed - and should be a more compelling download.
Update: Does this impact Mamma.com's letter of intent to acquire Copernic? The two companies are a good match, but should AOL try and woo Copernic at the last minute? After all, they're going to license their technology. It would be cheaper for AOL to acquire Copernic now, before they become part of Mamma, then AOL would have to buy both. Just some speculation. ;-) Andy Beal
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May we Suggest Google?
Thanks to SEW for pointing out Google's new lab project "Google Suggest". I've been testing it out and absolutely love it. How does it work?
Simply start typing in your search query and Google will offer search phrase suggestions, on-the-fly, based upon an algorithm that looks at the most popular word combinations. This is great for those times when you kind of know what you want, but not sure of the exact wording to use.
Barry is a great guy and he has done a fantastic job with SER. I think commercial blogs become successful when they focus on a niche - ours is the business side of search - and SER is a great place to get the buzz coming out of the search engine marketing forums. Andy Beal
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Ask Jeeves on the Move
It's going to be a busy week for Ask Jeeves. Not only do they plan to launch their desktop search tool on Wednesday, but on Monday they move to their new digs in Oakland CA.
Yahoo Will Launch Desktop Search...Eventually
Nothing's better that to announce something that will happen in the future. You get the publicity without actually having to deliver the goods. That holds true with Yahoo's announcement that they plan to launch a new desktop search tool in January.
Unlike Google's desktop search tool, Yahoo's won't operate within a browser. The distinction means that Yahoo's desktop searches won't be co-mingled with online searches conducted at its Web site.
The product, licensed from a pioneering startup named X1 Technologies, seeks to cure a common computer-induced headache by making it as quick and easy to find digital information offline as it has become online.
What is interesting is that Yahoo and X1 contend that separating web and desktop search is the way to go, as "one quest focuses on recovering old information while the other strives to discover new information." I would argue that is partially true, but probably just a little spin to support the structure Yahoo is using. In my experience, web and desktop search often merge...just the other day I used GDS to search for information online, only to discover, I had found that very information a few months back. It saved me from having to browse a lot of web sites.
So why the pseudo-announcement? Ask Jeeves is planning to launch their desktop search next Wednesday (with MSN Search not too far behind), and with Google already in the arena, and Copernic kicking butt, Yahoo needed something to keep shareholders feeling warm and fuzzy over the Christmas holiday. ;-)
Google Looking at Alternative Media Search Patents Susan Kuchinskas looks at some patents, recently filed by Google, and how they might hold clues to the search engine's future plans.
Google is looking not only to news, but also to to CDs, DVDs and audio books, as well as magazines, newspapers and journals, according to the application. As Google points out, much printed media isn't available online, but rather "sold in hard copy for profit." That makes it hard for search providers to get a piece of the action. Andy Beal
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Jeff's World - Search Engines I’d Like to See With the advent new search engines Blingo, “Didn’t-Iwon already-do-this-but-with-cold hard-cash” and Accoona “If-we-are-the-circle-of-life,-why-do-we-have-an-infinity-symbol-in-our-logo” I thought now would be a good time to cash in on all the money being thrown at the new *cough* Google killers and suggest a few truly original search engines.
If any venture capitalists would like to back these projects, I’d be quite happy to go dutch-auction with them. The business plans are set, I have legions (ok 3, thanks Mom and Dad!) of loyal readers just waiting to search, so don’t be shy Mark Cuban. I know you like search!(Ice Rocket? What kind of name is that?) Menlo Ventures I am talking to you!
Really, these could work, well maybe not, but they’d still be better than AltaVista. (I really do like to kick a man when he is down.)
Raccona: For nocturnal omnivores; PPC prices go up at night.
Poople: For all things scatological; just similar enough to Google to suggest a connection, but different enough to avoid a cease and desist letter.
Dragoona: A Russian cavalry site; if you don’t come we will crush you…you imperialist dogs!
POL: Petroleum On Line, a division of Adam&Eve.
Vigorish: They do absolutely no PPC, but don’t worry; they always get their money.
Yahwehoo: Our motto “From the Alpha to the Omega” (I expect a bolt of lightning any second now)
Onomatopoeia: It’s just like it sounds. (go ahead and Google it…I mean AskJeff it, see below)
AskJeff: It’s always the right answer…and if its not, shut up. It’s free what do you expect? If you don’t like it, go back to looking things up in the encyclopedia.
I’d love to hear your suggestions for search engines in the comments; if your ideas are as good as these, we’ll be able to afford to make Page and Brin our personal valets!
That’s my 2 cents, wait make that 10 cents for my minimum bid.
Jeff
About Jeff's World - If you're a regular reader of Search Engine Lowdown, you'll no doubt have become accustomed to reading the caustic comments offered by "Jeff". We've decided that Jeff's comments are far too entertaining to let languish in the world of our "comments" section and so, we started a new regular irregular feature entitled, "Jeff's World" ("Jeff's World, Jeff's World, party-time"). Andy Beal
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I always look forward to visiting the in-laws. Yes, you may think me crazy but here are the reasons...
Just this morning I was thinking to myself that iProspect had been keeping a low profile recently. Now 
Interesting report by 
According to 
According to 
Netimperative has 
Just a day after Yahoo launches their own video search engine, Blinkx announces 
Lycos 50 releases its 
So some of our readers had been hoping that our “big announcement” today was going to be something a little more extravagant than the world’s largest SEM company, hiring one of the top SEO guru’s and launching a new service. We’re not going to apologize, but for those of you who had hoped for more, we about to make it up to you.
Don't forget to keep an eye on our new 
So here is our big announcement. Under the radar of everyone, we successfully wooed SEO rock-star, Heather Lloyd-Martin and persuaded her to head up our new in-house search engine marketing consulting and training services.
With the advent new search engines