IceRocket Hangs with the Big Boys
IceRocket may not be a top-tier search engine, but with the backing of Mark Cuban, the upcoming search engine is making sure that it doesn't get left behind.

CNet reports...

The Dallas-based company said it teamed with San Francisco start-up GoFish Technologies to bolster its multimedia search capabilities. Financial terms of the deal were not released.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Finding Treasure with Garrgle
It appears Google has been around longer than we first thought. Captn. Cook was a big time user of Garrgle (love the "beta" mark).

Thanks to Steve.

Update - Looks like it might have been pulled, sorry.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Ask Jeeves Becomes Official Site Sponsor of Search Engine Lowdown
You may have noticed a subtle change to SEL. As of today, Ask Jeeves is the new Site Sponsor for Search Engine Lowdown.

We've always thought that Ask Jeeves was ahead of the game, and they today prove that by deciding that SEL is the best place to promote their MyJeeves personalization service.

For our loyal readers, we can promise that this sponsorship will by no means impact any thoughts we have on the company. If they screw up (which we doubt), we will hold them accountable. :-)
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Scoble on the NoFollow Tag
Scoble - one of the few guys who you simply don't need to mention his first name, everyone knows who you are talking about - argues in favor of the "nofollow" tag while some claim they are entitled to the "search engine juice".

Harms the connections? Huh? It makes them STRONGER. Why? Because now I can link to things that don't deserve the search engine juice.

I'm all for it. I've already used it to link to a site, that I didn't want to share the "juice" with.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Best Search Quote of the Day
Hats off to Danny for this quote in the Internation Herald Tribune...

"Yahoo says, 'Where is the mountain? Let's climb it,"' Sullivan said. "Google says, 'Maybe we want to go up the mountain, and maybe we want to go surfing."'

I'm assuming he's implying that Yahoo is focussed on one main project, while Google is happy to dabble in just about everything. But, I could be wrong (wouldn't be the first time). ;-)
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
NextSearchSurvey Reveals Interesting Search Engine Data
Sid Yadav reveals the results of a survey he has been compiling for months now. More than 3500 participants shared their views on the search engines.


Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Microsoft Ready to Prove Its Search Stuff
Matt Hicks, eWeek's star tech journalist, keeps the reports coming, today looking at MSN's pending hard-launch of its new search engine. He chats to Danny Sullivan and others, including Allen Weiner of Gartner Inc., who has this to say...

"It's a pretty big move, and it sets the tone for what they're going to be doing moving forward," Weiner said. "They're going to look inside for innovation."

Weiner views the MSN search switchover as the beginning of Microsoft's longer-term bet on search as a fundamental technology across its products. Where the company can grab more search market share is by attracting search users through its other products, such as other MSN services and Microsoft's Office software.

The switch to the new index should happen any day now.

In other eWeek/MSN news, Microsoft says they do not plan to integrate desktop search with any new operating system.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Arrested Development Plugs Ask Jeeves
It seems name-dropping search engines on hip TV shows, is the latest rage. This time round Ask get's the nod from the producers of Arrested Development. From the show...

It's a private Stock, so you cannot just buy up the shares unless someone is willing to sell. Are you sure? That's what they said on Ask Jeeves. All right, who's the majority shareholder now?

Ask's SVP, Jim Lanzone, tells me that they didn't pay for the placement and tells Danny how they think they got the placement.

...a good college friend of his is the agent of the creator of Arrested Development. He uses Ask Jeeves, so that's apparently worked its way higher. No money was spent, and the mention was a surprise to Ask Jeeves.

In the meantime, I'm working on a placement for Search Engine Lowdown. I think I know the brother of the second cousin, who served a cheeseburger to the dog-walker of the intern working on Animal Planet's "Pet Star" show. I'm hoping they'll have a Dachshund on the show who can bark "Search Engine Lowdown". I'll keep you posted! ;-)
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Want a Better Search Engine? Time to Open-up
CNet reports on a topic that is near and dear to my heart, the future of search engine technology.

I've always said that search will become better and more accurate when users decide to give-up more personalized information. It seems this is in line with many search engine execs [insert smug grin here].

Most of the executives conceded that the technology to build personalized search tools already exists, and they said the fight to persuade people to share more personal information is what stands in the way of new products.

"(Personalization) isn't an area where the technology isn't ready, where there's a need for a lot of innovation," said Ask Jeeves' Lahiri. "The question is, are people willing to give up (more information) to get a better search engine back in return? Only time will tell."
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Did-It.com Seminars
The best of luck to Kevin and team's launch of new SEM seminars, but could someone please explain to me what in the world they have done to their website?
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Don't Waste Time On Web's Biggest
Danny Sullivan is clearly not impressed with the bold claims of the new search engine, Web's Biggest.

Going back to this site, we get plenty of proof on why having the entire haystack is no help if you don't have a powerful magnet to pull the good needles to the top. A search for "movies" brings up a list dominated by porn sites (OK, I suppose they ARE movies). "Cars" brings up travel search engines and give away sites. "US patents" fails to find the US Patent Office.

Ouch!
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Google Loses "Top Brand" Crown to Apple
OK, so we promise we're not out looking for stories to back-up up our recent question, "is Google losing its hip-factor?". That being said, a recent survey of more than 2,000 ad executives sees Apple taking-over the "top brand" crown from Google.

The annual survey asks respondents to rate the impact of a particular brand on people's lives, and does not attempt to quantify its financial value.

So has Google lost a little of its shine? Your thoughts?
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Google Losing Hip-Factor?
CNet raises the question that Google may be losing its coolness after popular nighttime soap "The O.C." plugged Amazon's A9 in a recent episode.

...instead of using the well-worn phrase "I Googled it," like leagues of others. "I A9.com'd him last night, and according to the O.C. Weekly, he's pretty much everything that's wrong with Western civilization," one of the cast members said to another on Thursday night's episode.

A9 Chief Udi Manber claimed the company didn't pay for the plug. I don't think Google has too much to worry about, "Google it" trips off the tongue just a little easier than "A9.com it".
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
ClickTracks Launches New Optimizer Tool
ClickTracks has launched a new mid-range analytics product, ClickTracks Optimizer. Designed for consultants and search engine marketers, ClickTracks Optimizer fits in between entry-level ClickTracks Analyzer and the more robust ClickTracks Professional.

"The market—and our own users—have been asking us to create a mid-range product, a hybrid of the ease of implementation Analyzer offers, but with some of the more robust features of Pro," said John Marshall, ClickTracks'CEO.

One of its coolest features is Robot Reporting...

ROBOT REPORT: When is the last time the Googlebot paid your site a visit?
How many times did a particular bot crawl your site within a specific time period? Gain insights into robot and spider behavior with ClickTracks Optimizer's Robot Report.

Caveat: The new product link is supposed to "go live" sometime today.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Wiki-Based Search Engine Claims To Be Web's Biggest
Eric Ward takes an in-depth look at the wiki-based search engine, modestly named, Web's Biggest.

One curious snippet...

Web’s Biggest is unique in that they have created a virtually replica of the whois database. This enables them to search almost every website in the English-speaking world. Other search engines rely on hyperlinks and manual submissions to find websites and miss more than half of them as a result.

Doesn't that violate whois guidelines or something? I know I've seen notices at most places similar to NetSol's...

"...The compilation, repackaging, dissemination or other use of this Data is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Network Solutions. You agree not to use high-volume, automated, electronic processes to access or query the WHOIS database."

I'm not on one of my normal "witch-hunts", just curious. ;-)
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Searching For Searches
Arik Hesseldahl of Forbes looks at recent developments in search, Jux2 and Firefox search add-ons.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Friday Humor - Google Rank Cake
By Tia Scott

-6 cups thick content mix
-1 jar word of mouth, whipped
-2 tablespoons meta tags
-1 cup creativity


1) In a bowl, stir content mix with 1 cup creativity. Stir. If hard, let sit overnight
2) Stir in meta tags.
3) Heat server to 100 degrees. In a 1024x768 pan or two 800x600 pans, pour mix. Beat in meta tags.
4) Let bake for one year.
5) While baking, prepare word of mouth.
6) Pagerank and Linkback will start to form on cake. Spread with a spoon of new content batter every 1-3 weeks.
7) Bake until done.

FAQS/Comments

Q. Should I buy content batter from the box or attempt to make it myself?
A. Content batter usually tastes best homemade. Although some people might want to get it over with and buy the mix from a box, it's all according to your taste. I, personally, believe homemade is more rich and adds your own personal touch.

Q. What if I'm out of creativity?
A. There are many, many people making these cakes and I'm sure they won't mind if you took a taste for inspiration. Sometimes the batter just needs a little beating. On the other hand, there are many people willing to give you free content batter in exchange for credit.

Q. I have baked for a year and pagerank nor linkback will grow!
A. Is the server set to the right temperature? Did you check it frequently? Several factors can contribute to lack of pagerank and linkback growth. Make sure you didn't do anything to make your cake stale.

Q. What brand of meta tags do you recommend?
A. Honestly, it doesn't matter. The generic ones are just as good as the expensive ones. So I wouldn't worry too much about spending tons of money on them. Actually"

Source link and more Q&A.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Yahoo Provides Local Search Via Cell Phones
Matt Hicks of eWeek looks at the different cell phone search options and Yahoo's expansion with local search features.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Breaking News: Google Makes AdWords API Available
So Google played dumb and we all went along with the official statement, that there would be "no comment" on rumors of a Google AdWords API (definition). It now appears, sometimes, you can believe the rumors….

Google has just announced that they have indeed rolled out access to an AdWords API and as of this afternoon, you can request access. You can get the full details from Google, but here is a summary.

According to Google Software Engineer, Nelson Minar, the Google API will "enable advertisers and third-party providers to utilize their own software interface". While the release of an AdWords API "does not bring any new functionality", Minar says that everything that you could do with the AdWords control center, you can do with the API. While some had predicted that an API would allow better targeting of ads, the API will essentially allow the control of three aspects:

1. Campaign Management
2. Reporting
3. Traffic Estimation

Those of you who might be drooling at the thought of micro-managing each keyword and updating your bids each second, might be disappointed. Each API user will be issued a “token” which Minar says will be tagged with a predetermined quota, limiting how often you can access your AdWords data stream. For example, requesting the status of a single Ad Group would be considered one operation. Updating the individual bids on 1,000 keywords would equate to 1,000 operations. Each quota is individually set and is calculated based upon the size of your AdWords account. Agencies and search engine marketing companies should see their quota being more than enough for their needs. Minar explains the quota is needed “to prevent spam” and “over-use” of the API.

The good news is the quota system will allow Google to roll out an API without any fees. This is a crucial step, if Google is to see larger advertisers embrace the API and utilize their own PPC management systems.

Minar ultimately expects access to an AdWords API will give greater control to advertisers. With the API, advertisers will be able to pause campaigns, when products go out of stock, or make changes to account for seasonal fluctuations.

Examples of the types of programs that can be built with the AdWords API include:
- Generating automatic keyword, ad text, URL, and custom reports.
- Integrating AdWords data with other databases, such as inventory and financial management systems to automatically trigger ads to reduce excess inventory in case of product overstock.
- Developing additional tools and applications to help better manage AdWords accounts, such as building internal interfaces to view and manage account data.

The release of an AdWords API is very much welcomed among the SEM industry. With more than 1300 clients, I can tell you that it is something that can make our lives a whole lot easier, while at the same time, improving the benefits to our customers.

Visit the Google AdWords API Developer's blog or forum.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Is Google Inflating Index Size?
Jean Véronis has some interesting research that he suggests raises questions about the accuracy of Google's index count.

There is a small oddity that was already noticed by many people: the count for the on the entire Web is rounded at 8 billions exactly, which is a bit suspicious. But this is not my point. The query for the in English pages returns only 88 million pages, i.e. just above 1% of the Web total. I have some trouble accepting this result, which would mean that nearly 99% of occurrences of the string the occur in non-english pages.

This blog post, has more evidence. Your thoughts?
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Mossberg has the Answers.com
The WSJ's Walter Mossberg takes Answers.com for a test drive. (sub)
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Amazon's Bold Plan to Add Pictures to Local Search Results at A9
CNet has details of A9's plans to add images to local search results.

The online retailer's search unit, A9.com, is masterminding the project, which will eventually pair digital photos of storefronts and their surroundings with more than 14 million U.S. business listings from around the country.

Late Wednesday, the company unveiled the first phase of its service, called A9.com Yellow Pages, with 20 million images from 10 cities, including Chicago, New York, San Francisco and Seattle.


Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Second Mozilla Developer Joins Google
One is a coincidence, two is a partnership.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Google Blogger Back Online
After Mark Jen's blog was apparently pulled off the web due to the new Google employee revealing a little too much about the company, it is now back online, albeit in an edited form, according to CNet.

Jen denied he made the change under duress, insisting that Google "was pretty cool about all this."

Google spokesman Steve Langdon confirmed that Jen is a Google employee who started work at the company on Jan. 17, and that Jen is the author of the blog. He added that Google has blogging guidelines, but he declined to talk about them. Contrary to some speculation, Google did not pull the site from its index, Langdon said.

In his first post, after putting the blog back online, Jen says...

hi everyone, sorry my site has been down for the past day or so. i goofed and put some stuff up on my blog that's not supposed to be there.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
The Yahoo Factor
Technology Review gives us details of "The Yahoo Factor", like Fear Factor but with a little less roach-eating. ;-)
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Espotting to Provide Paid Listings for Sun Newspaper's Website
Espotting inks a deal with the UK's leading tabloid, The Sun.

For those of you who don't know, The Sun is famous for its Page 3 models (who are mostly sans top) and helped make Samantha Fox famous (those @#$%!&!).
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Guess Who's Hoping to Become.com the Next Google?
When the founders of a new search engine include the bright-minds behind mySimon.com and Wisenut.com, you tend to sit-up and take notice.

Michael Yang and Yeogirl Yun join forces again, this time to create what they hope will be the next generation search engine for shopping.

Become.com has been 9-months in development and is currently in beta, pending its formal coming-out party (late February). Become is the first search engine for product and shopping information. Utilizing intelligent crawling and patented next generation ranking technologies, Become provides highly relevant and unbiased search results focused on product information: reviews, buying guides, forums, specs, etc.

"We recognized that Google's basic approach (which applied PageRank for general information purposes) was highly limiting when conducting online research for shopping. As a result, last year, we started a new search engine venture." said Michael Yang, President & CEO.

The site hopes to exit beta by the end of February when it expects to have more than 2.5 billion pages in its index.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Building a Better Article Writing Mousetrap
You may have thought that since Garrett French joined WebSourced, that he had decided to retire from writing and journalism. Far from it. Not only is Garrett carving a name for himself as a copywriting guru, he's also conducting some very interesting research into article marketing.

His latest article explains the two very distinct types of article marketing methods. You can do it the fast way, and simply write articles purely for quick links or you can do it the thorough way and conduct a more in-depth marketing campaign. There's a secret third way, but you'll have to read his article to get the scoop.

Build Links and Your Brand: Article Marketing Delivers

Many online marketers have crowed about the value of writing and publishing articles for branding and credibility. A few have mentioned the effects articles can have on the links to your site and therefore your search engine rankings.

None of them, however, have made a distinction between what I see as the two article marketing methods. In this article we'll look at both "the fast way" and "the thorough way" of article marketing as well as something crucial that no other article I've read includes - a complete list of the 82 article directory submission sites that pass PR.

Read the entire article...
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Comparison Shopping Search Engines
In the latest issue of Catalog Age, our very own Heather Lloyd-Martin not only provides insight on advertising on shopping comparison sites, but she also manages to get her face on the cover!

Here's an extract...

“...one thing that's really cool is that the people looking to comparison shopping sites are looking for exactly what they need,” says Heather Lloyd-Martin, president/CEO of Bellingham, WA-based agency SuccessWorks Search Marketing Solution Director of Search Strategies, WebSourced Inc [yes, I edited that last part ;-)]. Any shoppers who come to your site via a comparison engine are in effect prequalified and should have higher conversion rates than other visitors.

Make a point of visiting the shopping sites yourself, suggests Lloyd-Martin, paying attention to the categories you click on, and looking at listings in categories you're interested in entering. From those findings, you'll know what you need when you're ready to start working with the shopping engine to maximize the reach of your listings.

Lloyd-Martin also recommends talking with other companies who use comparison shopping engines to gain a better understanding of how to streamline submitting data feeds and pictures and how to analyze ROI. “Get a hint of what you're up against and dealing with,” she says.

As to whether to go with free listings with comparison shopping sites like Froogle or paid sites like PriceGrabber.com, “everyone digs the free stuff,” notes Lloyd-Martin. Although free listings may not generate as many purchases as paid listings, the added revenue is money that cost you virtually nothing to earn.

Lloyd-Martin doesn't recommend using only free listings, however, because they may not provide a significant lift in sales. Instead, she advocates supplementing free listings with paid listings on other sites such as Shopping.com and Yahoo! Shopping.

Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Ask Jeeves Developing Wireless Search Service
Catching-up on this story. Ask Jeeves talks about its plans to launch a wireless search service for cell phones.

I spoke with Ask's Snr VP, Jim Lanzone about this last February. He hinted then that cell phone's would play an important role in search's future.

"Cell phones will probably adapt more to this device, ultimately, than the other way around, due to usability issues, and the user's desire to carry only one device. Standing on a street corner and using this device, you will search for a local restaurant, or a cab company, through the Internet. Instead of going to the cab company's website, you will click a link and initiate a phone call. The search engine will be compensated for the call (this is the traditional Yellow Pages model of "metered calling") rather than the click."
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Kanoodle Gets New CEO
And the winner is...Lance Podell.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Need the Info on the New "Nofollow" Tag?
Dave Taylor has an interesting site. Consider Taylor your online agony-aunt -uncle for all things tech related. This post has him answering a question about the new "nofollow" tag, designed to help reduce comment spam on blogs.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Tough Blogging Policy at Google?
John Battelle reports that you can publish to a blog, as a Google employee, unless you start giving away secrets that best remain secrets.

From the deleted blog...

"i must say, 1500+ sales people getting drunk at a company sponsored party feels remarkably like a frat party."

Thanks to Garrett!
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Google Set to Provide AdWords API
Matt Hicks at eWeek delves into the rumors that Google is about to open up access to AdWords.

By expanding beyond its own tools and ad program, Google is signaling a greater willingness to work with third parties such as search marketers and ad agencies, said Gary Stein, a senior analyst at Jupiter Research.

We still don't have any official word from Google, but maybe if I keep reminding them that another PPC provider already has an API, they'll be embarassed into action (I know, like I can "arm-twist" a 800-pound guerilla).

Google's main search-advertising competitor, Overture Services, already offers an API into its system for search-engine marketers and third parties, said Andy Beal, vice president of search marketing at WebSourced Inc. Search marketers have sought similar access from Google.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Contextual Ads - Are They "Search" or Not?
Danny Sullivan has a summary of his recent keynote at SES Chicago. One interesting thought he has...

That brings me to contextual ads. If I had one resolution I could impose on everyone, it would be to stop calling contextual ads "search" or considering them part of search advertising. They aren't....search is on-demand. Contextual is passive and must be treated as such."

Not sure I entirely agree with this. While I do agree that contextual ads are "passive", they are an intrinsic part of any campaign with Google or Overture. Want to enhance and optimize your contextual ads? You'll likely turn to a search engine marketing company for assistance. What technology is used to display the most relevant contextual ads? Search technology. It's a tricky one.



Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Off-topic - Forehead Advertising
I just hope that the message is clearly labelled as a "Sponsored Ad".

Hat-tip sponsored by Jeff.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Video Search the Next "Big Thing"
Ladies and gentlemen, today, the role of "desktop search" will be played by "video search". It seems that barely had the buzz surrounding desktop search subsided, the search engines hit us with video search options.

Google Video (in beta, of course) offers users the ability to search the content of television programs from leading TV content providers including PBS, the NBA, Fox News, and C-SPAN, among others.

"What Google did for the web, Google Video aims to do for television," said Larry Page, Google co-founder and president of Products.

The Google Video beta enables users to search across the closed captioning content of a growing number of TV programs that Google began indexing in December, 2004. Entering a query such as (iPod) will return a list of relevant television programs with still images and text excerpts from the exact point in the program where the search phrase was spoken.

Yahoo steps up the integration of its video search by adding a tab to the homepage and partnering with TV search player TVEyes to help it better index video content.

Yahoo!'s video index includes content from its own network, including video from Yahoo! News, LAUNCH, and Movies, along with exclusive partner content from Mark Burnett Productions and JibJab. The company also has video search partnerships with AtomFilms, RealNetworks, and IFILM.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Yahoo Video Search Coming to a Homepage Tab Near You
Gary has news that Yahoo Video Search will be added to the homepage tab a little later tonight.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Mozilla Firefox Lead Engineer Joins Google
Neowin does just enough to keep the speculation going that Google may one day enter the browser market.

Ben Goodger, Lead Engineer for the popular browser Firefox has announced that he is no longer paid by Mozilla, and has joined Google.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
DMA Hints It Will Absorb AIM
Does this mean we get a refund on our AIM membership dues?
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Is Google Ready to Offer AdWords API?
I sure hope that the rumors are true. I'd love to be able to confirm or deny them, but Google simply gives the "no comment at this time" response.

That being said, there seems to be a lot of buzz surrounding this rumored launch. Funny, none of it seems to include mention that Overture has been providing an API - in the form of Advertiser Web Services (AWS) - since 2001. :-)

Anyone care to guess if any new AdWords API will be a "beta" release? ;-)
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Desktop Search and Personalization
I'm catching-up on my own vanity postings, so I'll clump these two together for your reading pleasure. ;-)

New York Post - why the search engines launched desktop search apps.
Entrepreneur Magazine - personalizing search results.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Google Loses French Trade Mark Case
According to Out-Law.com, Google France has lost a trade mark action brought by hotel chain Le Meridien Hotels and Resorts.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Users Confuse Natural and Paid Search Engine Results
So information from a study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, suggests that only 18% of search engine users can tell the difference between paid and natural search engine results.

So what does that tell us? Well, to me it suggests that the search engines have everything finely tuned and doing a great job. If the average user cannot tell the difference, it likely means that they are finding the most relevant results in both paid and natural listings.

I bet the same can be said for those "infomercials" or the "advertorials" you often see. Sometimes, it's hard to tell that they are paid placements, but it doesn't matter, if I find the stuff interesting and useful, who cares if someone paid to put it there.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
VoIP Service Coming from Google?
Some say that Google is getting ready to launch a free internet telephone service in the UK. Others tend to disagree.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
What did Online Retailers Learn in 2004?
The E-Commerce Times takes a look at the lessons learned by the online retail industry in 2004. Search was, obviously, the biggest lesson learned.

A study by Web consultancy Link2City reveals that 33 percent of Internet users believe companies found in the top search results must be a major brand, demonstrating that top search engine listings transmit brand equity.

I managed to get my 2-cents worth by suggesting that this year could be the year that traditional retailers finally realize that online traffic can lead to offline sales.

"In 2005, even brick-and-mortar stores will execute Internet campaigns to generate consumer interest and increase product recognition. Successful campaigns will drive in-store traffic as much as generate online sales."
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
New WebTrends 7 Offers Tools for Search Engine Marketers
WebTrends has updated its analytics software with more features for SEM's.

WebTrends 7 can now precisely quantify the relationship between organic and paid search positions and revenue within a single WebTrends SmartReport(TM) for Microsoft(R) Excel(R), seamlessly combining results information from WebTrends with search position data from the leading SEO solution, WebPosition(R) Gold 3, also a WebTrends solution. By examining the relationship between organic and paid search positions and traffic and revenue, marketers can more precisely prioritize where they should invest their resources to attain the most profitable search engine positions.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Yahoo Baby a Fake
I didn't find this story interesting enough to blog it the first time around, but now that the latest update reveals that the story was a big fake, it has my interest.

Could this have been one big publicity stunt by Yahoo? ;-)

*Mental Note* - if I ever I have a child, tell the media we named it "WebSourced". ;-)

Thanks Jeff.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
To Work or Ski?
Hi honey, I'm home!

Well actually, I'll be up to full speed on Monday, but couldn't resist blogging about Ask Jeeves' cheeky fun-poking at Google. It seems while the Google staff enjoy their new IPO-wealth at a ski retreat, Jeeves and the staff keep the search clock ticking.

Funny stuff!
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
New Linking Safety Initiative
Concerned web activists formed a site to further the advances of the nofollow initiative.

Please, use link protection.

tx rb.

Garrett French - MarketSmart Interactive | permalink | +marktd |

 
AOL Search Innovates
AOL Search crowed new advances today and pointed out several future advances, including desktop search, more local search features through FAST, clustering with Vivisimo and pay-per-call among others.

Their most intersting current advance is what they're calling their "smartbox" technology. According to Battelle they've got a team of over 60 editors who assemble result packages for certain frequently searched terms (favoring AOL partners?) that account for 20% of all searches.

If this trend continues watch for SEOs, basically PR folk at this point, who specialize in creating sites worthy of inclusion in"smartboxes" vital to their client's business and in contacting these currently invisible editors.

Battelle's AOL post.
AOL in SEW.
Garrett French - MarketSmart Interactive | permalink | +marktd |

 
Google Search and Picasa: Where to Now?
Google's known for developing great services without necessarily knowing how they're going to monitize them. Picasa's one such example.

The service itself makes editing and sharing pictures easy, and they made Froogle, Blogger and Gmail tie ins. But how is Google going to tie Picasa in with their key service?

Picassa's competitor Flickr (a free service that makes its dough from a pro account that allows a gig of upload a month) made an interesting partnership recently with blog search engine Technorati.

When searchers use Technorati tag search (about Technorati tags) they can search posts and flickr photos that have the corresponding terms in their tags. This gives a neat twist to those whose blogs are more marketing oriented, though I wonder how long it will take for spammers to jump on this particular function.

What makes this Flickr tie in work for Technorati is that they're both - for the most part - personal media sources. This can have compelling results. Try a A Tsunami tag search in Technorati. (not for the squeamish)

Google images gives me about four newsy pics and then a slew of pics from 1992. So I'm looking for a Picasa tie in soon, and for Google to get with the program and deliver some blog search with a Google News style front end. That plus Picasa pics would give new meaning to news.

tx to jd for telling me bout flikr and technorati

Garrett French - MarketSmart Interactive | permalink | +marktd |

 
Yahoo, MSN Join with Google in "nofollow" Accord
Say goodbye to comment spam. Google Blog says MSN and Yahoo pitched in on their "end comment spam" initiative with the (rel="nofollow") attribute.

Put the tag on links others make in your comments and the spiders won't equate that text with the spammers site and you'll see most comment spamming end. Luckily the stupid spammers or the spammers looking for actual clickthroughs will keep posting links. Where else am I supposed to learn about the latest offerings from the online pharmaceutical industry?

Blogoscoped got Googleguy talking about it.
And of course Google themselves.
Check the comments on Battelle's post.
Garrett French - MarketSmart Interactive | permalink | +marktd |

 
Analog Search To The Rescue
Wired Mag reports on the most popular methods of searching employed when people's lives are on the line. Algorithms need not apply, radar and gps do the trick when trying to find people buried in mud, debris and snow.

"Sgt. Tim Hagel, who was one of the leaders of the Ventura County Sheriff's Department's search-and-rescue efforts in La Conchita, said his team relied on a combination of heat-seeking and sound-sensitive tools to try to find people.

According to Hagel, rescuers there used thermal imagers, known as forward-looking infrared, or FLIR, to try to detect the body heat of people trapped under the rubble. He said that the devices were used both in the air -- on helicopters -- and on the ground."

It's nice to see a completely different aspect of search. Sometimes we get pigeon-holed into thinking of search in a linear way and with all the hype about search engines it's no wonder we do that. However, search [as a verb] applies to all sorts of activities that have nothing to do with Larry, Sergey or bald Butlers.

Jason Dowdell | permalink | +marktd |

 
Google Going after Dark Fiber
CNET News.com reports that Google is making a push for Dark Fiber.

A recent job posting states:
"Google is looking for Strategic Negotiator candidates with experience in...(i)dentification, selection, and negotiation of dark fiber contracts both in metropolitan areas and over long distances as part of development of a global backbone network,"

For those who do not know, Dark fiber is the fiber optic cabling that has already been laid (not unlike telephone or cable lines), but is not being used, usually due to very high cost of operations.

Let the consipiracy theorists go nuts with this one. You might assume that Google is going to be creating a new, or added, massive network similar to the Internet. If so, that's a lot of information that Google would then control. "Do no evil," if that's still the mantra, it's easy to wonder how controlling another massive network similar to the Internet could be run without great temptation for abuse or misuse.

Ben

Ben Wills | permalink | +marktd |

 
Google Doodles Dandy?
Google reps put the "smack down" on those seeking to dis their winter bear doodles.

Here's Google's response to the user who dared to "impugn" their bears:

"if you impugn the artistic integrity of the guy who draws the Google doodles, you can expect a very direct and very public smackdown."

Here's what the user dared contend:

"In reference to holiday illustration #3, I am curious as to how the larger polar bear learned, over a period of a few days, how to roll blobs of snow in almost perfect spheres. I mean, wouldn't this require a few thousand years of mental evolution"

On the Google blog what follows is what I hope is a tongue in cheek defense by Google blogger Michael Krantz. It's pretty funny either way.

And will someone besides booble please parody Google's Doodles? They give me the pukes. (thx2 Farnsy)

Garrett French - MarketSmart Interactive | permalink | +marktd |

 
Out of the Office Next Week
I'll be out of the office next week, taking a quick break before the conference circuit starts ramping up.

Ben, Jason, Garrett (and maybe Heather), will be stopping by each day to make sure none of our readers miss any major search engine news.

Normal service will resume on or before Jan 24th.

Andy
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Seeing MSN Search Beta at Main Search Site
Not big news, as we knew this was coming, but thought you might like to know that a number of us at WebSourced are seeing the MSN Search Beta results from the main site.



Now excuse me, I'm off to steal Aaron's tags. ;-)

Thanks Rick!
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Data Reveals 74% of Businesses Not Currently Working with an SEM Firm
If you missed the Jupiter Webevent we sponsored yesterday, you missed some very revealing data.

From those polled, 74% are either implementing an in-house SEM campaign or have not even begun an SEM campaign. For those of us in the SEM industry, that's is a lot of potential new customers.



And for those of you who still only report back to clients the number of top-10 rankings they have; those looking for SEM agencies, want a company that can demonstrate increased revenues and sales.


Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Seth Godin Discovers the Search Engine Industry
We're all saved!

Just when we thought that perhaps the search industry was a figment of our collective imaginations, Seth Godin confirms there is a search engine industry.

I'll be sleeping well tonight. ;-)

Update: Have you ever seen Danny Sullivan get worked up? Me neither, but this is as close as it gets.

"Absurd? Yeah, absurd. Search marketing has long been a form of effective media -- even before we had paid listings. If Godin has only just realized this, then the people who have been buying his New York Times bestselling books on marketing have been cheated out of an important chapter.

I'm usually pretty mild-mannered, try to see all sides, be level-headed. But this is the second ridiculous post from someone who is supposed to know about marketing."

"Go Danny, it's your birthday!"

Update 2: Eating-crow, seeing the light, back-peddling or simply one big misunderstanding...Seth Godin feels compelled to answer his critics.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
And Ask Jeeves Too!
Ok, so if we're going to give Yahoo some love, let's give Ask Jeeves some love as well.

As for Ask Jeeves, Rashtchy [of Piper Jaffray] disputed some assertions that the company to also-ran status, behind Google and Yahoo.

"Ask Jeeves is not only remaining a meaningful search alternative, but is gaining faster than most other players," he said.

He estimates the company's usage rates rose 18 percent from the third quarter, the highest increase for the sector. He upgraded his rating to "outperform" from "market perform" and raised his price target to $40, a multiple of 18 times estimated 2006 EBITDA. His previous target was $32.

I would actually buy Ask's stock, but I wouldn't want it to get in the way of anything. I think Ask is one of the best search engines out there...if I owned stock, you may think I was just pumping. ;-)
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Time to Buy Yahoo Stock?
According to Forbes, Piper Jaffray are gaga over Yahoo's prospects, especially revenue from search.

Piper Jaffray said Yahoo! also gained share in the fourth quarter "and is likely to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the impressive growth in search."

The analysts raised target prices and earning estimates for Yahoo.

"We would be active buyers of the stock ahead of the earnings release next week," the firm said, noting that Yahoo! shares trade at a discount to other Internet leaders.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
WebSourced Parent, CGI Holding Corporation, Acquires MarketSmart Advertising
It's a done deal.

I'd brag about all the great things were going to do, but I know you'd just throw eggs. ;-)
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Jeff's World - SEMCares, Corporate Giving and Why I Don’t Care


I've made my thoughts clear on the practice of using non-profits, organizations and the recent tsunami to garner free publicity. Today, resident SEM cynic critic, "Jeff", offers reasons why we should all go full steam ahead and selfishly promote ourselves. We'll let you decide how firmly his tongue is in his cheek. Andy

As many of you know, I am contractually obligated to agree with Andy, 99% of the time. Fortunately, I’ve met my threshold this year and can speak the naked truth about SEM Cares as well as corporate giving in general.

I think blatant self promotion is a good thing, no… a great thing, a wonderful exercise in free market dynamics. Yep, I said it .In fact, it’s not only a good and holy thing, it’s damn near a fiduciary responsibility. Combine that with spamming the search engines and you have something very near and dear to my heart. Its not that what SEM Cares is doing is wrong, its that they aren’t going far enough! You call yourselves SEM professionals? Are you bidding on Overture and AdWords for “most generous SEM organization”? Are you ranked for “high and mighty”? Come on now!

The cynic, which is never really far from the surface in me, thinks that blowing one’s own horn when being charitable can actually be a good thing; particularly when it comes to the corporate world. And really what is the greatest vanity a company can have? Why being #1 on Google of course! Charitable giving and SEO is the greatest combination since clear and cola!

Let’s be honest corporate giving is down and even when being generous doesn’t actually cost anything, many companies are increasingly turning a cold shoulder. This past Christmas season, or Chriskwanzukah if you prefer, many companies modified their policies on allowing non-profits (including the Salvation Army) to solicit on their properties; including two large, yet unnamed companies (lets say they rhyme with Barget and Bal-Wart) So lets make it worth their while! As an industry, we get the biggest contributors ranked #1-10 for whatever they’d like to be found on. You know “cuddliest company”, “company with the biggest heart”, and “disaster friendly company”.

Which is fine with me. Really. What were they getting out of it before? Nothing. Their corporate noblesse oblige is taken for granted. Machiavelli warned us, love must be maintained, fear lasts forever. Best of all, rankings require them to keep up that corporate giving, or lose their position!

Besides, why should corporations donate money, supplies or services at all? It’s not their money they are giving, it is their shareholders’ money. Besides, I want to get the warm fuzzy feeling I get by putting my dollar in the jar for the latest disaster relief myself. Its just not the same when I company I own stock in, writes a fat check and hands it over to some charity I have never heard of but has a celebrity spokesperson . I don’t get a warm feeling at all. All I see is a smaller dividend check.

If a corporation does give, it probably has the responsibility to get out the word, however it can, that it’s a good corporate citizen and generate as much good will for its brand that it can muster. Let’s get that celebrity spokesman to eat our soup on camera while accepting the check, or to have the way too perky morning talk show host who is interviewing him/her say, “Gee your hair smells terrific, what do you use?” and our spokesperson would reply, “Why its Acme shampoo. You can buy it at www.generouscompany.com. It’s #1 on Google for “best smelling hair product”.

Now that’s giving.

Just my 2 cents worth.

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 feature entitled, "Jeff's World" ("Jeff's World, Jeff's World, party-time").
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Google May be the Favored Tool of Hackers in 2005
ZDNet predicts that Google will be increasingly used by hackers, looking to find their way into your computer.

One expert suggests...

"Using robots.txt and other techniques to prevent indexing is a best practice for non-public systems and the various components supporting public systems. Treat all Internet-facing devices -- even apparently obscure ones such as network cameras -- as relevant to security,"

What all us SEOs know is that a "robots.txt" file is the first place to look when trying to discover exactly what a web site owner wants hidden. What's to stop a worm from scouring for robots.txt information?
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Should Google Buy Technorati?
Russell Shaw of The Industry Standard thinks Google should buy blog-tracker Technorati.

Not a bad idea. As blogs continue to grow, they'll be a demand for services like Technorati and Feedster. I visit both each day and have RSS feeds coming in from both. Google is great for archived content, but both Feedster and Technorati kick butt when it comes to the freshest stuff.

Update: We're learning that Technorati has launched a new "tags" option that allows you to categorize your posts, photos etc.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Not Looking Good at LookSmart
Things are not looking too optimistic over at LookSmart as they lower their revenue guidance for Q4 of 2004.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
The New MSN Search to Launch Feb. 1
At least that is the news coming from the Search Engine Watch forums.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Google In the Clear Over Playboy Spread
No penalties for Google's interview with Playboy...

Under terms of the agreement, the search giant agreed to cease and desist from committing or violating any provisions under the Securities Act of 1933, according to the company's filing with the SEC. Google, without admitting or denying guilt in the matter, will not have to pay any financial penalty. The company also settled similar charges brought by the California Corporations Commissioner.

Now, if Page and Brin had done a center spread, I'd be calling for billions in damages.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Google Taking Too Long With Beta Testing
ZDNet looks at the dark side of Google. The dark side? Yep, they're bad boys for not getting the products out of beta!

It shows considerable disrespect, for one thing. Part of the deal with public betas is that the users accept some problems in return for helping create the finished product, but if that product is never finished then why bother? It also lets Google off the hook when bad things happen: it never said the software was finished. It just wanted you to use it. That's no way to build a reputation for effective cleverness. It implies that beta is an excuse for shirking responsibility, rather than a shakedown period that makes the final product better.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Online Ad Spend to Grow by 30 Percent This Year
This is great news for all of us in online marketing...

Marketers will increase online ad spending by as much as 30 percent in 2005, according to a recent survey of media planners and buyers conducted by Deutsche Bank in conjunction with MediaPost.

Looks like marketers will spend more in Q1 than they did in Q4.

Nearly one out of three respondents--27 percent--expected their clients would spend between 11 percent and 30 percent more in the first quarter of this year than the last quarter of 2004. An additional 12 percent of respondents expected their clients' first-quarter online budgets to spike by 30 percent or more, while 41 percent expected their clients to up spending by 10 percent more in the first quarter of 2005 than the last three months of last year.

Via MarketingVOX.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Google Not Allowing Slang in AdWords
The NY Times - ever ready to write an article on any topic, as long as there is a connection to Google - today looks at the high standards Google places on AdWords advertisers. In a nutshell, they don't like slang.

Wanna know y the big "G" ain't likin' da slang?

If the searcher doesn't understand the ad, they're not going to click on it. If they don't click on it, Google doesn't get the bling-bling.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
I Shall Call Him "Mini-Google"
Dr. Evil would be proud. Google seemingly follows in the footsteps of Apple Mac (and Austin Powers) by creating a smaller version of their Google Search Appliance. GSA is typically for larger companies who want to be able to search their own content and house their own index. GSA is normally priced betweenn $32k to $500k.

The Web search leader aims to extend its reach with the Mini, which has fewer bells and whistles and sells for just under $5,000. For example, it can search 50,000 documents compared with the 15 million that can be handled by Google's top-end Search Appliance.

You can buy Google Mini online.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Yahoo & MSN Closing the Google Gap
Chris Sherman analyzes recent data from Keynote that suggests Yahoo and MSN may be gaining market share on Google.

Since the last study, Yahoo! has boosted the number of users who said they would consider the site as their primary search engine by more than 20% and MSN by almost 30%.

Perhaps the most significant finding in the study is that searchers are more fickle than many people think. Even though 75% of users say they have a favorite search engine that they turn to first, 50% will turn to another search engine as an alternative if they don't get satisfactory results.

And surprisingly, as many as 20% of users regularly use different search engines for different types of searches, meaning all the major search engines are getting significant exposure.

Hence, email, desktop search, toolbars etc....they don't want you to leave.

Ask Jeeves also has something to cheer about. While the dark horse of search often doesn't get much credit from the news media, they're winning new search fans. The report found that Ask Jeeves showed a significant increase in overall customer experience rankings. It also found that Ask Jeeves performed as well as Google and Yahoo! when actual user success in conducting complex searches was measured.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Can Desktop Search Find Profits for the Search Engines?
Gary points to an article by Ben Elgin of Business Week. He takes a look at the recent desktop search offerings and closes with some ideas about how the search engines can make some money from desktop searches.

The money-making potential of desktop search is dubious in the short term. The various players haven't announced business blueprints, but it's likely that some will experiment with ways to cash in, such as placing relevant ads alongside search results.

Such a move, however, would be rife with controversy. Google sparked a firestorm last year when it announced that its free e-mail service, Gmail, would scan customers' messages and place relevant ads next to the text. An effort to scan the content of personal files would likely prompt an even testier reaction.

Dubious indeed, but including sponsored ads in your desktop results is something I believe will be the only way to go, should the search engines want to make money from desktop search. That being said, they may be happy just to have desktop search as a value proposition.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
SEMcares About Who?
SEMcares; right sentiment, wrong implementation.

1. Just donate money directly to organizations helping with Tsunami victims, don't brag about it!
2. Just what we need, more pages created just for the search engines' benefit. Want some fries with that spam?

I have an idea, why not create a directory of all those who have contributed. The more your contribute, the more prominent your listing AND you get a link to your site. While we are at it, anyone involved in setting up SEMcares, get's to go at the top of the list.

Look for "Colorado Cattle Farmers Care", "New York Hotdog Street Vendors Care" and more coming soon.

The Tsunami was devasting, people should give generously, bragging about it is in bad taste.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Apple Mac's Spotlight May be the Holy Grail of Desktop Search
I've been speaking to some journalists about desktop search and they all want to know what desktop search means for the search engines. Why did Google, Yahoo et al launch desktop search applications?

The most likely reason is to preserve brand loyalty and maybe even attract some new users away from their competitors. But what about the pending launch of Apple Mac's new Tiger operating system and their Spotlight (pdf) desktop search technology?

Apple could be hunting for a bigger prize. Sure, they could benefit from the hype and would want a product that would stop Mac users from using any third-party search solutions, but if Spotlight can live up to the hype, Apple could get what it really needs: more Mac users.


Could Spotlight be the greatest of all the desktop search offerings?

With the launch of the Mac mini, Apple is already demonstrating that they hope to stretch the glamor associated with the iPod, to other Apple products. I've long considered whether to buy a Mac, if for nothing else than it's multi-media capabilities. If, when the new Tiger OS launches, it becomes standard on the mini Mac, you could see this long-time Windows user, dipping his toe in the elite world of Mac users (which would really bring down the average IQ of Mac users, I'm sure). For less than a Dell, I can get a crash-proof computer, with fantastic media apps and what looks like, a great desktop search tool.

At $499 for a Mac with a powerful operating system and the capabilities of Spotlight, Apple's foray into desktop search could lead to a greater prize than just a share of the desktop search audience, it could mean a few extra percentage points in the operating system wars. While no one will switch to a Mac just for Spotlight - especially with so many free offerings elsewhere - the reasons to buy a Mac keep on piling-up.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Google Introduces "Fake News" Portal
Ok, this is just so darn funny, we're going to post the whole thing...

SILLYCON VALLEY -- It was only a matter of time. In response to the underground success of its news.google.com service, everybody's favorite search engine/kitchen sink company has now launched an alpha version of "fakenews.google.com", dedicated to showcasing only the finest in fake news stories (in other words, nothing from Humorix).

"It's all here -- The Onion, The National Inquisitor, even the CBS Evening News With Dan Rather," a Google spokesperson explained over a cellphone while relaxing in the Google Massage Parlor & Open Bar Employee Lounge. "We want to open up parody and sarcasm to the world."

Even though the alpha version is only accessible by "invitation only", some bloggers have already taken the time to criticize the new service.

"It's obvious Google Fake News is biased," said the webmaster of MyRapidlyExpandingEgo.com. "I mean, just look at their top headlines -- all I see is parody. Meanwhile, sarcasm is buried five pages away. And there's precious little buffoonery or dark humor."

The Google spokesperson (who by now is dining in the Google Culinary Arts & Gourmet Coffee Complex) explained, "Our current algorithm has difficulty distinguishing between fake sarcasm and real news. If you saw the headline, 'President Bush Outlines Iraq Strategery', would you treat that as straight news or as biting sarcasm?"

He then added, on his way through the Google Zen Garden, "We are definitely aware of the limitations of current AI technology... We have assembled a crack team of Ph.D. graduates who are busy working on the problem in between rounds of poker at the Google Game Room & Procrastination Center."

Google has been tight-lipped about its future plans. "We don't have any timeline for graduating Google Fake News from alpha to beta," the employee said after finally returning to his Office/Relaxation Chamber. "Not that it really matters. The existing Google News site will remain in beta until around 2038, unless one of our brilliant Ph.D. eggheads suddenly finds a way to make money from it."

"By the way," he quickly added, "I was being sarcastic."

Thanks to Humorix and James Baughn for the laugh!

Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
RSS Feeds for MSN Search Results
Brady Forrest of the MSN Search team explains why they are experimenting with RSS feeds in their search results.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Scraping Google To See What Happens
John Battelle points to an act of rebellion by Google nemesis, Danial Brandt. Brandt has created a tool that scrapes the Google results so they can be stripped of all AdWords ads.

Why?

"The commercialization of the web became possible only because tens of thousands of noncommercial sites made the web interesting in the first place," he writes. "All search engines should make a stable, bare-bones, ad-free, easy-to-scrape version of their results available for those who want to set up nonprofit repeaters. Even if it cuts into their ad profits slightly, there's no easier way to give back some of what they stole from us."

This could get interesting.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Article Marketing Blog
If you're looking for some help with article writing and submission, with a SEO flava, you might want to check out Garrett's article marketing blog.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Apple Aims to Take Desktop Search Crown
Apple CEO Steve Jobs has fired a warning shot across the bow of Google and MSN, claiming that the new desktop search product for the Mac, named Spotlight, will be an industry leader.

Google and MSN "are nowhere near to Spotlight. Because we build it into the core of the operating system," Jobs said.

Spotlight will be one of 200 newly developed features in the upcoming fourth version of OS X called Tiger. The application is slated for a launch in the first half of this year. "This is coming out long before Longhorn," Jobs said referring to Microsoft's upcoming operating system that will not be on the market before 2006.

It will be interesting to see the launch of Spotlight, especially if you can use it in one of those tiny little Macs, just launched. Not quite sure how much Google and MSN are quaking in their boots though. No offense to Mac, but they hardly have the market share to make a challenge.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Search Clustering from Microsoft
Gary has news of some clustering technology being tested by Microsoft and others.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Interesting AdWords Ads?
Filed under schoolboy humor...

Amazon, eBay and a host of other large AdWords users often have ads that are automatically generated using the search term entered.

John lightens thing up with this discovery...



Question is, why was John searching for "poo" in the first place? ;-)
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
New SMA-NA Continue to Gain Traction
MediaPost takes a look at the newly forming SMA-Na - a North American association that will represent the interests of SEO providers.

What is so ironic is this recurring statement...

"One of the problems that I saw with SEMPO is that although they state that they have the goal of representing the industry as a whole, in reality it turned out to be representing the big names,"

I think that gives SEMPO too much credit. We're the largest SEM in the world and they don't even come close to representing our interests.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Yahoo Launches Desktop Search
This is amazing, Yahoo continues to get press about its desktop search product even though it hasn't even launched the darn thing!

Update: It looks like they have now made desktop search available.

Yahoo! says the tool can index over 200 different types of text, word processing, spreadsheet, database and presentation applications from the common to the obscure. However, unlike the MSN search bar, it doesn't index Outlook appointments.

However, the tool won't automatically index new or edited files. Instead you have to wait for a scheduled index to happen. Somewhat surprisingly for a tool from a search engine, it can't sort the results by relevance or name.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
WebSourced Searches for Larger Office Space
Yes, our fantastic growth keeps on, keeping on. We moved from 7,500 square feet of office space to 31,000 back in March '04, but our growth means we need to move again. This time, we are looking to build an office of at least 90,000 square feet.

The News & Observer has more details, so I'll leave it to them.

And after a year of rapid employee and revenue growth, it needs at least 90,000 square feet, said Pat Martin, president and chief executive of WebSourced.

This time last year, WebSourced employed 40 people. Since then, the company added 112 employees, including 27 it gained in August when it acquired WebCapades, online dating marketing firm.

About 50 employees will be added once the announced acquisition of Raleigh-based MarketSmart Advertising is complete. The timing of that change is a factor in when WebSourced will make its real-estate decisions.

"Our goal would be to have them locate with us in our new building," Martin said.

As WebSourced has expanded its work force, revenue has more than tripled during the past three years. Through the third quarter of 2004, its most recent financial results available, the company reported $14.1 million in revenue, up from $7.1 million for all of 2003.

The boost is partly a result of more expensive services, Martin said. Five years ago, the company charged a minimum of $20 monthly to provide services. As search engines have improved, the company has offered more services, including writing and Web site redesign.

The company's minimum product now costs $2,000 per month.

Also, WebSourced now has 1,300 clients, up from about 900 a year ago, Martin said.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Venture Capitalists Gaga Over Online Advertising
2005 Consumer Electronics Show had VC companies singing the praises of online advertising, according to MediaPost.

Larry Marcus, general partner of venture capital firm WaldenVC, and a former Deutsche Bank analyst, said there is "massive" opportunity in the burgeoning ad market. "Internet advertising is now a $10 billion industry. That's an incredible thing for content providers," he said....Marcus said his firm, WaldenVC, is particularly interested in ad networks and resellers of inventory on a cost per acquisition basis.

That was part of our interest in Proceed Interactive, they have a strong cost per acquisition model (CPA). There is no doubt that as the SEM industry grows, those companies that offer a CPA alternative will remain competitive.

Thanks to Jeff!
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
EarthLink teams with X1
CNet reports that Earthlink has partnered with X1 to provide email search capabilities. Doesn't look like it's a desktop search solution though.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
McAfee Uses Google to Test Hacker Vulnerabilities
According to CNet, McAfee has launched a new security product that uses Google to test a web site for vulnerability to hacker attacks.

I initially thought that the new SiteDigger 2.0 would be violating Google's usage limit for its API, but it appears each user has to have their own Google API license.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
SEMPO Threatened by SMA-NA
Just when you thought SEMPO had inhaled its last breath and quietly slipped away, we hear that they're not only still around, by very much scared of the newly created SMA-NA.

According to an alleged conversation with Barbara Coll, they do not want to work with anyone that is a member of SMA-NA.

Although the majority of the conversation was confidential, it was made very clear that SEMPO considers the SMA-NA to be a direct threat and a competitor for membership and sponsor dollars. Interesting that the SMA-UK and EU were not considered the same way. To me, that really confirmed the regional blinkers SEMPO wears. The concern about the money rather than the industry was also very interesting. Although it was mentioned that the industry would be better off with only one group (I agree BTW ;) ) this was mentioned in direct relation to funding.

She also repeatedly demanded the names of the others on the SMA-NA working group. Since they had not been confirmed yet, I didn't answer, but the message was clear: SMA members were not welcome in SEMPO. Pity. Personally, I think that all support of the SEO/SEM industry is a good thing, and I'd rather someone support SEMPO than not support anything. I guess they don't see it that way.

Nice move! Just when SEMPO was trying to convince the industry that their motives were not purely to promote the select few, they go ahead and demonstrate that they have no intention of doing what is best for the industry. Can you imagine the DMA refusing you to participate in a meeting because you were also a member of the AMA? Crazy.

Hat-tip Aaron.

UPDATE: ClickZ has more on this topic, including these quotes:

"I got a bird's-eye view of the issues, politics and personalities. I realized that SEMPO is fundamentally broken. It's outlived its usefulness," Ian McAnerin, a Canada-based search marketer who is leading the creation of the SMA-NA working group.

"We're not the first, and we won't be the last organization for search engine marketing," said Dana Todd, SEMPO vice president. "We have a very specific mission, and other groups have different interpretations of what their needs are. If anyone has the wherewithal and the fortitude, I think it's great."

"The vision of SEMPO is to be involved in the industry, not in the members necessarily. The research we put out in December showed that we're thinking long-term," added SEMPO chairperson Barbara Coll. "I don't think the regional SMA groups are going to focus on the industry, they seem to be about making sure the members are getting benefits."


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MSN to Ramp-Up Search Beta
MSN Search is getting ready to ramp-up the beta testing of their new search engine by routing some customers at search.msn.com to the beta search site.
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Why Did Google Let The "Google Store" Trademark Lapse?
File this under "I didn't know that, but didn't really care anyway".

The Industry Standard looks at a trademark application, that Google let die, that suggest at one time the search engine may have had plans to sell a lot of Google-branded products.
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Google Riches Cause Tension
Typically, a story about new-found wealth of employees, after an IPO, would not be worth writing or reading.

However, Google has always had this image of employees working to do the greater good, so a story about the tensions rising, is kind of interesting.

CNet has one such story that looks at how more than 1,000 new millionaires interect with their not-so-lucky co-workers.

Employee complaints aren't exactly piling up about Google's generous stock grant policies, which have helped create an estimated 1,000 new millionaires, on paper at least. But the SEC filings have struck something of a nerve inside the company by offering an unusually candid look into the wealth of co-workers. That's creating unaccustomed tensions inside a workplace that has long projected an image of collegial egalitarianism to the outside world, some people said.
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More Details of Kraft's Google AdWords Snafu
Yesterday, Danny Sullivan pointed to a story that highlighted a recent complaint Kraft had with its AdWords ads showing up on a white supremacy web site.

I mentioned that, coincedently, I had spoken to another reporter on that very same story. Here's the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's take on the whole thing.
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DoubleClick Rebounds in Fourth Quarter
The Fool asks an interesting question, is DoubleClick still for sale? A few months ago, the company lowered earning guidance for Q4 and hooked up with investment firm Lazard Freres & Co to explore a sale.

Since then, the company has rebounded and has raised guidance for Q4 earnings. According to the Fool...

While all this would naturally make DoubleClick an attractive trophy wife, the same can be said for the asking price. The stock has risen by 20% over the past two months and, while a desperate DoubleClick may have been ready to take any reasonable offer back in November, it would likely hold out for a meaty premium these days.
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China's Search Engine Market Expects Strong Growth
China is expecting strong growth in its search engine industry.

The market is expected to growth at an annual speed of 60 per cent-70 per cent to hit 2.6 billion yuan by 2006.
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Do We Need a Search Engine "Ignore" Tag?
After Danny Sullivan suggested, in a blog post, that the search engines should consider introducing a tag that tells the search engines to ignore certain content, FyberSearch took the lead and implemented their own "ignore" tag.

I'm still on the fence with this. While I can see the benefits, I can also see the extra effort needed to tag different parts of a site, especially in a blog which is supposed to be a quick and easy way of publishing to the web.

Another concern I have, is the potential for abuse. What's to stop a spammer from tagging content, that is not keyword rich or dilutes relevancy, with the "ignore" tag and adding artificial weight to the rest of their content?

UPDATE: Our very own Jason Dowdell has been working on a similar thesis and solution.
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Kraft's Google Ads Shown on White Supremacist Site
Danny points to a story about Kraft's AdWords ads showing up on a web site promoting white supremacy.

Danny hits the nail on the head of the issues involved...

"Please. This is not an automatic targeting problem that needs to be solved. It's a lack of control problem. The search ad networks don't give advertisers enough control, so this type of thing will happen."

Funnily enough, I spoke to another journalist who is writing a piece on the same incident. My thoughts echoed Danny's, the search engines need to provide more control of where your ad is shown. But of course, that might mean less revenue for them.
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What’s Next for Google
Charles H. Ferguson has been busy, writing a 9 page article on the future of Google for Technology Review.

I'd give you the normal summary, except I haven't found the time to read it fully...yet!
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You Can Now Search Just Google's Sponsored Listings
Did you know that you can know search just the AdWords listings? This handy little search option is great for viewing all AdWords sponsors for a particular keyword.
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Google Changes Stance on Affiliates in AdWords
After much speculation, Google has announced that they will be changing their Affiliate Policy for AdWords.

With this new affiliate policy, we will only display one ad per search query for affiliates and parent companies sharing the same URL. This way, users will have a more diverse sampling of advertisements to choose from. As always, your ad will be displayed based on its Ad Rank for given searches.

Look for all the affiliates to start registering domain names and creating content in order to circumvent this policy change.

Thanks to Tig.
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Blinkx Will Launch Desktop Search for Apple Mac
Rejoice all Mac users, you're about to get a desktop search tool, thanks to Blinkx!
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MarketingSherpa Calls for Nominations for 2005 Buyer's Guide to Search Engine Marketing Firms
It's that time of year. Nominate your company for the MarketingSherpa 2005 Buyer's Guide to Search Engine Marketing Firms.
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Search Engine Lowdown's Top 10 News Stories of 2004
We've been taking a look at our traffic logs for 2004 and have compiled a list fo the Top 10 most popular search engine news stories.

1. Google Launches Desktop Search - while some question whether desktop search is important, our "first-look" at GDS was our most popular post.

2. Web 2.0 - Exclusive Demonstration of Clustering from Google - Battelle will be pleased. His Web 2.0 conference made #2 on our list when Google's Peter Norvig revealed they were looking at clustering as a replacement to PageRank.

3. Google Under DNS Attack - Our attentive employees were the first to notice when Google became the victim of a virus, leaving their web site down.

4. Google Exec Spills the Beans! - this one surprised us. Some unknown Google stats revealed by David Scacco at a conference, made our Top 5.

5. Using A9 Brings Discounts at Amazon.com - another exclusive for SEL. Turns out downloading the A9 toolbar leads to discounts at Amazon.com.

6. Google's Patrick Keane Afraid of Search Engine Optimizers - we admit, we stirred things up a bit with this story. Keane's comments that no SEO company can help improve rankings on Google, caused some concern in the community.

7. First Look at Ask Jeeves Desktop Search - another sneak-peak, this time under the hood of Ask Jeeves Desktop search.

8. Interesting Search Engine Industry Data - we're noticing a trend here. If we break the news, you will come. Thanks to Majestic Research, we revealed some interesting data about paid search.

9. Web 2.0 - Blogs Continue to Grow - the hottest tech conference of 2004, makes the list twice! This time Technorati founder David Silfry reveals some stats on blog growth.

10. New HTTP Proxy Search Engine AnomicHTTPProxy - wow, this is entry might call for a recount! Jason Dowdell has informtion on a p2p-based Web indexing network.

Just outside the Top 10...

FyberSearch Search Engine - Are You Getting Enough Fyber? - a 19 year old builds a search engine and gets on to CNBC.

Google and Firefox in Secret Love Affair? - this one almost made the Top 10, but we think it was mostly due to some handy work with Photoshop. ;-)

So there you go folks. It's been a pleasure to bring you the latest search engine news in 2004. We'll do out best to do the same in 2005 - with just a little bit of controversy and sarcasm! ;-)
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Howard Stern Is a Fan of Yahoo
Gary points to a transcript of a Howard Stern show, where he talks about search! Well I never!

Howard talked about this report he saw about Google and how great it is to work there. There are people who work there who are worth millions or more. He said the funny thing is that they pretend to be poor for some reason. The guys who started the web site still drive around in ratty cars and pretend that they don't have billions. He said it's like the more you can act like you haven't made it, the better you are. Howard said there's not point to that then because they can't use their money. Howard said that he doesn't use Google, he always uses Yahoo. Artie said someone punched his name into a search engine and it was the most depressing thing he's ever seen. Howard uses Yahoo as the default search engine on his computer and he's been using it for years.
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Andy Beal Raw
Sshh....keep this to yourself, but I'm playing with a new blog, Andy Beal Uncut (changed for reasons explained in the comments) Andy Beal Raw, where I get a chance to talk about whatever I please. I see so many interesting stories online, that are not search related, that I simply needed a place to blog them.

Caveat - this is not an industry blog or does it promise to be useful or interesting, so no complaining on it! :-)

PS. Remember, keep this to yourself. ;-)
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Search Engines Drive Online Retail Traffic
According to date from Hitwise, via MediaPost, the search engines accounted for a significant amount of retail traffic between Nov. 1 and Dec. 11.

Google held onto a comfortable lead in shopping referrals by ushering 4.23 percent of all traffic to the category. Yahoo! sent 2.29 percent of all traffic, and MSN followed at 0.54 percent of all traffic sent to shopping and classified sites.

The type of traffic generated by each search engine is interesting...

Downstream traffic from Google tended toward books, sports and fitness, and music. Yahoo! Search sent more of its users to video and games, automotive, and classifieds. MSN Search sent a disproportionate number of its referrals to apparel and accessories, house and garden, appliances, and electronics.

eBay also contributed a large chunk of the traffic.
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Lobbying For Your Search Engine Marketing Budget - Free Webinar
Mark your calendars for January 13th. That's the date that KeywordRanking will be sponsoring a FREE webinar presented by Search Engine Watch's Chris Sherman.

Lobbying For Your Search Marketing Budget
January 13, 2005 2:00pm EST, 11:00am PST
Chris Sherman, Associate Editor, SearchEngineWatch.com and President, Searchwise

Sure, search is hot. But that doesn't mean your overall advertising budget has suddenly gotten larger to allow for increased spending on search. So what do you do?

Attend this Webinar and learn:

how to lobby for a bigger slice of the existing pie
how to manage a budget in a marketplace that constantly changes in terms of price and traffic
how to maximize the impact of your search budget

Registration is free and with the seminar being online, anyone can attend! Register Here.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Search Engine Blog - Keeping it in the Family
Aaron Wall points to the blog started by his brother James. James is learning SEO and has started a blog to keep track of his own growth.

I remember when I first started SEL. It can be brutal watching just 5 people a day coming to your site. Good luck with the blog and consider this link a "welcome to the club" gesture. ;-)
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Google Testing Images in Web Search Results
Looks like Google is running test to automatically including images in certain search results. Now if they could just update that Image Index. ;-)
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Bill Gates on Search Engines and Blogging
Gary Price comments on a Q&A session with Microsoft CEO, Bill Gates. Some interesting comments on search from Gates.

"...just take the idea of finding your local pizza place and doing that right; search doesn't do that well today. Search is really crummy today--it's just that it used to be really crummy, and now it's better, and there never was anything like this before. So most of the results people get back today are irrelevant results. Deep analysis can take us much further, and that's why we're investing a lot, and you'll see us more very rapidly."
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Pricegrabber Launches Travel Search Engine
FT.com has details of Pricegrabber's recent foray into travel search.
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Google - Normal Service Will Resume Soon
According to News Interactive, Google Australia was down for a short time yesterday.

"Very briefly, for a small fraction of users, access to Google was interrupted. The issue was resolved in less than 15 minutes," a spokeswoman for Google said.

However, Google - which described the problem as a "connectivity issue" - is keeping kept a careful guard on details that might reveal the scale of the outage.
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More on MSN PPC Employment Opportunities
Brian, over at DM News, digs a little deeper into why Microsoft is hiring PPC experts.

One thing that puzzled both myself and Brian is this...

One MSN Search job description hints that Microsoft already has developed a bid-management tool called Moonshot.

Anyone heard of Moonshot, and what is does?
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An Image Processing Search Engine Not Too Far Away
According to Wired, it may not be too much longer before your next image search turns up more accurate results.

A group of European researchers is developing technology that could vastly improve image searching by identifying the components of an image. The group, which includes the Xerox Research Centre Europe and universities in France, England, Sweden, Austria and Switzerland, has developed software that can recognize everyday objects in digital images, according to Christopher Dance, a senior research scientist at Xerox.

The technology to determine the actual content of an image, instead of relying on metadata, is something that could have far reaching benefits.

This type of image-based comparison shopping could generate substantial revenues for search engines, according to SearchDay's Sherman. For example, consumers who find an expensive red knit sweater online could ask the search engine to find similar-looking garments with smaller price tags. "It wouldn't surprise me if advertising is an early application (of the technology)," Sherman said.

The days are almost here, when your search for "Bush" can be screened for "the person", "a shrub" or, if your preference, something a little more after dark. ;-)
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MSN Search Staffs-up for PPC Product
I received an interesting email. Apparently someone thinks I would make an excellent Account Executive for MSN Search's new paid search product. ;-)

It looks as though MSN is making preparations for the launch of their own PPC product. Take a look at the following job specs.

MSN Search Account Executive
MSN Search Marketing Specialist
MSN Search Marketing Analyst

Feel free to apply. Me? I don't think I'm ready to step-up from VP of Marketing to Account Executive, probably entails more work! ;-)

UPDATE: As these job specs circulate around the blogosphere, some suggest that this is not a new initiative. Let me share a snippet from the email that accompanied the specs...

"Microsoft’s new Search Engine initiative being launched in the near future in locations across the United States"

You heard it here first! ;-)
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Jeff's World - SEO? SEM? Who cares? POTUS Doesn’t

Do I have a WOPR (I know you are Googling it now) of a problem. I’m ashamed to say that I can’t keep up with the acronyms that are used so cavalierly in our industry. It’s getting so that a good old fashioned worker drone like myself can’t keep up with them all! SEM, SEO,ROAS, CTR, CPM, PPC, PFP,CPC,ROI, SERP; its enough to make me long for the structure and the sanity that the US Military has long been known for. Thanks, CJCSM!

In my never-ending quest to bring enlightenment to my brothers and sisters in the industry, here is my attempt at simplifying our lives. Now I could go all Venn diagram on your *ss but my graphic design skills are not good (to be generous) If all SEO's are SEM's. Some SEMs are SEO's. Some SEAF's (search engine ad firms) are SEO's and SEM's. But not all SEO's are SEAF's. How many miles does the first train go before it meets the second train in the middle? (sorry SAT flash back)

Why get all worked up over acronyms? or WGAWUPOA? It all comes down to offering services you are both competent in delivering and that the client needs. So PDQ we need to LOL at SEO/M IMHO.

And that’s my two cents.

JEB

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 feature entitled, "Jeff's World" ("Jeff's World, Jeff's World, party-time").
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Which Search Engines do Search Engine Employees Use?
Some interesting data about which search engines are used by search engine employees. Not surprisingly, a lot of Yahoo and Microsoft employees use Google.

Nathan believes this data suggests that Yahoo and MSN employees are not happy with their own product. That may well be true. Then again, I'm sitting here in an Overture shirt and not a WebSourced one. Doesn't mean I'm not passionate about my company. ;-)

Thanks to Robert for making sure I found the data.
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Google Hacks - Second Edition
Nathan informs us that Oreilly’s Google Hacks, Second Edition is now available.
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Video of 60 Minutes Google Segment
Thanks to Boing Boing, we now have last Sunday's 60 Minutes segment on Google, online. (may take a while to download)
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Search Engine Marketing Article by Jeremy Swiller
From time-to-time, our expert staff find the time to write some fantastic articles. We try to suppress this by giving them more work, but they sometimes slip through. ;-)

How Everything I Know About Web Marketing I Learned from Your Local Gas Station

By: Jeremy Swiller

During my holiday travels, it occurred to me how few people leave a gas station without buying anything. Whether it’s a package of Pop Rocks or a full tank of gas for a Hummer, gas stations drive sales at high double-digit conversions versus an average e-commerce conversion rate of around 1.8%. What are we missing?

Now I know what you’re thinking. “Of course their conversions are better! Our visitors can go somewhere else with one click. If you don’t like what you experience at a gas station, you have to get back into your car, buckle up, pull out into traffic again and find somewhere else to go.” Admittedly, leaving the gas station and finding another is a hassle, however, these conversions are rooted in a fundamental design to lure the right customer and meet specific needs.

When you pull off the exit ramp, whether you realize it or not, you have a preconceived idea of what you need from that gas station. Maybe you drive a gas-guzzler and low priced gas is most important to you. Are you looking for a clean restroom for the kids; a grassy area for traveling with pets; a restaurant to stop for lunch; a service station for repairs; or a large convenience store to satisfy your hankering for Corn Nuts, Doritos, Beef Jerky and a Red Bull to wash it all down? All of these facets play out in our minds to ensure we get what we need, and ultimately decide whether we make a right or a left. So how does this relate to website conversions?

We buy when we believe our needs are being met, and the only way to meet the needs of your customers—and, thus, produce sales—is to know your audience and what they’re interested in. Who is your target? How are you meeting their needs when they reach your landing page, your category page, and/or your home page? How easy can your visitor change directions on your site and search for another product? How enticing is your product description? Why should they buy from you? If you don’t know the answers to these questions, then you should reevaluate your approach.

Regular, Super or Premium?

On the highway, the search term is usually an empty gas tank. But do your search terms accurately represent your product online? If your product is more expensive than the average, then brand that product through search. A visitor searching through organic listings for “premium chocolates” may be willing to pay $50–$100 when you provide the inherent value of the product. However, conversions will not be as favorable on the more generic term “chocolates” when you drive visitors to the same page. And “discount chocolates” will create frustration for the visitor once they see the high price tag.

Descriptions are key in paid listings as well. Our gas station displays the prices on your way in, but how does this translate to the web?

American Crew Hair Gel
Best Hair Gel Selection & Expert Advice
American Crew $7–$20 plus free shipping
www.exampledomain.com

This helps meet a visitor’s need to determine price range before wasting their time (and your money). Was this what they planned on spending? What can they expect when they click through?

Paying at the Pump?

When was the last time you were forced to go into the gas station versus paying at the pump? It’s a convenience that we take for granted. However, we often forget those crucial 30–60 seconds when the customer pulls out their credit card to buy something on our websites. With up to 75% of shopping carts being abandoned, the extra effort we put into being a friendly interactive host can go a long way.

I have yet to see a customer fill up their tank with gas and then change his/her mind. It’s probably because there really aren’t any surprises. “I want gasoline. I’m pumping it. Now I’m paying for it.” Why should your website be any different?

Shipping costs are a huge cause of cart abandonment, as is comparison-shopping, and an intrusive and/or long, confusing check-out processes. Is your shipping competitive both in cost and service level to your competitors? Is it easy to add items to the cart, and once you add them, is it abundantly clear that the item has been added? Is the “Checkout” button prominent for a smooth transition to payment? Have you kept the customers’ efforts to a minimum and streamlined their process? Does your FAQ page answer questions (delivery options, schedules, etc.) in a concise matter, and is the page available to consumers during the checkout process? Are you offering customers a new reason to stay and buy from you (free gift, additional discount, etc.)? These are all tactics that should be considered in order to provide your customer with a rich and rewarding shopping experience.

Would You Like a 48oz Slushie With That?

What do three candy bars for $1 have to do with filling your gas tank up? The advertisements on top of the gas pumps help drive traffic into the convenience stores. You may not have planned to buy a candy bar on your drive in, but you also may not be able to resist that Zagnut staring you in the face. When searching for a “Gas Grill” there is an excellent chance you will also require new grill cover, a grilling thermometer and a “Kiss the Cook” apron. Since you’re already buying the grill, why shouldn’t you buy the accessories with one stop (especially if the site is offering free shipping on these items)?

Before your customers confirm check-out, are there related products that will benefit them? How can you show the benefit of this product, and why should they buy that product from you? Companies such as Amazon will proudly display what other shoppers purchase based on your search selection. Allowing a customer to quickly “add-on” to their order saves them time and can increase your sales significantly.

1 Gallon of Gas = 3.7854118 Liters of Petrol

When customers land on your website, are you speaking their language? Specifically, do visitors really feel like you’re speaking to them and understanding their particular needs? Your local fill-up station understands this concept in the form of easy to use pumps, and instructions (just in case you grew up in New Jersey—where they pump for you—or have been living under a rock).

How do we do this online? Proper keyword targeting based on product and associated keyword-dense content help us speak directly to the needs of our market. The website is your salesperson, and addressing needs in a familiar manner is a necessity.

Let’s take, for example, carbonated soft drinks (i.e. Coca-Cola, Pepsi, etc.). In much of the country, this is referred to as “soda.” However if you order a “soda” in Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis and countless other cities in the mid-west, you might receive what we Northeasterners refer to as “an ice cream soda” or an “egg cream.” In the Deep South, asking for a “Coke” will often breed a response of “what kind of coke?” A “garage sale” in Connecticut is the same as a “yard sale” in North Carolina.

Take advantage of regional terminology and investigate your keywords closely. Travel sites could better suit the needs of our friends across the pond by providing separate pages with keyword dense content on “family holidays” versus “family vacations.” By addressing the needs specific to UK travelers, this type of page would help the website be a friendly and familiar vendor.

As our customers become more web-savvy, we have to adjust our usability and traffic driving strategies accordingly. Gas stations are high-volume, high revenue operations that are truly designed to sell. Plus, they make it very easy. Meeting needs, communicating value appropriately and making it convenient for customers is what marketing is all about. It turns out my wife was right—if you lose your way, a gas station isn’t a bad place to stop for directions.

About the Author
Jeremy Swiller has over 10 years of advertising/branding experience. As a marketing manager with KeywordRanking (a division of Websourced, Inc.), Jeremy helps clients develop effective search engine marketing programs designed to increase brand awareness and drive revenue. Prior to KeywordRanking, Jeremy was the Manager of Client Operations at TMP Worldwide, the advertising agency division of Monster.com. Jeremy can be reached at jswiller AT keywordranking.com.

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SEM New Year's Resolutions
The last time I linked to one of Shari Thurow's articles, it was because I didn't really agree with it. The email I received from Shari, made it clear she was none too pleased.

Just like Fox News, we are "fair and balanced" (stop smirking) and always give credit, where credit is due. Not that Shari needs our help in distributing her articles, but we wanted to link to a great article she has out that discusses New Year's resolutions for search engine marketers.

I almost cheered out loud for this snippet...

If an agency primarily specializes in AdWords, Overture, or any other form of search engine advertising, it's a search engine advertising firm, not a search engine marketing firm. Likewise, if a firm primarily specializes in SEO, then it's an SEO firm, not an SEM firm.

An SEM firm delivers a wide variety of SEM services, including:

* Search engine advertising (sponsorships, etc.)

* SEO

* Search engine paid inclusion

* Directory paid inclusion

* Trusted feed optimization

* Link development

* Vertical SEO

It bugs me to hear people use SEM and SEO as if they are one and the same.

P.S. Thanks to Grant Crowell for Tomoyasu Hotei. (He'll know what I mean)
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Google Hiring an Ad Agency?
A few months back we reported on rumors that Google might be looking for an ad agency. According to the New York Post, those rumors are gaining ground.

Despite reports that Google has handled its marketing efforts in-house, it turns out that Madison Avenue outsider Crispin has already done some work for the company.

Google, the most popular Internet search engine, hired the Miami ad agency earlier this year to come up with some clever billboards to help it recruit math and computer whizzes.

Link via SEW.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
GuruNet Dumps Enterprise Search Model and Launches Answers.com
After unsuccessfully trying to tout its wares in the enterprise search market, GuruNet is back, this time with a free web-based information source. Answers.com cost them $80,000, but the company is pinning its hopes on becoming the first place you go to, when you need specific information.

"The consumer market is a great place to be," said GuruNet CEO Bob Rosenschein, who described his company's enterprise foray as "painful." "All the metrics are up: connectivity, usage, number of searches, length of queries--everything about looking things up on the Internet is growing," he said.

An interesting move by GuruNet is their claim that they are not competing in the same space as Google. A good statement to make, after all who wants Google breathing down your neck?

"We believe sometimes you don't want to search for Web pages, and what you want is a quick definition," Rosenschein said. "Sometimes people want information very quickly and that's not Google's strength. We are not competing head to head with any of the search engines. We complement or supplement their offerings. Google is in a league of its own."

For fun, I asked Answers.com to give me information on "Google". I take my hat off to them. The information they returned back was both informative and accurate. I even learned a new "googleism"...

Googledork = A person who accidentally exposes information to the web by placing it into a location spidered by Google.

And if you want to know about the place I grew-up...Brighton.
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Majority Think Time is Right to Sell Google Shares
According to a CNBC SquawkBack Poll of more than 1600 participants, 64% think that now is the time to sell your Google shares. Only 15% said they would "buy" and 21% suggested holding.
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Google Creates Charitable Foundation
According to CNet, Google is making good on its promise to launch a charitable foundation and is looking for an executive director to head the group.

The new foundation will have 1 percent of Google's equity and profits to distribute, the company promised last year.
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Asia Tsunami Relief Effort
With the death toll from the tsunami reaching 150,000, we couldn't possible let another day go by without doing our part to prod your conscience.

Please consider giving what you can. Ask Jeeves has all the links you need to make a donation.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |

 
Can Microsoft Desktop Topple Google?
Stephen Wildstrom test drives Microsoft's new MSN Desktop Search and matches it up to Google. Despite liking many of the new desktop search offerings, he still prefers X1, which is the same technology that will power Yahoo's upcoming desktop search tool.
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Google Removes Trojan Spyware Ads
Interesting development. It looks like some hackers have been using Google AdWords to send spyware to the computers of those who click on certain ads.

In the past few days, Google has been displaying context-sensitive ads on the right margin from its program partner AdWords that link to sites with dangerous JavaScript for various search terms such as "Preisvergleich" (price comparison) and "Gebraucht PC" (used PC). If you clicked on one of the links in the Internet Explorer, a JavaScript attempted to install spyware on your system. And the normal list of hits also included a lot of sites with Trojans.

Google has reacted (although not quickly enough, for some) to the problem and shut down the ads.
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Searching for you own name? Can you CEgO take it?
Interesting story in the USA Today looks at a growing trend among CEOs - typing their name into a search engine to see what is being said about them.


Credit to Jennifer Laycock, who has written an article based on the story.

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Google's Page and Brin Top Innovators of Past 75 Years
Over the Christmas holidays, Business Week names the Google co-counders to their list of the top innovators of the past 75 years.

Cool, another thing to be jealous about. As if there weren't several billi$n reasons already! ;-)
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WebSourced's Parent, CGI Holding Corporation, Continued M&A Action
I broke my Christmas blog silence to post the press release announcing our letter of intent with Proceed Interactive (formerly Meandaur).

This is a great partnership and one that will see WebSourced strengthen it's position in the internet marketing space. Our parent company, CGI Holding Corporation (ticker: CGIH) now has acquisitions in the pipeline with:

MarketSmart - a full ad agency, with traditional marketing and public relations expertise.
Proceed - leading SEM company that specializes in online marketing strategies for companies in the dating, travel & hospitality and manufacturing verticals.

I know I am biased, but I am excited at the prospect of a company that can "close the loop". We're now able to offer the world's leading search engine marketing service, tackle niche vertical markets and offer complete branding, advertising and PR solutions - all under one roof!

Let's not forget that we also hired search training guru, Heather Lloyd-Martin, who will head-up a new service for those Fortune 500 companies that want to "do SEM in-house".

OK, self-hype over with, your normal programming will continue.

Links to Proceed Interactive deal:

MarketingVOX
DM News
MediaPost
Search Engine Watch
ClickZ
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Goldman Sachs Give Yahoo and Google "Outperform" Rating
According to Goldman Sachs, 2005 could be a "breakout year" for branded online advertising. They reiterated their ratings for Google and Yahoo.

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SMA-NA - Search Marketing Association North America to Launch
Looks like we might see a SMA-NA in time for Search Engine Strategies New York.
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The Best Desktop Search Tool?
Slate reviews five of the top desktop search apps. Once again, Copernic comes out on top (this time in the guise of AOL desktop).

Thanks to NevOn.
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Inside the Google Hiring Process
Readers of Slashdot talk about their interview experience with Google.

Interviewee #1
Interviewee #2
Interviewee #3

Hat-tip Ben.
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Search is Critical to Microsoft
According to Seattle PI, Microsoft needs its newly launched search products to be a success.

Apart from helping boost advertising revenue for MSN, industry analysts say the search business is important to Microsoft because of the potential for Web search sites and hard-drive search tools to effectively put a new layer over Windows, superseding the Microsoft operating system as the main interface people use to interact with the computer.
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Geico Tells Google It's Not Over
It looks like Geico is not giving upon its battle with Google.

"The fact that a search engine can make money from our trademark is fundamentally wrong," said Geico's general counsel, Charles Davies. "We continue to believe that the sale of our trademark is wrong, and we will continue to litigate this issue," he said.
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Google Featured on CBS' 60 Minutes
I enjoyed the layman's look under the hood of Google, on 60 minutes. Lots of interesting factoids and inside videos. We took some screenshots for you and you can read the transcript at the 60 minutes site.

Interesting that Larry Page was not interviewed for the piece.


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