The Vancouver Whistler 2010 Winter Olympic bid was successful, narrowly beating South Korean city Pyeongchang in the second round of voting. The announcement from Prague came as a surprise to many Canadians who expected the race to be between the Vancouver bid and the Austrian City of Salzburg. Results from the first ballot showed the last-minute emotional appeal from Pyeongchang almost won the race, however, the financial and technical aspects of the Canadian bid were the most solid of the three remaining bid-cities. Vancouver's geography didn't hurt it's bid either with a minimal difference between the Pacific Time Zone and the all important Eastern Time Zone.

How will this effect search engine rankings for StepForth clients? With several client companies dotting the coast of British Columbia and the Pacific North West, we think the decision will bring a greater focus on the keyword phrases including the words: Vancouver, Whistler, Olympics, Winter Olympics, etc. Like most British Columbians, we expect the Games to focus more attention on this region. That means more international interest in sectors such as Real Estate, Tourism, Cultural and Sporting Events, Accommodations and general information about the region. We also expect to see a steady increase in local searches on topics including, Jobs, Construction, Tickets, Concessions, and other personal and entrepreneurial topics. For people living in the Vancouver-Whistler corridor, it is difficult to imagine the impact of even more international interest in the region. Whistler is already considered the #1 ski resort destination in North America. Searchers are bound to become increasingly interested in Whistler, Pemberton, the Sea to Sky Highway, Vancouver, Canada, British Columbia, and other geographic descriptions.

Hosting an Olympic games is one of the highest honors a city or region can gain. The citizens of Vancouver / Whistler should be quite proud, as should the citizens of Pyeongchang and Salzburg for making it to the final 3.

Dean Linnell is one of the top selling real estate agents in Whistler British Columbia. In the spirit of 2010 we're featuring him in our Client Spotlight this week.

Being a full-time resident offers Dean the opportunity to live the Whistler lifestyle to the fullest. From being an experienced fly fisherman and competitive cyclist to working as an internationally certified ski pro, he has truly experienced everything Whistler has to offer. Let Dean put this extensive Whistler knowledge to work for you. His professional, caring, and dedicated manner will make your Whistler real estate investments worry-free. Dean uses a whole-team approach to the real estate market. With a certified accountant, a mortgage broker and a licensed building inspector, Dean and his team can make the purchase or sale of a home in the Whistler region faster, easier and much less stressful. Please visit Dean's Whistler Real Estate website.

With the introduction of contextual advertising programs from Google and Overture that place text or box ads on relevant but independent websites, the online advertising industry has grown increasingly interested in the forces that drive website users to choose to view one ad over another. Their conclusions, though surprisingly simple, should have long-term repercussions throughout the design and copy writing industries. Website users, it seems, will visit advertisements placed on sites with content they trust or feel an affinity with, but will ignore the exact same advertisement if placed on a website who's content is in any way questionable to them.

The study, commissioned by the New York based, Online Publishers Association, was conducted as a live-test on several high profile corporate websites including, Disney, ESPN, Slate, Weather.com, and the New York Times website.

Karen Milke-Perry, media director for AT&T, said, "The study showed us that high-affinity sites deliver the most receptive audience to our message. Moving forward, we will consider this as we consider higher-cost sites vs. lower-cost [quality] and more frequency-driven buys," she said.

While the findings seem rather obvious, it should be a clarion call to smaller website owners who wish to see some return from allowing contextual advertising on their websites. Website content, the actual information you place on your website continues to be the driving factor behind the choices made by website users.