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StepForth Search Engine Placement and OptimizationNews From StepForth Search Engine Placement Inc.
Wednesday, November 26th, 2003

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Highlight of the Week: Predictions for 2004 - The State of Search 2004

Happy Thanksgiving to our friends in the United States. American Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the end of the previous year and the start of the holiday season. It is the perfect time to kick back, visit family and friends and reminisce about the year gone past. It is also a great time to look forward to the coming year and have a little fun. That's what our staff wanted to do today so here is our predictions for the State of Search, 2004.

  • Google will issue an IPO in March (odds = 99%) via the Dutch Auction format. (odds = 50%) Google will make billions on the IPO and will purchase the financially strapped Calgary Flames Hockey club, move them to the Silicone Valley and rename them the Silicone Flameouts. (odds = 5%)
  • We will see a continuance of large mergers, takeovers and buyouts until the end of the first quarter of 2004. More of the smaller players will be absorbed by the larger ones including at least a portion of ASK.Com. (odds = 60%). Jeeves himself will be found drunk in an alley behind the Stardust Lounge on Rodeo Dr. slumped over his friend, that other unemployed mascot from Pets.Com (odds = 5%)
  • Yahoo will become the dominant search service in China (odds = 85%) and will become known as the "Portal to the World's Largest Marketplace" (odds = 65%)
  • Terra Lycos will surprise the search world with successful innovations and services. (odds = 99%) Furthermore, Lycos will become one of the top international search tools with a strong focus on European and Spanish Language search technologies. (odds = 55%)
  • Contextual Advertising opportunities will expand, allowing more opportunities for the advertiser to become the advertising medium for other ads. (odds = 85%)
  • Asian language SEOs will be a driving force of the SEO industry as the focus of the international economy continues to move from North America to Asia. (odds = 75%)
  • The Toronto Maple Leafs will finally win the Stanley Cup. (odds = .05%)
  • Google will be officially labeled a weapon of mass destruction based on the recent Florida update. (odds = 99%)
  • Non-Spammy results will be found at Google very soon. (odds = 10%)
  • Every major search engine will introduce their own tool-bars. (odds = 90%)
  • MSN will make a major purchase, possibly ASK.Com's TEOMA (odds = 50%)
  • StepForth Placement will expand to double it's current size and staff (odds = 80%+)
  • StepForth Placement will add a new division (details pending, odds = 100%)
 
Article by Jim Hedger
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Major Player Update: Lycos Introduces Financial Comparison Search Engine :: ASK.COM hits NASDAQ :: Google's Florida Update ::

LycosUK has introduced an extraordinary tracking service allowing users to shop between various financial services in a partnership with MoneySuperMarket.Com. The service promises savings of up to 10% of a users annual salary, if used properly. Users can check different rates, move money between credit cards, see different loan and credit opportunities and track bonus offers such as loyalty points and programs. This looks like an excellent tool for individual users and small businesses. If successful in the UK, Lycos will expand the program to Europe and North America sometime in 2004.
ASK.Com has made it to the financial big leagues with yesterday's appearance at NASDAQ. New CEO, Steve Berkowitz was honored by NASDAQ by being asked to preside over the opening of yesterday's session, effectively introducing ASKJ to the world's biggest tech-board. Berkowitz is credited with turning Ask.Com around in the past two year, taking it from relative obscurity and making it into one of the known up-and-comers on the search engine scene. Berkowitz was instrumental in the acquisition of Teoma, widely recognized as one of the most innovative search tools on the web. We strongly advise our clients and others interested in the search engine field to watch ASK.Com in the future. If they are not bought out by one of the big-three and can survive the coming year, they will be positioned to become one of the dominant players in the industry.
Google's recent update (FLORIDA) has been discussed and dissected by the SEO community for the past three weeks. WebMasterWorld moderator, Barry Lloyd has taken the time to compile and analyze much of the discussion and has packaged it in a well written and easy to understand article. This is a must read of SEOs and webmasters interested in Google (this likely means you...). To check out Barry's article, please click here.
by Jim Hedger
In the Client Spotlight this Week: Handicapping Horses For Fun and Profit

Do you like horse racing? The odds and analysis, thrill of the choice and the thunder of the hoofs can make for an intensely interesting day away from the stresses of everyday life. If you fancy yourself a horse racing fan, you might be interested in Beat-The-Races.Com.

Beat-The-Races.com was designed for the serious and casual thoroughbred handicapper. With free-trial software and a free-gaming feature (coming soon), a visit to Beat-The-Races will give you an idea of the strength of your horse racing handicapping abilities.
Weekly Quick Tip: PPC Tips :: Don’t put all your keywords in one AdGroup!

Some times people put all of their keywords into one AdGroup, create 2 or 3 generic ads, and sit back and wait for traffic. Occasionally this will work, but for the most part it should be avoided. After you have done all your keyword research and picked out the winners, you’ll need to break them down into smaller groups. Each of these groups will require a unique ad copy that targets those specific keywords.

Say you are selling home electronics. You may want to group your keywords by both manufacturer and type. This way you can control which ad is being shown for which keywords. If a user does a search for “Sony televisions” you’ll want them to see the ad with the title ‘Sony Televisions,’ not your generic ad for ‘Home Electronics.’ By targeting each keyword or set of keywords directly at specific ads that include those keywords in the ad copy, you are more likely to draw attention, and increase your click through rate (CTR). In some cases this may mean much more time and work setting up all your AdGroups and writing many different ad copies, but in the end it’s time well spent. Always remember, the higher you can boost your CTR, the higher you will rank, and ultimately the more sales you will generate. Create 3 or 4 very similar ads for each group and eliminate the ones that aren’t performing. It’s very important to constantly tweak your ads especially throughout the first month to find that perfect combination of words.
by Scott Van Achte - StepForth PPC Expert
The Net Reality: Mention my Member Again and Get a Prick to the Head

Spam makes lots of people angry. Lots of spam makes certain people too angry to control themselves as was found by a Victoria company earlier this week. Douglas Mackay, president of DM Contact Management was repeatedly threatened by a man in southern California who had received one too many penis enlargement spam emails, and mistakenly targeted DM Contact Management as the senders. Since the spring time, Douglas Mackay has received strange and threatening emails from Charles Booher, a 44 year old computer programmer in Sunnyvale California. Booher was frustrated by the same level of spam we are all frustrated by except Booher foolishly decided to try to scare Mackay's company into making the spam stop. Problem is, Mackay's company never sent the offending emails in the first place. Booher said he would, torture Mackay with an ice pick, deliver an envelope full of anthrax spores to his office and disable him with a bullet to the knee-caps. He was arrested earlier this week and could face up to five years in jail and a $250,000 fine. According to the Globe and Mail newspaper, "...News accounts say that Mr. Booker is a survivor of testicular cancer, and therefore found repeated messages dealing with penile extension 'frustrating.'".

by Jim Hedger

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to call the StepForth staff:
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