StepForth SEO News Blog

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

The first six months of 2006 have been a period of expansion, growth and significant change in the search marketing universe. There have never been as many online options available to commercial advertisers and their agents as there is right now, a trend that shows no signs of abating. Just to keep things interesting, lot more change is expected in the second half of the year as well.

Search engine marketing, as an online business sector, covers a lot of virtual ground. Search engine optimization started as a cottage industry in the mid 90's. By the mid 2K's, Cottage country had become an industrial district. Today, the search marketing sector extends far beyond the organic search results the business was originally built on.

Search is part of the mainstream marketing consciousness but as the online environment evolves so quickly, what works in the mainstream world often needs to morph through several experimental stages before finding a way to adapt. The scariest and most beautiful thing about Internet is that nothing lasts long enough to be considered a constant. There is still obviously so much room for innovation and outright invention that the playing field is naturally prone to change at any given time. That's been the back-story of the first six months of 2006.

The sudden expansion of advertising options has presented a dilemma for the traditional, independent-operator, search marketing sector. There are far too many methods and means of online marketing for any one person or company to keep track of. The sector appears to be responding by developing a sense of segmentation based on specialization that goes far beyond the separation of organic SERPs and Pay-per-click advertising.

Today, there are at least three major search related marketing venues, and each of which has developed industrial sub-sectors and interacts with the others. The first is the traditional organic search results, the Top10 lists that started it all. The second venue is the paid search advertising market that now ranges from typical PPC to video placement. The third venue is found in the emerging fabric of social networking taking place on MySpace, Flickr, in the blogosphere and other interactive media, an environment that can be safely tagged Web2.know.

Each of these three venues relies on some form of search to guide users towards information and there is a great deal of integration and interaction between the three venues. As search functions are always reliant on key-triggers of some sort or another, there is always a way to include key-triggers in web documents and files.

The fall-out from change has hit the SEO sector the hardest. Consistently overshadowed by the PPC market and suddenly challenged by social networking, organic search engine optimization has fundamentally changed over the past three years as Google and Yahoo have improved and innovated on methods for ranking web documents.

There are now several sub-sections of SEO, each of which can be considered a specialty of its own. As a practice, SEOs focus the myriad of on-site/on-page issues as well as several off-site issues such as hosting, link-acquisition and competitive research. There are also an increasing number of applications on which organic search results are displayed including local, mobile and shopping search results.

There are dozens of on-site or on-page elements SEOs work on which range from correct site structure to various forms of copywriting to accessibility and usability issues. It is an increasingly complicated atmosphere that involves more hours per file than ever before, leading to the necessity to outsource various components of a well rounded campaign.

One of the rules in most established SEO firms is that every SEO has to have a background in website design. Without it, the SEO is lost among the source code with no real knowledge of how a web page is actually written or a website is structured.

Over time, the process of website design itself has become far more complex with a widening array of file types accessible to search engine spiders and an increasing number of CMS tools. SEOs now deal with Flash, Acrobat, variants of HTML, and the learning curves associated with unique content management systems. Similarly, where websites used to tend to follow a relatively simple linear tree, they can now descend into seemingly limitless databases with file-paths that are subject to sudden change.

The array of file types that can be present on a single web document and the complexity of most commercial websites create a market for usability specialization, one of the fastest growing sub-sections of the industry.

As search spiders tend to favour sites featuring fresh and focused content, SEO copywriting has long been a specialization in the industry. There is continued growth in this sub-sector of the industry, especially in light of the rapid growth of the second major venue, paid search advertising.

In highly competitive areas such as tourism, real estate, clothing and web services, SEO has always been a game of inches as competing website optimizers work to better each other on behalf of their clients. In order to compete, we are increasingly depending on website statistics and analysis to tell us how visitors actually use our clients' sites. This allows us to make (or recommend) changes in real time, as compared to the two-three week delay in previous years. Knowing how visitors use the site gives us the advantage of improving traffic patterns and thus improving overall site quality.

The second major search marketing venue is the Paid Search Advertising market. This is the area that has seen the most growth over the past few years, having provided the successful business model that has propelled Google and Yahoo to the front of the pack.

Pay-per-click advertising, on the surface, is fairly straightforward. Advertisers bid a certain amount that is billed every time their ads are clicked on. Google, Yahoo and MSN each have significant paid-search advertising programs but each of those programs significantly differs from the others. Widely recognized as Canada 's leading paid-search marketing firm, Page Zero Media employs experts in both Google AdWords and Yahoo Search Marketing due to the different techniques required to work within the competing programs.

Paid search advertising is undergoing several forms of expansion at this time, allowing a number of new options for advertisers. Earlier this month, Yahoo unveiled a revamped Yahoo Search Marketing interface that gives advertisers more control over the timing and placement of their campaigns. Last week, Google announced it was allowing advertisers to bid for video ad placements alongside typical paid-search ads. Microsoft is also rapidly moving forward with their PPC division, AdCenter.

The most interesting facet of paid search advertising continues to be in the distribution of paid ads to third-party web properties such as the websites of major newspaper or privately operated websites. As the major search engines continue to find ways to distribute paid search advertising, especially video ads, the sector servicing this market will continue to grow and areas of specialization will continue to form.

Another specialization associated with PPC is the business of click-fraud detection and advocacy. Click fraud is a continuing problem facing paid search advertisers and vendors. There are now about a dozen reputable firms that can credibly offer assistance in determining if click fraud is happening and advocate on behalf of a client with the major search engines.

The third and most fluid search marketing venue is found in the mysterious space known as the social networking sphere. This is an emerging area that is growing and changing so rapidly that it appears to be more of a transition than a plateau in web-interactive development.

Social networking is a complicated topic best described through the parlor game, Six Degrees to Kevin Bacon. (Name an actor from the 20 th century and chances are you can put him or her beside someone who worked with someone who worked with Kevin Bacon.) The web of personal connections we have is immense. There is no place to prove this better than MySpace, the fastest growing network of young people on the Internet.

MySpace is a phenomenon in the field of online communication in the same way Google was seven years ago. There are several similar social networks including Facebook, Orkut and Friendster however, none is as widely known or visited than MySpace. Its immense popularity is spread, primarily, through word of mouth. For younger Internet users, its reach and usefulness is incredible. From the sharing of hosted music tracks, images and videos, to the formation of user-interest groups, MySpace and other social networks are quickly becoming the live-time meeting spaces and marketplaces of the Internet.

The basic element that makes something "Web2.0" is the ability of users to communicate, add to, augment, debate, inform, and, in doing all of the above, somehow alter a shared or personal environment.

Knowing how to establish social networking identities and add items or information of interest to users of those networks is a segment of search marketing services that is just now starting to grow rapidly.

Google, Yahoo, Ask and MSN all use elements of Web2.0 ideas in formulating their search rankings and in new features and applications they offer to their users. Yahoo is an especially enthusiastic adopter with services ranging from Yahoo 360, Yahoo Shopping, Yahoo Answers and the Yahoo Publisher Network all touching in some way on Web2.0 elements. Google is also experimenting with Web2.0 thinking in allowing its users to present quality feedback and to affect search listings through personalization and bookmarking.

Being involved in the search marketing industry over the past few years must be similar to the experiences of cartographers during the various ages of nautical exploration. From the days when humans first learned to sail, approximately 4800 years ago, we've been going places, seeing new things, establishing trade, disrupting established economies, altering societies, and documenting our experiences along the way.

According to the American Mariner's Museum in Newport News , Virginia , the ages of nautical exploration spanned nearly 45 centuries, stretching from 3200BC to 1779AD, the year Capitan Cook was killed in Hawaii . It took 4400 years for humans to produce an accurate map of the world and, though we are knocking them off at an alarming rate, we are still discovering undocumented species of insect, plants and even animals. Exploration and documentation takes a long time. Cook took nearly two years to travel from Portsmouth England to the Pacific Coast of North America on his third and final voyage.

The Age of Search, on the other hand, is only about a decade old and exists in a world in which one can electronically travel from the Pacific Northwest to Portsmouth England via Virginia before eating breakfast. Documentation still takes a while but the commute isn't as challenging as it once was.

Copyright ©2006-2012, The SEO News Blog, StepForth SEO Services
View this Article Only: Search Environment Prompts Specialization in SEM Sectors

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Copyright ©2006-2012, The SEO News Blog, StepForth SEO Services
View this Article Only: Thinking (a lot) About Linking

Friday, May 26, 2006

At the time, Google spokesperson Marissa Mayer was quoted by the New York Times saying, "The market favors open choice for search, and companies should compete for users based on the quality of their search services. We don't think it's right for Microsoft to just set the default to MSN. We believe users should choose."

Flash ahead twenty one days to this week's big Google news. Google has signed a deal with Dell, buying its way into the default settings of millions of new Dell computers. The agreement will have Dell installing the Google Toolbar on new PCs, along with the development of a co-branded homepage, effectively putting Google in the same position they heavily criticized Microsoft for less than one month ago.

While financial terms of the deal were not released to the public, Google CEO Eric Schmidt, speaking at Goldman Sachs investors' conference in Las Vegas, said the companies will be sharing revenues generated through search advertising fees.

CNET News quotes Schmidt saying, "The real reason we do this is for users," Schmidt said. People "turn the Dell machine on, and everything is integrated right there. (This deal) is a turnkey solution for search."

Meanwhile, over at Microsoft, folks were rumoured to be giggling into their coffee mugs this morning, no doubt pleased that their long weekend begins with a grin at Google's expense. In an unrelated (but wonderfully timed) interview with the San Francisco Chronical, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer weighs in with his thoughts on Google's famous corporate motto, "Don’t be evil". This part of the exchange between Ballmer and SF Chronical reporters Ken Howe and Dan Frost tells its own story.

"Q: This is an old question, but it always comes up: What do you think of the "Don't be evil" mantra as a corporate culture?

A: Who are we talking about?

Q: Google.

A: Do they follow it? (Laughs.)

Q: What do you think of that?

A: I don't have any comment. I'll ask you. I mean, it's one thing to have a mantra and it's another thing to follow it. Dude, you've got to ask yourself that question.

Q: Are you saying that they don't?

A: I didn't say anything. No comment about it. It is important for all companies to -- we have a mission. We believe in empowering people and businesses around the world to realize their full potential. We have a set of core values that we believe in. I think many companies do have a mission. Many companies do have values. Many companies do have a mantra.

The key is not whether you have one. The key is: What does it mean in practice? Do you drive it? Do you follow it? We do. That's important. But even when we do, there are people who say well, if you do, shouldn't X or Y or Z not happen? I mean, the truth of the matter is, getting a very high market share in a business is not inconsistent with our values or our mission, but sometimes when you get a good position in the market, people need to look at you in a different way.

We have good positions in some markets, and some can argue other guys, including some of the guys that you're talking about, have good positions in other markets. I don't study other companies' mantras."

Mr. Ballmer might not spend a lot of time studying other companies' corporate mantras but if he did, he might not be surprised to hear Google is being advised to change theirs. The current one, "Don't be evil" is getting harder and harder to say without a devious smile. The suggested change, "Live long and prosper in big glass houses but don't throw stones."

Copyright ©2006-2012, The SEO News Blog, StepForth SEO Services
View this Article Only: Google's Reputation Goes to Dell

Thursday, May 25, 2006

According to a press release issued by eBay, the two firms will begin to introduce services and features based on the agreement, later this year. A trial and error test phase is anticipated with full implementation expected sometime in 2007. Initially, the partnership is limited to the United States.

In the area of search, Yahoo will be the exclusive third party provider of all graphical advertising and sponsored results on some eBay search results. The two firms are also exploring ways to integrate Yahoo web search results with product results drawn from the eBay search engine. In the future, eBay would like to see some of the products offered by its membership appearing in Yahoo search results.

The second part of the agreement covers the online payment system, PayPal, which eBay purchased last year. PayPal will be used by Yahoo as a means of accepting payment for its services. Yahoo will also promote PayPal to its users, subscribers and ecommerce/Yahoo Shopping clients.

The partnership will also cover the development of a co-branded toolbar. Currently, the eBay toolbar is installed on over 4-million computers. Yahoo will provide web search results and sponsored search results for complementary products on some US-based eBay searches.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the agreement addresses exploration of the pay-per-call sponsored search billing model in which advertisers are charged by the number of phone calls generated by an ad, as opposed to the number of clicks generated by an ad. Yahoo recently updated its instant messenging application Yahoo Messenger to allow users to communicate verbally as well as through text messages. Last year, eBay bought the popular VOIP start-up company Skype. Users should look for some form of integration between the two systems, allowing for both to be used to facilitate pay-per-call advertising.

Both eBay and Yahoo come out of this agreement as winners though it could be argued that eBay receives the most value of the two.

For Yahoo, the agreement offers access to a huge user market numbering in the tens of millions along with a convienient and already trusted online payment system in the form of PayPal. The agreement will also grant Yahoo access to the statistics and demographic information provided by eBay users.

For eBay, the deal offers a measure of security against the growth of Google in the online advertising and sales market, most notably through Google Base and the pending introduction of other Google ecommerce focused products such as Google Wallet. It also offers a direct line-in to eBay for users of the world's most popular search portal.

Copyright ©2006-2012, The SEO News Blog, StepForth SEO Services
View this Article Only: Yahoo and eBay Form Multifunctional Strategic Partnership

Copyright ©2006-2012, The SEO News Blog, StepForth SEO Services
View this Article Only: Congratulations Barry and Yisha

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

As it turns out, the revolution will be televised, or sort of televised anyway. Actually, it starts as a commercial.

Google introduced a new age of advertising earlier this week by announcing plans to distribute video commercials on websites in its pay per click AdWords network. The move opens the once exclusive marketing channel of televised ads to a far wider array of small and medium businesses.

Video advertising on websites is not, as such, revolutionary. Online readers of major newspapers such as the New York Times or Wired News are likely familiar with the 30-second IBM dinosaur-head commercials or video ads from the History Channel and Microsoft. The spaces these examples run in often cost as much or more than standard TV ads would. The revolution, as always with the web, revolves around an axis of access and contextual distribution.

The sudden appearance of Google's online video ad distribution service is going to have multiple repercussions for the $38 Billion US television advertising market. It is also going to present multiple opportunities for search marketers and their clients.

Google users shouldn't expect to see video ad content on Google branded websites such as Froogle, Google News, or in the general search results, not yet at any rate. The New York Times reported yesterday that the company is, "... considering doing so in the future."

Starting today, Internet users in the US , Canada and Japan , will see an increasing number of click-to-play video boxes appearing amongst standard text-based AdWords ads on websites displaying Google generated advertising. An example video ad is posted on Google's Inside AdWords Blog, appearing in a passive-play mode allowing viewers to click on it before it runs. Others have been spotted at, dictionary and translation site, WordReference.com, and on the front page of Blogthings.com.

According to Inside AdWords, "... video ads will compete for placement on sites in the Google content network with other text, Flash and image ads." Advertisers will bid for placement of their video ads using the same cost-per-click (CPC or PPC) or cost-per-thousand impressions formulas used by competing AdWords advertisers.

The pay per click advertising model is widely credited as the primary factor behind the rapid growth and evolution of the business of search. Google makes over 9/10 of its money from paid search ads showing consistently higher revenues based on the strong growth of its various search advertising services.

A sizable chunk of those revenues have come from the traditional media. The newspaper and magazine sector is trying to diversify online revenue streams, reeling under the weight of eBay, Craigslist, Google and Yahoo. The advent of pay per click video advertising is likely to place broadcast and cable networks in a similar or even less enviable position.

In an Adweek essay published in December 2005, Noreen O'Leary details the multiple challenges faced by traditional advertising distributors when confronting consumers who expect on-demand content delivered immediately. Noting the shift in advertiser spending patterns, she writes, "There was a 25-year lag between when network TV reached mass consumption and when ad dollars caught up. It took 15 years for cable. After 10 years, is the same about to occur for the Internet?"

A lot more money is about to move into the online medium. Even if the next six to twelve months are more a time of trial and testing, there is no way advertisers are going to resist creating their own video ads. The applications for advertisers are endless and suddenly very inexpensive. Search engine marketers, website owners and online advertisers should be preparing to deal with the video advertising market as it expands.

Google appears to be making it as easy as possible for smaller advertisers to upload video ads by allowing for any video format. Video ads are uploaded to Google servers where they are stored and served based on contextually similar content found on the sites displaying them.

"A large percentage of video ads will come from small advertisers," said Gokul Rajaram, a director of product management at Google in an interview with the New York Times. "A small resort owner in Maui probably already has video of their great beachfront property. Now they can put it in an ad and reach a qualified set of users."

Small to medium sized advertisers also have the ability to geographically target ads and to test different versions of their video ads. One of the greatest benefits of online advertising is the ability to track where every click came from and when, giving advertisers and marketing professionals a great deal of instant information about what does and does not work.

In his Screenwerk blog, Greg Stirling notes that the number of targeting options, combined with the ability to track click patters could also benefit larger advertisers testing consumer reaction to commercials before they commit to a much more expensive ad-spend across broadcast or cable television. "One use of this system (and presumably others that will develop shortly) is to "A/B test" creative before launching a campaign on TV. This is sort of like what's being done by some marketers who get users to vote on several different versions of the same campaign online."

This is potentially the most disruptive move Google has made since the day it opened its doors. Paid search advertising will have a driving force in the migration of advertising money away from the traditional print and broadcast media. That migration, in turn, will cause enormous changes in the search marketing sector.

The timing of Google's announcement coincides with the purchase of the broadband video advertising firm Lightningcast by AOL last week. Lighningcast inserts commercials into online video content found on sites such as Space.com and Nascar.com.

Unlike Google's video ads, Lighningcast executive Matt Wasserlauf is quoted by the NYTimes saying, larger marketers would rather their commercials be included in streaming content instead of being an include on a static web page. "No one will click to watch a Pampers ad," he said. For example, he said, Procter & Gamble would rather "put Pampers on relevant or entertaining content."

Copyright ©2006-2012, The SEO News Blog, StepForth SEO Services
View this Article Only: The Revolution Will Be Televised, Details After These Ads by Google

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Sometime around January or February, a number of webmasters began to notice that Google had somehow "lost" huge portions of their websites. Reference to their sites, generally to the index pages and a seemingly random selection of internal pages existed in Google listings but pages that once drove sizable amounts of traffic appeared to vanish into the ether. As February rolled into March, more reports were posted to blogs and forums by frustrated webmasters who started to notice the number of pages from their sites had declined, significantly, in Google's index.

Many SEO firms, including StepForth, received information requests and research projects from clients who wanted to know what had happened to their sites. In all cases, we did the best we could but, given the obvious complexity of the update and the lack of fresh information from Google, recommendations given during this period have more resembled shotgun style SEO advice than the finer laser focus most of us would normally prefer to offer our clients. As is the case with most major updates, investigation as often as not leads to more questions.

Matt Cutts, Google's Search Quality Officer and #1 communicator, answered many of those questions yesterday in an open and wide ranging post titled, "Indexing Timeline".

The post outlines how Google staff have examined and responded to webmasters' queries and complaints stemming from the Bigdaddy update. It also addresses a number of issues webmasters who have seen sections of their pages disappear from the SERPs including the quality of both in-bound and out-bound links, irrelevant reciprocal linking schemes, and duplicate text found on vertical reference and affiliate sites.

According to his timeline, on March 13, Googleguy asked webmasters to offer example sites for Google's analysis in a post at WebmasterWorld. Commenting on the sites offered up for examination Cutts wrote,

"After looking at the example sites, I could tell the issue in a few minutes. The sites that fit "no pages in Bigdaddy" criteria were sites where our algorithms had very low trust in the inlinks or the outlinks of that site. Examples that might cause that include excessive reciprocal links, linking to spammy neighborhoods on the web, or link buying/selling. The Bigdaddy update is independent of our supplemental results, so when Bigdaddy didn't select pages from a site, that would expose more supplemental results for a site."

That quote covers a lot of ground but it explains a great deal of Google's post-Bigdaddy behaviour.

Google bases its ranking algorithm on trust. That might sound naïve to the uninformed, but we are discussing one of the most informed electronic entities that has ever existed. Google also keeps historic records on every item contained in its index. Though it bases its opinions on a baseline of trust, those opinions are extremely well informed.

In order to remain continually informed, it spiders everything it can and sorts the data later. Google maintains a massive number of indexes including one known as the supplemental index. The supplemental index is a much larger representation of documents found on the web than those included in the main Google index.

"We're able to place fewer restraints on sites that we crawl for this supplemental index than we do on sites that are crawled for our main index. For example, the number of parameters in a URL might exclude a site from being crawled for inclusion in our main index; however, it could still be crawled and added to our supplemental index." (source: Google Help Center)

Many of the results that appeared to have disappeared are assumed to have been drawn from the supplemental results before the update. "A supplemental result is just like a regular web result, except that it's pulled from our supplemental index".

As Cutts is quoted saying above, Bigdaddy results are separate from supplemental results. When a reference to a site is found in the main (Bigdaddy) results, Google does not necessarily dip into supplemental results as often as it might have previously.

Google has gotten better at judging the quality of content found on a document and within a site. Content includes text, images, titles, tags and both inbound and outbound links. Consistently said that well-built sites offering quality information and a positive user experience should perform well throughout its search indexes, Google provides a wealth of information via the Google Help Center and through its webmaster focused spokespersons, Cutts and Googleguy.

As Google has gotten better at determining the origin and history of content found in its various indexes, it tries to snip away at duplicate forms of on-site content, with the goal of listing the most trust worthy sites under any given user query in the main index.

Having been inundated over the years with multiple replications of what was already considered duplicate content. Google (and other search engines) has gotten very good at knowing if it has already indexed similar or duplicate content. Google is capable of examining text (including individual paragraphs), images and link networks (in and outbound links), looking for telltale signs of duplicate content.

If, for example, it perceives a site displaying product information pulled from the same product database that 25,000 other sites pull duplicate product information from, Google is not likely to rank that site well. Similarly, if it finds duplicate networks of reciprocal links shared among several pages in its index, it is not likely to assign a high trust value to that document.

"As these indexing changes have rolled out, we've improving how we handle reciprocal link exchanges and link buying/selling."

Though Cutts points at reciprocal linking as an indicator to Google that there might be issues with a website's credibility, that doesn't automatically mean that all reciprocal links are going to cause problems for webmasters. Common sense and the value of delivering a quality user experience should dictate decisions around link strategies.

For example, if a professional landscaper provided links to plant nurseries in his or her region, and those nurseries in turn provided links to that landscaper, Google would likely consider those to be quality links. There is a direct relevance between the two sources of information. A network of links between local landscaping businesses, nurseries, horticultural institutes, permaculture initiatives, non-profit volunteer groups and a number of gardening centers, shared amongst a relevant set of websites would also likely be judged beneficial to Google users and not subject to supplemental penalization.

On the other hand, a network of obviously purchased links between anyone who will exchange links with each other, regardless of relevancy or direct user benefit is likely to trip any number of filters present in the Bigdaddy/Jagger upgrades.

Cutts provided an example of a simple error made by a real estate site. Along with a number of internal reference links to exotic properties displayed as a footer-style site-map, Cutts found several out-bound links with anchor text reading;
1-exersize-equiptment.com, Credit Cards, Quit Smoking Forum, Hair Care, and GoSearchFor.com. When he reset, he saw a similar set of links, only this time, the out-bound links were directed towards, mortgages sites, credit card sites, and exercise equipment. Cutts commented, "...if you were getting crawled more before and you're trading a bunch of reciprocal links, don't be surprised if the new crawler has different crawl priorities and doesn't crawl as much. "

Affiliate Text and Content

Cutts devoted a long paragraph covering affiliate text, mentioning a T-shirt site that once had about 100 pages indexed, a number recently reduced to only 5.

"The person said that every page has original content, but every link that I clicked was an affiliate link that went to the site that actually sold the T-shirts. And the snippet of text that I happened to grab was also taken from the site that actually sold the T-shirts. The site has a blog, which I'd normally recommend as a good way to get links, but every link on the blog is just an affiliate link. The first several posts didn't even have any text, and when I found an entry that did, it was copied from somewhere else. So I don't think that the drop in indexed pages for this domain necessarily points to an issue on Google's side. The question I'd be asking is why anyone would choose your "favourites" site instead of going directly to the site that sells T-shirts?"

The Ghosts of minutes past

We live in the present. Our websites live in the past as well as the present. Google keeps tabs on all documents in its index and even if it has, "... spidered content that was posted only moments before,” it has an elephant's memory for previous details and a computer's ability to pull lots of information together to get a bigger picture of how all those details fit together.

Google works by following links. Google ranks by examining the quality of content found on a site and also on the sites that link into, or are linked to from, sites in its indexes. If you have seen a great deal of page content fall away from Google's index, or if you are just generally interested in how Google is working, read Cutts' Bigdaddy "Indexing Timeline".

Copyright ©2006-2012, The SEO News Blog, StepForth SEO Services
View this Article Only: A Bigdaddy Timeline, Courtesy of Google's Matt Cutts

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Copyright ©2006-2012, The SEO News Blog, StepForth SEO Services
View this Article Only: Yahoo!'s Home Improvement

Friday, May 12, 2006

In fact, relationships between the two firms appear to be strained. Semel spoke specifically about Yahoo's wish to continue serving paid advertising results via Yahoo Search Marketing (YSM) to MSN search. Microsoft decided to allow that deal to expire in order to replace YSM with paid ads generated through its new internal paid advertising program AdCenter.

Microsoft was interested in buying a stake in Yahoo search however Semel says he was not willing to sell a portion of the company. Semel admitted Yahoo and Microsoft had discussed, "... Microsoft co-owning some of our search", but stated, "I will not sell a piece of search - it is like selling your right arm while keeping your left. It does not make any sense."

Semel also mentioned some of his ideas on the future of the search medium. The business of search and provision of search results is changing rapidly though Semel expects those changes to be manageable for larger firms like Yahoo.

"I do not expect search to decline but it may not be the way you do it two or three years later," he said. Semel said he sees a great deal of growth in social networking and online video, noting the growing availability of broadband access in the US and around the world is ushering in an era in which video becomes standard content on the web.

In 2004, Yahoo announced its intention to create video content for its users however Semel said many of those plans have been shelved because they were too similar to content already available on commercial television.

"Television does a very good job," Semel said. "This medium better look like something new. This medium better take advantage of its assets, take advantage of what it does well. ... If what we do looks like television, then we're making a huge mistake."

Yahoo continues to make content provision a high priority however much of that content will likely be syndicated from other sources.

Semel mentioned social networking as a likely future model for search saying, "Knowledge search, as they call it in Korea, or social search, as we call it, has blown through the roof. There may be changing dynamics."

Meanwhile, over in Microsoft's camp, CEO Steve Ballmer appears to be in fighting trim playing point guard against Google's towering offensive while lobbing set-up passes regarding Microsoft's plans toward the press. In a wide-ranging article published in Cnet News.com, Ballmer responds to a number of comments directed at Microsoft in the past weeks.

Ballmer doesn't appear to be concerned about Yahoo but he is obviously burning over some of the comments Google co-founder Sergey Brin levelled at Microsoft during a press conference on Wednesday's Google Press Day.

Referring to the default settings of Microsoft's upgraded browser IE 7 and the pending release of the Microsoft Vista operating system, Brin was quoted saying, "We just see the history of that company behaving anti-competitively and not playing fair. So I think we want to... look at the areas where that power can be abused."

Suggesting Google expects special treatment from Microsoft, Ballmer couldn't resist the temptation to take a few pot shot at Google while comparing Microsoft products to Google's offerings.

"Can you imagine writing a letter to someone," he said, "'Hey, Mom, I am upset with the gun policy.' Then an ad pops up and says, 'Hey, do you want to buy a gun?'"

Ballmer stated that most Microsoft products will remain separate from advertising noting that, "... Even though Microsoft will have ad-supported applications, a lot of people will want a standard desktop Office."

Microsoft is a distant third behind Google AdWords and Yahoo Search Marketing in terms of market share and revenues. It hopes to change that through the introduction and marketing of AdCenter, as well as by expanding into ad distribution in video games.

Earlier this month, Microsoft purchased Massive, a company that inserts advertisements into online video games. Imagine, if you will, a first-person strategy game that takes place in a city. Billboards, posters and other pieces of scenery can be instantly updated throughout MSNs gaming network.

"We want to make sure there is good, healthy competition in the advertising space," Ballmer said. "Everybody deserves good competition. People have been telling me that for years."

Based on notes taken by CNet news writer Michael Kanelloa, Ballmer is also interested in social networking, with a particular emphasis on FaceBook. He quotes Ballmer saying, "I've spent a lot of time studying FaceBook. I think there is a lot we can learn from the FaceBook concept." Remaining bearish on technologies that do not have clear revenue models such as YouTube and BitTorrent Ballmer suggested that Microsoft would continue to look at acquiring start-up companies.

Yahoo CEO Terry Semel and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer are both concerned about Google. They appear interested in perusing similar technologies and both perceive virtually limitless futures.

Yahoo's strongest assets are in its network of branded information directories, its emerging Yahoo Publisher Network, and in its search marketing business YSM. Having one of the most well recognized global brand names, combined with the enormous amount of content it generates, Yahoo is capable of retaining its second place position in search advertising.

Putting aside its control of the basic operating system on most personal and corporate computers, Ballmer sees patience as Microsoft's greatest asset. "We have tenacity and a persistence and patience to stay after it and stay after it and stay after it. Patience is what distinguishes us from many technology companies that are important...."

Patience has proven to be a key ingredient in the development of the Vista operating system. That makes sense given patience is a necessary virtue practiced by all Windows users.

Historically each of the major players, Google, Yahoo and MSN has competed by staking their own turfs and making minor, and in many cases major incursions into each other's turf. It often resembles a game of "follow the leader" in which 3 firms, based on their own merits are in a position to act as the leader. How it all works out will be part of our collective history but while it plays through, it is one of the most interesting games going.

Copyright ©2006-2012, The SEO News Blog, StepForth SEO Services
View this Article Only: Semel Shutters Windows Deal while Ballmer Waxes on the Future

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

What's in a name?

Lee Roberts makes a shopping cart, content management solution known as ApplePieCart, or more appropriately, he used to. On April 11, 2006, Lee received a note from Apple Computer's lawyers demanding he stop using a name that might confuse consumers.

Apple Computers, which makes or sells computers, software, music and accessories, uses a red apple with a bite taken out of it as a logo, placing it along side the name of a popular fruit. ApplePieCart, which makes an ecommerce solution aimed at people who already own computers, uses a green apple leaf extending upwards at a 45-degree angle from the name of a popular American dessert item.

At the time of the serving, Apple Computers was embroiled in a trademark case against Apple Records, the record distribution label started by the Beatles. That case was recently settled, and both can use the name Apple without confusing consumers, even though both are technically in the business of music distribution. Apple records, incidentally, uses a green MacIntosh apple as its logo, not to be confused with the Macintosh Apple computer, made by the other Apple, the one that makes computers.

Since he received the letter from Apple Computer's lawyers, Lee's life has turned upside down.

He consulted his lawyer who told him he could fight the case for about $500,000 without a guarantee of winning. The other option would be to rename his business. Lee estimated that would cost about $200,000, give or take a small fortune.

He opted for the second choice and has since set out on the long journey of changing his business name from ApplePieCart to MerchantMetrix.

"We're having to do a new logo and all the identity branding. We need an entire new website. We need to re-polish the software. And then, think about all of the links we have going to our website. All the name recognition, we're losing that. What would I consider the value of this? I would say in excess of $200K. My attorneys say it will cost me $500K to defend the name, with no guarantee I would win."

Lee has also stopped advertising his business, citing the confusion the name change and software upgrades will cause new clients. "I had WebProWorld write me to see if I would advertise with them. I haven't responded yet but I guess they'll know why I can't now." Lee said.

Lee has actually applied for the rights to the name ApplePie Shopping Cart, submitting an application to the US Patent office in June 2005. Last week he received a notice from that office saying the name had been Published for opposition on the second of May, giving "...30 days to notify the US Patent and trademark office of such issue or opposition to the registration of the trademark Applepiecart".

"I had developed many shopping carts and my wife told me I should make one that was easy to use. She said it should be as easy as making apple pie. After finding out that it takes about 45-minutes to make an apple pie from scratch, we decided that we would call it ApplePie because it was so easy to use."

Q. "Does it take less than 45-minutes to learn how to use it?"

A. "No, it's easier than that. It takes about 30-minutes."

"All of our Video Tutorials have to be redone to", Lee added, almost as an afterthought.

Copyright ©2006-2012, The SEO News Blog, StepForth SEO Services
View this Article Only: Apple Computers Take a Bite Out of ApplePie

The result of her work is the Yahoo Search Marketing Handbook, a 102-page manual that starts with the basics, outlines potential pitfalls and gradually guides the reader towards establishing and maintaining winning YSM PPC campaigns.

"Yahoo works if you put the time into it," Mona said in a phone interview. Accounting for almost a quarter of all paid search advertising viewed on the web, Mona describes YSM as an important but tricky medium. While it shares many similarities with the better-known Google AdWords program, Yahoo Search Marketing has a number of unique parameters and a notably different user-interface. "Advertisers coming over from AdWords might have problems diving into YSM," Mona noted.

There are a number of features and terms used by YSM that might trip up advertisers and webmasters more familiar with Google AdWords. Mona tries to steer her readers through the differences between the two programs without assuming they are approaching PPC from a Google-centric point of view.

One of the major differences between the competing programs is Yahoo's keyword and ad matching options. Matching options allow advertisers to determine keywords to emphasize or exclude as YSM searches for contextually relevant venues to display their advertisements. They also allow advertisers to select regions where various ad groups will or won't be displayed. Understanding how to use these options can make the difference between successful, cost-effective campaigns and expensive failed experiments.

Partially due to Google's longer reach and partly due to YSM's user interface and operability, YSM advertisers have to work a little harder to create winning ad campaigns. "Even small campaigns can take a long time to set up, sometimes as long as 3 hours," says Mona. She noted that large campaigns with thousands of keyword phrase targets could sometimes take 40 hours or more to set up.

"Keyword research is more important working with YSM than it is with AdWords", Mona says. Google has a lot more distribution power and more network partners to serve advertising to. Marketing through YSM requires tighter targeting and strategic thinking as advertisers can pick and choose opportunities and venues.

The book is written with the expectation that the reader has some prior web design experience. Having a well built and optimized website is important for making sales and satisfying long-term customers but if working in the realm of pay per click marketing, the ability to quickly create and modify individual pages is critical. In the handbook, Mona discusses the creation and optimization of landing pages tailored to specific PPC conversion goals.

There are a number of labour saving tips, techniques and tools available to YSM advertisers. Knowing how to best use them is crucial to the art of managing a number of ad groups. The handbook is divided into sections, starting with an explanation of the YSM interface. Other chapters discuss crafting editorial content, Yahoo bid strategies, how matching options work, potential financial problems, customer service issues, and include screenshots, case studies and to-do lists.

Writing a how-to book about search marketing is fraught with peril. Often, the moment the book is published it has already become obsolete. Mona is already working on the outline for a second edition. Buyers of this edition will be automatically subscribed to regular book updates via the "Page Zero Advisor". Mona is also planning to produce a series of Podcasts that book buyers and subscribers will be able to access.

The hardest part in writing this edition of the handbook was working on the outline. It took Mona over a year to figure out how to best structure the book and research the material. Flushing it all out only took a few months. The second edition might prove much easier, especially since Yahoo has recently provided her with a lot of new material.

Earlier this week, Yahoo announced major upgrades to YSM's interface and technologies. Yahoo outlined a number of added or improved features in a press release issued on Monday. Scheduled for summer 2006, the press release says the upgrades,"... will include,

• Intuitive Control Panel - provides a simplified interface with user-tested navigation, allowing advertisers to easily understand their performance and providing them opportunities to modify or enhance campaigns every step of the way
• Enhanced Geographic Targeting - leverages Yahoo!'s WhereonEarth technology, which draws from 15 years of geo-targeting expertise to enable Yahoo! to more accurately understand and match to user search intent ("Soho, NY" versus "Soho, London") and colloquial terms ("restaurant near Fenway Park" is in central Boston, MA)
• Fast Ad Activation - provides a streamlined content review process that allows advertisers to launch most new ad campaigns in less than 30 minutes
• Ad Testing - supports automatic rotation of multiple versions of ads to determine the most effective, and, over time, displays the highest-performing ads more frequently
• Visible Quality Index - scores ads based on quality, bid and other relevance variables, and will be made visible to advertisers to enable them to gauge and optimize placement when the quality-based ranking model is implemented
• Share of Clicks Forecasting - displays data regarding the bid needed to achieve an estimated specific share of expected clicks, helping advertisers to set and reach traffic and conversion volume goals
• Goal-Based Optimization - enables advertisers to let Yahoo! automatically help find the least expensive way to meet their business goals -- defined as Cost Per Acquisition or Return on Ad Spend
• Assists - shows advertisers the full value and contribution of every campaign by allowing them to see how ads drive both immediate and deferred conversions across multiple campaigns -- not just the last click that led to a conversion"

The press release ends noting, "Future versions of the new platform will include additional distribution options and audience targeting based on factors that could include demographic information or online behaviour, as well as additional ad formats enhanced with graphics or rich media."

Updates should be available shortly after Yahoo releases its new platform, Mona said. There are currently about 420million Yahoo subscribers. It is the second largest search engine and one of the world's most visited sites. Its PPC program actually pioneered the paid search advertising market. It drives a lot of traffic.

Mona smiled across the phone line when asked to describe her overall impression of Yahoo's paid search platform. "YSM can be confusing and a pain in the rump but once you understand it, it can be a very effective advertising medium." She should know. She just wrote the book on it.

Copyright ©2006-2012, The SEO News Blog, StepForth SEO Services
View this Article Only: Yahoo Search Marketing Handbook

Friday, May 05, 2006

Copyright ©2006-2012, The SEO News Blog, StepForth SEO Services
View this Article Only: Certify Me - Two Emerging SEO Certification Programs

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

"This is hypercompetition, make no mistake," Bill Gates, November 2005.

Gates is worried about Google and has been for a while. For years, observers have watched Microsoft, imagining the frantic pacing behind closed office doors in the executive suites, waiting for something major to happen. There have been articles about the rearrangement of furniture around the board table and the flinging of furniture across Steve Ballmer's office but, for the most part, very little of substance has been written about Microsoft's plans to deal with Google. That's because, until recently, the moves Microsoft has made have appeared to be either cosmetic and internal, or clumsily executed and easily thwarted. This week, work that's been happening in the background is showing fruit.

For Microsoft, the month of May has come in like a triumphant lion. When you are used to being the king of the pride, nothing says success like taking big chunks of business from the competition and over the past few days, Microsoft has scored big gains in its fight against Google. These gains, coupled with today's rumours of a Microsoft/Yahoo partnership, make the Wizards of Redmond suddenly dangerous, opening two new phrases in the ongoing search engine wars.

Microsoft's resurgence actually began last month with the hiring of former Ask Jeeves CEO, Steve Berkowitz as SR. VP of MSN's online business group. A Microsoft press statement said Berkowitz will be, "...responsible for running the Online Business group, which includes include MSN.com, MSNTV and MSN Internet Access programming, advertising sales, business development, and marketing for Live Platforms, MSN and Windows Live."

The recruitment of Berkowitz gives Microsoft an important voice with an outside view whose credibility as a search business leader has been established several times over. His hiring also indicates Microsoft is starting to look outside of its own box for leadership as it moves forward into an era that can only be described as cooperative competition, a historically difficult phrase to utter on the Microsoft campus.

Microsoft has been in talks with other Internet technology firms such as Yahoo, eBay and Amazon for months now as Google's stable of services and products continues to grow and present threats to firms that would otherwise be its search partners. Ever since its talks with AOL were short-circuited at the last moment by Google in January 2006, Microsoft has been looking for a strong content-distribution partner.

Earlier this week, Microsoft's new search tool, WindowsLive became the engine powering Amazon.com's search engine A9.com and navigation/data aggregation service Alexa.com. Amazon had used Google to provide search results for their users in a deal dating back to 2003, making the partnership one of the larger distributors of AdWords advertising. That deal expired this month, allowing Amazon to make the switch.

Google was the previous search engine partner of choice for Amazon for a number of reasons. In 2003, Google was the undisputed leader of search tools, providing approximately 75% of Internet search results across several platforms, including AOL and current rival Yahoo. It also provided paid-advertising services across Amazon search properties, an arrangement that should have been as lucrative for Amazon as it would have been for Google. In previous years, working with the then upstart Google was not only a measure of coolness; it had the makings of a secure partnership with a growing company that prided itself on avoiding evil doings.

The tenor of relationships between Amazon and Google began to change late in 2005 when Google introduced its mysterious Google Base listings system and the development of secure online payment system. Though it likely loses a bit in revenues by dropping Google, Amazon is also moving to protect itself from Google's apparent encroachment into the business of online sales.

A similar chill is developing among many of the largest players in the Internet services sector. Late last month, the Wall Street Journal reported auction giant eBay was in talks with Microsoft and Yahoo, mapping out a cooperative strategy to compete with Google. Other tech firms are also rumoured to be speaking informally with each other, all with an eye on the suddenly disruptive growth of Google.

The most interesting rumour stemming from these meetings speaks of a partnership or merger between Microsoft and Yahoo. According to a story, "A Microsoft, Yahoo Tie-Up?"appearing in today's Wall Street Journal, Microsoft and Yahoo executives have been involved in talks ranging from greater collaboration to out-right acquisition. While the prospects of Microsoft acquiring controlling interest in Yahoo are slim, increased cooperation between the two is very likely.

For Microsoft, Yahoo has a good pay per click advertising system in Yahoo Search Marketing (YSM). It also has the most trafficked set of web properties in the United States with hundreds of millions of loyal users. Its ad distribution network is scheduled for system-wide improvements in the coming weeks. Yahoo also holds thousands of older patents purchased during its acquisitions of AltaVista, Overture, AlltheWeb, and dozens of other search related firms.

For Yahoo, Microsoft's ability to control defaults on Windows users' desktops, combined with the distribution of subtle branded inclusions in subsequent Windows operating systems, gives Microsoft an advantage Google is struggling to adapt to. If Microsoft wants to default users to WindowsLive before offering a selection of other search engine options, it can. Google and Firefox have a similar arrangement.

Both Yahoo and Microsoft want to present themselves as credible alternatives to Google's AdWords programs and each provides the other with the tools necessary to build one. For Yahoo, a deal with Microsoft represents the widest possible distribution network for YSM advertising.

For advertisers and search marketers, a deal between Microsoft and Yahoo could bring much needed competition and growth to the search marketing industry. It could also benefit search engine users by introducing a healthier competitor in the organic or natural search listings.

The coming months are going to be very interesting as discussions between many of the largest players on the Internet continue. The Amazon announcement and Yahoo speculation follow last week's revelation that Microsoft is going to spend $2Billion more than it had previously projected with the bulk of those monies directed towards Internet services.

In a defining series of internal memos on the nature of Internet Services, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates, and Chief Technical Officer Ray Ozzie, stressed the urgency of competition with Google to Microsoft's staff.

"...We must reflect upon what's going on around us, and reflect upon our strengths, weaknesses and industry leadership responsibilities, and respond. As much as ever, it's clear that if we fail to do so, our business as we know it is at risk. We must respond quickly and decisively." Ray Ozzie memo, Oct 28/05 to: Executive Staff and direct reports

"The next sea change is upon us. We must recognize this change as an opportunity to take our offerings to the next level, compete in a manner commensurate with our industry responsibilities, and utilize our assets and our broad reach to reshape our business for the benefit of the users of our products, our customers, our partners and ourselves." Gates Oct. 30/05 email memo to: Executive Staff and Direct Reports; Distinguished Engineers

The world of search is never still but the next few months are shaping up to be among the most interesting and defining times for business and advertising online. Microsoft is finally making its moves and in typical style, they are big, bold and broad. It has never faced a competitor as skilled or as universally loved as Google but the process of going after Google has clearly begun.

Copyright ©2006-2012, The SEO News Blog, StepForth SEO Services
View this Article Only: Microsoft Going After Google

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

An article in the NY Times April 9 edition, "This Boring Headline is Written for Google", noted how news writers were adapting their headlines and styles to meet the challenges of getting prominent placements in search engines. The author likens search engine optimization to a chess game played between SEOs and search engines.

It's all about the rankings, or as noted in a recent piece in the Washington Post, "How to Juice Up a Site’s Rank" it's all about the Google juice. Google juice, (for the SEO-illiterate), is apparently produced by squeezing links. To be fair, the article is based on the "v7ndotcom elursrebmem" contest initiated in January by John Scott which, by its nature, tends towards link strategies.

Though achieving a Top10, or first page placement is only half the game, it is the part of the process the mainstream media is fixated on. That is to be expected, given the conditions under which most business reports work. They perceive the Internet as a research and communications tool.

Understanding that most writers view search engines as indispensable workplace assistants, it is little wonder their imaginations turn to imaginings of the old-school game of cat-and-mouse SEOs used to play, back in 1998.

Search engine optimization and placement in 2006 is very different from the information used to describe the industry in previous years. The Internet and the search engines that guide users across it have changed and evolved enormously over the past twelve months.

Mike Grehan published an excellent two-part article, "Does Textbook SEO Work Anymore?" which should become required reading for SEOs who want to get a better understanding of how Google is learning to learn about web-documents and their connections. (link to part 2)

Mike points out that Google is now considering a couple more important factors (in addition to the multitude of other ranking factors) when determining the placement of documents in its index.

The first is a deeper analysis of the network of links that lead to any particular document. "Aggregate linkage data can tell so much more about the subject matter and content of a site."

What this means to SEOs is simple. Links from one document to another are used to determine the topical relevancy of information found within those documents. In other words, Google is learning about you by examining your buddies.

The second is that Google is studying user data to determine what information its users find relevant based on their initial search query and behaviours after choosing a listing. "End-user data proves that people who were interested in the initial search query were also interested in other information-related to the topic."

Google is as interested in what visitors do on a site as it is in what they read while they are there. For SEOs this means that site usability, analytics and planning are essential to delivering a full package of services. Achieving and maintaining strong placements at Google requires the ability to predict and funnel users through a site in order to A) help guide visitors to relevant information or towards conversion goals, or B) help guide spiders to relevant information.

The working world of search engine optimization specialists has come a long way from the cloak and dagger world that existed in the late 90s and into the early 2Ks. Perhaps reporters and journalists will start to see the intricacies of SEO work and move away from the cyberpunk image they too often portray. If that is going to happen, it is up to the SEOs themselves to make it happen. Next time the media calls, let them know there is a lot more to the story than gaming Google for wild rankings and fun times. (Try to help them imagine writing about the cadre of fun loving criminal robots spamming away on the PPC end of things.)

Copyright ©2006-2012, The SEO News Blog, StepForth SEO Services
View this Article Only: Can the Mainstream Media Understand SEO?

Monday, May 01, 2006

It has been an interesting day in the IT world. Opening the month of May a couple of interesting stories involving the rivalry between Google and Microsoft are playing through the news today.

The first story demonstrates an Amazon migration from Google based results to those gleaned by the new MSN Search engine, Windows Live. First noted by Aaron Wall over at Threadwatch, A9 and Alexa have both replaced Google's results for Windows Live.

Amazon's move away from Google is indicative of a more general fear of Google's diversification and growth into non-search related markets such as its online payment system and offline advertising ventures.

An unrelated WSJ report on April 21st (subscription required for WSJ) notes how the online auction house eBay is seeking partners among search firms to bolster itself against the growing threat Google represents.

"After years of working closely with the search giant, eBay last year became alarmed as Google started assaulting its turf in multiple ways," the report stated. eBay has been in talks with both Yahoo and Microsoft since early autumn 2005.

Another story touching on the rivalry between Google and Microsoft was reported in today's New York Times. According to the report, written by NYTimes technology writer Steve Lohr, Google is lobbying both the EU and the US Justice Department to examine Microsoft's most recent browser, IE7, over the placement of a search-box directly in the browser. While the search engine queried by the IE7 search box can be set by the user, it is set to default to Windows Live.

The placement of a search box in the browser is reminiscent of the way Microsoft drove Netscape out of the market by originally bundling Internet Explorer into its Windows suite in the mid 1990's. While that move virtually destroyed Netscape's burgeoning browser business, it landed Microsoft in EU and US courts fighting anti-trust suits and the repercussions of those suits for much of the previous decade.

"The market favors open choice for search, and companies should compete for users based on the quality of their search services," said Marissa Mayer, the vice president for search products at Google in an interview with Lohr. "We don't think it's right for Microsoft to just set the default to MSN. We believe users should choose."

Though Google has taken its concerns to EU and US anti-trust investigators, there is no guarantee that an investigation will be undertaken by either government.

Copyright ©2006-2012, The SEO News Blog, StepForth SEO Services
View this Article Only: Rivalry between MS and Google Heating Up (again)