StepForth SEO News Blog - by Ross Dunn and Scott Van Achte

Friday, December 19, 2008

Search Engine Market Share for November 2008

Written by Scott Van Achte and published at 2:24 PM

The latest figures are in over at Comscore, and as far as search market share is concerned, Google continues to increase its lead.

It is never a surprise to see Google leading the pack, its been this way for several years, and it will remain this way for years to come. The only change is, how big is their lead.

Google has seen yet another small increase in its share, up 0.4% to 63.5%. Yahoo trails way back at 20.4% (down 0.1%) and Microsoft dipping 0.2% down to 8.3%.

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This SEO News was posted by Scott Van Achte @ 2:24 PM.

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Friday, November 14, 2008

Yahoo Shares Drop to Lowest in 5 Years

Written by Scott Van Achte and published at 9:09 AM

It sounds more and more like Yahoo should have taken the Microsoft buy-out offer at $31 a share back in February. Since then Yahoo shares have been up and down, but as of today, they are hovering around the $10 mark, a small fraction of what they once were.

Yesterday Yahoo shares dropped to below $10 – the first time their value has dipped into the single digits in more than 5 years. One thing’s for sure, if Microsoft does step up and give Yahoo another offer it will be substantially less than the previous $44.6 Billion.

Yahoo is not the only major player in the search game to see significant value declines on their stock. Around this time last year Google shares were over $700 and as of today are at less than half that with the value at $310.31 at the time of this post. 2008 has also brought significant declines to Microsoft shares as well - at just under $20 today MS has seen shares drop by almost half with their 52 week high of 36.72 from back in December of 07.

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This SEO News was posted by Scott Van Achte @ 9:09 AM.

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Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Google Yahoo Deal Ends / Microsoft to Return?

Written by Scott Van Achte and published at 12:53 PM

The entire “Microsoft seeks Yahoo, Yahoo turns down Microsoft, Yahoo & Google hook up, and then break up, now Microsoft may be back with Yahoo” thing seems like an ongoing plot in a bad soap opera.

Back in June Google announced an advertising agreement that would allow Yahoo to use Google Ads on its websites. Many search marketers were left speculating the impact this would have on campaign effectiveness, however, this was all for nothing now that the Department of Justice has ended the deal.

Now that this deal is no more, the possibility of a Yahoo acquisition by Microsoft will likely be revisited. After news came yesterday that of the collapse of the deal, Yahoo shares saw an 8% rise by close.

According to CNN Money, many Yahoo shareholders are hoping that Microsoft will get back to the table with Yahoo and make a new offer.

The original offer by Microsoft, nearly a year ago, was for $29.06 a share. At the time Yahoo was looking for something along the lines of $35 to $37. Microsoft was willing to go as high as $33.

With Yahoo shares currently trading at around $14, if Microsoft does step up again, you can bet the offer will be much less than it was before. Perhaps Yahoo should have taken the original deal.

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This SEO News was posted by Scott Van Achte @ 12:53 PM.

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Friday, October 10, 2008

Major Player updates; Search Engine Turmoil

Written by Timothy Rule and published at 10:00 AM

Pause Button Pressed on Yahoogle

As the time for implementation of the Google/Yahoo agreement drew near, there was little doubt that some sort of action by the US Dept. of Justice would surface. It remains to be seen what direction the DOJ will go, but there is obviously something happening behind the scenes.

On Friday, both search engine giants announced a delay in moving this initiative forward. This move seems contrary to the previous position of Google's CEO Eric Schmidt, which indicated that the deal would proceed as planned.

What this delay portends is still anyone's guess. For now, the waiting game that kicked off in June will continue.

Will Yahoo Acquire AOL?

This has certainly been a busy and yet, unproductive year for Yahoo. Beginning with the failed takeover bid by Microsoft, followed by the looming uncertainty over the Google deal, one can only wonder what's next.

While talk of a partial acquisition by Yahoo of AOL services has been ongoing for some time, nothing concrete has come about. The consensus seemed to be that this was a move designed to increase Microsoft's offer for Yahoo, if not to thwart the takeover altogether. If that was the case, then it stopped making sense months ago.

Likely, Yahoo looks upon this potential acquisition as a way to expand both their content services and advertising revenue.

Despite indications of progress, details of these discussions seem as vague and uncertain as anything else involving Yahoo of late.

So far this year, we've seen Microhoo, Yahoogle and YAhOoL. I wonder if we'll see YAskhoo! next.

Perhaps we should start a betting pool, winner take all if guessing the correct date when (if) Yahoo will actually successfully conclude one of their negotiations this year.

Microsoft Search Incentives

While Google innovates and Yahoo spins around in circles, Microsoft adds an unusual approach to gaining additional search market share.

Beginning last spring with the launch of the Cash Back program, Microsoft introduced the notion of search advertising rebate incentives. This allows advertisers a means of paying for advertising on a Cost per Acquisition (CPA) basis and buyers some savings on purchases. If you are unfamiliar with this, Techcrunch did a great analysis of this feature. While many had doubts about this approach, it appears to be working.

search perks logo

Last week, Microsoft added to this type of service by releasing >SearchPerks!, another means of attracting traffic through a points-based reward system. While this is not a new concept, it certainly is unique in the search engine world.

Participating users can expect to receive rewards for redeeming saved up "tickets". There are many types of rewards, such as air miles, music downloads and more. This is a limited time offer and sign up for participation expires on Dec 31, 2008.

While it's too early to tell, some believe this idea does have potential.

No surprise to anyone, this feature is only available to Internet Explorer users. That leaves me out of this program. Like many people, not only do I find that browser (regardless which version) extremely annoying and frustrating to use, I resent Microsoft's constant efforts to restrict compatibility for so many services and 3rd party applications to their browser alone.

Labels: Google, Microsoft, Tim Rule, Yahoo

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This SEO News was posted by Timothy Rule @ 10:00 AM.

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View this Article Only: Major Player updates; Search Engine Turmoil

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Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Microsoft Could Always Buy Search Market Share

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 4:57 PM

24/7 Wall Street wrote a fascinating article today describing how Microsoft could quite easily buy its way on to far more computer screens for much less than buying Yahoo; there are powerful search engines that represent many of the Chinese, Russian and Czech viewers. It is a great short read and the economics appear to make sense. Read the article here.

Labels: Baidu, Foreign Search Engines, Foreign SEO, International SEO, Live Search, Microsoft, Seznam, Yandex

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This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 4:57 PM.

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Thursday, September 11, 2008

Yahoo Hires Former Microsoft Exec

Written by Scott Van Achte and published at 12:00 PM

In an effort to help out Yahoo with its revenue problems, Yahoo has hired Joanne Bradford, a former Microsoft Corp. Executive.

Yahoo announced the recent hire in a press release Tuesday. Bradford was Microsoft's head of their Media Network and resigned back in March after a 7 year stint with the software giant. She then joined Spot Runner Inc as their Executive Vice President of National Advertising Services before being swept up by Yahoo.

"My decision to come to Yahoo! was simple because there is no other company that combines one of the world's most recognizable brands with unparalleled reach, industry-leading products and programming, and a full spectrum of advertising offerings for marketers," said Bradford. "I am convinced that the very best days for this company are ahead, and I want to leverage my experience in programming, distribution, and selling to help Yahoo! take this business to the next level."

Bradford will be assigned the title of Senior Vice President of U.S. Revenue and Market Department. A rather large title probably compensated with an equally large pay check.

Labels: Microsoft, Scott Van Achte, Yahoo

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This SEO News was posted by Scott Van Achte @ 12:00 PM.

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Friday, September 05, 2008

Microsoft Acquires Ciao

Written by Scott Van Achte and published at 10:49 AM

The Ciao shopping and price comparison sites, operating in seven European countries and languages, will now be the property of Microsoft. This follows the deal reached between the software giant and Greenfield Online, operator of Ciao, for $486 Million.

Ciao allows users to create lists of their favorite items, rate products, and provide feedback. Microsoft plans to incorporate Ciao into its Live Search portal in Europe.

Microsoft's VP for consumer and online products, John Mangelaars, said in a statement: "Integrating Ciao's capabilities into Live Search will provide a strong launch pad for our commercial search offer in Europe and enhance our e-commerce offering on MSN,"

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This SEO News was posted by Scott Van Achte @ 10:49 AM.

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Microsoft & Jerry Seinfeld Team Up

Written by Scott Van Achte and published at 9:30 AM

Apple has seen great success with its popular "Hi I’m a Mac" ad campaign, and now Microsoft has enlisted the help of Jerry Seinfeld for a series of TV ads.Seinfeld will earn a reported $10 million as part of the $300 million advertising campaign being launched by Microsoft.

The ads debuted on Sept 4 – I just by fluke happened to see the first ad when watching Kitchen Nightmares last night. I found the first ad to be funny, but personally think Microsoft has a little ways to go to catch up the Mac ads which in many cases are down right hilarious. You be the judge - take a look at the embedded video below and leave a comment with your opinion!

Labels: Fun, Microsoft, Scott Van Achte

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This SEO News was posted by Scott Van Achte @ 9:30 AM.

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Thursday, September 04, 2008

QUICK TIP - Get Pre-Launch Access to Mircosoft Live Messages

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 11:43 AM

EARLY ACCESS TIP: On September 9th, 2008 Microsoft will be officially launching its free video email solution called "Windows Live Video Messages" which is supposed to allow users to freely send secure video messages to friends simply and easily using a web cam.

According to the official Windows Live Video Messages home page this service is not available to the public until September 9th but thanks to a back door entrance courtesy of LiveSide it is in fact open to those of you who would like to give it a shot.

The idea has caught on before and with sites like EyeJot that have much less restrictive requirements than Microsoft you may want to try those over this new offering.

Note: Microsoft, as usual, stupidly requires Internet Explorer to use the free service, a windows Live login and it requires that you install Microsoft Silverlight; for smart people they are not all that bright sometimes.

Some background on Windows Live Video Messages from the "more info" page:

"Send Video Messages to the important people in your life to enjoy when they wish. With Windows Live Video Messages, recipients don't have to download and play video files on their PC. Instead, videos are stored with advanced security technology on a Web site.

"With Windows Live Video Messages, you can control who gets to see your videos by locking or unlocking the messages you send. Only unlocked messages can be forwarded or saved by recipients of your Video Messages.

"Sending, managing and repeated viewing of Video Messages requires a free Windows Live ID. This is not required for a single video viewing."

by Ross Dunn, CEO, StepForth Web Marketing Inc.

Labels: Microsoft, New Tech, Ross Dunn

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This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 11:43 AM.

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Friday, August 22, 2008

Microsoft’s Email Prioritizer Plug-In

Written by Scott Van Achte and published at 12:57 PM

Tuesday, Microsoft announced a new plug-in for Outlook 2007. Information Week reports on this collaborative effort between Microsoft Research and Office Labs. The plug-in targets email overload and "uses various algorithms to automatically identify the importance or urgency of e-mail messages delivered into an Outlook 2007 in-box."

It will allow automatic prioritizing of emails, and allow user to pause email delivery.

"Email Prioritizer affixes e-mail with between zero and three stars to represent the urgency or importance of a given message. The program uses a number of algorithms that take into consideration things like the name of the sender and whether the receiver is on the "To" line or the "Bcc" line of an e-mail to determine priority, though at this point Microsoft isn't forthcoming with a full list of exactly what Email Prioritizer takes into consideration.

"Users can also set e-mail priorities manually by changing or assigning a star ranking themselves. These user settings can inform automatic prioritization: for example, if someone always sets e-mails from his manager to three stars, those e-mails will eventually begin to arrive already bearing the three stars.

Email Prioritizer also comes with a "do not disturb" feature that allows users to tweak Outlook's settings so that no new e-mails arrive until set periods of time between 10 minutes and four hours have passed.

Office Labs is one of a number of public-facing Microsoft "labs" attached to product groups that Microsoft has created in the past few years, including Live Labs and AdLabs."

by Bill Stroll, Sales Manager, StepForth Web Marketing Inc.
Celebrating over 10 years of web marketing excellence.

Labels: Bill Stroll, Microsoft

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This SEO News was posted by Scott Van Achte @ 12:57 PM.

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Monday, July 21, 2008

Google and Microsoft Show Profits for Q2 2008

Written by Scott Van Achte and published at 4:17 PM

Google’s earnings are in after the second quarter report was issued yesterday. While their net income is up from the same period in 2007 by approximately $325 Million (925.1 Million in Q2 of 2007, 1.25 Billion in Q2 of 2008), this is not as high as was expected – Wall Street was expecting to see $4.74 per share – actual earnings were $4.63 per share.

With the economy down on its luck Google still managed to make more than $300 Million – roughly a 35% increase over the same period last year.

Microsofts profits for Q2 are also up by roughly 46 cents a share. They saw earnings in Q2 of 2007 at $3 Billion, and an increase of 42% to $4.3 billion for 2008. These are impressive earnings, however, Microsoft’s online business did not help much in terms of this profit. Compared to 2007, Q2 of 2008 actually saw a loss of $488 Million!

Had Microsoft’s Internet division actually turned a profit, they would have achieved Wall Streets estimate of 47 cents per share, rather than their actual 46 cents.

Yahoo has not yet released their Q2 Earnings for this year. Their shareholder conference call to discuss earnings is scheduled for July 22 at 5:00pm ET.

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This SEO News was posted by Scott Van Achte @ 4:17 PM.

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Tuesday, July 15, 2008

To trust or not to trust...

Written by Timothy Rule and published at 1:38 PM

I've had people ask me why I dislike using Internet Explorer so much.

I suppose part of the reason for my distaste is the behaviour Microsoft has displayed in the past and present. Forcing the use of their software has never sat well with me, particularly when the software in question is always so full of holes. Internet Explorer is infamous for bugs, ranging from major security flaws to simple annoyances and everything in between.

I just don't trust software that has always had so many obvious as well as not so obvious problems.

The example below pretty much sums up my lack of faith and explains why I use an alternate browser whenever possible.

I like to install windows updates manually so I can see what I'm installing and only install what I think is absolutely necessary. Every time I do this, I get this same window popping up.

I can’t see a point to having a trusted sites list if I have to confirm this one every single time. It comes pre-installed on the Start Menu for Pete's sake!

Presumably the warning of the potential security risk here is that you are about to expose your system to more Microsoft software. :-D

Labels: Microsoft, Tim Rule

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This SEO News was posted by Timothy Rule @ 1:38 PM.

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Monday, July 14, 2008

Goodbye Windows Live Expo

Written by Scott Van Achte and published at 2:20 PM

I am not sure where I have been for the past two years, but today is the first time I have heard about Windows Live Expo - today is also the day I heard about its scheduled demise.

Apparently this classified ad platform was considered to be a major threat for Craigslist, and this month, on July 31, Microsoft will pull the plug and the classified service launched back in February of 2006.

Considering I work online and spend at least 8 hours a day sitting in front of my computer, for me to have never heard of Windows Live Expo, is probably a good indicator of why it was ultimately a failure - quite simply, Microsoft just didn’t do a very good job getting the word out.

Labels: Microsoft

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This SEO News was posted by Scott Van Achte @ 2:20 PM.

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Friday, June 13, 2008

The LinkForth - Articles of Interest for Your Friday

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 3:48 PM

While cruising Google Reader I noted some great articles and tips that you shouldn't miss. Have a great read and an excellent weekend!

Google's Matt Cutts gives tips on what page extensions Google does not index. In summary, don't expect Google to index .exe extensions or URLs that end with a ".O" such as "www.xyzname.com/web2.0"; although Matt did note that the ".O" extension is being re-evaluated and tested for less troublesome indexing by Google.
Robert X. Cringely wrote a great article on a "Microsoft-killer" strategy that he believes Apple is putting into play based on the new MobileMe service coming soon. Here is an excerpt:

"Microsoft's success is based on two products and only two products -- Windows and Office. Microsoft is obsessed with the idea that Google will undermine one or both of those monopolies through Google Apps. This is all Steve Ballmer thinks about and is what made him so eager to spend $40+ billion for Yahoo. But what if the real threat isn't Google at all, but Apple?" ...

"Given the code Apple already has for its iWork applications, how much more effort would it take to webify those apps, too? Not much, I'd say. A year from now I guarantee you that MobileMe will offer a complete suite of web-based Office applications."
Yesterday Google announced "Fresher Related Search Suggestions" within search results. Google's press release is summed up below:

"Recently, we improved our algorithms to process new information faster, and the result is quite tangible -- you should now see fresher suggestions for queries on current topics of interest. "Because information on the web is constantly changing, we think this improvement will help you find relevant information faster. To give this a test drive, try searching for iphone. You should see related queries around the brand new 3G iPhone announced earlier this week."
On the Yahoo Anecdotal Blog Yahoo CEO and co-founder Jerry Yang announced the finalization of the company's agreement with Google to show Adsense advertisements alongside Yahoo search results in the USA and Canada. Here is the formal news release sent to Yahoo shareholders yesterday.

Jerry explained his reasoning for the Google partnership in 3 statements which I summarized below:

1) "First, it does not signal that Yahoo! plans to exit paid search. Quite the contrary. Through the financial benefits of better monetizing our search traffic, we’ll be investing in search services and ad platforms, including Panama. ..."

2) "Second, this deal is good for competition. ... as search and display continue their convergence, it puts Yahoo! in a better position to innovate and compete aggressively with Google and others for ad dollars. It also offers advertisers more choice and publishers gain better distribution and monetization to grow their business."

3) "Finally, this agreement is non-exclusive. We remain completely free to display any paid search listings across our properties — whether from Yahoo!, Google, or any other third parties."

In case you were wondering, here is what Google had to say about the partnership

Labels: Apple, Google, Link Forth, Microsoft, Ross Dunn, Yahoo

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This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 3:48 PM.

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Yahoo Told Microsoft to Take a Hike AGAIN this Week

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 3:19 PM

A picture of a fly swatter crushing a fly with Microsoft the fly and Yahoo the swatter

New details have surfaced of Microsoft's most recent dealings with Yahoo and another offer from Microsoft that was again swatted down by Yahoo. BoomTown's Kara Swisher talks of Microsoft's most recent bid that was designed to stifle the Google and Yahoo partnership before it was signed; a very tempting bid at that.

Swisher also points out a very insightful article by Harry Blodget on "Why Yahoo Passed on Microsoft's New Search Deal (New Details!)". Blodget sums up the reasons for Yahoo's choice well in this latest bid:

"Yahoo decided that the strategic drawbacks of the Microsoft deal outweighed the potentially huge financial and operational benefits... and told Microsoft to take a hike."

In closing, I noticed that Microsoft put out a plain-jane press release in response to Yahoo's signed partnership with a few very simple words indicating that doors are still open for partnership:

“In the weeks since Microsoft withdrew its offer to acquire Yahoo!, the two companies have continued to discuss an alternative transaction that Microsoft believes would have delivered in excess of $33 per share to the Yahoo! shareholders. This partnership would ensure healthy competition in the marketplace, providing greater choice and innovation for advertisers, publishers and consumers.
“As stated on May 3^rd and reiterated on May 18^th Microsoft was not interested in rebidding for all of Yahoo!. Our alternative transaction remains available for discussion.”

May the drama continue...

by Ross Dunn, CEO, StepForth Web Marketing Inc.

Labels: Google, Microsoft, Ross Dunn, Yahoo

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This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 3:19 PM.

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Thursday, June 05, 2008

Windows Vista Lives

Written by Scott Van Achte and published at 3:37 PM

Very recently my old laptop started giving me a world of problems ranging from minor software to rather serious hardware issues. For a three year old laptop it just didn’t make sense to fix it, so I decided to take the leap and buy a replacement.

I originally had hoped on finding something with Windows XP, and the only new machine I could find with XP was through Dell - my now dead laptop was a Dell, so I decided to pass and jumped over to a Toshiba running Vista.

Surprisingly thus far I like Vista, and it has only given me a few correctable & minor inconveniences. Of course, only after purchasing the new machine did I read that Microsoft has again opened the doors to selling Windows XP, and it will be made available on "Ultra Low Cost" Notebooks and PC’s.

It seems that Microsoft, in the wake of so many complaints about Vista, and so many people wanting new machines with XP, has decided to extend its availability, and manufacturers are able to produce and sell XP based systems, possibly until June 2010. Microsoft has officially stated that technical support will still be available for Windows XP until at least 2014, giving you a solid 6 years of life left using XP.

The catch is, XP will only be made available on these new "Ultra Low Cost" systems, which are limited by CPU speed and screen size, so if you want that high power machine, you better keep thinking Vista.

If you are one of those users in need of a new machine but are holding off due to distaste for Vista, you do have options. According to an article published today at InfoWorld, Asus will have machines available with XP until June 2010, and manufacturers such as Dell and HP will have "downgraded" XP systems available until Jan 31, 2009 and July 30 2009 respectively.

If you plan on purchasing a custom built PC from a local shop, January 31, 2009 is the last date that XP will be available.

Personally, all this seems kind of strange. If so many customers are complaining about Windows Vista, and want to purchase Windows XP, why not sell it to them? I can understand the desire to move forward, but with such a high demand on a product, it only seems to make sense to continue offering and profiting off of it - at least until ALL the bugs are worked out with Vista. Hmm, has there ever been a ‘bug free’ Microsoft product?

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This SEO News was posted by Scott Van Achte @ 3:37 PM.

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Google Hasn't Won Yet Says Microsoft's Steve Ballmer

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 1:31 PM

The Washington Post posted an interview with the CEO of Microsoft, Steve Ballmer today that touched on topics such as Microsoft's bid for Yahoo and the future of advertising. What I enjoyed most was the segment on the Future of Advertising where Ballmer, in his animated way, discussed Microsoft's plans for the future and their continuing contest with Google.

Labels: Microsoft, Ross Dunn, Video

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This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 1:31 PM.

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Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Microsoft adCenter Desktop Beta

Written by Scott Van Achte and published at 2:16 PM

For a few years now Google has offered their AdWords advertisers an alternative to the online interface with AdWords Editor, a downloadable program offering additional functionality to make managing your campaigns just a little bit easier. Today at SMX Advanced, Kevin Johnson, Microsoft’s Platform & Services Division President, announced the launch of a similar such product for Microsoft adCenter, in Beta of course.

Microsoft’s vision is a fully functional desktop client version for adCenter, rather than just an editor. This means that tools such as those used for keyword research will be integrated into the software, a feature lacking by Google AdWords Editor.

This product launch will likely make many advertisers happy assuming it all goes smoothly. Our experience with adCenter is that of awkwardness as their interface is far from user friendly, taking several steps to complete a task done with only a single click over at Google.

Unlike many other beta launches that are accessible to only a select few deep pocket advertisers, adCenter Desktop beta is available to anyone with an account in good standing. If you meet the adCenter terms and conditions, you are eligible to apply. If interested in giving the beta a try, fill in their application form to be considered.

Labels: Microsoft, MSN, PPC, Scott Van Achte

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This SEO News was posted by Scott Van Achte @ 2:16 PM.

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Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Microsoft’s New Beta, Out of this World.

Written by Scott Van Achte and published at 11:16 AM

Microsoft offered a sneak peak back in February, and as of Tuesday the public beta of WorldWide Telescope has been made available, according to a Press Release issued by Microsoft.

The online virtual telescope has been created in response to Google’s launch of Google Sky a few years ago, and takes things to the next level with a huge database of high resolution images from various stars, galaxies, and other non-earthly entities. Ray Gould spoke about WorldWide Telescope back in February and noted that some of "the best images from the worlds greatest telescopes from earth and in space are woven them seamlessly to produce a holistic view of the Universe."

"The WorldWide Telescope is a powerful tool for science and education that makes it possible for everyone to explore the universe," said Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft. "By combining terabytes of incredible imagery and data with easy-to-use software for viewing and moving through all that information, the WorldWide Telescope opens the door to new ways to see and experience the wonders of space. Our hope is that it will inspire young people to explore astronomy and science, and help researchers in their quest to better understand the universe."

WorldWide Telescope, Much like Google’s Earth & Sky products, is offered free and is currently available for download. While the user interface is quite different, the overall experience is very similar. WorldWide Telescope has a more modern and sleek interface than Google Sky, but in the end both have about the same to offer.

I prefer the Microsoft interface with easy graphic thumbnails to take you directly to the celestial body. Personally I find that this new beta release offers a higher level visual experience, which is why I would likely turn to it in the future.

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This SEO News was posted by Scott Van Achte @ 11:16 AM.

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Saturday, May 03, 2008

Microsoft Backs Down from Yahoo

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 10:06 PM

The web is afire with the news that after its latest bid attempt to takeover Yahoo failed, Microsoft decided to back down. My desktop news widget is going wild with this news... updating every 30s or so with more updates from Wall Street Journal, CNN Money, Forbes, Information Week, CNet News, etc; hot news indeed. All those big time journals aside it appears that BoomTown's Kara Swisher was the first to break the news.

So what happened? Why not read it directly from Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer:

May 3, 2008

Mr. Jerry Yang
CEO and Chief Yahoo
Yahoo Inc.
701 First Avenue
Sunnyvale, CA 94089

Dear Jerry:

After over three months, we have reached the conclusion of the process regarding a possible combination of Microsoft and Yahoo.

I first want to convey my personal thanks to you, your management team, and Yahoo's Board of Directors for your consideration of our proposal. I appreciate the time and attention all of you have given to this matter, and I especially appreciate the time that you have invested personally. I feel that our discussions this week have been particularly useful, providing me for the first time with real clarity on what is and is not possible.

I am disappointed that Yahoo has not moved towards accepting our offer. I first called you with our offer on January 31 because I believed that a combination of our two companies would have created real value for our respective shareholders and would have provided consumers, publishers, and advertisers with greater innovation and choice in the marketplace. Our decision to offer a 62 percent premium at that time reflected the strength of these convictions.

In our conversations this week, we conveyed our willingness to raise our offer to $33.00 per share, reflecting again our belief in this collective opportunity. This increase would have added approximately another $5 billion of value to your shareholders, compared to the current value of our initial offer. It also would have reflected a premium of over 70 percent compared to the price at which your stock closed on January 31. Yet it has proven insufficient, as your final position insisted on Microsoft paying yet another $5 billion or more, or at least another $4 per share above our $33.00 offer.

Also, after giving this week's conversations further thought, it is clear to me that it is not sensible for Microsoft to take our offer directly to your shareholders. This approach would necessarily involve a protracted proxy contest and eventually an exchange offer. Our discussions with you have led us to conclude that, in the interim, you would take steps that would make Yahoo undesirable as an acquisition for Microsoft.

We regard with particular concern your apparent planning to respond to a "hostile" bid by pursuing a new arrangement that would involve or lead to the outsourcing to Google of key paid Internet search terms offered by Yahoo today. In our view, such an arrangement with the dominant search provider would make an acquisition of Yahoo undesirable to us for a number of reasons:

-- First, it would fundamentally undermine Yahoo's own strategy and long-term viability by encouraging advertisers to use Google as opposed to your Panama paid search system. This would also fragment your search advertising and display advertising strategies and the ecosystem surrounding them. This would undermine the reliance on your display advertising business to fuel future growth.

-- Given this, it would impair Yahoo's ability to retain the talented engineers working on advertising systems that are important to our interest in a combination of our companies.

-- In addition, it would raise a host of regulatory and legal problems that no acquirer, including Microsoft, would want to inherit. Among other things, this would consolidate market share with the already-dominant paid search provider in a manner that would reduce competition and choice in the marketplace.

-- This would also effectively enable Google to set the prices for key search terms on both their and your search platforms and, in the process, raise prices charged to advertisers on Yahoo. In addition to whatever resulting legal problems, this seems unwise from a business perspective unless in fact one simply wishes to use this as a vehicle to exit the paid search business in favor of Google.

-- It could foreclose any chance of a combination with any other search provider that is not already relying on Google's search services.

Accordingly, your apparent plan to pursue such an arrangement in the event of a proxy contest or exchange offer leads me to the firm decision not to pursue such a path. Instead, I hereby formally withdraw Microsoft's proposal to acquire Yahoo.

We will move forward and will continue to innovate and grow our business at Microsoft with the talented team we have in place and potentially through strategic transactions with other business partners.

I still believe even today that our offer remains the only alternative put forward that provides your stockholders full and fair value for their shares. By failing to reach an agreement with us, you and your stockholders have left significant value on the table.

But clearly a deal is not to be.

Thank you again for the time we have spent together discussing this.

Sincerely yours,
Steven A. Ballmer

Steven A. Ballmer
Chief Executive Officer
Microsoft Corporation

Yahoo's Reply
Yahoo's Chairman Roy Bostock issued a public statement that included some jubilant words from Jerry Yang about the "distraction of Microsoft's unsolicited bid":

"We remain focused on maximizing shareholder value and pursuing strategic opportunities that position Yahoo! for success and leadership in its markets. From the beginning of this process, our independent board and our management have been steadfast in our belief that Microsoft's offer undervalued the company and we are pleased that so many of our shareholders joined us in expressing that view. Yahoo! is profitable, growing, and executing well on its strategic plan to capture the large opportunities in the relatively young online advertising market. Our solid results for the first quarter of 2008 and increased full year 2008 operating cash flow outlook reflect the progress the company is making. Today, Yahoo! has:
-- a refined strategic focus to drive enhanced volume and yield;
-- reorganized to focus its efforts on its most promising products and services;
-- invested in innovations designed to revolutionize display advertising and facilitate closing the competitive gap in search; and
-- enhanced expense and resource management to support improved profitability."
Jerry Yang, co-founder and chief executive officer, Yahoo! Inc. added, "I am incredibly proud of the way our team has come together over the last three months. This process has underscored our unique and valuable strategic position. With the distraction of Microsoft's unsolicited proposal now behind us, we will be able to focus all of our energies on executing the most important transition in our history so that we can maximize our potential to the benefit of our shareholders, employees, partners and users."

BONUS - Ballmer's Internal Memo to Microsoft
I came across this article at CNet a few minutes ago showing a copy of Steve Ballmer's internatl memo to Microsoft staff and felt it was worth including:

From: Steve Ballmer
Sent: Saturday, May 03, 2008 5:18 PM
To: Microsoft - All Employees (QBDG)
Subject: Withdrawal of Offer to Acquire Yahoo!
This afternoon I sent the attached letter to Jerry Yang announcing that Microsoft has withdrawn its proposal to acquire Yahoo. We proposed the deal in the belief that a Microsoft-Yahoo merger would create a combined company with the resources and assets to win in the fast-growing market for advertising and online services.
Although the acquisition of Yahoo would have accelerated our ability to deliver on our strategy in advertising and online services, I remain confident that we can achieve our goals without Yahoo. We have a strategy in place to do so and we will continue to expand on this strategy and accelerate our progress.
Our strategy has three components:
Deliver on the basics. We will continue to improve search relevance and build out our ad platform.

Change the game through innovation. We will expand investments in engineering and deliver transformative tools and Web experiences.

Expand our global scale and focus. We will pursue partnerships and investments to realize the competitive advantages that come with scale.
At the heart of our strategy is a commitment to bring the benefits of competition, choice, and innovation to everyone who uses the Internet--from consumers to content creators to advertisers.
We are 100 percent focused on executing on this strategy and we have made good progress in a very short time. We've improved search relevance dramatically, introduced compelling new search verticals, successfully integrated Aquantive, and added nearly 100 new publishers to our ad platform. In the last couple of months we've rolled out new versions of key products including Internet Explorer and Silverlight, and introduced new technologies like Live Mesh. We now have over 430 million active users of our Windows Live services worldwide. And we continue to add new technologies with acquisitions such as YaData, which brings leading-edge behavioral targeting technology, and Caligari, which gives us advanced 3D modeling capabilities that will help us continue to improve Virtual Earth.
Ultimately, our goal is to build the industry-leading business in search, online advertising, media, and social networking.
We are absolutely committed to being the leader in each of these areas. Now is the time to do what we have always done best--be tenacious, focus on the long term, innovate, and keep working hard.
I want to thank all of you for your patience during this process and for your dedication and hard work across all of our businesses. We asked that you remain focused on our goals through these cycles, and you have done this extremely well. We are committed to making the investments that will enable us to compete and, ultimately, lead in the online services and advertising businesses. Together, I know we will succeed.
Steve

Oh Well
Too bad, I had really hoped this merger would go through for entirely self serving reasons noted previously. That said, huge huge kudos are due to Jerry Yang and his impressive team. I have to wonder just how much sleep they managed to get over the past 3 months since Ballmer's 'unsolicited' kick in the teeth; they have been busier than a one-legged man in an arse kicking contest. Here is a rundown (I plan on updating it soon to bring it up to date) on what Yahoo was up to for only part of that 3 month process... it is a long list.

By the way, I think someone at Wikipedia needs to update their Yahoo Timeline.

by Ross Dunn, CEO, StepForth Web Marketing Inc.

Labels: Microsoft, Ross Dunn, Yahoo

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This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 10:06 PM.

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Friday, March 28, 2008

Update at Microsoft Live Search

Written by Scott Van Achte and published at 1:35 PM

Search Engine Roundtable reported Tuesday that Microsoft Live Search, in an effort to "loosen up the spam filter", has seen a major update. Over at WebmasterWorld however many are annoyed at the apparent level of poor results.

'caveman', one of the moderators at WebmasterWorld, made the comment "the net result has been more pages from iffy, third tier sites ranking than I have seen in long while"

If across the board results will continue to be of lower quality, it would not be surprising to see Microsoft roll back the update - either that or watch their market share dip even lower into the single digits; a loss they can't afford to take.

Labels: Live Search, Microsoft, Scott Van Achte

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This SEO News was posted by Scott Van Achte @ 1:35 PM.

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Tuesday, March 04, 2008

An Interview with Jeremiah Andrick of Live Search Webmaster Tools

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 11:34 PM

On Feb 28th at SMX West I was fortunate to spend some time with Jeremiah Andrick, Program Manager of Live Search Webmaster Center. To start I let Jeremiah give an introduction to Live Webmaster Tools and soon after we began discussing some of the latest additions to the tools and he gave an inkling that some major stuff is coming down the line. I hope you enjoy the interview because I had a lot of fun doing it. Microsoft is very lucky to have a talented down-to-earth guy like Jeremiah on the team. I am surely going to hit him up for more interviews in the future but he won't get off quite so easily... I will have more pointed questions next time around ;-) This, however, is a great introduction to Jeremiah and the tools that Live Search Webmaster Center provides.

And now, the video:

by Ross Dunn, CEO, StepForth Web Marketing Inc.
Celebrating over 10 years of web marketing excellence

Labels: Interviews, Live Search, Microsoft, Ross Dunn, smxwest08

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This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 11:34 PM.

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Thursday, February 14, 2008

Yahoo's Road to War - The Bumps and Scrapes in Sequence

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 9:52 PM

Over the past week I have been keeping the StepForth SEO Blog updated on the events focused on Microsoft's attempted acquisition of Yahoo and the fall out since. This is becoming quite a debacle so I thought a little chronological update on how all this went down might be useful.

From 2006 to Now

2006: Rumors abounded that Yahoo and Microsoft were in talks about working together and that an acquisition was possible. However, nothing substantial was revealed at the time but we later learned that Yahoo refused to work with Microsoft.
May 4th, 2007: The rumor mill was working overtime that Microsoft was quietly trying to acquire Yahoo for $50 billion. I was elated :-)
Jan 22, 2008: The New York Times reports that Yahoo is expected to layoff hundreds of staff in order to boost profitability and share prices. The quarterly earnings report is eagerly anticipated on Jan 29th.
Jan 29, 2008: Yahoo's quarterly earnings fall short of shareholders expectations.
Jan 29, 2008: The New York Times relays news from Yahoo that the search giant has confirmed it will layoff 1000 employees by mid-February.
Jan 31, 2008: Microsoft officially offers to acquire Yahoo while the iron is hot for $44 billion which is roughly equivalent to $31 per share.
Feb 1, 2008: Yahoo announces its Board of Directors will evaluate the unsolicited offer from Microsoft.
Feb 3, 2008: Google's David Drummond weighs in on the hostile bid by Microsoft citing concerns that a potential purchase of Yahoo by Microsoft "raises troubling questions". He goes on to ask "Could the acquisition of Yahoo! allow Microsoft -- despite its legacy of serious legal and regulatory offenses -- to extend unfair practices from browsers and operating systems to the Internet?" Check out this hilarious interpretation of Mr. Drummond's blog posting by Kara Swisher.
Feb 11, 2008: Yahoo's Board of Directors deny Microsoft's offer on the grounds that the proposal "substantially undervalues Yahoo!" Here is a link to the common questions and answers page that Yahoo created for the media.
Feb 11, 2008: Microsoft promptly responds to Yahoo's rebuff with a 'gloves are off' tone. In the letter Microsoft says it will "ensure that Yahoo!'s shareholders are provided with the opportunity to realize the value inherent in our proposal."
Feb 12, 2008: The first lawsuit was filed against Yahoo by shareholders unhappy the company didn't agree to the Microsoft buyout.
Feb 12, 2008: The first of the 1000 Yahoo layoffs begin.
Feb 12, 2008: Yahoo exec Bradley Horowitz leaves Yahoo and moves to Google. Bradley was head of Yahoo's Advanced Technology Division and his departure is only the beginning of a long list of talent that is likely to leave Yahoo over the coming months. See Bradley's bio and you will see why this respected man's departure will hurt. To his credit, however, Bradley insists his departure was not directly due to recent events.
Feb 13, 2008: Yahoo writes a letter to shareholders trying to drum up excitement in companies future without Microsoft.
Feb 13, 2008: Yahoo announces an acquisition of online video company Maven Networks. Why? "Video is projected to be the fastest growing segment of the online ad market, and Maven will significantly help advance Yahoo's strategy, expanding the video opportunity for publishers and increasing the efficiency and effectiveness for advertisers."

Sniff... sniff... I smell desperation! This is yet another rallying cry from Jerry Yang to help keep Yahoo from the slobbering jaws of Microsoft... unless of course Microsoft offers $35 or $36 a share at which point OKAY.

So What Now?
First of all, forget about Google saving the day. I would put money on Google being out of the picture for any possible partnership with Yahoo; Google is just not interested in the certain SEC ramifications of such a partnership.

With that potential path closed Yahoo has had to look elsewhere. As a result there are rumours that News Corp and Yahoo are talking in an attempt to forge a deal that could counter Microsoft's.

Meanwhile Yahoo is facing pressure from all sides to make a move that appeases the company's particularly distressed shareholders and they had better do something soon. Otherwise, (this is hard to believe) matters could actually get uglier.

by Ross Dunn, CEO, StepForth Web Marketing Inc.

Feel free to republish this article under the following conditions: the posting must credit the author (Ross Dunn) before it begins and it should include a permalink back to this original posting (without a nofollow). Thank you.

Labels: Google, Microsoft, Ross Dunn, SEO News, Yahoo

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This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 9:52 PM.

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Monday, February 11, 2008

Time for a Hostile Takeover of Yahoo

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 3:12 PM

Microsoft released the following official statement today in response to Yahoo's denial of the $44 bn dollar offer and I highlighted Microsoft's fully-expected overture towards a hostile takeover:

It is unfortunate that Yahoo! has not embraced our full and fair proposal to combine our companies. Based on conversations with stakeholders of both companies, we are confident that moving forward promptly to consummate a transaction is in the best interests of all parties.
We are offering shareholders superior value and the opportunity to participate in the upside of the combined company. The combination also offers an increasingly exciting set of solutions for consumers, publishers and advertisers while becoming better positioned to compete in the online services market.
A Microsoft-Yahoo! combination will create a more effective company that would provide greater value and service to our customers. Furthermore, the combination will create a more competitive marketplace by establishing a compelling number two competitor for Internet search and online advertising.
The Yahoo! response does not change our belief in the strategic and financial merits of our proposal. As we have said previously, Microsoft reserves the right to pursue all necessary steps to ensure that Yahoo!’s shareholders are provided with the opportunity to realize the value inherent in our proposal.

The nastiness is about to begin as Microsoft is likely to launch its first publicly hostile takeover of another company.

Labels: Microsoft, Ross Dunn, Yahoo

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Yahoo Spurns Microsoft Offer BUT Will it Stick?

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 2:27 PM

Jerry Yang and Bill Gates in a Borg suit shown. - Resistance is Futile!

Over the weekend Bloomberg reports that Yahoo's board decided to reject Microsoft's offer of $44 bn because they felt their stock was substantially undervalued but they hinted they could be drawn back to the table with a more alluring offer.

"The board spent a week reviewing the $31-per-share offer before deciding it was too low. The statement didn't give a counter-proposal for the price. Yahoo wants at least $40, the Wall Street Journal reported this weekend." (source Bloomberg exclusive)

Yahoo appears to be trying to save face since the offer Microsoft provided was given during a slump in their stock. It all smelled like a quasi-hostile takeover... after all, Yahoo shareholder's could not have been too happy with the web giant's declining value. That said, Yahoo CEO and Founder Jerry Yang is very protective of his baby and if he is going to sell out I am sure it will have to be for a price that he knows he can't say no to.

Unfortunately Jerry Yang may not have a choice. According to a follow up article from Bloomberg, Microsoft may take the straight and undeniably hostile route and contact shareholders directly in order to influence the decision. According to Bloomber the letter of offer to Yahoo threatened the following:

"Microsoft reserves the right to pursue all necessary steps to ensure that Yahoo's shareholders are provided with the opportunity to realize the value inherent in our proposal.''

Now that is considered a subtle threat... right? Haha, I think not. I expect Jerry Yang is not a happy camper right now and I can't say I would either in his position. He obviously does not want to sell his baby but that is the sad catch-22 of having a public company; you may have a lot of money to play with but it isn't all yours and the shareholders have power.

I am very intrigued to see how this pans out. Will Microsoft make it's first ever public hostile takeover? How long will Jerry Yang hang on and how far will he go to keep it?

Below I have posted a graph from Alexa.com showing the past 5 years of "REACH" that the top search engines have experienced: Yahoo.com (in Blue), Google.com, Live.com (Microsoft), MSN.com (Microsoft), Ask.com. The chart serves to illustrate one very important fact that is easy to forget; Yahoo is still ahead of Google when calculating sheer reach. Yahoo simply isn't performing as well as the markets expect which is why stocks are plummeting and layoffs are occuring. This is partially why I think Jerry Yang is so resistant to the buyout - he still sees so much potential (real or imagined).

by Ross Dunn, CEO, StepForth Web Marketing Inc.

Labels: Microsoft, Online Statistics, Ross Dunn, Yahoo

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This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 2:27 PM.

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Friday, February 01, 2008

Will Microsoft Buy Yahoo This Time?

Written by Scott Van Achte and published at 3:23 PM

The rumors have been flying around for some time now over whether or not Microsoft will put in an offer for search Giant Yahoo. Many have speculated over the past few months as to if Microsoft would try for an acquisition, and if so, how much was it worth to them.

This morning all speculation came to an end when Microsoft unexpectantly waved $44.6 Billion under Yahoo’s nose. Shortly after the announcement Yahoo Shares rose sharply by more than 50%, while Google shares took another 8% drop down to 515.90 by close of day Friday.

The latest acquisition attempt, and what would be one of the largest in history, would put Microsoft in a position to actually compete with distant leader Google.

In a conference call this morning Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer stated:

“This is a decision we have – and I have – thought long and hard about,” Ballmer said. “We are confident it's the right path for Microsoft and Yahoo.”

Last year Microsoft purchased online ad service aQuantive for a stagger $6 Billion – petty cash compared the offer currently on the table for Yahoo.

Last year Microsoft was negotiating to purchase yahoo (see Microsoft Buy Yahoo? Yes Please!) And at that time the Wall Street Journal had estimated Yahoo’s value at around $50 Billion.

Will the deal go though this time? It would certainly stir things up and make life a little more interesting for us SEO folks – If the past is any indication of the future, then this deal may just fizzle out, but with Yahoos recent layoff announcement, and lower than expected fourth quarter earnings, this just may be there way out.

(on a completely “conspiracy theory” type level, perhaps Yahoo just paid off Microsoft under the table to stage a fake offer in order to drive Yahoo shares up? Do I believe this – well no, but I was recently reading about some famous historical publicity stunts, so this theory came to mind and I wanted to share it)

Labels: Microsoft, Scott Van Achte, Yahoo

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This SEO News was posted by Scott Van Achte @ 3:23 PM.

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Wednesday, January 09, 2008

WPN Insider Interview with Microsoft Live Search

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 5:02 PM

Mike McDonald of WebProNews conducted a great, very informative interview with Live Webmaster Tool's Product Manager, Jeremiah Andrick.

Jeremiah discusses paid links, cloaking, the backlink function at Live Search and my special favorite - the incident where Adwords ads got indexed. Check it out, I think you will appreciate the frankness of Jeremiah's answers. You can certainly tell that Microsoft has finally figured out that Webmasters need to feel the love.

Special thanks to Barry Schwartz and the SE Round Table for recommending this video. I am glad I fit it into my busy day.

Labels: Microsoft, MSN, SEO Tips, Video

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Microsoft Acquires FASTer Search

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 4:05 PM

The search world appears to have renewed its interest in Microsoft's potential in the search industry since the company reportedly put in an offer to acquire Norwegian search company Fast Search for 1.23 billion.

So why all the hullaballoo? Well, Microsoft's Live Search has some good technology behind it but it has not exactly impressed those that want highly relevant search. The acquisition of FAST search technology, however, would provide Microsoft with an infusion of established processes light years more developed than its own.

Labels: Microsoft, MSN, Ross Dunn

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Thursday, December 13, 2007

Microsoft Purchases Multimap

Written by Scott Van Achte and published at 2:17 PM

In an effort to compete with Google Maps and Google Earth, and to capture the traffic of one of the UK's most visited websites, Microsoft has purchased online mapping service Multimap for an undisclosed sum.

According to a press release issued by Multimap on Dec 12, "Multimap will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft as part of the Visual Earth and Search teams in the Online Services Group."

"The addition of Multimap enhances Microsoft's position as a leading provider of mapping and location platform services," said Sharon Baylay, general manager of the Online Services Group at Microsoft. "This acquisition will play a significant role in the future growth of our search business and presents a huge opportunity to expand our platform business beyond the U.K. and globally. We are thrilled to welcome Multimap onboard."

Multimap is among of the UK's top 100 tech companies, and is one of the leading online mapping services. Their services include street-level maps, road maps, door-to-door travel directions, aerial photos, and links to location information and services.

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Monday, November 19, 2007

On the Surface Microsoft's Future Looks Bright

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 3:00 PM

Wallstrip published a great newscast heralding, with some disbelief, that Microsoft's stocks had just reached a 5 year high. The video is worth the watch and I followed it up with my less than glowing opinion on the mega-corporation's current path.

So according to stocks Microsoft is doing quite well and it is apparent that part of that success is a result of their high sales of Vista. Unfortunately for Microsoft, I can say with relative certainty that a significant percentage of Vista sales were forced upon new PC buyers and many would switch back to XP if they had a chance. In fact Dell even switched back to offering XP products after they received a myriad of complaints that Vista-only PCs were becoming the norm.

Additionally, Computer World UK posted an interesting article that cited "most IT professionals are worried about Vista and that 44% have considered non-Windows operating systems, such as Linux and Macintosh, to avoid the Microsoft migration."

In short, it seems that a considerable portion of Microsoft's gains are from a product that sold well due to hype and forced use with new PCs. I don't know about you but that has reinforced my skepticisim over Microsoft's continued gains in the OS marketplace. In fact, I think the demand for a newbie-friendly Linux OS is getting stronger as many small business owners like myself tire of the costly upgrades from Microsoft; costly not just financially but from a stability standpoint.

Is Microsoft Doomed to Complacency?
Now I understand that comparing Microsoft's grip on the OS industry to the search industry is a long shot; Microsoft is the Google of the OS industry after all. However, stretch your imagination and compare where MSN was when it was arguably a significant player in search and where Microsoft's OS division is now. Why Microsoft lost search market share can be put quite simply... a lack of innovation. MSN lost its edge and fell into obscurity while relying on Windows to maintain its user base; nowadays Microsoft's share of search has faded to appalling levels. In fact, as the MarketingPilgrim blog noted brand is becoming more important and Microsoft's pride that Live Search's results are highly relevant is, frankly, outdated. Proudly announcing relevant search results is akin to a company saying they offer "professional services"... umm, yes I would hope so. Comparatively Microsoft is wildly insistent that its OS is the present and future of the PC, however, the simplicity and innovativeness of Apple and the out-of-the-box stability and low cost of Linux is eroding Microsoft's market share and in-turn its brand.

All-in-all, I have a hard time remembering any significant advance that Microsoft released before any other company. Doubtless there are many but the fact that I, an ardent computer geek, cannot think of something right away... well I think that speaks volumes. Microsoft needs to learn a few things from its competitors (like Google); empower your massive research and development department by allowing them to launch betas and innovate in the public forum! Without some innovation and some sense that Microsoft is something more than a follower the mega company will always seem to be one step behind the competition and that is going to do nothing good for its brand. In fact I think their brand will slowly rot away unless they show they deserve the continued respect they so often expect.

by Ross Dunn, CEO, StepForth Web Marketing Inc.
Celebrating Over 10 Years of Web Marketing Excellence

Labels: Microsoft, MSN, Ross Dunn

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Wednesday, November 07, 2007

A Peek at Microsoft's Webmaster Tools

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 12:38 PM

Barry Schwartz over at Search Engine Round Table posted screenshots of Microsoft's Live Search Webmaster Portal in Beta. Head on over and check it out. So far nothing appears to be all that dissimilar to the other portals out there but it is still an interesting peek

Labels: Microsoft, MSN, Ross Dunn

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Friday, October 26, 2007

Microsoft Jumping on the OLPC Bandwagon

Written by Timothy Rule and published at 3:31 PM

Hello all. My name is Tim Rule and I’m the most recent addition to the StepForth team. I believe my current title is “Gopher”, but I’m preparing to take over PPC management from Scott in the very near future.

I thought I’d take this opportunity to introduce myself to this blog by sharing an interesting thread I read in Slashdot this morning.

Not surprisingly, Microsoft has been fairly quick to recognize the long term threat to their dominant stature and have already taken steps towards addressing this.

With the XO not even released yet, I find it amazing the speed with which they have undertaken to insert themselves into this relatively recent initiative. It makes one wonder why they often seem so sluggish to resolve problems with their own products and yet find the energy to jump into new initiatives.

For those of you not familiar with the upcoming XO laptop you can learn more on this site.

Personally, I applaud this initiative and intend to pick up one of these myself. I can think of no globally worthwhile investment an individual can make to beat this. It is pretty hard to beat getting a warm, fuzzy feeling, a nifty new toy and a tax write off in one fell swoop.

I like the irony of the XO name as well.

Labels: Microsoft, New Tech, Tim Rule

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Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Microsoft Releases New Live Search Features

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 4:45 PM

On Monday Microsoft announced a new set of features had been rolled out within their Live Search platform:

Microsoft Corp. today announced the final updates to the fall release of its Live Search service, introducing a broad array of new services and features to its local and mobile search offerings. The new features and enhancements are designed to make it easier for people to find what they need at home or on the go through significant innovations in mapping, imagery and driving directions as well as new services to make the mobile search experience easy and powerful.

For more info check out their news release.

Labels: Microsoft, Ross Dunn, SEO News

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This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 4:45 PM.

Copyright ©2006-2012, The SEO News Blog, StepForth SEO Services
View this Article Only: Microsoft Releases New Live Search Features

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Thursday, September 13, 2007

Microsoft Attacks Google

Written by Scott Van Achte and published at 2:03 PM

Microsoft has attacked Google in a statement released on Monday. ZDNET reported the statement was released shortly after Google signed a deal with Capgemini to promote its office-productivity software.

The statement had 10 questions directed at Google App users and those considering the software. These questions addressed the perpetual beta stage for many of Google’s products as well as the minimal functionality for fundamental features such as headers, footers, and footnotes.

There has been no word on Google’s stance on this statement.

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This SEO News was posted by Scott Van Achte @ 2:03 PM.

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Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Digg Signs Three Year Advertising Deal with Microsoft

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 4:00 PM

Today Microsoft earned a win that made me look twice by convincing Digg to sign a 3 year deal where Microsoft Ads will be the "exclusive provider of display and contextual advertising on Digg" (see press release). Having previously used Google Adsense to serve ads (according to Barry Schwartz's breaking article) it is a huge win for Microsoft to peg this contract. This immensity of this win became especially clear when I compared a few of the top social media voting sites side by side at Compete.com. As you can see below Digg pulverizes the competition with a reach of approximately 22.5 million visitors per month in comparison to Reddit (976,882), and StumbleUpon (731,424).

Charts or no charts, however you look at this agreement advertising with Microsoft Ads has just become a lot more tantalizing.

Labels: Microsoft, Ross Dunn, Social Marketing

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This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 4:00 PM.

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View this Article Only: Digg Signs Three Year Advertising Deal with Microsoft

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Friday, July 20, 2007

Google Down and Microsoft Up in Online Searches

Written by Scott Van Achte and published at 10:13 AM

The latest figures from comScore are in and Microsoft is picking up speed.

While long standing search leader Google continues to dominate by a large margin, comScore reports Google losing some ground in June, while MSN saw a noticeable increase.

Latest figures for Google show a drop to 49.5%, down 1.2% from May. Yahoo also saw a decline of a little over a percentage point down 1.3 to 25.1%. Meanwhile Microsoft had a significant gain, up from its low 10.3 to a higher low of 13.2%. Ask remains unchanged at 5%.

In June Americans performed 8.0 billion online searches, which are up 6 percent from May, and up 26 percent from June 2006.

Interestingly enough, while both Google and Yahoo both saw a decrease in their percentage share for the month of June both search engines actually saw an increase in the actual number of searches conducted. With Microsoft's nearly 3% jump, along with an increase in American searches, Microsoft experienced a spike in search volume up 36% over May, a substantial increase by any means.

Microsoft’s increase is partially credited to the introduction of the Live Search Club launched in late May, a program created to reward users of Live Search. Using their Windows Live ID and logging in to play games, and completing puzzles that involve searches users earn tickets which can then be redeemed for rewards.

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This SEO News was posted by Scott Van Achte @ 10:13 AM.

Copyright ©2006-2012, The SEO News Blog, StepForth SEO Services
View this Article Only: Google Down and Microsoft Up in Online Searches

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Thursday, July 12, 2007

An Uncensored Peak into Google

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 3:54 PM

On June 24th an anonymous blogger posted an interview he did with an ex Google employee called "Life at Google - The Microsoftie Perspective". Due to the required anonymity of the interview (Google is probably not happy about it) it cannot be verified for its authenticity but the post has caused a ton of noise over the past month and I found it a very intriguing read. To many this is a very old story but if you missed it I think you will really enjoy it. I sensed it was credible because it smacked of truth but the ultimate decision is yours - whether to believe it or not.

The rest of this post is a snippet from the interview in a Q&A format as shown in the original post:

1. What is the culture really like? How many hours are people actually working? What are the least amount of hours you can work before you are looked down upon?

The culture at Google is very much like the old culture at Microsoft – back when the company felt like most employees were in their mid 20’s. These kids don’t have a life yet so they spend all of their time at work. Google provides nearly everything these people need from clothes (new T-shirts are placed in bins for people to grab *twice* a week!) to food – three, free, all-you-can-eat meals a day. Plus on-site health care, dental care, laundry service, gym, etc. Imagine going from college to this environment and you can see how much everyone works. People are generally in the building between 10am and about 6pm every day, but nearly everyone is on e-mail 24/7 and most people spend most of their evenings working from home.

This culture changes a bit with more experienced folks. They generally work 10a – 6pm like the new hires, and most of them are on email until around midnight. It’s pretty common for them to be working most of the evening, too.

Labels: Google, Microsoft, Ross Dunn

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This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 3:54 PM.

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Thursday, July 05, 2007

Apple Patent Application for Multi-Touch Mouse

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 9:09 AM

In a story totally unrelated to SEO but just geeky enough that I HAD to post it - Apple's patent application surfaced today for a mouse that has a built-in multi-touch surface similar to the screen on the Apple iPhone.

This peek at an advanced mouse from Apple gives some insight into the company's incredible imagination and impressive research and development department.

This multi-touch technology is also expected to debut over the next year by Microsoft code named 'Milan'. Coined as "surface computing," Microsoft's Milan computing interface is extremely impressive. Scott Van Achte wrote about surface computing a month ago, but here is a direct link to a preview of this very cool new technology.

Labels: Apple, Microsoft, New Tech, Ross Dunn

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This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 9:09 AM.

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Friday, June 22, 2007

Microsoft’s New R&D Center

Written by Scott Van Achte and published at 9:08 AM

The big search engines are spending money like crazy these days. From the many new multi-billion dollar acquisitions taking place over the past several months, to the second $600 Million data centers under construction by Google.

Microsoft is also expanding further with a 6000 employee research and development center currently under way in Shanghai according to Forbes.

The new center will be located southwest of Shanghai in Zizhu Industrial Park expected to open later this year. This will be the largest of Microsoft’s R&D facilities. The focus of this center will evolve around server, data management, and Windows Live services.

Back in January of this year Microsoft also announced the construction of a $550 million data center in San Antonio TX expected to open late 2008, early 2009.

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This SEO News was posted by Scott Van Achte @ 9:08 AM.

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Microsoft changes Desktop Search for Google

Written by Scott Van Achte and published at 9:05 AM

According to the Globe and Mail, Microsoft has taken a step back and will now allow for third party search applications to be used in the new Windows Vista operating system.

Microsoft’s decision came a week before a government review of Microsoft’s 2002 antitrust settlement compliance demanding the use of such third party apps.

All of this comes after Google’s 49 page document was filed back in April with the Justice Department. Google’s antitrust complaint stemmed from Vista’s built in desktop search tool causing Google’s free desktop search to run slowly, and that it was very difficult for a user to turn off, or replace Microsoft’s desktop search.

"Microsoft's current approach to Vista desktop search clearly violates the consent decree and limits consumer choice," said David Drummond, Google's chief legal officer. "These remedies are a step in the right direction, but they should be improved further to give consumers greater access to alternate desktop search providers."

Upon release of the first service pack, expected late this year, Vista users will be able to view links to other possible default search applications including Google’s Desktop Search.

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This SEO News was posted by Scott Van Achte @ 9:05 AM.

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Wednesday, June 06, 2007

How Safe is Your Search?

Written by Scott Van Achte and published at 3:35 PM

Roughly 4 percent of all search results display links to potentially dangerous websites, according to a report published by McAfee’s SiteAdvisor, on Monday. The report notes that Yahoo results are the riskiest with AOL leading the pack as having the safest results.

Over the past year, both organic and sponsored links have seen an increase in safety, however, the biggest change is seen within sponsored listings. On average the number of risky links declined from 8.5% in May 2006, to 6.9% in May of this year. Organic results saw a drop from 3.1% down to 2.9%.

The most dangerous offenders tend to be searches resulting in a return of sites in the music and technology field, the adult industry as well as ring tone, work at home, and sites selling free software. These sites are dangerous because they pose security risks including spyware, adware, spam, and other scams.

How can you protect your self? Use your common sense. Never download any software on the web unless you are certain it is from a safe and reputable source. It is possible to download what appears to be a proper version of a piece of software, but once installed it may infect your machine with adware or spyware.

The report from McAfee uses a site which sells free software as an example. The site noted, advertises through PPC for free software such as the Fire Fox browser. When the user goes to download the software, they are presented with a payment option box – why would you need to pay for something that is Free?

Overall the safety of links found within search results continues to become safer, but the risks are still there and should be known. Even though the big engines such as Google are starting to clean up results, sponsored links still have a greater tendency to pose risks over organic listings.

So which engines provide the best results? AOL is the safest with 2.9% risky sites followed by Google at 3.4%, ASK at 3.5%, MSN at 4.2%, and Yahoo way behind at 5.4%. Yahoo is the only search engine which has seen an increase in the number of risky sites since May 2006.

Labels: Ask, Google, Microsoft, Scott Van Achte, Yahoo

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This SEO News was posted by Scott Van Achte @ 3:35 PM.

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Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Surface Computing - The Next Big Thing?

Written by Scott Van Achte and published at 12:45 PM

In a press release issued by Microsoft Tuesday, the announcement of the first commercially available surface computer was made.

Expected to be released late this year, Surface will first appear in places like Casinos and hotels.

“With Surface, we are creating more intuitive ways for people to interact with technology,” Ballmer said. “We see this as a multibillion dollar category, and we envision a time when surface computing technologies will be pervasive, from tabletops and counters to the hallway mirror. Surface is the first step in realizing that vision.”

Surface also has the ability to recognize physical objects equipped with id tags. Examples noted in the press release include usage in restaurants. When a patron sets his wine glass down on the table, Surface could automatically bring up information about the wine they have ordered and display photos of the vineyard from which it came.

The retail industry could also see a practical application. When a product is placed on the tabletop display, information about the product could be brought up including price and specifications, and, with multiple products placed on the display, comparison information could be shown. The possibilities are really endless.

“With Surface, we can actually grab data with our hands and move information between objects with natural gestures and touch.
Surface features a 30-inch tabletop display whose unique abilities allow for several people to work independently or simultaneously all without using a mouse or keyboard.”

More information on this exciting technology can be found at http://www.surface.com/

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This SEO News was posted by Scott Van Achte @ 12:45 PM.

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Friday, May 18, 2007

Microsoft Spends a Record 6 Billion on Acquisition

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 10:02 AM

Microsoft finally took the plunge today and announced the pending acquisition of advertising giant aQuantive based out of Seattle for a cool $6 billion; an eighty-five percent premium over the shares on Thursday.

Here are some great articles on the subject:

Todd Bishop of the Seattle Post Intelligencer has covered this subject religiously and offers a play-by-play of the acquisition
Microsoft's aQuantive acquisition press release

So Who is aQuantive?
Here is a snippet from the Microsoft press release:

Founded in 1997, aQuantive, Inc. (NASDAQ: AQNT) is the parent company of one of the industry’s most successful families of digital marketing service and technology companies, encompassing three primary brands.

>> Atlas provides a set of advanced tools for both advertisers and publishers. The Atlas Media Console is an industry-leading toolset providing agencies and advertisers with capabilities to maximize ROI. The Atlas Publisher platform enables publishers to maximize monetization opportunities for their content.

>> DRIVEpm provides services to publishers and advertisers that match advertiser campaigns with publisher inventory enabling all parties to maximize ROI.

>> Avenue A | Razorfish is one of the largest interactive ad agencies in the world, providing advertisers with industry-leading digital marketing consultation, media planning and buying, and creative services that help advertisers use the online channel to build meaningful, profitable relationships with their customers.

Acquisition In Review
Microsoft just paid way more than the company was worth to seal the deal. Articles I have read on the subject all believe it was a "get it over with" arrangement and I agree that little else can be surmised from this purchase; I can smell the fear over at Microsoft from little old Victoria British Columbia.

Obviously Microsoft was getting tired of losing out on good deals; losing DoubleClick to Google must have been a ego-squashing moment. With 24/7 Real Media now unavailable, the aQuantive buy must have been even more compelling (85% more compelling). In my opinion it was a very over-priced deal but at least aQuantive is an uncontested leader in the online advertising industry so Microsoft should be happy in the end.

One thing is for certain, Nick Hanauer, the founder of aQuantive and current chairman of the board is bound to be a happy man since he is set to make a dazzling $290 million.

Labels: Microsoft, Ross Dunn

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This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 10:02 AM.

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Friday, May 04, 2007

The Search Engines Have Been Busy this Week - A Recap

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 11:44 AM

This week the search world has been rampant with news of buyouts and related rumors. Here is a snapshot of the events of interest:

The Dow Jones is up for sale and rumors started by a connected analyst state that Google may be interested. I say "don't hold your breath." This is likely a tall tale. Here is another article from Bloomberg: "Dow Jones Holders Say Murdoch Bid May Trigger Auction (Update4)"
Yahoo responds to Google's purchase of DoubleClick by purchasing the remaining shares of Right Media for $680 Million; an ad buying exchange very similar to DoubleClick.
Microsoft has expressed interest in purchasing 24/7 Real Media; one of the few remaining media companies in the Internet advertising industry that have not already been snatched up. In fact, 24/7 Real Media appears to be the only advertising firm that would provide Microsoft with the ability to compete with Google and Yahoo in this advertising exchange space. According to a recent posting by the Houston Chronicle on 24/7's stock holdings these unconfirmed reports of a Microsoft buyout is creating uncertainty with investors so at this point there is no telling if the talks are going anywhere.
Microsoft purchased ScreenTonic, a European mobile technology pioneer that specializes in advertising on the mobile web. Steve Berkowitz, Senior Vice President of Microsoft's Online Services Group had this to say, "the acquisition of ScreenTonic will be part of our long-term strategy to deliver ad experiences that map to the environment. Together, we will be able to provide relevant ads where consumers are, when they are actively engaged and communicating."
Microsoft completed its acquisition of TellMe Networks, a company specializing in speech recognition, automated enterprise support services, and voice-enabled mobile search. The purchase was originally announced in March of 2007 and was touted by Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft as a way to "enable us to deliver a new wave of products and revolutionize human-computer interaction."

by Ross Dunn, CEO, StepForth SEO Services
Celebrating 10 Years of SEO Excellence

Labels: Google, Microsoft, Mobile, Other News, Ross Dunn, Yahoo

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This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 11:44 AM.

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Microsoft Buy Yahoo? YES PLEASE!

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 10:52 AM

Reputable sources say Microsoft has reopened negotiations with Yahoo to purchase the company or work with it in some way. Last year the same talks were going on but Yahoo's Terry Semel said his "impartial advice to Microsoft is that you have no chance,” Mr Semel said. “The search business has been formed.” The talks ceased and I was not expecting them to restart so soon.

The Wall Street Journal estimates Yahoo's value at 50 billion... is Microsoft really that eager? Apparently they just might be and it is likely a direct cause of their thwarted attempt to secure DoubleClick before Google did. Tired of being a follower I expect Microsoft will be making some very tempting offers to Semel this time around.

Okay, now it is time for what is likely to get a few people charged up. "YES PLEASE" is my way of saying that I hope the merger goes ahead because it will provide some shake up in the search engines - something I feel is much needed. It also helps that I have very little reason to believe Microsoft will add value to Yahoo which will hopefully will create a void for a newcomer.

What is your thought on this? Would you be all for a merger or against?

Labels: Microsoft, Other News, Ross Dunn, Yahoo

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This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 10:52 AM.

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Thursday, May 03, 2007

MSN Launches Desktop Search

Written by Scott Van Achte and published at 11:09 AM

It is interesting that a few years after Google released Google Desktop, Microsoft has come forward to release their own version of Desktop search.

As part of the MSN Search Toolbar Suite introduced earlier this year, the final version of MSN Desktop was released just this past Monday.

Yahoo and AOL also have their versions of Desktop search in the works; interesting considering an effective desktop search feature should be something that is automatically integrated into an operating system. The new Windows Vista already has Windows Desktop Search integrated out of the box, but for those looking to try it on your pre-Vista version of Windows you can find the download, along with more details on Microsoft’s site.

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This SEO News was posted by Scott Van Achte @ 11:09 AM.

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Thursday, April 26, 2007

Record 72% Growth Earnings at Microsoft

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 2:05 PM

Today Microsoft announced financial numbers from the quarter ending March 31st, 2007 scoring a total of 14.4 billion revenue since last year; a 32% increase in comparison to the same quarter 2006. In addition "diluted earnings per share for the quarter grew 72% to $0.50, and included $0.02 in tax benefits and $0.01 in legal charges."

Here is the complete rundown: Microsoft Reports Record Profits

Microsoft will hold an audio webcast at 2:30 p.m. PDT (5:30 p.m. EDT) today for those interested in learning more. "The session may be accessed at http://www.microsoft.com/msft. The webcast will be available for replay through the close of business on April 26, 2008."

Labels: Microsoft, Ross Dunn

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This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 2:05 PM.

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Microsoft's Analytics Program Still in Alpha - "Project Gatineau"

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 11:34 AM

Back in January it was noted in a blog or two that Microsoft was working on creating an analytics platform in response to Google Analytics. This was a logical move after buying Deep Metrix, an analytics software company, last year. The background information on the Microsoft analytics platform code named "Gatineau" was sparse back in January and I am sad to say it is still sparse to this day. In fact, upon receiving a reply from Ian Thomas today, the lead of the project at Microsoft, I am sad to say the program appears to still be in the Alpha stage; but at least I am in the queue for testing the beta when it is available. Here is a link to the Gatineau login page; don't bother trying to login it doesn't work.

So what do we know about project Gatineau? Nothing but some snippets from Ian Thomas that points toward Microsoft having a few tricks up their sleeves (I haven't heard that before). The following is a quote from a comment Ian Thomas made in response to a discussion on his original blog posting on project Gatineau: "We think there's room in the market for another service of this nature; plus, we have some stuff up our sleeves that we hope you'll like and which will differentiate us from Google's and others' offerings." He went on to note that "we have more resources than DeepMetrix did (development team has more than quadrupled since the acquisition, for example), so hopefully we won't disappoint you."

How will it compare to Google Analytics? On the original blog posting Ian says "the target audience for this project is broadly similar to the target audience for Google Analytics - though it's emphatically not our intention simply to replicate the functionality within that product."

When is Gatineau supposed to become available? Ian stated we hope to release this product during 2007; however, we're extremely keen to avoid a repeat of Google's experience with Google Analytics, so we will be ramping up our user numbers gradually to make sure everyone has a good experience from a performance perspective."

Here's Hoping

I really hope Microsoft can pull off a working analytics program soon for their sake. It has been over a year since their acquisition of Deep Metrix (May 15, 2006) and they are still in the Alpha stage even with a significant sized staff at hand. When they do launch I hope their product offers enough unique functionality that its competitors like Google can't copy them within a month. At any rate, sorry I can't provide anything new or concrete but I look forward to additional news on Gatineau (including a better name) and will post news and replies from Ian as I receive them.

I Need to Vent!

I don't know about you but if I hear another claim from Microsoft that they have something amazing they are working on and they don't deliver I will have had it with them. They have enough money and brains over there that they undoubtedly do have amazing ideas but for some reason their corporate culture just kills their delivery by being too late (behind other innovators like Google) or delivering products too early without enough testing (thinking back to Windows 95 & Millennium). Here's praying that they deliver like they did with Windows XP (their best operating system to date IMHO, albeit late).

by Ross Dunn, CEO, StepForth SEO Services
Celebrating 10 Years of SEO Excellence
www.stepforth.com

Labels: Analytics, Microsoft, Other News, Ross Dunn, SEO News

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This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 11:34 AM.

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Google and Microsoft Neck in Neck

Written by Scott Van Achte and published at 9:23 AM

In the world of search, Google has been number one for several years now, but when it comes to overall site traffic, until recently Google was number two. Now that the latest numbers are out, we see Microsoft has dropped into the second spot as Google takes the prize of the most visited site on the internet. While the two are separated by only a million unique visits (or roughly one fifth of one percent), it is expected that this gap will continue to widen.

Based on figures taken from comScore, while Microsoft enjoyed a staggering 527 million unique visits for the month of March, Google was a hair ahead at 528 million. Yahoo takes third spot with 476 million followed by Time Warner at 272 million, and eBay rounds off the top 5 at 256 million.

Interestingly enough, while Google has a few more unique visitors, the average user spends less time at Google, an average of 4.6 minutes, compared to Microsoft’s 12.8 minutes.

While Google may only have a lead of less than 1 percent over Microsoft, in the world of search the gap is much larger. According to comScore, figures released last week for March 2007 US online searches by engine, Google had 48.3 percent, followed by Yahoo at 27.5, with Microsoft brining up the rear at 10.9. Microsoft and Google saw increases over February’s numbers of 0.4% and 0.2% respectively, with Yahoo showing a decline of 0.6%.

In March, Americans conducted approximately 7.3 billion searches. Of those Google saw 3.5 billion, Yahoo had 2 billion, and Microsoft saw 798 million.

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This SEO News was posted by Scott Van Achte @ 9:23 AM.

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Wednesday, April 18, 2007

SES NY Keynote Video: Windows Live Chief Steve Berkowitz

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 4:03 PM

The following video is an excerpt from the 2007 Search Engine Strategies Keynote discussion between Danny Sullivan and Windows Live Chief, Steve Berkowitz. In this excerpt Steve Berkowitz explains that "it is not ever satisfactory not to be number one" in the search engine industry. He further explains that Microsoft's first goal is to reach critical mass from an advertising standpoint and how Microsoft's search platform will continue to evolve.

This video was shot by Ross Dunn, CEO and Founder, StepForth SEO Services and was originally posted at The StepForth SEO Blog.

A special thanks goes out to Matt McGowan of Incisive Media for allowing StepForth to tape segments from Search Engine Strategies New York 2007.

Labels: Conferences, Interviews, Microsoft, MSN, Ross Dunn, SEO News, StepForth, Video

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This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 4:03 PM.

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Monday, April 02, 2007

Google and Microsoft's Fight for DoubleClick

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 11:07 AM

DoubleClick Inc. announced recently it was available for purchase and undoubtedly many a suitor has made offers, not least of which are Microsoft and Google. The question now is, how much will DoubleClick sell for with these two giants gearing up for a bidding war? The word on the street is the bidding will go above a lofty 2 billion greenbacks.

So what is it about DoubleClick that has the big guys so hot and bothered?
"DoubleClick's suite of products empowers agencies, web publishers and marketers to work together successfully."(source: DoubleClick's Products Page) In other words, DoubleClick is a web advertising brokerage that, through the careful creation of products, has successfully brought together both sides of the online advertising equation; high end web publishers (i.e. content-focused sites like About.com) and marketers (i.e. anyone who wants to place advertising on the web publisher sites).

Whoever gets their greedy little hands on DoubleClick is sure to get an edge on its competition. As a result, I expect Microsoft will put up quite a fight in return for any leverage on an advertising marketplace that Google hasn't gotten its teeth into yet.

... More later

by Ross Dunn, CEO, StepForth SEO Services
Celebrating 10 Years of SEO Excellence

Labels: Google, Microsoft, Ross Dunn

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This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 11:07 AM.

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Tuesday, November 25, 2003

Thoughts on Longhorn

Written by Jim Hedger and published at 11:16 AM

Today's Globe and Mail (Canada's National newspaper) has an amazing disection of Microsoft's emerging OS, Longhorn. This article should be required reading for any SEO or anyone interested in SEO.

Longhorn is slated for release in 2005 however, based on the hype, I suspect we will see it ramped out earlier. According to most writers and reviewers, and according to Microsoft itself, Longhorn has the potential to change the search world by incorporating search directly into the desktop system. Not only that, Longhorn will have personalization features that might make it far more useful than the current spate of search tools. Check out the Globe article. We're going to research it and hopefully have more information in tomorrow's StepForth Weekly Newsletter.

Labels: Jim Hedger, Microsoft

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This SEO News was posted by Jim Hedger @ 11:16 AM.

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