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Friday, March 06, 2009

Google Interview on Charlie Rose

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 5:53 PM

Marissa Mayer, Vice President of Search Product and User Experience at Google was interviewed by Charlie Rose this week.

In the interview Charlie Rose got Marissa to discuss the expected advancements Google will have within 10 years (this transcript snippet from TechCrunch):

Marissa Mayer:
So for example we’d like to make progress on both vision and voice, [unintelligible] what’s in an image, how well can we recognize it —

Charlie Rose:
And where are we on that?

Marissa Mayer:
– a spoken image and a spoken word. And I think voice is actually a lot further along than images in recognizing shapes and that. I mean, if you look at the academic research, that’s generally the case. So sometimes you have to follow the technology, what’s possible. I think we’re going to have really good voice search, really good speech to text on YouTube videos so you’ll be able to search it, that will happen sooner than you’ll be able to say give Google an image and say find other images like this or find me images of a monkey, those types of things.

Charlie Rose:
When will it happen?

Marissa Mayer:
I think that the voice breakthrough will probably happen in the next five years, maybe 10, and I think that — and then I think the vision will probably happen in more than a 10-year timeframe, maybe 15. Those are of course guesses just off the top of my head but —

The whole interview is about one hour but if you want some insight into the powerhouse that drives our Internet experience then this is a worthwhile investment of time.

Here is a link to the Google Video shown above and a full transcript of the interview courtesy of TechCrunch.

by Ross Dunn, CEO, StepForth Web Marketing Inc.

Labels: Google, Ross Dunn, Video

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This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 5:53 PM.

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Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Matt Cutts Explains Canonical Tags on Video

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 2:07 PM

A big thanks to the wonderful Abby Prince from WebProNews for interviewing Matt Cutts explaining what the new Canonical tag is for and why it was created.

Here is a link to the Matt Cutts video shown above.

by Ross Dunn, CEO, StepForth Web Marketing Inc.

Labels: Google, SEO News, SEO Tips, Video

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This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 2:07 PM.

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View this Article Only: Matt Cutts Explains Canonical Tags on Video

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Friday, February 13, 2009

You Tube yanks audio

Written by Timothy Rule and published at 11:17 AM

Last night I was looking through some of my favourite You Tube videos and stumbled across something of which I was completely unaware. You Tube is muting sound from a lot of user’s videos.

I am a huge Lord of the Rings buff and avidly seek related content on You Tube. One of my all-time favourite videos is called Namarie, a recitation of Galadriel’s lament. This is a poem taken from the Fellowship of the Ring book, recited in spoken Quenyan, an Elvish language created by J.R.R Tolkien. The original audio consisted of a reading by the person who posted the video, over a background sample of the Lothlorien track from the Fellowship of the Ring soundtrack.

This was one of the most hauntingly beautiful pieces I have ever seen on You Tube and I have watched it often. I say “was”, because as I found out last night, You Tube has completely ruined it by removing the audio.

According to the person who created and uploaded this, she wasn’t notified of this change and has no way of retrieving this even for her own personal collection.

I did some research to find out what this was all about and it didn’t take long. There were over a million results for a “WMG and You Tube” search, including quite a few of them with some pretty explicit commentary from angry users who have had their own videos or a lot of their favourites ruined.

This started back in December of last year with this official post from You Tube, which seems a little vague on what was to follow. In that post they mention the options available upon receipt of a takedown notification. However, many of the complaints I viewed were from people upset at the fact that they weren’t notified before or after this was done.

Perhaps they aren’t getting takedown notifications because, rather than actually taking the content down, You Tube is just chopping out the audio.

Upon looking into this further, I came upon a more detailed reason for all this…money. Warner Music Group wants more money from You Tube for users viewing videos that contain any portion of music copyrighted under any of their many labels.

One would think they’d like having the free advertising. Do they really think having their music removed from You Tube is going to generate more sales?

I find it difficult to believe that I can’t hear this video anymore because it contains a small part of the movie soundtrack, and yet I can watch the Lord of the Rings movies in their entirety on You Tube for free.

Ironically, it was this video that encouraged me to go out and buy a copy of the movie soundtrack, which is in fact owned by Reprise Records, a Warner owned label.

I checked out a lot of videos of many artists under WMG labels on You Tube and there are large numbers still unaffected by this. I suppose it’s a lengthy process to effectively neuter so much content.

In the long run, I think this will hurt both You Tube and WMG. You Tube for the poor treatment to their users and the end result of having a ton of useless content when this is all done. And now, rather than receiving “too little” WMG will now receive zero revenue from this media.

Personally, I tend to agree with the headline of this post. This whole thing is ludicrous and it’s too bad for WMG if the advent of technology is making them obsolete. Perhaps they should just accept the inevitable and fade away.

“Two thumbs down” to both Google-owned You Tube and the Warner Music Group on this one.

Labels: Google, Rants, Tim Rule, Video, YouTube

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This SEO News was posted by Timothy Rule @ 11:17 AM.

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Tuesday, February 10, 2009

SEO Answers: How a Search Engine Ranking is Created

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 3:32 PM

At least a few times a month I get asked various questions about why a search engine ranking looks the way it does.

For example, someone might ask me how they can influence the description and/or title that Google gave their website in their search engine ranking. But easily the most prominent question is "what are those links that show up under some #1 rankings? How can I get those?"

Well, I think it is time to introduce you to a great little video featuring Google's own Matt Cutts in November 2007. The video is an excellent section by section walkthrough of what you know as a search engine ranking but Google calls a snippet. Enjoy!

by Ross Dunn, CEO, StepForth Web Marketing Inc.

Labels: Google, SEO, SEO Answers, SEO Tips, Video, YouTube

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This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 3:32 PM.

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View this Article Only: SEO Answers: How a Search Engine Ranking is Created

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Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Google Answers Webmaster Questions

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 11:59 AM

Yesterday Google Webmaster Central posted a video response to numerous questions the department had received from webmasters. The following video addresses duplicate content, search engine friendly web design, spider blocking, and more.

Note: The original post includes a transcript of the video if you would prefer a readable format.

by Ross Dunn, CEO, StepForth Web Marketing Inc.

Labels: Google, Ross Dunn, SEO Tips, Video

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This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 11:59 AM.

Copyright ©2006-2012, The SEO News Blog, StepForth SEO Services
View this Article Only: Google Answers Webmaster Questions

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Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Tips for Writing Articles and Managing Your Writing Workload

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 4:20 PM

At Search Engine Strategies San Jose I had the pleasure of interviewing my friend and mentor Dr. Ralph Wilson. Ralph is one of those amazing people who always seems to stay on top of his formidable workload while managing writers and his well known web site Web Marketing Today.

In this interview I asked Ralph how he keeps on top of his enormous workload while still writing ebooks and articles and as I expected he had some great tips to share.

by Ross Dunn, CEO, StepForth Web Marketing Inc.

Labels: Copywriting, Interviews, Ralph Wilson, Ross Dunn, Video, Web Marketing Today

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This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 4:20 PM.

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View this Article Only: Tips for Writing Articles and Managing Your Writing Workload

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Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Google Now Has a Free Browser - Get it Now

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 8:41 AM

Google Chrome, Google's unexpected open source web browser was announced over the Labour Day weekend and launched only a day later - it is now available for download in more than 100 countries.

Here are some excerpts from the Google Blog announcement on September 1st, 2008 "A Fresh Take on the Browser":

"On the surface, we designed a browser window that is streamlined and simple. To most people, it isn't the browser that matters. It's only a tool to run the important stuff -- the pages, sites and applications that make up the web. Like the classic Google homepage, Google Chrome is clean and fast. It gets out of your way and gets you where you want to go"

Under the hood, Google claims is a browser that runs today's complex web applications much better:

"By keeping each tab in an isolated 'sandbox', we were able to prevent one tab from crashing another and provide improved protection from rogue sites."
"We improved speed and responsiveness across the board."
"We also built a more powerful JavaScript engine, V8, to power the next generation of web applications that aren't even possible in today's browsers."

And Google claims (with a great deal of credibility) "Google Chrome is far from done." In fact, they are "hard at work building versions for Mac and Linux too, and will continue to make it even faster and more robust."

Google thanked the open source community because they "used components from Apple's WebKit and Mozilla's Firefox, among others -- and in that spirit, we are making all of our code open source as well. We hope to collaborate with the entire community to help drive the web forward."

Hear more about Google Chrome direct from Google in this video from Google outlining 10 Features of Google Chrome (updated from last video that turned out too short):

You can also see the Google Chrome comic book that was "accidentally" released a couple of days early explaining the technology. Big thanks to the always attentive Google Blogoscoped for picking up on the leak and breaking the story to the blogosphere. Here is the latest article from Blogoscoped providing a great walk through of browsing with Google Chrome.

Also here is a video from the Google Chrome development team providing additional insight into their reasons behind the product:

If you want to learn more just stay tuned to the blogosphere because there is no doubt Google Chrome will be on the top of many blogs for a while; especially with the inevitable add-ons and upgrades coming for the platform. Here is a link to my personal news feed for any news directly from the search engines themselves - check it out and feel free to use it as your touchstone.

by Ross Dunn, CEO, StepForth Web Marketing Inc.

Labels: Free Tools, Google, Ross Dunn, Video

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This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 8:41 AM.

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View this Article Only: Google Now Has a Free Browser - Get it Now

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Sunday, August 31, 2008

3 Methods to Build Links with a Blog - An Interview with Ross Dunn

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 9:05 AM

Dr. Ralph F. Wilson is editor of Web Marketing Today and is widely recognized as an authority on Internet marketing

I met up with Ralph Wilson at the Search Engine Strategies San Jose conference a couple of weeks ago and had a great time as always doing interviews. Ralph Wilson's Web Marketing Today is one of the oldest (since 1995) most respected web marketing resources in the world and as one of Ralph's hand-picked writers for SEO I feel very privileged to work with him.

In the following interview, Ralph and I discuss the advantages of blogging for building valuable links and reputation online.

Note: we had some trouble with the recording device so you might notice Ralph looking sternly at his camera occasionally... that was to make sure it was still recording :-) We had to re-record parts of this interview about 4 times.

by Ross Dunn, CEO, StepForth Web Marketing Inc.

Labels: Blogs, Interviews, Link Building, Ralph Wilson, Ross Dunn, SES San Jose 2008, sessj08, Video, Web Marketing Tips, Web Marketing Today

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This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 9:05 AM.

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View this Article Only: 3 Methods to Build Links with a Blog - An Interview with Ross Dunn

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Saturday, August 23, 2008

Complete Tour of Google Dance 2008 - at Google Headquarters

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 11:53 AM

Google Dance 2008 was, as usual, a great time and I felt it was time to share the festivities with the rest of the world that can't make it and may just be a little curious about Google's headquarters. So here we go, welcome to Google Dance 2008:

I hope I can count on seeing you at Google Dance 2009! Just sign up for Search Engine Strategies San Jose when it comes around and in addition to learning about web marketing you will enjoy some great parties (that includes the spectacular Search Bash!).

by Ross Dunn, CEO, StepForth Web Marketing Inc.

Labels: Fun, Google, Ross Dunn, SES San Jose 2008, sessj08, Video

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This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 11:53 AM.

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View this Article Only: Complete Tour of Google Dance 2008 - at Google Headquarters

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Thursday, August 21, 2008

The Search Bash at Search Engine Strategies San Jose

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 11:23 AM

Before the Search Bash began CEO Daron Babin of WebmasterRadio.FM got everyone talking after he proclaimed the entertainment at the Search Bash would be better than ever... even to rival Google's impressive Google Dance the night before.

Well, it is safe to say we were all pretty skeptical that Google's party could be beat. That said, I don't know of anyone that would doubt Daron's capability to go over the top - he is a true entertainer. As a result, attendance was high for the kick off and I don't think anyone was dissapointed by the entertainment that got progressively awe inspiring as the night continued.

Here is the kick off compliments of my little Canon Powershot S1000; my apologies for the poor camera work but I think it gets across the impressiveness of the event.

After the kick off the acrobats provided a number of shows intermittently throughout the night and the shows got progressively better and better. Here is an example of some of the later entertainment.

My apologies for not having more footage for you but I am afraid my camera memory and battery was not up to the task of recording more of the amazing entertainment.

In short, next year don't miss SES San Jose! Every year I have an absolute blast here as I learn from experts in every field of search engine marketing... oh and the parties are awesome.

Big thanks to Daron Babin and his host of generous sponsors who deserve some attention: Webmaster Radio, Bruce Clay Inc., and ArticleSender.com.

by Ross Dunn, CEO, StepForth Web Marketing Inc.

Labels: Fun, Ross Dunn, SES San Jose 2008, sessj08, Video

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This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 11:23 AM.

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View this Article Only: The Search Bash at Search Engine Strategies San Jose

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Thursday, June 05, 2008

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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View this Article Only: Google Hasn't Won Yet Says Microsoft's Steve Ballmer

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Friday, February 22, 2008

Today's Social Media Linkforth

Written by Andrew Clough and published at 3:56 PM

Virtual gifts may be nice but Facebook is putting actual goodies behind the way to spread cheer on their social platform in the UK. A UK company is behind the application to allow easy purchasing and sharing of Mars related products on Facebook. Once being sent a real chocolate bar on Facebook you can redeem it at local UK grocers.

Business Week explains why Social Media is a great business and market research tool. Social media is essential for advertising and building your on-line presence. New technologies gather and analyse data on products and services from throughout the blogosphere, news media sources, and on-line communities. They stress the importance of monitoring your online presence and the influence of social networks. They point to Google's "growing ability to incorporate blog posts within Web search" to show the influence of social media content on the web.

Here are ten tools that should help any company keep track of whats going on within the social media world in relation to their business. These tools help you find out who's saying what about you and your company.

Google is cashing in on video popularity as it is testing adding video to their search results page. Google is trying to draw your eye towards video images and provide interactive advertising to their search results.

Ever wondered how social media helps already established individuals build their image. NBA all-star Steve Nash is trying his hand at LiveVideo.com, a social networking and video sharing site. It fun to watch celebs like Steve Nash and Will Ferrel build their audience through social media channels.

Labels: Andrew Clough, Google, Link Forth, Social Marketing, Video

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This SEO News was posted by Andrew Clough @ 3:56 PM.

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Thursday, February 07, 2008

How to Avoid an SEO Horror Story on Your Website

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 2:40 PM

The following was the second interview I did with Dr. Ralph Wilson of Web Marketing Today while I was at PubCon Las Vegas. In this interview we discussed the horror stories I have seen over my 10 years of SEO. The focus was on how important it is to involve an SEO in the initial planning of a new website because you never know if you are going to use a technology that may hamper or completely block search engines. A SEO consultant doesn't need much time to tell you if you are on the right track and it will save you a lot of headache down the line.

Without further adieu, here is my interview:

by Ross Dunn, CEO, StepForth Web Marketing Inc.

Labels: Interviews, Ross Dunn, SEO News, SEO Tips, Tutorials, Video

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This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 2:40 PM.

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View this Article Only: How to Avoid an SEO Horror Story on Your Website

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Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Competitor Analysis for SEO - Ralph Wilson Interviews Ross Dunn

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 3:21 PM

Back in December I attended the PubCon conference in Las Vegas and I was fortunate enough to meet my friend and Internet celebrity Ralph Wilson for an interview. Ralph has me regularly contributing tutorials and articles to the SEO section of his popular Web Marketing Today website and decided to interview me for a feature video on the website. The competitor analysis interview turned out pretty well I think - thank you Ralph!

Labels: Competitor Analysis, Google, Interviews, PubCon, Ross Dunn, SEO Tips, Video

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This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 3:21 PM.

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View this Article Only: Competitor Analysis for SEO - Ralph Wilson Interviews Ross Dunn

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Monday, January 21, 2008

Google Increases Video Share

Written by Scott Van Achte and published at 10:42 AM

According to a recent CNN Money report published Thursday, more than 75% of American web users viewed at least one video online with an overall average time spent of 3.25 hours per person.

Google, during November, held on to a 31.3% market share when it comes to video services including YouTube and Google Video, which is a 2% increase over stats for the month of October.

With a total of 9.5 billion videos viewed back in November, and nearly 3 billion of these on Google properties, it is a wonder why Google has not yet capitalized on the money making opportunities these massively popular sites provide. While a variety of ideas have been put out there such as pop-ups & pre and post roll ads, very little has been done to date.

I suppose it is just a matter of time and as video popularity continues to grow on the web, ads will become an unavoidable reality, so we may as well enjoy it as is, while it lasts.

Labels: Google, Scott Van Achte, Video

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This SEO News was posted by Scott Van Achte @ 10:42 AM.

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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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This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 5:02 PM.

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Friday, January 04, 2008

Competitor Analysis Discussion with WebProNews in Las Vegas

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 2:39 PM

The following interview was conducted at PubCon Las Vegas and it focused on StepForth competitor analysis/competitor intelligence services. In hindsight I didn't give much away in the terms of competitive analysis and frankly the interview could have gone better (what with the sun glare and a lil'memory loss). So feel free to view this and then follow it up with my notes below where I will provide a couple examples of the strategies/resources used in our basic and advanced competitor intelligence reports.

Additional Competitor Analysis Tips
We provide a listing of our recommended competitor research tools which Mike McDonald kindly previewed the link to but let me give you a few more tips... it is the least I can do if you watched my interview ;-)

Use Technorati to determine the networks that publish your competitors content. Often I identify some great sites that are more than happy to publish the material my client has... which in turn can build valuable links.
Use Compete.com (the one I forgot in the interview) to get a hint of the keywords your competitors may be focusing on and to gauge their success in each one. Please note, however, that I definitely do not recommend accepting everything from Compete.com as writ; accept it with a grain of salt because their intelligence network is far from flawless.
Use OptiLink to create a maximum list of backlinks for each competitor using Yahoo and have the system fetch PageRank and Alexa ratings. Then copy the results into Excel and then sort the results from highest Alexa rating to lowest first and then highest PR to lowest as the secondary sort rule . Now you will have the beginnings of a very useful list of likely respectable sites. Review each to determine which ones may accept your content/links as well.

Note: I sort by Alexa first because Google's paid-link PR penalty has caused many high quality resources to falsely look like low quality ones.

Here is more information on StepForth's SEO research services that focus on competitor analysis.

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

Labels: Competitor Analysis, Interviews, Ross Dunn, SEO Tips, Video

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This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 2:39 PM.

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View this Article Only: Competitor Analysis Discussion with WebProNews in Las Vegas

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Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Link Building and Publicity with PRWeb

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 4:20 PM

On the 6th of December at Pubcon Las Vegas I was fortunate enough to speak with Karla and Lacy of PRWeb.com; two wonderful ladies who were running PRWeb's exhibit booth. After a short discussion I decided it was time to put Karla and Lacy in the spotlight. You see I have used PRWeb many times in the past and I have always been impressed by its excellent press release promotion network. PRWeb is the perfect vehicle to get the word out on your new products/services and the circulation of your press release can provide valuable incoming links to your website.

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

Labels: Interviews, Link Building, Ross Dunn, SEO Tips, Video

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This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 4:20 PM.

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Wednesday, September 05, 2007

iPhone Cost Slashed and Awesome iPod Touch Released

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 5:56 PM

I enjoyed a fantastic overview of a press conference presented by Steve Jobs today. Among other cool news such as a new line of iPods Steve Jobs announced huge price slashes on the iPhone (sorry those who already bought it!) and added a particularly cool product called the iPod Touch which looks identical to the iPhone but lacks the phone capabilities.

Complete with WiFi I expect the iPod Touch to be a new rage... I want one badly! I also expect the iPhone Touch will vastly increase the frequency of mobile search since it uses the far less expensive (or free) WiFi networks that seem ever-present in the big cities.

Check out the excellent coverage of this news event by Ryan Block of Engadget

Labels: Mobile, Other News, Ross Dunn, Video

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This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 5:56 PM.

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Wednesday, June 20, 2007

1000 Pizzas for Google

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 3:29 PM

A company by the name of CambrianHouse got some free press by getting 1000 pizzas to Google employees on the Google campus - bypassing security. So it looks like CambrianHouse has set the bar on outrageous press stunts in the social media industry. Now... I wonder who will try to one-up them? I look forward to finding out. Check out this video, it is a bit long but a lot of fun.

Labels: Google, Video

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This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 3:29 PM.

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Friday, June 15, 2007

Google Cracks Down on Link Buying

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 11:18 AM

This week the Official Google Webmaster Central Blog announced an addition to Google's spam reporting form for people to report sites that appear to be buying paid links in order to influence search engine rankings. This addition ties in with Matt Cutt's none-too-subtle warning at a recent SMX Advanced interview with Danny Sullivan. Matt essentially reinforced to the audience that buying links is against Google's guidelines and that those who are buying links may feel the heat soon as Google tries to patch this chink in its armor (see the video below).

Does this Mean Buying Links Has Become Too Dangerous?
I expect Google will follow through on its threats to take a more forceful approach against buying links but at the same time I am betting that buying links won't be gone anytime soon. After all, buying links is not JUST used by companies to garner link popularity. The fact is that some buy paid links for the clickthrough traffic and Google must be careful not to penalize anyone for that. Google's point of view on legitimate link buying is that such links should have a nofollow attribute on them or the landing page should be blocked from robots.

What Might Google Do?
I am no mind reader but I see two approaches that Google can take here:

Shock the Community - The Strong Arm Approach: Google could tweak its algorithm to penalize any website with purchased links that clearly don't conform to guidelines (i.e. no 'nofollow' tag). In this scenario Google would have to find some way to identify paid links as accurately as possible before checking them for guideline conformity. One manner would be to look for links found alone within tables or cells that specify "Sponsored Links" (or other phrases with the same connotation). The resulting Internet-wide impact would shake up the community enough that paid links would get some seriously negative press and many who profit from this field would feel the hit. The end result of this action would be an immense Floridian backlash on Google - but the Google Guidelines for paid links would be more likely to get some respect in the short term.
Be SMART and Just Negate Links: If Google wanted to soft-slap paid link abusers they would simply negate the benefit of the links. For example, they could start by identifying the most obvious paid links and literally ignore their weight. The resulting drop in rankings for sites that have depended entirely on paid links would be practically equivalent to removing them from the index; their rankings would plummet.

All in all I can only hope that Google chooses #2 but knowing the ego that is Google they will combine the two approaches and make an example out of a few companies. Sad yes, but it rings true to me. I would certainly not want to be investing in any link brokerage company startups any time soon.

How to Minimize Paid Link Risk
If you have to buy links then be sure that your links are not all using the exact same link and descriptive text. In fact, I highly recommend working with your paid link vendor to implement a rotation script that switches the content of your paid link(s) on every page reload. In addition it would be best if the link vendor did not blatantly identify your link as paid by placing it in a "Sponsored" table or cell within the layout.

If you want to be completely safe then I recommend requesting a nofollow tag be added to your backlinks ASAP. After all, following Google's guidelines is always the safest approach. On the bright side, if paid links become devalued then many people will be pushed toward making better content that naturally generates backlinks which is never a bad thing.

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

Labels: Google, Link Building, Ross Dunn, Video

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This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 11:18 AM.

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Friday, May 25, 2007

What is FeedBurner? Wallstrip Interviews CEO Dick Costolo

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 4:14 PM

As a follow up to my article "So Google Has Feedburner, What Now?" I thought this Wallstrip video interview with Feedburner CEO Dick Costolo was a perfect addition. If you are at all curious about Feedburner this is a clip for you:

Here is a direct link to the clip on YouTube in case the video has difficulty showing on our blog. Unfortunately this is more often the case than not. Apparently YouTube is not very Blogger friendly which seems ridiculous to me.

Labels: Blogs, Ross Dunn, Video

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This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 4:14 PM.

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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 16, 2007

SES NY - Google's Shuman Ghosemajumder Discusses Click Fraud

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 5:47 AM

At the 2007 SES New York, Google's Shuman Ghosemajumder responds to the question: (abbreviated) "How is it possible for Google to identify click fraud when an aggressor utilizes rotating proxies?". Shuman responds by discussing the Clickbot A botnet case and how Google deciphered the click fraud in that situation. This video was taken during the "Auditing Paid Listings and Click Fraud Issues" seminar that took place on April 12, 2007.

This video is courtesy of the StepForth SEO Blog. Video taken by Ross Dunn, CEO of StepForth SEO Services. Special thanks to Matt McGowan of Incisive Media for allowing StepForth to record this footage.

Labels: Click Fraud, Conferences, Google, Interviews, PPC, Ross Dunn, SEO News, Video

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This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 5:47 AM.

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Thursday, April 12, 2007

A Video Interview with John Marshall, CEO of ClickTracks Web Analytics

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 8:28 PM

Introduction

I have long been a fan of ClickTracks and it's professional line of analytics software. In my experience ClickTracks is leaps and bounds above its competition both for quality of software and quality of service. In the interests of full disclosure StepForth has been an advocate of ClickTracks since we bought our first copy in 2003 (or thereabouts) and I (Ross Dunn) recently completed my Professional ClickTracks Certification.

The following video interview was recorded at the ClickTracks presentation booth at the New York Search Engine Strategies Conference, yesterday, April 11th, 2007. To view the videos just click on the question and you will be taken to the appropriate YouTube page to view it. I hope you enjoy StepForth's first round of video journalism.

The Interview with John Marshall of ClickTracks
Just click on a question to see John's answer on YouTube.

And for all of those fellow Certified ClickTracks Professionals out there here is a question that maybe of interest to you: When will ClickTracks create a private forum for ClickTracks Professionals to network, discuss the software and share information?

A big thanks to John Marshall for his time and excellent, thoughtful replies. For more information about ClickTracks visit ClickTracks.com

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

Labels: Analytics, Conferences, Interviews, Ross Dunn, Video

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This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 8:28 PM.