Search Trends - Search Engine Marketing

Vivisimo announced the launch of their mainstream search engine,Clusty. I've always liked how Vivisimo offers the clustered results. They aren't just another Google-clone wannabe. I like that. The problem with this new search engine, is the name what kind of name is Clusty? I can see how they came up with it, "hey we cluster results, so let's call ourselves Clusty." The problem is, it's brings to mind too many negative images, like crusty or maybe worse, lusty. (Unless they want to become that kind of search engine). Anyway, the search engine itself is good, and the design looks like any other search engine out there, so I guess we'll see if people want to trade in their Google for a Clusty...

SEMPO announced the addition of three new members to their advirosry board...including a guy from Google. I have to agree with what Chris said in his blog about it being kind of weird to have reps from Google and Overture on the advisory board. I guess they're trying to get in nice and cozy with the search engines, but htis is supposed to be an organization of search engine marketers--not the search engines themselves. It's one thing to be a sponsor, but members of the board? It just doesn't make sense to have the search engines running that type of organization. Input, yes. Cooperation, yes, but not running the show.

A new study by ClickLabs says fraudulent clicks from PPC search engines can reach as high as 50%. I personally think that's high when we're talking about Google and Overture, but I guess it could be that high for some keywords. In other search engines like Ah-ha, Kanoodle (and a lot of smaller ppc search engines), I'm sure it's closer to 90% or higher on some keyword searches. I just finished a test on Kanoodle that sent me over 700 clicks and not one single sale. This is for the same keywords that is getting a 2-3% conversion rate on Google and Overture traffic. I just can't fathom how these other search engines convert at such lower rate (0%) unless there is a high percentage of fraudulent traffic.

The problem with PPC fraud goes back to the business model of these PPC search engines. Almost every single one of them has an affiliate and/or partner program that pays a percentage of click revenue to their partners. This creates a huge incentive to cheat the system. There are some big cheaters, I'm sure, but most of them are only makeing a few hundred bucks a month in fraudulent clicks, so it's easy to stay off the fraud radar, but when you add up all the thousands of little guys that are generating fraudulent traffic , it adds up to big bucks. The search engines have very little incentive to catch fraudsters because they'd see a huge drop in revenue if they cut out all that fraudulent traffic. Google and Overture seem to do a better job than most at catching fraud (although they still get some), but that's probably just because they have such a huge source of legitimate traffic that generates revenue for them, they can afford to cut out some junk traffic now for long-term advertiser satisfaction.

Read the article from Internetretailer.com

Kevin Lee hits on several great points in his Clickz Article today. These are several little things that can make a big difference in the effectiveness of your search marketing campaigns.

I've been hearing a lot of rumors lately about Google working on their own browser. Google hasn't announced anything, but I wouldn't be surprised to see them introduce a browser. I think it's a good move for them. I think a browser probably fits into their search business model better than Gmail. I remember a time a few years back (1998 or 99) when everybody and their dog was putting out a co-branded browser. It was basically just a regular browser--IE or Netscape (kids, go ask your parents what Netscape is)--but with pre-loaded bookmarks/favorites and default search set to whatever site "provided" the browser. MSN still has their own version of IE, so what's the big deal? I've already essentially got a Google browser since I use the Google toolbar more than anything else in the browser. Search the web, search for images, search froogle, search for news stories, post messages to blogger, etc.

I am very interested to see what the Google browser ends up looking like and what features it includes. I expect it to be a much smaller, simpler app than IE, based on open-source browser technology. I would love to see another serious competitor enter the space to keep Microsoft on its toes. Google's got the brand recognition and the funding to really make a big splash in whatever markets they decide to enter, and so far, they've consistently put out a good product, so I say "bring it on!"

Article from News.com

Looksmart is still alive and kicking, adding another feather to their cap with the addition of Furl.net. Furl provides a toolbar that lets users save text versions of web pages to their "personal web" that they can later access and/or search to find what they are looking for, even if a web page has changed.

I'm still a little bitter about the low quality (and mysteriously high volume) of Looksmart's post-MSN traffic, but I admire how they keep trying to improve their offering and provide new services to their users. They aren't taking the copycat approach that so many other search engines are taking. They are tying to add unique, useful services to their portfolio. I think that's a good move. That's the only way they can carve out a niche for themselves in the crowded search market.

I know Looksmart's making a lot of money in the short-term from their syndication deals, but I think they would be better off axing the search syndication and try to build out their own brand. Unless they can figure out a way to improve the quality of their search partners, they are going to lose all their advertisers. I assume they still have some advertisers, don't they?

Read the Press Release from Looksmart

Ask Jeeves' butler mascot was unveiled today with an extreme makeover. Trying to make the good chap appeal to a younger audience, I guess. He looked like the same guy to me when I first saw it, but if you compare the before and after pictures below, you can definitely see the difference. He's got a sharper looking suit and either some serious cardio or maybe a little tummy tuck.
I think the idea behind the "surprise makeover" is to help draw attention to their new personalized serach and local search features. It appears to have worked, at least they got the attention of News.com. I saw an article on Infoworld too, and I'm sure it will be mentioned everywhere else. Search is so hot right now, it's tough to go wrong with any type of publicity stunt, logo change, or whatever the big boys (and medium boys) of search want to do to draw attention.

AOL Launched a new comparison shopping site on Monday. AOL's new shopping site appears to be pulling data for their shopping site from bizrate.com.

Article from CNET News.com

Amazon is getting serious about making A9.com the place to search. They're giving a discount on purchases made by Amazon users who register for their "personalization search engine", A9. Apparently, they're not advertising this discount, so I guess it's more of a loyalty-building campaign to get people to use their search engine. They also encourage (and anticipate) a lot of word of mouth to get people telling their friends about the discount for A9.com users.

Read more from Search Engine News Journal

Search Engine watch finally jumped on the bandwagon and started a blog. They've kind of been blogging for years, but they finally decided to use actual blogging technology to simplify the process.

Search Engine Watch Blog

Here's another article about the launch of A9.com from News.com

Apparently Amazon is getting serious about marketing their new search engine, A9.com, after a quiet "test launch" earlier this year.

I think it has the potential to carve out a nice niche in the search market because it actually has some unique features rather than simply trying to be "better" than Google or Yahoo. I'm also confident that Amazon has the resources and a large enough userbase to get people's attention.

Read more from SFgate.com

WebmasterWorld is putting on a search and marketing conference in Las Vegas in November. I've never been to any of the WMW conferences, but I hear they are a lot better than Search Engine Strategies conferences and a heck of a lot cheaper. Check out the details if you're interested and I'll see you there - WebmasterWorlds Search and Marketing Conference Las Vegas 2004

"On September 7, 1998, Google Inc. opened its door in Menlo Park, California. The door came with a remote control, as it was attached to the garage of a friend who sublet space to the new corporation's staff of three. The office offered several big advantages, including a washer and dryer and a hot tub. It also provided a parking space for the first employee hired by the new company: Craig Silverstein, now Google's director of technology."

From Google's History

"A federal judge has let insurer GEICO's lawsuit against the two biggest providers of search-based advertising move forward, setting the stage for closer examination of whether the burgeoning form of online ads breaks trademark laws. "

Read the article on EWeek

Danny Sullivan offers some good insight about Overture's upcoming change to broad match as a default. I'm not surprised to see this happening. Frankly I'm surprised it's taken them this long to make the change. Overture has always been quick to go after strategies that will increase their revenue. It's not necessarily a bad thing for advertisers, since many advertisers didn't realize what match type they were using before anyway. Youwill still have the option to only show up for exact matches (of course "exact" isn't really exact according to Overture's plural and misspelling matching).

I never cease to be amazed at how large companies don't seem to care about natural search optimization. In case study by OneUpWeb, they found that only 9 of the Fortune 100 companies have effectively optimized their websites. Another 47% have at least made an attempt at optimizing their sites for the search engines, but an astounding 44% have done exactly zero SEO on their sites.

My personal opinion on the reasons for the lack of quality SEO amongst large companies is the bureaucracy and hoops required to coordinate even the simplest SEO tasks within a large organization. Another reason is probably the lack of specialized knowledge related to search optimization--both within the organization and within their high-cost ad agencies.

I'm sure the reason OneUpWeb did this little "survey" and whitepaper is to hopefully drum up some new clients (i.e. Fortune 500 companies). I think there is definitely a need to be met among those companies, but I kind of like how the larger companies ignore natural search. It gives the little guys room to sneak in and snatch a piece of the market.

OneUpWeb compared SEO among Fortune 100 companies in 2002 and 2004 and showed significant improvement, but it will be interesting to see if these companies will ever really get search marketing. The market is buzzing about search right now--too bad we couldn't keep it under wraps like we did the past 8 years ;)

I came across a keyword directory from Aleksika. It's not clear where they get their numbers, but the list of keywords looks like it could be pulled from Overture. It could be a combination of Overture and some other numbers. It's an interesting tool for finding keywords by category/theme. Good for brainstorming new keywords.

From a thread at SearchEngineWatch