Search Trends - Search Engine Marketing

Anonymous interview with a link spammer from TheRegister. An interesting read that discusses blog comment spamming and similar automated link spam techniques that are currently being used by "search engine optimisers."

They say second place is the #1 loser, but being the #2 brand isn't such a bad thing. Apple moved into the number one spot previouly held by Google as the "readers' choice" for the brand with the most global impact.

A couple interesting points about the brand survey from brandchannel:

• They point out in the article that although Apple has brand power, they actually lost ground in relation to computer market share in 2004 (down to 1.87%).
  
• Keep in mind that this survey is conducted amoung readers of brandchannel, so it's heavily skewed toards branding people, who are arguably very biased about brand preferences, etc.
  
• Although they talk about this as a global brand survey, if you look at the regional results, neither Apple nor Google show up as the top brand in any region outside the US and Canada. I assume they came out on top largely because of a significant North American bias in readership of brandchannel.
  

The popular topic of personalized search came up again at the Cyberposium conference at Harvard last week.

Article from News.com

The latest and greatest enty into the search engine battlefield is a search engine that claims to be the biggest on the web. They use some questionable methods including a "virtual replica of the whois database" and allowing users to modify search listings for their own sites and other sites they don't own in a "wiki-style" database.

In their words:

Web’s Biggest lets webmasters add or revise the descriptions of their site free of charge. They even allow searchers to change the descriptions of websites they are familiar with. This lets individual searchers change everyone’s search results. The search engine stores all past descriptions of websites in a database so users can undo or correct descriptions. This makes Web’s Biggest the world’s biggest “wiki”.

Danny Sullivan isn't too impressed with the quality of search results. I have to agree that the results pretty much suck, especially for the few general searches I tried, including searches for "movies", "cars", and "jobs" -- all of which brought up a lot of junk search results with only a handful of relevant listings.

Danny also pointed out that their "random search" doesn't seem to do anything. It's supposed to bring up random results and show that they're this huge search engine, but it brings up the same results regardless of what number you put in. I tried it and experienced the same thing.

I'm sure this new search engine will get some initial attention due to their unique "features", as well as the fact that they've got Eric Ward helping them with their launch, but I really thing this new search engine is just a minnow trying to eat a whale. Nobody will use a search engine that doesn't give good search results, regardless of how large their "haystack" is. People don't really care about which search engine is biggest, they just care about finding what they want without having to sift through a bunch of junk. They claim that 20,000 webmasters have praised their search engine. Although I highly doubt this is true, it really doesn't matter. They can have all the webmasters in the world in love with them, but if they don't have any actual searchers using their search engine, it doesn't mean squat.

Wayne Hurlbert wrote a great post about search engine optimization for blogs hosted by Blogger (most of these tips apply to other blog services/software, too):

Blogs are the fastest growing class of websites on the internet. No longer the sole domain of teenagers and the love lorn, blogs are now an established form of internet communication.

The online business community has recently discovered the power of blogging, and as such are faced with raising the blog site’s ranking in the search engine results pages (SERPs). As a direct result of some of the blog characteristics, high search rankings are readily available for the careful blog writer.

Like any other website, blogs have techniques for search engine optimization (SEO), many of them the same as for traditional static websites, and many of them unique to blogs. Among the issues faced by some bloggers is the abundance of free blog hosting sites.

More from Wayne's blog business world site

News.com reports:

"Writers for the popular show on Fox chose to plug Amazon.com's new search engine A9.com as a synonym for hunting down something on the Web, instead of using the well-worn phrase 'I Googled it,' like leagues of others. 'I A9.com'd him last night, and according to the O.C. Weekly, he's pretty much everything that's wrong with Western civilization,' one of the cast members said to another on Thursday night's episode."

A9 CEO says they didn't pay for the plug and didn't even know it was going to air. Hmmm. I have a hard time believing A9 didn't pay somebody or provide some kind of favor (maybe cross-promotion deal or something) for the mention. At the very least one of the show's writers has to be buddies with someone at A9. I don't watch the show, but I'm sure everyone who was watching said, "What's A9.com?", and went and checked it out. It was a great product placement, but I really doubt any real person has actually ever said they "A9.com'd such and such thing. I've never heard it said. I've heard tons of people use "Googled" as a verb. It's kind of fun for people to say and people understand what it means when you say it.

The funny thing is, A9's web search is actually just an Amazon-enhanced version of Google anyway. Don't get me wrong. I like A9. I think their personalization features are great and they're always adding cool features like the yellow pages with maps and pictures they recently unveiled. All I'm saying is that for now at least, real people don't use A9.com as a verb.

LookSmart blames their sales staff and technology for their shabby results. Dave Hills, Looksmart CEO, says his sales staff wasn't "focused on the right categories" due to a lack of detailed query data. This could be true to a point--that is, they could have done better than they did, but they really should focus on the more important issue: the decling quality of their product. The quality of Looksmart's traffic is going downhill (or is it at the bottom of the hill already?) that's why they're losing advertisers left and right and cpc rates are dropping. You need to ditch your junky, fraud-laden partners and sacrifice some of that "traffic" for the sake of quality.

Looksmart was a goldmine back when they were providing results for MSN. It was great traffic that actually converted to sales! Since then, it's been a complete waste of advertising dollars for pretty much everyone I know. I realize it might be impossible to find another partner like MSN, but the way they are approaching this seems very short-sighted because they're not going to have any advertisers at all if they don't improve the quality of their distribution partners.

From the Google Blog:

"Despite all the development we've done for our AdWords program, much more remains to be built. Fortunately there's no shortage of good ideas outside the Googleplex -- our community of users is amazingly expert and innovative and knows exactly what features they want. Many successful companies fall prey to the NIH ('Not Invented Here') syndrome, but as hard as we try, not every talented developer is working at Google. Which is why we've just announced the arrival of the AdWords API beta.

The AdWords API beta program is an open invitation to developers to explore new concepts (and then write great software) for managing Google AdWords advertising campaigns. Large advertisers can use it for their complex ad management needs, like tying product margins to optimized keyword bids. Third parties can use the API to build new interfaces to manage their client accounts. Best of all, an API enables the creation of all sorts of unanticipated ideas. In our experience, it's better to wear 'Not Invented Here' as a badge of honor than as a chip on your shoulder. Come sign up for a developer token and show us what we've been missing. "

"On Tuesday, Yahoo Chief Operating Officer Dan Rosensweig sent a companywide e-mail announcing the formation of the Yahoo Media Group, which will encompass Yahoo properties including games, news, sports, finance, movies, and music services Launch and Musicmatch. The unit will be run by former ABC television executive Lloyd Braun, who was hired by Yahoo in November.

'The growing consumer demand for compelling content on the Internet and the proliferation of broadband is an exciting growth opportunity for Yahoo. To successfully embrace this opportunity, we need to enhance our presence in the entertainment capital of the world,' Rosensweig wrote in the e-mail, which was seen by CNET News.com."

Article on News.com:

Google recently expanded the length of allowed queries to 32 words. As pointed out over on Search Engine Roundtable, this has opened up the ability again to check "non-filtered" or "non-sandboxed" search results--whatever you want to call it.

Head over to google and try it out if you're having problems showing up in Google. The results might surprise you. Hurry, though, Google might close up this function pretty quick, so take a peek while you can.

Discussion about this on SEOChat

I read a very interesting article on Clickz today where Brian Teasley tells of his experience in capturing a bit of the "buzz" created by a brief mention of a company on Dave Letterman. I wish he would have shared some specifics regarding search and click volume based on his little test, but I'm guessing the volume wasn't huge, but that's not the point. The point is people look to the web for more information about things they see on TV and the way they know how to find that information is through the search engines. He continues on that vein with the example of not being able to find the Miller Lite Referee commercials at the top of the Google search results. It just goes to show you that search is still one of the most overlooked marketing tactics by ad agencies and many other marketers.

Andy Beal wrote a post today about video search as an emerging force on the search engine scene. Google and Yahoo are both trying to get in on the fun with video/tv search.

I think it can be easy for those of us who are immersed in this search engine biz to expect everyone else to understand where search engine results come from. I think the majority of Internet users are still very naive about where the search results come from. In fact, I think they are quite ignorant about many facets of the online world. I think most people just know how to find what they need and they understand the tools just enough to get whatever it is they're looking for. A recent survey by the folks at Pew Internet & American Life takes a look at typical searchers habits and understanding of the search results. I think it could be a real eye opener for many in the search industry, although it simply confirms what many of us already knew.

"A new nationwide survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project shows that internet users are extremely positive about search engines and the experiences they have when searching the internet. But these same satisfied internet users are generally unsophisticated about why and how they use search engines. They are also strikingly unaware of how search engines operate and how they present their results."

Read the Press Release from Pew Internet & American Life Project

Remember that whole story a couple weeks ago about a Romanian couple who named their baby "Yahoo" after meeting though Yahoo Personals? Not true. Even though weirder things have happened, apparently the reporter who "broke" the story fabricated the whole thing. Now his boss found out and he's out of a job. That's what you get for being an idiot.

"Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Latest News about Google, the reigning king of Web search, cast a long shadow in the high-technology world last summer when it raised $1.67 billion in an initial public offering and saw its share price quickly double.

But for those who missed out on the riches, a small sector of search companies has sprung up on both sides of the country. Many are venture-backed start-ups that, rather than competing with Google head to head, are focusing on smaller business Relevant Products/Services from IBM eServer xSeries Systems or consumer niches."

Read the article on Tech World News

Google introduced their new method for cracking down on comment link spam using the "nofollow" link attribute. Apparently, Yahoo and MSN are also joining the crusade against comment spam. The "nofollow" attribute will work for all types of links in all types of applications, but the search engines appear to be targeting blogs and blog software providers to introduce the concept since blog spam is a big part of the problem that can be solved on a fairly large scale by implementing the change at the software level.

This seems like a great idea to me, and it's definitely a step in the right direction.

More from SearchEngineWatch

I saw the movie National Treasure this past weekend. It was pretty much your typical Nicholas Cage adventure flick, but I quite enjoyed it, regardless. One thing I noticed was that there were a couple times they needed to know some important fact, they turned to a web search. Also interesting was the fact that they used Yahoo to conduct their searches. I don't think it was coincidence they did that. I'm sure they worked out some kind of product placement deal, or more likely, a cross-promotion deal with Yahoo in exchange for using their search engine. It's a great way to help people feel like they're a part of the action--even though they'll probably never get a chance to steal the declaration of independence and pour lemon juice on it to find the hidden clues that will lead to a room full of priceless treasure, they can always pull up a browser window and do a search on Yahoo, which I guess is the next best thing, right?

Newsweek picks up on the search engine industry's dirty little secret.

Officially there is no word on when MSN's search will go live, but rumor has it that it will be happening Feb. 1.

News.com has an article about M
SN's beta and how they're supposedly getting closer to release and have been "turning up the dial" on how many "real" users are seeing the beta search results. No more news about when the switch over will actually occur, but it has to be getting closer, right?

Another bug at Google could cause some worry about security with Google's services - this time it's a cookie issue on Froogle - more from eweek.com

Kevin Lee wrote a little piece about "Dealing With Google's New Affiliate-Linking Policy", He ignores the fact that actual affiliates might read this article (as opposed to affiliate managers/merchants). The title implies that he'll give some advice on dealing with Google's new policy, but it kind of glances over the real subject at hand. And of course, what article about affiliate marketing would be complete without a quote from Stephen Messer of Linkshare. He's very good at using a lot of important sounding words and sounding very intelligent without saying anything important. The truth is he has no idea of just how much this change will impact his affiliates and merchants, he just wants to sound like he's got it all under control. How about some quotes from the guys in the trenches? This will have a bigger impact than anyone from CJ, Linkshare or anywhere else will admit. Will affilates adapt? Of course they will. They always do, but it will definitely have a large impact in the short-term.

Chris Sherman enlightens us about a study on search engine usage. The biggest finding was that although Google is still the king of search, its two smaller cousins, MSN and Yahoo, are making up some ground. People are realizing that there's not much difference between Google and the "other guys" like there used to be. In fact, aside from die-hard googlers, many people are realizing that you can actually get better results from Yahoo or MSN on occasion. Don't get me wrong, Google's still got a good thing going, but they are in a precarious position on their search pinnacle. Everyone else is taking aim at knocking them down a few notches on the search totem pole. Only time will tell how this whole search thing will shake out, but the signs are pointing toward a shift back to a multi-search engine market, with no one search engine dominating like Google has managed to do over the past few years.

I've always thought it was strange how Google keeps its new products in "beta" for such a long time. In my opinion it's a cop out so if anyone complains about any problems, they can just say "oh, well, it's still in beta". The whole beta thing is a joke because for the most part Google puts out excellent products, they just need to get over it and release it from beta a lot sooner. If everyone else starts following their example, every site and online service in the world would be in beta. I mean, give me a break with the beta already!

Leader from ZDNet UK writes about the very same frustration in this commentary.

"Search engine optimization firm Oneupweb has launched a new ROI tool to chart the performance of natural search and keyword advertising campaigns.

The application, called ROI trax Version 4, delivers detailed reports on the performance of individual ads and keywords, as well as entire campaigns, whether they employ banner ads, e-mail blasts or offline ads, so long as they have an online component."

Article on SearchEngineWatch

"A group of search engine marketers in North America is forming a new industry association, offering an alternative to the U.S.-based Search Engine Marketing Professionals Organization (SEMPO)."

Kevin Newcomb's article on Clickz

"Google's clubby campus has been hit with an embarrassment of riches--literally--thanks to a rarely invoked securities law requiring the company to report stock sales of hundreds of employees, rather than just top executives and shareholders."

Read the article from News.com

MSN inches closer to unleashing their beta search for primetime as they announce on the MSN Search Blog that they are routing some "actual" customers through the beta search. When will it launch for real (non-beta)? "When it's ready." O.k. that makes sense. When will it be ready? Only time will tell.

Google finally made the much talked about (and feared by many) change in their policy regarding adwords and affiliate links. Here's an excerpt from their email:


In January 2005, Google will incorporate a new affiliate advertising policy that is designed to provide a better user and advertiser experience.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What is changing:

With this new affiliate policy, we'll only display one ad per search query for affiliates and parent companies sharing the same URL. This way, users will have a more diverse sampling of advertisements to choose from. As always, your ad will be displayed based on its Ad Rank for given searches, which is determined by a combination of your ad's maximum cost-per-click (price) and clickthrough rate (performance).

For instance, if a user searches for books on Google.com or anywhere on the Google search and content networks, Google will take an inventory of ads running for the keyword books. If we find that two or more ads compete under the same URL, we'll display the ad with the highest Ad Rank.

How this will affect you:

If you're an affiliate, this means that you no longer need to identify yourself as an affiliate in your ad text. However, your current ad text will continue to display your affiliate status until you change it.

Affiliates or advertisers using unique URLs in their ads will not be affected by this change. Please note that your Display URL must match the URL of your landing page, and you may not simply frame another site.


This new policy is pretty much what I was expecting, and I'm sure it will have a lot of affiliate marketers in an uproar. I don't agree with the change, but it just means you have to actually have a page on your site instead of linking directly to an affiliate link. I don't really understand the reasoning behind this type of policy. I think they should have left things as they were. I'm not convinced it was broken...if it aint broke...but I have a limited view of what's oing on inside Google. As long as this wasn't driven by the outcrys of a vocal minority (of advertisers) they may have had valid business reasons to make this change.

My only guess as to why they would make this change would be to provide a variety of results in cases where on advertiser has a ton of affiliates showing up in most of the ads for certain keywords. I don't think the affiliate marketers are the only ones affected by this change. What about the advertiser who currently has all his affiliates bidding on his proprietary keywords, now he will have all his competitors showing up instead. Perhaps that's a good thing, but I don't think the advertiser will think so.

I still think they should have left it as it was and let the free market regulate which ads were shown. This seems like a bad decision by Google, but at the end of the day Adwords is still a lot more affiliate-friendly than Overture and affiliates will just have to adapt like they always have. They won't be happy about it, but they'll adapt.

Since rumors are all over the net about a new, self-serve MSN Search Ad Program (ala Overture, Adwords) that MSN is supposedly coming out with, I figure it's time I chime in about it. First off, I don't think it's going to happen any time soon. MSN has a contract with Overture to provide results for quite a while, so I don't think they're going to rush into this. I agree with Danny that these job postings and associated rumors are probably tied to some kind of modified version of the MSN Featured sites program they're already running.

I do think MSN will eventually create their own ppc program for search advertisers. MSN gets enough traffic to warrant their own ads and I'm sure it wouldn't take very long for bids (assuming an auction-style system) to reach levels similar to what Overture is at curently. And I don't blame MSN for wanting 100% of that revenue instead of whatever percentage they're getting from the deal with Overture.

As an advertiser, I like the idea of lower costs--at least initially. On the downside, it will mean more work for search marketers like us, but we're used to being overworked anyway. Overall I think it is good for the industry to spread out the marketshare of paid search, if nothing else, it will increase competition and drive innovation and hopefully improve customer service.

But, like I said, it will be a while before we see MSN offering their own broad-scale self-serve PPC program, so everybody just relax and get back to work.

Danny Sullivan writes about his thoughts on the past year and the new year in his article about Developments With Consumer Search

Here's a quote on what Danny sees in his crystal ball for this upcoming year:

2005 will be a year that we begin thinking widely about "consumer search," rather than web search.

According to Danny, this will be the year of "Search Convergence"--meaning that search will converge with other media (TV, video, audio, etc.) It's already starting to happen and I'm sure that trend will continue, but I'm not convinced this will be the year "converged search" will gain widestream acceptance. I think half of the online pupulation is still figuring out what web search is all about. I think it will be a gradual process that evolves over a longer period of time. However, desktop search and other consumer-friendly applications like Windows media center (mentioend by Danny) could speed up the learning/acceptance curve.

Just this morning, I read a revealing post on Search Engine Watch about a report from Visitorville that says 100% of Google employees use Google search engine, while only 69% of Yahoo employees use Yahoo's search engine. Even more telling is that 66% of Microsoft employees use Google, with only 19% using MSN!

I agree with Danny, that you can't put too much stock in Visitorville's data and methodology of mining referrer info--it seems like someone at Google would have to search on MSN or Yahoo once in a while, even if for testing purposes--but it is still a very intriguing look into what search engines are being used by the search engine employees.

"As companies throughout the world pay special attention to charitable giving after the Indian Ocean tsunami, Google is gearing up to launch its corporate foundation in the coming year."

Read more from News.com

Chris Sherman mentions Yahoo's new Real-Time Traffic Reports. I don't actually leave my house for work, but if I did, that might come in real handy.

I hope everyone is having a great new year. It's back to work next week, so let's make 2005 a great one in the world of search. I'm optimistic for the search engine marketing industry. There are a lot of exciting things going on that will make for an intereting year for all of us. Set some lofty goals for the new year and do whatever you need to do to reach them. I'll do the same. Cheers!