Archive for December, 2008
Wednesday, December 31st, 2008
Search Engine Optimization Ensures Increased traffic and Increased … - Live-PR.com (Pressemitteilung)
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Search Engine Optimization Ensures Increased traffic and Increased …
Live-PR.com (Pressemitteilung), Austria - 1 hour ago Search engine optimization or SEO is the hottest way to drive targeted traffic to your website. Your investment in the future of your website will be worth … Search Engine Optimization for Long - Term Results PWO New approaches to search engine optimization Central Valley Business Times Use public relations to drive search engine optimization (SEO … Examiner.com Search Newz - SmartBrief all 8 news articles |
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Wednesday, December 31st, 2008
What Makes a Successful Online Promotion?
To begin his new role as a “promotions and link building guy,” Sage Lewis is offering a bribe to get readers to help him write his next column. …
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Wednesday, December 31st, 2008
Buzz Goes Mainstream in 2009…And Other Speculative Assertions - Minneapolis Star Tribune
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Buzz Goes Mainstream in 2009…And Other Speculative Assertions
Minneapolis Star Tribune, MN - 2 hours ago Search Engine Optimization - The darling of the geekdom is more about content these days then technical prowess. That means that getting content to appear … |
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Wednesday, December 31st, 2008
6 Usability Tips to Maximize B2B Website Conversion
B2B marketers invest a substantial amount of time, effort, and money driving
visitors to websites. Making sure the site adheres to basic usability principles
is critical to maximizing online marketing results and alleviating obstacles
that prevent pro…
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Wednesday, December 31st, 2008
Google Updates Toolbar PageRank
Some webmasters are celebrating, others not so much, as Google closes out 2008 with another toolbar PageRank update — the first one since September. Google’s Matt Cutts confirmed the update via Twitter late last night.
There’s lots of…
Comments Off - Posted in Google: SEO, Google: Toolbar, Latest Info by Admin
Wednesday, December 31st, 2008
Link Week Loose Ends
My Link Week columns rotate every other week, and over the course of the last few columns several questions and comments have been sent my way. For this week’s column, I’m responding to a selection of those questions and comments.
From m…
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Wednesday, December 31st, 2008
Will Google Track the Stomach Bug Like It Did the Flu?
If you missed my posts on Monday, it’s because I was up at 3am blowing chunks into the porcelain throne the night before. It takes a lot for me to not blog, even when I’m sick, so you know I was hit with something awful. And no, I wasn’t hungover.
Instead, as I later found out, I fell victim to this year’s stomach bug. I picked it up at a holiday party here in Ohio, where I am doing the annual visit the in-laws thing. After garnering enough energy by Monday afternoon to Tweet about my ordeal, I learned from the @ replies, that I was not alone.
The stomach bug was not only afflicting others in Ohio, but a search on Google News revealed that it had earlier been spreading in the western part of my home state of North Carolina and throughout the U.S.
I also learned that the British were more likely to call it “norovirus” and that it was spreading like wildfire throughout the UK. (It is also called the “Norwalk virus” which is only completely ironic since I’m in Norwalk, Ohio.)
The stomach bug is not generally deadly, though it gives symptoms that send many to the emergency room. But it’s lack of lethal-ness is perhaps the reason why Google has not been officially tracking it like it did the flu.
But oh - what a public service if it did! So, I went to Google Trends to see for myself how “stomach bug” and “norovirus” were, um, trending:
As you can see, the ailment is actually trending lower this year than in previous years, but it is on the rise.
Here are some tips to keep this trending lower:
Prevention Tips from the CDC:
- Frequently wash your hands, especially after toilet visits and changing diapers and before eating or preparing food.
- Carefully wash fruits and vegetables, and steam oysters before eating them.
- Thoroughly clean and disinfect contaminated surfaces immediately after an episode of illness by using a bleach-based household cleaner.
- Immediately remove and wash clothing or linens that may be contaminated with virus after an episode of illness (use hot water and soap).
- Flush or discard any vomitus and/or stool in the toilet and make sure that the surrounding area is kept clean.
Treatment Tips from the CDC
- Get hydrated The vomitting and diarrhea dehydrate you. Drink water, oral rehydration fluids (ORF), or juice. Sports drinks will not work in this case.
- Stay away from people You’re contagious from the moment you get the bug until 3 days after.
- If symptoms persist, see a doctor The stomach bug should go away in 24-48 hours. If it doesn’t, get medical attention.
Comments Off - Posted in Google: Trends, Latest Info by Admin
Wednesday, December 31st, 2008
Watch a Live Stream of the Times Square New Year’s Celebration
TimesSquare.com is offering a free, live stream of the most famous New Year’s celebration in the world. It will begin the stream at 4pm and last until 12:15am. Mogulus will provide the streaming technology.
This way you can enjoy Times Square without being surrounded by thousands of drunk, screaming people, having beer poured all over you and not having access to public bathrooms.
Or, if you prefer, you can go to Times Square and use your Wifi-enabled device to access TimesSquare.com (provided you can grab a Wifi signal) and be completely ironic with yourself.
No matter how you ring in 2009, and to our friends our the globe who already have - Happy New Year!
Related Reading:
Live from San Francisco, It’s YouTube!
Yahoo Wins Gold Medal for Online Olympic Traffic
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Wednesday, December 31st, 2008
Internet Music Marketing 2009 Combining Traditional and Web 2.0 - PR-USA.net (press release)
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Internet Music Marketing 2009 Combining Traditional and Web 2.0
PR-USA.net (press release), Bulgaria - 5 hours ago Music and Model Marketing use traditional Search Engine Optimization and Link Management along with Social Media Marketing, Social Network Aggregation and … |
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Wednesday, December 31st, 2008
Rumor: Marissa Mayer, Google’s 19th Employee, To Leave
Gawker reports that Google’s 19th employee, Marissa Mayer, is planning on ending her career with Google in 2009. Marissa Mayer is one of the most public figures that Google has ever had.
Gawker reports receiving word that someone overheard discu…
Comments Off - Posted in Google: Business Issues, Google: Employees, Latest Info, Top News by Admin
Wednesday, December 31st, 2008
Google’s Product Search Gaining & A Look At Google’s Top Services
Google’s Product Search Catching Up Fast With Shopping Rivals from Investor Business Daily reports on a comScore release that Google’s Product Search is gaining in the category of shopping search. In fact, Google Product Search is up 786% …
Comments Off - Posted in Latest Info, Stats: Popularity, Stats: comScore, Top News by Admin
Wednesday, December 31st, 2008
Businesses to Brighten Bleak Holiday Sales with VisitorCamp.com - Press Media Wire
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Businesses to Brighten Bleak Holiday Sales with VisitorCamp.com
Press Media Wire, VA - 7 hours ago VisitorCamp.com packages provide all the necessary elements to boost online sales: a custom designed web site and highly targeted search engine marketing … |
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Wednesday, December 31st, 2008
Bruce Clay, Inc. and Search Marketing Expo - SMX Continue … - MSNBC
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Bruce Clay, Inc. and Search Marketing Expo - SMX Continue …
MSNBC - 2 hours ago Search Marketing Expo - SMX West Will Feature SEOToolSet(R) Training From Bruce Clay, Inc. in 2009 SIMI VALLEY, CA - Search engine optimization and Internet … |
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Wednesday, December 31st, 2008
50 Most Memorable Moments in Search for 2008
It was one heck of a year for the search industry. The convergence of outside economic forces, a wild presidential election and the 2008 Beijing Olympics were all signs of an industry becoming more and more mainstream and global. Here’s a look at the completely subjective biggest stories in search from 2008:
- Microsoft Makes Unsolicited Offer for Yahoo! - On February 1, one of tech’s biggest companies made a generous offer of $31 a share for the number two search engine. CEO Jerry Yang was defiant in his stance that the company he founded over 10 years ago would remain independent. Yahoo! turned the initial offer down, endured an “ultimatum” from Steve Ballmer, was rumored to have rejected an increased offer of $33 a share, and neglected to negotiate selling off just the search portion of Yahoo!. Yahoo!’s stock price is now hovering in the low double digits, and many analysts think it will be sold in 2009.
- Search Advertising Plays Major Role in Elections From the primaries to the general presidential election, it appeared that whoever outspent their competitor headed to the next step. Barack Obama, with his arsenal of cash, went on an online advertising shopping spree and will be inaugurated in a mere 21 days.
- Google and Yahoo! Form Search Advertising Partnership, DOJ Antitrust Lawsuit Threat Shuts Down Google/Yahoo! Deal - Google made it quite clear they didn’t want to see search engines #2 and 3 integrate. So they offered up a search advertising deal to Yahoo!, who in their desperation to avoid a hostile Microsoft acquisition said yes. After the Microsoft negotiations died, so did the Google deal. It seems the team over in Mountain View wasn’t up for a battle with the Department of Justice and nixed the deal just an hour before the suit was served.
- Carl Icahn Threatens Yahoo with Hostile Takeover of Board, Later Agrees to Compromise and Joins Expanded Yahoo! Board Investor Carl Icahn wasn’t happy with Yahoo’s rejection of Microsoft’s generous offer, so he threatened a hostile takeover of his own for the annual shareholders meeting. But just before the meeting occurred, a deal was struck. Yahoo would expand its board, adding Icahn to the table.
- Jerry Yang Steps Down as Yahoo! CEO After spending just a little over a year in the CEO seat, Yahoo! founder Jerry Yang announced his resignation. He will remain in the position until a replacement is found and then will remain at the company as Chief Yahoo.
- Twitter Becomes Agent of Search Whether you deem it a microblogging tool or a mass chat client, Twitter went mainstream this year and the search industry was smack dab in the mix of things. Many users found Twitter useful for the actual conducting of searches, while others found it useful in networking.
- Google Completes DoubleClick Acquisition with EU Approval Even though Google announced the DoubleClick acquisition in 2007 and it was approved by US regulators late last year, the deal wasn’t finalized until EU approval was gained earlier this spring. Once it was, Google began the great integration. Google also sold the search marketing arm, Performics, to Publicis.
- Page Load Time Affects Quality Score In its everpresent goal to improve ads, Google AdWords added yet another factor to Quality Score - landing page load time.
- Microsoft and Facebook Enter Into Search Partnership. After rumors of a possible acquisition, Microsoft and Facebook simply expanded their existing partnership, which has the software giant invested in a 1.6% stake in the company, to include a Live Search on the social network.
- Yahoo Wins Gold in the Search Engine Olympics. Yahoo was the big search winner when it came to Olympics-related web traffic. Microsoft won big, too, with its partnership with NBC, which covered the big event. Meanwhile, Google seemed to sit the event out entirely.
- G1, the First Google Android Phone, Released Through T-mobile
- A Judge orders Google to hand over user data in a suit brought by Viacom over YouTube. Later, Viacom agrees to let Google scramble user IDs and IP addresses. A Judge threw out a similar case that IO Group brought against YouTube competitor, Veoh.
- Hulu, an online video site for copyrighted work by major networks, launches to compete with YouTube.
- Google Adds Ads across various sites
- Google launches VisualRank, which is PageRank for images
- Microsoft acquires semantic search engine Powerset
- Yahoo Indexes Microformats, Opens Up Search Technology with SearchMonkey, BOSS, and Fire Eagle.
- Microsoft incentivizes Live Search with Cashback and Search Perks
- Yahoo changes minimum bid policy on search ads
- Yahoo rebrands display advertising platform AMP as APT and launches
- Google Launches Search Within Search Results
- Yahoo! acquires assets of the Inquisitor 3 Plug-in for Safari, speeds it up, adds languages and then expands the search suggestion plugin to Firefox and Internet Explorer.
- Google sites surpass Yahoo sites in traffic for the first time.
- Google, Yahoo & MySpace Team Up for OpenSocial, AOL signs on later.
- Cuil launches under much fanfare and then much criticism.
- Live Search implements instant answers, Wikipedia into search results.
- AOL and Yahoo redesign home pages
- YouTube rolled out sponsored videos
- Google launches Image Search by content type
- Yahoo! acquires analytics company, IndexTools.
- AOL buys Bebo and SocialThing
- Ask.com to acquire Dictionary.com family of reference sites
- YouTube launches Insight, limited analytics for users regarding their uploaded videos.
- Adobe Provides Flash Technology to Google and Yahoo for Better Indexing, Google Analytics now tracks Flash Content.
- Yahoo, Ask, Zillow conduct layoffs
- Google offers video Adsense units.
- Compete acquired by TNS.
- Googlers Head to Facebook, Friendster, Twitter, and Zillow.
- Cable firms collaborate to compete with Google
- Visual search engines Searchme, Viewzi launch
- Answers sites see increased traffic; Hearst acquires Answerology, Answers.com integrates with Wikianswers.com.
- Google AdWords offers TV Ads for everyone.
- AOL’s display advertising platform, Platform-A, expands to Europe.
- Google Trends goes from hourly to daily, launches Trends for Websites.
- Google launches Ad Planner, a media planning and buying aid for media buyers.
- Time Warner announces AOL split
- Yahoo! Buzz opens to all publishers
- IAC, parent company of Ask.com, splits into five companies.
- Google enables cross-language search for News and Enterprise Search Appliance.
- LinkedIn launches new search platform
Honorable Mentions
- Microsoft adds Image Hotspots to Live Search
- Georgian conflict exposes online mapping weaknesses
- Google launches Knol, its own version of Wikipedia.
- Google Lively comes and goes.
- Yahoo tests Glue Pages in India, then brings modified version to the States
What are your most memorable moments in search for 2008? Leave a comment and let us know!
Comments Off - Posted in Latest Info, Search by Admin
Wednesday, December 31st, 2008
Online Holiday Shopping Down 3% Overall for 2008
It’s the news I hoped I didn’t have to share, but alas it has arrived. We hoped during the flat Black Friday and decent Cyber Monday that we could edge out the holiday season with a slight gain. But while web site traffic was up by 5% to retail sites this holiday season, it didn’t translate into an increase in sales. Instead, e-tailers saw an overall decline in holiday sales of 3% in 2008, according to comScore
“The 2008 online holiday shopping season has declined 3 percent versus year ago, falling behind our expectation of flat sales this year,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. “This marks the first time we’ve seen negative growth rates for the holiday season since we began tracking e-commerce in 2001. The combination of having five fewer shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas and the severe economic headwinds faced by consumers has made this a really tough season for retailers, both offline and online.”
The good news, in my humble opinion, is that 2007, the year to which 2008 is being compared to, was somewhat of a banner year. It was up 19% over 2006. So, 2008 was still up 16% over two years ago. 2006 was also a huge year over 2005. I think when we hear Wall Street folks talk about the markets correcting themselves, this 3% decline is symbolic of that. I just don’t know how the growth of online sales in 2006-2007 could really have been sustained.
Comments Off - Posted in Latest Info, Stats: comScore by Admin
Wednesday, December 31st, 2008
Cuil May Sound Cool But Did Not Kill Google This Year
Touted as a possible Google killer when it launched July this year, Cuil has had a disappointing start.
Traffic numbers reflect the company’s lack of stickiness following its launch. TechCrunch sees it as flat lining.
Interesting that Business Week has it amongst its most promising start ups of 2008.
Kevin Ryan gave us a thorough examination of the problems with Cuil and DaniWeb did an interesting analysis of their search results in comparison to Google.
Comments Off - Posted in Latest Info, Other Engines by Admin
Wednesday, December 31st, 2008
Marissa Mayer To Leave Google?
Rumor has it Google VP Marissa Mayer will be leaving the company in 2009, Gawker reported.
Mayer, vice president of search products and user experience, joined Google from Stanford’s graduate computer science department in 1999 as the company’s first female engineer. She also is a part-time introductory computer programming teacher at Stanford and has been given the Centennial Teaching Award and the Forsythe Award.
In a recent interview Mayer seems to contradict these rumors when she talked about the future of search and Google. “We think that when you look at the winning search engine in 2020 and what traits it’s likely to have, we think the one thing that will be true is that it will understand more about you the user.”
Mayer was the keynote speaker at SES San Jose 2007 and is one of the more public faces of the company. She has worked with many of the company’s newer products and has been known as a long time advocate of the minimalist homepage.
Comments Off - Posted in Google: Employees, Latest Info by Admin
Wednesday, December 31st, 2008
mRELEVANCE Launches Focused Market Solutions Web site - PR.com (press release)
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mRELEVANCE Launches Focused Market Solutions Web site
PR.com (press release), NY - 2 hours ago The Focused Market Solutions Web site is highly functional with easy to use navigation and was built to be search engine friendly. … |
