Analytics 2.0™

Published by Jim

Week of April 6^th – April 12^th 2008

#1. Yahoo responds to Microsoft by teaming with Google

Yahoo is running out of options, and responds by running a testing what the world would be like if it gave its crown jewels to Google.

“Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO), a leading global Internet company, announced today that it will begin a limited test of Google Inc.’s AdSense for Search service, which will deliver relevant Google ads alongside Yahoo!’s own search results. The test will apply only to traffic from yahoo.com in the U.S. and will not include Yahoo!’s extended network of affiliate or premium publisher partners. The test is expected to last up to two weeks and will be limited to no more than 3% of Yahoo! search queries.”

Read the full release here.

#2. Microsoft counters by teaming with Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp

Murdoch switches sides and starts talking deal with Microsoft.

According to the New York Times:

“Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation is in talks with Microsoft about joining in its contested bid for Yahoo, according to people involved in the discussions. The combination, which would join Yahoo, Microsoft’s MSN and News Corporation’s MySpace, would create a behemoth that would upend the Internet landscape.”

#3. Google Starts Indexing the Invisible Web

One of the common gaps in the world of search is the invisible web – the content hidden behind dynamic forms. The idea is not new (startups like Dipsie have gone after the problem), but Google’s entry into the space pushes the invisible web into the mainstream.

According to the Google Blog:

“In the past few months we have been exploring some HTML forms to try to discover new web pages and URLs that we otherwise couldn’t find and index for users who search on Google. Specifically, when we encounter a <FORM> element on a high-quality site, we might choose to do a small number of queries using the form. For text boxes, our computers automatically choose words from the site that has the form; for select menus, check boxes, and radio buttons on the form, we choose from among the values of the HTML. Having chosen the values for each input, we generate and then try to crawl URLs that correspond to a possible query a user may have made. If we ascertain that the web page resulting from our query is valid, interesting, and includes content not in our index, we may include it in our index much as we would include any other web page.”

#4. Yahoo to change its minimum bid policy

It has been reported from multiple sources (Search Engine Land, and Marketing Pilgrim) that next week Yahoo will follow Google’s footsteps in including Ad Quality as a factor that helps determine the minimum price that advertisers will need to bid in the search marketing campaigns.

#5. Network Solutions Hijacks Subdomains

Web publishers are reporting that Network Solutions is hijacking subdomains from its customers to run ads. According to this report on TechCrunch, Network Solutions is taking subdomains that customers are not using and filling it with advertising pages.

This continues Network Solution’s history of dirty tactics. It was previously reported that Network Solutions automatically reserves any domain name you search for, and holds the domain hostage.

Post a comment . Apr 13, 2008
Filed under: SEO, Search Engine Marketing, news, Search Engine Marketing, SEO

Published by Jim

Backlinks - What are they and why are they important?

In the world of SEO, we often hear terms about backlinks like link building, link exchange, and link baiting. But what are backlinks and why are they so important?

Backlinks are links to your website from another site. And the reason they are so important in search engine optimization is because search engines use these links to determine where to place your website in its search results.

Google’s core innovation is the use of backlinks as a way to determine what search results to display. In fact, this is so core to Google’s algorithm that the original nickname for the search engine was “backrub.”

Other major search engines have followed Google’s lead by incorporating backlinks into their algorithms as well. Today, a key part of any SEO effort is to engage in link building.

Backlinks: Votes across the Web

Search engines use links in many different ways. One of the key analysis they perform is to examine the “anchor text” – or the text next to the link to your site. Their algorithms use this to determine when they should display your site in the search results.

Picture a voting system where links act as votes. If someone adds links to your site, the search engine records this as a vote for your site. Next to the link, let’s say they put the words “ultimate guide to ice cream” This anchor text lets determines the scope of the vote. So when someone searches for “ultimate guide to ice cream” the search engine can provide a list of all the sites that has links with “ultimate guide to ice cream” and list them by the number of votes. Therefore, having the right anchor text is a critical part of successful link building.

Not all votes are created equal

Another important consideration is the quality of the site that links to you. If the search engines only relied on the number of links with the anchor text, people could simply create a lot of sites with the sole purpose of placing “phony” links.

The search engines prevent this problem by looking at the quality or authority (Google PageRank is a famous ranking that is used by Google) of the linking site. Links from higher authority sites count more – and are also harder to manipulate. Other quality factors that search engines look at include the age of the linking page, the number of backlinks to the linking page.

Evolution of Link Analysis

Over time, as the SEO industry has gotten more sophisticated about link building (and link buying), the search engines have also grown more sophisticated in their link analysis. Search engines now also take into account factors such as link distribution and basic semantic analysis (i.e. topic of the linking and linked site).

In our next post, we will look at the common link building techniques.

Post a comment . Apr 09, 2008
Filed under: SEO, Link, SEO

Published by Jim

What do Gillette, IKEA, and Lionsgate Films Have in Common?

They are all using search marketing to support their viral marketing campaigns.

Web 2.0 Meets Search Marketing

We have been tracking a recent trend in search engine marketing - the fusion of Web 2.0 and Search Marketing. Leading edge marketers – from major brands to smaller web sites – are starting to use search engine marketing to give their Web 2.0 content the boost it needs to “go viral.”

PPC Ads for YouTube Videos: A New Trend in Social Media Marketing

The phenomenon that is now occurring is that marketer are running search marketing campaigns for their social media content such as their YouTube Video. Major brands such as Gillette, IKEA, and Lionsgate Film all use search marketing to promote their viral video campaigns on YouTube.

Viral Video Campaigns

Gillette, Ikea, and Lionsgate Film are all using YouTube for a viral marketing campaign. Gillete’s Phenom Channel rewards a $30,000 prize and an appearance on TV to the user who creates the best 90 second video. Ikea’s Kitchen Rhythms Contest gives the producer of the best kitchen music with a buffet-style “All you can grab” trip to Ikea. And Liongates Film has a video remixer for its new movie, Forbidden Kingdom.

Clearly, the major brands are pushing the envelope on viral marketing on YouTube. But having a well designed contest or program is only part of running a successful viral campaign. The other piece of the puzzle is getting the word out.

Getting the Word Out For Your Viral Video Campaign

With a viral marketing campaign, one of the hard aspects is seeding the viral phenomenon – getting the word out, so that your campaign has a chance to reach critical mass. That’s exactly where search marketing comes in. Gillette, Ikea, and Lionsgate Film all use search marketing to support and promote their viral video with good keywords and search marketing ads.

Gillette’s PPC Ad for Viral Video Contest

IKEA’s PPC Ad for Viral Video Contest

Lionsgate’s PPC Ad for Viral Video Mixer

As you plan your next viral marketing campaign, think about how you too can use search marketing to give your campaign the boost it needs to get going.

Post a comment . Apr 07, 2008
Filed under: Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Marketing, Viral Marketing, Youtube

Published by Jim

What are Obama, Clinton, and McCain doing with Search Engine Marketing? (Part 2)

Top 10 PPC Keywords for Obama, Clinton, and McCain

For our data, we looked at a broad sample of keywords that the candidates were advertising on as of March 2008.

Top 10 Keywords for Obama (March 2008)

Top 10 Keywords for Clinton (March 2008)

Top 10 Keywords for McCain (March 2008)

Post a comment . Apr 06, 2008
Filed under: Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Marketing

Published by Jim

One of the strange things that you will notice when you search for a brand like “Ford”, “Intel”, or “Applebees” is that they all run pay-per-click Ads on their own brands.

Even though they already rank #1 organically on their own brand, they run pay-per-click ads on their own brands.

Why?

Playing Defense

Even though people searching for the brand will most likely find the main site, this is largely a necessary defensive move. In the US & Canada, and now in the UK as well, Google allows your competitors to use your trademarked brands as keywords.

This means that your competitors can bid on your company name and products, and reach out to customers looking for you. In fact, it is now fairly common practice in search marketing to bid on the competitor’s company and product names (including misspellings). Therefore, it is an important defensive move for search marketers to bid on their own brands.

It’s Cheap

The good news is that bidding on your own brands (and misspellings) is very inexpensive for you because you will get a very high quality score in the PPC algorithm. This results in low bid costs.

Given the low costs, it also gives you another way of messaging to your customers without spending a lot of marketing dollars.

Protecting Your Trademark

While competitors can bid on your brand as keywords, they are not allowed to use your trademark in their ad text on Google. If you discover competitors doing this, you can file a complaint here with Google.

Post a comment . Apr 06, 2008
Filed under: Search Engine Marketing, Competitive, Search Engine Marketing