Top 5 Search Marketing Stories - Week of April 13th
Week of April 6th – April 12th 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.
