From: searchenginewatch.com

Microsoft is today launching a new incentive program for Live Search. The program is called SearchPerks, and it works very much like a credit card reward program.

Every time you search, you earn tickets. You can earn up to 25 tickets a day. Tickets can later be redeemed for all sorts of rewards including music downloads (5 for 525 points) and airline miles (1000 miles for 1800 tickets).

Here’s how it works. Sign up for the program, and download a simple piece of code. That will give you a Perk Counter for your desktop.

You can begin earning tickets today, October 1, all the way through April 15th of next year. You can begin claiming your rewards on April 16. However, you can only sign up for the program through December 31, 2008 and the program is capped at 250,000 people.

Microsoft will be evaluating the program and could possible expand it if all goes well.

Microsoft’s Frederick Savoye, senior director at Live Search, assured me that this is an incentive program that fits into their three overall pillars of search:

• Delivering the best search results
• Simplifying key tasks such as booking airline, travel, shopping, finding user opinions, etc.
• Innovating the business model

So while programs like SearchPerks and Cashback may seem like Microsoft is just trying to pay people off to use Live Search, the team remains strongly devoted to improving technology and the user experience.

What do you think of this program? Will you sign up? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Read Original: http://feeds.searchenginewatch.com/~r/sewblog/~3/408000860/081001-030131

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From: feedburner.com

Squidoo is giving $2 per vote (up to $80,000 total) to charity. Visit this page, pick your charity and you’re done. There is no catch. One vote per person, feel free to organize mass group voting.

Thanks to every single person who helped us raise this money. More than 300,000 lensmasters and more than 80,000,000 visitors to the site contributed to our ability to make such a substantial contribution.

A nickel, a dollar, a dime… it adds up, drip, drip, drip. If the real world is about big wins, the web is about a long tail of little victories.

PS If you visit the Squidblog, you’ll see this post from Megan:

People online are real people.

If you send a nasty email, there’s a real human being on the other end who gets it.
If you flame in a forum, you’re wasting real people’s time.
If you spam someone, you’re really only making yourself look bad.
If you write IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS it sounds like shouting.
If you want something to happen your way, try asking instead of demanding.
If you give, you’ll probably wind up getting, too.
If you blog just to pick fights, don’t be surprised when people don’t trust you.
If you collaborate, say thanks.
If you’re independent, say no thanks.
If you like someone, tell them.
If you don’t, walk away from the computer.
If you’re giving feedback, lead with just one good thing.
If you’re getting feedback, realize that the person must care a lot to have sent it.
If you goof, apologize.
If you apologize, mean it.
If you smile, mean that too.
If you don’t like something, don’t do it.
If you do like something, spread it.

But far far more important:

Give people a break.
The break you probably deserve yourself.
People are out to do good, 99% of the time.
You probably are too.
Say thanks out loud and a lot.
Try making someone’s day.
Chances are they’ll make yours in return.

Read Original: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/typepad/sethsmainblog/~3/408123564/raising-money-f.html

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From: searchenginewatch.com

The news about our world’s economic conditions aren’t just bad, they’re insane. What will happen to advertising and marketing dollars as a result? Is search insulated from our economic meltdown? In today’s Searching for Meaning column, “In Tough Economic Times, Whither Search?,” Kevin Ryan gives the short answer: not by a long shot. He then explains that the long answer is a bit more complicated.

» Full story

Read Original: http://feeds.searchenginewatch.com/~r/sewblog/~3/408239083/081001-000001

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From: feedburner.com

Google in India launched a new Labs service called Google SMS Channels, as Digital Inspiration reports. Digital Inspiration explains the service lets you subscribe to news alerts, blog updates and other kinds of information like horoscopes, jokes, stocks or even cricket scores via SMS text messages, adding that Google SMS Channels are free both for content publishers as well as mobile phone users who subscribe to text updates via SMS.

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Tag: Google, SMS, SEO



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Read Original: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/searchnewzlatestnews/~3/408315682/sn-4-20081001GoogleSMSChannelsforIndia.html

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From: feedburner.com

According to some discussions that are going on WebmasterWorld, it has been noticed that even though a lot of webmasters are redirecting their non www to the www version, Yahoo! is still listing their non-www as far as the main results are concerned.

Let us have a look at some of the discussions:

www.example.com redirects to example.com and has done so for quite some time now. Yet when I do a search for a two word primary key phrase, Yahoo shows www.example.com. A search for my domain name returns example.com. I was at #1 for a few years but lost some ranking in August for this search phrase. I’m not sure if the ranking loss is related. - By ChicagoFan67

I looked, and can’t find any backlinks at all to non-www but the homepage shows up both with and without for different searches. - Marcia.

But I HAVE seen Yahoo list the homepage of sites in the past without www when doing a site: search on the domain, so it isn’t something brand new with them. In fact, they’re doing it now with an indented listing for one of the *big* discount retail chains for a query - one with, one without- she further said.

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Tag: Yahoo, Search, SEO



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Read Original: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/searchnewzlatestnews/~3/400863881/sn-4-20080923YahooSearchNotListeningtoRedirectRules.html

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From: feedburner.com

Ever Since 2007, Google hosts stories by some news agencies like Associated Press as part of Google News. While many other news sites (e.g. CNN) carry stories by news agencies too, linking to Google News hosted stories seemed like a good idea if you like to point readers to an uncluttered version of the report. However, as Digital Inspiration points out and as Google explains in their help, these Google News articles disappear after 30 days “ compare this article which is currently live (also see screenshot) with this one which is gone by now*. Digital Inspiration suggests to link to CNN, NYT and other websites instead to create more permanent links for your visitors.

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Tag: Google, Articles, SEO



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Read Original: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/searchnewzlatestnews/~3/399814187/sn-4-20080922BetterNotLinktoGoogleNewsHostedArticles.html

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From: feedburner.com

Yahoo now lets you playback songs for some artists right from the search results page. Search for nada surf, for instance, and youll see an artist box on top, listing a couple of songs along with play buttons. Hitting play opens a little Flash-based player (called FoxyPlayer by Yahoo) at the bottom of the page . You can listen to the full song, in partnership with music service Rhapsody, though your number of playbacks is somewhat restricted (Im not sure how serious the restriction of 25 playbacks is; its not a cookie-based barrier, and if its IP-based it might be relatively easy to route around).

Google also has a music onebox with info only, and they offer music playback in China, but they dont have any music playback integrated into their results which would work globally.

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Tag: Yahoo, Music, SEO



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Read Original: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/searchnewzlatestnews/~3/396250030/sn-4-20080918PlayMusicRightFromYahooResults.html

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From: feedburner.com

Recently, we had reported that the real time quality score algorithm would be live within days. Many are now stating that they are actually witnessing it live in their campaigns. Here is a screen shot:

Isn’t it amazing?

Last week, a lot of complaints were recorded, that certain advertisers are finding this long wait very tedious. They wanted to know how they would be impacted by this.

A lot of mixed reactions have been recorded. Let us have a look at some of them..

I’m 100% sure it’s live in my account and it’s ugly.

I bet this causes Google to lose money, not make more money. People are really getting fed up with all this quality score BS and lack of transparency. I bid on my own @#$@!#$@ brand/site name and my quality score is Poor. Whatever google!

I’m seeing the new QS now on my accounts. No more MinBids, or inactive keywords, just an “estimated bid to show on first page”. So far there are no surprises, all my ads are running as expected and ad ranks are unchanged. Pretty much transparent so far. Will continue to monitor.

It seems to me to be a dilution of the QS as it allows more ads to be shown.. The previous non dynamic thing was a take it or leave it kind of a thing.. This allows more options for Google to use up ad inventory.

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Tag: Google, Dynamic, SEO



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Read Original: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/searchnewzlatestnews/~3/395187982/sn-4-20080917GooglesNewDynamicQualityScore.html

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From: feedburner.com

Posted by randfish

It’s been a few weeks since I last posted a headsmacker, but this topic has been begging for some exposure. Recently we’ve worked with some fellow SEOs who’ve felt the harsh constraint of overly eager, impatient management. They’re campaigns followed solid tactics, stuck to best practices and even had some smart, creative elements, but after a month of middling results, the execs requested that our friends move on to “higher ROI projects.”

To be fair, I’m an executive myself (chief something-or-other, I think), so I understand the need for fast, visible results. However, SEO doesn’t function in this fashion - never has, and I doubt it ever will. Rare, in fact, are the sites who can make sweeping changes, launch viral content, start some link building campaigns and see immediate success. Why? Lots of reasons:

• The engines need time to re-crawl your site. For a lucky few, this might take only days or a couple weeks, but for many large sites and even for smaller sites that aren’t terrificly high on Google’s “must crawl” list, we’ve seen as much as 3-4 months pass before a site’s pages are fully updated.
• The engines have to crawl all your link partners, too! If you’ve recently launched some great widgets or viral material or a new content licensing system, it’s going to be a solid wait before you experience the full impact of that work.
• The algorithms reward patience. Even if the engines start to see those links right away, it might be a few weeks or months before the algorithm rewards the full weight and heft of their existence. Why? Because search engines learned years ago that manipulative link building is often temporary, while high quality links stand the test of time. This issue is particularly true of new domains (or newly moved domains), so be aware that you might have to earn some trust over time before you feel all the positive ranking impacts of links.
  
  Want a great example? Remember our SEO Expert Quiz? In the first week after launch, we saw hundreds of new links pointing to that page, almost all with the anchor text “SEO Expert” included. But guess what? It took almost 6 weeks before we climbed the rankings ladder to page 1 for the query - SEO Expert (at Google, at least - Yahoo! had us ranking there much faster, though I’ve seen other examples where they lag behind, too).
• It takes time to attract links. Last, but not least on our list of reasons are the growth of links themselves. If you’ve just started new content, design and promotion strategies to attract links, you not only need time for those campaigns to reach their targets, you need to wait for the links to start rolling in (and then get counted by the engines). This can be a long, tough slog, and understandably, a lot of site owners and SEOs give up without ever getting the full benefit of their work.

Patience can be a challenging quality to find in a manager, particularly in nervous economic times. Just remember - if you’re spending money on PPC, which receives something between 12-20% of the clicks on the SERPs, those organic listings can produce a lot of value. Give your SEOs and your campaigns a minimum of 3-4 months to show positive effects and make sure you watch total search referrals (not just rankings for your pet keyword search phrases). Once you start to see increased traffic from the engines for long tail and related phrases, you know you’re on the right path.

“Not far. Yoda not far. Patience. Soon you will be with him.”

Now if I could just take my own advice and settle my nerves for another 5 days until our big launch…

Do you like this post? Yes No

Read Original: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/seomoz/~3/407989924/headsmacking-tip-8-give-your-seo-campaigns-time-to-take-effect

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From: searchenginewatch.com

Google has added 11 languages to its Translate product. They are:

• Catalan
• Filipino
• Hebrew
• Indonesian
• Latvian
• Lithuanian
• Serbian
• Slovak
• Slovenian
• Ukrainian
• Vietnamese

The total number of languages is now 34 and the total number of language pair combinations nearly doubled from 506 to 1122.

Recently, Google added human translators as well.

Read Original: http://feeds.searchenginewatch.com/~r/sewblog/~3/407408649/080930-120833

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From: searchenginewatch.com

The New York Times has a great article about using the internet for information on medical conditions, including how search is involved in the process. As you know, results can change just by adding a keyword to the phrase you’re already searching for.

Search for a condition and add the word community, for example, and you suddenly have access to patients dealing with the same issues, according to Susannah Fox of the Pew Internet and American Life Project.

I can personally attest to the power of the internet, especially the ability to communicate and share experiences with other patients. When I was diagnosed with Thyroid Cancer in 2003, the internet became the authority on my care. Because the cancer affects so few people, doctors with little experience in seeing patients with thyroid cancer can be misinformed on how to treat it.

Thankfully, I found an online community that helped me through every step of the process. I was able to find doctors that knew thyroid cancer and could adequately treat me. My experience greatly improved as the result of “meeting” other patients. (I did, also, eventually meet several in person as well.)

As much as social networking can sometimes get a bad rap for being an untamed jungle of wild party pictures and obscene comments, we can’t forget the power of online communities and their role in so many important aspects of daily life. From jobs to cancer treatment, social networking is impacting lives. And that’s something to feel good about - and get involved in.

Is your company there yet? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Related Reading:

Microsoft Secures Search Ad Partnership with Rodale’s Health Sites

Yahoo Says Searchers are Better Patients

Net Attracts Health-Seeking Surfers

Majority of Online Health-Related Queries Start on Search Engines

Read Original: http://feeds.searchenginewatch.com/~r/sewblog/~3/407408652/080930-114841

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From: searchenginewatch.com

WebTrends is rolling out a new feature to help web markters and developers track specific analytics. The tool is called TagBuilder. It’s online, it’s free and it generates WebTrends data collection tags, which have been rewritten as standardized, object-oriented JavaScript code.

Here’s what you can do with TagBuilder:

• Access automated click-event tracking for download links, offsite links, form submissions, image maps and navigation areas
• Automate parameter mapping and the capture of information from custom META tags for detailed reporting
• Flexibly define the site with options for single or multiple first-party cookies and the choice of single or multiple on-site domains for accurate cross-domain tracking
• Integrate conversion tracking with WebTrends Ad Director, an automated search marketing optimization service
• Easily create cookies compliant with the U.S. Office of Management & Budget policies for federal government web sites

“WebTrends TagBuilder greatly simplifies one of the most arduous, error-prone tasks of web analytics,” said Eric Rickson, product manager for WebTrends. “This free utility lowers the barriers to rich reporting and analysis by providing our customers with a direct way to take advantage of our innovations in data collection.”

What do you think of this new tool? Let us know in the comments.

Related Reading:

WebTrends Launches New Service to Reduce Wasted Ad Dollars

Read Original: http://feeds.searchenginewatch.com/~r/sewblog/~3/407370685/080930-105202

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From: sitepronews.com

That’s an overstatement, of course, but the basics of SEO and SEM — the very first things you probably learned — now are more important than they’ve been in years for bringing people back to your Web site. It’s all thanks to the new browser wars among Firefox 3, Google Chrome, and Microsoft Internet Explorer [...]

Read Original: http://www.sitepronews.com/2008/09/30/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-future-of-search-engine-marketing-you-learned-in-the-1990s/

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From: searchenginewatch.com

Run, don’t walk, to your favorite bookstore and pick up a copy of Search Engine Marketing, Inc.: Driving Search Traffic to Your Company’s Web Site (2nd Edition). Okay, okay, so most search engine marketers will simply order the paperback on Amazon.com. But, somehow 1-click ordering takes all the drama out of buying the latest book by Mike Moran and Bill Hunt.

And if you don’t believe me, check out what Lee Odden, the CEO of TopRank Online Marketing and author of the Online Marketing Blog, has to say: “With Search Engine Marketing, Inc., Bill Hunt and Mike Moran have successfully updated what is already known in the industry as ‘The Search Marketing Bible.’ With new content, examples, and insight including social media and Web site search, this is a must read book for marketers at companies of all sizes from startups to the Fortune 100.”

I interviewed Bill about the new edition of the book back in August at Search Engine Strategies San Jose. And I’ve been keeping the video interview under wraps—until today. You can watch it below—before getting your hands on your very own copy. And, yes, this will be on the mid-term exam.

<iframe class="embeddedvideo" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/01M7qCwuJVc&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="344"></iframe>

Greg Jarboe interviews Bill Hunt about his new book

Read Original: http://feeds.searchenginewatch.com/~r/sewblog/~3/407341094/080930-104122

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From: sitepronews.com

Without traffic from search engines (both large and small) you will be very limited in your chances for success of any magnitude. Pay-Per-Click can be effective after you learn the ropes. Just be sure to limit how much you can lose. To get traffic from search engines, you will need page rank (where your organic-free [...]

Read Original: http://www.sitepronews.com/2008/09/30/my-new-website-from-scratch-to-profit/

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