From: searchenginewatch.com

So by now, you’ve probably heard about the Microsoft - Yahoo search deal. You may even have read my take that this will be good for advertisers. If not, go back and start there, so we’re all caught up.

I got responses from several other search marketers saying the deal looked good from their side too. We’ll be putting up a collection of industry responses later today. In the meantime, I wanted to look at the deal from a searcher perspective. Is it good for them too?

For most searchers, Google = search. They don’t know or care about the fact that Microsoft just launched a search engine, and unless they have Yahoo as their home page (likely decided by their ISP), they don’t have much use for Yahoo Search either.

Will a combined Microsoft-Yahoo search change any of that? Not likely.

“The deal is both good and bad for searchers. Bad in that there will be less choice. I personally prefer to have more options rather than less. Good for searchers in that Bing is actually a pretty good search engine,” said Amanda Watlington, owner of Searching for Profit.

Basically, it’s going to depend on just how good Bing is, and how good it will become, given the additional volume pumping through its platform. That volume should generate more relevant ads, since there will be more competition. It should also allow Microsoft to innovate with its algorithms faster, since it will have more data to work with.

“If the average searcher is anything like me, we are not necessarily brand loyal. We just want what we want when we want it,” said Melanie Mitchell, SVP Search Strategy at Digitas. “Google did not get to be where it is by accident. They did not choose us. We chose them. Personally, I use multiple search engines and although Google is the one I currently use the most, I operate under the mindset of ‘give me something of better value, then I’ll change my behavior’. I know I can’t be the only one.”

Andrew Goodman, principal at Page Zero Media, agrees: “It’s a good deal for searchers. Running a high-quality consumer search property is expensive and requires constant innovation. By consolidating resources these companies can focus on their strengths,” Goodman said. “Microsoft has done a great job developing a consumer-oriented search engine in Bing. They may also have access to data from Yahoo that can help them to refine it.”

Microsoft has proven with Bing and adCenter that they can not only keep up with Google, but actually improve on what’s already out there in the marketplace. With a huge surge in traffic through those platforms, they should theoretically be able to improve on their ideas, refining their algorithms, adding features and improving relevance.

But, as has been said many times before, it’s going to take something more than just “a little better” than Google to get searchers to switch. What may happen is that Yahoo-Microsoft becomes a more credible number-two. That in itself could be good for searchers, if only because it forces Google to innovate a bit quicker, given that it’s nearest competitor will be quite a bit nearer than it’s used to.

Read Original: http://feeds.searchenginewatch.com/~r/sewblog/~3/Al_maXkBaMM/090729-122422

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From: searchenginewatch.com

So, I’m sure you’ve already about the Microsoft-Yahoo deal. If you haven’t, check out the news stories and blog posts below:

It’s Official: Microsoft and Yahoo! Finally Strike Search Deal

It’s official: Microsoft-Yahoo ink 10-year search pact

Microsoft-Yahoo Search Deal: The Most Important Facts (And Some Opinion)

But if you want to figure out what MicroHoo means for your search engine marketing campaign, including your search engine optimization and pay per click advertising programs, then Search Engine Strategies San Jose 2009 is a must-attend event. It was already the right place to be and August 10-14 was already the right time to be there. But now it is the hottest ticket in town.

For example, you might want to attend the session entitled, “Don’t Call it a Comeback: Semantic Technology and Search.” Among the speakers who will be there for Q&A;are: Othar Hansson, Software Engineer, Google, Kevin Haas, Senior Engineering Manager, Yahoo!, Mark Johnson, Program Manager, Bing, and Dr. Tomasz Imielinski, EVP, Global Search & Answers, Ask.com. I imagine they are all busy preparing for the event.

Or, there’s the session entitled, “SEO Tools of the Trade: What’s in YOUR Toolbox?” Among the speakers are Rajesh Srivastava, Principal Group Program Manager, Bing, and David Roth, Director of Search Marketing, Yahoo!, Inc. Will they play nicely and share the same advice?

Or, there’s the session entitled, “Keeping it Local: The Convergence of Phones & Local Search.” Among the speakers are Josh Siegel, Product Manager, Mobile Local Search, Google, and Justin Jed, Group Product Manager, Bing Mobile. Will we see the SES version of PubCon’s Search Engine Smackdown?

Or, there’s the session entitled, “Keywords & Content: Search Marketing Foundations.” Among the speakers are Marc Canabou, Senior Director, Product Management Leader, Yahoo! Search Advertising, and Ari Levenfeld, Manager Client Services, Ask Sponsored Listings. Do you think they are updating their presentation as you are reading this?

Or, there’s the session entitled, “Credit Crunch: The Death of Last Click Attribution and its Impact on Paid Search Advertising.” Among the speakers is Mark Grote, Sr. Search Advertising Manager , Microsoft. Do you think you should be taking notes?

Or, there’s the session entitled, “Duplicate Content & Multiple Site Issues.” Among the speakers are Greg Grothaus, Search Quality Team, Google, Sasi Parthasarathy, Program Manager, Bing, Ivan Davtchev, Lead Product Manager, Search Relevance, Yahoo! Search. The moderator may need to keep this from turning into a tag-team wrestling event.

Or, there’s the sponsored session entitled, “Bing Toolbox: Your One-Stop Shop for Better ROI.” The speakers are Rajesh Srivastava, Principal Group Program Manager, Bing, and Alessandro Catorcini, Senior Program Manager, Bing. This has just become a must-attend session.

Or, there’s the afternoon keynote by Nicholas Fox, Business Product Management Director, AdWords, Google. I wouldn’t skip this one, if I were you.

Or, there’s the session entitled, “The BuyerSphere Project: Understanding B2B Buyer Patterns.” Among the speakers is Mark McMaster, Senior Planner of B2B and Technology Markets, Google. This was a must-attend session already, but now you will really need to run, not walk, to get a good seat.

Or, there’s the session entitled, “Real World Multivariate Testing.” Among the speakers is Trevor Claiborne, Product Marketing Manager, Google. What new messages will he be testing at this event?

Or, there’s the session entitled, “Ads in a Quality Score World.” Among the speakers are Tomaso Pozzi, Product Manager, Core Model & Optimization, Yahoo! Search Marketing, and Jonathan Alferness, Group Product Manager, Google. I want a ringside seat for this one.

Or, there’s the session entitled, “The New Search ROI: Measuring More than Conversion.” Among the speakers is James Colborn, Director, Microsoft Advertising, Microsoft. I know James. I’m sure he’d rather be invited to the White House for a beer with the Google guy, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. So, he may just have to make the best of it at this pivotal time in the industry.

Or, there’s the session entitled, “Images & Search Engines: Getting the Full Picture.” Among the speakers are R.J. Pittman, Director of Product Management, Google, Todd Schwartz, Group Product Manager, Bing, Microsoft Corporation, and Kaushal Kurapati, Director of Product Management, Yahoo! Search. I want photos taken of this panel discussion.

Or, there’s the session entitled, “In-House SEO: Structuring the Organization for Success.” Among the speakers is Laura Lippay, Director of Technical Marketing, Yahoo! Do you think it’s too soon to ask if Microsoft-Yahoo are structuring their organizations for success?

Or, there’s the session entitled, “Search Becomes the Display OS.” Among the speakers are Rajas Moonka, Group Business Product Manager, Google Inc., and Josh Jacobs, Vice President and General Manager, Advertising Technology, Yahoo! Inc. Oh, boy, this is going to be great.

Now, the last time that “Microsoft-Yahoo deal” was a search term was back in February 2008. Microsoft Corp. had just announced that it had made a proposal to the Yahoo! Inc. Board of Directors to acquire all the outstanding shares of Yahoo! common stock for per share consideration of $31 representing a total equity value of approximately $44.6 billion.

Since it was an unsolicited bid, nobody wanted to talk about MicroHoo when they turned up at SES London 2008 two weeks later.

But, this time the Microsoft-Yahoo deal is a done deal. So, I’m betting that everyone wants to talk about what MicroHoo means for the search engine marketing industry.

And since I was already planning to be at SES San Jose 2009, now I’m going to have to scramble to get seats in the front row.

Read Original: http://feeds.searchenginewatch.com/~r/sewblog/~3/0uPTRz8yu4E/090729-121240

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From: sitepronews.com

To make your business grow in the right way, many things have to be taken into consideration. Marketing and advertising your products and services are the most important. Without developing and implementing intelligent brand marketing and promotional strategies, it will be impossible to see an increase in you customer base.
Marketing is how you let people [...]

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

%%Your Good Reputation and How to Market It%%

Your Good Reputation and How to Market It

Read Original: http://www.sitepronews.com/2009/07/29/your-good-reputation-and-how-to-market-it/

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From: sitepronews.com

Can any new search engine beat Google, probably not, mainly because Google isn’t going anywhere but up. It is the dominant search engine with around 72 percent of U.S. online searches and its percentages are much higher in other parts of the world. (Source: Hitwise) However, there are some serious new competitors that may just [...]

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

%%New Search Engines – Can Anyone Beat Google?%%

New Search Engines – Can Anyone Beat Google?

Read Original: http://www.sitepronews.com/2009/07/29/new-search-engines-can-anyone-beat-google-2/

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From: sitepronews.com

Twitter is a social media platform that helps you drive your website and establishes a connection between you and your audience in a way you’ve never been able to before. Twitter should be a very important part of your online branding and marketing strategy.
The key concept of Twitter is the real-time search. Search engines generally [...]

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

%%Crash Course In Website Promotion on Twitter%%

Crash Course In Website Promotion on Twitter

Read Original: http://www.sitepronews.com/2009/07/29/crash-course-in-website-promotion-on-twitter/

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From: searchenginewatch.com

To fill the top position of global operations at Bebo, AOL (which acquired the social network last year), promoted from within. VP and COO Stephane Panier will now oversee advancing the social network worldwide.

“Stephane is a proven strategist and operator with executive experience from some of the world’s leading brands and businesses,” said Brod. “He is the ideal leader to build on Bebo’s existing successes, to chart a course for its future, and to execute against that vision.”

Prior to joining Bebo this past January, Panier worked at Google for six years, holding upper level management positions in Finance and Operations. Before the Google stint, Panier was a management consultant for Booz & Company where he focused on energy and hi-tech.

Read Original: http://feeds.searchenginewatch.com/~r/sewblog/~3/-GeE5MYvqZI/090729-104606

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From: searchenginewatch.com

Don’t adjust your screen folks, it’s finally official. Microsoft and Yahoo! have finally struck a search deal. No, Microsoft will not be acquiring all of Yahoo! No, Yahoo! will not be slicing off search and selling it off to Yahoo!

Under the 10 year agreement, Bing will power Yahoo! search, creating a Google competitor that last month reached a combined 28.4% of the search market share, according to comScore. Microsoft will also be able to integrate Yahoo! search technologies into its web search platform.

Meanwhile, Yahoo! will sell the search advertising for the newly combined entities. AdCenter will be the self-serving search ad platform. This will take a long time to implement as they adjust relationships with thousands of advertisers.

Display advertising will not be affected by the deal. Both companies will maintain their programs separately.

Microsoft will pay Yahoo! 88% of search ad revenues generated by Yahoo! sites. Yahoo! expects to see $275 million operating cash flow as a result of the deal.

“This agreement comes with boatloads of value for Yahoo!, our users, and the industry, and I believe it establishes the foundation for a new era of Internet innovation and development,” said Yahoo! Chief Executive Officer Carol Bartz.

Yahoo! will now focus primarily on their media sites, many of which are #1 in their categories. Sites like Yahoo! Finance and Yahoo! Sports are very popular and bring in millions of unique visitors per month.

“Users will continue to experience search as a vital part of their Yahoo! experiences and will enjoy increased innovation thanks to the scale and resources this deal provides,” continued Bartz. “Advertisers will also benefit from scale and enjoy greater ease of use and efficiencies working with a single platform and sales team for premium advertisers. Finally, this deal will help us increase our investments in priority areas in winning audience properties, display advertising capabilities and mobile experiences.”

For its part, Microsoft is finally getting what it wants: an increased search market share to take on rival Google. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer hopes that combining the resources of the #2 and #3 search engines will help innovation, which he says is needed to steal share from Google.

“With our new Bing search platform, we’ve created breakthrough innovation and features,” said Ballmer. This agreement with Yahoo! will provide the scale we need to deliver even more rapid advances in relevancy and usefulness. Microsoft and Yahoo! know there’s so much more that search could be. This agreement gives us the scale and resources to create the future of search.”

Antitrust issues will likely rear their ugly head, with Microsoft poised to seek the blessing of the DOJ. Expect Google to lobby against the deal, but keep in mind that Christine Varney, Assistant AG at DOJ Antitrust is on record saying she wants to go after Google for antitrust issues. She has also said that Microsoft antitrust issues are, like, so 1990s.

Alright, SEW readers, time to unleash your initial reaction to this deal. That’s what the comments section below is for. What do you think of this deal? Will they be able to take on Google? Do you want to use AdCenter to for search ads on Yahoo!? Let us know!

Read Original: http://feeds.searchenginewatch.com/~r/sewblog/~3/hdn_3kkInHg/090729-074504

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From: searchenginewatch.com

AOL parent company Time Warner released its quarterly earnings this morning and the news is not pretty.

Revenue came in at $804 million, a decrease of 24% over Q2 2008, which brought in $1.06 billion. The decline was almost evenly split among online advertising ($111 million, a 21% decrease) and internet access subscriptions ($135 million, a 27% decrease).

Time Warner has spent $20 million so far in the process of prepping AOL to become a separate, independent company. Earlier this week, Time Warner bought back Google’s 5% stake in AOL for $283 million, a big dip from Google’s original $1 billion investment back in 2005.

Read Original: http://feeds.searchenginewatch.com/~r/sewblog/~3/kCKKPLSXuJU/090729-073436

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From: sitepronews.com

News has just broken on Twitter that Microsoft and Yahoo! have finally closed a deal where Bing will power Yahoo! search results while Yahoo! will become the worldwide sales force for both companies’ search advertising.
@Bing broke the news with this tweet: “Bing. Yahoo! Two great tastes that are now going to be great together. Check out [...]

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

%%It’s Official: Bing to Power Yahoo! Search%%

It’s Official: Bing to Power Yahoo! Search

Read Original: http://www.sitepronews.com/2009/07/29/its-official-bing-to-power-yahoo-search/

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From: searchenginewatch.com

Bring a couple of book bags to Search Engine Strategies San Jose 2009 because there will be more than 20 authors of business, marketing, PPC and SEO books and speaking at the conference. I should disclose that I’m one of them.

Now, there are a lot of great conference speakers who haven’t written a book—yet. I should know. I’ve been speaking at SES conferences since 2003, six years before I wrote a book. And writing a book isn’t like Doc Ostrow getting a Krell brain boost in the movie Forbidden Planet (1956).

Nevertheless, getting a book published does indicate that you’ve got more than 12 minutes of PowerPoint slides to share with attendees. And, it’s “something that never looks bad on your permanent record,” according to Greg Marmalard in the movie Animal House (1978).

As a new author, I’m also beginning to learn that tracking where you rank on Amazon.com is almost as addictive as tracking where you rank in Google. Now, Google guidelines do not recommend the use of products to check rankings. However, Amazon.com welcomes them. For example, Rankforest provides sales rank tracking for authors and publishers. They can view historical charts, export rankings, compare items, create alerts, and more.

So, as you look over the agendas for SES San Jose, the Social Media & Video Strategies Forum, and the Local Search Summit, you might want to know about the subjects that the conference speakers have written about as well as the topics that they are going to address.


Here are the 20 authors that I know will be speaking at one or more of these events:

Clay Shirky, author of Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations.

Charlene Li, co-author of Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies.

Tim Ash, author of Landing Page Optimization: The Definitive Guide to Testing and Tuning for Conversions.

<iframe class="embeddedvideo" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/8CTnLhbZKjE&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="344"></iframe>

Optimizing Landing Pages—Tim Ash’s Tips and… Footwork

James Colborn, author of Search Marketing Strategies: A Marketers’ Guide to Objective Driven Success from Search.

Bryan Eisenberg, co-author of Call to Action: Secret Formulas to Improve Online Results, Waiting For Your Cat to Bark?: Persuading Customers When They Ignore Marketing, and Always Be Testing: The Complete Guide to Google Website Optimizer.

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

Bryan Eisenberg Always be Testing: Google Website Optimizer

Mona Elesseily, author of Mastering Panama.

Eric Enge and Stephan Spencer, co-authors of The Art of SEO.

Dave Evans, author of Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day.

Andrew Goodman, author of Winning Results with Google AdWords.

<iframe class="embeddedvideo" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/X-vgQJA_U3s&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="344"></iframe>

Andrew Goodman- Winning Results with Google AdWords

Mike Grehan, author of Search Engine Marketing: The Essential Best Practice Guide.

Bill Hunt, co-author of Search Engine Marketing, Inc.: Driving Search Traffic to Your Company’s Web Site.

<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

Greg Jarboe, author of YouTube and Video Marketing: An Hour A Day.

http://www.amazon.com/YouTube-Video-Marketing-Hour-Day/dp/0470459697

<iframe class="embeddedvideo" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Rzp-yoMW1RE&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="340"></iframe>

Greg Jarboe - Mysteries of Online Video

Avinash Kaushik, author of Web Analytics: An Hour a Day.

Rebecca Lieb, author of The Truth About Search Engine Optimization.

<iframe class="embeddedvideo" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/DMqxVdaFjRU&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="340"></iframe>

Rebecca Lieb, eConsultancy, on her new book about search engine optimization at SES NY 2009

Lance Loveday, co-author of Web Design for ROI: Turning Browsers into Buyers & Prospects into Leads.

Robert Scoble, co-author of Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers.

Ayat Shukairy, co-author of Landing Page Optimization: The Complete Guide.

Shari Thurow, author of Search Engine Visibility and When Search Meets Web Usability.

Amanda Watlington, co-author of Business Blogs: A Practical Guide.

Now, I’m probably missing a few authors—especially a couple of conference speakers who are still writing books that haven’t been announced yet. Still, if you review the list above, you could fill a bookshelf with all the titles that have already been written by speakers at SES San Jose, the Social Media & Video Strategies Forum, and the Local Search Summit.

So, if you will be attending Search Engine Strategies San Jose 2009 for the first time, then imagine entering Flourish and Blotts for the first time. It’s the popular bookstore in Diagon Alley where most Hogwarts students purchase their schoolbooks.

Who knows. Maybe famous wizard author Gilderoy Lockhart will be holding a book signing at the store.

Read Original: http://feeds.searchenginewatch.com/~r/sewblog/~3/FgwImfG2nRM/090729-064415

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From: google.com

Posted by randfish

The search landscape is changing significantly this morning, and SEOs of all stripes need to pay close attention. I’m going to do my best to summarize the impact of these changes based on what we already know and interpret what’s going to change for the field of search engine optimization and what we, as representatives of our clients and our companies, need to know and do.

Background on the Deal

First off, a few background snippets from several of the sources on this topic - SearchEngineLand’s Live Blogging Coverage; TechCrunch; ReadWriteWeb; and the new MS/Yahoo! website Choice, Value, Innovation.

• The term of the agreement is 10 years
• Microsoft will acquire an exclusive 10 year license to Yahoo!’s core search technologies, and Microsoft will have the ability to integrate Yahoo! search technologies into its existing web search platforms
• Yahoo! will continue to syndicate its existing search affiliate partnerships.
• Microsoft’s Bing will be the exclusive algorithmic search and paid search platform for Yahoo! sites. Yahoo! will continue to use its technology and data in other areas of its business such as enhancing display advertising technology.
• Each company will maintain its own separate display advertising business and sales force.
• Yahoo! will become the exclusive worldwide relationship sales force for both companies’ premium search advertisers. Self-serve advertising for both companies will be fulfilled by Microsoft’s AdCenter platform, and prices for all search ads will continue to be set by AdCenter’s automated auction process.

In case that wasn’t quite clear, the big takeaway is that Bing will now power search on Yahoo! and Yahoo!’s salesforce will sell the premium (non-self service) search advertising for Yahoo!/Bing. Bing also gets access to Yahoo!’s core search technology and can, at its option, leverage that to help create more relevant results.

• Google has 78% of market share of paid search (direct quote on SELand from Microsoft)
• Bartz: Yes there are many Yahoo search employees who will be asked to take jobs at Microsoft. There will also be search employees who we look to help us on the display side. And then unfortunately there will be some redundancy in Yahoo. (Just a quick not; if you work in Yahoo! search, please email me - rand@seomoz.org - we’re hiring on the engineering team!)
• Bartz: Notes that when it comes to paid search, Panama is the provider in most international marketplaces for Microsoft already.

• Danny Sullivan: What happens to other things search like at Yahoo? What powered Yahoo News? What happens to the Yahoo Directory? Is Delicious search? And what happens to Yahoo paid inclusion?
  Bartz: We have full flexibility on what to do within our own sites. Paid inclusion, we’ll decide on that later.

• AdAge reports that ComScore shows Bing will now have a 28% market share when combined with Yahoo! search, though.
• ReadWriteWeb worried about this large list of services from Yahoo! that are under “search services.” Yahoo! PR called them to say that “this is a consumer facing list of search-related services, like News Search and Map Search, but most of those are not or are no longer formally part of the Search Department.” So, probably at least some of them are safe.

Search Query Demand Market Share

The search landscape right now looks like something between:

Market Share from the thousands of accounts served by their hit counter/referral tracking software

(note: I don’t know why it say 82% on the left and 72% on the right, but 82% appears more accurate when adding up all the other figures)

AND

Based on data from Comscore’s June Release

We’re somewhere between a market where Google dominates 65-82% of all search queries. When it comes to referring queries that point out from the engine’s properties (Google/Yahoo!/Microsoft not searching or linking to their own content), I believe Google’s closer to sending out 80-85% of that traffic.

What’s Changing for SEOs?

Note that some of thse are speculative, while others are direct and actionable. However, until the deal actually goes into effect and is publically accessible (which could take some serious time depending on regulators), my best advice is to be prepared (and take those steps that can ensure maximum benefit once the changes go live). Remember that Yahoo! said full implementation may lag up to 24 months (2 years) behind regulatory approval (which itself could take months), so you’ve got some time.

#1 - SEO for Bing is Worth Your Optimization Effort

Even if the lowest numbers are accurate, 15% of search market share is worth the optimization effort. Bing’s algorithm, while certainly an upgrade from Live.com still has a few noticeable preferences, such as concentration on keyword use in subdomains and root domain names (Google loves exact keyword matches, but Bing really likes any keyword placement in the sub or root). Bing’s core relevancy sometimes suffers from manipulative link patterns more so than Google & Yahoo!, though, they often do a good job surfacing alternative queries and instant answers.

Bing’s results are, by default, “richer” than those of Yahoo! and Google. Although Yahoo! will be controlling the user interface on their end, it’s likely much of that “richness” will make its way into the Bing results inside Yahoo!. Bing also surfaces only the top 5 results for many queries, meaning a higher concentration of clicks on those top results.

Bing’s traffic is, in general, also more likely to convert and click on ads. Whether this is a result of demographics or of how the engine frames information isn’t clear, though we may get more insight on that soon.

We at SEOmoz will certainly be doing more work to provide insight into how Bing ranks results and where it differs substantively from Google. You can go play around with results here or here. I strongly suspect there will be more SEO focus overall on Bing in both R&D and active practice.

#2 - We May Lose Yahoo! Link Data

The largest two providers of link information to SEOs today are Yahoo!’s advanced search queries and Yahoo! Site Explorer. If these go away, which seems likely with Bing, since Microsoft removed the link query operator’s functionality a few years back (and Google torched theirs nearly 5 years ago), we’ll be left with very few sources of link information. Obviously, SEOmoz itself provides Linkscape, but we’ll be likely to offer a slightly deprecated, free version of that tool if/when this happens. Exalead.com still does provide link data, though not as richly as Yahoo!

This change would likely see the rise of more propietary link indices as well as the breaking of a large number of internal and external tools that rely on Yahoo! for their link data. We may not know for sure for some time to come, but it may make have a substantive impact on the link research landscape.

#3 - PPC Consolidation

Right now, many companies and agencies exclusively use Google AdWords. I think both Microsoft and Yahoo! are counting on a lowered complexity and barrier to entry with only two major search engines making a compelling case that one should, at the least, participate in the two leading platforms for search. I suspect more people will buy ads from MSN AdCenter, which is likely to increase ad relevancy, quality and competition. The days of low cost traffic via AdCenter and Yahoo! Search Marketing may be nearing an end (unless market share slips so far that they become largely irrelevant, but that seem unlikely, at least in the short term).

#4 - Bing’s Webmaster Tools Are Important

If you don’t have an account with Bing Webmaster Tools, now is the time. Although not yet as robust as Google’s, Bing WMT is working hard to catch up and even surpass their rivals with features that will prove valuable for webmasters on all platforms. The data you get from Bing WMT will also be important for conducting better organic SEO campaigns on that engine and seeing how Google & Bing may view your site differently.

#5 - Yahoo! & Bing Local Become More Essential

We’re still not 100% sure of the status of local search - according the ReadWriteWeb piece, Yahoo! may consider this a “consumer service” and not part of core search. However, if Bing is serving up local listings in the search results (as they do now), Bing’s local registration is going to become very important for local businesses. Check out Bing Local and their local listing center in the near futuer if this impacts you.

#6 - Bing Will Get more Spam

With greater search share comes greater spam attempts. Google’s still a ways out in front in terms of catching and discounting manipulative practices, but Yahoo! has been a close second for some time. I’d expect that Bing will recruit a number of the staff and algorithmic work Yahoo! search has done on this front, but they should also expect serious spammer attention to be focused their way. The loopholes that Google’s closed will still likely be open on Bing for some time to come and spammers will use the chaos that comes from a merger to exploit these.

#7 - Bing Will Get Lots more Data

Bing’s going to know a lot more about you. Perhaps not as much as Google, but with Yahoo! analytics, Yahoo!’s database of profiles, Yahoo!’s behavioral targeting and their own research, Bing’s going to be a close second. This should, conceptually, help improve core search and may pave the way for greater advances on the personalization front, too.

#8 - Important Yahoo! Properties May Dissappear

As Danny Sullivan and ReadWriteWeb noted, we’re in some danger of losing stalwarts like the Yahoo! Directory, Delicious (which has often been seen as an alternative search play), Yahoo! Maps, SearchMonkey & BOSS (two of the best search apps out there). It’s still speculative, but by watching the activities inside Yahoo! over the next 3-6 months, we’ll probably get a lot more insight about who’s headed to the chopping block.

 #9 - Yahoo! Maintains UI Control for their Search Experience

This means that Yahoo!’s results ordering, layout, sidebars and searcher focus may continue to be unique from Bing, thus requiring that SEOs still pay attention to the differences in the two engines and optimize accordingly. It will be tough to know the extent of Bing’s integration until it launches, but there’s a lot of room for variation, which means complexity for SEOs.

#10 - Yahoo! Will Become a More Powerful Content Competitor

With Yahoo! out of the core search business, many people, myself included, expect them to focus even more on the content side of the business. That means properties inside Yahoo! News & Media Group are going to get more attention and more investment. If you’re competing with Yahoo!’s content now, that battle may get tougher in the future.

 

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I have no doubt that this quick analysis doesn’t cover every important aspect of the deal for SEOs, and definitely appreciate any comments you have that can help to provide further insight. Once again, the SEO field is proving that if you don’t like the weather, wait a minute.

 

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Read Original: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/seomoz/~3/dLQJNsRrir8/top-10-things-the-microsoftyahoo-deal-change-for-seo

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From: searchenginewatch.com

If you have events set up to be tracked in Google Analytics, you can now view advanced segments to view traffic data related specifically for the events. To make it happen, first, define an advanced segment to show only traffic from events. Then, activate the defined segment to compare event traffic to overall traffic.

Image via Google Analytics blog

You can view as many segments as you are tracking for events.

Google created a handy video for setting up the advanced segment tracking for events. Check it out below:

<iframe class="embeddedvideo" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/pPWsTM38viw&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="344"></iframe>

Read Original: http://feeds.searchenginewatch.com/~r/sewblog/~3/byEtEjkdy6w/090729-004808

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From: google.com

One of the biggest brands in the world is getting ready to go online, and they’re aiming to not win.

Sure, they’ve been online all along, but now it’s become clear to them that the web is a real thing, and that a placeholder website and a few gimmicks aren’’t sufficient. They’re trying to generate online income and respect and audience.

Now, the choice: The safe thing is to organize to show. Showing up without glaring error and a major meltdown is something you can organize for. You say, “well, if everything goes well, we’ll be in the top ten in our industry, and perhaps we’lll hit the top three.” In our industry. That means that when the overall global winners online are tallied up in a list at the end of the year, there’s no way you’re going to be on it. It means that the very things that made you one of the most powerful brands in the world will be missing, because all you’re striving for is pretty good.

The challenge of shooting for a win is that it brings apparent risk with it. Not actual risk (the actual risk is in being mediocre, overlooked and on a slow death spiral) but apparent risk. The thing is that you overcame that risk when you built the original brand. You didn’t set out then to be pretty good, good for your category, sort of important. You set out to matter.

So, Mr. Big Brand: organize to win. To do anything else is a waste of your time, your talent and your momentum. Ignore apparent risk, buy the assets you need to matter, avoid the compromises that your competitors have made and do something worth doing.

Read Original: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/sethsmainblog/~3/t5wMHrcqw50/win-place-or-show.html

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From: searchenginewatch.com

Twitter has unveiled the redesign of their homepage and it’s clear they’re dedicated to search. (You’ll have to sign out to view it.) They now serve up a central search box as the main feature with trending topics below in almost a tag cloud style. The top row, with the biggest font features current hot topics. The second row with slightly smaller font features hot topics from the past day and finally the third row with topics from the past week.

I think it would be nice to incorporate the design more inside the sign-up wall. It looks sharp and the main reason I go to the Twitter site is to see what’s trending or to conduct a search. I use a desktop and mobile client to do my actual Tweeting.

Twitter does have plans to keep working on the entire site, so they remain a site to watch as they continue to incorporate their strategy.

Read Original: http://feeds.searchenginewatch.com/~r/sewblog/~3/ah2beC4HEdk/090729-000234

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From: sitepronews.com

In a recent report by Peter Horrocks, Director of BBC World Service, it is clear that as society becomes more networked, the fortress mentality of the mainstream media is increasingly under siege by social media, but they are adapting. There’s a lesson for us all in this.
For so long now, Web 2.0 has been working [...]

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

%%Social media puts fortress journalism under siege%%

Social media puts fortress journalism under siege

Read Original: http://www.sitepronews.com/2009/07/28/social-media-puts-fortress-journalism-under-siege/

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