From: google.com

For many organizations and individuals, attention is the most precious resource. The pursuit of attention for our ads, or our city or our careers dominates all else.

How else to explain the silly math that is used to justify Olympic hoopla? Can imagine how little patience people would have for the IOC and their internal politics if they didn’t have a show that so many people wanted to watch?

Almost every city that has hosted an Olympics regrets it financially. The TV networks spend billions. The advertisers pay for it. The hoopla is vast and loud.

For what?

For the attention. It’s the attention that gets cities to put up with the ridiculous system for choosing host cities and gets the TV networks to ship camera crews half way around the world. It’s the attention that turns the Olympic committee into vigilant trademark and copyright police. It’s easy to cut countries or companies willing to bankrupt themselves for pride or attention a little slack. After all, the Olympics is a magical event.

Except it’s not. The same craving for attention happens every day in every organization in search of just one more pair of eyeballs. As marketers discover that more eyeballs does not equal better, the quixotic quest for attention will start to abate.

The formula is simple but depressing: marketers have been lousy at harvesting attention because there was just so much of it. So it was more like strip mining than careful, efficient use of a natural resource. Now that attention is harder to get, people are overpaying for it and the Olympics is just one example. The alternative is to create focused, intense networks that ignore the masses. For most marketers, that’s exactly what we need.

Read Original: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/sethsmainblog/~3/msS3tT4ezek/attention-lust-and-olympic-stupidity.html

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From: google.com

Sometimes I make a mistake in my writing. I know, hard to believe.

So, after correcting an earlier typo, I just happened to check Googles search index to see if my post had been indexed yet. Not only had the post been indexed, but the typo fix"from just seconds earlier"had already been updated!

0 to indexed in just 37 seconds? Thats pretty real time dont you think?

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Tag: Google, Indexing, SEO





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Read Original: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/searchnewzlatestnews/~3/16cNI6T2Ijs/sn-4-20091022GoogleIndexingRealTimeWebSoSoon.html

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From: google.com

2008 was a rough year for Yahoo. First Microsoft tried to acquire them, then Yahoo spurned them, then shareholders wanted a merger, then they lost CEO Jerry Yang, then their search ad deal with Google fell through. There was nowhere to go but up in 2009, right? We got a new CEO, Carol Bartz, and Yahoo finally looks like its making an effort and has a new search ad deal with Microsoft in the works.

But in some ways, theyre wishing for the old days"the Q3 report today says that the company has seen a year over year drop of 12% in revenues (to $1.575B). Theyve also seen a drop in operating cash of 6% ($384M). Considering last years Q3 was rough (although even then, their revenues were up), even lower revenues this year isnt exactly what they wanted to hear.

But the Q3 report has good news, too. While revenues fell, net income was up an amazing 244% (to $186M). (I know, that kind of growth makes you think creative accounting.)

Carol Bartz has been cracking down on the company and trimming the fat, one of the tasks she was brought in to do. Even with lower revenue, they ended up with a substantially higher net income"thats pretty darn good.

Of course, theres still one big question here"will a search deal with Microsoft help Yahoo where its struggling in the long run? Well, since the deal currently says that their revenue/search must match Googles, theres a big maybe on that one. Yahoos notoriously suffered from a lower revenue per search, something theyve tried to ameliorate with now two search deals. Will this be the one to do it"and will that be enough to turn the company around?

What do you think? Is this more good news than bad news for Yahoo? Will a partnership with Microsoft reverse their revenue fortunes?

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Tag: Yahoo, Revenue, SEO





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Read Original: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/searchnewzlatestnews/~3/c199hA-eh_U/sn-4-20091021YahooNetIncomeUpandRevenueDown.html

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From: google.com

Chrome-huh
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothingbut playing games
Say it again

OK, maybe Google wont adopt Frankie Goes to Hollywoods “War” as the unofficial anthem of its Chrome browser, but fun and games? Sure, why not?

Since early this year, Chrome Experiments has been collecting a bunch of user-created JavaScript applications that are designed to show off the powerful technology behind Chrome. This one for example, I call the “Internet Explorer” emulator, because it (literally) crashes the browser!

<iframe class="embeddedvideo" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZTwrQSOHdX0&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" height="350"></p>

One of the newer submissions helps you turn Google Chrome into something ultra-productive: Ping Pong!

Or maybe you prefer a little asteroid blasting?

Of course, Googles hoping that these experiments will help lift the browsers 2-3% market share. Id suggest that getting the Mac & Linux official builds released might have a better chance of helping with that goal.

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Read Original: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/searchnewzlatestnews/~3/5RTr7NVdz7E/sn-4-20091020ExperimentswithGoogleChrome.html

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From: google.com

So, yeah, I thought Google killed PageRank in Webmaster Tools?

More importantly, why is Google running an ad that encourages PageRank obsession?

FAIL!

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Read Original: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/searchnewzlatestnews/~3/T-Ekeu3sHJU/sn-4-20091019GooglePageRankAdWordsAdStillRunning.html

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From: searchenginewatch.com

Normally, announcements made on a Friday afternoon are bad news. But yesterday at 4:21 p.m., comScore Video Metrix announced that more than 168 million U.S. Internet users watched nearly 26 billion videos online during September 2009—an average of 154 videos per viewer. That’s good news, isn’t it?

To put this in perspective, Super Bowl XLIII achieved the largest television audience in U.S. history with a total audience of 151.6 million viewers, according to official national ratings data released by Nielsen Media Research.

In other words, more Americans are watching online video each and every month than watch the Super Bowl once a year. Get it? Got it? Good.

YouTube accounted for close to 40 percent of the 26 billiion videos viewed during September, to remain the market leader by a wide margin.

According to comScore,

-- 84.8 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience viewed online video in September.

-- The average online video viewer watched 9.8 hours of video that month.

-- The duration of the average online video was 3.8 minutes.

-- 125.5 million viewers watched nearly 10.3 billion videos on YouTube.com—which is 82.4 videos per viewer.

-- 45.6 million viewers watched 424 million videos on MySpace.com—which is 9.3 videos per viewer.

Now, let’s compare these numbers to ones that search marketers should know by heart.

According to comScore qSearch, Americans conducted 13.8 billion core searches in September 2009. They watched nearly 26 billion videos online that month. This means Americans are watching almost twice as many videos as they conducting searches at the five major search engines.

So, is your video marketing budget twice as large as your search marketing budget? Hmmm. Maybe that’s why the news was buried on a Friday afternoon.

Let’s drill down a little deeper.

There were almost 9 billion core searches conducted on Google in September. There were 10.3 billion videos viewed on YouTube that month. That’s right, Americans are watching more videos on YouTube than then are conducting searches on Google.

But wait! There’s more!

According to comScore qSearch, there were 21.3 billion expanded search queries conducted in September. This counts searches for mapping, local directory, and user-generated video sites as well as searches at the major search engines.

Who were the leaders in expanded search?

Google was #1 with 9.4 billion expanded search queries.

YouTube was #2 with 3.5 billion.

Yahoo! as #3 with 2.7 billion.

Bing was #4 with 1.2 billion.

So, even if you put blinders on and say you are only interested in “search” and not interested in “marketing,” then YouTube belongs on your A-list. It is the #2 search engine.

If you want to see what other marketers are doing on YouTube, check out Coldwell Banker’s channel. And for the backstory, check out my interview with Michael Fisher, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Coldwell Banker, at SES San Jose 2009.

<iframe class="embeddedvideo" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XqMOAqOaI7s&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="340"></iframe>

Michael Fisher of Coldwell Banker discusses Coldwell Banker’s successful viral marketing campaigns

And there are advertising opportunities on YouTube, as well. For example, check out my interview with Matthew Liu, YouTube Product Manager, at SES New York 2009. He talks about Sponsored Videos, which has since been renamed Promoted Videos.

<iframe class="embeddedvideo" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/CfP-PkstpP8&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="340"></iframe>

YouTube Product Manager, Matthew Liu on YouTube’s Insight and Sponsored videos at SES NY 2009

Now, many search marketers measure the success of their campaigns in terms of conversions. In these cases, it’s not just about views or clicks; it’s about what the user did next: Buy something, fill out a form on your website, or take some other action.

These marketers want to be able to incorporate these kinds of conversions into their campaigns so they can “close the loop” and drive traffic to off-YouTube web pages. Back in June, YouTube launched this feature as an option for all Promoted Videos, allowing anyone who runs a campaign to specify a “Call-to-Action” for users, helping them generate engaged, well-targeted traffic for their websites.

Adding a Call-to-Action overlay to your video is easy. First, run a campaign to promote your video on YouTube. Then, go to the Video Details page under My Videos and fill out the fields in the section marked “Call-to-Action overlay.” All you have to do is include a short headline, ad text, a destination url, and upload an optional image, and the overlay will appear whenever someone watches your video. Clicks on the overlay will be tracked in YouTube Insight.

Get it? Got it? Good.

Read Original: http://feeds.searchenginewatch.com/~r/sewblog/~3/6Gv7h_pc7zE/091031-110343

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From: google.com

Is Google’s Social Search as creepy as Halloween? That’s one of the topics found in this week’s search engine news. You will get our response on Tuesday. Meanwhile, you may like to take a look at these stories:

Read Original: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pandia/vfbc/~3/Kj1LzMQmGQA/2230-pandia-search-engine-news-halloween-wrap-up.html

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From: google.com

Google adds links to online music and plans opening an ebooks store.

Read Original: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pandia/vfbc/~3/TBQdu9SN6hE/2213-googles-new-revenue-stream-books-and-music.html

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From: google.com

Because everyone else does.

Why believe that people once put razor blades into apples and you should only eat wrapped candies? Because everyone else believes it (it’s an urban legend).

Most of what we believe is not a result of direct experience (ever seen an electron?) but is rather part of our collection of truth because everyone (or at least the people we respect) around us seems to believe it as well.

We not only believe that some brands are better than others, we believe in social constructs, no shirt, no shoes, no service. We believe things about changing our names when we get married or what’s an appropriate gift for a baby shower.

This groupthink is the soil that marketing grows in. It’s frustrating for someone who is hyper-fact-based or launching a new brand to come to the conclusion that people believe what they believe, not that people are fact-centered data processing organisms.

Sure, it would be great to have an organization that enjoys the advantage of everyone believing. Getting from here, to there, though, requires stories, emotion and ideas that spread. Organizations grow when they persuade a tiny cadre to be passionate, not when they touch millions with a mediocre message.

Read Original: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/sethsmainblog/~3/gcKbPfYMQQM/why-celebrate-halloween.html

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From: searchenginewatch.com

ICANN announced it will start allowing domains to be registered using non-Latin characters (English etc.) starting Nov. 16. The news was released during a meeting in Seoul on Friday, Reuters reported.

The news is important as it will see the registration of thousands if not millions of language specific domains. Previously, all domains were basically in English - not quite appropriate for a world wide web.

As the Independent noted:

“Considering it is known as the “World Wide web”, the internet’s reliance on the English language has long been maligned as a hangover from the web’s beginnings as a communications tool for the US military.”

“100,000 new characters are expected to be added, in a multitude of languages including Mandarin, Russian and Hebrew,” according to the Independent.

No doubt there will be a stampede to register domains like the Oklahoma Land Rush of the the appropriatedly named “Unassigned Lands.”

This move also shows a loosening of US control over ICANN and “most striking about the development is the symbolic shifting of power underpinning the web, which comes at a time that America’s economic power around the world is diminishing. With Chinese web users now outnumbering their American counterparts, commentators will see this change as another step in the gradual de-Americanisation of the internet.”

Read Original: http://feeds.searchenginewatch.com/~r/sewblog/~3/NxPwJIc2fe4/091031-000017

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From: google.com

Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, FriendFeed & Flickr are all pretty common names in the social networking world, but now social and search are about to combine thanks to Google.



At the Web 2.0 expo last week, Googles Vice-President of Search Marissa Mayer surprised everyone with the announcement that Social Search is coming via Google Labs.



This new search feature will allow you to see search query results from people in your social network. By using your Google Profile, (if you fill it out with the other social networks youre a member of, such as FriendFeed) Google will scan who you are connected to and give your results from those people if they are relevant to your search query.



At the expo, Mayer demonstrated how a search for New Zealand produced a list of search results that included relevant content from friends half-way down the search results page. Among the search results were links from different friends, the first to a Gmail message that mentioned New Zealand and the second, a FriendFeed entry.



Although it was only announced a few days ago, Social Search has already generated quite a lot of buzz and has a number of internet experts rejoicing. This includes Danny Sullivan from Search Engine Land who said


“It was pretty impressive. I dont see a lot of things that make me go wow, thats useful. This did.”



Mayer was a pretty much closed book when it came to divulging further information about Social Search. So we will have to keep you updated as more is announced from Google.



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Read Original: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/searchnewzlatestnews/~3/_THNOM6DAOg/sn-4-20091027GoogletoBecomeFriendlierwithSocialSearch.html

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From: google.com

David Naylor highlighted how some Google UK and IE search results are showing primarily Australian websites because some of those keywords are most frequently searched for in Australia. Conversely some Australian search results were returning primarily UK websites for keywords that are more popular in the UK.



If you can’t rank for a specific keyword it is worth looking at the composition of the search results and seeing if Google is localizing it to another region. Yet another reason to have a multi-domain strategy if you are targeting many markets.



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Tag: Search Query



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Read Original: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/searchnewzlatestnews/~3/mSG7JJtPmrw/sn-4-20091026SearchResultsBasedonSearchQuery.html

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From: google.com

Google plays second fiddle to Microsoft by announcing its deal with Twitter AFTER Bing. “we are very excited to announce that we have reached an agreement with Twitter to include their updates in our search results. We believe that our search results and user experience will greatly benefit from the inclusion of this up-to-the-minute data and we look forward to having a product that showcases how tweets can make search better in the coming months. That way, the next time you search for something that can be aided by a real-time observation, say, snow conditions at your favorite ski resort, youll find tweets from other users who are there and sharing the latest and greatest information.”



The rather brief blog announcement and the integration still being months away"compared to Bings live test of Twitter results"suggests that Google was out-maneuvered by Microsoft. This time.



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Read Original: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/searchnewzlatestnews/~3/5iIV_BUl5O4/sn-4-20091023GooglePlaysSecondFiddletoBing.html

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From: google.com

Sometimes I make a mistake in my writing. I know, hard to believe.

So, after correcting an earlier typo, I just happened to check Googles search index to see if my post had been indexed yet. Not only had the post been indexed, but the typo fix"from just seconds earlier"had already been updated!

0 to indexed in just 37 seconds? Thats pretty real time dont you think?

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Tag: Google, Indexing, SEO





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Read Original: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/searchnewzlatestnews/~3/16cNI6T2Ijs/sn-4-20091022GoogleIndexingRealTimeWebSoSoon.html

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From: google.com

2008 was a rough year for Yahoo. First Microsoft tried to acquire them, then Yahoo spurned them, then shareholders wanted a merger, then they lost CEO Jerry Yang, then their search ad deal with Google fell through. There was nowhere to go but up in 2009, right? We got a new CEO, Carol Bartz, and Yahoo finally looks like its making an effort and has a new search ad deal with Microsoft in the works.

But in some ways, theyre wishing for the old days"the Q3 report today says that the company has seen a year over year drop of 12% in revenues (to $1.575B). Theyve also seen a drop in operating cash of 6% ($384M). Considering last years Q3 was rough (although even then, their revenues were up), even lower revenues this year isnt exactly what they wanted to hear.

But the Q3 report has good news, too. While revenues fell, net income was up an amazing 244% (to $186M). (I know, that kind of growth makes you think creative accounting.)

Carol Bartz has been cracking down on the company and trimming the fat, one of the tasks she was brought in to do. Even with lower revenue, they ended up with a substantially higher net income"thats pretty darn good.

Of course, theres still one big question here"will a search deal with Microsoft help Yahoo where its struggling in the long run? Well, since the deal currently says that their revenue/search must match Googles, theres a big maybe on that one. Yahoos notoriously suffered from a lower revenue per search, something theyve tried to ameliorate with now two search deals. Will this be the one to do it"and will that be enough to turn the company around?

What do you think? Is this more good news than bad news for Yahoo? Will a partnership with Microsoft reverse their revenue fortunes?

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Tag: Yahoo, Revenue, SEO





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Read Original: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/searchnewzlatestnews/~3/c199hA-eh_U/sn-4-20091021YahooNetIncomeUpandRevenueDown.html

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