July 25th, 2008
I’ve written about my Omron pedometer once before, but I wanted to mention it again because I like it so much. Recent research suggests that using a pedometer can lead to more walking and better health.
I’ve been carrying a pedometer for a little over a year now, and I’ve done almost four million steps since starting to use it:
Just recently I finished a month where I did 10,000 steps or more every day. Once you start a streak of over 10K steps/day, it’s addictive to stay on the streak. In my opinion, a good pedometer is a secret weapon to get into better shape.
The only thing that would make this Omron pedometer perfect is if Omron would open or document their protocol so that Mac and Linux users could write their own pedometer software. At one point I started trying to reverse engineer the USB protocol myself using a program called SnoopyPro:
But really, who has the time to sit down and reverse engineer a whole USB device from scratch these days? 
It would be better if Omron would just document their protocol so other people could write a Linux/Mac driver.
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July 25th, 2008
Posted by rebecca
Three star links:
Four star links:
- Y Combinator came out with a list of startup ideas they’d like to fund. I think it’s pretty clever and classy of them to list some good ideas and express an interest in being involved with them in some way.
- Season 2 of Mad Men starts this Sunday on AMC. If you haven’t watched or heard of Mad Men, it’s a show about an advertising agency in NYC in the early 1960s. It’s a very well written and visually stunning show, and as a marketer I find it especially compelling to see a glimpse of what advertising and marketing was like 40 years ago (especially on more traditional media like radio and print).
- Here’s a fascinating study: bloggers’ interactions with their readers decrease the more prominent they get. I’d encourage you to discuss this in the comments below, but I’m too important to read them so never mind.
- In case you were all wondering what our former CTO, Matt Inman, was up to, he’s still building dating sites. For zombies.
- AgencyTool is "the definitive resource list for anyone designing, developing, marketing, or maintaining websites." The list of resources is pretty impressive. Check it out for some hidden gems!
- Best extra credit idea ever. My favorite is the illustration of the guy using Netscape Navigator.
Five star links:
YOUmoz entries:
Best of YOUmoz:
New events added to the Events Calendar:
No new events added this week.
Upcoming events:
New additions to the SEOmoz Marketplace:
Featured job postings:
Featured companies:
United States/North America:
UK/Europe:
Featured resumes:
Currently looking:
- Lisa Wilberding (who I think lives in Michigan) is a communications and marketing expert who specializes in writing and public relations. She has experience managing traditional and social media relations accounts for various online marketing agencies.
- Michael Kennedy (who I think lives in California) is a versatile Internet marketing executive who has a strong e-marketing orientation. He has over 7 years of experience with SEO, web 2.0 product development and management, customer relations, email marketing, and online subscriptions.
Happily employed:
- Carlos Obregon in Vancouver, BC, Canada is an SEM specialist for HealthPricer Interactive. He manges PPC campaigns with a budget of $50k/month, and he also develops keyword-rich content, title tags, builds links, and performs a number of other tasks.
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Posted in SEO | No Comments »
July 24th, 2008
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on
Search Engine Land and from other
places across the web.
From Search Engine Land:
- Video As A
Search Marketing Tool For SMBs
Video is becoming an important part of local search marketing campaigns,
and this week’s SMX Local Mobile conference features speaking talking
about how small and medium businesses can use video to be more effective
with their online marketing. Video solutions providers to these panels are
Jared Simon, VP of Business…
- C’mon
Microsoft — Say You’re In Search Because You Love It, Not Want To Earn
From It
Sigh. Reading Stephen Ballmer’s latest "rally the troops" memo over yet
another Microsoft reorganization, I just want to scream at the man and the
company in general that they’ll never win at search if they don’t get it
through their heads that it’s not about selling ads but serving…
- The Inmates
Are Running The Search Engine Asylum
For search engine marketers and clients to communicate effectively, they
must utilize a shared, common vocabulary. Some search engine marketing
terms and concepts are easy to explain, such as query terms, commonly
referred to as keywords or keyword phrases. And some concepts require a
little more clarification. For example,…
- The Day
After: Looking At How Well Knol Pages Rank On Google
We’ve been assured that just because content sits on Google’s Knol site,
it won’t gain any ranking authority from being part of the Knol domain.
OK, so a day after Knol has launched, how’s that holding up? I found 1/3
of the pages listed on the Knol home page…
- Microsoft
Live Search Coming To Facebook
When Microsoft made its investment in Facebook I always had thought that
Live Search would come to the site, together with search monetization.
Later it appeared that search wasn’t part of the deal. Facebook’s
competitors all have web search, including Google’s much publicized deal
with MySpace. Well today Microsoft announced…
- Live
Blogging Yahoo SMX Local-Mobile Keynote
I live blogged the Yahoo keynote so forgive the grammatical errors and
typos. Frazier Miller: Rise of the Local Web, A Perfect Storm. Miller gave
an engaging keynote that covered both online and mobile, user demand and
advertising. Miller defined local in terms of four Yahoo properties:
Search, Yahoo Local,…
- Google’s
Blogger Makes Up 2% Of All Malware Hosts
Blogspot.com cited as the No. 1 host for malware from News.com reports
Google’s Blogger accounts "for nearly 2 percent of all malware hosts."
Sophos, an antivirus vendor, published a report showing the state of
malware injections and attacks throughout the web. Specifically, hackers
can set up "malicious blogs" on the…
- Yahoo
Acquistion Architect Johnson Departs Microsoft
Kevin Johnson, who was arguably the primary architect of the now
apparently failed Yahoo acquisition, is leaving Microsoft to run Juniper
Networks. Simultaneously the company is reorganizing the division that
Johnson ran ("Platform Services") into two: Windows and Windows Live +
Online Services. Here’s the official Microsoft announcement from
yesterday….
- Yahoo Takes
One More Step Away From Competing In Paid Search
I reported earlier that Yahoo wasn’t allowing new advertisers join the
Yahoo Ambassador program, but it seems much worse then that. I reported at
the Search Engine Roundtable and we have reports at PPC Hero that Yahoo is
closing down the whole program as of September 30th. Yahoo sent their…
- A Visual
Dictionary For The Web
One of the most popular vertical search features on the web is image
search index. What’s really remarkable, however, is how little has changed
in the core technology approach to the indexing of multimedia over the
last decade. When I was the head of product at FAST back in…
- Last Call
For SMX London Session Ideas
I’m in the process of finalizing the agenda for our SMX London conference,
which will be posted in early August. If you’ve got a unique, compelling
idea for a session you think we should consider for the conference, I’d
like to hear about it. And don’t delay—tomorrow is the last…
Search News From Around The Web:
Applications & Portal Features
Business Issues
Link Building
Local, Maps & Mobile
Paid Search & Contextual
Searching
SEM Industry
SEO & SEM
-
Big Brand Understands SEO, DerekChew.com
- Can You Be
Penalized in Search Engines For Broken Web Links?, Search Engine
Roundtable
- Get
your search fix with two videos, Matt Cutts
- Google
Sitemaps URLs Have "High Response Time" Message, Search Engine
Roundtable
- Is
Microsoft Not Serious About Webmasters?, Search Engine Roundtable
- MSN Live
Sending Odd Referrals — QBHP — to Websites, Search Engine Roundtable
-
Optimizing for Multiple Word Order Search Phrases, SEOmoz
-
SEO "key" to image-based marketing, Digital Response Media
-
Seven Building Blocks of a Destination Website: #3 Website Design,
Search Engine Guide
-
Source Ordered Content: SEO Benefits (and Drawbacks?), Search Engine
Journal
-
How to Combat Complaints Sites in Google : Open Discussion, Search
Engine Journal
Social Media
Video, Music & Image Search
Other Items
Recent Hot Items From Sphinn, Our
Social News Sharing Site:
Save the date for these upcoming Search Marketing Expo Events:
- SMX Local & Mobile - San Francisco - Jul. 24-25
- SMX Sao Paulo - Brazil - Aug. 7-8
- SMX China @ Timev - Nanjing - Oct. 6-8
- SMX Stockholm - Sep. 23-24
- SMX East - NYC - Oct. 6-8
- SMX London - Nov. 4-5
Attend the Search Marketing Now Webcasts:
Monetizing Social Data: Using Real-Time Analytics & Behavioral Tracking to Enhance Content & Function - August 5, 2008
The Social Graph: The Key to Search Marketing’s Future? - August 14, 2008
PPC Tips for Success: Building a Winning Account Structure - August 19, 2008
It’s free to attend! Register today at Search Marketing Now.
Interested in advertising or sponsoring Search Marketing Expo or Search Marketing Now webcasts? Contact us.
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Posted in SEM | No Comments »
July 24th, 2008
June 30th 2008 was a day that Flash developers had been waiting for a long time; Google and Adobe had finally announced that Flash .swf files could be crawled by Google! In fact, the extensive news release from the Adobe Developer Center also stated that Yahoo would be incorporating similar technology in short order. When I read this news and the consequential articles from the web marketing community it became very clear that this update was a great step but far from the fix that some Flash developers are likely to pitch to their clients. As a result, I wanted to add my voice to the buzz on this topic and share with you my thoughts on how to optimize a site using Flash while considering the current updates.
What is Flash?
Okay, lets get down to basics. To introduce and establish what Flash is all about I am going to fall back on Wikipedia for a concise description:
“Adobe Flash (previously called Shockwave Flash and Macromedia Flash) is a set of multimedia technologies developed and distributed by Adobe Systems and earlier by Macromedia. Since its introduction in 1996, Flash technology has become a popular method for adding
animation and
interactivity to web pages; Flash is commonly used to create animation,
advertisements, and various web page components, to integrate video into web pages, and, more recently, to develop
rich Internet applications.” Source,
Wikipedia
BEFORE: Search Engines Could Not Crawl Flash
Up until recently the textual content found in .swf Flash files was, for all intents and purposes, just as unreadable for search engine spiders as the text in images; only HTML text on a page could be read and indexed by search engine spiders because they could not yet (and still cannot) conduct on-the-fly optical character recognition.
To explain this differently I think of the HTML that spiders can read like the braille-like feeling of running your finger over a letter written in ball point pen; you can feel the contour of writing. Whereas something unreadable like Flash or an image on a page is like running your fingers along a 4×6 picture of a road sign… you won’t feel anything, so by the same token the text on that road sign cannot be read by a search engine spider.
NOW: Search Engines Can Crawl Text in Flash
For the first time, on June 30th, 2008 Google announced it could accurately spider the textual content hidden within Flash files found on the Internet. This major announcement was enabled by a partnership between Adobe, Google and Yahoo where Adobe provided their proprietary Flash Player technology to the search engines so they could integrate it into their systems and successfully ‘read’ the content within Flash files. This technology has vast implications for Google’s and soon Yahoo’s indexes because, at least in Google’s case, this allows the search engine to index the content within over 70.4 million Flash (SWF) files. That is a vast amount of content that was previously inaccessible to the search engines and the ability to access it could add a lot of value for search engine users.
For example, an inspiring and eloquent Flash site like Forests Forever could be indexed which would expose more viewers to a website that provides a wonderful introduction to the world’s forests. Of course that is just one Flash site of many that will add value to search engines when indexed; it just happens to be one of my personal favourites.
Search Engine Optimization Now Possible with Flash
The implementation of Flash crawling technology means that the text within Flash can now be indexed and links can be followed. Here are some examples of the basic optimization that is now possible within Flash:
- Optimizing page content for specific keyphrase(s) to ensure a visiting search engine bot will correctly perceive the page’s topic.
- Using keywords within internal links to pass link juice from page to page; only applicable for sites where the Flash pages are broken down onto separate URLs.
- Providing emphasis (bolding) to particular words may help to emphasize keyphrase(s); but I am reaching here… it is unknown if this new technology provides text-importance recognition.
The Limitations of Flash Search Engine Optimization
Now that you have some idea of what can now be optimized for search engines here are a few pitfalls that still limit the search engine friendliness of Flash:
- Single URL Flash Websites: Many websites I encounter still incorporate all of the website in a single Flash file; in other words as a user navigates the site they are still using the same URL but different pages appear. In such an instance the search engines will index the content and potentially drive traffic to the site but as Google cannot link to content within a Flash file all users will be sent to the beginning of the file. That type of indirect search result is likely to infuriate many searchers who have come to expect immediate results.
Here is a quote from Google’s comment area on this topic:
“We’ve heard requests for deep linking (linking to specific content inside file) not just for Flash results, but also for other large documents and presentations. In the case of Flash, the ability to deep link will require additional functionality in Flash with which we integrate.”
That last line is interesting because it leaves room for interpretation. Do they mean Adobe will have to add the “additional functionality” to Flash or that Google needs to beef up their indexing technology to take advantage of the existing Flash functionality? Perhaps some Flash gurus out there could weigh in on this one. It is definitely an ambiguous way for Google to answer the question.
If you need a work-around to deep-link single SWF files Adobe notes a solution: “you can create multiple HTML files that provide different variables to the SWF and start your application at the correct subsection. By creating multiple entry points, you can get the benefits of a site that is indexed as a suite of pages but still only need to manage one copy of your application.”
- Text in Images is Not Indexed: Many Flash websites inexplicably incorporate a great deal of textual content within images and currently search engines cannot index text in images; I expect that will remain true for at least another year or two. As a result, a Flash website that includes a vast amount of text within graphics will not see a noticeable benefit to this enhanced crawling technology.
- Resource-File Based Content Not Indexed: I noted this in Google’s comment area from their support team: “At this time, content loaded dynamically from resource files is not indexed. We’ve noted this feature request from several webmasters — look for this in a near future update.”
In addition, Google’s news release announced the following limitations to Flash that Google expects to surmount soon (quoted from Google blog):
- “Googlebot does not execute some types of JavaScript. So if your web page loads a Flash file via JavaScript, Google may not be aware of that Flash file, in which case it will not be indexed.”
- “We currently do not attach content from external resources that are loaded by your Flash files. If your Flash file loads an HTML file, an XML file, another SWF file, etc., Google will separately index that resource, but it will not yet be considered to be part of the content in your Flash file.”
- “While we are able to index Flash in almost all of the languages found on the web, currently there are difficulties with Flash content written in bidirectional languages. Until this is fixed, we will be unable to index Hebrew language or Arabic language content from Flash files.”
Verdict: SEO for Flash is Still in Diapers
It is wonderful news that Flash is becoming more search engine friendly and there is no question that the addition of previously unattainable Flash content to search engine indexes will prove valuable. But the fact of the matter is that at this moment I wouldn’t dream of telling a client that Flash can be a competitive medium for search engine optimization. There are simply too many roadblocks that still exist and need to be addressed before a Flash website has any hope of competing with an HTML website on the basis of just search engine optimization. I do, however, see a couple exceptions to the rule:
- At a certain point a threshold can be met where significant incoming links can push even the most un-search engine friendly website to the top rankings. As a result, it is highly likely that some Flash websites with a decent incoming link support structure will see vast improvements in rankings when their content is finally considered thanks to this new crawling technology.
- In less competitive arenas (obscure keyphrases or keyphrases with little competition) the basic search engine optimization capabilities opened to Flash may very well be all that is needed to attain top search engine rankings.
In conclusion I would like to pass on extreme kudos to Adobe, Google and Yahoo for working this new technology into their systems. With all of the new multimedia formats coming online it has always seemed quite silly to me that Flash, having been around for years, was still not fully indexable. Thankfully Flash can now be crawled and the day where it could potentially compete for competitive rankings is on the distant horizon.
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Posted in SEO | No Comments »
July 24th, 2008
I just finished writing a post for Search Engine Guide on Yahoo’s latest idea that I think is positively brilliant. Here is the lead in if you would like to go there and read it in its entirety:
“At Yahoo Anecdotal today Yahoo announced they had recently opened the Yahoo Accessibility Lab; a place where only Yahoo employees (for now) can experience the world of the Internet as a disabled web surfer would. Read on for a peak at accessibility guidelines and more on what Yahoo had to say about this important issue.”
Continue reading Yahoo Champions Internet Accessibility for the Disabled at Search Engine Guide
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Posted in SEO | No Comments »
July 24th, 2008
Hey folks, I wanted to let you know that new toolbar PageRank values should become visible over the next few days. I’m expecting that also in the next few days that we’ll be expiring some older penalties on websites.
Read Original Post Here
Posted in SEO | No Comments »
July 24th, 2008
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web….
Read Original Post Here
Posted in Search News | No Comments »
July 24th, 2008
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on
Search Engine Land and from other
places across the web.
From Search Engine Land:
- Video As A
Search Marketing Tool For SMBs
Video is becoming an important part of local search marketing campaigns,
and this week’s SMX Local Mobile conference features speaking talking
about how small and medium businesses can use video to be more effective
with their online marketing. Video solutions providers to these panels are
Jared Simon, VP of Business…
- C’mon
Microsoft — Say You’re In Search Because You Love It, Not Want To Earn
From It
Sigh. Reading Stephen Ballmer’s latest "rally the troops" memo over yet
another Microsoft reorganization, I just want to scream at the man and the
company in general that they’ll never win at search if they don’t get it
through their heads that it’s not about selling ads but serving…
- The Inmates
Are Running The Search Engine Asylum
For search engine marketers and clients to communicate effectively, they
must utilize a shared, common vocabulary. Some search engine marketing
terms and concepts are easy to explain, such as query terms, commonly
referred to as keywords or keyword phrases. And some concepts require a
little more clarification. For example,…
- The Day
After: Looking At How Well Knol Pages Rank On Google
We’ve been assured that just because content sits on Google’s Knol site,
it won’t gain any ranking authority from being part of the Knol domain.
OK, so a day after Knol has launched, how’s that holding up? I found 1/3
of the pages listed on the Knol home page…
- Microsoft
Live Search Coming To Facebook
When Microsoft made its investment in Facebook I always had thought that
Live Search would come to the site, together with search monetization.
Later it appeared that search wasn’t part of the deal. Facebook’s
competitors all have web search, including Google’s much publicized deal
with MySpace. Well today Microsoft announced…
- Live
Blogging Yahoo SMX Local-Mobile Keynote
I live blogged the Yahoo keynote so forgive the grammatical errors and
typos. Frazier Miller: Rise of the Local Web, A Perfect Storm. Miller gave
an engaging keynote that covered both online and mobile, user demand and
advertising. Miller defined local in terms of four Yahoo properties:
Search, Yahoo Local,…
- Google’s
Blogger Makes Up 2% Of All Malware Hosts
Blogspot.com cited as the No. 1 host for malware from News.com reports
Google’s Blogger accounts "for nearly 2 percent of all malware hosts."
Sophos, an antivirus vendor, published a report showing the state of
malware injections and attacks throughout the web. Specifically, hackers
can set up "malicious blogs" on the…
- Yahoo
Acquistion Architect Johnson Departs Microsoft
Kevin Johnson, who was arguably the primary architect of the now
apparently failed Yahoo acquisition, is leaving Microsoft to run Juniper
Networks. Simultaneously the company is reorganizing the division that
Johnson ran ("Platform Services") into two: Windows and Windows Live +
Online Services. Here’s the official Microsoft announcement from
yesterday….
- Yahoo Takes
One More Step Away From Competing In Paid Search
I reported earlier that Yahoo wasn’t allowing new advertisers join the
Yahoo Ambassador program, but it seems much worse then that. I reported at
the Search Engine Roundtable and we have reports at PPC Hero that Yahoo is
closing down the whole program as of September 30th. Yahoo sent their…
- A Visual
Dictionary For The Web
One of the most popular vertical search features on the web is image
search index. What’s really remarkable, however, is how little has changed
in the core technology approach to the indexing of multimedia over the
last decade. When I was the head of product at FAST back in…
- Last Call
For SMX London Session Ideas
I’m in the process of finalizing the agenda for our SMX London conference,
which will be posted in early August. If you’ve got a unique, compelling
idea for a session you think we should consider for the conference, I’d
like to hear about it. And don’t delay—tomorrow is the last…
Search News From Around The Web:
Applications & Portal Features
Business Issues
Link Building
Local, Maps & Mobile
Paid Search & Contextual
Searching
SEM Industry
SEO & SEM
-
Big Brand Understands SEO, DerekChew.com
- Can You Be
Penalized in Search Engines For Broken Web Links?, Search Engine
Roundtable
- Get
your search fix with two videos, Matt Cutts
- Google
Sitemaps URLs Have "High Response Time" Message, Search Engine
Roundtable
- Is
Microsoft Not Serious About Webmasters?, Search Engine Roundtable
- MSN Live
Sending Odd Referrals — QBHP — to Websites, Search Engine Roundtable
-
Optimizing for Multiple Word Order Search Phrases, SEOmoz
-
SEO "key" to image-based marketing, Digital Response Media
-
Seven Building Blocks of a Destination Website: #3 Website Design,
Search Engine Guide
-
Source Ordered Content: SEO Benefits (and Drawbacks?), Search Engine
Journal
-
How to Combat Complaints Sites in Google : Open Discussion, Search
Engine Journal
Social Media
Video, Music & Image Search
Other Items
Recent Hot Items From Sphinn, Our
Social News Sharing Site:
Read Original Post Here
Posted in SEM | No Comments »
July 24th, 2008
Video is becoming an important part of local search marketing campaigns, and this week’s SMX Local Mobile conference features speaking talking about how small and medium businesses can use video to be more effective with their online marketing. Video solutions providers to these panels are Jared Simon, VP of Business Development of TurnHere, and Anupam Gupta, President and CEO of Mixpo are speaking. I caught up with Gupta earlier this week and asked for a preview of what he’ll be presenting at the conference.
Click to continue reading…
Read Original Post Here
Posted in SEM | No Comments »
July 24th, 2008
Sigh. Reading Stephen Ballmer’s latest "rally the troops" memo over
yet another
Microsoft
reorganization, I just want to scream at the man and the company in
general that they’ll never win at search if they don’t get it through their
heads that it’s not about selling ads but serving searchers.
Click to continue reading…
Read Original Post Here
Posted in SEM | No Comments »
