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.
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 »
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
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
by Ross Dunn
At Yahoo Anecdotal today Yahoo announced
that 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.
The blog posting also states:
“In addition to simulating the disabled experience, the Accessibility
Lab also provides a growing collection of books and videos that we hope
will help visitors become more comfortable with the culture of
disability. And help Yahoos keep disabled kids and adults clearly in
mind as they design and code.“
Congratulations Yahoo for taking the reigns and raising
awareness of such an under-served topic. Now I am the first to admit
that I have no concept of how difficult it must be to navigate the web
with a disability. That said, I would love to get a sense of such an
experience to provide valuable perspective when I create my own
websites and to consult clients on their designs.
My friend Lee Roberts over at MerchantMetrix is an authority on website accessibility and
through him I have learned a lot about just how difficult it can be to make a
website accessible; however, difficult or not it must be done. There is simply no denying it is important to raise the awareness of this sizable demographic and Yahoo has taken a commendable
step in that direction.
To quote Tim Berners-Lee the inventor of the World Wide Web:
The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless
of disability is an essential aspect.
What Accessibility Requires
Here is a summary of the 14 guidelines a website would have to follow in order to become officially accessible according to the W3C’s Checklist for Web Accessibility Guidelines:
- Guideline 1. Provide equivalent alternatives to auditory and visual content.
This covers such elements as the proper use of ALT attributes, adding redundant text link navigation for image maps, creating auditory equivalents of multimedia presentations (explaining what is happening in the presentation), etc.
- Guideline 2. Don’t rely on color alone.
If color alone is used to distinguish essential elements of a page then this must be changed to provide accessibility to the color-blind.
- Guideline 3. Use markup and style sheets and do so properly
Do not fix incompatibilities your website has with particular browsers using poor markup because this can confuse accessibility-based navigation/reading software.
- Guideline 4. Clarify natural language usage
Properly specify the natural language of a document and note if and where a change to the natural language is made. Also in the markup provide expansions on acronyms and abbreviations so that screen readers can adequately decipher their meaning.
- Guideline 5. Create tables that transform gracefully.
Tables should only be used to properly present data tables where necessary; not for page layout. In addition there are certain accessibility tags that should be used when implementing a table.
- Guideline 6. Ensure that pages featuring new technologies transform gracefully.
Ensure that your website can still be read even if significant technologies are disabled by the viewer (i.e. disabled Javascript or stylesheets).
- Guideline 7. Ensure user control of time-sensitive content changes.
Flashing, blinking, moving content must have the capacity to be disabled or frozen to increase accessibility for visitors with sensitivities to visual stimuli.
- Guideline 8. Ensure direct accessibility of embedded user interfaces.
Script and applets must have an alternative form of navigation if they are not accessible in their own right.
- Guideline 9. Design for device-independence.
Ensure that your website does not offer barriers to any of the major devices that disabled visitors may use to navigate or interact with your website.
- Guideline 10. Use interim solutions.
Certain limitations exist in browsers that currently have no established ‘fix’. This section of the guidelines provides sanctioned interim solutions for these problematic areas.
- Guideline 11. Use W3C technologies and guidelines.
To ensure maximum compatibility with current and future accessibility requirements it is recommended that everyone follow the W3C guidelines when designing a website.
- Guideline 12. Provide context and orientation information.
Where complex relationships exist between parts of a page it is important to provide descriptive text outlining the relationship.
- Guideline 13. Provide clear navigation mechanisms.
Ensure your website includes clear navigation formats such as textual navigation and sitemaps so that users have a better chance of finding what they are looking for.
- Guideline 14. Ensure that documents are clear and simple.
Make sure the language is clear and concise, the formatting and layout is consistent throughout the website, and always provide alternative descriptions to graphical content for the blind or visually impaired.
Most of Us with Web Sites Have a Lot of Work To Do
After compiling that list I feel disconcerted because I know of few websites that can safely say they are 75% accessible never mind 100%; including my own I am embarrassed to say. Something has to be done to incentivize designers and web site owners to make accessibility a priority. Perhaps Google should jump on board and provide a deadline for all sites to be compliant (or else); not a popular solution I am sure but it would sure get our butts in gear!
More Information on Website Accessibility
I have a lot to learn about accessibility and perhaps you do as well. Here are some websites that go into more depth on this topic:
Free White Paper: How to Optimize for Google
A free 10 page white paper on how to optimize a website on Google the right way - so the website succeeds.
Read Original Post Here
Posted in SEM | No Comments »
July 24th, 2008
Google Maps is a great tool for finding driving directions, as well as for getting a general overview of an area. Now they’ve added another great feature for those who like to get around by foot: walking directions. So what’s the difference between driving directions and walking directions? Walking directions ignore things like one-way streets that don’t apply to foot traffic, and give you the fastest route from point a to point b.
The service is still a work-in-progress, and as of right now it only contains walking directions by road. It does not include shortcuts through traffic circles, parks, or any other off-road features such as pedestrian paths. For those cities where Google has already mapped out public transport, they’ve now included walking directions automatically from your subway/bus/train stop.
The walking directions are also limited to Google Maps on your computer, and hasn’t yet gone mobile. Perhaps once this project graduates from beta, mobile service will be added.
![]()
Read Original Post Here
Posted in SEM, Search News | No Comments »
July 24th, 2008
For now, Microsoft may have gave up on acquiring Yahoo and lost its only hope of catching up with Google in the search and online ad department. But it wouldn’t just rest that easy and so it has to turn to a new ally in its quest to boost its search and online ad business - Facebook.
Although Microsoft and Facebook already has an existing agreement with Microsoft serving graphic display ads on Facebook pages, it is only now that Microsoft is exploring the Facebook environment as an avenue for beefing up the clout of its Windows Live Search and expanding the coverage of its search advertising service.
The new deal is to be carried out next month and would seem a viable option for Microsoft. But the question is, would this deal bring some good tidings to Microsoft’s underlying goal of catching up with Google in this business? Microsoft wants to establish its online search service as the starting point for consumers to locate a range of digital media and e-commerce services and at the same time be able to deliver ads that would direct consumers to what they are looking for. Now there lies the problem with this deal. Users don’t go to Facebook to do their search. Facebook is not a web portal but a community platform for socializing, checking up on friends and meeting new people. If Facebook users will use a search box, they will use it to explore the Facebook universe and not the whole of the web. Facebook users don’t visit Facebook to click on Ads, they go click on Facebook friends’ updates.
How could Microsoft’s Search and Online Advertising business gain from this new deal then? And how much was the financial terms of this new agreement? Nobody would disclose, as it might prove the old adage “the end justifies the means”, wrong.
![]()
Read Original Post Here
Posted in SEM, Search News | No Comments »
July 24th, 2008
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 that Live Search will be coming to Facebook, together with paid search ads.
Click to continue reading…
Read Original Post Here
Posted in SEM | No Comments »
July 24th, 2008
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 that I tested ranked in the top results. I came
away feeling that being on Knol does indeed give pages an advantage they
might not get if they’d been hosted on some other brand new web site.
Click to continue reading…
Read Original Post Here
Posted in SEM | No Comments »
July 24th, 2008
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, it
might take me weeks or months to undo the preconceived notion that PageRank
(PR) is a number between 1 and 10, because so many amateur search engine
marketers base their link-building services on the Google Toolbar feature.
Unfortunately, one of the reasons we search professionals have difficulty
establishing and using a common vocabulary lies with the search engines
themselves. If a representative from Yahoo or Google uses a term and shows
supporting documentation on the search engine’s site, their words are as
good as gold. In the meantime, I sit there with a furrowed, brow, clenched
teeth, and an eye roll that I could only learn from a teenager, and think, "Greeeeaaaat…here
is another search engine hype thing for me to deal with."
Click to continue reading…
Read Original Post Here
Posted in SEM | No Comments »
