New Adwords Features - Tools and Reporting - New AdWords Classifications

New Adwords Features - Tools and Reporting: "updates to features and functionality of Adwords interfaces"

stuntdubl started thread: Adwords advisor says: I want to affirm that most changes to the AdWords system are a direct result of Advertiser feedback - and that the suggestions from WebmasterWorld are a huge part of that.

Feedback is also collected from email and phone conversations as well, of course. But I'm not kidding when I say I'll forward suggestions from this Forum each week. Yesterday, for example, I sent roughly 7 pages along to a really big list of folks who actually read it. At least a couple of those pages were from right here. So, many thanks to the Forum for the continued feedback - whether it is postive, or not so pretty.

New AdWords Classifications Coming

AussieWebmaster reports: Sometime in November Google is revamping the classification of keyword status... Strong, Moderate, At Risk and Disabled will be gone. Replacing them will be Active and Disabled, as well as "In Trial".

In Trail has been delivered to meet the problem of quick disabling of terms. Google will use its predictive modelling to know what words are not going to do well and give them more time to run. Instead of the 1,000 impressions and you're out... this new system may allow terms as much as 10 times more access to eyeballs.

Firefox Browser Targets Microsoft

Firefox Browser Targets Microsoft: "an article by Mozilla News revealed that a Google-branded Firefox browser may be in the cards. "

MozillaNews - Google's Browser Plans

Google plans desktop search tool for Apple PCs | CNET News.com

Google plans desktop search tool for Apple PCs | CNET News.com: "Google plans to release a version of its desktop search tool for computers that run Apple Computer's Mac operating system,"

Desktop search & implications for SEM ClickZ Experts on Search Engine Marketing Strategies

ClickZ Experts on Search Engine Marketing Strategies: " The utility will lead to more search hours per computer user. That will lead to more sophisticated searchers, spawning mega trends that will ultimately affect SEM."

Google's rapid rise rewarded the open-minded - Internet Software - shares update

Google's rapid rise rewarded the open-minded - Internet Software - Internet Services - Internet - Stock Reports - Markets/Exchanges - Market News: "As Google shares flirt with the $200 mark, investors have to wonder whether many of those buying the stock near that lofty level are money managers who once spurned it at half that price"

Google, BellSouth partner on local-ad effort | CNET News.com

Google, BellSouth partner on local-ad effort | CNET News.com: "Google has entered a multiyear partnership with BellSouth in which the carrier will sell ads through the search giant's AdWords program, according to a statement released Thursday."

WebProWorld :: Flash now indexed by Google

WebProWorld :: Flash now indexed by Google: "salomon741

Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2004 6:19 pm
Post subject:

Indexing Flash Interview and technical review Google SEO and Flash

Here's an article I just found about Google indexing flash. It's just an interview with an employee non-affiliated with Google, but it does answer some questions.

This should be a giant leap for Macromedia, too. Now designers are going to start choosing Flash for its now-compatibility with Google. They should see a leap in sales for Flash.

Now that Google has introduced a new type of content to their index, this also worries me. Could we possibly start seeing a new way to spam the SE's? "

Google SEO and Flash

Google Can Index the Contents of Flash Files -- an interview article by Robin Nobles

Google buys satellite image firm Keyhole | CNET News.com

Google buys satellite image firm Keyhole | CNET News.com: "Google said Wednesday that it has acquired Keyhole, a company specializing in Internet software that allows people to view satellite images from all around the globe...

Keyhole, founded in 2001, offers software that lets Internet users view geographic images collected from satellites and airplanes. The technology relies on a multi-terabyte database of mapping information.

The software gives users the ability to zoom in from space-level; in some cases it can zoom in to a street-level view...Users can also search for information such as the locations of hotels, parks, ATMs and subways."

WebProWorld: Caris & Co. analyst David Garrity described the Keyhole technology as “much more than just Mapquest on steroids” (personally, I think a Mapquest on steroids would be pretty slick).

MediaDailyNews 10-28-04: "Keyhole is a paid-only service that currently costs consumers $29.95 a year--down from the pre-deal fee of $69.95 a year.

"the photos are more lifelike than drawings of maps, some say the new service goes further than most online mapping in melding physical space with cyberspace--which could be a big boon for advertisers.

'It blurs the line between the virtual world and the real world,' said Joshua Stylman, managing director of the marketing firm Reprise Media. That blurring, he said, creates 'an amazing local search opportunity,' because advertisers might now be able to more viscerally connect with consumers who are conducting searches. For instance, local hotels that advertise on Google might be able to purchase listings that could appear next to Keyhole photos of their streets or neighborhoods. "

Google Press Center

Google Press Center

FT.com / Industries - Google rules out becoming net portal

FT.com / Industries - Google rules out becoming net portal
Google has ruled out embarking on a new instalment of the “browser wars” with Microsoft, according to Eric Schmidt, chief executive.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Schmidt said Google would not seek to turn its website into a broader internet portal, a move that would take it into more direct competition with Microsoft and Yahoo...

With the search engine business still at a very early stage of development, Mr Schmidt said there was no need to shape Google's strategy around fending off new competitors.

“It's very possible that Google and Microsoft and Yahoo and others can all do well,” he said. “At this stage, the focus has to be on your customers and your own strategy.”

Google likely to moveinto brand advertising. DMNews.com | News | Article

DMNews.com | News | Article: "Google is likely to expand into brand advertising. By: Brian Morrissey Senior Editor"

Google has begun to test the display of graphical ads on Google Image search. "Currently, it is a small component of our business, but we think it has a very exciting future," CEO Eric Schmidt said of graphical ads...In May, Google began offering advertisers the opportunity to display keyword-targeted graphical ad units on the pages of participating publishers in Google's worldwide AdSense network...Google said its ad system would determine whether to display an image ad over a text ad based on relevance and performance...

The Google spokesman said the company is selling image ads both through its direct sales force and its agency relations team, led by Chris Theodoros...

Schmidt said any moves Google makes would keep with its mantra of only serving relevant ads that users find useful. "We just don't do untargeted ads," he said."

ITworld.com - Microsoft finds Google to help promote Windows

ITworld.com - Microsoft finds Google to help promote Windows: "last week Microsoft started offering a Google search tool for download from Microsoft.com...Google's Deskbar is included in Microsoft's Partner Pack for Windows, a collection of Microsoft and third-party products released last week...Google Deskbar ... was built using Microsoft technology."

Joe Wilcox, a Washington, D.C.-based Jupiter Research senior analyst said ""While the MSN Search folks may be in hot competition with Google, for the Windows platform Google is a valuable partner."

Netcraft: Google are users of Python

Netcraft: Google fix second phishing vulnerability: "Netcraft discovered another application error, which this time revealed fragments of the source code, file structures and application logic that powers the mysterious search behemoth, which we have in turn reported back to Google. At a glance, it is not clear whether the web application stack trace would be useful to an attacker, however, it does confirm the widely held belief that Google are users of the Python programming language. "

Netcraft: Google fix second phishing vulnerability

Netcraft: Google fix second phishing vulnerabilityBoth problems would have allowed fraudsters to inject their own content onto Google’s web site, making the content appear to be published by Google. This is a very effective form of phishing, as people are more likely to trust content if it appears to be hosted on a familiar domain

Cre8asite forums. Google - Google Shuffle.

Cre8asite forums. Google - Google Shuffle. [ Search Engine Optimization, Usability and Web Design. ]

Yahoo EuropeExecs details

Leading Yahoo Europe: "Pierre Chappaz and Dominique Vidal have been appointed to lead its consumer internet operations in Europe.

As President of Yahoo! Europe, Chappaz, 45, will lead the European operations of Yahoo! and Kelkoo, which Chappaz co-founded and which was acquired by Yahoo! Inc. earlier this year. Chappaz will report to John Marcom, SVP of International Operations, Yahoo! Inc. Vidal, 40, becomes Yahoo! Europe Chief Operating Officer reporting to Chappaz. "

Link "farms" Google's next target?

As more and more people practice and utilize linking strategies online to build their SE placements, the more and more things start to get out of hand. I mean, is reciprocal linking the next “Link Farm” to get wiped out from Google?

Google Ferrets Out Enterprise Search Potential

Google Ferrets Out Enterprise Potential: "Google Inc. plans to tackle the enterprise by expanding the features in the Google Search Appliance and hiring more enterprise-focused engineers and sales and marketing employees, Dave Girouard, the company's enterprise general manager, said in a recent interview with eWEEK.com."

Launched enterprise search in UK and Europe

Forbes.com: Update 4: First Post-IPO Google Earnings Deliver

Forbes.com: Update 4: First Post-IPO Google Earnings Deliver: "Google Inc. is making everyone who snubbed its unconventional initial public offering of stock regret their decision"

Yahoo rallies on Q3 report, raised Q4 outlook - Semel sells $ shares CBS Market Watch

Yahoo rallies on Q3 report, raised Q4 outlook - Internet Services - Internet - Earnings
Yahoo CEO Semel sells 900,000 shares - Internet Services - Media - Services/Consulting - Internet - Newsmakers - SEC: "Yahoo CEO Semel selling 900,000 shrs"

After Hours: Google soars; Amazon, Microsoft fall after results CBS Market Watch

After Hours: Google soars; Amazon, Microsoft fall after results - Computer Software - Food and Beverage - Internet Services - Technology, Hardware and Equipment - Technology, Software - Software - Internet - Computer Hardware - Markets/Exchang: "Shares of Google Inc. touched their highest levels ever in evening trading Thursday after the Internet search leader surpassed expectations in its first report as a public company."

Gazette #214: Oct 20, 2004 Google's sophisticated duplicate content filters

Gazette #214: Oct 20, 2004 ... Barn Swallows, Goldfinches, and SEO: "Google is the first search engine to incorporate sophisticated duplicate content filters and the logic necessary to eventually merge domain.com and www.domain.com into the same entity. Unfortunately, there's some small emphasis in that sentence on the word 'eventually.' "

Cre8asite forums. Google - How does this page get high ranking and high PR? PageRank is named after Larry Page, the Google co-founder

Cre8asite forums. Google - How does this page get high ranking and high PR? Only 1 page. [ Search Engine Optimization, Usability and Web Design. ]: "PageRank is not named because it ranks pages, but rather is named after Larry Page, the Google co-founder."

Black Knight wrote "PR10 makes it very likely, if not certain that you'd land at that URL just by clicking links at random for long enough, while PR1 means you'd probably not arrive at that URL even if you clicked random links endlessly for weeks on end. That's pretty much all it really means"

Internet Daily: Blogs push news sites to open up -Google advertisers numbers & projections

Internet Daily: Blogs push news sites to open up - Wireless Technologies - Advertising - Electronic commerce - Internet Software - Retail - Internet Services - Mobile phones - Travel - Media - Entertainment and Leisure - Airlines - Wireless - Internet -: "a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle said internal documents from the company revealed Google expects to add 372,000 advertiser accounts over the next four years. The document reported the company currently has 280,000 accounts. "

Google Desktop Search Download

Google Desktop Search Download

O'Reilly Network: Google Your Desktop review at O'Reilly

Google Launches Desktop Search Tool Slashdot discussion

Search Engine NewsLinks to various articles:
Google Launches Desktop Search - Exclusive ReviewSource: Search Engine Lowdown
Google Desktop Search Launched Source: SearchDay
A Closer Look At Privacy & Desktop Search Source: Search Engine Watch
Google unveils desktop search Source: News.com
AOL launches new portal, tests desktop search Source: News.com

WebProWorld :: The Googlebot Assault Continues: theories

WebProWorld :: The Googlebot Assault ContinuesGarry Grant, CEO of Search Engine Optimization, Inc., stated:

“Only the inner circle at Googleplex knows the purpose of this new spider, but there is no shortage of theories. Some of the more popular ones include:

· Google is creating an entirely new way for ranking pages – something that could dramatically change a web site's position on the search engine

· Google is trying to weed out fraudulent links

· Google is conducting an experiment in order to improve search engine results”

WebProWorld poster Profilesite, “…they could spider once normally, and then use this second robot to compare the content and see if they were being tricked”

Google launch of Froogle UK DMNews.com | News | Article

DMNews.com | News | Article: "Google Inc. yesterday announced the launch of Froogle UK,"

Google’s New Update - Is Google Bombing You? anchor text

Anchor text is the "explanation" that pops-up when you put your cursor over a link.

I tested the "anchor text" theory with my site last week. I only tested one main page that I knew that Google would re-index within 48 hours. The results were very negative. As soon as the new information was indexed, the search engine results from that page dropped down dramatically.

Again, I removed the anchor text from the page and the results seem to gain momentum once again.

Page Rank Calculation

Page Rank Calculation: "Bob Walfer's pagerank calculation diagram"

Important points:
"PR5 might be just a bit over a PR4 (5,033) or it may be just a bit under a PR6 (27,213) "

Can:" determine how many links from a medium value PR6 page it will take to give you a PR5, a PR6, or a PR7"

MIS Web Design: A Survey of Google's PageRank: Additional Factors Influencing PageRank

MIS Web Design: A Survey of Google's PageRank: Additional Factors Influencing PageRank: "A Survey of Google's PageRank: Additional Factors Influencing PageRank" based on papers by Lawrence Page and Sergey Brin during studentship at Stanford.

So does not take into account any additional changes since that time.

PR 10 Sites - PR10 List

PR 10 Sites - PR10 List: "This PR 10 Sites page is a list of all the PR10 sites that have a Pagerank of 10."

Page Rank Update List History - PageRank - PR

Page Rank Update List History - PageRank - PR: "This Page Rank Update List History contains the dates that Google Toolbar Pagerank (PR) was updated."

Cre8asite forums. Google - 37 PR10 Pages Drop to PR9's. [ Search Engine Optimization, Usability and Web Design. ]

Great bit of Google tracking Cre8asite forums. Google - 37 PR10 Pages Drop to PR9's. [ Search Engine Optimization, Usability and Web Design. ]: "Google > 37 PR10 Pages Drop to PR9's"

Google SMS

Google SMS beta

Google tests bookselling service

Google tests bookselling service: "Google's emergence as a bookselling middleman "

Cre8asite forums. Google - What Does Pagerank Mean in 2004?. [ Search Engine Optimization, Usability and Web Design. ]

Cre8asite forums. Google - What Does Pagerank Mean in 2004?. [ Search Engine Optimization, Usability and Web Design. ]: "PageRank. Why not just let things drift? That would solve much of the link-selling problem...

this week google has changed the checksum computation of the toolbar that had been cracked and was allowing sites like prog and webmasterbrain to offer "pagerank search"

On the possible Google update

On the possible Google update: "spam, i.e. optimization techniques that lead to the rise of low quality web pages to the top of the stack. "

All country domains and Language Tools

Language Tools: "arch Specific Languages or Countries"

Google Exec Spills the Beans! ; Search Engine News :: Search Engine Lowdown:

From Search Engine News by Andy Beal Search Engine News :: Search Engine Lowdown: Google Exec Spills the Beans!: Quote:

Branding: "28% of Google searches are for a "product name", 9% are for a "brand name" and 5% are searches for a "company name". "Brand" keywords also have a 8x higher ROI than generic keywords. Not sure if that is for all searches or just consumer-product related searches, but either way it demonstrates the importance of making sure your site shows up on the SERPs for your brand."

Reach: "Google admits that it can only reach 5% of web page traffic via Google.com and its search partners. With their contextual ad partners, that jumps to 80%. Kind of important if they are to meet that 50% annual revenue growth predicted by CSFB."

Google's ad rules complex, controversial / Documents reveal details about what popular search engine accepts, rejects

Excellent article "exploring many of Google's unpublished rules on what it will and will not accept in advertising
Google's ad rules complex, controversial / Documents reveal details about what popular search engine accepts, rejects

( read in conjunction with Google Ad Policies to Be Publicly Expanded: "Google Ad Policies to Be Publicly Expanded BY Danny Sullivan | September 29, 2004 "..." Google doesn't make editorial judgments about what content to accept in organic search results, with the exception of search engine spam."

WebProWorld :: Did Google Unleash Additional Googlebots?

WebProWorld :: Did Google Unleash Additional Googlebots?
Quotes:

"Apparently, Google has begun using another spider in their scanning and indexing of web sites...

Brett Tabke posted an interesting thought concerning Google's extensive crawling, "looks like "panic" based spidering… as if an index needs to be rebuilt from the ground up in a short time period (aka: the old index didn't work)." Another member believed these scans are apart of the PR re-calculation for the next PageRank update. Another poster, idoc, had also had an intriguing look at Google actions:

"I expect a lot of cloaking and redirect sites will be dropped soon from these new bot IPs and this crawl. It's what I had in mind in the post about hijacks when I said I think Google is on it. They have been asking for file paths and filenames with extensions I have never used before. I am hopeful anyway...

As it stands, the reasons behind Google's scanning efforts are unknown. The only things that are certain is they are using more than one crawler and that at least one of them performs a complete site scan. Is Google repopulating their index, or are they hunting out cloaked/doorway pages? Or are they finally getting around to doing another PR update? Like so many others have said, time will tell."

"quote]do you think it has something to do with clearing out doorway/cloaked pages?[/quote]

I think this makes the most sense. When you think about the fact that Google has reached a limit to the number of pages it can hold (4,285,199,774 since August 2003 I believe) and has had to drop outdated or obsolete pages from its cache, it would only seem natural that they would like to stop what they (Google) term SE spam.
There is a good article on this at http://www.searchengineethics.com/cloaking.htm if anyone is interested."

And on redirects: "sending the proper redirect code to this new Googlebot or should I be sending a 301 redirect or a 404 error? I'm afraid that this new Bot might see what I'm doing as spammy even though it is obviously there to help the users."

Google quiet period lifts, or so we think: Bambi Francisco: Behaviour mirrors general lack of communication

By Bambi Francisco, CBS.MarketWatch.comGoogle quiet period lifts, or so we think: " the end of the period may not really matter for a company whose raison d'etre is to turn convention upside down. Google has already stated that it will not be giving financial guidance. So, don't expect Google to mention how the fourth quarter is shaping up when it reports its third-quarter results on Oct. 21. That will be the first time Google will be part of the reporting-season ritual..

Andy Kessler, is quoted as saying:
"Google will be in a "perpetual quiet period financially but not PR (public relations) wise," .. "The quiet period lifting is not so much them telling us how things are going on inside, but allows them to be out in the press, marketing the company and new products and other ways they plan on owning the world.

"They have already suggested we won't get any real guidance on how the quarter is progressing, or what their business model really is. So, it actually may set up a period of more confusion, a PR and marketing machine blaring loudly (like every company does), but without a clear sense by investors and Wall Street analysts what their real plans are and how this hype fits into their long-run plans."

This dovetails with Googles secrecy about their algos, ranking etc.

Forbes.com: Update 2: Google Conforms to Chinese Censorship

Forbes.com: Update 2: Google Conforms to Chinese Censorship: "Associated Press
Update 2: Google Conforms to Chinese Censorship 09.24.2004, 09:43 PM

Google Inc.'s recently launched news service in China doesn't display results from Web sites blocked by that country's authorities, raising prickly questions for an online search engine that has famously promised to 'do no evil.'"

Netimperative - Google planning a browser?

Netimperative - Google planning a browser?: "Google may be investing some of the money generated from its recent IPO in a new Internet browser to challenge Microsoft, according to a report in the New York Post."

Where Will PageRank be at the end of 2004?

Rusty Brick enters the PageRank debate...Where Will PageRank be at the end of 2004?

Google Gets Local in Canada

Google Gets Local in Canada: "Google Gets Local in Canada" Launch the integration of local search results into Google.ca
Sukhinder Singh, general manager of Google Local.

"Keyword-based search brings you results from both the Web and structured data sources that may be more precise than results you'd be able to get from category-based search of only yellow page data," she said. "Something you wouldn't think of as a category-based search, but a keyword-based search, showcases the unique data set we've been able to bring together."

So a user searching for a coffee shop with wi-fi access would be able to find it with Google Local Canada, while they may not be able to do so with regular Web searches, Singh said. Clicking on a link in local search results brings the user to a detail page with driving directions, map information, and related Web pages.

A local search can also be triggered by using Canada-specific geographical keywords or locations in a search on Google.ca or Google.com. When a user types in a search query along with a postal code or name of a Canadian town, city or province on Google.com, the top results points to Google Local Canada, and are marked by a small compass icon linking users to a Google Local Canada search results page.

Changes to PageRAnk algo reported.. alt.internet.search-engines ::

alt.internet.search-engines :: View Forum - alt.internet.search-engines: "New Google PR checksum algorithm cracked 0Will.Spencer4Thu Sep 16, 2004 11:36 pm Will.Spencer
New Googlebot"

WebmasterWorld Google Knowledgebase V2

WebmasterWorld Google Knowledgebase V2

WebProWorld :: Google Instantly Sees Some Links

WebProWorld :: Google Instantly Sees Some Links: "the constantly repeated question, when will Google update again, is moot"

GEO Over-ride

From: "Traffick1" Joe,

As many now know, there is a way to do a geographic override by
country. (If you're in Canada and want to see US or UK or AU ads, you
would type the query into Google, briefly glance at the ads you're
seeing for your own geographic locale, and then go up to the address
bar and add &gl=us, or &gl=uk, or &gl=au, etc... this is great for
consultants and savvier advertisers who want to see who's advertising
in different parts of the world) When geographic targeting came out,
somebody had figured that you could do the same thing for it by
referring to the DMA "metropolitan area codes," but I forget the exact
sequence or whether you need to include multiple parameters. There
doesn't seem to be any info on it out there in public. I'm not sure if
Google really wants to spread the word on it. :) ... you can see how
this thing might get overused.
DMA Codes

Executive Protection Specialist for G

Reported by Internet Search Engine Database Weekly Update
Google's Latest Recruiting Effort: Secret Service Experience Preferred
Google would want to recruit what the listing calls an "executive-protection specialist." The company's Web posting says the job involves "the protection of Google assets," without giving further details. It lists the Secret Service and Diplomatic Security Service among the possible work experiences of the ideal candidate. Other key skills Google is looking for include " knowledge of surveillance, counter surveillance and technical surveillance countermeasures." This could be a sign of change that often comes with the company growing up. This type of position is a standard post at many large, established companies.

Executive Protection Specialist
This position is based in Mountain View, CA.

Reporting to the Manager of Corporate Security & Safety, the Executive Protection Specialist will work with Google's executives, assistants and event planners to ensure the protection of Google assets. Travel of up to 50% will include security/logistics advances, protective details, and special event coverage. Ideal candidates will have full-time experience with executive protection such as private sector assignments, Secret Service, Marshals Service, Diplomatic Security Service or other relevant history. Other key skills and abilities:

delta.com Launches Web Site Specifically for Customers in the United Kingdom

delta.com Launches Web Site Specifically for Customers in the United Kingdom: "delta.com Launches Web Site Specifically for Customers in the United Kingdom"

Google Special Searchs and Article re one way linking...

Google Search Example:

Shows indexing of all pages listed in website
site:www.websitedomainname.com
Shows indexing of a specific web page in website
info:www.websitedomainname.com/pagename.html

No PR update...WebProWorld :: GOOGLE Files for Divorce from Webmasters?

WebProWorld :: GOOGLE Files for Divorce from Webmasters?

The discussion opens with the observation that "It has been 80-90 days since GOOGLE had an overall PR update. The previous record was about 50-60 days." And currently concludes with: "PR will be a dead story soon, lets come together and forget PR and move on with quality sites."

In between update to Google Directory is mentioned... AU are now at 13, down from 5 then 8 Google Directory - Regional > Oceania > Australia > Travel and Tourism > Travel Guides

Google shares $$$ up...

Google shares ended higher Thursday on the first day on which company employees were able to sell their stock in the Internet search engine.

A total of 4.7 million shares are available for sale today, with a further 39 million available in November and another 177 million in February.

Google shares (GOOG: news, chart, profile) closed up $1.26, or 1.3 percent, at $101.51 in volume of 7.51 million. Since Google stock started trading on August 19, volume has averaged 4.1 million shares per day.

On August 27, Yahoo sold 2.3 million shares of Google for $82.62 each, generating proceeds of $191 million. The shares were part of Google's IPO on Aug. 19, according to a Yahoo spokesman. See full story.

The Internet search engine priced its initial public offering at $85 a share. On its first day of trading, the company's stock soared 18 percent to close above $100.

Google offered a total of 19.6 million shares, down from an initial offering of $25.7 million after a cool reception from investors, regulatory problems and a poor market for Internet stocks.

IPO: Forbes.com: Google Poised to Lift Selling Restrictions

Forbes.com: Google Poised to Lift Selling Restrictions: "Google Inc.'s employees and other insiders will be free to sell an additional 4.67 million shares of the company's stock Thursday, providing another test of the online search engine's popularity with investors. "

E-Commerce News: Personal Tech: On the Web, Branding Is Back

E-Commerce News: Personal Tech: On the Web, Branding Is Back: "Brand advertising is an altogether different animal than paid search and other types of online pitches. It's back in vogue primarily because of the Internet's endless expansion. At the same time that the Web audience is getting bigger and broader, the TV audience is becoming more fragmented even as the costs of TV spots are going up. Add in the speedy adoption of broadband , which makes viewing TV-like ads online a better experience than on slo-mo dialups, and brand-building has a new mass audience to target.
Companies such as Unicast Communications are making this easier. The New York-based outfit launched a product in the first quarter of 2004 that allows video ads to load quickly and run smoothly, regardless of the end user's connection. It also permits interactive features to be included with the pitch. In Honda's ads, for instance, viewers can look up different car colors. The technology is being used in some 90 campaigns on sites including ESPN.com, Reuters.com, Weather.com, and E! Online, says Allie Favarino, senior vice-president at Unicast.
Branding's comeback is also due to the overall surge in online advertising. Year-over-year, it was up nearly 40 percent in the first quarter of 2004, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers. In 2003, online ad revenues reached $7.3 billion, up from $6 billion in 2002. In fact, 2003 represented the first four quarters of consecutive revenue increases since 1999...

Perhaps the biggest indicator of growing demand for brand ads is an increase in prices. The cost of brand ads on portals has jumped 68 percent year-over-year, while entertainment sites have seen spikes as high as 90 percent, according to Jeff Lanctot, vice-president for media at Avenue A, an online advertising agency. Lanctot notes that many of the spaces being offered at higher prices are larger and more media-rich, so advertisers are getting more bang-for-the-buck for those increased dollars.
The big question is whether this will boost the fortunes of Web sites beyond Yahoo, MSN, and the other big portals. In its second quarter, CNET Networks, which operates tech news and product-review sites, cited branding as a potential growth area -- but not one that's moving the needle yet, according to Jupiter's Stein. Yahoo is fond of pointing out that 14 percent of all media consumption in the U.S. is over the Internet, but it's getting only 3 percent of all advertising dollars. Yahoo and its competitors hope that number can climb to around 8 percent to 12 percent pretty fast.

But not all inequities are so easily ironed out. Such sites might do well to consider that while more mature mediums like cable TV and satellite represent more than half of viewing hours, they still get only about 28 percent of TV ad dollars. If rich-media ads don't grow as expected, Yahoo, MSN, and others may need to find a fresh growth engine to take over where paid search is leaving off."

The Google Backlink Dance Resumes..or does it?

The Google Backlink Dance Resumes: "The Google Backlink Dance Resumes"

What's Google's Growth Strategy?

Motley Fool Ultimately, one has to argue what business is Google in? It's not search, exactly. Last year, selling advertising accounted for 97% of the company's revenues, and that figure has edged up to 98% so far this year.

So if the bulk of your intake comes from selling ads -- whether it's on paid search results, email pages, or my rent-ready forehead -- isn't Google's goal to grow the number of pages that it serves up?

Google has the traffic. It's a gift that shouldn't be squandered. Does that mean that Google should roll out online services like personals or job ads like Yahoo! has or enter the auction game to face a formidable eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY)? Should it branch out into proprietary content? I don't think that Google needs to diversify its revenue base. Paid search is a growing field. However, now that Google is a public company, it is all but mandated to forge ahead and grow. That means serving up more pages to satisfy the sponsored demand. Be the portal, Google!

Forum discussion:

Google IPO reviewed

It's a case where the company took control of the process and dictated to the investment bankers, and they're not used to that situation," said Jay Ritter, professor of finance at the University of Florida and an initial adviser to Google on the Dutch auction system. "A lot of the underwriters did not go out of their way to tout the stock." Furthermore, the company made a number of mistakes, magnified under an intense media spotlight. _ Google failed to account for 23 million stock options granted to employees and was forced to offer to buy them back; _ Company founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page gave an interview published in Playboy magazine a week before the IPO was to have hit the market, a violation of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rules. _ The company went ahead with the IPO in a very oversold market, with technology shares particularly battered in recent months. _ The Dutch auction system was designed to garner as much money for Google as possible while limiting the usual jump in price on the first day of open trading. While the auction priced Google at $85 per share, the stock quickly soared to $100 in the first hour of trading, and closed Friday up $7.98 at $108.31. With better pricing, Google itself could have gotten that extra $23 a share - or more than $30 million. However, with Google so popular with both investors and the public, most Wall Street firms felt they could not afford to sit out. Only Merrill Lynch publicly dropped out of the auction, reportedly unhappy with the cost-benefit equation. Google may not have met Wall Street's definition of success, since the Dutch auction system poses a threat to major underwriters' business models. But it nonetheless raised $1.6 billion, and its investors saw strong gains in the first two days of trading. "It's certainly a success in that Google went public, and they did it the way they wanted to," said Matt Rhodes-Kropf, associate professor of finance and economics at Columbia Business School. "But it was a failure in the sense that they didn't get the price they could've gotten if they had gone through the traditional method. And they did not eliminate the first-day jump."

No matter where they stood on the success or failure of Google's IPO, most experts and insiders agreed that other companies would attempt IPO auctions in the future, and would try to involve the public to one degree or another. And Wall Street would continue to be, at best, ambivalent about the concept. "Certainly, the lead underwriters did not want to use an auction. In that regard, a lot of them have not been anxious to paint this as a success, since it's a threat to their business model," Ritter said. "But outside of the top 10 or 15 underwriters out there, there are plenty of smaller underwriters who would be happy to pick up the crumbs and try to make inroads using the auction system. There aren't that many IPOs around, after all."

Google's spats with venture capitalists

Very interesting history of Googles relationships with named venture capitalists... Tensions between entrepreneurs who start a company and venture capitalists who finance them are as common as spats between husband and wife...the rows between Google's two strong-willed founders and their venture capitalists are legendary up and down Sand Hill Road.

Are you sick of Google yet...some astute comments

cbs.marketwatch.com
"The founders of Google are waltzed from one blunder to another by experts who appear to be setting them up for failure. The experts are doing a great job but not for Google"

Google history February 17, 1999 The IPO Report

Google.com: Next Brainchild To Go Big?
by
Tom Taulli
February 17, 1999 : "By being at Stanford, Google.com has a tremendous advantage. The two other search engines -- Yahoo and Excite -- came from this fertile university. Late last year, the company talked to various angels for investment capital. 'They all said yes,' according to Page. One notable investor is Andy Bechtolsheim, the co-founder of Palo Alto, Calif.-based Sun.
The company is expected to get a venture-capital round in a few months. Who knows -- perhaps Google.com will be the next Stanford start-up to get its Nasdaq ticker symbol and multibillion-dollar market cap"

WebProWorld :: Tips For Link Buying Part 3: Matt Cutts From Google..Don't even go there..

WebProWorld :: Tips For Link Buying Part 3: Matt Cutts From GoogleTips For Link Buying Part 3: "
Matt's approach to link building was more of a philosophical one than straight tips and tricks. However, when taken with the advice that appeared in the previous link building articles, you have a fairly comprehensive list of ideas to keep in mind when designing a website, not just attempting to build links.

Making your content valuable enough to be linked to seems to be the emphasis of all speakers well, that and link relevancy. Of course, the first part is a little easier to control than the second. The thinking seems to be: if you build it (quality content), they will come (links pointing to your site).

Though he was philosophical about how to build links, Matt was specific on things to AVOID when link building. One of the first things he said while speaking on what to avoid was controlling whom YOU link to. Make sure that that any site you are linking to is relevant, quality site. Again, no shady SEO users should appear. He also stated another obvious point: avoid hidden links. Be sure and place your links where site visitors can find them.

Matt also suggests avoiding links coming from or pointing to guest books. These are notorious havens for spammers. He did not say whether or not Google discounted these links, but because he warned about them, you can guess that they don't give much relevance to these types of links.

He also mentioned to avoid buying anything that will artificially boost PageRank. Reading Google's Information for Webmasters Page discusses why this is something that should be avoided: 'Linking schemes do not increase a given site's PageRank, and will often do a site more harm than good. Many sites that advertise link-sharing programs not only offer little value, but will distribute your email address without your permission, resulting in an increased volume of unwanted mail to you."

Another area that should be avoided is interlinking of sites within your own domain. Google can perceive interlinking between domains, because they are on the same IP, as link spam, and this is an action that they can and will penalize." (Update:he meant to say don't interlink multiple domains on the same IP. Internal linking should be fine.)

Google primer presentation

This was the keynote address at Search and Collaboration Seminar 2004 | Introduction 2004 in Haifa. PDF Paper

Different search strings for Totaltravel.co.uk Google Search: allinurl:www.totaltravel.co.uk -www.directory.co.uk

Google Search: allinurl:www.totaltravel.co.uk -www.directory.co.uk: "
Web Results 1 - 2 of about 31,500 for allinurl:www.totaltravel.co.uk -www.directory.co.uk"

repeat the search with the omitted results included: about 47,400 for allinurl:www.totaltravel.co.uk -www.directory.co.uk

Google Search: site:www.totaltravel.co.uk

Google IPO registration site US persons only

Google: "Google's Initial Public Offering Information"

August 2009: How Google beat Amazon and Ebay to the Semantic Web (Ftrain.com)

August 2009: How Google beat Amazon and Ebay to the Semantic Web (Ftrain.com): "Google allowed you to search for buyers and sellers, and then, using a service shamelessly copied from the then-ubiquitous PayPal, handled the transaction for a 1.75% charge. Sure, people could send checks or contact one another and avoid the 1.75%, but for most items that was your best bet - fast and cheap. 1.75% plus advertising and a global reach, and you can count on millions flowing smoothly through your accounts. "

show all 28,500 Google Search: allinurl:www totaltravel co.uk

Google Search: allinurl:www totaltravel co.uk: " 1 - 100 of about 28,500 "

19,400 Google Search: allinurl:www totaltravel co.uk

Google Search: allinurl:www totaltravel co.uk: "Results 1 - 9 of about 19,400 "

Google's 15 minutes of fame inc history of search related share prices...

Google's 15 minutes of fame: "Google's 15 minutes of fame Commentary: Atypical price for an atypical company "

By Bambi Francisco, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 9:35 PM ET Jul 26, 2004
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- So, you want to buy Google at a valuation of some $32 billion and a price-to-earnings multiple of 100-plus?

That was the question with which investors were left after Google's latest filing Monday, in which it said it would offer 24.6 million shares for between $108 and $135 each.

For a company that wants to be accessible to small investors, the price is a psychological deterrent. But investors will have at least a couple of weeks to determine whether they want to bid at that price.

If you're one of the lucky 800 or so big-time investors invited to Google's road-show luncheon at the Waldorf-Astoria in Manhattan on Tuesday, you'll even get to rub elbows with the Google executives. The official IPO launch is slated for the week of August 9, according to investors looking at the deal.

I'd imagine that anyone interested in investments might find it a bit hard to decline any of these shares if they were offered.

Why is Google apparently worth it to some?

For one thing, Google's more profitable than Yahoo. In Google's latest S-1, the company said it had an operating profit of $326 million in the first six months of this year. That was earned on sales of $1.3 billion. By comparison, Yahoo posted a smaller operating profit of $281 million on a larger revenue base, $1.59 billion.

Google's also been the top-rated search engine, ahead of Yahoo (YHOO) and Microsoft (MSFT).

Additionally, Google's search revenue grew 7.5 percent in the second quarter from the first quarter. For its part, Yahoo said that its search sales were essentially flat in the same period.

Another positive note for Google is the pent-up demand that may be present by the time Google goes public, especially after the recent correction in Net shares.

Reasons not to buy

But Google is expensive.

Its float alone is larger than the market caps of Ask Jeeves (ASKJ), InfoSpace (INSP) and FindWhat (FWHT) combined.

At Google's latest price, it's estimated to earn $1.26 per share on sales of $1.8 billion, according to Mark Mahaney, an analyst at American Technology Research. That means, at Google's midpoint proposed IPO price, it will trade around 96 times 2004 earnings. Yahoo is expected to earn 33 cents per share. At its current price of $28, it's trading at around 85 times this year's earnings.

I question whether Google deserves such a premium multiple.

First of all, there is a huge overhang of shares. Google is making 10 percent of its company available to shareholders. That means for every 1 share owned, there are nine waiting to be sold down the road.

Secondly, at such a multiple, it's unclear whether the bankers have priced in future erosion of margins due to competitors, like Microsoft and Yahoo. We'll hear some words from Mr. Softy about its push into search this Thursday at its analyst day.

It's unclear how formidable Microsoft will be in search. But clearly, Microsoft has the money to make a difference and the know-how to be a monopoly. Google has yet to be the de facto Web search tool for anyone.

As for Google's ability to compete with Yahoo, it's unclear whether Google has the wherewithal to move into what will be the sweet spot in online advertising: Branded advertising.

This appears to be the next phase of growth, most observers agree. Sure, when Yahoo went public at a market valuation of $334 million in 1996, it generated sales of $19 million in that year. But sales also rocketed 252 percent to $67 million by the following. Those aren't the type of growth rates a mature company like Google is experiencing.

Search explosion was in 2003. What will be the driver in 2005? If it's brand advertising, search engines don't have what brand marketers want: stickiness.

According to comScore, the average time spent on Yahoo is 4.4 hours in a month compared to 22 minutes for Google. Time Warner's (TWX) AOL seems to keep users on its properties for 6 hours in a month, on average.

15 minutes

Yahoo has both search and branded advertising. What will it cost Google to maintain its attractiveness to consumers and investors? It's already taking the steps to emulate Yahoo by offering Gmail.

But does it know the media business like Yahoo does?

It seems that every three years, a new search engine takes the lead and has its 15 minutes of fame.

Alta Vista, the pioneer of Web searches, learned the hard way. Its technology started in 1995 inside Digital Equipment and was the leading search product in the early commercial days of the Internet in 1996. That was before DEC was sold to Compaq Computer and Compaq was sold to Hewlett-Packard, Now, Alta Vista's part of Overture. See related story.

Inktomi was a 1999 darling that inflated to a market value of roughly $30 billion during the bubble heyday. Now, it's part of Yahoo (YHOO).

Google, which had 10 employees in 1999, grew to be the most widely recognized search brand in the world by 2002. See Web searchers doing the Google.

But now Microsoft (MSFT) is brewing up its own "secret sauce" of algorithms to search Web pages.

What will happen by 2005 is anyone's guess, but here's a look at what has happened so far:

1996: Search goes public
(all IPOs are split-adjusted prices. Source: Dealogic)

Jan. 1996: Google founders collaborate on search engine called BackRub

April 1, 1996: Lycos goes public at $4 a share

April 4, 1996: Excite goes public at $8.50 a share

April 11, 1996: Yahoo prices at $1.83.

1998 and 1999: New batch of search engines go public and Google is born

1998: Google opens its doors (answers 10,000 search queries Oct. 7, 1998)

June 1998: Inktomi goes public at $4.15 (market cap at IPO was $370 million)

December 1998: InfoSpace (INSP) goes public at $15

May 1999: Excite merges with At Home for $6.5 billion

June 1999: GoTo.com goes public at $15. Company changes name eventually to Overture Services.

June 1999: Ask Jeeves (ASKJ) goes public at $14

August 1999: LookSmart (LOOK) goes public at $12

August 1999: CMGI buys 83 percent of Alta Vista for $2.3 billion in stock, plus bonds

2000 and 2001: More consolidation and bankruptcy

Oct. 30, 2000: Terra Networks (TRLY) buys Lycos for $46.40 per share, or $5.1 billion.

Sept. 28, 2001: ExciteAtHome goes bankrupt. See story.

2002: Back to search roots

Nov. 13, 2002: Alta Vista relaunches its search site. See Alta Vista's constant search.

December 2002: Yahoo says it'll buy Inktomi for $233 million in cash.

2003: Google accelerates position and portal expansion; Microsoft launches Web crawler; Search gets deeper

March 2003: Google surpasses Yahoo in searches with 1.1 million searches. (source: comScore)

March 4, 2003: Ask Jeeves says it's buying Interactive Search Holdings for $343 million. See full story.

March 11, 2003: Yahoo's maps meet Yellow Pages See Yahoo local

March 29, 2003: Google's Froogle launched See Google's Froogle.

April 7, 2003: Yahoo revamps its search functionalities. See Yahoo returns to search roots.

April 21, 2003: Ask Jeeves unveils its new look. See Ask Jeeves' search gets smarter.

April 28, 2003: Overture completes purchase of Alta Vista for $106 million stock and cash

June 19, 2003: Microsoft tests its own Web crawler. See full story.

July 1, 2003: MSN to recast search to make algorithmic searches more prominent. See MSN to recast search.

Oct. 7, 2003: Yahoo completes purchase of Overture for $2.2 bln in stock and cash.

2004: Google's long awaited IPO

April 29, 2004: Google announces it'll try to raise $2.7 billion through an IPO, offering shares in a Dutch auction. See full story.

So would you buy Google shares at this price? E-mail: Bfrancisco@marketwatch.com Or, you can e-mail me at: Bambi.blogs.com

Google Closes Doors on One Nation

Search Engine News :: Search Engine Lowdown: Google Closes Doors on One Nation: "Google Closes Doors on One Nation
Those poor citizens of Azerbaijan can no longer claim to have a Google all to themselves. According to media powerhouse 'BakuToday' (yes, my tongue is in my cheek), Google has decided not to continue with their www.google.az domain.

Google was the most popular international search engine in Azerbaijan. It is translated in Azerbaijani, and fully supports Azerbaijani language standards (Unicode and UTF-8). "

Google to post quarterly results | CNET News.com

Google to post quarterly results | CNET News.com: "Google is expected to give an indication of how much it expects bidders to pay for its shares in an updated initial public offering filing as soon as this week,"

Google Crawls Into Academia

Google Crawls Into Academia: "Google and DSpace have embarked on a pilot program designed to allow universities to better manage their intellectual output. "

Guardian Unlimited | Online | All eyes on Blinkx the woman taking on Google

Guardian Unlimited | Online | All eyes on Blinkx: "All eyes on Blinkx

Victor Keegan spoke to the woman taking on Google

Thursday July 15, 2004
The Guardian

Less than a month ago, Kathy Rittweger went to the office of the technology magazine Business 2.0 in San Francisco to demonstrate Blinkx, a late entrant to the search engine market. The editor she was meeting brought two other people as he didn't know much about the subject himself.
She left the office at noon, saddened that it had not gone very well. "I thought I did a lousy job. I've never really done this whole PR thing." She retired round the corner to Starbucks with her public relations adviser for a debriefing. He told her to be more provocative in future, not so humble and more proud of what she had accomplished. "He was also convinced we didn't stand a good chance".

But by the time she had got back to her hotel, there was an email from one of the people at the meeting, Om Malik, whom she had never heard of. He said he had "blogged" the item on his website at 12.40pm while she was still commiserating over coffee.

Malik wrote that he had the same tingling sensation watching Blinkx being demonstrated as he had had almost five years ago when two fresh-faced boys called Larry and Sergey had stopped by the offices of Forbes.com to demonstrate something called Google.

Malik's comments were soon picked up by other bloggers and Rittweger started getting a wave of emails and calls, including some from venture capitalists, a breed thought to be in hibernation after the dotcom excesses.

The blog was posted on a Friday, and by the Monday there were 5,000 links to it and people were discussing it all over the world. Since then, there have been 130,000 direct downloads, and many more through users swapping files. This week, the site - which is only launched today - has been recording 6m links or hits a day solely from word-of-mouth publicity.

You would be forgiven for thinking that Rittweger and her British business partner, Suranga Chanratillake, who used to work for the UK search engine company Autonomy, ought to be locked up for even thinking of trying to take on the almighty Google, especially at a time when it and the likes of Microsoft and Yahoo - not to mention dozens of smaller companies - are teeing up for the next battle in the search engine wars.

Blinkx has two selling points. First, it doesn't only search the web but simultaneously scours news sites, emails, attachments and your own hard disk. It does all this unobtrusively in the background until you pass your cursor over icons at the top or bottom of the page, when it reveals a digest of related sites as well as material from Word, Excel or PDF files. If you are working in a word processing document, it provides the same service.

It also searches blogs. This function has just been added because Malik suggested it would be a good thing to do. "I didn't appreciate the significance until he wrote the article and then I thought, 'Right, I get it'," she said disarmingly. Blinkx can also search digital TV on the internet, which, in practice, means video output from the BBC. Why? "Because the BBC posts its digital TV free on the internet."

Both Google and Microsoft are working on unified engines that search your desktop as well as the web, and some others already do it. But Rittweger believes Blinkx is the only one that offers all these facilities including video search now. So the company has a window of opportunity in a market where consumers can switch allegiance with two blinkx of an eyelid.

The second selling point is that, unlike Google, it uses artificial intelligence to rate stories, not page rankings. "What it is trying to say," she explains, "is that all words are not equal in a sentence... Quite critically, if you are looking at a document and trying to figure out what it means, Blinkx reads everything you are reading and sorts out what are the key ideas."

Blinkx's planned business model involves getting advertising revenue from contextual adverts, product channels and white labelling, but she emphasises that the search is independent: it is mathematically based and just looks at words and their context. She adds: "It is clean, but users don't know that so we show our advertisements in a different colour".

Her moment of truth came when doing a project on Japanese tourism a few years ago and found that when she put a page into a search engine, nothing happened because search was limited to 10 words. Later, she met Suranga Chanratillake, who shared her ideas and had the technological expertise to develop them.

Whether they succeed is an open question. It is a tough market to crack because for many users, Google is as good as it gets - and, like Yahoo and Microsoft, it has immense resources. But people are also starting to realise that search engines are mining only a tiny proportion of available knowledge. And loyalty is only as deep as the click of a mouse. files. This week"

Search Engine News :: Search Engine Lowdown: Google's Patrick Keane Afraid of Search Engine Optimizers

Search Engine News :: Search Engine Lowdown: Google's Patrick Keane Afraid of Search Engine Optimizers: "However, don't you think the process should be a two-way thing? Let me get to my point...

Google's head of sales advertising, Patrick Keane, just finished a presentation here at AD:TECH. The usual stuff, with Google keeping to it's 'quite period' by having some of its AdWords customers do the talking. However, Patrick Keane was asked about whether SEO companies can really help a company to get better positioning on Google and the search engines [tick...tick]. Waiting for Patrick's response, I felt confident that, despite my reservations about SEMPO, they had at least been able to educate the key figures at Google. A positive response about SEO was surely about to leave Patrick's 'SEC regulated' lips. [tick...tick...tick...]

Oh, how I wish it had. [tick....] Patrick basically replied that there is no way to improve your rankings on Google and that any claims by a SEO company were false. [tick...tick] He suggested that a few simple 'design changes' were all that could be done and that a SEO firm wasn't needed. [tick....BOOM!!!!]

Uh, hello? Isn't Google sponsoring SES in San Jose next month...the same SES that has dozens and dozens of sessions on SEO and how to improve your ranking. Are the 1300+ clients that WebSourced assists, and the many thousands more using other SEO companies, simply imagining the great results they are getting on Google, Yahoo and other search engines? If it were not for us SEO's there would be no hype about Google's IPO right now. Granted, paid search is the revenue generating aspect of search, but who do you think created the whole search engine buzz in the first place? Us SEO's that's who! And many of "

Search Engine News :: Search Engine Lowdown: Google's Patrick Keane Afraid of Search Engine Optimizers

Search Engine News :: Search Engine Lowdown: Google's Patrick Keane Afraid of Search Engine Optimizers: "post something controversial on here. If it's about Google, you can bet that they are are on the phone to me to discuss their position and make sure that I am 'educated'"

However, don't you think the process should be a two-way thing? Let me get to my point...

Google's head of sales advertising, Patrick Keane, just finished a presentation here at AD:TECH. The usual stuff, with Google keeping to it's "quite period" by having some of its AdWords customers do the talking. However, Patrick Keane was asked about whether SEO companies can really help a company to get better positioning on Google and the search engines [tick...tick]. Waiting for Patrick's response, I felt confident that, despite my reservations about SEMPO, they had at least been able to educate the key figures at Google. A positive response about SEO was surely about to leave Patrick's "SEC regulated" lips. [tick...tick...tick...]

Oh, how I wish it had. [tick....] Patrick basically replied that there is no way to improve your rankings on Google and that any claims by a SEO company were false. [tick...tick] He suggested that a few simple "design changes" were all that could be done and that a SEO firm wasn't needed. [tick....BOOM!!!!]

Uh, hello? Isn't Google sponsoring SES in San Jose next month...the same SES that has dozens and dozens of sessions on SEO and how to improve your ranking. Are the 1300+ clients that WebSourced assists, and the many thousands more using other SEO companies, simply imagining the great results they are getting on Google, Yahoo and other search engines? If it were not for us SEO's there would be no hype about Google's IPO right now. Granted, paid search is the revenue generating aspect of search, but who do you think created the whole search engine buzz in the first place? Us SEO's that's who! And many of us are also commanding the paid search budgets of some of the world's largest companies.

Search engine optimization is real...it works...it can help you get to the top of Google. There may be some bad apples, who make totally ridiculous promises, but you get that with any industry. Please, please, someone, anyone at Google, take Mr. Keane aside and quietly remind him that search is not just about paid search and agencies. SEO may be the "red-headed step-child" as far as Google is concerned, but we are still family and deserve the respect!
- Search Engine News by Andy Beal | News Link | Others' Thoughts (18)

Google tools WebmasterBrain | Online Keyword Suggestion Tool

WebmasterBrain | Online Keyword Suggestion Tool: "Tools "Speaking of Google, one of the most useful tools for Web
Developers is at WebmasterBrain.com. Check out Prog (formerly
Proogle) at http://www.webmasterbrain.com/proogle/ which
displays Google search results with additional details, namely,
PageRank and incoming links.

Yahoo! News - Google Toolbar Can Browse By Name

Yahoo! News - Google Toolbar Can Browse By Name Google Toolbar's new Browse by Name feature, introduced on July 14, takes the concept of searching from the browser Address Bar and kicks it up a notch. All you do is type the name or description of the site you're looking for. If there's a strong match, Google will go straight to that page. For example, "new york times", "ben and jerry", "john kerry" and "strong bad" all zoom directly to the appropriate page. When there's no single obvious match, you haven't lost anything –- you still get a standard Google search results page. The functionality may remind some of the RealNames service (which shut down in 2002). Web sites could pay to register a simple phrase with RealNames as an alternative point of access for their URL. However, sites need not and cannot register for Browse by Name. If a page's relevance to the search phrase is significantly higher than all others, it will be selected. The process is dynamic –- if at a later time a different site's relevance skyrockets, then that site will be selected. There's no connection with Supported Links or AdWords, and sites cannot pay for placement in Browse by Name.


Current Google Toolbar users will be updated automatically over the next few weeks. Those who have already configured Google as their default search engine will have Browse by Name turned on by default. Others can enable it from the Options dialog. If you don't want to wait for the automated update, just download the toolbar from http://toolbar.google.com. Note that during installation you must choose whether or not to allow the toolbar to send non-personal information about the sites you visit back to Google –- if you choose otherwise, you can't get PageRank data in the toolbar. However, you need not enable advanced features to use Browse by Name.

Google adds audio and video clips search

Google, currently in a quiet period in the run-up to its much-anticipated public stock offering, is likely to make quite a bit of noise by adding audio and video clips to its search services, according to a published report.

Company founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page "made no secret" of plans to add multimedia while attending the annual Allen & Co.-sponsored retreat for media executives in Sun Valley, Idaho, last week, the New York Post reported. A spokeswoman for Mountain View, Calif.-based Google could not confirm the plan, the paper reported.

Immediate speculation raised the idea Google would go beyond radio and TV clips and enter the online music business, selling downloads of music files. "You can't ignore it. There is tons of money to be made off of music," Danny Sullivan, editor of searchenginewatch.com, told the Post.

Audio and video search is already available through Yahoo's (YHOO) AltaVista and America Online's (TWX) Singingfish.com.

Google registers to list on Nasdaq | CNET News.com

Google registers to list on Nasdaq | CNET News.com: "Google has registered to be listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange for its upcoming $2.7 billion initial public offering, it said in a regulatory filing Monday. "

Wired News: Single Post Wins Google Contest

Wired News: Single Post Wins Google Contest: "Dash became the overall winner by virtue of a single post on his blog in which he asked his readers to link from their own sites. Countless numbers did and -- after his very late entry assumed the top Google spot shortly after the competition's first round ended -- Dash was never seriously challenged.
'The impetus (was) for me, on a fluke, to say, 'Hey, I don't want these guys who do link spamming to win the contest,'' said Dash"

The contest, sponsored by Australian affiliate marketing company DarkBlue and SearchGuild.com, was designed to spotlight the various techniques used by search engine optimizers to boost sites' Google results. Those results are often a key factor in businesses' fortunes.

But Google is known for frequently changing its ranking methods, largely in an attempt to foil people who seek to manipulate its system with new tricks to improve their placement. Some charge that, partly as a result of these repeated adjustments to its ranking methodology, Google doesn't always return the most relevant results.

Nevertheless, Chris Ridings, the competition's organizer, told Wired News at the time of the first-round judging that it's easier for people to claim they can outfox Google than to actually demonstrate their prowess. The competition, he said, provides a stage for search optimization experts to show how strong particular ranking techniques really are.

To Dash, then, winning the flat-screen television awarded to the second-round victor was testament to the power of good content and a longstanding online presence.

"A lot of people are trying to increase their page rank unethically," said Dash. "I think if we show them (that) the best thing you can do is to write really good material, then hopefully, they'll spend their time doing that (instead of) spending time coming up with ways to graffiti other people's pages."

Furthermore, Dash maintained, his victory proves one thing: That the Web is a meritocracy.

"A page that's read by people instead of robots is going to do better," he said.



Have a comment on this article? Send it

More stories written by Daniel Terdiman




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Related Stories
A Contest to Outwit Google Jun. 08, 2004
Kerry Gets Google-Bombed May. 24, 2004
Dropping the Bomb on Google May. 11, 2004
How the Word Gets Around May. 07, 2004
Merchants Bemoan Google Rule Mar. 27, 2004
Spammers Clog Up the Blogs Oct. 24, 2003
Search Results Clogged by Blogs May. 16, 2003
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Google trademarks targeted by kids' site Googles - Best Practices Search Engine Forums

Google trademarks targeted by kids' site Googles - Best Practices Search Engine Forums: "apparently there's a children's site called Googles.com that owns the Trademark for the word Google and there's a suit brewing over it.




SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Stelor Productions, the operator of a children's Web site called Googles.com, said on Wednesday it has launched trademark proceedings against Web search leader Google Inc., which is preparing a much-awaited initial public offering.

Stelor, based in Darnestown, Maryland, said it filed two separate actions against Google with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Stelor, which charges that Google's mark is confusingly similar to its own, is opposing Google's trademark application to cover a 'long list of 'Google' goods and services, including children's books, stickers and children's clothing.'




http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsChanne...pe=internetNews"

Google Filters and Avoiding their Screens

Google Filters and Avoiding their Screens:

"Possible Link Related Filters"

Identical link text
Recripricol links damped
Links pages/ guest books filtered
Interlinking on same IP filtered: Many observers have noticed a cross linking filter resulting from cross linking together too many sites from the same server and especially from the same c level block. A c level block is the part of a website address in the third section. Example: 123.123.xxx.123 xxx = c level There is some belief that the threshold trigger for that filter is about 20 linked sites.

Duplicate content may not only trigger a filter, but sites that contain a large number of pages that are similar in content might be targeted.

The sandbox filter allegedly works this way. A new site will receive a fresh site bonus from Google and rank highly. Following that initial blush with fame and fortune, the site will drop in the search rankings, and drop, and then drop some more. That is where the alleged sandbox occurs.

Once in the sandbox, the site will be anywhere from two to four months rising in the SERPs to a respectable position. During that sandbox period, regardless of the number and quality of inbound links and the PageRank, that site will not rank well at all. It is thought that gaining too many links too quickly might be part of the reason for the sandbox. On the other hand, building up a domain with incoming links prior to site launch may help avoid the sandbox entirely.

Google Bans Traffic Power and it's Clients

Google Bans Traffic Power and it's Clients: "GoogleGuy recently broke his silence to confirm that Google has taken action against an SEO firm and it's clients for spammy techniques. The SEO company convinced some its clients to use javascript redirects and place hidden links to doorway pages created by the firm. GoogleGuy explains:
I believe that one SEO had convinced clients either to put spammy Javascript mouseover redirects, doorway pages that link to other sites, or both on their clients' sites. That can lead to clients' sites being flagged as spam in addition to the doorway domains that the SEO set up.
GoogleGuy later reassured webmasters that those who use javascript mousover to place text in the status bar do not need to worry about beeing banned."

SearchEngineWatch Forums - Alt Attributes Appearing as Anchor Text in Text-only Cache

SearchEngineWatch Forums - Alt Attributes Appearing as Anchor Text in Text-only Cache: "Regarding the internal links (i.e. company logo that links back to the same page with same alt text), I have a solution that works well on dynamic sites.

On some of my dynamic sites, when I do an allinurl:www.domain.com site:www.domain.com most the results have that 'In order to show you the most relevant results, we have omitted some entries very similar to the # already displayed. If you like, you can repeat the search with the omitted results included.' message.

The reason some of my sites had this was because the content closest to the top of the page was the alt tag of the logo that linked back to the homepage. All the pages had the same header with same text at the top.

What I did was change the alternative text to read the same as the page title for each unique page. Now the alt text is different at the top and no more messages like 'In order to show you the most relevant results, we have omitted some entries very similar to the # already displayed. If you like, you can repeat the search with the omitted results included.'

Also, I do not have the same alternative text with a link back to the same page on every page. Not that I feel having the same text linking to the same page over and over again is a bad thing. I only did this because I hated getting 'In order to show you the most relevant results, we have omitted some entries very similar to the # already displayed. If you like, you can repeat the search with the omitted results included.'"

SearchEngineWatch Forums - Alt Attributes Appearing as Anchor Text in Text-only Cache

SearchEngineWatch Forums - Alt Attributes Appearing as Anchor Text in Text-only Cache: " Some believe that all identical anchor text is fine, while others believe that if the identical phrase goes over a certain percentage of total links it can trip a penalty or filter. I'm one of those that believes it can happen, even just within the site itself without regard to inbound links, though inbounds also could possibly make it even worse if there's a problem. I've had it happen to me; that was one of the factors I identified as causing problems with the site.

Then there's on-page KWD and number of phrase occurences. While for Yahoo a certain ideal density and number of occurences is fine, some believe that for Google it's necessary to whittle down number of occurences of an identical phrase on a page to avoid problems."

Google Pulls Plug on "onmouseover" Pages

Google Pulls Plug on "onmouseover" Pages: "June 23, 2004 (utc 0)
Along with todays PR update, I've also noticed that several sites that used the increasingly popular tactic of creating keyword stuffed entry pages that forward to the true home page via the onmouseover javascript command are no longer found at all in the index.
This tactic has been discussed here for a number of months now. Nice to see that these sites are no longer appearing in the SERPS.
The sites that were doing this seem to have been completely booted from the index, too. Toolbar shows a gray PR. "

Google Cracks Down

Google Cracks Down: "According to threads taking place in several popular search engine marketing forums, it seems that Google has adjusted their algorithms to catch a batch of sites using a JavaScript technique known as 'onmouseover.' "

Google Alters AdWords; Sharpens Relevancy Matching - The Search Engine Marketing Weblog - sem.weblogsinc.com

June 30th 2004 Google Alters AdWords; Sharpens Relevancy Matching - The Search Engine Marketing Weblog - sem.weblogsinc.com: "Google sent an e-mail to AdWords advertisers today announcing an algorithmic change to the matching of ads and keywords. For now, the change affects only broad-matched keywords associated with AdWords ads displayed on Google.com, but Google promises the improved relevance will ultimately affect other matching options and other portions of the advertising network... it is clear that broad matching will no longer be as broad. Although Google expresses a somewhat defensive tone in the e-mail and related FAQ, the truth is that this change should be good news for advertisers, especially those who rely on broad matching to eliminate the work of fine-tuning keyword. Here is the example Google uses—"

”For example, an advertiser specializing in Alaskan cruises may have selected cruises (broad-matched) for their campaign. Previously, this keyword may have been disabled due to poor performance on more popular queries such as Hawaiian cruises. Instead of disabling all broad match variations of cruises, we will now show this ad for specific query variations that are more relevant to the ad, such as Alaskan cruises.”

The big question is HOW—how will Google determine niched relevancy in an ad? Is the change really algorithmic as I stated above, or will human resources be used to evaluate ads? (The second possibility is far less likely than the first.)

One implication seems clear: Google is de-emphasizing broad matching in favor of exact matching.

If the keywords are matched more intelligently to start with, the chances of poor performance are lessened. Is it possible that Google is using this after-the-fact determination to refine the matching relevancy? Nobody outside Google knows, but some posters at WebmasterWorld are already seeing changes in ad positioning.

Includes comments by "adwords advisor"
AdWords Announce Improved Ad Relevancy: "Power posting enables you to put in a unique max CPC and URL for a bunch of different keyword tied to one ad. It helps to make things a little faster on the setup but if you want to have unique ads for each keyword ya still have to type all that in. "

Google invests in Chinese search | CNET News.com

Google invests in Chinese search | CNET News.com: "Search giant Google and venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson ePlanet Ventures are among the new investors in Chinese search engine Baidu.com."

Google added to its presence in the Chinese search market earlier this year with its advertising product called AdWords in two Chinese dialects. China has a thriving Internet market with 80 million Internet users--a figure that is projected to jump to 100 million by end of this year, according to China Internet Network Information Center.

Beijing-based Baidu, which launched its search service in 2001, is the most frequently used search engine in China, the company said. It offers a Chinese Web page index of more than 300 million pages, in addition to paid search services

The Sandbox Effect: Not a Nice Place to Play

The Sandbox Effect: Not a Nice Place to Play: "Named for the phenomenon of new websites being held back, in the search engine results pages (SERPs) by leading search engine Google, the Sandbox Effect has many website owners upset. When a new website is indexed in Google, it often receives what many observers consider to be a new site bonus. The brand new site will rocket to the top of the SERPs charts for a brief, shining moment. From there, it's all downhill."

Many observers believe the purpose of the Sandbox filter is to discourage unscrupulous webmasters from using practices that are against Google's Webmaster Guidelines. Some of the techniques that Google is attempting to disrupt are the use of throw away spam sites to build early traffic, and to slow down the purchase of expired domain names to get a jump start from any pre-existing Google PageRank.

One technique, to avoid spending too long in the sand, is to purchase and register a domain name and park it. By placing the domain on a parked basis, some of the sand time will be run through the Google hourglass, by the time your site is ready for launch. During the time period of your parked domain, you can be preparing content when your site goes public.


Conclusion

Google has placed a dampening filter in its search algorithm, which holds back new sites for three or four months, following the initial fresh site bonus.

The so-called Sandbox Effect places new websites into a brief moratorium, where they will not rank well, if they appear at all, in the SERPs.

Because the Sandbox appears to affect every new website, the onus is on the webmaster to plan for it happening to them. To counter the Sandbox, website owners are encouraged to carefully select their launch date to limit the damage.

During the sojourn in the sand, a tremendous opportunity exists to add content and incoming links to your website. That time period affords you the chance to find additional links, optimize your site, and submit to the many Internet directories.

With a little planning, and using your time in Sandbox hiatus wisely, your site can burst forth from the filter to the top of the rankings for your keywords.


NB UK SITE STARTED SHOWING PR 28 April 2004

adsense income...Files: How Google Took the Work Out of Selling Advertising

The New York Times > Business > Your Money > Techno Files: How Google Took the Work Out of Selling Advertising: "The highest returns seem to go to sites devoted to very specific tasks - like SeatGuru.com, which rates best and worst seats on airplanes. Though he was not specific, Matthew Daimler, 26, the founder of SeatGuru, said the program brought him thousands of dollars a month. This new revenue, he said, let him 'change from a hobby site to a business, and the best part is that I don't have to have an ad sales force but am still exposed to hundreds of thousands of advertisers.'"

Froogle Search: manchester airport flights airlines guide

Froogle Search:
From; 'searchenginejournal@yahoogroups.com' "I don't know if it helps the searchengine visibility, but it can't hurt. I know that when someone does a search, Froogle will only display 1 listing from each vendor in the results, but customers can see more listings for a certain vendor by clicking a 'more listings' link under each image. My company has been in Froogle almost since its inception, and the only challenge we've experienced is that no one really has any control over WHICH products are displayed for a particular search.

Slashdot | Google Finally Moves Toward RSS Standard

Slashdot | Google Finally Moves Toward RSS Standard:
Posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday June 10, @05:19PM
from the i-miss-ultramode dept.
declan writes 'My News.com colleague Evan Hansen just got his hands on an internal email thread revealing that Google is planning to embrace RSS. Evan's co-authored News.com article quotes from the email (sent to Sergey Brin, Larry Page, and Eric Schmidt) confirming that Google is rethinking only supporting Atom. "

China & Google purchases

Instant Position Search Engine Marketing Forums: "Google has been trying to go strong in China for some time, with lots of problems.

Now they are going for a different strategy:

'Now, Google is making an investment in one of China's largest search engines, Baidu, which means ``hundred times.'' Google won't comment, but the investment was confirmed by U.S. investor Tim Draper of Menlo Park's Draper Fisher Jurvetson, which invested $10 million in Baidu. The move might give Google a way to secure its position in China and gain leverage over its chief competitor there.'

Full story: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/technology/8867532.htm?1c "

Yahoo tests new home page | CNET News.com

Yahoo tests new home page | CNET News.com: "Yahoo has begun quietly testing a makeover of its home page, as evidenced by trial mock-ups seen by some Web users over the past few weeks when they accessed the portal... Yahoo's home page changes are few and far between. The company has long remained militant about maintaining the site's speedy load time and visual style, resisting a heavy use of graphics and animation. Before its 2002 makeover, Yahoo's home page had maintained its basic framework since 1995. "

Yahoo email: The e-mail revamp, slated to launch this summer, will include a boost in memory to 100MB for free users and "virtually unlimited" storage for its paid customers. The move is meant to counter archrival Google, which plans to launch a free e-mail service called Gmail that offers 1GB of storage.

BBC NEWS | Technology | Inside the Google search machine

BBC NEWS | Technology | Inside the Google search machine: "Google used to update its web index every month which, because it caused results to jump around a little, was dubbed the Google Dance. But not anymore, says Mr Cutts.
'Within the last year we have improved out way of processing and indexing the web,' he says. 'You are not going to see Google dances.' 'Now we crawl a percentage of the web everyday,' he says, 'so after a relatively small time frame we hit every page.' "

Google Gains Overall, Competition Builds Niches

Google Gains Overall, Competition Builds Niches: "Hitwise placing Google at the top for search in April 2004, with Yahoo! as the number one portal. Google registered more than a 21 percent gain in market share from August 2003 to April 2004, while Yahoo!'s search engine lost nearly 1 full percentage point, and MSN's search function registered a nearly 9 percent decrease in market share during the same period. "

Just as an iProspect study revealed that searchers viewed results differently across the top search engines, Hitwise also found differentiators among the top three search applications. MSN Search had the highest percentage of U.S visits from the sites Hitwise categorized as Shopping and Classifieds; Business and Finance; and Travel, while Yahoo! Search and Google received more U.S. visits from the sites in the Education; News and Media; and Entertainment categories.

Women found paid ads to be more relevant than the men did when searching across Google, Yahoo!, MSN, and AOL. College graduates and Internet veterans found organic results to be more relevant than their non-graduate and Internet novice counterparts.

Demographically, Hitwise found that Google was the preferred search tool for males, while MSN Search appealed to females. Yahoo! was the more popular engine for 18 to 34 year-old searchers, and MSN Search captured the over 55 crowd

google primer - if anyone out there hasnt a clue how it works still

Google: World's Best Search Engine?:
Evaluating Results

Google's web-page-ranking system, PageRank, tends to give priority to better-respected and trusted information. Well-respected sites link to other well-respected sites. This linking boosts the PageRank of high-quality sites. Consequently, more accurate pages are typically listed before sites that include unreliable and erroneous material. Nevertheless, evaluate carefully whatever you find on the web since anyone can:

Create pages
Exchange ideas
Copy, falsify, or omit information intentionally or accidentally
Many people publish pages to get you to buy something or accept a point of view. Google makes no effort to discover or eliminate unreliable and erroneous material. It's up to you to cultivate the habit of healthy skepticism. When evaluating the credibility of a page, consider the following AAOCC (Authority, Accuracy, Objectivity, Currency, and Coverage) criteria and questions, which are adapted from www.lib.berkeley.edu/ENGI/eval-criteria1001.html.

Authority

Who are the authors? Are they qualified? Are they credible?
With whom are they affiliated? Do their affiliations affect their credibility?
Who is the publisher? What is the publisher's reputation?
Accuracy

Is the information accurate? Is it reliable and error-free?
Are the interpretations and implications reasonable?
Is there evidence to support conclusions? Is the evidence verifiable?
Do the authors properly list their sources, references or citations with dates, page numbers or web addresses, etc.?
Objectivity

What is the purpose? What do the authors want to accomplish?
Does this purpose affect the presentation?
Is there an implicit or explicit bias?
Is the information fact, opinion, spoof, or satirical?
Currency

Is the information current? Is it still valid?
When was the site last updated?
Is the site well maintained? Are there any broken links?
Coverage

Is the information relevant to your topic and assignment?
What is the intended audience?
Is the material presented at an appropriate level?
Is the information complete? Is it unique?