ArticleSnatch Blog

You are browsing the search results.

Microsoft’s Live Search is adding more instant answers to the main search page. There are two new areas of instant answers being featured: Shopping and Flights.

For shopping, if you type in a keyword or phrase for the model of consumer product you’re interested in, you’ll get results for that product containing images with a price comparison and a links to the different e-tailers carrying that product. There’s also a link to review and use Cashback to enhance your search.

For flights, simply type in Flights from (point A) to (point B) and, in conjunction with this year’s acquired Farecast, you’ll get a result for a flight with those destinations.

What do you think of these Instant Answer additions? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

Over the summer, Google launched a Second Life-esque 3D chat product called Lively. It seems Lively is not exactly living up to its name. Google is killing Lively at the end of the year.

While Lively is certainly not the first Google product to head to the chopping block, its shelf life did seem a bit short. Still, Google says it needs to focus on its flagship areas of search, ads, and apps.

The FCC agreed to open the “white space” - the broadcast spectrum used by over the air television - to use by others apart from the regulated television stations, by a vote of 5-0 yesterday. This is a major accomplishment that companies such as Google, Microsoft, Dell and Hewlitt-Packard have been lobbying for over the past couple of years.

As Larry Page noted in the Official Google blog, “This is a clear victory for Internet users and anyone who wants good wireless communications.”

The WIA details:

“TV white spaces will increase accessibility to more reliable broadband networks, known as “mesh networks.” Mesh networks are self forming networks created by consumer electronics devices. Devices will simply find each other in the same way they find Wi-Fi hot spots today and broadband traffic can be routed through devices based on consumer preferences. For example, mesh networks will allow users wireless connectivity in the business environment. Easily accessible connectivity to office networks will generate efficiency in routine business processes-from printing documents remotely to transferring data to a client during a meeting.

Mesh networks also help to create connectivity in dead zones. These networks make it possible for the most common electronic devices to communicate with each other to resourcefully locate and establish a connection in nontraditional scenarios—like in a tunnel, or while riding the subway. “

The opportunities have been called “wifi on steroids” - as this spectrum would provide cheaper and more powerful wifi broadband access. There is a good video explaining the white space oportunities offered by the Wireless Innovation Alliance.

There have been promises of services being available within 90 days of it being opened up for use so we will have to wait and see what develops, but given the penetration is better and the service is wider - the use of this broadband methodology could dramatically increase internet access to many at a lower cost and using less power to do so.

Microsoft’s Bill Gates sees white space as helping WiFi “explode in terms of its usage, even out into some of these less dense areas where distance has been a big problem for Wi-Fi.”

Medical writer has a rich taste for writing on various medical themes. The ideal person is from the medical fraternity, but writers with sound knowledge on medicine and allied areas of concern can …
More: continued here
what it takes to be a medical writer

Many advances in marketing on the Web are the result of spending by the profitable and competitive porn and gambling industries. In today’s SEM Crossfire column, “Porn and Gambling: Canaries in the SEM Coal Mine?,” Frank Watson and Chris Boggs explore recent lawsuits in both industries that might help us again, by pointing out some specific areas for marketers to keep an eye on.

» Full story

Click Forensics has released click fraud data for the third quarter of 2008. Overall, click fraud declined slightly. And by slightly, I mean barely noticeable.

• The overall industry average click fraud rate was 16.0% for Q3 2008, down from 16.2% reported for both Q2 2008 and Q3 2007.
• The average click fraud rate of PPC advertisements on search engine content networks was 27.1 percent, down from 27.6% in Q2 2008 and 28.1% in Q3 2007.
• Traffic from botnets was responsible for 27.6% of all click fraud traffic in Q3 2008, up from 25.2% for Q2 2008.
• In Q3 2008, the greatest percentage of click fraud originating from countries outside North America came from Russia (4.9%), France (4.8%) and the U.K. (3.5%).

Click Forensics president Tom Cuthbert had this to say about the data:

For the past two quarters the industry average click fraud rates seem to be hovering around the 16 percent level. Gains are being made by advertisers taking more action to proactively filter out fraud before it affects online campaigns. However, the growth in click fraud traffic from botnets continues to rise and it should be one of the top areas advertisers and the industry should monitor closely.

Related Reading:
Q1 2008 Click Fraud Down from Last Quarter, Up from Last Year
Lycos Partners with Click Forensics to Improve PPC Quality
Google, Yahoo Launch Click Fraud Resource Centers

Two health sites have merged in what many are saying will be a challenge to health search giant WebMD. The Revolution Health Network and Waterfront Media are joining forces to dominate the health space. Waterfront Media runs the Everyday Health Network.

AOL co-founder Steve Case, now CEO of Revolution Health said, “When we entered the health care market we knew one of the areas we wanted to focus on was using the Internet to empower consumers and give them more choice, control and convenience. The merger of Waterfront Media and Revolution Health Network builds on each company’s complementary strengths to create a new industry powerhouse — thus enabling us to accelerate our efforts to reach the largest, most engaged audience and help people stay healthy, manage chronic disease and deal with serious illness.”

What do you think about the merger? Can they take on WebMD? Give your predictions in the comments.

Related Reading:
Searching for Healthcare: How Online Communities are Changing the Face of Medicine
Microsoft Secures Search Ad Partnership with Rodale’s Health Sites
WebMD CEO Fights Off Google Health Virus with SEO

h/t Reuters

Since Hurricanes Gustav and especially Ike, a slowdown in Gulf Coast refineries have created gas shortages in the southeast. The gas station near my house runs out every other day, it seems.

But in tough times come rare opportunities. Web and audio conferencing companies are being looked to for increased communications when travel by car has literally been brought to a halt.

Copper Conferencing is one such company.

“Our phones are busier than ever as current and new customers ask for help in setting up telecommuting practices and expanding their use of conferencing as a best practice for smart business, but in particular among workers who are in the affected areas,” said Kathleen Thompson, Manager of Customer Care for Copper Conferencing.

Search engine marketers should watch out for these unique opportunities, especially during these volatile economic times. Do you have a client that can extend services such as these in the wake of natural disaster and in the midst of an economic crisis?

In an expert column today, Kevin Ryan encouraged search marketers to not spend less but to spend smart. I couldn’t agree more. Search remains quite affordable compared to traditional marketing efforts and takes the cake in ROI compared to some methods, especially branding ones.

So, while the water in the glass may have dropped with the stock market on Monday, it’s not completely dry. What can you do with what remains? Share your inspiration in the comments.

WebTrends is rolling out a new feature to help web markters and developers track specific analytics. The tool is called TagBuilder. It’s online, it’s free and it generates WebTrends data collection tags, which have been rewritten as standardized, object-oriented JavaScript code.

Here’s what you can do with TagBuilder:

• Access automated click-event tracking for download links, offsite links, form submissions, image maps and navigation areas
• Automate parameter mapping and the capture of information from custom META tags for detailed reporting
• Flexibly define the site with options for single or multiple first-party cookies and the choice of single or multiple on-site domains for accurate cross-domain tracking
• Integrate conversion tracking with WebTrends Ad Director, an automated search marketing optimization service
• Easily create cookies compliant with the U.S. Office of Management & Budget policies for federal government web sites

“WebTrends TagBuilder greatly simplifies one of the most arduous, error-prone tasks of web analytics,” said Eric Rickson, product manager for WebTrends. “This free utility lowers the barriers to rich reporting and analysis by providing our customers with a direct way to take advantage of our innovations in data collection.”

What do you think of this new tool? Let us know in the comments.

Related Reading:
WebTrends Launches New Service to Reduce Wasted Ad Dollars

Online advertising company Yodle has announced the expansion of its technology platform to include franchise operations. YodleFranchise enables local franchises and corporate offices to coordinate online advertising campaigns. Local operations can target their areas and corporate can make sure the brand messaging remains intact.

“We recognize that franchises have unique advertising needs that require a solution that is both large enough to handle a franchise’s entire network and local enough to drive results to their individual locations,” said Yodle CEO Court Cunningham. “YodleFranchise combines the local online advertising capabilities of our original offering with reporting and centralized control features that are powerful enough even for the largest of franchises.”

Related Reading:
Getting to Know Local SEO
For Local Search, It’s All About the Online-Offline Gap
Universal Thoughts on Local Search
The Local Advertiser of Today and Tomorrow