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Earlier this week, comScore released the results of a study examining recent changes in consumer attitudes and perceptions about the state of the U.S. economy. The study found that consumers in all income segments are cutting back on spending due to concerns about the economy, and that they were doing so to an even greater extent in July 2008 than in April 2008.

So, what does this mean for search engine marketers?

Many consumers have become increasingly cost conscious and are turning to the Internet for pricing information. The survey findings revealed that nearly three out of four consumers believe the Internet has made it “a lot easier” or “somewhat easier” to find better, more useful pricing information.

In addition, 75 percent of respondents said that they believe the Internet will become an even more important channel for pricing information, with 41 percent of respondents saying it will be “a lot more important” and 34 percent of respondents saying it will be “somewhat more important” in the future.

Do you need some examples to drive this point home?

In New York, Andrew Jeffery of Minyanville.com reports, “It appears the city that never sleeps has finally succumbed to the economic slowdown, and it’s not just the neon “Recession Special” sign outside Gray’s Papaya.”

In San Francisco, Liza Zimmerman of the S.F. Wine & Cocktail Examiner reviews a “Recession special: the Viansa 2007 Dolcetto is another well-executed example of using classic Mediterranean grapes on California soil.”

When Hyundai asked the Complex Blog to review their first Genesis offering touching down in the states, the company best known for econo-boxes “threw Complex the keys and we took this recession special for a ride.”

But wait! There’s more!

Go to the Rates and Registration Details page for SES Chicago 2008. Just like last year, there is an Early Bird Rate that enables you to save $200 if you register before November 21. But, unlike last year, there is also a “Recession Special,” which lets you save $600 if you register before September 26.

And if you want to appear as “sartorially challenged” as one SEM industry observer said “the brains of Search Engine Marketing and Search Engine Optimization are,” then turn up at SES Chicago wearing the “Recession Special Shirt” being offered by Ten Deep at Turntablelab.com. According to the review, “Nothing like a nice, timely shirt that reflects things going on in today’s headlines.”

Of course, wearing such a shirt violates the dress code in the SES Speaker Guidelines, which states: “Business casual attire is recommended. Formal business attire is perfectly fine. If in doubt, overdress. You won’t feel out of place, as many speakers will also be in formal attire. How you look has an impact on how well the audience receives your presentation.”

It’s a classic dilemna for marketers: Follow the guidelines or take advantage of today’s headlines. What would I recommend? I’d advise you to jump on the “recession special” to save $600, but skip over the shirt. But, I should disclose that SES is a client. If you want to take more of a fashion risk, that’s a decision that you’ll have to make for yourself.

The Beijing Olympic Committee has chosen mInfo as the official search provider for the mobile version of the 2008 Olympics web site. mInfo currently provides mobile search services to 600 million wireless subscribers in China. Pull-advertising is also a major mobile offering of the Shanghai-based company.

“mInfo is extremely honored to have been chosen by BOCOG to take on the important responsibility of powering search for the official mobile site of the 2008 Olympics,” said mInfo CEO Alvin Wang Graylin. “We are proud to be able to contribute to this historic event. The release of this service is particularly satisfying to mInfo, as our Chengdu development team was the core group behind its development, and had to overcome extraordinary challenges to release the service on time, given the devastation caused by the recent earthquakes in the region.”

Related Reading:
China Real Estate Search Engine Launches in English Before Beijing Olympics
Google, Baidu, Sohu Search Engines Spanked by People’s Republic of China

In the previous post, we took a look at gray hat SEO techniques in general. This time, let us take a closer look at these practices and be a bit more specific.CloakingCloaking is the practice wherein the web site owner provides information to the search engines which is different from what the site actually [...]

I’ve heard about black hat SEO and white hat SEO but have you ever encountered gray hat SEO? If you think about it, it does not really take a rocket scientist to figure out what gray hat SEO is all about. As in the real world, things are not always black and white, [...]

Here’s a tough question: Who’s the smartest marketer of the 8,000+ attendees at SES New York?

My first nomination: Jennifer Laycock who did a terrific training session post-SES and spoke eloquently at the conference.

What caught my eye during the conference: a ripped-from-the-headlines post-click search retargeting campaign that Search Engine Guide did during the height of the Eliot Spitzer scandal - and the topic everyone was cracking jokes about during panels and at the bar(s).

I was on Graywolf’s blog and clicked thru to a New York Times article and here’s what appeared, courtesy of Casale Media.

Who cares about contextual relevancy when your ads appear on the #1 story in the New York Times?

More important, who’s your nomination for the smartest marketer at the show?

If you read only one blog post this weekend, let me micropersuade you to read Steve Rubel’s SEO Shenanigans Pose a Clear and Present Danger to Social Media.

Before engaging in the debate, I’d like to invite Steve to expand on his Micropersuasion post in Search Engine Watch, home of Sergey Brin’s Internet Doomsday Scenario.

Hey, we don’t hate debate. We like controversy. We love search engine optimization, SEOs, social search, SMM and search engine marketing.

Steve: help our readers around the world understand what specific search engine strategies are “SEO shenanigans.” You listed this Search Engine Watch blog post first: Boost Organic Results. Link Build with Social Media.

I think it’s a brilliant guide: How to earn more money, improve online reputation and build brand equity online — goals, Steve, you share for your clients?

Even so our blogger received death threats. Marty’s blazing new SEO and SMO trails and that takes courage.

Wikipedia (Slate’s new BFF) defines a shenanigan as a “deceitful confidence trick, or mischief causing discomfort or annoyance.”

I don’t think your brilliant linkbait blog post is a con game. It’s a great SEO shenanigan!

Anonymous Wikepedian(s) go on to say, “However, in some regions, shenanigans can merely refer to harmless mischievous play, especially by children. It should be noted that the word itself is considered humorous, because of its unique sound.”

So Steve were you - a PR maven - just joking around? Let me know. I think I may agree with you to a certain extent but I’m not sure.

So let’s dynamically insert “search engine optimization” and “social media” keywords into Dictionary.com’s definitions from the Random House Unabridged Dictionary:

1. SEO mischief; prankishness by SEOs: Halloween shenanigans.
social media marketing deceit; SEO trickery.
2. mischievous or deceitful SEO trick (Googlebombing?) practice, etc.

Here’s the revised American Heritage Dictionary version of SEO shenanigan:

1. A deceitful SEO trick; an underhanded SMM act.
2. Online social media remarks intended to deceive; SEO PR deceit.
3. A playful or mischievous search engine optimization act; an SMM prank.
4. SEO mischief; SMO prankishness.

None of the above seems to pose a clear and present danger.

Graywolf points out in your post’s comments that everyone’s playing by Google’s rules. Here’s what The Google says:

Google’s number two SERP (search engine results page) suggests shenanigans engaged in by couples present a clear and different danger.

Shenanigans - Indiana - Midwest’s Premier “Couples Only” Club for …
The Midwest’s Premier “Couples Only” Club ! Shenanigans “Where Adults Come for Fun”. Couples Only!

For inquiring minds, that’s shenanigans.net. Since the keyword’s in the title, it’s not SEO shenanigans at work (or in play).

Google’s paid search algorithm matches “shenanigans” with the “biggest losers” crowd: diet, fat and weight loss tips and tricks:

Sponsored Links
10 Rules to Cut Belly Fat
Lose 9 lbs every 11 Days with these 10 Idiot Proof Rules of Fat Loss.
www.FatLoss4Idiots.com

Steve, did your database of intentions intend SEO shenanigans to encompass a Google broad match/Thesaurus.com semantic search? For example, did you mean:

SEO antics, SEM capers, SEO dirty trick, fooling around with SEO, social media optimization frolicsomeness, search engine optimization funny business, SEO gag, search engine optimization hanky-panky, SEO high jinks, SEO PR horseplay, SEO PR horsing around, social media misbehavior, social media marketing mischievousness, monkey business*, SM naughtiness, SEO nonsense, search marketing prank, SEO trouble, social media marketing vandalism

If so, Google contextual advertising (content advertising) seems to think shenanigans are just a joke: Super Trooper-style (see YouTube result for keyword “shenanigans”) or in a Superbad Knocked Up kind of way.

Here’s another AdSense ad matched to “shenanigans” on Thesaurus.com:

Click to read the rest of this post…

The list of search engines is shrinking. Yahoo-Microsoft? The hottest topic.

Search engine market share? The fulcrum of the hostile MS-Yahoo bid – and one of the most popular searches in Google, Yahoo, MSN, and Ask.

On Super Tuesday, we found a way to watch Presidential primaries on a search engine: a mashup of Google Earth and twitter / twittervision, with a Google Gadget and iGoogle thrown in for good measure. Still, keyword Meta Tag, meta tags, and meta keywords remain our stock in trade here at Search Engine Watch.

So when Gary Price, Ask.com director of Online Information Resources and editor, ResourceShelf and DocuTicker, pinged us with a Weather Channel-MSN Virtual Earth mashup, we couldn’t resist providing a fresh angle on the Microsoft-Yahoo hostile bid.

The Aches and Pains Map on weather.com shows Google feeling no pain from the MicroHoo hoo-hah.

Yahoo investors and employees — in the yellow area - don’t appear to be suffering in Silicon Valley.

In contrast, Microsoft - rebuffed by Yahoo - seems to suffering from high levels of aches and pains. The Microsoft Virtual Earth map of aches and pains (a Google Earth competitor) shows Redmond virtually in the red zone.

The Aches and Pains Index map graphically depicts areas of higher or lower levels of weather-related pain. Locations in the orange regions can expect above normal levels of aches and pains. Areas shaded in yellow will have normal levels, and gray regions will be below normal.

So if you don’t like the weather, wait until tomorrow. It’ll change, just like Google’s share of searches - and there’s still nothing you can do about it.

In this evolutionary algorithmic age every search marketer charged with boosting rankings on the organic SERPs knows, with fearful certainty, that building inbound links is essential. Utilizing social media communities to do so is a front-and-center tactic for many.

Sure, we’re all aware of mainstream players like Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, Del.icio.us, Reddit, Propeller, etc…

However, there are hundreds of social communities other than the biggies. These niche’ player-communities can be terrific venues to engage readers of similar ilk, make friends, drive focused micro-busts of traffic, and build links. Some communities are junk. This post offers niche’ social site examples and provides links to lists which index and profile dozens of useful ones.

Dofollow and Nofollow
A quick word about Do/No follow. Most blogs (and many communities) these days attempt to discourage spam by removing "link-juice" passed on links dropped in discussion threads. That’s called "Nofollow." (Wikipedia is a classic example of Nofollow.) Nofollow links deliver traffic but there’s no SEO benefit. If you view the source code of this page, you’ll see that some of the social site links are Nofollow and therefore do not pass energy.

When evaluating the potential benefit of social community participation, it’s best practice to understand the objective and potential gain. Whenever a site, with decent Pagerank, "forgets" to turn off Dofollow, it’s an opportunity of sorts to build links of varying strength and value. The most important caveat is that gratuitous link dropping, without offering true value to the community, is spam and will likely be treated as such.

Every search marketing professional knows that garnering good quality, relevant, and "natural" inbound links to your site or blog is critical to drive your SEO ranking efforts. Honest participation in niche’ social communities, relevant to your product & services, is the tactic that many savvy SEMs reach for to build their site’s inbound link-profile. In addition to the community site links themselves, “hot” posts can result in feed subscriptions, increased readership, and links from other relevant and valuable sites.

Fark is a social news site in which moderators approve user link-submissions and post them to the homepage. The links are Nofollow but can drive noticeable traffic.

Slashdot is a community where techno-heads hang out and geek-jam. However, users submit stories about entertainment, politics, and other fun stuff. If editors approve a submission and it’s promoted the homepage, measurable traffic can result. Also, links in the body of each post are Dofollow and pass juice.

Metafilter is a moderated community, both by site administers and users, in which participants share interesting web content. Links are Dofollow.

Mixx is widely regarded as an up-and-comer in the social news world. A potentially mainstream Digg replacement site, many SEM folks had early-adopter Mixx profiles for fun and future marketing bang. Oh yes, they forget to turn off Dofollow so the links pass juice.

Hugg is a smaller community engaged in dialog surrounding environmental issues. There’s social exchanges about technology, politics, and science as well. Links are Dofollow.

Sk*rt is a Dofollow PR 5 fashion, food, and technology community, primarily comprised of females.

Stirr’dup is a smaller NoFollow social news site which categorizes news as technology, entertainment, news and politics.

Linkinn is a PR5 site specializing in offbeat video and pictures. Links are DoFollow and pass juice.

Lists of Useful Social Media Sites:

48 Social News Websites: A List of General and Niche Social Media Communities
Tropical SEO: Top 38 Niche Social Media Sites (That Actually Send Traffic)

Respected blogger Sugarrae has posted a serious interview with industry leading link-building experts and is a must-read. Interviews include:
Eric Ward, the Link Moses behind URL Wire
Rand Fishkin from SEOMoz
Roger Montti, the founder and owner of martinibuster.com
Todd Malicoat of Stuntdubl and Clientside
Justilien Gaspard, Link Columnist for SearchEngineWatch.com, his link building blog and course author SEMPO Institute
Aaron Wall of SEO Book and Clientside SEM
Debra Mastaler of Alliance Link and the The Link Spiel
Michael Gray of the Graywolf SEO Blog
Andy Hagans, the lazy SEO of the Tropical SEO Blog
Jim Boykin of We Build Pages and Internet Marketing Ninjas
Rae Hoffman, CEO of Sugarrae and MFE Interactive

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