ArticleSnatch Blog

You are browsing the search results.

Advice That Matters - For Stay At Home Business Moms Posted By : Une Hardee: Have you ever wondered.. http://tinyurl.com/3vjjb6 #
New Article - All About Free Reverse Phone Lookup Services Posted By : Apolie Turtz: I.. http://tinyurl.com/45mxce #
New Article - Resources You can Use For A Reverse Phone Lookup Posted By : Apolie Turt.. http://tinyurl.com/4g94uq [...]

The Interactive Adverising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers have released internet advertising data for the first six months of 2008. The six month period saw $11.5 billion in revenues, up 15.2% over the same period in 2007.

The second quarter of 2008 was up 12.8% over Q2 of 2007, but showed a slight decline, 0.3%, from the first quarter.

Search revenues neared $5.1 billion, up 24% year-over-year. Display neared $3.8 billion, up 19%.

“Interactive advertising continues to demonstrate year over year growth as marketers and consumers increase their embrace of digital media,” said Randall Rothenberg, president and CEO of the IAB. “The essentially flat performance we see quarter to quarter reflects in part cyclical advertising trends. Compared to the trajectory in other media and in the general economy, interactive has outperformed because it delivers a level of accountability unmatched by any other advertising medium.”

Related Reading:
Online Publishers Turning to Ad Networks to Sell Unused Inventory
Internet Advertising Reaches Record High in 2007
IAB Issues Guidelines for Lead Quality

AdBuyer.com has launched a free online media buying platform. The platform was designed to help advertisers create, manage, and optimize online ad campaigns across search, display, and content venues.

The tool integrates with Google, Yahoo and MSN. Paid search campaigns can be edited and new keyword suggestions can be generated via the platform.

“Our platform eliminates grunt work, saves time and improves ROI,” stated Tim Ogilvie, Co-Founder & CEO of AdBuyer.com. “AdBuyer.com is ideal for advertisers and agencies focused on reaching and exceeding their direct-response objectives.”

Related Reading:
Media Buyer’s Guide to Search Advertising
Walking The Media Buyer Walk

Ok, this is isn’t search related, but it’s too much fun not to cover. Gmail has released another Labs feature. This one is called Mail Goggles and it’s intended to help you avoid sending those late night or weekend emails that you’ll regret later.

When the feature is enabled, you have to answer simple math problems before an email will send during those most vulnerable emails-I-will-later-regret times.

Of course, if you’re having a perfectly sane moment but math isn’t your strong suit, you’ll need to break out your trusty calculator (or enter that math problem into Google search).

But at least now there’s technology that has your back in those weak moments.

Related Reading:
Google Responds to Gmail Privacy Concerns
Gmail and Search/E-Mail Integration

Google seems to be moving toward an algorithm based more on “site quality” and user behavior. Links are still key, but there are many other factors to consider. In today’s enterprise search marketing column, “Google’s Algorithm is Shifting,” Aaron Shear asks if your site is ready to rank using the new factors?

» Full story

Rushing into a search engine optimization initiative without properly planning your SEO strategy is setting yourself up for failure. In today’s natural search column, “What You Need to Know Before Committing to SEO,” Mark Jackson explains that to enjoy the fruits that SEO can provide your site, you need to be well organized and develop a plan.

» Full story

Twitter Updates for 2008-10-05: New Article - Discover More About SEO Articles! Posted By : Gurpree.. http://tinyurl.com/4nqquc #
Putting Some Thought On Internal Linking: When people talk about links, what they normally mean are.. http://tinyurl.com/479oev #
New Article - Website Traffic Made Easy Posted By : BYTEmySITE: To successfully squeez.. http://tinyurl.com/42tfof #
New Blog Post - Putting Some [...]

Q3 earnings season is on its way and along with it are announcements about earnings calls and webcasts. Google will hold its call next Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time.

You can access the live webcast here.

Of course, with the economy in the state it is, investors and marketers alike will be watching earnings calls very closely for any indication of where things might be headed.

Q2 earnings disappointed the easily-disappointed Wall Street despite gains quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year.

What do you expect from Google’s third quarter? Give your predictions in the comments.

E-tailers rate SEO, site search, and email marketing as the most important e-commerce technologies when it comes to promoting their businesses, according to new survey data released by SLI Systems.

• 91% of the retail companies surveyed cited site search as critical, very important or important to their online businesses.
• Of the retailers that have measured the impact site search has had on their businesses, 87% reported positive results.
• 54% saw an increase in sales as a direct result of adding new site search capabilities, while 44% experienced greater conversion rates and 40% cited better customer satisfaction.
• Of the retailers polled, close to 60% said they would be likely to consider a hosted (SaaS) site search solution over a traditional installed application to reduce costs, lessen the strain on IT resources and make for more rapid deployment.

SLI Systems’ CEO Shaun Ryan shares why this data is important to understand in view of the upcoming holiday retail season: “Adopting proven technologies that can guide shoppers to a merchant’s site in the bustling world of e-commerce will enable retailers to deliver a better customer experience and ensure the holidays are fruitful.”

Related Reading:
SLI Rolls Out Learning Search Update with New Auto Complete Feature
SLI Systems Joins Bazaarvoice Radius to Help Marketers Execute Integrated Social Commerce Strategies

The keynote speakers for Search Engine Strategies Chicago have just been posted to the website for the SEM conference. And check out the heavy hitters:
• Lawrence Lessig, the Professor of Law at Stanford Law School, is giving the opening keynote on Monday, Dec. 8;
• Bill Tancer, the General Manager of Global Research at Hitwise, is giving the morning keynote on Tuesday, Dec. 9; and
• Josh James, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Omniture, is giving the morning keynote on Wednesday, Dec. 10.

That’s quite a line up. Or, as my good friend Anne Kennedy, the Managing Partner of Beyond Ink and a member of the SES Advisory Board, says, whether you’re a “seasoned search maven or hopeful newbie, you’ll find speakers who share expertise, new research, horizon’s edge views and knuckles-in-the code tactics” at SES Chicago.

Take Professor Lessig, for example. For much of his career, he has focused on law and technology, especially as it affects copyright. He is the author of Code v2 (2007), Free Culture (2004), The Future of Ideas (2001) and Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace (1999). He was also a columnist for Wired, Red Herring, and the Industry Standard.

According to a recent article by Kim Heart in The Washington Post, Professor Lessig is among the signers of a letter that went to the Barack Obama and John McCain campaigns. The letter was also signed by Craigslist founder Craig Newmark and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales.

The letter asked the candidates to insist on using a new method to choose debate questions. While that job is usually left to the media host, the members of the “Open Debate Coalition” say they aren’t “hard-hitting enough.”

Instead, they want to let people submit questions, then vote on their favorites, over the Internet. The top 25 questions would have the potential of getting asked during the debates.

“This cycle’s YouTube debates were a milestone for Internet participation in presidential debates,” the letter said. “But they put too much discretion in the hands of gatekeepers. Many of the questions chosen by TV producers were considered gimmicky… and never would have bubbled up on their own.”

So, do you think what Professor Lessig says at SES Chicago will be on the mid-term? All I know is that I can’t wait for the Q&A following his keynote.

The following day, Bill Tancer takes the stage. He’s the author of “Click: What Millions of People Are Doing Online and Why It Matters.”

Bill, who I’ve known for years, is the author of a weekly online column for TIME, “The Science of Search.” He is a frequent guest on CNBC, and has been quoted extensively in the press, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today and Business Week.

Bill recently had a “naked lunch” with Andy Greenberg of Forbes.com. Hey, I didn’t make this up. Click on “We Are What We Google” and read the article for yourself.

In the article, Bill is quoted as saying, “What I find really fascinating is how much we tell search engines – more than we tell surveys, more than our family members, more even than our priests or rabbis.”

Are you skeptical of this claim? Bill backs it up with his analysis of searches beginning with “fear of.” It reveals search engine users are afraid of flying, heights, clowns, intimacy and death, in that order.

Looking at searches beginning with “how to,” he observes that the phrase “how to tie a tie” edges out “how to have sex” and “how to kiss” for the top spot.

And Bill’s analysis of searches beginning with “why” shows that most queries are related to school projects. But these fall sharply during the summer and Christmas holidays. During those periods, more existential questions like “Why did she leave me?” and “Why did God do this to me?” pop to the surface.

But wait! There’s more! The following day, Josh James is the keynoter.

James co-founded Omniture in 1996 and, under his leadership, it has evolved into one of the fastest-growing publicly traded software companies with more than 4,700 customers across 75 countries and over 1,100 employees. His market vision, leadership and entrepreneurial philosophy have enabled Omniture to achieve greater than 75% growth for more than five consecutive years, as well as to maintain customer retention rates of greater than 95%.

James is also the founder of Silicon Slopes – a private sector initiative whose mission is to promote the interests of high-tech in Utah. A recent article by Tom Harvey in The Salt Lake Tribune said that the Omniture CEO was motivated to found Silicon Slopes in 2007 to change the misperception that Utah is “A quirky state at the edge of the desert dominated by a single religion and defined by its far-right politics and weird liquor laws.”

For example, Siliconslopes.com is sending out thousands of promotional posters this year that depict the Silicon Slopes running along the Wasatch Mountains from Logan to Provo, listing an array of high-tech companies with operations here, as well as ski resorts and signs pointing to Moab and other attractions.

While I haven’t met Josh James yet, I did interview Huw Roberts of Omniture earlier this year at SES London. Roberts talked about the importance of web analytics to effective search engine marketing for businesses of any size.

Huw Roberts, Omniture, at SES London 2008

There you have it: The keynote speakers for Search Engine Strategies Chicago.

And I’ve got to agree with Anne. Whether you’re a “seasoned search maven or hopeful newbie, you’ll find speakers who share expertise, new research, horizon’s edge views and knuckles-in-the code tactics” at SES Chicago.