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If you register today to attend Search Engine Strategies Chicago, which will be held Dec. 8-12, 2008, you can save up to $200 with the Early Bird Rate.

So, why would you want to attend the only major Search Marketing Conference and Expo in the Midwest?

Let me give you 4 reasons to go to SES Chicago.

1. You’ll want to attend as many of the 74 keynote speeches, strategic development workshops, Orion panels, conference sessions, and SEM training workshops as you can. If you look over the agenda, you’ll see lots of topics that weren’t discussed at Search Engine Strategies Chicago a year ago. In fact, you’ll see new content that wasn’t covered at SES San Jose back in August. Heading into 2009 using old strategies and tactics makes about as much sense as optimizing your website for AltaVista. Things change in the search industry and savvy SEOs and SEMs understand the competitive advantage of staying up-to-date.

2. If you look over the list of sponsors and exhibitors for SES Chicago, you’ll see familiar names like Acronym Media, DoubleClick, iProspect, PrintPlace.com and TMP Directional Marketing as well as new names like AdBuyer.com, ideaLaunch, Rosetta, The Search Agency and SEO Samba. So, whether this is your first Search Engine Strategies Chicago or you’ve attended every one held since 2003, there will be plenty of products and services to check out on the show floor.

3. Next, you’ll want to take advantage of the special events and networking opportunities. On Tuesday, Dec. 9, DoubleClick will be holding a networking lunch from noon to 12:45 p.m. It will be presenting a case study on multi-channel tracking that will address how to de-duplicate search conversions when using numerous online channels. Later that afternoon, Google will hold a sponsored session entitled, “Google Site Search: Fast, Relevant, Customized Search Results for Your Website.” Google’s Nitin Mangtani will be discussing how customers are using Google Site Search to grow their businesses and how you can do the same for yours. And here’s a hot tip for first time attendees of SES Chicago: If you hang out at Kitty O’Sheas, the authentic Irish pub on the ground floor of the Hilton Chicago, you can network with fellow marketers and search engine industry professionals after hours. Plus, I recommend the shepard’s pie and Bailey’s cheese cake.

4. Now, this fourth reason will only make sense if Big 10 football is more important to you than search engine reputation management. As those of us who grew up in the Midwest already know, there’s a big football game tomorrow: Ohio State vs Michigan. Now, I’m a Wolverine. But I’ve made some friendly bets with others in the search industry who are Buckeyes. And as you can see from the photo in this post, if we lose the big game, I have to wear a Buckeye shirt to the next Search Engine Strategies conference — again. And, we’ve lost a lot over the past few years. So, depending on whether you are a graduate of the University of Michigan or The Ohio State University, I encourage you to come to Chicago in December to see who is wearing which sweatshirt this year.

In summary, there are three good reasons to go to SES Chicago no matter what happens tomorrow. And there’s a 4th good reason if Michigan upsets Ohio State, like we did in 1993.

Go Blue!

Search Engine Strategies Chicago starts in four weeks on Dec. 8, 2008. Since SES Chicago is the only SEM conference in the Midwest, it is expect to attract more than 2,000 attendees, or “delegates.”

But as Butch Cassidy frequently asked the Sundance Kid, “Who are those guys?”

In the past, there was anecdotal information about the quality of attendees who came to Search Engine Strategies Chicago. And as a frequent speaker, I would often ask for a show of hands to get a sense of the percentage of first time attendees and SES veterans.

But now, there is survey data that provides a clearer picture of the demographics of delegates from last year’s event. And I suspect it’s the kind of information that exhibitors and sponsors of the SES expo have been asking for:
• 87% of delegates are new to SES, 13% are alumni;
• 85% of delegates approve or recommend purchasing decisions;
• 52% of delegates have a high level of experience within search marketing;
• 36% of delegates are from a company of 100+ employees;
• Nearly 1,300 unique companies attended SES Chicago 2007, 27% of these companies sent two or more staff.

In addition, 41% of the attendees are in marketing or management; 27% are in web design or e-commerce; 23% are in corporate management or owners; and 9% are non-marketing professionals. And 57% approve or specify purchases, 28% make recommendations, and only 15% have no involvement in purchases.

That’s why you’ll see 40 sponsors and exhibitors at the Search Engine Strategies Expo. Savvy search engine marketers understand the value of quality attendance.

As Bill Muller, the VP Marketing for iProspect, has said, “SES is a terrific event series, one that we plan to be at in New York, San Jose, and Chicago.” Or as Ginny Redgate, VP Marketing for Hitwise, has said, “SES provides us great brand visibility within the search marketing community as well as quality leads. It is a great place for us to connect with our clients.”

I don’t think Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid could have said it better.

Google has reached an agreement with the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers (AAP), which represented a broad class of authors and publishers to expand online access to in-copyright books and other written materials in the U.S. The publications will come from the library collections participating in Google Book Search.

The agreement was reached after two years of negotiations. The deal includes Google dishing out $125 million to establish the Book Rights Registry, which would resolve an existing class action lawsuit brought by the groups.

If the court approves, the agreement allows:

• More Access to Out-of-Print Books — Generating greater
  exposure for millions of in-copyright works, including hard-to-find
  out-of-print books, by enabling readers in the U.S. to search these
  works and preview them online
• Additional Ways to Purchase Copyrighted Books — Building off publishers’ and authors’ current efforts and further expanding the
  electronic market for copyrighted books in the U.S., by offering users the ability to purchase online access to many in-copyright books
• Institutional Subscriptions to Millions of Books Online –Offering a means for U.S. colleges, universities and other organizations to obtain subscriptions for online access to collections from some of
  the world’s most renowned libraries
• Free Access From U.S. Libraries — Providing free, full-text, online viewing of millions of out-of-print books at designated computers
  in U.S. public and university libraries
• Compensation to Authors and Publishers and Control Over Access to Their Works — Distributing payments earned from online access provided by Google and, prospectively, from similar programs that may be established by other providers, through a newly created independent, not-for-profit Book Rights Registry that will also locate rightsholders, collect and maintain accurate rightsholder information, and provide a way for rightsholders to request inclusion in or exclusion from the project.

“Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. Today, together with the authors, publishers, and libraries, we have been able to make a great leap in this endeavor,” said Sergey Brin, co-founder & president of technology at Google. “While this agreement is a real win-win for all of us, the real victors are all the readers. The tremendous wealth of knowledge that lies within the books of the world will now be at their
fingertips.”

What do you think about the agreement? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Related Reading:
Google SERPs Promoting Google Book Links
Google Courts Book Publishers, Librarians

Online marketing company AdEx has announced the acquisition of Bay Harbor, an online lead generation firm. Bay Harbor uses a proprietary software platform to perform behavioral targeting which identifies marketers’ best prospects in several financial services and other consumer interest segments.

“Bay Harbor’s lead generation platform allows us to capitalize on the ever-growing online financial services sector,” said Scott Rewick, Chief Executive Officer of AdEx Media. “This acquisition is synergistic with our existing business and will further enable us to meet the needs of our large customer base of advertisers, publishers, distributors, online retailers and consumers.”

Related Reading:
Consumers Ok with Social Ads, But Rarely Find Them Targeted
Online Promotions: The Sleeping Beauty of Online Advertising
The Impact of User Registration on Generating Real Estate Leads

Over the past few days, more and more articles and posts from SES San Jose 2008 have been written. I’m sure there will be more stories to come out of the event, but this seems like a good time to recap the conference.

A quick Google News search for “SES San Jose” finds 276 articles from the past month – 138 when the duplicates are removed. A search in Yahoo! News for “SES San Jose” finds 114 articles from the past month. A query in Google Blog Search for “SES San Jose” finds 5,554 blog posts that mention “SES San Jose” from the past month, 337 when the duplicates are removed.

A little content analysis reveals the top 10 stories from the past month that were triggered by a keynote, panel, session or workshop at the 10th annual SES confence. Seven of these stories were ones that I predicted in my post on the Search Engine Watch Blog entitled “SES San Jose tip sheet for bloggers and journalists.” But three of the top stories came as surprises — even to an SES veteran like myself. Here, in order, are the Big Ten.

Kevin Ryan, VP, Global Content Director, SES & Search Engine Watch. (Twenty-three articles and 72 unduplicated blog posts, including “SES San Jose Photos – Paparazzi Style” by Lee Odden of TopRank’s Online Marketing Blog.

Tuesday Morning Keynote by Satya Nadella, SVP, Search, Portal & Advertising Platform Group, Microsoft. (Nineteen articles and 69 unduplicated blog posts, including “Is Microsoft’s Vision of Search Enough to Catch Google?” by Rob Hof of BusinessWeek. Rob wrote, “It would be dangerous for anyone to write off Microsoft. Its determination was on display today at the Search Engine Strategies conference in San Jose. Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s senior VP of search, portal, and advertising platform group, told the crowd that he sees searchers moving from merely typing keywords into Google to getting tasks done.”

Matt Cutts, Software Engineer Guru of Google. (Ten articles, 74 blog posts and a YouTube video entitled “Matt Cutts on Big Brand BlackHat Sites” on the ChrisDaviesCa Channel. Chris happened to be sitting next to Matt, Google’s head of webspam, when Matt weighed in about big brand sites that have been banned for black hat seo practices during the Black Hat/White Hat session during SES San Jose 2008.

Danny Sullivan, Editor-in-Chief of Search Engine Land. (Eleven articles, 41 unduplicated blog posts and a video interview by Mike McDonald of the WebProNews Video Blog entitled, “SES: Staying Focused On Search.”) Danny said that social marketing and all sorts of other things can be useful, but it’s important to get back to the search marketing basics.

Universal & Blended Search. (Four articles, 42 unduplicated blog posts and a video interview for the SESConferenceExpo channel entitled, “Johanna Wright of Google on Google Universal Search.” Johanna gives some insight into how vertical search results are blended into universal search results and advocates a thoughtful approach to making information accessible to Google through use of sitemaps and detailed descriptions.

Keynote Roundtable: Why Does Search Get the Credit for Everything? (Four articles and 38 blog posts, including “SES roundtable: Search shouldn’t take all the credit” by Ellen Keohane of DM News. Ellen wrote, “Search marketing often gets credit for the final sale or conversion, even when it shouldn’t, according to a roundtable discussion today at Search Engine Strategies in San Jose.”

Opening Keynote Presentation by Lee Siegel, author of Against the Machine. (Two articles and 27 unduplicated blog posts, including “Trust: The Backbone of Consumer Satisfaction” by Kevin Lee of ClickZ.) Kevin wrote, “In an afternoon keynote, Lee Siegel, author of “Against the Machine,” predicted a backlash against the Internet as it has evolved. His book (which I’ve partially read) discusses how there are unforeseen consequences due to technology, and the Internet is responsible for largely unforeseen positive and negative effects on individuals and society.”

Thursday Morning Keynote: Dan Heath, author of Made to Stick. (One article and 27 unduplicated blog posts, including “Dan Heath 2008 SES San Jose Keynote” on WebmasterRadio.FM.) Listen to Dan explain Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die as he delivers his 2008 SES San Jose Keynote. Dan offers six key factors for sticky ideas, plus offers numerous supporting examples.

Orion Panel: How Much Search is Enough? (Three articles and 19 unduplicated blog posts, including “SES San Jose 2008 - Where’s Money For Search Going?” by Manoj Jasra of WebProNews. Manoj wrote, “How much Search is enough? Aaron Goldman of Resolution Media, Steven Kaufman of Digitas, Robert Murray of iProspect and Bob Tripathi of Discover Financial Services were posed that very question by SES’s own, Kevin Ryan.”

Orion Panel: Technical & Information Giants. (Six articles and 15 unduplicated blog posts, including “Technical & Information Giants Keynote - SES San Jose 2008” by Jason McElweenie of The SEM Blog. Jason wrote, “WOW. Let me repeat that. WOW….This was a great panel of some very huge icons on the web today. Bravo SES!”

Today, Yahoo announced that Right Media Exchange will feature LucidMedia’s patented ClickSense contextual advertising. The targeted ad solution has been testing since May, culminating in a partnership between the two. Buyers and publishers will be able to contextually categorize 60 vertical channels in Right Media Exchange’s display advertising inventory.

“LucidMedia’s ClickSense technology will significantly help increase the prospective yield of a publisher’s available inventory and improve an advertiser’s ability to contextually target ads to relevant content and categories through the Right Media Exchange,” said Bill Wise, General Manager, Right Media. “We are excited to bring this capability to Exchange participants and look forward to working with the LucidMedia team to deepen the use of ClickSense across the Exchange.”

Related Reading:
Yahoo! to Integrate Right Media and AMP Ad Management Platforms, But When?
Yahoo’s Latest Partnership: Online and Mobile Advertising Integration with Publicis
Yahoo to Acquire Right Media

Search Engine Strategies today named 43 search engine marketers as finalists for the SEM conference’s first annual SES Awards.

The 16 winners will be announced throughout SES San Jose during Orion and keynote panels, which are being held August 18-21 at the San Jose Convention Center.

The SES Award Finalists in the following categories are:

Best Search Engine Ad Platform
Call Genie’s CG Advantage
LookSmart AdCenter
SendTec - SearchFactz

Search Engine with Most Relevant Search Results
Expert System’s Cogito Focus (Shift Communications)
Local.com (Madison Alexander)
Yahoo!

Most Innovative New Search Engine
YellowBot (Young & Associates)
Expert System’s Cogito Focus (Shift Communications)

Technology Platform Search Marketers Can’t Live Without
Enquisite (Maven.com)
Covario, Inc. (JHG Townsend)
Kenshoo Search - SEM Platform (Kenshoo Ltd)

Best SEM Technology Platform for SMBs
LocalLaunch
Enquisite (Maven.com)
Marchex

Most Innovative Use of Search Engine Optimization
NikeStore (Range Online Media)
DoubleClick Performics
Where 2 Get It Search Locator

Most Innovative Paid Search Campaign
SearchAdNetwork
Building Blocks for LEGO’s Paid Search Media (iCrossing)
Four Seasons Hotels and Resort (Acronym Media)

Best Social Media Marketing Campaign
Alberto-Culver Nexxus (iProspect)
SEO-PR
Beaches of South Walton (USDM.net)

Best Business-to-Business Search Marketing Campaign
Microsoft Small Business Center (iProspect)
SEO-PR
Enquiro Search Solutions, Inc.

Best Multi-National Search Marketing Campaign
WebCertain
iCrossing Integrates Global Search Campaign for iCrossing
Acronym Media/SAP

Best Use of Local Search
The Container Store (Range Online Media)
Storage West Self Storage (Young & Associates)
US Small Business Administration-Business Gateway Initiative

Best Integration of Search with Other Media
SEO-PR
The Tudors/Showtime (Outrider)
Jaguar XF Oscars (MEC Interaction)

Most Effective Use of Web Analytics
World Travel Holdings - CruisesOnly.com (iProspect)
iCrossing Measures Results with Mazda Analytics (iCrossing)
Four Seasons Hotels and Resort (Acronym Media)

Best Web Analytics Platform
Omniture
Coremetrics (Lewis PR)

Most Advertiser-Friendly Search Engine
Call Genie Interact Voice
7Search.com
Matchpoint.com

Editor’s Choice
(The Editor’s Choice award winner will be selected
exclusively by the SES Awards editorial staff.)

Search engines are the preferred method of researching a product they’re considering purchasing, according to data released by Opinion Research Corporation. 63% of those surveyed say they consult online news, blogs, and consumer feedback before making a purchase. And if you’ve been tempted to abandon organic based on the “SEO is dead” debate, you may want to think again:

• 70% go online to find information on brands, especially for travel, leisure, and recreation
• 83% say online reviews had at least some level of influence in their buying decision

“Businesses today exist in an era in which it’s nearly impossible to escape the likelihood of being evaluated…there’s nowhere to hide,” said Linda Shea, SVP and Global Managing Director of Customer Strategies for Opinion Research Corporation. “Companies must be extremely mindful of the power of proliferating online forums and their ability to shape consumer’s perceptions about brands. Even a single negative review, when posted in a very public forum, can have a significant impact on a prospective buyer’s decision to purchase.”

So when does the internet first enter the decision-making process?

• 38% use the internet from the start
• 27% go online when trying to decide between 2-3 options
• 21% are at the narrowing-down phase

And here’s what’s being researched, along with the percentage of those surveyed who go online to research the various categories:

• Travel/Recreation/Leisure 82%
• Electronic goods 80%
• Household products/services 66%
• Clothing 55%
• Automotive 55%
• Personal care 40%
• Food 24%

What do you think of these numbers? Does it affect your view of how important SEO is? Give your thoughts in the comments.

Related Reading:
Get in on the Conversation about the Future of SEO
What’s In Your Travel Tool Bag?
What’s In Your Travel Tool Bag? - Part 2

Search Engine Strategies Toronto wrapped up yesterday. I’ll be analyzing some of the new trends that I spotted in Canada over the next couple of weeks. But I wanted to share the top stories and blog posts for SES Toronto Day 2 this morning, so you can get a sense of the highlights from the SEM conference.

Fredrick Marckini, the Founder of iProspect and Chief Global Search Officer of Isobar, gave the opening keynote. Mona Elesseily, the Director of Marketing Strategy of Page Zero Media, interviewed Marckini for the Search Engine Strategies Conference & Expo Channel on YouTube right after his keynote.

Fredrick Marckini of Isobar on Tracking Offline Conversions

Accordion Guy Joey deVilla provides a full set of notes from the keynote in a post entitled, “Fredrick Marckini’s Keynote at Search Engine Strategies 2008 Toronto.”

Bryan Eisenberg, the Co-Founder of Future Now Inc., gave the keynote presentation on Day 2 of SES Toronto. Mitch Joel, President of Twist Image, interviewed Eisenberg about the impact of the economy on search engine marketing.

Bryan Eisenberg on Site Metrics and Optimization

Jennifer Laycock of the Search Engine Guide Blog says, “If you only read one link from today’s Puppy’s Picks, you should check out Chris Winfield’s fantastically creative Twitter presentation from SES Toronto.” Winfield made his presentation at the “Twitter: Ultimate Time Waster or Great Tool?” session.

Rahaf Harfoush, aka The Foush, also weighs in on this session in a post entitled, “SES Toronto - Is Twitter A Time Waster?”

Chris Ragobeer of The Toronto Marketing and Technology Blog covered “SES Toronto 2008 Day 2 : Web 2.0 & Search Engines.”

Lisa Tarticchio of the aimClear Blog covered the “Introduction to Search Engine Marketing” session in a post entitled, “SES Toronto: Essential Return To Basics.”

Jim Crocker of the Boardroom Metrics CEO Blog “took a break from reality” to attend the Search Engine Strategies Conference in Toronto and reports his observations in a post entitled, “SES Toronto Day 2.”

Naoise of NVI’s Blog also provided some perspective on the conference in a post entitled, “SES Toronto - There’s something sticky going on here.”

Stephan Spencer shared some Social Media “Hacks” (at SES Toronto) in his presentation on the “Social Media Success” panel and commented on them in his Scatterings blog.

Meanwhile, south of the border, The Austin Business Journal reported that Austin-based Apogee will open an office in Toronto, Canada, in an article entitled, “Apogee Search sees big potential in Canadian office.”

With SES Toronto coming up June 16-18, 2008, we interviewed June Li, the founder and managing director of ClickInsight. June will be one of the speakers at the “Giving Credit Where It’s Due: Which Campaign Sold What?” session, which will be held on Wednesday, June 18, from 4:00 to 5:15 p.m.

June has over 20 years of e-business, marketing, manufacturing, logistics and sales experience. She is also an associate instructor for the web analytics program at the University of British Columbia, as well as an instructor for a web analytics course at the University of Toronto Professional Learning Centre, Faculty of Information Studies.

June has spoken and moderated at the Emetrics Summit and is a contributing writer to OneDegree.ca and the AIMS blog.

Q. You founded ClickInsight, a business that creates successful strategies for clients to multiply their online leads and sales. Can you provide SEW readers with a sample of some of your latest Web analytics projects? What is the latest “buzz” in the field of Web analytics?

A. We use web analytics to help businesses accelerate their results from marketing initiatives. Almost all of our business breakthrough projects involve an analysis of search marketing, either organic or paid. And since Canada is a net exporter of goods and services, with the Canadian dollar as strong as it is, there’s been increasing interest in using search to get more qualified leads. Cold calling is such a probability game, why not attract the buyers who are need your goods and services and are looking for what you have to offer?

Analytics is a necessity for defining baselines for improvement. Businesses that have not optimized their site for search or are not using paid search should look at their organic search keywords using their web analytics system. What searches are driving traffic to their site? More often than not, the search keywords include just the company name in some way. This means only the people who already know about your organization are coming to your site, and you’re not reaching new prospects. And if you are getting generic, non-branded searches, don’t stop there? You may not be visible to your target market, and unless you drill down to see who your visitors are, you won’t know what you’re missing.

What’s the latest buzz? Social media measurement and mobile analytics. Both have great linkages to search and positioning on the search results page.

Q. How does your company make use or not make use of Google analytics?

A. We and many of our clients make use of Google Analytics (and other tools) to assess the impact of marketing and site changes. We want to see whether our changes have the intended impact on where our visitors are coming from, what’s driving them to our sites, and what’s not. Google Analytic’s new benchmarking availability is interesting and has definitely triggered some very interesting discussions. We also use Google Analytics to mine and analyze onsite search to see what people think you should have on your website. Perhaps what they’re looking for isn’t present or is difficult to find.

But Google Analytics can’t tell you what might work better. So we also use and recommend Google Website Optimizer for testing alternate options and 4Q (4Q.iperceptions.com) to “listen” to the voice of the customer. Without listening, you won’t have the insight on what might be improved or the reason why people behave as they do on your site. And if this still doesn’t provide what you need, surveys and usability testing might be next.

Q. What got you fascinated about Web analytics to begin with? Did you ever suffer any of the experiences that so many of your clients come to your company for to help solve?

A. Since I started with web analytics on the client side, I’m quite familiar with the issues companies have managing web analytics data, reports and analysis.

Without analytics, you’re guessing as to what’s happening on your website and with your online marketing initiatives. And who can afford to guess, particularly now that we’re seeing the economy slowing down and in Canada, coping with a stronger dollar. Web analytics won’t solve everything (it’s not magic and it’s not perfect) but you’re much better off with the insights analytics can provide than none at all. Web analytics practices continue to evolve, integrating with data mining and expanding to include social media and mobile analytics.

Q. What excites you about Search Engine Strategies Toronto? What do you look forward to most?

A. This will be the 4th Search Engine Strategies I’ll have attended in Toronto, and they get better every time. Last year, I was happy to see there was much more discussion “beyond the click” and about landing page conversion, the money-making “value event”. I’m sure this year will bring yet another advance in the community.

SES is a great place to gauge the pulse of the search community, where businesses are at with search, learn what leading organizations are doing, and have fun discussions about the current myths of search and what the crawlers are up to now, where they’re going next.

Q. You teach a Web Analytics Training course at the University of Toronto. Do you plan to draw upon any of it for your presentation at SES Toronto?

A. Absolutely. The Web Analytics training course at the University of Toronto is an introductory course intended to help those who need to show value from website content understand not only the technical basics but also the management and organization pre-requisites for success. Key to using web analytics is a clear understanding your goals. Only then can you set up your analytics plan to properly (and sanely) assess performance and progress towards attaining your goal. I’m really looking forward to the panel I’m on. We’re tackling the topic of Multi-Channel Measurement. Goal setting is critical to ensuring you don’t drown in multi-channel data and can actually make sense of what you’re measuring.

Q. Put on your prognosticator helmet: What is the future of Web analytics? Say over the next 10 to 20 years?

A. 10-20 years? We’re having problems with 2-3 years! Web analytics will become “analytics”. With new online and integrated technologies proliferating, the tools to measure will evolve, perhaps not fast enough but they’ll evolve. For sure things will get more complicated, and that’s what keeps it interesting and fun!