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If you conduct search advertising through Yahoo, you just got a brand spanking new addition to your search marketing team: Yahoo.

Through an update to their terms and conditions, Yahoo gives itself permission to hijack your search marketing campaigns. Check out the new language:

Sponsored Search
3. OPTIMIZATION. In the U.S. only, for those advertisers not bound by an
Insertion Order, we may help you optimize your account(s).
Accordingly, you expressly agree that we may also: (i) create ads,
(ii) add and/or remove keywords, and/or (iii) optimize your
account(s). We will notify you via email of such changes made to your
account(s), and can also include a spreadsheet of such changes upon
your written request. If you would like any of such changes reversed,
please reply to such email within 14 days of the change(s), and we
will make commercially reasonable efforts to reverse the change(s) you
specifically identify. Notwithstanding the foregoing, you remain
responsible for all changes made to your account(s), including all
click charges incurred prior to any reversions being made. It is your
responsibility to monitor your account(s) and to ensure that your
account settings are consistent with your business objectives.

Actually, Yahoo began invading its customers’ personal space about a month ago. Al Scillitani was alarmed when he got an email from Yahoo saying they had made changes to his account - after the fact.

Now, it’s just official.

This is kind of like a fast food restaurant going into your burger after you’ve take a bite and removing or adding pickles, ketchup and cheese. Or your cable company going into your DVR and choosing which programs to record.

Have you received the new Terms and Conditions? Has Yahoo made changes to your account? Let us know in the comments!

Related Reading:
Yahoo Snags Search Ad Marketshare Gain at Google’s Expense
Yahoo’s Conversion Tips: Optimize, Navigate and Track
Yahoo Releases Three Updates to Traffic Quality Center

With six weeks to go before SES London 2009, it’s time to build a business case for going to the definitive event for UK and European marketers, corporate decision makers, webmasters and search engine marketing (SEM) specialists, including pay per click (PPC) advertisers and search engine optimization (SEO) consultants.

Yes, yes, I know there’s a recession on both sides of the pond. I read The Economist. (I loved the article in the print edition on December 30, 2008, which reminded us that Alfred Kahn, one of President Jimmy Carter’s economic advisers, was chided in 1978 for using the “R” word. So, Mr Kahn, in his next speech, replaced the offending word, saying, “We’re in danger of having the worst banana in 45 years.”)

So, how do you make the business case that you need to go to an SEM conference during the worst banana since 1978?

I would argue that it is penny wise and pound foolish to miss SES London 2009 just because we’re in a recession. In fact, it’s probably more important to go now than ever before.

So, what makes Search Engine Strategies London a not-to-be-missed industry event? And what makes it particularly important for people who have attended in the past to make a return visit this year?

First, SES London 2009 is the place where the search industry gathers to chart the year ahead. The pace of change in this industry hasn’t slowed down. This search industry keeps reinventing itself at an amazing pace and last year’s cutting-edge program already is dated in some areas. You can’t afford to be left behind.

Second, it’s where you can learn how to calculate the ROI of your search marketing efforts from top search experts. Now, I’m just one of the 48 conference speakers who will be making presentations at SES London 2009. And I plan to share some case studies of how optimized press releases generated:
• $200 million in B2B leads for Symmetricom’s chip-scale atomic clocks,
• More than $2.5 million in ticket sales for Southwest Airlines, and
• Almost 1.3 million searches for “florists” on SuperPages.com.

I’ll also explain how combining blog outreach with press release optimization generated:
• A record 450,000 unique visitors to The Christian Science Monitor in 24 hours,
• A record 88,000 entries into Parents magazine’s cover kid photo contest, and
• A record 1,100 attendees to the Wharton Economic Summit.

Now, I think I’m supposed to say, “Past performance is no indicator of future success.” And I should disclose that SES became a client about 14 months ago.

But check out the list of speakers who will be presenting at SES London 2009. I know most of them. I’ve heard many of them speak at previous Search Engine Strategies conferences. And I know they have similar success stories to tell.

If you want to hear more than 200 of their success stories from 2008, just go to SESConferenceExpo’s Channel on YouTube. Or watch the three SES London 2008 Roundup Reels below.

So, can your organization really afford to skip SES London 2009 just because there’s a recession? Missing a not-to-be-missed industry event would be penny wise and pound foolish. Skipping the event because you went last year would be “bananas.”

Now, you could simply cut your print magazine, print newspaper and other offline advertising budgets. But that isn’t going to grow your business online and it isn’t going to help you weather the storm any better than your competitors.

The only way you can do this is by learning the SEM strategies, PPC tactics and SEO tips that generate a measurable marketing ROI. And then you need to keep learning what’s coming next in the constantly evolving world of search, and how you can profit from those changes.

And where can you do that? You already know where I’m headed. You can learn all this by going to SES London 2009.

Hubspot has released a report it dubs the “State of the Twittersphere” which they say is akin to Technorati’s “State of the Blogosphere.” It uses data from Twitter Grader (a very vain way of showing who’s “popular” on Twitter) to offer the following interesting stats about the popular social networking tool:

What’s missing from this data is how many user accounts are active. With so many users following or being followed by 25 or fewer people, it has me wondering if many people try Twitter but not really getting how it’s useful. I was that way when I first tried Twitter in 2007. Of course, that was before you could do good searching of Twitter and when there were fewer people using it.

I started up again when I heard Peter Shankman speak at a local interactive marketing luncheon. He explained how to network on it and how to participate in the conversations going on via Twitter, and I’ve been a avid user ever since.

Now, I’ll pass along the advice. Here are some great blog posts on how to make the most of Twitter.

Small Business Owners Need Twitter and LinkedIn
Zappos + Twitter = Innovative Success!
Add Value to Twitter Tweets
Using Twitter as an Education Tool
Twellow: Twitter Member Search
Is Twitter the New Google Alternative?
It’s Official - Twitter’s a Marketing Medium

E-consultancy has just issued an Online PR Industry Benchmarking Report, based on a survey of 300 UK marketers and PR professionals who work for both in-house company teams and for agencies.

Among the key findings: A surprisingly large percentage of retained PR budgets are being spent on Online PR. Company respondents report that 39% of their PR activity is online whilst agencies report that 47% of their clients’ retained fees come from online PR.

The results also show that when companies outsource Online PR to agencies or specialists, 51% of companies are using PR agencies but a significant percentage are using search marketing agencies (29%) and web development agencies (22%) to develop and deliver Online PR strategy.

Deeper in the report was another interesting news nugget: “Agencies and specialists should note that levels of client satisfaction are not encouraging and they may need to improve their Online PR knowledge and offering. A fifth of clients (20%) are very satisfied with their agency?s level of Online PR knowledge, 28% are moderately satisfied, 19% are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, 15% are mildly dissatisfied and 13% are very dissatisfied. Equally, clients recognize that their own knowledge could be improved with 49% saying that their Online PR knowledge is good and 12% poor.”

So, where can PR agencies and clients go to improve their online PR knowledge?

As I mentioned a week ago in my post, “Half of British and Irish Marketers Use SEO for PR Purposes,” all marketers need to do is attend Search Engine Strategies London, February 17-19, 2009.

Since then, some of the speakers at SES London 2009 have been posted to the site. And, yes, I should disclose that I’ll be speaking at the “Online Video Update - The Next Wave” session on Tuesday, Feb. 17, the “News Search SEO” session on Wednesday, Feb. 18, and the “Beyond Linkbait: Getting Authoritative Mentions Online” session on Thursday, Feb. 19.

But there are a number of other sessions at SES London 2009 that PR agencies and clients should attend to improve their online PR knowledge. This includes:

– Universal & Blended Search
– SEO Through Blogs & Feeds
– Video & Podcast SEO
– Link Building Basics
– Keywords & Content: Search Marketing Foundations
– Brand & Reputation Management
– Search Term Research & Targeting
– Duplicate Content & Multiple Site Issues

Now, if some of these terms aren’t familiar to PR people yet, well that’s why they need go to the conference. I’ve been combining SEO and PR for almost six years. And during one of my presentations at SES Chicago 2008, I shared five case studies of press releases that generated a measurable ROI:
– $200 million in B2B leads for Symmetricom,
– $2.5 million in ticket sales for Southwest Airlines,
– 1.3 million searches for “florists” on SuperPages.com,
– 450,000 unique visitors to The Christian Science Monitor,
– 88,000 entries into a photo contest for Parents magazine.

So, I think that SES London 2009 is exactly the right conference to attend to improve your Online PR knowledge and offering. And who am I to make such a bold claim? I’m the guy in the photo above with the sock puppet on his hand at SES London 2008. The one on the left. (Have I disclosed that SES London is a client?)

In early September, Google launched a new product: a web browser named Chrome. Like most of Google’s products, it was released into beta, which basically means the product could be (and was) imperfect but they kinda sorta don’t have to take credit for it.

But 14 updates and 10 million users later, Google Chrome gets to shine in all of its glory, without that pesky little beta tag holding it back.

With its new beta-less state comes the 15th update and here’s what to expect, via the Official Google Blog:

• Better stability and performance of plug-ins (particularly video). Google improved the performance of video and audio and fixed a bunch of the bugs that existed during the beta period.
• Faster than ever Since the first beta, the V8 JavaScript engine runs 1.4 times faster on the SunSpider benchmark and 1.5 times faster on the V8 benchmark. Google says Chrome will get even faster in the future.
• Bookmark manager Better bookmark features were a top request Chrome users made to Google. It’s now easier to switch your bookmarks in other browsers over to Chrome.
• Privacy controls Features related to privacy are grouped in one spot with detailed explanations.

Have you tried the beta-less Chrome? Let us know your impressions in the comments.

Those expecting a knock-down, drag-out brawl at the “Black Hat/White Hat” session at SES Chicago may have left a bit disappointed. It looked like the sparks could fly, with Dave Naylor, director of search marketing at Bronco, and Todd Friesen, VP of search at Position Technologies there representing the black hat side, and Eric Enge, president of Stone Temple Consulting and Doug Heil, owner of ihelpyou there defending the white hat side.

But, as Friesen so eloquently said, “As it turns out, Doug’s actually a nice guy.”

So despite the lack of violence, the session turned out to be an hour-long discussion of techniques that will or will not get you banned by Google, the ethical considerations of search marketing, and a few black-hat tips thrown in for good measure.

Much of the discussion centered on buying links for SEO purposes, which is frowned upon by Google. Naylor and Friesen both said buying links should be allowed, noting that paid links are still relevant, since they bring a user to the page they promise.

“If a user clicks on a link that says ‘Buy Viagra’, they’re going to land on a page that’s selling Viagra,” Naylor said.

The difference is that Google sees a bought link as an “unnatural” link, since payment has entered the picture. But that argument gets muddied when it comes to bartered links, or other kinds of non-monetary rewards given in exchange for links.

To be safe, Enge says, “Google makes the rules. If we want to have a stable business for the long term, we have to follow them.”

The paid links debate is muddied further by the issue of links from trade organizations, which usually charge a membership fee. Enge pointed out that the reason those are OK in Google’s eyes is that there is some kind of review process involved, as there is with a quality directory listing like Yahoo or Best of the Web.

In Heil’s view, it’s a matter of authority. Sites that have earned the authority to vouch for a business, or sponsor an event, for example, should be allowed to do so with a link. The caveat, of course, is that they don’t abuse that authority and start linking out without any kind of quality oversight.

Naylor outlined one of his favorite white hat methods of getting links: press releases. When you issue a press release with links in the copy, you will often get people that reprint the release on their site with the links intact. He also recommends getting your site’s content into Google News.

Everyone on the panel agreed that dropping the PageRank meter from the Google Toolbar would be a good idea to help curb buying and selling of links for SEO value, and it appears that Google is headed in that direction. “It’s a beast they never should have unleashed,” Naylor said. It would also help if Google’s algorithm stopped relying so heavily on links as a measure of a site’s quality, they said.

If you’re looking for an iGoogle theme with a little more meaning, then look no further than iGoogle Themes for Causes. These new themes feature charitable partners representing a variety of causes to be passionate about.

One of the participating charities (and a favorite of yours truly) is Doctors Without Borders, one of the only charities assisting in the current crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo and helping Somalian refugees who arrived in Yemen this week. Here’s what their theme looks like:

That “I’m Feeling Lucky” button sure does take on a whole new meaning when you are reminded of what millions of less fortunate people face every single day of their lives. These people would love to have the “problem” of cutting back on Christmas.

It’s far too easy to forget the needs of people around the world and here at home. But these iGoogle Themes for Causes can help you keep charity constant in your life.

Other charities include:
The One Campaign
Charity:Water
Heifer International
American Red Cross
Save the Children

Related Reading:
Blogger Releases Two Updates Regarding iGoogle and Commenting
iGoogle: O Pop, Where Art Thou? Jeff Koons, Wiggles, La Cicciolina
Google’s iGoogle Announcement

I don’t have as much time to blog about each story this week, being at SES Chicago, but I’ve been keeping an eye on the news for you. So here are links to news that’s happening in the world of search this week:

Microsoft Live Search
A call for industry standards for data anonymization

Yahoo:
BOSS Reaches a Milestone
Yahoo Moves Ahead With Layoffs on Wednesday: The Sad Details
Searching for real estate gets a facelift

Google
An update to the AdWords alcohol policy
Web Security in the Cloud

AOL: AOL’s Platform-A and Schick Wilkinson-Sword Partner on Lemondrop.com Holiday Gift Guide

Trulia: Trulia’s Publisher Platform Powers Real Estate Search for More Than 100 Websites

Techdirt: If There’s A National Cybersecurity Policy, What Should It Cover?

According to new research by Citigate Dewe Rogerson, 51.4% of marketers in the UK and Ireland use search engine optimization (SEO) tactics for public relations (PR) purposes. Brilliant!

And almost two-thirds of respondents suggesting that internet-based PR was important. Brilliant!

However, just over four in 10 marketers in the UK and Ireland said that they did not have the in-house digital skills to develop a sound online PR strategy, while 31.2% indicated that their organizations did not fully understand the business benefits of internet PR.

Well, to remedy that situation, all marketers need to do is attend Search Engine Strategies London, February 17-19, 2009. On the agenda are sessions like:

Universal & Blended Search — Search result multiplicity is not a new phenomenon, but recent advancements guarantee that the world of search and marketing will be changing forever. Before you attend this week’s optimization and best practices sessions, learn from industry gurus how the steps that follow the search are developing. Our ongoing series on universal search will include research data available only at SES.

Online Video Update: The Next Wave — This session will provide tips on how to navigate the new wave of online video, as more people are watching, sharing, and finding videos online. It will cover the four contributing factors to the massive surge in popularity and predicted continued growth for online video, as well as the converging factors that have led to the next wave of online video search. The panelists will also discuss the issues with video search, and the industry’s desire for standards on how to tag, organize, and find videos.

SEO Through Blogs & Feeds — Not yet running a blog? Not syndicating your content through web feeds? Then you’re missing out on an important area that can help your overall SEO efforts. Learn more about the unique advantages blogs and feeds offer to search engine optimization.

News Search SEO — News search engines offer a great way to receive targeted traffic related to breaking topics or to help with a public relations launch. In this session, we look at how to make use of press releases and news content to tap into the power of news search.

Video & Podcast SEO — New products make it easier to locate video content from across the web or to find “podcast” programs, on-demand radio-like shows people can listen to on MP3 players or their computers. This session will provide a look at various services and how to get your content visible and audible within them.

Brand & Reputation Management — Can you use a competitor’s trademark in your own search advertising? Or what if a competitor has an ad running on your trademarked brand name? Should you engage professional legal help or are there other options? What if bloggers are posting negative or false claims about your brands and these are spreading with viral speed through other blogs? Are there ways to get these damaging messages out of the search engines? This session will provide an exploration of these and other brand protection issues.

Beyond Linkbait: Getting Authoritative Mentions Online — Link building is crucial, but linkbait tactics that worked this year may not be as effective next year. This session focuses on the underlying quality as well as ingenuity needed to get other websites to link to you early and often. It will also explain how you should approach journalists, bloggers and other authoritative sources to enhance your company’s online reputation, whether or not you get links.

And on Friday, February 20, 2008, there are half-day workshops, including:

Reaching Your Audience Through Blogs, taught by Jennifer Laycock of Search Engine Guide.

Link and Reputation Workshop, taught by Dixon Jones of Receptional.

In other words, marketers can develop the in-house digital skills to develop a sound online PR strategy. And, if their organizations don’t fully understand the business benefits of internet PR now, they will by the end of SES London 2009.

At SES London 2008, I interviewed Lee Odden, CEO of TopRank Online Marketing, about some of the public relations oriented sessions at that conference.

Lee Odden, TopRank Online Marketing, at SES London 2008

And if you register for one of the SES conference packages before Dec. 22, 2008, you can save up to £300 with the Early Bird Rate. Brilliant!

In the ongoing end of year list season, AOL has released its top searches for 2008. Unlike Yahoo and Ask.com, AOL inexplicably only released the top searches for select niches, not a top 10 list of overall searches. Nevertheless, here they are:

• ‘American Idol’ - Top TV & Movies
• NASCAR - Top Sports
• Britney Spears - Top Celebrity
• Flat Belly Diet - Top Health
• iPhone - Top Shopping
• Jonas Brothers - Top Musician
• Presidential Election - Top News

To see the full lists, click here.

All I have to say is: Seriously, people - Britney Spears!!?!?