ArticleSnatch Blog

You are browsing the search results.

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.

Microsoft is today launching a new incentive program for Live Search. The program is called SearchPerks, and it works very much like a credit card reward program.

Every time you search, you earn tickets. You can earn up to 25 tickets a day. Tickets can later be redeemed for all sorts of rewards including music downloads (5 for 525 points) and airline miles (1000 miles for 1800 tickets).

Here’s how it works. Sign up for the program, and download a simple piece of code. That will give you a Perk Counter for your desktop.

You can begin earning tickets today, October 1, all the way through April 15th of next year. You can begin claiming your rewards on April 16. However, you can only sign up for the program through December 31, 2008 and the program is capped at 250,000 people.

Microsoft will be evaluating the program and could possible expand it if all goes well.

Microsoft’s Frederick Savoye, senior director at Live Search, assured me that this is an incentive program that fits into their three overall pillars of search:

• Delivering the best search results
• Simplifying key tasks such as booking airline, travel, shopping, finding user opinions, etc.
• Innovating the business model

So while programs like SearchPerks and Cashback may seem like Microsoft is just trying to pay people off to use Live Search, the team remains strongly devoted to improving technology and the user experience.

What do you think of this program? Will you sign up? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Riding the subway, hopping the ferry, and catching the train just got easier in the New York City metropolitan area. Google Maps has added comprehensive transit directions for the region, which includes data from:

• Metropolitan Transit Agency (MTA)
• The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
• New Jersey Transit
• City of New York

To check out the new NYC info, click here.

Writing on the Official Google blog, Chris Harrelson, Tech Lead & Creator of Google Transit said, “Transit is a vital part of the infrastructure that makes cities run efficiently, and can help mitigate congestion, environmental concerns, and increasing energy costs. But until recently, access to that information has been more difficult than it needs to be. Even very prominent train and subway stations were often omitted entirely from maps in many cases. And as for bus lines, well, forget about it! This lead us to the fundamental goal of the Google Transit project: make public transit information as easy to find as any other geographic information.”

Related Reading:
18 U.S., 3 International Systems Added to Google Transit
Google Maps for Mobile Adds Public Transportation Directions
Google Adds Transit Data to Maps
Google Labs Quietly Releases Transit Trip Travel Planner for Portland, Oregon

Learning about the weight loss methods Posted By : Paul84 Paul84: Knowing All About Weight Loss Pro.. http://tinyurl.com/5xjtz2 #
Get cheap air fare with Skyfly Travels and enjoy your journey Posted By : Mohd Akheel: It can be a .. http://tinyurl.com/54d8ud #
Finding the Right Trial Attorney Posted By : Alva Pao-Pei Alfonso: Finding yourself in a [...]

New Blog Post - New Premium Ad Network for Bloggers from BuzzLogic: BuzzLogic is unv.. http://tinyurl.com/53b7ov #
New Blog Post - Powerset’s First Integrations with Live Search: Microsoft acqu.. http://tinyurl.com/4gtad9 #
New Blog Post - Google Makes AdWords Site Stats Logo Optional: Google has made it op.. http://tinyurl.com/4sjuze #
New Blog Post - Street View and Walking Directions [...]

New Blog Post - ChaCha is Fastest Growing Mobile Text Search Service: Since launchin.. http://tinyurl.com/4q79dm #
New Article - Is the Oil and Gas Industry For Me? Posted By : Gen Wright: What opening.. http://tinyurl.com/3upk9q #
Is the Oil and Gas Industry For Me? Posted By : Gen Wright: What openings are there to people looki.. http://tinyurl.com/529h79 [...]

Ad widget company WidgetBucks today announced the availability of two new advertising verticals: local and travel. WidgetBucks already has a shopping vertical which serves a billion impressions per month worldwide.

“We fundamentally believe that advertising should be more customizable, personal, engaging, and more measurable for publishers and advertisers,” said Matt Hulett, chairman and CEO of Mpire and WidgetBucks. “Clearly, Internet consumption habits are evolving from single destination sites to a more disseminated approach. Our new ad widgets help publishers and bloggers provide this influx of visitors with relevant, monetizable content.”

Related Reading:
SocialMedia.com and Buddy Media Team Up for Social ‘App-vertising’ Solution
iWidgets Launches Public Beta, Makes Widget Development Easier

Google settled with a UK-based anti-abortion group who had sued them for not allowing them access to advertising for abortion keywords, the Times Online reported. And will now allow anti-abortionist to advertise along with Planned Parenthood and other pro-abortion advertisers.

I checked the UK results and none have yet to start advertising as of yet.

Is this the way to make Google change their edicts? Obviously in the case of advertising where only one side gets to play stacks the deck and offers the opposition a chance to challenge. Let’s see what other areas use this method to change some of Google’s restrictions.

As an aside, I would love to know how much money Google has put aside to deal with their never-ending legal issues. Wonder when United Airlines will weigh in with their law suit following the stock price drop last week?

New Article - The most successful ways to Increase Your Google Adsense Income Online P.. http://tinyurl.com/6eoywh #
The most successful ways to Increase Your Google Adsense Income Online Posted By : Vipann Kumarr: M.. http://tinyurl.com/59ez6a #
Thailand for Sale; Real Estate and Houses Posted By : Hedin Johan: Ever thought about making Thaila.. http://tinyurl.com/57m6e8 #
Apartments and Condos [...]

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.)