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Ten Top Stories from SES London 2009
Last week, I attended SES London 2009. For those of you who couldn’t attend this must-attend event, here are the ten top stories from the conference and expo held at the Business Design Centre in Islington:
1. The top story was the opening keynote by Matt Mason, author of The Pirate’s Dilemna: How Youth Culture Reinvented Capitalism. Chloe Temple of Tamar covered the keynote in her post, “SES London 2009 – Day 1 summary.” She wrote, “SES London 2009 kicked off to a flying start, with an interesting choice in keynote speaker, Matt Mason, who gave us a summary of his book The Pirate’s Dilemma. Not specifically targeted to an SEM audience, Matt presented his idea that businesses should embrace piracy rather than going to war with it.”
Byron Gordon of SEO-PR interviewed Mason after his keynote about the history of piracy as well as its pros and cons. Mason reiterated why it is important for companies today to embrace piracy by competing with it. Mason also talked about the future of piracy and how he would like to see copyright laws changed to reflect the new information economy.
Matt Mason – Author: The Pirate’s Dilemma, speaks on piracy at SES London
2. The second top story of SES London 2009 was the Orion Panel on SEO — Where to Next? Paul Madden, an SEO Consultant in the UK also known as SEOidiot, covered the session for Search Marketing Gurus in a post entitled, “SES London – Orion Panel – SEO Where to Next?“
3. The third top story of SES London 2009 was the Orion Panel on Measuring Success in a 2.0 World. David Wilding of the Epiphany Search Marketing Blog captured the news in his roundup of “Search Engine Strategies London 2009 – Day One.” He observed, “One point that may surprise many that don’t work day to day in the world of SEO is the view of Google Analytics that came across in this question and answer session.” It was called, a “jack of all trades” and a “one size fits all solution.”
I interviewed John Marshall, the CTO of Market Motive, who was one of the panelists in this session. Marshall said Google analytics is a limited tool. John indicated that in a 2.0 world, there are details on your website that don’t actually live on the website, such as YouTube videos, and Google analytics doesn’t analyze this data. Marshall advocated a more realistic approach to measuring data and is a big believer in using competitive analysis. John also cited particular competitive analysis vendors that he likes.
John Marshall, CTO, Market Motive, on measuring success in a Web 2.0 world
4. The next top story was written by Mel Carson, Microsoft’s adCenter Community Manager for Europe. He wrote a post for the Microsoft adCenter Blog and Forum Community entitled, “IAB Search Engine Marketing Best Practice Session – SES London.” In his post, Carson said, “Islington’s Business Design Centre is a hive of search marketing activity, with sessions on SEO, PPC and Social Media all contributing to a vibrant learning pot.”
5. Another top story was by Magne Uppman of Uppman.net, which was entitled, “The Twitter Wave At SES London.” According to Uppman, a Norwegian online marketer, “Since the last time I attended a major conference, Twitter has really grown big. In fact, you can now get a pretty good glimpse of the news and tips presented only by following the conference on Twitter.”
6. The next top story was Rand Fishkin’s post on the SEOmoz blog, “Some Interesting Tips and Tidbits from SES London Day 1.” According to Fishkin, the CEO of SEOmoz.org, “For the first time in a good while, I managed to spend a few hours sitting in sessions here in London, re-absorbing some information and even picking up a few new bits here and there. Short post, but I figured if it’s new/interesting to me, it might also be enjoyable to others (hopefully).”
7. Another top story was written by Philippe Schaillée of SearchCowboys, entitled, “Social Media Optimization – SES London 2009.” The Dutch blogger wrote, “Everyone’s on the Social networks. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr and MySpace have become household names.”
8. The next top story was written by Zac of the Apple Pie & Custard blog. It is entitled, “The foundations of Video SEO.” According to the UK blogger, “Yesterday at the SES Conference in London Amanda Watlington and Joseph Morin discussed the best practices for optimising your video content.”
9. Another top story, which appeared in the Efficient Frontier Blog, was entitled simply, “SES London.” It said, “London this week saw the spectacle that is Search Engine Strategies. As the first big search conference gracing the 2009 London Calendar, industry analysts observed it with a keen eye as the benchmark for confidence in the sector. Delegate numbers certainly looked healthy on both advertiser and agency side.”
10. Last, but not least, was the blog post by Andrew Girdwood entitled, “PRWeb UK launches during SES London.” According to Birdwood, “Search Engine Strategies was a good event to launch at. PRWeb now have a UK offering.”
These were just the ten top stories from SES London 2009. For a comprehensive list, go to the Search Engine Strategies Blog. And these are just the initial video interviews to be posted to SESConferenceExpo’s Channel on Youtube. If you want to be alerted when new videos are uploaded, just subscribe.
Google Launches ‘Conversion Room’ Blog
Google has launched a new blog that is dedicated to improving conversions. Dubbed the “Conversion Room,” the new blog is run by European Googlers. In addition to providing tips that are useful to a global audience, the Conversion Room will highlight events taking place in Europe.
So far, the blog offers tips on keywords and the most recent post talks about installing site search and tracking the results.
Of course, we’ll keep providing search marketing news and expert advice right here at Search Engine Watch. For a broader look at online marketing, check out our sister site, ClickZ.
Greg Coleman Named President of AOL’s Platform-A
AOL has named Greg Coleman as President of Platform-A, their display advertising network. Coleman previously served as search and ad targeting startup, President and CEO of NetSeer. Prior to that, Coleman was Executive Vice President of Global Sales at Yahoo! Coleman also worked in magazine publishing.
“Greg Coleman is perfectly suited to build on the foundation we created at Platform-A and drive branded display sales across our fast-growing MediaGlow programming network,” said Randy Falco, AOL Chairman and CEO. “Greg’s a seasoned sales pro who understands that online brand building is the next frontier in digital advertising, and that whoever can deliver marketers measurably improved branding online will be positioned for long-term success. I’m confident Greg will help us create branding solutions that leverage the strong success of MediaGlow and the upcoming launches at People Networks.”
Coleman replaces Lynda Clarizio, who came to AOL through the Advertising.com acquisition. Clarizio was President of Advertising.com.
Related Reading:
AOL’s Platform-A Reaches Now Reaches 160 Million in Europe
AOL’s Platform-A Collaborates with T-mobile for 2 Day, Billion Impression Ad Blitz
AOL’s Platform-A Unveils Plans for Self-Service Ad Marketplace Exchange
Google Execs May Get Jail Time in Italy for Video
Beginning today, Google executives are on trial for defamation and privacy violation pertaining to a video posted to the Italian Google Video site, according to the New York Times. At issue is a cellphone video of a Down Syndrome boy being teased by four boys from Turin.
Italian officials say the video should never have been posted online. Of course, the Google execs say they didn’t handle the video. Google did, however, take it down when an Italian advocacy group complained that it was inappropriate.
Still, prosecutors say that the video should never have been published at all. If they win their case, the Google executives could serve jail time in Italy.
The biggest issue is that the video was posted without permission by one of the subjects of the video. European law offers this protection to subjects of video and photographs, but this poses obvious issues for online sharing sites. If these sites were required to verify every photograph and video, they would probably cease their offerings in Europe.
So, this is definitely an interesting case to watch. What do you think? Leave us a comment and let us know.
Related Reading:
Italian Broadcaster Sues Google, YouTube for $779 million
Higher Education and Travel Industry Headed to SES London 2009
According to the organizers of SES London 2009, it looks like attendance will be up this year. While this may come as a surprise to some, Matt McGowan, Publisher of the conference series in addition to its sister sites ClickZ and Search Engine Watch, says, “Attendance figures are up 11% compared to last year, which is not surprising as businesses invest more of their budgets in digital marketing.”
He adds, “What’s noticeable this year however is the increase in representation from the education and travel industries. Delegates from these two sectors have increased by 10% (Education) and 16% (Travel). Many of Europe’s leading universities are sending people to SES London – from web managers to researchers. Similarly, established travel companies and tour operators are, as always, well represented, but this year has seen an increase in representation from the smaller, more niche, travel companies. The figures suggest that these two sectors will see significant growth in digital marketing spend this year.”
On this side of the pond, universities have seen grad school applications and enrollments increase as government funding and endowments have declined. This prompted Brandeis University to announce it would close the Rose Art Museum and turn it into a study and research center.
So, I can see why higher education on both sides of the pond is interested in finding more cost-effective ways to drive traffic to college and university websites than mailing out more college brochures. One of the first things I’d recommend is registering for the Google Online Marketing Challenge, which is open to any higher education institution, anywhere in the world.
Meanwhile, here in Boston, we’ve had 49 inches of snow dumped on us – more than double the normal snowfall at this point in the winter and even more than the normal snowfall for the entire winter season. So, I can also understand why the travel industry sees search engine marketing (SEM) and search engine optimization (SEO) turning “the winter of our discontent” into “glorious summer” in the coming year.
Despite last year’s economic conditions, travel spending by domestic and international visitors in 2008 increased 5.2%, to $778.2 billion, according to the Travel Industry Association. Heck, I can’t begin to describe the looks I get from my wife when I lamely explain that I “have to” go to London to speak at conference, blog about the event for Search Engine Watch, and conduct video interviews from the show. Hey, it’s a business trip.
So, when we all get together Feb. 17-20, 2009, at the Business Design Centre, 52 Upper Street, Islington, I need a little help. For the European universities in attendance, my daughter is planning to spend a semester abroad next year. What do you have for an art major? And for the travel companies who will be at SES London 2009, my wife is looking for someplace sunny, where she can forget about the sleet, wind and bitter cold. (If I’m lucky, she might even bring me along.)
I’m speaking at the sessions on Online Video Update – The Next Wave, News Search SEO, and Beyond Linkbait: Getting Authoritative Mentions Online. Just come up after the session and introduce yourself.
If we haven’t met before, I’ve been called “the bearded guy you’d vote least-likely-to-be-in-public relations” by one industry observer. Or, I’m the bearded buy below who was interviewed by Li Evans of Key Relevance at SES San Jose 2008.
VSEO – Video Search Engine Optimization – with Greg Jarboe
Oh, and if you are from an art school in a sunny place like Spain or Italy, let me know all about the programs you offer. Who knows, I may even be able to come back from SES London 2009 a hero, instead of a zero.
Google Behind Tool to Detect ISP Blocking
It’s no secret that Google is an avid supporter of net neutrality legislation. Now, in an effort to further their cause, they’ve partnered with he New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute, the PlanetLab Consortium, and academic researchers to create M-Lab (Measurement Lab).
M-Lab is designed to help detect whether an internet service provider (ISP) is blocking an internet application. This type of research has been attempted before, but Google says the lack of resources such as servers has held the research back.
That’s where Google comes in. They’ll be supplying 36 servers to 12 locations in the U.S. and Europe. M-Lab will collect data on the blocking or interference by ISPs of user internet use, including BitTorrent.
What do you think of M-Lab? Let us know in the comments.
Related Reading:
Senator Dorgan Prepares Net Neutrality Bill
Broadband Subscriptions Drop 51%; Cable Sells More than Phone Co’s
Uncle Sam Says: Thumbs Down on Net Neutrality
Google Getting Serious About Lobbying U.S. Government
Yahoo’s Search Ad Share Drops 40% in UK for Q4 2008
Yahoo’s Q4 UK search advertising share dropped from 13.9 percent in 2007 to 8.4 percent in 2008, a 40% decline. Making things worse is that UK search ad spend actually increased by 11% during the fourth quarter.
Advertisers apparently shifted their dollars to Google, who saw an increase from 82.6 in 2007 to 88.2 in 2008. Microsoft held steady, coming in with a 3.4 percent share in 2008.
These numbers were released by Efficient Frontier and include contextual advertising. Yahoo’s dismal performance may be one reason they decided to shut down their Content Match program in Europe earlier this month.
Related Reading:
Yahoo’s New Era
Search a Bright Spot for Yahoo, too
Yahoo! Search Marketing Updates Help Center
It’s “Horses for Courses” at SES London 2009
A year ago, I wrote an article for Search Engine Watch entitled, “It’s ‘Horses for Courses’ at SES London.” In the article, I said business professionals may want to bring a team to Search Engine Strategies London – because there will be three concurrent conference tracks and no business professional will be able to attend all of the sessions.
Well, it’s a year later and I’d make the same case – even in a recession. In fact, if you need to grow your business online now more than ever, then the smart move will be to bring a team of three people to SES London 2009.
To some extent, this is a case of “In for a penny, in for a pound.” If something is worth doing, then you might as well go the whole nine yards.
But it also turns out that it has economic benefits. If you read the rates and registration details closely, you’ll see that there are Special Group Discounts. (First two conference registrants pay full price, the third person from the same organization, registering at the same time qualifies for 50% off their registration fee.)
And sending a team of three people will enable you to take advantage of the fact that the SEM conference includes advanced sessions, intermediate sessions, and beginner sessions. And this will enable your organization to put different “horses” on different “courses.”
For example, someone entering the SEM steeplechase for the first time will race through the the Fundamentals Track on Wednesday, Feb. 18, as well as the Beyond Fundamentals Track on Thursday, Feb. 19.
Meanwhile, someone who’s been around the SEO racecourse a few times will gallop through the Organic Track on Tuesday, and the Issues and Tactics Track on Thursday.
To extend the metaphor, someone who already knows how to harness PPC will be trotting through the Advertising Track on Wednesday, as well as the Improve Me Track on Thursday.
How can I be so sure? Well, I’ve been speaking at Search Engine Strategies London each and every year since 2005. And when I wasn’t speaking, I was sitting in on sessions to report on the conference for Search Engine Watch.
If you’ve never been to SES London before and want to get an idea of what you’ll see and hear, you can take a look at the descriptions below of half a dozen out of more than 40 sessions — as well as some video interviews with six the more than 60 conference speakers.
Let’s start with a couple of the advanced sessions first.
Search Advertising Tools: In order to get a leg up on the competition, successful Search Engine Marketers need to be armed with the latest tools of the trade. This session will explore a range of popular search engine advertising tools along with some important features you should be aware of. One of the speakers on the panel of experts will be Thomas Bindl, Founder & CEO, Refined Labs GmbH.
Byron Gordon of SEO-PR interviewed Thomas about the evolution of search ad tools during SES Chicago 2008. Thomas mentioned the best paid and free search ad tools on the net and provided a preview of SES London 2009.
Thomas Bindl, Refined Labs, on search ad tools and SES London 2009
Ads in a Quality Score World: More and more, ranking well in paid search listings is less about how much you pay and more about the “quality” of your ad campaign. But what goes into making up your quality score? One of the speakers on this panel will be Andrew Goodman, Principal, Page Zero Media.
As SES Chicago 2008, I interviewed Andrew about the updates he made to his book, “Winning Results with Google Adwords.” His book take a closer look at quality factors and gives tips on increasing the perceived relevancy of your campaign.
Andrew Goodman, Page Zero Media, on Google Adwords at SES Chicago 2008
Next, let’s take a look at a couple of the intermediate sessions:
Search Resources: Building a Better Economic Model: In today’s uncertain economic times, businesses need certainty around their marketing and sales initiatives. Measurable, quantifiable strategies which have a defined ROI will win, as managers will only invest in activities they can measure. One of the speakers on this panel will be Bryan Eisenberg, Co-Founder, Future Now, Inc.
Mitch Joel of Twist Image and Six Pixels of Separation interviewed Bryan at SES Toronto 2008. Bryan was the talked about his keynote presentation as well as his new book, “Always Be Testing: The Complete Guide to Google Website Optimizer.”
Bryan Eisenberg on Site Metrics and Optimization
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. One of the speakers on this panel is Jennifer Evans Laycock, Editor-in-Chief, Search Engine Guide.
At SES San Jose, 2008, Andrew Goodman interviewed Jennifer about the best tips on viral campaigns and social media marketing, especially for small business who want to make the most of their business online without spending too much money.
Small Business Viral Marketing Tips, SES San Jose 2008
Finally, let’s take a look at a couple of the beginner sessions:
Search Engine Friendly Design: How can you build a website from the ground up that pleases both crawler-based search engines and your visitors? Discover how “search engine-friendly” design can tap into free traffic from search engines. One of the speakers at this session is Matt Bailey, President, SiteLogic.
As SES Chicago, Chris Boggs of Rosetta interviewed Matt about difference between Analytics 1.0 and Analytics 2.0. Matt said Analytics 1.0 is the endless reporting of numbers with no analysis of the data, while Analytics 2.0 digs into the “why and how” to better understand what the data means.
Matthew Bailey, SiteLogic on 1.0 and 2.0 Analytics at SES Chicago
Search Advertising 101: Paid placement is a form of search advertising that provides a top ranking in return for payment. Every major search engine offers a paid placement program. The moderator of this session, which is especially geared toward beginners, will be Andy Atkins-Krüger, Managing Director, WebCertain Europe Ltd.
Byron Gordon interviewed Andyat SES Chicago 2008 about that show as well as his expectations for SES London 2009. Andy also talked about the state of search in Europe for 2009.
Andy Atkins-Kruger, WebCertain, discusses SES Chicago and SES London 2009
In other words, there are courses for horses at SES London 2009. That’s what makes it 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.
Matt Mason, Author of “The Pirate’s Dilemma”, to Give Opening Keynote at SES London 2009
In the U.S., we’d say, “Stop the presses.” But, in the U.K., they simply say, “Stop Press.” The expression means that a news item has been inserted into a newspaper after the printing has been started.
I was just sitting down to write about a new video interview with Andy Atkins-Krueger, the Managing Director of Web Certain Europe. The YouTube video has just been uploaded to the SESConferenceExpo’s Channel.
That’s when I visited the Search Engine Strategies London site and discovered that Matt Mason, author of “The Pirate’s Dilemma: How Youth Culture Reinvented Capitalism,” will be giving the opening keynote on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2009.
Stop Press!
Matt is a writer, consultant and entrepreneur, who is an expert on how youth culture drives innovation and is changing the way the world works. His book tackles the problems and opportunities created by the rise of piracy and its potential as a business model.
According to the SES London conference agenda for Day 1, Matt thinks that the trends emerging from the youth culture are blurring long-established boundaries between right and wrong and unraveling some of our most basic assumptions about business, society and our collective future. He has explored the problems these new trends pose to business and the opportunities they represent, as well.
For example, when pirates create value for society and society gets behind their creations, it doesn’t matter how many lawsuits you throw at the problem — you are assaulting your own potential future. This reality positions piracy as a new business model.
Matt plans to speak about how this model works and how it applies to your business at SES London 2009. I plan to have a front row seat. (I may need to wear my pirate costume.)
This topic was also raised by Lawrence Lessig, Professor of Law at Stanford Law School, during his opening keynote at SES Chicago 2008. This is where my original post about Andy Atkins-Kruger comes in.
Byron Gordon of SEO-PR interviewed Andy at SES Chicago about Lessig’s keynote and asked Andy to give a quick preview of SES London 2009, where he will be speaking at the Search Around the World: US, Europe & Asia session on Day 1. Check out the interview below.
Andy Atkins-Kruger, WebCertain, discusses SES Chicago and SES London 2009
Rich Riley to Head Yahoo! Europe and Canada
Yahoo! is filling the void left by Europe and Canada head, Toby Coppel, by hiring from within. Rich Riley, head of Yahoo!’s Advertiser & Publisher Group in Europe, has been tapped to fill the role. He will be based in Rolle, Switzerland, where Yahoo! Europe’s headquarters are located.
Rich Riley has been at Yahoo! for almost ten years, joining the company with the acquisition of his startup, Log-Me-On.com. He rose up through the ranks and at one point led the U.S. Small and Medium Business Division.
Sue Decker, president, Yahoo! Inc., said, “The appointment of Rich Riley represents the next phase in the evolution of our European and Canadian businesses, enabling us to build on the great foundations laid by Toby Coppel. We are committed to continuing our growth as a leader in Europe and Canada.”
Commenting on his new role, Rich Riley, said, “Yahoo! is one of the leading global internet companies and a leader in both Europe and Canada. With our focus on creating brilliant starting points for consumers and being a must buy for advertisers, we will continue to grow these key businesses. I look forward to leading these businesses and driving Yahoo! forward in Europe and Canada at this exciting time.”
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