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Fredrick Marckini, chief global search officer of Isobar, will be giving the opening keynote speech at SES Toronto on Tuesday, June 17, 2008. Fredrick also gave the opening keynote at SES London back in February.

While he was in London, I interviewed him about his keynote speech on search engine marketing trends and his duties at Isobar. You can get a pretty good idea of Fredrick’s perspective by watching the YouTube video below — which has just been posted in its entirety. (A portion of Fredrick’s interview was included in our Day 1 roundup.)

And, as you’ll see, YouTube’s recent site updates now enable you view the high quality video by just clicking on the television icon below and to the right instead of using the format 18 code.

Fredrick Marckini at SES London on Search Engine Marketing

You can also get a sense of Fredrick’s point of view by reading: Fredrick Marckini iProspect Exclusive SEO Interview with Dan Horton.

Fredrick Marckini founded iProspect in 1996 and is recognized as a leading expert in the field of search engine marketing. He has authored three of the SEM industry’s earliest books, including Secrets To Achieving Top-10 Positions (1997), Achieving Top-10 Rankings in Internet Search Engines (1998), and Search Engine Positioning (2001). He is considered one of the pioneers of search engine marketing and was named to BtoB Magazine’s Top 100 Marketers 2005 and 2006 lists.

Fredrick is a frequent speaker at industry conferences around the country including: Search Engine Strategies, ad:tech, the iMedia Summit, Search Insider Summit and the eMarketing Association Conference. He has written bylined articles for Search Engine Watch, CMO Magazine, BtoB Magazine, iMedia Connection, ClickZ and numerous other publications. He has been interviewed and profiled in a variety of media outlets including The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, New York Times, Washington Post, Financial Times of London, Inc., Investors and Business Daily, Internet Retailer, National Public Radio, and others.

Fredrick serves on the Board for the Ad Club of Boston, and was a founding Board Member of the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO). He earned a bachelors degree from Franciscan University in Ohio.

It’s only Day 1 at SES New York 2008 and the folks from Pan Communications have already found more than 40 stories that have been written about the Search Engine Strategies conference. If you want a comprehensive list, Matt McGowan, the Global Vice President of Marketing for Incisive Media, will be posting one later this evening (or early tomorrow morning) on the Search Engine Strategies Blog – when he gets back from the Saint Patrick’s Day pub crawl.

In the meantime, I’ve looked through the news articles and blog posts from Monday, March 17, 2008, to try to identify the top ten stories on Day 1 of the event. While this list is no substitute for actually attending SES New York 2008, it will give you a quick summary of some of the highlights.

1. Yahoo! Cozies Up To Its Click-Fraud Critics
Andy Greenberg of Forbes.com says, “At Monday’s Search Engine Strategies (SES) conference in New York, Yahoo! announced a partnership with click-fraud auditing firm Click Forensics to share pay-per-click advertising data and work together to identify fraudulent clicks–those designed to pump a Web publisher’s advertising revenue or drain a competing advertiser’s budget.”

2. Search Spend Seems Healthy Despite Slowing Economy
Kevin Newcomb of Search Engine Watch says, “Despite an increasingly gloomy economic forecast, spending on search engine marketing continues to grow beyond expectations. Preliminary results of the 2007 State of the Market Survey were released today at Search Engine Strategies New York by SEMPO, the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization.”

3. Kicking Off SES New York 2008
Mike McDonald of WebProNews interviewed Matt McGowan about Search Engine Strategies New York 2008, which kicked off today with about 8,000 attendees. Matt explained what can be expected in the week ahead.

4. Orion Panel: Getting Vertical Search Right
Barry Schwartz of Search Engine Roundtable covered the Orion Panel: Getting Vertical Search Right. Barry says, “Jason Finger talks about his online food service. They link people with local restaurants and caterers. Steven Krein is from a human powered health search service. Bill Tancer gives the Hitwise line, love this guy. Josh Stylman from Reprise Media. Paul Forster from Indeed.com a Job Search site.” Barry adds, “This is a unique session.”

5. Analytics: Data Into Action
Lisa Barone of the Bruce Clay Blog covered the Analytics: Data Into Action session. Lisa says, “Kevin Ryan gets things started and says next time he’ll get a bigger room. Hee, seriously. And it’s not that the room is even small, it’s just there are about a gazillion people trying to get in. The SES conference series is alive and well, people.”

6. Neil Patel interviews Jason Calacanis, SES NY 2008

Neil Patel of Pronet Advertising interviewed Jason Calacanis, founder and CEO of Mahalo.com, who will be the afternoon keynote speaker on Wednesday, March 19, 2008. The two discuss issues such as spam, the search engine optimization (seo) philosophy as a whole and its problematic frictions between publishers and users in the battles for visibility and search relevance.

7. Avinash Kaushik, Web Analytics at SES NY 2008

I interviewed Avinash Kaushik, author, blogger, and Analytics Evangelist at Google about the standing-room-only-crowd at the Web Analytics: Measuring Succession session, where he spoke. He also talked about trends in web analytics over the next 24 to 36 months, his highly-rated blog, Occam’s Razor, and his recently published book, Web Analytics: An Hour A Day.

8. Session: Organic Listings Forum
Lee Odden of the Online Marketing Blog covered the Organic Listings Forum. Lee says, “Organic Listings Forum with Mike Grehan moderating and Jill Whalen, Dave Naylor and Greg Boser on the panel. Here we have an all star SEO cast available to answer questions about organic SEO.”

9. SES New York: Video Made the SMB Star (Kelsey Group Track)
Li Evans of Search Marketing Gurus covered the Video Made the SMB Star session. Li says that Mike Boland of the Kelsey Group, who moderated the session, said, “Users are coming to expect Video as part of their search results.”

10. Ad Exchanges - What You Need to Know
Mona Elesseily of Traffick wrote a preview of the Ad Exchanges are Everything session, which will be held at SES New York 2008 on March 19 2008 (Day 3). Mona says, “To learn more about the changes in ad exchanges, I interviewed both Ramsey McGrory, VP of Exchange Development, Right Media and Jay Sears, SVP of Strategic products and business development, ContextWeb.”

Despite an increasingly gloomy economic forecast, spending on search engine marketing continues to grow beyond expectations. Preliminary results of the 2007 State of the Market Survey were released today at Search Engine Strategies New York by SEMPO, the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization.

According to the survey, search engine marketing spending exceeded projections in 2007, and marketers say they will continue to increase their spend on search, which would lead to continued healthy growth. One caveat: if there’s no inventory to buy as a result of a recession or economic downturn, it won’t matter what marketers say they want to do.

While some of the increasing spending is new ad dollars, some of it is the result of shifting marketing dollars from other offline and online marketing endeavors, with offline ads the biggest losers.

Search is taking spending away from things like magazines, direct mail and newspapers moreso than TV, which is a bit puzzling, says Kevin Lee, executive chairman of Didit and co-chair of SEMPO’s research committee.

“I’m surprised we’re not seeing as big a shift from TV. Search is getting more budget from offline media that are usually used to narrow-cast, instead of TV and radio, which are broadcast media,” Lee said. “It doesn’t make a lot of sense, but maybe it’s because it’s being moved from something niche-y to something else that’s niche-y? As search becomes more recognized as something that brand advertisers can use, I’d expect to see more TV and radio dollars shift as well.”

Respondents are expecting to increase their search spend this year, due to factors like advertiser demand; rising costs of keywords and pay-per-click campaigns; an increase in the number of small-to-midsized businesses using search engine marketing; and greater consumer participation in search and increased interest in targeting, such as behavioral and demographic targeting of searchers.

Key preliminary findings include:

• The North American SEM industry grew from $9.4 billion in 2006 to $12.2 billion in 2007, exceeding earlier projections of $11.5 billion for 2007
• North American SEM spending is now projected to grow to $25.2 billion in 2011, up significantly from the $18.6 billion forecast a year ago.
• Marketers are finding more search dollars by poaching budget from print magazine spending, web site development, direct mail and other marketing programs.
• Paid placement captures 87.4% of 2007 spending; organic SEO, 10.5%; paid inclusion, .07%, and technology investment, 1.4%.
• Google AdWords remains the most popular search advertising program, but both Google and Yahoo sponsored search spending has decreased from a year ago.

SEMPO will present more detailed findings from the study on Thursday at the SES New York conference.

At Search Engine Strategies London last month, I interviewed Kevin Ryan, VP, Global Content Director, Search Engine Strategies & Search Engine Watch, about the UK event as well as asking him for a preview of SES New York 2008, which starts next week.

Kevin talks about big-picture sessions versus tactical sessions, and how he structures SES conferences to address attendees’ needs in both areas. He expands on these topics in his column, SES New York and You, which was posted this morning.

While in London last month, Kevin looked ahead to SES New York, which starts on St. Patrick’s Day — a significant holiday for a lad named “Ryan.” Oh, he also talks about the Universal Search panel — a significant topic for anyone in the industry.

Kevin Ryan at SES London 2008 on All Search Great and Small

In case you didn’t already know this, Ryan is a seasoned industry veteran. His former roles include vice president, interactive media, for the Interpublic Group agency; Wahlstrom Interactive; and CEO of Kinetic Results, a 2006 Advertising Age top 20 search engine marketing firm.

Ryan recently founded a strategic consulting firm, Motivity Marketing, and has written over 200 articles on search and interactive marketing as search editor for iMedia Communications, a trade publisher and event producer serving the interactive media and marketing industries. His former client roster includes notable brands such as Rolex Watch USA, State Farm Insurance, Farmers Insurance, Minolta Corporation, Samsung Electronics America, Toyota Motor Sales USA, Panasonic Services, and the Hilton Hotels brands.

Additionally, Ryan has volunteered his time with the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO), and several regional nonprofit organizations.

While others have interviewed him before, this is the first time that I’ve interviewed Kevin for the SES Conference Expo channel on YouTube. Check it out.

Want a snapshot of the day’s search marketing news? Here we’ve collected today’s top news stories posted to the Search Engine Watch Blog, along with search-related headlines from around the Web:

From the SEW Blog:

• Yahoo Lagging On Indexing Sites?
  Yahoo has had good conversion numbers for many of us, and if the efforts to add more content are not being recognized by Yahoo then time may be better spent improving existing pages.
• Would Ask be Ask?
  If Ask dismantled its Teoma engine, would Ask still be Ask? The simple answer to this existential question is no.
• SEMPO Running Agency Salary Survey
  Having successfully completed an in-house search marketers’ salary survey, the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization is conducting an online salary survey of agency-based search marketers.
• Google Content Network Ads Performing Better?
  Many agencies that advertise on Google’s content network have seen improved results over the past six months.
• The Google Killer - comScore (SCOR) Doomsday Scenario
  ComScore did what Yahoo, Microsoft, Facebook, and Digg only dreamed of. ComScore killed the search engine star.
• Google Yahoo MSN Live Sitemaps: Cross-Hosting Grokked by SEOs for SEOs
  With sitemaps cross-hosting (or cross-submission), Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft cracked open the door for corporations to outsource search engine optimization.
• SEW Experts: Standards for SEO and SEM: The Time is Now
  The question comes up often in search marketing circles: Is now the time for search engine marketing standards?
• SEW Experts: Drowning in Red Tape: SEO and Pharma Regulations
  In many industries, regulatory issues can add considerable complexity to an SEO implementation. The challenge is not to let that complexity get in the way of a campaign’s success.

Click to read the rest of this post…

Having successfully completed an in-house search marketers’ salary survey in the fall (with results in January), SEMPO, the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization, is conducting an online salary survey of agency-based search marketers.

The survey presents less than 30 questions and can be completed in an estimated 12 minutes. It’s open now and will run through mid March. Results of the survey will be published in connection with ad:tech San Francisco in April.

If you register for Search Engine Strategies London by Friday, February 1, 2008, you can save £100 with the early bird special. (Which as everyone on this side of the pond knows is worth almost $200, as everyone on the other side of the Chunnel knows is worth €134, or as everyone North of Hadrian’s Wall knows is worth a 750 ml. bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label.)

Now, if you haven’t decided to attend “The Premier Event for Search Engine Marketing & Optimization” yet, check out the conference at a glance, which has been updated since I wrote Its “Horses for Courses” at SES London back on January 8.

Fredrick Marckini

There will be an opening keynote by Fredrick Marckini, Chief Global Search Officer, Isobar. Fredrick founded iProspect in 1996 and is recognized as a leading expert in the field of search engine marketing. He has authored three of the SEM industry’s earliest books, including Secrets To Achieving Top-10 Positions (1997), Achieving Top-10 Rankings in Internet Search Engines (1998), and Search Engine Positioning (2001). Fredrick is considered one of the pioneers of search engine marketing and was named to BtoB Magazine’s Top 100 Marketers in both 2005 and 2006.

Fredrick was a founding Board Member of the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO), where I worked with him during the non-profit organization’s early years. He’s also from the Boston area, as am I. So, it will be a little “roundabout” to go all the way to England to see someone I know from New England. But, hey, search is that kind of industry.

Other additions to the Search Engine Strategies London conference agenda are two sessions in the Kelsey Group Local Track on Tuesday, February 19. One is entitled, Local Search 2.0, and the other is entitled, Mobile Local Search: A Moving Target.

While I should disclose that SES London is a client, others agree that this is a must-attend event. For example, Lyndsay Menzies, Managing Director UK, bigmouthmedia, says, “If you live and breathe search, or just want to know more about it, then Search Engine Strategies is for you. SES is a great show for anyone who wants to hear experts share their knowledge, find out about the latest developments and future technologies, and hone their search expertise.”

Want a snapshot of the day’s search marketing news? Here we’ve collected today’s top news stories posted to the Search Engine Watch Blog, along with search-related headlines from around the Web:

From the SEW Blog:

• SEO for Reputation Management
  One way to combat the threat of negative branding is through a reputation management strategy, which can begin with search engine optimization (SEO).
• Google Bar Codes and Three Martini Lunches
  Search marketing firms have a tremendous competitive advantage over traditional ad agencies. Managing campaigns based on ROI is second nature.
• Balogh Named New Yahoo CTO
  Aristotle “Ari” Balogh, 43, was named CTO for Yahoo today.
• Marchex to Distribute Ads from Superpages Advertisers
  Advertisers who buy placements on Idearc’s Superpages.com local search site will now be able to get the added distribution over Marchex’s network of more than 200,000 vertically-focused local sites, as well as more than 50 partner ad networks and vertical sites.
• Measuring PR in cold, hard cash
  Counting press clips has been a bogus PR metric for more than 20 years. So, what are the right PR metrics in the age of search engines?
• SEMPO Nominees for Board of Directors
  The Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization has announced the nominees for its 2008 board of directors.
• SEW Experts: The Future of Search: All the Media That’s Fit to Be Googled
  The battle between search engines and human beings has moved to a new stage where online advertising and search ads are overtaking the search engine.
• SEW Experts: Online Retail SEO: Holiday Shopping Seasonality
  The Q4 holiday season makes or breaks the success of online retail. Yet many companies don’t realize how important the holidays are for SEO.
• SEW Experts: SEO Millionaire: Who Wants to Be One? - Part 2
  Last week, we challenged SEOs to identify which of the big three travel sites has a canonical issue. Now we give you the answer.
• Search not understood and used in PR campaigns
  PR experts recognize that social media has changed the practice of PR. Search, however, is not part of the PR lexicon yet.

Click to read the rest of this post…

SEMPO, the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization, has announced the nominees for its 2008 board of directors. The 2008 board will consist of 13 individuals who will each serve a two-year term. Voting runs from February 6 to February 15. Candidate profiles are available to SEMPO members on the SEMPO site.

Twelve of the 13 current board members are running for re-election: Chris Boggs, eMergent Marketing; Massimo Burgio, Global Search Interactive; Fionn Downhill, Elixir Systems; Dave Fall, DoubleClick; Duane Forrester, Microsoft; Sara Holoubek, Free Agent; Gordon Hotchkiss, Enquiro Search Solutions; Bill Hunt, Global Strategies International; Kevin Lee, Didit; Jeffrey Pruitt, iCrossing; Dana Todd, Newsforce; and Tanya Vaughan, Hewlett-Packard. 360i’s Dave Williams opted not to run again.

There are 21 other candidates for the board seats: Damien Anderson, Blowfish Digital Limited; Jay Berkowitz, Ten Golden Rules; Lindsay Blankenship, Avenue A | Razorfish; Jessica Bowman, Yahoo; Paul Bruemmer, Red Door Interactive; Luar Buso, Getupdated; Bruce Clay, Bruce Clay, Inc.; Chris Copeland, Outrider; Marc Engelsman, Digital Brand Expressions; Mark Fiske, Bazaar Advertising; Mark Jackson, Vizion Interactive; Mike Jacobs, iMarketing LTD; Ron Jones, Symetri Internet Marketing; Max Kalehoff, Clickable; John Koehler, VML; Chris Kramer, NETexponent; Robert Murray, iProspect; Steve Riegel, Faction Media; Farukh Shroff, Solid Cactus; David Szetela, Clix Marketing; Lori Weiman, Click Forensics.

You’ll recognize many of the names of the nominees as SEW Experts and ClickZ Experts columnists, including Chris Boggs, Fionn Downhill, Kevin Lee, Mark Jackson, Ron Jones, and David Szetela. Congratulations, and good luck to them and to all the nominees.

SEMPO, the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization, is once again gathering feedback from search marketers for its annual State of the Search Marketing Industry Survey.
The survey collects data on respondents’ PPC and SEO spending habits, measurement techniques, and other topics to create a yearly snapshot of the search industry, as it did in the 2006 [...]