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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:

• We May Not Want Standards But FTC May Give Us Some
  The standards debate may be in full swing in our industry - but the decisions may be soon taken out of our hands if the FTC continues to define allowable advertising practices.
• Yahoo Execs Bad Mouthing AOL!
  Guess Yahoo does not want to partner with anyone these days… well apart from their biggest competitor Google.
• AdWords Launches New Conversion Tracking Tool
  A new update to AdWords tracking has been reported by the guys over at AccuraCast. Seems they have improved the conversion tracking allowing users to separate different things to track to conversion.
• As Wifi expands, local and mobile search continue to emerge
  Lately, there have been a swarm of announcements regarding Wifi coming to some previously unconnected spots. So what does this mean for Search Engine Marketers?
• Microsoft Updates Live Maps and Virtual Earth 3D
  Microsoft has announced 11 major updates to their Live Maps and Virtual Earth 3D.
• Trellian Acquires Addme.com
  Trellian, the company behind SEO Toolkit and Keyword Discovery, has announced its acquisition of SEO tools provider Addme.com.
• SEW Experts: Standards? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Standards!
  We don’t need SEO standards to define our operation for us; we simply need to hold ourselves to a higher standard of business.
• SEW Experts: SEM Tools of the Experts
  There are a variety of SEM tools available to search marketers. You should be able to find something to fit every need, and every style.
• SEW Experts: Think Universal, Act Local
  Much of the discussion around Universal search, or blended search, focuses on video and images. But local search may be a more important factor; one that has the greatest impact in blended search results.

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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:

• News Flash: A Google Product Came Out of Beta!
  Google has announced that its AdWords API is out of beta.
• European Group Wants to Cut Search Engine Data Storage
  Almost a month after the EU approved Google’s DoubleClick acquisition, officials from 27 EU nations have unanimously adopted a proposal that could force search engines to reduce the amount of time they store personal information.
• The Offline Benefits of Online Advertising
  The offline effects of online advertising has been a curious issue in the search engine marketing industry over the years. But according to published reports, new study conducted by comScore is shedding more light on the issue.
• Yahoo Unveils Details of New AMP Advertising Platform
  In the midst of firmly responding to Microsoft’s ultimatum, Yahoo has released details of the new AMP advertising platform.
• Yahoo to Microsoft: We Already Dumped You
  After Microsoft issued its ultimatum to Yahoo this weekend, giving them three more weeks before things get ugly, Yahoo’s board of directors responded this morning, reminding Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer that it already rejected Microsoft’s offer, and Yahoo still thinks Microsoft’s offer is too low.
• Microsoft Gets Tired of Waiting
  Microsoft is apparently tired of waiting for Yahoo to respond to its unsolicited takeover bid, and has issued a deadline of April 26 for Yahoo to come to terms on an acquisition agreement, or face a hostile takeover.
• SEW Experts: A Look at Demographic Bidding for AdWords
  Google’s new demographic bidding for content campaigns seems to promise much better control over where ads are served, and hence better ROI.
• How to (Actually) Earn Money (Now) with Social Media (Really): Part 2
  Short term financial success in social media can be a multi-layered enigma, ranging somewhere between daunting and infuriating.
• HackerSafe & The Power of Trust
  There are no universal truths about what to test on a landing page. However, there are common themes that work well across a range of industries. One of these is the use of trust and credibility indicators.

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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:

• Google Defends Security Policy
  Douglas Merrill, Google’s VP Engineering, published an impassioned defense of Google’s security policy.
• Cable Firms Collaborate to Compete with Google
  Executives from the six major cable companies have been gathering at monthly meetings in an attempt to offer national advertisers innovative methods of reaching their customers.
• BoomTown Calls Out TechCrunch: No Google-Digg Buyout
  It seems that Digg’s canoodling with bankers Allen & Co. is more along the lines of delegating the task of handling incoming interest rather than putting a “For Sale” sign up at its San Francisco offices.
• The New Multitaskers: Kids Split Attention Between TV, Internet
  A new study on social networking by Grunwald Associates reveals that kids are no longer glued to the television. Now, while the tube is on, many kids are also splitting their attention between the TV and the Internet.
• Introduction to Search Engine Marketing at SES New York 2008
  It’s hard to provide “a clear and concise overview of the key concepts involved in Search Engine Marketing” when half of them have changed significantly since last year.
• Panama or AdCenter? Microsoft Has Already Decided
  If its proposed acquisition of Yahoo goes through, don’t expect Microsoft to rush to integrate Yahoo’s technology into its platform.
• CAPTCHA Systems are Under Attack
  Should spammers ever succeed in breaking through CAPTCHA, a lot of social media web sites and blogs are going to have a big, big problem. Now, Virtual Blight reports that this is on the verge of happening.
• Best Web Site Traffic: PPC vs. SEO (Search Engine-Optimized) Sites
  How does your PPC traffic compare to natural search traffic and direct navigation? A study by Engine Ready finds that that type-in traffic is the highest converting and “most valuable” traffic.
• SEW Experts: Every Picture Tells a Story: Non-text Contextual Ads
  Like contextual text ads, image ads must distract the user and sell a product quickly.
• Jason Calacanis TechCrunched in Techmeme: Deathmatch at SES New York
  Duncan Riley of TechCrunch fame bodyslammed Jason after his Calacanis.com post on how to run a startup.

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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:

• How to Go Beyond Linkbait : SES NYC
  Reciprocal links - good or bad? If done properly, they can still be a good SEO tactic.
• Microsoft in Hot Pursuit of Google
  At the Mix08 Conference in Las Vegas, Microsoft loudly declared its intentions to increase its share of the search market.
• Yahoo Maps Announces Updates
  Yahoo Maps announced Wednesday that an update was rolled out, which includes several data and style improvements.
• Pentagon Bans Google Mapping Vehicles from Military Bases
  The Pentagon has banned Google from driving their mapping vehicles on military bases after detailed street views of Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, appeared on Google Maps.
• Why Digg’s Worth $200 Million or More to Google
  Digg IPO? No. Digg FSBO. For Sale By Owner. Again. The auction for social search engine Digg begins when Microsoft and Google make their bid.
• SEW Experts: Has Google Already Won?
  With the imminent demise of Yahoo and Ask.com, Google seems to have cemented its near-total control of search. The monopolization of our industry is fast becoming a reality, and yet the users of search are oblivious.
• SEW Experts: Sales and Your Search Marketing Agency - Part 1
  Now that you know how to win the right search marketing clients, it’s time to look at one of the most important areas of your business — how to make sales.
• SEW Experts: Social Media Meets Local Search
  Despite the growing traffic to social networks, local search tools for users of those sites are surprisingly few and far between. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t stay active in those communities.
• AdWords Announces, Explains Load Time Usage In Quality Score
  The AdWords blog just announced the details of the inclusion of page load times in calculating Quality Score.

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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.

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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:

• 7 Ways Brands Can “Get Social”
  Many brands are wary of exposing themselves on social media sites, but as anyone who’s been involved in social media for more than five minutes knows, they’re too late.
• Schedule optimization for SES New York
  The biggest Search Engine Strategies conference of the year will be held the week of March 17 in New York City.
• Yahoo Changes Minimum Bid Policy on Search Ads
  Instead of setting all minimum bids at $0.10, Yahoo will now allow the market to set a variable minimum bid.
• SEW Experts: Google is an Optimist. Newspapers are Pessimists.
  The Internet is a speeding freight train. If newspapers, and for that matter all traditional media, don’t begin immediately to think drastically different, the train will pass them by.
• SEW Experts: Online SEO Training Options
  There are both benefits and drawbacks to taking an online SEO training course.

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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:

• “Googlewash” Is Googlewashed by Online Reputation Defenders
  Googlewashing now appears to be the domain of online reputation management companies.
• Google News UK Sorting News Without Bias?
  Can the flap of a butterfly’s wings in the Googleplex set off a tornado in the top UK news and media sites?
• SEW Experts: The TV Writers — And the Buzz — Are Back
  The end of the TV writers’ strike holds some meaningful lessons for search marketers.
• Spamalot? Yahoo! Buzz Is Not Your Holy Grail
  Yahoo! Buzz promises to squash spammers with a team of spam cops: the Yahoo! Buzz Editors.

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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:

• Google Maps User Reviews to Neighborhoods
  Google Maps and Google Earth are teaming up to provide User Reviews and refinement by Neighborhood in local search results.
• Many See AdSense Income Dropping
  We’ve been hearing and reading a lot of reports about decreased income from AdSense.
• Matt Cutts’ Google NoIndex Discussion Gets Interesting
  The ongoing discussion of the ways you can stop search engines from indexing specified pages and the use of the noindex meta tag was the topic of Matt Cutts blog the other day.
• Hilary Clinton Accused of Obama Turban Warfare in Universal Search
  Blended search - the combination of the universal searches for Obama turban photo, Barack Obama news stories, YouTube Obama Girl videos and buzz-worthy blogs have created a political firestorm ignited by Internet search.
• Yahoo Buzz Launches
  Yahoo, in desperate need of good buzz these days, today launched Yahoo Buzz, promising to uncover and deliver the most interesting and relevant content from Web sites across the Internet to the Yahoo homepage.
• Yahoo to Allow Publishers to Improve its Search Results
  In another move toward openness, Yahoo is creating a platform to allow site owners to create plug-ins that its visitors can add to their Yahoo search accounts to see enhanced listings from that publisher in Yahoo Web search results.
• SEW Experts: Global SEO Strategy: Advanced Search for Large Enterprises
  Many companies have chosen to expand overseas with the growing global economy. With this, each multinational must develop a search marketing strategy for each new international market, which also fits into a holistic global search strategy.
• SEW Experts: SEO Site Clinic: American Express
  You might expect large companies to adhere to basic best practices in SEO, usability and accessibility. But you’d be wrong.

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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 Says, “You Like Me, Right Now, You Really Like Me”
  Like Sally Field, Yahoo recently felt the love and respect of “the academy” — Keynote Academy. They earned #1 Keynote rankings for “Search Assistance and Suggestions” and “Homepage Appeal.”
• The Tao of Crafting Strategic SEM Partnerships
  Every professional needs someone. This timeless axiom is especially relevant to both those who consume and those who provide search marketing services.
• Google’s Brin Calls a Microsoft-Yahoo Tie-up “Unnerving”
  Yesterday Google co-founder Sergey Brin described the Internet doomsday scenario if Microsoft wins its Yahoo takeover bid.
• SEW Experts: The Ginsu Guide to Search Analytics
  The ability to track online (and in many cases offline) advertising to offline conversions has been the biggest hurdle in measuring ROI for many Web-based or Web-involved businesses.
• SEW Experts: How to Market Your Search Engine Agency - Part 2
  Although we’re in the business of marketing, there are many different things to consider when writing your own marketing plan.
• SEW Experts: How Search Marketing Slays Seasonality in Travel
  The most sophisticated advertisers in online travel rely on years, even decades of data collection and analysis to formulate their marketing plans.

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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:

• Win a Free Pass to SES New York with the SES Affiliate Program
  If you’re planning on going, you probably want to tell your clients, readers, and friends. To make that worth your while, we’ve teamed up with Pepperjam Network to create the Search Engine Strategies Affiliate Program.
• Seven reasons to slip over to Islington for SES London
  So, why would you want to slip over to Islington for a few days to attend Search Engine Strategies London? Let me give you seven serious reasons.
• SEW Experts: Google PageRank: Simplified
  Google’s PageRank may be the single most divisive element in the search optimization game.
• SEW Experts: The Great Nofollow Link Debate of ‘08
  What started as a way to stop comment spam three years ago has turned into one of the most controversial topics in search.
• SEW Experts: Universal Pictures: Optimizing Video for Search
  We hear a lot about universal search and how it will keep SEO professionals on their toes with constantly evolving ranking algorithms. So how can local online advertisers take advantage of universal search?
• Google to Test Video Ads on SERPs
  Marissa Mayer, Google’s VP of search products and user experience, said that just as video ads are not effective on pages of text-based search results, text ads are not effective on search results with more multimedia elements, like Google’s universal search results.
• Microsoft Shuffles Execs, Berkowitz to Exit
  Microsoft packed a number of promotions and departures into the press release. Most notable among them is the departure of Steve Berkowitz, who left Ask.com to join Microsoft nearly two years ago.
• Tag your Photobucket , Picasa and Flickr photos: SES London 2008
  If you’re going to Search Engine Strategies London next week, bring your camera or cameraphone, and don’t forget to tag them with “SES London 2008.”
• YouTube New Features - A Marketer’s Perspective
  It’s been an interesting week for YouTube this week–especially for those of us working in SMO or SMM (social media marketing), who spend our days marketing clients through YouTube videos.

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