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Online Dating Site Match.com Goes Mobile

matchmobile.gifThere’s really no stopping the transition of web services into the mobile web. Now, even online dating sites, such as Match.com gets their own mobile version.

Match.com, one of the web’s pioneering online dating sites will be launching an interface for mobile users. MatchMobile will allow users to receive text messages to their mobile phones whenever another Match member sends them an e-mail. Matchmobile, which will be initially available in the United States, UK and Canada, will also allow subscribers to search for potential matches on their mobile phones. The service will also be available in other nine countries at the end of the year.

So, for those who can’t get enough of dating services on their PCs, now they can stay in-touch with their networks in Match.com and monitor possible matches even when they are on the go. To avail of this new service, an extra fee of $5 month will be charge to Match.com members.

Anybody desperate enough to have this kind of service delivered to their mobile phones and willing to pay $5/month? I could just imagine how many are into this kind of stuff?

[via]

 Mon,
30 Jul 2007
Original article here
 
 
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 On Saturday, Google AdSense users will not be able to login to their accounts, although ads will still be served. From the Inside AdSense blog [1]: Tomorrow, our engineers will be performing routine system maintenance from 10am to 12pm PDT. Although you won't be able to log in to your account for 2 hours, we'll continue to serve ads to your pages and track your earnings as usual. For our international readers, we've converted the maintenance start time for a few cities around the world: Toronto — 1pm Saturday London — 6pm Saturday Cairo — 8pm Saturday Mumbai — 10:30pm Saturday Melbourne — 3am Sunday [2] [3] [4] [5] Links: ------ [1] http://adsense.blogspot.com/2007/08/site-maintenance-on-saturday-august.html [2] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=Vj9gwL6n [3] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=r3WrzBZg [4] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=cER7SSgB [5] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=gspMwpLN Mon,
30 Jul 2007
 
 
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 AOL's Netscape is a great adaptation of the Digg model which uses paid editorial staff to submit & filter news items and influence what is served on the homepage. Netscape [1] is also a proven form of link building for SEO purposes, as Netscape links are organic and even if a story never makes it to the homepage (or channel page), the Netscape listings get ranked highly in Google, Yahoo and other engines. Of course, with that authority comes misuse, and lots of spamming.. so much in fact that it's hard for me to sometimes believe the Netscape Navigator staff lets some of those stories make it to the top (they were better off just packing it with Weblogs Inc. stories like in the early days). Regardless, it's been around for about a year or so now and Netscape seems to have shed the Digg clone image it had cast upon it by Digg-loyalists and has become a staple part of the AOL/Netscape experience. Or has it? AOL TRASHING NETSCAPE? AOL may be trashing the social news sharing service according to Techcrunch's Michael Arrington due to AOL & old Netscape loyalists missing their former managable portal which was stocked full of AP wire driven news and parter content; not this social news crap Jason Calacanis was trying to fling at Netscape's core user base, who were probably only still Netscape users because they love dial up connections, still use the old Netscape browser or email, or just never changed their homepage. For whatever reason, after Calacanis left AOL, he left Netscape as not only its visionary, but its guardian. From Techcrunch [2]: AOL is considering killing off the "Digg Clone" social news site that they launched a little over a year ago at Netscape.com, and redirecting traffic to the Netscape portal instead. One source says it’s a done deal. Another says no final decisions have been made. But the Netscape editorial team is rumored to be completely freaked out, and they are starting to talk to outsiders. I for one would be sad to see Netscape (in its current form) go. Not only because it's great for building links, but also because we all know that after a couple of months Digg will make changes which were influenced by Calacanis's Netscape (like editorial staff suggesting the original news source on a story, or related stories) and Calacanis's Netscape will go down in history as another great idea that was either ahead of its time or not supported by its ownership. The site should be in its prime as normal web users start to take advantage of social media more & more, and seeing it go would be a real shame. Let's hope Arrington just stumbled upon some hot air coming out of Camp AOL, and this rumor does not solidify. Either way, once someone posts the Techcrunch story on Digg, the rumor will surely explode along with Michael's traffic. [3] [4] [5] [6] Links: ------ [1] http://www.netscape.com [2] http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/08/09/aol-may-kill-their-netscape-digg-clone/ [3] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=Eap4Sp8k [4] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=wPtuVVkQ [5] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=R9YqwRMA [6] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=5OSNZMWw Mon,
30 Jul 2007
 
 
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 There is currently a debate going on right now about Google removing the PageRank score [1] from the Google Toolbar. Why? *Toolbar PageRank numbers can be 3 months out of date or more. *Some "PR Updates" have been buggy enough to seriously misrepresent a page's real PR. *Matt Cutts has blogged that PR Updates are considered pretty much a non-event around Google. *PageRank has started a flawed econonmy of link building and trading in an effort to raise or distribute these scores. Unlike a lot of the rants which go on in forum threads, it seems that Google is keeping an eye on this one and taking it seriously. Search Engine Roundtable [2] notes that Adam Lasnk of Google has joined the discussion and is looking for feedback and alternative information which Google could serve. PageRank is an important signal and remains one of many effective measures of quality, but admittedly it's often viewed and used/abused in ways that run contrary to the interests of searchers and webmasters. Still, a lot of folks find the PR information useful; it provides a great incentive to try out our toolbar and explore its other features as well. Given that many of you aren't so fond of PR info in the toolbar, I'd love to know what feature you woudl like to see. Mandatory criteria: *Would have to provide actionable info for webmasters *Would need to be useful and interesting for the ~99.9% of users who aren't webmasters Yep, a lot of search marketers & webmasters tend to forget that unlike Alexa, Google Toolbar was not made specifically for them. Perhaps Google should release a toolbar only for Google Webmaster Tools users, or should the company leave such tweaking up to Greasemonkey? You be the judge! [3] [4] [5] [6] Links: ------ [1] http://www.webmasterworld.com/google/3416514.htm [2] http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/014435.html [3] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=93TiDrRc [4] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=ogu7n3eO [5] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=lWuT1MCQ [6] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=OwbYUkh7 Mon,
30 Jul 2007
 
 
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 It takes months to properly plan a new site launch or even a redesign. With months of time invested, and hundreds (or thousands) of man hours on the line — you need to make sure your new site is ready to rock from day one. It is a common belief that a well designed web site is one that lacks optimization. While many times that does in fact hold true, it does not have to be. With the right communication in place, your designers can produce both great looking and functional web sites that do not compromise your ability to optimize. Here are ten quick tips to pass along to your designers, your writers and your developers to help them create the best site from the beginning… 1.) Move JavaScript and CSS Off Page Moving CSS and JS files off the page does two things. First, it creates cleaner code that is more easily managed. More importantly though, it frees up space that engines consider to be prime real estate. Let's say a spider lends preferential treatment to content that appears in the first 20KB of a document. If 15KB at the start of your document is verbose JavaScript and CSS coding, you have created an uphill battle from the start… 2.) Code Validity is Key Always make sure that the final code of your pages can fully validate according to W3C standards. Failure to validate could create accessibility issues — and the engines simply dislike that. They want to push their users out to complete sites that work for everyone. 3.) Browsable Navigation Links Encapsulating links to internal pages in Flash or JavaScript is dangerous. While some engines can often find links from inside of these coding blocks, it is not guaranteed. Therefore, it is wise to always have an HTML compliant navigational structure. Examples include footer text links, a DHTML menu, etc. 4.) Use a Structured Content Hierarchy A theme based approach to optimization is the most successful one. Imagine all of the content on your web site to mimic a family tree. Each layer down, there's more content that fits the overall theme. By nature, the further you drill down — the more specific your content becomes. 5.) URL Construction & Query String URLs Query strings in URLs are less of a problem today than they once were. Unfortunately, they can still create issues for some engines — and it's our goal to make the most of the search industry. With this in mind I would recommend that you work with your coding teams to ensure that query strings are kept to a minimum. 6.) Limit Flash Usage Putting all of your content in a Flash file creates a difficult platform from which to optimize. While it can be done, the results will not come as easily as if Flash was used as a compliment to the rest of the page. Thankfully, with CSS streamlined video on the ‘net, Flash is no longer a necessity. Remember, if you have to use Flash — cut down how much information is in there and fine alternative ways to deliver the content. 7.) Natural Keyword Integration Repeat after me… "I will not stuff pages with keywords!" Like the engines, I'm tired of seeing web sites that would be great if not for their blatant use of keyword stuffing. Listen up folks… Keyword density and repetition is a thing of the past. Engines are more about off page SEO now, and you need to write clear and concise content that addresses the user. Engines are keen to what makes sense contextually… Don't try to pull the wool over their eyes. 8.) Local Information Integration Sounds all technical and precise, but it's quite simple. If you sell antiques in Tampa Florida, then include that in your site. How? List (in HTML formatted text of course) where you are located. Include a link to Google (or Yahoo) Maps to help hammer home the point. Search is moving to become more focused on users at a local level. Therefore, building sites with this in mind should be a given. 9.) Avoid Duplicate Content This is pretty self explanatory, and it's an SEO principal that has been hammered home many times. Why keep on hammering? Because it's that important! Be sure that you don't get lazy and copy content from one page to the next. Each page should be specifically targeting one major idea, and the text needs to reflect that. Think you're at risk? Try something like this free tool [1] allows you to determine the percentage of similarity between any two pages 10.) Launch With the Proper Foundation Is your new site equipped with a robots.txt file? An XML sitemap? RSS Feeds? Before you launch any new web site you need to run a full QA test to ensure that… • all pages load properly • no browser compatibility issues exist • SEO elements (titles, meta tags, alt tags, etc.) are in place • spiders can discover all pages • robots.txt validates • sitemap.xml(.gz) works Doing this will really cut down on any potential errors out of the gates, and will put you in a position to succeed. Involved in the industry since 1999, Eric currently manages organic optimization at a Fortune 500 organization. In addition to contributing here on Search Engine Journal, Eric maintains a blog and consulting business at www.ericlander.com [2]. [3] [4] [5] [6] Links: ------ [1] http://www.webconfs.com/similar-page-checker.php [2] http://www.ericlander.com/ [3] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=Fni7bD9f [4] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=vgPsuaaQ [5] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=Mqit48YG [6] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=IYLahjo3 Mon,
30 Jul 2007
 
 
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 Yahoo Search Marketing [1] has introduced a new and results oriented sponsored search interface and ranking system which has been code named Panama. Mona Elesseily of Page Zero Media has been working hard on learning all of the in's and out's of the system and has published her 100 page report : Mastering Panama [2]. [3]Today, the majority of online advertisers are neglecting the power of Yahoo! Search Marketing, in part because Yahoo isn’t the hot media topic (Google still is), but also because Yahoo's new, long-promised ad platform (codenamed Panama) was so good it actually caught a lot of advertisers off guard! Key topics covered in Mastering Panama [4] include: *Drill down: new geotargeting capabilities *Understand match types and MatchDriver technology *Y!SM service tiers and certifications *Streamlined editorial review process *Improve ROI with the new quality index *Yahoo! 2010: new advertising products *Ad copy rotation: run better tests *Keyword research: Time saving tools *Click volume forecasting [5] [6] [7] [8] Links: ------ [1] http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com [2] http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-2486598-10463745?URL=http://www.cafepress.com/pagezero.150156453 [3] http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-2486598-10463745?URL=http://www.cafepress.com/pagezero.150156453 [4] http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-2486598-10463745?URL=http://www.cafepress.com/pagezero.150156453 [5] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=98UAf4xl [6] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=j2df5srI [7] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=PMERaD5L [8] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=P4NID0Te Mon,
30 Jul 2007
 
 
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 Yesterday Raj looked at a tool which helps organize manual link building and discussed the pro's and con's of paid link building with such practices as sending out emails asking for links. While emailing bloggers may work for some companies, other link builders find more value in paid _anchor text friendly_ editorial linking, others in mass submitting to directories. Link baiting and social media participation also tend to bring in loads of links, from natural blogs to high authority sites (for example, to my surprise Move.com linked to one of my blogs the other day). 1. Linkbait 2. Solid resource content 3. Social media promo, coupled with #1 and #2. 4. Comments 5. Forums 6. Buying them 7. Link exchange 8. Other :) Which form of link building has worked best for you and which is your preference? (No need to spill all of the beans here, vague answers in the comments are fine). [1] [2] [3] [4] Links: ------ [1] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=WTW7SAhL [2] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=YuQMObL3 [3] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=elpjN3zP [4] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=BkCNbxQX Mon,
30 Jul 2007
 
 
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 When Yahoo Search Marketing announced the appointment of Reggie Davis as its VP of Marketplace Quality, the company said Davis will serve as the company's first senior executive dedicated to continually enhancing the quality of Yahoo!'s display and search listings marketplaces. *Davis is responsible for developing and executing a strategy aimed at driving more rapid innovation, greater transparency and faster delivery of product and service enhancements to build an even higher quality advertising network for Yahoo!'s customers. *Davis will hire a dedicated staff to manage across all of Yahoo!'s cross-functional quality teams and ensure that customer input is integrated into all efforts to address click fraud, traffic quality, network placement and other marketplace quality issues. *Davis and his team will also be responsible for increasing Yahoo!'s dialogue with advertisers and publishers on quality related matters. That's a lot of responsibility to put on one man in order to clean up the click fraud quality at Yahoo Search Marketing, and the team has shown one of its first major accomplishments of increasing dialogue with and motivating its advertiser base to report suspect clicks and sites with Yahoo's Traffic Quality Center. [1] The Traffic Quality Center includes basic tips and questions on tracking clicks, 3rd party PPC management software and click discrepancy, the important of analytics, and articles on best practices. Submitting requests for Click Investigation [2] is also outlined on the new service and an informative FAQ section [3]. This is just the beginning, but an excellent start in an outreach and conversation approach by the Yahoo Click Quality team. [4] [5] [6] [7] Links: ------ [1] http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/trafficquality/ [2] http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/trafficquality/click.php [3] http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/trafficquality/faq.php [4] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=4pRIwfmD [5] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=zAf6AGQ2 [6] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=a5Agch4J [7] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=mIQkPR0S Mon,
30 Jul 2007
 
 
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 Yahoo Search and Yahoo Sports are working together to bring Yahoo Sports Shortcuts to the searching experience. The first batch of shortcuts is for current Major League Baseball players. As an example, let's say you want to get the lowdown on the current MLB strikeouts leader, Cy Young contender & Orioles lefthander Erik Bedard [1]. Instead of searching through Yahoo results or sports pages, most of the basic information you need on Bedard is available via the Yahoo Shortcut, including current 2007 stats, Yahoo Fantasy Ranking, and quick links to news, game logs, scores & photos. Looking at other search engines, Microsoft's Windows Live Search [2] has a very basic overview of the pitcher's stats and news clips while Ask.com surprisingly does not have a Smart Answer for a search on Bedard [3]. Try a search on Yahoo for a player making major current news right now, like Barry Bonds, [4] and the Yahoo Sports Shortcut is supplemented with a shortcut provided by Yahoo News, addressing the appropriate user experience as most people searching on Yahoo for Mr. Bonds right now are interested in his controversial yet historic breaking of Hank Aaron's home run record, and not his current stats for the season. (Note that the Barry Bonds Yahoo Sports page is ranked #5 in this result.) Ask.com does have a Smart Answer for Barry Bonds [5], with content driven from mlb.com, wikipedia and who2. The Yahoo Sports Shortcuts are a very welcome addition to the Yahoo Search experience, especially since Yahoo Sports, in my opinion, is the premier online sports news, fantasy sports & statistics portal. The use of shortcuts greatly enhances the use experience as quality content is delivered to the end user via quick linking in a manner any searcher can easily understand. I expect this to be a success, drive more traffic to internal Yahoo Sports pages, and for Yahoo Search to roll out NFL, NBA and possibly even NHL Yahoo Shortcuts as each season begins. [6] [7] [8] [9] Links: ------ [1] http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=A0geu5t0TbtGirsAW3pXNyoA?p=erik+bedard&y=Search&fr=moz2 [2] http://search.live.com/results.aspx?q=erik+bedard&mkt=en-us&FORM=LIVSOP&go.x=0&go.y=0&go=Search [3] http://www.ask.com/web?q=erik+bedard&search=search&qsrc=0&o=333&l=dir [4] http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=A0geu_NkTbtGzV0AjSdXNyoA?p=barry+bonds&y=Search&fr=moz2 [5] http://www.ask.com/web?qsrc=167&o=333&l=dir&q=barry+bonds&search=search [6] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=EpQro9kx [7] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=yMTo3eRb [8] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=Db6ZMwnI [9] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=urjFWMaO Mon,
30 Jul 2007
 
 
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 Many Google AdWords advertisers use broad match for their keywords, but few realize that using broad match also automatically activates expanded match. Expanded match, according to Google’s definition [1] is: With broad match, the Google AdWords system automatically runs your ads on relevant variations of your keywords, even if these terms aren't in your keyword lists. Keyword variations can include synonyms, singular/plural forms, relevant variants of your keywords, and phrases containing your keywords. For example, if you're currently running ads on the broad-matched keyword web hosting, your ads may show for the search queries web hosting company or webhost. Recently Google AdWords launched a great new tool - the Search Query Report [2]. This report allows you to see the actual queries that displayed your ad on Google. In the past, advertisers could only pull reports based on the keywords they provided to Google, but advertisers could not see the actual queries themselves. This report allows advertisers to now see the actual expanded match queries that generate their ads. There are three main types of expanded match results you should be primarily concerned with: *SYNONYMS : Many times, the synonyms are not truly synonyms for your keywords, depending on your industry, service or product. For example, one client I have sells a product with the name "Storm Case" - it’s a ruggedized shipping case. In this example, Google assumed that the word "storm" is synonymous with the word "hurricane" and in turn served the ad for queries such as "hurricane vase" - a completely unrelated product. In another case, competitors’ brand names were considered synonyms to the advertiser’s brand name - even though the advertiser was not actively attempting conquesting campaigns against its competition. *MISSPELLINGS : As mentioned in the synonyms example, sometimes misspellings generate a completely unrelated term, such as "case" and "vase". *OTHER LANGUAGES : Even though you select your language and country for each campaign, I’ve found that Google occasionally serves an ad when a keyword that you’ve provided is searched in other languages. In one client’s case, a keyword we provided generated an ad when searched in Hebrew, Spanish and Japanese. By using the Search Query Report to find new negative keywords and add them to the campaigns, we were able to nearly double conversions almost overnight - it was truly that dramatic. _Janet Driscoll Miller is the President and CEO of Search Mojo [3], a full-service search engine optimization and pay-per-click advertising management agency._ [4] [5] [6] [7] Links: ------ [1] http://adwords.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=6136 [2] https://adwords.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=68034 [3] http://www.search-mojo.com/ [4] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=qG5exiQM [5] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=IhXytare [6] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=PL2oqHGM [7] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=HiC4g0TP Mon,
30 Jul 2007
 
 
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 The FCC has criticized a White Space Coalition prototype device which is supported by Google, Microsoft, HP & Intel which would take advantage of the unused television airwaves in the spectrum to beam high speed Internet. The FCC says the prototype device caused television interference in the 700 MHz spectrum. The White Space Coalition plans to work with the FCC to identify the problems. Ideally, the White Space Coalition would help to bring affordable broadband Internet access to the rural areas of the US, expanding services like YouTube, Internet television and other broadband reliant projects, and bypassing the existing Ma Bell & Cable Network controlled broadband infrastructure. UPI Reports [1]: The FCC previously said it would allow use of wireless devices in TV spectrum as long as they are fixed. But it later said it would consider allowing unlicensed portable devices to use the spectrum. The FCC found the sample didn't not consistently sense or detect TV broadcast signals and sometimes caused broadcast interference. The White Spaces Coalition said in a statement it was encouraged "that FCC engineers did not find fault with our operating parameters and remain confident unlicensed television spectrum can be used without interference." [2] [3] [4] [5] Links: ------ [1] http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Business/2007/08/08/fcc_white_space_sample_needs_work/2350/ [2] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=noAS4JE8 [3] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=78ObCaZw [4] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=wDBn8v3o [5] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=a1lrnMqp Mon,
30 Jul 2007
 
 
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 The LA Times has gone live with a new Google Maps Mashup which shows where homicides have occurred throughout the Los Angeles area. The Homicide Map [1] mashup is a bit dark, but useful in terms of making sure neighborhoods are safe and what kind of homicides occurred (gunshots vs. blunt force vs. killed by police). [Via ScreenWerk [2]] [3] [4] [5] [6] Links: ------ [1] http://www.latimes.com/news/local/crime/homicidemap/ [2] http://gesterling.wordpress.com/2007/08/15/la-times-homicide-map/ [3] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=Ybia1oD3 [4] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=oOxbVvxm [5] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=9ZBbqa7m [6] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=EIfrLvQo Mon,
30 Jul 2007
 
 
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 Arthur Bergman at O'Reilly Radar [1] has the lowdown on some changes Fox News has been making to the Wikipedia entries of their critics and competition (like Al Franken [2]) which were traced back to a Fox News IP address [3]. Here is an example of an entry which was changed from: The lawsuit focused a great deal of media attention upon Franken's book and greatly enhanced its sales. Reflecting later on the lawsuit during an interview on the [[National Public Radio]] program "[[Fresh Air]]" on [[September 3]], [[2003]], Franken said that Fox's case against him was "literally laughed out of court" and that "wholly (holy) without merit" is a good characterization of Fox News itself. into The lawsuit focused a great deal of media attention upon Franken's book and greatly enhanced its sales. Reflecting later on the lawsuit during an interview on the liberal [[National Public Radio]] program "[[Fresh Air]]" on [[September 3]], [[2003]], Franken said that Fox's case against him was the best thing to happen to his book sales. Many companies use Wikipedia to build their own image, reputation and search rankings, but when it comes to damaging the Wikipedia entries of their competition, this crosses the line. In the search engine world, search sabotage has been a hot topic [4] as it is quite tempting to practice blackhat or obvious search spamming methods ‘on behalf' of your competition to get them penalized by search engines or even Digg (like submitting all of your competitors' blog posts to Digg with lots of bad grammar and spammy titles), but to witness a media outlet such as Fox News publicly change the Wikipedia entries of their competitors is quite embarrassing for News Corporation, the parent company of Fox News, Dow Jones and the reputable Wall Street Journal. Then again, the move is not surprising, as this is also the company behind MySpace, Married With Children and Joe Billionaire :) [5] [6] [7] [8] Links: ------ [1] http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2007/08/wikipedia_is_on.html [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?diff=prev&oldid=25221039 [3] http://wikiscanner.virgil.gr/f.php?ip1=12.167.224.224-255&ip2=12.30.108.96-127 [4] http://www.forbes.com/2007/06/28/negative-search-google-tech-ebiz-cx_ag_0628seo.html [5] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=MDazbVLV [6] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=BqHpw4o0 [7] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=FzMlzi9a [8] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=ulLmoLAc Mon,
30 Jul 2007
 
 
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 Another reason for Google users to hardly ever open Microsoft Office again has sprung up as Google AdWords is now offering advertisers the option of exporting Adwords reports into Google Spreadsheets. Barry Schwartz [1] of Search Engine Roundtable stumbled upon this in his AdWords account and says _Just go to your reports and click on the "Open as a Google spreadsheet._ [2] [3] [4] [5] Links: ------ [1] http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/014485.html [2] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=QTBrk7Cs [3] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=avD8Z7dw [4] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=kPowjtNV [5] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=gte3dpTN Mon,
30 Jul 2007
 
 
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 There are only a few days left until the SES Conference and Expo [1] will be held again at the San Jose Convention Center in San Jose, California. The event starts on Monday August 20, 2007 and ends on Thursday August 23, 2007. This years keynote speakers are Jim Lanzone, CEO of Ask.com (Tuesday keynote) and Marissa Mayer, VP Search Products & User Experience of Google, Inc. (Wednesday keynote). This is the last SES Event that is being co-hosted and organized by Danny Sullivan and Chris Sherman who are the creators of the event. Here is a quick overview of the conference for the people who never attended a SES Event: *Delivers real-time actionable information you need to grow your business through search engine marketing (SEM/SEO); *Teaches the ins-and-outs of search engine marketing from top search experts and the search engines themselves; *Provides a unique setting to network with fellow marketers and search engine industry professionals and discuss the trends in search engine marketing; *Grants access to the world's most comprehensive gathering of search engine marketing & optimization-related solutions providers and potential partners & affiliates; The Event includes four days of sessions in five tracks running parallel every day from a total of sixteen different tracks overall. Here is the tracks list: Advertising Track, Analytics Track, ClickZ Track, Clinics Track, Content Track, Contextual Track, Conversion Track, Fundamentals Track, Industry Track, Issues Track, Linking Track, Multimedia Track, Organic Track, Searchers Track, Social Media Track and Vertical Track. The Expo is open for two days. The most important parts of the conference are the social and networking events, called parties in normal people’s language. Meeting people face to face makes all the difference. Not only partnerships will be formed or reinforced, but also information will be exchanged that are nowhere published and not accessible anywhere else. See the SES San Jose 2007 party thread [2] at Search Engine Watch Forums. Based on the thread at SEW, official emails from Incisive Media and some other blog posts and comments, did I come up with this list of SES San Jose 2007 social events that are open to the public. TUESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2007 Event: AOL Search Lunch RSVP: http://www.ersvp.com/r/aolsearchlunch082107 [3] Where: San Jose Convention Center, Room J (next to the Keynote Hall) When: 12:00pm-1:15pm Enjoy free lunch, network with other search engine professionals and watch a demo of the new AOL Mobile Search. Space is limited, so reserve your spot today! Registration ends ends on Thu, August 16, 2007, at 12 pm PDT/3 pm EDT. Important: Please stop by the AOL Search table located outside of Room J (next to the Keynote Hall) between 9:45 am and 12 pm on Tuesday, August 21, to pick up your RSVP confirmation card. Make sure to bring a print out of your registration confirmation, your photo ID and SES badge. Your RSVP confirmation card will be used to enter for a chance to win an iPhone. See event details [4]. Event: Google Dance 2007 RSVP: http://services.google.com/events/googledance07 [5] Where: Googleplex, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043 When: 7:00pm - 11:00pm Who: Google WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2007 Event: WebMasterRadio.FM SearchBash 2007 RSVP: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=9NEw8U7fboG6WAc9ZdCtUA%3d%3d [6] Where: ??? When: 7pm-till… Who: WebmasterRadio.FM WebmasterRadio.FM's SearchBash 2007 at SES San Jose 2007 is presented by ASK.com and sponsored by Bruce Clay Inc, Network Solutions and Moniker.com Event: DoubleClick Party (Not Confirmed) RSVP: ??? Where: Paragon Restaurant When: ??? Who: DoubleClick (soon Google) Event: Intuit’s Hospitality Party at SES - Uncork the possibilities Where: Marriott Hotel - Willow Glen Room When: 6:00pm - 8:00pm Who: Intuit (Quicken, Quickbooks, Turbotax) Intuit cordially invites you to a wine and hospitality event at SES. Join your friends and colleagues for a delightful evening with great food, music, wine and prizes! Details at Intuit’s website [7]. If somebody could provide the information to fill in the few missing gaps, that would be great. Simply use the comments box below to submit the details. General comments are welcome too of course. I will arrive on Sunday and stay at the Hilton San Jose near the Conference Center. My cell phone number is available at the contact page on my website. I am looking forward to meet many people in person, who I met virtually in cyberspace over the past twelve months. See you in San Jose! Carsten Cumbrowski Internet marketing resources [8] portal at Cumbrowski.com. [9] [10] [11] [12] Links: ------ [1] http://www.searchenginestrategies.com/sew/sj07/index.html [2] http://forums.searchenginewatch.com/showthread.php?t=18657 [3] http://www.ersvp.com/r/aolsearchlunch082107 [4] https://secure2.ersvp.com/register/flow/flow1/main.htm?eventid=5966 [5] http://services.google.com/events/googledance07 [6] http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=9NEw8U7fboG6WAc9ZdCtUA%3d%3d [7] http://www.intuit.com/careers/marketing/ [8] http://www.cumbrowski.com [9] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=zbpYsF0M [10] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=P95AuiQO [11] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=Wlb9rRru [12] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=HAsgWD0C Mon,
30 Jul 2007
 
 
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 For those members of the search marketing community who happen to be of the female variety (and you know who you are!), Liana Evans is holding her traditional SES Women's Luncheon [1] on Monday August 20th at The Grill on the Alley [2], located next to the Fairmont Hotel. It's nice to see the ladies of search having their get togethers, leaving the excellent new grub which Incisive is sure to be providing at SES San Jose for us boys to enjoy in the conference center. I'm fully expecting some prime rib or roast Cuban pig (with the apple in the mouth, like at SES Miami) this year in San Jose. I'll have no qualms asking for seconds and stuffing my SES bag full of apples, diet cokes and potato chips knowing that the ladies of search will all be shelling out $50 a head at The Grill. Seriously, such get togethers are a staple of SES, as an unofficial networking event or a nice escape from the confines of the conference halls and crowded lounges. Speaking of lunch, last year Bill Slawski, Dave Zuls, Carsten & I had a nice lunch at The Taqueria, which was a block or two from the Conference Hall, and if anyone's up for grabbing some mammoth burritos, ice cold iced tea, and incredible guacamole (consider it the Unofficial SES Men's Luncheon)… leave a comment here. We'll probably be hitting the Taqueria on Monday or Tuesday. [3] [4] [5] [6] Links: ------ [1] http://www.searchmarketinggurus.com/search_marketing_gurus/2007/08/womens-luncheon.html [2] http://www.thegrill.com/location.cfm?subsections_id=50 [3] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=bSogE45n [4] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=smjJ5W3s [5] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=ZVG64dhi [6] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=JN5jVoWr Mon,
30 Jul 2007
 
 
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 Philipp Lensenn at Google Blogoscoped has one of the biggest Google scoops in a long while, screenshots of the Google Health information storage program (in prototype form). Code named Weaver, Google Health aims to produce a digital base for medical records which can be shared among patient doctors and patients that includes such information as medications, conditions, allergies and test results. More from Google Blogoscoped [1]. [2] [3] [4] [5] Links: ------ [1] http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2007-08-14-n43.html [2] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=lwY4gXd6 [3] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=aPycCeiB [4] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=EcVYaMQd [5] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=iZHFNsHq Mon,
30 Jul 2007
 
 
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 [1]Social peeking site PeekYou [2] gets even better with the release of its beta 2.0 version. The newly refurbished people-search engine introduces new features such as advanced set of tools, cleaner design, speedy profile editing, and a user-friendly navigation experience. To give you a brief background about PeekYou and what it does, the official FAQ [3] states: PeekYou is a new kind of online white pages. A PeekYou profile helps other people find your websites, social-networking pages, photos, or anything else about you online. You can also create a profile for friends or relatives to ensure that they may also be easily found online. PeekYou was launched sometime in July and it currently claims around 50,000 plus member profiles. Being a social site, each members can edit links and tags associated with other registered members (which I think is vulnerable to malicious abuse). I was trying out a couple of searches in PeekYou and found the tool pretty fast and simple to use. And like other social networking site, the facility to add links to member profiles could be useful for doing SEO work on members' blogs and websites. But this would of course depend on how popular the social people-search portal would become. In the meantime, give it a try, do some social peeking at people you know, search for names of your friends, and see how visible they are online. Aside: I tried peeking at the name "Loren Baker" and got a couple of hits. Unfortunately none of them was SEJ's Loren Baker. [4] [5] [6] [7] Links: ------ [1] http://www.searchenginejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/peek-you.gif [2] http://www.peekyou.com [3] http://www.peekyou.com/faq/ [4] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=zMQ8o3mv [5] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=l54cB2VE [6] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=M11kYhJp [7] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=5FbmpC7t Mon,
30 Jul 2007
 
 
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 A simplified way to "embed" Google Maps is apparently coming from Google next week, according to this story [1], in the Sydney Morning Herald: Google will shortly roll-out a new feature on its mapping service that will allow users to easily embed maps directly into web pages. The feature, which operates much in the same as with YouTube videos, was conspicuously missing when Google launched its My Maps service on Google Maps in April. If it’s as easy to do as cutting and pasting code, as the article suggests, you’ll see further proliferation of Google Maps on blogs and other, non-developer generated sites. Even though Microsoft’s "collections" (UG Maps) pre-dates Google’s My Maps [2], the latter takes mapping personalization farther because it’s easier to use. User-generated maps is one of the most interesting and increasingly popular features on Google Maps. It’s also a way the company is getting mapping and local data in areas where little structured data and few commercial databases exist (i.e., outside the U.S. in selected countries). Greg Sterling [3] is the founding principal of Sterling Market Intelligence, a consulting and research firm focused on online consumer and advertiser behavior and the relationship between the Internet and traditional media, with an emphasis on the local marketplace. [4] [5] [6] [7] Links: ------ [1] http://www.smh.com.au/news/web/googles-embeddable-map-feature-out-next-week/2007/08/14/1186857510656.html [2] http://gesterling.wordpress.com/2007/04/05/google-brings-mashups-to-a-mass-audience/ [3] http://www.screenwerk.com [4] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=2nCGhmCV [5] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=lzep4dCC [6] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=lYWTQnQD [7] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=B5cypG2Z Mon,
30 Jul 2007
 
 
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 Ask.com has introduced new Health Smart Answers which help searchers find trusted health and medical information faster. Smart Answers are special search results placed at the top of the results page that provide editorially-selected information as well as quick links to authoritative content (unlike the user generated and governered content provided by sites like Wikipedia or spammy ‘buy viagra' style sites). Ask.com, which usually works under third party partnerships or parent company IAC sites to provide such trusted content, has selected Healthline Networks & Revolution Health to provide medical definitions, images, links to reference materials and other data for the Ask.com Health Smart Answers. "With so many Americans looking for health information online, it is critical that search engines make it easy for people to get reliable and accurate information," said Doug Leeds, vice president of product management at Ask.com. "Our new Health Smart Answers provide quick access to trusted information searchers are looking for, right at the top of the search results page. While other search engines require people to ‘hunt and peck’ through an ocean of web links, Ask.com makes it easy to find the best information quickly." Here is an example, try searching for Oxycodone on Ask.com [1] and this Health Smart Answer will be served: Google's first results are AdWords listings for online pharmacies, same with MSN, Yahoo provides a Yahoo Health link as #1 and NO sponsored results (very responsible from Yahoo). [2] [3] [4] [5] Links: ------ [1] http://www.ask.com/web?q=Oxycodone&search=search&qsrc=0&o=333&l=dir [2] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=mSUhGg2L [3] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=xC2fP2Lo [4] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=VPFJ1aqW [5] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=2XVKUv8s Mon,
30 Jul 2007
 
 
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 Google has streamlined the auditing of sites which have cleaned up or addressed malware concerns, after those sites were labeled by Google Search or via a Webmaster Tools message that such sites were affected by, or distribute malware. Once a site has cleaned up its act, it can then submit a request for an audit from the Google Webmaster Tools team. By following these simple steps, the malware label can be lifted from a site within a 24 hour period. *View a sample of the dangerous URLs on your site in Webmaster Tools. *Make any necessary changes to your site according to StopBadware.org's Security tips. *New: Request a malware review from Google and we'll evaluate your site. *New: Check the status of your review. * If we feel the site is still harmful, we'll provide an updated list of remaining dangerous URLs * If we've determined the site to be clean, you can expect removal of malware messages in the near future (usually within 24 hours). More from the Google Webmaster Central Blog [1]. [2] [3] [4] [5] Links: ------ [1] http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2007/08/malware-reviews-via-webmaster-tools.html [2] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=CS3eeNn2 [3] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=Evj82N3V [4] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=C36AOe1T [5] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=zl490dCE Mon,
30 Jul 2007
 
 
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 The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and the Lead Generation Committee today announced "Lead Generation Data Transfer Best Practices". This document is designed to educate both advertisers and publishers on security practices when generating user information, but also, which is most important, to help standardize the transfer and receipt of data between both the advertisers and lead generation service providers. With so much information being transferred online everyday and security issues rising, it is essential to make this transfer of personal data as secure as possible. Many companies who run affiliate programs are asking now for lead generation forms to be secure. The document defines two main considerations: 1. Security - All lead generation data should be transferred and received in an encrypted format 2. Common Format and Setup - All lead generation data should be transferred in a common format via common, secure internet technologies. To read this document in its full version, please visit: http://www.iab.net/lead_gen.aspx [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] Links: ------ [1] http://www.iab.net/lead_gen.aspx [2] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=6iE4OL61 [3] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=aATMjTbN [4] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=dJ7PaavJ [5] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=Vwm2sIVD Mon,
30 Jul 2007
 
 
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 Data from a recently concluded study [1] of the mobile media authority, M:Metrics [2] shows that there are around 12.3 million American and European mobile users who access social networking sites through their mobile phones. The study which covers consumer data culled for the month of June also shows the following data on mobile social networking usage per country: *US mobile social networking users was the largest at 7.5(3.5%), *Italy follows with 1.3 million (2.8%) *UK with 1.1 million (2.5%) *Spain with 751,000 (2.3%) *Germany (1.9%) *France (1.7%) The report also cited Myspace and Facebook as the two social networking sites that mobile consumers are accessing. MySpace has a mobile usage totaling 3.7 million in the United States and 440,000 in the United Kingdom. While Facebook registered 2 million usage in US and around 307,000 in UK. YouTube and Bebo also generated significant number of mobile usage in the United States and the United Kingdom. YouTube has 901,000 mobile visitors while Bebo had 288,000 mobile visits in the UK. Not surprisingly, the report showed that the most active mobile users of social networking sites are those belonging to the under 25 years age range. Download the PDF file [3] of the M:Metrics report for more details about the results. [4] [5] [6] [7] Links: ------ [1] http://www.mmetrics.com/press/PressRelease.aspx?article=20070815-socialnetworking [2] http://www.mmetrics.com [3] http://www.mmetrics.com/press/articles/20070815-socialnetworking.pdf [4] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=Ck0W6ymQ [5] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=T0LC58ay [6] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=mvaZ4b0d [7] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/SearchEngineJournal?a=Z0Wj4PR5 Mon,
30 Jul 2007