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Blog archives, week of June 21, 2004

336 - June 26, 2004 - 1.25 PM EST

Two new Search Engine Marketing articles

Yesterday, I wrote two new articles on search engine marketing that I think will be a lot of interest to all online marketing professionals:

1) Comparison Shopping Search Engines
While everybody is concentrated on Google's upcoming IPO and the general state of the search market as far as the traditional search engines are concerned, there is a whole new family of search engines out there that almost nobody pays attention to. These new search engines focus uniquely on customers and their buying habits or buying experience. Comparison shopping search engines can be looked at as online shopping malls, except they have a very important feature that traditional "brick and mortar" don't usually have: search functionality. This is what makes them truly unique.

2) Paid Inclusion and Submit URL Programs
In today’s rather complex world of search engine marketing (SEM), there always seems to be something new appearing all the time. However, paid inclusion and submit URL programs have been around for some time now, and if you’re serious about online advertising, you should definitely consider such programs, since they can make a difference in your ROI (Return on Investment). If you want your website to be included in the regular “organic” search results of search engines such as Yahoo, AltaVista, MSN and a few others, you actually have two options:

Posted on Businessblog™

335 - June 25, 2004 - 8.38 AM EST

European online sales up across the continent

A new report from VISA shows widespread and growing adoption of online shopping throughout Europe. Vive l'Internet! "These are the healthiest post-Christmas online sales figures for several years," said Bernard Ovink, Vice President of Visa EU, with a smile on his face.

"Across Europe, online sales growth is very healthy," he continued. "More and more people are beginning to shop online and loyalty to online brands is increasing. Retailers are becoming smarter at gaining share of wallet, and making it easier for the consumer to buy.

Posted on Businessblog™

334 - June 25, 2004 - 8.31 AM EST

Yahoo-Trillian conflict has users largely unhappy

As the Instant Messaging wars escalate again, consumers are claiming they're the casualties. Yahoo on Wednesday evening began blocking third-party instant messaging clients in what it claimed was a "pre-emptive" action against IM spam, or "spim."

Just a few hours after Yahoo changed its instant messenger protocols, Cerulean Studios issued a patch to allow users of its popular Trillian software to connect again with users of Yahoo's messaging program.

Posted on Businessblog™

333 - June 24, 2004 - 2.52 PM EST

Companies don't take Web customers seriously

This study pretty much confirms what I've been saying for a long time now. When Fortune 100 companies finally listen more to their Web customers and when they get it right, maybe that will boost their ROI a lot! It makes for good reading.

The Websites of too many Fortune 100 companies in the United States don't take Web visitors seriously, an upcoming report by research and consulting firm the Customer Respect Group concludes. The report shows that while companies like Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard performed well, most had inadequate privacy, operational or security measures in place to reassure customers.

The study evaluates the top 100 U.S. companies in six categories -- simplicity, responsiveness, transparency, principles, attitude and privacy -- and elicits end-user feedback on their experiences of visits to the Web sites. Grading is done on a 0 (worst) to 10 (best) scale.

Posted on Businessblog™

332 - June 24, 2004 - 12.31 PM EST

AOL to acquire Advertising.com

America Online, a unit of Time Warner, said it signed a definitive agreement to acquire Advertising.com, a provider of interactive marketing services, in a $435 million all-cash transaction.

Advertising.com operates the industry's largest third-party advertising network, reaching more than 110 million visitors monthly and over 70 percent of all U.S. Web visitors, according to comScore Media Metrix in May 2004.

Posted on Businessblog™

331 - June 23, 2004 - 9.15 AM EST

Merrill Lynch drops out of Google's IPO

Merrill Lynch dropped out of the list of underwriters taking part in the upcoming initial public offering of Google, mostly out of concern that the fees it would generate wouldn't be worth it.

Posted on Businessblog™

330 - June 23, 2004 - 00.12 AM EST

Google updates its PR database

As of 10.00 PM EST yesterday, Google updated its PR database, and most of the sites we have worked on in the last 4 to 6 weeks have gained from one to two points in their overall Page Rank™ value.

Although its not the only criteria in determining the overall rankings of a website, PR (Page Rank™) is still considered important in making a site rank higher in the search engine results pages.

Posted on Businessblog™

329 - June 22, 2004 - 3.59 PM EST

Lycos receives 4 offers for its US portal Lycos

Spanish Internet firm Terra Lycos has received four offers for its U.S. portal Lycos, a company source said on Tuesday.

"We are weighing the sale of Lycos. No decision has been taken yet but Terra has four offers and we expect a decision will be taken in the short term," the source told Reuters without giving further details.

Posted on Businessblog™

328 - June 22, 2004 - 1.20 PM EST

Inexact online searches cost companies $ 31 billion

If you're still not convinced of the importance of relevant search results, the following results of a recent survey might convince you:

"It is estimated that the loss of productive time using search engines to conduct online research cost businesses $31 billion last year".

A new study found that not only are 71% of business executives frustrated with consumer search engines, 74% are not even confident that the results are reliable. However, despite this lack of confidence, 67% stated it would be difficult or impossible to do their jobs without Web-based search tools.

Posted on Businessblog™

327 - June 22, 2004 - 8.52 AM EST

Google to publicly release some of its code

Google is preparing to publicly release some of its underlying software code, only months before it undertakes a multibillion-dollar stock-exchange float.

The revelation comes as Google considers Melbourne for the home of a regional research and development centre in an effort to triple its global workforce over the next 12 months. The time has come for Google to give something back, Wayne Rosing, the company's vice-president of engineering, told students while on a recruiting drive in Melbourne last week.

Posted on Businessblog™

326 - June 21, 2004 - 9.27 PM EST

Yahoo launches Chinese-language search portal

Yahoo launched a Chinese-language search engine on Monday, following Google's lead for a stronger foothold in one of the world's biggest Internet markets.

The introduction of Yahoo's new Web site, www.yisou.com, follows Google's acquisition last week of a minority stake in Baidu.com Inc., China's biggest independent Internet search engine and one of Google's strongest rivals here.

Posted on Businessblog™

325 - June 21, 2004 - 1.32 PM EST

Ask Jeeves adds site preview tool

Search portal Ask Jeeves expands its Smart Search capabilities and adds site preview tool called Binoculars, making it easier and faster for users to find information.

The company has expanded its Smart Search features, which enable users to conduct more effective searches by helping narrow, broaden or more directly answer user queries.

Posted on Businessblog™

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All views and opinions expressed on this blog are those of Serge Thibodeau only and are not representative of any company listed. All slogans, trademarks, text or logo representation used or referred to on this blog are the property of their respective owners.