Search Engine News

Jennifer Laycock

Why Advertising Agencies Hate Search Marketing

Todd "stuntdubl" Malicoat has a great post this week that explores the problems that traditional ad agencies and search marketers have when it comes time to play together. I've been thinking about this very issue all week while talking to...

Jennifer Laycock

An Open Letter to Google

Miel van Opstal has an excellent open letter to Google over at Coolzor today. The letter's pretty lengthy, but does a great job of highlighting the issues at hand over the Google/China censorship issues. It also includes some interesting notes...

Jennifer Laycock

New Search Marketing Magazine Launches

I had a press release pop into my mailbox last week from Boris Mordkovich, a sometimes guest writer for Search Engine Guide. Boris was writing to let me know that his company, MordComm, Inc. was going to begin publishing a...

Directory Submission Is Getting More Costly

Directories that accept free submissions are quickly disappearing and paid ones are getting more expensive all the time. Two recent forum discussions debate whether directory submissions are still a worthwhile marketing effort. This has also prompted me to update an...

Jennifer Laycock

Google Defends Censorship

It seems ironic, but at the same time that Google is fighting a battle against giving up information to the U.S. Department of Justice, they are defending their decision to restrict access to sites that China does not want it's...

Jennifer Laycock

What do Yahoo! and Avis Have in Common?

Apparently, they're both ok with being number two. Years after Avis embraced their number two spot in the rental car industry with the slogan "we try harder," a major Yahoo! executive told Bloomberg news that the Yahoo! team is perfectly...

Jennifer Laycock

An Interview with Jill Whalen

Frequent Search Engine Guide contributor Stoney deGeyter had an interview with Jill Whalen featured on his E-Marketing Performance blog last week that I kept meaning to link too, but just am just now getting around to blogging on. The interview...

Danny Sullivan Featured on ABC's Nightline

In case you missed it, Danny Sullivan of Search Engine Watch was recently featured on ABC's Nightline in a story about Google's refusal to hand over search data to the Bush administration. I actually heard about it after the fact...

Jennifer Laycock

Men and Women and Search - Part 2

Men appreciate the internet’s ability to help them get the job at hand done. Women are social creatures. They multi task better. They are more comfortable browsing. Women will be more patient with non-obvious navigation options. (skip to "Men and...

Jennifer Laycock

Study States the Obvious About PPC

The San Jose Business Journal ran an article yesterday about a new study that shows many businesses are paying too much money to maintain a top ranking on the pay-per-click search engines. Pardon me for saying it, but "duh"....

Jennifer Laycock

Are Directory Links Devalued?

In the past year directories have been springing up at an astronomical rate. Many to make a quick buck off the back link frenzy. Don't expect a link from the majority of these directories to have any value....

Jennifer Laycock

Ego Surfing with a Little Fun

I've written in the past about the value of ego surfing as a way to stay on top of what people are saying about you, your products and your company. It's always a good idea to run regular checks on...

Jennifer Laycock

Men and Women and Search

Men and women have very distinct reasons for going online. Men tend to retrieve information. For woman, the internet is first and foremost a communication vehicle, with email usage a prime reason. (skip to "Men and Women and Search" by...

Jennifer Laycock

MSN to Drop Yahoo! Within Six Months

Microsoft announced yesterday that they would be replacing Yahoo!'s paid search advertisements with ads managed through MSN's new adCenter sometime in the next six months. adCenter is currently being beta tested by about 2,000 U.S. advertisers and is expected to...

Jennifer Laycock

Business Week Focuses on the Search Marketing Numbers

There's an interesting article over at Business Week today that tries to boil search engine advertising down to a hard line number-crunching skill that removes all need for creativity. It makes some valid points and does a great job of...

Jennifer Laycock

Boost Traffic to Your Web Site with Fresh Content

Writing your own content is probably the best way to guarantee that your content is original and not replicated on other websites. It is also what search engines love....

Jennifer Laycock

Google Pack Offers Nothing New

Announced last week during the final keynote of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the new Google Pack is a suite of downloadable software offered by Google and a few other partners. Google touted the new launch for its...

Jennifer Laycock

Search Marketing Spending up 44%

According to a new report released by the Search Engine Marketing Professionals Organization (SEMPO) this morning, U.S. and Canadian advertisers spent $5.75 billion on search engine marketing last year. That number is up 44% compared with spending in 2004. The...