Search Engine News

Jennifer Laycock

Guilty No Matter What?

One of the features of Google's Sitemap tool that has been praised by those in the industry is that reinclusion request. That's a handy feature for webmasters that have inadvertently violated Google's guidelines and found themselves on the invisible end...

Jennifer Laycock

They Won't Come Just Because You Rebuild It

One of the biggest pitfalls for an SEM-minded business is dealing with designers when it's time to makeover your existing web site. While more and more designers are beginning to understand the nuances of creating a search engine friendly design,...

Jennifer Laycock

Important Note: You MUST Take Action on the Google Click Fraud Suit

While much has been written about the $90 million settlement reached by Google in the recent class-action suit, most advertisers that I've spoken with have made it pretty clear that they have no interest in settling for the current pay...

Jennifer Laycock

Yahoo! and eBay Deal Could Mean Good Things for Small Business

Blogs are buzzing today with the news that Yahoo! and eBay will begin sharing resources with each other on things like payment systems, search and advertising. The duo will also begin exploring click-to-call and/or pay-per-call technology as well as a...

Jennifer Laycock

MSN Allows Webmasters to Opt Out of DMOZ Description

In a move that web site owners have been clamoring for forever, MSN has become the first major search engine to give site owners a real way to opt out of having their DMOZ description show as the default descriptive...

Jennifer Laycock

Google Adds Video Ads to Content Network

The Inside AdWords blog shared details yesterday about plans to offer click to play video ads on the AdSense network. The new video ads program will be tested in the U.S., Japan and Canada and ads will compete for placement...

Jennifer Laycock

Who's at Fault? Google or Your SEO Strategy?

One of the hardest things to do in SEO is to look at your site from the perspective of a searcher. That's why it's a great idea to hire a 3rd party company, they're not attached to your site in...

Jennifer Laycock

Blog Usability Interview with Kim Krause Berg

by Aaron Wall - A while ago I contacted Kim Krause Berg for a usability review, but I threw a curve ball in on her. I asked her how I could make this blog more usable. I believe Kim is...

Jennifer Laycock

Making Money with Blogs

Blogs are the current sweetheart of the search engine marketing world. They are natural link attractors, easy to update with new content and tend to draw quality traffic more quickly than traditional web sites. That's why many online entrepreneurs are...

Jennifer Laycock

Clickfraud Bot Scamming via Zombie Computers

It sounds like something out of a bad UHF sci-fi flick, but it's actually a growing problem on the Internet. These days, fraudsters are moving past the point of spyware and adware and are instead planting remotely controlled click fraud...

Jennifer Laycock

Google Class Action Emails Going Out

Philipp Lenssen reports and a trip to the Google AdWords blog confirms that emails are going out to AdWords advertisers to notify them of how to claim their portion of Google's settlement to the recent click fraud class action suit....

Jennifer Laycock

Net Neutrality - Why Every SEO & Small Business Should Care

by Bretton Jones - Net Neutrality, as an issue, has come about as the result of the large telecoms claiming that while providing internet service, they have the right to limit bandwidth or block access to web sites that don't...

Jennifer Laycock

Limited AdWords Budget? Spread it Out!

While Google AdWords advertisers have long had the option to set a daily budget, they still had to deal with the issue of watching their budget get used up early in the day. For companies that experience higher conversion rates...

Jennifer Laycock

Are Brand Name Searches Overvalued?

There's an interesting article over at MediaPost Publications that talks about the true value of brand name search terms. The article looks at information contained in a report put together by search marketing firm 360i that tracks the ultimate conversion...

Jennifer Laycock

DOJ Says "Too Bad" to Google

Google will have to look for a new argument to make in the war against Microsoft. U.S. antitrust authorities rejected a request by Google to investigate Microsoft's decision to make their own search engine the default in the upcoming Internet...

Jennifer Laycock

Another Perspective on SEO Multitasking

Earlier this week, I made a blog post about a study featured in DMNews that claims in-house SEOs tend to wear too many hats. While the article and many other bloggers wondered if this might not be a sign of...

Jennifer Laycock

I'd Like a Bigger Piece of the Pie Please...In Fact, Give Me Yours Too!

Sure it sounds selfish and it probably is...but that's basically the argument being used by telecom executives from AT&T and Mediacom Communications Corp. are using these days. Mediacom Communications chairman and CEO Rocco Commisso is quoted extensively in an article...

Jennifer Laycock

Online Marketing Continues to Expand

Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble. Online ads could someday double? That may be going a little too far, but the truth is that report after report continues to tout the continued rise of online advertising and it doesn't look like...

Jennifer Laycock

In-House SEOs Wear Many Hats

Andy Beal spotted an interesting study released by JupiterResearch that finds most in-house search marketers are distracted by a variety of other job tasks. DMNews.com has the full story and breaks down the job tasks of in house optimizers....

Jennifer Laycock

Google's Click Fraud Settlement Update

The Associated Press offers an update today on Google's proposed $90 million settlement to a click fraud class action lawsuit. While some advertisers seem prepared to accept Google's proposed advertising credits, others are shunning the settlement to move forward with...

Jennifer Laycock

Google Sued Over Child Porn Issues

The Seattle Post Intelligencer reports today that a N.Y. lawmaker has filed suit against Google by charging that the search engine serves as "the largest and most efficient facilitator and distributor of child pornography in the world." The suit does...

Jennifer Laycock

Toronto Searches Engine Strategies Conference 2006

by Lisa Stewart - This was my first time going SES conference. I have been working as SEO professional for last 3 years and despite my best efforts I have always had a conflict and I was very excited to...

Jennifer Laycock

Microsoft and Yahoo! Teaming Up?

Unlikely. But according to an article in today's Wall Street Journal, you shouldn't rule it out either. Despite both Microsoft and Yahoo!'s desire to catch up with Google on their own, the reality is that neither one has fared very...

Jennifer Laycock

Ask Tries to Gain Solid Foothold in Search

The FOX Network does pretty well for themselves, despite sitting on the outside as the number four network player. That's the line of thinking that the folks behind Ask.com are using when it comes to their long term plan for...

Jennifer Laycock

Microsoft Responds to Google's Criticism

Yesterday, I blogged about the issues that Google is having with Microsoft's upcoming IE7 release. It seems that I wasn't the only one that found Google's arguments to be a little on the whiny side. Scobelizer does a great job...

Jennifer Laycock

Mining Web Analytics to Measure SEO Success – Even Without Conversion Data

by Matt Williams - In a perfect scenario, online success is measured by conversions or the number of desired actions taken by visitors to a site – such as a sale, a contact us form, a newsletter sign-up, a white...

Jennifer Laycock

Microsoft's IE7 Search Box Raises Google's Ire

The New York Times reports today on the issues Google is taking with the latest version of Microsoft's popular Internet Explorer web browser. Microsoft's upcoming IE7 release has a built in search box that defaults to the MSN search engine....

Jennifer Laycock

Schultz at Pubcon: Optimizing for ENORMOUS Clients

by Adam Schultz - MarketSmart Interactive's Adam Shultz reports on a session about optimizing web sites for large clients from the 2006 WebmasterWorld PubCon event....