New name for Travel Search Engine
THE travel search engine formerly known as Bezurk - which News Digital Media recently invested in - has changed its name to Wego.com. It’s also launched a website with improved functionality and search capability. New features include inclusive pricing on airfares and hotels, specific business and first class airline search and a travel research section. CEO Martin Symes said the Bezurk brand had weaknesses. “It was quirky, fun and had a certain irreverence … but it was also hard to remember and spell, particularly if English was not your native language,” he said. “We wanted a new brand and domain name that was easy to recall, type and readily associated with travel.” Symes said Wego.com will launch localised, multi-lingual country sites over the next few month to ensure greater relevance for Asian travellers. Search Engine Room: May 12, 2008 Search Market Share Stabilises in OzTHE spectacular market share growth of paid search marketing has levelled out, while online display advertising continues to lose ground against other digital alternatives, albeit much more slowly than in the past, according to the latest ad expenditure report from the Interactive Advertising Bureau. Among the key findings: Display ads fell from a 25.5 per cent share for the three months to March 2007 to 24.6 per cent this year, while classifieds lifted from 27 per cent to 27.7 per cent and the search category (in which Google has at least 90% market share) rose from 47.4 per cent to 47.7 per cent. Overall the digital advertising market remained extremely buoyant, growing 30% over the same period last year – up to A$384.5m for the quarter. But the good times may not last, a story in the Sydney Morning Herald suggests. It says Australia’s $1.3 billion online advertising market is bracing for a cyclical slowdown, while portals such as ninemsn and Yahoo!7 will struggle to hold their revenue market share against specialist websites and independent networks. Fairfax Digital's chief executive, Jack Matthews, said: "My sense is that it's slowing a bit cyclically." Commercial director of ninemsn, Jason Scott, said revenue for his group was ahead of last year. Search Engine Room: May 8, 2008 Controversial Search Feature From Google
Google has launched a controversial new feature in the United States that allows consumers to search some popular brand sites without actually leaving Google. How does it work? Well, the results for a brand-specific search on a big online brand such as Best Buy will return the usual info and links plus a new, secondary search box and button that reads: “Search bestbuy.com”. Do that for a certain product type, and virtually all the organic results will be from the Best Buys website. But – and here is the controversial bit – the paid results won’t. They’ll be from any company that has bid on that particular search term. So there’s a chance that the consumer – who originally just wanted to visit the Best Buys site – may not end up there at all. In fact, they may buy their goods from a rival retailer, one that is actually paying Google to advertise. Googles Likes Colour of Aussie Money
Australia is a Top 10 revenue market for Google and “makes a lot of money for us" company CEO Eric Schmidt told local media during a visit to announce a couple of deals and speak with APAC staff during their annual conference. “We are making lots of profits in Australia and we're reinvesting those," Mr Schmidt told The Australian. He said Google's international division contributes 51% of revenue. The remainder comes from an increasingly depressed North America. "International is now the majority revenue generator and (that) will continue," he said. "Our international operations are going strong, so we will be able to weather the storm." Google now has more than 200 employees in Australia and plans further expansion with a new regional HQ scheduled to open next year in Pyrmont, Sydney. "It will have as many good people as we can hire. They will be involved in more partnerships, more revenue, more customer service and more innovation in engineering." Search Engine Room: March 19, 2008 Ask.com Targets Female Market
Ask.com, one of the original search engines, has pulled out of general search instead refocussing on the female market, providing answers to America’s housewives about things like recipes, hobbies, kid’s homework, entertainment and health. Founded in 1996 as AskJeeves, Ask.com has struggled to make headway in the US search market despite good technology and a hefty marketing budget. It had 4.5% of the US search market during January, according to comScore Media Metrix. This meant it was #5 in a US market that is fast consolidating. Pundits reckon that it may soon just be Google and Yahoo! (assuming #3 MSN succeeds with its takeover of Yahoo and the slide of #4 AOL continues). Google has around 60% of the US search market. Here in Australasia, it claims more than 90% market share. Search Engine Room: March 7, 2008 BlueFreeway Loses Money, Fourth Director
Warwick Smith, former Macquarie banker and politician, has become the fourth director to leave the the board of digital marketing conglomerate BlueFreeway in the past five weeks. The company, which recently sacked its management team, has just reported a $4m loss for the first half “resulting from high corporate costs, significantly lower than forecast corporate sales and reclassification of items previously capitalised on its balance sheet.” It also raised $3.5m from investors and is looking to slash annual corporate costs from $12m to $4m. On his departure, Smith declared without trace of irony: “I am confident I am leaving the company in a stable position.” Search Engine Room: March 7, 2008 Digital Dream Teams Not So Sexy After All As Money Talks and Executives Walk
By Martin Kelly, Editor, Search Engine Room ALL is not well in the so sexy world of digital marketing where a couple of the bigger companies are learning that it is much easier to spend money than earn it. The best (or worst) example is BlueFreeway, where the executive body count is beginning to resemble a bad day in Iraq. January saw the departure of three directors including smooth-talking CEO Richard Webb. In August Webb said the company was on track for $8m profit before interest and tax for 2007. Yet by late January Chairman Greg Daniel had discovered spending blow-outs of a magnitude that required executive departures and immediate cost-cutting… Hmmm, something not quite right here. More will be revealed in today's postponed results. Meanwhile, another amalgamator, Q Limited, which has also cobbled together a slew of digital outfits including search marketers First Rate and Freestyle Media, is also having problems earning more than it is spending. Poor Performance Sparks Search Overhaul
By Martin Kelly, Search Engine Room SENSIS will next week announce a series of initiatives it claims will vastly improve the search performance of its much-maligned White Pages site, which has come under vitriolic attack from frustrated consumers. Spokeswoman Danielle Horan acknowledged the user issues and said the site will soon be overhauled to ensure improved relevancy to search queries. “The majority of search issues on White Pages are concerned with business search,” Horan says. “We are about to upgrade the site and move it onto a new platform to improve the search results.” Horan said the changes would occur “over the coming months”. The search relevancy issue, which has been festering for the past couple of years, was brought to a head by an article earlier this month in the Sydney Morning Herald, sparking a frenzy of feedback on its MashUp Blog. Emotion has been running high with many saying they prefer to use Google over White Pages for business searches despite Sensis having by far the superior corporate database. Following are some comments taken from a single page of the blog: Paid Clicks Slump But Mystery Why...
By Martin Kelly, Search Engine Room SOMETHING of a search sensation in the US this week when a private client report by ComScore suggested that the number of paid clicks on AdWords was flat for January compared with the previous year and actually down on December (which would include Christmas shopping). Google stock got hit by fears that American consumers are cutting their internet spend due to the maybe-it is, maybe-it-isn’t US recession. However, ComScore later said it believe the number of clicks was flat because Google is actually serving less ads as it increasingly focuses on relevance (although that should lead to a greater click-through rate and more clicks...). ComScore Senior VP. James Lamberti said: “I'm not saying that Google isn't experiencing macroeconomic issues, but I just don't think that report reflected that." Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney concurs, speculating that the drop in paid clicks is a combination of Google's attempts to improve the "lead quality for advertisers and the user experience for searches" and "a macroeconomic dampening of commercial queries by searchers." Google has yet to comment. Search Engine Room: February 28, 2008 Micosoft-Yahoo: Make Yourself Comfortable, This Could Take A While
By Martin Kelly, Search Engine Room Waiting, waiting, waaaaaaaaiting for something to happen in the Microsoft-Yahoo! brouhaha... You may recall that Microsoft made a $48b offer in early February for Yahoo! which was eventually rejected by the Yahoo! board. Then – nothing. And still nothing. It seems certain that this takeover attempt, so far a “friendly” one, could drag on for an awfully long time, perhaps all year, not a good thing for either company, particularly Yahoo! despite co-founder Jerry Yang describing it as a “galvanising event”. And the longer nothing happens, the more distracting it will become, the silence of nothing rising to a crescendo – a corporate version of Chinese water torture: drip, drip, drip, drip. Meanwhile, Google has stayed quiet after an initial, bitter attack on Microsoft through a blog post by company legal boss David Drummond which characterises Google (and Yahoo!) as champions of “openness and innovation” while depicting Microsoft as a monopolist with dark intentions. Global Changes, Local Impact: GroupM Flexes Search Muscle
Outrider is the new brand for 24/7 Search in Australia following a global shake-up by parent company GroupM – the world’s biggest media buying group – of its search operations. The restructure also includes the creation of paid search brands within existing GroupM companies – Maxus Search, MediaCom Search, Mediaedge:cia Search and Mindshare Search. Overseeing these new businesses is Susan Zabeti, Director, GroupM Search, Australia. Susan reports to former 24/7 Real Media MD Robbie Hills, who has been promoted to CEO Search, Asia Pacific, GroupM. In addition to his regional role, Robbie will also have responsibility for the day-to-day operations of Outrider in Australia, where the new brand will be phased in over the next few months. Outrider Australia will handle all aspects of search engine marketing and optimisation. However, the continued development of core search platform Decide DNA, will be done separately, under the 24/7 Real Media brand. Sydney will remain the global HQ for all things Decide DNA and all GroupM companies will utilise its technology. Search Engine Room: February 28, 2008 Expert Advice on Linking Strategies To Boost Search Engine Rankings
Melbourne SEO Ash Nallawalla from trainsem.com was at Webmasterworld in Las Vegas. Not only did Ash present, he also took notes. Here’s his take on the linking session, which features the thoughts of Greg Hartnett, Rae Hoffman, Roger Montti and Jim Boykin, who kicked off proceedings with a "1000 day linking plan":
And that's only the start. For further words of linking wisdom from the speakers name above, please use the link below: Coffee With Matt Cutts (and a few hundred other people)
By Ash Nallawalla, Trainsem.com At Webmasterworld, there was an early session with Matt Cutts which covered everything from his time at university to his present work as an anti-spam engineering at Google. For those of you who don’t know, Matt is something of a legend and his blog is avidly read by search marketers for clues into Google’s thinking on various ranking practices. To start the session, Matt told the audience when he was at university (in 1999) in North Carolina, he took a course on search engines and after applying to Google, he asked how much they would pay him. He thought he might not hear from them, but they did, and the rest is history (editor’s note – who cares about the pay, what about those early share options…). Not surprisingly, paid links was a hot topic. Someone asked what was the borderline? Matt replied if a paid link passes PageRank, it can come under suspicion. If a link manipulates search results, it is suspicious. But aren't AdWords paid links? No - they do not pass PageRank, so they are not. How about directories that charge for a link? There is a detailed Google Webmaster Central blog post about paid directories. Signs of a directory to avoid - no contact information, private registration, poor data in whois, expired domain redirected to the directory site, uncustomised phpLD script, requires a reciprocal list or takes only paid submissions, no quality links. Asked about sites sharing the same IP address, such as on a virtual private server (VPS), Mat said that spammers drop an IP address when it has been banned, but the new occupant need not worry. When a whole subnet in a C class is doing strange things, only then do innocent sites have something to worry about. GOOGLE - SER Special ReportWhat is Google? Probably the world's most powerful company. Also one of its most secretive and profitable. It's importance is even greater for those of us working in Search Marketing with Google capturing up to 90% local market share in terms of both eyeballs and revenue. Trying to get a fix on the beast is nigh on impossible, however that is what I have tried to do through the following stories, which if nothing less highlight the ambition of a modern phenomenon that makes all its money from the Internet but will not be contained by any industry boundaries. Witness its move into alternative energy production. Huh? Read on to find out more...
Garage Where It All Started
Here is the garage where it all started for Google just eight years ago. Founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin rented it for five months after getting their first round of funding. Google recently bought the Menlo Park, Silicon Valley, property (and the house that goes with it) but has not decided what to do with it. Turn it into a museum, perhaps. Tour buses are already driving by. As for Page and Brin, they have traded up. "We plan to preserve the property as a part of our living legacy," said Google spokesman Jon Murchinson.
PR(A) = (1-d) + d(PR(t1)/C(t1) + ? + PR(tn)/C(tn)) ... GOT IT?
OK, say it in hushed tones: The Google Algorithm. Say it again: The Google Algorithm. Let it become a mantra: The Google Algorithm. The Google Bloody Algorithm - got it? Too late, it’s changed … again. I could say that the web world was abuzz with the recent tweak by Google of its infamous algorithm, developed by founders Sergey Brin and Larry page, but that would be telling a lie. More accurate is that a few thousand search professionals got excited because Google had apparently changed the way PageRank, its core site ranking system, evaluated websites. This minor online frenzy got me thinking: what a strange business this is due to the dominance of a single company... The Money-Making MachineGoogle is much more than a money-making machine but there can be no disputing its effectiveness when it comes to pulling in profits hand over fist, while staff numbers are also going through the roof. Just look at the figures.
That last stat is intriguing because it's damned hard work to get a job at Google. I know of one Australian guy who had at least eight interviews but didn't get the position because the US-based Google recruiters (ignoring local advice) ultimately judged him on an ancient academic record rather than a very strong recent work history. Why Links Are Important to PageRank
LINKING remains at the very heart of Google ranking success for websites – and probably always will. If in any doubt about this statement, just read the following 'official' explanation of PageRank, the core website evaluation system of a company largely controlled by very serious, very intelligent, very private, very ambitious engineers who refuse to publicly comment on its machinations. “The heart of our software is PageRank™, a system for ranking web pages developed by our founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin at Stanford University (which) relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the web by using its vast link structure as an indicator of an individual page's value. "In essence, Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B. Google also analyzes the page that casts the vote. Votes cast by pages that are themselves "important" weigh more heavily and help to make other pages "important. “Of course, important pages mean nothing to you if they don't match your query. So, Google combines PageRank with sophisticated text-matching techniques to find pages that are both important and relevant to your search." Search Engine Room: December 6, 2007 Paid Links Boom Despite Google IreThe importance of links to Google’s website page ranking system PageRank (see above) has created a booming trade in paid links, with website paying hundreds and even thousands of dollars for ‘ranking juice’. Google hates this and does everything in its power to punish perpetrators. Some in the local SEO industry think this is a little pointless, since Google has created the linking monster it is now apparently trying to contain, and people being people will always try to rort the system. But there’s no question Google will persist in its vigilance - setting the scene for an intriguing nerd v nerd battle royale in which neither side will ultimately emerge victorious. Google Hits Bottom on Accountability
THE Financial Times reports that Google is bottom of a league table on openness and accountability and needs to sharply improve transparency towards customers and staff. The ranking is part of the Global Accountability Report 2007 by One World Trust, which examines the accountability standards of 30 companies, intergovernmental organisations and civil society pressure groups. "We were surprised about Google's result,” said author Robert Lloyd. Google "is not addressing the privacy and other issues that are concerning many customers," he added. “They did not co-operate [with the report] and on some policy issues, such as transparency towards customers, they have no publicly available information at all." 'Latest' Google StatisticsHERE are some Google stats. They were taken today from the ‘company profile’ section of ithe Google website, last updated more than two years ago in mid-2005. While they provide an interesting historical perspective on Google, it has to be said that out-of-date information is not what you expect from the world’s most important website.
As we know things have changed a lot since then, not least the number of employees.
Staff numbers have since increased by 380% to more than 16,000 in just over two years. According to the latest figures, around 23 people join Google every single day. I guess they're all busy doing other stuff. Search Engine Room: December 7, 2007 Founders Dreams Turns To Smoke
What do you do after conquering the Internet? Go into the alternative energy business of course. In a left-field decision, founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin will be pumping hundreds of millions of Google dollars into a new company called RE<C which aims to produce electricity from alternative sources at a lower cost than coal-fired power stations. Page commented: "Our goal is to produce one gigawatt of renewable energy capacity that is cheaper than coal (and) are optimistic this can be done in years, not decades. If we meet this goal … we expect this would be a good business for us." Google Paid Search Revenues To RiseA LEADING Google executive claims “there is still substantial headroom in monetisation” as the company’s paid search technology increasingly delivers more relevant results and increased consumer click-through rates. Google Director of Advertising Product Management, Nick Fox, also told a media briefing that “the quality of ads is still quite low” with plenty of scope for further relevancy improvements to ads served on its AdWords and AdSense programs. The high Quality Score campaign has already had a dramatic impact, cutting the number of ads Google is running but strongly bumping revenue per click. “We’re showing a very low number of ads relative to what we were historically,” Fox said. Wireless Network Next On Google Hit List
Google wants its own wireless network and is prepared to spend billions doing so by participating the US Government’s January auction of wireless spectrum in the 700 megahertz (MHz) band. A reserve of US$4.6b has been set for the ‘spectrum’, which is coming onto the market as part of the nationally mandated US transition to digital television. Announcing its intention to bid, Google characterised itself as a consumer champion. "Consumers deserve more competition and innovation than they have in today's wireless world,” said Eric Schmidt, Google’s Chairman and CEO. Schmidt sportingly added: “No matter which bidder ultimately prevails, the real winners of this auction are American consumers who likely will see more choices than ever before in how they access the Internet." Search Engine Room: December 6, 2007 Google Embraces Android, Goes Mobile
GOOGLE has gone mobile in a very big way as a key member of the Open Handset Alliance, which recently launched Android, described as “the first truly open and comprehensive platform for mobile devices”. Andriod is the centrepiece of a drive by the Open Handset Alliance (other members include T-Mobile, HTC, Qualcomm and Motorola) to lower the cost of developing and distributing mobile devices and services. A major goal is to make mobile devices more internet-friendly. Android is open-source and the Open Handset Alliance has released an early access software development kit to provide developers with the tools necessary to create innovative and compelling applications for the platform. The first phones based on Android should be available in the second half of 2008. Google boss described Android as “far more ambitious than (the) 'Google Phone' ... our vision is that (this) platform will power thousands of different phone models." Google is offering of $US10 million in developer design incentives to propel innovation on Android. Search Engine Room: December 7, 2007 ninemsn - No Space in Digital Future For Search
By Martin Kelly, Search Engine Room EVER wondered what the people at ninemsn, Australia’s most popular online portal, think of the role Search does and will play in its business? Didn’t think so, but for the record the answer is – not much. In a speech on the where the web is heading over the next 10 years, ninemsn boss Tony Faure foresaw an online future dominated by personalisation, video, social networks and mobilisation. Search was only mentioned in passing twice. NZ Marketers Defy Global Search TrendsFresh research reveals that New Zealand’s online advertising industry is marching to a different beat, potentially creating major opportunities for savvy marketers prepared to buck local trends and embrace search engine marketing and optimisation. A new study from IAB New Zealand and Pricewaterhouse Coopers shows that Kiwi marketers are putting most of their online dollars into classified and display advertising with just 25% being spent on Search. This defies global trends where search engine marketing heads the online pack. IAB figures show Search leads online advertising spend in Australia (46% share) the United Kingdom (57% share) and the United States (41% share). Why is NZ so different? Universal Search Changes SEO Forever
Google has started rolling out Universal Search across its Australian and NZ sites, a move that is already having major SEO ramifications. Universal Search means that people who use the main Google search engine will potentially not just get text links but also maps, images, news and video results in response to their query. This is having a major impact on the natural and paid search results. A classic example is for search term ‘Sydney hotels’ (see above) where the top three natural results are for hotels marked on an adjacent map, which immediately draws the eye away from everything else, including the paid ads. Offline Drives Online Corporate Search
NEW research claims that 67% of search users are influenced to visit corporate sites by offline channels. The survey of more than 2000 Americans by Jupiter Research for iProspect shows that TV advertising and word of mouth are the dominant drivers. These findings echo the thoughts of many local media industry leaders who say offline channels can have a major impact on online behaviour - witness the Big Brother phenomenon. In this instance, those surveyed were asked which offline channel “prompted you to look for a particular company, product, service or slogan”. Their options were severely limited: TV ad (37%), word of mouth (36%), Print ad (30%), radio ad (17%), billboard (9%), transport advertising (19%). About one-third (33%) said none of these influenced their search patterns. Hot Goanna Sold to TPP Internet
GOLD Coast Search Marketing company, Hot Goanna, has been sold to TPP Internet, a privately-owned domain registration, web and email hosting business based in Sydney. Hot Goanna was founded in 2005 by Mark Tull and Andrew Coates and now manages more than three million pay-per-click Google ads each week. Tull says the deal was the best way for Hot Goanna to grow with its services now marketed via the TPP customer base and its 1700 affiliates. Tull and Coates will stay with the company. They declined to comments on financial aspects of the deal. Meanwhile, BlueFreeway has bought 27% of Clear Light Digital with the remainder to be acquired over the next five years. BlueFreeway now has stakes in 22 companies. Search Engine Room: September 26, 2007 Google Case A Tough One For ACCC
WHY? That’s the question I ask every time coverage emerges of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission ‘misleading and deceptive conduct’ action against Google for allegedly blurring the lines between paid and organic search. To me the difference between paid and sponsored links is clear, and a vox pop I did in Martin Place, Sydney, earlier this year clearly indicates the public is also aware that there are two distinct ad types on Google. But the ACCC is pressing ahead and in the Federal Court last week expanded its initial concerns about paid ads across the top of the search results page to include those down the side. It also clarified that its action will now be against parent company Google Inc, and not Google Australia. May as well, got nothing to lose – except maybe credibility on a global scale, because it looks like an exceptionally difficult proposition to prove. The ACCC action also focuses on a 2005 paid search campaign in which Trading Post allegedly used a rival’s business name to deceive people into visiting its site. It may have more luck there but has taken on an incredibly powerful adversary that will do whatever it takes to win – or at least ensure the matter is stuck in legal limbo for many years to come. Search Engine Room: October 8, 2007 Top Speakers At Search Engine Room NZ
LEADING North American search marketing expert, Aaron Shear, has confirmed as a speaker at Search Engine Room NZ in Auckland on November 13. Aaron is based in San Francisco, where he recently joined Boost Search Marketing after working as the Global Director of SEO with Shopping.com - an eBay Company. He will address the topic - Using Search To Drive Your e-Commerce Strategy. Aaron is just one of many great speakers driving a dynamic program that highlights innovation through the likes of world-leading NZ search companies such as Eurekster and SLI Systems, while mixing industry issues with search marketing and optimisation techniques. The speaker roster includes some of the most respected names in the Australasian search industry. For preliminary program details please click on the link below. Lookle, Blackle - Aussie Search Engines Try Something Different
THE brands may have a certain familiar ring, and their primary search technology was developed by the industry’s biggest names, but two Aussie search engines have developed strong points of difference that may give them an edge in the increasingly crowded online world. For Lookle.com it is a new donation system that allows people to nominate a charity that will then receive income generated by their searches. Lookle, which has been around since 2000 and only searches Australian websites, recently patented technology to facilitate this service. The site is powered by Yahoo! search technology. Blackle.com, developed by Heap Media, is powered by Google and markets itself as an energy saving search engine that reduces the amount of electricity required for each search by displaying results in light grey text on a black background. It is current claiming almost 200 million ‘watt hours’ saved. Search Engine Room: September 2, 2007 LookSmart? Look Elsewhere...
The original Aussie search engine, LookSmart will be delisted from the Australian Securities Exchange next month, completing the company's withdrawal from Australia. Many of the biggest names in the Australian search started their careers at LookSmart, which was once valued at US$7b but is now worth less than US$80m. It will remain listed on the Nasdaq, where it has been publicly traded since 1999. LookSmart has withdrawn from all markets apart from North America, where it has not turned in a net profit since 2003. Chief Executive and President, David Hills, resigned in early August and has been replaced by Ted West. Founder Evan Thornley, who started LookSmart with his wife Tracey and made a fortune out of listing it, returned home five years is now a Victorian Labor politician. A Malcolm Turnbull of the Left. Search Engine Room: September 2, 2007 Search: Big Business and Results
YOU hear a lot about how important search is for online businesses these days, but rarely do you get the level of insight provided by a couple of speakers at TRAVELtech recently. Travel.com.au Managing Director, who is moving on early next year, told delegates SEM and SEO consumed 80% of the company’s A$2.5m marketing budget during the 06/07 financial year, while total marketing spend will likely increase to A$3.5m this year. Meanwhile Yury Shar from hotelscombined.com, which lifted visitors from 61,000 in January to 450,000 during August, says 34% of this traffic was driven by paid search and 20% by free search. The biggest contributor, however, was affiliate marketing with 38%. Search Engine Room: September 2, 2007 New 'SEO Friendly' CMS from Amplify
THE biggest test of Amplify’s new SEO-friendly Content Management System (CMS) will come over the next few days when it is deployed on one of Australia’s most popular websites, Webjet.com.au. CEO Tom Petryshen said Webjet has already tested the system, which Amplify developed over the past 12 months, on three smaller country sites (UK, NZ, US) and is satisfied with the results. Petryshen claims “one of the main points of difference for our system is that it was developed by Search Engine Optimisation experts from the ground up. We do not know of any other SEO company in Australia or worldwide that has gone down this route. Most existing CMS have been developed by programmers with no SEO experience and have to be hacked to be search friendly.” Amplify is a Search and Web Development company based in Sydney. Search Engine Room: September 2, 2007 FIve Easy Steps To Improving Conversions
By Rod Jacka I am sure that you are expecting a few little musings on how to improve conversions; and these will come in a minute, however let's start with a simple hypothesis: Most websites don't work There, I said it. A provocative statement, yes, but surely it can't be true. If we were to assume that this statement is false, then how do we prove it? Some might start by saying something along the lines of "but our site gets lots of visitors". This may be true, but is this really an indication of success? I am sure that you are in business to make money and not just win a popularity contest. Others may say but "visitors are viewing lots of content" or "the people that I ask think the site looks good" or "visitors are buying (or contacting us) and some mention that they found us on the web" and other similar statements. But still there is not enough evidence to prove that your website works. Legal Limbo Could Last 12 Months Or More
IT could be more than a year before the sensational legal action brought by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission against Google and Trading Post actually gets tested in court. The ACCC alleges the companies engaged in "misleading and deceptive conduct" during a Trading Post campaign on Google AdWords. While the matter has been listed for a directions hearing in the Federal Court on August 21, this is merely expected to set the terms of engagement - legal experts say the real legal battle will not occur until the second half of next year. Google has promised to "vigorously defend" the ACCC's allegations, which would have global ramifications if proved upheld. The ACCC also claims Google does not provide sufficient differentiation between paid and organic lisitings. Panama Migration Now, Ad Rankings SoonYAHOO! Search Marketing (YSM) says the migration of existing clients onto its new Panama ad creation and booking system in Australia and New Zealand will be finished within a couple of weeks. The new system includes a range of features such as geographic targeting. Yet to be incorporated is the ‘Visible Quality Index’ which ranks ads on relevance in addition to the bid amount. YSM declined to say when this feature, which needs decent conversion data to work effectively, will be switched on in the Australasian markets but if history is any guide it should be operating here by October. Search Engine Room: 31 July, 2007 Vanishing Up Each Other's Google
By Alan Kohler, Eureka Report IF YOU Google the phrase "Alan Kohler", the top link in the main, unpaid search results is one of my articles on smh.com.au. Next is Eureka Report. But above that, against a beige background, there are two other links - one is to Eureka Report and the other is a link to Australian Stock Report, one of our competitors. Australian Stock Report has bought the Google phrase "Alan Kohler". Eureka Report's link only sits above it in the section headed "sponsored links" because we have paid more for it (to Google) in the auction system known as search engine marketing (SEM). I hasten to add that we are also playing this rather brutal little game: we have bought, among things, the phrases "Rivkin Report" (another newsletter) as well as "Australian Stock Report". Each of those newsletters ensures that its link is at the top of the Google sponsored links by paying the highest price. But Australian Stock Report's search result, for example, is crowded with 10 competitors that have also bought its name. Alkemi Sells 15% To Future Now Inc.
Search Engine Marketing agency Alkemi International has sold 15% of the company for an undisclosed amount to the New York based corporation Future Now, founded by best-selling authors Jeffrey and Brian Eisenberg. “Obviously they saw potential in both the Australian market and Alkemi, and this investment is recognition of that,” said Alkemi owner Nathan Stewart. Future Now developed ‘Persuasion Architecture’ and specialises in customer conversion enhancement. Stewart says Alkemi has been using Future Now methodologies for the past three years with impressive results and "this investment paves the way for futher regional growth". Search Engine Room: July 31, 2007 Search Marketing: Do As I Say Not As I Do
Opinion By Martin Kelly, Search Engine Room Listen to the experts at any search conference and they’ll all tell you that one of the basic rules of paid search is to bid on brand names, including your own. Yet much of the industry does not follow this conventional wisdom. This issue has been bugging me for some time and came to a head today after seeing a story on a (non-search) company called Digital Loop which had just gone to the press with a new product. But you reckon I could find the company’s website by typing ‘Digital Loop’ into Google? Not a chance – and there wasn’t a paid Google ad to cater for this organic black hole. So I revisited and updated some research I’d done in the past, which was typing in the brand names of many leading search and digital marketing agencies to see if they were bidding on their brand. The answer is that many are not. The research also revealed less than satisfactory SEO work by a few well-known companies whose own sites are not featuring in brand search results. Snow Industry Leaves SEM In Cold
SEARCH marketing appears to have been largely left out in the cold by Australasian snow tourism businesses during a key booking period bolstered by good early season snow falls, especially in Oz. However this opens up significant, cost-effective opportunities for those that are willing to have a go and look beyond high-demand terms such as ‘snow accommodation’ – 18 ads on Google (three on Yahoo!7). Other popular search terms such as the resort names elicits a generally sparse paid search response, with generally two or three ads appearing next to the names of major resorts. There are even less ads running next to the NZ resorts... There are even less ads running next to the NZ resorts – generally one or two. In each instance, the service towns are much more popular – Jindabyne (8 ads), Bright (8 ads), Wanaka (6 ads), Queenstown (5 ads). No doubt this is a reflection supply and demand, but if businesses looked further up the hill, they’d gain great reach at potentially less cost while still maintaining consumer relevance. Search Engine Room: July 5, 2007 Hot Opportunity! Head of Search - Digital Advertising Agency - Beijing, ChinaHOT OPPORTUNITY! Do you want to join a leading world renowned agency in China as Head of their Search Marketing business and experience the wonders of living in Beijing!? Then this is the job for you. It represents a truly unique opportunity to join a fabulous, forward thinking agency as their Head of Search and would suit an experienced senior search exceutive looking to further their career within the Asian market. Intersested? Then click on the link below for further details. Why Work? That's The Question for Google's Millionaires
By Martin Kelly, Search Engine Room JUST read an interesting story on the Google millionaires in Forbes Asia, the magazine for rich people, forecasting a mass exodus from the company’s California headquarters. The reason is quite simple – money, lots of it. Forbes estimates there are now more than 700 Googlers worth at least US$5 million. Lots of those would be worth plenty more thanks to a couple of exceedingly generous options schemes that lucky employees can now vest. The first in 2002, when Google had just 350 staff, granted employees share options at an exercise price of just 30 cents. The following year’s options had a trigger rate of US$4. Google shares now sell for more than US$500 – do the math. So why work? Craig Silverstein, Director of Technology and the first hire by founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, now holds more than $US100 million in Google stock and admits “economically, you are volunteering to be here”. Facilitate Digital Lists, Looks Overseas
Facilitate Digital, which recently listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, is rolling out an overseas expansion plan that targets smaller, sophisticated online advertising markets. CEO Ian Lowe said international growth is an important part of the future for Facilitate Digital, well-known in media land for its display and search ad serving capabilities but increasingly moving into site and business analytics. “This is really a key part of our vision,” said Lowe, claiming that the ability to cross-reference data from different ad channels means its services are akin to a “business intelligence machine”. It’s a vision the stock market is buying. The Facilitate Digital share price has reached highs of 68 cents after the company achieved a back door listing through a ‘merger’ with Purus Energy. Shares were offered at 20 cents. Ansearch Buys Webfirm, Appoints Ridge
Ansearch has paid $3.5 million cash plus around $1.5 million in shares for Perth-based web development and search engine optimisation company, Webfirm, from owner Norman Asch, who reportedly bought the business from its founder three years ago for $700,000. Webfirm has 45 employees and was ranked the west’s 12th biggest web developer according to the WA Business News Book of Lists. Meanwhile, former Sale of The Century host, Glenn Ridge, has been appointed Chairman of Ansearch, a company which he says now has the “sole focus of helping enterprises do more business online whether this is through advertising, site marketing, e-commerce, site optimisation, hosting, maintenance or online strategy”. Search Engine Room: July 5, 2007 Ciao Baby! Fernandez Joins 24/7 Real Media
David Fernandez has joined 24/7 Real Media as Head of Business Development, a newly-created senior management role. Fernandez arrives at 24/7 after launching digital research solutions company Ciao in Australia. Meanwhile, 24/7 MD Robbie Hills said it is ‘business as usual’ after the company’s sale to advertising giant WPP Group for US$649 million. The deal gives WPP a strong digital marketing technology platform as demand for online advertising soars. Search Engine Rom: July 5, 2007 Search Engine Room NZ : November 13The date for Search Engine Room New Zealand has been shifted from mid-July to November 13 due to a crowded winter events calendar. It will be held at the Hyatt Regency in Auckland and should be a great day. Further details will be released shortly.Found Agency Tumbles in Google Rankings
The Found Agency’s website has tumbled down the Google rankings for key phrases it used to dominate after the search giant apparently invalidated the vast majority of the site’s inbound links. “The site has taken a big hit, that’s for sure, although we were surprised it lasted so long where it was – it should have happened a long time ago,” said Found co-Founder Zak Asani. Why? “Because we had just started our business on a shoestring budget and we pushed the boundaries a little bit on that site with linking” to rank highly in the Australian market for phrases such as Search Engine Optimisation and Search Engine Marketing. Growth Only Constant At Hitwise
HITWISE, recently sold for US$240 million, has changed an awful lot since it was founded as a search marketing consultancy by Adrian Giles and Andrew Barlow 10 years ago. But there has been one constant – growth; Hitwise just keeps getting bigger. It now has 200 staff and is forecasting sales to increase by 40% over the next 12 months, leading to pre-tax profit of US$12-15m. It has become one of the great success stories of Australia’s Internet industry, ruling its niche in numerous markets, including the UK and USA. Present management will remain intact and be largely left alone by new owner Experian to run the business, according to co-founder Adrian Giles, who put A$5000 into the company, then known as Sinewave Interactive, back in 1997. “Our first products were SEO products then in ’98, ’99 we started research and development into Hitwise, which was launched in 2000,” he said. Yellow Signs ninemsn Distribution DealSensis and ninemsn have joined forces on Local Search. From September, the Sensis database of some 1.8 million businesses – marketed under the Yellow brand – can be searched by users of mylocal.com.au, ninemsn’s low-profile local search brand. Yellow’s online business directory has an estimated 98% share of the local business search market, and this initiative will consolidate its position while dramatically improving the mylocal.com.au database. The ninemsn distribution deal follows the recent alliance between Google Maps Australia and News Digital Media’s truelocal.com.au. Ninemsn CEO Tony Faure told The Age: “Our strategy is to do things we are really good at and partner in areas where we think someone else probably does a better job than us. We think we can do a better job partnering with Yellow than we could have done on our own.” The two companies will revenue share. Search Engine Room Evidence That SER07 Actually Happened
Finally, finally, finally... here are a couple of hot links containing photographic evidence - lots of it – of the great time had by all at Search Engine Room in Sydney a couple of months ago.
Search Engine Room 2007: Day 1 Photographs
Have a good look through and if you like to buy any of the excellent images, please contact Chris Gleisner via the details provided. Google - World's Most Powerful Brand
WHAT’S in a name? A lot of money, according to the experts. For example, Google has just been named as the world’s most powerful brand with an estimated value of US$66.5 billion – an increase of 77% over last year. It’s the second-biggest increase of any company in the Millward Brown ‘Brandz’ survey (retailer Marks & Spencer increased 192%) and reflects Google’s global dominance. Apple was another big mover – up 55% to US$24.7 billion. The brand equity of Yahoo! is estimated at $13.2 billion, a fall of 6%, while Microsoft’s estimated brand value slumped 11% to a mere US$55 billion. The Top Ten brands are in order: Google, General Electric, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, China Mobile, Marlboro, Wal-Mart, Citi, IBM and Toyota. Search Engine Room Bid On Brands, Says Travelocity
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