Google Takes a Step Towards Advanced Online News Presentation

Google Takes a Step Towards Advanced Online News Presentation
Google has embarked upon a pretty neat experiment with the New York Times and the Washington Post. The search giant has collaborated with two of the world’s top newspapers to try an experiment that creates what Google calls a “living URL” for news. It would consolidate the coverage of a news story, taking into account the reader details and providing appropriate information based on those details.

5 New Features from Google Analytics

5 New Features from Google Analytics

Yesterday at SES Chicago, Google announced the following updates to Analytics:

Annotations

If you share Google Analytics information with multiple people, then this will be particularly useful. Just make a note about a spike or dip - and others can respond when they check the analytics on their end.

Custom Variables in Advanced Segments

Multiple custom variables were made available in October, but only as a report in the Visitors section. Beginning this week, you can create advanced segmentation based on custom variables.

Custom Variables in Custom Reports

The custom variables expansion continues with the ability to create custom reports with them. Compare custom variables against any Google Analytics metric with a custom report.

New Analytics Tracking Code Setup Wizard

You can’t get the data unless the tracking code is installed properly. This hasn’t been the easiest of tasks for the coding-challenged. Google’s making it easier for you to get the code working on your site.

New Version of The Analytics API

For this new feature, Google is being a tease. A bigger announcement would come later this week, but they offered up a hint: support for advanced segmentation.

New Adobe Air 2.0 Released

New Adobe Air 2.0 Released
For the first time since 2007, Adobe has updated its Air platform, released recently in beta with a slew of new features. The features include support for detection of mass storage devices, advanced networking capabilities, ability to open a file with its default application, improved cross-platform printing, and a bunch of other things that you probably won’t really notice in any other way other than your Adobe working significantly more efficiently and smoothly than before.

AdWords Creates Easier Access to Advanced Performance Data

AdWords Creates Easier Access to Advanced Performance Data

When using AdWords, in order to access some advanced performance data, you had to create reports, which can be time consuming. AdWords is making access to certain data points easier by integrating them into the campaign management.

For example, instead of running a placement performance report to manage automatic placements, you can use the “Networks tab.” Instead of running a search query report, you can select the “See search terms” option under the Keywords tab.

AdWords also recently introduced time-based segmentation. Use this to break down your data by day, week, month, or year to understand changes in your campaign’s performance.

Segmenting by day of the week is also available, which can be advantageous for ad scheduling.

What do you think of these AdWords updates? Let us know by leaving a comment.

Advanced SEO Forum Thread of the Week

Advanced SEO Forum Thread of the Week
Meta Description Beyond 155 Still Alive?

Search Engine Strategies Forum at Online Marketing Summit, San Diego.

Search Engine Strategies Forum at Online Marketing Summit, San Diego.

I was at PubCon last week in Las Vegas. It was a tremendous show with an excellent turnout. I had quite a few conversations about Search Engine Watch, ClickZ and Search Engine Strategies for 2010 and had a lot of great feedback from PubCon attendees. But it seemed that quite a few people hadn’t noticed one of the new events in the SES calendar for February of next year.

With our partners at Online Marketing Summit we’ll be bringing a full day, two track forum event featuring some of the industry’s leading search marketing experts.

I’ll be kicking off the day with an all star lineup to discuss “SEM, Then and Now. What’s new? What’s the same.” As the description lays out, if you stumbled into a time machine in 1999 and out in 2009 you’d be startled by an array of unfamiliar challenges. Meta tags, reciprocal linking and dynamic URL issues are nowhere near as critical as they used to be all those years ago.

So with a group of industry insiders, I’ll be getting them to give us veteran opinions on what has changed what the new challenges are and how we tackle them. It’s a great way to gear up to search marketing for the new year.

You’ll hear from industry big-brains covering everything from the basics through to more advanced topics. And it’s not just search at OMS, it’s the total online thing. Social media, analytics, demand generation, email and integrated marketing are all covered by experts.

So, come join us for some search marketing in the sun (just take a peek at how fabulous this venue is!).

Register here for Online Marketing Summit, San Diego, Feb 22nd - 25th.

“The Art of SEO” Isn’t a Paint-by-Numbers Kit

“The Art of SEO” Isn’t a Paint-by-Numbers Kit

The Art of War by Sun Tzu isn’t about Chinese pottery and The Art of SEO by Eric Enge, Stephan Spencer, Rand Fishkin and Jessie Stricchiola isn’t a paint-by-numbers kit.

The Art of SEO is a comprehensive guide to search engine optimization strategies and tactics written by four SEO experts:

– Eric Enge, the President of SEO consulting firm, Stone Temple Consulting, who is widely recognized as an expert on the topic of SEO.

– Rand Fishkin, CEO and co-founder of SEOmoz.org, one of the web’s most popular portals on the topic of search.

– Stephan M. Spencer, the founder, President & CEO of the SEO firm Netconcepts.

– Jessie Stricchiola, the founder of Alchemist Media, Inc., a San Francisco search engine marketing company.

The Art of SEO provides proven guidelines and cutting-edge techniques for planning and executing a comprehensive SEO strategy. The authors clearly explain SEO fundamentals, while correcting many common misconceptions. If you are new to SEO, you’ll get a complete and thorough SEO education, as well as an array of effective tactics, from basic to advanced. Seasoned practitioners will find this book useful as a complete reference to SEO best practices.

The chapters on Keyword Research, Developing an SEO-Friendly Website, Creating Link-Worthy Content & Link Marketing, and Tracking Results and Measuring Success are must-reads for anyone interested in mastering search engine optimization.

I interviewed Fishkin on the future of SEO at SES London 2009. He said people are using more social elements and direct methods of getting information rather than using the traditional search engines. Programs such as Yelp, OpenTable for local search, and Kayak, Faircast Live for travel search are examples of this recent development.

Fishkin said people today who want to converse or learn more about social media don’t use Google but use such applications as Facebook or Twitter. He also offered his take on the significance of links.

Rand Fishkin, SEOMoz, on the future of SEO in 2009

Fishkin and Enge will both be speaking at SES Chicago 2009. Fishkin will be speaking about “PPC or SEO? The Ultimate Search Marketing Battle” and “Black Hat, White Hat: Does it Really Matter Anymore?” Enge will be speaking about “Duplicate Content & Multiple Site Issues.”

What is Web 2.0? Definition from WhatIs.com

What is Web 2.0? Definition from WhatIs.com
Web 2.0 (or Web 2) is the popular term for advanced Internet technology and applications including blogs, wikis, RSS and social bookmarking.

Advanced Forum Thread of the Week

Advanced Forum Thread of the Week
Last week at the SMX East conference, a Yahoo representative stated on a panel that the Yahoo search engine no longer supported the meta keyword tag, and supposedly hadn’t for months. Unfortunately, what the Yahoo rep stated was simply not true.

Niche Search News: New Site for Car Search Space, iPhone App Search Sites Partner Up

Niche Search News: New Site for Car Search Space, iPhone App Search Sites Partner Up

Here’s a little vertical search news for your Friday afternoon. A new vehicle search site has entered the field. CarLocate.com. It features the typical car search filters: make, model, new, and used. Advanced search options include gas mileage, number of doors, price range, and color.

“We know that eight out of ten car buyers typically shop online for a vehicle before visiting a dealership,” said Nicole Case, general manager of CarLocate.com. “We built CarLocate.com from the ground up to optimize the search features on the site and to help consumers locate the car that best fits with what they want to buy. As a result, CarLocate.com can make the experience of locating a car simpler, easier, and more effective.”

Meanwhile, searching iPhone apps is a bigger pain than a flu shot, but sites about the ever-popular mobile apps keep trying to find ways to make it easier. The latest is , an iPhone app review site. They’re now using AppStoreHQ’s app search technology.

“It’s impossible for any iPhone website to review every available app. Believe me, we’ve tried,” said Barbara Holbrook, managing editor of AppCraver.com. “This database is a great way to help our readers find apps that we haven’t been able to review yet.”

What do you think of these vertical search efforts? Comment below.

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