iWebEarth

We all knew that Twitter is about to launch its redesigned home page. But we didn’t expect it to be this fast and neither did we expect that it will do it this way. If you sign out of your Twitter account, you will see the new Twitter home page with the sleeker design and a new darker blue theme. But there’s more actually – and it stares at you upfront – the Twitter Search Box.So now, right up front you can start discovering tweets and updates. The redesign was made more for first time visitors to the Twitter home page and who are not yet using Twitter. Putting the Twitter search box right up front would give these visitors a first taste of how great Twitter is as a discovery engine and not just a social media tool for communicating with Twitter members.

It’s a good strategy for Twitter which defines what it could do aside from being a micro-blogging service. And this could also be the start of biggger, bolder things to come for Twitter.

As Loren commented  to me via IM – “looks like a search engine to me…“

Check out the SEO Tools guide at Search Engine Journal.

Twitter Highlights Search on New Home Page

A few hours after the first news coverage on the upcoming announcement about the Yahoo-Microsoft search deal, it started to generate substantial buzz on Twitter. If you search “Microsoft Yahoo” on Twitter Search, you’ll get tremendous number of Tweets, with updates coming in every second.

While most of the Tweets are just providing links to various news sources running the story, there were some valuable commentaries and reactions posted by the more opinionated (I guess) Twitter users.

Some of the notable Tweets related to the Yahoo-Microsoft Deal:

And if you want to read some more, here are the coverage from some of the leading news sites/blogs:

• Microsoft, Yahoo Still Negotiating; Deal Could Be Announced Any Time
• Microsoft, Yahoo may finally embrace with search, advertising deal
• Reports: Microsoft-Yahoo deal to come in next 24 hours

We’re still waiting for the official announcement which could come out in the next few 24 hours.

In the meantime, you might want to start a discussion here and view your reactions/comments to the Yahoo-Microsoft search partnership. You may share your thoughts by leaving a comment below.

Check out the SEO Tools guide at Search Engine Journal.

Twitter Reaction to Microsoft Yahoo Search Partnership

It looks like Microsoft and Yahoo have finally agreed to a search and advertising deal. AllThingsD is reporting that an announcement will be made between now and tomorrow. Wall Street Journal is also running a similar story as well as Advertising Age. While both Yahoo and Microsoft refused to confirmed anything about this, the signs have been pretty much sent out the past couple of days. But perhaps Yahoo CEO’s comment about Bing gave away the validity of the said agreement. Ms. Bartz openly congratulates Microsoft for what it has produced in Bing when Yahoo reported its Q2 Revenue Report. In addition, Ms. Bartz also said that Yahoo will be focusing on its web portal which is the company’s strongest online presence until now.

As for the details of the search and advertising agreement – it will be a revenue sharing deal but would entail Microsoft providing search technology on Yahoo sites as well as using its AdCenter as the backbone of both Yahoo and Microsoft advertising programs. This could mean the end of Yahoo’s Panama, Microsoft AdCenter and Google AdWords’ competitor in the online advertising market.

Now, will these have an impact on Google’s dominance in the search advertising business or search market as a whole? That remains to be seen. Combining Microsoft and Yahoo’s search market share would not even equal to half of Google’s search market share.

The deal could work both ways. On the one end, it will certainly benefit Yahoo but not as much as it would benefit Microsoft. Microsoft is gradually gaining positive grounds with its Bing search engine. And who knows, eventually Bing might power searches in Yahoo’s content network. By that time, Google will be facing stiff competition. But for now, Google may still relax and conduct its usual business. This partnership is not yet a threat. But it might be in the long-run.

Check out the SEO Tools guide at Search Engine Journal.

Microsoft and Yahoo Inch Closer to a Search Deal

As soon as this week Microsoft Bing may be powering the search results and advertising at Yahoo, and an overwhelming amount of Search Engine Journal readers support the move, which would establish Bing with an estimated 30% search market share and position a cooperative Bing & Yahoo as a serious competitor to Google.

Yesterday, upon the news leak that Yahoo & Bing may be coming to terms on an agreement which could be announced as early as this week, SEJ polled its readers on the likely possibility of a Yahoo & Microsoft search engine venture under the likely scenario that Yahoo will be powering Yahoo Search and YSM with Bing search technology and serving Microsoft AdCenter advertising.

Should Yahoo & Microsoft partner on search?

Here are the results (note that this poll is running until Friday, so the percentage points may change) :

The SEJ reader response was overwhelmingly supportive of a partnership, and since our readers are predominantly search engine search marketing professionals, an early consensus could be that the search engine industry is behind the Microsoft Yahoo deal.

Check out the SEO Tools guide at Search Engine Journal.

Microsoft Bing Yahoo Partnership Supported by Search Engine Industry

Apple has rejected Google Voice applications from its iPhone apps store and for the iPod touch under a ban of the Google Voice products. Despite Google Voice applications being readily available for the Blackberry and Android based phones, Apple has yet to approve a Google Voice App for the iPhone, and the reason may have something to do with competition between Google and iPhone’s select carrier in AT&T.

From Claudine Beaumont of the Telegraph

Apple has rejected Google’s official Google Voice app, as well as several applications, developed by third parties, that replicate the functionality of Google Voice on Apple’s devices…

… Two other applications based on the Google Voice platform have also been removed by Apple from its iTunes store. VoiceCentral has disappeared from the store, while GV Mobile has also vanished.

Sean Kovacs, the developer behind GV Mobile, said Apple told him they had removed the application because it “duplicates features that come with the iPhone”.

Google released this statement on its Google Voice and iPhone Apps issues :

Apple did not approve the Google Voice application we submitted six weeks ago to the Apple iTunes Application Store. We will continue to work to bring our services to iPhone users – for example, by taking advantage of advances in mobile browsers.

Why not approve Google Voice for the iPhone? According to the Telegraph, one issue may be a conflict of interest between Google and AT&T, the US carrier for Apple.

The reasons for the removal of the Google Voice applications from the iTunes store remain unclear, but some industry commentators have speculated that AT&T, the iPhone’s exclusive carrier partner in the United States, may have played some part in events.

Google Voice could be viewed as a threat to the key revenue streams of network operators because it allows users to make cheap calls, save money on their text messages, and circumvent the products and services offered by the carriers themselves.

Of course, until Apple and Google and possiby AT&T clean up this mess, iPhone users can access Google Voice via their phone browsers.

Check out the SEO Tools guide at Search Engine Journal.

Apple Rejects Google Voice iPhone Apps

AOL has bought back the 5% stake in its company that Google had purchased back in 2005, when Google started making an invested interest in the company and its use of Google search technology to power AOL Search. Yesterday AOL bought back its 5% for only $283 million, which is about 28% of the original purchase price of $1 Billion by Google in 2005.

The buy back of the Google interest in AOL is part of Time Warner’s strategy to spin off AOL into its own separate and publicly traded entity, which is now valued at $5.66 Billion.

Google, being somewhat of a loser in this deal (keep in mind the 5% stake included Google exclusivity of sponsored listings in AOL search and probably user data info via search behavior), but the revenue may have been made up in different ways.

Google had started working with AOL in May to get back it’s stake in the company : “Google is demanding AOL to buy back its investment to their company at a reduced value of $726 million. This would reduce AOL’s unit valuation to only $5.5 Million.”

And the company released this statement in May about Google and AOL remaining strategic partners :

AOL remains an extremely valued partner, and we’ll continue to work closely together to provide their users with the best search experience possible. After careful consideration, we made the decision that we needed to exercise our rights now so we could be in a position to sell our interest when the timing made sense for us.

We’ll see how long that lasts, especially with Microsoft making aggressive partnership moves in search this week, targeting Yahoo for Bing distribution … AOL may be next.

Check out the SEO Tools guide at Search Engine Journal.

AOL Buys Back 5% Stake from Google

A press release is one of the promotion methods that (almost) survived the web 2.0 evolution. The only thing that changed is the focus: while earlier the main aim of the press release was to get links from various news sites re-publishing one and the same content, today it is more about making the news viral.

If more people understand that, I am sure they will learn how to make the most of their press release: just give it more thought and you will see you link numbers sky-rocking.

I am not a professional press release writer and when I need a good news article written I’d rather turn to the copywriter. But I’ve dealt with quite a few press releases to constantly come across the 3 most common mistakes that are sure to doom the effort to failure:

No ("worthy") news at all

I see no point in publishing a press release if you have nothing newsworthy to share. Sometimes people mistaken a press release for some advanced article distribution service and they promote their a no-news-at-all content at all:

Good news-types topics (that should go viral) may include:

• A new tool launched by the service;
• A new serious move in the company taken (going green is a good idea which will be almost sure to generate you some solid links and awareness);
• A new survey / research completed and made public;
• A contest or awards event announced ("Top ten blogs" in a niche awards, for example);
• A new book published or a new completely new product developed.

In other words, to make the news spread it should contain some useful, tightly targeted information that will make the readers want to republish it (I do not mean automatic scrapers here – they will come no matter what the press release is about; what I mean are real people who will respond to your news and promote it further).

Too much / Too little detail in the title

Like the web page title in general, the title of the press release is crucial for click-through, rankings and viral effect. Shockingly, most press releases I’ve seen lack a thoroughly thought-of title: it is either to long (removing the need to even click-through to learn more) or too general (which makes it sound too dry to encourage an action):

Too detailed:

Too general:

(Who is it actually about?)

Too much focus on the link building

Again, a press release is more about getting the idea viral than stuffing it with multiple links

:

Now, please share your opinion:

Check out the SEO Tools guide at Search Engine Journal.

Making the Most of the Press Release: Getting the Idea Viral

Posted by great scott!

Not but a few short days ago I had the distinct pleasure of being included on a list of 51 of the world’s top Search Marketers.  Alas, for this great honor I did not receive an award statue or a shiny plaque, not even an ornate certificate.  What I received was an email. A horribly executed email that would result in one of the most amusing email threads I’ve ever read, from some of the smartest minds in our industry.

What I’m about to share is a lesson in one fundamental rule: if you’re going to send an RFP to elite consultants, DO NOT simply CC them all in the same email…you’re about to see what will happen.  Names and URLs have been changed to protect the innocent and the guilty. All of the SEO’s are referred to as SEO1-SEO51, just as we were in the To: field of the email (I was SEO8)…those who feel like it can reveal themselves in the comments. 

July 24th, 5:32PM: The saga begins…the email below (edited for privacy) was sent to all of us, with everyone’s email address prominently visible in the To: field.

Dear SEO Consultant,

We are looking for estimates for our new internet venture. We have been in the technology and internet business for over 10 years, and successfully own and operate a technology consulting company called PDmunkeez. 

I have designed and developed a new concept for an auction site which will revolutionize the online auction market and has the potential for over $100,000,000 in annual revenue.  Similar sites include  swoopo.com   ($28 million per year), bidray.com  and bidstick.com.  HOWEVER, what makes YARNZER.COM unique is our patent pending software program that will retain customers and make the bidding experience more exciting.  (It includes Python for the back end and JAVA/HTML for the front end).

In addition, we have a key member of our team with in-depth experience from one of the afore-mentioned auction websites, which gives us an advantage with our customer database and sales projections.
YARNZER.COM is 100% ready to go live. We seek early stage capital for advertisement and operations.  The advertisement capital will go to three major advertisement websites:  google.com, yahoo.com, and facebook.com.  

YARNZER.COM is not just an idea:  the site is built, the software is complete and operational, and my team is ready to launch at a moment’s notice. 

We have our business plan and presentation ready.

We do not require an NDA if you will acknowledge that we have a patent pending for our site.  This way we can give you access to the site.

We are looking for full advertisement campaign in SEO and PPC  for Yarnzer.com.  Our budget is $100,000/month.  Please submit a detailed estimate for your services.  We appreciate your time and look forward to hearing from you!

Regards,
Roland

(Seems fairly harmless, right? It’s even a decent contract he’s offering. But as you’ll soon see, a client who makes such an obvious email blunder, and can’t even customize a greeting, is not going to win over top SEO talent.)

July 24th, 8:03PM: The backlash ensues…

Roland,

For someone with over 10 years experience with an internet
business, you sure as f**k don’t have a clue how to
properly contact the people you hope to work with.

I could give a s**t if you have a million bucks to spend.
If you think this is the right way to start, then my
rude reply here matches your rude spam perfectly.

My advice is that you spend your money on a bankruptcy
attorney, which you will no doubt need, it’s just
a matter of when.

Sincerely,
seo32

(SEO32 later apologized for cc’ing us all on his reply, admitting he was cranky and may have been slightly drunk at the time…I, for one, was thoroughly amused, and SEO43 agreed. )

I was just grabbing the pop corn. I totally agree as well.
-SEO43

July 25th: Cue the mockery…

If anyone admits they took the job at this point, they’re voted off the island.
-SEO42

I actually don’t offer SEO, but just for kicks, I might go by a new alias. You can all call me seo29 from here on out

The last time I was sent a similar email, I set up a facebook page for the recipients. If there is a silver lining, having everyone on one email trail/group brings great minds together.
-SEO29

I will be known as SEO19 from now on.

At least this is worth some comic relief.
-SEO41

(Uh-oh, confusion)

Wait. I’m SEO19!  Go get your own number, Gilligan

Love,
SEO19

What an awesome rant, just found this jewel in my spam-box.

Going to get seo26 tattooed on my face this weekend.
-SEO26

How must our good friend Caroline feel about being SEO51?

Or as I like to call her, "info@"
-SEO42

I was feeling pretty good at SEO7! After all, ranking is everything, right?
-SEO7

Didn’t know I was agent SEO25? Was I on this email by accident or is there a reason? Was this originally an email to market something to SEOs?
-SEO25

July 26th: Roland attempts to apologize…

First of all, my apologies to all of you for failing to send blind copy emails. My assistant carelessly sent those emails and obviously did not understand what I was trying to relay to all of you.  My objective was simply to obtain a customized estimate from each of you to perform a comprehensive advertisement campaign for Yarnzer.com, including SEO and PPC estimates (with most of the budget spent on PPC activities).  We are seeking to launch Yarnzer.com with an advertisement budget of $100,000.00 for the first month of operations.

For your additional reference, the following is a link to our technology consulting company: http://pdmunkeez.com. If you review this site, ypu (sic) will see that we have experience in SEO.  However, we are looking to outsource the advertisement campaign for Yarnzer.com because it is a sizeable project that cannot be handled "in house."  What is most critical for us is to locate a seasoned professional like yourself who has extensive experience with PPC on sites such as Google, Yahoo, and MSN.

Finally, we would greatly appreciate your visiting the Yarnzer.com site and reviewing all of its key features in providing your proposal and good faith, customized estimate for your services.   

Thank you in advance for your attention to this matter.  We look forward to hearing from you soon!

Regards
Roland

(Let it be noted that this message was once again sent to everyone, with all addresses in the To: field. Face-palm.)

July 26th continued: It doesn’t work…

Greetings Sir Roland,

For $100,000 per annual year your company Yarnzer.com will generously receive a sponsored link on the sidebar of Search Engine Notebook, from all of our posts, with the anchor text "[Insert Anchor Text Here]", totaling in over 10,000 targeted inbound links to your site, [Insert Site Here], over the course of the fiscal year.

Fear not Sir Roland, for that is not all, we will also submit Yarnzer.com to over 5,000 targeted search engines and SEO directories, building the authority link equity of Yarnzer.com from these high profile search engines and SEO directories.

And Sir Roland, as part of this innovative SEO package, we will also participate in commenting on over 10,000 Blogspot blogs in your favour. As you may know, Google owns Blogspot, so a comment from Blogspot is the same as a link from Google, except for you will have 120,000 of them over the course of a year.

For the investment of 10,000 US Dollars per month, you will not find a better deal.

Sir Roland, do feel free to contact us or send your Paypal address, and we will set you up with a monthly subscription.

Godspeed, SEO #52

[PS. Can you spell parody?]

(Hey-ooooo!)

Well Done SEO52! LMAO
-SEO45

Dearest SEO52,

I wish to bid $12,000/month for services you described very nice.  Please let me know, does include happy ending, yes?
-SEO24

Dear SEO1 to seo51,

Greetings to all, I’m happy to see us all on the same mailing list.. looks like somebody was doing their homework.

Lets see… Roland’s algorithm landed me the #2 spot here…  Links do not appear to be a factor, though it seems that special attention is given to SEO1 – SEO4… possibly hand selected? .. how must I optimize?
-SEO2

You guys are nuts. Entertaining, but nuts nevertheless – seo32 is clearly a bad influence. Now quit cc’ing us all and get back to work

-SEO39

(Perhaps SEO39 was right, but tomorrow is another day, and a whole new crop saw the thread and became involved)

Dear Roland,

It will be 10K for me to waste my time even preparing a proposal for a guy too lazy to even narrow his choices down to three to five SEO firms and instead feels because he has a big budget, in his mind, he can waste our time instead.

F**k off,
SEO 15

Dear Roland,

*Sigh* I almost felt badly for you.  Certainly you chose the wrong crowd in front of which to make such a bonehead mistake.  And everyone deserves a second chance.  So I was pleased to see the title of your apology email in my inbox…until I read it.

Rather than taking responsibility for your mistakes, you start by blaming your assistant for the cc fiasco.  It was your email mate; your responsibility.  

Beyond that, and as SEO15 notes, you clearly have no idea what kind of firm you want to work with (or don’t care), choosing instead to contact every imaginable kind of search marketing provider, some of whom do not even provide PPC services.  

Most of us prefer to work with straight shooters who take responsibility for their actions and do their homework.  We also know from experience that the way people approach potential business partners is a good indicator of how they are likely to function in the future.  So good luck with this one.

Unfortunately, you are now in the awkward position of knowing that any firm on this list that actually wishes to continue talking must really, really need (want?) the money.  At this point, you might consider just hiring a new employee, with some decent PPC and paid advertising experience.

Regards,
SEO34

(There were a few more clever jabs, including an amusing exchange between two people who were both labeled SEO26 in the list.  One suggested a duel, the other just registered www.seo26.com.  The latter wins.)

I wish I could tell you that Roland fought the good fight, and the SEOs let him be. I wish I could tell you that – but internet marketing is no fairy-tale world. He never said who did it, but we all knew. Things went on like that for awhile – the internet consists of routine, and then more routine. Every so often, Roland would show up with fresh bruises. The SEOs kept at him – sometimes he was able to fight ‘em off, sometimes not. And that’s how it went for Roland – that was his routine. I do believe those first two years were the worst for him, and I also believe that if things had gone on that way, this place would have got the best of him.
-SEO37

Please, someone compile this whole thread in a readable format, and package it off to Valleywag.

Who to do it… hmm…. might I suggest Martin’s assistant?

Have a great week, Team SEO (/PPC)!
-SEO42

And what SEO42 asks for, SEO42 gets, so here we are (Valleywag, feel free to pick this up). 

Now I know a lot of you must be reading this and wondering how these consultants can be so cavalier and dismissive about a large contract, even if the potential client made a stupid mistake.  What you need to understand is that the people on this list are not hurting for clients. They’re busy, they’re successful, and they’re damn good at what they do. They have the luxury of being able to select which projects they take on and, as SEO34 so eloquently pointed out, mistakes like this can be a good indicator of a client that will be difficult to deal with and everyone on this list knows better than to take on a miserable client.

What can be learned from this?  When you’re contacting people you want to work with, whether it’s asking for an RFP, marketing your consulting services, looking to partner, hell, even requesting a link, you need to not only know who you’re talking to, but show some respect.  Few things make people less receptive to you than making them feel like a number; like they have no individual value and that their skills and accomplishments are not appreciated.  Be personable, knowledgeable and respectful and you’ll get a lot further in this industry whether you’re a beginner asking for advice, or a company with a good-sized budget.

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Posted by randfish

There are lots of standardized definitions of SEO (see define query), but few that exist to define or distill the qualities that make a person a professional SEO. The way I see it, there are three ways a professional can be categorized and assigned – technical, self-constructed and peer validated.

Technical: An SEO is one who practices search engine optimization.

Self-Constructed: I practice search engine optimization as a significant portion of the professional work I undertake and am, therefore, an SEO.

Peer Validated: A community of peers in the SEO field has recognized this individual’s achievement and views them as qualified for the title.

In the SEO world, these are very informal and anyone is technically allowed to call themselves what they like (and though I’ll quibble later in the post with some self-titling, I don’t believe any regulation should exist). However, in many other fields, primarily those with a long-established history (lawyer, doctor, law enforcement, engineer, politician), external requirements are a neccessity.

That said, the SEO community appears to be growing in its formalization. Events, organizations, and external recognition, along with the growing value and importance of the practice seem, to me, to be the driving forces at work. I love this community and always have – it’s inspired me, carried me and given me so much that I can never repay enough, but I’d like to add a brief editorialization. It is my personal opinion that unless an individual has these three qualities, I would not personally peer-validate them as an SEO and would hope to be cast out should I not personally exhibit these:

1. Knowledgable in the Basics of Search Engine Operations (not just SEO, but the fundamentals of how search engines work)
2. Actively Practicing SEO by Influencing Change to Websites & Pages and Measuring the Impact
3. Consistently Formulating & Testing Theories About Metrics/Variables that Influence Search Engine Results

I’ve been a bit frustrated of late by the demeaning of our profession by those who do not take the practice seriously nor apply the craft with the respect it’s due. And, furthermore, I’m conflicted about those who’d suggest that our field or our practice should not embrace the principles above. It seems disingenuous, even intellecutally dishonest, to claim to "optimize" for search engines, and yet be lacking in knowledge, not actively practicing (and measuring!), or refrain from critical thinking, brainstorming, forming hypotheses and testing.

Am I too harsh? Should I be more lenient? Or, do we, as a community, want to apply some standards in peer validating those who claim the title of SEO? If so… Are these the right ones?

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