MetaCrawler Broken for Day Number 2

Both yesterday and today when I tried using metacrawler the “metasearch engine”, the results came up fine. The problem arose when I clicked on any of the results.

When I clicked on the result I wished to visit I received a “Runtime Error” message.

An application error occurred on the server. The current custom error settings for this application prevent the details of the application error from being viewed remotely (for security reasons). It could, however, be viewed by browsers running on the local server machine.

To enable the details of this specific error message to be viewable on remote machines, please create a <customErrors> tag within a “web.config” configuration file located in the root directory of the current web application. This <customErrors> tag should then have its “mode” attribute set to “Off”.

I noticed at around 7AM Pacific Daylight Time today metacrawler resolved this problem for a few minutes.

At first I thought this might have been their tribute to Memorial Day.
At this time metacrawler is still rendering a Runtime Error.

Late,
Gary Pool SEO

MetaCrawler Breaks is a post stolen from the Search Engine Optimizician

Dogpile and MetaCrawler have both been Broken for nearly a Week Now

When I first noticed that both MetaCrawler and Dogpile were getting a “timed out message” I chalked it up to a network glitch. As time went by and they still weren’t loading I figured it was a problem with Comcast or the dns server I was using.

I did my due diligence and searched the internet for someone reporting problems with these sites. The only thing I could find was…

InfoSpace Appoints William J. Ruckelshaus as President and Acting Chief Executive Officer

InfoSpace (News – Alert), Inc. (NASDAQ:INSP), today announced that the Company has named InfoSpace Board member and former chief financial officer of AudienceScience, William (Bill) J. Ruckelshaus, as president and acting chief executive officer…

InfoSpace, Inc., a leading developer of metasearch products, is focused on bringing the best of the Web to Internet users. InfoSpace’s proprietary metasearch technology combines the top results from several of the largest online search engines, providing fast and comprehensive search results. InfoSpace sites include Dogpile® (www.dogpile.com), InfoSpace.com® (www.infospace.com), MetaCrawler® (www.metacrawler.com), WebCrawler® (www.webcrawler.com), and WebFetch® (www.webfetch.com).

Could this be the reason for MetaCrqwler and Dogpile being down?

After checking all the metasearch products that Bill took over it appears that they are all broken. He must be having a great first couple of weeks.

Will the InfoSpace metasearch products be resurrected?

MetaCrawler

Dogpile

The importance of MetaCrawler and Dogpile for us SEO folks is that Wordtracker uses a database of over 330 million search terms which is updated on a weekly basis. All search terms are collected from the major metacrawlers – Dogpile and Metacrawler.

I use NicheBot to access the Wordtracker database for part of my keyword research as well as many other cool things. How will this affect our info-space?

Any insights?

Late,
Gary Pool SEO

MetaCrawler and Dogpile have been Down for 6 Days is a post stolen from the Search Engine Optimizician

Conduit Hijacks Firefox on a Windows Computer and Convinces User it is Google

I recently had a client ask me a question about some Google results I couldn’t answer. When I finally figured out the answer it was a case of Conduit taking control of the computers Firefox settings.

He was totally convinced he was using Google so I had the client send me some screen shots of the search results he was getting and the results were very interesting.

The search term was “windows” and…

The above screen shot is a compilation of 3 screens the single screen showed only one organic search result. While Conduit does identify the top results as ads it is not easily apparent to the viewer that there is any difference between the ads and the organic results.

Here is what the searcher saw in his results.

Only the bottom result was organic. All the results above that one were paid Google ads.
(Post from Search Engine Optimizician.)
This hijacking even removed the Conduit logo and replaced it with a magnifying glass.

But when I loaded the Conduit search on my Mac using Firefox the logo magically appears.

As you can see from the above Mac screen shot Conduit does place the text “sponsored links” on the page but the uninitiated could easily miss it.

When I went to the Conduit home page on my Mac this is what I saw.

The Conduit logo is the text “Conduit”, so why isn’t it showing on the PC?

A pretty slick job of hijacking the Firefox browser preferences on a Windows computer ‘eh?

Do you have any similar stories of some sort of control over your computer by some outside source I would love to here about them.

Late,
Gary Pool SEO

Search Engines and Fraud is a post stolen from the Search Engine Optimizician

Bing and Yahoo! Conjugate Alliance in the US and Canada

With the sheets pulled back all that was left was for the bing – Yahoo! Search Alliance to be conjugated.

Towards the end of last month Yahoo! fully switched to using bing’s technology as the power for its search results in the US and Canada.

What this means is whenever anyone searches on yahoo.com they will get exactly the same results as as they would on bing. The only differences are the interface, navigation, some universal results (except images and videos) and related searches.

But will this bring SEO woe?

(Post from Search Engine Optimizician.)

The organic results appear to be identical.

The Yahoo! footer now sports a “Powered by Bing™” identifier.

It looks as though everything is going as planned by the bing – Yahoo! Search Alliance, so unless something blows up we can expect Yahoo to switch to bing powered PPC ads sometime in mid October.

What this means to us SEOs is that bing is now powering 5.2 billion searches monthly which gives them nearly 32% of the search market share in the US and nearly 9% in Canada. Previous information deduced from the numbers published in the comScore report from June 2010.

Yahoo Site Explorer

One of the largest concerns to SEOs is the effect this alliance will have on Yahoo’s Site Explorer. This tool is one of the best free sources for backlink data. If Yahoo’s Site Explorer goes away it will take many of the popular backlink checkers that use its data with it.

Good News

According to the post on the official Yahoo search blog Site Explorer will remain operational at least till early 2012. 2012 is the chosen date when Yahoo is planning to complete the switch to the bing backend technology.

Once all markets are being served by Microsoft, we plan to refine the focus of Yahoo! Site Explorer, and webmasters should use bing’s Webmaster Center to provide information about their website and its structure.

How is the switch to Bing algorithm affecting your site?

Are you noticing a rise or decline in traffic from bing or Yahoo?

Post your story in the comments.

Late,
Gary Pool SEO

Bing and Yahoo! Conjugate the Relationship is a post stolen from the Search Engine Optimizician

The New SEOmoz Guarana Tool is Slated to Blow the Doors off of Google’s Caffeine

Let’s compare caffeine and guarana. What are their definitions and their synonyms?

Once we compare their definitions and their synonyms we can continue on to discuss their functions.

Guarana

Guarana (pronounced /ˌɡwɑrəˈnɑː/, from the Portuguese guaraná, Paullinia cupana (syn. P. crysan, P. sorbilis) is a climbing plant in the maple family, Sapindaceae, native to the Amazon basin and especially common in Brazil. Guarana features large leaves and clusters of flowers, and is best known for its fruit, which is about the size of a coffee bean. As a dietary supplement, guarana is an effective energy booster: it contains about twice the caffeine found in coffee beans (about 2–4.5% caffeine in guarana seeds compared to 1–2% for coffee beans).

Guarana is a native species of South America and has stimulating properties when taken by mouth. Guarana is also used to enhance athletic performance and to reduce fatigue.

The active ingredient in guarana was formerly called guaranine (tetramethylxanthine), but was later found to be caffeine. Guarana has one of the highest caffeine contents of all plants (up to 7%), and has been used by manufacturers for its caffeine content (e.g., Dark Dog Lemon®, Guts®, and Josta®).

Guarana Synonyms:

guarana

• Brazilian cocoa
• caffeina
• caffeine-tannin complex
• Dark Dog Lemon®
• elixir of youth
• gift of the gods
• Go Gum®
• guarana bread
• guarana gum
• guarana paste
• Guarana Rush®
• guarana seed paste
• guaranin
• guaranine
• Guts®
• Happy Motion®
• Josta®
• mysterious Puelverchen
• pasta guarana
• Paullinia
• Paullinia cupana
• Paullinia sorbilis
• Sapindaceae (family)
• Superguarana
• tetramethylxanthine
• Uabano
• Uaranzeiro
• Zoom®

Caffeine

Caffeine is a bitter, white crystalline xanthine alkaloid that is a psychoactive stimulant drug. Caffeine was discovered by a German chemist, Friedrich Ferdinand Runge, in 1819. He coined the term kaffein, a chemical compound in coffee (the German word for which is Kaffee), which in English became caffeine (and changed to Koffein in German).

Caffeine is found in many plant species, where it acts as a natural pesticide, with high caffeine levels being observed in seedlings that are still developing foliage, but are lacking mechanical protection; Caffeine paralyzes and kills certain insects feeding upon the plant. High caffeine levels have also been found in the surrounding soil of coffee bean seedlings. Therefore, it is understood that caffeine has a natural function as both a natural pesticide and an inhibitor of seed germination of other nearby coffee seedlings, thus giving it a better chance of survival.

Caffeine is found in varying quantities in the beans, leaves, and fruit of some plants, where it acts as a natural pesticide that paralyzes and kills certain insects feeding on the plants. It is most commonly consumed by humans in infusions extracted from the bean of the coffee plant and the leaves of the tea bush, as well as from various foods and drinks containing products derived from the kola nut.

Caffeine Synonyms:

caffeine

• battery acid
• brew
• café
• café au lait
• café noir
• cappuccino
• decaf
• decoction
• demitasse
• espresso
• forty weight
• hot stuff
• ink
• jamocha
• java
• joe
• mocha
• mud
• perk
• varnish remover

Google Caffeine

Caffeine is just a revamp of Google’s indexing infrastructure.

• Content is available to searchers more quickly
• Caffeine has resulted in a 50 percent fresher index
• Google’s storage capacity has greatly increased
• Caffeine is intended to help Google better evolve as the web does
• Google’s flexibility in storing information about documents has greatly increased
• The Caffeine infrastructure provides more flexibility in the type of details that can be stored with a document

How can content owners best take advantage of the new infrastructure?

Content owners will reap the benefits of Caffeine without doing anything at all.

Google has said that that Caffeine change doesn’t make any of the crawling, indexing, or ranking factors more or less important than before. It simply makes crawled content available in search results more quickly before and paves the way for added flexibility in taking advantage of the whatever may come as the web evolves.
(Post from Search Engine Optimizician.)

SEOmoz Guarana

Not only is SEOmoz Guarana a revamp of the SEOmoz’s indexing infrastructure it also has many uses geared toward the individual user.

• Content will be available to searchers more quickly
• Guarana will result in a 70 percent fresher index
• SEOmoz’s storage capacity will be greatly increased
• Guarana is intended to help SEOmoz better evolve as the web does
• Guarana is open to the evolution of it’s users also
• SEOmoz’s flexibility in storing information about documents will be greatly increased
• The Guarana infrastructure provides more flexibility in the type of details that can be stored with a document
• With Guarana the individual user will be able to attach specific search variables to their saved quires and information

How can SEOs best take advantage of the new SEOmoz Guarana?

SEOs will be able to reap the benefits of Guarana by attaching search and ranking variables to this new incredible tool.

SEOmoz has iterated that that Guarana won’t change any of the crawling, indexing, or ranking factors for the mozRank. It simply makes crawled content attachable to your informational search results more quickly than ever before and sets the stage to increase your SERPs like nothing ever has past or present.

Way to go SEOmoz keep the SEO tools coming.

Late,
Gary Pool SEO

SEOmoz Guarana VS Google Caffeine is a post stolen from the Search Engine Optimizician

Local Weather, Local News, Google Local, Local Search, is Local Search Taking it’s Place in the Local Arena

A study from the end of 2009 gives us a realistic view of local search and it’s effect on business.

In this study surveys were taken by actual online users of local business search platforms. This survey sample was based on the comScore proprietary panel of two million online consumers. These particular survey results were based on 4,000 completed responses.

(Post from Search Engine Optimizician.)

And the Survey says:

• print media is declining
  41% of local business searchers spend the vast majority of their time searching for local businesses online instead of offline
• Yellow Pages usage down 3%
  Internet Yellow Pages are experiencing significant growth
• Google has developed applications that have overtaken online business directories
  local searches have grown 40% – 51% over 2008, attributed mostly to Google Maps
• mobile search continues to experience growth
  more consumers have access to mobile devices with Internet browsers and applications
• As youth and seniors continue to age search will be affected
  41% of youth, ages 18 to 24, utilize search engines for business information while 49% of searchers 65 years old or more rely on print
• search engines comprise a significant portion of search traffic for local business information

LOCAL SEARCH STUDY SUMMARY
Since 2007, the trend across all searches is that more users are searching for personal reasons, less for business purposes. This creates a need for companies to develop positive user experiences and relevant business information across all search platforms, so consumers can develop good impressions about your brand and make informed purchase decisions. Whether your consumers are engaging in mobile, online or print searches, search satisfaction remains relatively high. Survey respondents were the most satisfied with online searches, followed by searching for local businesses on their cell phones. When dissatisfied, a majority of consumers blamed content: not being able to find what they were looking for or a lack of product/service information.

While the Internet is the most satisfactory source of local business information among consumers, traditional media and burgeoning mobile solutions hold relevance in today’s search landscape, demonstrating the need for businesses to integrate cross-platform strategies. Based on our findings, companies should allocate marketing dollars to the distribution of different media channels because consumers today use a variety of sources for local business information, sometimes several sources for single purchase decisions. As both innovative and traditional sources continue competing for consumer search traffic, businesses need to focus on developing a complete search presence. The idea is to diversify your search marketing to help consumers find you, regardless of how they’re searching.

So what does all this mean?

An exclusive search marketing position is probably not the best stance to take. You need a complete marketing strategy. You should include a complete package, a diverse mix of media sources for local business information that includes mobile platforms and a strong mix of social media.

Late,
Gary Pool SEO

Local Weather, Local News, Google Local, Local Search is a post stolen from the Search Engine Optimizician

Microsoft / Yahoo – Search Alliance Will it be Referred to as the Evil Alliance or a Lethal Alliance for Google?

Last Thursday I got an email from the Microsoft adCenter filling me in on some “new” information on the face of pay per click for the future.

I was presented me with the news that all of us in the business knew was bound to arrive. Microsoft and Yahoo are forming an alliance. Well the first thing that came to mind was the evil empire from the movie Star Wars. I thought for a minute and said no that moniker “the evil empire” belongs to Google. I know it is the “evil alliance” yeah, that’s what it reminds me of. It is hard for me to remember any alliance by 2 big players that actually benefited the little guy.

Here is the greeting from the email.

Dear gary,

Microsoft© and Yahoo! have now received regulatory clearance to form the Yahoo! and Microsoft Search Alliance  in the United States and European Union. This milestone is an exciting step in our effort to give your business a time-saving and cost-efficient way to connect with a larger combined audience of potential customers.

So now we will have MicroHoo! the new unified search marketplace. Here is a sample of what the new logo might look like.

A powerful new choice in search is coming

The Yahoo! and Microsoft Search Alliance is a major initiative between our companies to create a competitive choice in search for advertisers and consumers. The combined scale will assist both companies in speeding the pace of innovation to improve the search user experience, as well as help advertisers get better results and help improve monetization for partners.

When the Yahoo! and Microsoft Search Alliance is implemented, both companies will continue to have differentiated consumer search experiences. However, Microsoft will manage the technology platforms that deliver the algorithmic (powered by Bing) and paid (powered by adCenter) search results.

Yahoo! and Microsoft will each provide customer support to different advertiser segments: Yahoo!’s sales team will exclusively support high volume advertisers, SEO and SEM agencies, and resellers and their clients. Microsoft will support self-service advertisers. In addition, Microsoft adCenter will be the platform for all search campaigns.

(Post from Search Engine Optimizician.)

The Search Alliance Marches On.

Microsoft like the Bill Gates original idea will take a small amount from many of the little guys. (when he sold his first operating system to IBM all he wants is a small licensing fee for each unit shipped) Yahoo will cater exclusively high volume advertisers, SEO and SEM agencies, and resellers. Where is the plus for us in this? Will this alliance by grouping the bidding arena just drive the cost of the ads for the little guy up?

Will this search alliance be lethal for Google? What will happen with the adwords bids there?

Will this search alliance actually benefit us the little guys? I don’t know like many things in life only time will tell.

Late,
Gary Pool SEO

Microsoft Yahoo Search Alliance – Evil Empire or Alliance from Star Wars is a post stolen from the Search Engine Optimizician

Now the URL SEOGaryPool.com is Being Used by a Guy Who Says His Name is Gary

My searching has shown up another impostor. I am and have been SEO Gary Pool.

I am now changing the focus on my identity to Gary Pool SEO.

The new perpetrator is not claming to be SEO Gary Pool even though his URL is SEOGaryPool.com. Instead he is stating. “Hi everyone, my name is Gary and SEO is on my mind day and night.”
(Post from Search Engine Optimizician.)

This Gary is hiding his identity in his “who is” listing.

SEOGaryPool.com is hosted by Bluehost Inc.
1958 South 950 East
Provo, UT 84606

SEOGaryPool.com has a Google PageRank of “0″ and an Alexa Rank of “23,528,380″ as of today.

Maybe we will revisit this later.

I am still SEO Gary Pool,
Late,
Gary Pool SEO

Yet Another SEO Gary Pool in the Digital World – Well Not Quite! is a post stolen from the Search Engine Optimizician

"SEO Gary Pool" is being used by The Flux SEO from Pakistan to Commit Fraud

During a recent search on my identity "SEO Gary Pool" I noticed another site I had never heard of was ranking on my identity "SEO Gary Pool".

I was shocked at the results of the search. In addition to the usual expected results there was a new player in the field using SEO Gary Pool. This new player was from Pakistan.
(Post from Search Engine Optimizician.)
The usual results were:

• SEO Blog : Internet Marketing : Search Engine Optimizician
  searchengineoptimizationportland.com/blog
• SEO Gary Pool | Search Engine Optimization Specialist | Search …
  searchengineoptimizationportland.com/seopdx/gary-pool.html
• Gary Pool – LinkedIn
  linkedin.com/in/garypool
• Search Engine Optimizician -Digital Strategist – Gary Pool SEO …
  blogcatalog.com/blogs/search-engine-optimizician-digital-strategist-gary-pool-seo.html

Here is the interesting result:

• SEO Services | FLUX SEO Pakistan | SEO Gary Pool
  seo.thefluxinc.com

Of course I had to investigate.

It turns out they are using my name as though I actually worked for them.

They are using statements such as:

“Another fact which makes the FLUX affable is the affordable SEO gary pool services.”

“The FLUX Inc. is the SEO gary pool company which takes the trust of its customers by providing its all details online.”

The server for the site is located in Houston, Texas but the URL is owned by a person in Pakistan.

The FLUX Inc
Umar Jamil
Fareed Colony, Street # 1
House # 1, Narwala Road
Faisalabad
Punjab,38000
PK
Tel. +92.3006625619

There are even ads on the site for viagra, cialis, and levitra.
If you were in my shoes what would you do?

Late,
Gary Pool

"SEO Gary Pool" is Victim of Fraud by The Flux in Pakistan is a post stolen from the Search Engine Optimizician

Google Forced “Personalized Search for Everyone” Really Helpful or Just a Ploy to Sell More AdWords?

Google has announced the a new “help” for your search results. They are actually turning on personalized search whether you are signed into your Google account or not.

Will this help you in your searching or will it help Google sell more PPC ads?

When I am researching a subject on the internet I always use the same web sites all the time.

Wait a minute isn’t that what bookmarks are for?
Why would I want to get information from new sites anyway?

This is where Google AdWords come in. If you want information from sites you don’t visit you can always use the paid ads at the top and the right side of the page of the page.

Personalized Search for everyone

Today we’re helping people get better search results by extending Personalized Search to signed-out users worldwide, and in more than forty languages. Now when you search using Google, we will be able to better provide you with the most relevant results possible. For example, since I always search for [recipes] and often click on results from epicurious.com, Google might rank epicurious.com higher on the results page the next time I look for recipes. Other times, when I’m looking for news about Cornell University’s sports teams, I search for [big red]. Because I frequently click on www.cornellbigred.com, Google might show me this result first, instead of the Big Red soda company or others.

Previously, we only offered Personalized Search for signed-in users, and only when they had Web History enabled on their Google Accounts. What we’re doing today is expanding Personalized Search so that we can provide it to signed-out users as well. This addition enables us to customize search results for you based upon 180 days of search activity linked to an anonymous cookie in your browser. It’s completely separate from your Google Account and Web History (which are only available to signed-in users). You’ll know when we customize results because a “View customizations” link will appear on the top right of the search results page. Clicking the link will let you see how we’ve customized your results and also let you turn off this type of customization.

If I am looking for recipes or information on my favorite sports team from specific web sites I think I will use the bookmark feature in my browser.

To personalize your search results, Google needs to record what you’re doing. Does anyone else hear the alarm in the background?

• Can anyone see what you’ve searched for?
• How long do they keep this datat?
• Can you just turn it off?

Google Signed-in personalization

When you are signed in, Google will personalize your search experience based on your Web History. If you do not want to receive personalized results while you are signed in, you can turn off Web History and remove it from your Google Account. You can also view and remove individual items from your Web History.

Google Signed-out customization

When you are not signed in, Google will customize your search experience based on past search information linked to your browser using a cookie. Google stores up to 180 days of signed-out search activity linked to your browser’s cookie, including queries and results you click.

(Post from Search Engine Optimizician.)
An important part of this “Personalized Search for everyone” change is realizing that it is impossible for you or anyone else (Well! other than Google that is.) to see what you’ve searched on or clicked on in the past, as long as you’re using the signed-out option.

So what does all this mean?
Will Google’s “Personalized search” sell more AdWords?
Is the Google Empire trying to kill true relevant organic search?
Has the Evil Empire created another Windows Longhorn/Vista faux pas?
Will Bing become more popular like Apple did when Microsoft launched Windows Vista?

Only time will tell. Maybe Google will be forced to spin “Personalized search Mojave” or even launch “Personalized search 8″.

I have already changed my personal search engine to Bing. I find the results fit my parameters much better than Google anyway.

From a SEO perspective this opens up a whole new #10 can of worms.

Late,
Gary Pool

Google – The Evil Empire is Using The Force to Maim Your Search Results is a post stolen from the Search Engine Optimizician

SEO Tools of the Trade for Firefox Web Browsers – Search

With all of the web browsers available today I have chosen to use Firefox as my default. The main reason I use Firefox is the plethora of customization options available for this incredible web browser.

There are many other reasons for choosing Firefox but I am going to use only one SEO! There are many plugins and/or add-ons available for the Firefox browsers that will facilitate your SEO work. This series “SEO Tools of the Trade for Firefox Web Browsers” will cover the ones I use on almost a daily basis.

I have chosen to start at the beginning for the SEO world. Search is the basis for SEO. Without search there would be no need for SEO.

The Fire fox browser comes with a search box in the upper right hand corner that can be customized to meet all of your search needs. You can add any number of free search parameters to this little box.

As you can see from the sceenshot I happen to have a bundle of Google related parameters installed. One of my favorites is the “Google.com UnPersonalized but with American AdWords“. I also have 6 other Google specific add-ons.

You can manage your search engines to put them in any particular order you’d like and to find more right from the drop down management palette.
(Post from Search Engine Optimizician.)

With a full compliment of search engine add-ons you can not only search with your favorite search engines at will but you can also search Google Spanish, UK, with and without personalization, and even within results indexed in the last 24 hours.

You can probably tell that I have quite a list of search engines at my finger tips. By using Firefox and their incredible search engine add-ons I save a considerable amount of time on my projects.

Are you using Firefox yet?

Late,
Gary Pool

Firefox Web Browsers, SEO Tools of the Trade for Search is a post stolen from the Search Engine Optimizician

One of the features I like on Twitter is the search engine

Recently they’ve even improved it, so that you can do a search on twitter for a specific topic while logged in. You can search for industry specific topics, keywords, and phrases to see what people are tweeting about, in relationship to what you offer.

For example, if you’re a business owner who creates wedding invitations, a search phrase to use would be wedding invites or wedding invitations. You would enter the information into the twitter search box, and press search.

Twitter will then display real time results for the phrase you searched for. Thos results will show you what people are saying about that specific subject, and can sometimes be useful as a way of determining what someone needs. Below are search results I got when I typed the phrase wedding invites and searched for it.

As you can see there’s some definite conversation around wedding invites, but not all of them will be ones that a business would send a reply to. However, LisaWeddingGirl, Fastpitch, and maxturner are a few people that someone who does wedding invites could make a response to. To make a response you simply hover your mouse to the right of the message by the person and click on the arrow (see picture below). Then an @ symbol and the name of the person will be displayed and you can write your response.

When making a reply, I don’t recommend replying with a link. Reply, instead, with a helpful suggestion, and if you get a response, follow-up with another one, and then follow up with a link. Remember, you need to build rapport, and a relationship with this person, before trying to direct that person to your website. Also, there’s no guarantee that the person will go to your website, but in general, if someone feels you are being helpful, they’ll at least check it out.

The search engine on twitter is pretty powerful and useful. I recommend logging onto the twitter site directly a couple times a week, at least and doing a search on what people are commenting on that relates to your industry. If you’re feeling really adventurous and want to take you social media marketing up a notch, do a search on twitter a couple of times a day on words or phrases that are associated with your industry and start making some responses to people.

Taylor Ellwood
Business, Writing, & Social Media Coach

How to use Search on Twitter is a post stolen from the Search Engine Optimizician

The Criminal Portion of the Chargers’ Shawne Merriman – Tia Taquilla Case is Over and So it is “Lights Out” for this Series

As the lights get turned off on this criminal case I will wrap up this series on keyword and social media monitoring and the value of research.

District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis ruled on Friday there was not insufficient evidence to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the San Diego Chargers’ Merriman had even committed a crime.

Tila Tequila lashes out at the San Diego District Attorney’s decision to dismiss her allegation she was battered by Shawne Merriman- accusing authorities of “unconscionable negligence”.

(Post from Search Engine Optimizician.)

Keyword research results.

Here are the numbers.

09/13/2009

09/10/2009

09/07/2009
Keyword research numbers via Nichebot.

Over all increases:

• Predicted daily searches on “shawne merriman” have risen from 38 to 225
• Predicted daily searches on “merriman chokes taquila” have risen from 0 to 108
• Predicted daily searches on “shawn merriman” have risen from 64 to 100
• Predicted daily searches on “merriman” have risen from 20 to 38
• Predicted daily searches on “sean merriman” have risen from 0 to 15

Social Media Monitoring Results

Social Media Monitoring numbers via SEOmoz.

merriman (all words):

• Last 24 Hours – 28 posts
• Last 7 Days – 2071 posts
• Last 30 Days – 3523 posts
• tweets (last 7 days) – more than 1500

“merriman “reached a high of 961 news/blog posts on September 7th

shawne merriman (all words):

• Last 24 Hours – 16 posts
• Last 7 Days – 1381 posts
• Last 30 Days – 2105 posts
• tweets (last 7 days) – more than 1500

“shawne merriman” reached a high of 801 news/blog posts on September 7th

shawn merriman (all words):

• Last 24 Hours – 2 posts
• Last 7 Days – 271 posts
• Last 30 Days – 374 posts
• tweets (last 7 days) – 1266

“shawn merriman” reached a high of 184 news/blog posts on September 8th

merriman chokes taquila (all words):

• Last 24 Hours – 0 posts
• Last 7 Days – 0 posts
• Last 30 Days – 0 posts
• tweets (last 7 days) – 5

I hope this series has given you some insight on the value of monitoring just what is going and the usefulness of the tools available.
Be sure to check out the other posts in the series on Shawn Merriman, Tia Taquilla, Keyword Research, and Social Media Monitoring.

Late,
Gary Pool

Shawne Merriman and Tia Taquila The Research Is Complete is a post stolen from the Search Engine Optimizician

Shawn Merriman, Tia Taquila, and Social Media Search

Using the new “Social Media Monitoring” tool from SEOmoz. [ Social Media Monitoring Prototype (PRO Only) New social media monitoring prototype - powered by Blogscape! ] I ran the search terms merriman, shawne merriman, shawn merriman, and merriman chokes taquilla, to find out its popularity in the social sphere.

If you aren’t familiar with SEOmoz. I would suggest you check them out. SEOmoz is one of the best resources I have found to help with internet marketing. A day does not pass that I have been on my computer that I haven’t visited their site at least once.

The search is for all of the words in the phrase in any order.

The results:

merriman chokes tequila

• last 24 hours – 0 posts
• last 7 days – 19 posts
• last 30 days – 19 posts
• last 7 days – 137 tweets

shawn merriman

• last 24 hours – 0 posts
• last 7 days – 117 posts
• last 30 days – 168 posts
• last 7 days – >1500 tweets

shawne merriman

• last 24 hours – 1 posts
• last 7 days – 1368 posts
• last 30 days – 1661 posts
• last 7 days – >1500 tweets

merriman

• last 24 hours – 1 posts
• last 7 days – 1829 posts
• last 30 days – 2666 posts
• last 7 days – >1500 tweets

(Post from Search Engine Optimizician.)

So how do we use these statistics?

When coupled with the keyword research statistics we talked about in the post “The Continuing Saga of Shawne Merriman and Tia Taquila” where we found out there were.

• predicted searches on “shawne merriman” were – 113 daily
• predicted searches on “shawn merriman” were – 83 daily
• predicted searches on “merriman chokes tequila” were – 40 daily
• predicted searches on “merriman” were – 25 daily

We can see which searches were up and which posts and tweets were down. We can then adjust our social campaigns to give the freshest information on the most popular – least used phrases.

All the information is based on past information there is no actual “real time” information available.

Just don’t let the topic go stale where you will be discussing something no one is searching on any more.

We will visit the stats some time next week and see what the statistics tell us then.

Late,
Gary Pool

Merriman Chokes Taquila – Social Media Says… is a post stolen from the Search Engine Optimizician

Last night I attended a Great SEMpdx presentation “Local Search With David Mihm”

David treated us to some very interesting information on Google local search, the major players in the local listings game, and techniques to raise our local search results.

David Mihm frequently writes about such topics as Local Search at his own blog, Mihmorandum, as well as at Search Engine Land. His Local Search Ranking Factors project is among the most important studies of Local SEO.
(Post from Search Engine Optimizician.)
He was advertised as covering topics as:

• Some of the fundamental differences between this new frontier of Universal search and traditional SEO
• The factors important for ranking well in Local results
• The danger of hijacked listings and how to prevent them
• A typical Local Search “starter” campaign
• The social side of Local

David DELIVERED!

OK here is the skinny.

Great research site for “local information”.
Urban Mapping produces neighborhood data, mass transit data and geographic keyword research tools. Urban Mapping provides neighborhood data for 2,700 municipalities in the United States, Canada and Europe.

Google Search

• Google Local
• optimizing locations
• click throughs from the 10 pack are trackable
• claim your listings
• google.com/lbc
• max out the categories

The Major Players:

• localeze.com
• infoUSA
• Axiom

Things to put on your SEO Local to-do list:

• make sure all your business information matches
• check your web pages tab in Google Local
• link out to your major listings
• you can use universalbusinesslisting.org to handle multiple distribution

Use the “hCard microformat”:

HTML

<div>
<div>John Doe</div>
<div>JD</div>
<div>The Example Company</div>
<div>123-555-1234</div>
<a href="http://jdco.com/">http://jdco.com/</a>
</div>

hCard microformat

<div class="vcard">
<div class="fn">John Doe</div>
<div class="nickname">JD</div>
<div class="org">The JD Company</div>
<div class="tel">123-555-1234</div>
<a class="url" href="http://jdco.com/">http://jdco.com/</a>
</div>

Thanks David and SEMpdx for such a valuable event.
Join us at the next SEMpdx event:
September Networking: Social Networking & National Chicken Month?
September 15, 2009 5:30 PM @ RonTom’s, 600 E. Burnside ,Portland, OR 97214
And best of all it is Free!!! See you there.

I thought you might also enjoy this Whiteboard Friday, with David on Local Search posted earlier on SEOmoz.

More on David Mihm’s SEMpdx presentation last night from Scott Hendison, the SearchCommander.

Late,
Gary Pool

Raise Google Local Rankings by Optimizing All Your Local Search Listings is a post stolen from the Search Engine Optimizician

Tia Taquila’s side of the Shawne Merriman Story – Well at least her Lawyer’s Spin

Tequila’s lawyer is reciprocating with their own spin on Shawne Merriman. He is claiming the San Diego Chargers’ Shawne Merriman’s version of what happened the night he was arrested is nothing but pure “spin.”

Is anyone else getting dizzy?

Tila’s Lawyer — Shawne’s Story is a ‘Spin’ Move

Merriman claimed that Tila was drunk and he was trying to keep her safe by keeping her off the road — Tequila’s lawyer, Alan Gutman, says Shawne’s story will be “completely discredited.”

Gutman just released the following statement to TMZ:

Shawne Merriman and his advisors have decided that the best defense is a good offense, attacking Tila Tequila in the press with a lot of calculated spin to cover up his illegal and indefensible actions.

Fortunately, we as a society will not tolerate a 6’4″, 270 pound all-pro NFL linebacker physically assaulting a young lady who is 4’11″ and 93 pounds. It is never justifiable to brutally assault, choke, strike and imprison a woman.

Once the truth is fully revealed, Mr. Merriman’s fantastic story of how he was trying to keep Ms. Tequila safe will be completely discredited.

No one, especially a woman, should ever have to endure what Mr. Merriman did to Tila Tequila.

Now on to the keyword research results.

Here are the numbers.

The numbers we began with are as follows:

Keyword research numbers via Nichebot.

So what do we get out of these numbers?
(Post from Search Engine Optimizician.)
The first thing I see is that the majority of searchers are now using the proper spelling of “Shawne” rather than “Shawn” Merriman.

There is also another search phrase in the “related to merriman” searches. The predicted daily count on “merriman chokes tequila” is actually 2 more than the correct spelling of his name “shawne merriman” was when we started this venture.

The envelope says:

• Predicted searches on “shawne merriman” have risen from 38 to 113 – 197% increase
• Predicted searches on “shawn merriman” have risen from 64 to 83 – 30% increase
• Predicted searches on “merriman” have risen from 20 to 25 – 25% increase

Just to put this into perspective, my second blog post “San Diego Chargers, Shawn Merriman, Tia Taquila, and Keyword Research – The Saga Continues” had over 80 visits in the first 24 hours and the original blog post “San Diego Chargers’ Shawne Merriman and Tila Taquila” has had over 150 visits as of the time I am writing this post.

Late,
Gary Pool

The Continuing Saga of Shawne Merriman and Tia Taquila is a post stolen from the Search Engine Optimizician

Day 2: The Story of Shawne Merriman, Tia Taquila, and Keyword Research

Shawne Merriman said Monday that he did not cause any harm to Tia Taquila.

Merriman released the statement “I was concerned about her welfare given the intoxicated state she appeared to be in and I encouraged her to stay until safe transportation could be provided.” and “I in no way caused any harm to Ms. Nguyen, however, paramedics were called and she was examined but no injuries were reported.”
(Post from Search Engine Optimizician.)

San Diego Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman said in a statement Monday that he caused no harm to Tila Tequila in an incident Sunday that resulted in his being taken into custody.

Early Sunday morning, deputies from the San Diego Sheriff’s Department responded to a call at Merriman’s house. The San Diego Union-Tribune reported Tequila, the star of a former reality show on MTV whose real name is Tila Nguyen, signed a citizen’s arrest complaint that charged the linebacker with battery and false imprisonment.

Tequila reportedly told them she was choked, thrown to the ground and restrained by Merriman upon attempting to leave.

But Monday, Merriman released a statement, saying that at the time, “I was concerned about her welfare given the intoxicated state she appeared to be in and I encouraged her to stay until safe transportation could be provided.”

The statement went on to say, “I in no way caused any harm to Ms. Nguyen, however, paramedics were called and she was examined but no injuries were reported.”

The statement said that there have been no official charges filed against him, and that he looks forward to clearing his name.

His statement was the second from the Chargers, as on Sunday, team general manager A.J. Smith said, “It’s disappointing to hear about the issue involving Shawne Merriman. We’ll continue to monitor the situation and let the legal process run its course.”

The 25-year-old Merriman is a three-time Pro Bowl selection and was named First-Team All-Pro in 2006, when he led the league with 17 sacks.

Merriman, the 12th overall pick of the 2005 NFL Draft, has spent his entire four-year career with San Diego. He missed all but the first game last season because of a knee injury that required surgery.

Copyright 2009 Courtesy of The Sports Network.

Now on to the Keyword Research

Even though the number of searches on all the derivatives of Merriman (Shawn Merriman, Sean Merriman, Shawne Merriman, and Merriman) haven’t changed the number of the blog posts and tweets have increased tremendously.

In the last 24 hours there has been an increase of 2 posts for the miss-spelling “Sean Merriman” (0 to 2), an increase of 137 posts for the proper spelling of “Shawne Merriman” (1 to 139), and an increase of just his last name “Merriman” of 171 (2 to 173). Plus there has been 11 blog posts for the miss-spelling “Shawn Merriman“.

The miss-spelling “Shawn Merriman” just happens to be the most searched keyword phrase at almost 2 to 1 for “Shawne Merriman.”

If you are interested finding out more about the graph I am using it is from the great Pro Toolset offered by SEOmoz.

Stay tuned and we will look at the numbers after the holiday.

Late,
seopdx/gary-pool.html”>Gary Pool

San Diego Chargers, Shawn Merriman, Tia Taquila, and Keyword Research – The Saga Continues is a post stolen from the Search Engine Optimizician

When I visited Google this morning they had a new logo, was it a bomb or a reference to Warehouse 13?

It was actually nether. The new logo was a reference to the birthday of Hans Christian Ørsted.

(Post from Search Engine Optimizician.)

Hans Christian Ørsted (often rendered Oersted in English; b. 14 August 1777 in Rudkøbing, Denmark, d. 9 March 1851 in Copenhagen, Denmark) was a physicist and chemist who is most widely known for observing that electric currents can induce magnetic fields, an important aspect of electromagnetism. He shaped post-Kantian philosophy and advances in science throughout the late 19th century.

In 1824 Ørsted founded Selskabet for Naturlærens Udbredelse (SNU), a society to disseminate knowledge of the natural sciences. He was also the founder of predecessor organizations which eventually became the Danish Meteorological Institute and the Danish Patent and Trademark Office. Ørsted was the first modern thinker to explicitly describe and name the thought experiment.

A leader of the so-called Danish Golden Age, Ørsted was a close friend of Hans Christian Andersen and the brother of politician and jurist Anders Sandøe Ørsted, who eventually served as Danish prime minister (1853-54).

The Oersted (Oe), the cgs unit of magnetic induction, is named after him.

This could still be a reference to Warehouse 13.
If you haven’t seen Warehouse 13 yet it is a new Syfy Channel series, which premiered on July 7, 2009, that centers around a secret government warehouse in South Dakota located at K-39-ZZZ.

Warehouse 13 was built in 1898 and designed by Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla and MC Escher. There have been twelve incarnations of the warehouse prior to the one in South Dakota. One of the oldest warehouses was at the Library of Alexandria. Throughout history, the warehouse has moved to whatever country has the most power at the time. (Warehouses have been established in Mesopotamia, Rome, Russia, England, etc.)

Sounds like there might be a Hans Christian Ørsted artifact located somewhere in Warehouse 13.

Tesla Gun from Warehouse 13.

Until next time

“Warehouse 13 Next Generation”

Late,
Gary Pool

Google Uses a Bomb for a Logo or is it a Warehouse 13 Reference is a post stolen from the Search Engine Optimizician

Google Local Business Center How Much Has It Changed?

Well it looks like Google has updated their Local Business Center. They scheduled a downtime from 10 to 11 am yesterday and…
(Post from Search Engine Optimizician.)
They are touting it as “New!” “Now offering a reporting dashboard”.

I don’t see anything earth shattering that Google has brought to the table in their “New” and improved version of the Google Local Business Center. Only Time will tell.

I do find it interesting that they use catering / restaurant for their focus in their video though.

Google Local Business Center Update Coming?

The Google Maps Help forums posted an announcement that there will be scheduled downtime this Wednesday, July 29th. The downtime will be between 1pm – 2pm(edt) / 10am-11am(pdt).

I assume that after 2pm on Wednesday, we might be in for an updated set of features or a new user interface in the Google Local Business Center. Of course, this is just an assumption, but many people are expecting updates from Google in this area and it is due time for an update.

I hope you enjoy the video.

I haven’t had much time to dissect all the changes because I am still dealing with the Technorati ordeal.

Late,
Gary Pool

New and Improved Google Local Business Center is a post stolen from the Search Engine Optimizician

Last Night – SMX Advanced – Microsoft’s new entry into the search field Bing sponsored In The Park Bash

Last night at SMX Advanced Seattle there was quite a party held “against the beautiful backdrop of the Olympic Sculpture Park and the Puget Sound.”

This turned out to be quite an event with live entertainment, outstanding hors doeuvres, pulsating music from a DJ team, and beverages of all varieties, some even with flashing plastic ice cubes. I’m sure a great time was had by all.

The sponsor was Bing.com Microsoft’s latest entry into the search field. Their battle cry is “search is sick” and their answer is of course Bing who in their own words, “Bing is a search engine that finds and organizes the answers you need so you can make faster, more informed decisions.”

According to Microsoft Bing a decision engine instead of a search engine. Will it unseat Google as the search king? I don’t think anyone but Google themselves can accomplish that task.

Bing does look like it will be fun to investigate.

Late,
Gary Pool

Social Networking In The Park Sponsored by Bing from Microsoft is a post stolen from the Search Engine Optimizician

The Business of B2B Search Engine Marketing

I attended the B2B session at SearchFest 2009 to pick up on the subtle differences between marketing to consumers and marketing to businesses and these presentations lived up to all my expectations.

Moderator: Todd Mintz – S.R. Clarke

Todd is the Director of Internet Marketing & Information Systems for S.R. Clarke Inc., a Real Estate Development and Residential / Commercial Construction Executive Search / Recruiting Firm headquartered in Fairfax, VA with offices nationwide.

Kerry McClenahan – McBru

Search is the #1 tool in the buying process in both electronics and IT

• Chinese Engineers: Brand Matters
• Brand influence 56% of the time

SEO: News Releases

SEO: Blogging

David Stoller – Business.com

B2B Marketers More Accountable but Online Marketing Goals Similar

• Everyone is feeling more accountable
• ROI and what is ROI?
• B2B Marketing budgets are shifting online

B2B vs B2C

• Different buying cycle than B2C
• General search is great for identity
• Smaller target market
• Search marketing challenges

What Makes Business Buying Different?

• Longer sales cycle
• Phased purchasing process
• Multiple “search” sessions, by different DMs & influencers, over time
• Task oriented

5 Key Rules for B2B Search Marketing Success

• Know your audience
• Focus on traffic quality
• Drive visitors to action
• Measure what you can & acknowledge your limits
• Start targeted and then expand

Daniel Boberg – Yahoo

Campaign Best Practices

5 tips

• Match campaigns and measurements to their buying cycle
• Track all conversion types site visits…
• Drive visitors to action /develop engagement program
• Qualify your audience / leads through search copy
• Link search ads to a variety of pages

B2B search Marketer Needs

• Targeted traffic
• Test different marketing messages for different users
• Market locally-focused business or niche product/service
• Align with your target market

New Search targeting capabilities

• Enhanced geo
• Day parting
• Age
• Gender
• Bid adjustments
• Better implicit Content Match targeting
• Improved Forecasting

Search and Display

John Andrews – JohnOn.com

The search value of web sites

Earning rank

• It’s not about keywords it’s about query
• Searcher intent is the key to information retrieval
• Google wants to index all the information and make it useful
• Intent is unknown the internet to the search is a filter

Navigational queries usually have only one result.

Business to Business Marketing

• guide the user
• buying marketing funnels…

In a B2B is no longer a query it is an intent.

Always be closing

So there you have my notes from the Business to Business Search Marketing session at SearchFest 2009.

Late,
Gary Pool

B2B Search Engine Marketing – SearchFest 2009 is a post stolen from the Search Engine Optimizician

Stefan Weitz gives us a lesson in Image Search

Stefan Weitz demonstrates some really interesting features in the LiveSearch image search with his own brand of humor.

This is an interesting and informative video. If you do image searches of any kind the information here will save you more time than you’ll spend watching this video.

Watch out Google the future of image search is here and it is brought to us by MSN or should I say LiveSearch.

After watching this video I would be willing to say Google image search has some catching up to do. LiveSearch image search definitely has a leg up on the competition.

You may think you know Image Search, but in the next five minutes I’ll show you at least a couple of things I bet you didn’t know you could do.

So just how can we leverage this information in the world of SEO and Marketing?

I guess that is best left for another time and another post.

Late,
Gary Pool

Google, MSN, LiveSearch, a Lesson in Image Search is a post stolen from the Search Engine Optimizician