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SEO News Items - August 2004

Keynote: Don't Forget SEO
"Search engine optimization is not going away," he said. "It's only going to get more complicated." -Danny Sullivan [First the good news, then the bad... I just wish some specifics were mentioned. This article does confirm that an organization like SEOBy is needed, which is nice... CN]

Online Marketing: Google Quietly Changes the Rules
“The rule” that most search engines use to increase a page’s rankings is based on what is called “indirect submissions,” or when the “spiders” (search mechanisms), find and submit your page by way of another page that is linked to yours. [I don't think this was intended to be humorous, but I think most SEOs will find it so. Educational too, as it taught me about "indirect submissions" and the “open source movement” as a source of web traffic... CN ]

Direct Marketing Group Take AIM on SEO/SEM
Association for Interactive Marketing(AIM), a subsidiary of the Direct Marketing Association (The DMA), today released its new Technical Whitepaper for Search Engine Marketing. [Although the white paper seems to be about SEO, they are refering to it as SEM. This will only increase the current confusion in some sectors unless it changes soon. CN]

Keynote: Don't Forget SEO

Aug. 04, 2004

By: Brian Morrissey
Senior Editor
bmorrissey@dmnews.com

SAN JOSE, CA -- With the search world soon to have four major Web crawlers, businesses need to add search optimization to their search marketing mix, search expert Danny Sullivan advised yesterday.
With MSN set later this year to introduce a Web crawler that will compete with those from Google, Yahoo and Ask Jeeves, marketers need to complement their advertising campaigns with efforts to appear prominently in search indexes, Sullivan said.

"Search engine optimization is not going away," he said. "It's only going to get more complicated."

Speaking at Jupitermedia's Search Engine Strategies show, Sullivan said the search industry needs to clean up search optimization practices to gain it the respect it deserves. Too often, he said, optimizing Web pages to be found easily by Web crawlers has been treated as "a black art."

"We have got to deal with our reputation problem," he said.

Search optimization firms look to increase Web pages' rank in search engines' "free" or organic listings. Top search engines have kept the firms at arm's length because the industry has been tainted by the questionable practices of some firms using tactics like hidden text, doorway pages and link farms to fool search engines.

"I do think it would help to have industry codes of conduct," Sullivan said. "I want the search engines to be part of it. I don't want them to sit on the sidelines."

Both Google and Yahoo publish guidelines for Webmasters about making their sites easily found and catalogued by their Web crawlers. Yahoo, through its Overture Services subsidiary, also lets advertisers pay to have Web pages included in its index through its Site Match paid inclusion program.

Sullivan urged search engines to go beyond this and give more information on what practices are allowed by search optimization firms. He said search engines should offer businesses the opportunity to pay for customer support and warn them when they undertake major index refreshes, such as the notorious "Florida" update Google put in place last holiday season.

"It's not in the interest of the search engine marketer to screw up the search results," Sullivan said. "You do need to be able to interact with the search engine."

Kevin Lee, CEO of New York search marketing firm Did-it.com, said he empathized with the dilemma search engines face in keeping their search indexes free from influence.

"They've got to leave some mystery," he said. "Otherwise, the system would be gamed."

Online Marketing: Google Quietly Changes the Rules

By Israel Rothman

RISMedia, August 5, 2004 - So perhaps you have noticed that Google has changed the rules of the search engine game again?

“The rule” that most search engines use to increase a page’s rankings is based on what is called “indirect submissions,” or when the “spiders” (search mechanisms), find and submit your page by way of another page that is linked to yours.

Google, however, has reversed this by changing the formula by which it searches. Now every time your page is “over-submitted,” meaning submitted to the search engine even though it is already listed with it, your ranking goes DOWN! In fact, I believe that your ranking will be higher on Google if it “spiders” the page without it being submitted.

This development is just the latest in a series of changes that Google has made to make it almost impossible to optimize a page. Your only option for broad real estate-related searches is to pay Google for “AdWords.” This seems to have backfired for Google, once hosting 80% of Web searches, but now hosting somewhere around 30-40%. (See: http://searchengine-watch.com/reports/article.php/2156451)

At last check of our statistics in mid-June, of the over 1.1 million hits per month that our free ads site gets per month, Google has again become our largest referrer from search; although in May they had fallen to third place behind Yahoo and MSN.

The reduction was due to the fact that a lot of the hits on the Web still come from the “open source movement,” or, those who believe no one should have too much power over the free commerce and sharing of ideas and programming. I believe Google has abandoned this movement in its effort to increase revenues prior to its I.P.O. See: http://www.open-source.org/

Solution: stop submitting to Google, let them find you on their own for the best ranking.

At Ads For Free, Inc., we take a different approach. We have over 500 companies that we absolutely guarantee first-page placement to for their chosen search words, which we accomplish by giving away free Web site ads and auctions at www.adsforfree.com.

We notice every hiccup: stop submitting to Google now!

We’ll let you know when it changes again.

Israel Rothman is the CEO and founder of Ads for Free, Inc. and HitMyPage.com. For more information, visit www.hitmypage.com or www.rismedia.info.

AIM’s Search Engine Marketing Council Releases Technical Whitepaper for Search Engine Marketing

NEW YORK, July 14, 2004 – The Association for Interactive Marketing(AIM), a subsidiary of the Direct Marketing Association (The DMA), today released its new Technical Whitepaper for Search Engine Marketing. This technical whitepaper is the first to be released by AIM's Search Engine Marketing Council (SEMC) and can be accessed free of charge at: http://www.interactivemarketing.org

The Technical Whitepaper for Search Engine Marketing follows the release of Search Marketing Demystified: A Marketer's Ultimate How-to Handbook for Prime Positions and Conversion, which was published late last year.

"Together, these two search-publications demonstrate the authoritative work that AIM continues to produce in order to advance the efficacy of online marketing," said H. Robert Wientzen, president & CEO, The DMA. "These are must-reads for anyone interested in achieving results in the red-hot and ultra-competitive search engine marketplace."

The white paper offers practical recommendations for search-marketers, including, how to:

- Create a Web site architecture that will enhance positioning on search engines;

- Ensure that Web pages aren't missed by search engine spiders;

- Correct Web site design problems that could negatively impact search results; and

- Avoid practices that are viewed as search engine spam.

"With today’s release, the Search Engine Marketing Council has provided an invaluable service to the industry," said Michael Faulkner, CAE, senior vice president, segments and affiliates, The DMA. "This white-paper will empower businesses with the knowledge they need to use search engines more effectively and drive consumers to their Web sites. In an era where consumers increasingly are in control of what they see, and when they want to see it, the SEMC is taking the lead in educating marketers about how to do search-engine marketing right, and with maximum results."

AIM's SEMC is composed of industry leaders representing all involved constituencies as the primary source of education, exchange of ideas, information, and interaction for businesses interested in search engine marketing. Its participating members includes marketers, media organizations and search engine companies themselves. Through active education, the SEMC helps organizations unleash search engine marketing's value and effectiveness, and to devise strategies for integrating search marketing into overall marketing plans.

About AIM
The Association for Interactive Marketing (AIM), a non-profit trade association and independent subsidiary of The Direct Marketing Association, is devoted to helping marketers use interactive opportunities to reach their respective marketplaces. Founded in 1993 and with an extensive history of serving the marketing and new media industries, AIM works closely with its members to promote and protect the future of interactive marketing. AIM serves diverse corporate interests such as e-mail marketing, multichannel marketing, search engine marketing, online and integrated promotions, e-commerce, market research, wireless, broadband access and development and rollout of interactive television. AIM's Councils include the Council for Responsible E-mail (CRE), the Search Engine Marketing Council (SEMC), the Online & Integrated Promotions Council (OIPC), the Performance Based Marketing Council (PBMC) and the Interactive Television Council (iTVC).

Contact Information

Any questions regarding this press release, please contact us.

WHAT IS AIM?
The Association for Interactive Marketing (AIM), an independent subsidiary of The Direct Marketing Association, is a non-profit trade association for interactive marketers and service providers. AIM supports its members as they pioneer the practice of interactive media marketing by providing community, education, advocacy and opportunity.

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