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SEO/web review 2008

Christmas approaches. 2008 is drawing to a close. Soon we'll be into a bright, shiny new year. So now is a good time to take stock and look at what hit the headlines in the world of SEO and the Internet over the last 12 months. Here are some of the big stories that caught our eye this year. In no particular order:

Go Compare Blacklisted

The comparison site Go Compare was blacklisted by Google – sinking down and out of Google almost overnight in January. Be afraid! Listen to your SEO people – bad practice has consequences.

Google Trademark Words Policy

On 5th May Google changed its AdWords policy to allow all-comers to bid on trademarked brand names. You can now set up AdWords that appear when someone types in a protected brand name such as Coca Cola or Adidas or Hoover. Great for search engine marketing.

Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft Talks

This year was dominated by proposed partnerships and take-over bids by the major industry players. Yahoo! had talks with Microsoft and Google had talks with Yahoo! The only people not talking to each other were Microsoft & Google. And the only thing everyone agreed on was that Google is the winner!

No More Fake Reviews

On 26 May, ‘fake' reviews became illegal under UK law punishable by up to two years in jail. So don't even think about making up any customer reviews online or in print and get expert help with the wording for advertorials.

Microsoft Cashback on Live Search

In May Microsoft launched a cashback incentive scheme that gave US customers rebates on goods purchased from selected retailers via Live Search. Though it's experienced some glitches it has been a success so far.

Louis Vuitton Court Case

Louis Vuitton was not happy about Google's change to their trademarked words policy and promptly took them to court.

Flash Files Now SEO Friendly

In June, Google announced that Abode Flash files would now be crawled by the search engine. Everything contained within Flash files are now read and spidered in the same way as html text – great for SEO!

Google in Trouble over UK Street View

Street View, Google's map feature that allows you to ‘drive' at street level along the actual road, has already caused problems in the US over invasion of privacy. But in Europe there's bigger problems ahead as, because it's in essence a film of a journey, it contravenes the EU Data Protection Directive – oops!

The Great Domain Gold Rush

ICANN announced that from early next year we will all be able to invent our own top level domain names! Goodie!

Google Insight Launched

Google Insight was launched in August giving you the chance to look at detailed worldwide popularity stats for any given search term.

Microsoft Buys Ciao

Microsoft was busy buying e-commerce comparison site Ciao.

Google Separates Search Stats

In October Google added the option to allow AdWords users to view separate statistics for Google search and its Partner Network sites such as Aol.com and Ask.com. Prior to this, data was only listed for both networks combined.

Yahoo! ditches Kelkoo

Meanwhile Yahoo! was busy offloading their own comparison site, Kelkoo. 

Google Searches Scanned Docs

In October, Google also announced it could now 'read' scanned Adobe PDF documents using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) – great for SEO!

Facebook in Top 5

In September, Facebook broke into the Top 5 most visited sites in the UK for the first time, knocking the BBC back to sixth place.

Google Chrome

Google launched its long awaited new browser – Chrome. Faster and more flexible it looks set to become the new standard.

Here at Edgeworks we work hard to keep you up to date with all the latest SEO, search engine marketing and Internet news. Keep an eye on Webfly and we'll make sure you're always the first to know.

Google Insights hits the streets…

Now here's an interesting development! Google launched a new service (yes, yes, another one) last week that could change the way we adapt SEO marketing strategies, certainly in terms of the Google Search Engine. But it has an added and unexpected bonus - it's fun!

Just like the first time you ever sat down in front of the Internet and started putting random search terms in - just for fun - Google Insights for Search gives you that same feeling of adventure!

Basically it shows you graphically:

• How popular your search term is
• How its popularity has varied over time
• How it competes with other terms on the same graph
• Where your searchers are based in the world and what cities

Which means you can get very curious about why Batman appears to be most popular in Turkey; why the French are more keen on Ikea than anyone else and why George Bush is more popular in Tanzania than he is the US…

How does it work? According to Google: ‘It analyses a portion of worldwide Google web searches from all Google domains to compute how many searches have been done for the terms you've entered, relative to the total number of searches done on Google over time. It then shows you a graph with the results, indicating interest over time, plotted on a scale from 0 to 100; the totals are indicated next to bars by the search terms.’

Why is it good? Well, now you have the data to back up your decisions on what terms to use where and that's just for starters. You can also drill down in preset categories such as home and garden; industries and health and look at seasonal variations too. Take a look and have a play here.

Professional B2B Web and Ad Copywriting – who needs it?

Everyone, obviously. But sometimes you can’t see the point. Why spend money on outside help when you can write, can’t you? And anyway, your products aren’t for sale to the public are they? They’re specialist equipment. And your target audience knows all about your products, don’t they?

The trouble is, even if your products are totally and utterly unique or you have minimal competition, your target audience won’t buy unless you can demonstrate what your, for example, impulse ventilation systems, bridge bearings, apparel branding labels, bottling equipment, excavators, public liability insurance, (…breathe…) surgical instruments, reinforced soil, plastics, PCB tab routers, software, demolition and land remediation or support services can do for them. The key words here are: DO FOR THEM. Not what it physically does. But what it does FOR THEM!

Yes. Yes. You know this, right? Good! So remember: A web picture and a load of technical spec just doesn’t cut it anymore. Your clients are shopping around right now – checking out your competition who may well be selling the benefits and not the features, and that means if you’re not doing the same then you could be in trouble. The current market is a challenge for us all and we all need to be ahead of the game.

So before its too late, talk to us and we can help with specialist writers who DO understand your products, can give you new ideas, fresh words that work and together we can create an SEO strategy that delivers real results.

ICANN & The Great Domain Name Gold Rush

Much like the diverse effect the Californian Gold Rush had on the lives of millions of people, yesterday’s announcement by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) could go one of two ways:

·    Change the Internet into a bright shiny new world
or
·    Degenerate into a horrible mess 

But before we step into this, a bit of background. ICANN is the organisation that, essentially, controls what we name our websites. They ‘invented’ domain names – ie ‘.com’ & ‘.info’ & ‘.co.uk’. They also accredit and police the people who sell us our domain names – the registrars or domain name registration companies.

Yesterday, ICANN agreed to relax the rules on what constitutes a bona fide generic top-level domain name (gTLD). Well, in fact, they ripped up the rulebook, and flushed it down the toilet just for good measure. From early next year we will all be able to invent our own domain names and apply to have them registered – so we could have: call.edgeworks; BA could have: areoplanes.fly; Barclays could have: great.bank; Sony could have: psp.games, etc etc.

Sounds good? Yes and no. Yes, it will mean that for a paltry sum not less than £50,000 (& probably more like £150k) you too could buy: www.johnsmith.electricals or www.Ilove.hamsters but it also means that someone else could try to buy the above – even if it’s your product or brand. That’s a concern for corporates with multiple brands or businesses channels. It will get very, very expensive to start buying up the whole set.

But possibly the most worrying part of all this stems from a practice called ‘cybersquatting’ which is buying a high profile domain name and then sitting on it until someone pays you a very large sum of money to release it to them.

While ICANN say this won’t happen - and there are ways of legally disputing the ownership of trademarked words if you can pin down where your squatter actually is in the world. It’s highly likely that cybersquatting will be making a very big come-back. Think about it. The world is full of millions of words in hundreds of different languages and dialects. How can you or I or ICANN decide what words, in what order, might be valuable and to whom? Hence, the Gold Rush phenomenon. Where there’s even a hint of a fortune to be made, there’s no stopping the human race.

Google, Microsoft & Yahoo – The Deal

Now then. This is all starting to sound like the plot of a 1930s Hollywood blockbuster, glorious Technicolour and all. It has that Gone With The Wind feel about it somehow. In a move similar to Rhett Butler’s 'Frankly My Dear I Don’t Give a Damn' pronouncement, last night Yahoo announced a joint advertising and online search deal with Google and told everyone that the Microsoft talks were over. Microsoft say they don’t want Yahoo anymore, but aren’t ruling out a fresh attempt to buy some of the company.

Confused? The bald facts are as follows: In a press release yesterday, Yahoo stated that ‘talks with Microsoft have concluded’. Yes. Well, I think that’s because Microsoft drew a line in the sand at 47.5 billion dollars. But, hey, what’s a couple of weeks and good PR! Now it’s Yahoo who has ‘concluded’ talks. But, if you can believe it, Microsoft have said today that they will be open to an ‘alternative transaction’. Meanwhile in a separate press release yesterday Yahoo announced they’d signed an agreement with Google which allows the following:

‘[It] enables Yahoo! to run ads supplied by Google alongside Yahoo!'s search results and on some of its web properties in the United States and Canada. The agreement is non-exclusive, giving Yahoo! the ability to display paid search results from Google, other third parties, and Yahoo!'s own Panama marketplace. 

Under the terms of the agreement, Yahoo! will select the search term queries for which - and the pages on which - Yahoo! may offer Google paid search results. Yahoo! will define its users' experience and will determine the number and placement of the results provided by Google and the mix of paid results provided by Panama, Google or other providers. The agreement applies to paid search and content match and does not apply to algorithmic search. The agreement also applies to current partners in Yahoo's publisher network.’

While I’m not sure Microsoft will look painfully out at the ravaged techno landscape, pull their shoulders back, run a hand across their brow and say: Tomorrow’s Another Day, I do think they’ll be back for another stab at buying part or all of Yahoo. Lets face it, the bigger and more successful Yahoo becomes the better for the eventual purchaser…And you can read anything into that you want! 

No more ‘fake’ reviews, blogs or ads

Now then. It’s fair to say that companies will try almost anything to get one over on their competition. And it’s also fair to say that a proportion of companies have played artistic games with the truth in order to establish their brands online. One way of gaining ground has been to ‘create’ ‘fake’ reviews and blogs by people that, strictly speaking, don’t exist! This was a fairly commonplace business practice, known as stealth marketing, though some would call it less than savoury. But business is business and where you draw the moral line has, until now, been entirely a personal decision. 

Dubious reviews and the like are not new. They look something like this: “I always use x product, it’s amazing! It makes my skin feel so smooth I look 18 again.” Mrs J Smith, Bournemouth. We all know that either Mrs Smith doesn't exist, does exist but didn’t actually say that, or she is a conglomeration of real feedback and artistic license with the name changed to protect her real identity.

So what’s happened? Well the law has just changed and it is quite a big deal because millions of companies use this device to a greater or lesser degree to get their message across. The nuts and bolts are that on 26 May 2008, the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCPD) came into effect. The new law makes the UK consistent with other EU Member states by implementing the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Directive.

Only two of the 31 regulations are applicable here: Sections 11 and 22.

Section 11 prohibits using editorial content to promote a product without indicating that the content is an advertorial and therefore a paid insert.

"(11) Using editorial content in the media to promote a product where a business1 has paid for the promotion without making that clear in the content or by images or sounds clearly identifiable by the consumer (advertorial)".

Section 22 prohibits you from giving the impression that you're not motivated by business and prohibits you from falsely representing yourself as a consumer:

"(22) Falsely claiming or creating the impression that the business is not acting for purposes relating to his trade, business, craft or profession, or falsely representing oneself as a consumer".

Prosecution under these laws is a possibility and it carries, on a first conviction the maximum penalty of not more than £5,000 (for now) and up to two years in jail! Yes, JAIL! That’s a large multi-occupancy mixed-use residential/commercial building that provides permanent long-term accommodation - and once you go inside you don’t get to go home.

All this boils down to two things: Don’t even think about making up any customer reviews online or in print and get expert help with the wording for advertorials.

Microsoft Live Search Cashback

Last week Microsoft launched a cashback incentive scheme that gives US customers rebates on goods purchased from selected retailers on their own search engine, Live Search. The money is not knocked off the goods at the time of payment but paid into a personal Cashback Account – a bit like PayPal - set up by the customer. Microsoft say 700 retailers have signed up, offering more than 10 million products.

For Microsoft the benefits are obvious. They need to attract people to their Live Search engine and people like to save money. Simple. Some are calling it down right bribery, but hey, that’s business! But what does it mean for the future of pay-per-click and search engine marketing? Well, right now, very little. It’s not really a new idea as such; it’s an affiliate programme in all but name. However, if it catches on, increases Microsoft’s share of the search engine market then it could be taken up by Google etc. and become the template for SEO in the future.

But a word of warning before everyone gets too excited. Microsoft is not taking a cut of the cut, so to speak. The entire discount, 100%, is rebated to the customer. Some are suggesting that what may happen, once the system is bedded in, is that Microsoft will find the lure of the cash too much to resist and might start keeping some of the cashback for themselves. In which case it begs the question as to why a retailer would want to be hit twice on the same transaction… Interesting times…

Google TV ads service

No. Google has not set up its own TV station. Though I wouldn’t rule it out (ummm…wonder what odds I could get at Paddy Power….). No, this is another in the huge and ever escalating list of new services introduced by Google that help you (or in this case Americans) get their ads onto the TV.

My first thought was – why on earth should I want Google’s help with that? Surely I’d do the sensible thing and employ an agency to create and place my ad. Ah, yes. But this is America. Well, it isn’t but you know what I mean! In America you get more TV commercials per square inch than you do actual TV programmes. Anyone who has ever visited America and inadvertently turned on the telly will know that after about 20 minutes you begin to reassess your relationship with the BBC and start to consider hermit status as a valid and reasonable lifestyle choice. 

But – back to the job in hand. Google TV ad service. Basically, you have an ad made by an agency and then via the Google service, which looks and operates very much like AdWords, you choose a time slot on a national TV network, pick a programme, choose your budget and off you go. As with all Google services, it does satisfy a real need. It’s simple to use, cost effective and will put a few ad agency noses out of joint. But most importantly it gives you total control and you can instantly target your audience or demographic – say, men over 65 – by using Google’s target audience suggestions tool. So you can be sure you’re getting to the people you really need to watch your ad.

Watch out for its arrival in the UK. We predict interesting times ahead!!    

Google’s new Trademarked Words bid policy

You might not know this but up until now – or 5th May to be precise – you couldn’t add a competitor’s trademarked word, usually their brand name, into your list of keywords in your Google Adwords. If you don’t believe me try doing a search on Coca-Cola….see….There are no Adwords on the right are there? (Unless you’re trying this after 5th May in which case somebody will  be bidding!) This is because Coca-Cola is a trademarked word. In fact, it’s probably even a slight problem for us to write the word here…but if this post disappears then you’ll know why!

Now then. From 5 May Google is changing (where have I heard that before?!). You will be able to use your competitors brand name in your Adwords. BUT, before you get too excited, they’ll be able to use yours too AND it’s not quite that simple. Before you rush to bid on millions of new keywords the advice is clear: Check with your IT people or agency. It’s a complex set of new rules and the word on the streets is that there could even be legal challenges to it popping up all over the place, so beware, take advice first. Call me and I can help you make the most of the new rules….    

The Alexa Myth

No this is not a Greek legend full of women with wings dive-bombing heroes in small boats or blokes waking up one day to discover they’ve married their mother by accident, this is about a website that measures traffic volumes to other websites. The myth part is the same though.    

While Greek Myths are stories handed down over generations and then written down by some enterprising chap to make some cash, the Alexa Myth is a story handed down since 1996 and written down by some enterprising etc etc etc….

Much the same as the Greek Myth, the Alexa Myth did not set out to pull the wool over anyone’s eyes – no one really believes that a bloke made a pair of wings in his garden shed, strapped them on, flew up two million feet and discovered a design fault, do they? Hence, no one really believes that your Alexa ranking, calculated by counting the sites visited only by those people who have an Alexa Tool Bar (a wot?!), is a sound way to evaluate how your website is performing, do they?

The trouble is that yes, they do believe it. It’s like believing that there really is a woman with snakes for hair, a three headed dog or a man with a trident who lives at the bottom of the sea. It’s not likely is it? Not something you’d put a bet on. But myths are powerful things when perpetrated by people who should know better. So, our advice is if an ‘expert’ tells you you’re ace because you’ve got a great Alexa ranking just tell them you know your Greek Myths and Alexa is one of them!