Happy week before Thanksgiving! What are YOU doing next Friday? (Chances are, I'll be here blogging!) This week, we saw the biggest news of the month (or so I think), and that's where I'm going to start.
Jerry Yang, Ex-CEO of Yahoo Yahoo's CEO Jerry Yang is stepping down. While he's a really nice guy, I'm sure they say, there has been sentiment that Yang was not a suitable candidate to be running the million- (billion?)- dollar company. Some say that Yang's problem was the fact that he was too attached to the company, and that probably led to the fact that Yahoo didn't innovate as much (to avoid fearful change, perhaps?). I don't know. Meanwhile, there's no turning back on a Yahoo-Microsoft deal (thanks Avi) -- it's just too late for Yahoo. Who will be the next CEO? We'll let you know when we find out.
Google's SearchWiki: Really? Google announced a new SearchWiki program that lets visitors rearrange their search results as long as they're signed in. It's completely personalized, but it's also the default. Even I don't know what to do with this. Do you think the average user would? According to the poll we're hosting, 74% say NO. So--why make this default? Seriously?
Google Results Going Berserk Again There's a November Google Search Update in our midst, with observations of a universal search yo-yo effect, emphasis on the H2 and metatags, cache cross-ups, and errors in Google's Webmaster Tools. What observations have you made?
Google's Search-Based Keyword Tool Launched To make Google more of a profit, they've launched the Search Based Keyword Tool, which has the goal to let you know which keywords your customers are searching for on your site and thus which to advertise on. The result? A positive ROI, perhaps.
Google AdSense Publishers Requests What would you want as an active Google AdSense publisher? A thread is collecting the the new Google AdWords interface? You can sign up or check the screenshots.
Yahoo Search Marketing: 500 Domains Blocked! You can now block 500 domains on Yahoo Search Marketing, and people are thrilled. The question now is -- when is Google going to follow suit? (This is a good question for Yahoo folks, that's for sure!)
Google Ads EVERYWHERE I had a dream last night and there was a Google ad in it the entire time. Okay, maybe not, but perhaps we're going to see more ads given Google's investment in advertising everywhere, including most recently in Google Finance. Hey, it's not a bad thing to add ads wherever people are looking. I just am waiting for the day when an ad shows up and I'm not looking.
Yelling about Yelp I seemed to have started quite a ruckus when I regurgitated forum sentiment about Yelp -- that it's paying for positive comments (or rather, hiring telemarketers to make that claim) after summarizing what people thought and then reviewing relevant newspaper articles to reflect that sentiment. Someone from Yelp wanted to speak to me on the phone to clarify their stance. It's all and good, but when other people are making the statements that I merely am repeating, I'm a bit confused if Yelp should be reaching out to press people or to the people who feel they have been slighted. Further, if you don't know this by now, the Search Engine Roundtable bloggers barely put their personal opinions into posts; we're simply here to tell you what other people are saying on forums around the Internets as it relates to search marketing. Yeah. Now you know.
Link Debate Brawl over Text Link Ads Inlinks Program Earlier this week, Text Link Ads launched inlinks.com, a "new" textual advertising program. To be honest, it's not new at all; inlinks have been around for perhaps 2 years now from said company. I can attest to the fact that Google knows about them also. Meanwhile, the fact that there's a claim that the FTC doesn't endorse this activity is causing a debate, but I repeat that this isn't news.
Have You Noticed Subdirectory Sitelinks? Google is apparently showing sitelinks for subdirectories, which is a welcome change for a guy who runs his website off /blog.
You Compete Better with Video Given that we have universal search, Google loves varied content. That's why it's great to integrate video into your site so that those results show up in the SERPs. Seriously -- video isn't hard to do. Barry's doing one on Sunday, just like old times.
iPhone Voice Activated App from Google Google has released an iPhone voice activated application and Barry has strutted his stuff showing how it works. In a way, I want an iPhone, but in a way, I'm willing to wait until Apple considers the fact that not everyone wants AT&T. Thanks and have a nice day. :)
