Last month saw what seemed to be a significant milestone in the battle for search market share as Bing broke the 30% mark by powering 30.01% of U.S. searches with 14.32% coming from Bing.com and 15.69% coming from Bing-powered Yahoo Search. Google saw its lead decline from 66.69% to 64.42% in just the month of March alone. These numbers, provided by Hitwise seem to indicate that there could finally be a trend towards Google actually having search competition in the near future.

The numbers are essentially the same for Yahoo as they were back in 2005 when Microsoft muscled its way into the search market by launching Bing. However, what may give Google some pause is the fact that Google has seen an overall decline of roughly 10% of market share since the two merged services back in August 2010, a period of only 6 months. While it’s highly unlikely that we’ll see some dramatic sea change in competition within the next year, it hasn’t stopped some from predicting rather outrageous outcomes. Courtesy of Mashable.com, case-in-point:

So by this logic, Google would be overtaken by early next year, which to put it kindly, is bunk. While Bing has made inroads, the merger with Yahoo has ben anything but seamless. News from today puts some of the starry-eyed projections into perspective. From TechCrunch, Yahoo’s search revenue shortfall for early this year continues, and now Microsoft and Yahoo are passing the blame. The numbers don’t look good:

This is the data since Microsoft took over Yahoo’s U.S. search advertising in return for 12% of Yahoo’s search revenues, with the red line indicating Yahoo’s revenue taking the 12% into account. So even though the merger seems to indicate some increase in market share over the last two quarters, the ad revenue has declined substantially. While Bing and Yahoo may claim that adding the human element makes their paid ad relevancy for search terms better, the data seems to indicate that Google’s algorithm (i.e. Quality Score) is still the best method for getting people to click on an ad, and thereby generate revenue. Perhaps any qualms Yahoo had about AdCenter’s performance versus AdWords back when they chose which company to outsource search to was eased by the magic word “scale”. So far, it appears that the “scale” promised by Microsoft hasn’t made up for lesser platform quality.

After several months of anticipation, Google released its new social networking feature ‘Google Plus One’ (or Google+1) in what, at least superficially, appears to be an attempt to compete with Facebook’s wildly popular ‘Like’ feature. This could have a wide-ranging impact on online search as well as online marketing for a few reasons. The first is that it escalates the very public fracas between Facebook and Google to cull more and more user data for eventual use in more targeted advertising and marketing campaigns for their paying clients.

Until now, Google and Facebook have largely operated in separate spheres; Google revolutionized search engine marketing with AdWords, PageRank, and Analytics, while Facebook has shown the importance of recommendations and testimonials from friends as a powerful tool for learning about virtually any demographic or individual’s behaviors and desires.

Google has recognized this encroaching competition for some time, and Plus One is their bold attempt to not only compete but turn the tide in their favor. While Facebook partnered with Microsoft last year to offer user data and “Likes” for improving search results for Bing, Google is now trying to create one monolithic tool for combining the already proven strength of their search algorithm with personalized user feedback to even more finely tune search results and advertising.

Google search engineer Matt Cutts has said recently that the PlusOne feature won’t initially be added to the search algorithm as it will take at least several months before the data is sufficient to draw any conclusions on how to integrate it. But make no mistake, one of the main reasons for introducing such a tool is for helping weed out spam and content farms and raising the rankings of more relevant, popular sites. If Google is the web’s police, then Plus One turns all of us into the neighborhood watch.

As for paid search, the ability to give a text ad +1 gives both Google and online marketers more finely tuned data and feedback on their advertising. This will have an obvious impact on how PPC ads are developed and marketed because the accumulation of +1s will be desirable for ranking and word of mouth. The click through rates and general responses in testing has been very positive, and because of this, most companies will want to opt-in to including Plus One on their paid search. Sites can also opt-in to include Plus One on their actual pages, and when a user gives a +1 here, it will be included onto the paid ad on the relevant search engine results.

Plus One could be a game changer for online marketing and viral advertising. Some have been less than enthusiastic about the initial roll-out (like the requirement that to use it, one has to be signed into their Google account). And while the critics may eventually be somewhat right, Google will be probably be content with having some modicum of success in the social network sphere, especially after the PR bungle and widespread antipathy surrounding Buzz.

Search engine marketing happened to make front-page news recently as the New York Times ran an expose detailing the illegal practices of online proprietor Vitaly Borker and his gaming of Google’s search algorithm. If you’re not familiar with the story, Mr Borker claims to have used loopholes in Google’s search engine, as well as MasterCard and Visa’s charge-back system, to garner more business through negative responses from customers. Over the past few weeks, the Web has been aflame with discussions over how this could have happened in the first place, as well as how it can be rectified. To Google’s credit, as explained by Amit Singhal in a recent blog post in the immediate aftermath, the search giant has gone to immediate measures to shore up its vaunted search algorithm to more precisely pinpoint and demote those sites which use large volumes of negative postings to raise their search ranking. There seemed to be plenty of blame to go around (i.e. eBay, consumer complaint sites, etc.), and many saw it as an opportunity for some particular Google shaedenfraude, but the problem goes deeper than the search engine itself.

DecorMyEyes by kpstahmer

Borker himself theorized that the vast quantity of negative reviews on a variety of online consumer review sites, many highly respected, was what raised his ranking higher. In the original article, one online response to his bilked customers was almost gleefully brazen in his explanation, “I never had the amount of traffic I have now since my 1st complaint. I am in heaven.” Though there are loopholes that he obviously navigated with success for several months, Google casts some doubt on his simple explanation by countering that even before their revision to their own algorithm, to prevent just such a thing from happening, consumer complaint sites typically included special coding so that bad and/or fraudulent companies would not get higher rankings. It might be reasonable to assume that many times, unfortunately, people are more passionate and willing to post reviews online (especially for something rather innocuous like glasses) when they are livid over having been taken advantage of. What does not seem to be reported as much as the search engine optimization part of this controversy, is that much of Borker’s success, at least according to searchengineland.com’s Byrne Hobart, came from auto-generated spam pages and the fact that DecorMyEyes was frequently linked to by mainstream media sites. Among them? The New York Times.

Less than 20 years after its conception, web commerce can still seem like the wild west, especially after stories such as these. But when shopping for any service or product online, consumers should continue to proceed with caution. As stated above, Less than 20 years after its conception, web commerce can still seem like the wild west, especially after stories such as these. But when shopping for any service or product online, consumers should continue to proceed with caution. As stated above, Google’s response has been laudable, and their consumer rankings of local businesses based on the particular searchers zip code now needs to be extended to online commerce – just for these reasons. As all search engines are becoming more aware of the less-savory uses of link building and search engine optimization, this will thankfully make respected, transparent SEM companies like RSO Consulting and the like more prominent. But, as Mr Singhal himself said, it probably won’t be long before another dastardly business attempts to skirt ethical boundaries and risk imprisonment and loss-of-reputation for a few extra bucks.

]]> http://www.bbcreativesf.com/webdesignblog27/2011/02/google-helps-the-good-guys/feed/ 0 http://www.bbcreativesf.com/webdesignblog27/2011/02/black-hat-vs-white-hat/ http://www.bbcreativesf.com/webdesignblog27/2011/02/black-hat-vs-white-hat/#comments Thu, 24 Feb 2011 21:41:22 +0000 Rob http://www.bbcreativesf.com/webdesignblog27/?p=1435 An effective, on-going link building campaign is an essential part of search engine optimization. But it takes dedication to the rules and ethics, as well as a substantial amount of hard work to be done properly.]]>

Spy vs. Spy Mexican Sugar Skulls by Jonathan Koshi

As mentioned in the previous blog post ‘Google Helps the Good Guys’, search engine optimization can attract many unsavory businesses that are trying to make a quick buck through gaming the system. As with anything, in SEO there can be shades of gray as to what is considered ethical. And while the methods used in the DecorMyEyes.com story were definitively not ethical (criminal actually), there are certain practices that are not necessarily de jure illegal, but are certainly considered de facto illegal in terms of the acceptable behavior agreed upon by search engines and Google especially.

In terms of SEO, ‘White Hat’ and ‘Black Hat’ have become the popular terminology for separating those practices that are ethical and best for long-term effectiveness, and those that attempt any number of unethical, short-term strategies that risk penalties, respectively. There are several black hat methods that have evolved throughout the history of the SEO, but in terms of David Segal’s excellent NY Times article The Dirty Little Secrets of Search, link schemes are the poster child at the moment.

The crux of the story is that late last year, during the holiday shopping season, JC Penney saw its Google organic search rank rocket to number one when searching for any of the hundreds of its products. Of course, the issue was that while it may be one the largest retailers in the US, it was not the most relevant site for most of these products (it even outranked Samsonite.com itself when searching for “Samsonite carry on luggage”). Not to get into the specifics of what ranking number one on Google throughout the months of November and December did to JC Penney’s bottom line, but it was likely quite lucrative. And while Google did take minor action during this period, it did not follow up and notice that the rankings were still inordinate.

What caused the high rankings? According to the story, it was irrelevant links back to the JC Penney site. Most of these links were on pages that had either no relevancy whatsoever to the product they linked to at JCPenney.com, or were merely sites with hundreds of links on them maintained for the sole purpose of increasing the PageRank for other sites. Before the story broke, Google was already initiating a change to their search algorithm to account for low PageRanked, spammy sites. As a result, JC Penney results began to drop slightly in early February; however, once their black hat campaign was revealed by the Times, Google manually dropped the average JC Penney position for search terms to 52 by February 10th. None too happy about the bad publicity, to say nothing of practically disappearing from search results, Penney’s also fired its SEO firm SearchDex.

An effective, on-going link building campaign is an essential part of search engine optimization. But it takes dedication to the rules and ethics, as well as a substantial amount of hard work to be done properly. In previous dealings, we’ve observed several link building services in India doing the exact same things that SearchDex was doing for JC Penney, and there are no doubt hundreds all over the world. While they certainly work in the short-term, link schemes and black hat practices aren’t worth the loss of reputation, loss of business, or even the outright banishment from search results as punishment. Proper link building is done over time by connecting to relevant sites, directories, and social networks, and though it takes dedication and patience, attaining a higher PageRank accomplished through white hat methods is much more ethical, effective, and satisfying.

In late 2010, the Pew Research Center published a fascinating study revealing some of the online activities and trends among different age groups within the United States titled the Generations – 2010 report. Only the second annual report issued by Pew to examine online behavior, it displays the increasing desire to try to understand how we use the internet as a society, and where we’re going in the near future.

Some of the data was fairly obvious, such as the fact that younger age groups are far more likely to use a social networking site. However, one surprising trend revealed that older generations such as ‘Young Boomers’ (ages 46-55) and also ‘Older Boomers’ (ages 56-64) saw a higher percentage increase in their social media usage than the ‘Millennials’ (18-33) and ‘Gen X’ (34-45). This probably indicates that while the younger generations are far heavier users, they are traditionally quicker to latch onto new trends, thus meaning that the older generations are only now beginning to become more accepting of the role social media networks now have in our daily lives.

As the data indicates, perhaps your parents are hipper than you thought. And from a social media marketing perspective, this data represents positive news indeed. It was already generally understood that Facebook could reach the Millenial and pre-Millenial generations in profound ways, but now it seems that their parents and grandparents are beginning to message, post, and network right alongside them – and perhaps opening up to its marketing campaigns therein.

We need not point out that the so-called ‘Millenial’ generation is also that traditional demographic long coveted by advertising and marketing experts. And along with their frequent use of Facebook and other social media, they use search engines even more so. More staggering still, is that all demographics are now using search engines in their daily lives on an unprecedented level.

For all adults (ages 18+), search engine use is 87%, and among Millennials, it’s 92%.  There was no data on the under 18 demographic, but one could reasonably surmise that when they come of age, search engine usage will be (if it isn’t already) close to 100% within their age group. Taking this all into account, the Generations – 2010 Report from Pew clearly displays the importance of using search engine and social media marketing as a focal point for any organization looking to increase both its exposure and its overall success moving forward.

As a site owner, you may have created the world’s best website, you may believe it is the elephant in the room, which no one can ignore. Cheers, but are there any “suitors” for your elephant? Is it drawing in the traffic? Is it paying you dividends? If silence is your answer, then let the truth be told. Successful, prosperous websites are gauged by traffic (to a degree) and meeting website goals and not by buzz. And to reach the pinnacle of successful online is to think like an end user, not a site owner. Below are some ideas to help you with your transition from site owner to end-user.

Is Your Message Mixed?
Make the site’s goal loud and clear. If you are selling French perfumes online, push it to the forefront of the site, rather than splash images that do not call for measurable and tangible action.

Blend Your Design With Content
Too much design, too little content, is like gloss that ends up as gross. The content has to be populated the right way, across the shell, homepages, section pages and interior pages. Don’t be mesmerized by design, but don’t give it a cold shoulder either. Form should follow functionality, and not the other way round.

Ease of Navigation
How does your navigation link work? Is it easy to use or a potential trap for visitors? A visitor should not feel challenged. He should be able to go where he/she wants on your site, quickly and easily, period. Using a search box on the site is the way to go, to get your visitors to their product/service directly.

Do Not Ignore The Shopping Cart
There are a million shopping carts out on the web, so you should know how to pick and choose the right one with the right fit for your site. Default shopping carts are best avoided; always go for a branded shopping cart, to lend credibility and confidence to your purchaser. You cannot be too careful when it involves your customer’s money!

How to Remain in Style –  Always
On the web, today’s trends are passé tomorrow. It’s the perils of e-commerce evolution. So how do you retool your site’s design that might look archaic sooner than you think? Redesign your site? But it’s like a journey without end. The trick is to realign, not redesign. Think up ways to realign your site’s features with changing trends on the go.

Be Consistent
Everyone loves to experiment, but don’t throw consistency out the window! In the hands of a professional web designer, your site will wear a consistent look – standard formatting of fonts, links, colors, etc. This is lost when you do the edits or touch up the site yourself, banking on your rudimentary knowledge of simple HTML by adding new content pages. A small change leads to inconsistent formatting – which might put off a visitor.

You Have Got Mail
You may have experienced this before: Impressed by the touch and feel of a great looking site, you look to see up the owner’s phone number – and you get lost, making you wonder for a moment, that the customer (the site owner) may be in hiding! Don’t make the simple mistake of sending your prospects hunting for your contact. Put your phone number/contact details in a prominent position.

Cash in on Merchandising Opportunities
Never miss up on an opportunity to make that extra dollar. Merchandising opportunities abound for your website, such as cross-sell, multiple add-to-cart, and other direct call-to-actions.

Practicing the above, especially as you foresee future growth and create a larger bouquet of offerings, will get you on your way to becoming the successful, prosperous site you once thought you had.