Proper care and good dietary habits practiced by site publishers will help improve their standing in search; a PubCon panel discussed some good choices to make when feeding the search engines, and WebProNews was there.

We have a look at WebmasterWorld's PubCon session on Feeding the Engines from a copywriting and content perspective. Quality content needs have not changed, and are even more important as more sites, more competitors, come online.

Go Unique

Jennifer Slegg spoke on the quality content issue, and the importance of building a unique voice. If people can only find your content at your site when sifting through search results, they will come back to you again and again.

That uniqueness means avoiding the problematic shortcuts other site publishers may employ. Slegg advised that any writers one might contract with for content are producing original work. It can be less expensive for the publisher to do the writing.

Uniqueness also means avoiding free article sites. Slegg said many if not all of that content has been published and republished again and again. No uniqueness there.

Slegg also touted forums as a good source for drawing original content from customers and others who use a website. Blogs can serve the same purpose, and an original authoritative one will draw links and interest from other bloggers too.

Don't Forget IT

Session moderator Ted Ulle emphasized the IT side of site publishing efforts. He noted how it is essential to ensure the techies are aware of what the search marketing team needs from a web server configuration so search engines can properly index content.

Each page should have a unique URL a spider can access. If you want to play with a custom 404 page, make sure it returns a 404 header.

Ulle also recommended paying attention to menus. They are content, just like a product description, only more people will see a menu on a site. The information a menu provides should be valuable to the visitor.

Graphics should complement design and content, not dominate it. Gently encourage graphic designers to rein in their tendencies to show off what they can do if it doesn't load quickly and benefit the site user.

Get Their Attention!

Byron White said site publishers should keep an eye on the competition. What are they doing well? Is it something the site owner should be employing?

White reiterated the theme of quality content. It is central to one's link building strategy. Without it, other sites and bloggers aren't going to link to the site.

He also encouraged the use of good headlines. A catchy headline captures attention, and if the writing backs up the quality of the headline, people will be glad they visited the site.

Heather Lloyd-Martin stated that writing copy for search optimization is the same as for conventional copywriting. Keyphrases should be sprinkled through a page, in its headline, body, and links.

Copywriters will have to go long on their writing, about 250 words. Shorter copy probably won't cut it in a competitive field unless it has a lot of links. Those hotly competitive niches may require the site publisher to create a number of keyphrase-rich pages to help enhance their organic rankings in the Google and Yahoo indexes, among others.

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Tag: PubCon

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If you didn't see any lines coming from your local electronics store and wrapping around the block, you weren't the only one. Microsoft's big debut of it's Zune digital music player turned out to be an even bigger let down.

As expected, first day sales of Microsoft's digital music player Zune did not shatter any records. The digital music player, which was touted to be Microsoft's answer to Apple's iPod, was available for purchase as of yesterday in the United States.

Microsoft hoped to capitalize on the digital music player market, which has already been cornered by the Apple iPod. Apple has sold over 70 million iPods to date and features over 3, 000 accessories made specifically for it; it is by far the biggest name in MP3 players.

Zune, in hopes of competing with iPod, attempted to match its features. Zune plays downloaded movies and music, like the iPod, and has features which iPod does not.

Microsoft's Zune boasts a 3.5" screen, FM Radio, and WiFi connectivity, all of which the iPod lacks. Keeping those features in mind, Zune does not have the following or the advanced technology of the iPod. iPod also has iTunes, PodCasts, and connectivity to in-flight entertainment systems in airplanes and cars. iTunes, the music download for iPod, even has 1.5 million more songs available to customers than Zune's program, Zune Marketplace.

While both screens have the same resolution, the iPod screen is 2.5". Because of Zune's larger screen size, the same number of pixels is stretched farther, making the image more distorted than iPod's.

"I didn't even know they were there until a customer pointed them out," sales clerk Jake Brooks, of Virgin Megastore, said of Zune. The busy San Francisco Virgin store employees did not take notice of the Zune players because they had only sold two the entire day.

The scene was similar at electronic stores around the country, and some CompUSA stores did not receive any Zune players at all due to an oversight by Microsoft. Even in here Lexington, KY at Best Buy the sales were no different, "We sold a few", said an employee.

Microsoft's Zune digital music player was not expected to debut with large sale numbers, and has even acknowledged that "the Zune investment may take years to bear fruit", which analysts supported. "Apple will not feel any bit of discomfort from Zune, certainly this holiday season and a good part of next year," said IDC analyst Danielle Levitas.

Part of the lack of sales may be attributed to the fact that the public realizes this is first generation technology, and is not yet perfected like iPod's. "I imagine Zune has some kinks to work out as iPod did," Andrew Fisher said after purchasing an iPod.

Needless to say, Zune probably won't be at the top of many holiday wish lists this year.

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MIchael Arrington of TechCrunch.com probably did not even finish his morning coffee before rifling through papers on his desk and discovering a cease and desist letter from YouTube.

"I've loved YouTube since the first day I discovered it," said Michael Arrington of TechCrunch.com. So the cease and desist letter sent by internet video website YouTube's attorneys accusing TechCrunch of violating the website's Terms of Use, among other things, came as a complete shock to Arrington, who said he "honestly believed we were doing nothing to offend YouTube or Google."

YouTube accused TechCrunch of "tortious interference of a business relationship, and in fact, many business relationships," of committing an "unfair business practice," and "false advertising." The attorney goes on to demand that we cease and desist in from engaging in these various actions or face legal remedies," as well.

Violations of the Terms of Use include the addition of a small tool on TechCrunch's site that enabled users to download YouTube onto their hard drives. Arrington claims the company reviewed YouTube's terms of use before creating the tool and did not find that they had violated them.

YouTube's Terms of Use state that, "If you download or print a copy of the Content for personal use, you must retain all copyright and other proprietary notices contained therein." The letter also states "The YouTube's Terms of Use also allows users to access videos only through the functionality of the YouTube website via streaming on the Web, and it disallows the functionality of downloading videos," which TechCrunch believed it had adhered to.

TechCrunch.com is a "weblog dedicated to obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies." In that case, it would make sense that the site would provide a link to download YouTube; just for viewers to try. Not that YouTube needs more viewers, they already have 100 million per day, but one would assume a link to their site would be good publicity.

YouTube itself is no stranger to cease and desist letters. In the past several months the site has received letters from the RIAA about using copyrighted music in their videos and not paying royalties to the artists, as well as from Comedy Central's the Daily Show. Arrington says that, "the irony of YouTube accusing others of copyright infringement is delicious."

The letter is currently under review by the attorneys of TechCrunch, and there is no word as of yet if there will be further legal action taken by YouTube. TechCrunch, while they feel they have done nothing wrong, does plan to remove to tool to preserve their relationship with YouTube.

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Resident of Portland, Oregon with a WiFi enabled PC or laptop will be able to access the broadband network that will deliver speeds up to 1 Mbps for downloads and up to 256 Kbps for uploads.

"MetroFi's free WiFi platform is creating an exciting new Internet access ecosystem that is more inclusive, ubiquitous and flexible for both consumers and advertisers," said Sam Klepper, general manager in the MSN Media Network Group at Microsoft.

"With this Portland pilot we will deliver MSN services that help connect customers to the people and information they care about, breaking down connectivity barriers for our collective customers."

The network will operate by transmitting data via access points that will be mounted on street light poles throughout the city.

MetroFi currently operates wireless broadband networks Foster City, Cupertino, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, downtown San Jose and Concord, California - offering free WiFi through an ad-supported business model.

"Microsoft's support of the Portland network further reinforces the validity of advertising-supported municipal Wi-Fi. We're confident that consumers will appreciate the added value of Microsoft's locally relevant MSN content and services," said Chuck Haas, CEO and co-founder of MetroFi.

"MetroFi networks combine advanced advertising technologies with leading network designs to deliver ad-supported wireless Internet networks that are fast and free for everyone."

Microsoft and MetroFi aren't the only ones making recent news by teaming up to offer free WiFi services.

Google and Earthlink have been pursuing plans to establish a free WiFi network in San Francisco for the past two years.

Their efforts have been met by a flurry of venomous politicians and an overly concerned citizenship concerned more about convincing Google to provide round-trip transportation for children to the San Francisco Zoo, and less about a free wireless network.

For Microsoft's sake, I hope the socio-political landscape in Portland is a little more inviting.

Tags: Microsoft, MetroFi, WiFi

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The rumor that Google was setting aside $500 million for their deal with YouTube is false. Its only $200 million. CEO Eric Schmidt previously denied the rumor that Google would use the money to fend off any lawsuits regarding copyright infringement.

In a statement Google said they would be withholding 12.5% of the stock that they owe YouTube for one year ""to secure certain indemnification obligations." While it is not an unusual practice why would Google deny this in the first place? It is not a secret that there has been controversy about copyright infringement surrounding YouTube.

They have been quick to pull any footage when they received complaints about copyright infringement from major media. Google has been working with media companies to try and form agreements. Schmidt said last week "We have visited as many media companies as we can"

YouTube could still be in danger of lawsuits over copyright infringement now that Google officially owns them. YouTube features both original content videos and pirated videos. The money is there and so are the lawyers.

If YouTube continues to comply with requests to take down copy written footage than they will probably be okay. If not I guess that's where Google's $200 million will come into play.

Before the finalizing of the deal YouTube received $15 million from Google to help cover their expenses. YouTube, though popular had not turned a profit in its young 18-month life.

Just what is next for YouTube and Google is the bigger question. Will the litigation over copyright issue's start to entangle the 2 companies or will they be able to successfully negotiate any legal difficulties they may face?

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The biggest quarter ever for Internet advertising revenue meant companies raked in $4.2 billion for the third quarter of 2006, up by a third from the same period in 2005.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau and its partners at PricewaterhouseCoopers announced the latest online ad revenue figures, saying the numbers had again passed $4 billion. Nearly $4.1 billion in revenue filled the coffers of Google, Yahoo, and others in the second quarter of 2006.

"Interactive advertising, with its eighth consecutive quarter of growth and the largest single quarter ever, is on pace for its biggest year," said David Silverman, a partner in Assurance at PricewaterhouseCoopers. "This growth follows the trend of where consumers are spending their media time and the unique ability of Interactive advertising to effectively target and monitor ad campaigns."

That shift has also contributed to the downward spiral of the fortunes of the print media industry. Newspapers and magazines have been buffeted continuously by the Internet, as readership slides and carries the ad rates the print industry can charge down along with it.

Jason Calacanis of AOL and Weblogs, Inc, blogged that the rise in revenue is the real story of the Web 2.0 meme:

Is the spike over the past year another bubble? I don't think so, I think the curve is getting more steep due to the following facts:
a) there are more advertisers online today.
b) it's getting easier to spend money online
c) Google Adsense/Adwords (a huge part of part B above)
d) Yahoo, MSN, AOL, and Google reaching scale, which in turn allows major advertisers to reach comparable audience sizes to TV
e) audiences shifting from TV, radio, and magazines to the Internet.
Search Engine Watch contributor Greg Sterling posted a hit list of print media that would be surpassed in revenue by online ad dollars:

US online ad revenues (with search at about 40%) are on track to reach more than $16 billion this year, up from $12.5 billion last year. If so, online revenues would be greater than US ad revenues in the following traditional media:
• Print yellow pages (for the first time)
• Consumer magazines
• Business magazines
• Outdoor
Yahoo CEO Terry Semel could be proven correct in saying potential Internet ad revenue could be underestimated. Blogger Mark Evans, who works as VP of operations for b5media Inc, wrote that marketers probably don't even have online ad placement figured out yet:

It's a pretty impressive number, particularly considering many advertisers are still trying to get a handle on where to put their online advertising dollars. Do they go with traditional banner ads? Do they plunge into the worlds of CPC, CPM or CPL? Do they decide to be pioneers in the online video and audio markets. Or do they get into the user-generated content area such as blogs and social networking sites.
It leads (me to) believe there is still huge momentum left in the online ad market as companies start to even more comfortable with the idea of shifting part of the ad budgets to the Web.
Google closed at $489.30 yesterday. Maybe the trend in ad revenue means even at that lofty figure Google has more room to grow.

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Tag: Internet advertising

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Despite many months of flailing away at search engines for data to support their claims that casual searches would lead unsuspecting people (especially kids) to adult sites, a study found only about one percent of indexed sites at Google and Microsoft contain explicit content.

"It's not safe out here. It's wondrous, with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross. But it's not for the timid."
-- Q chats with Picard about the Borg, Q Who?

Similar treasures fill the Internet, but like any physical place one might find, there are parts of it best avoided. How dangerous has been a contention between the Department of Justice and the ACLU, who have been fighting over the Child Online Protection Act for several years.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and lawyers from DOJ attempted to gain access to search engine indexes last summer. The effort would have gone unnoticed had Google not dug in its heels and forced DOJ to publicize their investigation by suing Google in January 2006.

Microsoft, AOL, and Yahoo, along with a number of other parties subpoenaed for volumes of search data, readily handed over the requested information. Google managed to win its case and limit DOJ to 50,000 randomly chosen URLs from its index and no user queries.

Now it appears DOJ may have been a little too overarching in its requests. An AP report noted that out of a government-commissioned study of search indexes, only a small percent of the URLs in them lead to explicit content.

UC-Berkeley statistics professor Philip B. Stark discovered search engines don't contain quite as much bad content as the DOJ appeared to believe. For Google and MSN Search, only 1.1 percent of indexed pages contained "sexually explicit material."

But about six percent of queries to those two search engines plus Yahoo return at least one explicit site, according to Stark.

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Tags: Google, MSN, ACLU, Sex, Department of Justice

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Google's assortment of software for computer users now includes Skype, eBay's multi-billion dollar VoIP acquisition, as an option alongside Google Talk.

Plenty of Google and non-Google software can be found in the Google Pack, and the company has recently slipped Skype into the optional software section.

Google has been portrayed as a potential eBay/PayPal competitor. The company added Google Base, a database where users can add virtually anything, including items they wish to sell, and Google Checkout, a payment processing system, over the course of 2006.

Skype does offer some functionality beyond Google Talk, Google's IM and voice chat client. Google Talk only connects with other users of the software, while Skype can connect to and receive calls from landline phones.

The addition of Skype to Google Pack likely occurred as a result of the deal between eBay and Google in August. Google will provide click to call advertising in Skype and Google Talk, so it makes sense for Google to promote Skype to Google users.

Couple that with recent chatter from Google's CEO Eric Schmidt about providing free mobile phones to people and having advertising support the service. Make those phones Skype-capable, equip them with WiFi, and people can use them anyplace they find a wireless access point.

Of course, speculation about Google's future would not be complete without an obligatory suggestion that with all the dark fiber Google has purchased, they could be approaching a point where they could offer VoIP through a wireless network they control.

A few hundred mobile datacenters dropped at peering points across the US would give Google's free VoIP phone-using customers plenty of latency-free connections to make their calls and view local ads on their handsets.

It's a matter of when, not if.

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Tags: Skype, Google

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In a survey conducted by the American Advertising Federation results show that most advertisers are reaching out to new media to improve advertising strategies. Ad executives see a trend toward more advertising in online video. 53% of the 168 respondents said they believe that 20% or more of their TV advertising budgets will move to online video by 2010.

Budgets for 2007 are expected to increase by 42% over 2006. Broadcast TV is thought to be the best way to integrate with online media. Magazines are believed to be the most effective for getting users to go online.

One ad executive involved in the survey said, "The determining factor will be the sheer volume of online opportunities. Will there be a handful of sites that rise above the fray or will there be so many sites to choose from that the media dollars can't possibly cover enough bases to be effective?"
With the continued growth of online video it makes sense for advertisers to explore the opportunities that are available. The results of online advertising are more measurable than traditional TV advertising. Another ad executive who participated in the survey said "Online advertising provides nearly instantaneous metrics, which has led most of us to view online as a direct response medium"

As online video continues to grow so will the advertising dollars. Whatever is receiving the most clicks in the Internet video world will be the place advertisers will want to be. Much of this growth can be traced back to Google's purchase of YouTube. That purchase will have a long lasting effect on web video and the direction of the advertising industry.

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Apple's iPod has already conquered land, now it's conquering air with the integration of iPod into airline's in-flight entertainment systems. What's next for iPod, scuba gear integration?

Apple announced today a collaborative partnership with Delta, Emirates, Air France, Continental, KLM, and United Airlines to deliver iPod integration to in-flight entertainment systems.

Apple's vice president of Worldwide iPod Product Marketing Greg Joswiak said, "There is no better traveling companion than an iPod, and now travelers can power their iPods during flight and even watch their iPod movies and TV shows on their seat back displays. We're excited to work with Air France, Continental, Delta, Emirates, KLM and United to offer iPod users an even better in-flight experience."

The six airlines will be offering passengers with iPods the option to power and charge the device using an iPod seat connection during the flight. This allows the passenger to view any video content from their iPod on a display screen on the headrest in front of them. Essentially, no one would ever have to sit through another in-flight showing of a Pauly Shore movie ever again.

According to representatives from Apple, the in-flight connectivity will be available in all six of the airlines by the middle of 2007. Apple is also currently in talks with several other airline companies to integrate the iPod in-flight connectivity into their planes as well.

Apple has the market cornered when it comes to MP3 players, with over 70 million iPods sold to date. According to Apple, 70 percent of 2007-model US automobiles currently offer iPod connectivity.

Currently iPods have capabilities to connect with everything from cars to alarm clocks, and can even be used as your home stereo system by using one of Apple's more 3, 000 iPod accessories.

Apple even has communities for its iPod owners to be part of such as iTunes and PodCasts, which enable users to have a multi-media experience. There are over 3.5 million songs available for users to download on iTunes and over 65, 000 PodCasts.

Personally, I am very curious to see what Apple will be connecting iPod to next.

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