There is a large amount of hoopla over the Google UI change. This post was inspired by one over at WordStream asking if Google was the new Bing. I'll say what a few people have said already, but I have a little more ranting behind it as well. Google's new look is not Bing, it's Ask. [caption id="" align="alignright" width="216" caption="2006 Matt Cutts as the Zombie Jeeves"][/caption] A while ago (and we are talking years) at SMX Advanced ...

Folks in this room understand that the quality of a search engine depends heavily on the relevance of advertising, and the relevance of advertising relies on the volume of bids. Steve Ballmer, MSFT Sorry, Steve but I beg to differ. This was a quote from the SMX West show in March 2010. While I get his point, and he was speaking to a room of search marketers, there is something flawed about his logic. When Google started its upward climb, ...

For the most part, when I come across an issue on a site, I just search for the solution and someone has previously identified the solution. Last week I came across a problem that I didn't know how to deal with and neither did anyone else. Issue: In optimizing a client's website, I came across some images that might seem unsuitable for children. Not vulgar or crude, and were there in a health care sense, but were still not suitable for ...

A good friend of mine that is getting into PPC asked me a question today. A question that I think is common to many people that are really digging into their campaigns. I am not talking to people just getting started (though you should read this too if you are) but those that are wanting to find the next step in campaign optimization. The question centered around dayparting in Google but based on the specific industry their client was in, so ...

You answer "They work on the Internet ..." when asked what your child does. Since that narrows it down. You ask them for help with your computer when it breaks. As if we know what is wrong with your computer at all times. You send all of your friends to your child when their computer breaks. See #2. We just problem solve. You think they can design anyone a website. Repeat after me. Web designers aren't SEOs, and SEOs aren't web ...

There has been a theory floating around for a long time: Google hates SEOs. That is just one article from Bruce Clay former writer Lisa Barone, referencing something from Jill Whalen. Matt Cutts responded with what we all know: Google doesn't hate SEOs, just the bad ones that give us all bad names. It's like lawyers ... yes I just went there. But now there seems to be a trend (and it could be because I live in my little hole called SEO) ...

Last year I mentioned that I ran across some Google ads that were not what I searched for right then, but what I had previously searched for. Basically Google was attempting to show ads for your last search in your current search because they are sometimes largely related. You can read the post at Search and Social which references mention of the original issue over at SEORoundtable. My main issue after Google answered some questions was that ...

I can't drink coffee, I don't like bitter drinks. This is also shown by my distaste of beer (*gasp* yes I said it, I hate beer). But when it comes down to really stressful times (thesis anyone?) I do start to drink more caffeine. Now ... that really isn't what this post is about. Sorry. Google Caffeine Update Google's caffeine push (nothing to do with coffee, unless the engineers named it for the mass amounts they consumed when programming) ...

It's too early to tell, but the more I hear about people talking about the more I come down to one conclusion. Search marketers can talk about it all day, and it makes no difference. We live this stuff. We get mad at Ask for taking away Jeeves. We analyze every change. How will I know if Microsoft made Bing work? When my mom asks about it and starts using it. I have always known that no matter what I think has hit the main stream, it ...

One of the most heated topics in Internet Marketing is paid links. Bringing it up when you first meet someone in the industry is like talking about abortion and the death penalty on a first date. It starts heated discussions, and sometimes feelings and egos get hurt. Google has guidelines that they sometimes enforce, and sometimes don't. It seems so unfair when you see a site that is clearly violating those guidelines, but Google does ...