One of the classes I am taking right now is IT Management and we had the pleasure of reading a case for discussion this week on Google. This was of particular interest to me because of my profession, but I knew I had to be good, and let others make their points. This class is all about participation, not being a smart---. So I sat back and was very good, and took notes. No not for class purposes, but as a marketer. This was the greatest focus ...

Google has released a feature in Webmaster Tools that grants a wish I have had for years. Within the list of 404s that Googlebot finds on your site, Google now tells you who is using that broken link. You now know who to contact to change links and/or what links to 301 in the case of a redesigned site. So I must say THANK YOU to Google. This is something I have been bothered with for years. I don't have much to work with on my current company ...

Live released a new look ... look familiar?? *sigh* But it does look good. Live looks like Ask, Ask is using Microsoft Maps, hmmm ... New Live.com Ask.com ...

Cuil - said "cool." Nope. I want to say "coolie." Sphinn worked for me, but not this one. Though there are still people that mispronounce Sphinn, so whatever. It's the engine just released from former Googlers. Last night it was all over Twitter, so I thought I'd check it out this morning, especially after the Austin American Statesman talked about it too. First searches: I don't like the picture thing and the layout. Maybe it's like Facebook ...

Maybe someone has a solution to this, but for now I am calling this a "would love" feature in AdWords. Situation: My company wants to test placing the phone number in the ad text and how that converts better than other ads. There is some debate about this and I want to try it. :) So we assign a phone number to the campaign and a landing page with that phone number. Full tracking since people might click and then convert online and we want to ...

I remember when I first got an inactive notice in AdWords. It didn't make sense to me then, but now I don't get them at all. Makes me wonder if I've gotten better, or has AdWords? When you put ads up with Google, there are many best practices to think about when writing ads, picking landing pages, and crafting out which key phrases to use. I don't want to review all of them, so instead I'll point you to a few nice reviews of them recently ...

I've heard from a number of people in the industry that the new CEO of Ask has been contacting them trying to get them back as brand ambassadors. Smart move? Yes. Executed well? No. The CEO, if he isn't already, needs to be reading Seth Godin's blog. If he is already, I would suggest not skimming the entries. Why? It looks like he got the concept - the company made a boo-boo, and he knew that many influential bloggers we mad. So he reached out ...

Funny, I started this post in Seattle and with the blog move, never got back to it. Now Rand has gone and done so much better, but I still have somethings to say about all this. I recently asked Matt Cutts about topics he thought I might research for my Master's thesis. I thought paid linking and he said it was going to be sooo 2007. I disagreed because I had seen so many people still doing it. When we got to Seattle, what I said was backed ...

I think EricLander got it right with this twitter and ScottPolk with this. The keynote was all about a political speech from Microsoft. All bark, and no bite. We all hope they listen to what we had to say at the end but I doubt it. Want the real recap? See Lisa's interp. First off, Kevin says that their advertising is the key. But their platform sucks and the fun part was we told him that at the end. The attendees all complained about various ...

I've got a meeting soon, but I need to get this out while it's fresh on the mind. Last year I sat in Seattle at a Google Dance, and watched the beginning of blended search. It wasn't on Google. It was on the new Ask.com. I was stoked. The interface was smooth, easy to understand, and put everything in one place.A few months ago, Ask announced that it was dropping out in the race for search dominance, and focusing on women. What everyone in the ...