Saturday, July 31, 2004

Google Search: allinurl:totaltravel.co.uk -www.directory.co.uk/ 21,900

Google Search: allinurl:totaltravel.co.uk -www.directory.co.uk/: "21,900 for allinurl:totaltravel.co.uk -www.directory.co.uk"

Google

Google Search: allinurl:totaltravel.co.uk 23,200

Google Search: allinurl:totaltravel.co.uk: "23,200"

Google

Friday, July 30, 2004

Yahoo Updates Site Guidelines

Yahoo Updates Site GuidelinesDetails of penalised sites as emailed to Mail to webmasterworldfeedback@yahoo.com
Hello.....,

Please could you look into the following situation regarding www.totaltravel.co.uk the site has been built in accordance with webmaster guidelines avoiding known search engine spam methods.

Background: Following discussions with a Yahoo contact about why our sister site www.totaltravel.com disappeared from the Yahoo search results we were told that "we were deemd to be part of a "Link Spam Network" which was why we were dumped. He cannot give specifics as they don't give specifics or everyone would know how to get around their rules.

He has asked the editorial team to re-look at our site and in his experience
it takes them 10 days to get around to it...If they find nothing awry they could put us back on - they will not tell us why if we fail their inspection..."

Regarding www.totaltravel.co.uk the site is new and only just open to the search engine spiders. It appeared in the Yahoo! search listings following 2 visits by slurp as follows:

First hit, at 2004-07-17 19:00:37 GMT+0 was to check our robots.txt to ensure it was allowed to spider us.
Second hit, 2004-07-17 19:01:33 GMT+0 was to the home page.

On 21st July 6,710 pages were returned for www.totaltravel.co.uk and then the site disappeared and has not returned.

Please ask the editorial team to re-look at our site and reconsiderr including it. It would be helpful if you could also let me know if the UK site has been dropped because it is also considered a "Link Spam Network".

The Australian site spends $**k per month with Overture and are considering switching this budget to Google.

Regards

Google

Thursday, July 29, 2004

Get Into Yahoo for Free Part II personal blogs

Get Into Yahoo for Free Part II: "the average time it's taken to get a personal blog included in the Yahoo! directory has been less than 7 days! Obviously this is incredibly fast. I have personally seen blogs get included within Yahoo's directory within 3 days which is even faster than back in 1996 when nobody knew who Yahoo was. "

Google

Tuesday, July 27, 2004

Chat11.com: How Can You Tell If Yahoo Has Banned Or Penalized Your Site

Chat11.com: How Can You Tell If Yahoo Has Banned Or Penalized Your Site: "Has your site been penalized by Yahoo"

Google

Google Search: "webmasterworldfeedback yahoo com"

Google Search: "webmasterworldfeedback yahoo com": "Why am I not in Yahoo?
... If you think a penalty may have been levied against your site, you can email:
webmasterworldfeedback@yahoo.com and we'll review it to determine if that's ...
www.webmasterworld.com/forum35/2345.htm - Similar pages "

Google

Ask Jeeves Extends Google Deal

Ask Jeeves Extends Google Deal: "Ask Jeeves Extends Google Deal " Ask Jeeves said the extension renews the agreements with the company's flagship sites, Ask Jeeves and Ask Jeeves UK. Google's sponsored links product complements Ask Jeeves' own suite of advertising products, including its proprietary paid listings product and branded ad units.

Google

Monday, July 26, 2004

Trellian Launches Keyword Search Tool

Search Engine News :: Search Engine Lowdown: Trellian Launches Keyword Search Tool: "Trellian has launched a new keyword research tool with a database of over 9 billion searches.

The new tool also includes seasonal trends and related search terms.

Update: Just clicked on a 'help' link that displayed this...

'Our database contains over 20 billion searches spaning the last 12 months. We compile this information from 37 different sources. These include major international, pay per click, meta and regional search engines.'

So when you view the total number of searches, be sure to click on the number to reveal the popularity of those searches over the past 12 months."

Priority Submit: "PrioritySubmit.com"
jennie.holland@totaltravel.com
quakers

Google

Future of Search Search Engine Experts Share Thoughts on Search

Search Engine News :: Search Engine Lowdown: Search Engine Experts Share Thoughts on Search: "Google will find ways to limit the effectiveness of off topic link buying. This combined with a limited keyword pool and increasing competition will likely cause keyword lockout and a sharp increase in ppc click fraud in the next 12 months.

Spam will become exceedingly sneaky. Example: guys named 'Seo Hagishami' will start spamming all my blogs with links into their personal blogs. A few months later their blogs will be taken down and 301 redirect all posts into an SEO firms website. Lots of other similar sneaky ideas.

The change in trademark policies at the search engines.

Search personalization based on voluntary profiles that include location and prior search history. (A9 and Kaltix/Google as well as shopping engines)."

Google

OneStat Research Shows Number of Words in Search Requests is Increasing

Search Engine News :: Search Engine Lowdown: Exclusive: OneStat Research Shows Number of Words in Search Requests is Increasing: "According to new research by OneStat.com, search engine users are adding more words to their search requests.

The number of search requests containing '1-word phrases' or '2-word phrases' declined, while search requests containg 3 or more words, increased since January.

The data, collected over the past 2 months, suggests that search engine users are realizing that by adding qualifiers to their requests (e.g. zip code) or by being more precise with their searches (e.g. include colors and model numbers), they can get better results. "

Google

Thursday, July 22, 2004

review current white v black hat...Improving The Image Of Search Engine Marketing

Improving The Image Of Search Engine Marketing: "What can be done to improve the image and reputation of SEM? With the recent Traffic-Power/black-hat SEO debacle, the article that detailed various ad agency SEM complaints, and numerous other articles that have questioned the need for SEO/SEM has helped give the industry a proverbial black eye...

there is no easy answer to this quandary. As long as there are bad apples spoiling the bunch (or getting the majority of the press), the perception will be largely negative. One thing's for sure, this topic isn't going away anytime soon. At the upcoming SES in San Jose, California, Danny will make this subject part of his keynote speech. Expect more updates on the perception of SEO/SEM soon.
"

Google

Google 10,600 Yahoo 0

Google Search: allinurl:www.totaltravel.co.uk: "10,600"

Google

Image Alt Tags -> High Rankings Search Engine Optimization Forum

Image Alt Tags -> High Rankings Search Engine Optimization Forum:
JW "If it's not a clickable image, the alt attribute will be ignored by the engines anyway.

Please, please, please, use what makes sense for your users with alt attributes. It will also be what makes sense for the search engines. "

Google

Wednesday, July 21, 2004

tables & standards


Mike D. says… jul 18, 2004 | 11:42 pm


This may sound selfish but I really think that a lot of the benefits of designing with standards are benefits for web workers and not necessarily users. This isn't a bad thing, but it's just something to keep in the back of your mind as you ask yourself "which way should I be doing this site"?





I think there is way too much emphasis on this mysterious quality of XHTML which is supposedly to magically transform our world one of these days. I am not a believer in the "one document fits all" theory either. Show me any XHTML site which purports to give the best user experience to sighted people, blind people, wireless users, the mentally disabled, etc using only stylesheets, and I'll show you reasons why modifying the entire user experience (including serving up entirely different documents) is better for the user you happen to be talking about. I think you'll start to hear a lot more about "server-side accessibility" and server-side wireless publishing as people start to realize that there are more differences needed in displaying content than can be provided by stylesheets.

Google

Yahoo! Search Results for site:www.totaltravel.co.uk

Google Search: 7,800 yahoo 6,710
Google Search: allinurl:www.totaltravel.co.uk: "about 7,800 "

Yahoo! Search Results for site:www.totaltravel.co.uk: "Results 1 - 20 of about 6,710"

Google

Tuesday, July 20, 2004

Oneupweb :: Search Engine Marketing White Papers with Pizzazz

Oneupweb :: Search Engine Marketing White Papers with Pizzazz: "a nice library of white papers on topics important to search engine marketing."

Google

BBC Eyes Search

BBC Eyes Search: "The BBC has tentative plans to launch it's own search engine designed to compete with major search entities like Google and Yahoo!. The BBC's new media director Ashley Highfield tells a British publication that the BBC has its eye set on the search engine industry. Given that the current search landscape is currently dominated by American properties, the BBC believes that a new search engine -with a British twist, could successfully enter the foray and provide a desirable alternative to its American counterparts."

Google

AdMission Directories To Be Released Tomorrow yellow pages beefed up

AdMission Directories To Be Released Tomorrow: "a first look at their AdMission Directory product, saying that it would be commercially available in mid-July. That time has come and IPIX AdMission is set to unveil a tool that will allow businesses to design and deploy ads for online yellow pages and directories. The launch date is July 20, 2004.

The tool is template-based, which makes it easy to create photo enhanced ads and graphics. Clients are provided with numerous features they can use to drag and drop into their ads. Each advertisement listing has specific tabs for contact information, coupons and general information about the specific business.

Small businesses (SMEs) will be able to design and place their own ads using the self-service module. The fee model for AdMission Directories will be either subscription or pay-per-click (PPC). "

IPIX AdMission - Want to See More? preview & benefits list..

Google

Shifting SEO Landscape Paid Inclusion out of MSN Ask Jeeves

Shifting SEO Landscape Paid Inclusion out of MSN:

On July 1, MSN announced that it had dropped Yahoo's Site Match Paid Inclusion listings from its index effective immediately. Meaning MSN listings are now a variation (their own secret parceling) of Yahoo's free index and ONLY the free index.

MSN is also still working on its own search technology, and a preview is now available at: http://sandbox.msn.com/. But don't fret if you're not in this new index. MSN search is not using this new technology yet, and it is in early and not late Beta stages.

"Ask Jeeves felt the heat of Paid Inclusion criticism and announced on June 24, that it was no longer offering the Teoma Paid Inclusion program. The engine will honor yearlong PI contracts, meaning all Paid Inclusion listings will be phased out of the engine by September 2005. "

Yahoo! Go to Yahoo and type in site: www.sitename.com -qxrxz

Google

Supply shortage could drive up cost of clicks | CNET News.com

Supply shortage could drive up cost of clicks | CNET News.com: "Online advertisers' demand for exposure in the results of Google, Yahoo and other search engines, may soon outpace the supply and drive up prices,"

Google

MSN Search preview: site:www.totaltravel.co.uk -- 17

MSN Search: site:www.totaltravel.co.uk -- More Useful Everyday: "Results 16-17"

Google

Google 11,500 Yahoo 6,710

Google Search: allinurl:www.totaltravel.co.uk:

Google 11,500 showing 863

Yahoo 6,710

Google

Monday, July 19, 2004

Exposing click fraud in 2004

Exposing click fraud | CNET News.com: "Exposing click fraud"

Google

Top 10 holiday search terms

Features: "Top 10 holiday search terms across the Espotting network for the week 29/6 to 5/7


1. Car hire
2. Hotel
3. Holiday
4. Cheap flight
5. Travel guide
6. Camping
7. Short break
8. Cheap Hotel
9. Last minute holiday
10. Package holiday
Provided by Espotting "

Google

Google Search: 5,140 Yahoo! about 4,500

Google Search: allinurl:www.totaltravel.co.uk: "1 - 3 of about 5,140 for allinurl:www.totaltravel.co.uk"
Yahoo! Search Results for site:www.totaltravel.co.uk: "about 4,500 for site:www.totaltravel.co.uk."

Google

Sunday, July 18, 2004

Google Search: allinurl:www.totaltravel.co.uk about 1,180 Yahoo 1,080

Google Search: allinurl:www.totaltravel.co.uk: "21 - 30 of about 1,180 for allinurl:www.totaltravel.co.uk"

Yahoo! Search Results for site:www.totaltravel.co.uk: "Results 1 - 20 of about 1,080 for site:www.totaltravel.co.uk."

Google

Saturday, July 17, 2004

Give Up On "seo" -> High Rankings Search Engine Optimization Forum jill W debate fall out from latest newslettrt

Give Up On "seo" -> High Rankings Search Engine Optimization Forum: "Bill's right though, and this has been an ongoing debate with me and others who don't like me, for many years now.

They don't like me calling what I do SEO, and I don't like them calling what they do, SEO.

This is nothing new. But we're all too stubborn to change what we call it!

And people literally hate me because of this too. Maybe they're afraid I might win the name in the end... "

Google

blinkx

blinkx

Google

Yahoo! up, Google down,,

Yahoo! Search Results for site:www.totaltravel.co.uk: "Results 1 - 20 of about 894 for site:www.totaltravel.co.uk. "

Google Search: allinurl:www.totaltravel.co.uk

Results 1 - 10 of about 581 for allinurl:www.totaltravel.co.uk

Google

Friday, July 16, 2004

Automated Link Exchange Backlash

Automated Link Exchange Backlash: "On some of my sites, I have two e-mail addresses for link requests - one for automatic software download and one for humans being. The former one will be filtered out even before it reaches my mailbox. "

I encrypt email addresses for every site we manage (70+ sites) - so I do not receive automated link requests :)

I removed/encrypted all published email addresses on all sites a long time ago. It worked for a few months, but now the little devils have scripts that interrogates the domain registry and sends the emails to the admin email address associated with the domain name.

While I agree that a personalised email which is from an on topic site and with a specific mention of my site is not spam, I DO consider the generic "Dear Webmaster" recip requests from a completely off topic site to be borderline.

Google

Automated Link Exchange Backlash

Automated Link Exchange Backlash: "There's a difference between 'automated' and 'assisted by automation', and in my opinion that's where a lot of would-be link hunters go astray.
You can use automated methods to help you:
- scout for sites that might be suitable to request links from
- keep your campaign organized.
You need human judgement to:
- assess whether each site is in fact a well-matched, well-targeted candidate for a link request. Skimp here and you're guaranteed to cause offense.
- read their instructions for how to suggest links. (ditto)
- identify who is the most suitable person to write to. (ditto)
- actually write an artful link letter (ditto) "

Google

Microsoft buys Lookout to boost search | CNET News.com

Microsoft buys Lookout to boost search | CNET News.com:Microsoft's MSN division announced Thursday that it has acquired Lookout Software, a firm whose technology searches messages in the software giant's Outlook e-mail client.

"new design included a more streamlined interface that resembles Google's minimalist style. MSN also took out some advertiser links that were served by Yahoo, although it kept its paid-search relationship with the Web portal's Overture Services subsidiary.
Down the road, Microsoft plans to launch its own algorithmic search engine in hopes of competing more closely with Google. In the past year, the software giant has focused its attention on Google's dominance in Web searches. Part of Microsoft's development efforts involve bridging the power of Web search into the Windows operating system to search for files and documents."

Google

Thursday, July 15, 2004

Oddpost and Yahoo! buyout

Oddpost and Yahoo! Oddpost is thrilled to declare that we’ve been acquired by Yahoo!. This is of course wonderful news for the fine folks here who have toiled away in relative obscurity for the past three years,

Google

Tuesday, July 13, 2004

Google to work directly with SEMs

MediaDailyNews 07-13-04: "Google is also developing a client services initiative through which sales reps will work directly with SEMs, according to Barbara Coll, President and Chair of the Board for search industry trade group, Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO). While she admits some SEMPO members are concerned about search engines horning in on their business, she believes, 'Obviously [search engines] want to work with SEM companies... because we sell their product beautifully; we're like an extension of their sales force.'
Fredrick Marckini, CEO of SEM firm, iProspect doesn't deny the existence of channel conflict. However, he concludes, 'The fact that the major search engines have demonstrated a willingness to pursue direct relationships with the big brands is a much greater threat to the big agencies than to search-centric firms with hands-on experience to advise, and the capability to move, evolve and flex to meet new market challenges.' "

Google

Monday, July 12, 2004

MSN Sandbox

MSN Sandbox: "MSN Search Technology Preview
Want a sneak peek at MSN's new search technology? We've got a brand new algorithmic search engine under the hood -- built from the ground up -- on Microsoft technology. Give it a spin and let us know what you think -- this is a work in progress, and it's just the first step in bringing you a brand new MSN Search product. Send us a query in United States, United Kingdom, or one of our other markets. "

Google

Friday, July 09, 2004

Yahoo! Slumps on Soft Top Line

Yahoo! Slumps on Soft Top Line: "Yahoo! (YHOO:Nasdaq - news - research) joined the tech sector's walking wounded, shocking Wall Street with lukewarm second-quarter results late Wednesday."

Google

Pontefract Liquorice Festival

Untitled Document: "
Pontefract, the liquorice capital of England, presents a delicious, action packed weekend celebrating the culture and heritage of this famous market town."

Guardian Northener article:

>>> MARTIN WAINWRIGHT RECOMMENDS...

There's a classic northern highlight over the weekend of July 10-11 -
the Pontefract Liquorice Festival, which sees the old Yorkshire
centre of liquorice-growing doing everything possible to celebrate
the plant, including one initiative which is very... well... odd.

I took three work experience students from Greenhead College,
Huddersfield - Laura Walsh, Matt Keighley and Cory Hazelhurst - down
to Ponty last week to find out more, and here's what they have to
say:

"English festivals have always been something of a strange occasion,
but Pontefract's fourth annual Liquorice Festival might just be the
strangest in a while. It kicks off on July 10 for two days and is
anticipated to be the biggest national celebration of liquorice. The
festival includes a liquorice cake and dessert-making competition,
liquorice-tasting including the sampling of Liquorice Ale and a
Liquorice Tranquillity Centre.

"Pontefract has long been known for its association with liquorice.
Thirteen factories once provided much of this historic town's
employment. These days, only two factories remain, but Pontefract is
still proud of its heritage, which explains the community's
enthusiasm for this year's festival.

"Before the festival, the main uses of liquorice had mainly been in
making Liquorice Allsorts, chewing gum, cakes and forms of
alternative remedies. But textile students at New College,
Pontefract, have rediscovered a new function for the popular sweet.
Their head of department Amanda Bird has organised them to design
their own clothes made from the confectionery. The idea, described as
"very innovative" by the college's principal Rob Phillips, is oddly
appropriate for the town and has certainly caught on to the festival
spirit.

"The design ideas stem from the original liquorice dress worn by
factory worker Emily Money for her firm's annual Christmas dance in
the 1930s. Amanda Bird says: "The students are used to working with
unusual materials, including clothes made of wire, paper and glue,
but liquorice seems to have really inspired them."

"There is a wide range of designs - favourites being an Allsorts hat
and a liquorice dinner jacket complete with bow tie. There will be
three separate shows at the festival when professional models will
show off the students' creations - which may be heavy work. Hannah
Chilton and Sue Vernon's Pontefract Cake dress alone used thirteen
and a half pounds of liquorice.

"Festival-goers should be careful about just how much liquorice they
eat. Only days ago, a 56-year-old woman was taken into hospital after
overdosing on the black stuff."

Thanks, gang. More details at Pontefract Liquorice Festival
(http://www.pontefractliquoricefestival.co.uk).

Google

www.acoona.com New search system, accessible in both English and Chinese, covers 30 million businesses worldwide.

China Daily Information Company, in a partnership with China Communications Corp, is set to launch a revolutionary Business Search Engine, utilizing a new and proprietary Artificial Intelligence Technology. In an effort to continually perfect the user Search experience, China Communications Corp has developed the portal www.Acoona.com, delivering the most relevant Business Search Engine results. The company has filed a patent protecting this “Apparatus, Method and System for Artificial Intelligence for Data Searching Applications”.

The company’s Search Engine technology operates by allowing the user to receive more relevant, and in depth results. Using a complex algorithm that recalculates the meaning of words, Acoona better understands the user’s search query. This process yields search results in circumstances where no results may have been achieved in the past. The “intuitive” engine will extract results with greater proximity to the search criteria requested by the user. This advanced research and corresponding patent applications are the first of its kind in the Search Engine industry.

Google

Value of one way links

Directory links, listed under the category related to your topic


Business directory links, listed under the category related to your topic


Blogs, submitted to a blog directory and archived online


Business associations, listed under the category related to your topic

http://www.searchengineguide.com/goetsch/2004/0708_dg1.html

Google

Wednesday, July 07, 2004

Top Directories

Top Directories

Google

Tuesday, July 06, 2004

Microsoft will unveil a new look to its MSN Search service next month.

CBS MarketWatch - Business News - Financial Information - Investment ToolsE-NewslettersBill Gates says Microsoft will unveil a new look to its MSN Search service next month.

In Sydney, Australia, the founder of Microsoft (MSFT) told reporters, "The format of the site will change and so will the quality of what you get." Calling the state of Web search sometimes "terrible," the world's richest man said Microsoft has been doing linguistic research for more than a decade that "actually lets us parse and understand documents," ZDNet Australia reported.

Gates said search technology must be upgraded so that searches incorporate understanding and context. Later this year, he added, the company will launch "what's entirely our own back-end driving the search."

Google

Forget pay-per-click (PPC)--pay-for-performance is in (PFP) 07-06-04

MediaDailyNews 07-06-04: "Forget pay-per-click (PPC)--pay-for-performance (PFP) is all marketers want to hear about from their advertising and publishing partners these days" "Pay-for-performance affiliate marketing in the real world has a name. It's called commissioned salespeople, [and] they're the most productive people in your stores," noted Macys.com President Kent Anderson. "Our fastest-growing areas in the stores--our best-run stores--are typically commission-oriented, and I think there's an analogy [to affiliate marketing] there because you have a highly motivated sales force...However, there is one pay-for-performance sales channel that received nearly unanimous disapproval. Panelists agreed that the growing problem of online fraud, spyware, and spam are deterrents to the growth of online commerce, and could eventually keep consumers from shopping online. Because of its proven effectiveness as a low-cost direct sales channel, online retailers are among the heaviest users of adware and spyware..

Forrester forecasts 25 percent growth every year over the next five years for e-commerce; Johnson says she is "incredibly optimistic" about the next 5-10 years.

Google

Findwhat.com Goes Global

Findwhat.com Goes Global

Google

Wired News: Paid Inclusion Losing Charm?

Wired News: Paid Inclusion Losing Charm?: "Yahoo is now the only major search engine championing paid inclusion. "

Google

MSN Search July launch

E-NewslettersBill Gates says Microsoft will unveil a new look to its MSN Search service next month.

In Sydney, Australia, the founder of Microsoft (MSFT) told reporters, "The format of the site will change and so will the quality of what you get." Calling the state of Web search sometimes "terrible," the world's richest man said Microsoft has been doing linguistic research for more than a decade that "actually lets us parse and understand documents," ZDNet Australia reported.

Gates said search technology must be upgraded so that searches incorporate understanding and context. Later this year, he added, the company will launch "what's entirely our own back-end driving the search."

Google

Building a Hub Site: Thinking About Linking

Building a Hub Site: Thinking About Linking: "Conclusion
With Google providing every indication that hub sites will be given special consideration in the search engine rankings, it makes good sense to consider turning your site into a hub.
By linking out to authority sites, and other related sites for your theme, you can turn an ordinary website into a hub site very quickly. It's very easy to link out from a site.
Be certain to add lots of fresh theme based content to attract incoming links as well. They are needed to boost your PageRank and to build the necessary link popularity. Incoming links will cement your site's status as a hub.
Turning your site into a mini directory, or even into a fully fledged directory, will ensure your hub site level. Your positioning on the SERPs will be long lasting and are highly likely to survive any unexpected algorithm changes. Becoming a hub certainly has its advantages.
Consider creating a hub site today"

Google

Time for a Redesign: Dr. Jakob Nielsen

Time for a Redesign: Dr. Jakob Nielsen: "June 1, 2004
Time for a Redesign: Dr. Jakob Nielsen"

Google

Monday, July 05, 2004

MSN drop Yahoo paid listings

MediaDailyNews 07-05-04: "MSN snub of paid listings served through Yahoo!'s paid inclusion program "

Google

Overture Offers Local Match Regional Advertising

Local Match gives advertisers “the ability to pinpoint a geographic surrounding their business (between 0.5 and 100 miles) in which they want their search listing to be shown,” the company said in a written statement.

Google

MSN Search Preview

MSN Search: "MSN Search Technology Preview "

Google
Creative Commons Licence
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.