Search Engine News

Struggle? You don’t normally think of that word applying to the company Bill Gates founded. But there it is: Microsoft, one of the most aggressively competitive, brainiac-attracting, technologically superior, and oh, yes, cash-gushingly profitable companies of all time, can’t for the life of it make a dime on the Internet. It’s not as if earning money on the web is such a remarkable feat. Everyone knows that Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) remains the company of online advertising, generating operating profits of $1.7 billion last quarter on revenues of $5.5 billion. Yet even industry doormats Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500) and AOL are profitable.

Perhaps they’re just incompetent…?

More from money.cnn.com…

ComScore on Wednesday released its ranking of the top search properties in Japan during the month of September 2008. And although the same two leaders in the U.S. — Google and Yahoo — top the list, it’s Google that’s trailing in Japan.

Good to see that Yahoo is doing something right, somewhere. Though we think its not surprising different cultures have different likes and dislikes…

More from news.cnet.com…

It’s the day before Thanksgiving, where you show up at the office, but you’re really thinking about tomorrow’s good meal. You’ve worked hard to set up those search marketing campaigns to run strong on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. So, I really hate to bring you the bad news, but keeping it from you would be a disservice. Let’s just rip off the bandaid. First up, eMarketer has lowered its projections for online advertising spending for 2009. The new growth number is 8.9%, down from 14.5% projected in August. They’re also expecting a long recovery, projecting 2010 growth to be just 10.9%. In five years, things will still be slower on the uptake (than in recent years). Projections for 2013 growth are at 13.5%. Silver lining: some of the tapering off is likely due to market saturation and not just the economy.

So is there any point coming back from the holidays…?

More from blog.searchenginewatch.com…

Who knew that the little “man” that helps users navigate StreetView is called “Pegman”? As much as I’m a fan of StreetView, there was always something a bit awkward about maneuvering the little man on the map to launch the StreetView image window. But Google has now made a number of improvements that make it easier to use Pegman himself and StreetView in general.

Go Pegman…! Perhaps a movie should made over his travels…?

More from searchengineland.com…

By Taylor Pratt The Google Analytics Blog announced today that they are opening up a new forum within Google Help to assist you in finding answers to your Google Analytics problems quickly. Not only will users be able to get advice from Google Analytics employees, other Google Analytics users will be able to answer your questions as well.

More from www.marketingpilgrim.com…

Apparently, teens are not as burnt out on advertising as adults are, according to research reported by eMarketer. The DMA poll suggests that while more than half of teens wouldn’t be open to advertising even in exchange for something, they are more open to mobile advertising than adults. They found that 19% of teens ages 15 to 17 and adults ages 21 to 30 have responded to a mobile phone offer, however a dramatic difference of only 7% of young adults ages 18 to 21 have responded to a mobile offer.

More from www.marketingpilgrim.com…

Two weeks after hosting provider McColo was shut down, the volume of spam is increasing again as stranded botnets get connected to new domains.

More from news.cnet.com…

Over the last few months we’ve showcased a handful of innovative mashups that developers have created using Yahoo! Search BOSS. The creations have ranged in functionality and focus, but all have included interesting applications of Yahoo! Search’s index, infrastructure and technology. Today, we’re sharing another useful application of BOSS that TechCrunch just launched – a technology-flavored Web search engine. This new search engine enables TechCrunch users to search for technology-focused articles and company information across both the TechCrunch network of sites and the rest of the Web. This partnership with TechCrunch illustrates a new BOSS capability called vertical lens technology, which enables partners, often with no search expertise, to create a truly comprehensive vertical search engine that complements their core user experience. Using BOSS, TechCrunch now provides a one-stop shop for all types of search. BOSS not only improves TechCrunch’s standard site search, it also integrates relevant technology content on people, products and companies from across the Web. And if a user conducts a non-tech focused search, they’ll see relevant Web search results.

More from www.ysearchblog.com…

Austan Goolsbee will become staff director and chief economist for the president-elect’s new Economic Recovery Advisory Board.

More from news.cnet.com…

It’s no secret that social networks have had a difficult time integrating advertising that has a bang for its buck. IDC has released some data showing what social networks – and advertisers – are faced with. Only 57% of social network users have clicked on an ad in the last year versus 79% of all users in the rest of the web. When it comes to purchasing, only 11% of social network users will actually make one compared to 23% of the rest of the internet. “The thinking has been that the popularity of SNS will attract a big audience and generate a lot of traffic, which in turn will produce enormous amounts of user-generated content (UGC) and therefore advertising inventory — without any expenses for editorial staff or content distribution deals,” said Karsten Weide, program director, Digital Marketplace: Media and Advertising. “All of the above has proven true — except that almost invariably, SNS have had a hard time selling this inventory.”

More from blog.searchenginewatch.com…