Līve Ambitions

I just read about a class action lawsuit from Rust Consulting in which they propose a settlement against Yahoo search marketing.  The lawsuit alleges that “Yahoo breached its contract with its customers by allowing Yahoo ads to be displayed in spyware, domain name parking sites (bulk registration sites), pop-ups, pop-unders and typosquatting sites.”  Here’s the settlement page: https://secureweb.rustconsulting.com/inreyahoosettlement/

Ok, that’s all fine and dandy, but if you read a bit deeper, you’ll see some startling details.  To be eligible for the measly $20 settlement, the advertiser must be out of business.  But that’s not the worst part.  The lawyers representing the case will be paid a whopping $4,170,000 – plus a reimbursement expense fee of $100,000.  What kind of nonsense is this?  The people that were directly hurt by Yahoo’s wrong-doing only get $20, while the lawyers get the bulk of the deal.  This is not just a slap in the face, but also represents loopholes in the legal system which allows lawyers to feed their greed and file bogus lawsuits.

I know about these bogus lawsuits 1st hand because I was involved in a couple of them before.  One was against LendingTree and the other was against CommissionJunction.  I didn’t receive a penny in either case because the bulk of the settlement went to the lawyers.  And, the story seems to be the same in nearly every class action lawsuit – the members don’t receive squat!

Ever since Bing’s search deal with Yahoo, everyone’s been talking a lot about search engine market share.  Most articles I’ve read talk about Bing’s increase in market share, while others talk about its loss in market share.  So, who do you believe?  It’s hard to say because it comes down to the accuracy of the data.

Currently, there are 3 main sources of data for search engine market share: ComScore, StatCounter and Nielsen.  When you compare the data between the 3 sources, you’ll notice that there’s pretty significant discrepancies in the market share data.  Take for example the US search engine market share for August 2009. 

For the month of August, ComScore reports 64.6% for Google, 19.3% for Yahoo and 9.3% for Microsoft. 

StatCounter reports 77.83% for Google, 10.5% for Yahoo and 9.64% for Bing. 

For the same month, Nielsen reports 64.6% for Google, 16% for Yahoo and 10.7%  for Microsoft. 

As you can see, those numbers are pretty drastically different.  At numbers of this magnitude, every percentage counts.  StatCounter and Nielsen reported gains for Google, while ComScore had Google losing .1% of market share from July to August.  However, all agreed that Microsoft/Bing increased its market share.

The discrepancy comes not only from the methods in which the companies collect their data, but also from which web properties they collect the data for.  Google, Yahoo and Microsoft all have various web properties from which they receive significant traffic from, so if the data is not uniform, then you’re pretty much comparing apples to oranges.

According to Web Guild, ComScore collects their data from Internet usage:

• Personal demographics (age, gender, education, etc.)
• Internet usage status
• Connection speed
• Census region
• Household size
• Computers in home
• ISP
• Operating System
• AOL usage
• Work usage

StatCounter collects their data from tracking codes installed in nearly 3 million websites around the world.  From this raw data, they are able to analyze every hit referred by search engines.  In July 2009, StatCounter recorded 136 million referrals made by search engines.

Nielsen utilizes data collected from nearly 100 million blogs, social networks, groups, boards and other consumer-generated media platforms.  They also use consumer panels to supplement their data.

Google has finally confirmed it.  As I wrote in this post, in May, it turns out that meta tag keywords and descriptions are not factors in Google optimization.  However, meta tags may still be useful for Yahoo and Bing optimization.

You may also use meta tag descriptions to show in the search results if you are not satisfied with Google’s description of your website.

Update:  All the major search engines do not use meta keyword tags, not even Yahoo.  Yahoo confirmed it a few months ago.  However, meta descriptions may still be used as the displayed description text within SERP results.

I see a lot of articles on how to optimize for a specific search engine, such as Google, Yahoo or Bing. But, I wonder why anyone would do such a thing. SEO takes a lot of work and manhours, especially if the site is new or if you manage more than 1 website. Who has time for it? Yes, there are some differences in the algorithms, but for the most part, search engines like the same basic characteristics in websites. Take your thoughts to grassroots level. It’ll simplify your job and also provide the best user experience.

To understand why the search engines are so similar you simply have to look at their business model. Their business model is based around providing the best experience for their users. They are not in business to make website owners money. They are in business not because of webmasters, but mainly because end-users find their service to be useful. Without practicality, usability or relevancy, search engines would be worthless to users. Without user traffic there is no money, and without money, there is no business.

You should think the same when developing a website. Build for the user, not for yourself or the search engines. Of course, if you don’t care about visitors or making money, then feel free to make your site as hideous as you’d like.

The search engines had the users in mind when they 1st developed their search engine algorithm, and it is still the users today that influence the factors of search engine algorithms.

So, let’s get down to the very basics. Why do people visit Google or Bing?

• To find an answer
• To learn about something
• To search for something
• To buy something

What is the best possible way for a search engine to provide a solution for its users?

• Provide relevant results
• Provide answers
• Eliminate clutter and spam
• Give speedy results
• Help protect the public

As you already know, algorithms are what determines how search engines show results. And, we know that Google and Bing care about the same things despite having separate algorithms. 

Here are the key factors that search engines agree are most important:

• Strong / quality backlinks
• On-site factors, such as keywords, meta tags, titles, alt tags, etc.
• Site architecture, such as coding, URLs and link structure
• Age and authority of website
• Unique content

Everything else is small potatoes. Optimizing for all search engines is not only efficient, but also helps you stay focused on what is important. Wouldn’t you rather receive organic traffic from all the search engines and not just one?

You can think of advertorials as a cross between an informative article and a sales copy. Advertorials usually start off by presenting a problem, and ends with a solution of some kind.  The solution they offer is typically a sales pitch to subtly persuade the reader into buying something.

To give you a better picture of what I’m talking about, here are 2 ads that are frequently seen on Yahoo.  The ads themselves are not advertorials, but once clicked, you are directed to the corresponding advertorial page.

The 1st is an ad from HowLifeWorks.com, and the other is by ARALifeStyle.com.  ARALifeStyle was the 1st to use these types of ads, but HowLifeWorks was quick to jump on the business model.  It was kind of innovative because the design of the ads sort of made you feel like those articles were just a part of Yahoo.

Once you click on one of those links, you are directed to a simple looking website. The landing page offers an article, a few related articles, and some sponsored PPC ads.

So you may be asking “what is the big deal?”  Well, there really isn’t.  Simply put, these websites are nothing more than beefed up arbitrage sites.  Except, instead of flipping PPC traffic, these websites are buying CPM traffic and flipping them to PPC and affiliate revenue.  We can easily spot the PPC ads, but the affiliate links are embedded within the article itself.  So, someone who has no clue about affiliate marketing would have no idea that the article’s true intention is to promote an advertiser’s service or product.

The advertorial business model is not entirely new though.  We see it almost everyday.  Websites like eHow, About.com and HowStuffWorks.com all have the similar business models.  When you break it down, they are all websites that provide informative articles about certain topics, and they all make money from PPC ads.  The only difference is that these sites do not include sales verbiage in their articles.  For this reason, we do not look down on eHow or About.com like we do the advertorial sites.

What are your thoughts on advertorial sites?

Interesting news.  Microsoft and Yahoo has agreed to combine forces in the search market to better compete against the giant of search, Google.  They’ve launched a website dedicated to the 10 year deal called ChoiceValueInnovation.com.  The gist of the deal is that Microsoft will power Yahoo’s search for both organic and sponsored listings, and in return Yahoo will receive compensation from Microsoft.  Meanwhile, Yahoo will “become the exclusive worldwide relationship sales force for both companies’ premium search advertisers.”  Their PPC advertising platform will be handled Microsoft’s Adcenter.

So, based on current stats, this partnership deal would give Microsoft and Yahoo approximately 30% of the total search market share in the U.S..  If I were Google, I wouldn’t be too worried - its 2 competitors have had the capacity and resources for improvements, but they simply haven’t been able to gain ground on their own.  In my opinion, if Yahoo and Microsoft couldn’t compete on their own, they wouldn’t do better together.  Unless there are some significant advancements to the Microsoft/Yahoo algorithm technology, I don’t see them expanding their search market share by much, if any.

I’m not in favor of this search deal because I believe that market conditions are best when there are many competitors as opposed to only 2.  Instead of having 3 separate choices for search, now it’s only one or the other.  Microsoft and Yahoo would’ve been better off trying to improve their own search technology.  Who knows – maybe there’s a deeper underlying meaning to the deal.  Could it be a slow transition into a merger?  What do you think?

Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to manage PPC campaigns in Google, Yahoo, MSN (Bing), MySpace, Facebook, Adsonar and even Business.com.  Here is how I rate them (1-7):

#1 Google Adwords - Google has not only proven to be a very effective tool for marketing, but also consistent.  Needless to say, Google brings me the most conversions at the most cost-effective rate.  In fact, in my experience, Google has brought in more conversions than all the other PPC traffic sources combined.

#2 MSN Adcenter (Bing) - Although MSN Adcenter was the late bloomer in the PPC industry, I think they’ve made significant progress in a short amount of time.  I see consistent conversions from MSN on a daily basis, however, their traffic is only about 1/10 of what Google brings.  Cost per conversion is also good.

#3 Yahoo Search Marketing - I’m a little biased against Yahoo because I never really liked them as a search engine.  Google has always been more superior in terms of relevancy, for both organic and sponsored search, so it’s no wonder why Yahoo has lagged so far behind.  Conversion volume from Yahoo may be slightly higher than Bing, however, you can also expect to spend more per click. 

#4 Facebook Ads -  I was running an ad through Facebook with a targeted audience of a little over 1 million members.  Soon after the campaign was set to active, I was surprised to see the volume of views and click-throughs.  I think I received 200 clicks within a matter an hour or two.  I tried them out for about a month, but unfortunately I couldn’t continue due to the high cost per conversion rate.

#5 Adsonar – Adsonar has a massive content network (ie. Fox, AOL, ET, People.com and many more).  In fact, their coverage is so big and fast that your balance may be used up in a matter of minutes.  If you don’t have a big budget, it may even be hard to test out a campaign.

#6 MySpace – MySpace is pretty similar to Facebook ads in that they both allow you to target a large number of members based on specific categories.  I used them for about a month, and dropped them due to lack of traffic and conversions.  At least, I didn’t spend much money to test it out.

#7 Business.com – I was pretty dissappointed with these guys.  I received a bunch of click-throughs, but 0 conversions.  I think their traffic may cater more for B2B type of businesses.

Remember, this is my personal opinion, and it is only based off my own experiences.  Your results may vary based on the type of products or services you’re selling and the profit margin involved.  Some type of products may perform better for certain types of audiences.  The bottom-line with any ad campaign is that it should be profitable.  If you spend $1000 and make $1200, you’ve still made a profit (even it’s small).  If your business is still in its infant stages, you may even opt to break-even just to get some exposure.  Finally, if you’ve tried to optimize your ad campaign and you’re still losing money, then it’s time to move on to a new PPC program or marketing strategy.  Don’t try to force something that doesn’t work.

I know there are other PPC programs out there like Bidvertiser and Clicksor, but I’ve never tried them out.

Update:  After I wrote this post, Microsoft and Yahoo joined forces to “change the search landscape.”

I must admit that a few years back, I had no confidence in Microsoft’s search engine algorithm.  However, in recent times, I think they’ve gained a lot of ground in terms of search results relevancy.

Although Google is still my preferred search engine, I occasionally use Live Bing.  I never use Yahoo for searching, but I like the other services they offer, such as news articles, email and music videos.

You can compare search results on this site: http://blindsearch.fejus.com/.  According to the poll, Google is the most favored, followed by Bing and Yahoo.  I agree with the numbers.  If you would’ve asked me 3 years ago, I would’ve told you Google #1, Yahoo #2 and MSN #3. 

It’ll be interesting to see whether or not Bing gains ground on the search market.  According to Nielsen, Google leads with 64%  of the market share with Yahoo at 16.3% and MSN Bing at 9.9%.  I think Yahoo has 2nd place only because so many people use their portal and email system.

Relevancy is the key to capturing search engine market share, and I predict that Bing will gain some ground in the coming months.  The main thing I don’t like about Microsoft’s Bing is the name itself.  I would’ve stuck with Live as the brand.  Badda-Bing!