I know many of the people who read this blog (thank you!) also have their own web sites or blogs.
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Thank you,
Lee Odden
Metroblogging New Orleans – Flickr Images – Clusty Blog Search
Barry at Search Engine Roundtable posts a Code of Ethics that prompted me to do some thinking.
Search Engine Roundtable Code of Ethics:
(1) We try to cover public forum threads and quote from public information within those threads.
(2) We will never quote anyone without explicit permission in the following cases:
— Phone conversations require explicit permission to quote
— Email conversations require explicit permission to quote
— IM chat conversations require explicit permission to quote
— In person conversations require explicit permission to quote
(3) We will quote any publicly posted and available content from forums, content sites, blogs and so on.
(4) Anything said during a public presentation at a conference (not at the bars or in the hall ways but rather, what is said on the podium) is quotable as well.
First there was Google
Earlier this summer Google announced their Google Sitemaps tool that allows web site owners to create an XML or plain text file listing all of the urls of a web site for inclusion in the Google index. At least up to 50,000 and if you’re over, you can just create another site map.
Google offers this tool as a compliment to what Googlebot, Google’s search engine spider, can find on it’s own by crawling from link to link on the web. In cases where a site might have some difficulty getting indexed, providing a sitemap to Google may assist in getting missing pages into Google’s search results.
Google does not charge for this beta service and it’s pretty easy to do. However, as a beta, there are no guarantees.
I am testing a feature from Talkr that automatically converts blog posts to machine generated audio. Look for the “Listen” link at the bottom of each post on this blog.
Does this qualify as a podcast? I’m sure there are many podcast purists that would say no. It should be a real person reading the post for that, which is what I’d like to change this over to. For now, I’ll see if there’s any feedback on the automatic audio.
As feedback to Talkr, it would be nice if there were different voice options you could pick. I can do that with my virtual fax/message service from j2. They should also drop the Flickr naming ripoff and add an “e”.
Amid lots of speculation this week, Google has launched a Jabber/XMPP based Instant Messaging/VOIP application called Google Talk. FAQ here.
For Windows only in this release, Google Talk works with several other IM clients so if you have a Mac or are on Linux, you can still connect. All you need is a headset, speaker and Gmail account. Conveniently, six Gmail invites are included when you download the software.
So far there are mostly accolades with one comment from Daily Rundown about the lack of file transfer, which is a feature that Skype offers. Also, you cannot make calls to land line or mobile phones.
In true Google fashion, the interface is very clean and intuitive. Also of note, it’s free of any advertisements. It seems Google’s intention is to use Google Talk to drive Gmail sign-ups.
It appears that Google, Yahoo and Ebay might be competing for a piece or all of Trade Classified Media which owns 575 print titles and 56 websites in 20 countries and is worth about $1.5 billion.
“Local search and listings are becoming increasingly profitable areas for internet companies, and are at the heart of new “pay-per-call” revenue models, which some see as potentially more profitable than pay-per-click advertising.”
The competition never ends. Via Revolution
Google is releasing an update to it’s desktop search program today that includes a tool called Sidebar, “a panel on your desktop which provides convenient, one-glance access to all sorts of personalized information.” Here are some screenshots.
Sidebar includes plugins for: Email, News, Weather, Photos, Stocks, Web Clips (RSS Feeds), Scratch Pad (note pad) and QuickView which shows frequently used items or recent items.
I guess this is sort of a MyYahoo but for the desktop rather than a web page.
Hat tip SE Blog
Anyone involved with organic search engine optimization knows the value of linking or connectivity and how it contributes to higher search engine placement.
This blog does well on some competitive phrases in part, due to links. For example, a quick check on Marketleap’s Link Popularity tool shows 90,927 links to Online Marketing Blog/”>Online Marketing blog.
The start of those links was the result of competitive research. Finding out where similar sites received links and gaining links from the most relevant sources over time can generate the necessary link popularity to start gaining momentum. Once a site gains content and link momentum, the increased awareness makes it easier to gain new links.
There’s a humorous meme regarding an interaction between Google’s founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Engineer Matt Cutts and a few blackhat SEOs at the Google Dance a few weeks ago.
It starts with a post by Duncan at the Blog Herald making the complaint that something fishy is going on. Matt Cutts posts a very interesting reply on his blog. The complaint was that Google was mingling with people who openly spam Google. As if a spammer would gain some benefit from that? Google is smarter than that and you can read Matt’s post about it just to be sure:
Barry of Search Engine Roundtable gives the full lowdown on WebmasterWorld’s 10th PubCon, which will be held in Las Vegas Nov 15-17. Pubcon now has it’s own web site and blog, which is an excellent move Mr. Tabke.
If you haven’t seen it (where have you been?) Barry provides the best coverage anywhere of WebmasterWorld conferences.
If you work in SEO, SEM or any aspect of Internet marketing, this is a highly regarded conference that I can honestly recommend as one of the best for tactical knowledge of search marketing.
Tags: WebmasterWorld, Pubcon, search engine conference, SEO
Using a combination of cash and stock, Mamma.com announced yesterday they’ve signed a letter of intent to acquire Copernic, maker of desktop search and related tools. There was a little Mamma drama regarding the attempt to acquire Copernic earlier this year involving some SEC investigation of Mamma.com.
However, according to Martin Bouchard, executive chairman of Copernic:
“Based on further due diligence, we are now confident that Mamma.com is a strong and very well managed company,” he said. “We are positive about closing this transaction which will create a new organization capable of competing with the best of breed in the search engine sector of the Internet.”
Adding Copernic would be a boost to the mix of services offered by Mamma.com including Mamma Media Solutions and Digital Arrow.
The blog search engine, Feedster published their list of the top 500 blogs for August and I’m happy to say that Online Marketing Blog weighs in at 182. That’s higher than Google Blog (213) and Yahoo Search Blog (197)! Amazing.
Rankings for other blogs I read include:
IT Conversations #26
Om Malik’s Broadband Blog #52
Micro Persuasion #56
Seth’s Blog #70
Scobleizer #74
Jeremy Zawodny #103
gapingvoid #106
Dave Sifry #136
John Battelle #139
Blog Herald #157
WebmasterWorld #164
Robin Good #167
Yahoo Search Blog #197
Chris Pirillo #202
Darren Rowse Problogger #203
Google Blog #213
Jakob Nielsen’s Useit #237
Adrants #254
MarketingVOX #347
Ensight Jeremy Wright #348
InsideGoogle #436
Search Engine Roundtable #500 (this one really should be much, much higher)
