Posted by Malcolm Slade on May 13th, 2008
Natural search
Wannabe astronauts can explore space without leaving their desks with a new software package from Microsoft.
A year after Google integrated a Sky feature into its Google Earth facility, the biggest software manufacturer in the world has decided to launch its own attempt at space exploration by proxy.
Launched on Monday, WorldWide Telescope draws on images from resources including the Hubble Space Telescope, the Chandra X-Ray Observatory Centre and the Spitzer Space Telescope.
Reuters likened the experience of using the package to a video game, commenting on the "breathtaking clarity" of its imagery and zoom-in, zoom-out features.
"The WorldWide Telescope is a powerful tool for science and education that makes it possible for everyone to explore the universe," noted Bill Gates, company chairman.
Google signed the Space Agreement Act in December 2006 with US space agency Nasa, which facilitated image display initiatives such as Google Mars and Google Moon.
Posted by Alex Postance on May 12th, 2008
Paid Search
Advertising on YouTube is ready to evolve, the video streaming site’s owner announced recently.
Google, which bought the user-generated broadcasting site two years ago for $1.65 billion (£846.14 million), admitted in a recent interview with CNBC that the investment had so far not been adequately monetised.
Chief executive officer Eric Schmidt told the news provider that a "breakthrough" would be the focus of Google’s efforts this year.
And at a shareholder meeting in California last week, the executive gave more details on what such a breakthrough might entail.
The traditional format of "pre-roll" and "post-roll" adverts, shown during YouTube videos, may be replaced by a more integrated strategy, Mr Schmidt commented.
He said: "Think of them as ads that use the page around YouTube in interesting ways."
About 80 per cent of searches conducted in Europe in March of this year were carried out on Google, a recent comScore report revealed.
Posted by Gavin Smith on May 12th, 2008
Natural search
Business-to-business (B2B) search marketers should target niche search engines as well as general sites like Google and Yahoo, new advice recommends.
Writing on Search Engine Land, Galen De Young notes that leads from specialised search engines can yield a higher percentage of conversions and qualified traffic, even if overall traffic volume is lower than that derived from general sites.
General B2B search sites such as Business.com, which receives six million unique visitors each month, enable marketers to reach a more concentrated audience, while smaller equivalents of this site are also said to be worth testing.
Meanwhile, industrial search engines and directories, such as GlobalSpec, may be useful for businesses in the fields of engineering, manufacturing or technology.
And sites like KnowledgeStorm provide links to white papers, webcasts and reports to the IT sector, while IT.com orders its search results with "dynamic peer ranking".
"Whether it’s organic listings and rankings, directory inclusion, content marketing, PPC, banner ads, or sponsorships, there’s plenty of opportunity for marketers to target their efforts more precisely through B2B general and vertical search," the blogger claims.
A recent article in E-Commerce News observed that user-generated platforms are growing increasingly important to B2B marketers.
Posted by Gavin Smith on May 12th, 2008
Paid Search
Investors in both Microsoft and Yahoo! are unhappy with the way the aborted takeover talks were handled, a new report claims.
Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer and his Yahoo! equivalent, Jerry Yang, are facing a backlash from shareholders who feel the deal did not progress in the way they would have wished, the Guardian reports.
Activist hedge fund manager Eric Jackson told the Guardian that Mr Yang’s demand for a higher offer from Microsoft did not reflect the views of Yahoo! shareholders.
"What I have heard, though, universally, is disbelief and anger at his arrogance and disconnection from reality," commented Mr Jackson.
The report came after Eric Schmidt, Google’s chief executive officer, told a meeting in California last week that a pilot test of an advertising tie-up between Yahoo! and Google was successful.
Meanwhile, Mr Ballmer is reportedly facing discontent over his failure to consult shareholders over his initial offer of $31 (£15) per share – which then had to be raised to $33 per share when Microsoft’s price fell.
Posted by David Wilding on May 9th, 2008
Paid Search
The advertising tie-up trial between Google and Yahoo! worked well, according to Google chiefs.
Eric Schmidt, chief executive of Google, said before the company’s annual meeting this week that the two-week pilot initiative, which saw the firms collaborate on advertising, was "successful".
A report published in Reuters earlier this month suggested that final details of such an arrangement between the two search pioneers had not yet been determined.
But it was thought that a deal could see Google ads appear on Yahoo! search results.
According to the BBC, some commentators have expressed doubts about the extent to which the deal was genuine, or just a tactic to stave off a takeover attempt by Microsoft.
But Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer walked away from Yahoo! last weekend, following which Google expressed positive sentiments about a prospective tie-up.
"We have been talking to Yahoo and we are very excited to be working with them," said co-founder Sergey Brin.
"We share a lot of values with them."
Posted by David Wilding on May 9th, 2008
Social Media
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has been approached by Microsoft about a potential takeover, according to a new report.
The software company purchased a $240 billion (£120 billion) stake in Facebook last October, when the user-generated phenomenon was valued at £15 billion.
While active talks are yet to take place between Microsoft and Facebook, the Times claims that the company has replace Yahoo! as the object of the computing giant’s affections following the collapse of takeover negotiations with the search pioneer last weekend.
The news follows the publication of a report by Hitwise and Experian, which advised companies to harness the power of social networking sites and the user loyalty they engender.
Facebook has about 70 million users and could triple its UK membership by 2012, Datamonitor claims.
Asian investor Li Ka-shing doubled his stake in the company last March, which the report suggests boosted speculation about its value.
Posted by David Wilding on May 8th, 2008
Social Media
Social networking sites can provide businesses with excellent insight into the behaviour and perceptions of their customers but many are missing out on the benefits.
This is the conclusion of a new survey by the analytics software provider SPSS which found that just one in ten firms have used social networks to canvas consumer opinion, PrecisionMarketing reports.
Yet the survey also shows that 82 per cent of businesses think social networking sites are a valuable source of information, suggesting that the majority realise the benefits but are failing to act on this awareness.
Colin Shearer, senior vice president of market strategy at SPSS, told PrecisionMarketing: "While traditional contact channels are still applicable, businesses need to recognise and capitalise on the shift towards social networking or they are missing vital insight."
He said that consumers are often more outspoken when they use social networking sites and are therefore more likely to reveal their real opinions about products and services.
According to a report by Datamonitor almost half of all UK residents will be members of a social networking site by 2012.
Posted by Gavin Smith on May 8th, 2008
Natural search
The number of web users visiting the Times Online website has been boosted by the use of search engine optimisation techniques, according to its editor in chief Anna Spackman.
Speaking at the Periodical Publishers Association’s annual conference she said that 35 to 40 per cent of Times Online traffic comes from the homepage, with readers going directly to the site and searching for news stories internally.
But increasingly she explained that search engines were helping to bring web traffic to the site, with around 27 per cent now coming from Google as users search for particular news stories externally.
She said the Times Online is training its journalists in search engine optimisation to ensure that web traffic is captured from these external sources.
This includes monitoring the search terms readers use to enter the site to better understand the interests of their target audience and the kind of stories they like to read.
Sunday Times writer James Ashton recently suggested that effective search engine optimisation is essential to businesses as most web users click on the first few links returned in a search engine query.
Posted by Daniel Peden on May 8th, 2008
Paid Search
One online travel agency has said that it is pleased with Google’s recent decision to reverse its policy on trademark keywords.
Earlier this year, the search engine said that it will no longer view trademarks as keyword triggers from April 4th.
This means that trademarked keywords can be bid on by any companies using Google’s pay-per-click (PPC) service.
Andrew Gardner, chairman of Cruise.co.uk, told Travel Weekly that this was good news for his business.
"Our natural clicks are enormous but because our name is so generic we couldn’t get it trademarked, which we wanted to do," he said.
"Big companies have been bidding on our name."
The PPC policy change has come under fire from some quarters but Google said it needed to make the decision in order to help advertisers access the most relevant keywords for their businesses, as well as to expand choice for search engine users.
Posted by David Wilding on May 8th, 2008
Natural search
The majority of searches made online in Europe during month made use of Google websites, according to a new report.
Statistics compiled by research firm comScore show that Google accounted for nearly eight in ten of the 25 billion searches made on the continent in March.
Auction website eBay followed with a share of 3.1 per cent, while Russian search engine Yandex pipped Yahoo! and Microsoft to third place with a reach of 2.2 per cent.
"We are seeing key local players show leadership in Eastern Europe, where English is spoken less than in western markets," said Jack Flanagan, executive vice president of comScore, adding that this trend is likely to prevail as Russia has one of the fastest growing online populations in Europe.
Almost three-fifths of all US search queries in March originated at Google websites, according to a separate comScore report released last month.
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