Creative, smart people from Yahoo!, MSN and Google recently met in Philadelphia to discuss search and what the future could be if they each had their druthers (fairly fancy word for the first sentence, I know).

Who thinks what?

• Google - "The perfect search engine would understand exactly what you mean and give back exactly what you want."
• MSN - users will use more lengthy and advanced search commands
• Yahoo! - social search that "democratises the notion of relevance and lets ordinary users decide what's important for themselves and other users."

Posted by at 04:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A bit of a rant for me today, but an important one.

If you are an affiliate, and you are serious about doing business online, read the affiliate agreement for each and every affiliate program you join.

I know reading affiliate agreements is about as fun as watching paint dry, but it is something you have to do if you want to make sure you are not violating the affiliate program's terms.

But why should you care if you are not following the agreement? Because agreement violations usually lead to non-payment by the affiliate program. OUCH.

For example, let's say you join an affiliate program that sells gold fronts (permanent dental fixtures made of gold - like rappers wear) for your teeth and you skip reading the affiliate agreement. You write up a nice email to blast out, pay a designer to make it look nice, and buy a big email list. You start sending out thousands of email to promote that program.

The email blast campaign is a success and you have thousands of people of all ages wearing super cool gold fronts all thanks to you. This also means thousands in your pocket!

Next thing you know you get a call from an affiliate manager at the company you were sending the email traffic to. The affiliate manager tells you that you will not be paid for the traffic you sent because you promoted the program through email, something that was a no-no in the affiliate agreement.

So now you have wasted time, money and effort for no payoff - all because you did not read the agreement.

Do you get the picture?

So take the time. Sit down with a nice can of ROCKSTAR, or whatever your beverage of choice may be, and read those affiliate agreements.

In the long run it could save you time and money.

Posted by James Omdahl at 04:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Thanks to Justin for pointing this one out...

Sometimes you can have too much of a good thing. Case in point is Splasho, who decided to pick 100 of the most popular Firefox extensions (out of an amazing 1148) and add them to his Firefox browser.

The result? How about the most ridiculous looking Web browser on the planet! There was so much on Splasho's status bar that he had to expand the window to a second monitor.

So please, now that Splasho has tried it - just say no to excessive Firefox extensions.

It could save your life...

Posted by James Omdahl at 04:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As we first reported last week, MSN AdCenter will be increasing the impressions of its own sponsored ads, beginning Feb. 28th.

According to the MSN AdCenter blog, those who have already established an AdCenter campaign can expect to see traffic increase "approximately 70% from...current levels."

"Advertisers should see a significant and delectable increase in traffic," report the AdCenter team. It is good to know our sources on the streets are passing forward accurate info. We will be sure to post any updates!

Posted by at 02:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Our Affiliate department here loves to laugh! We have some quick-witted, creative individuals who can get a lil' silly from time to time. It's kinda like the kettle letting out some steam over the fire.

One thing that is becoming a regular occurrence on our team is the consumption of the energy drink. It's quite a scene to see several grown-ups zipping around the office like mice in a maze on hot coals. One thing is for certain: we are getting our projects completed! One of our copywriters tried a Rockstar for the first time today. "I got so much done today!", she excitedly announced this afternoon. I'm sure she was excited as a result of her productivity. :)

What are the fave drinks chilling in our Affiliate fridge? Red Bull & Rockstar. Disclaimer: please read the ingredients and drink in moderation in order to protect your heart and health!

So what are the energy drinks of choice out there in Affiliate Marketing land? What gets you going in the morning to check your paid search reports? Anything help you in the afternoon after a big burrito lunch with four content-rich articles waiting on your calendar?

Time to head out for the weekend and re-stock the fridge!

Posted by at 04:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I guess I will jump on the bandwagon and report that Yahoo! will be ending advertiser's ability to bid on competitor's terms. I guess we should have named our business "Insurance" and not "InsureMe."

Anyway, for your viewing pleasure, here is the email that we got from Yahoo! less the five terms that were removed from our account (not too sure how they got in there in the first place):

Dear Advertiser,

We wanted to let you know of a policy change that will affect your account.

On March 1, 2006, Yahoo! Search Marketing will modify its editorial guidelines regarding the use of keywords containing trademarks. Previously, we allowed competitive advertising by allowing advertisers to bid on third-party trademarks if those advertisers offered detailed comparative information about the trademark owner's products or services in comparison to the competitive products and services that were offered or promoted on the advertiser's site.

In order to more easily deliver quality user experiences when users search on terms that are trademarks, Yahoo! Search Marketing has determined that we will no longer allow bidding on keywords containing competitor trademarks.

Our records indicate that you currently have one or more listings that were allowed under the competitive advertising guideline. On March 1, 2006, these listings will be removed from your account, and we will no longer accept listings containing search terms comprised of your competitors' trademarks.

These are the current terms in your account which will be deleted on March 1, 2006:

Keywords Deleted

For more information on our trademark policy, please visit http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/legal/trademarks.php. Please note that Condition #3 ("Competitive Comparison Site") will be removed when the policy is officially implemented on March 1, but advertiser listings that qualify under the reseller or non-competitor information guidelines may be allowed, subject to Yahoo!'s discretion to accept or reject listings. If you have any questions or concerns regarding this issue, please do not hesitate to contact your Account Management team.

While we apologize in advance for any inconvenience this may cause you, we believe that this change in our policy enhances our ability to provide the best experience for users.

Sincerely,

Your Partners at Yahoo! Search Marketing

So there it is - Yahoo! is tired of the lawsuits, so they are throwing in the towel. Chalk one up for the lawyers.

It would be interesting to see what type of a financial impact something like this will have on Yahoo!'s revenue - for some reason I think it could be substantial.

Have a great weekend.

Posted by James Omdahl at 02:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Just wanted to bid a fond farewell to Jeeves the butler, who is officially retiring from AskJeeves.com. You can see more about Jeeves' retirement over at his office and read more about it from Chris Sherman over at Search Engine Watch.

I am sure everyone is as broken up as I am to see Jeeves go.

I am guessing sarcasm does not transmit well over the internet, so let me rephrase that. I am sure no one is broken up to see Jeeves go. Because he is a cartoon. And who uses Ask Jeeves anyway?

Moving on....

Posted by James Omdahl at 04:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Breaking news: InsureMe has received word from one of its sources that MSN will be splitting from its contract with Yahoo! next month. This departure will allow MSN to display its own AdCenter ads on all of its search results. The latest estimates had MSN showing Yahoo! search results approximately 75% of the time due to the contract.

The InsureMe source is an Affiliate who moonlights as a cab driver. This Affiliate picked up an MSN executive as a fare and the chit chat moved into a discussion about Affiliate Marketing and PPC advertising. This was when the MSN exec stated that they planned to exit the current contract they have with Yahoo! during the month of March.

Stayed tuned for any further details. We have our ears to the ground and our scouts out looking around!

Posted by at 09:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Have you noticed a dramatic change in the MSN search results? If so, you are not the only one.

MSN pushed out an algorithm change last week that has really affected their search engine results pages. It seems that the magnitude of the changes in results vary from vertical to vertical, with some being more pronounced than others.

Checking the vertical I am most familiar with, insurance, it looks like the search quality has gone down a great deal. Why do I say this? Because this is the #1 result for the term "auto insurance" right now:

http://auto-insurance-quoting.blogspot.com/

That's right, an auto insurance spam blog built on Google's Blogger domain. The content itself is basically a call to action and a list of state names - leading me to believe that on-page content is not much of a factor in the new algorithm.

And it seems pretty obvious that this site is benefiting greatly from being on the blogspot.com domain—something MSN needs to learn to filter out.

Looks like MSN has got their work cut out for them. Luckily, it looks like things can only get better.

For more opinions and observations on the new MSN algo, check out the thread over at Search Engine Watch.

Posted by James Omdahl at 10:26 AM | Permalink

Electric scooters, dogs in the office, sand volleyball court...just another day at the Googleplex!

Google seems to embrace and nurture a culture of giving their employees everything they would need not to leave the G'plex.

Signs of comfort and innovation are picture-clear in Time's recent photo essay through the headquarters of Google: the Googleplex. Some of my fave stops along the tour include:

• free gourmet meals prepared three times/day
• barbershop & masseuse/masseur
• idea boards

Encouraging innovation, creativity and productivity while nurturing comfort is all right by me. Who wouldn't want to "do no evil" (Google's motto) after a gourmet lunch and massage?

As much as Google gets bashed in the public forum, I'm sure Googlers love going to work!

Posted by at 01:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google is not one to shy away from confrontation: rejecting US Government subpoenas, facing US Congressional finger-pointing for dealing with China and, just announced, opening a branch office in an area all too familar with hostility and conflict, Israel.

"Israelis are chronic searchers. The search is the main use they make of Internet, while for Americans, the main use of Internet is e-mail. The Israeli surfer adopts technologies faster...."

Is Google the modern-day Star Trek, boldly going where others have not?

Warp speed ahead!

Posted by at 05:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google's PageRank is often a misunderstood metric in the ranking of Web pages on Google.

I have heard people tell me that PageRank comes from your on-page content, your actual ranking position in the Google results, and raw number of inbound links pointing to your site. All of these explanations are false.

PageRank is simply a representation of the number and quality of links pointing to a Web site. The key here is quality of links. And the quality of links is based on the links pointing to the linking site.

In the process of link development for Google optimization, PageRank is an important concept to grasp. If you are optimizing for Google and you don't feel like you really understand PageRank, check out this very good explanation of PageRank at Web Rank Info.

Have a great week!

[UPDATE - Just as I finished writing this I realized that Google must have updated their visible PageRank. If you haven't checked your PageRank lately, today is a good day :) ]

Posted by James Omdahl at 01:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

World Wide Web (www) may become Partial World Wide Web (pwww), based upon recently proposed legislation. NJ Rep. Chris Smith has announced his Global Online Freedom Act of 2006 outlining the details.

Among the highlights: China, Iran and Vietnam would be initially designated as Internet-restricting countries, based on systematic curbs on Internet freedom. Twelve other countries, including Cuba, Saudi Arabia and Turkmenistan, are identified as restrictive, subject to annual reviews.

You can review more of the proposal here.

What do you think about the proposed regulations for the Internet—and how do you think it will affect the landscape we all want to work within long-term?

Posted by at 04:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In my opinion, link development is the most important (and the toughest) element of search engine optimization. Since Google started using links as a way to rank Web pages, people have been trying to find the most effective and efficient way to build inbound links.

This desire to build links has also led to many of the big "no-nos" of link development. Things like link farms, blog spam, and heavy reciprocal linking. Those were all effective strategies at one time, but now depreciated—if not dangerous—for site rankings.

So what is an optimizer to do? How do you get those quality links without breaking the rules?

Well, how about you earn them?

This is the point Sugarrae tries to make in a great post over at the Webmaster World forums. Sugarrae suggests a new way of developing links to your Web site known as traffic development.

The post is full of helpful suggestions that are aimed at helping you develop links based on merit, rather than linking schemes or purchased links. In short, you focus on building links that will directly bring you traffic, not ones that Google might like because, in the end, Google will reward you for those types of links anyway (as soon as they figure out how to discount all of the "unearned" links out there).

Yeah, it will take a while for Google to do this—and things will never be perfect. But if you are into SEO, head over and check the post.

If anything, it might make you think about new ways of getting some traffic.

Posted by James Omdahl at 04:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

MSN recently came out with a new iteration of its search algorithm, and SEO expert Oilman has weighed in with his opinion of the new results.

His findings about the MSN query for "cars" is pretty telling that MSN still has a long way to go.

Posted by James Omdahl at 03:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Who doesn't like getting free t-shirts? There is always excitement when we return from conferences with free swag, and t-shirts are some of the first goners.

FYI...the Search Engine Journal is having a T-Shirt Slogan contest.

What do the winners receive? Yep, free t-shirts!

Some of my fave entries so far include:

• "The shirt is black, but my hat isn't"
• "Trust sponsored listings - they are what you seek"
• "Friends don't let friends Spam Search Engines"

The contest runs until March 1st. Share your ideas here, as we always love a good laugh! My vote would be for "Sergey is my Mr. Wonka."

Posted by at 05:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hey there, hepcat! Don't you want to get down with all of the wowie-zowie SEO terms that you never caught in your melon? Sure you do daddy-o! Get down to www.SEOGlossary.com, and peep the funky-freshness WIKI!

Sweet, dudes!

Ahem....

Like in many industries, one of the hurdles people must overcome when learning about search engine optimization (SEO) is figuring out what the heck people are talking about.

I mean, no normal person uses words like Googlebombing, spamglish, and keyword stuffing before they get into the SEO world.

That is why the SEO Glossary was created. The SEO Glossary has a pretty comprehensive list of terms already, but it is a WIKI, so the list will continue to expand as new terms are coined.

So if you are having trouble understanding what is being discussed on message boards, at a conference, or even on this blog, keep a link to the SEO Glossary handy. Actually we will do it for you - over in our Affiliate Tools section.

OK—now get out there and Googlebomb that Googlebot!

Posted by James Omdahl at 04:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I read an article from InformationWeek titled "Google's Long Shadow". It briefly discussed three start-up search models attempting to break out of the shadow, or mold, that Google has created. The one that caught my eye was Gravee.com.

The pro I see: Gravee will share up to "70% of all ad revenue with Web sites and content owners that appear in our search results anytime an ad is clicked."

The con I see: Will search results truly be relevant?

Using revenue generated from paid search to compensate those who create relevant content and sites: what do you think?

Check out this free demo for more groovy Gravee detail, and find out what it wants to be when it grows up.

Posted by at 04:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Online Media Daily reports MSN will start offering its search engine users the chance to win millions of dollars in prizes just for using MSN search. This comes a few days after Yahoo! has openly started to consider using incentives to get searchers to use Yahoo! search.

The moves by both companies seem like a desperate attempt to shortcut their way to better search usage.

Unfortunately, Yahoo! and MSN seem to be missing the point. The reason that Google does so well is based on the quality (whether real or perceived) of their search results.

No company should have to bribe anyone to use their search engine, as long as the search quality is there. But MSN and Yahoo! still have relatively simple search algorithms - and because they are so easy to manipulate, the search quality is lower.

Surprisingly, I do not think that MSN is really giving their all when it comes to search quality.

Myself and a few of our affiliates had an informal conversation with an MSN search employee at the Webmaster World conference, and it sounds like MSN is not really throwing all of the resources it can at their search product. The employee stated that the search department was pretty small, and eluded to the fact that they are understaffed. I am not sure if this has changed since the conversation in November - but if not, it explains a lot.

I am not really sure how hard Yahoo! works to improve their search either. I do know that they put a lot of focus on their paid search products like Search Submit - which is basically a good old fashioned "paid inclusion" program. Technically, the Search Submit program is not supposed to interfere with the natural rankings, but I have had affiliates tell me that their rank improved after entering the program. So to me, it sounds like their search quality will always have that paid manipulation factor.

Google, on the other hand, has gained a following over the years based on their search quality. Quite simply, when people search for something on Google, they feel like they find what they are looking for. This was key to driving the original word-of-mouth that made Google so popular today. Google users use Google because it works. And in the long run, having a search product that works will be a heck of a lot more popular than free music downloads, a chance to win a bike, or a free mouse pad.

So will Yahoo! and MSN profit from these new search bribery techniques?

Yes.

Will they get more searches, more clicks and a few more regular users?

Yes.

But will MSN and Yahoo! be able to gain substantial market share and beat Google out of first place in the search market through search bribes?

Unequivically, no.

[Updated] I forgot to include my favorite quote from the Online Media Daily article -

"Is it hard to catch Google? Yeah. Nothing's been successful so far, but this is the lowest level. It's not something that a valued brand would do." --- Gary Stein, Search Expert

Posted by James Omdahl at 11:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It is so refreshing to read the excitement people share about their work!

The official Google blog has enthusiastically announced the acquisition of Measure Map in a continued goal to be "an exciting validation of the user experience."

Notable quotes:

• "We hope to help even more people become passionate about their blogs."
• "People can understand and appreciate the effect their blogs - their words and ideas - can have."
• "Our goal has been to use the power of web analytics to help bloggers feel that same sense of connection with their audience."

The affiliate marketing community is a world-wide audience. We can meet here in one place and discuss best practices and ideas. And now, we can also see when you arrive :)

Welcome!

Posted by at 10:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Valentine's Day. What an interesting holiday.

The first commercial Valentine's Day cards were created in 1840, and there will be 1 billion cards exchanged today.

What a great idea! Write some words down so that others may express their own feelings—and sell it.

Now, there is The Idea Book, a 300-page book of which 150 pages are left blank so readers can write their own ideas down on paper. Half of the book is about existing ideas; the other half is about writing down new ideas that result from the read.

In a way, that is one hope InsureMe has for this affiliate marketing blog. James and I want to share with you what we know and learn, and we hope for your feedback to get the ball rolling back on our side.

It's all about sharing the knowledge....

Posted by at 05:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Marketing guru Seth Godin spotted a "Click to Call" button on the AdWords results for the query "Artisan Hotel."

The click-to-call result has a green phone next to it, and when you click on the phone a text box opens up where you can put in your phone number. Once you submit your number, the company that places the advertisement is supposed to call you.

In Seth's case, the system did not work (he never got a call), but he speculates when the click to call feature does start working, it will become a whole new way of doing business online.

My question is, how many companies will be willing to staff to make outgoing calls to AdWords prospects? I can see it working great for some industries, like hotels and airlines. But will retailers want to make hundreds of calls to talk to people who would rather not visit their Web site?

Also, do consumers really want a phone call from a company when they are surfing the Net?

Only time will tell, but it should be interesting to see what happens.

Posted by James Omdahl at 11:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Is it possible to know too much about the minds behind Google? The big 3, Sergey Brin, Larry Page and Eric Schmidt, are featured as the latest cover story for Time Magazine.

What info is included:

• tips on how to use Google (rather elementary facts that you may know, but it never hurts to brush up)
• why the fascination with Legos?
• can nice guys really run a $100 billion dollar company?
• they are not all about the money

If you do not mind watching a 30 second commercial, you can access the entire articles for free via this link. Otherwise, check your local newstand.

Posted by at 05:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you are building a Web page, it is easy to forget that you need to make sure your design looks good in multiple screen resolutions.

Since most Web designers use a fairly high resolution setting on their screens, they sometimes forget that the average person may be using a lower resolution setting.

An effective tool to use to check different screen resolutions is Webconf's Screen Resolution Simulator. To use the simulator all you need to do is type in a URL, and then select a screen resolution.

The resolutions you can choose from are:

• 160x160 Pixels
• 320x320 Pixels
• 640x480 Pixels
• 800x600 Pixels
• 1024x768 Pixels
• 1152x864 Pixels
• 1600x1200 Pixels

Once you have made your selection, hit "submit" and a new window will pop up that is formatted to the site and resolution you chose.

If you have not checked your sites in different screen resolution settings, you should do it today. You never know, making sure the design of your site looks good in multiple resolution settings may increase your conversion rates and sales.

Posted by James Omdahl at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

We reported a few days ago that a new Web site allows you to rate the evilness of Google based on real-time news that talks about Google.

Well, it seems that the Evil or Not crew has decided to not just pick on Google. Now they have an Evil or Not site for Yahoo! and Microsoft.

The sites are fairly new, so there is not a long documented history of evilness, but eventually the evilness (or lack thereof) will be recorded for all to see.

So when you have a minute this Friday, make sure you go put your two cents in.

Posted by James Omdahl at 10:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Have you ever been sitting around trying to figure out what domain you were going to buy next? Did you ever wonder if there was a better way to find new domains without having to plug it into a text box and hit the submit button?

Have you ever seen a grown man dance the can-can on top of a school bus?

Huh, what was I talking about...

OH YEAH! Justin over here at InsureMe ran across this Instant Domain Search tool yesterday, and I have to say it is pretty cool. Basically, you just type in the domain name you are interested in buying and, as you type, the site will tell you if the domain is available or not.

The site is really slick and it might save you some time when you are looking to buy that next domain. There is also a link for it over in the handy-dandy Affiliate Tools menu on the left navigation bar.

Now if you will excuse me, I have a dance to do....

Posted by James Omdahl at 01:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I got an email today from Andrew Goodman's Page Zero Media, home of Andrew's much read Google AdWords Handbook, offering the new e-book called The Yahoo! Search Marketing Handbook.

The handbook was written by Mona Elesseily, Page Zero's authority on Yahoo! Search Marketing.

I have only had time to scan through the book, but it looks like a worthwhile read for affiliates who are not currently using Y!SM but would like to, or affiliates who want to brush up on their Y!SM skills.

The best part: the book is very reasonably priced at $32.00 until February 20th ,when it goes up to $64.00. You might as well take advantage of the lower price while you can.

Have a great day, and if you buy the book, let us know what you think of it by offering your comments.

Posted by James Omdahl at 03:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As a follow-up to yesterday's news concerning BMW.de, all has been forgiven. Google has granted BMW a stay of execution after exhibiting a "quick response" to the situation.

Wouldn't you like to have been a fly on the wall during those phone calls?

There is a lesson to be learned here: make sure you know what is happening with your business! If you have outsourced your SEO efforts, now may be a good time to verify that best practices are being used to promote your business.

SEO accountability is to be taken seriously. Just ask Google.