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 whats important for themselves and other users.”

A piece of info that I did not know prior to reading this article is that the “average search query is 2.3 words”…. I need to find some good 0.3 words! (Seriously though, its good to know that sort of detail when creating PPC campaigns. The tail is growing further away from the one-word zinger.)

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 programs 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.

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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 Splashos 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…

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!

Our Affiliate department here loves to laugh! We have some quick-witted, creative individuals who can get a lil silly from time to time. Its 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. Its 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. Im 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!

I guess I will jump on the bandwagon and report that Yahoo! will be ending advertisers ability to bid on competitors 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):

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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….

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!

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/

Thats right, an auto insurance spam blog built on Googles 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.

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 Gplex.

Signs of comfort and innovation are picture-clear in Times 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 wouldnt want to “do no evil” (Googles motto) after a gourmet lunch and massage?

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

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….”

What can be said about Googles determination to move into China and the Middle East? New markets for revenue? More diverse audience for product testing?

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

Warp speed ahead!

Googles 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 dont 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 havent checked your PageRank lately, today is a good day ]

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?

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?

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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.

Who doesnt 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 isnt”
• “Trust sponsored listings - they are what you seek”
• “Friends dont 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.”

Hey there, hepcat! Dont 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!

I read an article from InformationWeek titled “Googles 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.

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.

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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!

Valentines Day. What an interesting holiday.

The first commercial Valentines 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.

Its all about sharing the knowledge….

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 Seths 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.

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.

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 Webconfs 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:

• 160×160 Pixels
• 320×320 Pixels
• 640×480 Pixels
• 800×600 Pixels
• 1024×768 Pixels
• 1152×864 Pixels
• 1600×1200 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.

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.

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….

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

The handbook was written by Mona Elesseily, Page Zeros 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.

As a follow-up to yesterdays news concerning BMW.de, all has been forgiven. Google has granted BMW a stay of execution after exhibiting a “quick response” to the situation.

Wouldnt 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.

Farfromlisted!, the official German BMW site (google.de) has received the Google death penalty for using doorway pages to deceive the ranking system. As Matt Cutts discusses, “dont deceive your users or present different content to search engines than you display to users.”

If you have placed others in charge of maintaining your business site, verify that guidelines and rules are being followed. Protect yourself and your business by ensuring your site is being presented the right way.

Ask questions! Thats how we get better.

In the meantime, here are the webmaster guidelines from Google.

We had the chance to have dinner with someone from Yahoo! Search Marketing (Y!SM) recently, and he shared that Y!SM will be changing over to a more Google-like PPC model in Q3 of this year.

It seems that Yahoos goal is to make its PPC program work similar to that of Google AdWords. While our contact at Yahoo! was unsure how complex the ad-serving algorithm would be, he was hoping it would not be as “black box” (read: confusing) as the AdWords algorithm.

To larger advertisers, this can appear a bit disappointing. Traditionally, Yahoo! Search Marketing has worked well for larger advertisers by running off a straight cost-per-click (CPC) ranking model. This type of model gives larger advertisers the advantage, since the more you can spend, the better you will rank. It also gives you better control over your positioning, ad spend, and branding effect based on positioning.

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Last week we had the pleasure of hosting our top affiliate, Josh, on a trip to Grand Lake, Colorado for a snowmobile trip.

We had great weather and managed to keep ourselves and our snowmobiles in good condition (although I did get my sled pretty stuck - see the pic).

As always, it was good to see Josh, enjoy the Colorado mountains, and take a minute to see my life flash before my eyes when I almost crashed my snowmobile at top speed!

Its good to be alive.

Googles Matt Cutts made an appearance on Webmaster Radio FM the other day. Among the topics discussed on SEO Rockstar are:

• Googles “Big Daddy”
• SEO contests and more

If you are familar with Webmaster Radio FM, check out the archived show here.

If you are interested in some more background on Webmaster Radio FM, check out this press release.

Let us know what you think!

Search Engine Lowdown has reported some MSN AdCenter versus Google AdWords data.

I agree with them that MSNs conversion results are superior, and also that conversion data is skewed a bit as a result of less impressions and competition.

The advice is good. Here is some to consider:

• use correct grammar, and include your keyword(s) in the ad
• do not repeat, do not repeat, do not repeat

Please read the info regarding MSNs “Quality Score” if you are building landing pages for your search term ads. The entire article is here.

Enjoy!

The January issue of the Yahoo! Search Marketing newsletter has some research on sponsored search. Among the topics discussed are: automotive, wireless commuication and apparel.

Notes of interest:

• 25 million people search on auto-related topics each month
• The average conversion of those searching on apparel is 21%

Check out all the fun facts here.

Enjoy!

Online Media Daily reports research company Outsell came out with new survey results showing that advertisers perceive Google advertisements as the most effective of the search engines, beating out MSN and Yahoo!.

When asked what search ads advertisers thought were effective, 71 percent of respondents said Googles ads, 62 percent said Yahoo!s ads and 49 percent said MSN ads.

The study also found that the most enthusiastic Google advertisers were those with lower advertising budgets than those of Yahoo! or MSN. This seems to make sense, as the click-through-rate and cost-per-click model Google uses tends to serve as an economic equalizer for advertisers, as opposed to the straight cost-per-click model of Yahoo!.

So, whose PPC ads do you find the most effective—Googles, MSNs or Yahoos!?