Search Engine Optimization

Microsoft Top Display Advertiser for June 2008

Comscore release their monthly stats and Microsoft is leading in display advertising field.

Microsoft is ahead of Google in display, which was the primary reason Google acquired Double Click. Display advertisements deliver poor conversion rate, but are used for branding.

Microsoft Buys Shopping Search Engine

Microsoft (MSFT.O: Quote) has agreed to buy Greenfield Online (SRVY.O: Quote), owner of European price comparison website ciao.com, for about $486 million to boost its Internet search and e-commerce business in Europe.

Another coordinated buy by Microsoft in the battle against Google for advertising dollars.

Shopping search engine are extremely popular in online retail field. Here’s a list of other shopping search engines.

• Price Grabber
• Shopping.com
• Deal Time
• Yahoo Shopping
• Biz Rate
• Shopzilla
• Price Runner
• NextTag
• Shop.com
• Kelkoo
• My Simon
• Smaller Product Search Engines.

  http://www.pricescan.com/

  http://www.epubliceye.com/

  http://www.pricingcentral.com/

  http://www.sortprice.com/

  http://www1.bottomdollar.com/

Mozilla and Google Extend the Deal

Mozilla extended Google search deal until 2011 according to TechCrunch. Original deal was $57 mil and it’s not clear if Mozilla got more from Google.

I have a feeling that Google owns Firefox, but here’s what they have to say:

“We develop our product and technical direction as part of an open process unrelated to the search relationship with Google. We talk to Google about the parts of the product that offer Google services (i.e., the Firefox Start Page) and the services they provide, like anti-phishing. Otherwise Google does not have any special relationship to Mozilla project activities.”

So Google simply bought the homepage, search box and address search box(try to search from the address bar). The rest of Mozilla is still independent.

Google and Yahoo Deal to Start in October

Google and Yahoo advertising deal will start in October according to Bloomberg. Google is still persuading the government, but the deal will go through.

Read more about Google-Yahoo search ad agreement.

We’re happy to announce our latest records in search engine rankings. Google awarded SEO Expert with authoritative status, capturing more #1 and #2 spots for the most competitive keywords in search engine optimization industry:

>>> searchengineoptimizationcompany.ca

• #1 on Google.ca for SEO out of 279,000,000 results
• #1 on Google.ca for SEO Services out of 3,740,000 results
• #1 on Google.ca for Search Engine Optimization out of 31,500,000 results
• #1 on Google.ca for SEO Expert out of 1,160,000 results Authoritative Site
• #1 on Google.ca for Montreal SEO out of 1,430,000 results Authoritative Site
• #1 on Google.ca for Montreal SEO Firm out of 192,000 results Authoritative Site
• #1 on Google.ca for Search Engine Marketing out of 105,000,000 results
• #2 on Google.ca for Search Engine Optimization Company out of 14,100,000 results
• #2 on Google.ca for Search Engine Marketing out of 108,000,000 results
• #2 on Google.ca for Search Engine Marketing Company out of 246,000,000 results
• #2 on Google.ca for SEO Company out of 1,830,000 results

Page Rank 6

That’s not all.

Google indicated high trust in our website by featuring “sitelinks” for keyword “SEO Expert”. Here’s how sitelinks look:

To give you a perspective, gaining sitelinks for term such as “SEO Expert” is equivalent to Olympic gold medal. Award of the highest order!

And there’s more. Check what Google shows for “Montreal SEO”

We’re grateful for being #1 Canadian Search Engine Optimization Company and would like to thank all our staff for this wonderful achievement:

Thanks to:

• Michael Wilson
• Silvo Frank
• Shierra Maharani
• Annie B.
• Naomi
• Caitlin
• Matthew
• Joel
• Ivan

Google Suggest Tool is now Default for Google Search:

Bad and Good

As users search, Google now gives high search volume terms suggestions. Instead of typing in their own phrases, extremely lazy users will trust Google to do the job. This will send more traffic to websites that rank for competitive keywords, but can harm less competitive phrases which aren’t qualified for Google Suggest Feature.

I don’t think it will hurt long tail search, since its very deliberate, but rather impact 1-3 phrases, making search more uniform.

This is also a way for Google to up it’s quality. By routing people to the keywords of its preference Google can ensure that searches get only high quality results.

Google can also (if not already, which is likely) incorporate algorithm which shows keyword suggestion with highest Ad price or Quality Score, making extra buck on suggested key-phrases. My guess would be that Google places emphasis is on Ad Quality rather than price, knowing its child like care about users. More ads shown, more targeted clicks.

Google is a cold search killer machine. It’s like a trained special operations agent, dressed as an easter bunny. Puffy on the outside, but competition killer on the inside. Microsoft has no chances.

Google Improves Adwords Quality Score

• Quality Score will now be more accurate because it will be calculated at the time of each search query
• Keywords will no longer be marked ‘inactive for search’
• ‘First page bid’ will replace ‘minimum bid’ in your account

Most importantly, we are replacing our static per-keyword Quality Scores with a system that will evaluate an ad’s quality each time it matches a search query. This way, AdWords will use the most accurate, specific, and up-to-date performance information when determining whether an ad should be displayed. Your ads will be more likely to show when they’re relevant and less likely to show when they’re not. This means that Google users are apt to see better ads while you, as an advertiser, should receive leads which are more highly qualified.

The new per-query evaluation of Quality Score affects you in that keywords will no longer appear as ‘inactive for search‘ in your account. Instead, all keywords will have the chance to show ads on Google web search and the search network (unless you’ve paused or deleted them). Keep in mind, however, that keywords previously marked ‘inactive for search’ are not likely to accrue a great deal of traffic following this change. This is because their combined per-query Quality Score and bid probably isn’t high enough to gain competitive placement. - Google

The “Perfect Ad” and Revenues

Instead of static quality score, Google Adwords now calculates quality score dynamically based on location, specific query and “other factors”.

This goes in line with Sergei’s strategy for “The Perfect Ad”.

On top of dynamic quality score, all “inactive for search” keywords will now be activated. If you have low converting keywords as inactive - go through the ad groups.

The development is also good for Google shares. More active keywords means more revenue and stable or even rising stock.

Keyword analysis are online version of “focus groups”. Keywords tell marketers what their customers want, their questions and concerns.

I recently found that detailed analysis of internal keyword data can reveal more.

Go to Google Analytics > Traffic Sources > Keywords. Set the time for at least a year (or was as long as your site is online).

You’ll see phrases that send most traffic at the top. Scroll down and set “Show rows” to 500.

Now scroll down the list and you will see all types of long tail keywords that sent traffic to your website. This is the information we want.

Go all the way up and click on “Export”, choose the format you like and save the file. I recommend CVS, since it’s easy to combine it with other reports. Keep in mind that when you export, Google only exports the keywords that you currently see on the webpage, so if you got 10,000 keywords Google will only export 500. To get all the data, go to page 2 and export, page 3 > export, and so on, until you have all the keywords.

One finished, combine all the files into 1.

Analyzing Internal Keyword Data

• Open up the excel sheet.
• Open up a new word document.

In the word document plug a new table 2 columns wide and around 20 rows long. Go back to your excel sheet and start looking for keywords that:

• Tell something new about your customers

  Sometimes it’s a certain product they’re looking for, or some information. Copy those keywords into the word document. Each unrelated keyword goes into a different row. Also keep an eye for related keywords. For example: “getting a mortgage in Canada” and “applying for a mortgage in canada” say exact thing, but are expressed differently. Collect those into one row.

• Indicate interest in service / product related information

  Certain types of information help with decision process of your customers. Identify those keywords. If this is a first keyword analysis - buckle up, you’re going to get a lot of insight.

Final list can grow over 100. That’s good.

Second column is the one for comments and is very straight forward. Look at the keywords and explain in your own words what the customer wanted to find. It’s important to have different version of key-phrases that have exact intent. This gives you more ground in the comments.

Once you write what customers intended, write what you need to do to deliver that. It may include a number of articles or some tools. Whatever it is - make this analysis a part of the groundwork of your site design or redesign.

About a month ago Microsoft purchased Powerset, a search engine company focused on deep understanding of searches and search intentions. “The Understanding Engine”.

It says that its technology reads and comprehends each word on a page. It looks at each sentence. It understand the words in each sentence and how they related to each other. It works out what that sentence really means, all the facts that are being presented. This means it knows what any page is really about. - Search Engine Land

Poweset planned on luring some wikipedia users and showing search ads along side, but has not gained much ground since it’s launch. There’s a lot of horse power under the hood, and if applied to the global web, it can set a search engine apart in the marketplace.

This was Microsoft’s bid when it purchased the company.

Powerset figures prominently in Microsoft’s search work. The start-up’s technology only made it as far as indexing and searching Wikipedia, but results, even from that relatively narrow domain, will be used to augment Microsoft’s search results, Nadella said. CNET

You can play around with Powerset or read a detailed review of all the cool features.

Microsoft, deadly serious about search, is willing to take all possible steps to gain market share currently dominated 60%+ by Google worldwide. By offering expanded wiki searches, and expanded search results, Microsoft hopes to lure in more users with high quality search experience, something that Google placed it’s bet on. This worked brilliantly for Google, but we have to remember that Google came at the perfect time for a search engine, when all other engines pretty much sucked. Today is different, and Google has one of strongest brands in the world, coupled with billions of cash.

Microsoft is up fighting a serious battle, it’s fun to watch.

Google, Microsoft, Motorola and Hewlett-Packard Battle Broadcasters

WASHINGTON — Using YouTube videos and old-fashioned lobbying, Google launched a campaign Monday to mobilize public support for opening up unused portions of the TV spectrum for unlicensed Internet devices and expanded broadband access. - MercuryNews.com

The battle between the two heavyweight industries (broadcast and tech) is shaping up as a classic Washington struggle over future regulation. The Federal Communications Commission will make decisions about the unused spectrum in the next few months after tests to collect data, amid intense and expensive lobbying and public relations campaigns by both sides.

It’s a part of the Google plan to expand mobile internet and use it as additional revenue source.

Gadgets such as the iPhone, HTC, Blackberry and others are becoming more and more popular. Internet access through those devices from millions of users means more advertising dollars for Google and other ad-companies. Google already took large steps towards that goal by bidding $4.71 billion on the wireless spectrum to make sure open access rules took effect.

Verizon won it for $4.74, but with this much money at stake I don’t think it was a problem to “negotiate bids” to make sure both companies got what they want.

Another move is Google Android, which is an open source mobile operating system, designed for high-tech gadgets.

Now Google wants to use old TV airwaves for the same purpose, which is high-speed wireless internet access. In effort to lobby Washington Google created “Free The Airwaves” site, where you can support the initiative for open-access wireless internet.

“Whitt was also sensitive to any notion that Google was creating a “grass-roots” campaign that was really an “Astroturf” effort — a Washington term for a corporate creation disguised as a consumer-generated effort.”

Free The Airwaves is an obvious Astroturf, but it shows Google’s intention on dominating the newly emerging market place, which means more billions for the search giant..

Apart from use in cell-phone gadgets, the spectrum can be used as new TV media. HP tried pushing a digital version of TV, with access to movies through it’s website directly to the TV, but the system is closed to HP and is not innovative. The spectrum could mean new type of on-demand TV media and direct competition to broadcastindustry.

T-Mobile will be the first carrier to offer a mobile phone powered by Google’s Android software, according to people briefed on the company’s plans. The phone will be made by HTC, one of the largest makers of mobile phones in the world, and is expected to go on sale in the United States before Christmas, perhaps as early as October. - NY Times

According to the New York Times the phone will have iPhone like touch screen, with a keyboard that slides out. First Google phone will have all internet capabilities. The only problem is the T-mobile’s dinosaur network! T-mobile has one of the slowest internet networks in North America which relies on old GRPS/EDGE technology, with no 3G is sight. New Google phone users will suffer from 5 min page load times and annoyingly laggy chats.

Google is also working with Sprint, which is the fastest in North America. Watch video of Adroid on HTC

Google Opposition

When Google announced Android, Linux developers got together and established LiMo Foundation. LiMo is an open source contender to Android and currently holds the lead over Google with 22 phones.

With its open source and proprietary rivals proliferating and shoring up their positions, the Linux-based LiMo Foundation is pulling out all the stops in its bid to establish itself as the preeminent mobile platform. According to a March IDC study, the Symbian platform led worldwide in 2007, with a 62.9 percent share of the market. Microsoft’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) Windows Mobile and Linux platforms were neck and neck, each controlling just over 11 percent. RIM’s (NASDAQ: RIMM) BlackBerry platform accounted for 9.8 percent of the total smartphone market, and Palm’s proprietary OS held a 1.8 percent share. According to a recent Canalsys research report, Apple’s iPhone accounts for 7 percent of smartphone platforms in use in 2008. In addition to a slew of rivals, LiMo will soon find itself facing another major competitor, the Google-backed Android project. - InternetNews

Google faces a lot of well entrenched and new competition on the smart phone market. It’s got a stronger brand over all contenders, so a good spin in the media can help it jump start the campaigns.

2008 Olympics in Beijing are here.

Here’s how the search engines note it:

The New Search Patterns

As Olympic games began, search for olympics spiked!

Here’s Google Insights data. You can observe searches which increased 10 fold:

And here’ Yahoo Buzz Index.

It’s clear that events impact search and rankings as well. If an event gets coverage, thousands of webmasters and bloggers link to articles and sites, impacting Google search positions.

Google Keyword tool indicated 1,830,000 average searches for Olympics, and olympics.org holds #1 in natural search results. Google also shows medal information for keyword “olympics”

China got a double lead against the contenders!

Leading search publications also picked Olympics and honored it a post:

• The Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics & The Search Engine Industry
• Online Olympic Traffic Soars; Mobile Viewing Habits Form
• Yahoo Search Launches Olympics Shortcuts

Yahoo and Google have official contract on the table, awaiting Congressional hearing. Under the the agreement, Yahoo will serve Google advertisements along search results. Yahoo is not required to serve any number of Google ads, which in effect allow Yahoo to continue it search business.

Read reluctant public document

Cnet Report | Search Engine Land Report | Reuters Report

What Jerry Yang Saw

As a founder of Yahoo, Jerry has emotional attachment to the company. Growing it from a garage project to a billion dollar enterprise… hell, I’d be attached too. In the past 6 months he did everything in his power to keep the company from Microsoft.

In Jerry’s vision(and I am speculating), Google-Yahoo deal will buy Yahoo time. It will satisfy shareholders, with projected $250 million to $450 million per year and give Yahooers less hostile environment to work on Panama and hopefully come back as a Google-free, competitive company. I think Jerry’s vision is to keep Yahoo as a major player in search, a competitor to Google, Microsoft and other search engines.

The problem with this is Google’s almost “monopoly” status in search. Recent Hitwise report gives Google 70% share (though Hitwise always gives Google more than Comscore and Nielsen). There’s also a lot of rant in the media on Google reaching 90%-100% very soon. Google already owns most corporate ad accounts and is an advertiser of choice for small businesses. Yahoo’s agreement in effect weakens overall perception of Yahoo in the advertising world, which in turn halts revenue flow to Panama.

Yahoo may become too Google dependant, like Ask.com

Jerry’s initiative to save the company and stage a come back to online ad space, when the stars align, is a big shot.

To gain more ad dollars, Yahoo needs to up the search market share and with unstoppable, tank-like Google it’s hard. Yahoo needs Comscore, Hitwise and Nielsen to report Yahoo search share gain, instead of decline, which is now a routine for Yahoo and Microsoft. Without search share, even state of the art ad platform is worthless.

This brings the shareholder paradox.

The dollar hungry, often greedy shareholders want money and want it now. If the long term strategy results in short term losses, but promises long term prosperity, how do you convince shareholders to take $1, $2, $20 million dollar plunges, without stone carved guarantees?

Yet long term, focused strategy is what Yahoo needs. It needs more users to say “Yahoo it” instead of “Google it” and this can come only through focus on search technology and innovative products that build larger mind share throughout the world.

Google is now the savior from Microsoft, but it will be the guy that puts a bullet into Yahoo’s head in the end, and other search engines for that matter.

We’ll be left with Google at 90%+ monopoly status and Microsoft with 3%, beating it’s head against the wall.

Yahoo Revenues Flat | Yahoo Rumored to Cut Staff | Google 70% July Hitwise

Yahooers hired a dancer and gone nuts! You can watch the video on Yahoo Blog (scroll down).

Yahooers dancing including CEO

written by Greg

I never realized how powerful an Internet search engine was, until I discovered SEO services. Search Engine Optimization is a powerful Internet marketing tool, which many companies benefit from. Today, when people need a company’s services, they search the web. Whether they use Google, MSN or Yahoo as a search engine, the companies that appear first are the most interesting. A potential consumer will think: “This company appears first, it must provide better services or have better products than others.” As a company boss or employee it feels great to have your business pop up first on the list.

However, it is very important for companies to consider which key words potential consumers are using in search engines. This is where SEO services come in handy.

Let’s say you have a spa business. Your company name is fairly popular and you pop up first on a search engine result when surfers type in your company name. However, let us assume that a potential customer does not know any spa company names in Montreal. He or she will type in “spa Montreal” in the search engine. Within seconds a numerous list of spa business show up, but not yours. Why is that?

Other companies are investing in SEO services and taking advantage of the most popular key phrases used in search engines. You should consider doing the same. By investing in several popular key phrases, your company name will show up first. This will attract more potential consumers. People do not want to look at the second or third page. They want the first thing that appears in front of them, which should be your company.

People always say that words are a powerful tool. It’s true. Through history, the most renowned writers have shaped and influenced our perspectives on many levels. Every one of these writers has something in common. They all used words. The Internet works the same way. Specific key words or key phrases will influence a search engine. By investing in common key phrases, your company name will appear first on the list. Therefore, more people will call your company for services and your potential sales will increase. Some industries will benefit more with SEO services than others.

As a company boss, it is very important to know how customers get in touch with your business. If it’s through the Internet, you should highly consider SEO services.

Television commercials, posters and business cards are still great ways to get peoples attention. However, when it comes to the Internet and search engines, people do not want to waste their time. Whatever comes first is a definite pick. It is very important to understand the power that key phrases have in the Internet. Many businesses are still unaware of SEO services as a marketing instrument. However, more and more companies that use the Internet to sell their goods and services want to be first on a search engine result. Two months ago, I was completely oblivious of this marketing strategy. I have learned now how much SEO services can influence and help companies become more successful.

written by Greg

Search Engine Optimization is a revolutionary marketing tool helping millions of businesses worldwide. All SEO services are extremely important, whether it’s designing a website or finding the ideal key phrases for companies to invest in. Copywriting is one of the key elements to SEO services. Even if the copywriting is not on the first page of a website, it still has vitals function with search engines and selling company goods and services. There are several essential factors that have to be present in a copywriting page. We can separate them into three categories:

• key phrase placement
• style
• tone

Although these three factors are divided, in all they work together.

Every copywriting page, whether it has five hundred words or two thousand, must include a key word or phrase. For example, an Audi dealership in Montreal could have the key phrase “Audi Montreal”, “Montreal Car Sales” or even “Montreal Car Deals” in three separate copywritings.

Each key phrase must be dispersed evenly throughout the copywriting. Excessive repetition is not necessary and can also be harmful to the writing style and tone. We will see why excessive repetition is not recommended in the next paragraphs. A search engine robotic can easily scan through a copywriting and pick up the key phrases. However, it would also be helpful to place the key phrases, so that any reader is also able to scan and spot them easily.

The writing style should always be clear and progressively enticing. Start with the subject right away. There is no need for a long introduction. Furthermore, the first and last sentence of each paragraph should always be gripping. This is where you want to try and incorporate the key phrase. It is sometimes hard to place key phrases. So, when a strong and intelligent sentence is written, find some space for the key phrase. This will attract the reader.

Why is it not good to excessively repeat a key phrase? Too much repetition will give your copywriting a robotic style. The writing will sound boring and monotonous. Oh yes, one other thing: use a dictionary! Never repeat the same verbs, adverbs or adjectives. A dictionary will help you keep a diverse vocabulary. The more diverse your vocabulary is, the better you will write.

Last but not least, the tone. In SEO copywriting, you are trying to sell goods and services with words. Therefore, your tone must be persuasive. You want to gradually convince the reader that your product or service is definitely worth buying. In essence, you are making a transfer of energy. Your persuasiveness must be directed towards the reader, and he or she must accept it. That is the hardest part. This is why a persuasive tone is fundamental.

Once you have been able to subtly disperse the key phrase without excessive repetition, while writing in a clear and concise manner, with a persuasive tone, your copywriting will be top notch. Keep your sentences under three lines unless you are listing very important products and services. There are many ways to write well. These are three factors I am constantly learning to control with SEO copywriting.

Learn more about search engine copywriting (aka content enhancement).

SEO ROI part 2

• Part 1

Google pay per click model is extremely effective, driving highly relevant and motivated prospects to the advertisers.

In order to measure the approximate market value of search engine optimization we took pay per click advertising as a measurement. The calculation will give you an estimate of SEO investment value in comparison to market value of keywords. Since pay per click pricing is independent and market driven, we can take a price of each keyword and relate it to the clicks you will be getting with successful SEO campaign.

Google Traffic Estimator tool provides accurate figures for pay per click prices.

Prices reflect real dollar amount paid by advertisers per each click.

As an example we used the following keywords:

Local Search:

toronto car rental

calgary lawyer

Global Search:

get a mortgage

business accounting software

Keyword Market Value

PPC = Pay Per Click

Results for Canada and US using Google Traffic Estimator

Total Searches Per Day

If you use Google Traffic Estimator tool, you will notice that Google does not provide data for “total clicks per day”. Traffic Estimator only serves data for PPC clicks, excluding natural search results.

In order to estimate the approximate number of total clicks per day, including natural search results, we used 70% / 30% rule.

It has been found through numerous studies that around 20%-25% of all searches conducted on search engines go to pay per click advertisements. Rest of the clicks go to natural search results, which is around 75%-80%. Since this is an estimate, we will assume that 70% of all clicks go to natural search results and 30% go to pay per click advertisements.

Knowing that 70% of clicks go to regular search results we estimate total number of clicks from data provided by Google Traffic Estimator Tool.

For example:

“toronto car rental” will receive around 77 clicks per day going to PPC advertisements exclusively. Since PPC only constitutes approximately 30% of all clicks on search engines, it is safe to assume that 77 clicks represent 30% of total daily clicks for the keyword “toronto car rental “.

With that knowledge it is easy to estimate total number of clicks, both for PPC and natural search results.

30% of 256 = 77     (clicks going to pay per click)

70% of 256  = 179  (clicks going to natural search results)

From that number, we can estimate value of search engine optimization related to the market value of keywords.

70% of total clicks per day X average cost per click = market value of your SEO investment

Results for Canada and US

Estimated Annual SEO Investment Value

Results for Canada and US

Note: each keyword given as an example represents separate market. “toronto car rental” targets car rental industry, while “get a mortgage” targets financial market. In a basic SEO campaign we target at least 5 keywords per industry, multiplying investment value ten fold.

SEO Expert Search Engine Optimization Services

SEO Expert is a Canadian search engine marketing company, located in Montreal, Quebec, targeting national and international markets. SEO Expert is one of the leading SEO companies in Canada, as we rank on top of search engines for terms such as:

• #1 on Google.ca for SEO out of 249,000,000 results
• #1 on Google.ca for Search Engine Optimization out of 27,700,000 results
• #1 on Google.ca for SEO Expert out of 1,270,000 results
• #2 on Google.ca for Search Engine Optimization Company out of 259,000,000 results
• #1 on Google.ca for Search Engine Marketing out of 113,000,000 results
• #2 on Google.ca for Search Engine Marketing Company out of 258,000,000 results
• #1 on Google.ca for SEO Services out of 4,070,000 results
• #2 on Google.ca for SEO Company out of 1,990,000 results

SEO Expert has over 5 years of dedicated search marketing experience and offers search engine optimization solutions to Canadian and American businesses. We offer both highly effective Pay Per Click management services and natural search engine optimization.

Please contact us to address questions about search engine optimization, your concerns, or to inquire about pricing for expert level search marketing solutions.

© Copyright Search Engine Marketing Inc. 2008

“…we’re launching Google Insights for Search, a new product designed with the advertiser in mind. It provides more flexibility and functionality for advertisers and marketers to understand search behavior, and adds some cool new features like a world heat map to graphically display search volume and regional interest.” - Google Adwords Blog

Google Insight for Search is the addition to the growing set of Google market research tools which include New Google Trends and Google Ad Planner.

Google Insights Review

The neatest feature of Google insights is the ability to break down search trends by municipalities. A search for “mortgage” in the last 12 month in Canadian region gives the following chart:

Search volume looks more or less steady throughout the entire year, with a sharp decline in August. It also give information which regions in Canada were leaders in search for “mortgage”

We can do exact search but for Ontario only:

The graph looks almost exactly as the previous one, but look at that:

Google Search Insights gives data not only for cities, but for city municipalities. I would automatically assume that Toronto would have the highest search volume, but Google broke it down to more chunks with Scarborough (part of Toronto) as a leader.

Another neat feature is the “Rising Searches”. Those are the searches that experienced significant spike during selected time period (30 days, 90 days, year, 2 years, etc)

In Ontario “true north mortgage”, “canadian tire mortgage” and “rbc mortgage” experienced growth.

Google Insights lets marketers see growth in the last 30 days, which is a more precise way of spotting rising trends.

You can run analysis on any keyword of your choice (assuming it meets Google Insights minimum threshold). There are also industries to select such as Arts, Finance, Food, Beauty, etc, with many sub-sections.

Another neat feature is the .CVS download. Once finished with analysis - impornt interesting data as a spreadsheet.

Explore Google Insights into Search:

Related Posts:

• Google Keyword Tool Shows Search Volume Data
• Google Ad Planner Review
• New Google Trends Feature

ROI of Your Investment in SEO

This presentation will give you real market value estimate of search engine optimization investment. The value is calculated on the basis of Pay Per Click data provided by Google. It is found that one keyword can surpass $200.000 in annual investment value.

Search Engine Optimization also referred to as SEO is a practice of achieving top search engine positioning for industry targeted keywords. Search engine optimization works on the principle of satisfying search engine algorithms and naturally promoting your website to the top listings.

Search engine optimization campaigns produce vast revenue opportunities and create win-win-win situations:

1. Customers win by finding a business that can help them.
2. Businesses win by capturing targeted prospects.
3. Search engines win by serving highly relevant results.

For the purposes of this presentation we used Google Traffic Estimator tool, due worldwide search market dominance by Google.

Search market share according to HitWise:

Considering Google leadership in search arena, we will focus on Google during this presentation.

In order to estimate the value of search engine optimization, we must look at market driven Pay Per Click advertising model.

Google Pay Per Click Model  

Google Inc generates profits by serving text advertisements along side search results. It has propelled Google to be one of the most valued companies on the stock market, reaching stunning $700 per share in November 2007.

The success of Google lies in unique advertising approach called Pay Per Click.

Definition by Dictionary.com

“Pay per click (PPC) is an advertising model used on search engines, advertising networks, and websites, where advertisers only pay when a user actually clicks on an ad to visit the advertiser’s website.

Advertisers bid on keywords they predict their target market will use as search terms when they are looking for a product or service.

When a user types a keyword query matching the advertiser’s keywords, or views a page with relevant articles, the advertiser’s ad may be shown. These ads are called a “Sponsored links” or “Sponsored ads” and appear next to or above the “natural” results on search engine results pages.”

You may also check Wikipedia.

Example:

Vocabulary:

SEO - Acronym for Search Engine Optimization

PPC – Acronym for Pay Per Click

Natural Search Results – results found by Google throughout the internet. Primary aim of SEO is to feature your website among top natural search results.

As you can observe from example above, this advertising method is highly effective. It encompasses relevancy to the searcher and offers extremely high chances of conversion to the advertiser, since the advertisements closely match the interest of the searcher, at a particular moment.

Google charges advertisers for each click received on the “Sponsored Links”, hence the name Pay Per Click. (the model was originally devised by Overture)

In example above “get a credit card”, credit card advertisers will be charged between $5.56 - $7.60 per click(as of March 2008).

The price per each click is determined by advertisers using bid model. Businesses bid on a keyword, whereby highest bidder receives top positioning. The model is essentially market driven. Price per each keyword is determined by the amount businesses are willing to pay. It can range between $0.01 and over $20.00 per click, depending on level of competition, return on investment and industry.

As opposed to older advertising methods, Google and other search engines allow businesses to target individuals who have indicated interest and are essentially hunting for a company that can satisfy their needs.

read second part…

A recap of interesting development in search for the last week of July.

Yahoo Maps Now With Better Search Integration & New Features

• Improved Local Search integration that utilizes the Search/Direct Display Index
• More user-friendly Driving Directions - a more user-friendly left rail that’s both wider and more legible (larger text), for easier reading of driving directions
• A redesigned Print Page
• The ability to minimize multiple driving direction instructions to save vertical space
• The ability to display inline turn-by-turn images for each driving direction segment
• An Interactive Print Page Map
• Users can now select from a variety map views (full route, full route + finish, full route + start + finish)
• Drag/Pan/zoom functionality for print page maps
• Interactivity between Points of Interest (POIs) and Map view; minimized POIs are removed from the map view
• Improved POIs - with ability to minimize/collapse multiple POIS to maximize viewing area

Google To Develop A Venture-Capital Unit

Google to Extend Reach With Venture-Capital Arm from the Wall Street Journal reports Google is in the early stages of putting together a corporate venture-capital unit, within Google.

Strategic and long term move by Google. Once good companies pop up Google can lunch on them.

comScore: No Clients are Leaving Us for Google

comScore CEO Magid Abraham said, “We really haven’t seen an impact so far on our business, we haven’t heard any client who’s said well use [the Google product] instead of comScore,” according to Marketwatch.

Comscore is the internet measurement company. With recent release of Google Ad Planner many chatted Comscore and Nielsen are going to lose some customers. Appears they’re doing fine.

Microsoft Releases BrowseRank to Topple Google PageRank

In obsessive, passionate, multi-billion dollar battle against Google, Microsoft made another move. BrowseRank is a new algorithm that looks at user behavior as a cue to the quality of web pages.

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YouTube Sued By Italian Broadcaster Mediaset

In a factually similar claim to the current Viacom litigation, Google/YouTube was sued by Italian media company and broadcaster Mediaset, which is owned by Italy’s Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. The company is seeking a minimum of EUR 500 million for copyright violations and hypothetical, lost ad revenue.

Another company looking to cash in on Google. When you’re that big it’s tempting to milk the cow a little. Though Google spins a kids-like brand, it’s rather a bull than a cow… Then italiano mafiosi can always send “Tony” and “Vincent” to shake up Sergei and Larry:

- “Where’s the money bit**!” - said Tony with think Brookline accent. “…I ain’ t no one b**ch” answered Sergey.

Vince, a chubby fellah with “don’t f*** with me” face rushed on to Sergey, grabbing a nearby lamp from the coffee table. The lamp went across Sergei’s forehead, leaving a think stitch. Sergey collapsed, holding his head, lying in a fresh pool of blood…. Vince came closer, punched Sergei into stomach, screaming: “you gonna get that 500 mil, you got 24 hours or you’re dead! You got that kid? 24 f**ing hours…

I miss Sopranos.

Report: Newspapers, Yellow Pages Battle For Local Online Advertising Revenues

A new report from analyst firm Borrell Associates contains fairly dire revenue projections for both local newspapers and print yellow pages ($5 billion in projected print revenue losses in five years). The newspaper angle is picked up today by the Wall Street Journal and PaidContent, which both lay out some of the numbers.

Google Beta Testing Showing Related Phrases Near Documents in Search Results