No Comments since November 22nd, 2007
Next week I will be in Chicago for the Search Engine Strategies SES conference. I will also be in Las Vegas for PubCon, most likely late on Thursday and most of Friday, but possibly also on Tuesday. If you’ll be there and want to meet, please email me.
At SES I will be appearing on two panels, please come check them out, and say hello. I’d love to heard from you! The two panels in question will be Search Marketers on Click Fraud, on Thursday morning, and User Behavior on Wednesday. The format for the panels has changed considerably from previous SES conferences.
In August I presented on User Behavior at SES San Jose. I believe each panelist had 10 to 12 minutes to present, followed by audience questions. This time, presentations are only 5 minutes long, followed by 20 minutes of moderated discussions, and then 20 minutes of audience questions. It’s going to be quite an adjustment to try and make a 5 minute presentation. I hope all of you in attendance will enjoy what I bring forward.
I’ve already laid out my presentations for the conference. Not the final versions, but the outline. For the User Behavior session, I’m thinking of spending time on two things. 1) User trends in so far as clickthrough and conversion rates from different pages within search results, and how local, images & video search behavior is different from web search; 2) language variations. I’ll also share a couple of quick tips on how to optimize a SEO or SEM campaign to succeed as Universal Search becomes the default.
On the Click Fraud panel I risk being a very presenter from the other panelists. I’ll go into some of the science around improper billings, what to look for, and how to lower the time you spend searching for undesired clicks and managing PPC customer reporting, while increasing your effectiveness at identifying the improper billings which often get labeled as click fraud.
As our firm has built PPC Assurance, and I’ve written a couple of patents on Click Fraud detection, I might also have time share some interesting insights into why a lot of the problems are not being properly dealt with.
If you are in Chicago, you’ll really enjoy the Click Fraud session. I know it’s always very well attended, and I’m excited to be there. I know you’ll walk away with lots of answers, and also a lot of questions. Please feel free to ask them. A lot of people are afraid to ask. Don’t be. It’s why we attend and speak at the conferences.
Finally, if there are some specific issues around either User Behavior or Click Fraud which you would like to see me address, please email me. I’ll attempt to include answers to questions in my presentation. These sessions are designed to be more interactive than ever. I think that’s a good thing.
Posted under Analytics, Click Fraud, Enquisite Search Metrics, Google, MSN, PPC Assurance, Ranking Reports, Search Engines, Search Metrics, Yahoo
No Comments since November 21st, 2007
The last three weeks I’ve enjoyed the pleasure of testing out quite a variety of aircraft, and airlines. From Airbus I’ve flown the following series; 319, 320, 330, 340. Boeing: 737, 767. From Bombardier, two different RJ’s, plus Dash 8’s in a couple of configs. The Embraer 75 & 90, and an MD 80. There was one other vehicle I flew on SAS which I’ve quickly forgotten. I have to say, the Air Canada’s Embraer’s are really nice and quiet. I had excellent service on Air Canada and SAS. Lufthansa was ok. On JetBlue & United service was notable in its absence.
Anyhow, this post isn’t about airline review; maybe I’ll start a site about that sometime.
This is a short commentary on the first two SMX’s I’ve participated in. Much to my chagrin, I missed attending SMX advanced last year. Stuff gets in the way sometimes. Fortunately, the opportunity to speak at SMX Stockholm, as well as SMX PhocusWright in Orlando arose.
In Stockholm I presented on Analytics, and on Tools for SEO and SEM. Rand Fishkin moderated both sessions. I used a case study in the Analytics session, something which a lot of people told me that they appreciated, as it was very tangible for them, and thus they understood how to apply the information presented to their own sites.
Building Enquisite’s given me some interesting insights into the data within analytics reports. For one thing, there’s way too much information in too many analytics packages. People drown in the data. Our beta version of Enquisite has a ton of information. It’s a search marketer’s delight however, as it’s focused on just search and only search. PPC Assurance however is different. There’s still a lot of data, but we’ve presented it in a very simple and manageable way. We also give you something no other analytics company does; an action item. PPC Assurance automatically files claims with Google, (and shortly Yahoo) on your behalf. Check it out, learn more, and give it a try. It’ll drive the ROI of your PPC campaigns way up, and your campaign management and reporting time way down.
After lunch, the Tools session was a little more challenging. There are so many great tools for SEO & SEM out there, and some people create a lot of them. I tried to draw on a broad selection, and show how to use them how to make best use of them. Everyone on that panel was extremely strong and knowledgeable. Actually this was true of all the sessions I saw. There were no slouches on the podium. (or in the crowd) :-)
I’ve never been to Stockholm before, and quite honestly this was a very rushed trip for me. I flew 18 hours each way, and only spent ~ 50 hours there. Fortunately, I only slept for ~5 of them, so I made the most of it!
The conference itself was smaller, as expected, but a very high quality of participants. There were a number of individuals I had not met before, but had communicated with via email for quite a while. There were also some Enquisite users, and it was very nice to meet them. We have so many whom I’ve never met or spoken to.
One very nice thing about this being a smaller conference was that I was able to speak at length with friends whom I rarely get much of a chance to chat with at conferences, as well as to comfortably meet at chat with new acquaintances.
On the last night, Rand’s parents invited me to join a group they were putting together to go for a smorgasborg. Unfortunately, they are not in these pictures. Dinner was great, although some SEO extraordinaires like Mikkel deMib Svendsen, and Thomas Bindl did appear to be have had a little too much fun, as witnessed in these pictures!
OK - not sure why, but the pictures aren’t pulling, and I don’t have time to figure out wordpress today. sorry.
Thanks to Rand, or rather Geraldine, for thinking to bring a camera and for using it, unlike me, who never seems to remember to take one anywhere.
SMX PhoCusWright was a completely different kind of Conference. Where Stockholm had a broad representation across industries, Orlando was 100% travel related. I presented on Competitive Strategies, as well as balancing SEO & SEM. For both sessions I used case studies; every time I do so people enjoy it.
Earlier this year, I presented at SES Travel in Seattle. It was a very different crowd from Seattle. The audience in the Seattle conference seemed to be made up more of people who actually did manage campaigns, where SMX PhoCusWright had more decision makers, and fewer on page specialists. Both groups were very interesting to speak with, and it’s nice that there is a different crowd at the two series. Both have real value for attendees, and the value of each conference will continue to grow. Marty Weintraub was actively blogging the sessions in Orlando, so please read his session reports to get a gist of the topics. There was a lot of worthwhile information shared.
Posted under Analytics, Click Fraud, Enquisite Search Metrics, Google, MSN, PPC Assurance, Ranking Reports, Search Engines, Search Metrics, Yahoo, market share
No Comments since August 20th, 2007
Here’s the announcement - PPC Assurance, our first revenue product is now live. It’s designed for anyone running a pay per click campaign. You don’t need to be knowledgeable about PPC to benefit from this service. This is a PPC management service which helps anyone from a beginner to recognized market experts make their PPC campaigns more successful. We’re not kidding. Our testers, focus groups, and reviewers came from both groups; absolute beginners, and the best in the world. They all found PPC Assurance to be simple, intuitive, and dead simple to use. It’s not easy making something simple!
San Mateo, CA. August 20, 2007 – Enquisite, a search analytics firm has today unveiled its PPC Assurance reporting service at http://ppcassurance.enquisite.com. The PPC Assurance suite fills the void in third-party verification of Pay per Click (PPC) charges. The suite empowers businesses with a simple way to audit and verify their PPC charges, and automatically submits instances of improper billing for a refund.
When a business contracts a PPC Provider (such as Google AdWords or Yahoo Search Marketing) to display their advertising, they set out Terms and Conditions for the display of the advertising; these parameters include when, where, and how the ads should display. Campaign conditions might include such options as geo-targeting, time of day and day of the week scheduling, specification of which networks to display the ads on, and excluded sites.
While companies can customize their ad campaign parameters in order to more effectively spend their ad dollars and reach a specific target market, there has been no effective means of validating whether the ads have been displayed in accordance with the agreed upon conditions.
Enquisite’s patent-pending PPC Assurance reporting suite provides businesses with the data needed to validate their Pay per Click charges. PPC Assurance equips companies with easy-to-understand information that confirms whether or not individual paid ads are being properly displayed. This allows companies to effectively resolve possible PPC overcharges, fine tune campaigns and maximize ROI on paid search spending.
Enquisite’s CEO Richard Zwicky explains: “The search engines and advertising networks are working hard to ensure that PPC campaigns execute properly. But problems do arise. Advertisers need to know when something goes wrong, and how to resolve the issue. Advertising networks need to know what’s happening as well, so that they can improve their services. PPC Assurance provides both parties with the objective information they need, leading everyone to a quick and equitable resolution.â€
This year, online marketing campaign spending is expected to exceed $25 billion. The medium of search marketing has escalated to a point where it is routing significant dollars away from other typical marketing and advertising channels including print and TV. With audit systems at present almost non-existent, an important gap exists that requires companies to pay their online advertising bills without 3rd party validation of the accuracy of their campaigns. The phenomenon of paying un-validated online ad bills is akin to a situation where a home buyer would purchase a new home based simply on his faith that the seller was accurately representing the property. Though the seller might not purposely misrepresent the value of the property, it is generally accepted that a buyer should obtain an independent third-party inspection before they pay for it. This professional third-party inspection validates that the facts are as presented and leaves the purchaser with peace of mind and in-depth knowledge about the wisdom of their investment.
PPC Assurance empowers companies of all sizes with independent verification of their PPC campaign charges, and a simple resolution mechanism to settle billing disputes.
About Enquisite:
Enquisite is an award winning web analytics firm, specializing in search analytics. Enquisite’s SAAS reporting suite is currently used by thousands of companies worldwide. PPC Assurance is the flagship for fee service offering in the Enquisite suite of reports.
Posted under Analytics, Ask, Click Fraud, Enquisite Search Metrics, Google, MSN, PPC Assurance, Ranking Reports, Search Engines, Search Metrics, Yahoo
No Comments since April 10th, 2007
When I started this group of interviews with leading search engine marketers, I realized I had a strong selection of people from the organic search side, some great PPC specialists, and outstanding industry observers. What I was missing was anyone from the search engines. So, I approached Matt Cutts about participating. With all the tradeshows, conferences, and travel, not to mention the actual daily work at Google which Matt does, I knew it was a longshot, and that his finding time would be a challenge. Graciously however, Matt agreed.
I’ve met Matt a couple of times at tradeshows and conferences over the years, most recently at SES London in February. Wherever he goes, a throngs of people seem to follow. Unlike for most, the speaker’s room at shows don’t seem to offer much peace and quiet, it’s just a different band of questioners coming at him. :-) But he seems to thrive on the constant questioning, and takes note of what’s being asked, and follows up. I believe that he is one of Google’s big marketing assets; There’s no doubt that he’s contributed tremendously to why Google is so well liked in the Internet Marketing industry today. He’s affable, approachable, entertaining, and provides solid information in responses to queries.
Cognizant of Matt’s time constraint, I only forwarded him a few short questions, including two from interviews run as part of this series. I hope you’ll enjoy his responses.
Q. Matt, how long were you developing, and writing code prior to joining Google?
I was a geek going back a long time. I used to hack out little programs on a Commodore 64 and a Sinclair/Timex ZX81 before that. So I did code for a while before joining Google.
Q. Personalization appears to be the biggest change in search; what other big change do you foresee over the next 18 months?
I think Google will keep looking at new and interesting types of data to search for users. I think Google will also try to communicate even more with webmasters and SEOs. We’ll be ramping up even more on lots of languages besides English, too.
Q. Personalization appears to build a profile of the user, based on their primary location. This affects the results travelers receive. How can a user compensate for this?
One of the ways that we compensate for this is letting people log in. That way, a user can access the same account and settings even if they go to a new location. That’s a really great way to improve search quality when we know a little more about users.
Q. Why don’t you understand me? (how will context be improved?)
Google is getting better at this. We can learn more by ramping up document understanding, query understanding, and even understanding concepts written in different languages. For each of these, the more data you have, the more you can improve search quality.
Q. Does it bother you that algorithm is spelled with an “i” rather than a “y”?
I guess it never occurred to me. I remember the first person that I heard use the word algorithm though. I remember thinking that they were kind of geeky. I don’t know what it says about me that I use that word all the time now. :)
Thanks Matt
Posted under Analytics, Enquisite Search Metrics, Ranking Reports, Search Engines, Search Metrics
1 Comment since April 1st, 2007
Jason Dowdell has been a participant in Internet Marketing for many years. Today he is best known as the principal behind Marketing Shift an entertaining and informative Internet Marketing blog. I’ve known him for a few years, first encountering him just after a Kelsey Group conference, and were introduced by Greg Sterling
How long have you been working with SEO / SEM ?
Since July of 1997
What’s been your favorite technique that you can no longer use due to algorithmic changes at Google?
I’ve never had a technique deprecated due to algorithm shifts. I’ve build my career on a very simple model, helping the search engines find good content. The biggest changes have come in the area of dynamic web site development and poor development practices in that area account for more seo issues than any single algorithm shift.
What percentage of your SEO / SEM work uses tools vs. manual work?
If only it were that simple. In the beginning of a project I place heavy demands on automation (probably 80%), but most of that is in setting baseline metrics for the client and their industry. Once a baseline has been set and the major changes have been implemented automation is only used for Quality Assurance and competitive research. That’s when things get fun because you can focus more on improving the client’s business rather than just their seo. The best seo clients are the ones that focus on conversion ratios rather than dissecting seo penalties.
Has Google (or any other engine) ever made an algorithm change which made you very happy?
Every algorithm change makes me happy. Algorithm shifts are one of the best ways to measure what’s happening offline. Take for instance the last Google update in late February. The overwhelming sentiment among seo experts is that Google is favoring the little guy more in serps. That can be tied directly to the social networking movement (Think MySpace, YouTube and blogs) and the fact that Time Magazine’s person of the year for 2006 was “Bloggers”. Google and the others aren’t trying to reinvent search, they’re just trying to give people what they want and you better believe offline behavior effects those algorithm shifts.
If you could get an engineer at Google, Yahoo!, MSN, and Ask to each answer just one question about their algorithms, what would it be?
Does it bother you that algorithm is spelled with an “i” rather than a “y”?
Why analytics are important to you?
Because I don’t have to rely on what other people tell me is important, I can see what’s important to my users and make my own decisions. I often tell my clients that I’ll never know their business as intimately as them, nor will I have as much of a vested interest in it’s success as they do and that’s why I help them fall in love with their data.
How often do you look at them?
Hourly.
How do you suggest your clients use them?
As gospel.
What do none of the analytics tools do that you would want them to for you? (yes, this question is self-serving)
None of the current analytics solutions are custom tailored at a particular market. I think MyBlogLog is close because they focused on what’s important to bloggers and Enquisite has made a good stab at a horizontal… But none of the stats apps out there are dedicated to a single niche or vertical. They give you all the customization options you want but you have to “customize” them to the nth degree and when you’re done customizing, you forgot why you were doing it in the first place.
What’s one tip you give all your clients about Internet Marketing – SEM / SEO / Email / links, etc…?
Bake best internet marketing practices into your applications and development processes so you can focus on making your clients happy, you’ll sleep better, guaranteed.
Thanks JasonÂ
Posted under Analytics, Enquisite Search Metrics, Ranking Reports, Search Engines, Search Metrics
